Dead USA (DrTrollinski and Elwin)

[DrTrollinski]

"I've had a good night as well. You helped make it special." He smiled and kissed her lips, taking her by the hand. "Let's go check on the little one, then we'll get to sleep ourselves." He smiled and lead her out of the kitchen and upstairs; they opened the door to Phil's room and peaked inside, where Daniel SHOULD have been sleeping. He wasn't. Phil was worried, but when he checked Coden's room, he was just fine.


Daniel was snuggled right up in bed with Coden, and both of them appeared to be fast asleep. He dropped an arm around Beth's shoulders and smiled as he looked over the two.


"Look at them... Ain't that somethin'?" He whispered.


--


"Nice to meet you, Blair." He said, smiling a little. "How come you've been going by a different alias, then?" He asked, giving a lighthearted chuckle as he wiped his eyes with his free hand.

 

[Elwin]

Beth smiled and rested her head on Phil's arm. "So cute..who would have known how gentle Coden could be.." She yawned a little. "..He surprises me all the time.." Beth's voice started to drift off as he eyes struggled to stay open.


~~


"Keeva is my middle name. It was the name my Father wanted as it means precious. But my Mom loved Blair, so she called me Blair and my Dad called my Keeva. But Blair is my official first name." She smiled, hugging her knees. "I'm not sure which I like more, but Keeva is good for going incognito.." She laughed, lightly and yawn. "It is pretty quiet tonight.." She mumbled, staring at the black sky.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"It's real nice of him." He smiled, and then lead Beth back so he could close the door over. He turned and looked at her, taking a soft deep breath. "Would you like to share a room tonight, or...?" He thought it'd be a good idea seeing as they both suggested from night terrors.


--


"I think Blair's good." He smiled at her. "You should tell the others about that. If not everyone, then Jackson at least." He chuckled a little and then looked off over the night sky. "It sure is quiet, yeah." He said. "Worst winter I've seen in years, though." He added.

 

[Elwin]

Beth paused and looked up at him. "..Yes.." She said quietly. She had a look on her face that seemed all too keen to stay with Phil. She hadn't quite considered the backlash anyone would give them when they found out but she couldn't see what would bother anyone other than surprise. She took his hand into hers and planted a kiss on it. She then lead him onwards to her room, as it was empty.


~~


"I think I'll just keep it between us.." Keeva replied, with a half smile. "..and maybe Jackson too.." She adjusted to her front, laying on her stomach. Personally she liked the snow. It was rare and unique to see. It was so quiet, though. Almost too quiet. Keeva stared into the darkness, feeling herself getting tired. Her eyes started to daze as she laid, watching nothing. Her mind started conjuring shadows as she drifted off. Or so she thought were shadows. Keeva yawned, trying to ignore her own confusion. Then it clicked. They weren't shadows at all. Keeva jumped up, clamping a hand over her mouth and pointed out into the night hoping that Jacob could see what she saw.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He smiled and walked over to the bed, instantly collapsing onto it. He laughed a little and looked up at the ceiling. "Here's one for you. I've never shared a bed with someone before." He chuckled a little and turned his head to look at her, shooting her an inviting smile.


--


Jacob looked at her for a moment, a tad confused. He soon looked up and saw that there was a crowd of the undead. Some ran, and some walked. Most of them ran, though. He needed to act quick . He ran downstairs and grabbed two of the silenced rifles from the armoury and then made his way back up, instantly dropping one in front of Keeva. He readied his own one and have a panicked sigh.


"We're alone on this one. We can take 'em." He said, a little unsure. "Aim for the ones that are running first." He added as he went down on one knee and lined up his aim.

 

[Elwin]

Beth flashed her flirtatious eyes and turned around. "Don't look!" She said, lightly. She got changed into a silk nightie that Luna had picked up for her once on an outing. Luna would always sneak beautiful clothes and beauty products for Beth when she went scavenging. She turned round, looking cheeky and jumped in next to Phil, cuddling up close.


