Realistic or Modern Patient Zero (A Zombie Survival RP)

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and King Vioogra

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Jenna
Ivan
Cletus

"What's wrong with Cali?" Jenna asked "You know what, nevermind." It wasn't the time or place to get into a pissing contest. "I doubt Walmart sells silencers though. What's next, you're going to tell me they sell grenades?" The girl lightly chuckled, leading the two men down a back alley as she did her best to avoid the main city streets. It would take longer, but at least they'd be alive.

She hadn't been in the city since the first day of the outbreak, which felt like so long ago. Cars littered the streets, but they were empty of bodies. Jenna knew full well where the dead had gone. One car in particular, a grey station wagon caught her attention. It wasn't the bloodstains smeared on a tyre, nor the empty bullet casings littering the ground next to it that caught the girl's eye though. It was the luggage tied to the top of the car, and boxes in the backseat. She stopped in her tracks, peering from inside of an alleyway as she watched two corpses pass by the vehicle. "What do you think, Ivan? Is it worth it?" Her voice was hushed, barely a whisper

"Some do, I think. It's insane how easy it is to get a gun in this country." Ivan said as he took on a sort of crouched posture, walking behind the other two and constantly looking over his shoulder before she asked him if "it was worth it." Curious about what she was talking about, he turned back around to see the two corpses, followed by the station wagon. A few quick thoughts passed through his head. "No. They were leaving the city. It's most likely nothing but clothes and house stuff." Ivan said as he moved up to the mouth of the alleyway and looking down both ends of the street. "The boxes might have something halfway decent, but it's still not worth the attention we'd get breaking into it."

Jenna slowly nodded in response "Fair enough." She whispered, poking back into the alleyway and leading both men down the street. At best, they'd get some food and maybe clothes fit for winter but there were probably safer ways around that. At least, she hoped so.

The only thing close to a silver lining the girl could think of for the hazmats and their various war crimes was that there would still be places untouched, places fit to scavenge for supplies. Just thinking about it made her feel physically sick, but it could be the difference between the group she was in making it another day and all turning on each other. Hell, sometimes it felt like they were already at that point. All it would take was one more push and she was certain the group, or at least a few of it's members would tear each other apart.

Jenna just hoped it wasn't her on the receiving end of that. She kept low and quiet as she led the two men through more backalleys, occasionally poking her head out to check for the dead while Cammy held back. There were a few scattered around on the main roads, and she spotted one in particular that appeared to be hunched over something, sinking it's teeth in. She squinted, then reeled back at the sight as the infected was tearing into a cat, the bells on it's collar jingling as the dead had it's hands around the thing's throat. Jenna clutched her axe tightly, breathing deeply in through her nose as she grinded her teeth together.

¨Whel ya know. It´s Cali so fuk em¨ Cletus responded to Jenna when she asked what was wrong with the state... darn California. It kind of annoyed the redneck when his opinion didn´t seem needed while both of his companions decided what to do with the luggage on top of the car; it was literally at the grasp of their hands but they decided not to go check it out. The group continued walking down the streets of the city until they spotted one of those undead creatures tearing apart a defenceless cat. The site of it repulsed Cletus, but knowing that shotting it would just attract even more of those creatures he asked ¨So... We gonna kill it aw something?¨

"As much as I wish we could, we can't. Nothing we do will save it, and nothing we do will bring it back. In a good ways anyways." Ivan said in a bit of a solemn tone as he put a hand on Jenna's shoulder. He gave it a short pat and a sympathetic smile if she turned to look at him. "It'll be gone soon. We should just leave it be. If it stops now that just gives the cat more time to suffer." The man said as if speaking from experience, his eyes sinking into lost times before he shook his head and snapped himself back. "Anyways. We should keep moving." He said in a whisper before looking towards Jenna for where to go next.

Cletus was surprised at the coldness that Ivan showed to the whole situation; there were many things that the redneck was willing to ignore or forgive under these circumstances, but letting one of those things enjoy a kitty meal was not one of them ¨Hold it right their ruskie, now, i know that we can´t exactly save that poor kitten, but as far as I know, bein' eaten alive is neither a very peaceful or painless way to go ya know?" The redneck knew that he couldn´t use Caroline under the threat of getting the attention of a horde, and seeing that the Russian was willing to let the undead fucker just eat the cat he would probably be unwilling to lend his silenced gun. That was until he noticed that Jenna had brought an axe with her ¨Come on Brit, I know we have had our... disagreements before, but you´ve to be with me on this one, with that axe you´re holding, we can kill that fucker and put the kitten out of his misery quicker than it would take him to die by bein' eaten alive¨.

Jenna growled "Ah, fuck it." The girl peered out of the alleyway, checking if the coast was clear. When satisfied, she kept low and made her way over to the corpse. All the while she held her breath, not wanting to make any sudden noises to draw attention. Breathing in, she slowly stood up and brought the axe down into the back of the corpse's head. After two blow blows, it dropped and the girl found herself presented with the cat.

It's black fur was caked with blood, one of it's legs was gone completely and part of it's throat had been torn out. "It will be okay..." Jenna glanced over at the collar, seeing a nametag "It will be okay, Salem." She whispered to the creature, bringing the axe down one final time and striking its skull. It twitched a few times before it stopped moving altogether. She glanced back at the two men and started to make her way back to the alley, keeping low and quiet as she moved.​

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between FireMaiden Togy and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Nile
Leliana

Nononononono! Leliana knew this was going to happen. Nile was going to get them killed, it happened so fast. The infected sensed him because he didn't stay low, and they attacked. And he panicked. The shot rang out before she or Colt had a chance to help him, then the second shot. It was too loud, way too loud, and the trio was now in more danger than they should have been in.. Not only was their position exposed to any Hazzies in the area, but the noise would draw out more infected. And her fears came true, as, in the distance, she could see the growing mass of infected. Stealth was no longer an option, they had to run or they would die.

Her heart rate spiked as the flight or fight response kicked in, her breath quickening, heart racing. The nurse linked one of her arms with Colt's as she stood, urging the other woman to stand. "Get up! Get up!" She sounded terrified, voice cracking, on the verge of tears but the adrenaline wouldn't let them fall. "Moe's is right there, we have to run!"

Colt had paused in her run to turn and check her group and her heart flipped at the ringing and distinct sound of gunfire coming from the back, where Nile was. The veteran froze at the sound. Everything suddenly became distant and unreachable as the sight of a stumbling mass of Things came into view, gurgling and snarling with their arms stretched in a never-ending quest for flesh to satisfy their perpetual hunger. Her mind flashed back to her last encounter with a horde. She was trapped. There was no escape! They were approaching quicker, knowing they had a potential feast. Colt gasped in a struggle for air.

“No…No!” She gasped, struggling with her assault rifle in an attempt to switch the safety off. She was not controlling her actions at this point as she broke into a mantra of “No!” as everything began to lose focus. Only the tug of the arm by Leliana brought her back into reality. Her shout to get up brought her together. In a flash, Colt was on her feet. The three of them could get to Moe’s fast enough to barricade if they ran now! “Run! Don’t look back!” She barked before breaking into a sprint, “No shooting! Just run!”

"FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckityFuckFuckFuck" Nile hissed under his breath as he ran towards Moe's. Saving quick glance behind him to make sure the others weren't being eaten alive, Nile turned back to what he was running towards. Oh. A door. God, hope this opens inwards... Nile thought just before he rammed into the double doors of Moe's, sending them flying open. Christ that hurts! Fuck, my shoulders gonna be sore for a week! Nile thought before he looked to the quickly approaching horde outside the door. "Ah fucknuggets..." Nile hissed as he looked around the room, trying to think of what to do. Windows are barred, don't have to worry about those.

Door's made of tinted glass, that's strong. Uh, fuck, maybe if I get-Got it! Nile thought as the perfect barricade came to him. He ran over to a nearby shitty chair and put it against the reception desk before doing the same with another chair, a little table, basically anything that wasn't the Vending machine. The line of furniture spanned from the desk to the door. Good, good. I've got time, I've got time! Nile thought as he hoppede the furniture line and ran towards the vending machine. He began to push at it with all his might, succeeding in moving it a few inches. "Oh Christ, this won't wor-Leli! Colt! Somebody, help me out over here!" Nile said, somehow managing to say someone's real name.

Feet pounding against the pavement, the sounds of an untold number of infected bastards following behind them. She kept up with Colt surprisingly well, keeping hold of her arm so that she didn't fall behind. Nile barreled through the door first, Colt and Leliana following mere seconds behind, the nurse let go of Colt and slammed the doors shut. She put the pins at the foot and top of the doors in the locked position, scrambling for her keys to lock the main deadbolt before she stumbled back and watched Nile frantically work on a barricade. One that was kept in place by the reception desk, but one that also looked like it could shift and break if there was enough force. He then moved to the vending machine, trying to push it over into line, asking for their help.

"You don't get to use my goddamned nickname!" She snapped, rushing over to unplug the damned thing, before helping him push. Adrenaline, the fear, or sheer fucking rage seemed to help her help Nile push the vending machine into place. And for a moment, after it was in place, there was nothing but the sounds of the undead, before Leliana turned to face him.

There was a fire in her eyes, a mix of emotions that Nile would have no way of telling what the hell she was going to do next. Or maybe he could. Leliana without saying a thing raised a hand and slapped him as hard as she could. "What the absolute fuck were you thinking?" She nearly screamed, "How goddamned stupid do you have to be in order to think that was a good choice? They're attracted to sound! They can smell you! You would have been fine, we could have helped you! You were three feet away from us!" She knew that there wasn't a point in staying silent, the horde knew they were in here. They were trapped. "We could die, and it will be your damn fault."

"Your real name's too long!" Nile said as he tried to move the vending machine far enough for it's plug to be exposed. When Leliana unplugged the machine, the two of them were able to get the vending machine in front of the door. "Thank y-OW!" Nile began to say, cut off by the slap. Beginning to rub his cheek, Nile listened to Leliana's rant. "Look, I don't fuckin' know! I do dumb shit without thinking, alright? And I only shot those things because panicked! That was only, like, my third encounter with zombos since this all started! I honestly had no clue they were that dangerous!" Nile said, leaning against the reception desk. "Okay, fine, I'm sorry I was a fucking idiot and got us trapped here. I'm mad at myself too here..." Nile said.

"This isn't a situation where you can apologize and everyone be happy about it, so a weak ass sorry won't fucking cut it! We're trapped in here now, there's no telling how long we'll be stuck here!" She exclaimed, exasperated. The girl ran her hands through her hair, taking a deep shaky breath. "Nile, I've never been out here, but I know if you panic, you die. You have to think through this shit!" She honestly sounded like she was about the breakdown, her voice cracked repeatedly, the type of voice cracking that could break your heart. "Listen to that! Those things are going crazy out there, they want to kill us, this isn't a goddamned game." The girl sidestepped, moving further away from the wall, as far away as she could in the small lobby. Leliana was scared, she was tired, and above all, she didn't want to be there. But she had no choice, no choice at all. She took a seat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Leli is a nickname only my family or my friends can use. You have to use Leliana."

Not helping with the barricading was something Colt knew was un-leaderlike but the speed and shallowness of her breathing had caused her muscles to ache from the sprint to the door and the panic to set in. She could not even turn around to shoot, not only was it too risky but the gunfire from the Glock had gotten them into this situation. Colt had slipped down the wall into a sitting position, head in hands and rocking back and forth in a furious attempt to soothe her frazzled nerves, everything seemed to happen without her until she heard a slap and yelling. The veteran looked up to see Leliana, having slapped Nile, ripping into him furiously before crumpling to the ground. Seeing the nurse so shaken, it caused a surge within the veteran.

With a furious growl, Colt stood up shakily and, with rapid stomping of her combat boots and a swift raise of the arm, shoved herself into Nile, her forearm across his chest and pinned him to the wall. This idiot had just sent them to their deaths! Colt's breath came harsh and deep like an enraged bull and her bloodshot eyes bore into his.

"Ya stupid bastard," she spoke softly and gravelly, "Ya deliberately disobeyed me-I told ya to run! And ya fuckin' walk like a dopey calf! I dunno what yer thinkin' in that head of yers but I'll tell ya this..." she leaned in closer, almost touching noses, "If ya value the openness of yer windpipe, tell me this..." she pulled out and cocked her .45, "Ya got us in 'ere, I expect a solution. NOW!" And with that, the .45 was against the convict's temple, staring straight into his eyes in an unbroken and furious stare.

Nile yelped as he was pinned against the wall. "What the hel-" Nile began to say before being cut off by a gun cocking, making his eyes flicker to Colt's hand, where he saw her proceed to shove the mouth of the gun against his head. "Jesus Christ, what the hell do you think I was doing!?" Nile said as he squirmed a little."Do you want to hear one of my ideas? Okay! Numero one, give that Russian a call and get them to make some noise then run like hell so the things outside will head somewhere else!" Nile said.

"Stupid... STUPID!" Colt spat, "Have ya learned nothing!? Noise got us in here in the first place! And more bodies will attract more Things!" She did not move and her pressure against his chest increased, teeth bared and her chest heaving from trying to regulate her own breath.

She watched as Colt threaten Nile, a part of her wanting to step in. They were all in the same situation now, and while yes it was totally his fault that was in this mess, but having three pairs of hands was better than two. The other part of her was hoping that Colt would put him out of their misery. "That would just put them into harm's way, " Leliana spoke up, "Drawing the horde to them and hoping they get away is a risk nobody should be willing to take. Though knowing Ivan..." She sighed slowly, pushing herself off the floor.

"We should go upstairs and find out just his many there are if the building is surrounded or not. We can't get away, not yet, but we can at least get an idea of what they're doing." Colt didn't like the sound of Nile's plan if you could even call it that, and she wasn't sure if she heard her. "Colt?" Leliana asked softly moving a little closer, "Don't shoot him. We can all agree it's his fault, but the only thing it would do is put the odds more in favor of us not making it out of here. I would maybe take his gun...for now at least."

"Sure, yeah, take the gun! I'm getting chest pains!" Nile said, wincing a little as he ribs began to ache due to the pressure. "Look, call the Russian! Get them to make noise on the other side of town, and if we stay quiet in here, they'll head over to the sound! If the Russian and his team get out quick enough, I don't even think they'd have to deal with horde!" Nile hissed.

"I am NOT putting them in danger for yer stupidity!" Colt snapped, rattling the man a little as she growled. "ya caused this, we're fixin' it!" She only paused as Leliana's voice cut through her turbulent mind, telling her to let him go. Her stare did not falter. Their best chance was to get a full scale of how many there were. She had her silenced M4, maybe she could pick some off? There was time to figure that all out.

"Pull a stunt like that again," she snarled softly, bringing herself even closer to the man so their foreheads were almost touching. "and I swear to Jesus, I will personally invert yer ribcage." She added before finally removing the pressure from the man's chest and taking his Glock, putting it back in her pocket.

"Leliana." She turned to the nurse, her voice raspy from the snarling, "what's the quickest route? We need an idea of how many there are out there." She added, trying to keep her nerves steady, for their sake.

"The fastest route would be going through one back exits. We can easily get to one of the surrounding buildings if we aren't noticed, but..." She shifted slightly, "We need to get a grasp on the situation outside first. I have a feeling it might not be safe enough for us to try anything yet." She pointed to the hallway on her left, not exactly realizing she had basically repeated herself. "The rooms on that side all have windows that are mostly stain free an not covered in cardboard, we can go upstairs and get a look. I have a master key for all the rooms, but we need to be careful. When I left the day this shitstorm started, we didn't have any free rooms. Those things can't work doorknobs, at least I hope they can't, so there's no telling what we'll find." Her skin crawled thinking about going up there, knowing that the motel was most likely not as safe as it appeared. "We need to warn Ivan though, him, Jenna, and Cletus could be in danger too!”

"That's what I meant, outside!" Colt answered before getting out her radio. She did not want to radio the other group, the thought of them being put in danger was enough to almost make her crumple again. But what choice did she have? If that horde found them too... all she could do was pray that the Russian would not use this as an excuse to be stupid.

"Ivan, this is Colt, come in!" She spoke into the radio, trying to keep her tone calm, "We got a 10-33 at Moe's, big horde outside trying to break in, repeat, horde outside. Over." Her grip on the radio shook as she spoke."Get what ya need and go! Don't fuck around! Do you copy?" Her tone was low and quiet with the radio held right up to her mouth. As Colt spoke, she made a gesture with her free hand to the pair, non-verbally instructing them to go up the stairs. Quietly. Once she was finished, she kept a tight grip on the radio as she waited for the Russian’s response.

Nile, being just the slightest bit mad at the woman who just held a gun to his head, had half the mind to not listen to her. But then he remembered that standing up and walking normally got them in this situation, so he listened to reason. He was a bit shameful of the fact that he pretty often only listened to the first thought in his head. Pulling his Claw Hammer, Nile went up the stairs, crouched. He looked around, seeing nothing. He tapped the wall next to him lightly with his hammer so anything hidden would come out. Nothing as well. "We're good," Nile said.

