Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[Rumble Fish]

Part 1 of 2

The clear glass fogged with the furious breath of the veteran as she stared, arm across the top down at what she was seeing below. The purple haired woman had just pulled from the Lodge with Ralph watching. Despite not being able to hear them, she had a good idea as to what her plans were. She had said them before. It still did not make it any easier. Here they were already two down, the trio had already left and now she was leaving. Palms sweated and her chest was tight with anger.

“Fuckin’ traitorous bi-!” Colt was stopped in her snarl by the radio crackling and Andy’s voice coming through. Trying to reel her fury in, the woman picked the device up and held it to her ear.

“Colt, you awake?” The woman growled through her sinuses before answering.

“Eeyup?” The veteran kept her tone laconic and low, as to not alert Andy. The last thing the archer needed was to think something was wrong with them back here already.

“That truck the bitch ran off with isn’t far from the lodge in a ditch. It might pay to send someone to scout after it and see if we can recover any of the goods.”

“Alright.” She answered before turning the radio off so the redhead would not hear the profane filled grumblings that escaped the veteran as she stared back out the window. It was good news that the truck was still there. Colt had considered it a lost cause, but right now it was hard to think of anything properly. She had awoken from a nightmare fuelled sleep. Screaming and frantic she had jumped to the top bunk, hoping Jenna would be awake; purely for the company. And seeing she had now left, presumably not long before she had awoken, the veteran’s nerves were even more frayed. Less people, being in charge and now this. What could be better?


With a grumble, Colt pulled on her army jacket and clumped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Grabbing cereal, she dumped it into a bowl and without even getting the milk, she crunched at it angrily while taking out her flask. She could worry about the truck later. She needed to calm down before making any other decisions.

"Morning Colt." Leliana’s voice broke the silence of Colt's angry cereal munching a few minutes after the veteran had started eating. "Andy and them leave yet?" Leliana had been sitting up with Milly for the last little bit, the kid was still sick. And now Leliana was tasked with getting her some water, maybe some food if she could find anything easy. She wasn't aware of the situation with Jenna, Ivan, or Brian, but she could feel that something was wrong. Colt didn't wake up pissed most of the time. Entering the kitchen, the girl went looking for one of the water bottles. "Everything okay?" She asked, reaching up to rummage through one of the cabinets, final finding a clean bottle.

The woman paused in her crunching as Leliana appeared and greeted her. The woman sighed deeply, preventing herself from snapping at the nurse. As she had gone to look for water, Colt grumbled and unscrewed her flask, taking an exceedingly long swig from it. There was so much going through her mind at once, as soon as Leliana had asked “Everything okay?” the flask slammed down and Colt took a long, heavy inhale.

“Y’want the truth?” This dormant volcano was so close to erupting, something had to give release or the veteran felt as though she was about to blow up worse than any explosive Kypher had planned.

Leliana looked to Colt again when she slammed her flask down, turning the water off once the water bottle for Milly was filled. Leliana capped it, before sticking it in the fridge. "Yeah. You look like you need to talk, and I'm here so, " She moved closer to Colt, giving her a small smile. Leliana crossed her arms lightly, relaxed but slightly chilled thanks to the temperature. She wasn't entirely sure if the generator had been fixed yet or not, she was going to say it wasn't, and the one jacket she owned now didn't do too much to help keep her warm. "No one else is down here, so go ahead. Vent away."

“Okay…” Colt sighed, releasing the deep inhale. She hated to do this, but if she was going to be effective at leading these people, she had to get this off her chest. “Brian, Ivan and Jenna are gone. Jenna just left. So now we’re three people down. And I’ve bin left here again while Luca and Andy fuck off elsewhere. Oh, and I wasn’t told ANYTHING until last night! Seems I can’t be told anything for some reason or another! They go off together, and I’m left to deal with this shit myself?! AGAIN?! We worked fucking hard to keep folks together but NOPE! Not good enough! I’M! NOT! GOOD ENOUGH!” The woman stopped, knowing if she went any further, she’d wake up the whole Lodge. After a few moments, the woman sighed and took up her flask again.

“I can’t even keep them fuckin’ idiots in line! I say don’t throw bottles, they throw bottles. I tell ‘em not to run… what do they do? Twice I’ve bin out; two near disasters.” Her tone grew lower and she took a drink from her flask, “I was a Sargent...” She finished, unable to think of anything else to say. Spirits were already low with the knowledge of today’s date. The only people she wanted now was her squad. At least they would know what to do.
Leliana nodded, listening to Colt talk. The teen didn't say a word, but her jaw clenched upon learning that Brian and Jenna had left. Ivan would be back, Colt was talking about a run. Right? Anyway, she waited until she was sure Colt had finished before she started. "First off Colt, don't say you're not good enough. You've worked harder, done more, and you are the most qualified person here in the lodge too keep us safe. People can just be dumb. Men lack common sense and do their own thing no matter what anyone tells them because...well I don't know." Leliana sounded stern like she wanted to beat some self-respect into Colt. But also, Leliana would get her ass kicked, so words would have to do. "Secondly, you can't control what everyone does at every moment. Jenna and Brian leaving, that's on them. The innocent don't run, cowards. The guilty, they're the ones who run because they have reasons to. You're still here, which means your braver than anyone who has left. You're here, and you're still fighting. You've put everyone before yourself, I know it's hard, but you've done everything you can. You might not be able to see it, but you've done well. Colt, you're one of the pillars of our little group here."

“Yeah well,” another sip, “In my line of work; y’act stupid you die! They didn’t almost get themselves killed! Me, and my groups almost died twice to people being idiots! I’ve had it! If I see one more act of stupidity, they’re getting it! Cause I’m not risking my ass just so they can keep doing it over and over again! I’m through giving chances!” Colt grumbled before the nurse spoke up again, telling her that she was one of the “pillars” of the group. The veteran’s eyes glanced down, staring at the floor.

“That’s the thing. Pillar, turret… don’t matter. It’s just,” she sighed heavily, “Think I’m mad at Jenna ‘cause, I listened. I tried to help. I wanna talk about how I’m feelin’ but, seems when I try, I ‘think I’m special’ or something.” Colt paused for a moment. She was not angry at Luca for saying this; that would be stupid and if anything the pair seemed to be on relatively decent terms now. But it was the words. They stung. The veteran glanced at the nurse for a second before sighing.

“This is pathetic. Sorry.”

"It's not pathetic," Leliana sighed. "You're allowed to feel angry, sad, whatever the hell you want to. You're allowed to feel like this, damn anyone who tells you otherwise." She wanted to help Colt, she knew what it was like to struggle, but Colt had seen so much. Leliana felt bad for her, but at the same time, she had only met one or two other people who were as strong as Colt. "You're struggling, but that's okay. You don't have to be okay, you don't have to be strong all the time. That doesn't make you weak, or pathetic, it's one of the many things that makes you human."

"I just keep gettin', like, these memories that won't go away. Like, there's one that just won't leave." Colt leant forward, arms gripping each other's forearm. "And today bein' the date it is, truthfully? I'd rather just stay in my room with some bottles. Feel that way most of the time. But I can't. And I dunno how to tell folks."

The woman sat back, still too uncomfortable to look at the nurse, "Nobody'd get it. And I don't wanna do that to 'em. Playing' that 'who has it worse' bullshit. Even Ivan, who is probably the closest I'd have, I couldn't say anythin'." The veteran stopped, and with a strained breath rolled up the harsh fabric of her left sleeve to look at the scarring left from bullets and burns. Her face contorted slightly and her gaze stayed down.

Leliana finally took a seat, right beside Colt. "Do...do you want to talk about it?" She asked quietly, "You don't have to. But, you should know, you aren't alone. If today is hard, you can take it easy, nobody here would blame you. Because we know we can count on you when we need you." Leliana fell silent for a moment, watching Colt roll up her sleeve. "Oh, Colt. I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but you shouldn't be ashamed. It's nothing to be ashamed about. You fought in a war, you saw things that I can't even imagine. You can't let how other people react to your scars, mentally and physically, dictate how you grieve. How you cope." She paused, "You want a hug?"

Featuring: FireMaiden (Leliana)
Interactions: Maj (Andy)
Mentions: Brax (Luca) The Mad Queen (Jenna/Ralph) Togy (Nile)

 

[FireMaiden]

Part 2 of 2

Colt took a moment before responding. "...Well, I guess I can say what it is." The woman answered as her gaze turned back to the nurse, her head shaking a little at being told to take it easy, "I would. But I'm needed." She then looked ahead as she mentally built up the courage to speak again, to tell someone what she was thinking.

"It was everything with the Hazzies that reminded me of it. Right back to when we first learned of the attack. And it won't go away. I was sent out with my squad to a village we were protecting. Rebels were there, terrorisin' folk, blowing buildings up, killin'..." the woman took a pause and a wince, the images coming back, "Bombs were goin' off, people were runnin' and screamin' right into gunfire... at at one point, a woman ran up to me. She had a boy in her arms. She's screaming in Persian at me and trying to push him into me. All wild eyed n'terrified. I-I dunno what she wanted from me so I tried to hand him back, but she just pushed him back into me, screamin' that same stuff. And, well, she ran back into a buildin', I dunno if she was tryin' to save folk or not but... I tried to take the boy and run but," again, another pause, "He's screamin' and squirmin' and I couldn't hold onto 'im! I ran after 'im as he ran after her! I could've caught hi-I SHOULD have! But... his mum she... he saw her be gunned down. A-and before I could do anything he ran into that building and-" even at the mere description of these events caused a flash in Colt's eyes and her complexion to turn a sickly green. The blinding flash within the red mist of sniffed out lives stayed, replaying like a broken video in her mind. For a moment, Colt said nothing else, only taking another long drink before turning to the nurse, her gaze still downward, "I was just... so afraid that, w-we'd be too late and..." the thought of coming to a barren, body-riddled wasteland was the breaking point. Still green, she finally looked the nurse in the face. "...I think I need one." Her jaw hurt from clenching, knowing too much movement would cause the veteran to collapse.

As Leliana listened, she felt her stomach churn. Nobody deserved to watch their family die, to have their homes to destroyed, to be shipped off to fight in some pointless war. When she finished talking, accepting Leliana’s offer for a hug, the nurse didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around the veteran. One of those warm hugs, the kind that you may not realize you need at the time. "Oh Colt, I'm sorry." She was silent for a few minutes, her arms still around the older woman. Leliana wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to say, or if she should say anything. So the nurse just sat there silently, letting Colt do whatever she wanted to, and Leliana felt like the older woman could stop the hug whenever she wanted to.

Colt jumped at the sudden hug, feeling Leli's tight grip as she held onto her. Instinctually, the veteran wrapped her arms back around the nurse. As soon as she did, Colt felt herself unable to hold it back any further. With a struggling gasp, the floodgates opened and Colt's grip on the nurse tightened a little as she finally released what had been building up for weeks now. It wouldn't stop everything, but at least it would clear her mind. Colt cried steadily without histrionics until her chest ached and there were no more tears to shed. With a sniff, she reluctantly broke the hug, using a sleeve to wipe her nose.

"Fuckin'" she sniffed, "Sorry. Didn't think I'd do that." She mumbled afterwards. She was just thankful nobody else had seen that.

Leliana simply gave her a smile, glancing around for a second. She spotted what she wanted on the counter nearby, a pack of tissues, and leaned dramatically to get them. Her arms we're just a little too short, forcing the nurse up out of the chair to grab the pack before she turned back to Colt. "It's okay Colt. Crying is good for you, it makes you feel better." Leliana produced a tissue from the pack, putting it in Colt's hand. "So, it's nothing to apologize for."

Puffy eyed and with a running nose, Colt took the tissue from the nurse and dabbed her blotchy face with it. As she did, the woman felt the charred and leathery scar tissue that dominated the left side of her face. She pushed back some hair behind her torn ear and looked to Leliana again. With a deep sigh, she steadied her breath.

"I've seen a lot... but that? That isn't goin' t'leave me. Ever." Her gaze turned blank and her eyes were directed ahead, "Never talked to anyone about it."

"I'm glad you told me, " Leliana said softly, "I know it's difficult talking about hardships, but it can help. It's weird honestly, I'm not entirely sure about all the psychological reasons behind it, but," She shrugged. Sitting back in her chair, Leliana smiled at Colt again, "Any time you want to talk, I'm here."

"Me neither. But if it helps; it helps." The woman glanced out of the window for a brief moment before turning her gaze to the nurse. "I don't wanna burden ya. But, that would really help if we could do that."

Leliana smiled warmly, "Oh it's not a burden. Everyone needs to talk at some point. Just, come and get me whenever. We're friends Colt." Leliana raised her hand, running her hand through her slightly tangled hair. "You know, I always admired people like you. You're so strong, it's inspiring. Plus, Micheal seems like he's terrified of you, which is really funny."

At the mention of friends, there was a flash in the woman’s face. The corners of her mouth twitched upward. While she knew Owen thought of her as so, and… she was cautiously optimistic with Andy, it was amazing to hear those words leave the nurse’s lips. The next words to leave her lips also caused her cheeks to go a slight pink. It was strange to hear again. The veteran let out a snort of a chuckle as she mentioned Michael before her face finally fell back into her usual stoic gaze.

“I dunno what I’m gonna do with ‘im.” She sighed with her arms akimbo, her expression blanked for a second, before her brows lowered, “Right. That’s what I’m doin’ t’day. I’mma round up anyone who ain’t a shooter or ain’t good at shootin’ and fuckin’ show ‘em how its done!” Her gaze was looking upward and finger pointing sharply at the ground several times for emphasis. She needed something to take her mind off of what she had just been talking about. Guns. Guns would help.

Leliana stifled a giggle watching Colt's reaction, catching the little smile, the slight blush. Leliana meant it though. They were fiends, like hell, after what all they've bee through, why wouldn't they be? "That sounds like a good plan. Bethany would need to stay up there with Milly, she's still sick. And, I don't know about Shinoa, but yeah. Teaching everyone would be good, you want help setting up targets?"

“I thought of ‘em. The others ain’t got no excuses.” Colt rolled her eyes, “Sho, let’s go. I wanna get ‘em started as soon as possible.” Colt took a few steps towards the door, looking to Leliana for her to follow her. The pair spent the next half-hour setting everything up. As Colt came back inside, she shook off the frost that had developed on her jacket before looking around. She glanced back to Leliana, gesturing to her ears before turning back to the upstairs and cupping her hands around her mouth.

“Okay! Everybody up!” she bellowed, channelling her long lost Sargent aura with a newfound surge of confidence, “I want everybody abled down here in two minutes! GIT GOIN’!”

Hyped_Taco Maj Brax BloodLightning27 Togy The Mad Queen ​

 

[TheMightyRedLemon]

Rays of sunlight seeped through the cracks between the wooden boards over the window of the master bedroom, illuminating the area enough to see with relative ease. Dust particles floated about low to the floor that was littlered with old garbage, broken glass and torn upholstery. Vanessa groaned lightly as she woke up. Opening her eyes brought a swathe of new pain to her already throbbing head. As she sat up in the bed the room began to spin as a sickly sweet taste overcame her moth and bile began to rise in her throat.

Rushing to the bathroom she leaned over the sink, her stomach voiding what little liquid it still held into the sink. With nothing left in her stomach, Vanessa began to painfully dry heave, making horrible wrenching sounds.


After only one bottle you are hungover?


"....Sod off Yuri.. I Dont need ya patronizin me." Vanessa muttered in a hoarse voice, her throat raw from puking.


Whatever you say, legkiy ves. (Lightweight)

Vanessa looked up into the mirror to wipe the last bit of bile off her face. She would have to remind herself to go easy on the drinking for now. A few more minutes pass by before Vanessa finally straightened her posture and started to slowly make her way to the front door, peering out of the cracks in the boards of the window by it. To this point, she was fairly sure that the mortverts could not climb, but that didnt stop her from checking to make sure there weren't any dead hands going to grab her the moment she opened the door and walked through. That's how they had gotten Natasha, after all.

Checking one of the pockets on Yuri's fur coat, she found a small pocket knife, an old silver zippo with Y.S.R. engraved into the side, She flipped it open and struck the roller to the flint, watching as the small flame danced to life. She quickly closed the lighter, glad it still works. She walked over to the coffee table for a moment to grab Yuri's old .32 revolver. Checking the ammo, she found only one bullet in the gun. "One fer meself...." she said somberly. Vanessa walked back to the door and carefully stepped out onto the porch of the apparrment, looking over the guardrail and to the grounds befor her. A few mortverts milled about in the grass and some on the road further past. Even more could be seen bumbling around each other in the courtyard of the university, but no immediate danger to her, as long as she was quiet.

