Death Hidden Among Us

[TheJaydeWriter]

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Death Hidden Among Us


A Roleplay with @Aya Miyahira

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"Several area's of the country have been quarantine but the hope for containment has started to reach its end. In major cities around the world, we are witnessing the spread of something we could never imagine. Some cities have lost power and have attempted to evacuate as many as possible." A women in a a gray suit flashed through the static that covered the TV screen. Connection was bad and it didn't help when the lights would flicker. Even though the women was barely visible through the static haze, her voice was clear. "If you have not been evacuated yet, please remain in your homes. Do not attempt to help those on the outside or any infected."


Molly sat still while watching the static. Her butt rested on the back of the rec room couch, with her feet in the seat and her back against the cold wall. She had heard this recording before. Every day, this channel played the same thing over and over. Molly assumed that the area was already infected or evacuated, so they were playing it on a timed loop for those who still bothered to watch. Someone sitting in front of her clicked the TV off but everyone still continued to stair at it. Everyone still hoped that if they watched everyday, they would hear good news. The lady would come on and say that it was safe to be in the streets and you would leave your home. Molly knew different but still, she would sit there and watch with her friend Jasmine. It made her feel better. Jasmine did not do well with outside world information but she really wanted to know. She was one of the ones who held on to hope.


"Come on Jasmine, Lets go get ready for bed." Molly slides off the couch and holds out her hand for the girl. The girl, holding tightly onto a pillow only nods and grabs her hand. Now that the nurse were gone, she had to help take care of Jasmine, since she couldn't take care of herself.


They entered the room they shared together and Molly helped Jasmine into bed. The girl was close to her age, 22, but she had a disorder that caused her to have the mind of a child. Her family use to take care of her but they couldn't deal with it and dropped her off her. That was another thing they had in common. Ass hole families.


"Will they get in tonight?" Jasmine asked. Her voice was only a whisper.


"Not tonight, so try and get some sleep." Molly leaned over and gave her a peck on the forehead.


It only took Jasmine a few minutes to fall asleep. This gave Molly the chance to step into the bathroom and rinse her face off. Looking up into the mirror, Molly could finally see the roots of her hair coming in. She had natural light blonde hair but she always liked to keep it white. Her eyes were a bright green color that struck out from under her white bangs. Her cheeks were high but full like her lips. On her left cheek, there was a scar that ran from the ear down towards the month. It was a newer scar given to her by her father.


For a few moments, Molly stared at her own reflection. Her face was blank and her eyes almost hollow looking. She did not really understand expression and how to work them. When she forced herself to smile, it looked evil and demonic. Like she was planning on something dark. There was nothing much to smile about anymore, so no one saw her smile. Jasmine saw it though. Her sweetness would always bring a soft smile to Molly's face.


"Molly? You in here?" A voice came from her room door. Instead of answering , Molly just stuck her head out the bathroom and nodded. It was an older woman. About the age of 45. She was a druggy once and came here for rehab.


"We almost got into the storage area. We got a space open but none of us can fit it. Do you think Jasmine or you could squeeze through and pass things to us?"


Molly took a moment to look at Jasmine sleeping in her bed.


"I'll do it." Molly's statement was flat but the woman understood that it was because Molly didn't want to wake Jasmine and make her do something so scary. No one would want to do it. It was dangerous.


Following the women, Molly did a head count as she passed each person sleeping in there beds or doing their own thing. Most were still in the rec room watching the other women try and open the door to the nurses area.


They were able to get it open. There were three larger women working together to hold the door open enough for one small person to crawl through the blockage of chairs, tables and junk. The doctors put them there instead of helping the patients outs. Molly remember one of them saying that it was for their own protection. If the doors stayed locked, no one could get in to out. Including the things out there. But going through the barricade was dangerous. There were no windows so they didn't know if they were any of them past that door. All they had access to was the rec room, lunch room and hallway leading to the bed rooms.


Beyond these doors were all the personal items that were taken when everyone was brought in. Everyone was tired of wearing hospital gowns and wanted their own clothes back. Now they would finally have it.


It only took moments for Molly to crawl through the little hole in the barricade.


There other side was worse then they had imagined. Dried blood splattered the wall and floors, like a Jackson Pollock painting. And there were small bits of rotting flesh here and there. Molly had to cover her mouth to keep from throwing up from the sight. What the hell happened in here? She thought everyone who worked here got out and evacuated. Clearly some didn't.


Molly quickly made her way down the hall and to the storage room where they kept their things. As she entered the room, a shadow passed behind her. Molly never noticed and shut the door behind her.


First, Molly grabbed a bag and stuffed all of Jasmines things in it. Them she dressed herself in the clothes she came here in, which were a pare of jeans and an rock band t-shirt. After that she put her hair up in a hightail and started stuffing everyone else's stuff into another bag. Sadly there was not much.


Molly was just about finished when she heard a scream come form the barricade. Opening the door, Molly watched as a bloody nurse pushed herself partly through the barricade and grabbed onto one of the girls legs. She could see blood flow from the bottom and pool around the dead disgusting nurse, and woman on the other side continued to scream. Everyone on the other side was yelling to pull it off.


This thing was what they were talking about! The infected people who were turning on each other.


Molly ran straight for the nurse and pulled her out by her legs. The thing turned on its back and swiped at Molly.


At first Molly did nothing but stair. It look like a rotting body with blood and fluid coming out of every hole it had. The eyes were milky white and unfocused but it felt like the stabbed through Molly.


What the hell is that?!


Molly stumbled away and grabbed for the closes thing to her. The monster start to crawl for her but Molly was able to stand and smack it in the head with the metal leg of a chair. It pierced through he skull of the monster and then the thing dropped.


She remember that woman. It was Nurse Jill. She was the one who brought everyone their medications and she was the only one who was nice to Jasmine.


Jasmine!


Molly instantly forgot about the dead woman in front of her and went straight for the barricade. She could hear screams inside from different people but the door was being blocked by the body of the girl who originally had the door open.


Molly dropped down and tried to see through the hole. Everyone was running around and bring chased by others. The chases had the same milky eyes and blank look on their faces. Some tried to fight them off but everyone was being attacked. Far in the back, crouched in the corner was Jasmine. Her eyes were terrified and tearful.


"Jasmine!" Molly screamed out for her. Molly couldn't fit back through but Jasmine could easily climb over the body. Jasmines eyes darted around, searching from where Mollys voice came from. She finally found her and ran straight for the door. She was able to slip past the running and sick people and make it to the door.


"Jasmine, grab my hand!" Jasmine grabbed it and tried to pull herself through. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her nose running. She was almost through. Molly started to feel the weight lift off her chest as Jasmine almost got through.


"Almost, come o.." Jasmine let out a scream of pain and was dragged back through the whole.


"NO! JASMINE!" Molly tired to get though but the thing had collapse more. She could only look through.


She wish she didn't look.


Jasmine laid on the ground crying out in agony as several others ripped at her flesh. Molly new she was screaming out her name but everything was silent in that moment. Molly could only watch in horror as the person she cared for was eaten alive.


Finally the barricade collapse and blocked all access and view to the rec room. Molly was just going to sit there, hurting and stunned but the banging and scratching to the dead women on the other side made her jump up and run.


She ran straight for the exit and never looked back.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

Calloused fingers, stained with both dirt and blood run across the short though thick fur of a lanky black and brown dog that appears to be a muttly mixture of perhaps a Doberman Pinscher and a German Shepherd, streaking themselves with the thick, gunky dust that had been captured within the unkempt strands. Axel sits within a moldy, shadow-cloaked alleyway beside his furry companion, Locke, with his long legs crossed over one another and his back against a ragged brick wall splattered with vibrant splashes of green moss against it's dull, clay colours as he listens to the familiar, static-laced voice of a woman being emitted from the mass of TVs shown through the window of an electronic store. The same drag of words that lack so much as a speck of hope draw a sigh out from his mercilessly chapped lips, causing the fabric of his medical mask to be sent a-fluttering. Though it may look silly with it's baby blue contrasting harshly against the strict black of the rest of his outfit, he couldn't care less. It's a safety precaution that keeps him from inhaling the musky spores whom have made their home within the air, as well as capturing an incoming splatter of blood and allowing for it to dance distastefully upon his tongue.


Seemingly set upon the brick wall opposite him, deep, brown eyes with a shade so dark they near a perfect match for ebony peer through thick, mildly greasy locks of black hair. Or rather, once black hair, each strand's over grown root prove for his natural colour to be between a sweet, milky, chocolate brown and a terribly dirty blonde. One could angle more so towards a shade of brown to avoid over exaggerating the darkness of a blonde shade, which isn't exactly blonde. The bridge of his nose brushes the edge of his coat's collar, causing the tip of it to wriggle slightly beneath the worn fabric of his mask when his tanned skin, lined with a ragged and sensetive stretch of a scar in that exact spot, meets the chilling metal of the clothing item's zipper. He groans near inaudibly as the monotonous blabbering pours into one ear only to drip out of the other, putting him in a near trance.


Soon enough, the young man breaks free from his bland, detail-less day dream and sets his mind elsewhere, onto a different track as the tips of his fingers, connected to his free hand rather than the one gifting his relaxing dog with soothing attention, meet the zip of his backpack, slumped against one of his knees. Axel allows for his cold gaze to slip across the trashy alley way and out into the opening lingering between two knocked over trashcans. Upon registering that the undead have found more interest in the obnoxiously loud static that the multiple televisions provide rather than his hiding place, he slowly begins to open up his backpack to reveal an empty bottle of pain killers, a half-full water bottle, a few stray bullets likely fitting to the pistol tucked away in his pants or the scratched-up, a rotted apple and a dinged-up can of beans. He draws out another sigh, removing his hand from Locke's fur to dig around the bag in hopes to find something more, succeeding in finding nothing but lint and a dead cockroach, which he tosses out to the rats, who savagely dive for it all at the same time. A neat eyebrow twitches beneath a scruffy, side swept fringe, conveying an annoyance and dissatisfaction, but he tries his best not to linger on the negatives for the time being, and therefore zips up the ripped carrying device. His stubborn mind continuously points out the fact that he needs a better weapon, whilst his rumbling stomach points out that he needs more supplies- particularly food at this very moment.


Lingering for a moment or two in his comfortably seated position, he needs another demanding moan from his stomach to drag him up to his feet, collecting his bag and swinging it over his shoulder as he straightens. Locke peers up at him with muddy brown eyes, soon lifting his whole head from his large paws and angling his face, freckled with specks of grey fur around the muzzle area, towards him, a lovingly sooky expression plastered upon it. The dog appears to be an old soul incapable of hurting a fly, which would be a blatant lie, seeing as soon as one buzzes pass he snaps his terrifyingly powerful jaws open and closed over it, flinging nastily scented saliva and trapping it in a prison barred with sharp, yellow fangs. The dog makes a face as he chews, flinging and rolling his tongue. The middle aged dog merely stares at his owner before a hand motions into a wave and he obediently scrambles to his feet, trotting after Axel as he trudges boldly back down the alley way and into the deathly crowded street, his gathered combat boots crunching against the loose concrete that they meet to create a dull tune when met with Locke's clickity, untrimmed toe nails.


The shady young man, clad head to toe in black, saunters down the street freely, keeping his path set down a singular walkway that leads out of the thoroughly raided town and elsewhere. Anywhere. Just as long as he can get something out of it. The dead, ironically crowded around the electronic store as humans often would when an important and intriguing broadcast started up whilst they were out and about doing their shopping or whatever it was that humans used to do before the outbreak had started, barely gift him with a glance let alone interest. He was quieter than the static that blasted through the shattered window, and therefore they simply didn't care, going about their business and lashing their rotting hands at chipped screens. He can barely remember, whether it was long ago or not. It may of only been weeks since the virus had spread and taken its toll, but after seeing people get torn limb from limb just to have teeth dug into their vital organs, after seeing small children get shot in the head for the 'good' of others, after seeing and going through so much god damn shit, time just takes forever to pass.


With keen eyes set in the distance, latching onto the sun setting amidst the leafless trees reaching out their bony branches across the sky painted crimson, and a bony dog at his side he marches onward, and only onward. During the apocalypse, there is no time to look back, let alone move back, so he only moves forward. One doesn't have the time to think before making a decision, and once a decision is made it cannot be taken back, despite a majority of the time one often regrets the choice that they had thrown themselves at. Though no reasons present themselves, one can figure it safest to just believe that everything happens for a reason and merely hope for the best, despite everything seeming and possibly being absolutely hopeless. One shan't linger though, because one has no time. No time at all.


He keeps an eye out for anything useful, seeing as even the smallest thing could help when the world spontaneously turns itself on its head, and heads for the edge of the town, only pausing outside of a eerie mental hospital where a soldier of the undead army feasts upon a scruffy, grey dog, still seemingly half alive and in complete shock on top of the likely excruciating pain. It's tiny body spasms as squeaking whimpers are torn from it's throat. It's wild, mismatched eyes dart and latch onto Axel's form as he stands there with his mouth hanging agape behind the mask's thick, stuffy concealment. Rage and disgust tango together and make for a rather interesting expression upon his half-covered face before he thoughtlessly draws a bulky dagger from his coat pocket and swiftly brings it down through the zombie's temple with a sickening crack that echoes throughout the more or less quiet street. The walking dead man before him draws in a shaky breath before limply tumbling over, landing half on top of the poor dog insane with deathly shock. It yelps and flails and makes a ruckus as it panics, simply pleading for the pain to be shooed from it's mutilated body. Knowing, however, that there's no help for a tiny body with it's insides strewn across the sidewalk, he's quick to make even more use of that knife, as much as it breaks his heart. With a wince, he kneels down beside the dog's furry form and places a comforting hand on one side of it's scruffy head, soothingly stroking over it's forehead with his thumb and allowing for quiet hushing sounds to muffle against his medical mask.


