Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: King Vioogra (Ivan) Rumble Fish (Colt/Milly)
Mentioned/In The Area: Soma Schicksal (Marcus) Hyped_Taco (Micheal)
Leliana was lost, in thought or not she was spaced out, staring off into nowhere. She looked a little funny, messing with her jacket sleeves with that blank expression. She of course, didn't realize this until she heard thr nearby voice of Milly and Ivan. Milly wanted to go play outside in the snow, and Ivan answered before Leliana could. She was gonna give her the same answer, it was too cold for the younger girl to go outside without bundling up first. Though, did Milly even have anything to bundle up with? Or Ivan? And he really shouldn't be walking around. "I'll come outside too, just give me a minute," Leliana said, giving them both a smile as she got up and they walked away. After yesterday, she wasn't sure if it was safe to be out there unarmed. The idea actually made her stomach knot, which wasn't a feeling she was use to. Well, not lately at least. And even though she knew that Micheal, and Colt were already outside, despite the fact Micheal was kind of useless. And she figured Marcus would be heading outside too. Still, it didn't help her nerves much. So, she grabbed her pistol and her bat that were both still downstairs before she headed out a few minutes after Ivan and Milly.

The cold air slapped her in the face like a wake up call. But, a nice one. The air felt fresh, the front of thr lodge looked wonderful, and honestly she had to admit, she did enjoy the winters a lot more than the ones she remebered from North Carolina. It never snowed, well, hardly ever snowed. And everyone would always freak out and buy all the damn bread. It was actually meme because it started snowing down there a few weeks ago. The thought made her chuckle, since there was a very large difference here in Colorado. Anyway, she glanced to Ivan, who was thankfully sitting down and not trying to run around with Milly. "She looks like she's having fun," Leliana said, watching the young girl make hand prints innthe snow, "Almost like it's her first tine playing in it." And maybe it was? Based on the way she had been acting something wasn't right. Maybe she had a weak immune system and had to be kept inside. Or maybe her mother was to busy to keep an eye on her. Leliana figured Milly was somewhere on the autistic spectrum, which would explain some of the more childish behaviours, but also paint a whole new picture of her mother. Who knows though, Milly was a sweet girl, and her safey was what mattered.

Turning to Ivan, she stepped closer to him to block off Milly's veiw incase she happened to be looking. "Here," she said, handing him her pistol. "Just in case. After yesterday, anything could happen while we're out here, and while this is not permission to go running around playing war hero, you're still kinda the guard right now. You're a good shot right?" She said with a slight smile, though he could probably pick up on the fact she was anxious. "Just, don't let Milly see it, I don't want her getting worried. At least we can play with this." She held up the bat, giving him one more half reasuring smile that was more to try and reasure herself than him, before she turned and went to go join Milly.

"Hey kiddo, whatcha doing down there?" Leliana asked as she approached the girl in the snow. "That doesn't look like a snow angel," She chuckled, brushing some haur back out of her face as she stood up straight again. Another thing about the snow in Colorado is that it was soft, and didn't freeze over into into a thin sheet of dirty ice. Which means that all the fun stuff you could do in the snow you coukd actually do! Also, you could make snow cream! If it snowed again, she was totally going to do that, even if it was a small batch. Anyway, Leliana tossed her bat to the side, not to far away, but she turned and sat down next to Milly (though not right net to her so she wouldn't hit her) sinking into the snow. "Milly watch!" Leliana laid back and began to sweep her arms and legs out, clearing out the spaces that made the apperance of angel robes, before she stopped after a few seconds and carefully got up. Her entier back, and her hair was covered in snow, ger cheeks were rosy and she was grinning. This little bit of fun honestly had made her feel a lot better. "Look, a snow angel. You wanna make one too?" She asked, turning to grab her bat that had rolled a little close to the RV.

What she noticed next made her freeze. Footsteps. And not just Micheals, smaller ones, going to the RV, but not comming out. Slowly, Leliana leaned down to grab her bat, that big smile gone. She didn't know if she should go and investigate the RV herself, or call for Ivan or..."Colt!" Leliana turned, scanning until she found the woman a littke further off. She put her bat between her knees, and raised both hands to form a cone so her voice would be louder. "COLT COME HERE!" She knew the woman could hear her, and so she grabbed the handle of her bat again, anxiously waiting for the woman and maybe Micheal to wander over. There was only one way out of that RV and if whoever it was tried to run, Leliana was the only one in the way of stopping it.

 

[Hyped_Taco]

After the not so mighty throw of his ax, Michael was not surprised that the tree didn´t fall, no, he was surprised it did not seem to have even damaged it even a little bit, it seemed to work every time in anime so why couldn´t it in real life?. ¨...Perhaps I should try another approach to this¨ The heavy man walked to the tree and picked up his ax once more, with his fat hands he made sure to be grabbing it as he should, he had noticed that Colt had gone outside and possibly had even seen how he had thrown the ax at the tree and completely failed at it ¨Alright Mike, you can do this¨ he called told himself, with the name his mother always referred to him. The neckbeard prepared himself for this, slowly he put the ax in position and… started hitting the tree with it.

--

Colt had briefly retreated into the lodge to top up her coffee (leaving the whisky this time) and to grab her sawed-off shotgun. Well, it was not actually hers despite it being in her possession. The only clue to its actual owner was an engraved ‘S’ on its barrel from a knife, but only Colt knew what that meant. She stayed silent as she observed everything, from Milly playing while accompanied by Ivan and Leliana to Michael and Marcus chopping wood.

Or at least they should have been. Marcus was managing with little problems on his end. Michael on the other hand, Colt ground her teeth from annoyance as he failed over and over again to chop at the tree. Had he never spent a day in the wild? Granted she doubted many of them. But having grown up on the remote and rugged mountains of West Virginia, Colt was well aquatinted with an axe.

“Right!” She growled finally, walking up to the man, putting her coffee and shotgun down as she took the axe from his grip, “Dang city boy… right, watch me.” She gripped the axe hard in the proper fashion before rearing back and swinging the axe hard around where it became lodged in the wood.

“It should! Take! Effort! To pull! Out!” She yanked at the axe as she spoke until it came free. She looked at Michael with a frown, “Geddit?”

--

One time after another Michael kept hitting the tree with his axe, but for his misfortune, none of them seemed to work ¨Should I try to slice it?¨ he told himself, perhaps that was how he should have started, but moments, before he could try that approach, Colt angrily took the axe out his hands and showed him how to chop down a tree. After the demonstration was over she asked Michael if he had ¨Geddit¨, with all his honesty he answered her with ¨So I just hit the tree a bunch of times with the axe right?¨

--

Colt almost facepalmed at his question because of how stupidly easy the answer was to guess. She shut her sore eyes for a second to compose herself before glaring at him again. “Yeah. Properly!” She answered before standing with her coffee and watched him intensely, as if silently daring him to mess it up again. If he had been in her troop in the Marines, she would have had him running laps and cleaning all the toilets in the barracks right now.

--

The realization of how easy chopping a tree down fell upon Michael rather fast after the woman told him how to do it, how fucking stupid had he looked before by not even hitting it right?. Before Michael returned to his job he saw the intense way Colt watched him, this made him rather uncomfortable, it felt like the way a hawk looks at a mouse, waiting for it to fuck up as if she was daring him to mess up.

No, he was not gonna fail again, he picked up his ax once more and started hitting the tree again ¨I- I did it!!¨ Michael felt victorious while hitting the tree, his task was finally done… not realizing that he was hitting the tree on the opposite side Colt had, making the fall of the tree unpredictable.

--

Colt watched him as he actually seemed to take in what she had taught him. The only problem was the position. She let out a heaved sigh and just looked at him. “Y’know, cuttin’ it in the same place is a better idea. Don’ wanna big ol’ tree caving in the roof y’know?” She asked, her gaze slightly softer. Maybe it was the whisky in the coffee or the fact the man was finally putting in a real effort but it did soften. She finished off her coffee, and by extent her ration of booze she had applied to herself. She just knew this was not going to end well.

“Just keep goin’ and careful of the direction it falls in, ‘kay?” She asked before bringing the mug up to her mouth as if to sip more coffee, though it was just an excuse to lick the inner walls of the mug.

--
Before continuing to chop down the tree Michael was able to hear Colt telling him that he should cut it where she had done so before ¨Sure thing M´lady¨ he answered while moving to where she told him to be, but he felt the way she told him that a bit… different than the way she usually does, had she just drank alcohol without him realizing?.

Before Michael could continue theorizing of why she spoke to him less irritated than before he heard Leliana screaming for Colt ¨None of my concern M´lady, but I believe lady Leliana needs your help¨ the neckbeard told Colt, he would go but she wasn´t calling for him and he still needed to finish chopping down the tree.

--

Colt jumped as she heard a shout for her. She whipped around to see Leliana standing at the RV. Michael seemed to feel the need to point that out. “I ‘ave ears y’know.” She grumbled before looking to him and Marcus “Stay there. Both of you.” She ordered them before grabbing the sawed off shotgun and approaching Leliana. She looked to the ground and noticed the footprints. They were fairly new. She turned to the Russian sitting at the steps.

“Cover us from there, keep the kid close.” She told him firmly, she had seen Leliana giving him a gun. She turned to the girl before glancing at the RV.

“‘Kay…” she turned to the girl, “Imma open the back on three. Have that bat ready.” She told the woman lowly as to not spook Milly. She put a hand on the handle, her sawed-off shotty in her right hand ready to pull into position, “one… two…”

“Three!” And with that, the door flew open.
​

FireMaiden Leli King Vioogra Ivan Soma Schicksal Marcus

 

[Maj]

​

“Oh god, please don’t shoot!” the girl cried in a cracking and emotional voice. She was on her knees, both hands above her head in surender. Her blonde hair was messy and dirty, hanging around her shoulders limp from it’s need to be cleaned. Fair cheeks were streaked with blood and dirt, large blue eyes filled with tears and fear as she looked up at the woman holding the gun. Her hands trembled as she did her best to hold them high to show that she wasn’t a threat.

“I didn’t mean any harm, I swear!” It was obvious now that she was doing her best to keep from crying. The strapless dress she was wearing was ripped in various places and stained, her knees scraped and crusting with burgundy scabs. The heel of her right stiletto was snapped off, the other was caked in mud and grime. Bethany knew that she looked to be an awful sight.

“I was just seeking shelter from the storm. I’ll leave if you want. Just please don’t kill me.” That is when the dam holding her tears back broke and the woman began to sob. It wasn’t the proudest moment in her life and if she was being honest it wasn’t even the first time she had been faced with the possibility of death, but the last few days had been among some of the worst ones that Bethany had ever had to endure.

~~~~~​

She had been paid triple her normal amount to travel to one of her client’s vacation homes in the woods on the outskirt of Aurora. It was some cabin a few miles from the one she was at currently and far more secluded. The man had picked her up from her apartment in downtown Aurora and taken her to his hideaway. Mr Boyle had always been good to Bethany, he was as kind and polite as someone who hired escorts could be. Mostly, Bethany thought he was just lonely. Sometimes he just paid her to have dinner with him and watch movies.

This time it had been different. Something had really upset him. He wanted to get away from everything and take her with him, so that's what they did. The next twenty-four hours would prove to be the most insane of her young life.

Waking up the next morning to find Mr. Boyle hanging from the rafters in the living room of the cabin would have been shocking enough. What was worse was when that corpse only hours later had come back to life and tried to grab her. She had tried to call the authorities when she had found him, only to find that her cell phone hadn’t been working, calling for help when a dead man tried to eat your throat was also useless. The car he had used to drive them miles into the woods was a stick shift and she no one had ever taught her to drive one. Bethany had still tried, but it was useless.

Which is how she ended up in the RV to begin with. Navigation was something that had never come naturally to the girl, and walking in heels and a dress in the chill of October was miserable. It was even more miserable when she realized that all trees looked the same and had no idea if she was even traveling in the right direction.

When the snow had began to fall she had been wandering about in the trees for over 24 hours. Alone and cold, hungry and tired. She figured it was the end for her and that she would freeze to death in the depths of the Aurora woods. It was then that the RV had come into view. In the ferocity of the blizzard and the dark she hadn’t even seen the cabin till the next morning when she heard the people come outside. Bethany had spent the next serval moments trying to figure out how to make herself known without spooking them.

It was all too late for that now though.

~~~~~~​

“I’m so sorry, please don’t shoot me.” Bethany whimpered again. The woman holding the shotgun at her seemed like the type that didn’t take lightly to finding trespassers in her RV. Her stomach audibly growled as she weeped openly in front of the woman. It was then, like god had sent her a guardian angel, Beth’s tear-filled eyes settled on the blonde girl behind her. Relief poured over her as she locked eyes with the familiar face.

“Lels?” The woman croaked the name through her sobs, voice broke and garbled as she addressed Leliana. “Please tell me that’s you.”

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt) FireMaiden (Leli)
In the Area: Hyped_Taco BloodThunder27 King Vioogra Soma Schicksal

 

[Brax]

​

When Warren had mentioned to Marty what the repercussions were for turning, Tre turned to the man with a toothy chuckle. There was no way that Marty could expect otherwise, right? If he was dead it wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. It was only when Warren started trudging through the snow toward the pharmacy that Tre followed. While his own whereabouts might have been monitored by his impromptu guardian, the kid was focused on Marty. Particularly, making sure the man wasn’t seemingly about to drop dead as they made their way through the cold winter weather. Upon walking up to the front of the pharmacy, Tre’s arms were both crossed over his chest and he was shivering. He couldn’t wait to get inside.

“Yeah, no prob.” The kid responded through chattering teeth as Warren pried the door open with his crowbar. Though it was more than likely that Tre wouldn’t have been able to replicate the same success without using the entirety of his body weight, the jailbird seemed to pop it open as though it were a lid to a tube of candy. He already knew that they were going to spend the night at the pharmacy, given it’s occupancy was desirable. Warren wasn’t the kind of man who was an adventurous drunk, based on Tre’s experiences. Though, he only knew the man for a few days.

Warren was first to walk into the one-floor establishment. Marty followed behind. Tre took a moment to remove one of the straps of his backpack from his shoulder. He zipped it open and removed a large cigarillo stuffed to the brim with a potent, medical-grade plant matter. With the use of a lighter he brought flame to the opposite end, puffing on it quite a few times until he was confident that it was lit. As smoke exhaled through his nostrils, he zipped his bag back up before continuing onward behind the two adults.

The pharmacy only had one floor, but it was rather large. It had multiple rows of various items, from everyday food needs to useless small toys. Tre shut the door to the pharmacy behind him, closing it enough so that he could lock the deadbolt. Warren had broken the door so it did not sit as well as it once had - the bottom had a small opening - but not one big enough for any zombie to fit in. Even a fucking infant biter couldn’t fit through a gap that size.

As the three made their way further into the depths of the once-booming business, Tre noticed a small light emanating from the bottom of a door at the far end of the first isle. Instinctively, he turned to make his way toward it. While Warren might have mentioned that it made sense to keep his eye on Marty, this was something that Tre felt superseded the order to keep tabs on the foreigner with a stuffy nose. The boy let out a quick whistle, something rhythmic to let Warren know where his location was and that he should make his way over as quickly and quietly as possible.

