Dead USA (DrTrollinski and Elwin)

[Elwin]

Luna looked at the little boy and half smiled at him. She stroked his soft hair a little then turned back to Greg and took some bandages. She wrapped a layer around his forehead and around the back. "I'm sorry if this looks a little funny." She said, smiling. Luna had yet to realize that they would be camping in the woods tonight. Too much had gone on and she was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened in the car to think about the future.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Yeah, thank you." He smiled at her and then looked down at Jackson, and then over at Clayton who was still resting it up on the cold ground.


"You okay, Clay?" He asked. Clay slowly sat up and nodded at him.


".. Had a bit of a headache, but that's passed..." He stated before clearing his throat and stretching his back; Greg looked back at the wreck of the car and sighed before using Luna's shoulder to push himself to his feet; he then helped her up as well, followed by leaning over and scooping up the crying child off of the ground. He held him close and allowed him to sit on his arms by his stomach - Jackson put his head on Greg's shoulder and took a deep breath.


".. I honestly recommend that we get moving before that thing blows up." Greg said as he nodded backwards towards the car, wincing as he did so. That hurt his neck, so he wasn't going to do that again. ".. If you have any continuous neck pain, let me know... that goes for all of you... We'll need to stop if that's the case." He said softly as walked back up onto the road. ".. Okay... We'll need to keep going..." He turned to one side of the intersection. "West. We'll keep going that way until we can find somewhere to set up for the night.." He said, and then began slowly pacing forward - Clayton sort of hung back a little bit to walk alongside Luna. He wasn't really feeling all that great and wanted to take it slow.

 

[Elwin]

"Yeah you're probably right actually." Luna hadn't noticed how dark it was started to get. They started to walk and Clayton hung back with Luna, which Luna felt good about. It was quite a nice feeling to be part of protecting a little family, even if she wasn't a part of it. She could feel how much Greg loved his boys and it made her feel passionate about their safety. In the back of her mind, she still felt like she should them to it and go it alone; which conflicted with her more happier emotions towards the family. Luna tried to think of something to say to the older boy, but she wasn't very good talking to pre-teens; or any teens for that matter.


"I err, hope you're feeling okay, man." She said, trying to be casual. Luna hoped that the boy saw her as a friend and not a stranger or a threat. "I'm pretty sure we will be able to retire to bed soon, cos' I am getting pretty sleepy, if I do say so myself." Luna yawned at this, stretching her arms above her head in a comical fashion.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I'll get over it... Just a bit of a bumpy ride, you know?" Clayton cracked a faint grin and shrugged. ".. If anything, you turned out more worse off in that crash than I did." He said in observation. ".. Do you want some help wrapping that up...? There's quite a bit of blood..." He said, cringing a little as he looked at her wound.


There was a small explosion back where they came from, but it wasn't the whole car that blew up. That would have been a lot louder. It made Clayton, Greg, and Jackson jump in shock, but they shook it off and kept moving. Clayton's pace had deteriorated and he looked a little sick as well - his skin was pale and his eyes were heavy, but he was alive and wasn't complaining of any neck pain, so that was always a good start.

 

[Elwin]

Luna touched her forehead quickly, rubbing away some dried blood. She didn't like to make a fuss. "Aw, no. Don't worry about me. I'll get it sorted when we stop walking again or something." Luna jerked at the sound of an explosion but didn't question it, as nobody else seemed to. Time passed and Luna noticed Clayton lagging behind quite significantly.


"Hey I know you're like twelve or something..." Luna tried to be careful not to patronize the young boy. "Do you want me to carry you on my back? I'm skinny but quite strong!" Luna beckoned him to jump on her back, as she pull her backpack forward and slung the handle over her neck.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He shrugged. ".. Yeah, sure... I could use a break to be honest, if you don't mind." He smiled softly at her and then climbed up onto her back, followed by looping his arms over her neck and linking them at her front. ".. If I'm too heavy, just let me know and I'll walk." He muttered to her, he still looked pale, and the feeling of getting off his feet caused him to sigh in relief. If she could keep up the carrying, he knew that he'd probably end up falling asleep right here. Greg looked over his shoulder for a moment and smiled at the interaction between the two - it was nice to see Clay trusting someone new to him for once, because it was quite rare that he'd do that. He nodded at Luna and then stopped for a moment so she could catch p - once she came close, he started walking onward once again.