~~


Keeva nodded and adjusted the rifle. She got onto one knee and squinted both eyes aiming for once of the closer runners. Hopefully they wouldn't notice anything. Keeva missed her first shot in a panic but managed to hit three in a row after her first mistake. More of the walkers started speeding up and they had to shoot quicker. "What is with these ones? I've never seen them move so fast.." She whispered, getting another shot in.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He hugged her tightly and smiled as he snuggled up to her, kissing her lips as he set his head down on the pillow beside her. ".. It sounds funny, Beth, but... I'm glad that we had all that conflict before... If we didn't, we probably wouldn't be where we are right now." He chuckled a little and sheepishly gave her another kiss. He was still a bit shaky on the whole romance scene.


--


Jacob was just gunning down whatever he saw come into sight, which was probably around five runners. The bad thing was, that they shrieked and cried out when they ran, which was rather daunting, luckily they weren't close enough to wake everyone up. ".. I don't know." He sighed. One thing they did notice, though, the walkers were stopping and chowing down on the runners that had been killed. How odd. Does that mean they were more human than undead?

 

[Elwin]

Beth agreed silently, smiling at him in the dark. She had her hands around his waist. He was fit for a man of his age, most men in their forties in her area were lazy chubby slobs. "I never apologized for the way I acted when we first met..I didn't mean to seem so..desperate." She sighed. "I've always been a lonely person I suppose.."


~~


"Jacob..can we take them all?" Keeva asked, hoping for reassurance. She had a good shot, but it was hard to keep up with the speed and quantity of the walkers, they were coming in swarms. "Maybe we should warn some of the others?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

He simply hugged her tight and lied back, sighing a happy sigh as he ran his fingers gently through her hair. Her hair was soft - God, he felt so... alive, to be holding her like this. It was nice. He kissed her forehead and then made sure they were both snuggled up and warm under the blanket. It was a cold night, after all. ".. I understand... I've always been a lonely man, Beth... I just--.. I got so used to being alone, so at first, I didn't want to accept anything else, because that was my way of life right up until recently." He chuckled softly.


--


".. Look what they're doing." He said. "The walkers, they're eating the runners." He said, almost struck by amazement as he reloaded another magazine into his gun. "That's a good sign." He said, the only problem was they were getting dangerously close to the building - the barricades would hold them off, but still, it was an inconvenience. ".. I'll go get Greg." He quickly spun on one heel and dashed back inside; he went and woke Greg, but did it as quietly as he could to ensure that he didn't wake any of the others. Greg was surprised at the news, but he quickly jumped up and ran and got a silenced rifle of his own, and then joined the others on the roof.


"What have we got--..?" He asked, but it wasn't long before he saw what the problem was and started shooting. ".. They run." He said to himself in pure shock. That's what Clayton meant, wasn't it?


They run.

 

[Elwin]

Beth used one hand to stroke his cheek. It was rough, like most men. It was a texture she had not felt in a long time. "I know..I don't blame you for anything..you're just who you are..and who you are definitely isn't a bad thing.." Beth smiled a little. "I see a bit of Coden in you actually. He has a temper like you do.." She giggled a little at this, remembering all the trivial things Coden had kicked off about in the past.


~~


Keeva turned to see Greg join her and Jacob on the roof. "The walkers are ravenous.." She spoke, aiming to Greg. Keeva shifted her position and aimed at a hoard of the things crowding round a body. They were ripping it apart, feasting on its insides like they hadn't eaten for weeks. Keeva pointed her gun at one particularly aggressive walker and shot through its head. The rest of the walkers ran to its body as the blood splattered allover the snow and started a new feast.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Yeah, well... Coden's gonna' grow up into a fine man. I'll help make sure of that, but I can't do that without you." He smiled. ".. It's hard for any boy to grow up with one parent. You can't blame yourself for the way he is... You can blame yourself for the good side, though." He yawned a little and stroked one of her cheeks. ".. I think Coden's a good kid. I mean, he's been really good to Daniel since he got here." He smiled a little. ".. I think things will be better now. For all of us." He took hold of her hand under the covers and shut his eyes.