Tre made his way to the door. He reached his hand out to grab the handle but found it was locked. It was one of those doors that opened outward with the use of a key or security clearance, neither of which Tre had. The kid took a moment to weigh his options. As he scanned his surroundings he found that there had been chairs in front of a few of the reception areas for people to speak with pharmacists. If the room wasn’t accessible by easy means, then the hard way it was. Fuck knocking.

He reached out to grab a metal chair and lifted it back before slamming it into the glass and shattering it. Tre used the frame to continue clearing out any jagged edges still remaining before tossing the chair beside and hopping over the table and through the hole he had created. His boots landed on broken glass, leaving audible crunches as he turned his head to look over at the boy who had been scavenging through the medications. Tre put a hand in his pocket, the other hand grabbing the hilt of his sheathed machete as he stared down the stranger.

“Yo.”

​

King Vioogra TheTreForce Mynah

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: King Vioogra (Ivan) Rumble Fish (Colt/Milly) Maj (Bethany)
Mentioned/In The Area: Soma Schicksal (Marcus) Hyped_Taco (Micheal)
As soon as Colt told her to have the bat ready, Leliana made sure she was ready to swing. That door opened and the girl was expecting a zombie, or a hazzie to stumble out, but no. It was a girl begging Colt not to kill her. Leliana didn't blame her for that part, Colt did have that affect on people. The vet was kind of terrifying, and had been through some nasty shit, sure walking corpses would shake anyone to the core, but still. Anyway, as they stood there, watching the girl, it gave Leliana time to exaime her. She looked rough, covered in blood and not dressed for this type of weather, what in the world could she have been doing up here. And then, Leliana got a good look at her face at that bat dropped. "Oh my god." Anyone could tell just by her voice, the slight tremble, how light it was, Leliana was surprised to see the other blonde. The bat slipped throigh her fingers, landing in the snow forgotten as she stepped past Colt. "Put that thing down, she's not a threat." The next thing you know, Leliana was hugging the stranger, sitting down there in the snow with Bethany.

"Oh my god I'm so glad you're okay!" Leliana exclaimed, "I've been so worried!" Her arms were wrapped around the blonde, not to tightly though incase she was injured. "If you were at Moe's i would have just taken you home with me, though it's probably a good thing that you weren't. God it's been a mess," She chuckled, pulling away took look at her face, cupping her cheeks for a moment before kinds snapping out od her joy. "Oh here!" Leliana went and unzipped her jacket, using those few seconds to examine Bethany. There were no visable injuries, ans the blood didn't appear to be her's, which was a good thing. So, Leliana smiled as she put her Jacket around Bethany's shoulder's. "Colt," she said, looking up at the woman with the shot gun, "This is my best friend Bethany. I'll do a physical inside, though I don't see any injuries. It's too cold out here," She looked back to her friend for a moment, before she stood up and offered Bethany a hand, "Besides, what harm could a woman in a dress and broken heels do?" It was painfully obvious she was excited, the happiest that she had been the past few days. Despite the beginnings of withdrawl and knowing she would most likely have to deal with more injuries when everyone got back to the lodge, despite the fact it was her job, she would prefer if everyone took care of themselves, and not do stupid shit. Anyway, she was still smiling, "Come on Beth, let's go get you taken care of, yeah?"

 

[Brax]

When Andy asked Luca if he was heading toward the hospital, he stopped walking. Then he turned around to face the woman as she continued speaking. She was right. The original plan was to go to Moe’s first to check there. It wasn’t far off either and was the quickest stop on the way to the hospital. Chances were if Owen wasn’t at the motel, then there would be a good stock of semi-useful stuff still there. Luca knew that chances were slim that the people who had been staying at the motel - or might still be staying there - hadn’t used up a majority if not all the supplies that the hotel had to offer. It was still worth going there just to check for Owen alone. Scavenging was something else entirely.

It was obvious to Luca at this point, aside from how he was feeling, that he was continuing to operate at half-capacity. Unfortunately he didn’t have more time to rest. If it had been a concussion, the man would have died in his sleep. This wasn’t exactly the case. Shoving it off as he had done so many times previously in his life, Luca took a few steps forward from his position to walk past Andy. For some reason she continued to talk. Andy was well aware that he was not one for meaningless conversation. When she stopped to grab the walkie-talkie out of her bag and extended it out toward Luca, he stopped as well. Mostly because he heard her feet stop dragging against the concrete floor. Then Luca turned his body back halfway to look at her.

“I don’t have time for you to figure out how to give a proper apology, nor do I care.” He looked down at the walkie-talkie briefly, before taking a hand off of his rifle and taking it from her palm. Luca deposited it into his pocket. Then he looked back up at Andy, with those half-open eyes fixated on the girl’s very own.

“You pulled me away from a burning car. You did your job. We’re even. Stop talking.”

Without waiting for a response, Luca turned from the woman once more and continued down the street. Within a few minutes the two were at Moe’s Don’t Tell Motel. It was the fishiest hotel that Colorado, or perhaps even Western America, had to offer. With even fishier patrons to boot. Slowly making his way into the front doors of the lobby, Luca turned down the hallway to his left while Andy turned off right. The first door that the Italian opened omitted the odor of stale tuna fish. Luca promptly gagged, then ravenously pulled his sweatshirt up over the top half of his face before closing the door once more. He stared at the number of the room, shivered, then moved on to the next.

The man wasn’t able to procure as much stuff as he thought he might be able to. Before the two left Moe’s, Luca made it a point to check every single dead body he could find in the snow out front. When Andy came out and asked about his ammo, it prompted him to look up. When she tossed him the belt he quickly caught it out of the air, first grabbing a cartridge from a large pouch on the side and sticking it into his bag. He removed all the ammunition types he could from the belt before leaving its empty carcass in the snow along with the rest. Upon what seemed to be countless bodies ripe for looting, it was amazing how Luca barely came up with anything useful. Only ammunition, which seemed to be piling mile-high in addition to the load they had received back at the lodge two days prior. Luca looked up at the sky momentarily. The two had spent hours at the Motel to the point where making it to the hospital was no longer an option. Not traveling at night was serving them well. Stopping off at the pharmacy and resting for the night was the best option. It would also provide Luca a way to tend to Andy’s wounds, which he had been persistently worried about throughout the day. The sun was getting ready to go down.

“Let’s head over to the pharmacy on Kranston Ave.”

Maj

 

[King Vioogra]

Jonas and Tre


Jonas’ eyes crept from the bottle he was squinting at to the kid to his left as a short sigh escaped from him. He turned his back to the guy who’d just created a needless amount of noise as he approached the back door and, almost in an act of spite, turned to him as he swung the door shut.

“You all are very stupid, making so much noise for no good reason.”

The teenager said confidently as he adjusted his grip on the long staff that he held in his hand, raising his foot to tap some of the yet-to-melt snow from his foot. He stopped paying attention relatively quickly as he continued looking for his insomnia medication.

“I suggest you get out of here quickly unless you want to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

--

Tre smirked at the boy, lifting both of his hands and nonchalantly shrugging in response to his threats. He hadn’t been sure if there had been a biter on the other side of that door or if it was another human, but the easiest way to check was to make a flashy entrance. Over the years, Tre had been in his fair share of fights. There had been some he was able to win. Other times, he got his ass handed to him and had to go back to the drawing board to see where he went wrong. In this particular case, the boy was obviously mistaken.

“Three of us. One of those goons outside has a cold or somethin’. Don’t even think he speaks English. I thought’chu were someone hostile. Or dead. Not jus’ a kid. We’re kickin’ it here for the night and I don’t think you got a say in that, homie. I’ma be honest witcha. If you wanna pick a fight and somehow make it past me, there’s a forty-year old man who spent a few years in the slammer outside wit’ a crowbar. If you think you slappin’ him a few times wit’ a pole is gonna stop him from splittin’ your dome, then you’re drunker than he is.”

At this point, Tre had taken his hand off of his machete. Jonas wasn’t an immediate threat and Tre knew it was more than likely that breaking the window had probably scared the everloving shit out of him. The teen rubbed his chin as he continued staring back at Jonas, a pause in conversation momentarily leading to a standoff. It was obvious that Tre didn’t really care about what Jonas wanted, but he didn’t want the kid to know that he was looking to fight for no reason.

“If you’re stayin’ here, we can co-exist or we can bang, my guy. What’s it gon’ be? I can take some medicine and dip out to the other side, no skin off your back. I don’t give a fuck ‘bout whatchu have honestly, you’re somehow still alive and so are we.”

--

“If you all plan on rebarring the door you broke and keeping quiet, we can probably avoid anymore unwanted attention than you've most likely already attracted. If not, I'm getting what I need and leaving.”

Jonas said, still not looking at the kid near him as he shuffled through the bottled medicines on the shelf. Mild frustration mounted as he waved his brightened phone around and looked around continuously, turning bottles around and picking them up before inevitably setting them back down and sighing. When he finally found what he was looking for, a satisfied groan escaped him as he looked at the instructions on his bottle and popped the new one into his pocket.

“Is breaking stuff the big ones first choice every time? Or is this a special occasion.”

He said, finally giving the kid a good look as he swept the phone's flashlight over to the boy.

--
“Is it always yo’ firs’ choice to use yo’ phone as a flashlight?” Tre asked with an exaggerated voice, turning his head to look at the nearest light switch. He reached a hand out to flick it up, but the light didn’t turn on. The boy continued staring at the wall before looking back at Jonas with a chuckle. Turns out that Jonas was smart enough to check beforehand, but Tre didn’t understand how one snowstorm in the state of Colorado resulted in the power being down around the pharmacy. There must have been a downed pole nearby.

“I guess not. You should try’n be careful wit’ that shit. I saw you dickin’ ‘round wit’ it from outside.” He continued speaking as he kneeled down into one of the rows nearest to him, looking through the medications. He had finally come across a few different boxes of medicine that would be sufficient for helping Marty live through his traumatic experience with a stuffy nose.

“I’unno dawg. We ain’t tryna bite your swag or nuffin’, them folks outside are arrite. Warren’s a fuckin’ drunk and I doubt the other homeboy could spell his name with a pencil but’chu know how that go.” Tre continued bullshitting before grabbing a box of Mucinex from the bottom shelf. It had a few tabs in it which would probably do the trick for the foreigner. He moved from the shelving before walking up to the door next to the broken window. After manually unlocking it he turned the knob, opening it momentarily before turning back to look at Jonas.

“It’s fuckin’ cold out. I dun’ think goin’ back out there to find another place to kick it is the smart move. We won’t fuck wit’chu, no worries. You need some shit you jus’ let us know or come out n’ see if you could find it, arrite? Sorry I fucked ya shit up. Deuces.” Tre closed the door behind him without waiting for a response, fairly confident that Jonas wasn’t going to be bothering with them at all. Worst case scenario was that the boy would leave, though that would be worse for him than anyone else.
--
Brax TheTreForce Mynah​

 

[Rumble Fish]

Everything happened at once. Once the door was open and Colt had both barrels pointed at the intruder. “GIT-!” She roared but was cut off by the girl’s begging not to be shot. At this point, Colt had gone into war-mode. She glared daggers at the girl from behind the barrels with a stony look. But just as she was about to snarl that the girl had no right to be here and should leave, Leliana suddenly squealed and pushed past Colt and… hugged her?

Colt was not well acquainted with the internet. But she remembered one image that floated about of this small girl with blonde hair and adult teeth in a child’s mouth looking at the camera with an expression that could be described as confusion, slight fear and a general ‘what the fuck’ look.

That was Colt’s face as the two girls started to hug and squeal like two teens meeting in the mall. She did not lower her weapon and stated confused by the events unfolding in front of her. Who was this girl? What was she doing here? How did she get here? Why did she look like that one teenager you see in every horror movie that got sliced to pieces by the monster after banging the jock? She could thank Sasha for that knowledge.

“...the fak?” She managed to grunt out before Leliana stepped out telling her to get the girl inside and taken care of. Colt growled and slowly lowered her weapon. She seriously did not want any more people inside this lodge! There were far too many as there were already. But she knew that Leliana was not going to take that for an answer. They were friends. The woman snarled and rolled her eyes in frustration.

“Luca’s gonna fuckin’ KILL me for this!” She snarled at the sky and to nobody in particular. She looked back down at the two. “Git her in, git her fed and git her cleaned.” She told Leli before turning to the stranger, distrust burning in her gaze.

“I'm wantin’ a word with ya.” She pointed at the woman, “after yer seen to.” She added before taking the shotgun. She wordlessly went further into the trees, deciding to patrol the perimeter of the lodge. She did not want any more nasty surprises. Not after yesterday. She turned around to see that everyone was doing as she had asked before heading into the woods.

"I'm goin' on a patrol, keep workin'!" she yelled behind her as she walked off.

As she walked, the woman suddenly froze. She had just realised that the teenage girl, the one she had accidentally knocked out was no longer there. Did this mean she had killed… what else could have happened? Her body was gone so she must have reanimated! But she was nowhere to be found. No! Colt, not knowing what else to do reached into the pocket where she kept her flask, only to find it empty. She had left it in the kitchen! Fuck! Colt tried to keep her breathing steady and her mind on focus. But she couldn’t. Colt groaned and tried to think of her task on hand. Patrol, protect and provide. They were low on food. And with Shiona soon having a baby, they were going to need as much as possible. But what could she do? Her only chance was to try hunting but all she had was a pistol. There was still daylight, she had time. Maybe she could try to get some rabbits or possibly a deer.

For now, all she could do was check out the area, all while she struggled to keep the brooding thoughts of that teenager out of her mind. But she couldn’t. Her heart rate began to race as more began to pulse through her mind. Young people, children, teenagers all dying in violence and bloodshed. Teenagers with bomb vests, forced to kill themselves in the name of some worthless cause by the people who started the conflict but were too cowardly to actually fight. What could happen now with the world falling apart? The more memories that charged through her mind, the less Colt could breathe and the hotter she became, despite the bitter cold. Everything grew blurry. Colt grunted as she leaned against a tree and slid onto the ground, her back against the trunk, on the verge of hyperventilating. She had killed someone! She hadn’t meant to, but she did! If she did that, what else was she capable of? Was anyone safe with her? And the baby! What if she killed the baby, even by mistake?! Hot tears streaked down her face as everything felt inaudible and the sky and branches merged in a blur. Was it ever going to end?
Maj FireMaiden ​

 

[Maj]

​

Luca could pretend to not accept her apology all he wanted, he took the walkie talkie at the end of the day and that was all that really mattered to her. It wasn’t so much about what she had to say, which granted was basically meaningless, but what was unspoken. After enough times of saving each other from death a mutual respect had been formed.

It would appear to change nothing. Andy would still talk to him with the same amount of snark as she always had. He would always pretend not to care what happened to her and be uninterested in what she had to say, but under the surface Andy trusted Luca to have her back more than she trusted anyone she knew to be alive. Almost freezing to death together was surprisingly good for comradery.

