Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge Front Yard
Interaction: Rumble Fish (Colt)
Mentioned/In The Area: King Vioogra (Ivan) The Mad Queen (Jenna) Togy (Nile)
Colt called out for everyone coming with her to head outside, a little sooner than Leliana expected. Or maybe she just wasn't paying attention to the time, she had been eating breakfast and making a few last preparations. Anyway, she got up from the dining room table, quickly putting her plate away in the sink, before heading outside. Leliana was the first one out, the others tricking out as they pleased, and once everyone was out Colt quickly explained their plan, and then asked if anyone had any questions. "Is getting mattresses from your apartment building the fastest option?" The blonde asked, "We could go to Moe's, I use to work there, I know which rooms are the cleaned I still have my keys we can get into the supply closets. Plus it's not as noisy. And there's gonna be food stored there, not much because most If it's in the vending machines and break room." She explained. The mattresses would be fairly easy to get, and they had more than enough. "Of course... the ground Floor of your apartment building would work, but not all If those doors are gonna be unlocked, and would the front desk has the keys? Breaking down the doors would make a lot of noise, and I know we don't want a lot of noise, those things are attracted by it."

 

[King Vioogra]

Ivan & Colt

Ivan got up off the couch in response to Colt’s yelling for the one’s going on the run to group up, a short sigh escaping him as he gave a nod to Leli and spoke softly. “Call to arms.” The Russian adjusted the M4 on his shoulder and the bag on his back as he made his way to the door. He opened it and stepped out into the cold for long enough to hear Colt’s briefing. A shudder ran through him as he heard her explanation of the events. He cleared his throat noisily before piping up. “No offense to your thought process, but I think that’s a horrible idea.” Ivan said as he went down the steps closer to the group. “We won’t make it 5 minutes in the city without getting swamped if we go in that truck. I say, we go for the mattresses first and then ditch the truck until we leave the city. Like I said earlier, we should split up and go separate ways so we can finish the run up sooner. Hell, if communication is what you’re worried about we can use the radios I fixed up.” Ivan said in a tone that could easily be taken as condescending, even though that was in no way his intention.

Colt’s eyes widened at the Russian’s reponse and instantly bristled. A horrible idea? “What the fuck do you suggest then? We fuckin’ carry them!?” She snapped, only to be stopped as he then mentioned the same thing as before about splitting up. Baring her teeth, she was already holding her tongue from Nile’s question.

“...Okay. If yer so fucking eager to tell me what to do, at least give me a fuckin’ explaination as to why we should split!”

Ivan rolled his eyes as soon as she started yelling, waiting for her to finish her mini-rant before he continued. “It’s been established that the infected are drawn to noise, so driving the truck through the city is already a bad idea. If you remember correctly we got swarmed in a hunting shop because I broke a bottle, what do you think a car engine will bring. On to my second point, splitting up. It’s a good idea because we can go to different points of interest in order to get what we need faster, along with making less of a presence out there.”

“And yer fuckin’ lucky I’m even bringin’ you after that lil stunt!” The woman growled quietly with her arms folded, staring hard into the man. It was not so much what he was saying that was angering the woman, it was his tone. That condescending tone that apparently everybody felt the need to talk to her in. Aside from a few of course.

“Don’ bow up on me, boy.” She snarled, again, quietly. If he had just explained it like a normal human being, she would have reacted differently. “...Fine. FINE!” She threw her arms up and turned to face away for a second to contain herself. This was already falling apart.

“Fine… Change of plan. Nile, yer with me and Leliana. Jenna, yer with Ivan. We’ll discuss where we’re goin’ on the way.” She turned back to Ivan, still frowning, “No. Bullshit. Y’hear me?”

A sigh of relief escaped the Russian as she reluctantly agreed as he looked down at the snow before looking back up at her. “Thank you, and I’m sorry if I got a bit… intense. I’ve only got everyone’s best interest in mind.” He said as he shuffled over to the truck and set his bag and rifle in the bed, looking back and speaking quickly before turning to head into the lodge. “I’ll go grab the radios.”

“Hm. And y’think I don’t?” she growled at the back of his head, still furious at his abstinence. It wasn’t even her plan. It was Luca’s. But it seemed all she was to them was a scapegoat. Great. As he went inside, she turned to Leliana as she spoke up, asking her about Moe’s. The veteran’s eyes widened at the mention of that place, the image of the doomed hazmat flashing with every blink. It took several seconds of stuttering for her to form her answer.

“Eh-Uh, yeah. Th-that makes sense.” She coughed into her fist in an attempt to save face. “Heh, dunno why I’m even botherin’, ya’ll seem to got yer bases covered.” She added with a painfully strained smirk, though her gaze gave everything away. They hadn’t even left the lodge and she was already losing it. Great. She turned to the truck and started inspecting its tires, she had checked them before but maybe it was worth another one?

“While yer in there, maybe tell Luca how ‘horrible’ his plan was, ay?!” she shouted at Ivan’s retreating back before turning to the truck again, “If we’re done ‘ere, get in. We’re losing daylight.” she instructed the others.

“Now that you mention it’s his plan, maybe I will.” The Russian shouted back to Colt before closing the door behind him and walking towards the kitchen where the radios were charging.​

 

[The Mad Queen]

Jenna O'Connor: The Lodge​

Thank God for that. Jenna didn't think she could have taken another day cooked up in the lodge, not after the coffee incident, not with a new baby in the home and not with Colt going on a run. Their lessons over the past few days, combined with setting up pikes for a siege she saw as pretty inevitable had given her calm, kept her occupied. Anything to keep her mind focused away from Doris, Rogue and of course, of home.
If the internet knew she was in Aurora, she wondered if the Fascists had spun a story about her in the cover-up. Was she assumed dead, like most of the population or had there been a total media blackout of events in and out of the city? Did anyone on the outside even have a vague idea as to what was going on? She could picture it now, a tired looking General sitting in a board room with other personnel whispering about quiet plans of cleansing a town, about how the mercenaries and Brian would be the fall guys if the word got out.

The very image left her sick and almost trembling with anger. She wasn't sure what the exact population of the city was, but she'd try to make sure all of their names were put out there if she got out; no, if she got out.
"You got it, Sarge." She gave Colt a smile and started gathering supplies for the trip out "Cammy, salute."
The German Shepard tilted her head to the side, looking up at the streamer.
"Still figuring out what tricks she knows." Jenna sighed "Smart dog. I'd reckon she might have been a police dog in training or something."

Jenna moved towards the piece of crap rental and went through her rucksack. If something happened she didn't want to risk her meds, so she took them out of the back and placed them into her smaller backpack which she safely stored under the car's front seat. A few other things were stashed in there too, like her phone, it's charger and some other valuables like her makeup and other things she used to look good.

One thing was far more important than the others, but some of the beauty products carried their own value. She'd used the same brand of primer since she was sixteen, the same type of hair dye since she was six months into her medical process.
She went for the duffel next, taking out a handgun. Even though it had been stashed with other weapons she made a habit of checking the safety was on before loading the weapon.
Twelve shots. If things got hairy she'd have to make each one of them count.

She went over the list of what she was taking one more time in her head. Rucksack, check. Pistol with twelve shots, check. Handaxe, check. Dog...
Cammy just stared up at her.
"Check." She smiled, stroking under her chin. The dog followed Jenna as she leaned back against the truck, arms folded and listening to the others. It wasn't long before the topic of Moe's came up.
She hadn't liked the look of place and if it wasn't for Doris, Jenna would have probably found somewhere to stay outside of town. Shady things went down there, but the same could be said for other motels. It wasn't like she was staying in luxury accommodation during her tour anyway but she at least tried to avoid places that screamed that she would die a painful death there.

"I don't like the idea of breaking down doors either, and I know that at least a few of the rooms at Moe's are clear." She added "Room I stayed in, and a few of the ones neighbouring it were empty of biters."
The term zombie still sounded unnatural on her tongue.

She found herself holding back once more when Colt and Ivan had their discussion but opened her mouth, wanting to protest when the teams were announced. In the time she'd been at the lodge she hadn't even spoken to Ivan, but he seemed nice enough. An unfortunate victim in the coffee incident, but despite having Michael land on him he came away without a scratch.
She'd promised Colt there would be no bullshit between her and Leliana during the run, and Jenna was a woman of her word but could she say the same for the nurse?
A run was a mission into hostile territory, surrounded by walking corpses on one end and Nazis on the other in a city that had gone to shit. Even if the two didn't get on and weren't going to get on by any means it didn't matter. What mattered now was keeping their heads down and getting on with it.
If she saw things the same way then there wouldn't be a problem.

Jenna climbed inside of the truck, and Cammy jumped onto her lap while the girl fastened her seatbelt.
"You heard the woman." She called to the others "Get in."

Interactions/Nearby: Rumble Fish (Colt), King Vioogra (Ivan) FireMaiden (Leliana) Togy (Nile)
Mentioned BloodThunder27 (Brian) Hyped_Taco (Michael)

 

[Togy]

Looking up from where he was leaned against the wall toying with his Glock, he listened to what Colt had to say. Stuffing his Glock back in his pants, and yes, it's his now, he asked the only question that came to mind. "Can I drive?" Nile asked Colt while raising his hand.

"...Best I drive. I know where I'm goin'." The veteran responded, her hands in her pockets with an eye dart.

"Fuck. Well I call shotgun then" Nile said as he went back to leaning against the wall. He hummed silently watched as Colt and Ivan went at it for no reason before he perked u[p to hear they were splitting up. "Alright, that's fine, but who the hell's this Lillian chick?" Nile asked, confused due to the fact he barely knew anyone's name at the lodge. He only calls Colt random nicknames cause' he didn't actually know her name because he rarely, if ever, listened to what she had to say. It was a god given miracle he was listening to her right now.

After his question about who the fuck Leliana was went unanswered, he shrugged it off and headed to the pickup-son of a bitch. Sitting in the shotgun seat, the one he just called, was J something. 'What the hell!? I just called that seat!" Nile said in frustration.

The girl just glared back at him, the dog wagging her tail at the sight of a potential new friend. "I don't seem to recall you calling a damn thing, Nile." She gave him a light shrug

"I fucking yelled it! Hi Cammy" Nile said, mumbling the last part as he offhandedly scratched the top of Cammy's head.

The dog graciously accepted the pat, leaning her head forwards as she offered one of her ears up to him for more. Jenna just blinked several times as she stared him down. "Nile." She smiled, resting her head and arms out of the door "Let me make this quite simple..." Her smile faded, going back to the glare "Nobody cares. Only manchildren and people under the age of sixteen actually give a damn about those makebelieve rules. I certainly couldn't give less of a shit." She faced the front, squeezing the ridge of her nose. One of the reasons she wanted to go on a run was to escape the idiocy of the lodge.

"And stoners. You left that part out" Nile said, hopping onto the truck bed and leaning against the cab as he sat down. "Look, if you call shotgun, you get shotgun. It's like, the rule of the universe" Nile said, continuing on the conversation for no reason. "Kind of a dick move, or, in your case, pussy move to take shotgun when someone else called it" Nile said.

"Pussy move?" Jenna snorted "That's a new one." She turned to face him once more, her face tired from just listening to Nile "So for starters, I didn't hear you call anything and even if I did I go by my own rule of the universe; Professor Hawking. It's quite simple so listen in and try not to let short attention span drift off." She cleared her throat. "I only listen to and follow the people I respect. People I just meet are in the middle as they've yet to prove themselves either way. But you..." She pointed at his chest "You're not on that list. Between spilling criminal activity to everyone you meet, setting fire to coffee and thinking the make-believe rules of shotgun are up there with fucking gravity...It'll take a lot to put you up there."

"Like I'd wanna be up there-Do you know when we're leaving?" Nile asked, getting tired of talking to Jeena.

"Whenever Ivan gets back with those radios." She shrugged, facing front once more "For the record..." She sighed "I don't hold drug use against you, so long as you were just taking the stuff instead of handing it out to others. But spilling it out there like an icebreaker, and on top of that the fact that you're on the run...It's stupid. Some people won't take that shit lightly." She glared into his eyes once more "Keep it to yourself from now on."

"Sure, yeah. Why do you care again?" Nile asked, leaning further against the truck cag with his arms crossed.

"Because." Jenna shrugged "I-It doesn't matter. I just do." Her glare turned into a slight smile once more "You know, and this is probably going to be one of the dumbest things I've said but; you could think about this as a second chance. You broke out of prison when your bus hit one of those things. People will think you're dead. When you get out of this hellscape of a city you could go to Mexico or something and start over. So long as you can keep your trap shut and just do your architecture stuff you could actually live quite comfortably."