The thought of going down from her relative safty honestly terrified her, but the light rumbling of her stomach provided all the motivation she needed to press on. Carefully pulling herself over the guard rail, she climbed down as quietly she could befor dropping to her feet on the soft grass with a light thud. A quick glance around her revealed that none had taken notice of her yet. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had as she crept to the front door of the appartment below the one she had been resting in. Peering through the window revealed no immediate danger, so she lightly gripped the doorknob and tried to turn it. Locked. She quickly glanced around her nervously to make sure she was still safe befor pulling a hairpin from her brown locks, and producing the knife from her pocket.

Vanessa had picked locks before, such as peoples luggage, briefcases, small bookbag locks and the like, so she understood how the tumblers and mechanisms worked. However, she had never attempted a door lock before. Hearing a raspy snarl behind her, Vanessa stumbled to the side away from the noise at the expense of her hairpin, wich snapped inside the lock. Looking up, her heart almost stopped beating as she saw a familiar mountain of muscle. His flesh had taken on a pale, deathly gaunt and his eyes reminded her of a dead fish. His right arm dangled by his side, attached only by strands of muscle and rotten flesh and his throat was just a gaping bloody hole, with various other parts of his body having chunks missing as well. Sergei, or what was left of him, started to come down on top of Vanessa, who rolled to the side to dodge him. This landed her in the walkway in between the two sides of the appartment building, where the blocked off stairs were located. Others mortverts had begun to take notice of the scuffle and were now moving towards her as well.

Vanessa scrambled to her feet quickly and ducked around Sergei the Mortvert and back to the door where her broken hairpin and the pocket knife had been abandoned only seconds ago. She reached for the knife only to have another of the undead swiped at her, causing her to bend backwards and catch herself on the ground with her hands and spring off with her feet, which connected with the mortvert's jaw, causing it to stumble back just a bit. Vanessa quickly flipped to her feet and turned away from the door. Jumping up, she grabbed the platform of the balcony above her and swung her light frame up, letting go just in time to fling herself painfully over the railing of the second story guardrail. As she tried to rise to her feet, Vanessa's left ankle gave out, causing her to stumble back down, gripping wildly for the doorhanddle.

Using the wall now to stand and hold herself up, she threw open the door and hobbled inside, slamming the door shut, locking it and putting the chain in place. She leaned heavily against the door befor sliding into a sitting position against it. Looking down at her ankle, Vanessa winced as she saw it was already swelling up bad. She reached down with both hands, feeling around on her ankle, trying not to cry out loudly as she did so. She was no expert, but it didnt feel like anything was out of place to her. She hoped this was the case. "T..that was way... too close...." Her voice trembled with a mix of fear and adrenaline.

Look at you! You didnt get the food and you managed to hurt yourself! Without me to protect you, your weak and useless, just like when you crawled into my tent as a child...

Yuri's voice cut through her mind like a hot knife, bringing tears to her eyes instantly. She felt helpless. She had failed to get more food, and now she was in no condition to search anymore.
"Yer right te be angry with me... I failed... I'm gonna starve to death... then come back as...." Vanessa paused and shakily pulled the .32 out of the coat pocket.

Save one for yourself...

 

[The Mad Queen]

And like that, she was gone. Fisher looked across the dirt road while sitting in the rental. He remained there for at least half an hour, collecting his thoughts. He processed his final conversation with the woman over and over again, wondering if he could've gotten her to stay. Saying the right thing in the right way would've done it, probably.
But it was as she said, there was no way of him knowing for sure.
His attention moved back to the envelopes and sitting atop the pile was one labelled Ralph. He didn't feel like reading it, at least not in that moment but he wasn't going to dismiss it by any means. So the good Doctor pocketed it instead and picked up the others. Colt, Michael and finally, sitting at the bottom was one labelled Shiona.

He couldn't convince her to stay and instead the woman was now on a mission that stood a high chance of getting her killed, but delivering the letters was the least he could do.

​

It was still early, so he made his way back inside and plopped himself down in bed, but he did not sleep. How could he? He wasn't sure just how long he lay there, staring at the ceiling but it felt like hours, an eternity. He'd been sharing this room with Ray and although the man was a heavy sleeper, possibly due to his age having someone in the room made him feel less alone.
He sighed heavily, and processed their final conversation one more time before his attention was grabbed by Colt shouting from downstairs. Finally, a distraction. He jumped at the opportunity, or rather what the man could manage and made his way downstairs as quickly as possible.
Which, still wasn't very quick but he'd been practising. It took him half a minute this time, a far cry from when it had taken him almost half an hour weeks ago.

Agony shot through his knee and upper leg by the time he reached the bottom, but that didn't slow Fisher down. He winced but he fought through it.

"Colt." He said, his eyes heavy "I have something for you."
He handed her the letter with her own name written on it. "I haven't looked at it myself, it's not for my eyes. But I suggest you read it in private."

Spoiler: Colt

Colt.
By the time you're reading this I will be long gone from the lodge. I want you to know why because although I've only spent the past few weeks in your presence I know you'll blame yourself for this. You're probably cursing yourself out already.
Fact of the matter is, I've got a mission. Brian has pen drive on those Fascists disguised as soldiers. Names, contacts, who's giving the orders, that sort of thing and I have to make them pay for what they've done.

They cut off all communications so I'm leaving town and getting to the closest place with an internet connection. From there, I'm not going to tell the world, not yet but they should know by now that Brian knows too much. In short, I'm going to hold everything he gathered to ransom because if there is even a slim chance that blackmail might get them to stop killing people and let you guys leave in one piece I have to take it.
Unlike real soldiers (like you) they don't care about human lives or collateral damage, we both know that but their reputations and how this will all look on an international level? They'll care about that, so that's what I'll use.

You taught me how to protect myself and others and if the attack and more has told me anything, it's that I let you down. Maybe I could deal with that if you were just my teacher, but I see you as more than that. You're my friend. I don't have a lot of actual friends, I'll be honest. I spent a few sleepless nights thinking about it, but I know I can do more for the lodge away from it than staying there and completing this mission.

Regardless of what other people say (including yourself) you are the glue that holds the lodge together. You damn sure held me together. Don't take shit from anyone, but especially from yourself. Take it from a girl who spent way too many years and did some stupid shit because she was consumed with self-loathing I know there's the strength in you to carry everyone there forwards and get them through any shit the world might throw at them.
You are a fierce, strong-willed and beautiful woman. I just wish you could see that in yourself. I know that's easier said than done, believe me but I hope you realise those things.

One day, I hope we cross paths again. If the world still has conventions when this shit is over we gotta go to one together and I can show you the ropes.
Until then there must be no regrets. Just go forwards, do what you've been doing and I'll do my thing.
Sincerely, Jenna.

P.S: I left something in the front compartment of the rental you might want.

He stepped away, making his way into the kitchen and leaving her with the message.
One down, two to go.

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt)

 

[Brax]

Tre pushed open the front door, walking in as Colt called for the lodge to arise. Over the past few days the boy had made his way back to his spot during the night time, serving as the lodge’s guardian while everyone was asleep. It sure had been a thankless job. Around this time, he typically would have taken to the couch to get a few hours in himself, but with Colt pressing for people to ready themselves, the boy figured he could put off his slumber for a few hours. The dread-head knew how to use a gun but it wasn’t his preferred method of self-defense. Still, at the very least, he knew he could probably use a few tips from someone who had been professionally trained. His father, alongside Luca, were both shit teachers. They never gave him proper time to teach him how to correctly handle a gun, so most of his knowledge was self-learned. He briefly retrieved a picture from his back pocket, unfolding it to take a gander toward the only physical item he had to remember his pops.

​

He unclipped the machete’s sheaths from around his midriff and tossed them onto the couch. Out of habit, he turned his head to see if Luca was in his bedroom, but the door was ajar with no one inside. There was no surprise there. Hours earlier, he had watched Luca, alongside Andy and Hector, all leave. Luca had warned him beforehand. If anyone didn’t need anyone to worry about them, it was that man. However, Tre couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious with him gone. Aside from Warren, he pretty much made limited attempts to speak to anyone else who lived in the lodge. It was best for them that way, as well as himself.

Two minutes had passed. Tre watched as Ralph made his way into the living room to hand Colt a piece of paper, before walking into the kitchen. The boy’s face searched Colt’s for any type of expression before ultimately deciding he didn’t care what was written on that piece of paper. It wasn’t his business, so there was no point attempting to make it so. He offered a cheery smile to Colt, before bouncing past her and making his way into the kitchen after the older gentleman. He had the right idea. If the dark-skinned male was going to be forced to be awake for a longer amount of time than usual, it would probably do him some good to eat something.

Fingers found the cabinets above the sink, which he retrieved a mug from. He filled it with tap water. A quick sip was all it took to drink it down. After placing the cup on the countertop, the boy made his way to the freezer and removed a huge slab of meat. It’d be enough to feed the lodge’s residents at least for lunch. With a proper fire outside and some wood, he knew he’d be able to cook it to perfection. It would take quite some time however. Ready to cut the plastic wrapping off of it, Tre reached for one of his machetes. When it wasn’t there, he looked down to confirm. That’s right; he left it on the couch just minutes prior. Looking over to Ralph, Tre offered a goofy grin, thinking the man was paying attention to him throughout his process.

The plastic was removed from the frozen meat after he ran some water over it. He could feel the moisture gather behind closed lips as he removed it from the metal sink. Sure to grab a rag so no rogue juices would slip onto the floor undetected, Tre audibly spoke. It hadn’t been intended for Ralph to respond, or for anyone in particular. Rather, he was talking to himself. It was something he had gotten quite accustomed to doing over the years.

“Oh, we smokin’ today…”

Interactions: Rumble Fish The Mad Queen

 

[RayPurchase]

Aaron Jones


​

Two months earlier
16th October 2018, 5pm


The autumn evening sky was streaked with red, the last vestiges of the sun as it dipped below the horizon. The highway was near enough deserted. A raccoon warily made its way across the carriageway, chittering to itself nervously, its eyes flicking this way and that, a dangerous place for any creature to be walking. A pair of lights emerged from over to the hill to its right, rapidly bearing down on the creature. The lights filled the creature's face, staring down its approaching doom, mustering a mere blink. With a few seconds to spare the raccoon scampered out of the way, the throaty warbler of the engine and blaring music sending it on it's way with added haste. The driver of the vehicle had paid little heed to the potential roadkill, with the window open, the cool evening breeze blowing over him and the music blaring, he was in a pretty good place.


"SWEET HOME ALABAMA, WHERE THE SKIES ARE SO BLUE,"


Both the radio and his voice were turned up to full volume, in fact the music could probably be heard by any passerby before the vehicle was seen.


"SWEET HOME ALABAMA, LORD I'M COMING HOME TO YOU,"


In fact the sight was pretty intimidating too. The car was squat and thicker, the powerful headlights carving a beam through the encroaching darkness. The dark green paint job causing it to be near swallowed in the fading light. It wasn't inconspicuous that was for sure. Any half decent military or film buff would recognise it, a Humvee, lacking the 50.cal roof mounted machine gun of course. This was home territory after all. In the driving seat Aaron temporarily paused in his rather enthusiastic rendition of one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classics, rustling his hand I'm the bag in the glove compartment, retrieving a strip of beef jerky, proceeding to rip off a piece. The journey had been good so far, mostly clear of traffic, views of open country, and the tape deck was going strong, in fact he wasn't even halfway through his supply of tapes. Only bit of traffic was a fair bit of military traffic around the Colorado border, thankfully he had managed to get ahead of them, must have been some sort of exercise occuring, definitely wouldn’t want to get stuck in that madness. Once more with one hand on the wheel, his left hand grabbed the folded map on the passenger seat, moving into the slow lane, his eyes flicked between the road and the map.


“Right so we’re losin’ daylight, another half an hour tops, 8 hours on the road I’m callin’ it a day…”


Suddenly the sign for the turning off of the highway was coming up. Aurora, 5 miles. Seems like he had his option. Best case scenario he would have found a base, but there was a dearth of them in this area. One night wild camping wouldn’t see him come to any harm, and if he made up the time over the remaining 3 days of driving no one would account for him not reporting in. Besides it had been too long since he had last camped out underneath the stars. On either side of him was lush and verdant Colorado woodland. It may not quite be the rolling Texan plains he grew up on, but it would do. As he turned off he could see the lights of Aurora in the distance, if he had continued along the paved road he would have ended up there. But after about a mile he pulled off onto a dirt track and into the woods. Pulling up just off the path. He killed the engine but left the key in the ignition and the lights on whilst he proceeded to pick up an electrical light from the back, setting it on the roof and turning it on. By its light he set up a tarpaulin that essentially acted as an additional roof, parallel to the Humvee’s, bungee cords to nearby branches holding it in place. He grabbed an MRE from the boot of the Humvee, turning the light off he lay underneath the tarpaulin, gazing up at the stars as he tore the MRE open, with his spork gripped in his teeth, he took a small bottle from his pocket, unscrewing it he put a few dashes of the liquid inside into the bag of long life pasta and mushroom sauce. Obviously heating it up improved the taste a little, but for guaranteed success, Tabasco sauce was the way forward. One in every ration pack, and they were like goddamn gold dust. Aaron had managed to swipe 5 of the bottles on his way out of the Richmond motor pool. Shovelling a sporkful of pasta into his mouth, he breathed heavily, cooling the pleasant burning sensation which was dancing over his tongue. He gazed up at the clear night sky, far away enough from the city to avoid the light pollution. Life was good.


November 11th 7am


Aaron awoke with a start, his limbs scrabbling, hands grasping air. After a few panic filled moments his hands grasped the comforting cold metal of the tire iron. He gripped it tightly, feeling the smoothness and heft of it, his breathing slowing. The Sun had only risen about half an hour ago, and its rays were filtering through the trees. With a groan he pushed himself up from the backseat of the Humvee, taking a small sip of water from the canteen on the floor, swilling the water around the dry confines of his mouth. He sat there for a few moments. The only sound being his breathing and the distant call of the dawn chorus. He swung open the Humvee door and emerged, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the light. He stretched out, resting the tire iron over his right shoulder as he wandered about the makeshift camp. If he was honest, not much had changed. The Humvee and Tarpaulin were still in place, down to just a single jerry can of fuel on top of the half a tank of fuel it was currently running on. He let out a sigh as he surveyed the woods. He’d spent a week here now, amongst the tangled roots and maze like trees, after an initial foray into the city he had realised that the wealth of food and materials there were of little use to him if he got himself bitten or injured, left to die in whatever hole he crawled into. No for now this was the place to be, plenty of visibility and multiple escape routes. There were still a large variety of cabins out there that he hadn’t even scratched the surface of.


He popped open the boot of the Humvee, his dwindling supplied laid out before him. Enough water to last him 2 more days, 2 MREs and half a bag of beef jerky, all the other food he had managed to scavenge had been used now, just the long life stuff left. In terms of tools and weapons, his service pistol was strapped to his thigh, Beretta 9mm, 8 rounds in the clip and no spares. He still had the mechanic’s toolkit he had brought with him on the journey, the Tire Iron from had proven to be a useful weapon against… He chuckled darkly and rubbed at the beard that had grown through over the month. Zombies. There wasn’t really any other word for them, he had seen them keep on coming despite suffering the most grievous wounds, torn limbs, perforated torsos, multiple bullet wounds. Only head wounds seemed to do the trick, and even then you needed far more than a glancing blow. Where they came from, he had no idea, neither did he know what had caused them to come into being. From his initial forays in that first week, it was clear that the armed barricade was there to contain the threat, so perhaps this was still just a localised event, keep everyone and everything thing in the area from escaping and spreading...whatever this was. As he had found out even he wasn’t going to be able to get out, his hand traced a line of bullet holes along the left flank of the Humvee. He shook his head, reached into the bag and grabbed a strip of jerky, chewing steadily on the salted meat, and slammed the trunk shut. He busied himself with taking down the Tarpaulin, stuffing it onto the back seats. He flopped down into the driver’s seat, and turned the key, the engine roared into life, he grinned giving the steering wheel a pat, the old girl was tough he had to give her that. He pressed the play button on the tape deck, and slowly turned up the volume. He leaned back into the seat his eyes closing for a few moments as the volume of the music rose, filtering through the trees. This was stupid, lord knows what was out there listening, but right now he could do with letting his hair down, even for a minute or two. Besides it was time to find a new campsite.