The last supply group had done a great job at looting the motel, as it was quickly apparent that there was little to take. A few more things of ammo and some rather disgusting scenery was all that was left for them. Didn’t Leliana say she used to work here? Andy shuddered at the thought, Leliana seemed like a sweet girl and this motel looked like the kind of place that liked to swallow girls like her alive.

Most of the corpses seemed to be shot dead, some more swiftly than others. One of the hazmat corpses that caught Andy’s eye however, appeared to be stabbed. Repeatedly. His chest cavity was full of so many wounds it caused it to look almost like frozen hamburger meat. Andy scrunched up her nose in disgust. Who in the world had done this? She hoped it wasn’t any of the people that were currently living in her lodge.

She squatted down so she could reach into the man's pockets, unsurprised to find nothing but a few more clips of ammo. The only other item of interest was a protein bar, unopened. Andy realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since she left the lodge the day before. She hadn’t really packed rations as food was already scarce around the homestead anyway. Knowing that meant that Luca hadn’t eaten either, she pocketed the bar to split with him later.

As she went to stand, the hand of the corpse shot out to reach around her ankle. Shocked, the woman let out a gasp and reached for her knife that resided tucked into the boot of her other foot. The cold seemed to slow it down, and with the hazmat mask around it’s head she wasn’t in any danger of being bitten. Still, it never ceased to shock or amaze Andy how dead these things could look and still rise. She shook her head sadly at the creature, it was so brutalized that it could barely crawl toward her, but it still tried. Mindless, dumb, dead.

She plunged the knife in the softening skull of the creature. It’s grasp weakened and Andy used her foot to push the rubber covered head off her blade. Her boot, jeans and knife were now covered in the almost black coagulating blood. Andy turned up her nose and sneered down at the dead thing.

“Fucker,” she muttered and wiped the blade on the thigh of her jeans before stuffing it back in her boot.

At Luca’s suggestion to head to the pharmacy Andy nodded wordlessly. It was a good plan and another possible place to find Owen. If he had really been looking for supplies, and Andy had no reason to suspect otherwise, the pharmacy would be a great place to load up. Furthermore, it would be essential for some of the items they needed to obtain. Leliana had left them a pretty lengthy list of things to grab for the pregnant woman who was now among their ranks.

“It’s not far. We should walk, I’m not really overjoyed at the thought of climbing in another car.” This wasn’t pointed at Luca so much as it was just a fact. Andy didn’t blame him for accident, but it didn’t mean she wanted to climb out of any more burning vehicles anytime soon. Adjusting the strap of the bag over her glass filled shoulder, Andy led the way to the pharmacy, taking back alleys so they could avoid the main roads and approach the establishment cautiously instead of storming the front door.

Interactions: Brax (Luca)
Mentions: BloodThunder27 FireMaiden Rumble Fish

 

[BloodThunder27]

Agent Brian Rousseau
Age: 36
Location: Lodge Interactions: Doctor Fisher The Mad Queen
Mentioned: Lelianna FireMaiden

Confidence is KeyOnce they were in a more private place, with everyone else away from earshot, Brian took a deep breath as he briefly looked away from the Doctor. Like with Lelianna, Brian started feeling a little uneasy for what he was about to do; which was telling someone his deep, dark secret. The fact that he was a CIA Agent...or now a rogue CIA Agent. "I need you to keep it confidential. Because...if anyone else finds out, my life might as well be forfeit." He said, looking Fisher in the eye. "I'm not a Soldier like some of the people here. No, I'm...something else." He then reached into his jacket pocket and opened up his CIA Badge to show to the Doctor. "I'm an Agent for the Central Intelligence Agency and I'm a part of the Special Operations Group...I have been for the past fifteen years. I am...or I was, the liaison between my superiors...and those Hazmat guys that were gunning people down at the school...and having a firefight with everyone here until I stepped in. My mission was to come with them to secure the virus before it got out, but...you saw where that went. The reason why I turned on them...was because they're killing innocent people...in cold blood. I refuse to be a part of something like that. Sure, I've taken many lives and went on many dangerous missions across the world, but they were horrible, malevolent souls. Insurgent Leaders, Pirates, Dictators, Terrorists, Criminals...But to kill American Citizens, the very people I swore to protect and serve...No. Never. Especially not children." Brian shook his head. "So there you have it doc, my deep, dark secret. I'm telling you, because you seem like a trustworthy person. Just...don't make me liar."

Shinoa Bradford
Age: 17
Location: Lodge Interactions: Ray TheTreForce , Jenna The Mad Queen
Mentioned: N/A

Pregnancy Progression: 39 Weeks, 3 Days

Countdown to Childbirth

A Restless Child...Means a Restless MotherAs Shinoa continued to relax, she was soon joined by the old man, Ray. She cradled her belly when he mentioned that the baby was going to be joining them soon. He certainly wasn't wrong. The frequent contractions were a tell-tale sign. "I'm feeling a little restless. I just...I just wish the baby was more patient and less active. She's been kicking a lot for the past two nights. More then usual. And they're getting stronger everyday, so I'm really...worn out." She replied before tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears.

She also wasn't really looking forward to childbirth anymore, even if she was excited to have her daughter in her arms instead of in her belly. Her only hope after that was the outbreak blowing over. Wherever her Grandmother was, Shinoa still hoped the old woman was alright. Soon, Jenna sat down with them and a dog came by as well. Shinoa smiled a little when the dog whined before staring at her belly, where her hand were. Or so the young mother assumed. It did bring her comfort hearing Jenna's words of encouragement. She did survive the initial outbreak, which was very difficult, since she couldn't run with how pregnant she was. Then she hid in a hotel, went back to her apartment with a new companion and now, safely at the Lodge. She did feel bad about not being able to contribute, but the best she had to bring to the table, was cooking and...childcare thanks to being a babysitter before this outbreak. When Jenna started talking about her dog, Shinoa started staring at the German Shepard. It was wonderful to know that the breed was good with children. She did frown when Jenna mentioned keeping the dog at a distance from the baby, which was fair. Her only hope now was that her little one wasn't allergic to dogs. She then smiled at the thought of her darling little princess cuddling with the dog. "Well, hopefully she won't try to use my belly as a bed."

She then shook her head when asked if she had a name for the little one. "No, not yet. I still have four more days to decide. I hope." She said before rubbing her hurting belly. The baby then fidgeted and the kicking came to a stop. Hopefully she was sleeping. "Very active, this one." She looked down at the swollen belly. "Hopefully she'll settle down for a nap soon."

 

[The Mad Queen]

Doctor Ralph Fisher and Jenna O'Connor​

​

​

He expected Brian was going to ask about his findings, or about their situation, perhaps even offer his help to escape the doomed city.
"I'm an Agent for the Central Intelligence Agency and I'm a part of the Special Operations Group...I have been for the past fifteen years. I am...or I was, the liaison between my superiors...and those Hazmat guys that were gunning people down at the school..."

Fisher definitely wasn't expecting that.

The doctor had his back against the door, his arms folded as he did nothing but listen. He had to get the whole story before he was allowed to pass judgement on the man. Once Brian had finished, Ralph was still silent for a few more moments while he processed things.
"Oh my God." He muttered, turning away.
It was as he feared, the hazmat soldiers had known about the parasite long before the CDC did. One agency had been thrown under the bus for the sake for keeping their secret, and his team had paid the ultimate price for it.
It still begged the question, why call the CDC in the first place?

His eyes widened as another theory rushed through his brain: They were expendable fodder for a cover-up. If the CDC was seen right before an outbreak it would add validity, it would make it seem like the government had at least tried other options before massacring the town.
His gaze met Brian's. He may not have been that kind of doctor, but it seemed obvious to Fisher that what Brian had been part of, even if he tried to save people was eating him up.

He approached Brian and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"You did the right thing, Brian. Going against orders to save people, and telling me." He offered him a smile, then moved his hand away as it faded "This is what we need, don't you see? I may not be CIA or FBI or whatever agency those monsters belong to, but I am a government agent. If the two of us manage to go public with what happened here, then there's no way the United States government or the United Nations can ignore us. WHO will have to listen as well, given how dangerous this parasite is. I've only scratched the surface so imagine what we could do with an actual lab and resources."

"Keeping these people alive, exposing those monsters and stopping this parasite. That's all that matters now." He looked into Brian's eyes with intensity "This thing is bigger than both of us, both of our agencies and perhaps even the country we swore to protect."

If the parasite spread outside of the United States, it could easily become a global pandemic within a few weeks.

-
"Well, hopefully she won't try to use my belly as a bed."
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Jenna chuckled. She got a good laugh out of that joke, and one she probably needed. The girl made her way onto the armchair and sat down, patting the side of it to call Cammy over.
"I'd probably be crap at picking baby names, so you've got four days to make your mind up."
The German Shepard jumped up, taking up the majority of the chair and resting her head on Jenna's lap.
"Of course." The girl sighed "Big dogs seem to forget just how huge they are sometimes." She smiled over at Shinoa "Their only fault, really."

Quickly realising the idea of a big lapdog hurting the baby by accident would probably scare the young mother shitless, Jenna shook her head firmly and confidently added "Cammy hasn't left my side since the park. Where I go, she goes so it means someone's watching her if she's even remotely close to the baby. While she's accepting the baby as part of the pack, I'll be teaching her restraint. Damn dog could probably knock Milly over by accident too and I want to avoid all of that."

"It won't be a problem with you, as you're the mother and will probably be holding the child and near her twenty four seven but she may perceive others as threats. I gotta weed out that behaviour but it won't take long. These things get picked as police dogs not just because of their size, but because they're easy to train if you know what you're doing."

There was of course, a third reason but Jenna didn't feel like adding the fact that a trained German Shepard could probably tear someone's arm off wasn't a helpful thing to add.
She stared into space for a moment, for thinking about the park and where she'd found Cammy had of course brought Rouge back into her mind.

Interacting with:
Ralph: BloodThunder27
Jenna: BloodThunder27 TheTreForce

 

[Maj]

&
The following post is co-written by FireMaiden and Maj ​

Thank God for Leliana James. It was not the first time the girl had been the difference between Bethany and harm, and it would likely not be the last. Beth couldn’t count the amount of times she had hidden her away in an empty room in Moe’s and cleaned her up after a client got too rough with her. It’s not like escort servicing came with health insurance.

Suddenly, Leli was sitting in the snow, cradling her like the scared child that she was. Bethany wrapped her arms around Leliana’s neck and sobbed into her chest, relief pouring out of every pore she had. What in the world was Leli doing this far out in the woods? It wasn’t like her to go camping, and she had never known her to be friends with all these people, especially the kind who greeted people you with a barrel in your face. Beth supposed that it didn’t matter, she was thankful that the girl was here. Her skin felt the warmth of Leliana’s jacket around her arms, shivering at the kind gesture.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” Beth said between sobs, rubbing the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hands in a childlike manner. Her pale face was blotchy, stained with the fear and exhaustion that had overcome her. The angry woman with the scar and the gun was saying something, but it hardly mattered. Deliriousness had taken her at the sight of her friend and the friendly feel of a hug. Beth almost seemed to melt into Leliana, afraid that if she let go they would rip her away. She had no idea who ‘Luca’ was or why he would be angry with Colt, but was relieved to hear her agree to let Leli feed her. Warm food was about the equivalent to heaven in her eyes after so many days without either warmth or food. Still, it was followed up with the ominousness promise to talk later. She had no idea what the woman wanted, but nodded in agreement anyway.

“Is she always so angry?” Beth asked, chattering her teeth as she spoke. “Why are you all the way out here in the woods?” she let herself be led inside, limping through the snow on her broken heel, using Leliana for a brace as she did her best to make it up the steps and into the lodge.

"Yeah, so far," Leliana chuckled, "But it's been rough. And until Luca and Andy get back, she's the one in charge." The girl briefly thought back to the day before to when they had all kinda pounced on Colt, and Luca threatened to break Marcus' legs. Fun.

"Oh uh, well, when everything went down and that emergency was called people were told to gather at the middle school. A lot of people did, and well," Leliana briefly paused opening the front door for Bethany, "It was a slaughter. A group of us made it out, and two of them, twins, Andy and Owen, owned this lodge. And then more people showed up, we got a whole bunch of misfits." She paused again, glancing around for the medical duffel bag she normally left downstairs, but didn't see it. "Shoes off. We're gonna go upstairs. After that, you'll get fed."

“Wait wait wait,” Beth said holding up a hand to slow her friend down. “What in the world are you talking about? A slaughter? Has something happened?” She had spent the last several days in Mr. Boyle's cabin the woods, if something happened in town it would be news to her.

She did as her friend asked, leaning down to unbuckle the strappy heels that were crusted to her mud covered feet, all the while listening to her friend’s explanation. Beth followed her upstairs in disbelief. None of this could be true, could it? She had never known Leli to make up stories, and it did explain why Mr. Boyle had tried to grab her after hanging himself from the rafters. At least in her experience, she didn’t know dead men to come back to life. It also explained why such a strange grouping of people would be in the same lodge miles into the woods.

Once led into the room Leliana had intended, Beth collapsed on the nearest bed, her body causing it to sink and groan in protest. She was so tired. It made her emotional, and maybe a little crazy but mostly she was relieved. Relieved her friend had managed to survive all those horrors just to be here to save her life. Relieved that she hadn’t given up in the snow, frozen and frightened. Relieved that for some reason both their paths had brought them back together again.

“I’m just so glad you are okay. That must have been terrifying, I can’t imagine…” She reached for her friends hand and gave it a familiar squeeze. “And here you are, patching me up for what must be the 1000th time. You are too pure for this world Lels.”

"Yeah, I wouldn't really call it a fun three days...maybe four? I maybe already lost track," Leliana said, fishing through her drawer for a hair tie. The room she had brought Bethany to was her room she shared with Shinoa and Milly, since the other ones belonged to other people. "You wait right here, I'll be right back," Leliana said, stepping out into the hallway.

The girl made a beeline to the back room that Rouge's body may or may not still be in, only stepping in long enough to grab the bag of medical supplies that Ralph didn't bring back out like a civilized person. How rude. Anyway, she spent a moment making sure that no hazardous materials made it back in the duffel bag. Leliana made a dramatic little turn on her heel, hurrying back out into the hallway and back into the room with Bethany.

"Hi, I'm back, sorry. We had an incident with a small horde of uh, well zombies and one got inside. But it was one that someone knew, and it was a whole thing." Rambling, she was rambling, but only a little bit. "Anyway, it's safe now, there's a surprising amount of ex military in our group." She sat the duffel bag on the bed, opening it to pull out some gauze and rubbing alcohol. "Here, it's gonna sting a little, and it'll smell really bad. But water isn't good for dried blood."

Did she just say zombies?