"That's what I planned on. But you know, I was only going to get like 3 years max, now I've got the death sentence cause those, whaddya call em', hazzies, right? are out for blood" Nile said.

"Yeah, I'd rather have gone to prison for the three years." She leaned back in the seat "I'd even go to a male prison over this bollocks."

"Bollocks? When the hell were you British?" Nile asked.

"Born and bred just outside Manchester. I just don't have an accent anymore."

"Huh. The more you know" Nile said.

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt) The Mad Queen (Jenna)​

 

[BloodThunder27]

Brian Rousseau
Age: 36
Location: Lodge >>> Living Room >>> Kitchen

Although he did not say it out loud, Brian did have some trouble coping with Marcus' disappearance. More people had shown up, yet they haven't found a new place yet to seek refuge. At the same time, Brian also was more inclined to find an escape route where the Hazmats nor the infected would be able to follow. When he looked out the camper, he saw that a couple of people were heading out. With that many people, he could only assume that it was going to be a supply run. Not only were there more people, but there was a newborn child as well. As many of his co-workers who had retired were parents, Brian could only imagine how that was going to go at the lodge, especially with the infected. A crying infant was definitely going to attract the attention. At the same time, most of the people there knew how to use a gun, so hopefully they'd be able to hold down the fort if it came down to it. At the very least, hopefully there was some form of hearing protection for the baby, since guns were often very loud, not that Brian himself often wore the hearing protection because his adversaries would really give him time to do so, let alone it would be a hindrance on the field.

Walking into the Kitchen, he saw Andy coming back inside. If anything, he assumed that she was talking to Colt about the group that he saw outside. While he wasn't going to go on this next supply run, assuming that was what they were going to do, Brian figured that he could go on the next one. Quietly, he approached Andy. "Excuse me, Andy? I know this isn't the best time, but...can we talk, in private?" He asked, adjusting his tie and straightening out his jacket.

Maj

 

[Hyped_Taco]

(This whole post is basically a flashback)​

Wow...just wow. The whole ¨fighting¨ with Tre´s operation didn´t just seem bad, no, it was a whole fucking disaster. Michael had lost his chill after a commentary of his uh… over-sized and possibly smelly chest muscles. Plus he had just fallen on top of that Russian guy, and if seeing Russians on the internet had taught Michael anything at all, it was that they were some vodka driven crazy communist fuckers, but the man didn't seem to react at all… did he just fucking kill the guy?!.

Luckily, the Russian wasn't dead, and as much as the neckbeard wanted to just get back to the RV he couldn´t get out until Luca´s plan had been fulfilled. Due to Cletus burning down the coffee the Alabamian managed to get the red-head out of her room, after seeing what Michael and Tre had done she threatened them while putting up her knife, and then returned to her room, just to then realize she was locked out.

¨Well so… Mission accomplished, see ya later¨ The neckbeard said moments before Leliana told him to fuck off ¨Uh-Of course M´la- I mean lady Leliana, I was just getting out¨.

He was only able to take about 2 steps before Jenna scolded him as well ¨y-Yes M´lady! My queen, I´m very ashamed of the act I just committed and will not repeat¨ Jenna then proceded to insult him and his companions, which just broke Michael´s heart in half. He then proceeded to shamefully walk back to his bed inside the rv, sadder than he had ever been this past few days due to having offended his favorite streamer
---
---
Hours passed by, yet the neckbeard could not sleep. Had he really offended Jenna that much? Jesus, why had he even agreed to this plan?... oh right, Luca was scary as shit from what he had been told till now.

The neckbeard checked the hour and saw that it was nearly 5 in the morning. Michael was bored, very Very bored. He could probably get out of the vehicle and have a walk, but he was too afraid of the darkness outside to even consider leaving the safety of the RV. So, he did the only thing that passed through his mind, and that was to look out the window.

A few minutes passed and there seemed to be no movement outside. But just before the neckbeard tried to go to sleep once more, two people stepped outside the lodge.

He saw the red-haired girl from before, he hadn´t had the opportunity to look at her before, but now that he did he saw that she was kinda cute. But alongside her was Luca, and both of them began to talk. He saw how Luca put his hand alongside her face, and the neckbeard felt jealous ¨Damn, I wish that was me¨. He couldn´t bear to keep looking at them, so Michael angrily decided to sleep once more.

Mention: Brax Luca Maj Andy
Interacted: FireMaiden Leli The Mad Queen Jenna

 

[Hyped_Taco]

(This isn´t a flashback lmao)​

Just as it had done every single day he had been on this lodge, a single ray of sunshine had managed to hit him right on his face, yet he did not rage this time about it, he had gotten used to it by now. And as he did every morning after waking up, he got dressed in the same clothes he used every day. With his jeans, trench coat and fedora all in place, he opened the doors of the RV and finally stepped outside.

A few days had passed from the coffee incident, yet Michael still felt embarrassed from it due to what Jenna had told him, Jesus, there probably was a way to be redeemed on her eyes, but how?.

But right now was no time to think about it at all, now it was time for breakfast, and the Neckbeard was hungry.

He stepped inside the lodge and saw that for breakfast there were some eggs. As sneakily as he could he approached the kitchen and grabbed 2 full plates. Michael sat down in the table and began to eat them as fast as he could.

Mentioned: The Mad Queen Jenna
Interacted: No one in particular

 

[Hyped_Taco]

(50% Flashback, 50% not flashback)​

Moments after Andy finally entered her room, Cletus considered his task as accomplished, but of course, possibly having awoken everyone inside the lodge at 3 in the morning wasn´t gonna be taken gently by the rest of… well, everyone that didn´t participate in the prank. The first one to come was Leliana, one of the girls that he had met while hunting; she promptly told him to basically kill himself ¨Sure blondie, next time I´ll just go ask y'all's friend andy ta shot me as well right?¨ the redneck responded back to her.

Moments later Leliana seemed to ask some questions to the poor guy that Michael had just fallen on top of, Cletus felt kind of sorry for him, seeing that he was basically the only person injured in this stunt. The redneck was preparing to leave back to his RV, or well he was until a purpled haired girl came down the stairs and threatened the junkie with an ax into giving her information ¨...Damn¨ he said under his breath, seeing as she had just ruined a perfectly good sofa. The junkie quickly gave her a quick summary of what had just happened, and after he was done, she turned towards Cletus to ask why he had just put the coffee bag on fire, plus something about his haircut ¨Yeah so y'all's leader Luca asked me ta do it ta annoy andy… ayn' well, I did¨. After that was done she insulted the group once or twice again before she returned to her room ¨...Asshole¨ Cletus said to himself before exiting the Lodge.
--
--
He shouldn´t have drunk the coffee the junkie had made, not only had it tasted like shit but now it didn´t let him sleep as well. The redneck checked his clock and say that it was 5 am, with nothing else to do, he checked the window and saw that Andy was outside. He still had not completely forgiven what she had done, so he gave her the middle finger before she looked at his vehicle. After that, he returned to bed to try and sleep once more.
--
--
A few days passed since the prank they did, yet Cletus had not stepped outside his RV even once, what reasons did he even have to get out? he had food and water in there, plus due to what he did to the coffee the redneck was pretty sure some of the people inside would still be pissed about it.

Unfortunately, he had already eaten what was left of his last soup can last night, so now he needed to get out.

Cletus opened the door and headed towards the lodge; once the Redneck got inside he was able to recognize the smell of eggs, one of his favorite breakfast back on his farm. But before he was able to grab a plate he saw how Michael grabbed 2 plates ¨Son of a bitch...¨ he said before exiting the lodge again. The redneck saw Colt getting inside a car, and since he didn´t know where Luca was he decided to complain with her ¨Hey, you´re a leader aw something right? well that fat fuk over there done ate the 2 last plates of eggs!¨

Mentioned: Brax Luca Maj Andy Togy Nyle
Interacted: FireMaiden Leli The Mad Queen Jenna

 

[TheTreForce]

Luca and Warren
​

​

Warren pushed the door open and stepped into the structure in progress. There stood the Italian, Luca, fixated on a woodcutting machine. He hadn’t talked to Luca since arriving at the lodge and had nothing else going on so here the man stood, a cold beer in each hand. He scanned the work in progress around him as he steadily approached the table. One of the beers was set on the wood dusted surface and popped open before being slid across to Luca’s side. Warren popped his own drink’s cap off before speaking up, “Name’s Luca, correct?” He took a sip and brought the bottle back down to his waist’; a faint smoke still emanated from the freshly opened beverages.

The last log was pushed through the cutter, plans spilling over to the side and onto the floor as Warren made his way inside. Luca heard the door open but took an extra second to look back as he guided the rest of the planks on the table onto the floor. It was at that moment that the beer came sliding across the table, prompting him to employ some of those quick reflexes to catch it. When he looked up to see who the supplier was, he found the man who had been looking after Tre. The Italian wasn’t surprised as Warren had been working hard to build the barracks like most of them.

Luca tipped the bottle slightly in Warren’s direction before taking a sip. He placed the bottle back down onto the table before turning off the cutter. Then he removed a cigarette from his pack. The Italian took a moment to place one in his mouth, lighting it before dropping the rest onto the table along with the lighter, in the case that he wanted to take a smoke. Warren had gone out of his way to offer Luca an olive branch, so he attempted to do the same with this action. In comparison, the man that stood before the ex-capo was a much larger specimen. He had muscle on him as well as height. Owen was a great indicator of the perfect middle ground between the two men, which instantaneously set off a light bulb in the smaller man’s head.



“Luca Brasi. I was a Capo for La Cosa Nostra just a month ago. Though, I doubt the family exists anymore. You knew Tre’s father, right?” Luca asked, ready to speak with Warren on the matter of his incarceration and previous experience with the man.

Warren glanced at the cigarette pack that plopped onto the table but turned his attention back to Luca, uninterested. "Yeah, I've heard of you.. I was close with Tre's father.. Before he passed, he had me swear to look after the twerp if it came down to it." He rubbed his thumb and index finger together as he gave his next words some thought, "I don't generally like being responsible for anybody, but Tre is self sufficient. I don't have to worry about that one.. must run in the family.." The precipitating bottle met the man's lips and he took a good three gulps before letting out a refreshing exhale, "What's your connection to Tre and his father?"

“Dominique was born into a bad situation. I mean - we’re all in the same boat now, so I guess the same could be said for all of us. Don was a few years older than me, I first met him as a teen while still working in a deli shop. By now, it must have been fifteen years ago. We went to the same middle school, he dropped out to get a job. His mother was never really in good shape and couldn’t afford shit for herself. No dad. When I dropped out of high school, I started pulling petty crimes for the family. It was my way in. Then I started routinely making hits on people for LCN. Around this time, Donald lost his job but he was close with my cousin Guiseppe, who vouched for him at that time.” Luca took a sip off the beer, placing it back down on the table before placing the cigarette back into his mouth. He took another drag.

“Anyway, I told Don that i’d give him a job if he could manage to hit me in a fist fight.” Luca looked up at Warren with a genuine smirk, smoke erupting from his lips and nostrils momentarily in his pause. “He beat my ass so bad I was limping for an entire week. So, I had to hire him.” The Italian sniffed, moving a finger up to his nose to absentmindedly wipe it.

“Don did the most. Any job I threw at him he gladly took. When it became obvious that Dominique’s dad was the type of man that got shit done, I moved him into my own personal detail. He was so intelligent. Always knew the right answer. I’ve spent a lot of nights wondering if he came walking into my life much to my relief, not the other way around. He claimed otherwise, always. You know how Don was.” As he spoke, Luca found himself beginning to choke up slightly. However, he was able to catch himself and fight back tears.

“I loved that man. When Tre was born, I was happy for him. I thought Tre would bring him relief. But then his nightwalker mother left, and Donald felt like he had to accumulate money as fast as possible before he died.”

Luca paused, raising a hand and chuckling. “She was a prostitute. There weren’t zombies then.” He continued on after another drag of his cigarette.

“Tre’s dad started selling drugs on the side of his work with me. Established a network, had people underneath him on the streets claiming territory for the family. Then, one of them got roped and turned around on him. I told that motherfucker not to flip H, and he did exactly that. They tacked manslaughter on and locked him up, where he met you. Same day I had Tre picked up. I took care of him for years until he found his mother and moved back in with her. Tre’s real name is Dominique Barley the third. We called him Tre for short, also because I didn’t want to doom him to the same future that I had built out for myself. I felt that if people kept his real name off of the streets, it might be his saving grace one day.” Luca sniffed once more, putting the cigarette out in a makeshift ashtray made out of slightly-bent metal.

