Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[The Mad Queen]

Jenna O'Connor​

​

Cammy stood guard while the girl continued to dig, the cold and the dog being her only companions as she shovelled the dirt to one side. She was up to her knees in the grave now, making quick work of it but it still wasn't deep enough. The image of the undead digging up a shallow grave to pick away at where Rogue would lay flashed in her mind.
"Fuck it."
She kept going, the crunch of the shovel striking the dirt once more filling her ears. Cammy was quiet and alert, while everyone else was inside the lodge and the warzone was miles away.
She didn't like silence, she wasn't used to it for most of her life had been loud. While thinking about what had brought here to this point, she stepped back and noticed that she'd now dug the grave up to her chest. Taking a deep breath she plunged the shovel into the dirt and sat down, pulling out her smartphone and turning it on.

As Cammy stared down Jenna opened the camera app, brushed some of her hair away and hit the record button.
"Hi dad." She smiled "If this somehow reaches you, don't feel bad about this..." She stopped, hitting the stop button and switching the phone off "No."
Staring at her phone face in the phone screen, the girl met her own blue eyes "Not here."

Placing the phone in her pocket she grabbed the shovel and plunged it into the ground above, using it as a steady to hoist herself out of the grave.
"Not here." She muttered to herself, staring into the hole below.

Marching back into the lodge, she either didn't notice the dirt she was trailing dirt inside with her boots or just didn't care as she made her up the stairs and towards the back room. Cammy was at her side, the dog gently following after her.
Taking one more deep breath to compose herself, Jenna pushed the door open and stood in front of the body of Rogue. Ralph had done his best to cover her up, but the girl could still see the dyed red hair peaking out from beneath the bedsheets. Closing the door she made her way back downstairs. There was no way she was going to carry the body if Milly was still in sight.

In area: Hyped_Taco Maj FireMaiden King Vioogra BloodLightning27 TheTreForce Soma Schicksal
Mentioned: Milly ( Rumble Fish )

 

[shadowz1995]

Dr. Hector Salazar

There was still something so odd about ending a life....

Dr. Salazar, while nowhere near compassionate, still had pledged to do no harm when he earned his medical license and the right to be called Doctor Hector Salazar. Admittedly, it was not a profession of his choosing and he only did it to honor his mentor's memory but still.... An oath was an oath and while he was the way he was, Hector was a man of his word.

At first, he had just rationalized it as the common rabble did. "They aren't human anymore. These aren't people. These are just monsters. Animals." Etc. The Hispanic man quickly realized what those phrases were. They were coping mechanisms. Justifications. These muertos weren't any less human than someone with Creutzfelt-Jakobs disease (mad cow) or Rabies. They become violent, ill, highly contagious, and need to be quarantined or killed. That doesn't mean they weren't human. Merely unlucky to be afflicted with such a deadly disease.

What made the now-still male body under him any different?

Slowly and quietly, Hector pulled the knife out of the back of the male zombie's neck and cleaned it off against his bloodied scrubs. Hector had known this nurse. He had worked at this hospital several times as an on-call surgeon. Milo was his name. Young man in his early 20s. Rather good-looking and fit. Probably a hit with the ladies. A family. Only to meet his demise like this.

A shame, truly. His skills may have proved useful in these troubling times.

Yet, Hector stepped over his stilled corpse all the same. Just as he had done to dozens of infected individuals on his way to the hospital. Just as he had done to dozens more within the halls of healing. As long as he was quiet, los muertos seemed to idle as if nothing had happened. They stepped over the corpses of their fellow infected as if they were never there. Some even trip and fall over them. Sound was their primary motivator. The doctor deduced that long ago.

They didn't seem to feel pain but bio-mechanical damage still applied to them. Cut the Achilles tendon and they couldn't walk. Sever their jaw (closing) muscles and they could not bite. A good slice to the armpit rendered their arms useless. All of Hector's knowledge on the human body still applied to these creatures and that knowledge played no small part in his survival the past few days.

The doctor had been searching for ground zero. Where the outbreak had originated from. He was trying to find a sample from the original strain of the virus. If he could study it, he may be able to reverse the effects. If not, he would at least be able to create a vaccine to prevent people from being infected and turned. Of that, he was absolutely certain.

His search led him here and a quick browse through the patient registry and charts revealed the patient that began the end of the world.

Jace Alexander.

Nothing remarkable about his medical history but his time of entry correlated perfectly with the time of the outbreak. Yet, Hector had not seen hair nor hide of him. Just many no name patients or former colleagues.

Patient Zero may have moved on already but the trip had not been a waste of time. Dr. Salazar ended the un-life of the head nurse and took her keys to the supply closet. Narcotics, gauze, painkillers, equipment, and much more had found its way into his backpack. If nothing else, he had tools to perform emergency surgeries and the supplies needed to keep those patients alive for the short-term. If he were to be captured by unsavory types, this could guarantee his life. The city was in total anarchy and any medical professional's value had just skyrocketed. Especially a doctors.

Hector leaned against a bloodstained wall and removed his pack, setting it down in his lap. He made a quick double check that he had everything he could need for the coming days. When he was satisfied that he did, he began to make his way out. The keys to the employee entrance comfortably in the pocket of his cargo pants.

He readjusted his gas mask (Avon M50 for those wondering) and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard what sounded like something metal clattering to the floor down the hall. The doctor very quietly pulled his handgun (M9 Beretta) free from its holster.

Muted footfalls approached the source of the clattering sound only for it to be replaced by the sound of a small scuffle. One of the dead had become alerted. Hector could practically feel her growling in his ears.

Movement again and then....

Silence.

Followed by the sounds of someone..... crying?

Dr, Salazar was pressed up as much as he could be against the wall and barely peeked his hooded figure into the room. There was a boy there. Holding the body of a woman. Infected by the looks of it and crying. Loud, he may add. As if they weren't surrounded by infected humans. Hector almost wanted to chastise the boy. Never mind who the woman was, he was going to get them both killed.

Speak of the devil....

The instant he thought that, another person walked into the room. No, not walked... snuck. Another survivor? The boy's companion maybe? It was only when the second person turned his eyes to the sobbing one that Hector got a good look at his face.

That was him. That was Patient Zero.

What was shocking was how human he looked. The only thing that gave away his condition was the eyes... and the three bullet holes in Jace Alexander's chest. Also interesting, Zero had been sneaking. As in moving quietly so as not to alert others. He had snuck up on the crying boy. That was not a behavioral trait that was shared by any other infected Hector had come across.

That being said, the boy eventually did notice and did something foolish. He pulled a firearm, fired its deafening bullet, and fucking missed.

The shrieks of alarm from the distant infected filled the halls of the hospital and yet the boy did not move. No, he closed his eyes.

Damn child couldn't even injure Zero. Hector didn't need it alive. He just needed samples from his tissue but he couldn't risk infection from this obviously different muerto.

There was also another problem.

Hector couldn't just let the boy die. He may be useful. He may have friends outside of this death trap.

Thoughts ran through Hector's head at damn near light speed but only fractions of a second had passed. The beast prepared to lunge and the Doctor prepared to enter.

Dr. Salazer burst into the room and fired off 5 rounds as fast as he could. Normally, Hector was incredibly accurate if he aimed but this wasn't the time for accuracy. Not to mention it wasn't necessary. They were in extremely close proximity and of the 5 rounds, 1 or 2 were bound to land. "Levantate Niño!" He bellowed, his voice slightly muffled by the apparatus on his face. When the boy didn't move, Hector grabbed a fistful of red hair and hauled the crying mess to his feet. 3 more shots left the chamber in Jace Alexander's direction and the Venezuelan practically threw the red-head out the way he had entered. "MOVE! THE DEAD ARE COMING!" He screamed, his Spanish accent thick and obvious. Hector's eyes never left Zero's while the human pair quickly beat a hasty retreat.

Maj

 

[King Vioogra]

Ivan looked up at Leliana when she suddenly started to throw questions at him. He was surprised at first, needless to say, but quickly adjusted himself so the distance between them was more comfortable. He cleared his throat quietly before speaking in a soft tone.

“Oh this little fu-…” He started, looking around the room quickly before spotting Milly. He clicked his tongue quietly before turning back to Leliana on the couch.

“It’s doing a little better I think, and I’m sorry about not following your advice. I just can’t stand not doing being able to do anything when there are things that need doing. I hate being a burden.”

The Russian scratched the back of his head nervously as his stature fell downwards in a kind of “self-loathing” slouch. He cleared his throat again as he pulled himself from the slouch and pressed the bag of ice he was given against his skin. He jumped at the sudden cold before letting out a short sigh of satisfaction. His expression softened a bit as Leliana started to talk about snow and that there was magic still in it, before his gaze was taken by Milly again when she was mentioned. A short smile passed by his face and he spoke happily.

“We were making a snowman, well a snow-rabbit technically. She's too precious for all this.”

He said as he brought his head back around to where he was looking down at his feet before sighing quietly and leaning back against the couch, closing his eyes momentarily.

“Боже, я слишком привязываюсь к вам, ребята.” (God, I’m too attached to you guys.)

His accent came forward much more than normal as he spoke in his native tongue, looking over at Leliana before tracking to the others in the room. A louder sigh escaped him as he raised his arm up to his head and let it rest over his eyes and a smile spread across his lips. These were people that were important to him, minus the fat one for now.​

 

[BloodLightning27]

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

We'll Make It Through This...TogetherThe Doctor's reaction to him being a CIA Agent was a little shocking for Brian, mainly because he was expecting a lash-out and a possible yelling match. Then again, Lelianna was reasonably pretty nonchalant about it. Hopefully she hasn't said anything yet. However, Brian did take comfort knowing that the Doctor trusted him. It wasn't easy coming out as a CIA Agent, but keeping such a secret was just eating him up. Brian may have been cold and efficient for as long as he can remember, but the downside was that he had a heart, something very few agents of his caliber seem to have. "Those guys aren't part of any government organization, I'll tell you that now. I don't know who they are or who their employers are. But no doubt they have some kind of connection and contact to their employer. We just need to figure out a way out of the city, get the evidence we need...and we'll go public with it. All of it. The parasite, the organization...our government's involvement, all of it. The American People have the right to know what happened here." He said, adjusting his tie.

"Getting a sample of that parasite...without getting infected...is going to be very difficult. We should talk to Colt and Andy about a makeshift lab, let you study it. I think we can start with blood samples from the Infected all over the city."

Brian did like to think of himself as the 'John Wick' of the CIA, but he did grasp the fact that he wasn't invincible and that they weren't in Hollywood. "I want to do that as much as you do, Doc. So we can do it...together."

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

Wonderful CompanyThe young mother smiled as the dog sat in Jenna's lap. Picking out a name for the baby was sadly going to be a chore, because Shinoa never really thought about what to name her darling little princess. Either way, she took comfort in knowing that her daughter will make a friend for life with a German Shepard and if they were all going to make it out alive...she did frown briefly at the thought of them being separated. But it was nice to know that Jenna was training the dog and making sure no harm was coming to either the baby or Milly, which was thoughtful to Shinoa. "Well she's been very well behaved. Such a wonderful puppy." She said.

After a couple of minutes, Jenna left with Cammy and went outside, leaving her in the company of Ray. Or should it be Grandpa Ray?