“Sounds like it’s been rough,” Bethany agreed. “I knew something had to be up. Do you remember Robert Boyle? I was at his vacation home when all this stuff was going down. He hanged himself while I was there. Likely unrelated, but he came back in the noose. It was,” the girl shuddered at the memory. “Unsettling to say the least.” When Leli started cleaning the dried blood off her pale skin with the gauze all Beth could do was smile.

“I trust you Lels. This isn’t the first time you’ve doctored me up, it would be useless to be a bad patient now. Some of it’s probably mine, I got a few bumps and bruises on the way here, but most is his.” She winced lightly as the gauze went over a scrape on her knee.

“This is insane Leli. So everything in Aurora is what? Just gone, full of dead people?” She didn’t really have anything waiting for her back in town. A few clients maybe, but no one who really cared about her. 100 percent of the people that mattered were here.

“Are they going to let me stay here with you then? I won't last ten seconds out there by myself.” Her fear was obvious by the warble in her tone and the scrunch in her forehead as she worried, watching Leliana do her work.

"Of course I remember Mr.Boyle. Michelle went after him with a pot of coffee one time cause she said it looked like he smacked my butt. He didn't, obviously, but from where she was standing and where that water cooler was, I can see how she got mixed up," Leliana chuckled. Michelle was the housekeeping manager at Moe's, a kind older woman in her mid forties maybe early fifties who honestly looked like she could be Leliana's aunt. She was a chain smoking Italian woman, who now that Leli really thought about, reminded her a bit of Luca. Anyway, whenever there was a problem with the customers getting to handsy, like they normally did, Michelle was the one who stepped in. Her methods were intense, and while they never seemed to keep anyone in line for long, it was a comfort, more than she probably knew.

"He hung himself?" Leliana sounded surprised, especially since her brief interactions with him made him out to be a fairly sound minded man. "That's terrible, Bethany I'm so sorry you had to see that. He didn't hurt you did he?" Based on what Ralph had found, there had to be a way for the parasite to travel, and while at the moment she couldn't remember if he mentioned this or not, but she believed that it was most likely spread, or at least triggered by bodily fluids, like blood or saliva. And of course, death itself. The fact that Bethany was here, living breathing meant that none of those things had happened to her.

The quip about Leliana patching Bethany up before made Leliana chuckle as she placed bloody gauze to side, and got a new piece to douse with rubbing alcohol. "Yeah, I know. Bedside manners though, some of my older patients told me it makes them feel better if I tell them what I'm doing, and them my younger practice patients responded well to it, so I made it a habit." Leliana reached up to push some of Bethany's hair out of the way so she could better clean a spot on her forehead, before she got yet another new piece, and moved on to Bethany's leg.

"I'm not sure about the current state of the city, I haven't left the lodge. There's a girl downstairs, Shinoa, who's gonna have a baby practically any moment. I should probably warn her due dates are more like guidelines and it should be due months. Anyway, only a few people have left on a supply run, which we're gonna need to do again once the one we currently have out is back, but we need an actual plan. And I want to go with them, but I probably won't be able to." She paused, taking a moment to make sure there was no debris in Bethany's scraped knee, before moving on. "I'd assume it's pretty bad though, I won't lie." The came the question on if Bethany was gonna be allowed to stay. Leliana stopped, ans looked up into her friends eyes, giving her a smile.

"Of course. They don't have the heart to kick anyone out, they haven't turned down anyone yet. Besides, they kick you out, I'd go too."

“Thanks Lels,” Beth said softly, humbled by her friends kindness and loyalty. She let the girl finish up checking out her wounds and cleaning her up without much more to say, enjoying being inside the warmth of four walls and safe from both freezing to death or starvation for the moment. When she was sure the girl had examined her as thoroughly as she could, Beth stood slowly on her shakey long legs.

“I hate to be a bother, but do you have any clothes I could borrow? This dress didn’t cover much before it got ripped.” Bethany chuckled softly. She knew that she would still have to go deal with the scary woman from earlier, and also any fallout from having a new person accidently show up on her doorstep. But at least Leliana was here to have her back. Despite the fact that Beth was older, Leli always had a knack for getting her out of trouble, protecting her. Her friendship meant more to Beth than she could ever find the words to say.

"You don't have to thank me Beth, I'm just doing my job," Leliana said, giving her friend a soft smile. They had an odd friendship, that even Leliana forgot how it really began, but Bethany was pretty much her only friend in the entire world. Her mom loved Beth, and while she may not have really approved of what she did for a living, it was more out of concern than anything. Bethany didn't know about what had happened with her uncle, but was the only person she had told about being assaulted by that guy at Moe's, aside from Michelle who found Leliana unconscious in a storage room, but she only knew the bare minimum. The point, Bethany was probably the only person in the world Leliana really cared about right now. Well, she cared about Milly and Shinoa, but in a different way. Anyway, after one more examination to make sure she didn't miss any other wounds, she smiled.

"There we go, cleaned 'em all. Next though, before you go borrowing my clothes, you should take a shower. The bathroom is next door, and there's clean towels under the sink." Leliana told her this as she stepped around and made her way to the dresser and opened the drawer. "You're taller than me, but um, here. These should work," She said, turning around to hand Bethany a T-shirt and a pair of jeggings. "If they don't, I can ask Andy once she gets back if you can borrow a pair of her pants. If you know, she has any extra."

“Yeah, a shower sounds heavenly,” the girl replied, taking the clothes from her friend. Beth leaned over and kissed Leliana on her cheek in the form of another thank you before slipping out of the room to find the nearest bathroom. When she was scrubbed, cleaned and dressed, Bethany would go downstairs to find the woman who had asked for a word with her.

Interactions: FireMaiden
Mentions: Brax Maj Rumble Fish BloodThunder27 The Mad Queen

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is a collab between Maj and Rumble Fish

Colt did not know how long she had lied in the snow, hyperventilating at the sky. Everything had seized up and it was as though Michael was sitting on her chest. She could not move. All she could do was lie there and struggle to breathe. But after a while, Colt slowly began to regain her senses. Propping herself up against the tree, she rubbed her forehead with a groan. This time she did not have Marcus or Ivan to give her backup. Could she honestly not do anything without someone else to hold her up? The woman groaned and shut her eyes as she forced herself to stand up. She had to get back to the Lodge. She had been gone for too long already.

Colt struggled to get back to the Lodge, the pain in her leg returning with a vengeance. The woman growled under her breath from it as she finally got through the door. Her head hurt and she felt as though she was about to be sick. She felt a surge of sickness and her stomach jumped, causing her to wretch and cover her mouth. Thankfully nothing else happened. It seemed that she had come in at the right time. The girl from the RV seemed to have been looked after. She stood in front of the girl with folded arms and a wide stance, mostly to compensate for the fact she felt like her fake leg was going to give up.

“Sit.” She said firmly and watched the girl as she did so, “Okay. First off, I don’ even wanna know how ya found yer way ‘ere.” That was of little importance to the woman as she then continued, “What I do wanna know is what ya were doin’ in that there RV. Plannin’ somethin’?” Her arms were still folded, though her fingers drummed against her arms in a twitch. She needed a drink. Badly!

As if Colt had said some sort of magic word, Beth folded into a chair immediately. Being bossed around was something she as good at. She watched the woman as she spoke, reading people was somewhat of a talent of hers. When your whole livelihood depended on you knowing how to read someone else, you got good at it. It was obvious to Beth that Colt was frustrated, flustered, and despite the tone to her voice was more fearful than angry.

“It was snowing.” Beth said simply, keeping her voice low and melodic, soothing. “I had been stumbling through the woods trying to make it back to civilization for days. I thought I was going to freeze to death out there. I didn’t even see this lodge until the next morning.” The blonde put a hand over her heart to emphasise her meaning. “I don’t know if it was just from delirium or if the snow was coming down that hard or what, I almost ran smack into the RV before I realized what it was. It was unlocked, so I just figured it was better than freezing to death. I meant what I said earlier, I don’t mean you guys any harm.” She kept any aggression out of her tone, any defensiveness. Bethany kept a quiet patience about her, despite the growing growling from her gut.

Colt was a little taken aback by the immediacy of the girl sitting on her word. She was not quite sure what to think. But she had no time to think about it as the girl started to talk and explain her story. It seemed that she had just been on the wrong place at the wrong time. When she mentioned that the RV was unlocked, she grumbled with folded arms, “Fuckin’ Michael…” before looking to the girl again as she continued. What she had noticed about the girl was her hunger. The grumbling from her stomach seemed to backup her story. With a gruff sigh, Colt dug into her pocket and found the granola bar Owen had given her. She held it out to the girl; at least she could make herself look less like a monster.

“And ya weren’t followed or nothin’?” She asked as she narrowed one eye. Despite the girl seeming innocent, Colt was not willing to risk anybody’s safety, especially with a baby due. She waited for the girl’s answer, taking in several deep breaths as she was still struggling to keep it steady.

The girl caught the granola bar mid-air and opened it with shaking hands. In middle school her mother had said she had hypothermia? No that wasn’t it. Hypo-gly something or another. Beth couldn’t remember, but when her blood sugar got low she shook like a phone on vibrate. It wasn’t until faced with the aspect of food had it hit her. She bit into the bar greedily, letting out a happy sounding groan as she chewed. Cheap snacks had never tasted so good.

“I wish,” Beth said non-chalantly. “There is no one out there. I was alone for days, the only person I know for a fact that lives in the woods is dead in his own cabin. That’s where I left from. My cell wouldn’t work to call 9-1-1. Leli just filled me in on all the rest.” Beth looked at her own lap sadly. “It barely feels real to be honest.” She said the last part with a mouth full of granola, swallowing the bite down hard.

“Hm, well… I can understand what bein’ alone is like.” Colt sat down, letting out a groan as she did. She listened as the girl talked about what Leli had said and how her cellphone would not work. She smacked her lips and nodded slightly.

“Yup. No connection here neither. Fuckin' wifi...” She blinked slowly, “And well, to me it does. But that's another story. So, on yer way ‘ere, y’didn’t see any of them Hazmats around here did ya?”

“Hazmats?” Beth asked blankly. She had no idea what that word even meant. Maybe she was referring to the soldiers Leli had told her attacked the school. She shook her head in response. “No, like I said the only person I’ve seen since I left Mr. Boyle’s house is you guys. I can understand being untrusting, people in this world are awful. But I have nothing to hide from you, if you think about it keeping you on my good side is about my only chance of survival out there. I’m not a soldier, or a nurse, or any of those things. I’m just a girl who would appreciate a safe place to rest her head,” Beth paused, looking up into her interrogators eyes. “If that’s okay.”

Colt was silent for a few moments as she thought over what had just been said. She diverted her bloodshot eyes as she pondered. The girl was alone, and she was sure that she was alone. There weren't any others. While Colt’s mind was telling her to deny the girl and send her on her way, her gut instinct said otherwise. Sending her back out would be a death sentence for her and would be heavy on her guilt. She was already having to deal with the loss of Rogue and the accidental death of the teenage girl. Colt made a strange noise in her throat as she thought of the girl, no she couldn't have an attack in front of this stranger.

With a light shake of her head and heavy sigh, Colt finally returned her gaze to the younger lady. She was going to have her neck felt for doing this but; she reached out her right, rather scarred hand towards the girl for them to shake. “Colt.” She said in her stoic way, however there was a vague hint of reassurance. She'd have to think of sleeping arrangements, but Colt knew she could sleep on the floor, she had slept on harder before.

“Bethany, you can call me Beth.” the girl took Colt’s hand and shook it. “You won’t regret this.”

“Okay, good.” Colt darted her eyes a little, still unsure of it all but, despite their differences, she trusted Leliana’s judgement. She was a good person, not that Colt would tell her, “Well, get yerself comfortable, Beth.” She added with a slight wave of the had before sitting on the other couch, going into thought about it all. They had another mouth to feed. Now Marcus’ proposition of moving sounded pretty good. She would ask him. After a while, the veteran got up, groaning from the pain in her leg and made her way to the door to watch Marcus and Michael.

Mentioned: FireMaiden BloodThunder27 Hyped_Taco Soma Schicksal ​

 

[Brax]

Andy and Luca had decided to advance to the pharmacy by foot. Much like she was weary of traveling in a car, Luca had absolutely no desire to climb into one after the events that had transpired a day before. It wasn’t the shortest walk to the pharmacy, but it was their only option for now. The two kept on high alert as they traveled through dusk. Just as nightfall had arrived, the two finally made around to the back of the pharmacy. Neither knew it was occupied. To check, Luca placed his ear against the back door that Jonas had used to get in. The voices were muffled, but he was able to confirm that there were two people speaking. When he heard a door slam on the other side, Luca turned his head toward the female and whistled to grab her attention. This was mostly to let her know it was time.

The Italian wrapped his fingers around the handle and swung the door open. Luca raised up the scope of his rifle and aimed it toward a young man with light-colored hair. This was a kid, no less than ten years younger than him based on first impressions. The man contemplated pulling the trigger as he examined the teen but opted instead to try and reason with him. Luca immediately recognized that he was holding a bo staff, a weapon’s use that was specifically used in a select number of styles.

The sound of the door swinging open startled Jonas, causing him to turn swiftly and raise his staff just as the other guy raised the rifle. As soon as he laid eyes on it he froze, his body stiffened and breath quickened as he couldn't help but stare at it. Ever since he’d been freed from captivity, he’d had a crippling fear of anything with a trigger. He wasn’t scared a being shot as much as he was afraid of the weapon itself.

“Take it easy, kid. Turn around so that your back is facing me and drop the Bo. You have three seconds.” Of course, Luca provided absolutely no pause before his countdown began. While being forced to have to put down the young one was something that he wanted to avoid, actually shooting him on the count of three would prove to be even harder. Praying silently that Jonas would oblige, the ex-capo kept aggressive.

“One.” Luca called out, through gritted teeth.

“Two…”

He shook violently as his grip on his staff tightened before loosening quickly, the staff falling to the floor with a wooden twang. His breath shuttered in a mixture of fear, disgust, and anger as he looked from the rifle to the man holding it as he spoke.

“Okay. I dropped it. Now get that goddamn thing away from me.”

He said, his hands shaking violently along with the rest of his body shook alongside them. He knew calling for the others that were in the other room would only cause trouble and likely get him shot, he simply closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths.

‘Don’t panic. He’s not going to shoot you, just don’t panic. You aren’t with them anymore.’

He repeated to himself in his head over and over as he put an image of himself somewhere much nicer, hoping to dissuade the fear the coursed through his body. The shaking slowed gradually as he continued to take slow, shaky breaths.

“Grab the stick.” Luca ordered Andy, waiting for the girl to move before dropping his aim from the back of the boy’s head. The red head obliged, lowering the scope of her bow to the floor and quickly reaching to pick up the sanded wooden weapon. She felt as if she was becoming Luca’s lapdog, blindly following his orders. But it was likely the best way to stay alive. After all, she had no idea how to deal with the living enemies that it was no apparent they would be forced to face. Luca on the other hand, likely had a library of experience in this particular category.