Leliana hid a small wince that came with Colt yelling at her, despite the tense situation. Instead, she turned to head up the stairs, waiting for the Nile to go first. Not that she wanted to follow him, but she also didn't want to be eaten, or bitten, or even jump scared first, so the pleasure was all his. She moved as quietly as she could, watching him make sure the cost was clear. After confirming that, she walked cautiously down the hall to the third room on the left, quickly giving the door a once over for any signs of blood or anything else nasty, before she raised her hand up.

TAP.TAP.TAP.

Three quick knocks, the same type of knock she all the time thanks to having been a housekeeper. After she knocked, the girl pressed her ear to the door, listening closely for any signs of somebody being in the room. No sound whatsoever. The grip on her bat tightened as Leliana got the master key ready, of course after seeing if the door was really locked in the first place. The door swung open to an empty room, nothing by clothes and an unmade bed. "Come on, it's safe."

Colt was silent after her distress call, waiting for a response as she watched Nile and Leli walked up to a specific room which Leliana then opened slowly. Like a gunslinger in an old movie, Colt already had her hand floating above the holstered Glock, watching and waiting for what could potentially be behind that door. But upon being opened and Leli announcing that it was clear, Colt relaxed, but still kept a hand close to the Glock. She turned to Nile, pointing at him furiously with a hard glare.

“Keep watch. If there’s any movement or sound that sounds suspicious or dangerous, let us know.” She instructed the man before heading into the room alongside Leliana. Once inside, she looked around the room slowly before releasing a quiet sigh and taking her flask out. After taking a very, very long swig, she let out a sharp sigh before turning to the nurse. “Look. I know yer scared. And this is a terrible state we’re in.” She started before faltering slightly, taking a moment before continuing. “But… I still need ya with me. I can only trust him so much. I dunno how, but I’m tellin’ ya. I’m gonna make sure ya get out and home. Both of you.” She glanced to the door again before reaching a hand out, reaching for Leliana’s forearm, inviting her to grip Colt’s back in response. Her eyes looking deep into the nurse, hoping she understood the honesty in her words.

“ Semper fi?”

Mentioned: King Vioogra The Mad Queen and Hyped_Taco ​

[/CENTER]

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between The Mad Queen Hyped_Taco and King Vioogra

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Jenna
Ivan
Cletus

Ivan sighed and rolled his eyes as Jenna went against his advice and killed the infected anyways, along with mercy killing the cat. He stood momentarily and did a bit of a spin as he checked the area around them, making sure they hadn't been followed. The Russian then crouched back down and followed behind Jenna, stepping over the corpse and nearly gagging at the smell before steeling himself and continuing on. Once he was within whisper distance of the woman again, he spoke out. "So we're going to get the baby necessities first, then the pharmacy?"

"We can pick up stuff for the little one at the pharmacy," Jenna said coldly, stopping behind a building as she scanned the area. While a few infected walked around they seemed to be heading away from the pharmacy, as a single gunshot pierced the air, ringing the dinner bell. It was either the hazmats or other survivors. Colt had a handle on the other group, so there was no way she would have let them engage like that. Whoever it was, there was little Jenna could do for them now as following the infected would surely just get her own group killed.

Or worse, it would royally piss of Colt. "After that we're going for food, clothes and blankets. We can find baby food at the pharmacy but I don't imagine the rest of the lodge wants to eat that shit."
She peered around the corner, seeing the pharmacy that lay in front of the three of them. Even if some infected were starting to respond to the dinner bell, the coast wasn't clear for a small handful shambled around outside of the pharmacy. "I count three. How do you want to do this?" She whispered to the two men

Seeing the girl kill the infected with two swings of her axe amazed Cletus, from what he had seen from these creatures they could survive a shotgun shot directly to the gut like if it was nothing, but an attack to the back of the head killed them... at least he knew where to attack now. ¨Yeah, the pharmacy sounds alright to me.¨ Cletus replied while Jenna and the Russian discussed where to go. Ivan and he stayed behind a building while Jenna made a quick scan of the area; then the sound of a bullet pierced the air, momentarily disturbing the mostly quiet streets of Aurora.

After Jenna explained what they were going to do after raiding the pharmacy, she asked about how they wanted to get rid of the zombies ¨Well, how 'bout you kill the one in the middle with our axe while the Ruskie and I whack the heads of the other two repeatedly with our guns.¨ Cletus said before he an idea crossed his mind ¨Both of you remember the shot from a bit ago right? well, i know for a fact that neither the blondie or the other girl are stupid enough to shot they're guns right now... but what 'bout the junkie?¨

"Colt would keep him in line," Jenna whispered, nodding at Cletus' idea. She gestured for the men to follow her and while keeping low started to move behind the infected in the middle. He wore a suit, torn to shreds as a casualty of possibly trying to fight off the infected that had grabbed him. That didn't matter of Jenna though, as whoever the man had been was long gone and the virus was merely puppeting his corpse.

With one hand gripped tightly around the axe she raised her other slightly into the air, showing three fingers as she counted down for when to strike. When time was up, she gripped both hands tightly around the axe, stood tall and brought it down upon the suited infected's head. The first blow wasn't enough to finish him off, nor was the second but Jenna was quick and relentless, carving it's skull in with three strikes while her companions dispatched the other infected.

The road to the pharmacy was clear, and the girl crept inside, sticking her head in first. There were no infected inside. "Let's go shopping, boys." She smiled "Grab what you need, I'll get stuff for the munchkin."
The girl moved across the isles, making her way into a section full of baby stuff. She wasn't sure what size of diapers to get, for she hadn't even gotten a look at the little one but given the thing was born mere days ago she grabbed a few packets of the smaller sizes, shoving them into the bottom of her empty rucksack. This was meant to be a quick supply run, and with the infected out of the way Jenna wasn't about to waste any more time. She grabbed several plastic containers full of the mush people referred to as baby food, formula and even a few bottles of talcum powder. Creams went into the bag too.

She grabbed what she could carry, but took care not to overstuff the rucksack. She'd still need to put food in and even if one large bag of dogfood would do Cammy for a while Colt had made it clear just how many people were at the lodge, how many mouths to feed. She snapped back to focus, and made her way across the isles of the pharmacy like a woman possessed. "C'mon." She whispered to herself "Please have it, please have it..."

Ivan followed the pair into the pharmacy, listening to their conversation about who the shot came from when his radio fired away, shooting out static before relaying a message from Colt that chilled his blood and made him shiver. "Ivan, this is Colt, come in!" The suddenness and urgency of the call made him jump, but he didn't have time to respond before the truly chilling statement came. "We got a 10-33 at Moe's, big horde outside trying to break in, repeat, horde outside. Over." His mind rewinded back to the two gunshots that broke through the air as he ripped the radio from his backpack, holding the 'talk' button down and speaking in a low and serious tone. "Turn the volume up on the radio so everyone can hear me." Once his request was fulfilled, his tone dropped even lower as he spoke into the radio, a mixture of anger and worry plastering his face. "Which one of you shot"​

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between Maj and Rumble Fish

The last four days had been relatively uneventful for Milly. Having new company in the form of Aderyn was a huge comfort to the youngster, who was relieved to not have to share with Leliana and Shiona anymore. While she liked both of the women, having a baby around was too much. She had not seen the infant yet but had heard it cry. She stayed in the background, staying quiet. In the last short while, she had heard Colt command some of her followers to join her on a scavaging trip and Ivan had promised to try and find her mother if he could. While she did not want to get her hopes up; she could not help it.

The youngster was standing at the window, gripping her scarf around her neck in one hand as it covered her mouth. The room was cold and her skinny frame shook in an attempt to warm herself. She watched as the truck left and moved to the door, opening it to watch it. She watched the truck trundle away for as long as she could. She did not want them to disappear from sight but eventually, they did. Not knowing what else to do, Milly slid down the door frame to sit, holding her bear in one arm and staring where the truck had gone, hot tears leaked down her cold face.

Even if it took days, or even weeks; she was going to wait.

Bethany had spent much of the last few days by Shinoa’s side. It was hard for the young girl to get around and caring for an infant was enough work to be shared. The saying ‘It takes a village’ came to mind. She woke to the sound of Colt coming in and talking to Shinoa in soft tones. It looked like they were going on another supply run. It felt like there was always one group out gathering supplies, which was smart. With a group this large they were going through the limited items in rapid succession.

She could smell the aroma of food being cooked downstairs and stretched her arms above her head. Sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag had not been great for her back, which creaked and snapped as the spine elongated. Beth ran her fingers through her head as she stood.

“I’m going to go find some food. You need to eat,” The woman told Shinoa and gave her and the small infant in her arms a warm smile before exiting the room.

Owen was in the kitchen, hard at work cooking eggs with the other small girl that had joined them. There were so many people at the lodge now it was hard to keep track of all their names. It appeared that Leliana was already gone, she knew that the girl had been eager to leave on the run, so it didn’t surprise her. However, she was sad that she hadn’t been able to wish her luck on their travels.

Her eyes settled on Milly’s tiny form in the doorway, cheeks tear-stained and blotchy from crying. Beth approached her slowly, as not to alarm her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Well good morning love,” She kept her voice soft but warm. “I don’t think Snowy has eaten breakfast yet, why don’t we go get some eggs.”

Milly jumped slightly at being touched and turned to see Bethany looking at her, speaking in a tone like honey. She blinked a few times and glanced outside again. She needed to wait for them, what if they came back and she was not there? She looked to Beth, sighing shakily.

“Morning,” she answered quietly, “And; okay, Snowy likes eggs. I mean-I do too um… yes, eggs.” She added, speaking with certainty as if it were a fact before faltering in speaking about herself. Talking about Snowy was much easier. She stood up, giving the woman a small smile despite the rushing tears. Milly could not stop herself from looking outside regardless. She had to wait for them.

Beth smiled and put her hand on the small of the child’s back, leading her toward the kitchen. She was sure the small girl was worried, she seemed closed to both Ivan and Leliana. If the woman was able to provide her with distractions, that would be better than having a sniffling girl at the doorway all day.

She was surprised by the number of people that had gone on this run. The numbers at the lodge were growing, but even still with six of their heaviest combatants gone, they were vulnerable. With any luck, it would be quiet until the group returned, but that was a big if. The soldiers were growing in numbers by the day in the town, and with such so were the number of zombies. Thankfully the lodge had been a great little sanctuary, far enough away from all the bustle of Aurora that both zombies and soldiers alike tended to miss them.

Bethany sat the girl down at the table, seeing the plate that Owen had set to the side. The woman smiled at his thoughtfulness before placing it in front of the child and handing her a fork. Beth made her plate as well, sitting down in front of the girl and joining her for the meal. The blonde smiled at her

“Why don’t we do something fun today. We could go for a walk!” The girl couldn’t spend all her time cooped up inside anyway. They wouldn't go too far, staying close enough that they could shout for help if the need arises.

Milly stayed quiet as the pair went into the kitchen and she started to pick at her eggs with a fork, occasionally turning her head to look out the window. She was distracted until Bethany spoke up again, asking if she wanted to go for a walk. The youngster's baby blues blinked a few times as she considered her answer.

“I like the snow.” She finally spoke. She hadn't been outside since Bethany had arrived and, after there being so many people, she needed some time away from all the noise, “I… Haven’t been outside much.” She admitted, “Is it scary?”

“Well like with anything, we will have to be careful. But we will take care of each other, and we will stay close.” She gave the girl a warm smile. Her eyes settled on Michael who was also still eating eggs, shoveling the food into his mouth in disgusting quantities. Beth did her best to resist scrunching her nose up in disgust and instead gave him a hesitant smile.

“I think we could all use a little fresh air,” Beth said, turning her attention back to the girl.

Milly looked outside again. She was unsure about leaving the lodge. But if Beth said it was okay, then surely it was. She hugged her teddy tightly against her stomach and kept her attention on her eggs. It was still such a strange thought. She had not gone any further than the front porch and even that was an effort. Still, she had Bethany, that would help right?

“Can I bring my knife?” She asked before her complexion suddenly went paler than it should have been possible, “N-No actually - meant, like, t-to…” she cupped her hands against her mouth. That must have sounded terrible. Despite becoming accustomed to the presence of guns within the Lodge due to the armed adults and her new friend and roommate, Aderyn (who apart from today she had followed like a shadow) she still could not bring herself to carry one. Guns were bad. At least, that’s what she had been told. Seems most people here liked them.

“...Colt told me about some rabbits she saw near a stream not far from here. Could we go there?” she finally asked after composing herself.

“You can bring whatever you need to help you feel safer little dove,” Beth cooed. She finished eating and rose to her feet with her plate in her hands. When Milly was finished she took her plate as well. “Why don’t you go gather whatever you and Snowy needs, I’m going to take a plate of food up to Shinoa and then we can be on our way.” She tousled the girl’s hair and made her way back over to the counter to prepare the pregnant woman some food. With a plate full of easy to digest items and a glass of water in her hand she made her way back up to Shinoa. Beth was careful not to wake the dozing child in her arms as she delicately set the plate on the nightstand and the cup next to it.

“I’m going to take Milly out for a walk around the lodge. Try to get some food and I’ll be back to check on you shortly.” Beth informed the woman. “There are still plenty of people in the lodge, so shout if you need anything before that.” The blonde offered the young woman a warm smile before traversing back down the stairs to find the timid child.

Mentions: Maj (Owen)
Interactions: BloodThunder27 (Shiona)​

 

[Maj]

​

Milly smiled gently at Beth as she reassured her that she could take the knife with her. As she went to give a plate to Shiona, she did as the woman said and got some of her things together. Grabbing her little rucksack, Milly put her knife in it and took Snowy in her arms, playing with her ears a little before also putting her in the bag (away from the knife of course). She put on the dark blue winter jacket hanging at the door and put her red scarf around her mouth and nose.

As Beth returned, she smiled at the woman before looking outside. The snow seemed to have settled and the day seemed calm. “Can we build snowmen?” She asked her, blinking softly at the woman as she held onto her rucksack straps eagerly like an eager kid ready for school, taking a few steps outside onto the porch and turning to wait for Beth to come.

“Sure!” Beth agreed cheerily, walking up to the child’s side and taking her hand. They walked away from most of the noise and hustle of the lodge. Despite the cold air and early morning, many were already hard at work. The sound of sawing, hammers and the like sounded and she could see Owen in the distance already beginning his work of cutting down trees. The blonde offered him a friendly wave as she and the girl made their way to the treeline. Owen held up a hand to have her pause and ran over to greet them.

“Good morning girls,” He said through labored breath. Even in the chilly air, beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead. “Where are you guys off to?”

“Me and Milly thought with everything going on that it might be nice to get away from the lodge for a little bit.” Beth smiled as he approached but he looked unsure. She cocked her blonde head to the side, reading his facial expressions. His green eyes didn’t want to focus on her.

“I’m not sure that is the best idea Beth,” Owen argued, one of his large hands went to the back of his head and scratched it as he spoke. Beth realized finally that he was trying to keep from upsetting Milly. The corners of her lips curved, always such a gentle heart. “It’s not exactly the safest out there.”

“We will be fine,” Beth assured him, putting a hand on his large arm. She gave it a familiar squeeze. “It’s not good for anyone to stay cooped up all the time. We won't go far, I promise.”

“Keep the lodge in sight yeah?” He asked, finally calming and looking into her blue eyes. He smiled in return. “Within shouting distance.”

“Of course.” Beth rose on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek before turning and gently leading Milly away. She waved at Owen once more as they left, and before long they had made it to the river bed that Milly had spoke about.

“Owen!” Milly chirped happily as the pair approached the tall, red haired man. He was working away on the plans she had heard them talk about in terms of building more accommodation. She watched as the pair briefly conversed, Owen seemed a little unsettled but maybe he was just stressed from work? He gave them instructions on how far to go which made Milly speak up,

“It's not far, we’ll be careful, promise!” She made a crossing gesture with a finger across her chest, hoping that would assure the man. As Beth approached her again, she eagerly trotted after her. After they reached the river bed, Milly took out her teddy to hold onto as she looked around.

“Beth look!” She pointed ahead, across the river, she could see small, furry mounds with upright ears hopping around and eating tree roots. Their bark brown fur and beady black eyes instantly reminded her of her own late rabbit. She knew these bunnies were wild so didn't approach them. She let out a happy little squeal and clapped her hands lightly together, not enough to startle them.

“Did you ever have a rabbit?” She asked, keeping her tone low, “I used to have one called Sooty.” She added, her blue hues sparkling a little as she looked around at the shimmering trees in the pearl white snow.

Bethany giggled as she watched the girl play. She was such a bright cheerful little thing and she couldn’t help but catch the contagious nature of her laughter. How someone as small and gentle as her had survived long enough in the chaos of the town was a mystery to her, but one she was grateful for.

