Realistic or Modern The Beginning of the End

[DrTrollinski]

"Hm. Alright. As you three aren't up for eating anything, can I offer you a drink? Some coffee, maybe?" He asked as he walked behind the breakfast bar adjacent to the entrance of the kitchen. (@Soul OMU)

 

[DrCompton]

Tom frowned and looked around, "I'm gonna walk around, I'll be back soon okay?" He rubbed Carls head and walked out the door

 

[DrTrollinski]

Eric looked at him walk out and frowned softly. He couldn't understand while everyone was so skeptical of this place. Fair enough, if he found anything that was human in his soup, he'd be walking out himself, but he didn't get why people were making decisions based off of this guy without even giving him a chance. So far they'd had no trouble, so what exactly could go wrong?


".. Okay... I wanna' sit with you and eat, so don't go too long." Carl tilted his head backwards and smiled up at him. (@Soul OMU)

 

[StarrySkyofLostSouls]

Hunter shakes head as she steps out for a moment. Scarlet looks at Jenna as Jenna seems to shake her head. "I-im alright, thank you."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Alex sighed and looked at Chef for a moment. ".. Start cooking, I--.. Just give us a minute." He said, he walked Caitlyn over to one of the booths with Carl and then sat them both down opposite each other. He leaned over at the end of the table and whispered to them once Chef disappeared into the kitchen. ".. I'll be right outside the door. Eric's in here, so tell him if you need anything." He said. Carl smiled and nodded at him.


"Okay, Alex." He replied, Alex ruffled his hair and then walked over to Jenna and Scarlet, placing a hand on their shoulders to usher them outside the Diner so that they were with Hunter.


".. Guys... Please, tell me, what's going on?" He asked, his head a little bowed as he took a deep breath. (@Soul OMU)

 

[StarrySkyofLostSouls]

Hunter shakes her head. "It's nothing Alex... I'm just... Not up for anything at the moment... I'm not hungry or thirsty..." She said as Jenna and Scarlet looked at him. "We already ate..."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Okay..." Alex sighed. ".. If you don't want to eat, why did you completely blank the guy at first, all look panicked or nervous, and then proceed to abruptly exit the place? Something's got you into a different mood, and the most I saw any of you eat today was half a can of beans..." He sighed and looked around. "What's on your mind?" He asked. (@Soul OMU)

 

[StarrySkyofLostSouls]

Hunter shakes head. "It's nothing... I'm just tired and a bit stressed.. I think Jenna is just worried about being here and Scarlet is worried for Jenna's safety..."

 

[DrCompton]

Tom looked at Alex, "man this place doesn't strike you as odd? I mean... It's perfect, untouched... I dunno I guess in just on edge..." He sighed.

 

[DrTrollinski]

He looked at Jenna and placed a gentle hand down on her shoulder. ".. Jenna... I understand. Trust me, when me and Hunter came here alone earlier today, we were feeling the exact same way. I felt like running out screaming, if I'm honest." He chuckled a little. ".. I ate the food he gave me here, and I drank the coffee he gave me - I'm still alive, aren't I? For now, at least." He winked and playfully nudged her shoulder. ".. Yeah, this place may seem strange, but c'mon, even if you don't want to eat, this guy's let all of us come in, and he's offering us all food - I'm not asking you to eat anything, but I think it'd do us all some good if we just all sat down inside and unwound and chatted for a while." He smiled at them all. (@Soul OMU, @DrCompton)

 

[StarrySkyofLostSouls]

Hunter gives a look to Tom. "It's like something out of a fairy tale... I didn't want to believe it all... I almost made Alex check each house..." She said softly and sighed. Jenna bites her lip and goes in. Scarlet leans against the wall.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Look. It may seem like a fairy tale, but this could turn out to be a lot better than anything we've had over the past four months. You're assuming that things aren't right here when we haven't even been here long enough to say whether or not that's the case. Look..." He sighed and went over to lean against the wall beside the door. ".. This has given people hope. I saw some smiles on people when we got here that I hadn't seen for a long long time... And Carl and Caitlyn. They're making the effort to see the good in this place - right now, they're happy to be here... So, if anything, let's not them them down, eh?" He said softly, sighing thereafter before looking around and then nodding towards the door. ".. Go on, guys. Let's just sit down for a while before Matty's cremation. We want everyone in higher spirits before that, at least." He said. (@Soul OMU, @DrCompton)

 

[DrCompton]

