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Realistic or Modern Zombie Apocalypse

KathleneWilliams2121 said:
Miyuki smiles over at the young mother. She knew she meant well, but Miyuki felt that if she rested while the others worked, well it wouldn't be fair on them. "I'm fine, Tiff, really. After that man, Patch, showed up everyone is on their toes. I think in a little bit I will keep watch or scout or something, make sure no one is going to sneak up on us. Josh then starts to play with Miyuki's hair, becoming clear that he wasn't going back to sleep for a while. Miyuki sighs as she decided to sit down. Carefully and slowly, she sits down in a chair, trying no to aggravate the now bruise on her stomach. "I am so going to get you back, tammy." She smiles and sits Josh on her lap and then looks up at the mother, "I hope it's warm enough in here, with the weather and all. I hope that these little ones aren't cold." She says as Josh moves his hand and hits her stomach, "Ow, Josh." She says as she looks at the baby, who laughed not knowing what he did.
@Amaterasu Kawashima
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When the younger woman insisted on continuing to work hard, Tiffany wasn't taking it. "Well, I just don't want you to work yourself to death. So you should get some rest. Or even be a good girl and play with your baby brother." She smiled when saw Josh playing with Miyuki's Hair. She continued to lay on the couch as Giselle rested on her chest. "Its cozy enough in here. With these two, I am probably not gonna go outside unless we're gonna be on the road again. But I like it here. Its peaceful and we have plenty of food, water and ammo. Or at least I hope so. Not very many of those things come out here either. When Josh unintentionally hit her, Tiffany started laughing a bit. "Awww, I guess he loves you."
 
as the evening was beginning to set upon the manor, Tammy realized there was most liekely only a couple hours left of real sunlight. After that it was lights out. Tammy always tried to keep light down to a minumum during the night due to the large amount of chances any undead of neighboring enemies could scan their home or approach it. The first floor was obviouslynot boarded up to weel and the main issue would be a horde drawing attention during the middle of the night they didnt need. The light was still upon them and Tammy continued to help with the skinning of the potatoes while the survivor Tori swept through the manor to find food. Wherever she found it did not effect Tammy. She was more concerned about how much she would get to tuff in her stomach....The deer that is.


Tammy let the food they currently have cook until everything seemed to be in place the last issue was the deer sitting in the garage most likely still bleeding. Hopefully Jenn and Holliday get home quickly to assist ehr in that.


@Crono @Lola Shimmer @Dibbydoo
 
The almost fully grown dog walked up to the girls, sniffing Giselle , but backing off, not wanting to hurt the baby since he knew that the child was not a toy and should be taken care of gently. He looked toward the mother, and licked her fac E once or twice as she layed down , the child resting on her chest. He did a soft bark, sniffing the child's face again, nuzzling it with its wet nose before going to Miyuki, sitting infront of her and pawing at her playfully. He wanted to play.


@KathleneWilliams2121 @Amaterasu Kawashima
 
Miyuki sighs as Tiffany calls Josh and Giselle her siblings. She didn't feel as if they were siblings. Her brothers and sisters, they were dead.....back west of the country, more people Miyuki couldn't have saved. She felt it was odd to call anything or anyone her brother or her sister. She naturally didn't say anything to Tiffany as she didn't want to make the young mother feel bad. She shakes her head as she hears Tiffany laugh and say that he loves her. "It's not that," She says as she looks down at the dog who wants to play. Taking one hand, her right hand, she starts too pet the dog, "I will later, I promise. You did a good job out there." She says as she pets the dog as a reward for a job well done. She looks over at Tiffany, "Don't go outside, then. It is cold out there." She says as she hasn't adjusted to the weather yet. "Also don't worry about me, I will be fine."


@Amaterasu Kawashima @Dibbydoo
 
KathleneWilliams2121 said:
Miyuki sighs as Tiffany calls Josh and Giselle her siblings. She didn't feel as if they were siblings. Her brothers and sisters, they were dead.....back west of the country, more people Miyuki couldn't have saved. She felt it was odd to call anything or anyone her brother or her sister. She naturally didn't say anything to Tiffany as she didn't want to make the young mother feel bad. She shakes her head as she hears Tiffany laugh and say that he loves her. "It's not that," She says as she looks down at the dog who wants to play. Taking one hand, her right hand, she starts too pet the dog, "I will later, I promise. You did a good job out there." She says as she pets the dog as a reward for a job well done. She looks over at Tiffany, "Don't go outside, then. It is cold out there." She says as she hasn't adjusted to the weather yet. "Also don't worry about me, I will be fine."
@Amaterasu Kawashima @Dibbydoo
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"You're always so stubborn..." Tiffany replied, sighing because to be frankly honest, she was getting a little tired of Miyuki overstepping her boundaries and overexerting herself. Yes, the world was a cruel place, but that didn't mean you have to be come a soulless, emotionless killing machine. One of these days, Tiffany would probably snap, but decided that she was too tired for that right now. As soon as Giselle fell asleep, Tiffany placed her in the nearby cradle so that she could sleep more peacefully. "And to be honest, its hard not to worry about you." To be fair, its been like that for Tiffany since Day 1.
 
Tori had left Tammy and Nikole to it in the kitchen as she began her great vegetable adventure. Hmm she would check her stash first before she went for a random wander around the manor. In all honesty she hadn't really explored the place much apart from the places she needed to like the bathroom, her bedroom and of course the kitchen and living area. Tori hummed softly to herself on her travels to the garage area and soon came across it along with Austin and their guest. The two seemed to be getting on 'swimmingly' from the look on Austin's face and the tension in the atmosphere. "Well...it is going well i see?" she asked.


Seeing the look on Austin's face Tori fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a clean tissue silently holding it out "You look like crap, why don;t we swap out? i have some tinned veg out here i need to make a stew. Go on in and them with you, you need the heat" she pointed out. She didn't know if he would or not but she was preparing herself for an argument about it, he was ill and it was freezing out here he was going to make himself even more sick.


@Crono @Dibbydoo (sorry it isnt very long)
 
Austin nearly started on a rant with Patch but stopped himself when he heard the door the door open he turned around to look up the steps, spotting Tori making her way down. "He's still alive isn't he?" It was a halfhearted joke at best. And as expected she wanted to usher him off inside and take over, and even though a part of him desperately wanted to keep an eye on their prisoner...he couldn't decline. Austin reached out to take the tissue before standing up at the foot of the stairs, "Just don't let him out of your sight." While that was more along the lines of being obvious, he still felt the need to say it. Austin wiped gently at his nose with the tissue before looking at Patch, "And you. She says you do or say anything out of line and I break that nose of yours." With a flashy smile of thanks to Tori he maneuvered around the woman and started up the stairs, "Just come get me if you need anything. And I'll check back in later." He'd stated on his way up to the garage.


The temperature change was welcomed when Austin entered the house, and moving further in he paused in the doorway to the living room where some of the others were. Josh was using Miyuki's hair for his own amusement, poor thing. Austin might have offered to take Josh off the girls hands for a bit if not for the fact that he was sick, so for now he kept his distance. His smile faded a little before he spoke business, "Any word from the supply group?"


@Lola Shimmer @Dibbydoo


@KathleneWilliams2121 @Amaterasu Kawashima
 
Miyuki looks down at Josh, wanting to avoid Tiffany's eyes. She feels bad that she makes her worry. She was stubborn it was part of her personality. She just didn't want anyone to get hurt... again. "I'm sorry.... Its just...... after Jen changing and Holliday and Tori....I'm just worried about something happening again." Miyuki says honestly. She knew Tiffany was trying to reach out. She then turns her head to see Austin, "Hey Austin. Here sit down." she says as she points to a chair next to the fire. "Nothing yet, either they are fighting some undead or Holliday is giving Jen a long speech about his gun talents. Either one wouldn't surprise me." she says as she smiles as Josh sighs and just relaxes in her arms.