With a shuddering gasp, he drives the blunted blade straight through it's furry head, shattering it's skull and damaging it's brain to prevent it from having to go through a second life. Though seemingly unconscious and brain-dead, he could imagine that becoming zombified was a torturous process. I mean, what if people were actually still...You know, there? But had no control of their body? That'd be terrifying. He shudders at the thought, and remains crouched beside the duo of corpses for a good long while, staring down at the dog with a frown. It had hurt him just as much as it had hurt the dog, not that it would have hurt anymore than getting mauled by blunt teeth and forceful fingers. Axel seems out of it for a good long while, before Locke comes and lovingly nudges his arm with a whimper, bringing him back into reality. Axel turns his somber brown eyes back onto his loyal partner and gives him a scratch behind his torn, pointed ears to convey that everything was alright. But being a dog, Locke could tell otherwise, he had a clear sense of when his caring owner was upset by something. It was hard these days, not to get upset by the devastation of the world surrounding, but one just had to push their emotions back down to the pit of their stomach and show a brave face. One couldn't afford to show weakness in the face of danger, and therefore he picks himself back up and shoves to his feet, pocketing his knife.


Keeping his head up high after gifting a nod of thanks to Locke, he then moves on, slipping back down the pathway and returning on his way to escape this place, as well as create distance between himself and the gory scene that he had just partaken in. With his dear dog by his side, he briefly wonders how much more of this apocalypse that he can take. He wonders if this is just some sort of sick test the human race is being put through by a God whom needs a way to amuse himself. Because they seem to be failing. He supposes he's lucky that he doesn't have to go through this alone, but with someone he can trust. It's more than he could ever ask for, and ever feel that a lowlife like himself could deserve.


He marches onward, moving strictly forwards, and not back. Never back.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Don't stop running. Just keep running!


The sky was fading away as the mood started to rise. As adrenaline pumped through every vain in her body, Molly couldn't tell if it was hot or if her body was burning up from running. Every stepped echoed through the street but none of the dead were able to match even close to her pace. There were a few stragglers that kept pushing after, noting wanting to loose her but Molly couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. Not until she was safe.


Molly turned a corner.


Two more.


She quickly reversed and went another direction.


Four more!


Her body start to ache from the constant hammering she was putting on it. Molly was very athletic and never had the build for it. In gym, she was always made fun of because she could never do what everyone else did. Now, after all the time her dreading that class, for once she wished she kept up with it. Clearly those who could not run, did not make it. How did anyone survive? Clearly not a lot since every turn she made only lead her to more hungry demons wanting her flesh. How could something like this spread so quick.


Finally finding an empty alleyway, Molly had to stop and breath. Her legs and body aches and the adrenaline was starting to run out. If she kept going like this, she would pass out. She could let that happen. Not like Jasmine. Looking down into her right hand, Molly clutched onto a beaded bracelet made out of silver and blue beads. Jasmine had this on when she was crying to crawl through. When she was taken out of Molly's hands, the bracelet must of rolled off. This was all she had left. She had some of Jasmines clothes but that would be useless to her. Jasmine made this bracelet during an arts and craft session. She made a similar one crafted out of detailed pink beads and gave it to Molly, and she still had it. On her wrist was the pink bracelet. Pain echoed through her heart in realization of what was happening. Jasmine was really dead. Everyone there is dead or dying. She could do nothing but watch in horror as those things ripped her apart.


Leanding up against the cool brick wall of the building next to her, Molly coughed lightly to keep herself from throwing up. She wanted to cry but nothing would come. It felt as if a deep seeded hatred was starting to grow. Anger and pain easily consumed her but never revealed itself until the worse moment. She was like a ticking time bomb. Ready to explode any minute.


Slipping on the blue bracelet next to her pink one, Molly prepared herself to run again. The ones chasing her before would be close by now and she needed to get as far as possible. As she turned to make her exit, the clattering of a trash can lid spooked her to turn the other direction. Two of the dead were lumbering towards her at an alarming rate.


"Shit.." She turned to run but was stopped by another blocking her past. It was one of the ones chasing her. How did it get to her this fast?


Backing away, Molly realized she was trapped like a mouse. She could take the one out in the front but she could hear the other coming. She would walk straight into its arms like an unwanted lover.


Closer and closer they got to her. Her heart felt like it would pound out her chest. Her body started to go numb with fear. She was doomed. She would never make it home to see her shitty father, or ever find her brother.


She prayed to a god she never prayed to and closed her eyes, ready and waiting for the attack.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

The lack of attention that he'd gained from the none-too bright dead scattered across the run-down city slums hadn't at all seemed to surprise Axel, not in the least. Why is that? One may ask. Well, it's simple really, he's just a regular boy that hadn't even managed to gain the attention of the living during the days that were considered normal. He was quiet and bland, just a mere seat-filler when it came to a classroom or public transport. He was pushed, bumped into and stepped on as if he wasn't even there, and it's the same now. Keep quiet, keep low, keep away, and none will be tempted to direct all of their attention to you, to go out of their way just to maul you either metaphorically, literally, or both. He's used to it, and as sad as it may sound to the ears of others, it doesn't seem to bother him in the least. Maybe he's just not as sensitive as he should be- which is hard to tell with what had just happened with the gory duo just moments before and still only mere meters away. But he's learned that a silent demeanor can often be the best to avoid intense trouble.


Once more, he's drawn away, well away from his thoughts, when he comes to the realization that his loyal pal, Locke, is no longer following at his side. His heart completely stops, then jolts in momentary panic and tosses itself clean into a dangerously quick pattern of beating. The organ races in his chest, pounding against his rib cage to rattle his whole frame as he hastily swings around and casts his gaze behind him, only to find the talented guard dog lingering with it's body half lowered a few steps behind. Locke's furry lips lift, twisting into a snarl and baring heavy yellow teeth with the capability of crushing an arm. A blood curdling growl rattles through the canine's dry throat, and warns his beloved owner about what is ahead as best as he can manage without having the ability to speak in a language that humans would understand. The stiff body language and alert look upon his face, however, is more than enough to bring Axel's guard up.


Taking a deep breath to calm himself back down from the momentary shock that he had just been hit with, Axel rests a cut-up hand upon the dodgy, grey pistol half-peeking out of his baggy, black jeans and returns his gaze frontward once more. For a moment, just a moment, he'd have been more than ready to go against his own motto and move backwards rather than forwards, just for the sake of that dear dog of his. Locke's loyal, and has helped him through a majority of his rough life more than any counselor or talented doctor could ever even hope to. Therefore, the least he could of done if the dog found himself lost, would be to turn back and find him. He'd do anything for Locke, to put it bluntly, because he isn't just a dog, but more than the whole world could ever strive to mean to him. It's cliche and cheesy, like something someone would tell their lover on the night of their anniversary. But it's just how close they are. That lanky doberman was more of a family than the humans he'd had to share a home with. It's how it has always been, and how he plans for it to remain.


When his line of sight finally focuses, he's quick to realize what his furry companion had been carrying on about. Obscuring his view of the city's surrounding gates, lying trampled, open and utterly useless, a small pack of the infected seem intent on blocking off the exit of one of the small alley turn offs. Without a second thought, the soft-hearted male starts up in a sprint, whipping out his tiny hand gun as he hastily approaches. He has the oddest feeling that a survivor had gained their attention- or it could be another dog. Dear god, he hopes that it isn't another dog. The simple thought breaks his sprint into something quicker, a next-pace speed without a name. Barely giving himself time to skid into a halt, he throws his arm up powerfully into the air, aims his pistol with a steady hand, and pulls the trigger. Like thunder, a blast of a bang booms throughout the air and echoes down the empty street, drawing the attention of the horde huddled around the multiple televisions their way. A bullet plummets into one of the dead's chest, momentarily faltering it and dragging it's attention elsewhere, same going for it's fellow walkers, whom currently surround the helpless girl that has found herself trapped. He mutters a curse beneath his breath, quickly shifting his aim and pulling the trigger once more. This time, the bullet delves into the head of the dead and sends it tumbling to the ground. Wasting no time at all, he moves onto the others, shooting them down one by one to the best of his ability. It's not the cleanest move, but he'd panicked, and once he'd gone through with it there was no point in turning back.


A sharp whistle cuts through the air as the last falls, and Locke shoots forward from behind, bounding towards the girl and ramming his head demandingly into one of her legs, telling her to get going. The doberman cross snaps somewhat viciously at her, springing on its back feet and driving its paws into her side in a motion that could quite nearly knock her over. It seems impatient to get moving, as does Axel, whom hastily throws his arms into the air in a silenced motion that tells her the exact same thing. His gaze momentarily darts back to confirm that a horde has indeed been drawn by the thoughtless gunshots, and were stumbling towards them at an unsettling speed. Moans and groans echo down the street as peeling hands reach out for them and claw at the air with a malicious intent. The young man quickly stumbles backwards, eyes wide with uncertainty and another large jolt of panic as he desperately tries to dig up a plan from the depths of his mind, when that fails from the pressure of the situation, he settles for just going on instinct, and therefore propels himself abruptly off of the back of his foot and throws himself into an impressive sprint, darting down the street towards the gates, out of this place, out of danger for a moment at the very least. Locke gifts Molly one, last bark of command before barreling after Axel.


Axel keeps his pistol in hand and sprints forward, only glancing back once to confirm the safety of Locke and the unfamiliar girl.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

The shambling corpses coming closer, slowly but relentlessly and she holds her eyes closed. The drumbeat of her heart is hard enough to be felt in her fingertips and eyelids. 'This is it...' she thought, terrified but resigned.


Through the darkness of her eyelids the sounds of shuffling grows louder steadily, and she feels the cold dread building up inside of her again. Jasmine. Her memories replay, cycling over the screams of pain and the ripping sounds of flesh, but at least she isn't seeing it with her eyes closed. She hears something faintly, a quiet growl and she fights the urge to open her eyes. She doesn't want to see them, the peeling, cracked skin with gaping wounds. The too-pale flesh covered in dirt and decay. The smell is enough. The sounds of clicking teeth tightens her muscles and sends the adrenaline soaring higher still in her veins. Too little, too late.


The sharp crack shattering the silence startles her, the booming echoes all around her painful to her adrenaline-filled senses. A moment passed. Then a second one, at which point it hit her, she was still alive.


Finally she opened her eyes. By her side, snarling at her viciously, was a dog. She was confused for a second, thinking the dog was infected to and it was going to be the first to taste her blood. She was about to cry out in fear of the dog but the sounds of gunshots distracted her and the dead around her. One by one, the dead started to fall for good.


There was a boy shooting at them.


When the dog jumped up and pushed her with its front paws and the boy waved at her, she understood that this was her only opening of survival, and she was going to take it!


Using her newfound energy of almost dying, Molly was able to spring forward and follow the dog and his master. She watched the backs of them as they ran together towards the gate. Who was he and how was he alive? Did that mean more survived? If more people were alive, maybe they were hiding and that's why she couldn't find them? The way he ran and the way he was able to shoot the infected down, she could sense that this was what he had to do every day. Everyday she sat in a tiny room, protected by the thick doors and walls of the hospital. It might have been small and sometimes cramped, but compared to what's happened out here... it was the greatest paradise. Especially considering that there were people like him trying to survive without any walls.


Turning her head back as she ran, the saw that the small hoard was loosing ground. They weren't fast enough to keep pace, especially in such a large group. If one of them tripped, it would bring several down and caused them to slow. But, even then, they were still going.


As they passed through the gate, the landscape was almost the same as she remembered from her few trips out of the city. In the distance, barely visible, there were some hills covered with greenery, the flowers in the field were blooming and the scattered trees were budding. She'd been in that hospital since late fall... Is it really spring? Shaking her head to clear it, she forced herself onward and she noticed him having to slow down slightly to allow her to keep up. She glanced back and saw that they could barely see the city because of the gently sloping hills they've passed. In the lead he'd taken a slight angle to his running. Adjusting to catch back up at him she was wondering why.


Once they were through the gate and out of sight, she slowed down and asked him to hold on. Her body wasn't use to this. Everything started to ache and burn and her mind was racing.


Bending over, she placed her hands on her knees and tried to slow her breathing. Her body was shaking violently and it only made her drop to her knees. Why were there so many infected? This was an evacuated area? Didn't people leave and go to what ever safe haven the military provided?


Trying to catch her breath, she looked up to the guy.


"You..." She wanted to say thank you but the words would not leave her lips. But instead of the words she wanted, her unfiltered mind took over instead. "That was stupid of you....Why? Why did you save me?"

 

[Aya Miyahira]

A clatter rushes through the air as Axel finally makes it to his destination, the fallen gate, and scrambles over it, catching his pants legs on the barbed wire ringlets and cleanly tearing off a ragged strap. The heavy fall of footsteps on thin, wire interlocks does make a horrible ruckus, and whilst that would often be something that Axel himself would avoid, he figures now isn't the time to worry about it. After all, it does seem as if they have all the dead in the area rounded up into one horde at this very moment. Another one or two drawn from the outside simply wouldn't matter. Or at least that's what he would have figured if everything didn't rush past in an unmemorable blur. He sprints onward with a messy mind.


Swift-footed and determined, the young man barrels his way into the thick woods lining the hill tops, stumbling over rocks, hastily pushing aside low-hanging tree branches and jumping clean over thick, mossy, over-grown roots. He clears distance between himself and the horde at the alarming rate, completely forgetting about the girl he was with moments before. At least, that is until her breathless voice sounds out against the rustling of leaves and cracking of branches, flinging him into a halt and yanking him back to reality. He seems to get lost in his mind far too often for his own good. It's likely if it weren't for Locke watching over him that his daydreams would end up killing him. He whips around to find her catching her breath a few meters away, brown eyes wide with worry and apology. He seemed to just block everything out when an intense scenario like that strikes him, likely a panicked reaction. He hadn't meant to run ahead of her.


Whilst Locke remains standing tall nearby a swollen-trunked tree with his dual-toned chest puffed out pridefully, Axel takes it upon himself to slowly approach the girl with a hand outstretched, it was the least he could do after her struggle to keep up. He probably should of been more considerate, but it's hard to be when flesh eating lumps of rotting flesh are stumbling after you with the intent to crack open your skull and taste the metallic, pink flesh within. His lips part as if to speak, disturbing the baby blue fabric of the mask concealing a majority of the lower half of his face before pressing closed when her voice reaches his ears. Why? Why would she ask something like that? He pulls a face, his eyebrows furrowing as he lifts a hand to awkwardly rub at the back of his head. "I'm....I'm sorry." He sounds out, his tone hushed as though it were on the lowest volume next to mute, a shuddering chill dripping from each word. He appears to be somewhat soft as intimidating as he is, or at least caring.