Yawning and then sighing, she grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over her legs, still cradling her pregnant belly. As she felt a dull pain in her back, she frowned before leaning into the pillow that was directly behind her. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at the old man. "So...how would you feel about being a Grandfather?" She asked, looking over at the old man before glancing down at her belly, where the baby began fidgeting again, prompting her to rub the belly.

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part one of two in a collab between The Mad Queen and Rumble Fish

Colt had covered her mouth and nose by doing up her jacket fully as she watched everything happen both inside and out of the Lodge. It seemed Beth was becoming acquainted with some of its residents as she had seen her speaking to Milly. While Colt had allowed the girl to stay, she was still rather suspicious. How could she know the girl was not lying? However, Colt knew better than to act hostile.

What had caught her attention since then was Jenna. Now, Colt was not well acquainted with the purple-haired woman, aside from knowing her name and she was from Twitch… whatever that was. She had gone outside to the side of the Lodge before walking back inside. The woman seemed disturbed so Colt could piece together what was going on. From her limited observation of Jenna, she was close to Rogue, given her reaction to her death. The woman sighed and approached her as she came back down the stairs. She folded her arms with a light frown, more one of vague concern than anger, like usual. “Jenna.” She spoke up, “Whaddya doin’?” she asked, though she had a good idea as to what. She still wanted her to say it.

The girl stopped in her tracks as Colt waited at the bottom of the stairs. Given her stance and folded arms, Jenna was preparing herself for a lecture. Realising she was still holding onto the shovel, she gave the veteran a light shrug in response to the question. “Digging my way to China.” Jenna gave Colt a half-smile “I reckon I’m about halfway there by now.” She gave another shrug “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan so maybe I can swim across when we get there. Korea too. South Korea, obviously.” She had a big fanbase there, at least. “We should go together.”

Colt’s frown grew deeper as the woman began to ramble about Asian countries. Since her jacket was still done up to cover the mouth and nose and she was still wearing her cap, it probably looked worse than it actually was. She was not quite sure what to say to that. “I’ve done enough travellin’ in my lifetime.” She shook her head sightly before reaching and putting a hand on the shovel without pulling it from Jenna’s grip, “But, if there’s another one of these I could help ya.” she added. Colt was very unsure about how to approach this but, she had to somehow. Being in charge, she wanted Jenna to know she had support. How? She had no idea.

“I can imagine.” Jenna sighed, her half-smile fading. She peered around, and after making sure that Milly wasn’t in sight she leaned in “Grave’s dug.” She whispered “I just di…” She paused, looking away from Colt’s gave “Just need to make sure the wee one doesn’t see.” She gently pointed upstairs with the back of the shovel.

“Was going to gather everyone, at least everyone who wants but…” Jenna shook her head “Nobody else around here knew her. I’m not sure if it felt right.”

Colt sighed with a glance away at the woman’s words. She was right. No-one else knew her. The woman huffed through her teeth and rubbed the back of her neck. Despite being cool, she was sweating and the hand rubbing was shaky. Already? The woman darted her eyes a little before finally answering the woman.

“Jenna.” She walked past her with a wave of the shaky hand, telling her to join her upstairs and out of earshot of the others, “Yer right. I didn’ know Rogue. But, that don’t matter. Ya ever heard of Tombs of Unknown Soldiers? Nobody knows who they were. What they did. All that’s known is that they died doin’ what’s right, and pushin’ themselves to the end. I dunno who Rogue was. I dunno if anyone did. Don’t matter though.” She stopped with a pause, knowing what she was saying would not help. Speaking civilians on their level was not something Colt could claim to have skills in. She could hardly think anymore, everything was swimming. “Look. I know y’all don’t wanna hear this but I know how it is. Too well.”

The girl snapped to attention, her fiery blue eyes meeting those of the veteran. “We are not soldiers.” She held her gaze for a few moments before turning away “I mean…” She scoffed “For God’s sake, a few days ago I was a streamer who treated wounded animals in my spare time. And Rogue. I haven’t the faintest idea. I only met her in this city when things were hitting the fan.” She firmly shook her head, her eyes pointed at the door to the back room

“I was carrying Cammy out of the park and one of those fucking things came up from behind me. Rogue made sure it didn’t get too close, bashing it’s skull in with her rucksack. A few hours later, she got hit when we tried to leave the city. I made sure it didn’t kill her.” She punched the wall, leaving a small dent “And then, that…” Jenna stopped herself from ranting, realising she was close to yelling. The words coming out of her mouth were not something the rest of the lodge needed to hear, and it seemed to be spooking Cammy.
“A brain aneurysm.” She muttered to herself “She made it through those fascists and the dead and it was a fucking brain aneurysm that did her in.”

“She…” Jenna ran her hands through her hair “She didn’t have a family or friends. Nobody she thought was worth going back for when we tried to escape. It was just me, and even I hardly knew her. Nobody was even with her when she died.” Jenna shook her head “Nobody should die like that. Alone and probably scared out of her mind.” She had told herself she was letting Rogue get some well-needed rest, that she wouldn’t bother her. She’d checked a few times, finding the girl asleep and delicately checking the stitches left in her arm. Every few hours, but she’d missed the last check, and after that Rogue was gone, her body used as a soldier in the army of the dead.

“Nobody is…” Colt snarled, unable to contain her frustration about her statement. “Soldier is just a title they give normal people who had to kill. Like now.” What was the point in even trying to explain this? What did some streamer know about sacrifice? Despite the mental turbulence, Colt kept quiet as Jenna began to rant. The longer she spoke, the more Colt felt sweat run down the back of her neck. Especially what she said about being alone, having nobody and being scared. Her mind began to become filled with the faces of people she had fought with who perished the same way… Even Sasha. She did not even know she was there.

The veteran turned her back on Jenna, not wanting the younger woman to look at her. She instinctively reached for the flask in her pocket, only to remember it was in the kitchen. She needed it to steady her nerves, and without it, they skyrocketed. It took every fibre of her being to not scream at the woman to stop. She had to talk. She hadn’t spoken to anyone since it happened. She had to get it out before it exploded. Still not facing her, Colt was finally able to control her shaky breathing long enough to speak. This was a bad idea, why did she even try?

“So whaddya want, Jenna? Give her an unmarked grave where people will continue to not know her? A girl who potentially saved your life and the dog-Cammy’s? I guess that didn’t matter either.” Purposely volatile words.

Colt’s words cut deep, but the girl knew that was the intention. She didn’t want to admit it to anyone, let alone herself but there was another reason why Rogue’s death had struck such a blow. It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d lost someone, or even someone she’d known in person but the way Rogue had gone out. Alone, frightened and with nobody to remember her except a stranger. It was how Jenna feared going out, now more than ever. Michael was a fan she’d given a shout out during a steam or two but that was it. She was so far from home and surrounded by strangers, for now. When their glorious leader got back she was going to be kicked out and she’d probably die on the road trying to leave the city again, if she even got that far. Between the dead and the fascists surviving without help seemed impossible.

She noticed her hand shaking violently and so grabbed hold of it, doing her best to make sure Colt didn’t see. “I don’t know what I want.” She admitted “I was going to leave something by the grave and maybe say a word or two. At least that way there’s something for her. I’ve never followed God, that was more my mum’s thing so it’s not like I can do the last rites or anything like that. Come to think of it I have no idea what religion she followed, if any.”

Jenna gently set the shovel down, noticing she was still holding onto the damn thing. Something else Colt had said stuck in her mind, about what it meant to be a soldier. Cammy looked up at the girl and she knelt down to her height, gently stroking her. “I’ve taken lives. Not human lives but a life all the same. Us vets have to swear a vow that we won’t let an animal suffer and sometimes all you can is administer a drug that puts them to sleep. We tell ourselves that it’s out of mercy, and that’s the same thing I’ve been telling myself since I killed the first one of those things.”

She could try, but there was no way she could ever understand where Colt had come from. “Whoever shot Rogue wasn’t shooting Rogue, they were putting down something wearing her face and using her body to try and kill more people. I think Rogue thought that way too. She didn’t hesitate when that thing came at me in the park, she just acted. I can’t say that I would have done the same. I would’ve stopped, tried to help what I thought was a person and probably have had my throat torn out.”

Once again, Jenna took a breath to compose herself and stood up. “If I don’t get booted out of this place when Luca gets back, I need you to do something for me. It’s a big ask so I’ll find someone else if you say no. Don’t feel pressured.” She spoke calmly and clearly, but it was taking a lot of mental strain just to compose a complete sentence without breaking down.

Colt had noticed the shaking hands but said nothing. She listened to the woman speak further, now mentioning religion and God. Colt sighed heavily with a shake of her head. She honestly did not know what she could say in return. The veteran finally unzipped her jacket, revealing her now pale face, lightly damp from sweat. She glanced away for a few moments before looking to the ground. She honestly had no idea what she could say.

Jenna began to speak again, speaking about the difference between people and animals and the effect killing Things had on her. Again, Colt still had nothing to say in response. At this point, Colt thought very little about killing. And she did not like it. As Jenna spoke about being thrown out, she was about to snap that she would not allow anyone to be kicked out of the Lodge, and question why she’d believe she would be. But the woman stopped at what she said next. Colt darted her bloodshot eyes before looking right at the woman.

“What?”

“If I’m going to turn, I want you to kill me.” Jenna let out a deep breath after her request “I fought hard to make this body my own and the last thing I want is for it to be added to the ranks of the dead, chowing down on some poor bugger who hesitates because what’s moving towards him still looks human.”

“No idea how this thing is spread outside of someone just dying and coming back so if I go down you need to make sure I don’t get back up.” The girl turned away, letting out a light chuckle “Preferably I’d prefer to die in my own bed at the age of eighty surrounded by beautiful women but if I do die here somebody needs to make sure I stay dead.”

The woman’s next statement caused a reaction in Colt. It… was too familiar. A request for a bullet in the head. It had been one of her squad, who had his lower arm cruelly sawed off from an assault. The man had screamed, tried to grab her gun, blood rivering from his wound onto the sand as he shook in a pain-induced frenzy as if possessed. The woman heard a phantom howl of pain in her head, causing her to jump slightly back into reality. She looked at the woman, panting a little as she explained her reasoning.

“Body-what are you-?” she stammered, trying to understand what she meant. While it could be deduced what she was referring to with a moment of thought, Colt’s mind was in too much of a panic over the words and the internal begging for anything containing ethanol to properly think. “Hmm… and I was supposed to die in a tank in the desert…” She grumbled lowly before turning to the woman, inhaling deeply and lengthily,

“Jenna. This group, and this lodge is going to keep strong.” Colt spoke, trying to assure herself of her own abilities as a leader as well as reassure the distressed woman.“As long as I’m still kickin’, nobody in this group is gonna need a bullet in their head.”

Mentions: Maj Hyped_Taco ​

 

[The Mad Queen]

Jenna O'Connor and Colt Stanhope
The following is part two of a collab post between The Mad Queen and Rumble Fish​

Jenna tilted her head as she watched Colt try to piece together what she meant. Whether or not Colt knew wasn’t an issue, and she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would take issue with someone like her at the lodge. Still, it wasn’t like she made the decisions. That was Luca, with Colt only in charge until he got back. If he ever did, that was. How bad had things gotten out in the city? She could only imagine it was akin to the bastard child of Raccoon City and Harran.

Folding her arms, the girl leaned against one of the walls. “So long as your commander in chief doesn't throw me out. Which, let’s be honest looks pretty bloody likely. Outside of taking care of myself and inspiring people on the internet I’m only good and I mean really good at two other things, and well. That position is obviously filled.”