“I never had one as a pet, but they are cute, aren’t they?” Bethany moved to join the girl when she felt the familiar sensation of being watched. The blonde looked over her shoulder, but saw no disturbance in the frozen landscape of the forest. It was likely just paranoia. Owen’s warnings fresh in her mind, as well as those of all of the people of the lodge were likely just making her jumpy. Maybe coming out here was a mistake after all. They weren’t far. Beth could still see Owen’s mop of red hair hard at work in the yard of the lodge and yet, Bethany couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

She turned back to the girl. Milly’s back was to her, eyes glued to the rabbits near the treeline. The child didn’t see the yellow suited soldier approaching her. Bethany opened her mouth to scream, but before a sound was uttered she felt the icy barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her neck. The sound halted in her throat, caught in the tightening muscles of her esophagus as a large glove covered hand covered her mouth. She watched in helpless horror as the child was treated with the same hostility.

 

[Maj]

START OF EVENT

Owen left Beth and Milly to go back to his work. The cold air was crisp and cool, the frost was starting to melt back, but the air was still plenty brisk. The yard around the lodge was beginning to look a little barren. Over the last several days they had cut down many of the trees for supplies to construct the building and fence. His red hair was stuck to the back of his neck and forehead from the sweat that had accumulated on his pale, freckled flesh.

He didn’t know a damn thing about construction, in fact he could barely work a power tool. But Owen was incredibly strong, which meant that swinging an axe was something that felt like second nature to the ex baseball star. The blisters that had once been on the palms of his large hands hands had hardened to calluses. Gripping the sanded, wood handle of the axe was no longer a hardship, but somewhat therapeutic. Trees fell easily for him as he worked. Occasionally Aderyn brought him water, which was a welcome change of pace and gave his body a chance to recuperate before getting back to work.

It was a good distraction. Andy wouldn’t even give him a wayward glance since their conversation days ago. However, he knew that she was struggling with something that she refused to speak about. The dark circles under her eyes and early morning rises were just a few warning signs among many. Each attempt to try to talk to her was met with cold indifference and avoidance. He hoped that eventually she would calm down and tell him what was on her mind, but a lifetime of dealing with her made him think that the likelihood was slim. His sister rarely talked about anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

His light blue T-shirt was turning navy colored as the sweat adhered the fabric to his freckled skin, but he didn’t mind. It was better than laying around under Hector’s watchful eye. There was no Wi-Fi in the apocalypse, and thus cutting down trees was at least a decent way to kill boredom. The male glanced over to where the girls hand wandered off to, happy to see Beth’s bright blonde hair within sight. Nothing but a few straggling zombies had managed to find them at the lodge, but carelessness was an easy way to open yourself up to unintended consequences.

“Aderyn, step back.” Owen’s command was warm but firm. The tree was about to fall and he was no expert lumberjack. While he had a basic idea of how physics worked, he was sure that squishing Luca’s cousin would only widen the rift between them. Plus he liked Aderyn, the girl was spunky. Being around her reminded him of being around a younger Andy. A little bit of attitude, too smart for her own good, but not as closed off as his sister had become over the years.

Once the girl had done as requested, the ginger pulled hard back on the axe, feeling the dulling metal jerk free from the meat of the tree. He gave the girl a tired smile and a nod, before swinging it back over his shoulder. Owen inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled through his mouth as he swung the axe forcefully, putting his body weight behind the swing. The crack was loud enough for the other workers to hear, the last of the bark snapping free of the stump. The leaves and branches crashed against the few nearby trees and the pine fell safely to the ground, away from the rest of the group. He had little to do with the tree’s once they were chopped down. Someone who knew what they were doing turned the big round things into more manageable planks.

The hulking red head turned to give Aderyn a satisfied smile and a thumbs up. Beads of moisture were rolling down his face now, but the corners of his mouth turned all the same. Something just over the girl’s head caught his eye. Emerald eyes darkened as they squinted to get a better look. His gaze was focused over to where Beth and Milly had been only moments before. There were two yellow clad forms where the girls had once stood.

He recognized the suits immediately. After so many had attempted to kill him, Owen couldn’t forget the uniform of the Hazmat soldier. Panic tightened his throat and he insticutally reached over to grab Aderyn’s shoulder, much like how an animal would protect it’s child.

“Go in the house and find Luca and do not come back out.” His voice was low, although at his distance, there was no way for the soldiers to hear him speak. Owen’s hands and voice trembled. He wasn’t scared of zombies they were slow and his baseball bat was enough to take one down with ease. But Soldiers came with guns and even if he ran all the way across this field to get to Bethany and Milly, he knew that the girls would be dead long before he reached them.

“Tell him the soldiers are here,” Owen commanded. He looked down into her Brasi blue eyes, making sure that his gaze matched the severity of the situation. “I don’t care how much of a little badass you think you are. Stay in the house.” He nodded in the direction of the wooden cabin.

“Go on.”

His mind whirled as he tried to come up with the best course of action. Owen knew he couldn’t leave Milly and Bethany alone, but he wasn’t even sure exactly where they were. If these soldiers came to fight, he would be gunned down before he even made it close. They were missing most of their strongest marksmen. Colt and Ivan were both gone, hell even Jenna, Cletus and Leliana were all better shots than he was. What was he supposed to do?

Before he could set his mind on any one course of action his eyes widened in fear as he watched soldier after soldier appeared out of the treeline, all clad in yellow suits. With their guns at the ready, the soldiers marched toward the lodge.

Interactions: Meredith
Mentions: Brax Rumble Fish King Vioogra Hyped_Taco FireMaiden The Mad Queen

 

[Brax]

(featuring Meredith )​

Aderyn had been working with Owen for most of the day thus far. It was not what she would call fun, per se, but it was certainly better than sitting around doing nothing. After one of the victories of the day - a tree being felled - Owen grabbed her.

She stared back up at him. “Okay. Be safe.” She looked worried but nodded, starting into a sprint back to the lodge, and risking a glance behind her. Aderyn had not yet seen what the soldiers were capable of - but she could imagine it.

Steeling herself, she shuddered, feet thumping onto the porch. She threw the door open, then slammed it closed behind her, crossing to the master bedroom and banging on the door. She doubted it was locked, but she’d not spoken to her cousin since their first meeting…

“Luca.” Her voice was loud, panicked, and the situation gripped her in a layer of adrenaline and fear. “There’s soldiers outside and Owen said to tell you and they have yellow suits on and there’s a lot of them and goddamnit would you please open the door!”

​

The Italian had been laying down in his bed when the knock occurred. At first he ignored it, but then the girl had mentioned that there were soldiers outside. That was a more serious accusation. He quickly hopped out of bed and grabbed his rifle from the nightstand, strapping it over his chest as he opened the door. He placed a hand on the girl’s face and physically moved her aside before he turned and began to make his way up the stairs.

“You follow, girl!” Luca growled as he ran up the stairs as fast as possible.

He made his way to one of the corner windows and immediately noticed a group of four men in the treeline, making their way in. Luca cursed under his breath and slowly opened the window. Then he pushed the screen out, allowing it to drop down the side of the house. For a moment, he kept his hand out to Aderyn before ordering her to stand near the door. If they were going to open fire on his side of the wall, she shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences. He adjusted the blinds so that he barely had any peaking space. Then he lifted his gun up and placed it onto the ridge of the window.

Luca grabbed the lever and pulled it back. He aimed through the scope, catching the chest of one of the soldiers in his view. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. His rifle had a silencer on it, so it was highly unlikely that from their distance they’d be able to hear it. Those were the two modifications he demanded; a scope and a silencer. They were going to pay off right here.

That bullet exploded from the barrel and made its way across the lands of the lodge before sinking into the chest of one of the hazmat soldiers in the distance. When the bullet penetrated the suit, the other three men around him scattered to get out of sight. The man who was hit had dropped to the floor briefly, but he was not dead. In fact, he skidded out of the range of Luca’s scope after making contact. The man in the suit huffed briefly, leaning against a tree truck and feeling the bullet imprinted into the kevlar. It saved his life. After confirming his brother-in-arms was not in need of medical assistance, the leader of Jackal-3 made a call over their comms.

“Shot’s fired. Proceed with caution.”

Luca watched the scene unfold. If he was still alive and able to move in that manner, that meant that the hazmat soldiers were wearing bulletproof vests. While the man wasn’t surprised to see such tactics being taken, he found himself smiling. Sure, Luca was intimidated, but taking the bullet-proof vests off of these men’s dead corpses was going to bring him much joy. They needed those vests. He removed his scope from the windowsill and stood up, letting the gun hang from the strap. Luca walked to the door of the room - presumably Michael’s, from how it smelled - grabbing Aderyn by the hand as he walked out. Soon the two were making their way downstairs and headed into the kitchen where he looked around briefly. He let go of Aderyn and ordered her to sit before making a call with his radio.

“Hazmats are here. This is not a drill; Hazmats are here. This is not a drill. Get to the kitchen now.”

 

[Kloudy]

The Genius, The Brother, The Archer, The Teen and The Yakuza​

Kypher watched Hector go and made his way to the lodge’s only cellar, the entrance being located in the kitchen. Opening the trap door, he descended down to check up on the small renovations he had been doing. Since he had gone down, he did not notice Aderyn run past a mere few moments later. A long desk-table with a lamp and a stack of paper, several electronic components littered the surface as testament to earlier device cannibalisation. He’d use those for later. A freezer sat in the corner and Kypher had noticed that the wine it stocked was slowly depleting, meaning someone was definitely making use of it. He guessed it was the neanderthal, who was apparently an alcoholic from the conversations he had eavesdropped on. One of the advantages of having a child’s body is that Kypher tended to be grossly underestimated, ensuring he could get close to the conversation of most people in the lodge without attracting their suspicion. It made planning easier without having to converse with anyone.

Satisfied, the boy returned back to the ground floor of the lodge and closed the cellar door behind himself. Returning to the back porch, Kypher paused with a frown as he noticed something unusual. One of the men from the lodge, Kypher believed his name to be Owen Jordan, was standing stock still with a strange look on his face. Was that shock, fear perhaps? Kypher’s frown deepened and the child followed the direction the man was looking in. From his position at the window near the back door, it became Kypher’s turn to bear a look of shock as his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Soldiers?! How did they know to come here? The genius quickly deduced that either this location was already marked on the town map, or someone had been followed back here. It didn’t matter if this was a routine check or a tactical strike, now was the time for action over deduction. Not even a second later, one of the soldiers suddenly toppled over and the rest scattered. Judging from the angle with which the man fell, Kypher decided that someone from upstairs had fired at them, although no sound had been emitted. A silencer. Hurriedly opening the porch’s door, Kypher nearly made a dash for the rucksack he’d stowed away under the nearby wooden stairs but stopped himself before he could take another step out of the door. He was small, but these were trained professionals with automatic weaponry. Forsaking his cover would be foolish. Instead he called out to Owen, who was still apparently frozen outside.

“Hey! Get inside you heat-hegemonized baboon!”

It was then that Luca and Aderyn burst into the kitchen behind him in a suitably panicked state. Turning around and stepping towards them, Kypher’s ran over Luca and his cousin for a moment before remembering who they were. Luca was supposedly the other ‘leader’ of their little group and had a rifle in decent condition slung over his torso, so perhaps he wouldn’t prove entirely useless in this situation.

“Did you confirm that soldier to be dead? It is not unlikely that they possess suitable protection from armed fire.”

Owen’s head spun around at the sound of the shout, snapping out of his panicked trance. He still couldn’t put eyes on either Beth or Milly his distance. There was no getting to them and keeping his life in tact, he knew that and yet he found it hard to turn his back. The redhead had to hold out hope that the girls had hid in the woods somewhere and that he wouldn’t later find their bullet ridden corpses lying in the slushy dirt. A frustrated growl escaped his lips as he finally let go and turned, running toward the lodge. He made sure to yell a warning to anyone in the area. Owen couldn’t be sure of the location of all the lodge members, but knew that if they all stayed out in the open it would significantly lower their chances of survival.

He was out of breath by the time he made it to the sliding glass door on the back porch. A sweaty palm pressed against the glass and slid it open, leaving a smudged print in its wake. When Owen stepped inside, Kypher, Luca and Aderyn were all accounted for. With hands on his knees, he attempted to catch his breath.

Luca looked down at the child who had spoken. It was interesting to hear such diction come out of a small body. While Kypher had been staying at the lodge for a while, this was the first time the two exchanged in conversation. Luca wanted to wait until everyone was in the kitchen to let them know the situation, some of which had been making their way in already. While he was taken slightly aback, the man spoke to the child as though he was an equal.

“Not confirmed. They have bullet-proof vests. He was able to move quite quickly despite taking a shot to the chest, but I bet it hurt. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with them. Their helmets are not impenetrable. Their arms and legs are bare. Ideally, you want to aim for the neck as that area is not protected.” Kypher nodded thoughtfully in response but otherwise made no further comment, placing a hand to his chin as he formulated strategies in his head. The Italian’s blue hues turned to Owen as he had prepared to speak.

“Where is Andy?” The Jordan twin asked. As if on cue Andy came out of her bedroom, door left open in her haste. She was still in the process of strapping her quiver to her hip as she addressed him.

“I’m here.” It was obvious that she had heard the commotion as her bow was already strung, red hair pulled haphazardly to the side in a loose bind. Her brother reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze, happy to see she was here as well.

“Milly and Beth are MIA. They were out by the treeline when the soldiers showed up, but I have no idea where they are now,” Owen informed them gravely.

“I don’t think we have much time to worry about where everyone is. These guys are here to take all of us out or die trying. We only have time to do so much. Judging by their positions, a few minutes tops so we need a game plan. If we walk outside, we’re toast. Within the confines of the house, we can handle them as they will be forced to slowly drip into each room. If anybody has any ideas other than this, feel free to chime in. We’ll each take some people who need to be protected and stick to our corner of the house. If we get surrounded together, I think we’re done for. Brian and Owen is one group. Hector will take Kypher. Me and Andrea will handle the rest. Utilize the cellar, i’m sure it’ll come to use here. I’m going upstairs…”

“That’s a horrible idea.” Tre reported as he walked into the kitchen with both of his machetes down at his side. He had spent weeks out on the street killing these guys by chance. This wasn’t going to be any different. Typically he would choose to let Luca make the plans, but Tre had a far different tactical mind than his older counterpart. Tre was a better fighter on his feet and knew that both Andy as well as Luca were present at the middle school and made it out alive.

“Me and Warren are going to stick with Andy. You go with Hector and Kypher. Two leaders of the lodge dying together isn’t the way to do things. God forbid anything happens to either one of you, it’s best to not be caught alone.” The joint between his lips continued burning haphazardly as he took a deep drag. Luca paused momentarily but eventually nodded. Tre was right. While Luca was most comfortable with Andy watching his back, in this case, it probably wasn’t the best move. Tre knew that Luca would be far more comfortable with him protecting her.

“Done. Aderyn is with us. Ralph is with Brian and Owen. Michael is with Andrea, Warren and Tre. Let’s make last minute touches and get to our stations.”

Kypher shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose at the suggestions he heard. They intended to engage in a melee brawl against armed military personnel? Pure luck had seen their survival through, the child was sure of it. He cleared his throat and raised his voice to be heard.

“I will be ‘taking’ myself upstairs. I’ll notify you on their movements from there. In the meantime…”

Kypher produced several playdoh balls of various colours from his pockets, about seven in total, and placed them on a nearby table. There were more, but he had foolishly left them in the rucksack he’d hidden under the porch. Trying to get them now would be suicide. He then pulled out his own modified handheld radio transmitter and made sure his frequency was set to the same as Luca’s. He gestured at the playdoh balls.

“Throw these a few metres away from each entrance of the house. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Brax Maj​

 

[The Mad Queen]

The following is a collab between myself, King Vioogra and Hyped_Taco

Spoiler: Colour Codes

Jenna
Ivan
Cletus
Colt

Ivan sighed and rolled his eyes as Jenna went against his advice and killed the infected anyways, along with mercy killing the cat. He stood momentarily and did a bit of a spin as he checked the area around them, making sure they hadn't been followed. The Russian then crouched back down and followed behind Jenna, stepping over the corpse and nearly gagging at the smell before steeling himself and continuing on. Once he was within whisper distance of the woman again, he spoke out. "So we're going to get the baby necessities first, then the pharmacy?"

"We can pick up stuff for the little one at the pharmacy." Jenna said coldly, stopping behind a building as she scanned the area. While a few infected walked around they seemed to be heading away from the pharmacy, as a single gunshot pierced the air, ringing the dinner bell. It was either the hazmats or other survivors. Colt had a handle on the other group, so there was no way she would have let them engage like that. Whoever it was, there was little Jenna could do for them now as following the infected would surely just get her own group killed.