Spoiler: Aaron's Mix Tape No. 3, Side A

 

[Corgi]

​

November 11, 2019
8 : 2 0 A M

Two minutes was the order and two minutes was what she got.

For some reason, the orders barked by Colt woke Aubrey up immediately. On an average day, it takes Aubrey at least five minutes to get herself out of bed, never mind actually being read to go; however, this morning was different. This morning was different because last night was different. Instead of going to sleep worrying about what the world was devolving into, she was reading a fantastic book that was set in a fantastical world, slowly feeling her mind and body slip in and out of consciousness.

Aubrey glided into a wonderful dream of a world that didn’t have the dead, a dream where she met her sister and her baby. A dream where the relationship was healed and there was no hatred between the two... And suddenly she was awake at Colt’s call.

She felt like for the first time in awhile, she got restful sleep. It wasn’t rare for Aubrey to be tossing and turning a majority of the night, but who didn’t now-a-days.

Within the two minute mark, the girl was exiting the building, her hair was in its usual two braids, hat was on, clothes somewhat neat, and crowbar in hand. She didn’t think there was going to be fighting, but a crowbar was multipurpose. Since she had gotten here, she used it for construction more than beating in heads, but if Colt’s yelling was what her worry deemed it to be, she’d be ready.

Jogging towards the lodge, her eyes locked onto the woman she had come to be quite familiar with, “Hey, Colt.” She mumbled, her voice a bit hoarse from just waking up, “Is everything okay?”

Shoulders squared and arms akimbo, Colt watched as the younger girl appeared from the barracks, seemingly startled but asking her if everything was okay. The veteran sighed through her nose. Thankfully the cold air was settling the redness of her eyes and blotches on her face. Nobody needed to know she had been crying. She then turned to Aubrey properly.

“Eeyup. Everythin’s hunky-dory. Luca, Andy and Hector are out so it’s just me fur now. I want everyone in the Lodge. Gonna have y’all busy today.”

Aubrey being Aubrey, she doesn’t look into the small details like others may. She simply figured that the redness from her cheeks was from the bitter air. Still a bit confused as to why they were being woken up, adding on top of that the new information about Luca, Andy, and Hector being gone, her brows creased.

“Where’d they go?” She asked. Truthfully, she only cared about Luca and Andy, while she knew Hector had been helping the injured, she hadn’t exchanged a few words since she had been here. She also knew Luca’s physical capability, so she had no doubt he’d be able to take care of Hector if the time came for it. For Andy, she seemed like a very competent woman but she was Owen’s sister, she might as well keep tabs on her if Owen hadn’t.

“Into the city. That’s all I know.” Colt took a sip from her flask, still feeling particularly vulnerable after her talk with Leliana. She let out a little sigh, “They shouldn’t be gone long. But in the mean time, think it’s best I teach ya’ll how’t protect yerselves. Head in and get some breakfast.” She looked down at the younger girl before blinking softly.

“How’ve ya bin managing anyhow? All that nonsense with the Hazzies would ‘ave bin scary. That’s why I’m gonna make sure we ain’t caught out like that again.”

Aubrey nodded slowly at the information. From her time in the city it was dangerous, but there was no point in dwelling on it since there was nothing she could do, “Oh, I’ve been alright. I like it here, it feels safe. I like the people, too.” She explained plainly. It wasn’t far from the truth, but she was scared when she first arrived. All of these new people, all of the injured, it was frightening for someone who never really talked to others unless she was forced to, “I think that’s a good idea, though. You can never be too prepared. Have you been alright? Healing up well?”

Colt nodded a little at the woman’s response. She was relieved to hear that she had been relatively okay. When Aubrey then asked her about her own condition, the veteran sighed sharply, “Eeyup, I’m doin’ okay. Better now I can walk again that’s for sho. Using them crutches was a massive pain. And I found us more hunting territory the other day so that’s somethin’ huh? Plenty of game so hopefully we’re no’ gonna be too short on food.”

Aubrey nodded at the news, the confusion fading from her visage, “That’s really good. While I don’t think I’d be doing the hunting, that’ll be good for all of us. If you need help with anything, let me know.” With that, she waved a small goodbye and headed for the door.

“All I need from ya the now is to get yerself fed and stand ready as soon as yer done.” Colt called after the woman before turning and storming to the barracks, if she was going to do as she said, so could Nile and Cletus.

Seeing Colt stand there strong and ready for anything sent a warmth through her stomach. If Colt, a woman who had been shot through the leg, already losing her other one previously, could be so ready for anything, so could she.

With a new-found confidence, Aubrey briskly entered the cabin and found a place to sit and eat. While she doesn’t get hungry for a couple of hours after waking up, she decided that she’ll need a little something in her to keep her going. Whatever it was they were going to learn, the blonde was pretty excited for it. Anything she can do to protect herself and the others here, she’d do it.

Interactions: Rumble Fish (Colt)
Mentions: Brax (Luca), Maj (Owen and Andy), shadowz1995 (Hector)

 

[Brax]

The whir of the engine dulled as Andy pulled off the highway and into the small convenience store near the hospital. A soft click sounded as she slid the car into park and turned the key killing the motor. Andy intentionally picked this gas station because it was one of the few old school pumps left in town. Most modern gas pumps required for you to pay in advance, and with no power and no cashier in which to take her money, that proved to be an issue. She pulled on the lever that released the door to the gas pump and slid out of the car. At the sound of the chime from her door opening, Andy grabbed the keys from the ignition before finally stepping out into the cold air.

​

She was surprised to find that the city seemed silent. Going out on supply runs was always a huge risk as the Town had become a very dangerous place, but for the moment there was nothing but the chill of the early November wind and the sound of Luca and Hector exiting the vehicle. The dull light of the LEDs in the gas pump caused the girl to sigh in relief. It had worked three years ago when a blizzard had zapped the town out of power, but there was always the chance that the generator wouldn’t still be working. Wordlessly, the girl put the nozzle into the tank and squeezed the handle, watching happily as the numbers began to move and the tank began to fill.

​

“Did anyone think to bring the gas cans?” Andy asked the pair. “It likely wouldn’t hurt to take some of this back for our generator.”

"Yes." The doctor confirmed. "I only brought two. I didn't know if we would be needing it but just in case." Hector climbed into the back and pulled out two worn, red gas cans. He hopped off after zipping the bag back up and set them down next to the pumps.

Hector's grey eye scanned their immediate surroundings, pulling his beretta free from its holster and chambered a round, "I'll keep an eye out. Do what you need to do quickly. Staying still for too long is never wise."

There were more times than not that Hector opened his mouth to belittle people. Luca wondered if he realized he was even doing it. It was common sense to all three of them that sticking around any one spot in town for too long was probably a bad idea. They obviously weren’t the only people about and the threat of any lingering hazmat soldiers still remained. Luca’s fingers grasped at the metal handle of the door and pulled it. With a tap of his boot the door opened.

Using both hands to navigate himself out of the car, Luca stood up and made his way over to the small gazebo a few feet away. He quickly peered through the glass to see if anyone was inside before his hand grasped the handle and turned it to gain entry. It was an extremely small space; maybe twenty feet by twenty feet at most. Inside was a countertop that had extended from only one side. Sitting atop it was a cash register, a soda and a few scattered papers - most likely schedules. Quickly peering up toward the ceiling would yield results in the form of random packs of cigarettes fitted into small slots. People who were on the run could buy a pack from the attendant nearby. How convenient.

The man grabbed as many packs as he could fit into his pockets. Then he turned to look over at the two who were with him. Andy had already begun filling the car. Hector had been on the lookout. Luca pondered stepping back out to join them before deciding to remain in the attendant’s booth. He had a bad feeling that regardless of how fast the three scurried to collect all the things they needed, it would still be far too much time spent. There were others out there, with resumes that closely matched his own, that surely didn’t go down with the rest of Aurora’s populous. Further inspection of their surroundings from within the gazebo would prove fruitful when the man spotted a hoard of zombies slowly approaching from the main road, about twenty blocks down. This prompted the man to push the door open and whistle at the two.

“We have to go. Now.”

Andy was finishing up with gas when Luca exited the storefront. The car had been filled and she was about halfway done filling the second gas can. She didn’t hesitate upon hearing Luca’s command, instead the girl immediately stopped the flow of gas and began tightening the lid on the canisters and putting them in the car.

“We’re done here anyway,” Andy commented, shutting the trunk with a dulled snapping noise. She rounded the car as quickly as she could and got into the drivers side and waited for the others to join her. With a turn of a key, the engine roared into life.

“What direction are they coming from?” At the end of the day it didn’t matter who ‘they’ were. It could have been soldiers or monsters or anything in between. If they could avoid them, they should.

"East." The doc answered, his firearm drawn and trained on the approaching horde. A lone grey eye flicked from side to side, scanning their surroundings and considering the options available to them.

Hundreds of thoughts and scenarios played out in the span of two or three breaths before the large man quickly hopped in.

"Kill the engine. Stay completely silent. Don't move." He ordered, "It's just the infected and they won't be able to smell us in the car. Just stay absolutely silent."

The zombies continued to approach, moving slowly down the street toward the gas station. It was during this time that a large male, dressed in all black with a bandana covering the lower half of his face approached the driver-side window. His messy hair had been covered up by the hood of his sweatshirt, a pistol brandished in one hand while the other held onto a blood-stained police baton. He used it to knock on the window, slightly cracking the top. Then, with two fingers, he motioned to Andy to draw down the window of the vehicle.

“Pull the window down, sweetheart. We don’t want to hurt you...”

Luca, at this time, was not in the car with Hector and Andy. Rather, he was still inside the station’s tiny establishment, peeking out of the window and watching. As the man waited for Andy to pull down the window, the Italian surveyed the surrounding parts of the gas station once more. There was nothing, until a jacket flap breezing through the wind from behind one of the machines gave it away. It wasn’t a one man operation, something that Luca was well aware of. However, there was no way at this time that he would be able to get into the car with others watching.

The man watched as the window slowly drew open by Andy’s control. A large grin was hidden behind his mask. He kept the pistol aimed at Hector in the backseat, his eyes every so often moving from Andy to the Spanish man as he spoke. He had noticed the zombies approaching, but were using their location to his advantage.

“Let me tell you how this goes, Andrea. You’re going to open the car door and come with me. I’m going to take all of this man’s belongings and yours, including the car. That is, if you want to keep living? I mean, I don’t necessarily have much use for you, but I know someone who would love to spend some time with a beautiful young woman such as yourself.”

The man chuckled as he slowly began to lean forward toward her. It was at this time the window of the gas station shattered. A bullet pierced through the bandit’s cheek, followed by another hitting him in the chest. The third had missed entirely, but the damage was done. Upon impact, the man crumpled to the floor and bled out.

Instinctively, Luca moved back into coverage as bullets began riddling the back of the car that Andy had been driving in. Hector hit the deck, using the coverage of the seats to protect himself as the redhead found herself hugging the steering wheel. She cursed loudly as the bullets pierced through the back window at the same time her foot smashed against the gas. The car peeled out of the gas station, revealing three others that had been hiding behind the machines. Hector barely had time to analyze exactly what was going on but he knew they were going to get separated. In a split second decision, the doctor reached back into one of his bags and hastily yanked a first aid kit out, "LUCA!" his muffled voice called out over the gunfire as he launched the white box as close as he could to the station.

Luca peeked back out to take a gander at them, just in time to watch the car drive off. Andy had done the right thing in not waiting for him to join them. Furthermore, he found himself oddly appreciative of Hector throwing him a first aid kit just as the car left. Without much time to reminisce, Luca propped his gun over the broken ledge of the window and fired, hitting another one of the men in the neck. Then, a firefight ensued between Luca and the last two remaining bandits.

Five minutes later, Luca was looking down at the last remaining bandit with a cigarette burning between his lips. The bandit's head was underneath the bottom of the Italian’s boot, his face pressing into the bloodied concrete that he was lying on. One of his hands had the rifle aimed to the back of the man’s head, ready to fire. The other had reached down to remove the knife from the sheath on his ankle.

“Please! Please! It was not my idea! I never wanted to be here! You have to believe me!”

Luca remained silent, reaching down to grasp the man by his disgusting, greasy head of red hair. A brief glance proved the zombies had already begun making their way onto the premises. The two men were spotted at this point. Luca quickly turned the man to face him, who noticed the zombies behind the Italian and attempted to punch him in hopes he’d let go. As the man’s fist connected with Luca's face, blood immediately started rushing from the Italian’s forehead. However, he did not move. His grip did not loosen.

“PLEASE, I DON’T WANT TO BE EATEN, HAVE SOME FU-”

The Italian, without a word, slammed the blade of the knife through the man’s tongue. Luca had a wide smile plastered across his visage. His blade cut through muscles and tendons, eventually breaking through the skin underneath the bandit’s chin. The tip of the knife was eventually poking through the bottom of the man’s chin, completely covered in blood which took a second to drip out before Luca violently ripped the knife out of his mouth.

“Go run, boy. Tell your leader i’ll be seeing him soon.” Luca mentioned as he picked the bandit’s pistol up off the ground. There was no way this piece of shit would be taking it back with him.

The man, crying and covered in blood, quickly turned away to run from the horde. Luca turned just in time to confront one of the zombies, stabbing it in the top of the head as its arms reached out to grab him. Immediately following this, he kicked it into the large group of the zombies that had been a pace behind and turned to run away.

Interactions: Maj shadowz1995

 

[Togy]

NILE CRAYMAN
​

Nile was already feeling strange the second he woke up. Opening his eyes to the dark, unlit room that was his and Warren's bunk room, he immediately wanted to go back to sleep. His eyes were heavier, heavier than they've ever been, and his muscles ached like all hell. He made a little grunt of pain as he rolled in his cot, his muscles lighting up with firey fury. He could chock the tiredness down to a bad night's sleep, but he didn't know what to make of the muscles. He hadn't even exercised yesterday.

He could feel something running down his forehead from his hair. Groggily reaching a hand up to his forehead, he pressed the palm of his hand against it near his hairline. Pulling the hand away, he placed it in front of himself. His vision was blurry and he kept losing focus of the hand, but after squinting he managed to see the problem. His hand looked wet, not to mention there was a slight shake to his hand as he held it in front of him.

"Whadda fuck?" Nile slurred as he left the trembling hand fall on his stomach. "Whatta fuck?" Nile tried to correct himself, but still ended up slurring. Am I sweating? Nile wondered as he tried to sit up in his cot. His muscles were set alight by a new shot of pain, making him fall back down to in his cot wincing. It's fucking October, why am I sweating? Nile thought as he began to rise out of bed again, slowly this time. His muscles still ached, but significantly less this time.

"Coffee. 'Offee cando som good" Nile slurred as he slowly began to step out of his bunk room. The coffee's in the Lodge. Shit, do we even have coffee anymore? Nile thought as he stumbled his way through the main hall of the barracks and out the door. He could vaguely register seeing someone on the porch yelling for people to wake up and get outside. Stumbling by them and into the Lodge, Nile headed for the kitchen.

Crouching down with a wince, Nile began to slowly search the cupboards. He found a tiny red bag of coffee beans collecting dust under the sink. "Thank good" Nile slurred, setting out to making his coffee.

He made it exactly like he liked it in the end, hot as hell and as black as Luca's soul. This is fine Nile thought as he stretched a trembling hand out for the newly made and steaming coffee. Just a bad morning is all. I always got those when I was a kid Nile thought, remembering one of his mornings before school. He hadn't thought about stuff like that in years.

Given, I wasn't high when I was 13 Nile thought with a mental shrug as he brought the coffee to his mouth. Eh, easy breezey or something. SKeep it easy and it'll pass over like a breeze? That's a saying, right? Ah shit, I dunno Nile thought as took a sip from his coffee. He might as well have just kissed the son, because it felt like he was drinking water straight from a boiler. Yelping and spitting out the coffee at the same time, he coincidentally began to choke on the coffee from hell. Supernova heated liquid began to crawl down his throat, and his respiratory system struggled to keep it out. Letting the mug with the rest of the coffee slip through his fingers, it shattered against the floor, shooting hot black lava onto his lower legs.