As much as she had well intentions, Leli had made her position very clear. So long as she was around, she wasn’t going to let Jenna treat anyone because she didn’t trust vets to do the same jobs they did with animals to human beings. “People discard you when you’re not needed. This place is going to run out of food so I’m pretty much on borrowed time anyway.”

“I said I’d break Luca’s legs before he’d break Marcus’.” Colt was now really struggling to keep everything together, evident by her now pacing, “Nobody is getting thrown out. Ya might not know yer role now, but ya will.”

At this point, Colt sat on the ground, holding her head in her hands, “Look, I know this isn’t helpin’. But I mean it. I’m not lettin’ anyone else get hurt or thrown out here. I’d rather die first.” she spoke to the ground, looking at the woman only sent her mind spinning further down the rabbit hole. She could not fail again. As she sat down, her cargo pants rolled up on her left leg, revealing part of the prosthetic limb, but Colt hadn’t noticed. “By yer logic, I should have thrown out Milly instantly. But I haven’t. Ya have helped us.”

“Milly’s just a kid and Shiona is carrying. They’re exceptions and it would take a particular kind of monster to throw them to what’s out there. Besides, I’m pretty sure that man Fisher would leave if Luca even tried that shit and he’d be an idiot to willingly lose the only person who understands the parasite and isn’t trying to kill us.”

She locked eyes with Cammy again and the dog approached her side, lying across Jenna’s feet and causing the girl to fight back a smile. Animals really did seem to make everything better, or at the very least a good chunk of them tried.

“Look.” Jenna sighed “All I’m saying is that I’m on the chopping block if things get worse around here. A bunch of you guys are military trained, Milly and Shiona have the whole women and mother’s first thing going on, Fisher is studying the crap out of the parasite and Leli’s a trained nurse. I can’t fire a gun and the last time I got in a fight I had the shit kicked out of me. I was only able to take out a few of those dead things because I was armed with a weapon. All I can do that’s useful in this scenario is treat the wounded, but you’ve already got two people for that and one of them…”

She stopped herself then and there. If she continued, she could either be throwing someone else under the bus or even end up making things worse for herself. Then again, she could say nothing and all and just end up in more crap regardless. If there was a chance that holding her tongue would lead to her being thrown out by Luca, she had to take it.

“Is probably not going to let me near any patients.” She then let out a heavy sigh “She means well, it’s just she doesn't realise being a vet requires more than just treating a dog for having a runny bum and hates our profession because we try to prove people like her wrong.”

“Bunch? That’d imply there’s more than one.” Colt grumbled, still looking at the ground. She couldn’t face the woman and she wanted to retreat but she had gotten herself into this situation so could not do much else other than stick it out. As she mentioned not being able to shoot, Colt just sighed.

“Yer no’ the only one…” she sighed with an eye dart. The veteran then continued, “Y’know... I could probably show ya how t’use a gun. Enough to defend yerself.” She said. She was not sure what to think about this. While it was true that it would be beneficial for the group if more knew how, she knew she would be the one who had to deal with it. And she’d never be drunk enough to be cope with all of it. And then the topic turned onto what Colt knew to be about Leli. She had heard their little spat about what was superior and had planned to assert her authority and tell them to knock them off.
“Well, next time that happens, Imma sort that out. Vet or no’ it’s still something we could use.”

“That man Brian and a few of the others had to have learned their skills from somewhere. My best guess is military but I could be wrong.” Jenna shrugged. If Colt was the only veteran at the lodge then how did the others know how to fight the way they did? She hadn’t even spoken to Brian or Ivan so for all she knew they could have just been gun loving Americans taught by their parents.

It was something to think about, but not right now. Well intentions or not, the situation with Leli was going to be an issue but at the very least Jenna knew Colt would back her up.
“Us arguing isn’t really the problem. She can think what she wants. I’m worried about her getting in the way if I’m trying to help someone.”

It wasn’t like she’d even been able to defend herself last time, given before she could get a single word in the dead had attacked the lodge and from there things had just spiralled. She wasn’t even angry at Leli, only at herself for allowing her words to get to her and spending half a day blaming herself for what happened to Rogue, wondering if shoddy work had led to the girl’s death.

She knew herself better than anyone and nobody was going to tell her otherwise who she was or what she was good at.
“Let’s leave that for now though. It’s not worth it, not today.”
She had at least been nice to Jenna since Rogue’s death, so perhaps it was better to leave it? There was something far more important to worry about anyway.
“You’d really teach me how to shoot?” Jenna managed to smile “I think the kickback from one of those rifles would end with me dislocating something so if we’re going to do this, I think starting small is the best way to go about it.”

“I can’t just use a cane forever to take these things down and hell, maybe you guys should teach more than just me. Michael looks like he could use the help and Shiona is going to have to defend her baby from what’s out there one way or another.”

Jenna’s gaze moved back to the door.
“But not right now. I need to deal with this first.”

“Oh yeah Brian…” She was losing it more and more. Colt got up to continue pacing, now rubbing her shaky hands together. Did she honestly forget about Brian? How? What the fuck was wrong with her? The woman blew through her mouth as she walked back and forth.

As the topic came back onto that of Leliana, Colt sighed, “Look. If I think ya’d do a better job, I’d tell ya.” She responded. She honestly did not know what else she could say. It felt as though nothing she was saying was having any effect on the woman and it worried the veteran. If she could not help one person, how the fuck was she supposed to help a whole group? What was the point?! Colt was extremely close to getting up right there and simply leaving. Forget her flask, she needed a whole bottle at this point.

But as she got up to leave the room, hand on the door, Jenna spoke up again, now about guns. The woman stopped and turned her head to face her. She actually thought that was a good idea? Colt bit her lip anxiously, scratching the back of her neck for the fiftieth time in this exchange. And she then suggested teaching others. She remembered that Luca had questioned her about it at some point. She had forgotten about it until now. She frowned a little.

“Well… I suppose-” she stopped as the woman then walked to the door, turning her attention back to Rogue. Colt sighed gruffly.

“Y’at least gonna let me help ya?”

With Jenna’s gaze fixed back on the door, she didn’t notice Colt’s body language. Still, from the tone of voice she could tell the entire exchange was making the veteran uncomfortable. Part of her wondered what the woman had been through as part of what she assumed was a tank crew, judging by the little information Colt had provided.

If she wasn’t going to talk about it, Jenna wasn’t going to push. Some of her followers had been veterans but outside of that her experience with army vets, at least human ones was very limited.

She was grateful to have Colt’s backing. A wave of relief had washed over her. Unless the lodge itself fell, there was no way she was getting kicked out. She just had to make sure that the group had a safe haven and could defend herself and she would live through this nightmare.
Survive the city, expose the war crimes and go home to live out the rest of her life spending the money she gained from streams on therapy. She’d be sure to make sure Colt was looked after too, if she would accept the money.

She offered Colt a half-smile in response to her question “Okay...I think we should give her a proper service. Invite people to say words, that kind of thing. I knew none of us really knew her but it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“I’m sure she’d have done the same thing if it was me. Or any of us, really.”

Well, it took a while but it seemed the Violet locked woman finally seemed to come round to Colt’s idea of burying Rogue. But rather than say so, or berate the woman for taking so long, Colt offered her a slight smile through her discomfort. She was still incredibly unsettled, but having this task at hand would hopefully turn her attention away from her vices. She had other things to consider here.

“I’d like t’think so. ‘Ere, ya go on and bring her down, I'll talk to em.” She offered, “I ain't good at speakin’ or nothin’ but I’ll try. She deserves it.”

Jenna wanted to tell herself that Rogue would be the last person they’d lose, that all of them would get out of this nightmare alive but that was ridiculously naive. All she could do now was try to keep herself alive and treat the other lodge members if they were wounded, and maybe that would be enough to last them until they could escape the city.

Rogue had been one of the good ones.

The girl gave Colt a nod of understanding, still wearing her half smile before she turned and made her way to the back room. Rogue was lighter than expected as Jenna picked the body up in both of her arms, taking great care to ensure that the sheet still covered her.

She waited at the top of the stairs.

Colt took this time to leave the room and head down the stairs to the living room. Once there, she cleared her throat, hoping to get their attention.

“Oi!” She looked around, still shaking all over despite her efforts, “If I can have y’all outside for a few moments.” She added before looking around as to who was going to do as she said or not.

Mentioned only: (Luca) Brax (Brian) BloodLightning27 (Ralph) The Mad Queen
In area: (Michael) Hyped_Taco (Leli) FireMaiden (Shinoa) BloodLightning27 . (Ray) TheTreForce (Milly) Rumble Fish (Ivan) King Vioogra (Marcus) Soma Schicksal

 

[Hyped_Taco]

The following is a collab post between Hyped_Taco and Maj

​

Michael kept chopping wood just as Colt had told him to do, he really did not want to be there tho, although his trench coat brought him some warmth it still was not enough to stop him from feeling the coldness of the snow falling on him.

He kept on working on chopping the wood, he knew that he needed to prove to everyone at the lodge that he could be useful to the group, and after about 15 minutes of continuously hitting the tree with the ax it finally fell. Seeing the tree falling made him quite proud of his work… ¨You gotta be shitting me¨ The neckbeard said after he saw Marcus completely ignoring his task so he could talk with the pregnant woman ¨Screw this I´m going back¨ apparently he had the option of not even doing his work, so Michael decided to go back inside.

While entering the lodge he saw someone he didn´t expect to see here, Bethany, an escort he had tried to flirt with various times before in Moe´s Don´t Tell Motel. Michael had nothing to lose now, so he approached the girl as he had done the last time they meet ¨Good evening M´lady¨ He then proceeds to tip his fedora.
--
--
Bethany had been minding her own business, eating a granola bar on the couch when she felt the cold from the front door opening. There seemed to be many people at the lodge. Besides Leliana she had seen at least five others. Aurora wasn’t exactly the largest of cities, but still to find someone she knew here seemed almost too good to be true. Meeting two people she recognized at the lodge seemed too coincidental, like someone was trying to prank her.

At the sound of Michael’s voice, Bethany felt her body tense. Aside from Leli, no one at the lodge knew that she had been an escort. It wasn’t that she was overly ashamed of her profession, but people did seem to get the wrong idea about her when they learned it. If she was going to be stuck living with them all through the apocalypse the last thing she wanted was to have to deal with judgemental eyes.

Michael was not one of her customers. Even Bethany rarely had to stoop that low. Besides, he always just wanted to flirt with her, never actually pay her so she had paid him little mind despite his advances. The girl did her best to keep her demeanor as she addressed him.

“Oh. Michael.” She laughed nervously, crossing her arms around her body. “What are the chances of running into you here.” Anyone with any ability to read body language could tell how little she wanted to be here having this conversation. Still, she wanted to make sure she earned her place at the lodge, and if he was here that meant playing nice.

“I guess you were able to make it out of the city then?” Bethany asked with cool politeness, “How nice for you.”
---
---
¨I know, what are the odds for both of us to be here right?¨ Michael responded to Bethany, but due to his lack of social skills he was unable to understand the woman´s body language, ¨Well yeah I made it out of the city¨ and an awkward silence started, Michael had never been good socializing with other people before, and even less with women, but for some reason he could not even think of anything to speak about now.