@Crono @Amaterasu Kawashima
 
Patch saw it in his eyes, he really was about to start a rant. He slouched against the chair, a slick smile stil plastered on his face. He looked up to see a girl. He remembered her from when he was outside, she was one of the ones that didn't want to rip his insides right back out, but how could he be sure about it? He looked toward Austin, chuckling when he said he will break his nose. Technically can't happen because he has broken it once, right? Patch watched as The two as they swapped, looking down at his knees, thinking of what she would do to him. His blue eyes started at her feet as they slowly trailed up her body,mfollowing thenojtlinenof her before they met her eyes. He tilted his head back straight, and gave her an irrisistable smile.


" How crap on a scale of one to ten by the way?" He spoke. His almost rustic deep voice scratched onto her ears . It was nice. He was getting tired of the ties of his restraints, so he sighed silently, speaking again. " Coild I please have these roped tied off me? I promise I won't to anything shifty- it's getting so annoying and uncomfortable." He gave her a pitty full smile, hoping she understood.


@Lola Shimmer
 
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The day proceeded on and started to feel it was coming to an end. Tammy made her venture to and from ace head safely. Hopefully jenn and holliday and jorik returned soon. The kids got their food, the dinner was being prepared while miyuki killed a deer that tammy was so mouthwatering over. Tammy couldn't stop thinking about how good the meat would taste when she was done with it. Tammy also on top of it realized that even this new survivor was also correctly comtained.as long as he was locked up and tied up he couldn't pull anything


Tammy didn't trust him for one second. She could not even imagine what holliday would think. The fucking guy could be dead tonight the moment he hears the news. Last but not least was muyuki. While tammy was even with her she still was pissed at the girl. The bitch did down a deer which meant dinner for the next couple days and tammy would have lent of time to store and preserve the meat. The air never rose above 38 so at least the kill wouldn't decompose during its time spent in the garage.


There was gonna be alot of blood once it was skinned. But either way. It was dinner.


Tammy felt her abdominal area as her stomach growled. She just removed all her outdoor gear from the mission. Tammy cracked her neck after removing the winter pants exposing another pair of her leggings she wore as a layer to edge off the cold air.


Tammy had on a sweater that was made of most likely wool. It wasn't super comfortable but the snow never dug to her bare skin so she was always warm and dry. She wore a beanie with her loose hair flowing through the back bottom of the beanie. Tammy finally had her scarf which seemed to belong to an older woman as it was a cream color. But in the rzr keeping warm was a blessing especially from the blasting wind in her face.
 
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Austin gave a light shake of his head, "I shouldn't be around you all. I think I'll head up for some rest, just let me know if anything happens and don't let Tori stay alone with our guest for too long without checking in." There was a tickle in his throat that told him he needed to cough so he took this chance to turn on his heel and head for the stairs, coughing once again into the crook of his arm.


Once he was sat on his bed he knew sleep wasn't going to work out, instead he sat himself in front of the window in a chair. He wished momentarily he'd never come with these people, he'd be in nice and warm California right now rather than dying of the common cold. At the very least he could help keep a lookout from this side of the building with the window, well that'd been the plan at least. It'd been inevitable once he'd gotten comfy that he fell asleep with his arms on the window seal and his head buried into them.


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Flashback

Hours after the Hospital infiltration/rescue, that night.


Collab post. Austin is red and Jennifer is green.

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Austin glanced at the tents and vehicles that were this groups little makeshift camp, then stepped out of the small safe area. It'd been an hour....no, maybe two since they'd returned from that shit-storm of a hospital. He'd kept an eye on both Holliday and Tori doing what he could to keep them stable, though neither had been in great shape. Hence why he only just now got the chance to step away, he was both mentally and physically tired and he needed a moment alone. Alone was his comfort zone, it was how it used to be before this ragtag bunch of rugrats showed up.


Now with the injured stable and Tiffany and her baby doing fine he left them all in the care of the others. Austin didn't go far of course, he knew he should stay nearby just in case so he stayed within shouting distance. The man paused in a small opening in the woods not far and sat with his back against the tree, one knee propped up and an elbow resting on it he let out a relieved breath. Only now did he notice his blood coated hands and forearms, most already dried onto his skin, Tori and Holliday's blood. It didn't bother him much, it wasn't exactly new to him...however it was sort of a small push over the edge he supposed, because suddenly he had water-filled eyes and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Or maybe he just didn't want to.

When Austin stepped away, Jennifer took notice. She had wanted to ask him if he would be leaving like he intended to after the hospital attack. When he stepped out of the area, Jennifer soon followed.


"Hey, Austin, I've got a question," she said to him as she walked up behind him.


The first sound of Jenn's voice startled the man a little, enough that the water in his eyes were pushed over to flow down his cheek which caused him to turn his head away and quickly wipe at them.


"Are you really goin' through with-," she stopped. She saw Austin's eyes tearing up. As the man turned his head away, and seemingly wiped a year from his cheek, Jennifer watched with one eyebrow raised. She studied him, and could see something was clearly wrong.


"Are you okay," asked the girl in an almost unsympathetic voice.

Too late he realized, with the young woman's final question.


"I'm fine." A breath of defeat followed what was a lie, then turned his head to look up at her. "What did you want? You were asking about something."





His response to her only made it more evident he was hiding something. Not only did his words show this, but the tone in his voice, as well. She sat there for a couple seconds, staring him in the eyes.


"I was going to ask what you were going to do, be it stay or leave the group," she said, finally breaking the silence.


"But I know something ain't right. What's going on," said rather blankly, showing little emotion in her tone.


The girl still hadn't cleaned her face and body since she got back. Both were covered with the blood of the people she had to kill from hours earlier.





Austin shrugged, "Nothing is right. But I'll stay until those two are back up and around, don't worry I'm not just going to abandon you all of a sudden."





The girl cocked her head as he spoke, and an eyebrow still remained raised.





His head hit the tree with a small thud as he leaned back and rested it there. "Everyone knew where I stood on this whole raiding thing, but I agreed to help...even before they snatched you."


"Maybe so, but what do you plan on doing then? Just saying your goodbyes and then what? Hoping you survive just a little longer? You won't make it much longer out there on your own. This world isn't fit for one being out there alone until old age catches up to him. You've got to find a group of people. Strength in numbers is how it is. The more people there are, the stronger you are. Being out there alone is a death wish. Do you really think you'll survive until old age tells you that you can't by being in your own?"


"I did just fine on my own, and I doubt I'll live to hit old age no matter what I do. Let's face it, this group is a death wish. We poked a sleeping bear and didn't expect it to retaliate."





Jennifer walked crossed her arms and walked more towards Austin, getting closer to his face, instead of being a bit away from him.


"And could you maybe be a bit more specific about what this 'nothing wrong' is going to be?"


His tone was low as he spoke, staring out at the forest they were in rather than up at Jennifer. "I thought I could handle it...thought it was for the best, helping you all out with the hospital. Replenishing my own medical supplies in the process, and then I ran into some kid while we were there." At the thought of him Austin shook his head just a little, "The last group I was with, my first one. They were all killed, because we let someone in...we let a monster in and suddenly I was alone."


Now he did look up at the young woman, his voice didn't waver or have emotion, it just was. "I told that kid at the hospital to run, to leave. He's possibly the only one that survived in that group, he's me. Last night I was the monster that I hate, I was his monster." The water was back and Austin simply closed his eyes to keep it at bay, then sat forwards and put his propped up hand against his forehead.


"Don't you understand who those people were? Do you have any idea what the hell they did to me, and the girls they held hostage? How can you even compare yourself to that group? Sure, okay, you guys let a monster into your group. And I'm sorry about what happened. But your group was a bunch of good people but that one guy. This group was a bunch of rapist, murdering animals who were not good people. That kid found himself strung up in the wrong group. Those bastards deserved it after what I had experienced, and what I saw them do to others. They're not worthy of mercy. They're not worthy of sympathy. Don't compare yourself to the animal in the room. You're not the monster, Austin. Those people, that group, they were the monsters. That Kid may have been you, but if, and I mean if, he is a good person. You set him free. If you saw and experienced what I did last night, you wouldn't be saying what you did now," replied Jennifer, who was slightly irritated by how Austin compared himself to.
​




Austin scoffed, some things never changed.

Realizing she had gone off on him when he needed to be listened to, she let out a sigh.


"I'm sorry for ripping into you-again-like that. But you're not the monster, that group was. Don't compare yourself to a murdering, raping, despicable animal. You're not that, Austin," she said to him, finally with sympathy in her voice, a feeling she hadn't felt until now.


