Apocalypse.

[InkyDarkness]

She smiled back, walking back into the house, and dumping her satchel on the floor beside the door. Making sure it was out of the way. She rubbed mindlessly at her shoulder with a huff, it was still tense and sore from earlier. She bent down and picked up the jar with the small man inside, heading to the library from some quiet.


She spent the next hours talking to the small man and trying to get any information out of him if she could. The man said very few words mostly just saying his name and gesturing or shaking his head. Exhausted of much else she handed the jar back to him so he could continue resting and put him on the table as she headed to the door.


Noticing that Roland was still outside and the light was dimming, she opened the door and lent on the frame, a small wave of tiredness hitting her. "s-So.. You finished out here?" she said between a covered up yawn.

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland worked away, ignoring all around him. He had the engine almost finished, he just needed to put a few parts in some annoying places, tighten them into place, then put everything around them back on. When X called out to him, he looked over to her, and saw her in the doorway. Perhaps it was the lighting, perhaps it was just that he was a guy that hadn't seen a girl in way too long, but in that moment, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She looked beautiful.


He then muttered to himself. "Darn hormones." and forced himself to answer her. "Almost. I can leave the rest for tomorrow i guess." He looked around for a moment before noticed the sun was almost down. "Thanks for calling out. I didn't notice the sun going down." As he spoke, he got up and headed inside the house, discarding the tools back into the toolbox.


"Anything in particular you want for dinner?" Roland asked the girl, not really caring that he ate. But he did realize that he had not eaten all day and was starving.

 

[InkyDarkness]

Feeling unnerved but his gaze she looked down at the floor, before moving away from the door.


She took a post on the carpet curling her legs crossed and sitting with her head on her hand. "u-Um.. w-whatever there


is?" she hesitated in asking, having little clue on what they had even brought back. 'Food' she thought, her eyes, a little dazed as they cast round the slowly darkening room.

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland walked inside and went into the kitchen where he had dumped the cans. Pulling two out at random, both Irish stew. Grabbing two random bowls, he sat them next to the oven before turning the hotplate on and cooking the stew in a random pot. After a moment, it was cooked, as it only really needed to be warmed up. Splitting the food into roughly equal parts, he grabbed two spoons and walked over to X.


"Here you go dear." He said to her as he gave her one of the bowls and a spoon. Roland himself then went and sat on the couch to eat. "We still gota set up the bars." He told her as he began eating. "It will take longer then before, so eat up."

 

[InkyDarkness]

She grabbed the bowl with a quiet thanks, sipping on the spoon. The taste wasn't horrible, nor was it really something she felt she liked. "Mhm"





She soon stood up, and put the bowl in the kitchen, then going over to her satchel and sliding her jacket back on. While she waited she went back to the library and grabbed khavaul, 'he might be useful if we are attacked.' She put the jar carefully on the table in the sitting area and undid the lid in case he wanted out. Then proceeded to stand and wait, looking out the window still mildly dazed while in thought.

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland quickly finished eating, burning his mouth slightly in the process. After eating he went and put his bowl in the sink. He then went and found the flashlight. As he walked over to X, he noticed she was in thought. He said softly as to not give her a fright. "Hey. You alright?" He asked as he did notice before that she seemed very afraid of the dark. He figured that she was worried about that. "If your afraid of the dark, you can tell me. I'm sure we can figure out some way to make you more comfortable."

 

[InkyDarkness]

She still flinched, but lightly, "Hm..? Oh.. y-Yeah."





She shook her head moving from "n-no, I'm fine.. thanks. Lets get the b-bars up then, yeah?"

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland nodded at the girl and gave her an easy, and semi fake, smile. He didn't really have anything to smile about, he actually had a lot to be pissed off about, but he did it anyway. Just to keep X calm. After giving the flashlight to X, the young man put in the bars as normal. Though this time it took a few seconds longer as he tied a small bit of chain to each side of the bars, effectively tying them in place. He continued doing this until all the bars where in place.


After that job was done, Roland turned back to X and asked her a question. "Do you wanna take the first half of the night watching for threats, or the second half?"

 

[InkyDarkness]

Although she wasn't in need of comfort per-say she let her shoulder visibly relax, though the muscles beneath were still taunt. She didn't want him to think she needed much more from him, seeing as he was most likely still freaked out about Khavaul. She Took the flashlight and helped out with a few of the bar, point the light occasionally so he could see better.


She stood the torch up on the table and sat on the floor, relaxing into the coldness of the concrete on her back. "You sleep first.." she said with a kind smile, looking wearily at the the torch light. 'No hurry to close my eyes in this darkness..'

 

[Roland Bishop]

"Alright then dear. I'll come get you about halfway through the night. Just don't fall to sleep on me, alright?" Roland told X, half jokingly, half serious. He then headed upstairs and went into his bedroom. After not really sleeping last night, due to the zombies, and being so active today, the young man fell to sleep in a heartbeat. The moment his head touched the bed he was out cold. Though he did a good job of hiding it, Roland was at the end of his rope. Now that he got a second to relax, it all came down upon him.


