Dead USA (DrTrollinski and Elwin)

[Elwin]

Luna clenched her fists. "Don't call me sweetheart and you know nothing about me you arrogant asshole..how do you know i'm not a hunter?" This was the angriest Luna had felt in a while and she couldn't do much about it other than hiss her frustrations at the rude man. "If you're so wonderful why are you even travelling with us at all?" Luna questioned, perhaps too loud. Luna followed him reluctantly, mumbling more frustrations under her breath.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Because your ass was nearly grass last night, that's how I know. I'm far from perfect, lady, but trust me, people up there are better off with you alive, alright?" He said, sighing. "Hate me all you want, but you either come with me to follow 'em, or we go back to the house." He said.

 

[Elwin]

"Last night was a special case..I..you don't even know." Luna lightly touched her nose, then shook her head. "Get going then, we need to catch up with them." Luna stood close behind him, but still a distance away so that they didn't touch. "I think they're trying to build some kind of superior community here."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Then they're fucking dead meat at some point. We didn't just drive for ten hours to be pushed away again." He said with a sigh as he lead her around the buildings until they got a little closer once again. This time he dropped behind a dumpster and listened out closely, his shotgun at the ready.

 

[Elwin]

"And what if they're assets to us?" She whispered, holding her pistol close. The woman shot her rifle, hitting a walker in the head. "That's how you do it, Zak." she said, teasingly to a man beside her. He pushed her snorting. "You're lucky your a heavy bitch, Gerda. Or i'd tear your behind apart.." Luna cringed at the mans vulgar words, clasping a hand over her mouth. "I say we find workers.." Zak said again as his gang looked. "Y'know, weaker survivors. Scared ones. Take 'em and make 'em cook and wash and shit. Build a real community with us and the rest at the top where we belong." Gerda rolled her large black eyes. "That is what we are doing dipshit."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Fuck this shit. I've heard enough. We need to take these motherfuckers down." Phil whispered to her, clenching his shotgun tightly. "I don't want the kids being slaves to these assholes. Fuck 'em, me and you could take all of 'em down right now as we're behind them, or we can head back to the house and wait for them to come to us." He said. He had such an infuriated look in his eye now, and he was quite red in the face.

 

[Elwin]

Luna put her finger to her lip, staring angrily at him. One of the other men spoke up, edging closer to Gerda and Zak. "Do you think we could..have..y'know. A brothel type of service." Gerda laughed. "You're thinking ahead Wulf. We will never get to that stage anyway, if we don't watch our backs." As Gerda said this she turned round and stepped backwards, pointing her gun. The other men followed behind her, also pointing their weapons. "Drop your fucking weapons and I won't shoot." She said to the two people hiding from them. A small asian woman and a rather rugged man. Luna and Phillip.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(They're down an alley behind a dumpster and listening while they're walking. I'm puzzled as to how they saw them.)

 

[Elwin]

(Apologies, I'm half asleep and on my phone so it is difficult to look back at old posts to remember every detail. We can either go with it and say that they heard them or I'll scrap it and re-write)

 

[DrTrollinski]

(Well, we can go with it if I can put Jacob into place. Luna and Phil weren't exactly quiet about leaving the house. They're both behind cover so they're out of the line of sight. If you're alright with another character having involvement, I'll stick with the current plan.)

 

[Elwin]

(I'm cool with anything you want to do)

 

[DrTrollinski]

(Alright.)


Jacob had followed. Yeah, Phil was the one who taught him, but Phil was also the victim of his own success. He wasn't patient enough. Jacob knew he couldn't take down all five, and if he took down their apparent leader, he knew that the other men would most likely panic and run at Luna and Phil anyway. He thought for a moment, lurking a fair distance back in the safety of a shadow.


"Like you said, Phil..." He whispered as he nocked an arrow and pulled it back to his ear. "A pack of cowards is the most dangerous kind." He said, and then he lined up the shot with the woman's leg. He couldn't kill her. Not yet. He took a deep breath and let the arrow fly; while it was flying, he'd already pulled another arrow back and shot it through the air to the man standing beside her.


"The best laid plans." He muttered as he faded back into the shadows. He knew how to hide. He could be the urban predator if he wanted to be.


He hoped that this would give the two a window to either shoot the rest of them in the confusion, or run. With one member soon to be dead, and there leader soon to be crippled with an arrow in the knee, he just sat back and prayed that his marksmanship was enough to turn the tables.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(I know the pain, too. I've got sixth form tomorrow and I'm on my phone. And I'm tired but can't sleep :c)

 

[Elwin]

Gerda yelped at the pain, gritting her teeth. She fell to the ground, still holding her rifle. Zak had also been hit and was screaming. The rest of the men looked at eachother with confusion. They held their guns up at Luna and Phil, "D..d..do not..fucking..m.move!" one of them stuttered. He helped Gerda up and shook his head at Zak, as he started to jog away. "What? Come back here you fuck!" Zak screeched, holding his stomach, where he was hit. Gerda said nothing and allowed herself to be taken with the other men.