Or worse, it would royally piss of Colt.
"After that we're going for food, clothes and blankets. We can find baby food at the pharmacy but I don't imagine the rest of the lodge wants to eat that shit."
She peered around the corner, seeing the pharmacy that lay in front of the three of them. Even if some infected were starting to respond the dinner bell, the coast wasn't clear for a small handful shambled around outside of the pharmacy.
"I count three. How do you want to do this?" She whispered to the two men

Seeing the girl kill the infected with two swings of her axe amazed Cletus, from what he had seen from these creatures they could survive a shotgun shot directly to the gut like if it was nothing, but an attack to the back of the head killed them... at least he knew where to attack now.
"Yeah the pharmacy sounds alright to me." Cletus replied while Jenna and the Russian discussed where to go. Ivan and him stayed behind a building while Jenna made a quick scan of the area; then the sound of a bullet pierced the air, momentarily disturbing the mostly quiet streets of Aurora.

After Jenna explained what they were going to do after raiding the pharmacy, she asked about how they wanted to get rid of the zombies "Well, how 'bout you kill the one in the middle with our axe while the ruskie and I whack the heads of the other two repeatedly with our guns." Cletus said before he an idea crossed his mind "Both of you remember the shot from a bit ago right? well, i know for a fact that neither the blondie or the other girl are stupid enough to shot they're guns right now... but what 'bout the junkie?"

"Colt would keep him in line." Jenna whispered, nodding at Cletus' idea. She gestured for the men to follow her and while keeping low started to move behind the infected in the middle. He wore a suit, torn to shreds as a casualty of possibly trying to fight off the infected that had grabbed him. That didn't matter of Jenna though, as whoever the man had been was long gone and the virus was merely puppeting his corpse.
With one hand gripped tightly around the axe she raised her other slightly into the air, showing three fingers as she counted down for when to strike.
When time was up, she gripped both hands tightly around the axe, stood tall and brought it down upon the suited infected's head. The first blow wasn't enough to finish him off, nor was the second but Jenna was quick and relentless, carving it's skull in with three strikes while her companions dispatched the other infected.

The road to the pharmacy was clear, and the girl crept inside, sticking her head in first. There were no infected inside.
"Let's go shopping, boys." She smiled "Grab what you need, I'll get stuff for the munchkin."
The girl moved across the isles, making her way into a section full of baby stuff. She wasn't sure what size of diapers to get, for she hadn't even gotten a look at the little one but given the thing was born mere days ago she grabbed a few packets of the smaller sizes, shoving them into the bottom of her empty rucksack.

This was meant to be a quick supply run, and with the infected out of the way Jenna wasn't about to waste any more time. She grabbed several plastic containers full of the mush people referred to as baby food, formula and even a few bottles of talcum powder. Creams went into the bag too.

She grabbed what she could carry, but took care not to overstuff the rucksack. She'd still need to put food in and even if one large bag of dog food would do Cammy for a while Colt had made it clear just how many people were at the lodge, how many mouths to feed.
She snapped back to focus, and made her way across the isles of the pharmacy like a woman possessed.
"C'mon." She whispered to herself "Please have it, please have it..."

Ivan followed the pair into the pharmacy, listening to their conversation about who the shot came from when his radio fired away, shooting out static before relaying a message from Colt that chilled his blood and made him shiver. "Ivan, this is Colt, come in!" The suddenness and urgency of the call made him jump, but he didn't have time to respond before the truly chilling statement came. "We got a 10-33 at Moe's, big horde outside trying to break in, repeat, horde outside. Over." His mind rewinded back to the two gunshots that broke through the air as he ripped the radio from his backpack, holding the 'talk' button down and speaking in a low and serious tone. "Turn the volume up on the radio so everyone can hear me." Once his request was fulfilled, his tone dropped even lower as he spoke into the radio, a mixture of anger and worry plastering his face. "Which one of you shot?"

"Please have it..." The girl stopped in her tracks "Idiot." She muttered, slapping herself gently on the forehead. and dashing into the back of the shop. The door was locked, of course it was locked. Jenna gritted her teeth as she stepped back and tried to kick the door. It wouldn't budge. Kicking the damn thing down would make too much noise, but there had to be a key, another way in. With a sigh of defeat, Jenna walked back to meet her companions. "Back room needs a key, fellas. Unless we could cushion the noise and shoot the lock."

As her eyes met Ivan's silenced rifle, she noticed the look on his face.
"What's wrong?"

“Doesn’t matter. I need ya t’listen to me, Ivan. From what we know, most of ‘em are at the front where we ran in and the back. But we’re surrounded from all sides. Mattresses are a no go, we’re getting’ out. Now. I need ya, just you to quietly either get up high, or come closer and relay t’me how many there are. Tell Cletus and Jenna to stay inside and safe. Do ya copy that?”

Ivan gave a mildly annoyed sigh as Colt refused to tell him who the shooter was among them, but hushed his complaints until the veteran had finished her instructions. His attention was drawn towards Jenna as she asked what was wrong before he said quietly. "It was them who shot. Do you think you'd be able to get everything we came for with just you and Cletus?" Not exactly waiting for a response, he turned back to the radio, holding down the talk button and speaking low and firmly. "Fine, don't tell me yet. But to whichever of you it was, I don't care who. For every scrape, bruise, scratch, anything I find on the other two, I take one of your fingers. And if God forbid, your poor decision leads to the death of one of the others, you'll wish it was you." The man said, his accent slipping further and further as he went along with the threat. He cleared his throat once he'd momentarily let go of the button before pressing it down again. "I'm on my way, over."

The girl took a step away from Ivan. It wasn't like Nile didn't have it coming, but there was something about the fire within him that set her on edge.
"Wait, before you go. I need help getting the door open." Jenna told him "There's antibiotics in there we're going to need. That type of shit isn't out the front."
If there was any Estradiol in Aurora it would either be here, at the hospital or lying around in somebody's house. She wasn't about to risk the hospital and there just wasn't time to go door to door searching for leftover meds. Her only chance right now, was behind that door.

But of course, it wasn't just her. She wasn't lying about the antibiotics when she said she needed them, that the lodge would need them. She led the soldier to the back where the two of them managed to break the door open without firing a single shot. His rifle striking the handle and her foot hitting the door itself until it swung open.
"Do you need anything from inside?" Jenna asked with a whisper

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between Hyped_Taco King Vioogra and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Jenna
Ivan
Cletus

Leliana was checking the bathroom, making sure it was clear and nothing was stuck when Colt came in. "I'm fucking terrified," She replied with a dry chuckle, "My first supply run, and this happens?" Maybe now she would stop bothering Ivan about fucking up his knee, jumping rooftop to rooftop was probably the only way they had out that didn't involve them dying. The girl set her bat down, leaning it against the wall near the window, still listening to Colt. She wasn't even going to bother her about the flask. Nile, that stupid fucker...Leliana was almost hoping she got the chance to hit him again. She didn't mention this obviously since he was right outside, but maybe Colt could tell. The promise of getting them home almost seemed impossible, but, the determination she saw in Colt gave her some hope, maybe they would get out of this? Maybe they would make it back home, and she would get to watch as Luca or maybe Andy beat Nile down. The nurse gave Colt a slight smile, gripping the veteran's forearm. "Semper fi." That felt a little weird to say, but she knew it meant business. Colt was serious about getting them out of here.

Letting go, Leliana turned to the window, peering out at the sea of infected. She could almost smell them, and she could certainly hear them. "There's...there's a lot of them, a lot of them are grouped by the front, but," She moved slightly to get a better view of the corner, "I think they're also out back. Both sides, but maybe it's not as bad as out back."

Nile, leaning against the door, listened to the two talk inside. When Colt swore to get the two home safe, Nile almost felt touched. Then he remembered Colt holding a gun against his head and the wholesome feeling died immediately. Then Leliana mentioned that the back might be clear, but Nile, ever the pessimist, just shook his head. Outback won't be clear. The horde probably wrapped around the building Nile thought. He proceeded to take out a cigarette from his back pocket and made a grab for his lighter, but for the oddest reason, he thought smoking right now would just maybe be impolite. He put the cig away.

Colt was assured as Leliana gripped her forearm in response, giving the girl’s elbow a soft squeeze to reinforce her point. “I’ll get us out of here. I promise.” She said before the crackle of her radio caught her attention. Bringing it up, she heard Ivan’s response and, as he requested, turned the volume up. As he asked who shot, Colt took a moment before she could respond. If she said it was Nile, the Russian might not want to assist. She could not lie and say it was herself, she knew he would not believe it. After a moment of thought, she cleared her throat.

“Doesn’t matter. I need ya t’listen to me, Ivan. From what we know, most of ‘em are at the front where we ran in and the back. But we’re surrounded from all sides. Mattresses are a no go, we’re getting’ out. Now.” She sighed with closed eyes, fiddling with her flask in her other hand, “I need ya, just you to quietly either get up high, or come closer and relay t’me how many there are. Tell Cletus and Jenna to stay inside and safe. Do ya copy that?” she spoke slowly and seriously, switching the mic off before taking another swig.

Leliana froze a little when Colt told Ivan to handle scouting the horde. He was the only one who was supposed to know about the Zoloft, he and Colt were the only ones. And if he was going to be helping them out this way, there was no way he could get what she needed. If they made it through this, Leliana was going to need those meds, less she is tempted to do something stupid herself. Once Colt was done talking, Leliana turned to face the older woman, keeping her voice low. "I need you to tell Ivan to pass my request on to Jenna. It's about that conversation we had a while ago, you remember?" She said softly, glancing to the door praying Nile wasn't listening, before back at Colt. "It's getting to be a problem, and if we get out of this, I'd really like to have what I asked for."

Nile listened into their conversation. He was a little surprised Colt didn't tell Ivan he was the one who shot. He supposed he should be a little thankful for that, because Stalin threatened to cut off his fingers. Then their convo turned to something pretty vague and sounded pretty serious and secretive. Eh, not his business. He rubbed his arms a little, cause it was pretty damn chilly in this place. Of course this motel is at the mercy of the temperature outside. Looking into the room, he saw a closet. Hopefully it had a coat he could put on. So walking, across the room to the closet, Nile opened it up. Looking through the contents, he saw thrift store level clothes. There was one blue flannel button up jacket that looked decent though, so he took it. Unhooking the jacket revealed a blonde woman hiding in the closet. "Jesus Christ!" Nile yelped as he jumped back, startled.

Colt listened to the response Ivan gave, her eyes widened a little at the threat he gave, making her relieved that she had not told him who shot. God knows how he would have responded if he found out it was Nile who shot. After he finished, the veteran froze slightly as Leliana approached her, reminding her about what they discussed. It seems she had asked Ivan to help her. While the constant flow of alcohol through the veteran's veins often messed with her memory (both a blessing and a curse) she could remember this vividly.

"Okay, okay, okay," Colt mumbled 'okay' several more times in a failed attempt to settle her nerves before bringing the radio back up to her ear, "Uh, copy that. Ivan, before you leave, Leli asked if you could... relay her message to Jenna first. The important one?" She asked, her tone sharper. This trip was a bust but the nurse clearly needed it.

"Right." Colt sighed as she took another swig from her flask, intending to instruct the pair further but as she was in the process of swallowing the fiery liquid, a yelp from Nile caused the veteran to jump, sending her into a coughing fit, bent double. "Nile what in the-?" She spluttered to a stop as she saw what had startled the man. A woman hiding in the closet?

Interactions: Corgi ​

 

[Corgi]

FireMaiden Togy and Rumble Fish
Sitting in the messy hotel room and staring at the empty wall, everything Aubrey wanted to achieve now seemed impossible. Her body ached as she lifted herself off the bed, her ribs screamed in pain and her right leg was throbbing. Looking down, she lifted her shirt and saw a nasty bruise where she had been hit previously. Aubrey was sure her face didn’t look any better. Hoping that it would fix herself, she dropped the shirt and wiped her eyes. She was exhausted even though she woke up a few minutes ago. No, it’s been more than that. It’s brighter outside than it was when she woke up. All she wanted was to be back on her boat, listening to the birds chirp and the water brush against the dock- “No.” She thought, shaking her head slightly, “You’re going to find Charlotte. You have to.”

But how long had it been? She had left her boat about… how long had it been since she left her boat? Seven, eight days? It already felt like months. Would Charlotte even be alive? The amount of chaos she had been subject to made the past few days felt like she had just been through hell.

A gust of wind blew through the room and she realized she had been shivering. “Oh… right. No heat.” Aubrey hobbled over to the window and shut it, not budging from it for a while. She had lost a lot of time in thought laying in the bed, and even now, staring into the alley

On her way to the room yesterday, she had glanced at the rickety sign that hung outside the building that read ‘Moe’s Motel’. Even though she had been in this town for eighteen years, she didn’t remember there being a Moe’s Motel. Where was she in the town? She vaguely remembered Charlotte telling her about the house, saying it was in a good neighborhood and the door was a pretty red, but would that be enough information to find her home?

BANG!

Aubrey froze, letting her hands drop to her side, her fingers now drumming on her thighs. Was that a gunshot?

BANG! BANG!

Her stomach dropped, gunshots meant people, and people meant more danger for her. Those things were attracted to sound, right? ”Oh no…” She thought, the drumming on her fingers getting faster. The gun shots sounded close, but maybe the sound echoed off the empty walls of the town. “Yeah… Whoever they are, they’re probably far away.” Aubrey mumbled, trying to console herself, “... but maybe I should check just in case?”

She hesitantly walked towards the entrance of her room, putting her ear against the door. When she heard nothing, she cracked it open and stuck her head out, observing the hall and listening to any little creak made. There was nothing. Just as she stuck her foot out, the clunk of heavy doors flying open rung throughout the building and she froze. “I didn’t lock the front doors.” Her heart started to beat to the drum of her fingers on her leg. Adrenaline was immediately released when she heard desperate voices arguing back and forth. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she knew there were two girls and a guy.

Aubrey silently slinked back into the room, slowly closing the door, wincing at every groan the hinges made before it was fully closed. She locked the door with a satisfying chink before stepping away. If they decided they wanted to get into the room, it would at least buy her some time to get out and run… ”Or hide.” Her eyes glanced over at the closet. She weighed her options, trying to determine what would be the best course of action if they should happen to come to this room. ”Who am I kidding. There are fifteen other rooms on this floor. There’s no way they’d choose this one."

TAP.TAP.TAP

She froze. It felt as if her whole world was crashing in front of her. Why this room? Did they see her last night come into the motel? If so, why did they wait till now? The jingling of the handle made her duck into the closet and shut the door just as the room door creaked open.

Aubrey clamped a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes and trying to keep her
breathing as quiet as possible. Her other hand went to her backpack to grab a weapon until she realized she left it on the bed. “No… Nononono.” If she could’ve wept then and there and not be caught, she would’ve. She was defenseless, in a closet, hiding from people who may decide to kill her if they found her.

“Come on, it’s safe.” A tired voice said, a girl by the sound of it.

Another voice spoke up, another women. ”It’ll be okay. They’ll take what they want and leave, and you just have to be calm and quiet.” She bit her lip and let her freehand fall to her thigh again, drumming away, a bit more confidence in her, ”Yeah, you’ll be okay! If you can go through this, you can go through anything! Hell, you’ve battled your way this far, there’s no way some raiders are going to take you down.”

The blonde didn’t know how much time had gone by. It could’ve been merely minutes or maybe an hour had passed, but when she came back to fruition, she wished she had stayed lost in thought.

“Fine. Don’t tell me yet. But to whichever of you it was, I don’t care who. For every scrape, bruise, scratch, anything I find on the other two, I will take one of your fingers. And if God forbid, your poor decision leads to the death of one of the others, you’ll wish it was you.” A crackling voice said, sending shivers down Aubrey’s spine. Her newfound confidence was short-lived and she became extremely aware of her herself. Her body was aching and all she wanted was to sit down- but the closet wasn’t big enough for that. Even if she did sit, the noise she’d create trying to maneuver herself down would be plenty to alert the people in the room. Despite shivering from both adrenaline and the cold, she was sweating buckets.

Just as she was about to comfort herself again, try to instill confidence once more, she heard heavier footsteps approach the closet. Her heart sank. This is where it ends.

She pressed her back against the wall, hoping maybe she’d just get sucked into the room adjacent. Of course, that didn’t happen, and instead she found herself wide-eyed and face to face with a man who seemed just as shocked as she was. In that moment, every sound faded out and the only thing she could hear was the blood pumping through her ears.

She watched as another person, a woman with a scars across her face showed herself, her visage confused. Aubrey didn’t know what to do. She had never been in a situation like this, so she did the best she could. She raised her hand to her hat, rubbing the brim of it and in a shaky voice she said, “Hi, I’m Aubrey… Please don’t chop my fingers off.”​

 

[Maj]

GM POST​

The girls squirmed under their grasp, but stilled once the cold metal of the gun barrel was pressed to the side of their skulls. He could feel her tears stream down her face, each terrified sob as it tried to escape through his thick gloved hand. With the help of his companions the girls were blindfolded, hands bound behind their backs and marched up toward the walls of the lodge.