Roughly halfway through the night, Roland awoke, his eyes droopy and hair more of a mess then usual. With a yawn, he slowly got out of the bed he had collapsed on-top of. Looking around drearily, the young man took a second to not seem so tired before heading downstairs to X. "Hey dear. Go upstairs and catch some sleep."

 

[InkyDarkness]

Although she knew she could do with some sleep she sat wide awake throughout the night, occasionally jolting at a sudden noise in the darkness. The light from the torch and Khavaul kept her fear at bay, and at some point in the night Khavaul had woken and they talked for a little, or at least she talked to him.


She flinched slightly at the sudden name, having zoned out on watching the shadows that Khavaul was creating on the wall as he soldiered around, muttering in gibberish. "Oh.. um right.." She stood up and headed to the library as if meaning to sleep, however it became her sitting in a meditation position vividly picturing various bit of the past few days, and trying to sort out her thoughts and grasping any new information or just some resemblance of memory. However by the time some sort of sun was visible, she was drained and no closer to a functioning memory, or at least nothing before the past days. That she could remember. She stretched lightly and sat there, humming and gathering her energy, the next few days we're most likely to be busy..

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland watched out of the side of his eye as X left, as he was mainly focused on the endless darkness. As he was watching the darkness, the young man noticed something in the corner of his vision. It was the little blue goop monster. Roland walked over to it and bent down to look at it. "What are you, little monster. What is your relation to that girl." He asked it, not really expecting an answer other then it's name, as that was all it seemed to be able to say.


Shaking his head, Roland ignored the little monster and focused on looking out the window and making a list of all the things he would need to bring on the bike somehow. Muttering, he listed off all the things. "Food. A little bit of water. Ammo. The rifle, reassembled. The girl. Her bag. thousand different little things that will make life easier if we take them with us." Roland sighed and started going through the little things he would need to take as he waited for the sun to finally come up.

 

[InkyDarkness]

The small blue man looked up at Roland, his gaze flicking to his leg. " 'M not a monster sir an that girl Is merely being kind to me, I did come from that knife of hers after all."His voice almost British like, was rather firm and held no squeak that would be expected of someone his size. He coughed between the second sentence *Kinder then others anyway..* But from his small enough size it was practically unhearable.


Deciding it was early enough, she unfolded her legs and stood up, he back giving an audible pop as she fixed up her jacket before walking back to grab her things. She grabs her satchel and then waited as usual "So, w-whats the plan?"

 

[Roland Bishop]

As Roland was softly muttering items, he heard X ask what the plan was. Looking over to her, casting the items to the back of his mind, he answered her. "I need to finish fixing the motorcycle. If you could gather up the food, find some smaller bottles and put water in them, and just gather up any smaller items you can find, then that would be a great help."


After telling X what he needed from her, he went back into his narrow, one minded way and headed outside to fix the bike. They couldn't get anywhere without it, and walking would take days, if not weeks. Walking tends to make you run into trouble, and trouble makes things take longer.


Once Roland was by the bike again, he quickly got to work on it. After an hour it was finished, so the young man went into the shed and recovered some fuel. After pooring it into the gas tank, he went to find X.

 

[InkyDarkness]

With a small nod she fixed the bag on her shoulder and heading to the kitchen, gathering Roland's bag of food and scavenging for water bottles to fill. After sorting through all the cupboards,she walked back out to place everything neatly in her satchel, and picked up the small jar from the table. She placed it inside the bag, knowing that the small man will most likely wish to be on her shoulder again.


After fiddling with a couple random bits of junk from her bag, including one interesting book that was written in something she found herself able to understand and read. Her satchel was full and very easy to carry, although there was more then what the bag at a glance, should of really been able to fit.


She picked khavaul up and headed to the door, whispering a small handful of questions to him about the book, in something, had Roland been near, sounded like a mixture of clicks and hums. 'no doubt he should be ready soon..'

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland had found X rather quickly, as it seemed to him that she had also been looking for him. "Hey dear." He said to her as he approached the girl. "Ready to go?" He asked as he gestured to the motorcycle around the corner. The sooner they left the better it would be. It would mean that they would have more time to find a base of operations.

 

[InkyDarkness]

Fixing her satchel on her arm and nodding to the small blue man on her shoulder. "R-Ready as always.


"

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland nodded to X. "Lets go then." He said to her as he turned back around and went back over to the motorcycle. It was an old road bike that didn't look like it was in the best condition, but it would get them around. Roland went and sat on the bike, pulled out the kick starter, as the button start was broken. After a few kicks, it started with a loud rumble of the engine. "Jump on." He told her as he gestured behind him. "And hold on tight."


After a hesitant X got onto the back of the bike, Roland slowly took off, turning onto the open highway from the city. The highway was clustered with cars, so Roland had to weave between them at a slow pace, even going off-road at times. But after they had passed the cluster of cars, Roland sped up and began to push the bike. It wasn't that it couldn't go fast, but more of that it hadn't been ridden for so long and had trouble getting the oil and fuel through it's system. Though after about an hour it was going properly. The pair where well on their way to the new city.