--


Then there was a shriek. Or a roar, what the hell was that? Suddenly, a thing of a mad size came swerving around the corner at the end of the street. It had teeth that must have been the size of a child's index finger, and claws the same size, too. It ran on all fours, and had pure black eyes. It sprinted towards the building while roaring, slicing any undead out of the way.


"Holy. Shit." Jacob stuttered. ".. Shoot that fuckin' thing!" He yelled as quietly as he could; he raised his rifle and started spraying at it, but it was tanking bullets. It didn't have fur. In fact, it looked like it just had exposed muscles and tissue on the outer layer. It was like an even more horrific version of a werewolf, in a sense.

 

[Elwin]

"Yes.." Beth said passively, thinking. "I don't want to say that I am happy that we live in this world..but I think that Code growing up in these circumstances are shaping him better..makin' him more of the man he has the potential to be.." With this, Beth let out a yawn and shut her eyes. She was thinking about Coden grown up and how she wanted him to be the perfect man, strong willed, courageous and loyal.


~~


Keeva joined Jacob with spraying, but the thing was huge, clearly a mutation of some sort. "That thing is the size of a hoard of the scrawny chumps.." She said, slightly breathless from the panic. She shot a few smaller walkers that were only making their job difficult, whilst Jacob and Greg tried to take down the mutant.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. As for the little one... We gotta' make sure he ain't too exposed to everything." He sighed. ".. He's such a sweet and sensitive little kid. Tomorrow, if his voice is better... we'll have to talk to him about his parents." He snuggled her closely and set his head down beside her own, shutting his eyes and smiling as he took a deep breath.


--


It took a lot, but the thing finally went down after taking a dozen bullets to the face. How did it take that many shots? That was near enough impossible for one of the undead, wasn't it?


".. Jesus Christ..." Greg said, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down as he started picking off the remaining runners and walkers that were still making their way towards the station. ".. What the hell was that thing...?" He asked in a whisper.

 

[Elwin]

After the scare of the night, Keeva, Jacob and Greg left the roof unattended to catch some sleep before the sun rose. They were sure they had finished each one off, but the pilings of bodies was a sight to behold for the next morning. Beth and Phillip fell asleep fairly quickly after mindless chatter about the boys and the future. Their dreams were peaceful that night. As the sun rose, the glittering daylight highlighted the glistening blood bath outside of the base.

​

8.30 am


Keeva had been up before everybody else. She was beyond the guard that surrounded the building, using a shovel to push bodies away, clearing a path. She had a scarf tightly wrapped around her mouth and nose, so that the stink of rotting bodies wouldn't make her vomit. She hadn't slept well that night, constantly worrying that somehow one of the children would end up witnessing this horror and scarring themselves. She pushed the bodies forward, without a particular aim on where they were being pushed. Just away from them. "Urgh..fucking hell!" She spluttered, staring at the large mutated lump that was buried beneath smaller walkers. She hadn't even attempted to move that one yet.


Beth groaned, turning over as she stirred awake. As she regained her consciousness, Beth felt a searing pain through her head. Hangover. She had only had a few glasses the night before but she was a pathetic drinker. She opened her eyes, eventually and focused on the large hairy man beside her. Oh god, she must have looked a state. Beth jumped up quickly, peeking to make sure he was asleep and tiptoed to the bathroom to brush her blonde curls back into place.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Clay was one of the first to wake up. He felt awful, and the first thing he did was go to the bathroom. His stomach was a little upset, but he didn't throw up at all. He felt uneasy, and a bit sick, but he was much better than yesterday. He was done within a few minutes, and then went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. He had a bit of a fever, but he was looking better than before - right in time for Christmas.