"Fuck! Motherfucking fuck!" Nile said, falling to the floor and clutching his legs. He tore his hands away seconds later after just a brief touch of skin and coffee. Breathing through his teeth, Nile tore off his lower pant leg, making his arms ache like all hell. Slowly standing up, he picked up a towel from the counter and began dabbing furiously at his leg. I know I can drink shit that hot. I once drank a cup of boiling water as dare for chissakes! What the hell gives? Nile wondered as he rinsed off the last of the coffee from his bear leg.

Leaning over to the coffee puddle, he began placed the towel over the spill and kicked the fragments of the cup under the counter. "Right, em done" Nile slurred, standing up and stumblung to the unoccupied couch in the Living Room. He really didn't feel like making the walk to his cot.

"Fug dis, I'm goin' to bed" Nile mumbled as he sat down on the couch. Getting into a resting position, he tried to find the sweet sweet realm of unconsciousness.

Interactions: No one​

 

[Hyped_Taco]

​

After that long "Appointment" he had just had with the Nurse, Cletus was exhausted; not only physically due to the considerable amount of pain that his second-degree burns were causing him due to Napalm, but he was mentally exhausted as well. He had just spent 2 of the most bullshit weeks of his life suffering in the middle of the apocalypse without a break, and that was starting to take a toll on him.

He exited the room in which Leliana had checked his back and began to walk towards his RV, thanks to the medicine she had applied to him he could at least walk without much discomfort, but the feeling was still there. On his walk towards his vehicle, he saw Jenna, the purpled haired brit talk to that one doctor whose name was… Rolfe? Hell maybe it was Rafe for all he cared about, but before he could even process what was going on he saw her getting into what seemed to be a jeep to then go away into the sunset or some crap like that. The redneck just hoped it wasn´t like what happened with that Catheyn chick, cause getting even more supplies robbed from them would just be the nail to the coffin. Before he could get into his RV Cletus thought about the Ruskie and that buff looking guy, the one that seemed like if he was hiding something amongst the lines of a deep dark secret or something, it just seemed weird that he hadn´t seen them for a while… but the redneck just shrugged it off and finally entered his vehicle.

The redneck then laid down on his bed, only to feel his back in pain due to his injuries, so although he hated it, he decided to lay face down for his own sake for once. He was tired, more than he had ever been before; he didn´t mind the hard work he did back at his pa´s farm, even though it was tedious at times, it was a task that Cletus loved to do all the time, but this wasn´t his home anymore, he was trapped in this frozen hell hole with no end in sight. Dixie, the light of his life was now gone due to the undead, he didn´t know how his family was doing, and worst of all, he didn´t know if this ¨virus¨ had extended beyond the city. Even on his seemingly ¨worst¨ moments before this, he had never felt so hopeless and alone.

He finally closed his eyes, hoping to dream of the life he now thought he had unwillingly left behind. He just wished he was back in Deatsville before all this ever happened, and to never have left.
--
--
Cletus woke up after his nap still feeling like shit, but at the very least he wasn´t tired anymore. He stood up and prepared himself some coffee since he was sure he was probably gonna have to deal with some bullshit later anyway. He stepped out of RV after having changed into some less torn clothes and began to walk into the lodge; he hoped they had made something to eat since he was feeling hungry.

Mentions: BloodLightning27 Brian The Mad Queen Rolfe The Mad Queen that purple-haired brit FireMaiden That blonde nurse King Vioogra That Ruskie boy that´s now gone Togy The junkie Brax Just so he knows I posted and Maj Cause... idk I just pinged her too

Interacted: With me, myself and I

 

[RayPurchase]

Aaron Jones
November 11th 7:10am

​

It didn’t take long for Aaron’s brief interlude of calm to be shattered. The snapping of a branch pierced through David Gilmour’s guitar solo. He sighed and opened his eyes, rolling his head lazily to his left, his eyes locking with the shambling figure about 30 metres away. His own tired eyes meeting the bloodshot eyes of the figure. It was a woman, was being the operative term here. Perhaps in her early 30s, probably quite pretty at one point. To be honest it was quite hard to tell, clearly her death had been a violent one, her left eye and the surrounding soft tissue was a bloody mess, and the bloodied blouse she was wearing hinted at further gruesome injuries hidden below it. Only one thankfully, but a timely reminder that it was time to go. She was some distance away, and managing no more than a shambling walk, punctuated by stumbles from the multiple tree roots, Aaron could quite easily have closed the door, started the engine and pulled away without her even being close enough to start hammering at the door. But that would have meant her stumbling elsewhere, attracting more of those things, until they ended up stumbling upon some other poor soul trying to survive. He had no idea how many of those things were out there now, there was probably no hope of denting their numbers without proper military help, but right now every little helped. He stepped out of the Humvee, tire iron in hand, making a few practice swings, warming up his shoulders.

“Apologies my dear. Clearly you’ve been through a lot. I’m gonna’ ease that sufferin’ for you now,”

The only response was the continuing grunting and growling from the dishevelled figure. Aaron set himself up in something akin to a baseball stance, the tire iron gripped tightly, and held high on his right hand side. He bent his knees, keeping them springlike. He took a deep inhalation of breath. She was close now, he could see the reds of her eye, the white of them long awashed with blood. He could smell her too, the stink of rot and blood, like meat left out in the sun for too long, it was almost enough to make you gag. He cast such thoughts from his mind however. Her grasping hands came reached out towards him, desperately trying to cleave and tear into his flesh. Her teeth gnashing together, attempting to sink her teeth into him and satiate the hunger that could not be satiated. In a single smooth motion he swung the tire iron, stepping into the swing, using the momentum to ramp up the power. There was a wet crunch as it impacted the woman’s skull, a momentary shudder down the length of the tire iron and along Aaron’s arms. The impact sent the woman careening into a tree, thudding against it and slumping to the floor. The hit was a brutal one, where it had struck her, the skull was noticeably crumpled, clearly shattered from the blow. And yet still she clung to life, as much as these things were alive. The blow had clearly done some damage, and she was doing little more than groaning and writhing, her limbs flailing weakly. And yet as he stood over her, the single minded drive returned, her remaining eye locking onto him, and her hands trying to reach him. He let out a sigh and shook his head, raising his weapon once more.

“A damn sad way to go.”

He brought the iron down twice, dead center on the top of her head, the first blow shattered the crown of the skull, depressing onto the brain and most likely killing the creature. The second was overkill. Already shattered, the skull paved open under the second blow, impacting the brain directly, leaving a matted mess of blood, bone fragments, and brain matter. Aaron wiped the tire iron on the woman’s trousers, removing the worst of the debris and blood. As he turned the engine on and drove away, the only sign of his existence there being the corpse, and a patch of dry grass where the Humvee had been parked, the song came to a close.

“I have become comfortably numb,”

He didn't even appreciate the irony of it as the tape deck clicked audibly moving onto the next song, his hands gripped the wheel tightly as the Humvee made its way down the dirt track.

 

[The Mad Queen]

The following is a collab between BloodLightning27 and myself​

With the lodgers going about their morning routines, Fisher still had a matter of his own to attend to. The doctor made his way up the stairs, nodding at Tre as the young man took meat from the fridge and carried it outside. Food was the last thing on his mind. Between the plague, the departure of two more people and his stomach churning with homesickness he had to keep himself busy.
He knocked on the door to Shiona's bedroom, gently.

Early that morning, Shinoa had gotten an early breakfast, eating a small amount of leftovers before caring for Valerie, whether it was changing her diaper, breastfeeding or otherwise. She still wasn't used to being a Mom and in these current circumstances, it was hard to adjust. The departures of both Brian and Jenna struck her by surprise. Brian, not so much, but Jenna's departure was unexpected. While she was saddened, Shinoa didn't blame her. The young mother was no fighter either, so if she left, it meant signing her death warrant. While resting in bed, she was began feeding Valerie, before hearing a knock on her door. This prompted her to cover up with a small blanket, mainly because she wanted some privacy while feeding her daughter. "Come in." She called out.

Ralph stepped through the door, cane first. "Hello you two. How's it going? " He smiled. Although his cow brown eyes had their usual brightness there was a heaviness behind them. It wasn't unusual for Ralph to make visits, he'd been offering to help with Valerie after all so that the young mother could get at least some respite in all of this.
The circumstances of his own daughter's birth had been difficult but he couldn't imagine bringing up a newborn in these new conditions that the world had thrown in a huge curveball.

"Oh, hey Doctor Fisher. I'm okay. Just feeding the little princess." Shinoa replied before adjusting the blanket on her shoulder to keep it from falling. "It hasn't been easy for us since Ray passed away. Did Jenna say why she was leaving? Because she just up and left. But I take comfort knowing that Cammy, her dog, is going to be keeping her company. Brian just took off alone and...left me that." she said, her eyes motioning over to the Wrist Blade.


Ralph sighed. It seemed that news travelled faster than he thought around the lodge. People, or at least people that cared probably had their theories as to why both would leave, with Brian being a bit more obvious. "Just Ralph is fine." He corrected with a smile "And as a matter of fact, she did." He shook his head, reaching into his coat pocket and producing the envelope with Shiona's name written on it. "But I think it's better if you hear it from the woman herself. She left letters for a few of the people here." He explained, calmly "Myself, Colt and for some reason that rather...Chubby young man with the old fashioned hat."
Brain farts were as rare for Fisher as Bengal tigers but, he still got them. "Michael." He corrected himself.

"Mmmm, when I didn't see her or the dog, I only assumed that she had left too. Though it is a bit of a coincidence that she left not long after Brian." She frowned, watching as Ralph grabbed an envelope out of his coat pocket, and it had her name on it. "You don't think she went to look for him, do you?" He then proceeded to say that it was a letter from Jenna herself. "Wonder how Michael got a letter over everyone else." She raised an eyebrow.

Shinoa quietly took the letter out of Ralph's hand. By this time, Valerie was done feeding, so Shinoa took that as a chance to adjust her nursing bra and pull down her shirt before removing the blanket. Baby Val looked at her Mother, who used the blanket to wipe her mouth a little as she smiled and then setting her down in her basket and giving her a teddy bear to hug. The baby proceeded to smile at Ralph briefly before yawning. If anything, Shinoa was lucky since Valerie was a sleepy baby, valuing sleep over everything. After much hesitation, she opened the letter.

Spoiler: Shiona

Shiona
By the time you read this I'll be very far away. I'm writing this to explain why, and to thank you. I've got a mission, and although I was hoping to do this with more people I realise that if I wait around any longer it might be too late.
I'm getting out of Aurora, because on that drive Brian left behind was a lot of information some bad people would rather have left unknown. These are the same people who attacked us and have imprisoned us within this town, the people who killed Ray among so many others.

I'm rolling the dice and hoping that said information might be enough to get them to let you lot go, or at least stop them from launching another raid. It's a chance I've got to take, not just for you and the baby but for everyone else at the lodge.
I don't know your circumstances, I don't know what brought Val into this world but I know that you care about her deeply and that you two deserve a chance at an ordinary life.

I wish more mothers were like you and I know you'll do your best.
I hate to do this, but can I ask you for a favour? Keep an eye on Ralph for me.

-Jenna.

Ralph stood with his back leaning against the wall as Shiona read the letter, remaining silent and allowing the young mother to process it.

Quietly, Shinoa read the letter that Jenna had left behind. If anything, the young mother hoped that the purple-haired woman would be able to find Brian. Seeing as he had left on foot, as none of the cars were missing by the time everyone found out that he was gone. Hopefully he hadn't died of hypothermia. That suit was far from insulated to help survive in the cold weather. If there was one thing Jenna wasn't wrong about, it was the fact that she cared about Valerie very much. Giving her Daughter a normal life after everything that has transpired was definitely ideal. Valerie deserved to grow up in a friendly environment and have a normal childhood, surrounded by the people who love her. She gave the letter a slight frown before setting it next to the one that had been given to her by Brian. She hadn't given up hope on either of them. Maybe one day she'll get to see them again, hopefully it'll be under more normal circumstances. "She's taking quite the gamble. I hope she is able to find Brian. That way neither of them have to fight alone."

"Hopefully." Fisher nodded "I'd hate to think of anyone being out there alone, with what Aurora has become. At least Jenna has the dog."
He smiled "Brian's a professional though. I'm sure he'll be alright whether or not he comes across Jenna. And as for her, well she's just too stubborn and angry to die." Behind his usual smile, Fisher's eyes were heavy with worry. Not for Brian, he was sure that the ex-operative could look after himself but Jenna was a civilian.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Brian left his Wrist Blade for me and...as long as I have Valerie, I'll keep going. Right now I'd do anything to give her a normal life. I would hate to have to raise her in a world filled with Killers and Zombies." She looked down towards the now-sleeping infant. "What about you, Doc?"

Shinoa proceeded to look out the window next, wondering where both Brian and Jenna had gone.
"Oh, don't you worry about me." Fisher shook his head, a smile on his face "I'll manage, I always do."
Shinoa only nodded before slowly standing up to walk towards the window. "I look forward to when we leave Aurora. No doubt my Father is worried sick. And I hope my Grandmother is okay."

Ralph's eyes widened. In everything that had happened Shiona's grandmother had slipped to the back of his mind. The good doctor stared down a the ground, ashamed. "Same here, but we need to be patient for now. Those mercenaries could still have a blockade up, and rushing it would just end with us all dead. I know the sewers may be an option too, but I don't fancy our chances of getting through there in one piece."
"I know, but it might be the only way. And its the least likely place they'd even have anyone patrolling. I feel like the Sewers are always forgotten in situations like these." She shrugged as she thought that it was a just a Hollywood trope. "Maybe its just something emphasized in the movies, but I don't know for sure. Not sure if I'd have an easier time navigating through the sewers with a baby in my arms...or in my belly." She said blandly.

"It's not a good idea for you two to go through there regardless." He sternly shook his head "And you aren't the only ones who would struggle."
He gave her a reassuring smile "We'll find another way, trust me."

Mentioned: Colt ( Rumble Fish ), Michael ( Hyped_Taco )

 

[Rumble Fish]

Colt was at the front door, kicking off the snow from her boots when the good doctor approached her, envelope in hand. Colt blinked a few times as he told her about it. All he got as a response was a surprised grunt as he did not linger as once it was in her hands, he made his way to the kitchen. The veteran glanced down at the envelope and after a quick dart of the eyes stepped back outside. Everybody seemed to be up and eating, giving her a few private moments alone with the letter. The porch swing creaked as Colt sat down and tore the envelope open. Her innards twisted as she recognized Jenna’s handwriting. What was this letter going to be? Some kind of confession? The anger burning in the veteran from her sudden departure was going strong. Part of her wanted to throw it to the ground and leave it; but then the guilt would weigh on her more. With a sigh, Colt opened it fully and began to read, her left eye working harder than her left. Colt regretted her decision to forgo glasses.

The more she read, the heavier her heart grew. The anger was washed away by the sweeping despair of what she was reading. Colt glanced up from the letter, staring down the road where Jenna would have gone. What was she supposed to think? Part of her wanted to go after her, even if it had to be on foot but she knew she couldn’t. The likelihood of the streamer being killed was extreme. Even with what she had taught her; would it be enough? Jenna seemed to believe so as her next words were of encouragement, akin to what Leliana had been saying. It seemed that the nurse and vet were further along the same wavelengths than they had thought. If only they had figured that out. It appeared that the veteran had more of an impact on Jenna than she thought she had. She did not agree with the streamer’s actions. This could easily get her killed. However, she was in a different place than she was when they first met; both of them were. The woman sighed deeply as she put the letter away, eyes once again damp. It seemed the nurse was more accurate than she had thought. Maybe it was not completely lost. Maybe hope could linger just a little bit longer.

“Hm, well.” She wiped her face with a gloved hand, removing the threat of tears, “See you Harley Quinn.” Colt folded the parchment into one of her infinite pockets on her cargo-pants before looking back towards the Lodge. Before making her way back inside, she took a glance at her watch. Half past eight. Knowing the inevitable crash at eleven that would most definitely throw her down too deep of a pit to climb out of, what she wanted done had to be done now. With the words of Leliana and Jenna still buzzing in her head like assertive bees, Colt clipped the pocket containing her flask shut before going back inside, the swing swaying still.