The other team was already moving in toward what appeared to be a construction site. Many of the targets had rushed up to the back door as quickly as they could at the sight of them. It was their goal to get into a section of high visibility, so as many of the civilians living at this lodge could see and hear them as possible. The girls were out front, human shields to the soldiers that held them. Anyone who dared shoot at them risked injuring one of the shivering girls held at gunpoint.

One of the soldiers pulled out a loudspeaker, verifying he could be heard. It wasn’t happenstance that this group was here. There were plenty of other living bodies to dispose of in town, but the guys at headquarters had their eyes on a target here that was meant to be taken alive.

“Attention: Lower your weapons and cease fire.” His voice boomed over the gun fire, easily heard by all within the lodge. “We are here to collect Andrea Jordan and Luca Brasi. Send them forward and none of you will be hurt. Including these two.” He pointed to the men in front of him, holding the girls by the backs of their necks, guns pressed firmly to the back of their skulls. It was a lie. Their orders were to grab either of their intended targets and leave no one else standing, but if they had to go in guns blazing, it lowered their chances of getting either unharmed.

“Fail to oblige and we will kill them and the rest of you. We have you totally surrounded. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to test your luck”

Mentions: Brax Rumble Fish
Interactions: everyone at the lodge

 

[BloodThunder27]

For most of the day, Shinoa had been resting, still unable to walk very far. The furthest she could go, was to the restroom. She couldn’t make it down the stairs, or didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Childbirth took a toll on her body and she still needed to rest. Hopefully within two more days, she would be able to actually walk around and start pulling her weight, figuratively and literally. Thankfully, she did also have help to care for little Valerie, which she was thankful for. She had just finished feeding the infant when Bethany entered the room. ‘I’m going to find some food, you need to eat.’

Nonetheless, Shinoa agreed. Sadly, she couldn’t make it down the stairs, otherwise she would go get the meal herself. Bethany had left the room, but came back after a few minutes, a plate in her hand and a cup of water in the other. Staying hydrated was also important. Shinoa nodded when Bethany said that she was going to be taking Milly out for a walk. “Alright, stay safe.” she said as the other woman once more left the room. Quietly, she set Valerie in her little basket as her stomach growled. Shinoa grabbed the plate before and started munching on one of the eggs, careful not to make a mess on the bed.

Meanwhile, Brian had been sitting on his makeshift bed in the camper. He had been contemplating about leaving the safety of the Lodge to do some recon, find a way out of the city and to get the story out of what’s happened here. Although he considered going alone, he had no way to communicate with the rest of the group; phone lines were down and he didn’t have a walkie talkie or radio. Sighing, he grabbed his rifle, the few magazines that were left and slowly made his way back to the house. Before he could go look for Andy, he heard a couple of muffled gunshots, before hearing a loudspeaker. Oh no...

Interactions: Bethany Maj
Mentions: Milly Rumble Fish , Andy Maj

 

[The Mad Queen]

The following is a collab between myself, King Vioogra and Hyped_Taco

Spoiler: Colour Codes

Jenna
Ivan
Cletus

"Oh, yeah I do." Ivan said as he remembered the thing he said he'd get for Leliana. "If they have any Zoloft, grab as much of it as you can carry. My backs been fucking me up recently." He said the last part with minor confusion as he tried to make it sound like the medication was for him, even though he had no idea what it was or what it did. As he turned away from the pharmacy's office, he looked back at them and took on a serious tone. "Be careful. Don't get each other killed." He spoke quickly before picking up a piece of a previously broken mirror and going towards the door. He cracked it open as Colt came through on the radio telling him to relay Leli's request on to Jenna. "Already taken care of. I'm on my way out." He said before clicking the radios volume down a few notches and checking the streets for any lingering infected.

Jenna raised her eyebrow at Ivan. Zoloft wasn't for back pain, she knew that much. "Sure. Hope your back feels better." She nodded with a smile "If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be around." With Ivan making his way out Jenna ordered Cletus and Cammy to keep an eye out and dashed into the back room, going to work. The Zoloft was easy to find and the girl managed to get her hands on a few boxes of pills, and the antibiotics went in next. The bag started to weigh more and more but with some poking around inside and placing things into different compartments she managed to make room.

They were a man down now, but that didn't mean the girl was leaving without what she came for. Taking a few deep breaths and crossing her fingers, Jenna had one more look.
And smiled, for she found pills. A small tear came to her eye as she gripped the capsule in hand.
"You're going to be okay." She whispered to herself, taking as much as the bag could carry. A few more boxes of antibiotics went in too, capsules in pill form.

Making her way out of the back room she smiled at Cletus.
"Going for food next, but this thing is stuffed. Would you be able to carry some stuff?"

Cletus hadn´t heard the radio call that happened between Colt and Ivan, so he was pretty fucking confused when he headed the other way "Wait what the fuck just happened, where´s the ruskie going?" the Russian instead of answering him just kind of told them to take care of themselves and to not get killed "Well uhhh... whatever I reckon,take care." He said while Ivan left.

Jenna then asked the redneck to keep an eye out, since they were now a man down they should probably be careful and keep checking the surroundings, to make sure no movement went unnoticed. It seemed like an eternity to him, but finally the girl came out of the room; "Yes Ma'am I sure can." The Alabamian responded to Jenna´s request to carry some of the loot, they still had many, Many things to get, so he should probably start helping out now.

"The other group's in trouble. Nile couldn't keep it in his pants." Jenna explained with a heavy sigh "My best guess is he's led a ton of dead things in so Ivan's gone to help clear them out."
She gave the redneck a reassuring half-smile "They'll be fine. Colt helped us through some tough spots, and Ivan seems to have it well held together."
She was concerned about Ivan, given his medical condition but so long as Colt kept him in line he'd make it out.

"Our mission hasn't changed. We find food and clothes next. We keep low, quiet and try to stay indoors. Avoid the streets."
The girl started to head outside, poking her head out first to see if the coast was clear. Even if the shot had gone off at the motel some dead could be moving in.

 

[TheTreForce]

Ray
​

The old man bent carefully at the waist to retrieve another stick that would be useful for the fireplace. He was on a mission to provide anything he could for the young one they had just welcomed into the world. After all, he was a grandpa now. Ray smiled to himself as he turned and trekked back towards the shed.

"Oh the green ever grows. May the winds carry me so. Over the pastures and through the hills, away I go." The song came softly from his lips, followed by a whistle of the same tune. Another fallen branch caught his eye; the meaty specimen must have been here a while because it had dried up quite nicely. "Hello there", the man spoke to the wood as he collected it. The harvest found it's way into the elder's bag and he swung it off of his arm to set it on the ground, leaning it against a stump they had chopped the prior day. "That should do it." He gave a grunt as he found a seat on the stump. The man adjusted the bag so it wouldn't fall over and he looked over his shoulder to the lodge. The trip must have taken him a bit farther from the lodge than he thought.

The smoke rising from the chimney could be seen about a hundred and twenty yards out. "I didn't even know they were chopping the trees out this far.. Hmm.." A glance around led him to believe that this must have been as far out as they went, seeing the handful of stumps scattered about. He took a heavy breath and relaxed his shoulders. His hand produced a candy bar from his pocket, "Grandpa Ray." The wrapper was ripped and dismantled and he munched on the chocolate goodness that he now beheld.

He knew that being there for Shinoa meant a lot for her during the delivery. It meant a lot for him as well. Ray felt such a joy holding the child. The delicate innocence was so beautiful. He needed this boost of motivation and new meaning for his life. Not that he had none, but he felt that anything that would better form him into a light for the rest of the lodge was what he most desired. Any bit of it might provide someone else with the confidence they need. If only that child knew the impact it has made on everyone here. For better or worse, it was still amazing how the smallest things could make the biggest difference in the world.

He crumbled the wrapper and shoved it back into his pocket and stood up into a stretch. "Suppose I shouldn't sit still out here for too long, don't wanna catch a cold." The bag of wood was lifted and the old man turned to head back.

 

[The Mad Queen]

Doctor Ralph Fisher: The Lodge​

Ralph glared, staring the other Doctor down as he waited for him to explain himself.
"I found your traps. You even managed to snag a host, so I suppose I should congratulate you." He shook his head "And yes, I did hack it's arms off. It's a safety hazard, just leaving one of things to dangle in the air..."
If the hazmat soldiers saw one of those things dangling in the air, they would no doubt move to investigate. He wasn't sure if they had the numbers to go house to house, searching for survivors to execute but anything outrageous like say a corpse dangling in the air as it clawed wildly at the living just out of reach would just attract trouble.

He took a deep breath in, preparing to deliver a rant at Hector but something stopped him. For a muffled gunshot erupted from one of the rooms. He jumped back, His mind immediately jumping to a dark place. Between the stress of the past few days, it wouldn't be out of the question for somebody to do something like this.

He'd heard somebody go in there earlier but had been too focused on Hector to stop them. With some tears building in his cow brown eyes, and biting his bottom lip Fisher poked his head inside. If only he'd stopped to check, or even talked to other people at the lodge more, he could have prevented this. He expected to see brain matter and blood caked on the walls, to have to break the news that not only had one of their own been taken yet again, but they had done it by their own hands.
He wondered who he would expect to find in the room. It didn't seem like Luca or Owen to take this way out, but he'd been wrong before.

“Hazmats are here. This is not a drill; Hazmats are here. This is not a drill. Get to the kitchen now.”
They’d found them. His brown eyes widened in terror as he froze in place. The loudspeaker brought him back to his senses. “We are here to collect Andrea Jordan and Luca Brasi. Send them forward and none of you will be hurt. Including these two.”

Why had they managed to grab? Ralph couldn't see from his position and even sticking his head out of the window would probably get him little more than a bullet to the brain. Who wasn't accounted for at the lodge?

Interactions: shadowz1995 (Hector)
Mentioned: Brax (Luca), Maj (Owen)

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between Hyped_Taco King Vioogra Corgi and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Nile
Leliana
Aubrey

"I'm sorry, I was going to talk to you, but I didn't get the chance before we left and-" Nile entered the room, and Leliana immediately fell silent. She didn't know how much he had heard, or even if he was paying attention in the first place, but there was no need to make him ask questions. She glanced back at Colt, before turning back to the window, hoping to see a change for the better for their situation. No changes by the way. Only seconds later, she had to turn back and face the to others in the room as Nile jumped back, yelling. More noise is exactly what they needed, thanks, buddy. Anyway, Colt stood up to investigate, and she too was surprised by what was in the closet. Or rather, who. A girl introduced herself as Aubrey, a weird thing to do if you're faced with possibly hostile people, and then asked to not have her fingers cut off. "Wh-why would we do that?" Leliana questioned, moving closer to the closet. "Are you alright? We're not dangerous....to you at least."

"Oh, oh my, oooohhhhh..." Nile groaned, clutching his poor heart. You don't jumpscare a man on the edge. He thought Aubrey was a zombie! God knows he's terrified of them now.

Colt froze as Leliana spoke to the girl inside the cupboard. Her demeanor, her tone of voice and what she said caused a shiver down the veteran’s spine. It was all too familiar. The only differences was they were inside a building in Colorado, not in a sweltering desert in a foreign land and this girl was not bound, gagged and had God knows what done to her. With a quiet gulp, Colt took a step back and, grabbing her Colt.45, she turned away and continued looking around the room. There was a pack of cigarettes on the sideboard. At least she could get the Italian the fucking cigarettes he wanted. Seeing the convict acting out the death scene from Julius Ceaser like a second-grader, the woman let out a growlish sigh.

“Careful. She can probably smell fear.” She grumbled, voice dripping in sarcasm before heading to stand at the door guard. She could barely keep track of what was happening. Seemed there was a bottle on the sideboard too, which Colt picked up and sniffed with a crinkle of the nose. Some kind of makeshift moonshine by the smell. Holding onto it, she turned her gaze back outside. She would speak to the girl soon. First, she had to keep watch since her guard on duty was currently dying on the bed. Dummy. At least Leliana had some sense to assure the stranger. She would have done so herself but right now... she looked to the moonshine again, she needed to think.

"Uuughhhh." Nile groaned out as he lifted himself up, his heart only beating slightly faster. Looking back to the closet, Nile spotted the blonde girl. "Hey, you know there's a horde around the building, right?" Nile asked. "Your's truly made that fuckup" Nile admitted as he sat down on the bed again. "Looks like we're all in the same boat here." Nile groaned out, feelings like shame and guilt getting to him just a little.

"The man said he would cut fingers off." While Aubrey's speech is fast and shaky, the emotion behind it doesn't support the subject she's talking about. Internally, she's shitting bricks but externally, she has minor worry etched between her brows and some droplets of sweat dripping from her forehead.

Continuing to fidget with her hat, she says, "I got hurt a day ago, I think..." Her free hand goes to touch her cheek, still purple and blue from her encounter, "And that's good. If you guys wanted to harm me I'm sure you would've done it by now." Her eyes glance over to the man who plopped on the bed and the more threatening woman who turned away, "I can't smell fear. As far as I know, fear doesn't have a scent."

Glancing at the faces once more, she realized how confined she felt in the moment. Outnumbered and alone, "I didn't know that, no." She replied to the groaning man as she took a hesitant step out of the closet, once more scanning the room to make sure she was doing something that wouldn't put them on edge... Or on more edge than they're on now, "Those things are tricky. I can typically outrun them but a hoard is different entirely." Aubrey slowly walked towards the bed and carefully picked up the crowbar set next to the man. She had run into a hoard before, but never up close. Aubrey had seen it from afar and decided to take a different route... which wounded up making her worse for wear.

Not really knowing what to do, and wanting to get rid of the weird vibe she was getting from the room, she gave a forced smile, lifting up the crowbar like a show-and-tell, "This is mine." Her other hand still rubbing the brim of her cap.

"Oh, no, that was Ivan threatening the overdramatic one on the bed." Should Leliana tell this stranger the reason why? Or just leave it be? The second options seemed better at this point in time, though she certainly wasn't going to be dropping this. And maybe Aubrey could put two and two together. "Fear actually does have a scent, but only animals can smell it. Anyway, I have a first aid kit here, I can't do anything for the bruising, but I can certainly patch up any cuts." The girl had no real reason to lie to them about when she got hurt. Nobody had their weapons in hand, save for Colt who was standing guard. "We're waiting for Ivan to scout and see how bad the horde really is. The door is barricaded, and it should hold so long as the infected don't have a reason to start bashing down the door." The girl then lifted her crowbar, Leliana's hand twitched slightly like she wanted to go for her gun on instinct. But the girl did nothing but proclaim it was her weapon. "That's good, but not a lot of help right now."

Colt listened to everything as Aubrey told Leliana that she had been hurt, but she knew the nurse would help her if she had to, as well as deconstructing her statement, which was quickly rebuilt by Leli. The corner of Colt’s scarred lip twitched a little in an attempt at a smirk. It seemed that she made the right choice to bring the nurse over. She seemed to be assuring the woman which Colt was also thankful for. Though, at the realisation that the woman was, yet again, a civilian with no firearm experience. What else was new? With a sigh, she took a cautious sip from the moonshine and that one sip confirmed her original guess. Bootleg shit. But… it didn’t taste bad.

As she drank more from the bottle, her radio crackled, causing her to lift it to her ear. She listened as it seemed Ivan was thinking ahead of her. Colt was almost impressed. “Good. Good.” She spoke low enough to not be heard, “Make as little noise as possible, y’got me? I want all ya’ll alive.” She instructed him, “Don’t radio me unless it’s important.” She added before briefly looking behind her.

“Leliana, look ‘er over. Nile,” she pointed a slightly wavy finger at the man on the bed, “When yer finished floppin’ ‘round like a limp dick, search the rest of the room. I’mma check the halls real quick. We gotta keep things quiet. Ivan’s on his way but we gotta make it easier for ‘im and ourselves. Too much noise will only make ‘em madder.” She instructed before turning back around and, taking the moonshine with her, started her walk, avoiding any creaking floorboards or anything that could make them more attractive targets.

"I think the whole no noise thing went out the window when you two screamed your heads off in the lobby, but sure, yeah, never too late to start!" Nile mumbled as he got up from the bed. Walking towards the shitty, rundown bathroom, he picked up the pack of cigs. Opening the door to the bathroom, he found nothing but a little mirror that doubled as a cabinet. Opening that up, all he found was soap, shampoo, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. "Hygiene is important." Nile muttered as he started cramming all of it into his blue backpack.

Aubrey nodded at what the blonde headed girl told her. Seeing as the man said he caused the horde outside; it was understandable whoever this Ivan was would be upset at him. Still, she didn’t want her fingers to be cut off, so she made a mental note as to not make a lot of noise.

