Realistic or Modern The World Has Died

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder


The whole world was turning into hell, Slowly but surely. He remembered those times when he was little, his mother would share how his grandfather fought in the second World War, in the german army as an officer. However, He heard a strange sound and was awoken from his sleep.
"...Alert! Alert! Threat level raised to four of five! All militia are required to report to the nearest armory. All others are recommended to shelter in place or report to the nearest..." He slammed that damned radio into the wall and picked up his rifle. He didn't dare look back at it either and slipped on his full-faced respirator.
A while back they started burning bodies of the deceased and the infected too, but the weird thing was, They didn't always die from bullets to the head. But he's had this same thought before, and he didn't care anymore or less. The whole lesson that during a time like this is that you must stay human, and survive.

20 Minutes Later...
"You...little shit! I will punt your ass back to whichever hell you came from!" Mark shouted at the little infected toddler (to which his accent flared up), who was trying to strangle him. He got a good hold onto the zombie baby's shirt but he stumbled backwards into the light-post behind him. He snagged the little shit by the neck and threw it hard into the ground. He pulled out his steel hammer and brung it down onto the baby's head once, silencing it's blood-curdling screams. "I hate zombies, especially the little ones." He grunted before picking up his AK and slung it over his shoulder. He could hear the gunfire and artillery going off in the distance. However, He could hear the sound of a...vehicle of some sort, from behind. So instinctively, He called out...anyone would do so at the moment. "HEY!" Although he was shouting, his respirator muffled his shout, and the morning dew already covered the glass part of the mask.

|Everyone in the Area|

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



She suppressed a shiver. Some of them don't eat, just kill. Not that it made that much difference if she was eaten or not after she died, but something about it still chilled Joanna to the bone. Clearly, she wasn't as adapted to the After as she liked to believe she was if something like that still scared her so much.
She was too distracted with that to think that it was strange he said the zombie tried to rip chunks of him off when he had a stab wound.
Joanna cursed herself for being an atheist at the news that holy things burned them. Just her luck.
Finally, they were out of the stuffy garage and on their way to not-Memphis. They had only driven a short way when she spotted a man yelling at a small child and then promptly bashing in its skull. It took her only a second more to realize that that child must have been a zombie. It was still a horrific sight to behold, zombie toddler or not.
She barely heard his yell, a faint, muffled sound. She assumed he was calling out to their car, as there weren't any other- living- people around and he seemed to be looking directly at them.
She groaned inwardly. There was hardly any space left in the car as it was, another person would be pushing it. She was pretty sure there wasn't a third row of seats that could be folded back, which meant that when Eric inevitably let him tag along- if, that is, the man wants to come- he would be sitting right next to her. Yay.
Look at the bright side, Joanna told herself. More people meant more of a chance someone else would be the one to get eaten or killed instead of her. Simple math. Maybe he had some rations on him that would come in handy, too. She wished she had thought to bring some sort of food and water, but her mind had been a panicky blur when she was last at her apartment. Now she had to rely on the charity of others, and frankly, in this world, there wasn't much charity to be had. It was every person for themselves, she just happened to luck out and find someone who was, for some reason, willing to let her come along.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric looked ahead to see the man flagging them down. He looked around to make sure there was nothing else moving, then he frowned and sighed, pulling over and rolling the window down. "What do you want? We're full enough as it is." The man in the passenger seat mumbled something, and looked out the other window. "Up front, I hope you have something to trade, I'm done with charity." He wasn't fond of being cruel to people, but now that he was traveling with people, he felt a bit obligated to keep them alive. Most of them. He looked sideways at the guy up front, and noticed something. His chest wasn't moving. Nor was his stomach. Was he even breathing? "I'm being paranoid." he mumbled to himself. The man glanced back over at Eric, and raised a brow. "What? What are you staring at?" The man sounded almost offended. Another, closer explosion brought Eric back to the moment at hand. "Nothing, forget it." For now. Eric thought. "Look guy, we have to be getting out of here, what do you want, and be quick about it. He took the man in, and it was...a lot. He resembled a haz-mat guy from fallout. He was also well armed, he just noticed. This guy might be useful...