"Carl is the only reason I haven't left yet." He sighed, "I'm going to check a few good houses for me and the boys... I won't be far okay?" Tom frowned a little and walked toward a neighborhood

 

[DrTrollinski]

Alex sighed and then turned towards the three girls again. ".. Guys, please... Just go inside and sit with the kids. We'll see how things go. Just try and relax, alright? I'll make sure we get out of here instantly if anything goes wrong." He said, he then turned and ran after Tom. ".. Tom, hey... Wait up. I'll check some places out with you as well." He sighed a little and began walking alongside him. ".. I don't get it, Tom. This place has everything you were looking for. A farm with animals and crops, safety from the dead, a place to build a life... It's got all of that. Yeah, I'll give you the fact that it seems a little strange, but there's nothing that's been a threat to us so far, and that chef didn't poison me and Hunter this morning... I'm just trying to see what you all dislike about the place." Alex sighed a little and looked around. This place didn't really have neighborhoods. Mostly streets covered in houses around the outskirts and also leading a little into the center - each street had a dead end with a house there as well - in the housing side of the town, of course. The central areas of the town were the businesses and such - more on the outskirts of things were the other places like governmental buildings, like the Sheriff's Department and the Fire Department. (@Soul OMU)

 

[DrCompton]

"It just... Doesn't make sense to me. This place is untouched. Not a single window is broken. No destroyed cars, no blood? Not even dried blood? You know hard it is to get blood off of concrete?" He frowns. "Look I don't trust this place, which is why I'm so paranoid.." He sighs and rubs the back of his neck, "head back okay? I need some time to think."

 

[Soviet Panda]

"And so it begins." he muttered into his beard, not aware of anyone that may be listening. Moving his quiver around cautiously, not wanting to be caught off guard, he sits there by himself. The blood curdling howls and screeching keeping him up.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Yeah, but you need to think how many people would have taken cars with them when they left." He sighed and continued walking with him. "Think about how far North this place is as well. It's in the middle of fuckin' nowhere. The census for this place in map book said that the population in this place was around five-hundred before the shit hit the fan. There weren't that many people here to start with, and that Chef guy, yeah, he's a bit odd, and he's very excitable, but we don't know how long he and that farmer have been alone here. He's probably gone a little crazy to see living people after so long." He said, looking around. ".. I hope you're not taking time to think about leaving... I know you wouldn't walk out on people like that, because you're different to others." He placed a hand down on his shoulder to stop him from walking. He looked him in the eyes. ".. I'll let you in on a little secret. On the day you joined up with us, I was skeptical, I won't deny. I thought you were one of the people who had lost it entirely, and I was honestly quite scared. But... then I saw you with Eric. I saw you pull him out of the pit of depression he'd been stuck in for half a month, and you did it just like that." He clicked his fingers as he said the last word. There was a pause. ".. I knew then that you weren't who I thought you were, that you weren't some brute that this world had eaten up and shit out... when Carl took such a liking to you, I couldn't get why. I didn't really see what made you stand out to him so much, but, after a while... I saw how he thought of you. How he acted with you and the influences you had on him - you helped him grow up, Tom, helped him face his fears, but you were there when he wasn't strong enough to face them alone... That's when I was happy to refer to you as their father." He said, he then patted him a couple of times on his shoulder and then turned away.


He began walking off back towards the diner, but stopped after he'd traveled a few feet and then turned around again to look at him. ".. One last thing. I know for a fact I haven't really been 'leading' as well as I could have, and as much as people tell me I do, I know I've screwed up quite a lot. This place... I know it's not looking so inviting right now, but I want you to give it a chance with me, and with Eric and Carl. You've managed to give me a lot of hope through what you've done, and even more so in Eric and Carl's case... If there's anyone who can give people hope that we can have a life here, it's you more than me... You've always given the people you care about hope, Tom... I really don't want to see that stop any time soon." He gave a warm smile and then slowly turned away from him to start walking off. ".. Carl wanted to eat dinner with you, and I think that's gonna' be ready soon, so don't be out too long." He called out once he had begun to make some distance from him. He walked back to the diner. (@DrCompton)


--


Dominic heard the screeching and then instantly sprung up from the couch he was sat on. Daniel was in the bathroom that was just connected to the living room - he had a slightly upset stomach like a few other people in the colony did, so it was clear that some sort of illness was going around. Daniel wasn't hit quite as bad with it, though, so he wasn't all that sick.


"Dad?!" Daniel called out in panic from behind the closed door. Dominic instantly ran to it and leaned up against it.