Luna squeaked at the commotion and stood up, loitering. She was frightened as to where the arrows came from and looked around frantically.


(Haha, oh god the feels.)

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Not today, gentlemen..." Jacob muttered as he stepped out of the shadow, another arrow pulled back; he looked at one of the men helping the woman and let the arrow fly right at his back, the previous shots had hit. This was going to work, for sure. With one arrow going through the back of the woman's knee and out the front, she'd never be able to walk again. The man who was hit in the stomach was going to quickly bleed out, no doubt, he may not have realized It, but a steel arrow like that would have torn right through him, and it easily would have an entry and exit wound.


"Oh, Jacob, you motherfucker." Phil snarled as he sprung up out of cover. He fired a few shots of the shotgun at everyone but the woman. He didn't like her, and he wanted her alive. He wouldn't have hit much because of the spread, but he would have hit something. When he saw the third arrow fly, damage could have only been inevitable. Phil jumped back behind cover after his few shots with Luna and looked at her.


"You stayin' here, or are you goin' back to the house?" He asked quickly.

 

[Elwin]

"I.." Luna was baffled. She felt confused shooting people that hadn't actually threatened to kill them once. "This is wrong.." She said blankly and backed away from the scene. She felt unusual and not at all sure whether she should help them or not. Luna stood..not bothering to avoid anything and bit her lip. "They..they were just talking? You're murdering people..causing them to be tortured.." Luna shook her head."You're as bad as they are." With that, Luna ran the opposite way down the street and didn't stop. She felt awful. It was one thing killing walkers..nevermind live people. They could have compromised..seen what they wanted first. Luna had flashbacks of the red faced man being shot to death.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Phil sighed and quickly chased after her; he was fast, no doubt, and she was only running towards Jacob anyway. He kept running at her and eventually dived at her, taking hold of her wrists once they both hit the dirt. He looked angry.


"Don't you get it!? God damn it, Luna! Those assholes were going to enslave all of us! Turn a building into a FUCKING brothel where you and Beth would be fucked senseless every night by four men, hell, they might even get the kids involved in that! Is that really what you want for us?!" He screamed. The remaining hostile were long-gone, thankfully. Unexpected, while Phil was sat on top of her, he started crying. Jacob was slowly making his way over, so whoever ran off would run straight into his arms.


"You think I fucking LIKE this?!" He sobbed. "You think I'm just some psycho who enjoys killing people?! It's the world we live in now, Luna! People aren't looking for allies, they're looking for a way to survive!" He looked away and up at Jacob and kept crying before bowing right down beside her ear. "We're lucky to be alive. Even if we did get out of that, I was not going to be going into a life where I had to sit in a room while you, and Beth, and potentially the boys, all get raped, and me not being able to do anything." He whispered to her, and then lifted his head away.

 

[Elwin]

Luna swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. She didn't bother struggling this time. Instead, tears rolled down her cheeks rapidly and she was shivering. She had only tried to do what she thought was best and never wanted anyone to get hurt. "I.." her lip wobbled a little and no words would come out. "It..its just.." Luna's voice was less than a squeak. She felt more foolish than she had the night before. She felt like a mouse beneath Phil.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I know I'm an asshole, Luna... But fuck me, I care about you, alright?!" He sobbed to her. "I've seen how you are with those boys. I don't want you to die, okay? I don't want to see you and them working in a kitchen for the rest of your life. It's not what you deserve!" He whimpered, finally releasing his grip on her wrists as he slowly stood up.


"I've been there." He blurted. "The fucking slavery and the abuse, I've FUCKING been there... And it was all from my asshole father... And let me tell you something. It's something I'd never wish on my worst enemy... And NEVER on you or those kids." He said, bowing his head as he turned away. That explains why he didn't like to he touched.