He's quick, however, to clear his throat and straighten his posture, redirecting his focus onto answering her with a braver tone. "I couldn't have just passed and done nothing." He admits. "I know I would of been hoping for help be I in your position, and that's all I needed to think of before springing into action. I want to avoid seeing people turn into one of them as much as I can." He pauses, gazing at her with those deep, dark eyes of his, his eyebrows furrowing as his voice hushes back down. "Did I....Did I do something wrong? Did you not want to be saved?" He whispers, looking somewhat apologetic. He's been in situations where the people whose paths he has crossed wanted nothing more to do with their own life, and it was saddening. He shakes his head. "Never mind, you don't have to answer that." He clears his throat, quickly changing the subject. "Are you hurt? They didn't get to you, did they?" He looks her over briefly before politely returning his eyes to her face and awaiting her confirmation of an answer.


To be honest, Axel would be highly interested in hearing about what it was like living within the safety of walls since day one. Sure, it may be the same dull routine for them everyday, whilst his is something continuously spontaneous. But he'd be curious as to what they thought was going on outside. Did they know the details, or did they have to imagine what it was like, or did they not have so much as a clue towards anything at all? What about the shock of it? Would it have been a terrible shock moving from false reality into the truth of the world? Likely. It's always hard when one learns the truth after living a life full of lies.


The young man momentarily lifts his gaze to peer over the edge of the hilltops, relieved to find not a single silhouette of a corpse hobbling about clumsily in the distance. He supposes, or rather hopes that the pesky dead that had been chasing them have forgotten or lost interest.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Leaning her back against a tree, Molly ignored the scraping of bark against her skin through her shirt as she slide down. She leaned her head back it breath in more easily and watch the branches sway in the wind. The sun was getting lower in the sky, making it a gradient from a soft burning pink to a deep ocean blue if she tilted her head up. This was her favorite time of day, or it used to be, back when it was safe to have a favorite time of day. When you didn't have to worry about being eaten if you watched the clouds for a moment. Now it's a memory of her almost giving up, the absolute terror and a racing heart... but it was also the memory of being saved, of the rush of relief washing away the frantic panic. Digging her fingers into the cool damp dirt, she leaned her head forward again, focusing on his questions before nodding to him.


"I'm okay. I don't think any of them got me..... I mean I'm pretty sure I'd know if I was missing a piece of me." She was so overjoyed by the fact of making it away safely, but she just couldn't shut up long enough to figure out the best way to show him her gratitude. She was always offending people with out meaning to. He seemed so timid, even if he did chase off a hoard and save her.


"Let me be clear....I'm not... mean. I just don't know how to talk properly. I was born without a filter." Again, she spoke without thinking. Her voice was cool and collected, but her thoughts were waves crashing into a hill. "You were stupid to risk your life for me but.....thank you. I didn't want to die. Even if I deserve it..." Her last words, compared to the rest, were soft.


Even if her words were softer, her mind kept growing louder, repeating the same words in a ceaseless pattern of hopelessness and self-loathing. Why did I have to go through that door? Why wasn't I more focused? Why weren't you faster? Why didn't I see the nurse? Loudest of all was Why couldn't I save Jasmine, she was so close to me. If I had just brought her with me it could have been different!


Sliding sideways, she found herself on her side in the damp dirt. She didn't care if she got dirty, it was a vague thought but her brain was overwhelmed. It felt like... someone was overfilling her brain and it was going to explode! Looking back up to the timid-looking man, she pat the ground from where she laid. "Sit and breathe." She closed her eyes and rolled onto her back. She kept playing the scene in her head of Jasmine and the scene of her almost meeting the same fate. It was amazing that this guy would care enough to save some random stranger that clearly broke out of a mental hospital. Was he not at all worried that she could be a loony? Most people would have run faster knowing that... and yes, she was crazy, but she wasn't screaming at people who weren't there, like Becky would do when she was off her medications. He has got to be crazy to risk helping a crazy person... but she's glad he is. Now how to tell him this... Think Molly...


"Whats your name? I would rather not keep calling you Mouse in my head." Cringing internally and mentally sighing, resigned to her auto-mouth. She didn't open her eyes to look at him while she spoke. She kept still, trying to get her heart to stop trying to break through her rib cage. Her white her spread out from her pony tail. The tips were read from the blood spilled by the nurse. Molly hopes it didn't stain her white hair but it would stain her clothes. From the knees down, she was covered in dry blood. The bottom of her shirt. where her stomach laid in a pool of blood, was stained as well. She wanted more the anything to get out of these clothes and clean up but right now wasn't the time. She bit down on her tongue, hard to make sure she didn't say anything else insulting or awkward.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

Whilst Axel gives off an overwhelmingly timid air, it wouldn't be the best word to describe him. If anything, he's soft, and appears to be afraid of being unsatisfactory to people more so than the thought of his own death. He just doesn't like to be an inconvenience, nor does he like to strike fear into the hearts of others by asserting the dominance that men are often insistent on. He seems, much like his dog, to be an old soul. Despite the somewhat venomously treacherous look in his chocolate-y eyes, Axel gives the impression of being naturally friendly, genetically calm, and patiently wise. However, when it comes down to it, when the world turns its back on him, his companion or anyone the two of them may pass, his demons take hold and gift him with the fiery courage that he needs, even though at times it may only be a burst or a mere adrenaline rush.


The young man finds himself leaning against the tree and panting hot rushes of air that capture within his mask and create a nasty feeling of humid stuffiness, the collected moisture within his breath serving to sting the bloody crevasses of his chapped lips, coaxing his tongue out from the cave of his mouth to lick and soothe them with a coating of saliva and the momentary pressure of the pink muscle. His cracked fingers clutch the limp strap of his backpack, swung over either bruised shoulder half bared by his baggy, black, short-sleeve t-shirt, thrown carelessly over the top of an equally as baggy static-grey long sleeve, the cuffs of either sleeve generously dappled with various shades of crimson splatterings only proving to be a none too fashionable choice. But hey, at least it's some additional colour to the dull shades of his clothing items, if you don't count the baby blue accessory decorating his sharp, dirtied face.


He nods slowly as she answers him with a positive, the hair choppily framing his mildly sickly looking face swaying with the gentle movement. His dull eyes, lined with dastardly dark circles that convey more than a deprivation of sleep and spiraling exhaustion, slide in back in her general direction, wandering for a moment to intake their surroundings with a sense of paranoia before settling back onto her face. The mistreatment of his body is quickly starting to catch up with him the moment he parts his lips to respond, a waver faltering his muffled voice as his bones begin to ache, temperature starts to burn and heart refuses to slow. "That's good to hear, I'm glad." He mutters, just about a step away from coughing up a lung thanks to pushing himself too far over the month and beyond's course as the words leave his mouth, from running so hard and determined on a near empty fuel tank.


Though the curiosity inflicted by her next sentence draws his eyebrow into a subtle raise, not a line of judgement winkles his face. "I see..." He drawls, only a bare moment of silence left between that reply and her next comment as her feminine voice reaches his ears once more. He nods slowly in acknowledgement, a look of worry in his eyes left from the diction that she had used. "It wasn't at all a bother, but rewarding to know I had changed what could of been inevitable fate. So you're welcome." He responds, his voice deep and chilling as per usual, though remains with a sense of openness, to allow for one as if he were easily approachable.


Currently, Axel has minimal film flickering across the screen provided in his mind, because he's trying his best to angle all his energy towards clearing it, erasing the memories. It's the only way to move on, after all. If he lingers on the pain of the past, and begins to worthlessly contemplate what he could and couldn't of done in that exact situation, he'd just be stuck in a loop. If one is stuck in a loop, there'd be no way they'd ever be able to survive, because those chasing them could simply stop and wait for them to come back around again. It's how the world works- always in someone's favor, but perhaps not always the 'right' person.


Once more, however, he's drawn out of his dangerous daydream of nothingness by a quiet voice. He blinks once, then twice, then three times until he is able to process what had been said to him, a groggy few flickers of his eyelids behind thick, tangled strands of hair. His eyes take their time in casting their gaze down to her hand as it motions for him to sit and take the time to relax whilst they can. Despite a look of wariness, he doesn't argue, and does as he's told, slowly sinking down cross-legged beside her and pressing his tired back a different side of the scratchy-barked tree. He drew out a sigh as he did this, the cool dirt below him and the average-temperatured bark behind him taking him aback with how well it did to soothe his momentarily out of whack body, returning him to normal as it works to completely calm him, both physically and mentally. He supposes it's the simplest things that can help a person- and with the world crumbling around him, it becomes much easier to notice just how important a detail like that can be.


To be honest, Axel probably couldn't care less about her being a 'maniac' of sorts, as long as she doesn't start screaming about sacrifices to the dark overlord and begin to throw syringes containing who knows what with the intent to plummet them into his tan skin and force him to contract unwelcomed diseases. If he has noticed such a detail about her- which he likely has, being the observant person that he is- he seems to have brushed it off rather quickly, finding that it didn't matter as long as she didn't fly into abrupt violence. If people have no intent to harm others without a good reason, then they deserve a chance.


Axel motions to Locke, standing on alert nearby, with a simple wave of his hand, convincing him to come over and rid himself of duty for a minute or two, seeing as he isn't exactly comfortable with allowing his guard down for all too long, and is rather eager on getting moving once more. Naturally, in a zombie apocalypse, staying in one place (Particularly in an open area) isn't the best idea if you want to make it alive.


"I'll have to set up camp soon." He mutters to himself, rather than addressing anyone else as his furry partner relaxes his lanky body and lazily trots to his owner's side, sprawling out beside him and resting his heavy head upon his lap with an animalistic huff of what one could guess as relief and thankfulness for the gift of a break. He isn't quite sure if the girl wished to accompany him, but he supposes she was more than welcome to if she announced her comfort with that. For now, however, he just settles his muscles and dances his fingers in petting motions between Locke's ears, a look of content spreading across a sooky canine face.


Two sets of eyes raise back up to meet hers, currently closed, in response to the question that had cut through the silence briefly fallen, both of a deep, mesmerizing cocoa. Axel refrains from questioning the usage of the word 'mouse' as he takes it upon himself to reply, only briefly wondering what action had made her tempted to refer to him as that. "My name is Axel," He states blandly, his free hand fiddling with his frayed shoelace before he quickly adds on, motioning with the hand that was patting the dog. "And this is Locke." He gazes at her for a while, before he sounds out with his own curiosity. "And you? What may I call you?" He questions carefully. Despite having a strong, strict filter implanted between his mind and mouth, he's still more than careful with his words nonetheless.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"Molly. And I am glad you saved me...everything is just so confusing."She admits to him. Regardless of deserving it, she didn't want to die.


Laying there were her eyes closes, she listens to the rough breathing of Alex and all the sounds around her. He was right in the fact of camping but where did he plan on staying. The woods were clearly dangerous and she had no idea how to even begin to protect herself out here. She guessed he had more than enough experience of being out here alone and surviving, well sort of surviving noting the fact that he looked somewhat sickly himself. But he had more than her. She was blessed by walls and security doors. Clearly, the memory of the ones who locked them then came back to her. He told her it was for their own good and left to find his family and leave. He was right in the fact that it was for their own good. If they would of left well enough alone, they could of survived for a while in that building without having to go into the outside worlds. There was enough food stored that they could eat and they had a powerful backup generator. Now, thanks to her, everything would go to waste as a bunch of monsters roamed insides of the place. All her friends that were now killing freaks.


Oping her eyes and turning to look at Alex, she reached forward slowly, so not to spook him and pulled down the cover of his mouth.


"Those who hide their faces, hid their past." Those were words her mom once told her when she use to use her to cover up her face as a child. Every time she did someone thing bad, she would hide her face. Thats how they always knew she did something. She did that all the time before she left her with her father and took her brother, the only person who understood and cared for her.


"I live about 5 miles from here in the town down the hill. My father was a survival freak and he kept a hidden food bunker in the attic and hid the door with furniture. He may still be there hiding out or he may be dead. I don't care regardless but the house would give us shelter and there may be food there for your to eat. You look like you need a break. How long have you even been out here?" She turned back over on her side so she could face him better. "As thank yo u for saving me, stay with me tonight and try and get some rest. He has guns as well. You could have some. As payment of course." She knew a normal person would smile at the person when saying something like that but all she did was stare at him, her face unmoving despite the intense floods of emotion she feels..

 

[Aya Miyahira]

"It's nice to meet you, Molly. Though it's nice to meet anyone who don't have an interest in stealing everything you have, these days." He drawls cautiously in response though keeps his tone of voice soft, drawing his free hand away from his shoelace in favor of fiddling with his mask and tightening its hold before holding that same appendage out to her in a polite offer of a traditional, greeting shake. He nods thoughtfully as he does so, conveying a clear agreement, along with the confirmation of words. "Yes, I can understand that completely." He looks over her once more as he speaks, finally allowing himself to note that she hasn't been outside of safety long. She looked too clean to have been outside for a matter of days, despite the blood staining her pretty appearance. Perhaps she'd wandered out of a quarantine zone? He doesn't comment on this, though, nor ask many questions out of politeness, knowing a lot of people do not want to talk about their experience of walking among the dead. He cleverly keeps a majority of his thoughts locked away before they are hastily forgotten instead.


Axel seems to be somewhat amused by how relaxed she comes off as, or at least by her ability to keep her eyes settled in a closed position for a span of time longer than the split second needed to blink and keep your optics moisturized. Even jealous could be figured a fitting word, seeing as since day one he's barely managed to get a wink of sleep a night. How can anyone with the chilling breeze constantly carrying moans down through emptiness and in through your ear canal? How can anyone when disfigured corpses shuffle past the thin material of your tent? How can anyone find ease in doing anything these days? The answer is simple, and it would be the fact that they don't. Nobody does, and if they do they are out of their damned mind.


No matter the dangers that lurk within the buildings and forests surrounding, no matter that the air is thick with the scent of death, Axel will likely find disappointment in himself for each place that he avoids searching. Every drawer that he avoids rummaging through just because the hourglass of his favor runs out of grains of sand to spare. Every mysterious cave that he doesn't check out in hopes of finding an abandoned campsite tucked away within its depths because of some rumbling groan. Every person that he couldn't snatch away from the greedy clutches of inevitable doom and eternal darkness because of the grotesque demons that wander this earth freely. Every cowardly act he could possibly go through with- Scratch that, he can't help but feel disappointed in himself for scraping up remnants of the past. Shaking his head, he quickly clears them, distracting himself by setting his solemn gaze on the gorgeously blazing, setting sun peeking through the trees. He feels his heart settling at the sight of the distant ball of gas, feels relief wash over his frame and draw yet another sigh from his lips. With each day that passes, each morning that arises, he feels himself getting braver, stronger. Because he's survived another day of this merciless hell.