 

[Elwin]

"Oh no, it's fine!" Luna lied a little, but she could keep him on her back for a while so a little struggle she didn't mind. She was wondering when they were going to stop, it was difficult being in a group because she felt as though Greg knew what he was doing and she couldn't help but start to rely on him for answers. The voice in the back of her mind told her this was bad and that she needed to leave them.


Luna felt Clayton start to breath heavier in her ear, she assumed he had fallen asleep. A little smile painted across her lips, as she watched the ground beneath her. Everything in a forest looked as it would in a forest. Green leaves, brown bark, muddy ground and the smell of dampened air. It almost made her forget the situation she was in and what had happened back in Brooklyn and every other part of America. Despite the calm atmosphere, Luna was starting to feel weary from the walk and her head was stinging profusely.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"There's a place we might be able to camp it out over there for the night." Greg said quietly as he nodded forward. Just beyond another twenty feet of road there was a small bridge that went over a ditch and underpass. The underpass was made of concrete to support the bridge itself, so it was dry under there, at least. Jackson had also fallen asleep in Greg's arms, so now both of them were fast asleep once again and it was just Luna and Greg in the dead of the night, in silence, walking with the two boys sleeping in their arms. Greg hadn't put Jackson on his back - Jackson was at his front and had his head on his shoulder, but Greg was managing it. As a surgeon he needed a specialist diet so that his hand didn't shake during surgery - it was something about having more vitamin C, or something like that. He didn't care - his diet didn't cross his mind any more. Regardless, his healthy lifestyle really helped him here.


Once they got to the bridge it was everything you'd want it to be. Dry, sheltered, reasonably clean, and away from any running water. There was an oil barrel under there as well which must have been used by the homeless to light fires before all of this started. It wasn't much, but it was something.


".. We'll get these two set down somewhere, then I'm going to take a look at your head." He said calmly. "You got any blankets with you? All of our stuff got left in the car." He said.

 

[Elwin]

As the group arrived at their base for the night, Luna inspected the place, silently. Other than it being in the open air, it was a pretty good place. She did worry about lighting a fire as they didn't know what was lurking around the corner. Greg probably knows more than I do, though. She shook off her thoughts; dependency wasn't something she wanted to develop.


Luna set Clayton down, gently. She took the harder objects from her backpack and slipped the bag underneath his head to pad out the ground a little. "Blankets?" Luna looked at the ground, feeling stupid. "I forgot them, I'm sorry. I didn't really think too far ahead." Luna looked at Clayton and shook off her denim jacket. She placed it over the sleeping boy, hoping to keep him slightly warmer. It was a poor effort, but there was nothing else. "Is Jackson okay? I don't have a spare jacket or anything, but Clayton looks sickly. I don't want him to get too cold."

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. It's fine, don't worry about it." He smiled simply at her. When she asked about Jackson he turned his head to look at the young boy's face that was set on his shoulder. ".. Heh--.. I'm sure he'll be fine. He can have my jacket, I don't mind sitting cold for a night." He smiled and then walked over to where the backpack was set down - he went to the opposite side of it and slowly set Jackson down on the ground, his head rested on the bag. Clayton was lying down on the other side and in the opposite direction, so they were both going to have some room - he slipped his jacket off and gently placed it down over the boy, followed by making sure he was wrapped up well enough by it. Once that was done, he looked over them both and gave a half-smile. He was so sad that they had to go through all this, but so proud that they'd been so brave and pushed through it with him; he planted a gentle kiss on Jackson's head and then stood back up before walking over to the oil barrel and looking inside - some leaves, a few twigs, not much, but something. He pulled out a little metal lighter from his pocket and flicked it open, exposing a bright orange flame. He held it against some of the leaves until they ignited and lit the place up - it coated the area they were in with a comfortable warmth.


Greg went and sat against the wall with a tired deep breath. ".. Come over here, bring a bandage and the water... I want to take a look at the cut on your head before we do anything else." He smiled weakly, clearly quite exhausted.

 

[Elwin]

Luna felt relief that the boys were set for the night, it made her feel better about their situation. She still felt slightly nervous about the fire, even though it made her feel a lot better. She picked up the the bottle of water, which was now about three quarters of the way down and a bandage. Luna felt guilty for wasting water on her wound, but she didn't want to argue with Greg. She walked over to him and knelt down, relaxing as she felt the heat blazing against her cheeks. She closed her eyes for a moment, saving the feeling; she might not feel it again for a while.