Once inside, Colt looked to everyone in the living room/kitchen area, which included Nile, who was passed out on the sofa. Colt’s brows lowered. But at this point she was not wasting energy on him. After what he had pulled while on their run and the attitude he displayed, he had squandered her patience. She was through dealing with idiots and their nonsense, she had more important matters to think of. She’d deal with him later. With a cough and fist raised to her mouth, Colt cleared her throat clearly enough to bring attention onto herself. Already she was regretting this. The people she would drill were those she had fought beside, gone through boot camp with and climbed the same ladder as them. Comrades. This was a rag-tag group with no right to have survived as long as they had. But people fought for rights; they could do the same. Avoiding gazes, the woman spoke up.

“Right, listen up!” She barked, arms akimbo, “Luca, Andy and Hector are out. Now, I don’t wanna scare any of ya, but we’re also three people down. Why? Not important right now. What is important is what I’m gonna say right now. We got lucky. We survived that siege by sheer luck at the seats of our pants! We got a few folks who can fight, but it ain’t good enough! We all need to be able to fight! Once yer done eatin’, I want everyone who can outside and at the targets. Anyone who can’t shoot- Learn! Those who can- Improve! And I don’t wanna hear any Gawd-damn excuses! Unless yer dyin’ or disabled, I don’t wanna hear it! Make. It. Work. Make it work- fuckin’ make it happen! Cause I don’t wanna hear any Gawd-damn excuses! Anymore! I’m no’ naming names. But there are some of ya’ll taking too many liberties n’causing trouble! And I’ve been too lenient so that’s stoppin’ today! If I see any display of stupidity r’putting folk in danger, yer OUT! I'm no' riskin' anyone's lives and neither should you! It stops now!” She was not standing still during this, the veteran strode back and forth in a pace, her voice at a loud yet steady tone that carried through the lower level of the Lodge. During the pacing, there was a furious glance towards Michael at those last words. She hadn’t forgotten his actions and would not move on until he had actually shown her, he was willing to do better. It would be a waste of her time and breath to rip into Nile, one of the main culprits and anyone else she deemed to deserve it. As tempting as it was, she was not Luca. Not to mention she knew all too well what it was like to be in that position. Both here and before. Taking a moment to get her breath back, the veteran instinctively reached for the flask, only to be stopped by the fabric of her pocket.

“Fu- uh, where was I?” She mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck as her mind scrambled to get back on track, “Oh yeah- And another matter. I got word from Andy that the truck is in the woods, not far from here. Seems that weasel couldn’t wriggle her way out of that one. But I digress, I’ll see to it later.” Her gaze traveled around the room; she’d need someone to go with her. With two of their leaders gone, Colt did not want to think of what could happen if she was to be ambushed or killed. This was something she’d need to consider later. As she looked, she caught a glance of Aubrey. Immediately her stomach twisted. She had left the girl with that maniac. Not that there had been a lot of choice given their situation but guilt still weighed heavily on the veteran's conscience for leaving her in that situation, not to mention jeopardizing the Lodge as the truck had contained much-needed supplies. Once again, there was a failed attempt to reach for the flask. Struggling to continue, her mind jumped to the one thing that had been weighing on it. With another clear of her throat, Colt continued.

“Look. As ya’ll know, today is Memorial Day. We remember those who died fighting in war and people who still are.” Once again, she coughed into her fist, her tone now lower but still sharp “But we’re at war now. And we’ve lost folk. And we will see more. But! We need to prove we aren’t gonna just take it. The best way to remember them is to keep pushing. The Hazzies will come back. The Things will come back. But we gotta push! So when the time comes that they return, we will not have another Rogue, another Ray… another Kypher. The only bodies found will be of the ones who die by our guns!” The woman paused once again, knowing if she kept going she would delve into a more emotionally driven speech but after her talk with Leliana, she refused to let any more vulnerability seep through. Perhaps she could talk to the nurse later. She still had things on her mind.

“I want everyone outside. One minute. Git goin’.” She finished with a firm clap of her hands before walking to the large duffle bag under the stairs. Pistols would work better for people who needed to learn. The more experienced could use what they wanted. All Colt could hope was that the morning would not go by too fast. The longer she could push back her demons the better. She had promised Andy that she would come back to an intact Lodge. And she was nothing if not a woman of her word. But Colt knew she would need back-up. Rome was not built in a day.

Interactions: The Mad Queen (Ralph/Jenna)
Mentions: Brax (Luca) Maj (Andy) shadowz1995 (Hector) Corgi (Aubrey) Hyped_Taco (Michael) Togy (Nile)
Nearby: TheTreForce (Warren)

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interactions: Brax (Tre)
Mentioned: Maj (Beth) Rumble Fish (Milly/Colt)
After Leliana helped Colt set up, sticking around long enough for Colt to yell out to the rest of the lodgers, Leliana headed inside. She was going to practice on her aim a bit today since everyone could improve even if they thought there was nothing left to learn. She entered the lodge, someone following a few seconds later, but Leliana didn't check to see who. The nurse did, however, make a brief stop to get the water bottle she had filled up earlier for Milly. Her goal was the stairs. It wasn't a good idea keeping her pistol upstairs, but she was getting accustomed to carrying it with her every day. It was a feeling the nurse wasn't sure if she liked, being used to the weight of it on her thigh. It was always better to be prepared though. She found herself waking up at every slight noise, every little bump sent her heart racing as to what it could be. Leliana knee that it was just the people in the lodge, whoever was on guard duty or someone getting up for the bathroom, but she couldn't help it. Her Zoloft didn't help paranoia like she wished it did.

Entering her room, her eyes fell upon Beth and Milly, still presumably sleeping, she silently sat the water bottle on the nightstand. Leliana then gently felt Milly's forehead to make sure her temperature was still fairly normal before she pulled the covers over the girl a little better. Still trying to be as silent as possible, she slowly crept across the room to the dresser, opening the top drawer for her pistol and it's holster, securing it through the belt loops and then to her thigh, she next grabbed a small white and green box. Opening it, she popped one of the pills out, and slammed it into her mouth. Throwing it as far back as possible made it much easier to swallow dry. And then she was out of there, everything back in place, Leliana made her way downstairs as Colt began her speech.

The veteran was good at motivational speeches. A little harsh at some points, but that's what some of these people needed. Leliana stayed near the stairs, waiting for the older woman to finish with their one-minute warning, Leliana headed back into the kitchen. She was going to get some water, wash the taste of the oil out of her mouth, but one of the younger residents was at the sink. "Hey, have you gotten any sleep yet?" She asked, turning her quest for water into one for a water bottle. "Colt probably wouldn't mind too much if you took a nap. You need it." He was the one taking watch at night, and Leliana was fairly certain that he had done that again the night before. In any case, he probably wouldn't have had a chance to answer as Leliana found a water bottle, chugging half of it before she turned to leave the kitchen. "If you don't take one, have someone else take guard tonight." She gave him a slight wave, since she would most likely be encountering him again in just a few short minutes, Leliana headed back outside to where she and Colt had set up targets.

 

[Brax]

Hearing the voice of a female nearby that hadn’t belonged to Colt, Tre turned his head toward the source. Leli? Was this the first time she had addressed him since he and Warren had begun living at the lodge? He extended an eyebrow. She was right. The teen felt like he needed sleep but the call to eat was far stronger. Then he turned completely around to face the girl, just as she waved. Brown eyes studied her momentarily, hormones raging just as they would in any teen. The corners of his lips turned upward as he turned his back to her. With that full rack of meat over his shoulder, the boy’s free hand grasped the handle to the door and slid it open. Then he paused on his way out, offering the girl a shrug.

“Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead.”

Colt had been giving her version of a pep-talk to the rest of the lodge as Tre took his lead. Luca certainly wasn’t any better - but they were two different beasts. It was obvious, based on her actions that Colt had some sort of empathy. Ralph had handed her a piece of paper that obviously evoked emotion out of the girl. There was a specific level of sincerity, or humanity, that came with her body language. One thing Tre noticed over the years was Luca’s ability to stand still when the world was toppled over. He was almost alien in how he operated on a day-to-day basis.

The boy dropped the meat down out in the grass, over a hundred feet out from the back of the lodge. People had been gathering outside at Colt’s request. She would more than likely be mad that Tre wasn’t immediately joining the rest of the class, but these students would most definitely come looking for sustenance once lunch-time came around. It wouldn’t be his first time shooting a gun, that was for sure. Tre spent the next few minutes collecting various broken pieces of wood (that was otherwise unusable to build with) and bark. He used a shovel to remove any excess snow from the fire pit so that the wood couldn’t get wet. Then he placed each piece in.

Tre was pretty knowledgeable on how to generate fire in the wilderness. Luckily, he had a lighter so he wouldn’t need to utilize those bullshit skills at this particular moment. He set one piece ablaze. With more surface area, the fire spread with relative ease. Had it been a bit windier, it would have been much harder to start. Instead the fire slowly came to life. It continued building as the dark-skinned boy dug two narrow holes into both sides to slap down rather thick pieces of wood. He filled them in until the makeshift wooden pillars were able to stand on their own. Then Tre picked up the large piece of meat and slapped it down so that both would hold its weight just above the fire even as it raged.

The snow was melting away rapidly. However, there was no inkling of the sun to be found. There had been far colder days, but it certainly wasn’t warm outside. It must have been warmer than the powdery white layer that coated Aurora for what seemed to be the past two months. It wasn’t exactly a foreign sight for Colorado, but Tre had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last snowstorm the lodge would take on. He took a deep breath, leaning his head back and looking up into the gray sky as the wind began to pick up.

Interactions: FireMaiden

 

[The Mad Queen]

​

Leaving Shiona to nurse baby Val, Ralph made his way downstairs just to hear Colt. With both hands rested on the cane he listened in. His gaze moved towards Michael, and to Nile when the veteran mentioned those that weren't pulling their weight. If threats from Luca and Colt weren't enough to get Michael to step up his game, Ralph wondered just what would work in the end. Perhaps the opposite approach would work? He glanced into his coat pocket, seeing the final letter. Maybe it would have some words of encouragement? He hoped so. Things were not looking good for the overweight young man.

Nile, on the other hand would be a harder case to crack. He pulled his weight in ways, yes but he seemed to cause twice as many problems as he solved. While he wondered just how he could improve things for Nile, Colt mentioned memorials.

He'd forgotten what day it was, something alien to Ralph given he always remembered the 11th of November. Between everything that had happened, he'd lost track of the date it seemed. His family, well celebrated it wasn't the correct term. It was a date to remember for them, and the good doctor was certain he wasn't alone in that at the lodge. Despite the cane slowing him down, Ralph was first out the door. It occurred to him that hadn't actually fired a single shot since the attack, and despite his training he'd hardly fired the pistol at all.

He looked at his watch, and rather than head towards the makeshift firing range he walked to where Ray had been buried. It was close enough to Rogue and Kypher that he could stare down at the three. He felt a twist in his gut, there was something about there being a child amongst the fallen that shook him to his core, even if the two had barely spoken.
For exactly one minute, he was still and silent.

There was work to be done, so Fisher started by taking a knife and carving a bullseye on a tree.

THEN
A younger, clean shaven Ralph without a wedding ring around his finger and a different watch around his wrist carried several documents as he made his way through an office block. On one of the wall above his head was a metal logo.

"Sorry, excuse me. Sorry." He said as the other people pushed past him.
"Fisher." Came a voice, and Ralph sighed "My office."
"Oh no, I'm in trouble." He muttered to himself, making his way to the office as fast as he could. He took great care not to drop any of the documents as he pushed the office door open and stood face to face with The Director of the CDC itself.

He stood next to Fisher's boss, a middle-aged woman with red hair.

"Mr Koplan, sir." Ralph saluted
"We're not the military, Fisher." Koplan said with a wave of his hand "At ease, for goodness sake."
"Sorry." He looked down
"I wanted to congratulate you in person. Your quick thinking in the West Nile case prevented, well. I'm sure you're aware of how dangerous it could've been."
"Just doing my job."

The two men shook hands.
"I'll be brief, I'm setting up a bioterroism unit and I want you to be a part of it. This is very much a need to know basis so if you want in I need your answer in the next two hours."
Ralph took a step back.
"I-."
"Two hours, Doctor Fisher."
The Director nodded at Ralph's boss and made his way outside. The second Koplan left, Fisher collapsed into the chair sitting across from his superior.

"Well done." She smiled "I haven't seen The Director here in person since
"Mrs Gillespie..." He muttered, staring into space "What do you think I should do?"
"Honestly?"
He nodded
"Take it."

He glanced up.
"Look, our country was attacked. Yesterday it was planes but tomorrow the enemy might use engineered diseases to try and kill us. Take the damn job, because this country needs you to."
"You're sure I can do it?"
"I don't know, but The Director obviously does."

NOW

With a neat bullseye etched into the tree he took a few steps back, and drew his pistol. Clutching it in both hands, he held his breath and fired. However, at the last second he lost his balance and the shot skimmed against the side of the tree, missing completely. Shaking his head, he lined up another shot.

THEN

"It's procedure."
"When am I going to actually be using a gun? That's for you FBI types."

The younger Fisher walked down a hallway with a large African-American man in front of him, an FBI uniform covering him.
"Hopefully you don't have to, but you're not dealing with food poisoning anymore. This shit could actually get you killed. I'm going to make sure that you can just defend yourself if the worst happens."
Ralph sighed "Better to be safe than sorry I suppose."
"Then we finally understand each other."

He pushed the door open and the two men stood before a firing range. Placing ear protectors and goggles on they approached an empty booth and the agent placed a handgun before Ralph.
"Have you ever held a gun before?"

NOW

With one hand gripped around the cane to steady himself, Ralph closed one of his eyes and held his breath. The second shot went off, striking the tree but missing the centre of the bullseye. With a sigh of frustration he lined up once more.

THEN

"Okay, keep your hands steady this time."
A shot went off, striking the target directly in the chest. The agent looked up, his brown eyes widened "Holy crap. Are you sure you've never fired a gun before?"
"Not before today no."

NOW

The bullseye had been struck directly in the middle and with a slight smile Fisher fired off another shot for good measure, both striking the same target. Holstering his pistol he made his way over to a tree stump that had an assault rifle sitting against it. It was the same rifle he'd taken from the hazmat soldier he'd put out of his misery. At first, he struggled for the gun was a bit too heavy for him but he found his grip and approached the target.

Setting the rifle atop the cane to steady it, he lined up a shot. The first three missed, but he wasn't expecting anything less. The fourth, however struck one of the corners of the bullseye. Taking one more breath in, Fisher found himself back in that shooting range.
"You gotta control your breathing." The words of the FBI agent echoed in his mind "And keep your balance. This shot has to land it's mark. It can't fly off in any other direction."

The shot made it's mark, now leaving the tree covered in bulletholes. Satisfied that he still had his aim, Ralph made his way over to the others with the rifle slung over his shoulder.
"If anybody would like to learn gun safety first, I would be happy to teach them. These things aren't toys, and when you pull that trigger you are expecting to kill, or at the very least wound something. Don't forget that." His voice was stern, yet not scolding.

 

[Maj]

​

‘What are you doing?’ Her mind contradicted her as her foot was pressed to the floorboard. The girl opened the engine of the small car as wide as it would go, speeding down the highway. Andy felt as if her breath was caught in her throat, tight and hot it threatened to choke her if she focused on it for too long. The bullet hole one of the bandits had left through the windshield whistled as she drove toward the university, the stream of air that flowed through it was icy and loud enough to be heard over her conflicting senses. Leaving had been the right call.

Still, that didn’t stop the guilt that pressed heavily down on her now for leaving Luca behind. She tried to ignore the stream of mental images that threatened to distract her from her high speed drive over the interstate. It was like her to assume the worst. Her mother had once said that Andy had worried about the world from the time she was born, her brow always knit in thought. Her panic was entirely internal. On the surface the girl was steel, cold and strong in her conviction. Emerald eyes watched the road as she weaved in and out of the stopped cars.

“He will be fine,” she said after a moment, although Andy wasn’t sure if the sentiment was to comfort Hector or herself.

"Hopefully." His Hispanic's muffled voice replied.

Surely she meant it because the twin wasn’t sure she would have been able to leave if she hadn’t. The act of self preservation had happened so naturally. Luca was capable of dispatching the others without her help. As long as he was able, he would meet her at the university, so that is where they would go.