Axel is startled out of his blank stare with a small gasp, however, when the pressure of gentle fingers are registered upon his face, despite her thoughtful attempts not to give him a fright. He gazes at her with widened brown eyes as she drags down his mouth's coverage, his thick eyebrows darting into a furrow of confusion and uncertainty as the item is removed and left to hang around his sharply shaped chin. "Wh-What?" He stutters out as her words tickle his ears, a faint shade of pink tracing across his thin cheeks out of muddled embarrassment. He stares at her for a moment or two, really processing the depth behind her choice of phrase before slowly raising a hand to yank the mask over his surprisingly somewhat handsome face, despite the diagonal scar that cuts through the middle of it, his gaze sent elsewhere as he does so. Locke raises his head from his master's lap to gaze up at him with almost accusing eyes, the mysterious behavior of the two practically proving that their past is something that they have hidden under lock and key, for that is the only way they will be able to move forward.


The young man's timid gaze takes some time to return to her, like a stray dog that was scared off by the clambering of a fallen trash can before returning to search through the scraps, but her attempt to address him had helped in coaxing it to quicken along the way. He gazes at her with widened orbs as he takes in her glorious suggestion, obviously very pleased with the sound of it. With as promising as she'd described it, this little bunker and perhaps this home itself sounded like a feast to a peasant. Absolutely heavenly. "R-Really!?" He near shouts, quickly hushing himself down with a submissively apologetic expression as he scrambles impatiently to his feet, soon followed by Locke who barks and bounces, his tail wagging as if he thought it was playtime. "It's more than I deserve, but a great offer nonetheless, I'd be honored to take it." He dips his head thankfully, praising her more than he thinks his own dull efforts should be. Glancing up into the distance after he'd quietened his dog down with a few hushes, he begins speaking once more. "5 miles isn't all too long away, if we leave now we should get there before the dead of night. So I'd highly suggest it." He states his opinion quietly, motioning out a hand as if offering to help her up somewhat impatiently despite his all around politeness. "Could you lead the way?" He questions carefully, though its not the safest thing to ask of someone that one had met a mere few minutes ago, but it was his only option at this current point at time, and therefore he might as well risk his chances.


He takes a moment to pause, however, when she asks him something herself. He grounds himself, clearing his throat and dipping his head in appreciation of her concern for his well-being before answering with a question of its own. "How long has it been since the outbreak?" He drawls, a strange look in his eyes that make his answer clear. He'd been out in the open the whole time. Just him and Locke against the world. In fact, that's how it's always been with this duo, the only difference now being that the world has grown crueler, and continues to do so with each day that drags on by.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"You've been out here for this long? Just you and the dog?" Molly sat up and used the tree to help stand. Her legs were still a bit shaky from the shock but she was able to pull enough strength to get her going. How was it possible that he was able to survive this long. She took him in once more and could see how the days took a tool on him. She started to feel bad on the fact thats she was trapped and protected for months during the outbreak while people like him were trying to survive the best they could on the outside. How many survives were left? Did they find a place to survive and keep the things out? Maybe not if he was still out here. Where did they evacuate people to...or was that a lie as well. "I don't how long ago the outbreak happen. I know its been months but I lost track of the days. We weren't allowed calendars because they thought it would effect of healing if we were only focus on getting out and not getting well."


The air around them was starting to cool and she wished that she had taken a jacket from he storage area. She knew was a leather one there but she thought it would to much and to heavy to grab and bring back. She only got personal items and clothes for each other patients. Now that she through about it, the bag she had packed everyone stuff in was gone. She left it back at the hospital when everyone was attacked. All she had was the backpack that contained her few small personal items and Jasmines things. Taking the backpack and slipping it back onto her shoulders, she stretches and prepared herself for the possible danger that could be ahead of them.


"From the looks of it, you really do need a break. Its amazing you have survived that long. You look like someone who would be a goner but the soul is always stronger, isn't it? Cute ones never survive. Thats what happens in the books. " Again, a rude comment came out of her mouth and she didn't know who to fix it. "I mean.....you......damn it." She closed her mouth and fumbled with the words in her head. Her cheeks were pinks but she was still a bit flushed by the shock she put her body into. "Lets go. There road from the gate leads directly into town. Most the families for long tern patients live there."


Molly started forwards and headed in the direction of the road and away from the hospital. She didn't want to get directly onto the road in case of stragglers walking around but she needed to be close by enough to know what direction she needed to go in. She had traveled that road several times in her life. Every time her father got tired of her or wanted to hid something he did, he would all the hospital and have them pick her up. She had seen these woods and that road more times then she could remember. There was only one difference. She had seen it through a window. It felt like a different world being outside that window. It was even more different noting that things could be out there waiting to eat them up. Before when she would pass by the woods, she would imagine herself as little red riding hood. She would see different shadows in the darkness of the trees and imagine that they were wolves wanting to eat her soul. To her, she knew it was all pretend and it never scared her but this time it was different. There really was a chance of something waiting to pop up and eat her.


She moved quickly in hopes of getting there before they were out int he dark to long but she didn't try to hard. Her body was at its end and maybe his was as well. She hadn't moved and done exercises in years thanks to her being trapped in walls. Her body was weak and thin especially after sitting for days and days. The gyms was one of the rooms that were locked up away from them, so they never got to do their daily gym times.


"I wonder if my father survived..." She spoke out loud but to not directly to Axel.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

Axel brings his arm back to his side in a slow movement, bruised and scarred beneath the concealment of a bloody sleeve. "Yes." He responds simply, a blunt end to a singular word. "Just me and Locke." He adds on after a moment or two had passed to leave them in a short bout of silence, the tone of his soft voice almost hinting towards correcting her, after all, he didn't see his companion as a dog. Sure, a bony canine was his dear partner's physical appearance, but a mere mutt wasn't all that he was. He doesn't seem offended though, nor does he linger too long upon that itty-bitty, little detail.


Turning away and outstretching his arms high above his head, he takes in her words with a sigh. Just a few months. Is that all that had passed? "Feels like years." He responds distantly, a strange look in his dark eyes as he draws his arms back down to either of his sides and casts his gaze off into the distance. Hurt? Disappointment? Both? More? He's a hard soul to read, but what one can read, are the thin thread-lines of red that are soon concealed as the torn material of his shirt tumbles back down like a curtain over a window in front of a child's eyes whom had seen something they weren't supposed to. He was telling the truth, however, despite the strange facial expression he had pulled. Not a trace of exaggeration had intertwined with his words, it truly felt as if he'd grown up in this apocalypse. Perhaps he felt as if he'd made more memories these days than he ever had during his childhood. Who wouldn't feel that way though? Perhaps those kept from the truth of the cruel world. He wouldn't wish for them to feel bad though- as it was he who felt somewhat bad for them. Why? Because he knew that those couldn't hide forever. Nothing lasts for ever. Not safety nor happiness. The shields that protect these wondrous feelings grow thinner by the day, and these people. Those people. They must of completely shattered from the shock of realization.


He keeps foggy curiosities trapped behind closed lips, not wishing to interrogate her about a place that she obviously hadn't liked, and who can blame her? He could easily figure that a hospital wasn't the most pleasantly welcoming place to be, what with grumpy nurses who just want their shift to be open and the constant fear of someone shanking you with some sort of non-sterile needle. He shudders at the thought. Though perhaps that was a judgmental move on his behalf, they could of all been close, like a family despite their differences, whether blatant or subtle. He supposes that's likely when thrown in such a small building, but then again a war breaking out is another likely thing to happen. He shakes his head, brushing off his thoughts yet again, noting that he needs to stop thinking this much, thinking the worst of every situation held out to him with open palms. Despite the vague stories she may hint towards, he merely puts his life on the line and gifts her with his trust, just hoping that the outcome will be worth it in the end.


Being the soft-hearted young man that he is, Axel would of likely offered her a jacket if he had one, but he seems to be at a clear lack for particularly thick clothing, as inconvenient as it is. All those that he had came across, which were minimal, whether they be hoodies, sweatshirts or coats, were all torn beyond recognition, mere scraps of fabric. Whilst he had taken them as substitute for bandages after checking them thoroughly for contamination, they still wouldn't have done much to keep him from freezing. On a similar note, an ironic one at that, he's been particularly on the search of leather clothing, as weird as it seems. This is because a tough material such as that would be harder to bite through and tear, it's the same reason, or again a similar one, why biker's had worn them, to avoid getting a nasty flesh-wound from the road if they'd ever flown off their vehicle. But so far, no luck, not even a scrap of it.


Beginning with a few strides onward, his gaze is turned by a voice starting back up behind her, soon granted with a majority of his attention. "Mm?" He sounds out, listening in to what she was telling him, he nods slowly, a look of speckled confusion upon his scratched up face. "Uh." He starts awkwardly, before clearing his throat and trying again. "Thank you, I suppose." He answers with a quaver in his voice, as if he were unsure if that was the right thing to reply with. What was she saying? Was that a compliment or an insult? He's soon met with a stuttering attempt of fixing what she had just said, and Axel's found to be chuckling. He supposes she hadn't meant it to be offensive, therefore he calms enough to easily forgive her, not as though he were angered by the simplistic comment in the first place. She was just trying to keep conversation, after all. "I take it you like to read then?" He questions, fixing it onto a different and easier track for her to reply to, saving her from any further embarrassment. "I can't say I've ever really been into it myself, but I've picked up a few that kept my attention." He adds on, a friendly sense to the words he chooses. He has an unnoticeable smile upon his cracked lips, perhaps out of amusement from how flustered she was, or perhaps from the relief of another companion he can't get himself to see as threatening. It was nice to see a new face lacking a malicious glint in their eye. "They were mostly Graphic Novels if I'm to be honest though." He admits with a low chuckle.


A slow nod of his head causes scruffy strands of hair to swing in a complimenting movement, agreeing that they should get moving as quick as possible. He's very eager to check out the destination that she had suggested. "Alright." He confirms verbally, setting his attention strictly forward once more, picking up the pace in his long-legged steps.


It doesn't matter how many roads he walks down and how many corners he turns, he just can't help but to feel outrageously paranoid about each step that he takes. Danger lurks around every corner these days, all of his life, in fact. Though years before the only thing people needed to worry about was bullies and flat out criminals, now they needed to worry about dead doppelgangers of said kind, and just walking dead in general. It gives him a shock to find himself face to face with a breathing corpse every day, but he's a little too tall and a little too boyish to be thought of as a Little Red Riding Hood avoiding the baring fangs of vicious wolves lusting for flesh. No, he's just a simple survivor out to avoid the rotting clutches of stumbling bodies. Luckily, the clicking of toe nails beside him always helps to keep him grounded and well away from some sort of break down. He could never be more thankful for that, though a simple detail of his days. Thinking about this lures his gaze to his companion, who momentarily glances up at him with a long, pink tongue, dotted with bubbles of saliva lulling from strong jaws.


A whisper cuts through their met gaze, however, and draws Axel's attention back to the nearby girl, whom he slows to allow to catch up to him. His eyebrows furrow near apologetically, but he doesn't comment on it. He has no place to do so, and therefore he just keeps walking an eerily empty road. Muscles stiffening, once more he resets his gaze until spoken to.


He seems to be on edge, intent on keeping Molly and his dog off of the road but at the edge of the trees instead. From his experience, he's learned it bad to be out in the open. He can't count how many times he's been shot at, and the memory of such makes him really think- Is it the dead or the living that one should fear?

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

"Its becomes habit to love book when that is all you have. Somedays when there is nothing to do and everyone is crazy around you, all you can do it read. I found life easier to deal with if I lost myself in some else far off problems. Always made my life seems better when I would read about someone else shitty life and see it turn out good. As a child, it would give me of...though I don't see how this story can ever have a happy ending..." She passed for a moment as she spotted the road and turned to walk behind it hidden in the tree. "This life seems to be only death now. I can't see a happy ending."


She walked silently for while, listening to the sounds around her. She didn't know if she would be able to hear anything come since she was not use to the sounds they made to begin with. She could bet Axel knew quite well and had sensitive ears for those things but she was still scared. Now that she through about it. She was terrified. How could all this be really happening? She could of sworn that everything was normal before. Maybe when she got home, things would seem realer. She prayed her father was dead or gone and had left some things for them. She wouldn't be surprised if the fat bastard was hiding himself away in the basement and eating himself to death with all the store food. She worked hard on preserving fruits, vegetables and meats to please him.


"Graphic novels huh? My brother use to read those a lot. His favorite was always the old Batman ones. I swear he had a crush on Ivy and would keep pictures of her in his room." She hadn't thought about her brother in a long time. Was he safe? Did her mom get home out? He was such a good soul and a surviver too. A natural smile crosse her lips as she thought of her little brother. Now he would be so little but she always saw him in her minds eyes as the little kids who loved to make mud pies. The last time she saw him was a few months ago for a family court visit. Her mother didn't come but she dropped off her brother so he visit her and his father.


In the distance, even through the dark, Molly could see the gate to the community her father lived in. The gate was closed but she knew a way through without the gates having to have power. It was a nice community with large brick walls and a electric gate that had to have a special code to get in.


"Look, there the gate. If we go to the right of it for a few seconds, there will be a place to crawl under the wall." Getting a bit of new found energy, Molly quicken her steps towards the gate. She was almost home.


"Now we can get some food in you." She turns her head and gives him a real natural smile before turning back. "And we have dog food left over in there when my father planned on getting a dog. Never got it but he got all the supplies for it."