She knew he needed sympathy right now. And while she had trouble feeling anything, she was able to feel something, and she took that for what it was. This group felt like a family to her. She didn't hate them, she wanted to protect them, even if she didn't seem so with her loss of emotions. She cared about them, and that was one of the few feelings she could feel after the hospital raid.


"Austin," she started, walking up to him, a slight smile on her face she half felt and half forced, "you're a good man. Don't let this event make you think otherwise."


She finally was able to feel the emotion that she was having a hard time finding. While it was still hard for her to feel completely, she was able to feel it, or enough of it to really show it. You could see it in her eyes and in her face that she did mean it, even if she couldn't completely feel it.




"Things aren't so black and white anymore Jenn. Good and bad mix together, the gray area has gotten bigger. You either survive or you don't, it's just up to you on how far your willing to go to survive..."
​
 
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"Yes, yes he is." He responded to Jen, "Follow me."


The tracks were deep and spaced farther apart. This was a flag that Jorik had been moving with a fair stride. Why had he been going so fast? Holliday moved slowly, not wanting to rush. He wanted to catch every detail.


As Jorik's tracks rounded a corner, Holliday seemed to have found his answer. In the snow, imprints from some animal could be seen. It seemed that Jorik tab been stalking whatever it had been. So he carried on down into a side street. As the scene came into view, he made out a deep red color among the pure white snow.


Holliday bolted forward eager to help his friend, but as he drew near worry turned into relief. It was a dog, a large malamute with an arrow sprouting from its side. This still didn't answer where Jorik had gone.


After some frantic scanning, Holliday made out the dark shape of Jorik's jacket. He waded through the snow in order to get to it. What he found was that Jorik was laying down on his side out cold. Holliday's immediate section was to see if he'd been attacked. In the end, Holliday discovered that the culprit had been black ice. The dumbass was in such a hurry that he'd tripped and hit his head knocking him out cold.


Holliday turned back towards Jennifer who'd been following him the entire way. "He's out, hit his head. We're going to have to carry him back. Dammit. Listen, we'll head back to the car with him and half of the supplies. Once we get there, you'll stay and guard him whilst I make a second trip." Holliday then hauled the man up, "Come on you heavy bastard."


They did as Holliday had suggested, and within a half hour, Holliday was heading back towards the pharmacy with Jen standing as Jorik’s guardian.


Because they had done already been through the area twice, a couple of walkers had taken notice of him. They followed close behind as he made the mile long trek back to the pharmacy. He was hesitant to shoot, he was now by himself and if he was surrounded he was done. Instead he kept a steady pace and pressed forward.


Fifteen minutes later he reached the pharmacy and loaded up a cart with the remainder of the supplies. As he finished loading the zeds caught up with him. There were probably 6 in total. Now was the time for him to act.


He drew a revolver systematically gunned each and every one down. The exception was the last one, which he took out with a little bit of flare. He shot it in the knee, causing it to call and impale its jaw on a piece of scrap metal. The remnants of a sign post maybe? Holliday calmly walked over and then stomped it’s head in and smiled. “If that aint zombie kill of the week material, then I don’t know what is.”


Then he got to pushing the cart. Needless to say it was a pain in the ass. The wheels were practically useless. Eventually he gave up and quickly fashioned a makeshift sled. It slowed him down, and caused an unwanted zed to approach, but when completed it made things remarkably easier.


Once he’d gotten back to the truck, he and Jen loaded up everything Holliday had retrieved and then wasted no time hitting the road.


As he drove, he heard Miyuki’s voice crackle over the radio. “Well fuck,” he responded, “Jorik’s out cold so he’ll be our first priority when we get back, but Im going to want to talk to you about this idiot.”


Holliday hung up the radio and turned to look at Jen. “Let me deal with him. We’ll have to assume he’s a threat, but Id rather not kill him yet…” He faltered in his words, easily assuming what the womans most probable attitude towards the situation was. “Thank you for opening up to me today. I trust you and will back you 100 percent, always. If you ever need help, you know where to find me.” After speaking he set his phone up to the Aux cord and began to play some music.


[media]



[/media]
He drove on in an attempt to get home quick. As he we was about to make a sharp turn, a pain erupted from the left side of his body. “AHHHHHHH!!! Grab the wheel!!!” he yelled as he clutched his side. The car swerved and nearly wen off the side of the road.


As soon as the pain had come, it vanished, along with all of the feeling in his left arm, leg, and side. He panted heavily as he slowed to a stop. The bullet still lodged inside him and rubbed up against his spine. Holliday waited a moment for him to regain control. It lasted a little longer each time, but it eventually went away.


“Sorry Jenny,” He said a little solemnly, “that dammed bullet is going to kill me yet. Give me a minute and Ill be fine to drive again.”


Eventually the feeling had returned. First he could move his fingers and toes, then his wrist, then his arm. When he felt he had enough control, he took his for off the break and began driving again, albeit a little slower than before.


It was probably another half hour before theyd arrived at camp. Holliday immediately got down and looked for some people to help with supplies, but his eyes scanned around looking for Miyuki. She was one of the people whom he had the most confidence and trust in. He wanted to talk to her about what happened while they’d been away.


“Hey guys were back!” He called from outside, “We could use some help over here unloading. If someone could also send for Nikole it would be appreciated. Jorik is out cold and Id like her to take a quick look at him.
 
Miyuki leans back against the chair as Austin leaves. She felt bad that the guy was ill, and with this weather and the type of world they were in now, getting sick could be a death sentence. She looks over at Josh who was now just playing with his feet as she smiles, "Must be nice being a baby, no worries about if you are going to live the next day, no worries about finding food or water. Just playing around with your feet, wondering what they are." Miyuki sighs as she stands up and carries Josh over to a little makeshift playpin they made for the children, and puts him down and gives him his little stuffed animal that she found when she was out on a run a little bit ago. She turns her head and hears the voices outside and smiles, "I will be right back." She says to Tiffany as she grabs her jacket and goes outside. Miyuki was happy to find that they didn't get themselves killed. She goes over to them and the truck. "Hey guys, good to know your alive. Did you find anything good, and...what happened?" She asks as she looks over at Jorik, seeing him out cold.


@Tombstone @Jennifer Shotain @Amaterasu Kawashima
 
Following Holliday, Jennifer kept her rifle up, scanning around the area. Even if it seemed clear, she never took a chance. You could never know if there's a person watching you from the second floor, or a lone walker stumbling it's way towards you from around a corner. You constantly had to be on alert, and this is something that Jennifer knew too well. And unfortunately, learned the hard way a couple months back.


When they had approached the blood, Jennifer started to look around even more closely. But before they knew it, it was a dog that appeared to have been shot by Jorik.


"If he ain't here, something else must've happened to him. Keep following the tracks, I've got us covered," said Jennifer as she kept her eyes on the surrounding area, looking for threats and Jorik.


Pushing forward, they continued looking for Jorik. The snow was relatively deep, and impeded their movement slightly. But the tracks were still easy enough to see. This made things easy for tracking. And sure enough, any color against white will stand out. And Jorik's jacket caught Holliday's attention. When he bolted towards him, Jennifer lowered her gun. She saw him, and made her way over. Once there, she looked around, her rifle at the ready position. Holliday looked at Jorik and made a diagnosis for him; hitting his head after slipping on black ice.


"Well he isn't dead. Better than dead or bit," she said when Holliday relayed to her what happened.


Holliday then told her his plan. She thought it would work. She complied.


"Okay, let me help you then," she said as she went to assist Holliday in carrying Jorik back.


Jorik isn't a featherweight person. He was heavy, especially from his gear and the snow gear. Snow gear can add pounds to a person, pounds that can cost you in the long run in terms of mobility and potential stamina.


Once the body was to the truck, they loaded him in the back. Jennifer waited there as Holliday went off to get the other half of the supplies. She kept her eyes on the surrounding around for threats. But in the meantime, she began to think. Holliday was right about her. What she was now wasn't her. She knew he was right, but admitting is a whole different story. She had come to terms with who she was now. Ever since that moment with Austin and the those people... She came to grips after that event with who she was. Maybe she was far gone, but not too far gone yet. Only time will tell.