“What memories do you have? Of Don.”

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part one of a collab between FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Ivan
Leliana
Jenna
Nile
Cletus

Colt took a few moments to contain herself as Ivan went inside and she heard Nile and Jenna arguing about something. Maybe she should just make Ivan in charge, since he seemed to think highly enough of himself to talk down to her like that. The one thing keeping her from committing to that idea was the knowledge that, despite his senses, the man was an idiot. She had left Jenna with the Russian purely on the knowledge that Jenna had the sense to keep him in check. Not to mention, it was better for Nile to be supervised by two rather than one. She did not know or trust the man and he was unpredictable. “Ivan! Get yer ass out ‘ere!” She shouted into the Lodge before speaking lower,

“Everyone in.” she ordered the rest before taking her place in the driver’s seat. Despite having drunk a fair bit before meeting everyone, she was lucid enough to drive. Besides,, who was going to stop her? Law meant nothing now. Nothing meant anything now. She drummed her fingers against the steering wheel with a quiet growl of impatience. She did not want a repeat of their last run. One day. That was the amount of time they had; no more. She turned to Jenna in the passenger seat, wanting to say something. Anything that could be encouraging. But there was nothing.

Ivan could hear Colt yelling from the truck as he grabbed the radios and sighed quietly, rubbing his temples. "Почему она так кричит?" He said in a quiet, remorseful tone before jogging back out of the lodge and hopped into the bed of the truck, slapping the side of it once he was in. He carried two radios with him for the two groups, sliding the truck's back window open and sticking his arm through. He waited for either Colt or Leliana to grab it before pulling his arm back out and leaned against the glass.

"Sup, Stalin?" Nile greeted Ivan offhandedly.

Leliana sighed softly upon realizing Jenna was going. That girl seemed to have something against her, and she knew, that would be an issue despite the situation at hand. Anyway, Leliana couldn't do anything about now, and simply followed the others to the truck, climbing in the backseat, ignoring the brief altercation between Jenna and who she was assuming was...actually she had no idea who he was, probably the Nile person she was being paired with. They trusted him enough to send him out, he must not have been too bad. Being paired with those two meant she was going to be helping them get mattresses and whatever else Luca wanted, but it also meant that her goals for this run would be put on hold. Of course, Colt would at least listen to her suggestions, and maybe even really consider them, which made her feel better. And despite his slightly erratic, and frankly immature behaviour, the "leaders" seemed to trust this Nile guy enough to send him out. When a hand put a radio through the back window, Leliana took it, her eyes lingering on Ivan for a moment, wondering if he was okay, but she couldn't exactly ask at the moment. "So uh, unless there's someone else coming, I guess we're all here?"​

"Not yet. Cletus better get his ass out 'ere..." While Colt waited for the lingering party member, Cletus, to join them, she sat in the front seat, slumped back with her hands folded across her stomach as she thought again and again over what the next course of action would be for the group. Six people splitting into two groups made sense, but not everyone could work in a team; she knew that for sure. Jenna did not know Ivan or Cletus well but she did not know what else to do. She couldn’t risk having the two women together, despite Jenna’s promise to hold her tongue, Colt could not afford to attempt it. If any tension rose between them for any reason, it would resonate through the whole group and cause an extreme unbalance. Keeping them apart would ease it. However, this did not mean that Colt would be neglecting Jenna. She would ensure the streamer was well equipped and instructed. As Colt thought, she was jerked back into reality when her stomach growled though it was more that she felt it under her hands than heard it. She managed to keep her expression even bar an eye dart before fishing into her pocket for one of the granola bars she had packed and ate it slowly, not looking at anyone as she did.

Where was that redneck? As she was just thinking this, the aforementioned man ran over, going on about something to do with a fat man eating eggs. What did that have to do with going on this damn run? Though the mention of eggs made her stomach rumble again, causing the vet to clench her teeth. "Andy 'r Luca'll deal with it. Get in!" She spoke sharply. Michael's idiocy wasn't a concern of hers. Not now. "Ya'll had an hour t'git ready!" Once the redneck was in the truck, Colt sighed gruffly before turning on the ignition and slowly guiding the truck away from the lodge. As they trundled slowly away, she placed on her sunglasses. Light was streaking through, aggravating her already untrustworthy vision. All she could hope was that this would not take long and people would actually listen to her.​

Mentions: Maj (Andy) Brax (Luca)​

 

[Maj]

​

Aderyn took a step beyond the door, closing it behind her, and moving to take a seat at the foot of the bed. Over the past few days, she had become much more comfortable at the lodge, especially around a few of the adults she was growing to trust.

Progress was progress.

“Sorry, I know it’s like - uh, five in the morning, I think.” She unclipped the water bottle from her belt, taking a long drink, and set it on the floor beside the bed. The girl’s face was flushed, hair sticking to her sweaty brow, and she fidgeted with the hem of her sweater. “Couldn’t sleep, I guess.” She looked at Owen, face setting into a grim, forced smile. It fell away quickly. “You’re looking.. Better.”

“Thanks,” The male offered through a yawn. “Even your cousin can’t ruin this pretty face forever.” He wasn’t sure what the young girl’s fascination was with him, but she kept coming around. Not that Owen minded all that much, she was sweet enough, even if she was a little skittish. Owen never pretended to be the sharpest tool in the shed - but even he wasn’t able to ignore how she always kept her distance from people. When they moved, she moved, eyes always on the nearest exit.

“I don’t blame you for not being able to sleep, It’s way too crowded in this place. The sooner we get the bunks finished, the better.” It was crazy how things he had his whole life now seemed like a luxury. Having a bed to yourself for instance, was something he missed dearly. Not that Hector was the worst roommate, he could be stuck with Michael. But between the Latino man coming to bed at odd hours and the addition of the child genius as a bunk-mate, sleep hadn’t been coming easily to him either.

“What’s up buttercup?” Owen asked Aderyn, flashing her a smile. “Have you been able to find some breakfast yet?”

“I don’t mind the lack of space - I’ve slept in worse before. Milly’s taken up residence in the cupboard with me, though.” Her nose wrinkled, and she looked up at him, anxiety tainting her features for a moment. “Not - not that I mind, I just don’t know how to talk to her, I don’t know. I don’t get her.”

“I just always feel like I’m being mean.”

Contemplating his question, she brightened up, abandoning her previous train of thought. “I haven’t ate anything yet. We could go make food, though?”

Owen chuckled, coming to his feet and stretched his spine coming up on his toes. Reaching over to grab the discarded shirt he had been wearing the day before, he sniffed it before shrugging and pulling it on. Since the lodge had started trying to conserve electricity they had tried to do less laundry, so if the clothes weren’t disgusting, you wore them again.

“Milly is definitely a gentle little soul.” The redhead hadn’t seen anything that would tip him off that she was a mean child. In fact, by just worrying that she was being mean she had proved that she cared enough to not be. He gestured for the girl to follow him downstairs so he could start making breakfast for the lodge. He wasn’t the best cook, but even he couldn’t mess up scrambled eggs.

Aderyn hopped off the edge of the bed, grabbing her water bottle, and clipping it back on her belt. She followed Owen closely, keeping an eye on the area around him, but she was mostly unconcerned with watching what he was doing. His voice caught her attention.

“Not all kids are as mature as you” the corner of his mouth tugged in a smirk as he glanced at her. “Although we seem to have more kids that act like adults than otherwise.” Between Aderyn and Kypher they definitely had a weird mix of youth living with them. Even Tre and Jonas were sixteen year olds who were pretty deadly. Owen made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He pulled a chair over to the counter-tops for Aderyn to hang out while he worked and started grabbing supplies from the fridge.

Aderyn frowned, eyebrows diving as she thought on his statement, and after a few seconds she looked up at him. A smile crept across her face, amused, and she exhaled sharply - not quite a laugh, but something nearing one. “I guess so.”

She watched Owen pull out the eggs, and as he started to prep them, she stood up from the chair she’d been designated. “Wait a sec.”

The girl started pulling open the bottom cupboards, looking for something, and after a moment her eyes fell upon her prize. Triumphantly, she pulled a butternut squash out of the bottom cupboard, and indicated a bag of flour to Owen. The vegetable was just barely starting to soften. “If we can make something - not just eggs, right? - we won’t run out of them as fast.”

“I don’t really love the idea of hauling eight or nine cartons of eggs back here and praying they don’t break.”

She yanked the drawer opening, finding a suitable knife and cutting board, and diced the innards of the squash into small pieces. Seeds set to the side, she grabbed a handful of flour, patting the vegetable down with it.

Taking two sizable frying pans, she split the chopped squash in two, throwing it in the pans with a bit of olive oil. A tiny bit of salt and pepper on each, and she was satisfied, only looking around to see if she could find any garlic. “You just, uh, put the eggs on top once that’s cooked and then you fry it all together. It’s like - like a filler.”

She looked at him, nervously; the girl wasn’t quite comfortable with touching the food supply yet - even if she was certain her reasoning was clear.

Interactions: Meredith
Mentions: Kloudy shadowz1995 Brax King Vioogra

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part two of a collab between FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Ivan
Leliana
Jenna
Nile
Cletus

Jenna sighed a little seeing that Cletus would be joining the group. In any other circumstances she would have shut that down, but she had promised Colt to hold her tongue. What he could actually add to the group was simply beyond her, and she turned away as the pyromaniac redneck climbed into the back of the truck. Cammy, on the other hand poked her head into the backseat as she stared curiously at the inhabitants. Maybe setting a fire could prove as a good distraction? Jenna thought. So long as they were careful about it.

"So, how are we going to do this?" She asked Colt "There's a good number of places we could raid but I think we should focus on medicine and food for now. I know we're stocked well on medical supplies but we should grab it while we still can. Other folks probably survived the school and might hit that place."

Unless there was somebody else in the city still alive like her the chances of somebody raiding what she needed personally was incredibly small, unless a junkie took it by mistake. Still, given how much she had left it wasn't a priority. "I'm not a local, but if there's a store that sells baby shit. I'm talking nappies, clothes and so on we need to go there too."

Colt had been quiet for most of the journey, simply staring ahead at the road. She only briefly glanced at Jenna as the woman spoke up. She had been pondering over what to do for the whole journey and only now felt like she could speak up.

“Right.” She shifted the truck into a lower gear as she slowed it down to create less noise, “Yer team ‘re gonna go through any place that has medicine. Ivan knows what he wants, and so do you. Meds and food.” She answered, giving the woman a slight glance over as she spoke.

“Leliana, Nile and I, we’re goin’ to Moes. See if we can get matrasses and take what we can find. If y’can hit everywhere y’want, great. But,” she looked into the back mirror with a slight cough, “I’m talking t’ya’ll ‘bout this. Don’ take risks. If somethin’ requires noise or anything that could endanger ya, don’ do it. I got a radio, and Ivan’s got a radio. If anythin’ happens, we gotta communicate. I’ll explain more when we stop.” She glared at them all briefly before turning her eyes back to the road.

"Aye aye cap" Nile said, bored with their little road trip. "What the hell is Moes by the way? That a Lowes ripoff or something?" Nile asked.

"It's a motel. I stayed there when I was meant to be passing through this place." Jenna answered "Got bad vibes from it, but it was cheap and the old lady at reception was..." Doris' half-eaten face clouded her mind, and Jenna turned away from Nile slightly "She was convincing. Probably would've noped right out of there if someone else was working the desk to be honest."

"You make it sound like a crappy horror fic motel stuck in the middle of the desert." Nile said, remembering all the horror films he's watched that featured a run down motel with a secret.

"Ain't far off. Just do what I say and don' be a dummy." Colt simply listened, still chewing on her granola bar like a cigar. If her gut could shut up that would be helpful, Owen's words were still chanting in her head. Her hands shook lightly against the steering wheel and her breathing was becoming shallow at the thought of returning to the motel.

"Not an idiot," Nile said, hands in his pockets.

"Less Psycho and more the kind of place where shady stuff went down." Jenna shrugged "But appearances aren't everything." She glared back at Nile "You are a bit of an idiot, honestly."

"Does the place have a tiled roof? We need some tiles for the barracks. Could just pick them off the roof?" Nile said.

"Nobody is going on the fuckin' roof!" Colt's grip on the wheel tightened.

"Case in point." Jenna sighed "Great way to break an ankle or worse."