From what the man could recall, he had tried flirting with the escort at the very least 6 times before, but he knew, He knew that if he tried hard enough then she would finally accept being with him… even though his flirting skills were almost none. ¨So uhh… what brings you around here? haha¨
--
--
He was articulate as ever, stumbling awkwardly through his sentences like a newborn calf trying to walk. Bethany rolled her eyes. Despite the obvious unfamiliarity he oozed, she had to admit he had balls. Not many continued to pester her after as many rejections as the boy had suffered.

“Not freezing to death.” Beth retorted curtly, pulling Milly closer into her side. If she thought she was protecting the child or needing comfort from the unwanted conversation was a mystery to even her. She put her arm around Milly’s shoulder, looking for literally any excuse to get out of this conversation. Out of the corner of her eye she was able to see Leli come down the stairs and decided to use it as an excuse to part ways.

“Well, it was nice to uh…” Bethany forced a smile. “Nice to see you again I suppose. I’m going to head over and talk with Leliana. Come on Milly.” The girl’s tone changed immediately upon speaking to the young girl who she began to lead toward the blonde’s direction.
---
---
¨Yeah, n- Nice to see you as well¨ Michael said while Bethany went with Leliana, for some weird reason she decided to take Milly with her, now that he thought about it, he remembered that Leliana worked at Moe´s Motel as well, weird that he had forgotten about her.

¨Damn, rejected again¨ the neckbeard accepted his failure while going back outside, perhaps next time she may finally accept his advances, but until that day he will continue trying. He then decided to chop another tree, since Marcus wouldn´t do his own work, then he would do it himself.

Rumble Fish Milly FireMaiden Leli

 

[TheTreForce]

Ray Childress: The Lodge

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

​

Ray felt at peace for the moment, relaxing on the couch with good company around. Others came in and out, up and down, all preoccupied with their own tasks. He was mostly glued to the window though, the channel that broadcasted the happenings of the outdoors. Watching Milly and Ivan playing in the snow outside of the window filled his heart, which had been running a little low lately. He couldn't help but chuckle a little as Milly bounced around in the snow, tossing it everywhere as if it wasn't coming down enough already. The ones that were hopeful, playful, and full of joy were the ones holding the group together in Ray's eyes. They provided an extra level of motivation to live and see this plague to the end, protecting and saving all the people they could.

Ray was caught off guard by Shinoa's question, "So...how would you feel about being a Grandfather?"

Not sure how to respond, a smile crept across his face and he took a breath. A grandfather? It had always been a dream of Ray's for his son to marry a nice lady and bless him and his wife with a grandchild. His son had been taken away from him long ago at such a young age that it hadn't ever crossed his mind again. He couldn't help but imagine what the child would have looked like, holding the precious thing in his arms and gently rocking it. The rocking chair would sit on the back porch, nothing but trees and stars to see, and they would rest in the chorus of bugs and birds. Grandma would cook dinner for the three generation family and call them all in when it was ready. That must be what Heaven is like.

He realized that it had been quite a few seconds since she asked and he opened his mouth, "I would be honored." Shinoa could have been joking to some extent but it made Ray feel warm inside.

It was then that Colt came down the stairs and called out to get everyone's attention. She asked for everyone to come outside so Ray got up from the couch, giving Shinoa one last smile before heading out.

BloodLightning27 Rumble Fish

 

[The Mad Queen]

Doctor Ralph Fisher​

​

Once more, Fisher sat back and listened as Brian said his piece. There was no reason he could think of for Brian to lie as after all the man had taken a risk by telling Fisher the truth.
One the good doctor hoped would bay off in the long run. He processed every word that came out of Brian's mouth, his back still against the door.
"Not part of any agency?" He asked, muttering to himself. His eyes widened "Private military contractors. That's my working theory right now, Brian. No oversight, just a blank check and an order given to destroy the parasite at any cost. There wouldn't be a lot of a hesitation on their part that way and if things went horribly wrong the government could cut all ties and avoid blame."

He needed a lab if he was going to make any progress, but was worried about the response he would get if he went to one of the group's leaders. Alone at least, but now he had Brian's help.
Ralph gave the man a light smile, offering him a bit of reassurance.
"We'll get through this nightmare. I know we will."

He sighed "Have you ever heard of Spanish flu? There was a massive outbreak of influenza just after World War one and it killed almost as many people as that pointless conflict. Fifty million people died, and half of the world's population was infected."
He started to pace back and forth
"People thought that disease would bring about the end of mankind. A few even thought it was God punishing us for the war. And yet, we're still here. The Bubonic plague was literally dubbed the black death for the same reason. It wiped out half of Europe and up to quarter of the Eastern Mediterranean."

"Fact of the matter is." He stopped in his tracks "This isn't the end. Those plagues stopped when either all the carriers died or developed immunity, but they lived in an age when we knew very little. They couldn't stop it, and in fact in the case of the black death they made things a lot worse for themselves. But we, we're living in an age where we might be able to do something. I-we just can't do it alone."

"WHO might be able to do something. I doubt a cure would be on the table, given all of the hosts are already dead but perhaps a vaccine or a way of containment that doesn't remind us of the Third Reich would be our best bet."
He took a breath, realising he'd been talking at a fast pace and needed to catch himself.

"You're probably not going to like what I've got to say Brian, but I think you should tell other people about your CIA history. Now, obviously not everyone and I won't tell a soul. It's your secret and I won't force you to tell others, but I think it's worth it to tell a few of these people."

Ralph stopped, hearing a noise coming from downstairs as Colt shouted to get everyone's attention.
"I think you should at least consider it."

Interacting with: (Brian) BloodLightning27
Mentioned: (Colt) Rumble Fish

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: King Vioogra (Ivan) The Mad Queen (Jenna)
Mentioned/In The Area: Soma Schicksal (Marcus) Hyped_Taco (Micheal) Rumble Fish (Colt/Milly) Maj (Bethany/Andy) Brax (Luca)
"Well, it'll heal a lot faster if you listen to me," She chuckled, "But I know what that feels like, so I'm not sure if I'm really mad at you or not. Probably just a little annoyed." She wasn't even annoyed, Leliana couldn't blame him for not wanting to sit still, but if this is how he was acting with her, he must have been a nightmares with his other doctors. Or it was just her, but is someone like Luxa listened to her, then it probably wasn't. When they got back, she needed to check on his stitches, so make a mental note of that. Anyway, Ivan mentioned than him and Milly had been building a snowman. "Oh that sounds fun. I never got snow like this in my home town, and when i moved out here my mom and uncle helped me make a snowman that was about ten feet tall. And then it proceeded to fall onto my mother's car, but you win some, you lose some." She didn't really mean to share that memory, her back tensing as she mentioned her uncle, but it was probably to quick for anyone to notice. Looking down at her feet, which she had pulled up onto the couch, she took notice of the Russian phrase, but she wasn't going to ask him what it meant. "Hey, did you remeber your promise to teahc me how to speak Russian?" She asked, "While we were going through the medical supplies you grabbed. While you're recovering you could do that, and maybe even teach Milly. She might like learning," Leliana mentioned, glancing over to the russian man, before Colt came in and asked everyone to come outside. "You stay here, and keep that ice on your knee. You've been on it enough today."

Nothing had changed outside ecpect for the grave that had been dug. After running upstrais to grab her jacket, Leliana walked outside, greeted by that same chill she had been earlier, and Jenna. She felt like they were one somewhat better terms than they orginally were one, but Leliana's ears were burning. "Jenna," She started, unsure of what she going to say. Was she going to apologise again? For Rouge or for snapping at her, which she could now blame on the withdrawal, she could be snapping a little more at people than she wanted to. "I'm sorry about Rouge." Leliana remeber she was the one who broke it to Jenna, and if she wasn't focused on other things, she might have done so a little more delicately. "I really am. But, at least she doesn't have to watch the world collaspe, she's in a better place." Leliana wasn't a believer in the divine, not a true believer anyway. But Rouge really was in a better place. It was a shame that she became a monster though. "I'm glad we're burying her though. She deserves it."

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly was not paying attention to Michael approaching and his following conversation. She was more entertained by the puzzle that had been left on the table from the day before. She hadn’t done this one before and it was bigger than the ones she had done before so was happy to put it together while the pair conversed. Milly was just happy to have a new friend, even if she was not paying attention to her right now. Milly had never really had any, even before she was taken out of school and it was a really nice feeling. From what she heard, it seemed that she and Michael knew each other. However, despite her lack of social skills there was something about Bethany’s tone and body language that seemed to show that she might be uncomfortable. The curtness in her tone matched that of her mother when she was annoyed or upset.

The youngster jumped a little as she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her and pulling her closer, but relaxed as she realised it was Bethany. The small girl let out a happy chirp and snuggled against the older girl, bringing Snowy with her as she nuzzled against Bethany, simply happy to be held despite the fact it was out of defence. Seeing the woman’s discomfort, Milly attempted to distract her by making Snowy dance a little while mutter-singing ‘I Got No Strings’ from Pinocchio. It was one of her favourite Disney movies, although her mother had always skipped the scary parts. She used to do it with every movie.

Eventually the conversation changed as Bethany excused herself, telling her to come. “Okay!” Milly chirped eagerly as she trotted happily after the girl. She span a little as she walked before looking up at Bethany, as the woman was a little taller than she was, “Wow, you know Leliana and Michael? I mean… sorry for being nosy.” She mumbled the last bit as she looked away. She looked in the cupboards, spotting another box.

“Ooh! Bethany! Do you know how to play battleships? It’s fun!” she held the box out in front of her, hiding behind it a little in worry. Milly was not bothered by the lack of technology like some of the others as even home she was only allowed on the computer for a couple of hours a day and she only watched television in the morning, watching cartoons before her mother woke up. Board games and jigsaws were more fun to her. She wanted to help the girl feel more comfortable but also, she really just wanted to play. All the other grown-ups seemed really busy with things and it would not hurt to ask.

Interaction: Maj (Bethany)
Mentions: Hyped_Taco (Michael) FireMaiden (Leliana)​

 

[Maj]

The following post is a Collab between shadowz1995 and Maj
​

October 19th, 2019
Late Evening
Freeman Medical Center


He was rescued by a strange man in a mask, ripped up by his hair like someone tugging a carrot from the ground. It was enough to jarr him back into reality, it hurt like hell, but he was more grateful the man saved his life. Owen barely had time to grab his bat before he was being shoved out the door, being screamed at in a weird mix of Spanish and English. The red head wasn’t stupid enough to question his new hero who had broke him out of his trace of self wallowing. There was a silver lining to being pushed around and running for his life. He didn’t have time to dwell on his mother’s corpse, abandoned in the room behind him.

Owen kept pace with the doctor with relative ease, the noise of the undead growing behind them. With all the gunshots that they had just sounded, the two of them had alerted a building full of the monsters to their location. What was important now was either finding a place to hide that was secure, or finding an exit with haste. With any luck his new companion knew where to take them, exit or otherwise. Anyone stupid enough to be here and survive this long must have known his way around the premises.

There wasn’t any time for talking or planning, all the pair could do now was flee. All the spare air in his lungs was being used for running. There had been a time when this came with relative ease, but the last several years of smoking a pack a day had done a great deal of damage to his stamina. Thankfully, it seemed like whoever this man was, he came with a keycard that opened most of the doors. Ways that were once locked to the former baseball star, were now open. Traversing was now much easier and less frightening with someone to help watch his back. Owen had been grateful his cousin had made it out safely, but was admittedly less brave without her around.