Periodically checking on Jorik, feeling for a pulse and such, she eventually sat down in a seat with the door open and waited for Holliday. As soon as he was back, they were off to home. She wanted to be back home, go in her room, and be alone, like she normally did. She didn't spend much time with anyone else.


Finally, Holliday made his way back with the supplies. She quickly helped him get the supplies loaded in, and with that, they got in their seats and got out of there.


On the ride home, Miyuki's voice came in through the radio. Her news of a new person stumbling into the house and surrounding woods made Jennifer grow frustrated. How did they let someone stumble their way there and let them live? If Jennifer was there, that person would most likely more than not be be dead. She didn't tolerate unfriendly faces in her home plate. Not after the mill attack. And the hospital. And she sure as hell wasn't going to let her group, her family, die or get kidnapped or such. She wouldn't let that happen.


When Holliday hung up the radio, he explained that they would have to assume him as a threat, but he didn't want to kill. Not yet, at least.


"Well," started Jennifer, clearly irritated and angered by the news, "if I were there, this guy would be dead before he even got see my face. He's a threat. He's not one of us or someone we're fried lot with. We might as well just kill him."


Holliday went on after that to say he was thankful for her opening up to him. He trusted her and would back her 100 percent. their whole talk had been something Jennifed never had been able to really do: open up completely. She had held in her past for so long, she held in her demons. She finally was able to tell her past, release the demons of it and get them away. At least now, someone would understand. Jennifer was thankful for that much on its own. And to hear that he backs her no matter what and trusts her shows how far she has come along with the group, even with the way she is now. But especially for Holliday and her.


"Thanks for letting me talk. And for trusting me and backing me," she said in a low voice. She was still irritated by the whole situation at the moment. "I really needed that talk thank you."


With that, he plugged in his phone and played some music. It wasn't Jennifer's type, but it was better than nothing. She didn't feel like speaking much more as is.


Driving on, Holliday tried to get home quick, and understandably so. However, as he attempted to make a sharp turn, he suddenly erupted in pain. He yelled or her to grab the wheel. Jennifer was already on top of it. She reached her arm over and took the wheel. She jerked the wheel into the center of the road as it slowed done. She looked over at Holliday.


"Are you okay," she asked, breathing rapidly.


He apologized. It was that bullet, and they both knew it. It was going to get him, or others killed. Jennifer looked at him sympathetically. She was worried for him. She couldn't save him if that were the reason he were to die. She would be powerless to do so. She didn't want anyone in her group to die. But Holliday was in bad shape ever since that Hospital attack. He wasn't the same as he was before it. No one was.


"Don't apologize. Just take your time, don't worry," she said as she looked out the window, facing away from him. She was worried about him and his state. That damned bullet really could kill him.


With his feeling back, they progressed towards the house. Once there, they hoped out. Jennifer grabbed the supplies and walked towards the house. Miyuki came out. Jennifer nodded her head as a hello to her. Walking past her, she went into the house and dropped supplies off. She went back out to grab some more. She didn't say anything else the entire time while gathering supplies.


@Tombstone @KathleneWilliams2121
 
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KathleneWilliams2121 said:
Miyuki leans back against the chair as Austin leaves. She felt bad that the guy was ill, and with this weather and the type of world they were in now, getting sick could be a death sentence. She looks over at Josh who was now just playing with his feet as she smiles, "Must be nice being a baby, no worries about if you are going to live the next day, no worries about finding food or water. Just playing around with your feet, wondering what they are." Miyuki sighs as she stands up and carries Josh over to a little makeshift playpin they made for the children, and puts him down and gives him his little stuffed animal that she found when she was out on a run a little bit ago. She turns her head and hears the voices outside and smiles, "I will be right back." She says to Tiffany as she grabs her jacket and goes outside. Miyuki was happy to find that they didn't get themselves killed. She goes over to them and the truck. "Hey guys, good to know your alive. Did you find anything good, and...what happened?" She asks as she looks over at Jorik, seeing him out cold.
@Tombstone @Jennifer Shotain @Amaterasu Kawashima
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Tiffany nodded as Miyuki notified her that she was going to head out. "Okay, be safe." She reminded Miyuki before the girl left to go outside. A little after she left, Josh yawned and fell asleep in the playpen, hugging the stuffed animal that Miyuki had found for him. Smiled she picked up the infant boy and put him in his little crib that they had made for him before draping a blanket over him so that he wouldn't get cold. He was growing up so fast. If only his Mother was alive to see him. With Giselle asleep, Tiffany found some peace and quiet. After tucking Giselle in, Tiffany decided to go ahead and clean up around the house, since the kids did like to make a mess. Afterwards, she decided to make herself a nice warm cup of tea before continuing to watch over her two little angels.
 
Tori let out a soft chuckle when Austin told her not to let patch out of her sight. Well obviously, She wasn't about to let him go frolicking in the snow and hope he would return like some kind of trained dog. She shook her head but nodded to Austin anyways and put her hand on her forehead in salute. "Yes sir! I shall guard the prisoner with my life sir!" she declared grandly and she even thought about doing a bow...but well that might be overdoing it right? So she left that for another time. As Austin ascended the stairs Tori sat on the bottom step and laid her knife across her lap, part to show she actually had a weapon so anything stupid would be just that. stupid. Part because it would be easier for her to grab encase he did somehow get free.


The blonde felt the look rather than she it and she simply raised an eyebrow in clear amusement and stared right back at him "Oh...oh my god" she put her hand over her heart and gasped getting to her feet. "Have they done them to tight? Isn't it comfortable?" she gushed and bit her lip worry etched all over her face. She took a step forward and her knife in hand as if she was going to cut the ties off but just as she reached him she pointed at him with the end of the blade. "Nice try sweet cheeks but it's gonna take more than a pretty smile and a polite request to get you out of those" she poked at the ropes with the tip of her blade before backing up and sitting down on the step once more. "I might be blonde sunshine but i sure as hell ain't dumb. Cry me a river?" she gave him a cheeky smirk and leaned back against the step that was behind. Tori blew a stray strand of hair out of her face still getting used to it's new short length. She hated how it looked but she loved how much more practical it was..eh she would get used to it. Her head titled back toward the door at the top of the stairs when the sound of vehicles came from outside, they must be back she thought to herself. The thoughts were confirmed when she heard Holiday call out, although she was concerned when she overheard about Jorik. Hopefully he would be fine though she was not quite so sure how there new visitor would be that way for now that the others were home.


@Dibbydoo
 
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[QUOTE="Lola Shimmer]The blonde felt the look rather than she it and she simply raised an eyebrow in clear amusement and stared right back at him "Oh...oh my god" she put her hand over her heart and gasped getting to her feet. "Have they done them to tight? Isn't it comfortable?" she gushed and bit her lip worry etched all over her face. She took a step forward and her knife in hand as if she was going to cut the ties off but just as she reached him she pointed at him with the end of the blade. "Nice try sweet cheeks but it's gonna take more than a pretty smile and a polite request to get you out of those" she poked at the ropes with the tip of her blade before backing up and sitting down on the step once more. "I might be blonde sunshine but i sure as hell ain't dumb. Cry me a river?" she gave him a cheeky smirk and leaned back against the step that was behind. Tori blew a stray strand of hair out of her face still getting used to it's new short length. She hated how it looked but she loved how much more practical it was..eh she would get used to it. Her head titled back toward the door at the top of the stairs when the sound of vehicles came from outside, they must be back she thought to herself. The thoughts were confirmed when she heard Holiday call out, although she was concerned when she overheard about Jorik. Hopefully he would be fine though she was not quite so sure how there new visitor would be that way for now that the others were home.