"You aren't far off, it's a pretty shitty motel, shitter place to work," Leliana muttered. She had been pretty quiet so far, simply listening. Nile was proving to be a rather interesting guy to listen observe, though the way he was acting made her...well it made her nervous, to the point she had scooted away from him as much as she could, given they were both in the back seat. "The roof is some of that weird metal stuff like you see on shitty houses and shacks? And we couldn't get up there anyway, I don't have a key for the latter. But, down near my house, there was a construction site. I don't know what all is there, but if we have the time it might be worth checking out." She didn't even know what was being built there, another trailer probably, or a store? Either way, it could have what he was looking for. "By the way, I'd like it if we could try and keep injuries to a minimum, I made a first aid kit, but supplies are limited. So please just listen to Colt, no dumb ideas or risks."​

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part three of a collab between FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt

Ivan

Leliana

Jenna

Nile

Cletus

"You actually worked there?" Jenna's eyes moved between the road and Cammy, just in case the dog did something stupid. She had been in cars before but with a dog her size doing something like jumping into the back seat or God forbid, onto Colt's lap could cause an accident. "Did you know Doris?"

"Well, yeah. I was a housekeeper, I thought the jacket with Moe's written on it would have given that away," Leliana replied with a slight chuckle, her gaze shifting from the passing scenery to Jenna. "Yeah, sorta. I was never really put on shifts with her, so we weren't to close. She was nice though, too nice for that place. "I was always working with Michelle and Moe himself." She managed to contain the chill that ran down her spine as she said that man's name, her attention once again turning to the window. "I probably cleaned your room at some point."

Jenna let out a heavy sigh. She had never been good at breaking bad news. "I'm sorry to tell you, but...She died."

For a moment she didn't say anything. The sad truth of the matter is she either knew or just wasn't surprised. "I uh, I had a feeling. I was working the day this all started, Michelle made sure I had enough time to get out and get home. It didn't really matter though." She paused again, shifting in her seat, "The silver lining, none of them have to deal with what we have to. Pretty sure one of them would have tried fighting Luca by now."

Jenna turned around slightly, and was about to lift up a hand to try and comfort the younger woman but stopped herself. Instead, she faced the road once more. "I only met Doris a day or two before this all started. She was really nice. For her sake, I hope it was quick." She rested one of her hands in Cammy's fur for comfort as she noticed it was shaking. She wasn't sure about how much she should share. About the state of her body, about how Jenna had had to smash her skull to pieces just to bring the infected down. "I...I took down the infected when it got up. Bastard looked like her, but..." She paused once more, staring out of the window "It didn't feel right to have that thing running around looking like her."

Leliana once again didn't respond immediately. Her thoughts wandered home again, to her mom. Coming home and being faced with that, and immediately having to move on...had she even given herself time to grieve properly? Leliana had to leave her mother lying in her bedroom, and...she shook her head. "Doris would have thanked you, nobody should be left like that." It was the least any of them could do for the infected, they had no cure, and who knew if antibiotics or anything else they had access to would actually work? "I think we've depressed the truck enough, yeah? Happy thoughts from now on," Leliana said, voice once again getting quieter as she spoke, "Happy thoughts."

The girl glanced into the rear-view mirror at Leliana, letting out a slight sigh. "Happy thoughts." She muttered to herself, looking at her own reflection this time. To put it bluntly, Jenna looked like crap. She felt like crap too, but that was pretty normal. "Happy thoughts." She repeated, louder this time "Does anyone want to play I-spy or something?" Anything to pass the time or get their minds off of things.

With a shrug, Nile sat up straight and looked at the forest the truck passed by. "I spy...Something green." Nile said.

"A tree," Jenna answered flatly

"Nope. It's Winter. Nothing's green!" Nile said motioning towards the snow. "Tricked ya!" Nile said.

"The first aid kit is. Also, it's not winter, it's still fall, winter starts next month," Leliana added, "She's right though, there are still green trees, some of them anyway.”

"Wha-It's Fall? I thought it was Winter?" Nile said, so unbearably unperceptive that he couldn't tell what season it is despite the fact he's been outside from Dawn til Dusk for days building a log cabin.

Jenna raised an eyebrow at Nile, but Leliana quickly corrected him before the girl could say something. She scratched behind Cammy's ears as her own eyes faced the road once more. "Scratch the I Spy then. I'll throw a hypothetical question in the ring...Hmm. If you had a superpower, what would it be?" She asked the group

Ivan had been listening to everyone's conversations from the bed of the truck as they rolled through town. His eyes were shifty as paranoia seeped through him. Running a truck through town was way too high risk, though dropping it a few gears helped a bit. When the man took a deep breath and settled himself, he heard the others talk about 'happy thoughts.' He decided he'd chime in when he heard Jenna ask what type of powers they'd want. He chuckled before sitting up and leaning into the window. "I would want to be able to control time." He said simply, not delving into the reasoning before sitting back down in the bed of the truck as they continued on.

"I'd want the ability to refill anything. Bank account empty, refill it. Someone annoying you? Refill their blatter. Too lazy to get up and you want more snacks? Refill your bowl," Leliana chimed in, "I think it would be handier than time control." Refilling her meds, her mom's chemo drugs, their fridge, all for free sounded really nice. But now it would be used for the lodge, keeping those guys alive...still a good use.

"Hmm. That's a good one." Jenna smiled back through the rear-view mirror. At least her hypothetical was lightening the mood "I'd go with shapeshifting, but... I also get the abilities for what I change into. Like, Martian Manhunter or I guess it would be Miss Martian in my case. I give myself three days, maybe less before I'd go mad with power and turn into a big fuckoff dragon." She winked back at Cletus and Nile "And I'd set fire to more than just coffee, son. Oh, and sorry for losing my shit over that. At first I thought we were under attack or the lodge was on fire. Got me really riled up. Just don't do something that dumb again and we should be all good."

She paused "Actually. It could come in handy. If we get stuck in the city and need a distraction setting fire to a rubbish bin might work. There's no fire department so the Hazmats would have to fight it themselves if it started to spread." She rested a hand on her own chest "Now, I'm not a big fan of arson myself but if we really get stuck your firestaring abilities might just be our saving grace. You get me?"

Colt had tuned everything out but Jenna's mention of potential pyromania caused her to snap back into reality. “NO!” Colt barked at the mention of starting fires, her body jumping slightly as she did. No fire, no explosions, no nothing that could cause more death and destruction than it was worth. The only part of her that did not jump was the prosthetic limb. As she said it, her pressure on the truck’s break increased, causing it to come to a stop just shy of the city. The woman looked around before finally unfreezing.

“Right.” She turned to look at everyone, “I’mma re-iterate. Leliana, Nile, yer with me. We’re goin’ to Moes, my flats and anything else we can think of. Jenna, Cletus and Ivan, yer goin’ for anything medicinal. If ya find food, batteries, anythin’ like that, grab it. I want this clean, fast and with little disturbance. If anything happens, we gotta use the radios.” She looked them all over once again. “Let’s go. Don’ fuck it up.” And with that, she opened the driver’s door and stepped out.

Mentions: Brax (Luca)​

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part four of a collab between FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt

Ivan

Leliana

Jenna

Nile

Cletus

Nile gave an automatic nod as he jumped off the truck bed, not really listening to Colt. "Feel like I need to say it again, we need tiles, or else we're gonna have to deal with a helluva lot of water damage if it rains" Nile said, walking up to beside Colt.

"No." The veteran growled once again, "and that's it!"

"Fine, have it your way. But we'll at least need a tarp to put over the roof to mitigate the damage if it does rain?" Nile said, a little irritated now.

"Wait, we're leaving the truck here?" Leliana asked, poking her head out from the backseat, "How are we gonna haul those mattresses? I know the truck is loud, but wouldn't we be too slow just on foot?" The cons really outweighed the pros in the situation, and despite her brief protest, she was already preparing to get out of the car. "I have one of the radios, Ivan has the other, anyone gets hurt someone calls immediately, understood?" She said firmly, "There's no telling what form of medical supplies are left and I brought stuff we need for emergencies, but we can't just rely on the hope that what we would need is still out there." Ivan's group was going after medical supplies, and before they officially split up, she needed to ask him for something. When Nile piped up again, once she was out of the truck, Colt snapping at him, Leliana felt like she needed to say something. "Nile, right? Just listen to her, we can't take unneeded risks."

"Ask Ivan. It was his idea." The veteran growled as she got her own things together, including putting her flask in her army jacket pocket. "Just be smart and we'll be fine." She added stoically in a hope to soothe the nurse's worries, even just a little bit.

Jenna raised her hands slightly when Colt snapped at her, leaning back in her seat. The two were on good terms and the girl didn't want to ruin that. "Message received. No fires. It was just a worse case scenario thing anyway."

As the stepped out of the truck, Cammy jumped down and started to sniff the air while Jenna leaned against the truck, just listening in to the plan. "At the very least we have a medic with each team, if we run into trouble. Hopefully that won't happen but I should be able to patch either of you boys up if it comes to it." She smiled over at Cletus and Ivan, glancing at her axe.

"Full disclosure. I'm a vet, but I have had to cauterize arteries, stitch up bullet wounds, deal with dislocations, breaks, burns..." She shrugged "People are really shitty to animals. Stabbings, shootings, running them down with cars and don't get me started on Halloween and the fifth of November." She tutted, shaking her head. "Fucking fireworks." She muttered, rage in her blue eyes

"Don't go PETA on us now. Just focus on getting the meds, we'll focus on getting mattresses." Nile said.

"Fuck PETA." Jenna snapped at Nile

"bout' the only thing we can agree on." Nile muttered.

"They're a shower of evil cu*ts. Animals would be safer in a meat grinder than in their grubby fingers. Only difference between them and a slaughterhouse is the slaughterhouse is honest."

"I doubt anyone here was going to argue with you," Leliana said quietly, grabbing the two spare clips for her pistol from her backseat before closing the door. Then the conversation bout PETA started, causing Leliana to sigh softly. "Can you both please be quiet? Yeah, PETA sucks, but guess what? They don't fucking exist anymore yay!" Tired jazz hands. "We have like, more important things to focus on right now. Ivan, can I talk to you real quick?"

"But I just told her to foc-nevermind," Nile said.

"Don't exist anymore?" Jenna raised one eyebrow at the nurse "You don't think this thing has overtaken the US already?"

The nurse seemed to freeze. That's right, not everyone had caught on yet. She wanted to keep it like that for as long as possible, leave all the worrying to worriers and people who can do something about it. "Well, I mean, they don't exist here anymore yeah? And I guess you can't rule out the possibility Aurora wasn't the only city hit by this. Diseases almost never stay in one place for too long, no matter what." She paused for a moment, taking a few uneasy steps away from the main group, "But you know, just theories."

"Given what happened to Rogue I know this thing brings back the dead no matter what. If it's airborne then it's probably a few towns over, at least but I don't think the whole country could have gone to shit just yet." She paused, there was only so much she could spill without exposing Brian. "The government knows about the virus. That much is clear given the hazmats. Surely they would have contingency plan for it. They have a plan in the case of alien arrival for Christ sake."

She gave the nurse a reassuring smile "We've lost the town, and I'm sorry for that but the whole country isn't gone yet." She gave one more shrug "Not much we can do about saving the world though. But I suppose saving the people at the lodge is the best we can do."

No, no, no, not if. It was airborne. Which meant that Aurora definitely wasn't the only town, which meant that those Hazzies weren't just here, which meant the entire country could know but not give a damn. Leliana was already doing Brian a huge favor not outing him or his involvement with them, and-ugh! Leliana was at the point where she wanted nothing more than to scream or maybe cry, or hit something. Instead, her free hand, the one not holding her bat, went to her mouth, Leliana bit down at the tip of her thumb. Maybe it was to keep herself from saying something she regretted, maybe it was to keep herself from losing it. "Whatever." The girl muttered, once again changing position, closer to Ivan since she knew she desperately needed to talk to him. Jenna spoke to her like she didn't know anything like she wasn't aware of the current state of the fucking world. It was annoying, really annoying, maybe it was the fact Leliana was younger than her? Was Jenna one of those idiots who thought that respect was immediate if you were older than someone? Those people were the worse. This wasn't the time for a goddamned pissing contest, why was she trying so hard? Maybe Leliana was reading to much into it, but she already wasn't having a good day. "Ivan, it's about you guys going to the Pharmacy, important stuff okay?"

For most of the whole trip, Cletus had been minding his own business, not even putting one bit of attention to what the rest of his group was saying. He just was confused and kept asking himself why the fuck was he right now going back to that shithole that full of undead fuckers when he had just gone out of his RV to have breakfast.