Luna passed Greg the equipment, hesitantly and started to rub her wound with her hand again. It was really bothering her and she kind of regretted leaving it so long. "I wouldn't use too much water...I only have one other bottle in my bag from the Gas Station." She murmured, trying not to sound opposing.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I won't, don't worry... Just need a drop to get any grime away from the wound." He said as he dabbed some water onto one side of the bandage and then used his free hand to pull her hair back. He looked over her wound for a moment, squinting to see it better in the dim light. ".. In most situations you'd need to get this sort of cut stitched..." He sighed and gently began to clean the wound with the outer side of the bandage that was wet. ".. But I think in this situation, we'll get away with just a bandage." He chuckled softly under his breath and continued cleaning it until he was certain that it'd be fine - water wasn't going to do much for it, but it'd certainly reduce the risk of infection. Once he'd cleaned it he used the clean side of the bandage to cover it over, followed by wrapping the rest of it around her head - the blood-stained part would be at the back and behind her hair, so that didn't matter all that much.


He screwed the cap back onto the bottle of water and then slid it back to her. "We'll need to make sure that that gets changed tomorrow at some point, so we'll have to search some places for some type of first aid... There should be a gas station out here somewhere, more than one, to be honest... seeing as it doesn't look like many people have come through here, we might be able to get some untouched stuff from one of the gas stations out here." He smiled simply and shrugged, followed by pulling out his revolver and his box of ammo - he began loading the gun again, bullet-by-bullet. ".. I can't remember if I ever asked... but... did you have a family before this? Any boyfriends or husbands, maybe children of your own...? I know it's a personal question, but... y'know..." He shrugged awkwardly while his eyes remained on the barrel of the gun to ensure he didn't load it wrong.

 

[Elwin]

Luna felt herself burning up, she was looking she had Asian skin, or else she would be extremely red. "Um, no. No husband, no children. I lived with my Mom, who passed away about 4 weeks ago." She smiled a little; awkwardness was what she really wanted to avoid right now. "I've never had a good experience with men. During high-school and college I got a picked on for being a bit unusual, so boys would only tease me. I remember one time one of my classmates pretended to be interested in me. I truly believed him and we arranged a date after he basically courted me a week or two. He never turned up but his friends did and-" Luna stopped herself and laughed. She had meant to lighten up the situation but it was quite tragic really. "I'm sorry if I dampen the mood." She started to play with her fingers and pulling at her nails. I sound like a childish idiot. "Well anyways, it kind of wrecked my confidence in men so..."


Luna grabbed at a tin that had been taken out of her backpack so the boys could lay on it. "Are you hungry?" She asked, changing the subject. "We could share a tin and give one to the boys when they wake up. I'm sorry that tins and chocolate is all I really have."

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Cans are the best type in survival situations, trust me. If you store 'em right, most canned foods will last well over five years." He smiled at her. "Yeah, sure... I could do with something to eat." He said as he pushed the chamber back into his revolver and cocked it, followed by tucking the gun away altogether. ".. What you said about the guys, though... At college, you'll always get the people like that." He chuckled a little and looked around. ".. I was the nerd at college, that's just me in a nutshell... Things changed over time, but... I didn't go to all the parties, and all that. I was thinking about the future more than anything." His smile faded to only a half, mostly because he thought about the future, and then he thought back to his college days which was shortly before he met his late wife. Oh well, he kept the smile up.

 

[Elwin]

OOC: Sorry if my American lingo is a bit off sometimes, I forget which words I should use at points.


Luna opened the can, which stored beans and sausage pieces. She produced a spoon and passed it to Greg. "I only have one." She shrugged and smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess. but look how well you have done for yourself. I've never really got anywhere. Not like that matters now." Luna felt bad after she spoke for sounding morbid but hoped he would brush the last comment off. "You're so lucky though. Your two boys are so great." She smiled at him. Luna felt her head sting a little then remembered she had a tight bandage wrapped around her head. She started to laugh. "I bet we look ridiculous right now."


The sky was now black and the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the quiet chatting of the two adults. Luna could feel her eyes starting to roll over, she was extremely tired. She jerked slightly, as she thought she heard the snap of wood. It'll be nothing, you're just paranoid.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(Don't worry about it. I'm British myself and I sometimes make those mistakes You'll get used to it )





He took the spoon and began eating. He figured that they'd have half a can each. After the first mouthful he smiled at her and shrugged. ".. Yeah, the job didn't mean that much to me when Clayton was first born..." He looked over at the boys and smiled. ".. It meant the world to me when my wife told me that she was pregnant. It was fantastic." He said, eating some more of the beans. "I remember when Clay was four, we told him about Jackson being on the way - It was hilarious, because he was running about and jumping around. He couldn't wait." He chuckled again and looked around - he didn't like pure silence, so he was glad that the fire was making some sort of noise to fill the air. It made him more comfortable. He smiled at her when she pointed out the bandages. ".. Yeah, we do. Trust me." He joked after looking at her for a few moments - they were going to look ridiculous, but that could be dealt with. Eventually.