[/QUOTE]
He rolled his eyes at the first word she said. He knew she wasn't going to let him out. " No, actually, my ass is itchy." He said sarcastically, looking down at his lap.he smiled at the name sweet cheeks. How cute. It was kind of stupid actually, he was no where near that title. He let out a sigh as she spoke to her, watching her walk right back to where she was before. He cleared his throat, and smiled. " Listen, Angel, " He called her by his favourite nickname. " I don't know how much you trust me, and frankly, I don't care. If I did have men, they would probably be attacking right now. And I never did call you dumb , or a blondie. Anywho, let's talk about something else, Angel. I'm getting hungry. There is some food in my bag, mind feeding me something please? Or should I just starve to death. " he smiled. Ooh that smile. It was like deaths embrace. But better, in a weird way. " he said. He heard voices, and smiled. " I'm guessing that's the guy that is going to Literetly kill me?" He said to her. In personality, he wasn't all that bad, actually. He was flirty, maybe too much, but he was kind and didn't lash out or anything. His voice was soothing too.
 
As Jennifer, Jorik, and Longshot arrived back to the manor, Tammy noticed the fact that Viking was out cold. 'what the fuck happened out there?' she thought, she usually opened her mouth but the border line glutton didnt really care. She fetched Jennifer and informed her about the kill that Miyuki made a hour ago in the garage, as well as that she informed her about how she almost murdered this creep in cold blood but the others told her to back off. She conveniently held back the real reason why. Considering Axehead may have trusted her but wasn't fully committed to letting the whole group know about their location. It was a way they seemed to keep the home they had safe. She never asked why but Hive brought up their system. How they debated safe from danger, friend...to foe. The process took place in a sense that excluded the whole group but used one as a bridge for trading, they were not allowed to come with others from the group. This kept it somewhat secret so the word did not spread to fast. Breaking this rue, insisted by Hive, resulted in most likely death.


She trusted Hive though, something hard and nearly impossible to do in the New World. She knew if worst came to worst she had Axehead to get supplies from as long as they had items for trade.


While cutting the meat in the basement Tammy took close notes on how Jennifer made the incisions and cuts. How she broke the bones to get access to the best of the venesin. They disposed of the guts in a trash can that was covered witht the plastic lid and placed in the back corner of the property outside the fence. By the time the animal was finished they had successfully hacked out enough meat for a fancy dinner. Say an "all you can eat?" Tammy chuckled to herself at her minds corny joke it made.


After the leftovers were stored properly, which had a proccess of its own, they took a lump some to the kitchen and begun cooking. It was dark now most likely 7pm or so, and no one seemed to have the first watch for the night. Something about the home they made together as a group just seemed finely tuned like a swiss watch or a sports car before race day, Tammy wiffed her nose full of fumes. She smelled the hot meat as it used the precious propane they had in the manor. She took a mental note as to where the other survivors were locatied. She recalled Austin recently was relieved of guard duty while tori took over on the Intruder. Tammy then noted Tiffany and the children that were in their room. She had a room on the opposite side of the manor as they did. The kitchen was now live and vibrant as the meal came together. Tammy smiled with relief knowing that everyone was safe once again apart from the Viking who was out cold.


The food was finished. "Whose eating!?!?" Tammy screamed in excitement loud enough to ring through the house. Of course she should probably have been quiet about that.


@KathleneWilliams2121 @Crono @Jennifer Shotain @Dibbydoo @Tombstone
 
"Well if it's itchy dog meat you should probably scratch it....ooooh oh wait that is right your dumb ass is tied to a chair" Tori smiled sweetly over at him and tilted her head to the side "Maybe just try a little wiggle?" she suggested in a nonchalant tone as if they were having a perfectly normal conversation and he wasn't tied to a chair and she wasn't sitting here with a knife on the creepy garage ready to stab him if he moved. She sighed softly...it was cold down here she should have brought her coat... and she was hungry, Her stomach growled slightly and she rested her hand on it with a grimace. "I cannot even begin to tell you how much i am so not an angel...and the fact you even think i might consider sitting here and feeding you is beyond hilarious. You won't starve after one day without food. ts the apocalypse you ought to be used to it" she stated matter of factly. Tori wasn't trying to be mean but she wasn't going t put herself in the position og falling for any of his tricks and getting herself or the others killed. They had. had more than enough near death experiences in the past 6 months to last them 12 years. There he goes with that angel thing again. She thought to herself and rolled her eyes.


"I never said you called me those things but i am assuming you must have thought i was stupid if you think i was going to untie you" she pointed out with a slight shrug her head titled back to glance toward the door once more. "Look no one is going to kill you we aren't murder's just cautious trust me we have our reasons to be. If you are what you say and you behave chances are they will keep you isolated here a while and then let you out but we sure as hell aren't just going to let you walk around the damn place cause yo SAY you mean no harm." The blonde shook her head a look of anger clouding her features bit not at him at the world. At the way things were, you couldn't just take someone at their word anymore everything had to be so extreme. She sighed and leaned against the railings of the stairs and played with her knife. "So where you from then smiler, Seriously stop smiling at me like that your cheerfulness is weird" And it makes me uncomfortable she thought to herself.


@Dibbydoo
 
Holliday didn't look Miyuki as she spoke, as he was already starting to unload. He nodded hoping she would see. "30-ish bags of charcoal, some gasoline, a few other odds and ends. Oh, and potatoes," He said tossing her the sack of them. "We can save them, dice them, and replant them in the spring. Like Matt Damon in the Martian, except were on earth and won't have to use shit."


As he spoke he unloaded all of the Charcoal from the back seat and into a pile beside the truck. When he was done he stepped off the running board and wiped the sweat from his brow. Afterwhich he finally faced Miyuki and gave her a grin. "Lets get these inside before they get too wet." He hefted a couple up onto his shoulders and carried them over to the entrance of the manor's garage and set them inside. Then he went back to make a second trip.


"Jorik," Holliday said whilst picking up the load,"near as I can figure, he went off trying to shoot a wild mutt when he should have been siphoning gas. Well he got it, but he tripped and hit his head good on some black ice. We had to leave the mutt behind and carry him since we were pressed for time."


Holliday dropped that load of supplies, then another, and then another. On the last go around, he set them down a bit more harshly and took a few deep breaths. He looked around at all of their resources and noticed that the amount of gas had spiked since that morning. "Tammy has been busy again." He turned to Miyuki, "I don't like it. She always knows where to get this stuff readily but she won't tell us where. I have to scout ahead of time, photograph and review every single target before I charge in. I know she takes that RZR up towards the mountain, but after that I haven't a clue."


He took a better look at Miyuki and noticed she was hurt. When she moved, he shirt lifted ever so slightly revealing a sliver of a bruise. "What happened," he asked bluntly, "does it have to do anything with that bastard who stowed his way into camp? Im already planning on having a "nice" talk with him, but I can make it down right pleasant if he hurt you."


@KathleneWilliams2121
 
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Miyuki looks down as she sees Jen, "It's because of you!!" The thoughts came back. She shakes her head and then races forward to catch the bag but doubles over as they land on her stomach and her bruise. "This is going to take some getting used to." She gets a grip on the bag as she follows him to the garage and goes back to the truck, staying quiet as she listens to him talk about what happened to Jorik as she shakes her head, hoping he will be ok. She continues to help Holliday with the loads, when he makes a comment about Tammy's pick ups. "Ya, I noticed it as well. It makes no sense and it is too many times to be luck. I don't know what she does up there but it doesn't feel right." She then notices Holliday looking at her as she sets down a load when he asks about what happened. She sighs as she stands up. "No, it wasn't the new guy. In fact, he didn't do anything at all. All he did was come into camp, when the pooch bit his hand and I came up and held him up at arrow point. Tori joined me and then Tammy, in all of her wisdom, attacked the guy and pinned him down with her knifes on a stick weapon," She says a little bitter about how Tammy stepped in when she didn't need her help, "Austin, Tori, Tammy, and I decided that it was best to tie him up in the garage and look around to make sure that if he was part of a group that they don't attack us." She states as she tells Holliday what happened with the guy. "Don't be too harsh on him, he already suffered enough with the dog." She doesn't answer as to who hurt her as she didn't want problems to start up as she hears Tammy call out for dinner. Miyuki looks over at Holliday, "Better get there, I was able to shoot a deer and we cooked some of it up." Miyuki then goes inside, feeling hungry when she sees Jen inside the kitchen....suddenly she wasn't as hungry. Turning on her heals, she walks out the back door and climbs up the trees and then goes onto the roof of the house, decideing to keep watch while the others ate.