“Oh, right.” She mumbled at the talk of a medkit, “I had one, but those assholes forced me to give them my stuff. I had a lot of good things, too. Robbed the back-storage area of the store I worked at that others hadn’t broken into.” As she was saying this, she was lowering her weapon and her jacket to reveal a cut on her left shoulder. It wasn’t too deep, but it was long, “They also did this when I tried to run.”

It dawned on Aubrey that it must have been a holy intervention that these people didn’t want to kill her. A warm feeling lit up her chest and she suddenly felt how exhausted she was from all her worrying and running and more worrying mixed with more running. She felt… happy? Not necessarily happy. Happy was what she felt on her boat. Maybe safe? Who knows how she felt safe in a building surrounded by those things, but she did. “We can always try to get onto the roof as a vantage point. Not great for escaping but if there are things all around us then we might as well see how many.” She pointed out, sitting on the bed that the man got up off of. Her eyes looked to the scarred woman as she spoke the other two’s names, “That’s a good idea. When I got in here, I made sure there weren’t any of the things before passing out... But what’s your name?” She asked, her right hand still fumbling with her hat.

"Finally, someone with common effing sense," Nile mumbled, hearing what Aubrey said as he stepped out of the bathroom. "I vote we get on the roof. Whatever your name is, how do we do get up there?" Nile asked Leliana as he stepped back into the bedroom.

"Nile have you not been paying attention?" Leliana asked, motioning for Aubrey to sit down. "The access to the roof is outside. A latter kept where lots of zombies are currently waiting to eat us. It is also locked by a protective door to keep dumbasses from climbing up there to fuck around. I don't have a key for that, so even if there was not a horde outside, we couldn't get up there anyway." How many times had she explained this? At least three now, probably more since he was apparently that dense. "So no, we are not going up on the roof, whether we want to or not." She gave him a short glare, before looking back to Aubrey. "I can patch your wound up pretty quickly, but I have to ask you a few questions, alright?" Leliana said, ignoring her urge to correct Nile about her name again. "First off, how long ago were you injured? Secondly, how did you get hurt? And lastly, has any blood from the infected gotten into your wound?"

Colt flashed Nile a scarred middle finger as she went down the hall, pulling the M4 around and gripping it, staring down the sight. She had heard them talk, once again about the goddamn roof- this was not the time! Colt had put the moonshine in her bag for later, she was already beginning to feel the depressants setting in, slowing her down mentally. But she was lucid. Anything that moved, it was aimed at. Thankfully the gun was silenced. Every corner, she’d squint her eyes, too afraid to look for the second it took to go around. The inside of the motel was quiet. Too silent for Colt’s comfort. She had experienced the same fear when on tour. They would walk into entire villages and towns completely decimated by war; with not a soul in sight and only an eerie silence as company. However, now it was not rebels with guns she had to fear, but bloodthirsty Things. Seemed it never ended.

Something caught her eye. A slightly ajar door. Flicking on the torch, she peeked through before committing to entering. The room was a mess. The blinds were down and all the drawers had been pulled out. A sudden flash of movement caught her attention causing her to flash the torch towards the bed. What she saw next made her jump back. A Thing, previously a female, cuffed by both the wrists and ankles to the bed, a gag in her mouth and a collar around her neck. She was hissing and yowling in an attempt to escape her restraints, no doubt so she could sink her teeth into the veteran.

“What in Sam hell? That there is just… Wrong.” Colt grumbled with a crinkle of her nose of decay, alcohol past its sell by date and... what she could only figure would be the scent found on the site of porn film-sets. “Some of them folk need Jesus.” She added as she left the room, pausing for a moment to listen down the hall, it seemed that the group were discussing matters among themselves. Colt sighed heavily. She honestly had no idea how to get them out of this place alive. They were scared and she had to keep them assured and calm, but how could she when even she did not know what to do. With a sigh, she raised the radio up to her ear, pressing the button to talk.

“Ivan-” A sudden thud behind the veteran caused her to spin with her gun raised, only to be met with milky eyes and a hellish gape howling like something from the depths of hell, “AAAAARGH!” Colt roared as it tried to grapple but was halted by the M4, which it had now grabbed and was trying to rip from her grip. All she could do was hold her ground and use her prosthetic leg to keep it at bay until she could grab her handgun. "Fuck! FUCK!"
​

 

[Brax]

​

They all heard the commands of the Hazmat soldiers. No one was convinced that lives were going to be spared. Luca watched as Kypher placed each one down and was silent as he spoke. He raised an eyebrow at the kid’s intentions, but it seemed as though he knew something that the ex-capo did not. It was more than plausible that Luca could take care of this. With his rifle on hand it would be even easier. He grabbed each of the items into his jacket pocket and turned from the group in the kitchen, intent on making sure this was done. The first move was stepping out the front door. He opened it partially to see a group of four continuing to advance. Without warning Luca extended his left hand, haphazardly shooting the rifle a few times at them. This caused the group to disperse quickly, grabbing whatever cover they could. Luca used this time to throw a few of those play doh balls out into the front yard. He followed suit on the left side, though didn’t have to provide any suppressing fire to do so.

He closed the door and locked it behind him before quickly running toward the back. As soon as the back door so much as opened slightly, gunshots fired. Luca hit the ground hard, avoiding the bullets which pierced through the top of the wooden door. He rolled out of the door’s way before hurrying into the kitchen. He propped the window open and laid down some more fire, his bullets piercing the mesh screen of the window as his bullets hit the ground, rocks and trees around the second group of soldiers. Thrown off, they found cover - Luca pushed out the remaining portion of the mesh window cover and threw a few more of those balls out into the backyard as far as he could.

His primary objective was to establish a perimeter with the IED's. He tried to spread them out as much as possible. Once he had finished, Luca made his way back into the kitchen, pressing himself against the wall that separated the kitchen from the back door. He had a slim line of fire aimed toward the front door. There were only two ways in from the ground and he was relatively certain he could cover it in its entirety.

“GET READY!” Luca yelled, grinding his teeth together as he lifted his rifle and aimed it at the door.

​

“We fight! We’re not laying our lives down for these pigs!”

"Now is not the time for speeches, Luca!" Answered a voice over the cracks of rifles just outside the lodge. It was easily placed as Dr. Salazar's by the gravelly voice and spanish accent.

Hector didn't even have enough time to put any proper clothing on before the bullets started flying. So, he hit the hardwood floor next to Luca with nothing but boxer briefs and a hunting rifle. He did have the foresight to grab two spare magazines and carry those in his offhand.

"How many of them?!"

Meanwhile, Kypher rushed himself upstairs and peeked out the crack of the window Luca had made earlier. He caught sight of four evenly spread fluorescent yellow uniforms approaching the front cautiously, clearly attentive to the next round of suppressing fire. Pulling out a pair of binoculars he luckily had the foresight to remember to bring, Kypher got a closer look at the four playdoh balls Luca had tossed out the front into the open, now partially covered in the wild grass. Each one had a number carved all over it.

“One… Three… Five… Six… That works.”

Kypher then pulled out his radio transmitter, ensuring it was still set to Luca’s frequency, and pressed the transmission button. He had read plenty on SAS tactical assault training courses, he was very aware of the communique etiquette involved with such an operation as the one they now found themselves in.

“Luca, this is Kypher. What you have thrown outside are IED explosives. I have four targets in sight out the front, one approaching approximately fifty metres North-West. Try to draw them in. Over.”

[Part 1: shadowz1995 Kloudy ]

 

[Hyped_Taco]

The following is a collab between myself and The Mad Queen
Green = Cletus, Purple = Jenna
​

¨Nile Is the junkie roight?, I fucking knew it" Cletus said due to having guessed earlier that the junkie was too much of a dumbass to not fire His gun at literally the worst possible spot at the moment. "Yeah yeah, I'm sure they"ll be fine, they can just outrun the undead fuckers or something". "Wait, but without Ruskie with us we ain't gonna be able to take too much of... well anything" Cletus told the girl; they either needed to find a way in which they could carry more stuff back to the truck or they would be forced to do several trips back for more loot.

"Yeah. Bringing him was probably a mistake." Jenna lightly shook her head. If Nile got somebody else hurt she'd beat him black and blue, if he got someone killed. Well, she just hoped he hadn't. "We'll manage." She nodded "Colt taught me how to shoot." She gave the Redneck a half-smile "But so long as we keep quiet we might not even need the guns. Just follow my lead, and we'll be fine." The girl led him into another back alley, staying away from the streets as they moved towards the general store. The streets were still covered in infected but the girl knew they weren't the only thing to be frightened of.

Interacted: The Mad Queen Jenna Hyped_Taco Cletus
Mentioned: Togy Nile King Vioogra The Ruskie (also known as Ivan)

 

[Maj]

​

From the treeline, another four soldiers moved into position. They were low and quiet, with three keeping their eyes out in case something came from the trees. One in particular faced the front, the eyes under his mask filled with determination and fury. They had their orders, who to bring in alive but the leader had another objective. Stopping in his tracks, he raised a fist and the other Coyotes held position.

“Cover the exits. Hold your fire until we see the infected. Keep your eyes peeled for a white male, thirties with brown hair and eyes.” He ordered, aiming down the sights of his rifle “He’s mine.” He added with malice

Owen listened to the sound of the loudspeaker, mystified. The soldiers had returned for his sister? He wasn’t sure what use he was going to be to his ‘team.’ Owen barely knew how to fire a gun, and getting close enough that he could be of real use was not really an option when the yard suddenly seemed plagued with hoards of armed gunmen.

“Alright guys, I’ll be straight with you.” Owen addressed the two males that were to be his battle mates. “I’m not going to be much use with a firearm, and I’m not sure about Dr. Fisher. I think the best thing we can do is try to set up some barricades and support Brian as much as we can.”

“I can shoot.” Fisher added, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice, drawing his sidearm “There’s an assault rifle up here too. I won’t be much good with it, and probably dislocate my shoulder but it could be good as a diversion.” The redhead took the assault rifle hesitantly. Surely, even he couldn’t mess it up if he was just spraying bullets into groups of enemies. He wasn’t close enough to Beth or Milly to accidentally shoot them. He hoped to god someone with some precision saved them before it was too late. Owen never should have let them go out alone.

Was Brian the only one who was trained to use a gun? If so, they were going to be in some serious trouble. “It’s alright, I”ll just need you guys to cover me anyway. This isn’t my first rodeo. These guys don’t know who they’re dealing with.” He clicked the safety off of his rifle. “But I need to know how many of them are out there. Because I don’t know if I’ll have enough bullets to take them all out. I am not exactly bullet-proof either.” He sighed. “Just need to make each shot count. Head shots only. But as far as you two go, just make sure you don’t get hit and provide suppressive fire.”

“Wait, I see movement.” One of the soldiers whispered “Bottom window. Permission to engage?”
“Take him out.” Coyote-1 whispered
Aiming down his sights, the soldier switched his rifle to burst fire and opened fire on the kitchen window, still remaining low and still in order to keep the gun steady.

Owen turned to see the barrel of the gun staring him straight down. One of the soldiers in the distance had him in his sights. The window in the kitchen was large enough to expose him, and his flaming red hair made him an easy target. The man dove to the ground as the tinkling sound of breaking glass mixed with the sound of gunfire.

On his belly, he did his best to stay out of sight from the window and make his way over to the thick dining room table. With his strength, it didn’t take much muscle to flip it on it’s side, table legs sticking out toward him to create a barricade.

“Sorry Andy,” the boy muttered as he crouched behind it, using his shoulder to push it closer to the already shot up window.

“Did you mention you needed cover?” Owen called to Brian over the sounds of the chaos. The table would likely be thick to take a few shots for them as they did their best to take out some of the soldiers moving in toward the exits. He peeked over the top to attempt to see the enemies that had shot him out the window. As far as he could tell there was nothing keeping him from spraying bullets back in kind. Hesitant eyes looked over the gun as he checked the things he knew to. The safety was off and it was loaded. With three quick succession breaths to steel his nerves, Owen rose above the table and fired the gun into the field.

However his efforts were mostly in vain. None of his shots connected or if they did none of them seemed to hit anything vital as far as Owen could tell. Hopefully, if nothing else it distracted the soldiers long enough for his companions to get over to the table by the window. The man dove down right as the fire was returned, feeling the sting of a bullet glancing off the side of his left shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need the covering fire.” Brian called back before peaking over to see if he could get a shot.

“This fight is just about to get a little unfair...for you.” He said with confidence as he emerged from cover and opened fire on the Hazmats, flipping the switch to full auto and firing in short bursts. “Come on! Let’s dance!” He opened fire and was able to hit a Hazmat. Sadly it wasn’t a headshot, much to his dismay, but he continued to open fire.

“Take cover!” Coyote-1 yelled “Take that bastard out!”
Seeing a man poke out of cover was like ringing the dinner bell, and while one soldier reached down to drag his comrade behind the cover of the forest the other two fired directly at Brian, moving back into the trees to find good cover.

Fisher was ducked behind a door with his pistol in hand. Everything had happened so fast, and he found himself unable to concentrate as bullets tore through the air. Who did the hazmats have as hostages? How had they found he lodge? His mind was drawn back to the infected he had found dangling but it would surely have been a few more days before they even thought to check through the woods.
Unless they already knew about the lodge.

As he poked his head out from behind his space, Fisher watched as Brian exposed himself to the hazmats and while keeping low tried to move towards him. Hopefully he could pull the man back before he got himself shot.

As Brian emerged from cover, he didn’t take into account that he was now exposed. While he did hit someone, that was paid back. A few bullets came for him, one grazing his shoulder and another grazing his arm. “Fuck!” He exclaimed just as someone pulled him back behind cover. “Thanks…” He sighed before checking his magazine; fifteen shots left. “I think we’re completely surrounded, someone needs to go get to Shinoa and her baby. If they are left upstairs, they’ll surely die.” He said, realizing that the young mother and her newborn were upstairs still and remembering that Shinoa was still having trouble both standing and walking since it hasn’t been very long since she has given birth.

Part2: The Mad Queen BloodThunder27

 

[Brax]

​

There wasn’t time to be intrigued by Tre’s comment about her being a leader. If she was alive after all of this to lead anyone it would be a god send. She had faced the Hazmat soldiers before and knew exactly what they were capable of. Dumb luck and Colt and Luca’s protection is all that had gotten her from the school, she hoped that her dumb luck would continue to hold out.

“Alright fatass,” Andy addressed Michael who was still sitting at the kitchen table. “Get up. I’m of best use in higher ground.” The redhead was a little anxious to be away from Luca. He had been by her side during every near death experience she had managed to pull through. However, the kid seemed to have a clear tactical mind and she knew that he was no stranger to a gun fight either. She turned to the male on her way toward the stairs.

¨Wait what?¨ Michael responded to Andy´s comment about him, he didn´t know why she needed the high ground but whatever. He grabbed his plate of eggs with whatever was left of them and ended up sitting on the sofa.

“Do you and Warren have guns? I’m thinking we head up and use one of the bedrooms to take out who we can…”

¨Well yeah, I have an M1911 pistol why do you as-¨ he stopped talking for a sec before he continued ¨Oh man… Don´t tell me it´s another horde¨ Michael truly had no idea of what the fuck was going on at the moment.

It was then that she heard the loudspeaker, calling it’s warning to her and the others. They wanted her and Luca, but why? That was a stupid question really. The scientists had been showing special interest in her since the day of the outbreak, taking blood samples and the like from her nude body at the middle school. There was obviously something special going on with her and since they were including Luca in the mix it could only be because they were near patient zero when the outbreak began.

She spent no time dwelling on the moral dilemma of handing herself over. The redhead had seen how they had ruthlessly massacred man and child alike at the school. It didn’t matter if they got her and Luca or not, the fight would continue until all of either side was dead.

“Come on. Let’s go get a better look at what we are dealing with.” Andy sprinted up the stairs, with the others behind her. Tre pushed on ahead, moving past Kypher to the other side of the lodge. He kneeled by one of the further rooms to peak out the blinds. Another group of soldiers had moved in toward the barracks.

Before Warren had considered answering Andy's question, she was cut off by the loudspeaker. He hadn't disclosed the information that he did conceal a pistol to anyone but Tre really, but he assumed most of them figured that he would be packing heat. Regardless, it didn't matter much now. They were under attack from his least favorite thing that walked the earth at the moment, even more than the biters, the hazmats.

The large man ascended the stairs after them and branched off to follow Tre. He knelt beside the youngster, peering outside with him, "Listen kid, if things start going to shit, we're not hesitating to get the fuck outta here. I'm not putting my ass on the line for these people. This is exactly the kind of situation I intended to avoid before joining this band of shitheads." Anger seeped into his last sentence like venom, but he maintained a subtle volume as to not let anyone else hear.