They hadn’t looked like soldiers, in fact they looked like some of the biker scum that lived around the seedy bars Aurora had to offer. But they must have at least worked for them because they knew her name. Furthermore, they hadn’t called her Andy or Miss Jordan as Hector would have addressed her, they had called her Andrea and Luca hadn’t spoken to her directly since they departed. If she was gone, she wasn’t able to be used against him and so Luca could kill them in whatever manner he pleased.

The more she thought through the situation, the more calm Andy felt herself become. The tightness in her chest released, and then her heart slowed, and finally the engine of the car followed suit as they pulled off the highway. She found herself recognizing many of the abandoned cars in the parking lot as she pulled into the same University parking lot she had always used. It was closest to her dorm. Hopefully most of the people who had lived her had heeded the quarantine notice and wouldn’t be roaming the halls of the college as undead. The less people they had to deal with, the better off the pair would be.

As Andy pulled the car into a parking space near the building, she slid the gear shift into park and killed the engine. She allowed herself a heavy breath before reaching into the backseat for her bow sling and pulling on the door handle, pushing it open and exiting into the cold air. Andy busied herself stringing her bow, and sliding packs onto her back before turning to Hector.

“Hopefully no one recognizes the car, but it’s more suspicious to try to hide it. Plus we need Luca to know where we are. There is a back entrance to the dorms around the corner. We can hit my room first and take what we can from there before moving to the lab.” The truth was, she wanted to ensure that Luca would have an easy time catching up with them since he didn’t have a way to contact her. The campus was huge, so even if he made it to school it would be easy to miss each other within the walls. She turned back to Hector, bow strung and quiver lashed to her hip.

“Ready?” she asked. “We shouldn’t stay out in the open more than necessary.”

The large man turned his head inquisitively towards the redhead, his asking expression hidden by the mask but he offered no question. What was in her room that they needed to search for? It was rather vague but he mentally shrugged his shoulders. He knew nothing of the place. So maybe she did have something valuable that she left behind.

Though the doubt never left.

"In a few minutes, I'll try raising the boy over the radio. Hopefully, he is no longer in combat and will be able to respond." Hector informed her. Andy gave a small sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized that Luca had a radio, at least now it would be much easier to stay in contact with him and secure their success for meeting back up.

"Lead the way. If we can help it, avoid conflict with the infected. It's generally quite easy to let them pass by with no incident."

Though they may need to smear their bodies in infected blood and viscera. Hector wasn't about to tell her that now though.

Andy gestured around the side of the building with a tilt of her head and began her journey through the maze of parked cars. At least it gave them plenty of cover, but it gave their enemies, living and dead, the same perk. Careful to step with purpose, Andy kept the noise to a bare minimum as she rounded the building. Occasionally she would look over her shoulder to ensure that Hector was close behind her.

The parking lot was surprisingly empty. Maybe she had been right when she had hoped that most of the students had left for the quarantine. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. It didn’t change the fate of her classmates, but at least they weren’t wandering around here, dead and dumb.

‘No just wandering some place else,’ she chided herself. If nothing else, they were out of her way. The back door to the university was a simple glass one, with a metal push bar across the front. It wasn’t well known even when the school was bustling with kids. Andy only knew it because she used it often to avoid crowds on her way down to the Archery field.

Shifting her bags out of her way, Andy pushed down on the handle. The door wouldn’t budge. She had hoped that the power going out would release all the power locks, but it appeared that this hadn’t been the case. They could break the glass, but that would bring unwarranted attention to their location. Andy rolled her eyes before grumbling and moving so she could reach the zipper of her duffle bag. Luckily it had been her bag for Archery practice and so it also contained her ID card for school.

There was no guarantee that it would work. Andy wasn’t sure how powerful of a generator the university had, or if there was still any electricity running to the locks at all. However, it was worth a try to avoid having to shatter glass out in the open. The redhead slipped the thin, laminated plastic out of the bag. Pulling on the elastic cord it was attached to, she pressed it to the grey faceplate. The green light flickered and the sound of the mechanism unlocking was heard. With a smirk the girl pushed the door open, clipping the badge to her chest for future use.

"Hm. Well, that's interesting. Who is still here to provide power to the building?" The doctor mused aloud, pulling his firearm with his free hand while hoisting the bags up over his shoulder with the other.

Collab: shadowz1995
Mentions: Brax

 

[Togy]

HARRIET HENNIGAN
​

The "Thing" as Harriet had just decided to call it began to crawl across the ceiling, a strange and unsettling sound imenating from it. It sound like some was inhaling with a vengeance. Is it sniffing? Oh lord, it's sniffing Harriet thought as the "Thing" crawled above him. Due to Harriet's limited courage in poking his head out from under the table by just the smallest possible unit of measurement, he could vaguely make out what the hell was above him. It was small, as said before, but it also looked skinny and incredibly pale. It's skin practically glowed white in the darkness. With the thought in mind that these things were blind, Harriet slowly flicked on his flashlight.

There was just the faintest clicking sound made by him pressing the button, but the Thing began to whip it's head around every which way, crawling in circles as it sniffed all the while. What sounded like a low growl could be heard from it as it stalked as well. With the light of the flashlight, Harriet could see that the Thing was wearing regular sized clothing, a green tee and blue shorts, but they were torn and looked way too big for it. It must've shrunk. Will this happen to every zombie, or just these? Are the stereotypes true? Are there special infected? But what kind of disease mutates a select few hosts while leaving the rest alone? It makes no sense Harriet thought, his horror momentarily replaced with curiosity.

Seeing it's head swivel towards him, Harriet barely held in a whimper. Its eyes were swollen shut, with bumpy pink lines replacing it's eyelids, and, here's the worst part, its teeth were visible. It elongated, razor sharp teeth were visible.

Immediately ducking his head back under the table, Harriet began to panic mentally. Okay, okay, okay, good to keep a level-head in situations like this. Don't panic, deep, but quiet, breaths Harriet thought as he inhaled as deeply as he could without it being audible. Alright, I've survived worst. Well, no I haven't, but I can say that about pretty much everything after this. Just have to think of a way out of this is all Harriet thought as he summoned up the courage to peek his head out again. I've got it, just take off the shoes. It heard the clicks of the heels Harriet thought as he quietly positioned himself to get his hands on his feet.

After sliding off the boots as silently as he could, Harriet slowly crawled out from under the table. The Thing kept stalking above him, but it didn't seem to notice him. Standing up, Harriet began to creep across the kitchen on his tip toes, the Thing right above him.

As he neared the exit, he heard a rattle and stilled. The creature perked its head in his direction, but after a moment of Harriet standing stock still, resumed its search. Taking another step, he heard the rattle again, this time louder. Turning his head to his backpack, he quickly deduced that 21 cans of food crammed together in a small space make a lot of noise when they're jolted about. Gulping, Harriet looked back for the creature.

It wasn't there.

Harriet felt the worst Goosebump he'd ever felt travel up his spine. Whipping his head to and fro, fro and to, he couldn't see anything in the kitchen. It was as if the thing just vanished. Pulling out his still lit flashlight, he scanned the room with it. He stilled as the beam of light traveled over a stove, revealing a round white head and open, bloodshot eyes staring directly at him through slits. Than it took a step forward and began to growl.

Turning on his heel, Harriet ran for the door in a blind panic. He was bolting, not caring about how much noise he made. He just knew that he had to get the hell out right now.

Slamming open the kitchen door as he ran into the Cafeteria, he heard the creature let out a growl at screaming volume with the sound of pans clattering in the background. "Nopity nope nope nope nope nope, absolutely not!" Harriet said almost hysterically as he ran for the fallen double doors of the Cafeteria.

The creature shot out of the kitchen on all fours before jumping onto a nearby table and jumping to the ceiling. It crawled across the tiled ceiling faster than Harriet could run. Realizing it would catch up, Harriet picked up a nearby chair as he ran before quickly turning on his heel and hurling it at the creature. t struck the Thing's shoulder, and with a yelp sounding growl, it fell to the floor.

"I've got places to be, people to see, things to do, pretty much be anywhere but here!" Harriet said as he resumed running, only to stop when a vent cover shot to the floor in front of him. "Oh sweet Jesu-There are more!?"Harriet said as he frantically backpedaled from the newest menace emerging from the vents. The first creature was getting up itself and preparing to sprint for Harriet, so he circled around one of the lunch tables. With both of the creatures now in front of him, they shot straight at him, leaving Harriet to run to the left before they got him. Now facing the exit once more, Harriet shot for it at break neck speed.

Shooting out of the Cafeteria and into the hall, Harriet booked it to find an exit. A vent cover shot to the floor in front of him though, forcing him into a side hallway that contained a flight of stairs leading upwards. "Would it-Would it be weird to say that this is just like Highschool?" Harriet asked himself, panting as he rounded a corner to a dead end. All he could see in front of him was the door to the labs, so he burst through the door and into the Chemistry lab.

Unfortunately for him, one of the munchkins of hell had been a lot closer than he'd thought and it shot inside behind him. "Oh what the-What the-!" Harriet yelled, running around a desk as it chased after him. It jumped onto the table itself, causing Harriet to run away. Running to the door, he slammed his shoulder against it, closing it as the two other creatures tackled into it, now clawing at the glass from the other side.

Seeing the creature stuck in the lab with him come charging at him, Harriet dove to the side and ran to the back of the class filled with metal shelves containing the lab equipment. Ducking into the rows of shelves, the creature followed after him. Frantically searching for any useful chemicals as he ran, Harriet spotted a flask of Hydrofluoric Acid. Quickly picking it up, Harriet chucked the flask at the creature, hitting it dead center in the head.

The flask itself shattered while the goopy flesh eating Acid covered its face. he Thing kept running, even as parts of its face became thick liquid and began to run down its face.

1 minute passed, 2 minutes passed, 4 minutes, 6 minutes passed, until finally, the Acid ate away at its brain. One second it was running and growling its head off like a pissed off cat, the next it crumpled to the floor like a bag of rocks.

"Oh-Oh my go" Harriet said, clutching his chest as he tried to catch a breath. Breathing heavily as he walked to the door, Harriet stared at the two creatures outside the door. Thankfully, they were too dumb to realize that they could double back a few feet, crawl into the vents, and get into the labs that way, but that didn't exactly help Harriet get out of there.

"That's a, um, a problem" Harriet said.

Interactions: Harriet is dying alone
Mentions: God help him​

 

[Corgi]

​

November 11, 2019
8 : 2 2

Riding on the high of inspiration and valor, Aubrey sat down and began to eat her meal peacefully. Sadly, that peacefulness was quickly interrupted by a staggering figure, a man who she had met previously when she first was found by the group, Nile. Without paying any mind to her, he swung open the cabinets in search of something. He seemed to have been mumbling something in slurred speech, nothing that she could make out, before not-so-swiftly making coffee and spilling it on himself.

If Aubrey wasn’t so confused, it may have been amusing, like one of those silent black-and-white movies… but with a lot of sound that was mostly composed of swearing. She quietly watched him ‘clean up’ the mess and pass out on the couch before taking a moment to process what just happened before her. He didn’t seem very okay, but she’s only seen him a couple of times, and a majority of those times she had something else on her mind so she didn’t pay too much attention. It’s possible that this was normal for him, but something in her gut was telling her otherwise.

Getting up from her seat, she carefully picked up the broken mug and put some rags on the spilled coffee. The only bright side she could see from the spilled coffee is that it might smell less like sweaty people in the lodge for a day. Remembering he had clutched his leg, her attention turned towards the man and she made her way to the couch.

Kneeling to get a better look, she tried gently lifting his pant leg, but it didn’t move very far due to how he was laying. Each time she tried, it got more and more aggressive until she finally yanked it up. While it wasn’t as gentle as she would’ve wanted it, it was important to make sure he didn’t have an open wound or burn. However, looking over the leg, she noticed that there wasn’t a burn or a scratch on his leg, which confused Aubrey even further. He was almost screaming when he was clutching his leg, so why wasn’t there an injury? Trying to rationalize what happened, she began to try and pull his pant leg up even further.

Nile, eyes jolting open at the sudden intense feeling on his melodramatic burn, swatted Aleice’s hand away as he quickly crawled back along the sofa. His delirious mind didn’t really understand what was happening, leaving him very confused. Looking at his lifted up pant leg, Nile looked to Alyssa with a look of utter confusion. “Da fuq?” Nile slurred, vaguely gesturing to his leg.

As soon as he moved, she retracted her hands, “Oh…. Hi.” She mumbled, glancing at his leg and then him, “I thought you were injured. Are you okay?” Aubrey plainly explained and asked. Not being a great communicator often times didn’t pay off, but when you’re trying to get straight to the point like she was in that moment, it can be nice.

“Corse not, look at ma le-” Nile began to say, before cutting off at the sight of his somewhat red but otherwise uninjured leg. “Da fuq agin?” Nile said.

Aubrey once more looked at him and then his leg, confusion riddling her face, “Okay… I’m gonna take that as a no…”

As the words left her mouth, the squeak of the door behind her made her notice the lodge had filled up with more people than she recalled. While their little conversation was being had, others had stepped in, including Colt. Aubrey let out a small sigh of relief, she would probably know what to do with Nile. She’s known him longer than Aubrey has, and has a bit more power in a social sense, but before she could say anything, Colt spoke.

As soon as she heard ‘shoot’, her blood ran cold. Her earlier inspiration was immediately swallowed by more bad feelings. Guns and her never went well together - they were too loud and confused her. She had a gun pointed at her once and she didn’t like it, but the man wouldn’t put it down even when she asked nicely. While Aubrey understands that she shouldn’t think badly about guns because of that one experience, they always left a bad taste in her mouth.

Luckily, she pulled herself out of her thoughts as soon as Colt told them to be outside in a minute, which was perfect timing for Aubrey to call out, “Colt, I uh…” Her eyes glanced to Nile, who seemed to try and follow what was happening, but was utterly failing, “He doesn’t seem all that well. I guess I don’t know how he’s usually like, but he just... “ At this point, she didn’t know what words to use to describe him, so she just gestured to the man splayed out on the couch.

Colt had finished gathering weapons when the younger woman had approached her. The veteran glanced and stood up as she listened to Aubrey. The mention of Nile got an eye-roll and frustrated sigh as a response. The woman approached the sofa and looked down at the man. Just by one look, it seemed clear to her what was going on, having gone through the same thing herself. Regardless, the woman growled and folded her arms.

“What’s wrong with ya?” She grumbled at the man. She knew what he had done the previous day as well as the fallout so to say her sympathy was tissue-paper thin was an understatement. She was not shocked that Jenna hadn’t killed him, but understood why she would have wanted to.

“Dunno” Nile said with a shrug, leaning just slightly away from Colt. “Pilled coffee, ow’ its ummer in ell’” Nile said.

Aubrey’s confusion stayed as she looked over to Colt, “That’s not normal for him, is it? I don’t even know what he just said…”

“Nope.” Colt responded flatly. She could just make out what he was saying through the slurring but that was it. She had been told by others about his habits but did not care to talk about it with him. Not after the bullshit he had been pulling.

Aubrey paused for a brief moment, thinking Colt would elaborate more on what the situation before them was. When she didn’t, Aubrey asked, “Should I, uh, get Lelianna?” A thought suddenly ran through her head, “Is he having a stroke?!” She half yelled, half asked. She had read somewhere that people have difficulty talking when they have a stroke. She knew nothing else about the symptoms of a stroke but she knew they were bad and probably required help.

“Nope.” once again, “Not a stroke.” She added with a sigh. Colt glanced to the younger woman, assuming she hadn’t come across someone going through withdrawal before.

“Oh.” The energy Aubrey had exuded to become worried evaporating entirely. Both relief and confusion remained as she asked, “What should we do about it? I might be able to get him up the stairs.”

“Maybe.” The laconic responses continued, “I’ll tell Ralph. He can’t shoot either so he could help, I need Leliana today.” Arms stayed folded as she looked at the man on the couch. Despite her disdain, she was cautious. It had almost killed her once before, and even faced with another person going through the motions made her all the more tempted to reach for her flask. Not that she’d say this of course, he didn’t need more ammo against her.

"Jus' put me out of my mi'ery. Ya prolly' got good at it with your squad in Ghan any’ay. Ju’ mak it pain’ess'" Nile says, uncomfortably lying on the couch.