 

[Aya Miyahira]

"Ah. I suppose that sounds just about right. I can definitely agree with you there, life is much easier when you're trapped in some sort of fantasy world rather than the reality surrounding you. But I found an escape more often than not in Video Games...To be honest, I'm kind of regretting not playing all too many Zombie Survival ones these days..." He responds chattily, a friendly look upon his face as he recalls fond memories of whimsical MMO RPGs before twisting into one unreadable, even more so with the mask obscuring his face. "It all seemed so silly to me at the time. But now that I look back on it, it's kind of silly that I had rathered epic quests of wizardry over the walking dead, hmm? Makes no sense." He sighs, conveying honesty and admittance in his words. He's quick to pause, however, a look of submissive apology on his face. "S-Sorry. I'm kind of sounding like a dork, aren't I?" He goes quiet once more as the conversation takes a negative turn, a warm sigh fluttering the material of his mouth's covering. Axel takes a while to respond, as if he'd been thinking carefully about his choice of diction. "I can't say that I can prove you wrong. But I can't say I can prove that giving up is worth it either, therefore we might as well keep trying. Even if there's no hope in changing the world, even if there's no hope in surviving, I'd at the very least like to see it crash and burn...Even if that sounds strange." He speaks calmly, a clear drawl outstretching his words and dragging them lazily on as if to push emphasis on every syllable. His gaze keeps itself locked onto the distance ahead of them. "It'd just be....Somewhat fulfilling....I suppose." These last words seem somewhat hesitant, as if he weren't sure about himself.


After a few moments of mildly daunting silence, Axel enables himself to note Locke's discomfort. The lanky dog seems highly on edge, with pointed ears pinned flat against his head and hackles raised. Quickly, the young man jumps to the first conclusion one would have in recent times, the conclusion of a disfigured corpse loitering nearby, therefore his gaze is quick to jump and hastily search the area, bouncing from tree to tree and studying each shadow found with uttermost caution. After finding not a body in sight, however, his gaze is raised skyward to find swelling grey clouds and viciously whipping tree branches. It takes the boy a moment, but soon enough he's able to come to the realization a storm is quickly approaching, soon to be near, and soon to cause trouble. Setting his gaze back forward, he gifts a sharp click of his fingers, signalling for Locke to drop back and walk beside him, when the action is taken, Axel then soothingly pets him on the head, only momentarily slowing his steps to do so. "A storm...I suppose it is best to rest inside for the night." He states beneath his breath before straightening his form and picking up pace. Locke huffs and trots beside him with high-rising steps. The two of them know from experience the bad news that a storm can bring these days in these areas, therefore they know best not to stay outside during one. Or at least not in a clearing- The wind could bring a biter right to you.


He near jumps, clearly startled as her voice starts up again. He takes a second or two to work on settling and brushing himself off as nothing had happened before responding to her next array of sentences. "Ah? Really? Ha! That's pretty cool if you ask me, Batman brings back a load of memories." He gifts another unnoticeable smile. "Ivy, huh? Poison Ivy? Your brother doesn't have half bad taste. I don't blame him." He light heartedly jokes with an additional chuckle. "I must say though, I had more of an interest in those Japanese comics rather than the cheesy American ones. What was the name of them? Manga? Manga. That's it." He nods, as though to confirm his words, momentarily drawing his gaze down with a look of regret. "Man, I really wish I had half the mind at the time to grab more possessions....I suppose my mind was running too quickly to process the possibilities- Not that this was ever something I could imagine happening." A nudge from a furry muzzle, however, keeps him perked. He gifts the dog with a soft gaze and another stroking of large ears. At least he'd remembered to bring the most important thing, right? He doesn't know what he would of done if he didn't have support from the most wondrous companion anyone could ever ask for- though some would definitely bed to differ.


By the time his gaze is drawn upwards, angling itself towards her, he notes the smile that topic had brought to her face. He momentarily runs through his mind to figure that it was the first smile he'd seen on her face since their meaning, and therefore decides to keep the topic running- at least until the building towers over the bumps in the road and overhead of them. "He sounds like a cool kid." He comments thoughtfully, before tossing in a few careful questions. "Was he around your age? Were you two close?" He tilts his head inquisitively, seeming genuinely interested. That or the fact it was just nice to have a conversation with someone who could respond, for once. I mean, dogs are great listeners, so he isn't complaining, but they can't exactly communicate in a language that he can understand- or at least not in a complex way. Canine body language is something he has come to understand over the years of being so close with his furry friend, but it just isn't the same as talking to a human. That brings him to a brief thought, when was the last time he'd spoken to someone of the same species as he? I mean, there was that bandit a few days ago, but....His thoughts trail off and zap him into shuddering. Axel quickly works on shaking that memory off.


Axel moves his line of sight into a different position as her voice rings out to meet his ears, landing on the gate ahead of them that draws his jaws to land agape, blinking a good few times as he processes the intricate details that loom over them in the form of brick walls and electrified iron. He was a tad surprised, perhaps having expected a small cottage over something quite so...bold? He shrugs it off quickly, not wishing to get stunned by something so...simple. But somehow it just seemed tame compared to the run down cities he's passed. For some reason, he seemed to find beauty in the vines lacing over crumbled building sides, it had the sort of charm that appeased him.


Nodding, the lone survivor takes in her words, near breaking himself into a jog that only proved for him to be eager to search the insides of this place. I mean, who wouldn't be? He just hopes he won't be disappointed. He seems happy in responding to her, a joyous ring of excitement decorating his lightly raspy voice. "That sounds great! Thanks, really! It means a whole lot!" He grins down at Locke, who seems to have also figured out the meaning of her words- or at least one of them...That would be 'food'. The mangy mutt runs on ahead, gifting a singular bark and a whip-wagging tail before pausing a few meters along and spinning to meet them, bouncing goofily as if telling them to hurry it up. They were being so slow when there was a meal to be had!

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

As the dog passes, Molly let out a small smile and connived to jog. She wasn't as hungry but it was not to long ago when she left and they ate what little they had left in the hospital before all he chaos happened. But, even though she wasn't as hungry, she couldn't even imagine how hungry Axel and his dog might be. As they made their was closer, Molly answered his question about her brother.


"He was a great kid, we were close but never got to see each other much. That always made our time together better. And Yes...Manga. I will admit to reading my fair share of them. My brother got me some on Christmas and I kept them.


Passing the gate quietly, Molly showed the way to the place to climb under. There was a large rock that leaned against the old brick wall but she knew it was only put there to hide the hole. When she kicked it aside, it rolled a few times away but stayed close by. The hole was once created by wild dogs that kept getting in and eating out of the trash cans. The rock was put up to keep them out but all it did was help kids find ways in and out to sneak through. She remember that a girl a few houses down would sneak her boyfriend in through there since it was recorded which houses used their codes to get in and out.


Molly bent down and stuck her head through quickly to a check to see if there was any dead close by. Left, none. Right, none. Lowing herself fulling down, she wiggled her way through the hole with much ease. For only a second did her hip get caught but she was able to wiggle and slide it through.


This was it. She was home. Well almost. Her house was about ten down from the front gate. The thunder in the distance made her jump for a second as she waited for Axel and Locke to make it through.


"We are really close and..." Molly stopped to the sound of something tipping over close by. There was then the following of a moan or two of the dead. "We need to hurry before anything sees and follows us." When she knew she could, she led the way to the house her father owned. The house was a fairly large two story house. It was made of red brick that use to be brighter then any house. Even in the dark, Molly could tell that the brick color was starting to fade away with age. The bushes around the house was over grown as well as the grass. She had never seen the house like this. Her father always hired people to keep up with it.


"Welcome to my home. Hopefully death doesn't await us inside." She meant that as a joke but felt it came out to crude. Cursing herself on the inside, she dug around for her front door key in her bag. Just as if she were really coming home from the hospital, she unlocked the door and stepped inside the dark house. She really wanted to turn on some lights but she knew that the power would of been gone for ages.


The house smelt damp but cool. It was almost cooler it he house then it was outside. She knew she needed to start a fire but she didn't want to venture through the house just in case her father was home. She didn't want him here, dead or alive.


"Come in," She said lightly as she allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. "Im going to check the house. Theres a fire place right there if you want to put some wood in it and start a fire. Get yourself war and dry." She left his side and ventured into the house to look for her father, if he was even there.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

In all honesty, with the faint though demanding rumble of Axel's stomach and the appearance of his dog, whom was thin as all hell with bones prominent against his fur, it was probably quite easy for one to guess just how hungry they were- starving in fact. Though Axel, being as modest as he is and not wishing for those to feel pity for him, would probably answer, if asked, that he'd eaten not too long ago as to not inconvenience her. When really, truth be told, the young man and his dog had eaten a mere handful of cold beans each the previous morning, and were both practically starving- as were they parched. Thinking of this, the young man glances over to his backpack, withholding plenty of empty packaging and things no longer safe to consume besides a quarter-full tin of beans and a half empty bottle of moldy water, and gifts yet another sigh. The two of them haven't had much luck in their raiding lately, not that they'd admit that to avoid sympathy from others- whether it be genuine or false. Point is, the duo are more than ready for a meal, as well as a good night's sleep to clear their mind and rejuvenate their bodies.


"I see." He states in response to her reply, gifting a few nods of understanding and acknowledgement as he refuses to push on at the negatives that she had hinted at. "It's pretty great, huh?" He tosses a smile the young lady's way beneath the concealment of his mask, his eyes bright and sweet. "Gave me a form of entertainment when I was away from my consoles- But man do I miss them." He chuckles, his voice roughened as if it had been scraped against ragged sandpaper a good deal of times. Axel had only paused briefly to note how much of a drag Christmas was going to be this year, not as if it wasn't a drag every year with a dysfunctional family such as the both of their's, as it seems.


Following her to the passageway hidden behind a chunk of rock, Axel briefly wonders how many pesky teenagers had used it to their advantage behind their parents' back. Probably a majority of them, is what he sets as the answer, though it remains unconfirmed- not that he'd exactly wish for it to be. After all, it wasn't the most important nor interesting of the topics they could be conversing about, therefore he doesn't stay by it all too long. Instead, he patiently waits, like the gentleman he is, for her to go through. Ladies first, right? Though he'd probably liked to of checked for safety before she'd stuck her head through, just in case of a nasty ambush from well alert guards or impressively keen-sighted zombies. For the time being, for what he's been allowed to do, he just watches her movement closely, standing by on edge for any jolt of her body and ear piercing scream- only to find himself washed over in relief once that doesn't come.


Next, rather than crawling into 'safety' himself, he gifts a sharp whistle and tosses a hardened finger up towards the hole in the wall. Locke takes this as his cue, and obediently scrambles in through the grainy stone without so much as a questioning head tilt conveying doubt for his master's orders. When safely through, he finally takes his turn and drops his body low to the ground, grunting as he drags himself in through the opening of the wall. Though taller than the average person, he's outrageously thin yet toned over in fit muscles from his daily activeness (not that it's a choice to be active these days), and avoids getting stuck as long as he keeps his arms well ahead of the rest of his body- seeing as his broad shoulders could cause quite the problem. The fact that he's a male and therefore lacks curves also helps him out a great deal with squirming through.


Once on the other side, he climbs up onto his knees before rising onto his feet, folding out to his full height with a thin layer of dirt streaking the black of his shirt. The survivor stretches with a quiet, near inaudible groan before jumping with a start in response to the rumbling crack of thunder, his dull eyes jumping to Locke, whom had yelped and scampered a good few meters away, turning to them with spooked eyes, ears pinned back and tail tucked. Axel's quick to approach the frightened dog and wrap him up in his arms, petting him soothingly and whispering words of comfort before picking him up with a huff to avoid losing him in a bout of fright and panic. Though one would often struggle with picking up a dog that size, the young man doesn't at all seem to, not even as he shifts the whimpering hound in his grip in an attempt to make it more comfortable. This is likely because the dog lacks a healthy weight.


With Locke now safely off the ground and incapable of drawing any attention, Axel re-approaches Molly to keep them rounded as a group. He'd barely registered the vague moans of the dead stumbling nearby, having been focused on keeping his canine companion under control, but he had been able to take in her words with a quick dip of his head to convey agreement, soon following out this movement in a sideways toss to emphasize the word 'hurry', seeming more than eager to move on with this little trip and get to a place of safety- or more specifically somewhere with walls, and food...Hopefully food.


Hurrying after her, Axel refrains from staring at the house in awe in favor of slipping inside and muffling the sound of thunder that continuously gives both him and his partner a clear jump start, only having given her a quick nod of his head as thanks and barely paying her attempt of a joke a speck of attention before doing so out of determination. He can't remember the last time he was within walls, rather than being locked on the other side of them. Perhaps weeks? Despite the disappointing lack of temperature change, it was still nice to find himself in the midst of a scenery change, no matter how unwelcoming the obviously unattended-to house stood surrounding.


Setting Locke down with a click of overgrown nails on slick floorboards, Axel turns to Molly and lifts a hand to his mask, digging a finger into the faded, azure material and dragging it down beneath his chin to convey a sense of seriousness in the tone of voice he now attempts to take on. "Thank you." He repeats, obviously very humbled by her offer, whether it provides or lacks, it still means a lot to him. "I really mean it....We really mean it." He states, giving a half-hearted attempt of a bow before moving onward, sauntering across the room towards the fire situated there.


Plonking down cross-legged in front of the pile of ash behind iron bars, he slips his bag off his shoulder and allows it to tumble over onto its front beside him. He shifts as Locke rocks up beside him and practically collapses at his side, resting his muzzle upon his knee with a wide yawn. "Let's get this thing a-blazing, shall we?" He smiles down at his buddy warmly, a soft look to him. He comes off as quite a bit less shady with his mask now left out of the picture to hang around his well-sculpted jaw.


Shifting in position, the young man outstretches a hand to grasp a log and toss it onto the pile, flicking old ash, left un-swept, into the more or less clean, crisp air, causing Locke to sneeze. He pauses to chuckle as the Doberman cross shakes his large head before grasping another few and tosses them in two. The next would be a match, which he glances about for before settling for the tiny box at home in his pocket. Rocking his weight onto one knee, Axel slips his scarred hand into his pocket and draws the box out, pushing a finger against his sliding tray to reveal a family of three red-headed matches. He supposes that matches are another thing he'll have to add to his long list of needed supplies, but once again he doesn't allow himself to live off of the negatives that his busy mind throws at him. Instead, he strikes the match, sticks it beneath the pile, and watches with a mildly goofy smile as flames crackle out from beneath the wood and spread into a gorgeous body of warmth.