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder


The vehicle pulled-up and it's driver mentioned something about the car being full. However, It's occupants were of a quite-strange assortment. He straightened up his Ushanka and decided to speak, "Well, If that is so. The roof seems strong enough to hold the displacement of my weight, However, Before not asking and risking getting shot...Can I get a ride with you all? Everything has quite literally thrown shit at the fan, and I would prefer staying alive. I do miss my home state quite alot, and this would cheer me up, To finally see living people."

|Everyone in the Area|

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Is it my face? It must be my face. I must exude charity. Eric thought. The man in the front seat let out a laugh, and Eric really couldn't blame him. The rest were silent, and it looked like it would be up to him to make a decision for everyone. At the same time, Eric kind of liked the idea of having a guy with an assault rifle strapped to the roof. "Look...the undead are probably going to overrun the city. The closest fort-city is East of Nashville. That's two hours at least, a long way to be on a roof." He then looked at the guy in the passenger seat. He wasn't going to be going with them all that way. And the other three, did he really intend to take them all to one of the safezones? He'd need allies for sure. But he could be down this sketchy guy in his front seat much sooner. "There's a fortified trading post and gas station Not far from here, Unlike Memphis, its walls are done and should hold. That's where we'll be dropping you off." The guy's face was almost offended. "You may as well leave me here then; that place'll falll too!" He wasn't about to argue with him, after all Eric had said the next settlement, and that was on the way. "They even have a little chapel, if what you say is true you should be fine." The man growled, and looked back at Joanna. It was hard to argue with a gun pointed at you. Eric returned his attention to the other man. "We'll strap you to the roof, you shoot any dead thing that wanders toward us. Sound good?"

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder


The german smiled to the driver, and spoke once more. "Danke, Friend. However, I wasn't planning on strapping myself to the roof, That would be quite a sight for all." Mark approached the trunk of the vehicle and climbed up onto the roof, before grabbing his Ak from off the trunk. He positioned himself in a way where he could be both comfortable, and be at a defensive position. He gave the roof two knocks, before pointing his Ak forwards. "Let's go!"

|Everyone in the Area|

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes


Joanna almost enjoyed the power that came with holding a gun to someone's head, except for the nagging guilt that wouldn't leave her alone. She was just doing what she had to do to survive, she told herself. Strange Man #1 would be safe in whatever city Eric was talking about, and the newest member of their clique, Strange Man #2, would most likely be safe wherever they were dropping him off, too. She didn't have to feel too bad.
"You may as well leave me here then; that place'll fall too!" Strange Man #1 said. Joanna subtly pushed the gun closer to his head while saying, "I'd love to leave you here, but unfortunately, I already said you could come. That's my bad, but now I have to see it through."
The man was quiet after that.

She watched with feigned mild interest as Strange Man #2 and Eric discussed possible seating arrangements. Joanna felt the car shake as the man climbed from the trunk to the roof of the car, and heard some banging around above her. Then came two clear knocks and they were off again, towards somewhere that they would be temporarily safe at. Hopefully.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric was skeptical that the man could manage to stay on the car as they drive without some sort of strap, but hey, if he fell off, he wouldn't be their problem any more, would he? Eric decided to leave the man to his decisions, and returned to the driver's seat. The wounded man seemed huffy, but wasn't saying anything else. Funny how much easier it seemed to trust the more heavily armed man that this one, but then again, the...German? Dutch? Welsh? Whatever language 'danke' was, guy at least seemed friendly and genuinely appreciative. Eric got them moving again, the city blurring past them as more heavily armed soldiers marched in the direction they were coming from. He glanced over at a column whose body armor was decorated with all white and yellow extras, ribbons, embroidery, you name it. "Last Rites guys, looks like we're making the right choice."

The actual name of the group was simply Undead Veterans, men and women who had survived at least ten battles with undead. They were considered the last line of defense of any city, but most people didn't want to stick around when they were the ones holding the line. Eric tried to avoid running down as many zombies as possible as he left the city. In maybe half an hour, the unfinished northeastern gate greeted them. Concrete and cinderblock maybe two stories high, impressive if unfinished. pedestrians and cars were streaming through at a steady rate, with any guards helpless to stop the flow. The front line was behind them now, but a group of people that were already frightened never went well.

The car slowed to a crawl, but kept moving. The guards were smart enough to keep things moving, at least. Eric glanced back to check on his first three companions, and then to the man in the front seat. A frigid smirk was plastered across his face, eyes darting from one family to another. "Something funny?" "Just happy to see that traffic isn't dead yet, right lady?" He said, looking back at Joanna. "Hoping we don't get stuck in here, too."