 

[Elwin]

"Oh wow, that is so nice. I don't know how I'd cope having children. I haven't had much experience with any really." Luna flinched again, as she heard another crack of a twig. "Wow, this silence is really getting me paranoid." She murmured, twiddling her fingers. "I wonder if there are any larger groups of survivors." Luna imagined little settlements of happy people starting again. Something that you'd see on a movie. "Maybe we might find something, I dunno'..." She wasn't quite sure what she was saying. It was unusual to have no goal other than surviving.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I bet there's some places in the USA that haven't even been hit by this yet. It only happened yesterday, so we'll have to wait and see..." He said, looking around. He heard the cracking of the twigs as well and looked off in the direction of where it was coming from, sighing, he pulled out his gun again and held it at his side, just in case. Thankfully they were shielding the boys if anything came at them, but he was still the slightest bit concerned though he refused to show it. ".. The noises are probably just a fox, or something. If it's any sort of wild dog, the fire will keep 'em away..." He said in a quiet tone with a curt nod; he looked down at the boys again and then back up to Luna with a smile. ".. No one knows how they'll cope with having children. You can only be so prepared with it, and then when they're born you realize how much you were never ready in the first place," He chuckled a little. "It's like a natural skill that you can't develop until it happens. You get better at having children, I guess you could say. You seem to be good with children, from what I've seen so far." He smiled once again.


There was a faint pause while he ran his eyes down to the ground and sighed for a moment. Soon enough he looked back up at her.


".. Luna... I'm guessin' you know that--.. You know..." He began whispering. ".. Their mother died last night... I didn't tell them because I didn't want them to be any more upset than they already were... How do you think I should do it? Should I just tell them that she passed away and there's nothing we can do, or should I give them the full story of what happened?" He asked, he wore a frown now. He didn't have time to be sad about it before, but now it had sort of caught up with him. He slid the can of Frank and Beans over to her seeing as he'd eaten at least half of it now.

 

[Elwin]

Luna took the can, but her stomach had turned at his question. She coughed a little. "Well..um, I don't think I'd personally tell them the whole story. Clayton seems pretty mature, but Jackson is so young, I just really wouldn't. But it's up to you." Luna didn't want to imagine what had happened to their Mother, but she couldn't control the images that popped into her head. Distracting herself, Luna put a spoonful of the beans into her mouth. It was cold and unwelcoming, but she swallowed it anyhow, trying to rid of the lump in her throat. The snapping of twigs repeated itself, but Luna could see no shadows or hear anything else.


"I'm really sorry for your loss, Greg." She choked after a while. "I can't imagine your pain." Luna knew how it felt to lose someone so close to you, but she avoided making this about her as she could see the pain through his eyes. He was a man who had everything.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He shrugged. ".. I don't know how I'm going to tell Jackson--.. He was so, so close to his mother..." He sighed and quickly wiped his eyes. ".. Me and Clay were the typical father-son stereotype, but Jackson and my wife were like two peas in a pod." He added quietly, occasionally looking up to where the snapping of twigs was coming from. They didn't sound loud enough to be a living human running towards them, seeing as they were all in the same sort of area - he wondered what it could have been - if it was a person, they certainly wouldn't be walking around in circles, and if it was any other sort of animal other than a wolf that was also aggressive, it would have made a move by now. What could it be? He shook it off. He didn't want to think about it too much, and he'd act when the time was right if he needed to.


".. I won't tell them the whole story, no... It'd upset them too much, I--.." He looked away for a moment and reduced his voice to a whisper. ".. I had to shoot my wife, Luna..." He stuttered out eventually.

 

[Elwin]

Luna bit her lip till it bled. She felt so bad for Greg, but had no idea what to say to comfort him. "I guess..I guess this infection really is as uncontrollable as we thought." Luna remembered the red faced man and hoped he hadn't been bitten. She wanted him to have reached his family and to be on their way to a new settlement now where they would be safe. "I'm so sorry for you, Greg. I can't even begin to imagine..." Luna paused at the sound of the snapping. "I'm going to go check what that sound is, I'll be back in a second." She set down the can and stood up, taking her knives with her. It probably wasn't the best idea to directly face whatever was behind the bridge but it only sounded like a small threat.