"Calm down, son! And try and stay quiet... Finish up in there and then go straight to your room, okay? Conner and the men I've put out on guard have got this under control, so just wait in there until it's over. Take a flashlight with you and wait in there, okay?"


".. Okay--.." Daniel muttered back hesitantly. Dominic slowly backed away from the door and walked over to the window of his apartment, followed by pulling the curtains open in the slightest. He looked out into the forest. He couldn't see anything just yet, so he made sure he was as hidden as possible and then continued to watch, his eyes occasionally darting to the scared-looking men on the roofs that held their rifles at the ready. He'd made sure it was the men that had no families that were put on guard tonight. It seemed selfish, but it seemed kind as well. The face Daniel had when he found out he'd lost a parent was something that haunted Dominic's mind every night, and he didn't want any other kids to have to go through that. At least if these men died, there wasn't going to be anyone who would be losing one of the only people they have left. (@Beowulf)

 

[Soviet Panda]

Looking around at the rather scared looking men, he suddenly began to wonder how usefull they would be. They way it seemed now, they would run first and shoot second. So, almost as an encouragement to them, he got up lazily and stretched his back. If an old man like him could be so calm about it all, they certainly couldn't be.

 

[DrCompton]

Tom sighed and found a house that looked big enough. He walked up to the door and opened it, he had his pistol out and walked carefully around the house. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath. The first floor had a large kitchen connected to the living room and a dining room and a small office. Up a set of angled stairs, were the 4 bedrooms. The master bedroom had it's own bathroom, then two of the rooms shared a bathroom. The last room had no bathroom.

 

[Aryn Harris]

Skyler sighs softly and walks into the building the Chef is in. She takes a seat and runs her fingers through her hair. t seemed like she was the only one sitting alone. Not that she cared.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Beside the house that Tom had found, there was another one that was just like it - That could be a good house for Alex and Hunter and Caitlyn, especially as Caitlyn was going to be staying with them from now on. On the other side of it, there was a house that was a little smaller and only had a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms in it, judging by the size. It looked like Eric's dream of he and Jenna being neighbors was actually possible here. (@DrCompton)


--


Alex eventually got back to the diner and saw Skyler sitting alone. He walked over to her and sat down in the booth opposite her, sighing. ".. Hey, Sky... You want anything to eat? I'll head to the back and tell Chef what you want, if you'd like." He offered softly. (@Aryn Harris)


--


Some of the men looked at him, and some of them were completely shocked and unable to understand why he looked so calm. They didn't get how he could be with those things roaming about out there. Regardless, some of them saw themselves as a bit weak at that point and decided against being scared - sure, they might be scared in the heat of the moment, but at least they could remain calm at the current time. There was a lot of rustling and growling going on in the pitch black forest next to the town, but they couldn't see anything just yet. It was getting intense, and judging by the way those things moved, they could only hope that they would react on time if they saw one of them flying at them. (@Beowulf)

 

[Aryn Harris]

Skyler glances up at him and gives a small smile. "No thank you. But a coffee would be nice." She murmurs and runs her fingers through her hair. (@DrTrollinski )

 

[DrTrollinski]

He nodded and stood up. Chef was busy preparing food in the kitchen, so Alex took the initiative and made Skyler some hot coffee himself and then went back to her. He placed it down in front of her and smiled as he looked around the restaurant. Jesus, just seeing lights on for a change meant so much. It was almost as if he was going insane and was just seeing this, but it made him feel so happy and less depressed about it all. He looked back to her after a minute and took a deep breath.


"I'm glad we all got here alright. The road was a bit rough because of all the rain, but we did it. Sorry about the stop we did half way, as well... Eric's pretty sick at the minute." He said quietly. (@Aryn Harris)

 

[Aryn Harris]

Skyler continues to smile and nods her head in agreement. "I'm glad too." She says. "And it's fine. I figured he was. I saw him run towards some bushes." She states. "And what are we doing after we eat? I'm okay with unpacking things. Or helping people unpack. I don't exactly have a lot." (@DrTrollinski)

 

[DrTrollinski]

"First thing's first. We need to cremate Matty. He'll start to stink the truck up if we leave him in there any longer. There's probably a crematorium in town somewhere, so we'll take care of that first." He explained, looking around. He looked a little bit nervous and suspecting for a moment, but then his face softened as he looked back to Skyler; he leaned in and whispered to her. ".. What do you think of this place so far?" He asked. (@Aryn Harris)