--


Daniel was the next person to wake up. Clayton wasn't the only one who needed the bathroom. Daniel's bladder was uncomfortably full, and he woke up snuggled up to Coden. Ah, yes. He remembered what had happened last night. He shook Coden's arm and then tried to croak out a word. He was surprised.


"Coden..." He choked out in a raspy whisper. That was all he could manage, but it was a start.


--


Phil woke up not too long after Beth had left. His head wasn't pounding, but he was a little surprised to be in Beth's bed. He felt happy, though. Very happy - He was content with how life was now, and that was a good thing. He crossed his arms behind his head and then smiled, looking up at the ceiling. He had no idea what had gone on on the previous night.


--


Greg didn't get all that much sleep. He was up thinking about that thing that appeared last night. Before he went to bed, he did tell Keeva and Jacob to ensure that the body of the big thing wasn't burned or buried. He needed to take a look at that thing - he was intrigued to what made the thing so strong, and how it took so many damn bullets before it went down. It got shot in the face at least five times, so they had to look into this so they had an idea of what they were dealing with.

 

[Elwin]

Luna awoke, well slept. She had had a comfortable early night and slept peacefully for hours. Her body was awake as she bounced from Clayton's mattress and made her way to the bathroom where she ran across Beth. Beth was fiddling with the hair brush, trying to pull it through tangles in her hair. "Oh hey Beth.." Luna chirped, flashing her a smile. "How are you do-" she paused and edged closer to Beth. "Have you got lipstick smudged across your face?" She teased, chuckling. Beth glared at her and rolled her eyes.


"No..." She murmured, rubbing her skin with a wet towel. She was beaming red, her head hurt and she was in no mood for Luna's chirpy naive personality that morning. "I love you Luna sweetheart, but please leave me be.." Luna laughed lightly, guessing Beth had had a drink last night.


Coden moaned, half asleep and turned away from Daniel, not realising who was calling his name. "Go away Mom.." He murmured, letting out a snore. Coden's eyes flashed opened after a few seconds and he turned to face Daniel. "Wait, did you just speak?" He said with a cheeky grin. "Duuuuude!" He pulled Daniel over and squeezed the little boy, but not too hard as he didn't want to crush the kid.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Daniel grinned at him and hugged him back. ".. Yeah..." He croaked again, feeling a little more proud of himself. He looked around, pulled away from Coden, and then put both hands over his groin. "I need--" His voice cut away and he sighed. ".. Bathroom..." He croaked in addition. He was pretty desperate, in all honesty - he needed to go last night, but he didn't really know how to tell Coden, plus, the urge wasn't that bad.


--


Jacob was up for an early start. He went out the front of the building and saw that Keeva was busy with all the bodies. God, it was a mess. He walked up to her, grimacing in disgust once he smelt the horrible odor that the bodies were giving off. He patted her on the shoulder and looked around. She'd done a decent job so far, it seemed.


"You want some help...?" He asked quietly. This was hardly a pleasant task.


--


Phil got up and made his way downstairs and went into the kitchen, where he found Clayton sitting at the table with his head on his arms. He patted his head and then sat down at the side of the table, looking at him for a moment.


"How are you, buddy? I heard you were sick yesterday." He said, Clayton shrugged a little and nodded tiredly.


".. I'm fine... stomach's a bit bad, but... I've stopped throwing up. I think." He said, Phil merely smiled and gently ruffled his hair again.


"Good." He replied. Clayton was a little confused - Phil seemed a lot happier than he usually was. What had happened to him? Something of interest, clearly.

 

[Elwin]

Coden wrapped his arms around Daniel and pulled him up off of the mattress. He gently let go off him and placed him on the ground, dodging the dog as it ran in to mindlessly run in circles. Coden yawned as he scratched his bedhead with one hand and grabbed Daniel's little hand with the other, leading him to the bathroom. "Urgh..I wish I could have a lie in on those crappy mattresses.." He moaned, half to himself and half to Daniel as he was the only other person there.