Luna reached to where the sound was coming from gripped a knife to her chest so she was ready to launch it at the skull of the threat. When she reached round the corner, she let out a high pitched gasp. Luna came back round the corner her knife still in hand and behind her trailed a black labrador dog. It looked a little dopey and was wagging its tail vigorously. Luna bent down and rubbed the dog's back and kissed it on the head. "Are you lost boy?" She asked it, rubbing its nose.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Well, would you look at that." Greg sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes before reaching over to pet the dog. "If it isn't our little morale booster. The boys always wanted a dog, but we couldn't get one because my wife was allergic." He chuckled sadly and continued to pet the dog. ".. That's a good boy." He muttered softly to it, a smile finally stretching across his face. He looked at Luna and then out into the darkness - the fire was getting more dim, and the last thing they wanted was to be sitting in the cold. He slowly rose up and stretched his back.


"Right... I'm going to grab some more sticks for the fire, and not only that, I also need the bathroom, so I'll be back in a couple of minutes." He nodded at her and then spun on one heel to walk away from under the bridge. He disappeared into the darkness for a few minutes, but he could see what he was doing because of the moonlight. When he returned after relieving himself as well as gathering some twigs and leaves, he dropped them into the oil barrel which sent the flames up once again. He sat back down beside Luna and the dog and then took a deep breath. ".. That should keep us going for a while." He smiled. ".. You can get some sleep if you want. I'll be able to hold out a few more hours, then we'll switch and you can keep watch - up to you if you want to go with that plan." He shrugged.

 

[Elwin]

Luna sat down with the dog by the fire. "That sounds like a good idea to me." She said, whilst yawning. Luna ran her fingers through the soft fur of the dog, wondering where he had come from. "I think you'll make a good sleeping buddy, tonight." She mumbled to the dog, her eyes flickering with sleepiness. The dog laid down and relaxed by the fire. Luna did the same and rested her head on the body of the dog. He was warm and soft and his breathing proved to be extremely comforting. The feeling of another living thing to be so close to Luna made her almost forget what was happening. She drifted off into sleep and had no horrible nightmares.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Greg sat awake for a good few hours. As long as he could manage, actually. It got to about four in the morning when he was too tired to stay up any more - he woke up Luna and allowed her to take the watch for the rest of the night. It was an early rise, but it was the middle of the summer and the sun was already starting to come up. He took her position of using the dog as a pillow to assist him in his slumber and he was asleep within minutes - he was a snorer, but his snoring was quiet, thankfully. His head pounded in his sleep, but he was too tired to be woken up by it. The dog made him feel warm and cozy, which was a nice feeling to have after everything that had happened over the past two days. It was a tough night for them all tonight, and he hoped that they'd be able to get to Georgia by the evening today if they traveled nonstop. It was unlikely, but it was possible if there wasn't any traffic. He didn't know how bad the world was now that they were camped out under a little bridge, but he knew, judging by the fact that not even a single car had driven by, or no military copters had flow overhead, that things were very, very bad out there. He wasn't looking forward to facing it all again, but it was something that was going to have to be done.


When the morning fully came around, the bright sunlight glimmered off a nearby stream of water. The dog, Greg, and the kids were still all asleep, but it was a beautiful Summer's morning, no doubt. The weather was going to be kind today, and the forest that was a place of nightmares no more than ten hours ago was now a beautiful place of wildlife and peacefulness.

 

[Elwin]

Luna sat up and watch the sun rise. It was beautiful and it made her feel calm for the day. In the early morning, the boys slept soundly with the dog so Luna decided that the nearby stream would be a perfect opportunity for a wash. She had been feeling ghastly the passed few days, sweating and bleeding in the same clothes; having no time to clean herself up. She walked over to the stream which glittered under the sun and took off her clothes, folding and placing them on the ground. One foot in and Luna shivered a little until she managed to get herself fully into the stream. The water gradually became warmer and she dipped her hair and face into it. She felt refreshed. twenty minutes or so into her wash, she noticed there was no stir from the sleepers, so she decided to have a relax in the stream and closed her eyes. It was a good escape from the terrifying events that would come. In the stream, under the sunlight, nothing mattered but that moment.