Axel settles back down into his seated position, resting a hand atop Locke's head and stroking him lovingly whilst the other shifts to land atop his knee. The two of them stare as if mesmerized by the flames, a deep breath from Axel allowing for him to draw in and savor the somewhat comforting scent of burning wood. When was the last time he was gifted the opportunity to start a fire without the worry of drawing attention? When was the last time he was enabled to to do any of these things? He can't remember, or perhaps he doesn't want to. Everything seems to lead to a nasty memory these days, and he doesn't want to corrupt the faint happiness that he feels bubbling up inside him. Or is that the feeling of his stomach trying to eat itself? Perhaps both.


Briefly, a dark gaze is drawn up to watch somewhat protectively as the blonde disappears further into the house, a glint of admiration hiding among the patchy, chocolate speckles of either eye. Axel seemed to be near over-grateful for what she's managed to provide them with so far. Was what he did really that big of a deal?

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Before completely disappearing into the dark of the kitchen, Molly turned and nodded to Axel. "No need to thank me. You save my life today, it the least I could do." She disappeared completely and left him to his task.


The kitchen was clear of any monster. That included her father or dead, or a mix of the both. Molly let out a sigh of relief even though she knew there was more of the house she needed to check. Remembering safely, Molly went under the pantry doors and found 4 unused old lamps, filled with old and newer wicks. She remember that her father got them in the will when his mother died. His mother did not like him much either and as a joke, she left him oil lamps instead of her Money. Her actual Money went to her second son who was a few years younger the her father.


Grabbing all the lamps, 2 at a time, she lit found a long handled lighter in the drawer and lit each one. These would last for a very long time and lit up what ever room they were in. She sat on down on in the Kitchen and brought another to the room Axel sat in. He had already started the fire and was enjoying it with his companion. He seemed happy and she could see the smile on his face. She was glad she was able to give him something to count on and look forwards to. When was the last time he had a true cooked meal. Turning to look into the kitchen, she could easily make a real meal since her owned was gas oven. Her father like them more for cooking. But she could imagine that the boy was starving and maybe didn't want to wait. After searching the house and getting into the basement, she would check and see with him what he would enjoy more.


Leaving the room and going back into the kitchen, she started pulling out dry good that didn't go bad like flour, rice and herb seasonings. In one of the lower pantry, she found her preserved peaches. It was her brothers favorite, so she always kept jars of it close at hand for when he had the rare opportunity to visit. Molly places a few jar on the counter and wondered if Axel would like them. She was about ready to head back into the front room and give him the jar when a creak from above her made her stop. Someone or something was upstairs.


"I'm going to check upstair." Molly said as she grabbed a kitchen knife and went up the stairs. She didn't want to alarm Axel when he was in such a state of peace at the moment. She believed she could handle whatever was in there room above the kitchen, which she knew was her fathers room. If she needed help, she could always call for assistance but she really didn't want to be reduced from one person or zombie when he was able to take out so many earlier that day for her. She would look weak to not be able to protect herself from one. Though if her father was alive....she was more scared of that fact then of him being dead. Being dead he would lumber about and she could take him down but alive....he was much stronger and bigger then her. With no authorities....he could do what ever she wanted to her. Her stomach turned at the thought as she kept memories out of her mind. She wouldn't allow it this time. She could stop me...she hopes.


Making it to the top of the stair, a knife in one hand and an oil lamp in the other, she look left and right down the hall way. Empty. Most the doors were open but no light passed through them since the moon was started to get covered in storm clouds. There was only one room that had a closed door and that was her father room. The upstairs was cold and had a damn feel to it. The air made her skin tingle more with nerves. Maybe she should call for Axel. This was not the smartest idea but he seemed almost out and she didn't want to put him in harms way for her.


"Dad?" She called out in a whisper as she approached the door. Molly stopped for a second and took a deep breath to clam herself, before pushing the door open. The room seemed empty with its closet door open a crack. The room was dark and the only light coming in was from her lamp and some from the window. Lighting cracked through he sky and made her jump. She heart was pounding more and more with each step she took into the room. This was it, she could face the monster. The door was fully open now and Molly held her breath, ready for anything to lung at her.


Nothing happen.


Molly looked around in the room and saw that it was empty. The bed was messy and there was blood spilled all over it. Her father must have gotten bitten and left for help when it outbreak happened. Her heart started to calm down but thens he realized that she still needed to look in the master bathroom that connected to the room. He could of turned and got locked inside there. Without thinking, she sat the lamp and knife on the desk by the bathroom door and the pushed the it opened with ease. There light from the lamp reached, from its resting spot, into the bathroom and filled it with dull yellow light. Empty. Molly let out a big sigh as she steps inside. There were first aid thing in here, she was sure of it. As she walked in, the door to the closet started to slide open. It made no noise and either did the thing that stepped out. Molly crouched down and started digging under the sinks for the first aid kit. The sound of the rattling of things, over powered the sound of approaching uneven foot steps that got closer and closer to her. A hand dried bloody hand reached out for her as she stopped and heard the floor board squeak behind her. Quickly, she dart around on the balls of her feet and let out a sudden scream. The thing lunged for her but she was able to dodge and crawl away from him. It was her father. The man was fat and tall and now his face was half rotten and pieces of his flesh were gone.


"Axel!!" She called out in fear as he took another dive at her. Molly was able to roll away and pull herself up using the toilet. She was backed into a corner and even dead, he was still stronger and bigger then her. Her hands feel back to keep from falling on the toilet, and they touched something cold and hard. Turning her head, she saw that her hands rested to the tank lid of the toilet. The thing was made of hard porcelain. Picking it up, she smashed in into her father head. He dropped down and turned onto his back, unable to get up like a damaged turtle.


"You bastard." Suddenly, all the anger, the fear, the sadness and the hatred she had stuffed inside, came out all at once. She straddled the dead mans body, not caring how dangerous it was and started to slam the lip over and over into his head. She didn't have much strength but she started to slowly cave his head on. As she did, she started to cry and yell in anger "YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! THIS IS FOR HURTING ME!" She Slammed it down. "THIS IS FOR TAKING MY BROTHER FROM ME!" Another slam. She didn't know if Axel was up by now but if he was, he would be able to see everything she was doing and hear every word. "AND THIS IS FOR TOUCHING ME YOU SICK DIRTY JERK" She let out one more angry cry and brought down the lid and destroyed his head. Blood was all over her clothes but lucky there was none on her face. He didn't have much blood left in him. She sat there for a bit, breathing heavily and looking down at the now completely dead man.


Covering her face in her hands, her body started to shake as if she were about to cry. Instead she did the opposite. She laughed. Bringing her hands away, she looked up tot he ceiling and started to whole heartedly laugh. "I'm free..." She spoke in-between the fits of laughter. She was. She was finally free of this monster that destroyed her life.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

A slow nod dips through Axel's head, showing that he had understood what she was saying to him. No matter how many times she told him that what she was providing was merely nothing in turn for his heroic action, he still would thank her greatly. It's just how he was, modest and grateful. Though, then again, sometimes he could over do it. But it is better than under doing it, yes? Some inhabitants of this world are just so disgustingly uncaring, so disrespectful. It'd make him sick not to shower someone in praise when he feels that they deserve it.


As Molly searches the house, Axel finds himself sliding onto his side and curling up in front of the dancing flames in a highly canine like manner. Locke stretches out and scampers to drape his furry body over his exhausted owner like some sort of bulky blanket, gifting another yawn and flaunting sharp, yellow fangs across a dull, red background as the dim light of the fire washes over them like a sea of paint, soon accompanied with the greasy yellow of an oil lantern set aside nearby. The young man sighs in blissful content, and allows for his eyelids to flicker closed over deep brown eyes like blinds over a window to keep strangers from peering in, to close the world out in his case. He takes the time, though a dangerously risky decision, to relax and savor the fire's warm kisses whilst he can.


Naturally, the young man has a horribly hard time staying awake whilst weighed down by utter relaxation, but he does manage. Half manage, at the very least. With a scrape of a half revealed gun against wooden floorboards, and a small groan, Axel shifts about until he finds himself completely comfortable, his dear companion happily contorting to cater to Axel's desired position rather than his own, showing that he isn't fussed as long as he has a happy master. When that wondrously settled position is found and perfected, Axel settles for keeping a pierced ear out, listening with uttermost care and caution as the woman's light footsteps trail away from his curled form. He isn't so much on edge about the fact that this may be a whole Hansel and Gretel scenario, where a witch has drawn the two of them to a promising house hopefully full of untouched supplies with the intent to stuff and eat them, but rather the fact that this kind, young lady may run into something eager to part the close relationship of her flesh and bones.


As for the curiosity of the last time he'd had a cooked meal, a properly cooked meal seeing as a charred rat likely wouldn't be counted, the answer would be quite some time ago. Perhaps a year? Likely a year. Even a few months before the apocalypse had fallen, he'd found himself at a lack of a balanced diet. But even still, it didn't bother him. Why? Because he saw no reason for it to, or at least not a single one to show the world that it did. No, whilst he may of been starving, and may be starving at this very moment in time, he can smile as long as that dear dog may be at his side. As silly as it seemed. There was actually a time where he couldn't smile, being on the streets all alone.


Truth is, Axel's been apart of the outside world for quite some time now, even before the dead started roaming the streets, lurking around every corner with distorted faces crunched and rotting. He'd run well away from his cozy home, a scrawny dog at his side. He'd ran and ran until he was far enough away to settle in a cardboard box and leave his survival up to the kindness of those, living at the time, passing by. Which was little. Very little. But even still, he got through it, putting Locke ahead of him and gifting him with what food he could buy with a couple of spare pennies if there weren't enough for two- which was often. It carried on for quite some time, but Axel still had a cheesy grin until the day where the world lashed with whips of cruelty, kicking him whilst he was down.


Animal control had found him, and explained to him that without a home and without some sort of licence, he was no longer capable of taking care of Locke. Without so much as a word of argument being allowed past his lips, his best friend, his only friend, his only family was ripped clean from his loving arms and locked up behind bars. Axel found himself constantly wandering into the shelter where they had stored Locke, frail, tattered and depressed, absolutely desperate to gift reasons as to why he was capable, why he didn't want the silly dog but needed him, why they needed each other. But the demons behind the counter hadn't allowed a raspy word to reach their ears before they turned the homeless, young man away and tossed him back into the cold grasp of the world, threatening to call the police to take him away if he didn't beat it.


It was a horrible month that the two had to spend separated, without so much as a visit enabled, not even a glance allowed. Just terrible loneliness and utter pain that added to the dastardly winter days. A horrible month spent curled in the snow with frozen tears running down a dirty face whilst happy, functional families snuggled up by the fire place. A horrible month until someone finally found mercy in their heart, enough to buy lonely Locke, whom had spent his days alone howling and carrying on loudly to convey his broken heart, off of the devilish pound and sorted out a licence for Axel to be enabled to keep his friend, the only thing that had been keeping him alive through Hell on Earth. Someone had taken the time out of their precious Christmas Holiday to sing "'Tis the season" and reunite a broken boy with no purpose and his beloved dog. Ever since then, he's been overly grateful for anything anybody has had the heart to provide him with, no matter how simple or how big. It all adds up, and he'd learnt that not all too long ago. He'd learned more that day than he ever had been able to sticking around school grounds.


All of the sudden, Axel is awoken with a start from the horrible nightmare of a memory that had grounded him, isolated him from the reality of what he has right at this moment. A piercing scream of his name cuts through the air as clean as a knife through cake and sends him jolting upright, clambering to his feet as Locke scrambles and begins barking, snapping his jaws viciously as though trying to help his owner clear his daze and awaken to the situation being provided.


It takes Axel a groggy moment or two to become alert to the drama being thrown at him at such an inconvenient time, though as soon as he can, as soon as his body allows, he gifts a sharp whistle of demand, sending Locke barreling up the stairs on command with a scramble of sharp nails and heavy thuds, yapping his head off and trying to draw attention away from Molly, who he smartly supposes is being attacked by one of the brain-dead walkers. The dog bolts his way down multiple hallways with an impressive speed, well ahead of Axel whom stumbles clumsily behind, leaving his bag beside the fire out of panic- as well as his gun, which had fallen out of the capture of his pants with all of his restless rolling about.


Despite the generous span of the house, it takes only a mere few fractions of time for the dog to find the source of the scream. Skidding on the olden, polished floor, the lanky canine takes a sharp turn into the large bedroom and flings itself into the bathroom connected, fangs bared and ready to mercilessly maul a body, dead or alive, down to the ground. However, the dog's timing hadn't allowed him at all to do so. Instead, the doberman enters the room just in time for a disturbing crack to cut through the air and send a shard of thick porcelain to narrowly miss cutting open a furry cheek. Locke yelps and scampers away, lowering his body by the door with a malicious expression of caution as the peeling body of a large man tumbles down like a tower struck by a bomb, landing on the tile with a wobbly thud.


Not even a moment later, Axel appears in the doorway, fumbling for his non-existent gun only to be frozen in place by a hard-edged curse of pure hatred. Drawing his gaze up, he intakes the scene with a jaw rested agape, a shaky breath struggling into his lungs as the heated rage within the already stuffy, contaminated air makes it horribly hard to breathe. Though it takes the conjuring of what energy he has left, the brave male refrains from taking a step back, but instead stands tall and listens in on the words screamed, learning more than he feels he should about her in such a short span of time.


With each word that smacks into his ears with the power of a wielded brick, Axel finds himself strangled by the emotions that well up in him, as if her own mixture had begun to rub off on him like a contagious disease. Sadness, disgust, anger. They slowly but surely begin to corrupt his kind demeanor and leave him there to stare, his shaking hands slowly curving their fingers into the position of white-knuckled fists as his eyes darken, over shadowed by the hair that hands once his head is lowered. She knew this man, and he was none too kind to her. It was a realization of conclusion that was more than easy to come to, to confirm. He didn't, however, wish for the details. He'd had enough by the time she was done. By the time she'd settled back on her knees and released her confusion of emotions into a bout of maniacal laughter.


Despite the icy shudder that runs down his spine to shake his entire body. Despite the distrusting snarl of the dog at his side that clearly shows an awaiting of an order to attack. To attack this girl that wreaks of danger. Axel finds himself knowing better, he had understood the reasons, though vaguely screamed. She'd been pushed too far in a disgustingly similar manner to he. She'd been broken inside and out by wrinkly hands and a booming voice. It wasn't her fault she was this way, and therefore not a whistle comes, nor a snap of his fingers. He has no intent on putting her down, despite the sadism lacing over her laughter. Not a speck of intent. Rather, Axel gifts a slow signal with his hand. "Heel." He orders calmly, and with that, Locke slowly lowers down onto his stomach, his fur sticky with the blood that had splattered from the final blow.