~~


Keeva gasped with a short breath. "Absolutely.." She groaned, hauling another body that was lumbered on top of another. She started pushing it. "I'm not exactly sure where we can put these..but so far I've just piled them away from the entrance, so they don't give anyone an immediate fright.." Keeva had managed to get blood on her front from the sheer amount of bodies she had hauled that morning. She didn't mind however, that was the least gruesome part.


~~


Luna gave Beth a little wave as she left the room, doing a little skip to the kitchen. She was hoping Greg would be around soon, as they hadn't spoken much recently she felt like they were a bit distant. Luna went to the side and poured herself a bowl of dry cereal before making a pot of coffee for everyone.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Daniel simply nodded in agreement. He didn't want to risk damaging his voice any more than he already had, so he just kept hold of Coden's hand and waited until he was taken into the bathroom. Once he was there, he locked himself in one of the stalls to do his business - It was very relieving. He didn't have the courage to tell Coden that he needed to go last night, but this morning, the urge became a little too unbearable. It was evident that he'd been waiting a long time, judging by how long he was in there, but when he came out and started washing his hands he looked a lot better. He dried off his hands and then went back to Coden's side, smiling up at him.


--


"Sure." He said, he then started picking up one of the bodies and dragging it over to the pile that Keeva had created. He was strong enough to manage it, but struggled when it came to some of the bigger ones. The smell was abysmal, too, but he had a fairly strong stomach, thankfully. ".. So, how did you sleep last night?" He asked.


--


Greg slowly awoke and looked over at Jackson. He'd been awake for a lot of the night, but decided that he wasn't going to mention it to anyone else just yet. He slowly went downstairs and went into the kitchen where he saw Clay sitting at the table, and Luna preparing some coffee. He hoped that he didn't wake Jackson up with the noise he made, but Jackson had become more of a light sleeper in the recent months.

 

[Elwin]

Coden laughed a little, grinning at the little boy. "Done your business, dude? Shall we go get some breakfast?" He laughed some more and picked up the boy, carrying him to the kitchen. Coden hoped Daniel wouldn't feel nervous, as there was more people awake than anticipated.


~~


Beth finally finished in the bathroom, constantly keeping a hand on her head. Her headache was brutal, but nothing a hot coffee couldn't sort out. She strolled into the kitchen, spotting Phil. She remembered parts of the night, but it definitely was a blur. Beth silently rushed to where Luna stood and parked next to her, pulling her own cup out. "I have things to tell you.." She whispered to the perky girl beside her. Luna raised her eyebrows till she saw Beth's slight embarrassed smile. She sighed with relief that it wasn't something serious.


~~


Keeva rolled her eyes a little, huddling in her scarf. "I slept pretty average, I mean it surely is a sight for sore eyes, but nothing to lose sleep over.." She dropped a body onto the pile, walking back for another. "Yourself?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

Daniel was alright with the people that were there, all but Clayton - he didn't know who that was, but that wasn't too much of an issue. He waved at Beth, Luna, and Phil. He saw Greg walk in, and also smiled at him and waved. Greg finally gave a bit more of a warm and relaxed smile and waved back.


"Morning, everyone." Greg called out to them, putting on the most relaxed expression that he could manage. He went over and put a cup down in front of Luna, nodding at her with a smile. ".. Pour me a hot one, please." He winked at her, nodded at Beth with a smile, and then went and sat down opposite Clayton.


--


"Decent. I was awake for a little while, watching from the window to make sure there weren't no more of those things." He looked over towards the giant dog-like creature they'd fought last night and shuddered. "I can't believe that Greg wants us to leave that thing untouched... Look at it. It's teeth are--.. Jesus. It's teeth are the size of my pinky finger." He scratched the back of his head before picking up another body and carrying it towards the pile.