Once they arrived and exited the vehicle, Colt explained the plan, on how they were about to separate into 2 groups, yet Cletus had some doubts ¨Alraight so i´ve done got a few questions, 1, wouldn´t it be like safer if we travelled all together? ayn' 2. who the fuck are Ivan ayn' Jenna?¨ In the past few days he had been at the lodge he had not been very social, so he really didn´t know who the fuck he was even supposed to team up with.

​

 

[Meredith]

​

He watched her with mild interest. Owen had never pretended to be a whiz in the kitchen, so when it was obvious that Aderyn knew more than he did, he had no problems stepping aside. At first it felt strange to see her cook, but the more he thought about it the less out of the ordinary it had felt. He and Andy had been cooking before her age, left alone while their mother worked long shifts or took night classes. When the girl stepped back nervously, he stepped back up almost seamlessly.

“Smart.” Owen put a palm on top of the young Brasi girl’s head and ruffled her dark hair in a brotherly gesture. He didn’t bother telling her that Jenna’s chickens had started laying eggs, and that it was probably one of the few continuous resources they had. The man would rather build up the girl’s confidence than tear her down with stupid facts. Plus, it smelled delicious. The familiar sounds of the pop and snap of the breading sizzling in the oil filled the kitchen and before long, there was a large heap of food to be shared.
Owen was sure to make sure the girl had lots of food on her plate before handing it to her. The kids always ate first. He made sure that Milly and Kypher had plates set aside as well before making his own and sitting down next to the child.

The girl grinned up at Owen, taking the food from him, and settling down in the chair she’d been provided to eat. She always ate quickly, out of habit or necessity, and she watched Owen move to put aside plates. It was appreciated - even though she was always at the table in short order.


“So, what’s on the agenda today kid?” Owen asked through a mouthful of food. The noise was muffled as his hand came up to cover his mouth. “Are you going to be coming out to help us with the building again?” Aderyn nodded. “I think so.” Looking past him, she eyed the slowly-cresting sunrise, eyebrows creasing. It was going to get much colder through the winter. “I don’t feel all that useful out there, though.”

A pause. Her eyes slid to Owen’s, hardened, and she took in a slow breath. “I’ve been thinking about going back into town. I don’t have a winter coat. I don’t think Milly has one either. Hell, I haven’t seen a third of us wearing them, ‘cause it’s not that cold yet. But..”
She shook her head.

“Maybe I’m wrong, and we have them, and that’s fine. But I’m good at running, and I’m good at hiding, and if we need stuff I can help. You know?” She offered him a half-smile, fork ringing off her plate as she set it down.

Owen’s immediate reaction was to decline. She was a child before anything else. It shouldn’t matter that the world had made her good at ‘running and hiding’, she wasn’t even quite a teenager yet. And yet, the world wasn’t built for children anymore. It was the sad truth of the situation they were all stuck in. The lodge was safe, but for how long? They had a newborn and plenty of young faces to have to take care of. Wouldn’t it be easier if they could take care of themselves.

“It sounds like they might already have a group going on,” Owen responded instead. Not a no, just a sort of dodging of her question. “We do have some clothes from the run a few days ago, but I’ll see if they can find some smaller coats for you guys.” He would have to think about the prospect of letting Aderyn go on a run, but he knew for damn sure if she went on a run that she wouldn’t be going without him. “Maybe you should talk to Andy.” His sister had briefly mentioned teaching some of the kids how to shoot bows. They weren’t as violent as guns, but would give the young ones a way to defend themselves, as well as be helpful to his sister during the hunts.

“Yeah. I probably should.” In truth, the girl wasn’t quite ready to face Andy, who she’d never really interacted with in a less-than-terrible mood. The stifling silence in the car came to her mind.
“I’m sure there are some things you could be doing to help if fetching my tools isn’t fun for you.” He gave the girl a smirk.

She frowned. The vibrant energy she’d shed only a few moments before fell away, as it often did, but she did not look sad or hurt. Instead, she seemed.. subdued. Cold, neutral.
“It’s not that I mind. I enjoy it, actually, but I don’t feel like I’m pulling my weight.” She took her plate, depositing it in the sink, and put a hand out to take Owen's when he was done. With her other hand, she checked her pockets for her pistol, nodding to herself as she affirmed it was there. "We should find a way to make ourselves useful."

“Yes.” The redhead agreed coming to his feet. He ruffled Aderyn’s hair and gestured out the door to where people were already starting to congregate around the construction site. He stopped momentarily at the closet in the living room. Owen had been staying at this lodge for as long as he could remember and if memory serves, there would be some useful child sized objects to be found inside.

“It’s probably not your style,” The male said, pulling the hanger off the rack. “But it should keep you warm.” He handed her the puffy coat he had spent many days wearing in his childhood. It was green and purple with a printed graphic of the teenage mutant ninja turtles on the back. “At least till we can go out to get you your own.” He gave her a small smirk before heading outside to join the others.

“Thanks.” She smiled, a bit, putting the coat on and following him outside.

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following post is part five of a collab between FireMaiden King Vioogra Togy The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt

Ivan

Leliana

Jenna

Nile

Cletus

Ivan hopped out of the truck once it had come to a stop, grabbing the things he'd brought with him before hearing Leliana say she needed to talk to him. "Sure, what's up?" As he waited to hear what she needed, the Russian heard something about PETA from Nile or whoever said it. He turned towards the rest of the group, letting out a firm but quiet "Fuck PETA." After saying that, he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Leliana. "Sorry about that, what can I do for you?"

She didn't exactly want to ask him to do it. Colt knowing she wasn't okay was bad enough, having Ivan know would be even worse. But she trusted him, so it was okay, right? "When you guys get to the pharmacy," She started, her voice quiet. It was obvious she wanted him to keep this one the down low, "I need you to look for some Zoloft. As much as you can find basically, it'll be behind the counter. Everything is alphabetically stored, but I don't know what it's like there, you might have to look around for it," She told him. "Don't tell anyone else okay? I'd prefer to do this myself, but I don't know if I'll be able to."

Because Ivan had no idea what the fuck Zoloft was, he gave a short nod before he continued adjusting the things he'd brought with him, doing an item check to make sure he had everything. "I'll keep an eye out for it when we drop by. I should be able to squeeze it in somewhere." He said, giving a bit of a smile as he turned towards her and looked among the others. "Be careful, it's nasty out here." He said simply as he clipped the radio in his hands onto the shoulder strap of his backpack and turned towards the rest of the group.

Colt simply stood in silence as the trio talked about PETA and other bullshit, ending in Jenna and Leliana speaking in a way that, to Colt, could lead to a verbal fight between the pair. She folded her arms and frowned as she watched them all, seems the actual reason for being out was going right over their heads. None of them seemed aware of the weight of the situation. And with that final statement from the clueless redneck, Cletus, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“RIGHT!” She snarled, loud enough to get everyone’s attention, but not enough to alert anything nearby. As she spoke next, she took out her Colt.45, fingers drumming along the barrel, her other finger lingering around the trigger. She glared at them all one by one with a low brow and stooped head, making her look upwards in an intimidating Kubrick stare. “We have twenty-two… twenty-two people to protect and keep alive. If any of ya’ll are not fuckin’ serious ‘bout this, walk. I’m not putting up with this bullshit. From anyone. We’re goin’ in two teams. It’s safer-” she flashed a glare at Ivan before continuing, “than takin’ the truck and makin’ noise. None of this shit was my idea. It was Luca’s. I’m just ‘ere to make sure ya’ll don’t kill yerselves! So I’ll explain it again. Nile, Leliana and I are goin’ for mattresses, guns, ammo and provisions for protection. Ivan, Jenna and Cletus, yer goin’ for humanitarian. Medicine, food, comforts, etcetera. Do not do anything that would threaten yerselves or yer group! Now’s not the time to be selfish.” She paused for a moment.

“I don’t give a fuck what ya’ll want. Ain’t about whatchu want. Or what I want. It’s what we need! It’s war. It’s an arms race. I need ya’ll with me. To work with me.” She paused again, “We have a saying in the Marines. Semper fi. Always faithful. I’m trustin’ ya’ll with this. Don’t make me regret it.” She finished before putting the firearm again and clipping the radio to her shoulder.

“Leliana. Nile.” She gestured them over before turning to the other trio, pointing down the street, “Go. Anythin’ wrong, tell me.” She looked to them all, hoping her words had been heard. “Alright, we should go. Jenna, ya keep them boys right.” She pointed to the purple haired streamer before turning to her pair and beginning her walk, hoping they would follow suit. She took out her flash and took a long swig from it. If she was going to be effective, she could not let her nerves take over. What else could she do?

When Colt started her little speech, Nile tried listening to her, but his attention span is that of a goldfish's and he constantly kept looking over at Aurora, wondering if he could go stop by his old hideut to pick up some crack. Every now and then, he'd try listening to Colt, but by the end he was just confused. The words had gotten jumbled together and he'd missed some parts, so he didn't know if she was stating the obvious, making a motivational speech or what. He was too busy trying to process what she said that he missed what she said next and just realized she was walking away. Walking at a brisk pace to catch up, he pulled out his Glock and claw hammer just in case.

Jenna visibly winced slightly as Colt yelled at the group, but not as much as Cammy who ducked behind the girl, turning away from their leader. The girl glanced at Cletus as Colt started to walk away, raising an eyebrow at him. "Did you get all of it that time? Or do I need to repeat it?" She wondered once more who had brought him along, who's bright idea it had been to invite him on a supply run. Her only experience with him was the coffee incident, and now it seemed he couldn't even listen to basic instructions. She just hoped he wouldn't get them killed.

Colt's speech, in a weird way, reminded Leliana of her grandmother. An odd comparison maybe if you didn't know her grandmother, but it was favourable. That woman was a Navy WAVE, one of the first stationed down in Florida, and as soon as she got out she started helping people. Often times, Leliana was on the receiving end of some drill sergeant-like yelling and stern talks, but...it was good. Slightly terrifying but it was for their own safety. With Ivan's reassurance that he would, in fact, look for what she needed, Leliana gave him a brief flash of a smile, hoping he would remember. If he didn't, she could get through the withdrawal, the symptoms would lessen after a few more days, but then she'd be in a whole other world of trouble. And she couldn't hide everything. Once Colt was done and motioned for her and Nile to fall in line, Leliana gave Ivan one last glance before following behind her group. She really, really hoped that Ivan didn't forget.

Although Cletus still believed that separating the group into two was still a bad idea, he had to accept the fact that they would be able to do this whole thing faster and quieter separated than they would if all 6 of them went together. For some reason, Colt decided to explain the plan once more, and the speech she ended up giving at the end just seemed as a bit of an overkill to him.

After Colt finished giving out her orders, she called out for the blondie and the junkie to go with her. Due to a simple process of elimination, he quickly realized he was now left with the Crazy coffee gal from the other day and the poor fella in which the fatass had fallen on top of.

Jenna asked him if he had gotten it all for some reason as if explaining it twice had not been enough ¨Well, she kaand of lost me on her duty speech about thay ...uhh lodge, but ay got ever'thing else just awful fine¨he responded before realizing he had forgotten to bring any of the big guns ¨Ah shit! ay just brought caroline with me.¨ he said while referencing his revolver.

Jenna squeezed the ridge of her nose at the Redneck's response, and with a tired look stared down at the ground.Was she going to die here?Perhaps not, she still had Ivan. "Alright, we need to be quiet here so no guns unless there's too many of these things." She placed the handgun back in her belt and raised the handaxe up slightly. "First stop is the pharmacy where we go baby shopping. Nappies, baby formula, the works." She had her own meds to pick up but wasn't about to bring that up. If asked, she had nothing to hide but not everyone at the lodge would take it as well as Colt or Leliana. Michael and Marcus knew her online status so would know about it too, and even if the latter was a creep he didn't seem to have a problem with her.

But not everyone would be that accepting. It was only a matter of time before someone ran their mouth or worse. "Then we go for food and clothes. It's always winter in Colorado and the newborn is going to need stuff too." She turned slightly, facing both men "And you two boys can pick out something nice while we're there." She gave a cheeky wink.

Ivan listened to the speech Colt gave with a bit of a surprised expression on his face. His opinion of her had been pretty one-sided, as most of his experience with her had been either her yelling or drunk. But this, this changed his view a bit as he let her finish without interruption. Once she'd called Leli and Nile away, he turned to the two who'd be accompanying him in time for Cletus to mention that he'd 'only' brought his revolver. "Jenna is right. No one will be using any firearms besides this one..." Ivan said pointing to the M4 on his back, the suppressor screwed onto the barrel visibly making the gun longer. "not to declare myself the leader or anything, but I think it's best you two stick to me like glue. I've got a bit of experience with sneaking around." The Russian said as he looked over to Leliana, making sure to remember her request before clearing his throat and adjusting his bag. "Where to first? I imagine you know the area better than I do, Jenna."