The man stared long and hard, contemplating what to do next. This resulted in him letting the rifle hang from his grip. Jonas had been facing the door that had served as the entryway to the pharmacist's office from the rest of the store. Without having to ask, he was relatively certain there were others outside. He noticed that there had been broken glass spread across the floor, from the window above it. The backdoor had been unlocked. This only solidified Luca’s theory, in addition to the shuffling of feet a few meters out.

“There are others here? Are they hostile?” He asked, walking around the boy and moving toward the door. Luca didn’t make it a point to let Jonas know that he wasn’t looking for trouble, rather the Italian was trying to make it his mission to diffuse any possible issues that might enfold given his entrance into the pharmacy itself.

“I don't know. I've only met one of them. But they probably will be if you give them a reason to. From what the one I met told me, there's one with a cold and another with a Crowbar. The third has a machete.”

“Next time, spare me the details boy.”

“I figured you'd ask anyways, so why waste the time?”

Andy for once, chose to be silent, her eyes darting between Luca and the young man they had just accosted. Without his weapon, Jonas appeared to mean them no harm and had even gone as far as to answer Luca’s questions honestly. Who would lie about something as stupid as one of them having a cold? She made sure to keep close behind him, ready to draw an arrow from her hip quiver at the first sign of trouble.

He turned the handle leading out to the convenience part of the store. Luca didn’t notice anybody in the isle straight ahead. It was a bit dark inside of the pharmacy but the last-ditch effort by the sun to stay above the horizon had provided the man with just enough light to see. After a quick scan ahead he turned to the left to see a middle-aged man rummaging through a few items with his back turned from Luca’s direction. Instinctively, he raised a hand to keep Jonas and Andy from following. Then he began slowly pursuing Warren from behind, taking one step after another as quietly as possible. His scope had been raised. Hell, he was even slightly low to the ground. Luca’s finger had reached for the trigger.

She followed his silent orders without thinking, relying heavily on him to guide her on what to do and when to act. Her heart was beating in her chest as she noticed the man in Luca’s gaze. Andy slipped two fingers around the fletching of one of the arrows in her quiver and slowly brought it to her bow, drawing the string without so much as a sound.

 

[Brax]

Tre had been keeping tabs on what was going on in the pharmacy room for quite some time. For starters, he was weary of retaliation for bothering Jonas initially. At first, he didn’t recognize who it was that had come slinking out of the back room. When he realized that it was Luca, however, Tre found himself filled with an overwhelming array of feelings. Despite the sadness, relief and guilt that he harbored, however, Tre was more happy than anything else. Keeping up with Luca’s pace, the young man quickly made his way down one of the isles that he had already passed. Then he walked out from behind the man casually, stepping between Andy and Luca with a large smirk across his visage.

“Been a minute though.”

Luca froze immediately in his tracks. He knew whose voice it was, but felt as though his ears had been deceiving him. Out of shock he dropped his rifle from Warren’s back and slowly turned around to find the son of his deceased best friend standing there, without a scratch or a drop of blood on him. The man’s eyes widened up as Tre approached him. It had been over a year since the last time Luca had seen the kid, who had grown at least a foot taller in that amount of time. The Italian dropped his rifle and moved both of his fists up to his eyes, rubbing them harshly in response. He chuckled, thinking that he must have finally lost his sanity. Tre turned back partially to look at Andy and Jonas. The ladder of the two maintained his focus in the meanwhile.

“Sorry if he passed you an L, he's always been a dick. He been passin’ me L’s since I was five. Ayyo, Warren!” He turned once more to face Luca. At this point, the Italian had completely lost his shit and was experiencing a laughing fit. Tre completely ignored it and instead continued talking to Warren as though there was nothing strange going on at all.

Andy spun around, arrow ready to loose at a moments notice when the kid made himself know. The way he addressed Luca, did they know each other? She had just been about to open her mouth to ask when he called Luca a dick. Andy snorted, amused. Ok, he knew Luca alright and by the way he wasn't already filled will bullets Andy could deduce they were friendly. She lowered her weapon.

Warren got up from looking through the snack section when he heard Tre call him from behind. He turned to see the kid and three other people he did not know. Am I seein’ shit? I haven’t drank that much yet.. One of them was armed with a rifle, and the red-haired girl, a bow. Warren put his hand on the grip of the pistol hidden in his waistband behind his right side. Tre seemed to know the man with the rifle, so Warren refrained from revealing his gun. “Who the hell are these people?” He surveyed each of them before looking Tre in the eyes.

“This dude used to run with my dad back in the day. He took me in when my old man passed.” Tre said, placing a hand on Luca’s back at the same time he felt the man’s hand press down onto the top of his head. The expression on Tre’s face instantly turned from happy to annoyed as he reached up to grab Luca’s wrist with both hands in attempts to pull it off.

“Is that so?” Warren smirked, “Well, any friend of your father’s is a friend of mine.” He released the grip of his pistol and reached into his pack, pulling out another beer. The man cracked it open, took a large swig, and let out a satisfied sigh. The climate had kept em’ nice and cold, even still as the remainder rested in the bottom of his pack.

Luca looked up from Tre to Warren. This was the man who probably saw Luca’s best friend last before he died. The Italian wasn’t sure of the situation, as he was left excluded from most of the details. Warren could serve to provide him some information regarding that. First, Luca had to make sure everything was clear. Knowing that Tre was running with Warren meant that neither were a threat. Jonas had been back in the pharmacy but didn’t seem to pose a threat either. Luca looked back down at Tre.

“Dominique, where’s your mother?” Luca asked, moisture building up in the corner of his eyes as he looked down at the struggling teen. Eventually he moved his hand off of his head before crossing his arms over his chest. For Luca, Tre was the last person he had known from his previous life. While Andy and Owen were people he had known from his childhood and lost contact with, this reunion proved to be more meaningful.

“Dead.” Tre answered, rubbing his head. “I been kickin’ it wit’ Warren since the outbreak. He was my dad’s bunkmate.”

“At least you’re safe. I need a pair of tweezers and some rubbing alcohol. Do you have any?” He asked.

Tre took his backpack off and handed it to Luca. “All that shit’s in dere.”

The man grabbed the backpack from Tre and opened it up. With the use of the light from Tre’s phone, he was able to remove a small bottle of rubbing alcohol from the large pocket before grabbing the tweezers from the small pocket. Then he grabbed a chair next to the reception area belonging to the Pharmacy and turned it before looking over at Andy and pointing down at it.

“Sit. I have to clean you up.”

Jonas’ eyes snapped to the third member of their little party as he started to slowly rise from what seemed to be a lying position. Had he gone to sleep? He must’ve, why else would he be laying down? It wasn’t until he’d heard the telltale groan from the man that he knew. He had died at some point during their time together and was just now reanimating. With a swift breath and a more swift movement, the teenager shoved past their new guests, snatching his Bo Staff back from the girl who’d been told to take it from the ground where he’d dropped it. He quickly adjusted his hands on it as he continued towards the now turned Korean man as he began professionally spinning it around his fingers and hands, even looping it around his body once before bringing it full swing towards the infected’s jaw. It connected with a powerful thud that whipped the newly zombified man’s head to the side, only for it to turn slowly back towards him with a menacing growl. Jonas sighed as he twirled the staff in his hand again, swinging it the infected’s knee instead, causing it to lose balance and fall to it’s original position on the floor. As he exhaled sharply, he raised the staff above his head and brought it down on the infected’s which provided a decent amount of resistance before giving way.

The staff sunk into the dead Korean man’s skull and all movement from him ceased just as quickly as it had begun. With some effort, he pulled the end of the staff from the infected’s head, the staff dripping blood and brain matter as it left a hole the size of the staff behind. The teenager inhaled quickly and exhaled slowly as he looked around his general area, taking a package of gauze from a nearby shelf and ripping it open with his teeth, careful to keep the now contaminated end of his staff away from his new guests. Once he was able to get a piece of gauze from the box, he wiped the gore from the end of his staff before dropping it onto the zombified corpse.

“And who’s this shithead?” Warren looked to Tre and motioned to Jonas, who had just killed the reanimated Marty. He took a last long drink from his beer and crushed it. He tossed it to the corpse, “I promised that sick bastard that me or the kid would take him out and here comes Jackie Chan to steal our glory eh?” The alcohol was getting to him a little at this point, “We gotta talk later, kid.” He gave Tre an annoyed look and set off towards the front of the store, sitting himself in a chair behind the front desk. The pack of cold ones was set on the desk along with his feet and he leaned back, cracking open another. Luca and Andy had been watching the entire interaction between the kid and the zombified male go down as well, though kept quiet throughout its entirety.

“There's no glory in killing these things, Scheißkerl.” (shit head)

 

[Rumble Fish]

Ivan looked up at Leliana as she handed him the pistol, stuffing it into the jacket he wore as he watched her walk towards Milly then start playing with her. A short smile crossed over his face as he watched them. This felt surprisingly normal, if that was a good word for it. The last few days had been a hell of a Rollercoaster and this was probably their first chance to really calm down. That was, until Leliana called out for Colt to go over to her. He looked down to where she was looking, squinting against the sun reflecting off the snow until he caught the footsteps that didn't belong to either of the girls that were out in the snow. He quickly glanced at Milly, who was no doubt spooked by Leli suddenly yelling, and decided to speak in a soft but firm tone instead.

“Hey, Milly! Come over here for a minute.”

He called out to her, reaching for the pistol in his jacket as Colt passed by him on her way to the dormant RV. The moment of happiness and bliss quickly subsided as he kept his eyes glued to the door as he pulled the pistol from his jacket, keeping it pointed at the ground as he motioned for Milly to come to him.

Milly had gotten up from lying on her back when Leliana approached her after speaking to Ivan. Milly stopped what she was doing as Leliana asked her what she was doing. She was still jumping and hopping around, staring up at the sky as large snowflakes continued to fall. She flapped her arms a little like a bird.

“Playing.” She answered as she continued to jump as if she was trying to fly, “I made a game! Called…” she blinked for a second, “Throw-Snow!” She squealed in joy as she came up with the name. Milly looked at the girl as she told her to look. The youngster blinked as she watched her make an angel in the snow. Her eyes widened a little and she wasted no time joining her. Once she had made the angel, she got up and started tracing her finger through the snow, giving both of their angels halos and wings.

But her joy was short lived as Leliana suddenly shouted for Colt and the woman had a gun with her. Seemed there was something going on at the RV and Milly didn't want to get involved. Colt still scared her and who knows what was in that RV. Hearing Ivan call her over, Milly squeaked and made her way over to the man. She looked up at him anxiously.

“What happened?” She asked him anxiously, “I haven't finished Leli’s wings.” She added before keeping close to him.

“Is… is Colt going to hurt someone?”

“Don't worry Milly, she's not going to hurt anyone.”

Ivan half-lied,he really had no idea what she would do. He hoped she wouldn't of course, but was prepared for the worst as they swung the door open. He expected to hear the strained growling but was instead met with the echoing voice of a girl begging for her life. He had raised his pistol when they'd swung the door open, a motion he quickly reversed as the girl's voice rang out. He was expecting Colt to do the same, and even started moving towards her to tell her to back off, but couldn't make it off the porch before Leliana pulled the battered and bruised girl into a hug. His worried expression was overtaken by surprise as he froze on the porch, taken aback by her actions.

“Hey Milly, wanna build a snowman? I'm pretty much a certified expert!” Ivan said in a wondrous tone at first as he searched for the words. He definitely didn't want her to be present if they found any bites on her, so it was best to keep the introductions for later.

Milly watched the exchange with confusion. Colt stormed off and the other girls seemed to be friends from their interactions. She frowned worryingly before the Russian man asked if she wanted to make a snowman. She looked at him with a smile.

“Umm, sure.” She said as she sat down with crossed legs, keeping the scarf over her nose. She began making the shape of what looked like a rabbit. As she did, she looked wistfully in the direction where Colt had gone.

“She looked upset.” She frowned worryingly, “Is she okay?”

“Colt? Yeah she'll be fine. She probably just needs to cool off a bit. We've taken in a lot of people in a short amount of time, she's probably just stressed out.”

He said, looking at her as she walked away, not really expecting Milly to understand what he meant. He then looked down at the girl and sat on the porch and prepared to help her with a few of the other pieces.

“So. What are we making?”

He asked, trying to make small talk with her. He wasn't great at talking to kids so this would be an experience.

“It's just she always seems angry, it's a bit scary.” She said before stopping herself and looking down at the snow, “I-I’m sorry that was horrible…” she shook her head and shut her eyes for a moment. After a second, she hit herself on the back of her head.

Milly shook her head a little as she recovered from her episode and Ivan asked what she was making. As if that never happened, she looked at her snowman.

“Making a rabbit. Want to make a bigger snowman?” She asked with a tilted head like a curious bird.

Ivan watched her as she hit herself, putting his hand on her head softly as he gave her a gentle smile. He looked to where Colt had walked and sighed, looking down at the snow.

“You don't have to apologize, sometimes it's good to be honest.”

He said before she responded with what she was making. A rabbit, huh? That seemed like it'd be difficult, but he didn't have any problems with it.

“A rabbit sounds fun, just let me know if it gets too cold okay? I wouldn't want you catching anything.”

He said, not including the fact that likely everyone at the lodge would be at his throat if she got sick because of him. He took his hand from her head and dug both of them into the snow, starting on the pieces of the body.

“But it was mean, and you're not supposed to-” she shook her head and put a hand on her head with a worried sigh. This did not feel right. She shouldn't be saying stuff like that! Her mother said it was wrong.

She then continued to work on the rabbit with Ivan before he told her to tell her if she was cold. “Okay.” She said before continuing. She kept getting distracted by pressing handprints in the snow. She liked the shape it made.

Ivan was able to finish the body eventually, using his bare hand to smoothen it over. The cold nipped at his fingers each time he dug them into the snow, which didn't bother him all too much. All that really mattered was the she was having fun. He smiled at the ground as he shook the semi melted snow from his hands and let out a short sigh.

“Lets see. That leaves the legs and tail. Which do you wanna do?”

He said with a smile as he looked from the body over to her.

Milly wordlessly started working on the rabbit’s ears. She was still worried over what she had said before. She let out a little sigh as she looked at the snow rabbit.

“I used to have a rabbit.” She said quietly, thinking about every word in case she said something wrong, “he was black with white feet. His name was Sooty.” She said with a slight smile.

“Sooty, huh? That sounds precious.”

He said with a smile as he dug his index and middle finger into the snow, pulling up a small chunk that he quickly formed into the rabbits tail.

Milly was pleased with the rabbit and she gave Ivan a smile as he complimented her rabbit’s name.

“He was really cuddly and friendly. We used to play all the time. It helped when mum was out.” She explained before she stopped as she mentioned her mother. The younger girl sighed heavily. She hadn't thought about her mother since yesterday and now she was thinking about her, she could feel tears building up in her eyes.

“Umm… want to make more?”

Ivan noticed that Milly was seemingly about to cry and cleared his throat as she spoke to him. He wanted to give her a hug, because that's what his dad did whenever he cried. But he was held back by the possibility that he'd make her feel smothered or uncomfortable.