 

[Elwin]

Luna nodded, smiling sweetly at Greg as she poured the coffee into Greg's cup. She walked over to him and placed it in front of him, sitting as she did, with her own coffee. She sipped it silently and nibbled on her cereal, watching everyone prepare themselves for the day. She was also increasingly intrigued on Beth's issues.


Coden lead Daniel to the table and sat him down. "Cereal, dude?" He questioned, yawning at the same time. He felt pretty passionate about making sure Daniel felt as normal as possible with everyone, he felt like it was his first proper duty to the group.


~~


Keeva looked at the thing, grimacing. "Probably for the best though, y'know..discovering what the f**k it is.." She stood over it and bent down, inspecting it close. "Intriguing..but also terrifying. If this is out there, who knows what else."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Phil looked up at Greg and Luna and nodded at them. "Morning." He said, he looked very happy and... content. It was different. It was the first time they'd ever seen him looking so perky and happy about himself. He looked up to Beth and smiled. "Morning, Beth... You sleep alright?" He asked. Greg immediately realized that something had happened the previous night, and gently nudged Luna's arm as he sipped his coffee, smiling.


--


Daniel nodded and then smiled at him, but then dragged a chair over to the counter and climbed up onto it - he dug around in the cupboard for a moment and eventually pulled out a bottle of honey. He smiled as he put that and a cup down on the counter, and he also got some bottled lemon juice out alongside that. He pointed down at it while looking at Coden - It may have been hard to remember, but mostly everyone was there when Jacob made him that drink with honey in it - that helped out his voice quite a bit.


--


".. I hope so... Ugly bastard, ain't it?" He sighed as he walked over and gently kicked it. ".. I didn't think the infection could do something like this, I--.. Christ. I hope there ain't anymore of those things out there, or we're going to have to start getting up some stronger fortifications." He explained, looking at the creature's blank and pearl black eyes. This was the sort of thing nightmares were made of.

 

[Elwin]

Beth blinked a little, taking a nervous sip from her coffee. She spluttered on it a little, spitting a bit of the coffee back into the cup. "Mmmhm.." She murmured and smiled a little. "Did you?" Beth noticed Greg and Luna giggling. She quickly flashed them daggers, then turned back to Phil, smiling sweetly.


~~


Coden got the hint and made a warm tea with drops of honey in it. It probably tasted quite good for a remedy. He put it down on the table for Daniel. "Leave it a couple of minutes dude, it'll be a bit hot." He also poured some cereal, mixing in the powdered milk and set that on the side beside the drink.


~~


Keeva frowned a little, standing back up. "Maybe we should consider that anyway." She said, looking back at the piled barrier that blocked the building. "Last night was one run in..who says it won't happen again?" She picked up one last body and started dragging it to the pile. "Should we burn these bodies or leave them?" Keeva paused, remembering what he had told her last night about his hometown. She prayed she didn't spark up bad memories with her question.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Never slept better." He said, stretching his back. ".. One of the only nights I didn't wake up in the early hours of the morning, which is good." He chuckled softly and then looked over as Daniel came walking over. Well, he was hobbling because of his feet, but he wasn't too bad. He hopped up onto the chair and smiled shyly around at everyone. Once Coden put the cereal down in front of him, he started tucking in straight away. It was nice to have food again - Phil smiled and reached over, gently patting his head and ruffling his hair.


"Feeling better today, pal?" He asked, Daniel smiled at him and nodded as he shoved a huge spoonful of cereal into his mouth, chomping down on it. Phil chuckled softly and then sipped his coffee. "Good." He smiled.


".. Would you guys mind if I went back to bed for a while...?" Clayton asked in a groan, his head still buried in his arms.


--


He thought for a moment and then sighed. ".. Burn them. They'll just rot, and for all we know, it'll lure more of those things in." He sighed again and then walked over to the big thing, inspecting its face once more. It was quite intriguing, actually - How the virus managed to create something like this seemed almost unreal. He was just as scared as he was curious - What else would the virus have effected? "I can go to the gas station and get some fuel with you, if you want." He offered.