"I'm not a local, hell I'm a Brit for God's sake but I know where the shops and pharmacy are. I was meant to stock up before heading West, so..." She trailed off. She had gotten the location of every pharmacy between here and LA, just in case of emergencies. If she was mugged she didn't want to be left in the cold. Dad had taught her to prepare for the worst case scenarios, and that included the roadtrip. As her mind thought back to home, her eyes met the M4 Ivan had pointed to.

"Where the hell did you get that?" She pointed at the gun. Ivan had the look of a soldier, even if he was a bit younger than Colt or Brian but it wasn't like he could have brought that gun with him back from the Middle East or wherever it was he found himself stationed in.

Had he taken it from a downed hazmat or were the gun laws that relaxed? Had to be the former as she was sure you couldn't just buy a silencer. Not unless you had friends in the black market.

¨...Fair enough, but now ay dont have any weapons, so ferst melee weapon any av y'all see, ay call dibs¨ Cletus said while putting Caroline back on his belt after Jenna ordered him to do so; he knew the dangers of of attracting the attention of a horde since had barely escaped a swarm of those things before with his full arsenal, what could he actually do with a revolver if they were to attract the attention of the creatures again?.

The redneck agreed with the plan of the woman, since her first priority was to get the resources needed for the baby at the lodge... plus the meds would be great to have in case anybody were to get hurt. She may have tried to mock him and Ivan for their clothing; but man, he really wanted to get some new fucking clothing right now. Cletus didn´t really enjoy Ivan´s statement of basically being the leader of the group since he believed democracy is the true and only way to elect a leader... but he currently could not use his weapon due to the noice it would make, so for once he decided to stay quiet about it.

¨A brit?¨ Cletus said a bit surprised, he thought the Brits were obsessed with tea, not coffee as she had shown the other day. Jenna seemed agitated due to Ivan´s revelation of having a silencer ¨Relax¨ The redneck said ¨Ay know ya brits don´t have guns an whatever, but he probably done got it frawum ayy walmart aw something, they are fully legal in the states. Except for California. fuk California¨

Colt remained quiet for the first few minutes as the two teams split up, keeping her eyes ahead as she walked. There was still a slight limp as she strode, but not as bad as before. While she did not like Hector much, there was still a level of respect warranting her cooperation in maintaining the prosthetic. That and she did not like the constant soreness and blisters. As she took another sip from her flask, putting it away for hopefully the last time, she cleared her throat a little.

“I parked us closer to Moe’s. They aren’t carrying things that heavy and they all got bags. We’re goin’ there first.” She turned to look behind her, “Leliana, ya got that key on ya? We gotta be quiet, Christ knows what’s still lurkin’ ‘rond in there. Here’s the plan. Nile, Leli, ya’ll grab the mattresses at each end; I’ll go in front and guide ya’ll out.” She slung around her M4, mounted with a torch and silencer, “I just wanna say. If anythin’ happens t’me… get yerselves out. That’s an order. It's better for ya'll t'get out alive than all of us dyin'.” She finished stoically before looking the pair over, waiting for any kind of response, all while she constantly scanned their surroundings.

"Yeah. There are three keys actually, a master key for the rooms, a key for the storage closets, and a key to the manager's office," Leliana explained, patting her jacket pocket. "I know which rooms have the cleanest beds, and there should be enough mattresses for the barracks. I wouldn't trust most of them." Moe's a sleazy reputation for a reason, the cops visited multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times a day for the various reasons on why she wouldn't trust any room she didn't clean herself. "The storage closets will have some needed supplies as well, like cleaning materials and toilet paper. And if I remember correctly, my boss stored a gun in one of the rooms." Hopefully, nothing bad happened while they were trying to get what they needed. The abandoned card, dried blood, the occasional bullet casing she kicked as they walked helped add to the eerie feeling the now abandoned city of Aurora gave off. Like, when you look at an empty warehouse at night? The upside was that so far, Leliana couldn't hear anything unusual, or at least, to unusual given the state of the city. No infected people at least.

When Colt mentioned leaving her behind if something happened, Leliana opened her mouth to protest. But stopped herself. Colt probably wouldn't appreciate her concern, or Leliana telling her that there was no way they would be leaving her behind. Finally, after a moment, the girl sighed. "Only if we absolutely can't help you."

"Good. Good. I'll need ya t'tell us exactly where we're goin'. No time fur messin' about." She responded to the girl's words, "After Moe's, we'll go t'my place for weapons. Mattresses first given' they're heavier." She did not like the thought of the pair coming into her apartment, but what other choice did she have? They needed ammo and more weapons and that gun shop was a no-go. When the nurse responded to her request to leave her if things got bad, Colt simply sighed, "That's all I want. Thank you." she spoke earnestly. While not a death seeker, it was not the worst thing.

"Uhuh, whatever Murica," Nile said, brushing off the noble order. "Look, we need more than mattresses," Nile said, deciding to go back to what he thought was the main issue. "We can't build the barracks without nails, roofing, and hinges," Nile said as he walked behind Colt.​

 

[TheTreForce]

Luca And Warren​

“Don was a real man. He didn’t have to try to earn my respect.” Warren gave a chuckle, “You’re right about his combat skills. When that man was thrown into cage city with the rest of us, he made a name for himself real quick. A name that told others ‘don’t fuck with me if you want to go to bed in one piece tonight’. I ran that cell block until he showed up, but we hit it off right away.”


The table creaked as Warren leaned his weight on it, getting comfortable because they might be here awhile. “He told me about his life before he was sent to prison. How he made a living and how he’d spend his days. He didn’t like to say names though, even to me. He didn’t even mention anything about Tre until near the end.. It’s understandable when you’re in that kind of work though…” The large man downed the rest of his beer and set it back down on the table with a CLUNK. “But Don.. He looked out for the people he respected.. We were a lot alike. Although I feel he had a bit more patience than me..”


Warren rested in thought briefly until a grin erupted on his face, “This one time, these shit heads thought they could try and start something with him in the courtyard. There were probably about three of these hispanic sons of bitches trying to pull some prison grounds dominance shit or something. Before one of ‘em could get more than a couple words out, Don just started wailing on them. I mean fists were flying and their little bald heads were hitting the ground. Out cold. Any sort of threats from other prison gangs or that sort ceased almost entirely after that incident. I’ve got plenty more stories from prison involving him.” His attention went back to Luca, “He was the best man I’ve ever met.”


“Sounds about right. Don always spoke softly and carried a big stick. No homo.” Luca chuckled. If he had a dollar for every time he saw Donald knock someone out for talking sideways, the Italian knew he would have been swimming in a few thousand dollars. As Warren explained his experiences with Don and how he interpreted the man to be, Luca found that this man’s breakdown of Dominique’s father was spot-on. Despite knowing the man only a little over a year, it was obvious that Warren was extremely perceptive. It was clear he was a good judge of character. It was time to cut the charade.


“Yeah. He was my best friend. To Don.”


The man raised the neck of his beer bottle up toward Warren, before finishing the rest of its contents and placing it down on the table opposite to the other one. “I know you didn’t come to me to talk about him, though. We haven’t spoken, but i’ve been watching you. I watch everyone. Tre can’t be the only thing keeping you around.” Luca looked up from the table, eyes staring down Warren as he brought his cigarette up to his lips. He was well aware that the answer the man was going to provide him might not be the truth, but it was how he would choose to answer that intrigued Luca.


“What are you looking for?”


Warren cleared his throat, "Curiosity has made my stay here interesting." He paused for a second, "I've been watching some of you as well.. There are a couple people here that have made an impression on me, you being one of them. The ones who are strong willed, not afraid to bash some skulls in, and are self sustained. I suppose that's why my stay hasn't been as awful as I presumed." The man took a step forward and lifted his empty bottle, examining it and spinning it in his hand, "But what am I looking for? Haven't really thought about it.. Ya know, as long as nobody's around to piss me off and there's some drink available, I'm content. Not much to strive for anymore. You live one day to the next, making sure you don't fall onto a biter's dinner plate. What more is there to do than enjoy this new world of freedom and lawlessness?"


“I have always lived in a world of freedom and lawlessness. When I was working, though, I had meaning. I was doing things to further an umbrella term, the family, not myself. Now I’m not sure why I bother waking up in the morning.” Luca said, keeping his eyes fixated on the man in front of him. It was obvious the two shared more than a few similarities. He kneeled momentarily to pick his rifle up off of the ground, strapping it around his chest and sliding it until the grip rested against his left shoulder blade.


“Probably because I really don’t have anything else.” The man continued speaking, though had not exactly expected a response. He walked up to Warren and nodded to him before moving past, taking a few steps out of the shed to a brilliantly illuminated sky mixed with blue, yellow, purple and red. The Italian’s eyes momentarily traced it before he turned back to the man.


“I have a proposition for you. I’m sure there are people out there who want my neck, but just haven’t had the opportunity to act on it. If they aren’t sleeping in the lodge now, that’s because we haven’t met them yet. You make sure no one gets the jump on me, and I'll be sure that if you have a request that it is handled promptly.”


Warren stood watching the Italian as he made his way outside. Luca’s proposition made him pause for a moment before cracking a little smirk, “I think you’ve got yourself a deal.”

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between FireMaiden Togy and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Nile
Leliana

Colt did not turn around as Nile continued to speak, once again talking about roofing despite her insistence that this was not happening. What was wrong with this man? He could not understand simple reasoning? What a joke. And he had the gall to simply shrug off everything she had said!? Why the fuck did Luca think bringing this idiot along was a good idea?

“Ya honestly think I’m gonna let ya jump on the fuckin’ roof of an unstable buildin’, making a shit-ton of noise and with the potential to fall or draw in Things or Hazzies?” She growled, pointing ahead at the run down building a couple of blocks away from them “Stevie Wonder with his ears plugged and trapped in a box would tell ya that fuckin’ buildin’ is a death trap!” She added, clenching her teeth in a furious attempt to contain herself. After speaking, the veteran suddenly ducked, waving a hand to tell the pair to also duck down. Looking under a car, she saw the feet of a couple of Things shuffling around on the other side. She did not want to waste any ammo.

“…’Kay.” She picked up a small pebble, “I’mma throw this. When they turn around, follow me.” She instructed the pair in a tone indicating that she expected to be obeyed. Not doing so could lead them to their deaths.


With an eye roll, Nile accepted the berating and kept moving. When he thought she'd finished, he added "Did I mention the roof? No, I didn-Ah fuck!" Nile said, muttering the last part as he crouched down and quickly headed over to a big blue mail box on the side of the road to hide behind.

Ya know, when you think about it, how does it make sense that a rotting bag of flesh can smell and hear? How can they differentiate the sounds of a dead guy's moans from the sound a live guy makes? And how can they smell a dead guy and know they're not living, but can smell a live guy and know that's their meal? I mean, I assume they can smell, cause these things have been following the Walking Dead tropes so far, so it'd be reasonable to assume that. Nile, lost in thought, paid no attention to what Colt said.

"Didn't I mention a solution for this?" Leliana asked, "There's a construction site down near my house, about 15 minutes from Moe's. If we have time, we should go an check that out. But I don't know how safe it is." If they would finally hear her suggestion, maybe it would put an end to the arguing and put them towards making a plan. Suddenly, Colt dropped, motioning for her and Nile to do the same. Leliana squatted down next to Nile, still out of sight from the infected Colt had spotted. Her eyes were on the older woman, nodding to show she understood what Colt was telling them to do. With a glance to Nile, she realized that he probably hadn't been paying attention. This guy. Leliana reached out and grabbed his wrist, looking back to Colt. "Ready." The nurse whispered, getting ready to pull Nile along when Colt threw the pebble.

Colt paid no attention to the convict as he continued to moan about her denying his request for roofing. However, she did flash Leli an 'okay' sign with her free hand, indicating that her suggestion had been noted. The woman exhaled as the nurse said that she was ready. After a moment of thought, the veteran sprang up, throwing the pebble overhead towards the Things.

clink clank! the pebble squeaked as it struck a nearby car, causing the Things to gurgle and slowly lumber towards the noise. "C'mon!" She hissed before taking a couple of steps, stopping to see if the pair were following before continuing her crouched sprint towards the next cover, a large truck parked a block from Moe's.