There was a near-audible snap once those words left the man’s lips. Colt stared at him, wide eyed and face pale but with a rising redness in her cheeks and soon dominating her face. Nothing happened, at least for a few moments. With a frightening calmness, she took off her army cap, discarding it on the table. Like a pounce, the woman lunged and grabbed the man by both shoulders, throwing him roughly into a sitting position, her grip vice-like and her furious eyes staring daggers into his.

“Wha’ the ell’?” Nile asked, confused and surprised at the sudden turn of events.

“You think you are so fucking funny. Ay?” Her tone was soft, predatory but brimmed with the fury of a thousand storms as her grip on his shoulders tightened, “If I ever hear you disrespect me like that again I will end you! You did not know my squad, you do not know what I have seen, what I have done! But I know you! I have seen enough of you to know what you are. A shiftless bum who thinks he can catch a free ride! I have yet to see you justify your place here! You think it is funny to laugh at my leg and temper but what is your contributions to this lodge?! Burnt coffee, a murdered moose and single-handedly almost sending us to our deaths!” The woman paused, her eyes sore from staring and the lack of blinking during it all.

“I had to put my life in another’s hands and theirs in mine. Those men and women on that squad did more in their short time on this planet than I am sure you have in your whole existence! Am I wrong, Nile Crayman?!” At this, the woman finally released her grip on the man and stood up, “I was going to help you, despite everything you have done. But now? Not until you act like a man and earn it!” With that, the woman grabbed her cap in her hand and, flashing a final glare at the man, took the bags of weapons, wanting to get as far away from him.

Nile watched Colt leave, his confusion growing by every step she took. “....Whad I do tha’ time?” Nile asked noone. Nile didn’t understand what was the cause of the rant, he just felt like he’d been put down at his weakest out of the blue.

Interactions: Togy (Nile) and Rumble Fish (Colt)

 

[Brax]

​

An old Coupe de Ville roared on, hurrying down the main highway. This was to Luca’s surprise. Every so often his eyes would peer over to the fuel gauge. At this point it’s indicator was far below the letter ‘E’. He was unsure if he’d make it all the way to the university on just fumes alone. The streets had been populated with numerous zombies at this point - far more than the Italian had remembered the last time he was in town, only a few weeks ago. His unexpected detour had turned out to be more fruitful than he had originally anticipated, as the backseat of the car was flush with food, bottles of water, medicine, clothes, lights, pistols, ammunition, batteries and smokes. The amount that he had gotten done in the past two hours alone was magnificent.

After Luca ran from the gas station on foot, he made his way west. He had been doing his best to avoid making contact with any zombies, utilizing every nook and cranny he possibly could. As it was his stomping grounds for most of his life, the man knew the layout of the city like the back of his hand. He knew the best hiding places and most importantly, how to avoid pressure. Two miles of dodging the reanimated brought him to an abandoned home improvement retailer. It was a large store, but there was life inside of it. Luca was sure of it. Peering toward the large, lit-up store through a nearby bush, his eyes had quickly spotted an old Cadillac.

He pondered just stealing the car and driving off. However, Luca was inclined to believe there had been plenty of supplies in that store. He made his way out of the bush. Quickly sprinted through the open parking lot. Made his entrance through the garden section of the building, which had been wide open. Then he got to the large sliding doors. They had been locked, but not barricaded. This was an unintelligent set-up. If anyone was inside, they were most likely ransacking it. Quickly peering through the doors showed the lights on inside but no one in sight. A quick tap with the butt of his gun easily shattered it.

“What the hell was that?” One of the women inside asked, a man at her side.

“I dunno, but we gon' go check it out.” He mumbled, drawing his gun from its holster and taking a step in front of the woman. The two made their way to the gardening section sliding doors to find that glass had completely littered the floor. This meant that the store was completely open to the elements, prompting the woman to remove a radio from the depths of her pocket.

“Someone’s in here.” She spoke in a hushed tone, holding onto the button that operated her microphone.

“I see.” A woman on the other end responded quickly. “Everyone, meet back near the appliances.” A few other people responded over the radio, prompting both the man and the woman to look at each other.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” He said, looking at the girl who nodded in agreement. Together, the two made their way to the section that had been requested of them. Upon getting there a minute later, they were greeted with the site of four others, one woman and three men. They had been standing around when the two had finally showed up, but were absolutely quiet.

“Where is Amanda? Why do you guys have that loo-”

“Drop your gun.”

Looking down the isle immediately to his right, the large man who had investigated the break in was greeted by the site of Luca aiming a pistol at his face. He had been holding a second one to an older woman’s head that had been standing inches in front of him. The man at the end of the isle froze in terror, looking back at Luca as his hand instinctively pushed the woman he was with to the side.

​

“I’m not going to say it again.” Luca broke the silence, his glare blank. This was unlike something the gentleman on the receiving end had ever experienced. It was as if his eyes had no life behind them.

“I’m assuming this is Amanda.” The Italian cooed as he nudged the barrel of the gun into the back of the woman’s head, who was sobbing. Luca kept the other aimed at the man. The fearful expression on his face had quickly turned into rage at the realization of what was happening. He stood still momentarily but then made an attempt to lift his gun at Luca. However, the ex-capo fired his gun past the old woman’s head, lodging a bullet between the stranger’s eyes just as his wrist began to elevate.

The man’s head cocked back, blood exploding from the wound as his body dropped. His female companion screamed at the sight. The old woman dropped to her knees, her hands covering her ears. Luca left the woman as he walked up to the man’s body, holding both pistols out toward the rest of the group.

“You’re going to drop all of your weapons and place them on the floor at your feet.” In silence, the entire group of people began dropping their weapons onto the ground. At first, they had held their fire and tongue for fear of the woman being hurt. Luca expected to maintain control over the retail store’s populous by any means necessary.

“I’m not leaving until I get what I want. I'll slaughter every last one of you if that's what it takes.” He cautioned, as the group continued to listen. “Put all your weapons, and I mean all of them, in a bag. I want everything else you have too. Amanda will come and collect it for me.”

Ten minutes had passed. Luca was sitting atop a closed washing machine watching the group gather their belongings. In the end, they dropped two backpacks and a large burlap sack. The Italian made haste in gathering the belongings, readying himself to leave by means of walking backwards until he was out of sight. Of course, he had to brandish one of his guns to hold the sack of guns that had been tossed over his shoulder. However, the other one kept aim. He neared the corner of the closest isle, the man left them with parting words.

“Check near the gardening section in ten minutes.”

As soon as the Italian was out of sight, he booked it for the same broken sliding doors he entered through. Before he took his leave, however, the man found himself stopping in his tracks. He had left that group of people with their lives, but without a way to properly keep on. Luca removed two of the five guns in the bag and placed them on the ground alongside a knapsack filled with food. Then he took his leave, utilizing the car that had been running in the parking lot to make his escape.

The car began to sputter as it neared the apartment complex across from the Freeman Medical Center. When Luca’s hands felt the steering wheel lock up, he knew that he was out of time. Coming to a rolling stop was probably one of the worst things that could happen; especially when the campus was crawling with zombies that knew of his presence. He parked the car haphazardly behind one of the buildings, right underneath the fire escape that led to the second-floor balconies. Zombies quickly closed in as he grabbed a backpack from the back of the car alongside the sack of guns. The Italian opened the car door and slammed it shut, brandishing his pistol before shooting at a nearby zombie. This bought him enough time to climb up onto the top of the car.

His hands grasped the ladder leading up to the balcony. As he made his way up, he felt a hand pulling at his pants leg. Luca looked down to find a horde of zombies had completely surrounded his car at this point. It just lit a fire under his ass to move up the ladder faster. One of the most obnoxious things in the world was carrying that fucking bag of weapons up with him, but in this case it was completely necessary. First he tossed the guns over the edge of the balcony. He followed suit. Luca's chest rose and fell rapidly as blue hues turned back to look down at the numbers of reanimated multiplying on the ground below - right in front of his eyes.

 

[TheMightyRedLemon]

Vanessa & Luca
Collaboration work between TheMightyRedLemon & Brax

Vanessa sat and chuckled at her own cruel fate. Either she let hunger take her, and turned into a Mortvert, or she could end it all now. Using the wall to stand with her messed up ankle she looked back at the door. "I guess I should unlock it for the next folk what may need shelter...? Not like I'll care after it's over anyway..." she said, slowly undoing the lock and chain before limping across from the door and leaning against a wall. She produced the old .32 from the pocket of the fur coat once more and pulled the hammer back.

Luca placed a cigarette between his lips and lit it. Then, he picked up the bag that had been sitting between his feet. Without thinking about it, he turned to place a hand on the door knob belonging to the apartment that had been behind him. Upon walking in, he was greeted by the sight of a person four inches shorter than himself. She had light brown hair and a frail figure - probably frail enough for Luca to believe she had gone quite some time without eating. His half-opened eyes opened slightly more in response to registering the fact that there was someone occupying this apartment. The man shut the door behind him and dropped the bag of guns at his feet. Then he placed his gun back in the waistband of his pants. The cigarette continued burning away between his lips.

Vanessa had begun to raise the gun to her head as the doorknob started to turn and the door swung open. A brown haired man who had to have been a few inches taller than her entered and looked her over. She had not expected another survivor to come to use this place as shelter until long after her brains were against the wall. She had abandoned hope and yet here hope was, dropping it's bags on the ground. Vanessa watched him as he put away his gun and closed the door behind him before speaking.

“There’s a horde of zombies outside.” He mentioned casually.

His voice startled her, in truth, as she hadn't spoken to another living person in weeks. Vanessa lowered her own gun. "S..stuck..." she agreed, nodding her head lightly. Her voice was rough, as if she had spoken very little over the recent days, but it had an identifiable scottish accent still. "Th..the stairs are blocked off...safe from mortverts.... but no food..." Vanessa told the man, her tone sounding almost unsure. She was sure of one thing, however... If there was any chance of her getting out alive, it was the man that stood in front of her.

“You should toss that peashooter you’re holding. It’s trash. It’ll be too hard to find ammunition for it.”

Vanessa looked down at the small pistol in her hands. Peashooter? She didn't know the first thing about guns other than that you pull the trigger to fire it. Even if it was useless to her, it had been Yuri's, and she didn't even want to entertain the thought of getting rid of it.

When he heard the woman mentioning food, Luca easily came to the conclusion that she was probably beginning to starve. It had confirmed in conjunction to his first thought regarding her physical appearance. Removing the bag with food from his shoulder, the Italian moved to what appeared to be a dining table in the small apartment. He placed the bag down onto the glass countertop and unzipped it. A few items came tumbling down as he let it go, the most visible ones being a pack of twinkies alongside some beef jerky sticks. Next to it, Luca placed the burlap sack filled with guns and removed one before offering it to the woman.

Her stomach let out a low rumble as the food items spilled out onto the table, and her mouth began to water. When she saw the man turn to hand her a new gun she limped forward, her left ankle buckling and sending waves of pain up her leg. She took the gun and looked it over before looking back to the food. "I.. I can have this?" Her question was hesitant and full of caution. She assumed that he meant for her to eat it but she wanted to be sure, as she did not wish to blow away any chance she had of getting out alive.

The ex-capo knew better than to sit around and wait. He kept silent as he navigated around the apartment. The man took notice of various nooks and crannies, opened up closet doors and checked all the bedrooms. There was not one other person to be found here, which meant that this girl probably had been sitting alone in the apartment since the beginning of the outbreak. Luca wondered if she knew of the existence of others in the same building. He made his way back into the living room and removed the handheld radio from his belt. Then he looked down at the female. This girl was definitely a college student. She didn’t look a day older than Andy.

“Are you the only one here?”

Vanessa's gaze lowered as she spoke. "I am…" she said, her tone baleful. "The others… they…" she started to choke up a bit as her eyes began to water. She used the inside of her coat to wipe her eyes before taking a shaky breath to steady her voice. "I've been by myself for about a week and a half, maybe more. It's hard for sure… I've never been good with time…"

“Eat.” Luca motioned to the knapsack with the barrel of his pistol. The index and middle fingers belonging to his opposite hand reached up to his mouth to take hold of the cigarette that had occupied his slightly parted lips. Luca could have gone his whole life without reminding people to eat. In the past, he was on the receiving end of the very same advice more times than he could possibly count. Now that society had crumbled, it seemed as though those tables had turned quite rapidly.

She did not hesitate after his prompt to eat. Without another word she hurriedly began to rip open the jerky.

His feet slowly led him back to the patio door. Those light blue hues peered out using the glass, scanning the grounds for what was going on outside. Zombies littered the front grounds of the university from what he could see. The parking garage’s access of view was limited from the outside, but there were definitely zombies in there. A few of the reanimated had somehow made their way into the dog park across the street, doing their best to attempt to destroy the gate so they could get out. Right past the corner of the Freeman Medical Center, in front of the university, was the tail lights belonging to a rather familiar car. It had seemed as though Andy and Hector had gotten to the university first, not that it was much of a surprise.

His thumb flicked on the sound for his radio. He placed his finger down on the button, but in return, the handheld decide had audibly spat back static in response. The bridge of the Italian’s nose crinkled in response as he took his finger off of the microphone. Luca briefly peered back to the girl, half open eyes sure to check in on what she was doing before they redirected back to the window. Luca, while looking among the grounds of the university once more, had come to the realization that he had been experiencing a repeating pattern which was highly disturbing. One that involved bringing home multiple destitute individuals after each and every run. The sky was dark; as grey as it had been when the three had left the lodge. Wind whipped through various alleyways and open corridors surrounding the building, creating a whoosh effect. The man’s fingers once more pressed down the microphone button. It was a long shot…

“Hector.” He called over the static, but got no response. His brows furrowed as Luca slammed his palm into the side of the radio.

“Can you hear me?” Nothing.

Vanessa eyes followed the man around the room as she ate. "So.. you're separated from your lyudi (people)?" She asked after the person he was trying to contact didnt answer.

Remember your manners, malen'kiy.
Yuri's voice reminded her. Vanessa paused for a moment to chew another bite of jerky before looking back up at the man. He hadn't seemed to notice Yuri's voice, which meant that it really was just in her head, as she had thought. Nonetheless, it had a point. " Thank you…" she said. "If not for you I would not make it much longer." Looking down her left leg, she continued, "I.. I hurt me ankle trying to get food downstairs. I wouldn't have been able to look for more food like this…"

“Now is not a good time for your ankle to hurt.” He mentioned, ignoring her gesture and moving from the window to take a seat on one of the wooden chairs next to the table. Out of exhaustion he placed a hand on his forehead, but his eyes kept fixated on the female opposite of him. It wasn’t so odd that she had an accent. After all these years, Luca still found himself unable to be rid of his. He had ultimately come to the conclusion that it would never truly leave him, as Italian was the first language he had learned to speak fluently.

“At the bottom of that bag there’s medical tape and ibuprofen. You’re going to need to wrap up your leg with something sturdy, because you’re not done using it yet.” The Italian placed the filter of his burning cigarette on the edge of the table so that the ember wouldn’t burn into the top and start a fire. With the same hand he grabbed the first item of food that was closest to him - in this case, a granola bar, and unwrapped it before taking a bite.

Vanessa set to work bracing her leg. Taking some scrap wood from one of the old dining room chairs that had been broken and the medical tape from the bag, she bound the two lengths of wood on either side of her ankle, wrapping the tape thick enough to hold.

“We’re going to wait a little while. No matter what, we’re leaving this apartment. You hobbling around isn’t going to help.”

Looking back up at the Italian, Vanessa's eyes shone brightly in the dim lighting that filtered in from the boarded up window.

"I've got an idea! Are ya afraid of heights at all?" She asked, a small smile edging the corners of her mouth. "Because we could just climb to the roof and jump o'er a couple of buildings, then climb down. All the mortverts are gathered here at this one. Should be much safer if we can get down from another building."

 

[Rumble Fish]

With a simple hand on her hat, Aubrey felt like she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Arguments to that degree aren’t something she saw in real life. They were on T.V. or in books, but it was a lot scarier up close. The shaking of Colt’s hands sent a cold wave through her stomach.

“I… Uh… It- I just…” Stammering to form a sentence, she motioned to the door, looking at Nile and head out after Colt.

After keeping up with Luca for a couple of weeks, she was able to catch up to the fuming Colt. Moments like these, she wish she were different. Others may have left her be or would at least be able to say something meaningful. Instead, Aubrey asked, “A-Are you okay?” The answer was obvious but her mind wouldn’t think of anything else to say in order to help.