@Tombstone
 
"Uh-huh," Holliday thinks for a moment, "Im going to say that Tammy had the right mindset on this one. We shouldn't take any chances, though that weapon she had.... What did she call it? Chimera maybe, the beast with many heads. Whatever the case, that may have been a bit extreme. I hope you have him bound, as well as locked up. I'll do what I deem is appropriate, my priority is being thorough, not a stranger's well being."


He reached out and felt the wall of the building and then leaned against it. He smiled when he heard they got some meat. That would easily keep their bellies filled work weeks if properly kept. "I hope you didn't cook up too much. Ill take what was left and salt is heavily to cure, even if it uses up the last of our supply. Then we bag it in garbage bags a burry it deep in a mound of snow. That should keep it from spoiling. If I could get my hands on a smoker, that would probably help it last even longer. Good job."


Holliday then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a few pieces of paper. They were folded up so that they could fit nicely. He showed them to Miyuki they were maps of the surrounding area. "I picked most of these up a while ago when scouting, except for this one which I snagged today. Some of them show that mountain over yonder and beyond. Im going to study them a bit, and see if I can't just find out where Tam might be going. My money is that she found some kind of old mind or logging operation. Possibly something with a huge reservoir of gas. I want to get to the bottom of it. I haven't a clue why she's being so god damn secretive, but if there is a chance she's doing it for leverage over us it isn't going to fly. I'll let you go now."


He watched her walk up the steps. When she was gone he stayed in place for a moment thinking. It had been a long day. With a deep sigh, he went up to see everyone else.


@KathleneWilliams2121
 
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After showing Tammy how she had cut the meat off of the deer, Jennifer disposed of the leftovers. She put them somewhere where the smell wouldn't attract walkers. They had a good sense of smell, and that meat could only grab it.


When Tammy had exclaimed her last question about who was eating, she rubbed her head instinctively. Her sudden eruption gave her a headache. Had she been in the mood to, she would have said a comment back to her that would have been rude and snarky. But being since Tammy was happy, and she had no problem starting fights with people, she kept her mouth closed and didn't answer.


She grabbed her food when she had remembered that she had grabbed Austin some cold and flu medication while she was out. Being that she didn't want to sit with the group, and go eat in peace, she grabbed herself some food, and another dish for Austin.


"I'll be up in my room if you need me. And if you need me, make sure it's for a damned good reason. I want to be left alone," she said loud enough for the whole house to hear, her tone describing the mood she was in.


Making her way to the room that Austin claimed, she knocked on the door before opening it up.


"Sorry to bother you, brought you some food and..," she paused. He was asleep.


She cleared her throat after she sighed.


"Wakie, wakie, Austin, I have two presents for you," she said loudly, enough to wake him up.


"If you don't wake up, I'll just have to kill you where you are," she said, trying to be humorous, though coming off as annoyed more than anything else.


This made her remember something suddenly, something that happened when her and Austin were in a scavenging run. Something she did, and only something he knew about...


_________________________________________


Flashback


Two Months after attack on hospital.


Scavenging run.


Collaboration post with @Crono. Jennifer is green, Austin is red. Blue are the strangers


___________________________________________________________________________________________


Jennifer and Austin exited the pharmacy. They had needed medical supplies after the raid on the hospital for small things around the group, specifically the babies. Jennifer never would shoot down an opportunity to search a pharmacy. The more medicine she had for herself, the more days she could live.


"I'd say that was a successful run," she said to Austin, shooting him quick look.


"If you say so." Austin had replied, grabbing the large duffel bag that held what they'd managed to scrounge up.


Just after Austin responded to here, a man and a woman came out from behind a building. He had his gun drawn on them, the woman did as well.


"Wait, before you draw your guns and point them at us, here us out," said the man, pleading with them.


When the voices had spoken up and Austin twisted his head to see the weapon pointed at them he cursed silently under his breath, they'd been careless. But much like Jennifer, who had hers drawn immediately and pointed at them, the man had also drawn his gun in the midst of turning to face the strangers.


A momentary standoff ensued while the man pleaded that he wasn't interested in bloodshed, and fair enough he'd spoke up rather than shooting both Austin and Jennifer while their backs were turned. Austin had also opted to stay quiet, let Jenn do the talking, rather than the arguably scarier grumpy rugged looking man speaking up...or so a few of the group members had so gracefully told him.


"Give me one good goddamned reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out," she said back to them.


"I had my gun drawn because I didn't know if you would shoot me or her on sight. That's why we have ours drawn. Look, I'm sorry, okay," the man said, he holstered his gun. He turned to the woman and shook his head. She slowly holstered hers. As she was doing so, she suddenly fell to a knee. The man felt beside her and started asking her if she was okay. The woman was clearly in some pain. It was at this moment that Jennifer noticed some blood on the snow behind where she stood.


"Was she bit," she yelled to the couple, walking towards them slowly with her gun on them.


"Bit? No, no, no!" The man paused for a second before he continued.


"We were driving not too far from here. My wife is sick. I think she has tuberculosis. I was a doctor, or a pediatric one, at least. The symptoms are spot on with it TB. We were on our way to this pharmacy when we encountered a bunch of the dead ones. They caught me by surprise and I crashed the car. Her leg got a bit mangled up. But please, put the gun down, we don't want to hurt you."


Jennifer considered what he said. She didn't like the situation. She felt like this was a trap.


"How do I know this isn't a trap?"


"Just come here and look! Does this look like the leg of someone setting up a trap? Does this look like what someone would do to themselves, inflict the pain to themselves, just for a trap?"


The man lifted up the pants of the woman, to reveal a bloody rag around the wound. She twitched and moved in pain, even teared up some. Her reactions seemed genuine, and the man seemed honest. They seemed like nice people, but this world isn't meant for the kindhearted. As the wound was shown, it was clear she had been in some sort of accident. the flesh was mangled in a manner that the walker bites would never get. Her skin was missing slightly in some areas, and the bone was slightly visible in one.


Jennifer examined the wound.


When the conversation had hit the possibility of others his own eyes had glanced at any and every window within view just in case. "We should leave..." He finally spoke up, calmly.





"Wait, not yet. Austin, come here," she said, gun still drawn and watching the two.


Austin shook his head in response, displeased with the situation at hand, as he walked over.


"Please, if you can give me some medicine, like Isoniazid, Rifampin, Rimactane, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide, and some painkillers, we will be on our way, we won't bother you at all. Please, if you have some of that, can we have some? We can trade, make it worth your while," said the man, slowly beginning to tear up as he saw his wife in pain, feeling hopeless to help her.


As he neared and the man named off the names of the medicine he wanted Austin glanced at the wounded woman's leg. So she had TB and a wound like that? If she had any hope of healing and surviving the harsh world she'd certainly need them. That didn't prevent Austin from wishing the situation away though.


"What do you think, Austin," Jennifer asked Austin.


"We make the trade and go." That was his suggestion, just to get things moving, if they tried to leave the man could possibly shoot them. So it sounded better to just get it over with, "What do you have to trade?"





Since Austin seemed interested in a trade, and that the couple were not going to hurt them, Jennifer reluctantly lowered her gun.


"I'll check my bag," she said in a irritated tone. "In the meantime, tell us what you have to offer."


Dropping to a knee, she took her backpack off. Jennifer grabbed just about every type of medication she could, even the ones she and the group didn't need. It was never a bad idea to have them just in case, especially in this world where you can't get the medicine as easily as the past world. She knew she had painkillers, but she was unsure of any of the TB medication.





"I have medicine, medicine that neither her or I can use. It's low level antibiotics, and a bottle or two of prednisone, and celecoxib, which is a prescription-strength NSAID. But if I give you that, I need some for her. I can give you half of what I have."


Jennifer looked at Austin.


"We have enough painkiller to spare a few," she said, avoiding bringing up they were part of a larger group. "You know I need prednisone. I think this could work."





It was an uncomfortable situation for Austin, to say the least. Again he'd fallen silent as Jennifer took the lead, this time with the trade but perked up at the Prednisone, "Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it, we help them out and they help us out." The man was antsy to leave but trying not to let it show so he didn't spook the strangers.


She then turned to the man who was doing what he could to tend to his wife. "Here's what I was able to find. I have two bottles of hydrocodone. Aside from that, I don't have much TB stuff as you said. I was able to find that I have two bottles of isoniazid and ethambutol. That's it. That's all I have."