Patient Zero was nowhere within sight, but the man had been evading him for long enough to know that there was no comfort in that. If anything, it was more worrisome. If you knew where the bastard is at least you knew which direction to run.

“Through here!” The doctor called back, as he burst through a set of wide double doors and rounded a corner at full sprint. Hector harkened back to when he made the decision to keep a solid, athletic body even into his old age and thanked his past self for making that call. Originally, it was just to be as healthy as possible but it ended up being one of the main reasons he was even able to survive the initial panic and chaos that was going on around them. More people probably died to the mass hysteria then to the actual virus.

The Venezuelan cut left and nearly barreled right into the awaiting arms of an undead who had been approaching from this direction. A straggler, it seemed. Hector ducked underneath the creature’s eager grasp and slipped around it. He turned and delivered a swift kick behind the knees, causing it to fall. “Move, move. Come on.” He ushered, his breath labored but measured and in control. No point in wasting time finishing this one off. The exit was nearby and they couldn’t afford the delay. “What were you doing back there?” the old man half-yelled while he unlocked another door.

Owen did as instructed, in awe of the man’s finess around the dead. He was obviously much quicker on his feet than the twin was, but he was grateful to have him. Crushing skulls took time, time they did not have and he was wise enough to understand the older gentleman’s meaning as he ushered him forward.

“My mother.” It was about all he could manage on the topic. Further explanations would come later when there was more time and more air. About how his cousin and him had snuck in for medication, about how his sister was here during the outbreak. Now, he had to keep moving forward.

As they moved through another hallway, one of the monsters must have been lingering by the intersection. It lunged from around the corner at Owen and the boy narrowly escaped it’s grasp. Without thinking, he pulled back the bat, the air swooshing near his ear loudly. A large crack sounded as it landed across the bridge of the corpse’s nose. The cartilage and bone snapped easily beneath the immense strength of the strike. Everything that he lacked in speed, he made up for with muscle.

“Better question. How the fuck are we getting out of here?”

The sound of a wet impact barely gave the masked man pause. He looked back for a moment to see the dead man fall backwards with a part of its face caved in. “Through the exit.” he replied before coming across yet another locked set of doors. When hospitals went into lockdown, it was truly difficult traversing around. Thankfully, they had all the access they required to get through here.

“Okay, but which exit?” Owen said with an eye roll. Obviously there were many in and out of the hospital, all ways out were an exit. Were they going out a window? Out the ER doors? Sarah had made it down a fire escape, that was an exit as well. It seemed he wasn’t going to explain any further than that, so Owen shut his mouth and followed.

“It's is just a few doors down.” his muffled voice declared. The sounds of the approaching horde had died down somewhat as they had put a considerable amount of distance since their encounter with Zero. Whether it was due to that fact or sheer dumb luck, but a heavy sound had drifted just far enough to reach the doctor’s ears.

Hector’s eyes snapped to the right of the approaching cross section and he spied an absolutely massive shadow moving slowly towards the west wing. The masked man came to a grinding halt and turned on a dime, crashing into the red-haired boy. Hector pinned him against the wall and brought a gloved hand over the boy’s mouth.

It was complete silence other than the heavy, bare footsteps that slowly that lumbered ever closer. The doctor did not dare breathe and while his visor was dark, the close proximity would allow Owen to see the urgency in Hector’s grey eyes.

Eventually, the reason for the doctor’s caution slowly entered view.

Hector couldn’t see it directly… he couldn’t risk turning his head to look but from his peripherals, he observed it. A great, lumbering giant of a zombie that was as morbidly fat as it was tall. A man easily over 6,4 and enough weight to put the biggest sumo wrestler to shame. His skin was grotesquely pale and necrotic in some areas. Sores had broken out across the entirety of his body and were now rotting along with the rest of him. Even through the filter of the gas mask, the stench that came off this behemoth was absolutely revolting.

He was a special case patient that Hector had denied performing surgery on. Not because he lacked the ability but because this giant bastard had no intention of changing his lifestyle. Stubborn as a mule and a downright nasty personality. It was truly a shame that even death could not rid the world of his presence. Now, he took up an entire hallway on his own and if he were to discover the pair of survivors not 8 feet to his left…. There would be no escape. They would be trapped between him and the approaching horde.

Despite their small time together, this man had saved Owen’s life twice now. Given that, he did not fight back as he was shoved against the wall with his mouth covered. The smell hit Owen before he saw it, the stench of death and decay was all over this place. However, it was so strong as the obese monstrosity walked, that if he didn’t know any better, the red head would think he was the source of all of it. He gagged against Hector’s hand but luckily was able to keep anything from coming up.

Owen did his best to hold perfectly still. He wasn’t sure how well it would work, some of the monsters seemed to work on smell as well as sound. While Owen’s breathing was mostly cut off by the giant hand of his Venezuelan captor, he was covered in blood and sweat. He didn’t know all the rules to surviving the undead, but he felt like that would likely be a decent reason for someone to be able to smell him.

As if on cue, the monster turned, grotesque face locking on Owen’s widening green eyes.

Hector’s grip on Owen’s mouth turned vice-like as he saw the fear entering the boy’s features, as if to say “Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare.”

 

[King Vioogra]

Jonas recoiled as Andy snatched his staff back from him, clicking his tongue at how easily it slipped through his missing fingers. He was about to make a snarky remark but was interrupted by Luca taking his staff and tossing it back to the boy. His hand whipped out to catch it, almost out of habitual action instead of a planned response. He sighed when Luca told him not to retaliate and scratched the back of his head quietly.


“I don't plan on retaliating as long as none of you give me a reason to. Ich will einfach nach Hause. Es sind zu viele Leute hier.”


(There are too many people here.)


He spoke the last sentence in a low grumble as he went over to the Pharmacy windows and quickly pulled down the window covers. He repeated this process for each window until the room fell into complete darkness. A pillar of light erupted from his phone and beamed towards the others.


“The infected get more active at night. I'm just making sure they won't know we're here. The government too for that matter.”


The German boy said, in a more annoyed tone as he instinctively knew an explanation was in order. He quietly thanked the fact that he'd stayed in the city, as it gave him ample time to study the infecteds movements, along with the government's. He knew a decent amount about the monsters that lingered through the dead streets of this town, but these people were clearly more experienced in actually combating them. Every instinct in his body screamed at him that this group was too big.


‘What are you doing, you moron?! This group is too big! They'll smell you out before midnight. Go, RUN!’


An unembodied voice within the crevices of his mind echoed loudly with every ounce of its effort. The infected mostly traveled in packs, so if they were to be sniffed out by those things, they'd never make it out the door. A short sigh escaped him before stepping lightly over to the growing number of warm bodies in the Pharmacy. He spoke quietly and quickly, taking on a slight role of leadership as he spoke.


“I suggest you find a spot and stay there. We need to keep quiet until sun up or we're beyond dead. Try not to shuffle around too much or do anything that'd make too much noise. Once the sun rises we can all go our separate ways.”


He said with a light huff before adjusting the grip on his staff and walking over to a secluded section of the building and sliding down the wall. This was too much.


‘How did you end up here? Because you needed more pills? How stupid. You couldn't have gone one day without those glorified sleeping pills and you just had to go get more. How impatient, now look at you? You've gotten yourself into this mess.’


The disembodied voice sneered in Jonas’ mind, echoing off the walls of his mind as it listed annoyingly accurate facts about his current situation. This made the boy sigh before pressing his hands against his ears in hopes of shutting them up.​

 

[Maj]

​

October 20th, 2019
Dawn
On route to the hospital

Sleep was basically non existent.The pharmacy was lacking in anything suitable to be used as bed space, and Andy hadn’t thought to haul one of her many sleeping bags on the trip. Mostly because what had started as a day adventure had turned into three days of life threatening situations, injuries and no signs of her idiot brother. She had spent the entire night propped up against the wall, sipping her rum to try to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. It hadn’t worked, but at least she wasn’t freezing to death anymore. Cuddling up to Luca for one night had been bad enough, and she didn’t feel like having to do so in front of an audience.

Her throat was sore when she woke from the cigarette Luca had offered her. It was as kind of a gesture as she had seen from the male. His supply was not endless and he didn’t even know if she smoked. Andy rarely smoked cigarettes, but had been known to smoke other things within her time at college. She had taken it from him but regretted it this morning.

As soon as the first sign of light had start to break through the windows, Andy was up. Standing after such a long night on the cold hard floor was rough and her still bruised and beaten body complained the whole time. Anyone that had been asleep, she made sure to rouse, shaking them by the shoulder before going to snatch anything else of value she found in the pharmacy before they left.

The kid had been nice enough to feed her last night, and that kindness was not lost on her. After days without food that granola bar felt like a gourmet meal on her empty stomach. It seemed like the place had been mostly picked clean, but she was able to find a few plastic pocket ponchos and some peanut butter crackers which she placed in her bag. Her hand lingered on a box labeled ‘Trojan’, but she ended up stuffing those in her bag as well.

It didn’t matter what Luca said. If they didn’t find Owen today, they would go home. The idea was disheartening, but staying behind to keep looking for him only increased their likelihood of never making it back. She needed sleep, food, water and medical attention and as much as Luca’s machismo didn’t want him to admit it, he needed it too. As far as the others went, she didn’t know them and didn’t care what they did. Luca seemed to think it was a good idea to bring them along and while she was miffed he invited a bunch of strangers back to her house without consulting her, she couldn’t help but agree about safety in numbers. The large one, Warren, would he handy if she ever had to drag Luca through the snow again.

She was eager to get on the road, and so was everyone else because it didn’t take long for the small group of unlikely allies to exit the pharmacy and start past the hospital. With this many people they would need a large vehicle to transport them all back to the lodge, and the redhead had plans to circle back up to their moving truck on the highway. Surely, the dead had moved on by now.

The girl barely spoke, her mind preoccupied with everything from the apocalypse, to her brother, to trying to figure out where she was going to fit all the new bodies on her mind. Before long the hospital was in view, much how she left it. Abandoned cars lined the parking lot, police cars a plenty frozen in place. Bright yellow “quarantine” signs fluttered in the wind, a haunting reminder of what she and Luca had just narrowly avoided. Lingering here was a death-wish, for she remembered just how many bodies had been within its walls.

No one could be in that place and still be alive.

Brax King Vioogra TheTreForce

 

[Soma Schicksal]

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[div class="Status"] Status

Interacting: Rumble Fish

Mentioned: BloodLightning27 The Mad Queen FireMaiden

Located: Living Room

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[div class="Line"] [div class="Icon"] Actions[/div] Marcus didn’t get too much rest after the small funeral for their lost comrade Rogue. He didn’t know her for too long but he did remember seeing her before going to the school, she seemed to be a good person, he could only wonder why Jenna was so fixated on doing this for her. Maybe they were a thing? Or maybe she saved her life…he would have to ask later but for now he needed to pack some things for the scouting mission for a new place to call home. Maybe they could find a mansion or some sort of large estate because at this rate they would end up having a whole community of people.

The man got up out of bed and went to do the daily essentials, taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and then now packing. He grabbed the sniper Colt gave him before, the suppressor would help for if they needed to get rid of a few zombies unnoticed, it would probably make this whole trip a lot easier. Marcus then grabbed his hunting knife before heading downstairs to quickly grab some rations for the trip alongside some medical supplies he hoped Leli wouldn’t mind him taking…actually, maybe he should let her know…and let Colt know he was leaving too. She would probably kick his ass if he just left without saying a word and it wasn’t a very boyfriend like thing to do.