Nile momentarily snapped out of his daydreaming to watch Colt speed crouch over to a Lorry.
Wait a minute, why's she hiding behind a car? Why am I hiding behind a mailbox? Zombies can't see, can they? No, of course they can't. How could they? Eyes are like one of the first things to go when something starts to decay, and whatever this virus is is smart enough to differentiate between smells and noises, then it's gotta understand that being able to see would be pointless cause the eyes would rot away in a fortnight. And even if that weren't true, how could a zombie differentiate a human from everything else it sees? So, using logical thinking, these things must not be able to see at all
And with that, Nile stood up, whipped out two middle fingers aimed at the zombos, and calmly walked over to the Lorry, making sure his footsteps were as silent as could be.

As soon as Colt moved, Leliana followed, giving Nile a tug to make sure he was coming to. But him being him, he decided to test their luck and Leliana lost her grip on his wrist. He was going to get them killed if he kept this shit up, Leliana knew that. At this point, she couldn't do anything any more, and simply focused on getting to the truck that Colt had taken cover behind. Being short had some advantages, like being hide and seek champ, normally the less deadly version, Leliana was able to get to the truck and take cover next to Colt with ease, leaving the two women to wait on Nile.​

Maj

 

[Maj]

GM POST
​

It was once said, that the loss of one’s senses heightens the others. Most things in nature seemed to back up this claim. Some people who were robbed of their hearing were able to read lips with uncanny accuracy, or play music by feeling the vibrations on the ground. Even the blind learned to get around by relying on their hearing and smell. Humans were astounding in their ability to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity. Why then would the undead be any different?

They were not able to see the dark haired man creeping along across the street. He moved silently enough that they weren’t even tipped off by the sound of his feet carefully padding across the road. However, the smell of fresh meat was like a beacon to the creatures. Ravenous with a glutinous hunger that would not sait, the corpses slowly turned their heads in Nile’s direction.

The smell of a warm body was like that of dinner, slow roasting in the oven and filling the room with warmth and enticing aromas. They couldn’t help but be drawn to him, led by the scent of his sweat and the warmth of his beating heart. The milky-white of their blindness hindered them very little in sensing where the man was located.

The one closest to Nile lunged, lips pulled back in a snarl. Sadly, the distance between them was almost enough to keep the monster from latching hold, but due to his slow and careful movements, the undead man was able to wrap his bloodied and decaying fingers around the junkie’s wrist. His partner, the other zombie was just a few steps behind, quickly closing the distance between himself and Nile.

Interactions: Togy
In the Area: FireMaiden Rumble Fish

 

[Togy]

Nile was about to insult Leli for pulling him away before he could finish his little experiment when he heard what sounded like blood choked snarl behind him. "Wha-the fuck!?" Nile yelled as he turned around to face a zombie that instantly grappled onto his wrist. He quickly placed his hand on it's head to stop it from biting him and saw another zombie just behind it. Barely even thinking, Nile removed his hand from the zombie's head and shot it down to his pants and whipped out his Glock. He shoved the handgun against the thing's head and pulled on the trigger, letting out a deafening shot. The zombie's head burst open, sending blood flying onto Nile's shoulder. Attempting to kick the double dead thing off, he aimed his Glock at the other zombo as he planted a foot on the first one's chest. He shot the mere inches away zombie in the head, sending blood splatter across the road as he kicked away the dead zombie that barely had a grip on his forearm. Turning around as fast as he could, he began to run down the street as quickly as possible while yelling "Run!" to his teammates. Truth be told, he really didn't zombies were that dangerous. At least now he has a healthy fear of them.

 

[Kloudy]

The Doctor and The Child​

Hector was packing away his dossier notes before getting ready to make his rounds of the lodge. No one had instructed him to do so but it gave him some measure of comfort to make sure everything was in order and to take inventory of their stock. The last thing this volatile group needed was a thief in their midst and if there was one, god help them. If Luca or Andy didn't kill them, Hector would feed them to Nile and say it was pork.

Once the doctor's rounds were done, Hector settled for an early morning shower and soon after was greeted by the howls of something barely human. His wet hair clung to his face and shoulders still when he stepped out to see what had happened but the lack of a reaction in the group told him it was nothing to truly be concerned about. He went back inside and fully dried his body off before putting on some basic clothing. A black tee with tan cargo pants.

He then proceeded to head downstairs and get something to eat for the day but the curiosity was killing him. With food on his plate, he started peering outside to try and catch a glimpse of what was the cause of that scream.

It was at this moment that Kypher walked back into the lodge. His eyes settled on Hector, who appeared to be looking for something out of the window. Grinning as he approached the older man, Kypher flung the end of his long scarf around his shoulder and adopted an entirely smug expression. It was as if the child had found some free candy, except Kypher was the child and the candy was a freshly caught zombie. He leaned against the wall by the window Hector was at and crossed his arms with continued smugness.

“Dr. Hector Salazar, I believe I have something to consult you on.”

The doctor looked down at Kypher with a raised eyebrow before returning his gaze outside. He swallowed the food he was chewing and nodded in the direction the sound had come from, "It is safe to assume that sound was because of you. It also didn't sound like any animal cry I've ever heard. So, you either caught a human being or an infected person and I don't hear yelling."

The answer was somewhat obvious.

The large man put another forkful into his mouth before casually striding past Kypher, gesturing for him to lead the way. "What is your question, Niño?"

Walking and talking, Kypher strode back out the lodge’s back door in the direction of where the scream had originated. Along the way, he snagged a small rucksack that had apparently been tucked under the porch and slung the bag around one shoulder as he went. Despite his usual sour and abrasive attitude, Kypher appeared quite jovial considering what he had achieved was actually quite strange for a child.

“You’re right, it’s not an animal cry! I took chunks of meat from the deer Andy had brought back a few days ago and let it rot in the sun. I then constructed several rope snare traps near the outskirts of the surrounding forest and baited them with the meat. It has only been a day but it seems I have already caught one.”

Kypher did not elaborate as they drew closer to the edge of the forest. Heading a little way into the foliage, the fruit of Kypher’s trap soon revealed itself. A zombie, that was once a bald mildly overweight middle aged biker, was hanging upside down while violently flailing. It didn’t seem to know what constricting it, but still it continued to try to wriggle free. It did nothing to loosen the rope tightly secured around the creature’s foot. Happy that the first stage of his experiment had gone well, Kypher turned to Hector expectantly, apparently waiting for some kind of response.

"Truly, this makes me wish the lab we are building was already finished. At the moment, we can only conduct the most basic of experiments with this subject. Basic is better than none at all, I suppose." The doctor stated neutrally before scooping another mouthful of food between his lips.

"If they are attracted to the smell of rotting meat, that disproves my theoretical camouflage idea. It seems their blood is the only proper camouflage then. Risk of infection will have to be dealt with some other way."

When Hector finally looked down at the kid, Kypher's expectant gaze was met by one of mild confusion. What was he looking at so expectantly?

Almost instantly the answer came, shown by the return to his cold, indifferent expression, "Well done, Kypher. A simple trap that could give us answers on how to better combat these infected people. Yet, no one has thought of it. Glad to see someone with drive for actual knowledge on the very thing that threatens our existence."

“But of course, I’ve only constructed precisely fifty-three traps around the lodge’s perimeter in truth. I would have placed more, but it seems I was successful.”

Kypher nodded to himself, his grin renewed. He was pleased Hector could see the value in what Kypher had done, the advances they could take to protect themselves with this very subject ensnared before them. That dolt Colt couldn’t have thought up something like this. Thinking of her caused Kypher’s mind to drift back to the ‘private conversation’ he had experienced with Andy. His intuition had been right: there was more to that one than he’d first initially seen. She wasn’t exactly smart, but she possessed a certain cunning that allowed her to maintain her control. Hell, she’d even said it herself. If more people like Andy held power in the group, the better. In the child’s opinion, stupidity was the biggest contributor to death these days and they would be better off cutting it out like a cancer. And Kypher wasn’t afraid to do the cutting.

“Speaking of cutting…” He mumbled softly as he inspected the ground below the ensnared zombie. Blood, darker than usual. The rotting meat was also still on the ground, apparently untouched. Trailing his eyes up, Kypher’s eyebrows rose slightly as his gaze met with the stump that made up it’s arms remains. Someone had hacked it off. A quick glance around revealed it lying in a bush nearby.

“Someone has been here before us and attacked the creature. Also I believe it has ignored the rotten meat entirely. Perhaps your camouflage theory is not so impossible, Dr Salazar.”

"Hm…" the doctor grumbled through a mouthful before swallowing it and replying, "It could have just been luck. That's the beautiful part of experimenting. The trial and error phase." Hector was about to comment on why he loved experimenting when the gash on the zombie's bald head, probably from the trap, dripped dark blood directly into his breakfast. Hector stared at the virus-ridden dark spots in his eggs blankly for almost a whole minute before turning the plate over and dumping the contents into the dirt. He then flung the plate like a frisbee at the zombie's head, shattering the ceramic against its skull with a satisfying crash.

"Hold on a moment." The Venezuelan disappeared back into the lodge for a minute before coming back out with his knife in tow. "Alright." He muttered to himself. The zombie was thrashing about and Hector waited for the opportune moment to sever the jaw muscle and rendering the undead's most lethal weapon useless. He followed that up by severing the shoulder muscles to disable the arms. The zombie's arms now hung limply and its mouth was slack and open.

"This will make it easier to run some basic experiments on him."

Kypher once again nodded in agreement at the doctor’s choice to quite literally disarm and dis-jaw the zombie. The child’s sense of self-preservation was quite developed; his genius would be squandered if he were to prematurely die! It was a good thing that their current test subject no longer possessed the ability to harm them effectively. Picking up a nearby stick, he skewered the rotten meat and waved it in front of the zombie. Aside from an enraged reaction towards Kypher’s movements, it showed no interest in the putrid meat being shoved in its face. The boy shrugged and tossed the skewered deer flesh aside.

“That looks conclusive. I’ll remember our results for today and transcribe them later. Now, onto the next test…”

Kypher reached into the backpack he had brought with him and pulled out a length of red tablecloth, one of the numerous items he had managed to scavenge from the general store he had been saved near. He handed the cloth to Hector and pointed deeper into the forest.

“Take this several metres in that direction, wave it in the air and then step a metre closer. We will test the range of the average zombie’s eyesight.”

The doctor took the cloth without question and moved to go to the agreed upon position. Once there, he waved it around in there as if he was hailing a taxi. When it inevitably didn't react to his waving he moved closer and closer as agreed upon.

But no matter how close Hector got with the cloth, the zombie did not react in the slightest. Watching it’s pupils closely, safe in the knowledge that Hector had already safely disabled the creature’s offensive capabilities, Kypher’s frown deepened a fraction at the results. No light response, no dilation of the pupil or darting of focus. The child shone a small flashlight in its eyes for a moment then pulled back after realising their captive was completely blind.

“Come back Dr. Salazar, the creature is apparently blind in both eyes.”

The doctor rejoined the child genius and nodded. That only confirmed what he had initially deducted. Yet, the creature still writhed and thrashed against its proverbial leash in their general direction. The closer you got to it, the more agitated it would become. Its sense of smell seemed as sharp as the two had anticipated.

"I suppose now is a better time than ever. I'll just take another shower afterwards." Without any real explanation, Hector reached down to pick up the putrid venison. The smell was absolutely horrid and researcher had smelled some absolutely abhorrent things in his life. The sickly sweet smell of rot was not something one grew accustomed to. Still, the zombie seemed completely uninterested in it.

The meat was on the verge of falling apart under his own weight. Hector's fingers sunk into the rotted flesh and the putrid juices filled the spaces his fingers created. It was almost enough to make him shudder.

Almost.

On the other decaying hand, Kypher pulled from Hector with clear repulse filling his eyes. Of course it was a necessary means to determine further results on their test subject, but the child could not resist covering his mouth and nose once more as the doctor sunk his fingers in and drew forth the disgusting liquids within. Maggots and bacteria riddled the slab of meat and Kypher felt he’d rather blow his own hand off with one of his playdoh balls then have to do that himself. He was glad there were other people to do the grunt work, although he hardly considered Dr. Salazar a grunt in the slightest. What came next genuinely left the boy in a mixed stupor of shock and complete disgust.

“That is undeniably revolting.”

The doctor then abruptly lifted the venison to his face, closed his eyes, and squeezed it as hard as he could. He senses were repulsed on a seemingly cellular level as the juices dripped onto his face, neck, and shirt. It took every ounce of self-control to keep himself from gagging but he was somehow able to manage it.

He tossed the now useless, squishy lump of meat aside and instructed Kypher to stand several meters away, almost the same distance he was for the visual test. The genius promptly did so, attempting to overcome the need to gag with his still burning sense of curiosity.