Jennifer was hesitant, but threw over the bottles to the man after a couple of seconds. His wife, shallowly breathing and moaning in pain, lay there looking at up the man. He thanked Jennifer and Austin, and then took the medicine and had her take it.


"So where's our end of the deal," asked an impatient Jennifer.


"Oh, yes," said the man as he reached into his backpack and grabbed what he had offered to trade and gave it to her.


Jennifer inspected the medicine to make sure it was genuine. The markings seemed to be exact to what she had known on the prednisone. The other medication she didn't know if it was real or laced with poison. Either way, the prednisone was what she needed.


"Thank you so much," man said gratefully as he helped his wife stand up. "We have to get back to our car. It has other supplies we need there. It should still be working. We can manage our way from here. We are on our way to cost. I have a house there and a boat, a small one. We need to get there, and this is a bad sidetrack."





"Thank you so much for helping us. It's good to know that in a world full of shit and death and evil people, there are still some kind ones out there."


With that, the man turned to help his wife move. They walked slowly away, as the man helped her limp her way back from where they came.


Then came the thanks and the man made a speech of sorts about how the world wasn't as bad and a part of him couldn't help but feel a little happy, just to know they'd helped this couple out. A few weeks ago Austin would have left in a flash in this situation, but now? Now things were different, and he felt a little like his old self...if only a little.


Austin adjusted the strap on his shoulder and turned to leave towards the backdoor, "Better to go out the back ju--"


A gunshot rang out all of the sudden, and the man dropped. The wife fell, and before she could regain her composure, another one rang out.


Both the man and the woman lie dead, a bullet hole through their heads.





Having not even taken two steps, the loud shot rang out, and as he turned in shock the second shot followed. Austin expected to drop, to see Jennifer drop, instead he saw her with the gun in her hand. It was over.


Jennifer smiled an evil smile, breathing heavily, her face looking like that of a mad woman, holding the gun at their direction. She had shot them.


As seconds flew by, Jennifer's smile disappeared. She lowered her gun and fear spread throughout her face.


"What the hell have I done...," Jennifer said to herself quietly. "I wanted to do that, I wanted to kill them for no reason. I wanted to kill for fun... I'm a monster... I'm a fucking monster..."





"W-what the hell was that!?" He'd choked out in surprise over Jenn's own short monologue, not moving from his spot.


She began to breathe heavily, ignoring Austin for the time being.


It was at these moments that Jennifer realized that she was a killer, a murderer. She wanted to kill, not because she had to, but for fun. The hospital attack made her really kill in ways she hadn't before, see things she never had to, do things she never wanted to. But something about that night changed her. She lost all of her emotions for the most part, she wanted to kill. She didn't notice it until she gunned the two people down that she had a thirst for killing, a desire to kill. Not those of her group, but people who weren't part of it. Jennifer had always tried to hide these feelings and ignore them. She did for the most part. But as her desire to do so increased, her ability to ignore and control it decreased. And her inability to do so finally showed. She realized the monster she became, and she didn't want to be this way.


"Austin, stay away from me. Thank you, Austin, for being a friend when I needed one. And tell the rest of the group I said thank you. I have to go now. I'm a monster. I long to kill, and I just killed two people for no reason other than to kill. I see the monster I have become. I don't want to be this way. I am a danger to everyone."





Suddenly, she was thanking him, speaking as if she was going to leave. "I..w-what?" And for a moment Austin considered letting her, he was torn as he came to grip with what he'd just witnessed.


"I have to go before I hurt you or someone else in the group," she ended with saying quietly, turning to him and putting the gun to her head.


Before Jennifer could pull the trigger, Austin came in and tackled her to the ground.


His bag dropped with the movement, Austin wanted control of her gun hand as he practically crashed into her. Maybe it was fear, or surprise, he wasn't sure...but she'd flinched at his lunge and the hand went up defensively. But the moment they hit the floor with Austin on top another shot rang out and he flinched at the pain he felt in his left side, then rolled off the woman and onto his back with one hand instinctively clutching towards the torn clothing where blood was splotched.





The sudden tackled caused her to accidentally pull the trigger on the unintended target. As she fell to the ground, her head hit the hard pavement. A headache soon followed. She frantically looked around for gun on the ground, Austin may have stopped her then, but he wasn't going to now. As she looked, Austin began to speak. Jennifer stopped searching, and looked up at him. He was clutching his side. Her accidental discharge hit him, somebody she didn't want to hurt.


Austin stared down in shock, momentarily he thought that this was how he was going out. Until he felt up the wound, while it was more than a graze the projectile had passed through the very edge of his side. This realization caused his body to relax though his hand still covered the wound and he turned his head to Jenn.


"You might be a homicidal idiot," started Austin, "but your hardly a monster." Austin swallowed the knot in his throat and turned to look straight ahead at the ceiling, "I've stared down a few monsters...You? You're just...hurting, ever since the hospital. But you might be right about one thing, you might be a danger to us." The man shifted to sit up with a groan of discomfort, "That hurts like a son of a bitch!" He hissed, gripping at the bloody wound with one hand tightly while the other held him up, and looked at the woman next to him.





Austin presented to her a very solid case as to why she couldn't just check out. But there was more to Jennifer's sudden decision than she had said. But she kept her mouth shut as she went on.


"We are all a danger to each other, all it takes is one second for it to happen. But we went after you, we fought for you, we bled for you! Not only did we save your life but prolonged it by getting you those meds! You don't get to check out all of a sudden, on a whim, you owe all of us!" He was angry, frustrated even and spat the bad taste in his mouth onto the floor as he took a breath and calmed.





He was right; they fought for her, saved her life, got her medicine so she could live a little longer, and she owes them for it. But there were personal reasons to her decision end it.


Before Jennifer could say what she wanted back, she was met with words from Austin that made her tilt her head.


"And I owe you."


Austin looked her in the eyes and didn't waver, "That night after the hospital, you talked me down. Practically convinced me to stay in the process, and in doing so you saved my life." With another groan he latched onto the counter and hauled his sorry ass up to standing. "You know my plan was to cross the country and hit California, what you don't know is that I planned to put a bullet in my head on a beach at sunset after I'd arrived."


"You saved me." The gun was still lying on the floor beside Jennifer, "Now let me return the favor..." His words had practically been a whisper.


She listened as he explained to her that she was the reason he didn't leave the group. If it wasn't for her talk, he would have gone to California, as planned. But, that wasn't just it. The second he walked on that beach and took in the view, he was going to put the gun to his head, admire the beauty of the natural world that wasn't the shit hole it is now, and take it all in as he pulled the trigger. A last bit of piece in this world. Austin must have lost something. He was a man who was always alone and seemed to dislike people. But something was missing in his life, she assumed, something was torn away. Something must have made him the way he was now, and why he was going to do that. She figured so much, at least.


"I did that," Jennifer said quietly as a tear escaped down her face. "I saved your life?"


This was a lot for Jennifer to take in all at once. She couldn't process it with how she felt about her life at the moment. One way or another, she wanted him to know why she was going to kill herself, so he so much as understood her mindset.


"Austin, I...," she paused, looking around, thinking of the right words to say, but none came to her head.


"I don't know what to say... I...," she said, letting out a sigh, tears now streaming down her face.





Austin propped himself against the nearby counter, half sitting on it. The motion caused a hiss between grit teeth as his hand kept pressure on the wound, well the entrance wound anyways. As Jenn started speaking, he felt his eyes moistening but not because of the burning pain because he did understand her hardships, at least on a basic level.


"I... I wanted to pull that trigger. You didn't let me," she said, finally mustering up some words. "I... Lost...... Everything. I lost my brother, I lost my mom, my dad. I lost so much in my life. You don't have a clue the hardships I have had to deal with in my life. And now, I'm just sitting there waiting for a pill bottle to run out."


She sat up more, finally putting her hand to the back of her head where she hit it on the ground. She rubbed it. It radiated pain, but she kept her hand there as she began to speak again.