One step after another, Axel gingerly makes his way through the bloody mass sprawled lifelessly across the floor, the main event centering a moldy bathroom. Click, click, squelch, click, crunch. An array of disturbing sounds echo through the splattered bathroom, washed out by the sound of feminine laughter as strained emotions overflow from a frail body, like water from the multiple tiers of a stone fountain. The young man remains quiet as he makes his way around to the back of her, slowly lowering himself until he's enabled to straddle her hips with long limbs, not trapping her, nor trying to start anything, but just to give her a sense of security. He then slowly presses himself to her back, and wraps her up in his arms in an almost awkward attempt of providing her with warmth. Yes, she wasn't crying. But it doesn't mean that she didn't need comfort. Therefore, despite not being close to her in anyway, nor knowing the depths and details of her life, he tries to gift her with just that, whether he be in the position to do that or not. He's not going to stand around and let her lose it, it's just not what he's like.


Pushing aside the panic he should feel when in a room with someone clearly unstable, he envelopes her with his entirety, and slowly rocks her back and forth, stroking her hair with a large and calloused hand, gentle despite having the appearance meant to warn people of being rough. In a torn voice, he begins whispering little things like "Hey, hey, hey...." and small hushings in an attempt to get her back into a clear state of mind. A calm expression of worry stretches across his face as he slowly motions his head, coaxing Locke to cautiously creep through the bloody mess and approach the two. With a strange though caring look in his eye, the dog lowers himself down and rests his head on her lap, licking one of her hands with a warm tongue. The duo yet again find themselves working as a team as they try not to change her, but to settle her down, to diffuse the situation before it flies out of control, to bring her back to reality.


Though trusting, Axel still had to remain on his toes- After all, he'd only known this girl for barely an hour, and had little idea of what she was capable of doing to others, whether they've done something to anger her or not.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Molly continued to laugh, not aware of Axel or his dog. AT the moment, she was lost. She was lost in her own mind and in her own memories. She pictured the dead man alive and standing at her bed side, drunk and staggering. She would stay still in her bed, her back turned to him, and hope he would leave the room and go pass out on the couch like normal. This time he didn't. Quickly he threw the covers off her body and proceeded to pin her. Her screams filled the room but his hand found her mouth and silenced her. She was to little compared to him and had no strength. She kicked and tried her hardest to get away but it was almost impossible. She didn't know what to do. In her head she was reliving the scene and couldn't escape from it. He held her down and attempted to violate her. Her screams behind his hands turned into cried to pain and horror. Freeing one hand, she was able to reach up and grab something close by. She didn't know what it was but it was heavy. She slammed it quickly into his head and made his move back and fall off the bed. Just like him, she fall back and off the bed. He wasn't moving and she didn't know if she had killed him or not. Quickly, she grabbed her sheet and covered her half naked body. Tears streamed down her face as she watched him pick himself up. His face was as red as the color on her walls.


"Your going to pay for that." He snapped at her. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for his attack but found instead him leaving the room. What was he doing? She staggered, her leg hurt from being twisted, and listen through her door. He was on the phone and calling the hospital. He said she had gotten up and attacked him unprovoked. That she was a danger and harm.


The memory ran through her mind over and over, as if someone had hit a replay button. But now he was dead. There was no more fear. No more.


Her laughter continued as her voice started to get horse. Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her. She stiffened and grabbed his hands, ready to move away and attack him but she stopped herself. Instead of pulling away, she held onto his hand and pulled them so that they wrapped around her more and brought him closer. Slowly the laughter turned into tears. Axel was hear. He was the one holding her. Even though she had just lost it completely and could of attacked him, he still tried to help. She wrapped her arms around his and lowered her head to cry. All her pain flushed out of her through her tears. Slowly, he brought her back to this world and to the reality of the fact that the man who hurt her was now dead. He would never touch her again.


For once, something good came out of this dead world. She was able to be free.


Still, knowing that, she cried until nothing came out of her eyes. She felt comfort by Axels voice and how he rocked her. This was the first time anyone had ever been close enough to her to do this. Usually she would back away, not knowing how to react but it was nice now.


After calming down, Molly whipped the tears and blood away from her face but didn't move from his arms. She felt ashamed of herself now that he had to see that. All in one day he had saved her twice from being lost. First with her body and the second with her mind.


"I'm so sorry..." She chocked as she held onto his arms. "I..I could of attacked you. I didn't know what was happening around me. I didn't even see you come in."


What would have happened if she did attack him. Would he have shot her or made his dog kill her. She would except the punishment glady but he didn't. He did this instead. Something she would of never expected.


"Thank you...Once again you have saved me. I'm sorry you had to see that. I guess you can see why I was in the hospital..." She released his arms slowly and started to stand. She looked down at the now unrecognizable body of her father. She stepped over his body and helped Axel up and smiled lightly.


"I know...I bet you are scared now to be with me. If it would make you feel safer, I can sleep and eat somewhere away form you. I promise I won't hurt you but I want you to feel safe here..." She looked down and felt the shame take over her body. "I can get you a bed set up downstairs by the fire and get you some food. Ill stay away from you afterwards so you can relax." Automatically she assumed that he would want her gone now that he saw how messed up she was. She didn't like killing and didn't like it for fun or pleasure. But it felt like she had lost control of everything inside of her. Her anger was a whole different spirit that took over and made her loose it. If Axel wasn't there....she could of completely lost it.

 

[Aya Miyahira]

As a reoccurring nightmare plays through her head like a broken record without so much as a scrap of mercy, as her fear and sorrow is hidden behind a mask of insane laughter, Axel readies himself, preparing both his body and mind for what her reaction may be. Though he pushes the fear aside and coaxes his trust for her to the surface in favor of trying to help her out than leave her in the dirt like everyone else must of, he still keeps himself on edge, despite putting himself in clear danger. The young man doesn't at all allow for himself to run through the scenarios, doesn't allow for him to wonder what happens if she were to lash out and get a grip on that slab of porcelain once more, only to aim her rage and bout of emotions at him rather than the man that had caused them, he doesn't allow for him to wonder what would happen if she were to scream out and struggle in a fit of panic, begging for him to leave, but rather he just fixes his mind on the sole fact that she needs someone. Therefore, he won't allow for her to be alone, at least not at this very moment. It wouldn't be in his heart to leave a girl to drown in a sea of her own emotions, to be pulled under and eaten alive by the blunt, gnashing teeth of her own fears. He simply can't, and that's what settles it. He has no reason of his own apart from having the softest heart and mind a male could have, and without a clue of what draws him to do so despite the look of craziness splattered across her pretty features, he simply wraps his body around her and draws her close into his warmth. It's the least he feels that he can do in this situation- After all, he can't change the past, no matter how hard he can try. But, what he can do, is help her push through it. After all, it's easier to tread through the darkness with a hand to hold, yes? That's why he insists on offering his own, whether it may be smacked away or launched at, it's still there, scarred fingers outstretched.


Axel finds his whole body stiffening, a wave of momentary shock electrocuting his muscles as thin, feminine hands latch onto his large, boyish ones. The moment comes where he finds himself unsure, awaiting with a look of worried uncertainty to see whether she were going to push him away or silently accept his attempt of comfort. Needless to say, a wave of relief crashes over him when he feels his arms being drawn closer around her, as though his body was being used as some sort of security blanket. The young man sighs softly, and slowly allows for himself to constrict her body tightly- though not viciously so, not in the least. As per usual, he does his best to remain as gentle as possible, handling her as if she were some sort of preciously fragile porcelain statuette.


As the sound of near inaudible sobbing reaches his ears and hits him with the realization that poor Molly had fallen into crying and opening up the flood gates of various feelings, all of his doubts wash away in an instant. She wasn't some maniac who needed to be stowed away behind padded walls, but a regular human being whom simply had no clue what to do with her emotions, and it's something he could relate with, to some extent. He couldn't blame her in the least, nor would he wish for a reason to pin the blame on anyone, he lives in the refusal to question her about the things that she may wish to forget, the things that had broken her down. No matter how curious he may find himself, he'd rather put the feelings of others first like the gentleman that he is- or tries his best to be at the very least.


For as long as she may need this comfort, Axel's patient enough to provide her with it. So for moments, or even minutes on end, the young man brings her close into his body and gently rocks her back and forth, whispering gently into her hair as he gently caresses her shoulders and strokes her blonde strands, doing his best to calm her down as best as he can, doing his best to convince her, to prove to her that she isn't alone at this current point in time, and if he is allowed to stay, will happily be there for her, despite not knowing all too much about her as previously stated. "Hey, Hey....Shhhhh....It's alright...I'm here....You aren't alone...You don't have to be..." He reassures her quietly, allowing for her to ball her eyes out, for tears are accepted and even admired in his deep, brown eyes.


He remains in this near protective seeming position with his face lowered before finally her voice, lightly choked, reaches his pierced ears once more, calling for him to draw his gaze up. Rocking slightly, he shifts just enough to be able to see a fraction of her face, a gentle and genuinely caring look to him despite his roughed-up exterior. "Don't...." He starts up quietly, before clearing his throat and steeling his expression into something a little more serious, though not at all intimidating. "Don't you dare apologize for something that isn't your fault." He states, attempting to seem stern as he slowly begins lifting a hand out of its settled position, pausing at first as if not to startle her, to hook a few strands of her hair upon his fingers and un-stick them from her damp face, tucking them behind her ear instead. In all honesty- even if she were to attack him, he wouldn't of been able to convince himself that downing her was the right thing to do. At the very most, he may of been able to pin her, but no matter the situation, he likely would of found herself just wrapping her up and trying to calm her down. After all, there are times when there is no need for blood to be shed. One must look beyond the fast-paced actions, even when time isn't given to do so, one must keep an open mind, and know beyond a doubt that there would be a reason for them do to this, for them to be the way they are. Luckily, her yelling had given him enough of a reason to take it upon himself to fly into such a thoughtful action over anything else that another would do.


Axel finds himself slowly shaking his head in response to her appraisal, grateful for it, though feeling as though it were unnecessary to bring up. Was it really an action that deserved such a tearful thanks? Perhaps, but he was too modest to believe it, despite accepting it. "It wasn't a problem, really. You are who you are, and the least I can do for you is to accept it." He once again reassures her, taking the hint of the release of his hands to slowly loosen his grip on her and draw his arms back to his own sides, giving a toss of his head to order his dog to shift his body elsewhere and allow for her to move as she pleased, the both of them once again putting trust into her as she attempts to regain her balance. Axel watches cautiously, ready to catch her if she fell- whether it be literal or metaphorical. He was always there for someone in need, and despite being a practical stranger, he wished for her to know this, and to know that it was genuine for him to try and open up to her, rather than some sort of nasty, cold-hearted scam.


Pushing aside her apologetic words with a small smile of forgiveness, Axel carefully takes her hand and rises to his feet, almost hurrying her out the door to get her away from the scene, to move on. "Ah, Nonsense." He starts up, with a small, light-hearted chuckle. "If I were frightened of you I would of been out the door rather than by your side, yes?" He questions, patting her on the shoulder before allowing her be. He couldn't get himself to imagine her wishing to attack him for the sole intent to get some sort of pleasure out of it, and therefore he begins to shake his head towards her silly suggestions. "No, No. I believe I'd be more stressed if you were in a different room." He admits with an awkwardly wobbly smile, taking a few steps ahead, follow by Locke who takes a leap over the bloody mass centering the molded bathroom, as though he were afraid of staining his pretty paws. "So why don't we eat dinner together?" He suggests in a friendly manner. "I believe it would be best for the both of us to do so, after all." He adds on in an attempt to convince, seeming intent on keeping an eye on her, just so he's able to help her out as soon as possible should this happen again. He waits a while, before ending his current sentence with another small addition, a shy smile prettying itself onto his face. "Staying nearby the fire does sound nice, however. I think that's a good idea."

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Molly nodded by didn't answer him. She was both embarrassed and ashamed of her actions but she kept those feelings tight. It would be a long time before she could ever explode in come form of emotion not that everything was let out now. When she was younger, most her scares came from the times she would explode and had nowhere to direct her anger. Molly would end up hurting herself and cutting her stomach. She one time attacked a kid and lost it when she did. That was the first time her father took her to hospital. She stayed for a while in the children wing before they finally released her with her diagnosis. They gave her father medications to give her and told him she needed to start developing emotional connections or it would effect her. Her father didn't care. She was kept locked away, home schooled and away from people. She never had friends never had a boyfriend and was never kissed.


Molly's face suddenly turned bright red and she lowered her head so that her head so that her white hair would hide her cheeks. For one, she was embarrassed that she acted like this in front of the stranger but she was even more embarrassed now by the fact that he was the first man in her life who had ever touched her or was close to her. Guys found her to rude and weird to want to date her and she was hated by the girls. Axel was the first who had ever gotten close to her. Now realizing it, he was the first person to ever touch her period other then Jasmine. Was this kind of action normal even between strangers? She never seen it between normal people. This was her very first human interaction. And it was with another man. She was already 22 and this was a first for her. That only proved how messed up she was.


Walking down the hall, she passed the linen closet and realized that it would be the best to get everything they needed to make bedding now before going downstairs. That why they didn't have to come back up and be where the body was. In the morning should would also get rid of the body. Push him out the window maybe if she was strong enough.


"Help me take some stuff down" Her voice was light from still being embarrassed and she open the door. Inside was several think and think blankets. She pulled out a bunch and stacked them on the floor, counting each on to see how many the needed. "Pull the rest out, I will go through the rooms and get some pillows." She turned quickly away from him and opened the door to her room. Everything inside was the same from when she was take months ago but the hospital people. Her bed was sill messy from when her father attacked her. The walls were a lilac color, her favorite color and was decorated with Polaroid shots. Each picture was perfect, as if a photographer took them. Some where of random people on the street and some of her brother. Mostly there were nature shots and city shots. She used her camera as a outlet for so much and she would hid herself behind the lens of a camera. Before all this, she wanted to go into wildlife photography. It was the only beautiful she found in this world.