The white-haired male then noticed that Colt was actually in the living room. She never did sleep last night, did she? Hmm…that would explain why she wasn’t in the room this morning. He walked over and tapped her shoulder before pecking her cheek with a kiss. “Umm…morning…sooooo wanted to let you know I’m leaving with Brian and Jenna to look for a new place to stay like we discussed yesterday. I feel it’ll just make it easier because I have this gut feeling that we are gonna have way more people and this place is gonna be hella cramped. So I guess wish me luck…I didn’t wanna walk out before telling you…wasn’t really a boyfriend thing to do.” He chuckled nervously. Hopefully, Brian and Jenna would come down soon so they could leave and get this trip over with.

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

 

[Rumble Fish]

What time was it? How cold was it actually? Where was the couch? Wait where was her gun-? Oh wait here it was. On the couch. Okay good, this made things a little easier. Colt breathed harshly through her nose as she sat on the sofa. These last forty-eight hours had dragged for so much longer than they had actually lasted. The small funeral they had for Rogue was as good as it could have been. A few of them had said some words, with Colt herself struggling through. She did not want to speak in the first place but she made an effort, for Jenna’s sake, especially after their talk. She could barely keep a sentence going without pausing or stumbling, losing where she was. That was exhausting enough. She had also assisted Marcus and Michael with the trees and had started putting together something resembling a barrier which left the woman exhausted and made her already injured shoulder sorer.

It was not just the aches from the day’s work that was giving Colt grief. It was the pounding headache, the shaking and the sweating despite the cold that was really giving the veteran a hard time. She had gone outside numerous times while on her patrol and there were far too many times she had seen the trees reach towards her with their long and cruel arms or dark shadows of Things running through the woods. More than once Colt had turned around to be greeted with a Thing roaring with its unholy mouth agape, gripping her shoulders and about to sink its teeth into her flesh, only for the Thing to vanish right before impact. She was lucky to have not fired her weapon which would have really attracted the Things to them, and she could not be responsible for that.

Colt groaned and held her head to stop it from aching, but it was worthless. All night she had wanted to grab whatever bottle was near her and down it but she had to fight against it. The woman was struggling to keep resisting it. She had heard about the extreme reactions people can have, even death. How much longer was she going to last? What if she had a heart attack or brain aneurysm like Rogue? She could not have the group at risk because of this. But if Luca came back and found out, he'd break Marcus’ legs. She really was caught between a rock and a hard place. Drink and have her now boyfriend’s legs broken or don’t and potentially die and become a Thing that would go on and kill the rest of the Lodge. Her heart-rate picked up from its already frantic pace as she thought about it. All the woman wanted to do was sleep, but she had to stay awake. She didn’t know if she’d just keel over.
Colt turned sharply as she heard somebody come downstairs but relaxed when she realised it was Marcus. When he pecked her on the cheek, she gave him a strained and short smile. Her hands were shaking badly as she stood up, “Um, sleep well?” she asked before he then spoke about what they had discussed the other day about Marcus looking for a new place. She let out a long sigh as she folded her arms, her feet constantly moving, unable to keep still.

“Yeah, yup, mhm.” She swallowed after speaking, “Okay, if they agree. Just… be sure to eat first and be back before sunset, I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Owen. If ya find a place, come back and tell me so we can get more to come to look, 'kay?” She knew she was rambling and she did not like it but she needed some kind of distraction from the shakes. His final statement about how leaving without a warning was not a “boyfriend thing to do” which made the woman blink a few times.

“Uh… I’ll take yer word for it. I’m not quite accustomed to the whole… thing.” She scratched her neck for the tenth time, “I’ll catch up, promise.” She added with a nervous warble in her tone. The veteran sighed and looked into the kitchen, “Um… better make breakfast.” She muttered as she limped into the room, beginning to look through cupboards and the fridge, but she was unsure as to what to use. Cooking was not her forte, given she had spent the last six months living on takeout vindaloo and pizza with more grease than actual substance. Part of her wanted to go upstairs and get Leliana to help her since she seemed to know what to do, but Colt knew she could not inconvenience everybody because of her failings. She was already failing in regulating her drinking, she couldn't fail at cooking. The woman let out a deep sigh as she finally looked through the fridge. She grabbed a couple of eggs, intending to make a quick sunny side up for her and Marcus before cooking for everyone else, but just as she took them in her grip and moved from the fridge, the shakiness of her hands and her inability to gauge how hard she was holding them caused the fragile shelled goo to break, causing it to splash onto her face and hands.

“FUCKING-!” Colt caught herself before roaring any further, something about these fucking eggs had pushed her over the edge. Great, everyone probably heard that. With a frantic grumble, Colt cleaned her hands, face and grabbed a wet cloth to clean the residue from the fridge and floor. But in her haste to clean the evidence, Colt hadn't realised where she was so when she went to stand up, the back of her head hit the edge of the counter. "SON OF A-! MOTHER-!" Colt struggled to contain her frustration as she stumbled around that part of the kitchen, gripping her head and feeling as though she was about to throw up on the spot and pass out. This was great… Just great! Tensions were already running high from Rogue’s death and funeral, she had to deal with this herself. But Colt was unsure if she could. If she loses her temper on dropping some eggs how was she going to lead them through a potential assault?

This was going to suck.

Interactions: Soma Schicksal (Marcus)
Mentions: Hyped_Taco (Michael) Maj (Owen) Brax (Luca) The Mad Queen (Jenna) FireMaiden (Leliana)​

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: Rumble Fish (Colt)
Mentioned/In The Area: Soma Schicksal (Marcus) Rumble Fish (Milly) Maj (Andy) The Mad Queen (Jenna) BloodLightning27 (Shinoa)
Once again, Leliana had trouble sleeping. It didn't exactly surprise her, she didn't have her Doxepin, which would defeintly help. Though even it couldn't help much when she was stressed out. Like the previous night, she was up and walking around a little more than she should have been, though she wasn't trying to avoid anyone anymore. She still managed to get a little sleep though, since sleeping next to Milly and Shinoa was oddly comforting. Despite it being cold, Leliana felt mostly safe. She woke up before the other two, and silently got dressed in he outfirt from the day before, which reminded her they needed to find a solution for laundry. She wasn't sure if their access to water could run out if they weren't careful, or what. That was defeintly a conversation for Andy when she got back though. Anyway, after a breif stop in the upstairs bathroom, Leliana headed downstairs. It was a little cooler down there, which meamt nobody had done anything with the fireplace yet. Leliana wasn't going to mess with it though, she would leave it to someone who probably wouldn't make anything explode. And then pretty mich as soon as she turned from thr bottom of thr stairs, she remebered what happened last night.

Rouge's funeral, or memorial, whatever you wanted to call it was sad. Jenna was probably the most emotional since she was the only one who really knew Rouge. But for Leliana, it was the first time it really hit her full force that they would all turn into one of those things. A zombie, a biter, a zed, whatever they ended up calling them, they would all turn up like them if they weren't careful. One little choice, one little mistake could mean the difference between life and death. In Rouge's case, nothing could have prevented her demise, not now anyway. But everyone else had to make smart choices. The self preservations of these guys was just...Leliana was sure she could feel herself going grey. And this whole realisation didn't hit her at the middle school, when they watched as those innocent people came back from being shot full of holes, and it didn't even hit her after she had to kill her own mother. That was hard, and she still hadn't told anyone about it. How long had she been gone before Leliana got back from work? How long had she been waiting? How scared was she? Leliana couldn't even give her a proper burial, her mother's body was just left laying on her bedroom floor, but at least someone could have one.

A sudden shout from the kitchen drew Leliana from her thoughts, which she was thankful for, her thoughts had been both depressing and anxiety inducing lately. Leliana tugged her jacket a little closer to her body as she moved further into the lodge, giving a brief wave to Marcus who was nearby, though she didn't know if he saw it. The person who had shouted, unsurprisingly, was Colt. "I'm comming in," Leliana said, after grabbing a chair from thr dinning room. She sat said chair down near Colt, a bit to the side of the woman actually, and after making sure Colt saw her, helped the vet into it. Then, she left to go find the medical duffle bag, searching for an alcohol pad that she found after a few minutes. Opening it, she put it in Colt's free hand. "Here, sniff it. It's gonna help with nausea. And dont tell me you aren't nauseous, I can see it on your face." Her doctor actually taught her this trick, since Leliana was the type of person that not only gets lightheaded when you draw blood, but she gets nauseous as well.

Anyway, once Colt was situated, Leliana tried to figure out what she had been doing before asking her how she was feeling, and to check her head to make sure it wasn't bleeding. It didn't take her long to find the broken egg residue. Leliana found a cloth, and wet it so she could go and clean the mess up. She didn't even say anything to Colt about. Afterwards, she grabbed the carton of eggs out of the fridge, and a pan to start making some eggs. "This is the last of the eggs. I wonder if we can find any chickens around the city," Leliana said, cracking two of the eggs into the pan. "I wanted to talk to you and Marcus about his little scouting thing. Or maybe just you? I dont know, I just want to voice my concerns to somebody. But first off, how's your head? Willing to let me check it?"

 

[The Mad Queen]

Doctor Ralph Fisher and Jenna O'Connor​

​

​

"Think about what I said." Fisher told Brian "And if anyone gives you trouble about this, they will have to take it up with me."
After one more smile of reassurance, the good doctor joined the others outside for the wake, as the group was gathering he ushered Jenna over with a light wave.

"Do you know what faith she was?"
The girl shrugged "Ralph, I don't even know what she did for a living."
"I had an idea, that's all."
"Go ahead."
"I may not be an ordained Rabbi, but my great grandfather was. Perhaps I could, say a prayer at the service. With your permission, of course."

Jenna raised an eyebrow, then gave a light shrug.
"Yeah, sure." She turned to walk away, but stopped "Oh, and thanks."
"For what?"
"Making it mean something."

A subtle smile grew across Ralph's face but this dropped as he followed the others outside. The hole was half-filled, with Rouge's body lying at the bottom. The wake started with others saying their piece first but hardly any of them knew Rogue, so it was small words thrown together or people simply acknowledging that she was gone.
The good doctor hated funerals. Perhaps he had been to too many in his day, but he knew why they were important. When it came for his turn, walked forwards and placed his hand onto the dirt, pouring it over the makeshift grave to fill it.
Taking a deep breath, he uttered the words of his great grandfather:

"God, filled with mercy, dwelling in the heavens' heights. Bring proper rest beneath the wings of your Shechinah, amid the ranks of the holy and the pure, illuminating like the brilliance of the skies the souls of our beloved and our blameless who went to their eternal place of rest. May You who are the source of mercy shelter them beneath Your wings eternally, and bind their souls among the living..."
He stopped, placing more dirt over the grave.

"...That they may rest in peace. And let us say: Amen."

He stepped away, dropping more of the cold dirt into the hole.
"Jenna, would you like you say something?"

The girl had been silent while everyone else had said their pieces. Her boots crunched on the snow as she took a few steps forwards, keeping her arms folded.
"Ro...Rogue was, kind and funny and just, good. She gave me a head's up that she might bite me when I was fixing her up a few days back." She smiled "We had a good laugh about that, but we first met when shit was hitting the fan. Dead were everywhere, pouring out of the hospital and the town was slowing being overrun. She saved me. Didn't hesitate, she just saw a dangerous situation and jumped right in when my back was turned."