“Eeyup.” Colt did not turn around at the woman’s question, simply staring ahead out of the door, “‘pologiese fur that. Bin a bit, flighty t’day.” Her hands were still shaking from anger. He did not know it, but that one statement opened the floodgates for memories she had furiously fought to drown.

That was not the reply she had expected. Colt was contradicting herself which caused more uncertainty to plague her visage, “Oh,” She simply replied, “Well, you don’t need to apologize for being okay… or not being okay.” She mumbled, her brows furrowing at her own words, “But uh… I thought what you said about Memorial day was cool.” While Aubrey was trying to change the conversation, in hindsight, the topic wasn’t the best choice. Still, she carried on, “Remembering people is always good. Might make them feel good if they’re watching us… or something.”

Colt had shut her eyes and kept them shut in an attempt to calm herself as Aubrey spoke up once again, now mentioning Memorial day. Her brow lowered a little for a brief moment and she sighed deeply, “Eeyup. It’s a nice thought.” She paused, “Still, wish they were here. Wish she was here.” the last words were quieter.

The blonde felt a punch to her stomach as Colt whispered her last sentence. Laying her hands on Colt’s shoulders, and with a surprising amount of force, she turned the woman around to face her.

Aubrey locked eyes with the woman, and silently pulled her into a hug. The feeling was foreign to her- she couldn’t remember the last time she had hugged or had been hugged by someone. It must’ve been in middle school or maybe even earlier than that. It was nice, though. It felt secure and warm.

Colt squeaked as the woman pulled her into a hug, her second one of the day. When the shock had worn off, the veteran sighed heavily and put her arms around Aubrey back. Being of equal height to the woman, she rested her head lightly on her shoulder. She had cried out all her tears earlier, but there was still a quiver within the woman.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, her eyes glazed as she slipped into her thoughts once again.

Aubrey understood that war was bad. She could comprehend what death was and how it correlated to war, but she couldn’t grasp onto how traumatic it would be for someone to be in that environment. While she doesn’t have the whole story on what Colt had been through, she knew it was really bad and she didn’t want to cause her more pain.

Still hugging the woman, she mumbled, “I know I’m, uh, not in a position to say this, but you don’t have to think about it right now if you don’t want to. We can talk about something else. If you want to remember it, I can, uh, go as well.”

Colt did not let go as she responded, “I… appreciate it, ma’am but, I gotta get ‘em started. I don’ like the thought of Michael operating a gun without me.”

“Oh, right.” She said, which may have been a segway into letting the hug go, but Aubrey didn’t know how long hugs were supposed to last or who lets go first, so she kept the same grip as she had before.

Colt waited a few more moments before gently releasing Aubrey, in that time everything had finally begun to relax within the veteran. With a clear of her throat she turned to look outside, “Eh, we should git goin’. Don’t wanna lose too much daylight.” Given it was November, they would be lucky to still have light by four in the afternoon. And she did not want to risk shooting in the dark.

As soon as Colt let go, she did as well, though the idea of the guns once more put a bad feeling in her gut, “I… uh…Forgot to tell you that I… hm… uhm... “ Aubrey couldn’t think of how she wanted to tell the woman that she has a weird fear of guns, “G-guns and I… aren’t friends.”

Processing what she just said, she then mumbled, “Well, I can't really be friends with an inanimate object but I don’t like guns. They’re scary.” The blonde sighed at the words coming out of her mouth as she began to drum on her leg, “Scary is a word a child uses and I’m most certainly not a child but you know what I mean, I think.”

Aubrey wanted to come out and say the reason why she found them scary, but she couldn’t find the courage to. Remembering why was a bit more than she could handle right then.

At this confession, Colt reared her head back, eyes shut and a sharp sigh through her nose. She couldn’t be angry. It was understandable. But still, it made things difficult. “Kay. Hm.” she thought for a moment, scratching the back of her neck, “What about when she’s back, I ask Andy if she can teach ya how t’use a bow? She’s gonna show me at some point.”

An enthusiastic nod came from the blonde, “Sounds good. I would like that more than gun training.” She explained, using the rest of her emotional availability to muster out a small smile.

“Good. Well, in that case,” she glared back at Nile on the sofa, “Just, keep an eye on him.” she grumbled before putting her cap back on her head and seeing that the woman had given her a smile in response to her offer. As much as she wished she could, she simply could not bring herself to smile, all she could hope was that Aubrey would know that. She had seen Ralph go outside, and heard a few shots fired. Seems some people were already getting on with it. With a sigh, the veteran left the Lodge, spending any more time there would only make things worse. The smell of gunfire and fresh air would be a wonder right now.

Features: Corgi (Aubrey)
Mentions: Maj (Andy) The Mad Queen (Ralph)

 

[FireMaiden]

​

Location: The Jordan Lodge
Interaction: The Mad Queen (Ralph)
Mentioned: Rumble Fish (Colt) Maj (Owen)
"Alright baby, there's nothing to be afraid of." Diana's gentle voice broke the silence, her hands laying on her daughter's shoulders. "These aren't toys, but once you know how to use them, you'll be able to protect yourself." Leliana looked up, her small face twisted. She didn't like the weight of the pistol in her hands. She couldn't get the grip to sit comfortably in her hands, not to mention it was chilly outside. They were standing in her back yard, the single tree had a bullseye nailed to the trunk. The sun hung low in the sky. It was quiet, peaceful almost, a nice change of pace from what had been going on recently.

"But...but you and grandma always told me not to touch the gun." The young girl sounded scared, worried if she was going to get in trouble, even if her mother was the one helping her break the rules. In response Diana chuckled, giving Leliana a soft smile.

"We both agreed it's time for you to learn how to use it. Now, raise your arms a little, look through those little bumps. They'll help you aim." Diana paused for a moment, letting Leliana adjust. "The gun is going to be loud, and if you feel like your arms can't handle the recoil, what happens after you fire, let it go above your head." Nodding, Leliana moved her finger to the trigger, Diana covered the little blonde's ears as Leliana took a deep shaky breath. "When you're ready babydoll." Slowly, Leliana squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

The satisfying sound of metal hitting metal echoed for a moment as one of the many cans she and Colt had set up was sent flying off the post. Two more toppled seconds later, Leliana lowering her pistol. She felt a small sense of pride, not that hitting cans was a big deal, but Leliana was satisfied that even without having to use her gun for a while, her aim was still on point. Holstering her pistol for a moment, Leliana went to go pick up the cans. They all were dented, holes straight there in the middle, Leliana set them back up, and returned to her original position.

For a moment, she stood there and watched Ralph struggle with the rifle, before succeeding in hitting the target stuck to the tree. The older man then began to address everyone else outside. "That's a good idea, but I think everyone out here may already know the basics. You might have a student out of Owen though, if he manages to get downstairs," Leliana chuckled. "But, if you don't mind, I'd like a turn with the rifle." She had never really fired anything larger than a .22, well, once she did. But that shotgun nearly broke her goddamn shoulder. "I need the practice."

 

[Rumble Fish]

It was cold. Freezing. The wind howled and the snow stung her eyes as Milly pulled her coat tighter to try and fight off the threat of frostbite. Teeth chattering, she raised her torch, the only other light being provided by a dying sun. She was on a road, high on a mountain and looking around a blind bend covered by tall evergreens. On the left was the horizon of endless mountains with their green carpets of forest below. It was becoming dark, rapidly. The guard-rail shimmered a vague red from the sun, and part of it seemed to be broken from a previous crash. Part of her wanted to look down to see if anyone was down there, but judging by the altitude she could not risk it.

“Hello?” Her soft voice called out, echoing eerily through the trees. There was no response, only the wind, “Mum? Where are you? Mummy!” Tears started to flow as fear rose as once again there was no response. Her breathing became rapid as the dark closed in. Her torch only provided the smallest amount of light in front of her. There was nobody here in this desolate wilderness. Was this even Aurora? Milly turned around, praying for headlights to come, people to arrive and take her home. It had been so long. Tears flowed freely as she shook. As she thought of turning to walk down the road to search, a strange whistle/howling sound floated towards her. Turning, Milly yelped as she spotted first hands, then arms and the top of a head emerging from the gap from the broken guard-rail.

“M-mum?” the torch shone onto the figure, “Is that you?” The figure then leapt with a frightening screech. It was bloody, grimey and with wild white eyes, its mouth was mangled as if its face had been torn outwards. It shrieked again, its skinny yet fast frame launching itself towards her, arms outstretched. Milly screamed as she tried to scrambled back but felt herself slip on black ice, feeling a rush of pain as she fell onto her back, facing the dark sky with a full moon looking down. But the tranquility was destroyed as the monster loomed above her, just as it was about to stoop, teeth poised to sink into her throat, gunshots boomed…

“N-No! Help-Muuuuuuuum!” The youngster howled as she stirred back into the world of the living, her chest heaving with her sobs as she tried to sit up to be met with light-headedness and motion sickness. The room was bright from and the weight that had once been the monster in her dream was simply her bed-sheets. Pulling them closer, up to her cold nose, Milly clung to Snowy, staring at the door and window, “Is it gone? Where is it?” she squeaked between sobs, afraid to look out the window or under the bed in case it was just hiding and would pull her under when Beth wasn’t looking.

“Hey,” the woman cooed in a soft and soothing tone. Beth pulled the girl to her side, petting the top of the child’s head and shushing her. “You’re okay. You’re safe.” It was a wonder that the little one hadn’t been plagued with more nightmares with everything she had been through. Between the gunfights with the hazmat and the city literally crawling with dead ones. The resolve of the young girl was honestly surprising.

Beth had recognized the young girl for who she was early. In fact, Milly reminded her of a lot of a friend she had in middle school. It wasn’t a secret, but Milly acted far younger than she was. It was no fault of hers though, Beth recognized autism when she saw it. However, in the limited experience, she had with people on the spectrum she found that it made them pretty resilient, and that was proven by the fact that her young friend only started having nightmares as a result of her fever trying to break.

She continued to pet the child’s head, humming softly until her sobs quieted. Beth ran her fingers through Milly’s damp hair and smiled warmly down at her. The blonde reached for the thermometer on the nightstand and placed it under the girl’s arm to see how the fever and medication had progressed.

“Do you want to talk about your dream?” Beth asked, distracting her from the soft melodic beeping of the device.

While the sobs subsided, her heart rate was furious as she kept glancing around the room, half expecting the monster to simply appear in front of her and attack again. In Beth’s safe grip, she leaned in, an arm wrapped around her for security. When the blonde asked her about talking about her nightmare, she took a moment to answer.

“I-I was on a road in a blizzard and I couldn’t find anyone,” there were a few gasps as she fought against the urge to sob once again, “It was dark and I couldn’t see anything and thi-this monster came and…it looked like-it-it-,” Again, she looked at the window before turning back to the woman. It felt so real. “I-It’s not here is it?” It was not a monster like they had seen before, but something else. Was it a zombie? She did not know how she could describe it.

“Well, there are no monsters here,” The blonde assured her. Her smile faltered as she looked at the girl, blue eyes locking on Milly's. “I would never let anyone hurt you. You know that right?” Her stoney expression helped convey the seriousness of her statement. In the weeks that she had been at the lodge, Beth had really gotten close to Milly. She didn’t really talk to many other people at the lodge. The group had far more grumpy assholes than she cared to converse with. Milly was the same, timid and afraid of most of the people at the lodge despite them all doing their best to be kind to her.

Milly looked to the woman as her tone grew serious, making her wince a little. Normally when someone spoke like that, it meant they were angry or she was in trouble; at least that’s how it was with her mother. But the words that came from her next were of reassurance. The smaller girl gulped slightly at the full eye-contact but nodded earnestly. She held no animosity towards Beth for them being taken, hostage. It was not her fault and simply a case of circumstances. But it did make her more wary of being outside, the only reason she went with Colt was due to the woman being perpetually armed.

Her mind was still on the monster. Maybe if she showed Beth? Stopping down, she took her pad of paper and a pencil. “It kinda looked like this.” She mumbled before quickly sketching what it was like. A tall, lanky humanoid with bulging white eyes and a nose and mouth resembling that of a star-nosed mole. Milly had seen them before and they had always scared her from how their snouts looked. The more she looked at the picture, her mind started to waltz.

“It pinned me. But, I’m small.” She spoke, her voice now more level, “It was fast but it-it'd just get gunned down, right? Like all the other monsters?” She then began to flip through the pages of the book, to nicer things she had drawn such as mountains, horses, and rabbits.

“You are a very good artist,” Beth commented. “But thankfully, you don’t have to worry about that monster anymore."

"Thanks! I want to try and draw everyone at some point." Milly was interrupted by repetitive beeping alerted her that the thermometer was finished. Beth reached down and retrieved the item from her arm. The digital display read 99 degrees. She was doing far better with some rest and medications in her system. Smiling, Beth put the device back down on the nightstand.

“How are you feeling now?”

Milly too looked to the thermometer, though she was unsure as to what the number meant, Beth seemed relatively happy with it. When the woman asked how she was feeling, Milly blinked a few times.

“A bit better, not as cold as yesterday.” she gave the woman a small smile but then looked out the window for a second before glancing down at her bed-sheets, wrapping her arms around her torso, “Kinda hungry though.” She admitted. She had barely eaten the day before due to a lack in appetite but now, she was a bit peckish.

“Good, we can go downstairs and find some food,” Beth agreed. Milly chirped as she sat up, feet over the side of the bed. The youngster was still flushed and sweaty but was now more lucid than she had been yesterday. She took Snowy and gripped her tightly. She was thankful to have Beth.

Featuring: Maj (Beth)

 

[The Mad Queen]

Fisher looked at the others that stood before him, and then back at the young nurse with a single raised eyebrow. Nile and Cletus he wouldn't trust with matches, let alone firearms and he was certain Michael would accidentally shoot himself in the foot the first chance he got. Tre was an unknown factor, but the teen at least seemed to possess the maturity lacking by some of the other lodgers. He had played a part in the infamous coffee incident but then again he couldn't have been any older than sixteen.
That gave him a pass in Ralph's brown eyes.

He internally sighed at the idea of yet another kid having to grow up in the uncertain world they found themselves in, and as per usual his thoughts turned to home.
"Maybe so. But I would still like to assess what they know. Last thing we need right now is somebody taking an eye out." He winced a little bit at his own words, remembering the sorry state that Hector's face was left in by the mercenaries. He'd been putting off confronting him about the discovery in the woods at least till the man had recovered a bit, and in fact had wanted to have their talk today but he'd left the lodge on what Fisher could only assume was another supply run.

Nobody had died on a supply run yet, at least that he knew about but that was bound to change eventually. The outskirts of town would soon be picked clean, and the last time he checked the inner parts of the city was a meat grinder. Then again, that had been weeks ago so perhaps it wasn't quite as bad?
He unslung the rifle from his shoulder, checking it once again.
"Safety's on." He stated, showing the nurse where it was located "If you're right-handed, your firing hand will be your right hand and your non-firing hand will be your left hand. Vice versa, of course." With the rifle in his own hands he rested it atop the cane once more to steady it.

"Steady the handgrip with your non-firing hand. The rifle's hand guard should rest in a v shape created by your thumb and forefingers. The grip should be light, almost like a bad handshake, but the wrist should be straight with the fingers curled naturally around the handguard. Make sure to keep your hand clear of the ejected shells." He followed his own instructions to a tee, for they were the same things the FBI agent had drilled into his skull.
He stood to his feet, now taking aim without his cane.

"You're going to need to put the rifle butt firmly in the pocket of your firing shoulder. Make sure it's steadied against your shoulder, not the fleshy part of your armpit beneath it, or on your collarbone. That way you won't dislocate anything. Trust me." He gave her a light smile and took one more shot, a bullet striking the centre of his bullseye.

With that, he finally handed it over.
"It's a little heavy. Just make sure to keep your balance when you're firing the thing. I nearly toppled over myself." He chuckled.
Fisher's smile dropped as he faced the others, his hand resting on the cane again "I know she'll handle that weapon properly. I cannot say the same for some of you. At least not yet. So step forwards and listen in..."

"I will not be spending all morning repeating himself, but before we begin are there any questions?"

Interactions: FireMaiden (Leli)
In area: Hyped_Taco (Cletus/Mike Wazowski), Brax (Tre), Togy (Nile)
Mentioned: shadowz1995 (Hector)