As Kypher got further and further away, the zombie settled down some. Its head was still turned in Kypher's general direction but was otherwise unaware of Hector's much closer presence. Deciding to push his luck some, the doctor took some steps forward. The crunching of dead leaves, sticks, and snow beneath his feet caused the creature to snap to attention to the man that was now standing mere inches from its face. The infected man's head moved to and fro, searching for the source of the noise. Nothing but silence graced its ears and then it did something rather peculiar, it actually began sniffing the air.

"Funciona." The large man said aloud to himself. Upon hearing his voice the zombie returned immediately to its violent thrashing but it was completely without direction, spinning around and flailing uselessly.

Hector then pointed to the discarded flesh, "I suppose we are going to be making cologne out of rot juices for the runners then."

Kypher returned, adamant on holding his nose until they left and Hector had washed.

“As repulsive as that sounds, I’d agree. Being able to approach one at such close proximity will revolutionise their ability to scavenge. I’ll present our results to Ms. Jordan.”

The two began walking back to the lodge, confident in the knowledge that Kypher’s trap would hold their captive a while longer. The boy still remained several metres away from the putrid-smelling doctor, but luckily the walk to the lodge was not a long one.

“I’ve requested several items necessary for a research laboratory. Ms. Jordan had agreed to search for laptops, electronic parts and other equipment to benefit further studies. I gave my list to the man called Nile, who I hear will be accompanying the scavenging group, so I’m certain they will return with successful results.”

“I sincerely hope you are not placing your faith in the drug addict.” Hector replied neutrally. He shuddered at the stench coming off of himself and shook his head, “Regardless, I need to shower this off. This smell is horrid.”

“Of course. I’ll see you later then.”

shadowz1995​

 

[The Mad Queen]

Doctor Ralph Fisher: The Lodge​

Fisher had made his way back into the lodge, after doing a few more checks of the area. It didn't take him that long to locate one of the other traps, for the smell of the rotten venison drew the man in as it flooded his nostrils. He nearly chocked on the scent alone.
It was empty. Outside from the host he had gone to work on, there were no other infected caught. Not yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time. Rotten flesh drew them in. The scent that had repulsed Fisher was probably like ringing a dinner bell to the average host, even as the virus evolved.

Part of him wanted to dismantle the traps altogether, but he stopped himself. He sat against a tree and started to write things down on two lists.

Cons:
It's inhumane. These things were people once
It's unsafe. Somebody could get hurt in the trap or by whatever gets caught in it.

Pros:
Gives us an actual chance to study the infected.
Is a safer option than luring one directly to the lodge or heading into the city to capture one.
The smell alone should be a warning to a human being. We can easily give a warning to lodge members.
Can easily disabled infected once trapped.
You need to study them if you're going to defeat this thing.

Tapping his pen against the notepad, Fisher rested his head against the tree. There was no way around it, the snare traps would be here to stay. For now. He would still need to have strong words with the culprit: Hector. The senior Doctor had help, Ralph had no doubt about it but that could wait until he'd spoken to the man himself.

He made his way into the lodge, and upon not finding the Doctor anywhere waited outside of the bathroom for him, his face a slight scowl and his arms folded.
"Hello." He said "I think it's time we talked." His voice, stern.

Interactions: shadowz1995 (Hector)

 

[Brax]

It was a long night for the young dread-head.

Much like its predecessors, it had slowed to a crawl right before sunrise; the end of his post. Each time Tre kept watch he was met with an uneventful reward. While there were certainly others in the lodge who would find his misfortune to be quite the opposite issue, he was met with quite the predicament. Usually there weren’t many people to bother checking in. There was no one to talk to; people were generally sleeping. During the day while they were up and about, Tre slept for his night shift. He was rarely awake long enough to interact with others. There was nothing to do, no social media or technology to hold his attention. No, he would have to settle for books and a battery-powered Walkman birthed almost two decades prior. Inside was a CD with the same twelve-track rotation to be repeated ad-nauseum.

​

As tough as he made himself out to be, Tre couldn’t help but feel lonely. He had more interaction with people before he came to the lodge. Meeting up with Luca wasn’t supposed to provide him with peace of mind. Rather, Tre assumed that it would at least help him feel as though he weren’t alone. He was in a lodge with ten times the amount of people he had left his mother’s apartment with and somehow he felt worse. Each morning, that messy head of hair hit the worn pillows provided by the couch with relief.

Tre woke up just after the supply group had made their way off. The first thing he did was yawn and rub the back of his head. When his fingers ran across the roll stashed behind his ear, he lit it on the way over to the bathroom. Business was taken care of shortly before the young man found himself making a small sandwich in the kitchen. He hadn’t noticed how early he had woken up but there was no way he was going to pass back out on that couch now. It wasn’t comfortable enough to be considered a bed past falling asleep on it out of pure exhaustion.

Figuring he could grab some good exercise while being useful, a few minutes passed before Tre was outside cutting logs of wood in half beside the foundation of the barracks. An hour saw the young man doing the same exact thing. His feet hadn’t left the spot they occupied initially, but all the wood had been cut. It didn’t take too long to gather the pieces up. Before he knew it, Tre was carrying as much as he could with both arms over to the shed. In fact, he had been mid-whistle, minding his own damn business just as Luca stepped out. The impatient Italian was preoccupied, obviously, as Warren followed shortly after.

His boots came to a near-instantaneous halt just as Luca’s eyes lifted to meet his own. Tre looked over at Warren, before dropping all the cut logs onto the ground at his feet. Despite not knowing what was actually going on, he believed he knew everything. The teen immediately assumed the worst, lifting a finger and wagging it from side to side as he shook his head.

“No. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not dealin’ with y’all’s shit today, no sir.” Tre continued shaking his head as he turned from the two and walked back inside of the house, continuing to mumble as he went. “Nah, not today, Satan, I ain’t fuckin’ dealin’ with dat shit, not for a fuckin’ second, they could fuckin' murk each other for all i ca -- …” The door slammed behind him.

 

[Maj]

GM POST

It was strange to be near the city and hear so little sound. There just always seemed to be something missing. The Doppler Effect of a car driving by, angry horns honking in traffic, the dull and forgotten whirring of the electricity powering everything from the street lights to the cross walks. There were no voices in the air, no chiming bells of doors being opened. There was nothing but the cool October breeze and the sound of forgotten objects, like trash in the road being tossed about by the wind.

BANG BANG

Two shots in rapid succession ripped through the air, tearing the silence as easily as a knife through paper. Every head turned in the general direction. Undead eyes, white and absent of emotion turned toward the sound like dogs perking their ears up to an unfamiliar sound. Bodies shambled along the roads, scraping bone and flesh alike down the rough pavement. Their mouths were agape as they all traversed to a central location, like moths to a flame. Shoulders began to bounce off shoulder as they all compiled into a large grouping, a herd.

If they could see just beyond the horizon line, the monsters would be able to see a shocked man holding a gun in his hand, two of their fallen brethren on the ground. Alas, they could not. They could only smell the stench of their coagulated blood on the pavement and hear the angry words from the man’s companions. The sound of their moans filled the air to alert their prey of their inevitable arrival. It was a symphony of disjointed sounds and gurgling cries, distant but undeniable as they made their way toward the man. There was no telling if other groups would arrive, the sound could have alerted many hoards, this could just be the first in line of groups, all searching for their chunk of flesh.

In the area: Togy Rumble Fish FireMaiden

 

[Maj]

The following is a Collab between Maj and BloodThunder27

​

Andy felt the warmth of the lodge on her cheeks as she shut the sliding door behind her. The cold October air was doing nothing but growing more cold as the month neared its end. She looked down at her empty cup and sighed, the heat from the ceramic mug was long gone and after dealing with Luca, the kid and Colt all giving her attitude she hadn’t even been able to finish it. The woman walked over to the counter to pick up the glass pot and pour more hot coffee over the top of the lukewarm mud that was swirling around the bottom of her cup. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a long sip, hugging the cup with both hands like it was a precious artifact.

Her moment of bliss was broken rather abruptly by the sound of her name. Brian, or at least she thought that was his name was addressing her and wanting to speak. Andy longed for the days that she stayed in her room and didn’t have to converse with anyone, but it seemed those days were long gone. Being the owner of the lodge meant that lots of people kept coming to her and forcing her into leadership roles within the lodge. She didn’t like it, but knew that she was just as capable of answering their questions as Luca. Just with less of a chance of getting their lives threatened. She turned to look at the man, lowering her mug with a sigh.

“What could you possibly have to talk to me about?” Andy asked cooly. Why did everyone want to talk to her in private today? Didn’t they realize that in such close quarters there was no such thing as privacy anymore. Despite her resistance she gestured her head back out the glass door for him to follow her and stepped outside onto the now vacant porch.

Brian adjusted his tie. It would seem that Andy was agitated. No doubt the woman wanted to be left in peace. At this lodge, it would seem like someone always wanted something. And no doubt she was still tired from her last trip into town with Luca. Nonetheless, he followed her out to the vacant porch. As he looked around, he looked straight at Andy, giving her his full undivided attention. Straightening out his jacket, he frowned a little. Looking around to ensure that no one was attempting to eavesdrop or interrupt their conversation, Brian cleared his throat. "Alright, I know its been a crazy week, considering what's been going on, but I've had a lot on my mind. Including a rather...deep, dark secret. I'm just letting it out little by little, person by person...and well...you're next. Just...promise you won't kill me?"

A dark secret? Andy rolled her eyes. This guy was more dramatic than a teenage girl. It seemed that the word of what she had done to Dixie had gotten around. At least the vague story that most of them knew, as he was worried that she would kill him. The idea was ridiculous but she shrugged in response.

“I wouldn’t kill you,” Andy said nonchalantly, pausing to take another sip from her coffee. “I would just make Luca do it.” It was a hollow threat. She couldn’t make Luca do anything he didn’t want to do. But she had a feeling if whatever this douche nozzle had to tell her was bad enough that she would kill him, Luca likely wouldn’t mind, especially since he had so kindly banned her from guns for the time being.

“Enough beating around the bush. Out with it. Say what you need to get off your chest and get out of my face.”

Brian kept a straight face when Andy decided to be blunt. "Clearly you're in no mood to talk, let's get this over with before you change your mind." He took a deep breath before taking out his CIA Badge. "I'm an Agent for the CIA. I was a liaison for the guys in the Hazmat Suits trying to kill everyone. We were supposed to just come in quietly, collect Patient Zero and the Parasite, and leave just as quickly, but...you saw where that went. So now they're trying to cover it up, leave no witnesses and then firebomb the town. My employers agreed to do the same. I disagreed and said that we should try and evacuate the survivors, save as many people as I can. But before I could say anything else, communications got cut off. So now I'm a Rogue Agent on the run for my life. I may have done a lot of bad things over the last fifteen years, but killing my fellow Americans will not be one of them." He slipped it back into his pocket. "Hopefully you can keep this between us. If not, let the devil come for me. I know what I've done and I'm more then ready to answer for it."

Andy scoffed, putting her coffee down on the table that she and Colt had been sitting around only moments before. What did he mean about her ‘obviously not being in the mood to talk?’ This was just how she was, in fact if anything she was being rather gracious with her time. If she really didn’t want to talk she would be back in her bedroom and avoiding this conversation entirely.

“That’s your big dark secret?” Andy let out a sarcastic laugh. “This was what had you so tied up in knots you were worried that I would kill you?” Her green eyes landed on his, amused. Her hip was cocked to the side, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned in to Brain.

“Let me tell you a secret.” Andy was close to him, leaning in so her mouth was near his ear as she spoke. “No one gives a fuck.” She pulled back, giving another characteristic eye roll.

Brian adjusted his tie. "You might not. But everyone's different. Still, its not something I'd throw out into the open." Realistically, the whole employment by the CIA had been eating at him mentally since day one. Especially the blood that he had on his hands. "But I thought it would be nice to just...let it out. And I'd rather do that, then have someone find out by snooping around, digging into my jacket and then confronting me about it later. That would have been a can of worms that I don't want to deal with. Anyway, I'll get out of your hair. If you need something, just let me know."

With that being said, Brian went ahead for the Camper that he shared with Michael. Checking his Rifle, he thought for a moment.

Andy picked her coffee cup back up as she watched him walk away, shaking her head. The supply group was now gone, and the morning was filled with the clang of people working on the building outside. She was sure the others were busy checking on Shinoa and the baby, which meant that there was nothing stopping Andy from disappearing into her room to avoid anyone else trying to tell them their life story. The redhead made her way inside, and once behind the confines of her heavy bedroom door, grabbed her headphones and sketchpad.