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder

The German had to go through almost 30 minutes of Infected being run over, his mask was sprayed with blood a few times, but managed to wipe it off. "Ah, what a wonderful future fleischsack! Hey Driver, We should pull over and grab some supplies alongside some gas." He masked head was hanging over the driver door, as he spoke.
"I also think you guys could really use some weapons. I got a somewhat large amount of cash in my Bank Account, and we could buy things for ourselves."

|Everyone in the Area|

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes


Joanna felt slightly queasy as they plowed through hordes of the dead, blood splattering on the windows. The man on the roof leaned over every once in a while and said something that she couldn't quite make out, she assumed it wasn't that important. She did think she heard him yell something about a flesh sack, which was mildly concerning.
The car slowed eventually and she could hear him saying that they needed more weapons, which was true. She yelled back, "Sure, I'll take free stuff."
She already had an axe and a gun that technically wasn't hers but she might end up stealing, but she wasn't about to say no to more protection. Safety in numbers, and all that.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric frowned, and glanced around at the large number of people trying to squeeze through the unfinished gate. There was food in the trunk, a tent, a sleeping bag, water...they could use some supplies; as much as he didn't want to get out of traffic in the event the front line shifted suddenly. "Look, I've got enough food for-" He did the math. "Two weeks. Give or take. As far as weapons and tents and other camping gear...we're going to need more, to say the least." I guess I've decided to take them all with me, wherever I'm going. He thought. He pulled over so that he wasn't blocking traffic, and shut off the car. "You can take the gun off of him Joanna, I doubt he'll try anything with all these people around. He doesn't seem like the kind of idiot to start a panic." "That supposed to be a compliment?" He said, immediately getting out of the car and walking ahead of the group, looking around. "Maybe he'll find another group, and he'll be their problem." Eric mumbled to his companions.

He looked around, seeing people pushing and shoving to get out, pedestrians weaving in and out of traffic as it slowly drove through the gate. As the newest member of their group had pointed out, there were still people trying to make a quick buck at the last minute selling anything you could think of. Weapons, food, supposed totems to ward away the undead, even occult books. Anything to sell to people in a desperate hour, they had it. "Let's make it quick you guys, I don't want to get stuck here. But I uh, appreciate the offer Mr...?" Eric said, looking at the new man expectantly.

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder

The man jumped off of the roof of the car before a woman yelled something about taking free stuff. "Alright, Same. It would be a horrid fate for us all. Oh...It's Schröder, Mark Schröder. I'll go get my cash real quick!"
The man ran towards the nearest ATM to grab his cash, and inserted his information for a withdrawal of 200 USD. The ATM soon spat out 200 in twenty ten dollar bills, and Mark caught back up with the group. "Got it! Let us go get some supplies first, Then we worry for weapons."

Rokku Hizori _Chrysanthemum_

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes


She dropped the gun somewhat reluctantly and stepped out of the car. She was surprised to see the ATM worked, as she was fairly sure it was going to either explode upon use or simply not work. She was kind of hoping for the latter; it would have been more interesting. Bonus points if it took out the shady man that still hadn't told them his name. At least she was fairly sure he hadn't told them his name, she hadn't really been paying attention.
She watched as Mark emerged from around the corner of the bank, a bunch of cash in hand. It was a fair amount of money, though she didn't exactly know how much a dollar was worth these days. Seeing as there was virtually no use for them anymore, besides some people's futile attempts to continue their businesses in the hopes that everything would magically get better, she doubted they were worth a lot now. You couldn't throw a dollar bill at a zombie and have it do any damage.
Joanna didn't exactly agree with the 'get weapons later' approach, but she didn't want to anger a man with an assault rifle. Besides, food was important.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

"Eric here. That's Joana." He said, motioning to the woman with the gun. He watched the man wander into the crowd, and scoffed. Everyone was still flowing out of the city at a normal pace. Good. Eric kept glancing over from time to time as the German man, Mark, and the rest stocked up. He counted his group again, Joanna, Mark, himself...no sign of the kid or the flamboyant woman anywhere. "Guess they bailed. At least that means we aren't so desperate for food." He corrected his math, and estimated three people could get a good four weeks out of the supplies off the bare bone rations he was giving the five people before. Or, now, two more comfortable weeks not struggling to resisting eating their own shoes. He checked the traffic, and nodded as it continued moving. "Joanna, you okay? we'll try to lose that jackass in the crowd. We honestly don't even have to keep taking him with us. He gives me a mountain of bad feelings." he said, following his two companions to the desperate hawkers.

"Beef jerky! Thirty bucks an ounce! Long shelf life!" The closest merchant had begun to accost them, and even with the with the devalued money, this guy, and probably the rest, were trying to squeeze every last dime out of desperate people they could. The man was filthy, acting as if the water wasn't still running, and his face looked older than the rest of him. He grinned, and two teeth were missing. Eric walked right by, he wasn't interested in moldy meat. "Mark, I really thing we should prioritize weapons. We can always sleep in the car, and I do have enough supplies to last a few weeks..." Eric urged him, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder

The German turned back to the man, before speaking, his voice muffled by the respirator. "Ah, My mistake then. It's good to meet you both, Joana and Eric." Mark paused for a moment, looking at the vendors. "Weapons. Weapons...Let's go then. I'll get you both some weapons and ammunition. But first, What do you want?" He asked as he walked.