Tre’s nose twitched as Warren spoke. He was right, this most definitely wasn’t worth dying for. If things had been the same as they were, his loyalty would have been without question. This apocalypse led to a much different breed of men. When laws were still in place and society wasn’t broken, Luca was the same. However, Tre noticed the normal nature of people turning ravenous due to the severity of their time.

Even so, it was woefully apparent that it wasn’t going to be as easy as Warren had assumed.

“Move carefully.” The leader of the four hazmat soldiers in the south-east part of the lodge were slowly advancing toward the barracks. As they got closer, he signaled with his hand for two to break off. This was designed for all four to surround the enclosed structure, which had obviously been a man-made addition. There was only one window aside from the entrance, which had been shut off with a closed door. Even the window was blocked off with a large piece of wood that had been bolted from the other side, presumably so zombies couldn’t make their way in. One of the soldiers had broken off after hearing some rustling in the woods, leaving to investigate the source of the noise.

Andy wasted no time. As the other’s conversed behind her, she made a direct line for Owen’s bedroom. The door was already ajar as she pushed her way inside. The downfall to bringing a bow to a gunfight was that there was no quick shots while keeping cover. It was true, she was rather quick with a bow, among the fastest. However, without a crossbow she would have to fully stand to draw the heavy string. Andy placed herself, standing against the wall near the window that overlooked the front of the house. It would only take a quick turn to be able to aim, but she would have to be fast and she still didn’t have a clear idea of how many they were up against or where they were.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. The last week and a half had put her in war zone after war zone, but nothing like this. Even during the shooting at the middle school she had avoided the bulk of the action by fleeing into a deserted hallway. There was no hiding now, they were after her and unless they were able to fend them off many of the people at the lodge would die because of it.

Andy peeked her head around the corner to see soldiers had basically all but surrounded the front of her lodge. Four men made their way from the right side, and four more were moving up from the left. The woman slowed her breathing as she let her body flip into auto pilot. She could feel the soft fletching of her arrows as two fingers slipped down over the feathers. It was no different than shooting a deer.

The woman knocked the arrow as she made a conscious effort to control her breathing. There wouldn’t be a lot of time and once she loosed this arrow they would know where she was hiding. In one swift motion Andy turned to face the window and drew her arrow. She could feel her fingers tremble as they pressed against her cheek bone, trained eyes scanning for an easy shot.

One of the soldiers was focused on someone shooting out the window from downstairs. None of them seemed to be terribly focused on her, but he was close. She could clearly see the plastic material bunch where the curve of the neck should be. Her fingers relaxed, letting the arrow spiral through the air.

The soldiers had expected the members of the lodge to fight back. However, the last thing anyone had expected was the arrow that came whistling down from the heavens. Before the confusion could set in, a gurgling yelp sounded from the man on the furthest left. His gun dropped as his hands went to his throat, blood slipping down the slick plastic of his uniform. The thick carbon shaft of an arrow stuck from the side of his neck at an angle and he dropped to his knees.

“What in the-” his companion turned to look at him as the muffled sound of his last breath was made, and he fell to the ground, dead.

[Part 3: Maj Hyped_Taco TheTreForce ]

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between Hyped_Taco King Vioogra Corgi and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Nile
Leliana
Aubrey

Aubrey listened to the three talk to each other, sitting there blankly as she watched. While she appreciated the compliment from Nile, Leliana did have a point. She hadn’t thought about the roof access being outside. It’s possible they could climb from where they were but that was much more dangerous, and her shoulder wouldn’t be up for it anyways.

When the girl, Leliana is what the scary woman called her, turned to her and asked her the questions, she lightly shrugged and listed, “It’s been a day or two, I think. A guy cut me with a knife, but they kept their weapons clean, and I’ve had this jacket over the wound. I haven’t encountered many of those things the past few days, so I doubt anything could’ve gotten in it other than bacteria and sweat.”

In the commotion of explaining the last event she had gone through; she didn’t notice Scary Woman ™ had stepped away from the entrance. It wasn’t until she heard the scream from the hall that she looked over and saw she was missing. Her eyes widened and flicked to Leliana, who decided to tell them to stay put. Aubrey nodded her head and stood next to the door, crowbar in hand if anything went wrong.

About to answer Aubrey, Leliana's head snapped in the direction of Colt's voice, she yells dragging her attention away from Nile and Aubrey. Immediately the girl grabbed the bat standing against the wall near the window. "You two stay here," She said firmly before she slowly stuck her head out of the room. Which way did she go, which way did she go? Downstairs didn't make sense, they couldn't risk going down there just yet. And Colt sounded a lot closer than that. Leliana knew she needed to be careful, but this wasn't a situation like outside, Colt wasn't just a few feet away from help, no, she was further down the hall. Leliana cornered, peaking around before speed-walking through the secondary hall, listening for any signs of a struggle. "Come on, come on, where are you?" Leliana muttered, turning the last corner for the upstairs, she finally heard the older woman. One door was standing open, the sounds of people struggling and Colt's panic coming from it made Leliana's heart race. She couldn't panic, she couldn't panic or Colt would die, and then they would have to deal with an infected woman who could probably kill them by ripping out their spines.

Slowly, but with urgency, Leliana approached the door, peaking in to get a sense of the situation. Colt was being pinned down by an Infected man, using her prosthetic to keep him at bay. Good choice. Leliana could have called for it, but then who's to say Colt wouldn't recover in time to help her out? She could break its head open, but there was a good chance that Colt could get some in her mouth. Or her eyes. Or nose. So, Leliana only saw one option. Moving slow enough so that the Infected wouldn't notice her, but quick enough to make it before the situation escalated, Leliana raised her bat. And with more force than how she slapped Nile earlier, swung the bat into the Infected's chest. The thing stumbled back, howling, angry that its attempt to feed was interrupted. "Colt, silent weapon, no gun," The blonde warned, watching the infected. For a split second, it did nothing, trying to figure out the new smell, or which one to go after.

It chose Leliana. The thing lunged, and with Colt to her side, and no longer being near the door, her options of what to do were slim. She raised the bat a mere second before the thing could get its teeth on her, it's throat hitting the bat. But Leliana wasn't strong enough to keep from being pushed to the wall, the sheer might of the infected terrifying her. And that fear perfectly displayed in her face. "Colt!"

“Ya big! Ugly! Bastard!” Colt snarled as she tried to push the Thing off of her, kicking it hard in the ribs but it relented. She could hear the unholy rattling of its loose ribs within its decaying form. But the more she struggled, the more determined the creature became. She was quickly losing strength within the struggle. But like a golden angel howling bloody murder, Leliana came. She threw the creature off of her, which was both a blessing and a curse as it now turned its attention onto the nurse and started going for her. Colt took a second to allow her breathing to return to semi-normal before she saw that the nurse was now in trouble, up against a wall with the Thing quickly closing in. She told her “no gun” before she was trapped. Springing to her feet, Colt lunged forward.

“Yes gun!” She yowled as she swung the butt of the firearm with as much might as possible, cracking the Thing on the side of the head with it. It gargled and stumbled enough for the veteran to pull the nurse behind her. She kept her gun raised, “I gotcha missy, I gotcha…” she mumbled softly to keep herself calm but also attempt to assure her. She could not shoot the creature, all that would do was alert anything else. She could not simply charge in to hit it again, it would go for Leliana. She had to think. Now!

The sound of Colt hitting the infected on the side of its head with her gun, followed by being pulled to the relative safety of being behind the vet, Leliana had no time to rest. They needed to kill this thing so they could leave so that it wasn't a danger anymore. Briefly, she thought back to the few infected that found the lodge a few days after they got there. They couldn't move correctly if their bones were broken, and since they were obviously still decaying in spite of being able to walk, their bones could be a bit weaker than when they were alive. The question was how long had this man been like this? That of course, was a question she didn't have the time to answer. Moving past Colt, she raised her bat again, and swing low, aiming for the infected's knee. Her intended strike hit dead-on, the leg of the infected bending, snapping. The crack of bone was defended by the things howl, anger shaking it as it tried to stand, but fell, the leg giving out. This time, the further breaking of its bones was loud and clear, that sickening snap. The thing reached out, pushing with the other, and Leliana, the bat at the ready sidestepped quickly and swung down timing for it's the elbow.

She missed this time, hitting its wrist instead, another snap signaled she had broken it as well. It screeched, still desperately trying to grab ahold of her with its broken hand, his jaws clacking together as Leliana took a step back, moving around to have her back at the door. It tried to turn, to follow its prey, but being a leg and an arm down made it difficult.

The nurse glanced to Colt, the back down at the create still trying to flip over successfully, still managing to fail mostly. "Knife it," Leliana said, assuming cold had a knife or maybe a sharp object anyway, the infected keeping its attention her now that she had made some noise. It tried lunging, not getting far before he fell onto his broken hand. Leliana almost felt sad for it, briefly forgetting it had another useable hand.

"It's-FUCK!" The infected grabbed her ankle, pulling back with such force it cause her fall, landing hard on her back, Leliana's forehead coming into contact with the bottom of doorframe when it bounced back off the floor. "DAMNIT!" She kicked quickly with her free foot, the sole of her coming into contact with the infected's face knocking its head away briefly each time, but it didn't let go. "Colt the lamp! Anything!" She could feel the blood on her face, her forehead had been cut on the door frame. Her head was throbbing, clouded, like she had a brick thrown at her face. "Goddamnit, LET GO ALREADY!"

She knew she probably shouldn't help or else they'd be mad, but the yelling she heard… Going against Leliana’s wished, she turned the corner and rushed towards the screaming. As she barreled into the room, she took in everything happening in front of her in a split-second, and she sprinted past Scary Woman and managed not to step on Leliana.

For a moment, she froze and stopped in her tracks. The things were even worse up close. The gnarled face, boils covering their whole face, "Its not human." The empty, milky eyes met her own and she bit her lip, "It's not human." She reassured herself, getting close enough to press her foot onto thing and held it down. She placed her other foot on it’s free hand so that it couldn’t grab her as well. Despite the agonizing aches that wracked her whole body, she raised her crowbar overhead and brought it down on the thing's head.

Miss. She hit it’s neck. The head lulled, it’s eyes meeting hers once more and it's mouth still moving as if it was trying to say something. Like it was trying to beg for its life. "Stop thinking." She raised the crowbar again, moving her foot to up to the caved in neck and brought the crowbar down again with a grunt.

Bingo. A sickening crack echoed. Her hit was harder than she thought she could ever muster. Either she’s grown quite strong over the past ten days or adrenaline was working its magic. Whatever the reason was, it still wasn’t dead. Aubrey couldn’t bring herself to look straight as the defenseless thing beneath her, so she glanced to the side and brought the crowbar down one last time. At last, it’s squirming ceased and she stood over the body, catching her breath.

Aubrey hadn’t realized she was shaking. She felt like she was going to throw up. Quickly, Aubrey detached the thing's hand from Leliana's ankle, wiping the sweat from her forehead and returning her hand to its rightful place- the brim of her hat. "Everyone okay?"

Colt’s ethanol corrupted mind fought for a solution as she heard Leliana tell her to knife the creature after she had made a failed attempt to kill it on her own. It was still determined, despite its handicaps. Seeing the nurse cornered, Colt let out an indistinguishable growl in an attempt to drive the Thing back towards her but it seemed set on killing Leliana. Taking out her knife (still badly damaged) Colt lunged into a run, the knife raised. Her intention was to bury the weapon deep into the Thing’s skull, but she was driven to a skidding stop as the strange woman, Aubrey suddenly jumped in front, causing Colt to skid on the grimy floor, sending her to the ground. She growled as she felt a rush of pain through her back. Seemed titanium in her spine was no match for a shit covered floor.

“Leliana!” she tried to scramble to her feet but paused upon seeing the now dead Thing and Aubrey standing with a blood-covered crowbar. The veteran put two and two together quickly. The veteran’s body shook, and her breathing was shallow from the rushes of panic and adrenaline coursing through her. When the girl asked if everyone was okay. Perching her hat on her head as if the last few minutes had not even happened. This was unlike anything Colt had experienced and… oh the relief. The relief in finally coming across a civilian who had some idea of combat, even with just a melee. The scarred veteran looked back to the freckled lady, the corners of her mouth twitching before she let out a short, relief and shock filled laugh, a distinctly breathy “heh-heh-heh” almost like grunts rather than a vocalisation before assisting the nurse to her feet.

“Well, we seem in one piece. Thanks to ya.” She turned to the stranger, wiping her brow clean of sweat before putting her army cap back on, she then turned to the nurse. “Leli, ya okay? Ya ain’t bit?” she asked, walking over to check the girl over. The woman was expererienced with medicine, but not enough to save her if she had been bitten.

When she saw Aubrey, Leliana wasn't sure if she should be relieved or angry that the girl hadn't listened to her. Wow. This must be how Colt felt all the time. The other blonde came in, raising her crowbar to beat the infected's head, missed, then tried again. This time she hit it, Leliana shielding her face from any blood spray now that she had an open wound before she relaxed as Aubrey confirmed it was dead. Leliana slumped back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, breathing hard. That was a challenge, and now she had a fucking headache. But they were all alive. Aubrey asked if they were all okay, so unmoving from the floor, Leliana raised a shaky thumbs-up. She just wanted to lay there for a few minutes, not moving, or even really thinking much, but Colt came and pulled her up. As soon as she was on her feet, she swayed, grabbing onto Colt for support. "I'm fine, I'm fine. No bites." She wasn't entirely fine, her face looked pale, and of course, the blood. Blood dripped off her chin, one eye was closed, but tears were present on her eyelashes thanks to her own blood. "I just...god my head hurts." Leliana has had a concussion before, and so she knows that having one was a possibility. "Let's just get back to dumbass. The medkit is in there, I need to patch myself and Aubrey up." At the mention of the other blonde, Leliana looked to her, flashing her a smile. "Thanks for that. Really, you're a lifesaver."

Nile, even though he was a little pissed off that the roof idea was blown off again, decided not to argue about it since he understood that going outside was a definite no-no. He just settled on looking out the window and watching the horde mingle around down there. He then heard Colt's scream, or roar, but mostly scream.

Then L something ran out of the room, he heard a crack, he heard her scream, and he heard he yelling for America to stab something or beat it with a lamp. Then finally, Blondie runs out of the room, crowbar in hand with Nile soon following her out the door. An idiot could've told that it was a zombie just by hearing the noise, so Nile knew automatically what was going on. He would've pulled out his hammer and broke open the things skull, but blondie beat him to it. Looking at her while she held the thing down with her wounded leg, it was pretty obvious she was in agony while holding the thing down.

Looking over to Lily, he could see that she'd tripped, so she required urgent medical care. Well, maybe she cracked her skull. That'd suck for her. Walking back into the bedroom, Nile grabbed the medkit, walked back out, and tossed it to Aunty Sam while saying "Catch.".

For a moment, Aubrey was glad she could assist in aiding her newfound friends. That moment was short lived because her attention was drawn to Leliana’s face, more specifically the blood pouring from the gnarly gash across her forehead…The same gut-wrenching feeling she had when she saw the Thing came back and so she proceeded to the corner of the room, doubled-over, and threw up.

As the people replied that they were safe and even thankful, she simply gave a thumbs-up towards them and continued to bury her head in the corner. She had been up close to those Things before quite a few times. In the beginning of this nightmare, she had to do a lot of killing, seeing as she didn’t understand how they worked. She learned quickly and adapted, as did everyone still alive. Still, Aubrey wasn’t used to the looks of them. She didn’t think she ever would be.

Gulping for air and taking a step away from the mess she had just made, she looked back at the group and gave a nod, “I don’t know shit about injuries, but we should probably stop the bleeding first. She’s losing a lot.” Aubrey pointed out. She was more than positive they could take care of each other, but she didn’t want to sit there in the background like she always does. The apocalypse is her chance to be someone if she wanted to be… And she did. So she would.

"Don't worry about it, I'm a nurse," Leliana said with a faint laugh. Something was wrong, she hadn't let go of Colt, her face looked pale. Paler than it should be, given she certainly wasn't bleeding out, or even felt all that nauseous. But by God, her head felt like it was splitting in half. "I can't patch either of us up in here though, thank you Nile for the concern, but it's not as...as clean as room B-3." She pointed slightly to the zombie still tied to the bed, poor Miss Jackson. As she did this, she landed up to Colt, concern filtering in through her slightly clouded eyes. "I think...I think I might have a concussion," she whispered, not wanting to alarm the others. She knew what to do in this situation, but every time she first to think, her head throbbed more. And blood still trickled off her chin. "Let's get back to the room? I can patch us up th-there." She tugged slightly on Colt's arm, hopefully, a discrete way of asking for assistance. The last thing Leliana needed was to fall again, and Colt could probably carry her if she passed out. "Have I mentioned how much I hate this place?"​

 

[Rumble Fish]

The following is a collaboration between Hyped_Taco King Vioogra Corgi King Vioogra and Rumble Fish

Spoiler: Dialogue colour codes

Colt
Nile
Leliana
Aubrey
Ivan

Colt was not convinced by Leliana’s assurance that she was not hurt. She seemed off and had hit her head, Colt knew that much. She looked to Nile as he finally appeared, then again keeping away from the whole situation was probably the best idea. If Colt had been able to fight the Thing off herself, Leliana would not have gotten hurt and nobody else would have had to get involved. As the medkit was thrown to her, the veteran was a little stuck. She looked as Leliana, once again tried to assure her she was fine.