Stepping into the room, she glided her fingers across her desk and books. It felt like it was only yesterday she was in here reading or hiding in her room. Even though everything was the same, there was dust covering everything. She didn't miss it though. This is where bad things would happen. Instead of lingering on and letting her heart hurt, she grabbed her blankets and pillows and left the room. She piled them by the edge of the stairs and went into the two guest bedrooms and got those pillows as well. She didn't bother with her fathers room because there was blood everywhere and she wouldn't want to lay on those to begin with.


Caring down a ton of pillows and any blankets she could, Molly started to make a think bedding for them to sleep on close the the fire. She throw the pillows down and made a nest of covers. It look nice and she was sleepy just staring at it.


"This should be enough. We need to cover the windows with the rest so the light from the fire doesn't attract anything to us. I can get us start on food if you are willing to cover the window. Just be careful if you do." She smiled at him before walking into the Den and started to move a couch and rug that was underneath it. This lead to the basement where they stored stuff and all her preserves. She pulled the hatch and was glad to go in and see that nothing had been touch. It made her wonder why no one had raided this place. Her father, from the looks of this body, was dead for awhile...yet no one had broken in and taken anything. She could think the rich houses would be the ideal places to scavenge in hopes of food and clothes. But still, nothing was touched here.


She grabbed a few jars of preserved cooked chicken, sealed flour for gravy and canned vegetables. She loved making preserves when she was here. It was a hobby and finally one that paid off. Any time she would cook, she could cook double and perceive the rest. These would last for years without going bad.


"Got some stuff your going to love!!!!" She called down from the basement. She put the jars in a empty box and carried them up. In the morning she would have to go through to see what was still good and what she could help Axel with. "We can have chicken and gravy tonight. All I have to do is warm it up and season it. It will be like a fresh cooked meal. Maybe a bit dry but still good." She walked into the Kitchen and grabbed a cast iron skillet, tin foil and tongs. Molly then sat down by the fire and start to wrap the chicken and make grave with instant milk, water, seasoning and flour. The only good dry stuff the lasted for years. The chicken cook while she made the gravy.


"So, I bet you have questions. Ask away. You deserve to know who you are sharing a bed and meal with, right?"

 

[Aya Miyahira]

Axel hopes, for the time that the two of them remain together, that he can provide a calm atmosphere for her. He is a judgment free person, after all, and therefore he wishes for it to be a judgment free zone, that doesn't require the confirmation of answers to curious questions, but just trust and acceptance. It's how he works, and how he likes for things to be. It comforts him to know that either person doesn't have to fear being themselves, that they don't have to avoid it in fear of what the other may think, in fear of scaring the other off, out of the house, down the road and far, far away. Never to be seen again. As long as he isn't requested to leave but desired to stay, the gentlemanly young survivor will be more than happy to oblige. A human to talk to, warm food, a fire? It all sounded heavenly to him, and intense emotions didn't make a difference- After all, they were all apart of being human and he understood full well that each and every soul conveyed their feelings differently. The world would be a drag if everyone was a replica, after all. Therefore, he almost found her outburst somewhat refreshing- something to keep him on his toes and remind he, himself of how the world goes around, as strange as it is.


Fortunately, Molly's embarrassment doesn't get through to Axel, as his mind has busied itself with planning ahead, as per usual. Overthinking the things he can do, whether they be to help himself out or convenience others, isn't exactly a rare occurrence, but rather something that flings through his mind like a ping pong ball, back and forth, back and forth until it's time to take action. Because of his fall back into day dreaming, he doesn't register why she had lowered her head to allow for strands of pure white to conceal her burning cheeks, nor had he noticed that she'd shifted into an action like that at all. Instead, the young man finds himself stepping off of the bathroom tile and staining the unkempt carpet that his feet had found a deep red, he awaits Locke to trot on ahead before reaching out behind him, digging his fingers into the dinged metal of the handle, and slides the door closed.


Momentarily bringing himself back to reality, the young man waits patiently for Molly to leave the room before he draws a metallic dog tag, likely once attached to a collar belonging to Locke, out of his pocket and brings it to the bolt connected to the turning knob on the other side- seeing as bathrooms are traditionally locked from the inside. Driving the thinnest side of the bone-shaped plate into the slit of the bolt, he turns it with utter most care to coax the hook upwards, into place, disallowing anyone beside himself to have access to this room. He figured she may plan to try and dispose of the body, but he wasn't heartless enough to make her go through the pain of doing so, nor be weighed down in the middle of the street by a large dead man, whilst other dead things hunger for her flesh. No, he plans on doing it for her, without the desire of repayment. Perhaps during the middle of the night shall he do so, just to avoid argument. If she were to, he'd prefer to deal with scolding in the morning, rather than in the middle of the night. That way both of them can rejuvenate their bodies with the sleep they both require.


Turning his back to the door, coated in chipped paint and disturbing stains and now blocking off the bloody mess that wreaks of inexplicably horrible things, he tucks the rusted tag back into his pocket and draws his somber gaze to the doorway, making his way over with casually slowed though long strides. He himself begins to wonder the last time he'd had human contact- I mean, with someone who wasn't rotting, that is. He figures it a while ago, even before this dastardly apocalypse, if he's strictly counting something as intimate as a hug, but convinces himself not to think all too much of it. The simplest things are respectable, yes, but he figures it best to prevent his mind from wandering and keep on his toes, just in case he had to catch her should she fall again.


Emerging out from the large bedroom with a darting gaze to confirm that Locke had followed Molly down the hall, Axel takes it upon himself to close the door behind him and hurry himself down the hallway, quickly catching up with them to stroll beside his dog, who gazes up at him admiringly with those sooky, chocolate brown eyes. He figures there'd be no point in blocking the bedroom off also, and therefore he'd skipped over that step. After all, it was the bathroom that was the biggest problem, not the entirety of that part of the house. Though, if he had felt the room to cause the girl extreme discomfort, he likely would of taken the time to do so, but he settles for the fact to focus on the most traumatic, rather than what is attached.


"Alright, no problem." He agrees in an obediently polite manner as she bluntly orders him from a few meters ahead, kicking himself into a jog to find himself in front of the closet at a quicker time, only pausing to watch her delicate figure disappear into another room before starting up on what he was told to do, sort out the blankets and carry them downstairs.


Casting his line of sight over the multiple stacks, he takes this as a personal challenge to take them all downstairs at once, just for the sole, lazy reason to avoid another trip upstairs before a meal is started up and he can get warm once more. Leaning over the pile of linen below him, Axel starts on pulling out the rest, dragging the neatly folded sheets into his arm and setting them down on the ground with the others, clearing out each and every shelf with the hope that he'll be gifted with the childish fun of building a fort. Oh, how he'd adore to find himself centered in one of those imaginary castles once more, before the world comes crashing down overbearingly.


Calloused hands lazily push closed the shutter-layered, wooden doors of the closet, allowing for the squeak of rusted bindings to emit and trail down the hallway, a dull smudge barely noticeable against the silence that had fallen since the two were briefly separated, before he gets down to business- taking no such time to figure out a plan as most would. After all, it's only blankets, right? Moving on from his flickering thoughts, Axel hefts up a few blankets and turns to Locke, who awaits patiently nearby, having kept himself entertained by finding an interest in a small hole in the wall, despite it withholding no live mouse but a mere corpse caught in a monstrous cobweb. He gifts a sharp whistle, and the dog turns his attention towards his beloved owner before goofily padding over and dipping his head, allowing for Axel to treat him as a temporary pack horse.


With a small huff, the young man begins to remove blankets two by two from the dusty floorboards, layering them upon the lanky dog's bony though steady back in stacks reasonable enough for the canine to carry and balance. The next three are propped neatly within powerful jaws, and the rest in either of Axel's lightly muscular arms. With the area cleared, their mission complete, they now settle for the next step, and start down the stairs, hopping down multiple blocks at a time as boys often do- usually in a school yard or safe at home rather than in a mysterious place during the signal of the world's end. Somehow, they succeed and arrive to their destination before the fireplace without dropping a single sheet or stumbling a single stack.


Dropping the blankets he's holding in a muddled mass before the blazing flames, Axel kneels to praise his dear companion and help him rid himself of the balanced and clamped piles he had wandered down with. Locke seems more than happy in getting a head scratch, and therefore plonks down into a seated position with a wagging tail whipping against the hard floor below, a slick tongue draping over yellowed teeth and misted over with hot, rancid breath.


The two rest in this position for a while before the sound of Molly's footsteps coming down the stairs reach two pairs of ears and draw their attention away from each other. Noting that the young woman likely couldn't have brought a full batch of pillows down by herself, Axel sends Locke back upstairs all on his lonesome to fetch the minimal ones still lying by the railing overhead, using the time that they are parted to start setting up a large bed near dangerously close to the warmth of flickering flames.


With teamwork provided, it takes no time for a nest of cozy, multicoloured blankets and pillows to take shape, nor does Locke fall into slowness when running back and forth to provide them with the pillows left upstairs, but rather a thrilling haste. In fact, he seems more than happy with being provided with a job that required an active soul, as though he just adored to run, and naturally, being the energetic, young Doberman that he is, he does indeed loves to stretch his legs and put his long, lanky strides to good use when he isn't stuck sneaking about at Axel's side to avoid drawing the attention of nearby walkers their way.


Once the deed is done, and every little, fluffy item has been set in the desired position, Axel looks to Molly with a grand smile, stretching his arms well above his head. "I'm sure I can manage that." He responds with yet another nod of friendly obedience before sauntering across the room and starting on blocking all windows to the outside, as well as barricading the door with a few chairs for extra precaution. Looking at the two, perhaps it isn't only the dog that seems overjoyed to be put to use, both of them seem excited to be working. No matter how small the tasks may be considered, they're still stretching their muscles.


By the time her voice rings out from the other room, Axel is making his way back to the fire with a very excited Locke yapping and figure-eighting around his feet the best he can manage, a very pleased look upon a furry face. "Oh really~!?" He chimes out from the room above, a hint of excitement dappling his raspy voice as he maneuvers around Locke's rapidly curving body to lower himself into a cross-legged seating position in front of the fire, sighing as the warmth radiated from it's ghostly dance washes over his skin and raises his body temperature to a healthier one, massaging out a few forming ice crystals from his blood stream to return it to a liquefied form. Metaphorically, of course, luckily it's near impossible for a human to transform into a snowman in such a short span of time- especially not during the Spring.


Though slowly falling into a trance as deep shades of harmonic reds waltz across his line of sights, he's quickly snapped out of it by the mention of food- particularly the description of this meal. Chicken and gravy? Surely he'd died and gone to heaven, because that sounds too good to be true. Much better than beans at least. No matter how simple it had sounded in the minds of other's, it sure did the trick of yanking his attention her way, and Locke's who obviously knows what's food and what's not, whether it be from the words that had met his torn ears or the scent that wafted into his moist nostrils once the jars gave off a click and spun themselves open with the help of dainty fingers. "Wh-What!? Please tell me you aren't joking!" The young man practically yelps as he scrambles to spin around and face her, finding himself rested on his knees beside Locke, who snaps his jaws to elicit a rough bark or two, likely translating to something similar to his owner's words.


Axel gazes at her with wide eyes and a salivating mouth as she approaches them with the items promised, settling down at his side. He's as stiff as a statue before the tantalizing scent of cooking meat and boiling gravy crams itself up his nostrils, sending him to shift in position and settle back down into his previous cross-legged one, facing the fire this time in favor of watching the meal cook. "Man, you're amazing!" He compliments thoughtlessly, looking like a child before a candy store. It takes a few moments, but her words to get through to him, snapping his silly expression into one somewhat serious. "Hmm?" He sounds out blearily as he turns his gaze off of the teasing slices of chicken and onto her face, illuminated by the flames leaping off the logs before them, like frogs off of a lily-pad.


Registering her offer and noting that she had a point after a decent chunk of time had passed, Axel comes to his senses and parts his lips as though to question something in a solemn manner. However, he finds himself just in time to push his curiosities back down, having no intent to draw anything out of her. Shaking his head, he replaces the words that had come close to thoughtlessly escaping. "No, but if you have anything you wish to educate me about, I'm all ears." He states politely, before pausing when Locke nudges his hand, coaxing the appendage to land on his head and scratch between his ears. "But then again...On another note...." He starts up quietly before clearing his throat and raising his voice slightly, his question timid. "Locke gets some too, right?" He asks quietly with submissively furrowed eyebrows set in place. A silly way to have changed the topic back to food, yes, but something he wishes for to be answered nonetheless. It's likely, on the rare occurrence that she may turn down their twinkling puppy-dog eyes and gift them with a negative answer, that Axel would simply share a majority of his food instead.

 

[TheJaydeWriter]

Molly couldn't help but smile at the excitement the boy and his dog showed over the food. It wasn't anything special but she imagined that this was the fanciest thing he has had in a long time.


"Yes he can have some. I'm making him a large healthy portion. I thought he might like some hearty food instead of dog food. That way you can pack the dog food and give him that in later days when you have nothing else." She used the fire poker and the chicken around to make sure they were heated through and through. They were already cooked when she stored them but this was to make sure there was no bacteria left to make them sick. The gravy cooked quicker then the chicken so she took it off the fire and tired it with a wooden spoon she had from the kitchen. With two plates and a bowl in front of them, she poor the gravy to make a good layer over the plate. She then took the chicken, unwrapped it, sat it in the gravy and poured more onto it.


"Here, eat up." She handed the plate to Axel and then cut the chicken in the bowl into smaller pieces for Locke. "I'm sorry its not much but it better then nothing. We were lucky the house never got raided when all this happened. We had some people around here who knew what we did. Maybe they died, so no one knew about it."


Molly took a bite of her chicken and signed. Even though she had been eating some, the food at the hospital was not good and a bunch had been expired. They only ate it because they had to. Molly herself lost more weight then normal because she was always giving her helping to Jasmine or another who was thinner. The chicken tasted great compared the the food from before. After swallowing a few bites, she looked up at Axel and watched the fire light dance on his face. He looked like he had been through a lot and by now, that would of destroyed people. He could of killed her or got up and ran when she lost it upstairs. Instead, he faced the danger of a complete stranger. Even after all this time in this horrid world, he still had a kind soul. Most would of killed her.


"How about both ask questions. We can take turns. I don't have much of a story but I can imagine you have a long one." Her voice was soft for once. She was relax and enjoying her food. He was easy to be around.


"Where did you come from?" That was a simple but important question. Depending on where he came from would show how long he had been traveling.