After almost an entire day of riding, and a few pit-stops here and there, they had finally arrived at the city. Roland kept driving at a slower pace as to dodge the scattered cars. The buildings here where taller and a lot more numerous then the last city. Roland decided with the power to melt locks due to the little goop monster, it would be better to set up base in a warehouse. It was safer and would have stuff in it they can use.


After driving to the warehouse district, Roland pulled up next of one of the locked ones. He put down the bike stand and waited for X to get off, as he couldn't until she did. "Here we are. This would be the easiest place to defend. We just need the little monster to melt the lock on it so we can get in."

 

[InkyDarkness]

After hesitantly getting on, she eventually found herself enjoying the view as he eyes scanned the new areas as they traversed.


She was a little shaky as she got off holding her hands pressed together to stop most of the small tremors that flowed through her arms. After letting them subside a bit she pointed to the lock, and clicked lightly, khavaul nodding, but looking at Roland with the tiniest trail of a glare. Although she didn't approve of him calling him that, it was kind of cute, so she left the two to simmer of each-other without interference. The small man walked down her arm and she moved closer to the lock. He sprung off and latched onto the metal, his hands fizzing through it until the mostly intact lock fell to the ground with a clunk, the small man falling in to her already open hand. "t-There we go.." she said, straightening and putting the tiny man on her shoulder once more.

 

[Roland Bishop]

"Thank you dear." Roland said to X as he walked into the warehouse. Inside it was a lot of canned food, so they where lucky in that department. But that also meant that it was rather empty, so they had plenty of room to maneuver around. After just walking inside, Roland went back outside to grab the bike and push it inside so that no one would walk by and take it. He had worked much too hard on it for that to happen.


Though Roland was only in the fount of the warehouse, there was also a large backroom that used to be used as a staff break room. There where also some stairs leading to railings along the inside of the warehouse, acting as a second floor. On the second floor was also a room that used to be used as an office.


"Feel free to explore dear."

 

[InkyDarkness]

Stepping inside she observed the area, It wasn't as homely as the little house they had left, but she found no reason to be afraid of it, at least while it was bathed in the sunlight. It also felt more protected.


After wandering the premises she found a nice corner near some crates, without a glaring amount of sunlight. She sat and placed her satchel beside her, letting Khavaul down from her shoulder. She then proceeded to fiddle with her hair and fix it, seeing as it had been in a rather messy ponytail this whole time. After that she pulled out the book and began to curiously scan its old and lightly tattered pages.

 

[Roland Bishop]

After putting the motorcycle inside against the wall with the stand down, Roland went to go find X. He wanted to talk to her a bit more. After finding her in a corner, he spoke to her. "Hey. We are going to have a lot to do around here. But at least we won't have to keep watch anymore. We can just prop something against the door. They can't get through the high windows. If you could just put some food in the old staff-room, the one at the back of the room, then that would be good. If you need anything, let me know." Roland told the girl. He was eager for a good nights sleep, and was planning on heading to bed as soon as he could.

 

[InkyDarkness]

She caught him out the corner of her eye and nodded to him, leaving the book open she stood up and grabbed the satchel, leaving Khavauls jar behind for him to rest in if he needed.


The small man smiled lightly and sat in the jar, watching the ceiling, just clearly a little tense at Roland closeness.


She wandered over to the back room, taking her time to neatly sort and stack the jars on the counter. She then picked up the mess of chairs and fixed up the table, before walking back to the book, with a much lighter satchel. "So.. are there going to be any further plans?" She ask hesitantly, as she sat beside the book again, closing it with a gentle dust filled thud. She figured it was unlikely they would be in desperate need of things now, and that it would be more adventurous but less meaningful tasks.

 

[Roland Bishop]

Roland ignored the little goop monster in the jar and looked at the book. It seemed to be some sort of instructional manual for a lot of random stuff. Why X would be reading this book he really didn't know. It was mostly irrelevant for the apocalypse. Though he did suppose that some of it would be useful. X returned surprisingly fast, so the young man listened to her question then answered it. "For today, rest. That was a long ride, and i would rather just sleep the rest of the day and all the night. As for tomorrow, just explore really. If you want to look for anything in particular, we can head in that rough direction and see what we can find. The next day, we need to find a source of water. Other then that, not much in the way of plans."


After stifling a yawn, Roland kept talking. "I'ma go to sleep in the office. If you need me, you know where to find me. You can block the door with something since i drove." Roland told her as he began to head up to the office to sleep. If she wanted to keep talking she could follow him, but he just wanted sleep.

 

[InkyDarkness]

"OK.." She held back the small thank-you that was tempted to spill from her mouth, but instead smiled and nodded "Sleep well." As much as she was up fro so more conversation the man did look tired, and the book that she had before her was still calling at her.


She got up barricade the door and proceeded for the next handful of hours to read. After she read any thing of interest she would ask the man beside her, until eventually he had gone to sleep and she found her eye lids closing each word that pasted her gaze.


At some point, during the wee hours she had succumbed to some much needed rest and was awoken by a rather violent nightmare, causing her wake up in a terrified sweat. Although she had somehow not made any screams, she had scratched her hand on the floor she lay on, leaving a mild scratch. She sat up rubbing her shoulders as if to warm herself from the inner cold she felt.