Colt looked back into the room with the Thing still confined to the bed. It seemed Leli knew who it had been. As the nurse told her that she potentially had a concussion, the veteran frowned worryingly. If that was true, this only made this whole problem worse. They could not afford to have a man down, especially one with medical knowhow. As she assisted her back into the room, she commented again about hating the motel. “Y’and me both, doc.” She answered her as she brought her into the room.

“Right. Only thing we can do now is wait here, patch ourselves up and wait for Ivan’s report.” She told the group, “Unless any of ya’ll got another idea. And no. No roofs.”

As the group left the room, Aubrey found herself alone with a dead body and a Thing still bound to the bed. She listened to the growling and hissing it made through it’s gagged mouth, eyes wide and hungry. She frowned. This person, whoever they were, had a family. They had parents that loved them, maybe a spouse…. maybe even a sibling… ”They’re not that person anymore.” She thought, walking over to it’s side.

Even though they weren’t that person, it’s possible that person would still be in them, trying to escape. Someone scared and lonely, stuck in an eternal loop of starvation. Aubrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath, raising the crowbar to it’s head and putting it out of it’s misery. ”Person or not, no one deserves to die like this.”

Quickly searching the room, she found a duffle bag stuffed under the bed, and looking through it, she found many things- red candles, a lighter, an extra set of handcuffs, ”How many handcuffs can two people need?”, some unmentionable objects, which she tossed out, and a small pack of batteries. She threw out the lingerie as well; it wouldn’t be needed now that winter is coming. Aubrey search the dead man’s body, finding a small ring of keys.

Going back over to the woman, she unlocked the handcuffs that bound her, putting them in the duffle bag, and going over to the closet. Aubrey pulled down two extra blankets and covered the two bodies with them. Grabbing the last extra blanket from the closet, she shoved that into the bag, as well as two coats- a men and woman’s, quite a good material and seemed sturdy enough.

After closing the door behind her, she headed back to the group’s room and put the duffle bag down, “Found some stuff that might be useful.”

Ivan left the pharmacy quickly as he made sure the coast was clear, looking down the length of the empty street before pressing his back against the wall. Moe's was practically down the road from the pharmacy they were at made it painfully simple to make his way there. As he looked around the corner he say it, the horde that Colt had mentioned. She was right on the nose about them being surrounded as far as he could tell, but it wasn't that big of a horde so they were spread thin. "Colt, come in. You weren't kidding about this horde, huh." He said through the radio, trying to keep the mood light as he cycled through the options of what to do. The front door would be the best idea since it'd require little more movement, plus there were only a few of the infected lingering outside the doors. "Okay, I'm going to clear out the front, get ready to come out." He said as he let go of the talk button, reaching up to the radio strapped to his bag and turning the volume down. "Stay away from the windows in case any bullets go through the infected."

"Like...no girls should have to work here, place is naaaasty!," The girl chuckled dryly, allowing Colt to take her from the room. Leliana really wanted to sit down, her entire body like a big sack of rocks, her legs weren't exactly working with her. But she still managed to limp with Colt, "I hate being grabbed, makes mah skin crawl." She could almost feel the bruise on her ankle forming, and just when the one still around her throat was almost gone. It sucked, but not as much as it would have sucked to have died, so while Leliana could complain about a list a mile long, she would focus on the fact she was still breathing. And that despite the fact she was now a liability, she was still the medic, and needed to patch herself up before working on Aubrey.

Once Colt had gotten her into the room, Leliana took the medkit and, using the wall as support instead of the vet, made her way into the bathroom. With any luck, there is still be running water, even if it wouldn't have been hot water. But, unfortunately, the water had stopped. Either the pipes of the building were frozen, or all the city water had been turned off. Or both. In any case, she slowly opened the green bag, the nurse withdrew a small, half-empty bottle of rubbing alcohol. She would prefer to use water, but she would have to deal with it. Grabbing a nearby washcloth, she wetted it, and gently began to clean her face, doing her best to get all the blood off, and off of her eyelid with the dry part of the washcloth, before digging through for some gauze. If it needed stitches, they would have to wait for now as she was in no state to go stabbing herself with a needle. She would ask Jenna to judge it later, or Hector if they ended up not having a chance.

She winced slightly as the square of sterile gauze touched her forehead, Leliana's heavy eyes avoiding the mirror. She was trying to avoid looking at just how bad she appeared, plus the mirror swirled a little every time she glanced at it, so for once, she was grateful for not having any lights. The paper tape was next, Leliana tearing small pieces off to secure her bandage in place. There, now it was safe, and even though it was still bleeding, she didn't have anything to worry about. However, her head still felt like it was splitting in two, forcing Leliana to dig for the pull bottle. Inside where six loose pills, and four in small plastic packaging. Oxycontin, and some Naproxen. The naproxen would have been safer, she knew this. But...Leliana opened the pill bottle, taking one of the pills out of the plastic and broke it in half. Just enough to help. She popped the pill in her mouth, swallowing after a few seconds before she hid the pill bottle beneath everything and turned to have the bathroom. "Aubrey, I can patch you up now," she said, pointing at her own bandage. It was at that same moment, that Ivan checked in. "Colt, we can't leave just yet, her," she paused briefly, taking a breath, "Her wound can't be left unattended any longer."

As Colt watched out of the window, she heard something coming into the room that made her turn around, going for her firearm but stopping as soon as she saw it was the newcomer, her arms full of supplies she had scavenged, probably from that room. Handcuffs, coats and other provisions. If they could not get the mattresses as instructed, this was better than nothing. She looked to the stranger with her bloodshot eyes wide and approached her. In the last few minutes, the woman had defied all of her expectations. She lifted her head and gave the capped woman a tip from her own army hat.

“Never introduced m’self. Folks call me Colt.” She said, the corner of her mouth twitching the slightest before hearing her radio buzz, making her stop and raising it to her ear. As the man joked about her not lying about the horde, Colt released a laconic “Nope.” Before he continued, telling everyone to keep away from the windows as he was going to shoot. Colt growled out a sigh at this. She did not want Ivan to do this. After everything he had done in the past, she was already regretting this choice. But, what choice did she have?

“Just don’t put yerself in danger. We need ya’ll alive. Over and out.” She responded before putting the thing away. As she did, her stomach rumbled. Colt huffed and put a hand against her concave abdomen as she fished into her bag. She still had granola bars. But as she was about to bring one out, she looked up. Leliana was tending to her wounds, Aubrey was hurt and Nile… needed his spirits lifted. Taking out the four bars she had left, she put them on the bed. “’Ere. Ain’t much but’ll help. We gotta keep ourselves together.” She locked her own hands together for emphasis, “We got a lot of folks countin’ on us on comin' home.”

She sat close to the door, looking to the convict, “Nile. We’ll take turns patrolling the halls. Take somethin’ and do a round. Once yer back, I’ll go and so forth. Anythin’ happens, I wanna know.” She instructed him before taking the moonshine back out, taking a methodical sip. And now they waited. The woman glanced upward towards the ceiling. She did not want to up there for more than just because of the potential for danger. But because Sasha would have known that it wasn't safe. She would have laughed at the suggestion and come up with an even better plan that Colt could ever come up with. That woman sure loved zombie movies... Colt sighed melancholically and drank more moonshine. Well, at least this squad was still alive. She just wished she was here.

There seemed to be a lot going on. Leliana with her cut, Scary Woman ™ with the radio- it was a little bit overwhelming. On top of the fact that there apparently was a horde of those Things outside their building. She hadn’t worked up the courage to look herself, but she trusted what they said. Leliana took her out of her mind, saying she can patch her up. Going over to the bed once more, she sat down and took off her jacket, fiddling with the brim of her cap. She had been doing that almost continuously since they found her in the closet.

When the scary woman turned to her and introduced herself, she gave a small smile, “Nice to meet you, Colt. I’m Aubrey.” She knew she already introduced herself, but she also knew that when someone introduces themselves to you, it’s polite to do it back. Once the granola bars were brought out, her eyes lit up. She hadn’t eaten that day nor last night and she was starving. Seeing as the threw up whatever was left in her stomach previously, she immediately reached for one and scarfed it up. Aubrey would’ve kept chewing but the words, ‘a lot of folks’ and ‘home’ hit her in the stomach.

“There’s more of you?” She blurted out, keeping a hand over her mouth so that she doesn’t blow food everywhere… Also, it’s impolite to not do so, “And you have a home? I thought it was only you four… or five, the one girl you mentioned earlier when you were talking to Ivan.” The warm feeling settled back in her chest. The hope of maybe having a future past running away from those Things and scavenging for food every day just to survive.

Colt remained quiet as she watched the halls. But turned around as Aubrey seemed to be in disbelief about what Colt had said about getting the group back home. With a huff, the solitary marine abandoned her seat at the door to join Leliana and Aubrey on the bed. As she sat on it, it creaked under the added weight. She looked to the younger girl, trying to give her a gentle-ish look which was hard given her default frownish expression.

“Yeah. There’s lots of us. We go some doctors, folks who can shoot. Even a dog and a baby.” She sighed slightly, knowing she'd get her neck felt for this “It ain’t perfect. But it’s better than runnin’ ‘round this city fightin’ them Things all the time. And… well, let’s just say I don’t believe in leaving anyone behind.” She added before taking another sip of moonshine as she looked at the girl from under her cap. She hadn’t heard from Ivan yet and was becoming anxious. What was going on in that Russian’s head?

Ivan took a deep breath in and exhaled sharply before he started to make his way towards Moe's, staying across the street behind the seemingly endless amount of abandoned cars that littered the road between him and the establishment. Once he was level with the directly across from the front door, he pushed the talk button on the radio and inhaled deeply again. "Get ready. I'm about to start." He said as he positioned the M4 on the hood of the car he was sitting against. The Russian aligned the reticle of the Acog scope with the head of one of the infected before pressing on the trigger. A suppressed shot sounded before a hole was made in the infected's head. Knowing they'd figure out where he was, he continued to flick in between the infected, missing occasionally with a click of his tongue, before correcting himself and putting each of the infected down. He hurried to push the talk button once the area was clear and spoke in a hushed tone. "Alright. The front is clear, hurry and come out before the ones on the other sides figure out what's going on."
​

 

[shadowz1995]

GM POST


"Mark!"


A hailstorm of bullets began pelting the door and wall, some rounds ripping through the wood and blasting splinters everywhere on the inside.


The positioning that Luca and Hector held against the wall was not impervious to bullets, rather conveniently positioned to avoid the swarm of bullets. There was dust and soot everywhere. Bullets annihilated not only the door, but the wooden floor as well. They continued coming, burying the couch in led and uplifting feathers as the constant clinging of the bullets against the metal frame sounded off. Aderyn stayed low to the ground, further into the room, her handgun loaded and ready to fire. She was very aware of how little she could do with a handgun in a situation like this.


Jackal-lead pushed forward, taking a few shots at the window above to force an opening in the glass. He pulled two cylindrical canisters and pulled the pin on both of them. With the throwables primed, the squad leader launched one canister perfectly through the window and one through the shredded remains of the front door. In roughly 3 seconds, the canisters popped and steady stream of tear gas began to flood the area that Luca, and Hector had taken refuge in.​

 

[The Mad Queen]

The following is a collab between myself, Hyped_Taco and Maj
Green = Cletus, Purple = Jenna

In the dim light of the alleyway, it was hard to see the hunched form on the horizon. The woman was filthy, grime caked to every wrinkle and crevice of her body. It is unclear if she has a deformity, or if age and extra body weight has just warped her spine into permanent poor posture. Her hair is a tangled rat’s nest, looking more like a cheap Wal-Mart wig than hair, knotted so badly that it would likely be easier to shave than to brush. A plastic ‘Town and Country’ bag hangs at her side, the flimsy material crinkling as she paces and mumbles to herself. The thing bulges with what, from a distance appears to be canned food. When she moves just right in the afternoon sun, it glints off something metallic and vaguely knife shaped.

Jenna stopped in her tracks at the sight of the old woman, staring across the alleyway. At first she mistook her for an infected, but there was something different about this one. Cammy remained behind the girl, her ears pricked up and her eyes widened as she studied the old woman.
Jenna, with her hand gripped tightly around the axe took a few steps back. Just in case.

"Hello?" Her voice was quiet, yet still carried across the alleyway. Jenna prepared herself to fight or run in case this went south.

The old woman turned in the direction of Jenna’s voice. It was clear by the wild look in her eyes that she wasn’t undead. Her mutters grew in volume, but were still indistinguishable. It sounded like it was maybe in a foreign language, or perhaps she had gone soft in the head after surviving all the horrors over the last week and a half. She became more enthusiastic as her eyes settled on Jenna and Cletus’s forms. Talking with her hands and shouting gibberish at them, the knife began to wave around in her ludicrous display. Red hues of sticky blood were splashed across her face, but it wasn't clear if it was her own. Was it an injury that needed mending, or did the blood belong to someone else?

Jenna breathed a slight sigh in relief when the woman turned around. She wasn't undead, but then the girl noticed the blood caked on her face, and the knife. The girl may have only spoken English, dipping into some other languages for the sake of her international audience but she could tell the woman was rambling incoherently in a language she either hadn't heard of or just didn't exist.
She slowly raised both of her hands, trying to show she wasn't a threat.
"Do you speak English?" She asked, her voice soft yet clear as she tried to verbally reach out to the elder "English?"

Cletus stopped walking at the same time his companion did; the sight of the older lady was something disturbing to see, and the fact that she did not respond to Jenna trying to speak to her didn´t help as well, but it was worth a shot to try as well "Howdy lady, ya alright?" The redneck said, while taking a few steps forward "So as my partner 'ere said, you speak english? speako espanol? "The man was still at a considerable distance from the woman, but was definitely closer than before.

As the man approached her she became more enthusiastic. Screaming nonsense at him. She had a wild look in her eyes but it wasn’t clear if it was a relief or fear. She approached Cletus, one hand reaching out to him, the other holding the knife above her head. Her left hand reached out to grab his arm, her tone almost seemed pleading, but the way she held her knife said otherwise. The bag of groceries ripe for the taking still clinging to her arm.
The way in which the woman started to scream nonsense at him weirded Cletus out, and her "Enthusiasm" and wild look just made this whole interaction a whole lot worse.
And when she began to approach and tried taking his arm the redneck took a few quick steps back and took out Caroline "Oi! Quit it lady. I dont wanna shot so just drop the knife"

Seeing the woman approach Cletus with her knife raised Jenna drew the handgun from her belt and aimed it directly at her.
"Drop the knife." She commanded, coldly. She followed Colt's instructions, to breathe in and to control her breath in order to keep her hands steady. Her blue eyes met that of the woman, staring her down with an intense glare but on the inside the girl was shaking, her stomach twisting and turning as she gripped the gun tightly in her hands.
"Drop the knife." She repeated "Don't make me do this."

At the sight of the gun the woman became frenzied, frightened. Her voice grew in volume, like she was desperately trying to communicate something to the travelers that just wouldn’t come. In the city, noise was a death wish and it appeared that the woman's cries were no exception. The moaning of the undead could soon be heard on the horizon and the woman slashed the knife quickly across Cletus’ chest. Thankfully it was only a flesh wound, but the blood bubbled up all the same. She turned her backs on the travellers and tried to flee in the opposite direction of the noise.

"Shut the hell up." Jenna commanded, still keeping the gun trained on the woman but her voice still close to a whisper "You'll draw those things here."
The moaning filled her ears soon enough and she turned her head slightly, just for a second to see that the dead were coming.
"Bollocks." She muttered, sharply turning back around to see that the woman had sliced Cletus. Jenna held her breath, and prepared to fire but the crazed elder took off before she did anymore damage.

"Cletus." Her voice was still like a whisper as she dashed to the Redneck's side, lifting up his shirt. The wound wasn't severe or even that deep but the knife could have carried all kinds of things given who was wielding it. There was little doubt in Jenna's mind that the wound would get infected.

Thankfully she'd grabbed some antibiotics from the pharmacy. "I'm gonna patch you up, but we need to get off the streets first. That crazed bitch drew these things on our position. Put pressure on that thing and move. Don't get close to any infected. Leave that to me. Bit of their blood or saliva gets into your cut, and you're fucked."

Jenna took off down the alley, making a sharp turn. They were still en-route to the general store and the girl just hoped that it wasn't swarming by now.