 

[Elwin]

Luna whimpered, her eyes glistening with tears. They rolled down her cheeks and dropped to the floor. Luna pulled herself up, her arms shaking and sat on her knees. She rubbed her sore wrists, sniffing. "I'm sorry.." she squeaked. She felt horrendous for triggering Phil's breakdown. She didn't want him to be hurt, but she didn't know what to do. She was so frightened of him. "You're not an asshole.." she whispered. "I am..everytime I step outside I get myself into trouble. I can't count how many times Greg has rescued me from dying or being eaten or raped.." this made her cry even more. "I don't want to be useless..but I don't want to hurt anybody.." Luna was biting her knuckles now. "I just want everyone to be okay.."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Phil quickly jumped back down and just hugged her. "God damn it, Luna..." He whimpered, holding her as close as he could. "You ain't no asshole..." He said as he gently rubbed her back, crying himself. "You're not useless... You're probably the most useful person here... Holy shit, from what I've seen, you give Greg and his boys something to live for, something to look up to... I felt useless, you know... For my whole childhood where my old man used to--.." He gulped and started shaking a little as he held her. ".. I always asked why. Why I couldn't be helpful, why I couldn't make him stop... I never wanted to hurt him, though... I never did. When I finally hurt him and showed him what it felt like to be hit, showed him what it was like to... To be nothin'... Things changed." He sobbed, putting his head on her shoulder. He was really cracking in half right now.


"There's a lot of bad people here now, Luna... A lot... When me and Jacob first met, we saw something happen on the road... Jacob, tell her..."


"We--.. We saw a man shoot a little boy in the face..." He said in a shaky tone.


"He was no older than Jackson, maybe younger, and... And--.. We realized then that... That the world's changed. We killed that man, and we promised each other that we'd never let someone else suffer at someone else's hand..." He shut his eyes, his body shaking tremendously. "Please... Just stop trying to prove yourself. We're all grateful, just... Just make sure you get used to how things are now, okay?" He said in a near enough whisper.

 

[Elwin]

Luna stayed silent. The thing with the little boy, it made her feel sick. She let Phil hold her, remaining limp beneath him. She was still crying but not so much with noise. Tears merely poured from her glistening eyes.


Everything that had just happened frightened her. It shot through her mind like nothing else, not even her hallucinations. She felt powerless and numb. Only now did she realise that every time she stepped away from Phil, Jacob..Greg that she had nearly died. Every single time. It wasn't a one off, the world was dangerous now. She was a city girl who worked in a gift store. She didn't know how to fight or look after herself in the outside world. This made her feel empty.


Luna turned her head slightly, so her cheeks were touching the side of Phil's rough facial hair. She sucked the bottom of her lip and shakily pushed her fingers into his free hand, holding it gingerly.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He squeezed her hand tight and pressed the side of his face against her own. ".. Those boys love you, Luna... And I can't see them lose you." He whispered, he used his free hand to continue rubbing her back. "Me and Jacob, we'll help you, okay? The world may be different, but you... You don't need to change what sort of person you are. You just need to know how to act, and how to take care of yourself out in this big horrible excuse for a world, but if we're going to do that, I want you to promise me that you'll do what it takes." He squeezed her hand even more, his whole body shaking. He used his other arm to hug her now.


(Last post. Goodnight!)

 

[Elwin]

Luna nodded a little, still shaking. "Okay.." She was quiet, but a little louder now than a mouse. Luna pulled back a little, wiping her face with her sleeve. "I'm sorry." She looked at Jacob, as she meant it for him too. They would have been dead meat if it wasn't for him. "I think..we need to find out where that group were heading eventually. There could be a threat." Luna rubbed her thumb along Phil's fingers and half smiled gently. "I won't go chasing after anybody though.." She mumbled.


Luna thought about Greg and her stomach churned. What if they had never made it back to the house? He was simply teaching the boys how to shoot and the next thing, they find Luna and Phillip's dead bodies. Or worse. They were alive, but enslaved. It scared Luna, the thought. Especially after hearing Phil out. He was so vulnerable yet so strong. She had had no clue about how he felt.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Don't worry." Jacob said boldly, out of nowhere. ".. The woman's crippled, there's no chance of finding proper surgery now, even with Greg, she couldn't have anything done for her. That arrow would have completely destroyed her cartilage, and it would have shattered her kneecap as well - someone could remove the bone fragment, and stitch her up, but she'll never be able to walk again without her bones grinding together, causing immense pain." He sighed and slung his bow over his shoulder. ".. If she has a walking stick of some kind, she'll be able to hobble, but that's it. She's useless. One man got hit clean through the stomach and out the back, meaning that he'll bleed out within minutes, especially as he ran off... I hit one man in the back, and that killed him, so they're essentially three people down - While they're gone, we need to relocate and fortify." He said.


".. I agree." Phil sniffled and woped his eyes. ".. And don't apologize, Luna... We all make mistakes, eh?" He smiled at her and slowly rose up, helping her to her feet before releasing her hand. He felt better to have let all of that emotion out at last - It had been built up for the past thirty years. Strange how they managed to become quite close in such dire circumstances, isn't it? ".. Let's head back, eh? We don't want to stay out here for too long." He said.