“Oh, yeah. Let's finish this little guy up and then go inside, okay? It's getting a bit chilly.”

He said with a smile before bunching some snow up around the edges if the body and carving it away with his fingers to make the legs. He then pushed some of the snow on its head in gently, leaving two small eye holes behind.

“There we go. I guess we've got a little Sooty Jr. huh?”

He said with a smile as he looked down at her.

Milly looked at him as he called the rabbit Sooty Jr. and smiled, though there were still a couple of tears falling. She saw Colt had gone back inside the Lodge so at least she was back inside. The youngster nodded at him as he asked about going inside. She sneezed a little from the cold.

“Can we play again?” she asked him as they went back inside the Lodge. After being outside, the building felt strangely warm. As they entered, Milly noticed the stranger from before sitting on the sofa, having been washed and was eating a bar, “Um… hello.” she greeted the lady quietly. Mostly due to Colt’s reaction, Milly was quite afraid to approach the woman. But… she had to be polite. It’s what her mother would have told her to do. She hoped they could go and play outside again at some point. She hadn’t finished Leliana’s wings.

“Of course you can.”

Ivan said patting her head softly as they made their way inside, before she introduced herself to their new guest.

Mentions: Maj FireMaiden ​

 

[Maj]

The following post was co-written by Maj and Brax
​

Andy was somewhat overwhelmed by all the new people. They were all talking at once, acting around her and she wasn’t entirely convinced she could trust them yet. Still, Luca was maybe even more mistrusting than she was and he seemed assured by the presence of the kid, walking off to find supplies for her. The idea that his first instinct was to tend to her wounds was a little foreign to her, and she cocked an eyebrow at him before reaching over and snatching the staff back from Jonas. It wasn’t hard to steal it back considering the missing fingers on his hand, she was sort of impressed he could use a staff at all without proper grip.

Andy made a point not to stare at his disfigured hand. What someone his age could have done to lose fingers was beyond her, but he also ran around fighting with a staff like he was out of some kung-fu movie, so there were many things about him she didn’t bother to try to understand. Her green eyes narrowed as she addressed Jonas.

“I’m pretty sure we didn’t tell you that you could have that back.” He had used it to kill one of the monsters and not attack them but she didn’t take kindly to kids with grabby fingers. The red head made her way over to Luca and sat down in front of him, first pulling her bag off her shoulder before shrugging off her damp leather jacket. She opened her mouth to say something snarky about his newfound interest in her well-being, but decided against it. Her attitude last night had been bad enough, she didn’t feel like having to apologize to Luca twice in one day.

Luca took a deep breath, watching as the woman took back the staff before sitting down. His eyes traced the girl as she moved. There was somethings about diplomacy that were better kept to the professionals and this was certainly one of those cases. He took the bo back from Andy before turning and tossing it back to Jonas, with an unenthused look on his face. There were a few reasons that Luca did this, but the main idea was that if they were going to stay the night at the pharmacy that it was better to live in peace. Jonas was a child and leaving him to his own corner of the pharmacy unarmed wasn’t part of Luca’s plan. Nor did he want to play babysitter.

“And now we have.”

“Don’t come looking for retaliation.” He warned Jonas.

Then the man turned back to the girl and removed the strap of his rifle from his shoulders. He handed Andy the rifle, instructing her to hold it before kneeling down to her side. Then he removed a bit of gauze from the bag to have ready. He brought the tweezers to her skin first so he could take out all the large pieces he could. As he continued on as carefully as possible, the Italian found that this was going to take a lot more time than he had originally anticipated.

Andy took her good arm to move her tangled mess of red hair over her shoulder and out of Luca’s way, sliding the strap of her top and bra down over the still bleeding and festering shoulder. She winced. Up to this point she had done her best to ignore the wriggling glass digging its way further and further into her flesh. But now, with a moment to rest and the prospect of having someone dig all of it out for her, it was basically all she could think about.

It hurt. There was no denying that, but Andy had always had a relatively high tolerance for pain. Between always getting beat up climbing trees, or hurting herself on camping expeditions, she was no stranger to being injured. Still glass embedded in her skin was a first. It was apparent to her that Luca was being careful, taking his time to do a thorough job without causing her more discomfort than necessary. When he paused, she held up a hand to stop him.

Leaning down, to the bag she had on the floor Andy pulled out the bottle of spiced rum she had brought with her. Slipping her foot through the strap for extra insurance no one was going to snatch anything else from her. She opened the top and took a long drink before holding it up for Luca to do the same.

“Just do what you need to do.” It didn’t matter if Luca wanted to admit it or not, he was worried about her. She didn’t need him to get all gushy on her to know it. Actions spoke louder than words. Still, Andy knew they would be here all night if he kept trying not to hurt her.

Luca had lifted his head slightly to press his lips against the mouth of the bottle as Andy gave him the green light. When she had lifted the bottle from his mouth he used the back of his wrist to wipe away any excess liquids from his lips before he began digging in for the smaller pieces of glass. Within a few minutes, her shoulder was entirely clear. However, after scraping a few parts and the constant prodding, it left the girl with a bit more injury than before. Luca provided a healthy amount of alcohol to the gauze before pressing it against the girl’s shoulder.

“Hold it.”

Andy slowly stood, stretching her back and feeling out her shoulder. It absolutely hurt, in fact it felt like the equivalent of a tenderized steak, poked and prodded and bleeding. Luca had gone out of his way to care for her though, and that kindness wasn’t lost on Andy, especially not from Luca.

“Thanks.”

He knew it hurt, but for the time being this was the best option. Luca dug his fingers into the seams of one of his sleeves and tore it off. He made one last tear before wrapping it around the girl’s shoulder so it would keep the gauze in place. The less items they could use that they intended to bring back with them, the better. Luca had the full intention of bringing both Warren and Tre back to the lodge as well as asking Jonas, mostly because he had a feeling none of these people had any place to go.

“I’m sure Leliana would have done a better job but for now this will have to do.” The Italian stood up to his feet, taking his rifle from the girl and turning around to hand Tre back his bag. “We came out for supplies and to find someone but we have a whole group at a lodge just outside of town. You should go talk to Warren and figure out if it’s all right for you to come back with us. He can come too as long as you think he’s not a problem.” The boy nodded, taking the bag from Luca and running off toward the other side of the pharmacy to consult with Warren. As far as Jonas went, Luca knew he would have to end up asking the kid to come himself. He didn’t even get the boy’s name.

Luca was far better suited to talk to the strangers, so Andy let him. She made herself at home against a wall where she could keep an eye on the interactions between the groups. Exhausted, beaten and hungry, she slid down to sit against, bottle between her legs, bow in her lap.

Interactions: Brax King Vioogra TheTreForce

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is a collab between Maj and Rumble Fish

She was such a frail little thing, thin and spindly and still coming into her own body. Beth smiled at the girl when she approached her. Blonde hair was still damp, it hung over the woman’s shoulder darkening the t-shirt Leliana had given her with circles of moisture. Taking another bite out of the granola bar Colt had given to her Beth swallowed it down.

“Well hi there little snow princess.” Her voice was different than it had been with Colt. It kept it’s soothing nature, but instead of being firm and articulate it was more musical and light. “Did you have fun playing outside?”

Milly was a little surprised at the woman’s tone. But she seemed very kind just from her voice. She darted her eyes a little before answering her question, after giggling a little at being called ‘snow princess’. She bounced a little on her seat as she recounted what she did.

“Yes! I made a new game called Throw-Snow which is a lot of fun, made snow angels with Leliana and built a snow rabbit with Ivan. Never played in snow before so I…” she suddenly stopped, realising she was rambling. Milly glanced down and hugged her bear tightly against her. This was bad, you’re not supposed to ramble. People would think you're boring and won’t be your friend. At least, that's what she had been taught.

“What's your name?” She asked in a quiet voice, afraid to intrude, “And, um… D-did Colt hurt you? I-I'm sorry if that's rude I just don’t, oh gosh,” she stopped talking again, covering her nose and mouth with her scarf. This was going wrong, she could feel it.

Beth never quit smiling at the young girl. After all the horrors she had been subjected to over the last few days, the raw innocence of this girl felt like a detox for her soul. The blonde pulled her legs into her lap, crossing them underneath her. She patted the seat next to her to invite the girl to join her.

“No turtle dove. I’m not hurt. You have nothing to worry about. Colt seems mean, but I think actually she’s a big softie.” the girl laughed in response. This sweet little thing was nervous, Beth could tell. Someone at some point in her life had told her to be quiet and those words had stuck with her. Beth read between the lines of covering her mouth, and the crestfallen expression on her face when she realized that she had been talking for longer than she felt comfortable.

“That’s a very cute bear. Does he have a name?”

Milly sat next to the girl when she was invited but kept herself small and contained. She looked the older girl over seeing her blonde hair and slim body. She didn't look like anyone else she had met before. As she talked about Colt, the youngster glanced down.

“Maybe.” She answered, “she does drink a lot but- sorry.” She glanced behind her, afraid the veteran might have been listening but she was focusing on what was outside much to Milly’s relief. Her attention was diverted when Beth asked about her teddy. She looked at the bear before turning back to Beth.

“His name’s Snowy.” She answered, the wavering fear in her tone vanishing as she talked about her teddy, “I've had him since I was a baby.”

“Are you scared love?” Beth asked softly, noticing the girl’s behavior. “Seems to me like you have a whole group of people here who really care about you. No one is going to let anything bad happen to you.” And how could they? When there was such a little ball of light like Milly, you had to protect it. Every instinct in you told you to keep it safe.

“Who was that strong man who was with you before?” the blonde asked, referring to the Russian who had brought the child inside “He seems nice.”

“But if it makes you feel better, you and Snowy can sit here with me until you feel better.” Beth didn’t have the heart to ask the girl about her family. If everything that Leli had told her had been true then there was a good chance that they were dead. Upsetting the child wasn’t something that she wanted or intended to do. The more she talked to Milly though she could tell there was something different about her.

“I am,” she said softly, going through these sentences several times in her head before speaking, “They won't let me go home, there's monsters everywhere and, um, I can't find my mummy…” she looked at the woman with her large eyes. Now she wished she had never said it. But she took a deep breath before answering the woman’s other point.

“They are, but, they're worried. Shiona’s having a baby and-Augh stop it!” Milly hit herself on the forehead, why did she keep saying stuff like this? She then went to answer about Ivan, “His name’s Ivan, he’s really nice.” She smiled at Beth, “he's very good at building snow rabbits.”

Milly scooted closer towards Beth as she offered to let her. The small girl looked at Beth as she hugged her bear, “I'm glad Leliana found you. It's scary out there,”

“Don’t hit yourself sweetling.” Beth cooed, taking the girl’s hands in her own. “You can tell me whatever you want to. I’m glad you had fun with Ivan. Let the grown ups worry about all the scary grown up things, and you just worry about being your adorable little self. I’m sure your mother is doing her very best to get to you, in the meantime you just need to do your best to stay safe.” She gently booped the end of the little girl’s nose and gave her a warm smile.

“And staying here is the best way to stay safe. You are right, it’s scary out there.”

Milly was a little surprised at Beth taking her and what she said. It was incredibly sweet. When she booped her nose, Milly could not stop herself from smiling at the woman. She was really nice, a breath of fresh air. The younger girl removed the scarf from her mouth, “Thank you.” She moved closer to the girl, feeling much better around her. Maybe they could be friends.

Mentioned: BloodThunder27 FireMaiden King Vioogra ​

 

[Soma Schicksal]

[class=BackgroundPicture] Background:url(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/359734207024463882/524331123145179137/Tileableerodedscratchmetaltexturebackground00.jpg); background-size: 25% 25%; Padding:30px; Padding-bottom:10px; background-attachment: fixed; [/class] [class=BackgroundColor] padding:20px; background-color:#f0ebe0; Color:Black; font-family:Fira Sans ; [/class] [class=Name] margin-bottom:10px; Border-top: 3px SOLID #0b440a; Border-bottom: 3px SOLID #0b440a; border-radius:5px; padding:5px; padding-left:20px; font-family: Fjalla One; font-size:27px; letter-spacing:3px; color:#0b440a; float:left; width:97%; [/class] [class=Img] background-color:#f0ebe0; text-align: center; border:1px SOLID #0b440a; line-height:0px; margin-top:10px; [/class] [class=Icon] color:#f0ebe0; background-color:#0b440a; padding:5px; padding-left:10px; font-size: 25px; margin:-10px -10px 10px -10px ; font-family: Fjalla One; [/class] [class=statbar] border-radius:5px; border-top: 1px Solid #0b440a; border-bottom: 1px Solid #0b440a; padding:2px; width:50%; margin-top:3px; margin-bottom:3px; [/class] [class=Line] border: 3px SOLID #0b440a; margin-top:10px; margin-bottom:10px; padding:10px; [/class] [class=Status] margin-bottom:10px; Border-top: 3px SOLID #0b440a; Border-bottom: 3px SOLID #0b440a; border-radius:5px; padding:5px; font-family: Fjalla One; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:3px; color:#000000; width:97%; [/class] [div class="BackgroundPicture"] [div class="BackgroundColor"] [div class="Name"] Marcus Howard[/div]

[div class="Img"]

[/div]
[div class="Status"] Status

Interacting: The Mad Queen

Mentioned: BloodThunder27 Rumble Fish Hyped_Taco Maj FireMaiden

Located:

[/div]

[div class="Line"] [div class="Icon"] Actions[/div] Marcus was frozen in thought for a moment when Colt had called out for him to follow her, he agreed and did so standing by her where they ended up meeting up with Michael where Colt irritably taught him how to cut a tree. The male wanted anything else but to be here with the fat nerdy guy but whatever, there was nothing he could do about it now and Colt wanted him to try and work with the neckbeard so it couldn’t be helped. After reaching the end of her little wood cutting class, Colt was called over by Leliana. He was told to stay with the Michael but Marcus could hear some chattering and a new female voice by the RV. The silver-haired male made his way over to the voices to his surprise it was a girl he remembered seeing around Aroura before but who was she exactly? There was something else about her he recognized but maybe it was all just apart of his imagination. Marcus decided to ignore it and went to start gathering his group to head out with, he would need to find Jenna first since the last time he saw Brian was with the doctor.

As he walked around the lodge he could hear the purple haired streamer speaking in the living room. He walked over hoping he wasn’t interrupting something as Shinoa was also there. “Oh hey…I hope I’m not interrupting but Jenna I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me to go search for a new base of operations. Seeing as how we keep finding new people by the day…I thought it would be a good idea to gather a little group to search for a bigger place to stay, and one that would be a bit easier to defend.” He explained. “I just thought it might help uhhh clear your mind and maybe we could talk, I was thinking of inviting that Brian guy also. Whaddaya think?” He offered the woman, if she wouldn’t come with, then he would still try and get Brian to go, and if that didn’t happen then he would have no problem just heading out alone.