"I sit her watching that bottle go down, and I know that one day, my death is going to be painful." She began to raise her voice, struggling to speak through her tears. "I want to die by my own hands, not when some stupid bottle runs out, or somebody kills me, or some rotting flesh bone comes and bites me. I want to die by my own way. In peace. And most of all, not in pain."





As Jenn started speaking, Austin felt his eyes moistening but not because of the burning pain because he did understand her hardships, at least on a basic level.


She realized she sounded selfish. She wasn't even acknowledging what Austin had argued with her, and why she was the reason he was still around here. And alive. Her emotions still told her to kill herself, but her heart was saying no. It listened to what Austin had said. And she knew that deep down, he was right. But her emotions got the better of her.


"Austin, I'm so thankful I saved you from killing yourself. But please, let me die by my own hands, on my own terms."


She struggled with her next words. Her lips quivered and she began to cry heavily as she attempted to speak words that were hard for her to say.


"Please me me do it and be with my family; my brother, who I haven't seen since I was nine, my mom, my dad. Let me be with my family once and for all."


She'd continued on with her reasoning and some of her points had once been some of his own. "So, to hell with the rest of us right? You kill yourself, we grieve and move on. That what you want?" He'd opened up to these people, to the possibility of living and caring for others once again. And here was the girl that played a big part in that, now wanting to end it in more ways than one. "Don't use your family as an excuse to kill yourself, because I'm betting every one of them would be just as pissed as I am about it."





Austin became upset at Jennifer. He may have understood, to some capacity, at least, understood, but that didn't mean it angered him any less that she was trying to make a selfish decision based on her feelings.


There was a deep breath as he moved his hand for a moment to check the bleeding then looked back at the young woman in front of him. "I get that your scared, of how your going to die...I do. And if I'm there when something goes wrong, you run out of meds, get bit, whatever then I'll put a bullet in you myself if that's what you want. I'll do whatever I can to make sure that doesn't have to happen. Your family isn't going anywhere, they'd want you to fight on. Isn't that what you told your brother? To keep fighting. So keep fighting dammit, because losing you means the rest of us didn't fight hard enough to keep you here."


There were two things Austin had said that hit Jennifer the hardest, and made her think. One being how he said "to hell with the rest of us" if she killed herself, and how her family would be pissed if they saw her about to do what she was trying to. But she knew he had a point. She was trying to make a selfish decision, end her life for her own reasons, and not think about things in the full spectrum.


Jennifer couldn't just abandon her group. They were her family, the only family she has now. She had been through hell and back, and these people came to her aid to help her. They cared about her, something she hadn't had since her parents died. The death of her parents was one of the hardest things in her life, but she was determined to move forward with life after it, survive a little longer, for them, for her brother. But as time passed, she began to loathe living and relying on the pills. Meeting the group was at the best possible time for her. She might have killed herself if she couldn't find the medication she needed. She knew it was going to happen one way or another.


Now was different, and what Austin said made her think, start to change her mind. The gears in her head started to turn in another direction. His words were swaying her, even though she didn't want to listen to him. As he went on, his points became better and better.


Not only that, but the fact he would be willing to kill her if she wanted. It really showed what kind of friend he was to her, and how far the two of them have come as friends since they met on that gas station roof with him and Tori that fateful day.


"Besides...", He was beginning to feel a little lightheaded, "I can't stitch myself up."





Jennifer chuckled at his last comment. He was right. Wiping away the tears from her eyes, she looked him square in his eyes and shook her head.


"Okay...," she said.


She walked up to her gun, picked it up, and holstered it slowly. She then walked up to Austin.


"Time to get us home," she said as she reached down and attempted to help him up.


Once Austin was finally up, sh started to help him walk towards the car.


"Thank you, Austin...," she said quietly as she helped him to the car.


_______________________________________


The memory still floated around in her head as vivid as it was when it happened. It was the moment she really realized who she was. It was an event that changed her look on herself, and to slowly accept who she was. It wasn't until earlier when she talked to Holliday that she had thought about her change, like she had during this memory. That was a defining moment for who she had become after the attack on the hospital, and only Austin knew about it. She felt she should tell Holliday, but she pushed that thought aside. Maybe another time, she thought.


She snapped out of her thought, blinking rapidly, returning her attention to Austin.


"C'mon, wake up, Austin," she said finally, trying to get him up to give him what she had for him.


@Crono
 
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It was almost like being underwater, the man could faintly hear someone telling him to wake up...but he didn't want to. Being asleep was a blissful escape from being in the world and needing to survive, oh and that dreadful cold. There was a light groan followed by a sucking of air and liquid as he tried to reverse the lines of drool and snot leaking out. His shirt sleeve was wet from where he'd slept on it, raising up off the window seal he turned to see Jennifer looking rather impatient as he tried to get his bearings.


Austin rubbed at his forehead a moment and noted it was still hot then he cleared his throat, "How long was I out?" She wouldn't know the answer to that, as when he'd passed out she was still out on the run. Momentarily he scolded himself internally for not waking at the noise of their return. Fact was Austin had taught himself to become an extremely light sleeper, and that's part of why he'd survived so long. But being sick had thrown all that out the window entirely, and he disliked it. "Thanks." He'd reached out for the plate and medicine as he turned the chair around towards the inside of the room.


His mind was pretty groggy for the moment but he made do, "Run into anything strange on the way back?" The plate of food sat in his lap and he eyed it for a moment, unable to smell it, then looked the flu medicine over before cracking the bottle open and tossing a few into his mouth and going through a rather uncomfortable swallow as he had nothing to drink alongside it and his saliva was thicker than usual thanks to the flem.


@Jennifer Shotain
 
"Hell if I know, Grumps. I just got back not too long ago. Anyway, here's your present," Jennifer said as she handed him his cold and flu medicine, and his food.


"I've got more of it if you need it, which I doubt you will. There's night and day ones. So if you need to sleep, take the night stuff."


She paused momentarily, thinking about making a joke again about him.


"Plus, I've been getting tired of you bitching about not feeling good and sneezing," she said, saying her little joke she found funny, but showed no outwardly signs that she was joking. Not even a smile went along with it.


Walking over towards the wall near Austin, she crossed her arms and leaned against it. She looked at Austin, noting his face. He looked like shit, and his nose was as red as a tomato plant with the sun shining on it in the middle of summer.


Jennifer then turned her head to look out the window. While she did so, Austin asked what happened on the run. Jennifer thought for a moment about how to explain it. There wasn't much that happened besides the talk and what happened to Jorik.


"Well, I'll start with the last thing that happened, which was the most important. Jorik went after some dog or and killed it while Holliday and I were in the store. We eventually found him, unconscious. We assume he fell on black ice and hit his head."


Jennifer chuckled slightly.


"I find it strange how something so simple brought a man like him down. No one brings s Viking down easily, but black ice brought ours down. He should be fine."


Jennifer stopped talking momentarily, and blew into the window. It fogged up, and she started to draw and write on where it did. Ultimately, she wasn't satisfied with what she had drawn and written, so she wiped it away. In this time, she also considered whether she tell him about the talk with Holliday. She hadn't told anyone else in the group as much as she told Holliday before, not even Austin knew. She knew sooner or later she would have to tell him, and everyone else. The past can come back to haunt you, and Jennifer is worried that hers will come back to get her soon.


"Not only was there that, but before that happened, Holliday and I had a talk. He tried to tell me who I am doesn't fit me. He and I talked about me and who I am; the monster I have become. He understood."


Jennifer sighed slightly before she continued.


"I told him a lot, a lot about my past that no one knew until then, not even you, Grumps. I told him about what really happened with my parents, this group called "The Disciples" I've mentioned. The one thing I didn't tell him, because I didn't want to, was that... One time," she looked at him, trying to see if he could understand what's he meant.


"When you and I were on that run, and those people came... I don't know why I didn't tell him. I didn't want to."


Jennifer pushed off of the wall. She took her backpack and rifle off, and turned around and put her back against the wall, slowly letting it help guide her bottom to the floor.


"One day, I'm going to have to tell everyone about this group and what happened. No one knows the full story. And for all I know, they're out looking for me. God forbid they somehow stumble their way here, I need everyone to know the truth."


Jennifer let out a sigh and dropped her head.


"Anything particularly interesting happen while we were out besides that guy coming across us?"


@Crono
 
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