She gazed down at the grave.
"I owe her my life. So does Cammy."
The wake fell silent, Jenna's lips sealed as she wondered what she would say. After a few moments that felt like an eternity she took one more step forwards.

"Shadows fall, and hope has fled. Steel your heart, the dawn will come. The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky, for one day soon. The dawn will come." A soft melody, one she knew well came from her lips. "The shepard's lost. And his home is far. Keep to the stars, the dawn will come. The night is long, and the path is dark...

Look to the sky, for one day soon. The dawn will come. Bare your blade, and raise it high. Stand your ground, the dawn will come. The night is long, and the path is dark. Look to the sky. For one day soon. The dawn will come."

One or two other said their piece and Jenna filled the rest of the grave using the shovel. It was a few more minutes before she grabbed a bag from her her car and headed inside, finding her usual sleeping place in the bathtub and having to get up when Marcus needed the shower. Her dreams were quiet, no night terrors in sight.

For the first time in a few days Jenna had a shower herself when Marcus was done in the shower, the feeling of hot water against her skin soothing her while the room filled up with steam.
Brushing the condensation off of the bathroom mirror, her piercing blue eyes met her reflection and she placed a hand against her throat.
"Ragnarok. Richards. Darkseid. Dog. Devil. Darlings."

From there, she dried herself, brushed her teeth and got dressed, putting her old and now rather smelly t-shirt and bra in the bag and changing into a sleeved t-shirt and a bra she hoped wouldn't stab her when they were out scouting for a few place to live. Throwing the rest of her clothes on and wrapping up as warm as she could the girl headed downstairs, grabbing something small from the kitchen and seeing the sight of broken eggs on the floor.

She wasn't even going to ask, instead she went about the rest of her business as she made toast and put a pot of coffee on. Mug in hand, she made her way into the living room with Cammy at her side.

-
Ralph had found his usual place on the armchair, but lay awake for a few hours while he watched the door. After two hours passed by he got up and grabbed the rifle he'd taken from the hazmat soldier, placing it on his lap and just watching. The image of the hosts flooding into the lodge haunted him, keeping the man from sleep.

He heard a noise coming from upstairs and jumped from the chair, the rifle in his hands. Quietly, and with the gun pointed at the top step he moved upwards and towards the bathroom, gently pushing open the door to find it was just the large dog scratching to get out.
He sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Do you need the bathroom?" He asked, his voice a whisper so that he wouldn't wake Jenna.

He led the dog outside, keeping a lookout and could only sigh with frustration as she sniffed around for a solid five minutes to find a decent spot to do her business. She came up to Ralph, following him inside as the doctor closed the door and Cammy climbed the stairs up to the bathroom. He followed, just to make sure she wouldn't cause any trouble and gently closed the door as the dog rested up against Jenna.

Ralph fought back a smile and moved back to his spot where he eventually found sleep.

He awoke in the morning to the sound of Colt shouting and moved into the kitchen, rifle at the ready only to find she'd broken some eggs.
"Oh. Is everyone okay?" He asked

Interacting with:
BloodLightning27 Rumble Fish FireMaiden Soma Schicksal

 

[Rumble Fish]

​

Milly struggled to sleep the night before. She had not gone to Rogue’s funeral on the account of staying inside and playing battleships with Bethany. The pair played for a while and had fun while at it, before they had to go to sleep. The youngster felt less anxious as she was cuddled up with Leliana and Shiona, feeling safer between the pair along with having her bear. But the youngster was still disturbed by nightmares and she had cried for a good portion of the night, both from the nightmare but also for Rogue. She hadn’t known the girl very well, but Milly was still distraught from her death and it made her quite scared. She had lost a friend so quickly and with no warning. Would the same happen to the others? She could only pray that nothing would happen to them. They were grown-ups after all. Grown-ups knew what to do right?

Milly was jolted awake by a shout within the kitchen, making the youngster squeak worryingly and follow Leliana as she had seen the woman go downstairs, as well as Ralph. Thankfully, it seemed to just be Colt having trouble cooking some eggs. Still, Milly was a little shaken from the shouting. She stayed at the door before watching Lelia as she tended to Colt and then started cooking some eggs. The younger girl blinked a few times.

“Eggy-weggies~” She crooned to herself as she kicked her legs. She looked around before seeing Colt, practically inhaling the rag given to her by Leliana. Of course Milly did not know why the woman was doing that but she did not want to ask. “Those are chicken eggs. Colt, do you know what animal lays the biggest egg?” she asked the veteran, who did not answer at first from taking the alcohol from the rag. The colour seemed to have come back into her cheeks since she had started taking it. She paused and looked at Milly with a frown, not taking the rag from her mouth.

“Whit? A whale or somethin’ I dunno.” she grumbled behind it, not in the mood for this. She had gotten the fright of her life when Ralph appeared in the room wielding his rifle. And just as she had recovered from it, this kid was now talking to her. Still, she had to make an effort. Her answer seemed humorous as Milly giggled.

“No! Whales are mammals!” Milly was smiling slightly, a little surprised Colt (an adult) had gotten that wrong, “It’s ostriches.” This got a confused look from the veteran.

“Whales aren’t fish? Hm. Mind ya, was never good in school.”

“Nope, mammals, like people!”

“…How big’s one of them ostrich eggs then?”

“About the size of Michael’s head-” Milly covered her mouth in shock as soon as those words left her lips. Why did she say that? She shouldn’t have! Milly sat down, covering her face from worry, half expecting the veteran to get up and slap her.

Colt snorted behind her fist, very surprised by the kid’s statement, “Pfft- that’s a fuckin’ big egg.” She managed to get out. Milly looked through her fingers in surprise. The veteran was still shaking violently and seemed very distracted. What was wrong with her?

“So, that wasn’t a bad thing to say?” she asked the other adults in confusion. She thought saying things like that about people was horrible, but it had made Colt laugh, well, kind of. She played with Snowy and kicked her legs a little as she waited for everyone else to wake up.

Mentions:
Maj (Bethany) Hyped_Taco (Michael) The Mad Queen (Ralph) FireMaiden (Leliana)​

 

[Oslonaut]

S A R A H​

Freeman Medical Center

If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello. Paulo Coehlo

Escaping the hospital had, surprisingly, been easy enough. Sarah had to guess it was because the majority of the snappers had remained on the floor they’d been trapped on. Regardless, she had a feeling that would bode well for Owen as well. The further down he got, the further he would be from the horde that had amassed on the pharmacy floor and the grotesque abomination that led them. While many of her thoughts lingered on the nightmare that had desperately pursued her, however, the majority lingered on her conflicted feelings. They only flared up more when she exited out into the lot and saw her quad bike there, strapped with supplies and ready to go.


She had been beyond happy to see Owen again, of course. And that peaked when she learned that Andy was well, too. But she couldn’t help but feel like she was betraying her parents by wasting time to meet with their group. Sarah wasn’t here to survive. She was here to escape, and ensure that her parents weren’t caught in the crossfire of, well… whatever this was. Still, she struggled deeply to admit that to herself. A part of her felt like she was betraying them but not staying to help or protect them. She would feel worse, however, if she resigned her parents to the whims of fate. So pulling a small notebook out of the messenger bag strapped to the quad bike, Sarah decided to leave Owen a letter.


He’d find it on the quad bike’s seat, held down by a canteen with her initials on it that served its purpose as a paperweight. Taking nothing except the bag of supplies on her shoulder and her prized gun, Sarah had departed to find another means of travel as he quest to escape the boundaries of Aurora alive began.

[END OF SARAH'S CHAPTER]​

Owen,


I’m leaving to go find my parents. I hope you understand. I know trying to leave is dangerous, but I need you to trust me. And I’m begging you not to look for me. I left you the canteen you ‘found’ for me before we went out hunting as kids. When all of this blows over someday, I expect you to hand it back to me, alright? If I’m ever in town again, I’ll be sure to stop by. So be sure to leave me an inconspicuous trail of breadcrumbs if you guys move or I’m kicking your ass.


If what happened in there showed me anything, it’s that I’m much more of a liability that I thought I was. Especially with whatever’s going on in my head. But you’re strong. You’ve always been strong. And I have no doubt you’ll take care of yourself and Andy just fine. Just promise me one thing: you’ll always look out for each other, no matter what. I was never big on family until all this shit happened but now I can’t imagine losing it.


With love,


Sarah


PS: I have a feeling you’re gonna need much more than just a bat in the future. Learn how to use gun, idgit.

Interaction: Maj

Note: Nice meeting some of you! You're all great writers and I hope you guys continue having lots of fun RP'ing here. I've been incredibly busy after a big move, so I gotta say adios for now. Til next time!

 

[King Vioogra]

Jonas woke with what could only be described as a gasp as the still strange girl shook his shoulder. Sleep had been scare until the effects of his medication put him into an ultimately light sleep, noises from the infected outside making him shook awake every now and then. As the light shone through the glass panes of the store onto his pale face and even paler hair, a short sigh escaped him. He yawned quietly as he reached over to his backpack and gently removed his potted plant, laying it on the ground quietly before standing, gripping his staff in order to use it as leverage in his journey up to his full height. He trudged through the pharmacy in a tired shuffle to each of the new members of his group, holding the open bag out to each of them and mumbling quietly.

“Take whatever you think you may need. If we’re gonna be moving in a group this big, I’d rather not have anyone’s stomach growl or any of you to pass out.”

He spoke in between yawns before taking out a small breakfast bar and a bottle of water. For once in his life, over-packing led to a useful result. The teenager walked back over to where his Daylily and staff rested, slowly pouring about half the bottle into the soil the flower rested in before taking a sip from the bottle and screwing the cap back on and setting it in his backpack. After resituating what was left of his food supplies, he stood up quietly and stretched slowly, nearly every joint in his body popping; some with more effort than others. With a short look around, Jonas approached the Italian mobster casually, speaking with intent as he raised his hand to his mouth and yawned again.

“Where are we going? If it’s on the way I think there’s somewhere we should stop.”

He spoke in a generally flat tone as he adjusted his grip on his staff to around the center of it, giving it the appearance of a walking stick instead of the weapon it was. As he spoke, a small but almost desperate voice nagged at the back of his mind.

'What are you still doing here?! You should've left when you had the chance! And now what! You're giving away your food and where you've been living since this shit started?! Well aren't you just a fucking Saint? You're going to get yourself killed travelling in a group this big. Especially with the big one. That brute's gonna cause as much trouble as possible for all of you.'

It kept going on and on, making Jonas' ears ring as he sighed in annoyance, pressing his palm against his forehead and rubbing it around with a short grunt.

Interacted: Maj Brax TheTreForce @​

 

[King Vioogra]

Ivan

Ivan woke quickly to the sound of someone yelling “FUCKING-” in the kitchen. The Russian man was able to quickly piece together who it was and sighed quietly as he sat up on his pull out couch, stretching intensely as a grunt made its way up his throat. As the grunt was finally allowed an exit, Ivan’s attention was taken again by another round of swearing from the veteran. With another short sigh, he swung his legs off of the couch and started to stand. He was brought back down onto the piece of furniture when he was reminded about Leliana’s advice and sighed for the third time in the span of like a minute. He laid back down quietly, setting his hand over his face and groaned quietly, reaching over to one of the books he’d picked up the morning after they’d first arrived here. A small frown broke over his face as he realized how slowly time felt to be moving, Just a few days felt like months, it was weird.