[/div]

[/div] Code by @AgWordSmith [/div]

 

[The Mad Queen]

Jenna O'Connor​

​

The girl snapped back to focus when Marcus spoke up. Why was he asking her of all people to follow him into a warzone? Sure, she'd taken out some of the infected when the lodge was attacked but overall her only combat experience was in videogames and through the likes of Airsoft and paintballing. Treating people and animals was what she was good at, at least in this scenario and even if somebody was asking for being beaten up they had a bunch of ex-military personnel for that.

Quietly she weighed her options, stroking Cammy on the back of the head. She didn't want to say anything out-loud in case she spooked Shinoa and Marcus was probably thinking the same thing already.
If they stayed at the lodge, they would all die there. Jenna tried to remember the overall population of Aurora but an exact number slipped her mind. It had to be in the low thousands at the very least which meant potentially thousands of the dead marching up to the lodge at any given moment. She held her tongue for now but the group would have to leave the city and it's outskirts if they wanted to stand a chance but for now, just making sure they weren't all killed in the night would have to do.

A small consisting of a few that could fight and what would pass as a medic to treat them if shit hit the fan. It would do.

"I'll go with, there's just one thing I need to do here first."
Jenna stood up from the chair, took a deep breath and turned to face Marcus.
"Won't be long."

The girl walked out of the lodge, her boots crunching in the snow beneath her feet as she made her way to the piece of crap rental. Her hands started to turn red from the cold as she unlocked it and started to kit herself out. Unlike the UK, which only seemed to have one climate of constant rain the United States had several different ones scattered across it's landscape.
She'd prepared for the states she'd be moving through, at least.

Throwing a fluffy black hoodie over her leather jacket she also grabbed a pair of gloves and an extra pair of socks from inside the car. Her armour for fighting off the cold. Wouldn't hold up in a blizzard, that was for sure but it would do for now.
Jenna let out a heavy sigh and moved around the side of the lodge, grabbed a shovel and started to dig while Cammy watched.

It wasn't long before she struck the dirt beneath the sheet of snow and from there the girl just kept digging.

Interacting with:
BloodThunder27 TheTreForce Soma Schicksal
In area: Hyped_Taco Rumble Fish Maj FireMaiden King Vioogra

 

[Maj]

​

Footsteps echoed through the brick hallway. Each time his thick soled boots touched the linoleum it made noise. It didn’t matter how softly he stepped, or how slowly he moved, it still bounced off the walls like he had tripped some sort of an alarm. A red flag to anyone who wanted to find him. In a place that was covered in death like a fog, he was like a small flickering flame. A beacon that the monsters flocked too. There was no way to count how many he had been forced to destroy. All of their snarling faces blended together like a blur of chomping teeth and extended jaws. Owen was in the belly of the beast.

Hiding was no longer an option, they were low on food and supplies and more importantly, time. Each hiding place him and his cousin took shelter in was under siege by a monster so much stronger than either of them. When you were trying to play chicken with an enemy that didn’t need food, sleep or water, you were playing with borrowed time. To make matters worse this one wasn’t stupid like the other corpses that stumbled through the hallways, mindlessly searching for their next meal. He was faster than them, and seemed to be able to predict where Owen would move next.

Because of his speed, the man hadn’t attempted to go toe to toe with the beast. The ginger was strong and capable of brutality, but knew himself to be sluggish at the best of times. One false move could mean his death. Running to fight another day was far more attractive than staying to fight a battle he was unconvinced he could win. There had been too many close calls already.

Sarah had made it out, down a fire escape far too rickety for his tall and bulky form. He had promised her he would made it back out another entrance where she would be waiting on the quad bike they had arrived on. Promises seemed to come off his lips more and more in the last few days. He had promised to come back to Andy, he had promised Colt he would be right behind her, he promised Sarah he would find a way outside. Owen couldn’t help but wonder how many of these promises he would be forced to break, because the hospital had become a labyrinth.

He used to know this building well. Owen had visited his mother at work more times than he could count, and in his more recent days he had visited his fair share of victims in their beds. All of this was for naught. The lockdown the building had undergone forced many of the paths he took to be halted by large metal plates, jutting down from the ceiling like guitoines. Other paths were blocked by masses of undead, hoarded together like a bees in a hive, moaning and bumping into one another. Stragglers were dealt with accordingly. His metal bat was absolutely drenched in the neon pink hues of brain matter, thick goopy blood of the dead ones stuck to every inch of the smooth aluminum surface. His hands were stained burgundy with their blood, face streaked with carnage like war paint. And yet, somehow all of these obstacles were the least of his worries. If he died in this place, it would be because of Jace Alexander.

Owen had seen the name on the monster’s wrist, the white ID band hanging limply from the boney hand of the corpse that was stalking him. That was the name of the fast one, the smart one, the monster with enough intelligence to wait out two living bodies who kept silent behind a locked door. It had taken some time for the name to register with the red head, gnawing at the back of his mind, nagging him. He knew he had seen it before. It was the name of the man who had been emergency transported to Aurora the day of the outbreak. The man who started all the destruction that had come to his hometown. Owen Jordan was being stalked by Patient Zero.

It took conscious thought to control his breathing and heart rate. Each wanted to spiral out of control as he came around each corner with caution. But with enemies that hunted based on smell and sound, any thing he could do to minimize his presence was going to help him survive. He had gone on hunting trips with Andy and their Uncle Eric. He had watched as she moved silently through a landmine of crunching leaves and snapping branches, her emerald eyes focused on the slender neck of a deer. Owen now knew what it felt like to be the deer. He was prey.

THUNK

Owen’s head whipped around at the sound, unsure of its origin. Was it a door opening, or perhaps a zombie that had stumbled into a wall? His hands shook, knuckles white with the force of his grip around the leather covered handle of his bat. Nothing stood out. He couldn’t pinpoint what direction the sound had originated from, he couldn’t even pinpoint if he had imagined it if he was being honest with himself. Every little sound and movement made his body jump into fight mode. Slowly, Owen turned back around.

There he was. Standing with his head cocked to the side, eyes almost entirely whited out. His brown hair was dirty and stuck to his face with blood that wasn’t his. How many people had he bitten before the hospital had been over run? Otherwise he looked almost human, his skin was pale and sickly but void of rotting flesh and tears like many of the others. There were a few black holes in his chest where security had likely tried to dispose of him. Unfortunately for Owen, they had been unsuccessful.

The monster who’s name was once Jace lunged at him with his characteristic speed. He looked so inhuman in his movements, the way his shoulders were tilted, the way his head snapped upright to look at into his green eyes. His mouth was open, gums and teeth saturated crimson. It looked like when Owen had hit one of Bert’s dealers in the face with his bat. His mouth had filled with blood just like that, dripping ruby saliva down the front of his jaw. The difference being it had been his own instead of that of countless victims. If he didn’t move, he would suffer the same fate.

Owen let his body act on instinct, turning on his heels. His boots squeaked against the gloss of the white and black checkered floor. He ran as fast as his body would carry him, arms pumping at his sides, breath caught in his throat. The man was running on pure adrenaline, lack of food and sleep had deteriorated his body, but none of that mattered. All he could focus on was the growing screeches of the thing behind him, closing the distance between himself and his prey.

Running for long would ultimately end with Owen under the creature, nails and teeth tearing his fair flesh to shreds. He wasn’t fast enough to outrun it for long. If he was going to make it out alive he had to turn the situation to his advantage, had to make it a battle of strength rather than speed. If he could get behind a door he might be able to bar himself in until he was able to formulate a better plan. But reaching for door knobs was a risk. Not only would it slow him down in a race that he was already losing, but there was no guarantee that the door would even open. Many of them were digitally locked and required keycards to gain entrance.

He bounded around a corner, the edge catching him in his shoulder as he rounded. A grunt escaped his open mouth as the air was shoved from his lungs. It wasn’t enough to stop him though. He had to keep moving at all costs. The first door in his view that wasn’t blocked by metal gates was like glowing exit sign to Owen. Sparing some of his valuable time, he reached for the handle and twisted it down, throwing all his weight into the heavy wooden door, willing it to open with all his might.

It didn’t.

There wasn’t time for the curses that threatened to pour from Owen’s lips. The boney hand of Patient Zero was already close enough to grab the man’s shoulder, pulling the red head toward him with all the strength he could muster. Owen pulled back, throwing his shoulder forward to begin his momentum once more. He felt the leather of the jacket tear, but was thankful to find that his flesh remained unmarked. The next door had to be it, because if he kept running there would be no hope left for him.

Much to his excitement, he found the next door cracked open. Owen threw himself into it with no regard to what could be waiting on the opposite side. Whatever it was, it had to be better than the predator who was in pursuit of him now. Owen almost fell to the floor as the door flew open from the force of his body, but caught his footing before he lost his balance entirely.

Like a phantom, the thing appeared in the doorway, face to face with the twin, nose flared and mouth open. Screaming like a banshee, it lunged for Owen’s throat. He barely got the door closed in time, nearly slamming the monster in the weight of the heavy wooden thing. Owen could hear it cry from the outside, it was an angry sound. Much to Owen’s astonishment, the door knob began to turn violently as Patient Zero did his best to get inside. The red head flipped the lock and let the breath of relief fill his lungs. There was still no guarantee that he would make it out of these walls alive, but for a moment he was safe. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Interactions: Oslonaut
Mentions: Rumble Fish (colt)

 

[Brax]

​

Luca watched as Tre left before turning back to get a peak of Jonas through the broken glass. In his previous life, treaties never came easily for the man. In a zombie apocalypse, Luca wasn’t any quicker to trust others. Jonas was the one person who actually had a reason to attack Luca and Andy, mostly due to their entrance. He felt bad for scaring the kid. As a boy around the same age, he hadn't been so fond of guns being stuck in his face either. Despite this, everyone seemed copacetic for the time being. However, as he had experienced in his life time and time again, it was possible for tensions to rise at the drop of a hairpin. He looked back over to Andy’s sitting form. She had seemed to be doing just fine. The bottle of alcohol would do well to entertain her for the time being. He, on the other hand, was going to see what he could scrounge up to bring back from what was left of the pharmacy. Though only after reaching down and removing the bottle from between her thighs to take a hearty sip. Despite not asking, at least Luca was nice enough to place it back right where he found it.

For Luca, seeing Tre was bittersweet. The kid was certainly the last person he expected to see still in town. He had yet to see or hear from any of his subordinates or anyone in his organization that was stationed in Aurora. The top of the food chain in Cosa Nostra did not stay in Aurora often, though none of them had made attempts to reach Luca either. If he were in their shoes, he would be thinking along the same lines. Especially if every other state was experiencing the same catastrophe as Colorado had. There was no military coming in to save the day. Out of all of the actual powerful people that Luca had met throughout the course of his life, how the hell was it that this kid managed to make it through unscathed at this point? Luca knew that Tre was capable of taking care of himself, but as far as he could see, it was just the kid and the man who had been helping him out. Part of him was relieved that Tre was able to stay alive. On the other side of that same coin, Luca was ashamed to have not thought of Tre during the kid's lowest moment.

Thoughts shifted as the man made his way to the middle of the pharmacy. Luca wondered if Tre and Warren had managed to collect most of the supplies. Out of what was left, the man was able to grab quite a few things off of the shelf. A multitude of vitamins, including postnatal. There were a few other items that were small which he was able to procure such as bandages and ointments. Water purification supplies were a must, though unfortunately it was a pretty bad plastic piece of shit with a built-in filter, meaning eventually it would need to be replaced. Though, the water purification tablets and personal filter pen would serve to be handy. Then there were the literal handfuls of sanitation wipes, latex gloves, dust masks and packages of soup that was packed up next. He grabbed some gum with nicotine in it, a fallback that would be used only in the case that he ran out of cigarettes and felt like he was going to explode. Cold medications, antibiotics, scissors, floss, lighters, nail-cutters and any other seemingly useful small items he could find ended up filling any space left the bag had to offer. It was a little on the heavy side being filled up, but it would be worth it in the long run if Luca made it back to the lodge.

He contemplated hard on taking canned food items with him. Eventually he decided against it. The wildlife around Aurora was robust and there were certainly animals that could be hunted to provide for the small group. While the lodge still had electricity, they were best off utilizing the kitchen as much as possible. The feeling of looting the pharmacy alone put into perspective how necessary it was to go out looting with a large group. Either that or a dump truck that can hold a multitude of larger items for their reserves. The sound of rainfall took Luca out of his trance. The splatter of the water on snow would prove to be a sure shot way of dispersing some of the inclement conditions that had been left outside from the previous day. A large amount of snow would surely be melted away. However, when there was a mixture of snow and rain involved, ice was always left behind. Luca had never once seen the city not plowed, let alone unattended to as far as salting the ice went. Though in reality it mattered very little. The only reason that he was thinking about ice was the fucking reanimated. If they needed to run from a hoard, ice was only going to make things more difficult.

Not much time had passed since night fell. The only sources of illumination the inside of the pharmacy had came from exterior sources. There were a few street lights that still had power. A few office buildings still had lights on as well, probably due to the fact that they were on a city timer and no one was there to shut it off. Luca had been leaning against the wall next to Andy, staring outside of the window and doing his best to scope out what was going on in their immediate surroundings. For the most part, there was nothing going on. Hoards of zombies advanced through the streets in droves. The pattern of their passing was sporadic but they seemingly moved in groups. It had been two days since Andy and Luca had left the lodge. He was curious to know if it was still standing, but there was no point coming home empty-handed at this point. While the two had certainly gathered a bunch of useful supplies, Andy hadn't come out simply for a regular run. If Owen wasn't alive, the Italian knew she wanted to be able to know for herself. If he hadn't given her his word he could have stayed back.

A hand reached down into the depths of his bag to grab a new pack of cigarettes. He turned them upside down and began patting the box, packing each bit of tobacco further down into its roll so that it burned as smoothly as possible. When he was satisfied, Luca turned the box back around and ripped the plastic off of it. He tossed it onto the floor at his feet, alongside the small little foil-paper that served to protect the cigarettes. As the Italian absentmindedly bit down onto the filter of one of his, he offered a smoke to Andy. It wasn’t as though he had seen her smoke - maybe he had but just forgot. Rather, who the hell denied smoking a cigarette in a stressful situation that wasn’t off their rocker? Regardless of whether or not she took one, he deposited the pack back into his bag before lighting his own. It had been about twelve hours since his last one. The sensation of nicotine-infused smoke entering his lungs was akin to ecstasy. The man exhaled while resting his head back against the wall with a small sigh. He even closed his eyes for a moment.

With an additional three people coming back to the lodge, it became more and more apparent that the space was becoming far too overcrowded. It was a far shot to say that Owen was going to be at the hospital at the exact time that the group came around. If the group somehow ran into him on their way home, it was just another person coming back that would need a bed. Luca was going to have to seriously consider what his options were as far as finding people more space to sleep. He had a few ideas, but nothing was concrete. When he got back to the lodge he would have to make it a point to speak to a few people and get their advice on what he should do next.