Rokku Hizori _Chrysanthemum_

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

View attachment 916413
Joanna Barnes


"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." She responded to Eric. "That would be nice."
This man was being very charitable, that was for sure. He was willing to spend all of his money on supplies and weapons for people he just met? It seemed a little strange. She tried to shrug the feeling off; if he was willing to make some questionable financial choices that helped her she wasn't going to complain.
"But first, What do you want?" It was a fair enough question. She didn't know really anything about weapons, and she certainly didn't specialize in one in particular. Axes were cool, and if you managed to hit someone then it could do a lot of damage, but it wasn't the most practical weapon for fighting zombies. Guns were quick and relatively easy to use, but the noise they made made them a less-than-favorable weapon. She doubted she would find a sword anywhere, though if she did spot one she would absolutely swipe it. Maybe a bow and arrows? It was silent, long-range, and you could reuse the arrows... but she had no idea how to use one.
"Let's just see what we can find." She answered finally. Not the most helpful response, but she didn't want to limit her options.
Most of the stands had some kind of awful-sounding food or other survival materials. a few were even just selling knowledge. She agreed with Eric that they should hit the road again as soon as possible, this marketplace was bound to attract zombies soon. She weaved through the people trying to sell stuff, looking for something worthwhile. There wasn't much.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

There wasn't much in the way of quality weapons. Hatchets, machetes, a few pistols here and there. A bit of ammunition, but not more than a handful of bullets. "Mark, over here." Eric called the other man over, and the merchant was immediately on him. "What kind of gun you got? I got more ammo than what you see. Name the gun i got the bullet. Or maybe you haven't decided on what arm to bear yet, in which case I've got plenty of guns for you to fall in love with." The guy at the stall sniffed deep and spat to the side as he saw Mark head over with a hand full of cash. "Food and gas is gonna be worth more to me than cash buddy. This ain't the east coast, I'm trying to get ready to go." Money still had value, as the world was far from collapsing, but its value dropped the closer a horde got to razing a city to the ground. "All you're getting from us is cash. You can spend it when you get out, right?" The man opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the siren bellowed again, and the entire impromptu marketplace went silent and still. "Alert! Alert! Threat level lowered to three of five! Military presence has reestablished front lines and reduced numbers! Citizens are encouraged to continue sheltering in place until threat has ended!" "Wow, Memphis might actually survive this..." Eric mused, then quickly returned to the man. "I'll take what you have of this ammunition, and another pistol like the woman here has." He said, motioning to Joanna. "You can take up the payment with my friend over there." Eric picked up another gun, loaded it, and walked back toward his car. He opened his trunk to take a final inventory, and waited for his companions. Then he heard it. A scream maybe fifty feet from where he was, and he saw a small group of freshly turned attacking a family. "Fucking hell, Mark! Joanna!"

 

[Stricken Steel]

Mark J. Schröder

"Hmm. Okay. I'd like a bunch 7.62x39 rounds." He mumbled before pulling out some rations from his backpack, and handed it to the guy. The guy turned his back and grabbed a handful of rounds and handed them to Mark. He shoved them in his pocket, before hearing the alarms go off.
Right after that, he could hear hear Eric yell something. Then, He saw it. Freshly turned already attacking people. He wiped the front of his mask, and quickly sprinted towards the vehicle. He quickly climbed in the backseat and waited. "Lets go! What are you waiting for!?" He yelled out the window.

Rokku Hizori _Chrysanthemum_

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Stricken Steel

Eric was not prepared for the sudden attack, especially not after hearing good news. the gun he had just purchased was not loaded, and was therefore useless for anything aside from a club; and he wasn't about to waste time loading a fresh clip. Instead, he threw it in the trunk. He reached for his switchblade, just to have it, and then remembered that he had given it to the kid. He looked at the scene before, as the dead relentlessly killed, trying to draw more into their ranks. It only took a few minutes. At the most, maybe ten. The freshly turned were always the most deadly, they could run, see, still retained their strength... Eric came back from his mind when Mark shouted. He quickly ran to the driver seat and started the car, looking through the chaos erupting among the pedestrians and merchants for Joanna and the Cory's. He could see either of them, but he heard the passenger door open and. "Shit! Getting crazy out there!" It was the odd man. Because of course it was. "Mark, do you see the others anywhere?" The traffic had begun speeding out of the wall, others abandoning their cars to run. There was space to drive out, but it would be tight.