“This leg needs to hurry up and heal so I can start helping again.”

It was only a few moments after he’d said it that he actually thought about what it meant. Had he actually been any help up to this point? Other than grab a bunch of random and relatively basic medical supplies from a burning school, what had he done to contribute? Cut down a tree? Get his knee fucked up and put himself out of commission for fuck knows how long? And not to forget the cuts he’d put on Leliana with that stupid can bomb of his. As the thoughts rolled in, Ivan’s head sunk lower, his fingers gripping his jet black locks as he inhaled sharply through his nose. It had only occurred to him once or twice before just how truly useless he’d been, and that was what drove him to stand up. A sharp pain shot through his leg and he eased off of it before lifting it completely off the ground and using his arm to balance himself as he half limped half hopped to the kitchen.

“Everything okay in here?”

The Russian asked quietly like he hadn’t just suffered from an existential crisis in the living room. He leaned against the door frame with a bright smile on his face, his bum knee lifted into the air like a cliche romance movie kiss scene.​

 

[Hyped_Taco]

​

Michael was suddenly woken up once more by the sunlight that hit him directly in the face ¨...Seriously, couldn´t they have put some effin windows on this camper?¨ the man complained as he had done the previous day. He then reluctantly proceeded to get out of the bed that had been given to him inside of the camper, the bed may be hard as a rock and difficult to fall asleep in, but damn was it hard to get out of it once you finally had gotten used to it. His ¨Roommate¨ Ryan, or was it Brian? well, the guy had already left the camper so Michael took advantage of this to change back into his normal outfit.

Once the neckbeard was done putting back his clothes he got out of the RV, only to then notice that he was late to the funeral of the redhaired girl, he quickly walked to the crowd gathered, the man hoped that they had not noticed his absence before. And as petty of a reason as it could be, he refused to say some words at the funeral due to him still being salty at the fact that she had taken his katana when they first meet.

After the funeral was over, the neckbeard entered the lodge and went to the kitchen to wait for somebody to make breakfast, he had considered cooking for the group today, but he was too lazy to do so. While waiting he saw how Colt dropped some eggs and yelled at them, it was… amusing to say the least, a little grin formed in Michael´s face, but the feeling was short-lived, as he heard some words that completely devastated him “About the size of Michael’s head-” Michael was not new to being insulted, hell he even enjoyed fighting other people online, but for some reason the words that Milly had said about his head completely devastated him, from everyone that was at the lodge he never imagined that the first to insult him would be the little girl. With a little tear that fell down his cheek, he told the girl ¨Hey that´s not nice!¨ Was this his punishment for eating her breakfast the day before?. He felt useless now, having even been insulted by a kid, he needed to contribute to the lodge now, the neckbeard saw that Colt was shaking, was it due to the eggs?.

The neckbeard put his hand on Colt´s shoulder and asked ¨Hey, so uhh... You need help or something?... M'lady¨

Interacted: Rumble Fish Milly and Colt
Mentioned: BloodLightning27 Brian

 

[FireMaiden]

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Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: Rumble Fish (Colt/Milly) Hyped_Taco (Micheal) Soma Schicksal (Marcus) The Mad Queen (Jenna/Ralph) King Vioogra (Ivan)
Mentioned/In The Area: Rumble Fish (Milly) Maj (Andy) BloodLightning27 (Shinoa/Brian) TheTreForce (Ray)
When Milly came in, and started talking to Colt, Leliana was paying attention to the way Colt sounded, while keeping her eyes on the eggs. She didn't sound confused, just a little exsaperated, with no slurring or any other signs of concussion audible present. That was good. Granted, hitting your own head on a refrigerator door, or counter top would probably warrnet a headache an nothing more with just the amount of force your own body could create, but the way everyone else managed to hurt themselves around here...Leliana wouldn't be surprised with she cracked her skull. Which she would be able to do very little about actully, let's hope Colt wasn't that unlucky. Anyway, Milly appeared to not be the only one who also heard Colt's shout, as Iavn also entered the kicthen. "I guess that's better than putting your weight on it. Anyway, nothing more than a little accident, everything's fine. Go sit, I'm making scrambled eggs," She told him, turn, also answering Ralph who she had been a little distracted by checking the coffee Jenna put to acknowledge at first. The kicthen was feeling a little crowed, but the more people that woke up, was more people who didn't die in their sleep or wandered off right? But they could go and be alive in the dining room.

As the eggs scrambled, Leliana though about who she was going to hand a plate. There were eight eggs left in the carton, which wasn't enough to seperate it up for, lets see, how many people were here? There was Colt, Ralph, Ivan, Milly, Marcus, Shinoa, Herself, Cammy the dog (though she could get something else), Ray, Micheal, Jenna, Brian, and Bethany. Defeintly not enough eggs. Well, Shinoa and Milly were going to get some, without a doubt. Micheal maybe, though Leliana was sure he ate dinner last night so he could probably skip. Marcus and Jenna should get some since they're going scouting, but Leliana wasn't sure if there would be enough for the thrid member of their party. The food the supply group brough back had a lot of granola bars, which would make up for not getting some scrambled eggs, and since they were already skipping out lunch unless someone was absolutely starving, this would be fine. That anxious bubble was still pooling there in the put of her stomach, but hey, not every was gonna get lucky, some people had more use than others. So, the girl grabbed a stack of plates, and began to divde breakfast among them. There were five plates with smallish servings, plus a serving that was a but bigger still in the pan for Shinoa. Leliana took two of plates and gave one to Colt and then one to Milly, before looking to Micheal. "You get a groanla bar this morning, I come back a find that any of the food is missing for the plate i don't take with me, or missing from that pan, I will have Colt string you up, and we can use you as bait. Got it?" The most distubung part of what Leliana just said, is the fact she said it with the sweetest smile you could imagine.

Taking two of the remaining plates, she handed one of them to Ivan. He was injured, and he needed real energy to get better faster, so giving him a plate made sense. Next, to the living room to give Jenna a plate. "You're going out with Marcus today right?" Leliana said, handing the plate to the older woman. "Make sure he doesn't do something stupid and get himself killed," Leliana said with a slight smile, before heading back to the kitchen to grab the last plate. That one was for Marcus, who she found after a minute. "Here." But instead of leaving right away, she opened her mouth to say something but hesitated. Should she actually talk to him about it? Her concerns didn't really seem like big of a deal in the long run, more space seems like a great idea but...no. She needs to talk to someone about, why not the person going out. "I uh, I wanted to talk to you. But maybe in private? Like, on the back porch or something? I don't wanna worry anybody, I've been told I can kinda infect people with it."

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly froze as she saw that Michael was at the door and had heard what she had said. The youngster covered her mouth in horror as it seemed to have upset him, she could see a tear coming down his face from her words. Milly squeaked as she felt stress raise up through to her head and tears started to form in shame. She hadn’t meant for it to be bad! It was true, an ostrich egg was about the size of a person’s head! Colt found it humorous, which was good… but Michael didn’t like it so that means what she said was bad? What was it? Good or bad?!

“I-I didn’t-! I-!” Milly was too upset to form words, as Leli placed a plate of eggs in front of her, she didn’t feel like she could eat it in her upset state, everything was out of sorts. She squeaked and pushed her eggs towards Michael, “I’m sorry,” she squeaked before grabbing her bear and running into the dining room, which was empty. The youngster sat in one of the chairs, pulling her knees to her chest and clinging to Snowy with a vice-like grip. She was trying to blink back tears that were rapidly flooding down her face. She was so confused. Was that the right thing to say or not? Someone laughed but then someone cried, which one was right? Everything was so mixed up that it was hard to figure out what she should have said or done. As she struggled to think, Milly hit herself several times on the head, internally scolding herself for being so stupid.

It was moments like this where Milly wanted her mother more than ever; she always had the answers she looked for. She always knew what was right. But she wasn’t here. Instead, she was here with a bunch of… people. Milly sighed and rested her nose on the top of Snowy’s head. She shut her eyes as her mind started to drift years back. Back to when she was at school. She remembered the bullies, the good-intending yet often oblivious teachers and the general misery it caused. It was shortly after her father had left, something the other girls at school seemed to find worth mocking, alongside Milly’s tendency to sit away from others and read rather than play and that she had Snowy with her in her back-pack. The only good things she remembered about the teachers was one of them, Ms Honey who would allow her to take Snowy out and hold her when stressed out or tired. However, it was that kindness that led to Milly’s next memory, one she hated revisiting.
*
Milly tried to move away before they saw her, the group of older girls who always seemed to be wherever she went, ready for her. Her little pigtails flicking behind her as she moved around the corner, into the playground and hopefully safety.

“Hey! Squeaky!” A voice jeered behind her, making Milly jump and turn around, to see the three girls approaching her. They were all bigger and older than her, causing Milly to shrink.
“Um, Penny I-Um-uh-”
“Um, uh, what? Wow, what a baby, I bet she still wears diapers!”
“No I don’t!” Milly yowled, Penny had been with her in kindergarten where, yes, despite being a little too old for them, she still wore them. A nervous toddler had less control over her bladder than a normal one. But this was second grade! She was seven! Why did she still think she wore them? The other girls laughed moronically, like goons Milly had seen in Sleeping Beauty, who laughed at what Maleficent laughed at.

“If you’re not a baby, why do you still carry a teddy?" And with that, one of the girls grabbed Milly and stopped her from resisting as she pulled Snowy from her backpack. Seeing her teddy being thrown around and taken away caused Milly to break out in tears, she needed it!
“Give her back! She’s mine!” Milly howled, only making the girls laugh harder.
“No! You’re a stupid, annoying baby!” Penny mocked her, holding the bear just out of Milly’s reach. At this point, the younger girl was desperate and could barely control what she said next. If Penny could say things like that and have it be okay, surely she could do the same thing! It always made Milly back down, so maybe it’d do the same here!

“Well… You’re fat and a bully! And… if you read a book just once you wouldn’t be so bad at spelling!” As those words left her mouth, Milly covered her mouth in shock. Penny stopped laughing instantly. And after throwing Snowy harshly into a muddy puddle, she lunged at Milly, knocking her back onto the ground and hitting her head as she did…
*

And that’s where it ended. Milly could only remember waking up when Miss Honey was carrying her inside, on the phone to the hospital. The girl sighed and put her head on the table, still holding onto Snowy tightly. She did not want to remember her time in the hospital, it was horrible. The lights, the smells, all the noise and unfamiliar people scared her. The only thing that kept her going was her mother and Miss Honey.

That woman was a gosh-send. Milly wished she knew where she was now, and if she was okay. While she was in the hospital, the teacher would visit often and would always bring baked goodies such as brownies, cookies and (Milly’s favourite) millionaire shortcake. She would always heat the shortcake up before serving it so the chocolate melted, which always made it nicer, alongside vanilla ice cream. And even when she was allowed home, she still visited. But one day… she just stopped coming. And Milly didn’t know why. If only she knew where she was now.

All Milly could do was just hope that saying something like that to Michael wasn’t going to end up with her reliving that. The thought of being hurt or beaten for not understanding was scary. Maybe it wouldn’t happen if she didn’t approach anyone. Yeah, that was an idea. She just wouldn’t talk to anyone. That way nobody would get hurt. She had wanted to find Beth this morning, having enjoyed their time last night but now she was not sure anymore. What if she said something to hurt her too?

Interaction: Hyped_Taco (Michael)
Mentions: FireMaiden (Leliana) Maj (Beth)​