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: King Vioogra (Ivan)
Mentioned/In The Area: Soma Schicksal (Marcus) Hyped_Taco (Micheal) Rumble Fish (Colt/Milly) Maj (Bethany/Andy) Brax (Luca) The Mad Queen (Jenna)
Once Bethanay left to go take a shower, Leliana sighed as she sat down on the bed. She still couldn't believe it, her best friend was alive, and now a part of their group. It was probably nothing short of a goddamn miracle, Bethany should have died. She should have either froze to death, or been killed by Mr.Boyle, who by the way, killing yourself while you have company is just plain rude, don't fucking do that. Anyway, Leliana gathered up the dirty gauze and medical duffle bag before she headed downstairs, passing the bathroom Bethany was still in. She had to smile again, still pretty much overjoyed by the fact her friend was alive. But Bethany wasn't gonna get a free pass with the others because of that status. Cor joining maybe, but not for staying. Luca coulf kick her out if she doesn't contribute anything, and that idea worried Leliana. Like, really worried her. She didn't want to leave anyone here without a compent medic, but if Bethany was kicked out, Leliana would probably go with her. It was, well, it wasn't an easy choice, even in a hypothetical. So for now, she would ignore it.

Walking into the kitchen, she tossed the used gauze in the trash, and placed the medical duffle bag on the counter out of the way. At the rate they were going through this stuff, they would need to refill it soon. Supply runs were such a good idea, but the one they had sent people out on had no real structure. And someone had gotten hurt, and not to mention it sounded like a lot of avoidable things happened. Leliana felt like they needed to make a few list of top priority items, and rotate them put for each run. She actually had a lot of ideas, but that meant talking to Luca or Andy. Luca had listened to her earlier, but if she went to Andy, and then she went to Luca, these things had a better chance of actually getting done. A supply run and getting changes set into place for more structure were two very different things. Speaking of supply runs, when Leliana saw Colt and Bethany nearby to have their conversation, she left to go take a seat on the couch. And was soon joined by Ivan.

"How's your knee feeling?" She asked, turning slightly to look at him, "You won't really stay off of it, you won't get any better like that. At least not as fast as you want to." She knew he was probably still gonna go an ignore her advise, but it was still worth telling him. Leliana then got up, and walked back into the kitchen to look for a ziplock bag. Once she had found it, she filled it ice, and brought it back over to Ivan. "Here, put this on your knee. It'll help, and I don't think i should explain why icing your knee is gonna help, will I?" She asked with a slight chuckle. Leliana let a bit of a silence fall between them for a few moments, before she spoke again. "You know, I kinda missed the snow. Didn't expect to have to have to enjoy it while watching over my back constantly, but some of the magic is still there. And Milly was really cute playing out there. What were you guys doing while I was helping Bethany?"

 

[Brax]

After making his way back to Warren, Tre took a seat beside the man. He pushed himself against the wall, holding his backpack in his lap. He had been surprised to find Luca in a pharmacy in town, of all places. Previously be believed Luca had undoubtedly been one of the people who had connections to get out. It seemed that even the boss couldn’t make his way out. Tre had not been made aware of all the details, nor did he understand exactly what his entire situation entailed, but he had been taking it day by day for the time being. The two sat in silence for a moment before the kid looked up at Warren. It was Tre who broke the pause in conversation, like usual.

“Yo Luca said he got a crib out in the suburbs. Think the dude’s got a whole crew of people also, you know what i’m sayin’?” At this point, Tre was a bit torn. On one side, Luca had been the man who took him in when he had no one. Despite the fact that Luca was a rough man, Tre knew that he would be safe if he took the ex-capo’s advice. On the other hand, Warren had been the one who stepped up to take care of him from the outbreak. He mentioned that his father had requested such from him and Warren hadn’t tried to hurt him yet. Much like Luca, Warren was rough on the outside but he was a man of his morals. He knew he couldn’t get hurt if he didn’t fuck around against those guidelines.

Tre said, lifting his knees up to his chest. He pulled them in close before resting both of his arms on top of them. His forehead followed suit, dropping down to lay on his folded arms. There were more people alive than just Warren and Tre. If they continued on as they were, there was no possible way the two would be able to face all the adversity just as a duo. It was obvious, especially with Luca’s existence, that there were people running around in large groups. While Luca had only come with a female, he had never given Tre a reason not to believe him before.

“If I go, you gon’ come, right?”

Warren let a sigh escape his lips and set his can on the desk. They had done a well enough job at avoiding zombies and people alike thus far but he felt a conflict similar to Tre. Groups of people did have the potential of safety and he knew the kid had a connection with this Luca guy, but large groups also meant a larger target. Not to mention the weak ones that Warren would not want to be responsible for. Tre was different. Sure he was young and careless, but he could take care of himself and could even be trusted to watch Warren’s back.

“If you go, I’m not gonna really have a choice kid.” He looked over to Tre, “Ya’ know, some of these people don’t really bode well for me, but I will give it a shot if this is what you want to do. Like I said earlier, I’m glad this Luca guy was a friend of your father’s, means I can trust him to some extent, I hope… Warren’s tone grew a little sharper and direct, “But if one these people tries to fuck with me or you, it won’t be a pretty outcome.” He swiped his beer from the counter top and pushed the chair back into his previous reclining position.

Another small interlude and a couple swigs of his beverage passed before he spoke up again, “I wouldn’t mind getting out of the city though.”

Tre might have been high but he wasn’t stupid. He was aware of the kind of man that Warren was and how that might bring issues with Luca at the helm. The kid looked up to his de facto guardian through the past few days with a firm nod. While the prospect of gelling into the same spot with a bunch of strangers sounded like the perfect ingredient for nightmare fuel, it was possible for Warren to co-exist with others over time. He bit a lot of his pride taking care of Tre, which was apparent just by their conversations. As far as Tre knew, the man didn’t have any kids of his own. It was a good thing he didn’t because while the boy was certain that despite his ability to look after others, he was a shit personality. Tre’s first impressions told him that Warren was a drunk with anger issues. In reality, that’s all he had seen from the man in the past seventy-two hours. However, he did have Tre’s back. The boy didn’t need more than that at this time.

​

“Luca’s ex-Mafia. He really ain’t the easiest person to get on wit’, but he leaves people be if they do what they’re supposed to do.” It was pretty likely that Warren and Luca were going to come to blows at some point. Tre didn’t see Warren’s demeanor wavering for anyone. Luca’s was much the same, so it would be the case of an immovable force trying to push an immovable wall. It wasn’t Tre’s job to perceive what might eventually happen, though. No, for now, it was his job to make sure that he and Warren had a roof over their heads for the time being. It was at this point that Tre’s stomach began to rumble, letting him know it was time to eat something. With Warren, the boy could go an entire day without eating. Sometimes he didn’t notice, especially if he had been drinking.

It was amazing how so many others died an extremely sober death, while Warren was still alive drinking himself into an early grave and pissing on zombies after bashing their heads in. To say it wasn’t impressive in its own right would be a complete lie. Tre reached into his bag and grabbed a granola bar, one of the many he had taken from his kitchen cabinet days prior. There were five left. The kid looked back up to Warren, hesitating for a moment before extending a hand to him the bar. Even if he liked to drink more, Warren still needed to eat. After leaving it in the man’s lap, Tre stood up to his feet and walked away.

He approached Luca and Andy, extending a hand first to Andy to hand her a granola bar before Luca. The two were dirty, their clothes had been beat to shit. In addition to being bloody and seemingly tired, Tre knew that they probably had hitched through hell and high water to get to the very same pharmacy that Warren and Tre had waltzed to without any type of issue or inconvenience on the way. Lastly, the boy peered through the pharmacists’ window at Jonas. He didn’t know the kid but he did bust in on him earlier, bothering him. Luca probably didn’t help Jonas’ nerves either.

“Yo!” He called, in attempts to get Jonas’ attention. Then he tossed the granola bar into the room at his general direction. Tre didn’t see what happened to it, but either the kid caught it or he didn’t. It might have been his last but the teen assumed that the lodge probably did have some sort of food stock. He had to bank on Luca’s word for now. Tre took a seat a few feet away from both Luca and Andy. As Luca took a drag off his cigarette, he watched. Luca, noticing that Tre had been eyeing him up, grabbed the filter from his mouth and leaned forward to pass it to the boy.

King Vioogra

 

[Maj]

​

He sunk to the floor, gasping for air. The cold tile seeped through his jeans and soothed his hot flesh, pink from his sprint down the hallway. Knees to his chest, elbow resting on his knee, face in his palm, he let his body slow. The air felt like acid as it came into his burning lungs. He dropped his bat to the floor, the clattering sounding through the small square room, metallic and hallow.

A small growl was heard behind him and Owen sighed. With all the excitement he still hadn’t looked to see what new horrors awaited him within the confines of the small lab. At least that is what he assumed it was, there were tables covered with weird machines and tubes of various fluids. Despite the power having gone out long ago, a soft melodic beeping could still be heard. He turned his head slowly, relieved to find only one monster in the corner.

Wearily, he stood, grabbing his bat once more. Like a soldier, he would have to keep fighting until the fight was done. If that meant he won or if he died it didn’t matter, he just knew he had to keep moving. He was on some sort of sick autopilot where smashing in skulls had become second nature. The thing sat in the corner, blonde hair matted and blotched with red. It made noise, but didn’t seem to come for him. He had seen others like it, injured to the point they couldn’t move, still living and grabbing at him. Unable to feel pain, unable to die, unable to feed. Owen walked over slowly, readying his bat by pulling it over his shoulder, tensing the muscles in his arms as he readied to strike.

When the monster turned to face him, all the hot blood pumping through Owen’s body turned to ice. Her round face was marred by blood, her neck was oozing plasma and bile alike, dripping down the bite marks that had scored her throat. Eyes were those same milky white of the rest and each time she tried to stand she fell back to the ground, as something had eaten most of her left leg from the knee down.

Her chin still had the scar from where Andy had accidentally hit her with the refrigerator door as a child. Around her neck was the locket that held both their baby pictures. Her scrubs that were once blue were torn and colored purple by the buckets of blood that covered her front. Even still, the name tag could be read among the gore.

Mary Jordan

His mother. His sweet wonderful mother.

The arms that once held him close to her heart, now reached for him hungrily, nails caked with strips of flesh. Lips that once kissed his forehead when he was sick were now pulled back in an angry snarl, baring her teeth at him like a rabid dog. Eyes that were once blue, sparkling with joy and love were blotted out. Searching for sight that would never come again.

He had known she was likely dead. They had told him as much, and yet his stupid heart had clung to non existent hope. Owen wasn’t a religious man, but he had sent silent prayers to whoever would listen that his mother was still alive somehow. In fact, part of the reason he had come to this place at all was to find out for sure what happened to her. Otherwise he would have just dragged Sarah to the lodge kicking and screaming. Somehow knowing was worse.

Owen could have gone his whole life without seeing this. He wanted to remember his mother laughing, cheeks pink from the glass of wine she had ingested with dinner. He wanted to remember the stern look she gave every year when he and Andy complained about having to take family photos. It was hard to focus on any of that with her body trying to crawl across the floor toward him, beaten and broken. The open wound on her leg left a crimson track across the floor, smearing the blood across the smooth linoleum as the sound of her bone scraping across it consumed Owen’s ears.

What was he to do? He couldn’t leave her like this, a mindless husk of a person. She moved slow, but too much hesitation would ultimately mean his own demise. But could he do it? Could he smash her skull like he had done the others? They had just been faces, monsters between him and getting back to his sister. This was their mother. How could he tell Andy that he had taken a bat to her face? How he had crushed those high cheekbones beneath the metal. He couldn’t.

But leaving her here would be cruelty because of cowardice.

Owen dropped the bat to the floor once more, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans. His calloused and blood stained hand closed around the smooth black handle of a butterfly knife. At the sound of his bat hitting the ground the woman’s slow pace across the floor quickened, using her arms to pull herself across the ground. His lip trembled as he unfolded the knife with the swift motion of his wrist. Chest burning with the rapid beat of his heart and the decrease in his breath, he tried to dredge up some molecule of steadiness from his core.

She was at him now. Doing her best to climb up his legs, trying to pull herself up. Owen was forced to hold her head in his free hand to keep those clamping teeth from his skin. One fist found its way to the back of her head, grabbing a fist full of her hair to hold her steady. He looked into her eyes once more, but they did not look back.

“I’m so sorry,” Owen said, it was barely a whisper. Voice gravely and water logged as he did his best to keep the hot tears that pooled in the corners of his eyes from falling. To hesitate would be to die. Her arms still tried to claw at his leather clad arms, screeching at him as she tried desperately to gain hold. Owen raised the knife, fist gripped around the handle so hard his hand went numb. Knuckles white, his hand shook as he tried to find the resolve to follow through. He couldn’t do this half assed, it had to be fast and as painless as possible.

With a small cry, Owen plunged the blade deep into the back of the corpse’s neck, right in the soft spot between the spine and the skull. She went limp immediately. Eyes fluttering shut, arms falling to her sides, and soon Owen was the only thing holding her body upright.

The man fell to his knees, arms wrapping around the lifeless body of his mother. Whatever threads he had holding him together, unraveled leaving him sobbing into her hair. His body shuddered with each one that crept up his throat. It felt like vomiting shards of glass. It left his esophagus irritated and raw as he did his best to try to stifle the sound of his cries.

Slowly, he moved the body to rest in his lap. With soft and shaking fingers, Owen moved the hair out of his mother's face to look at her. Now that the last shreds of life had left her she looked almost normal. Her eyes were closed as he tenderly brushed a thumb over her cheek.

There weren’t enough apologies in the world. Owen had promised to protect her, to pick up the slack left by a father so terrible she refused to even speak his name. He had worked his whole life to try to make life easy for his mother, but it hadn’t been enough. Now, looking down at her body cold and long dead he realized he could have been a better son, but it was too late. Carefully, the distraught man took his mother’s locket off her neck and replaced it around his own, muttering apologies that only he could hear.

Consumed with his thoughts, Owen didn’t hear the door opposite the one he came in through creak open. The boney hand with Jace Alexander’s wristband dangling from it, slipped through the entryway. The monster moved silently, and the boy was too busy wallowing to take notice. He didn’t see the monster move into the room, blocking the only real exit for Owen to take. The door he had come in through was locked tight and Patient Zero moved too fast for the red head to get through it without getting mauled.

When his head finally slowly rose to look up, it was far too late. Owen’s eyes were almost lime in color, brightened from the tears that streaked through his blood splattered face, leaving pink pools in the white fur collar of his coat. His bat had rolled out of reach, and with the weight of his mother’s corpse in his lap he knew that he would not even be able to stand up before the monstrosity would be on him. Out of options, the male reached into his jacket pocket for the pistol Colt had given him. He barely knew how to turn the safety on and off but he had to keep moving. His hands shook as his finger found its place around the trigger.

Owen took his shot, but it missed, landing in the wall just over Patient Zero’s left shoulder. The sound was deafening in the small confines of the lab, forcing him to cover his ears. There was no more time, no more time for anything. He would have to break his promises today.

Owen held his chin high as he accepted his fate, and the monster lunged.

shadowz1995 Rumble Fish Oslonaut