Realistic or Modern The Dead Hills - IC

[Emotional Enigma]

Daniel didn't hear anything outside his own angry, rumbling thoughts and faint sobs of tears. He stayed crouched over on the ground, knowing even if he had tried to find his way back again he'd only get even more lost. When he had ran, he didn't notice how far he had gone. He tussled through branches and high weeds, he figured he would be able to find his way back. He couldn't have imagined how wrong he'd be.
He raised his face, wet with tears and anguish. All the trees looked the same to him, like overlapping branches and puzzles. Daniel could hear his sister's voice in his head, You're not stupid Danny, you just need to take a minute to breathe and figure it out. He knew she was right but he had no motivation to do anything. He didn't want to go back to the group, he didn't want to go back to her. Everything just felt horrible right now. No one was getting along and no one was trying. He was tired of running away and he was tired of fighting and tired of the plague.
He stood up, forcing himself to stop being down. His gaze examined the surrounding forest, thick and trees alike glaring at him. He closed his eyes and listened. What do you hear? Water means life, follow the sounds of birds and animals, Calliope's voice echoed to him. The group was still at the water, so if he could navigate his senses to hear the water or hear their voices, he could find his way. Nevertheless, he heard nothing but the chirps of birds in the distance. He settled on the idea to follow the chirps.
Daniel stomped through overturned logs, tilted trees and giant roots, leaves crunching under his bare feet from his swimming attire. He was completely dry now but a little cold as he was absent of a shirt and pants. His shorts he swam in were still damp but it was better than the alternative. If he had made it back to the group and they told Cali, she'd be furious with him for having run off. Or worried. Both of which didn't make him feel any better. The thought of his sister crying or being so upset because she feared for his safety made his stomach turn. That or he was hungry. It was hard to tell by this time, he had gotten so used to being hungry he barely recognized the sensation.
The sun had set, it was getting late. The sky was still alight with the remnants of the day, but he was running out of time. How long before the group decided to go home? How long before they realized he hadn't made it? Would Archie even tell them or was he mad at him for getting angry? The thoughts stirred in his mind guiltily. He was scared.

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish idalie

 

[Peacemaker .45]

The man seemed to reach for his weapon. This prompted Jennifer to almost squeeze the trigger to the point it’d break, and a shot would ring out. But at the last second, the man stopped and didn’t point the weapon at her. He put it back where it was, and threw his hands up. Truthfully, he didn’t seem too dangerous to Jennifer at the moment. But she couldn’t take any chances. It’s more than just her she had to think about when she wanted to get in shootouts with people. There was a colony of people depending on her.

The man began to talk to her, referring to him and his horse. He spoke to the horse as if it could talk and think like a person, saying something about Hank Williams, a country music legend the girl liked back before this all. When he finally stopped speaking to his horse, he stated his name, taking a step towards her, and was adamant that they just were thirsty and would be on their way after drinking some water.

There was something about this man, Dutch, that made her seem less threatened. The tone of his voice and his actions made Jennifer feel as if he truly wasn’t a threat. She felt like she could trust him. But he was a stranger, and strangers cannot he trusted. In spite of that, she still felt as if she should lower the gun.

“Pleasure to meet you, Dutch,” she spoke back to him, her tone not wavering, still deciding whether or not to lower the gun. “If what you say is true, then be done and leave. I don’t want any trouble, but I can’t trust you. I’m keeping my gun on you until you’re gone.”

Just as Jennifer was about to turn and say something to Milly, her radioed sounded off.

“Jennifer, come in,” it said, the voice of a guard at the Mountaintop coming through. “This is urgent, please respond.”

Jennifer reluctantly picked up the radio. It was a bad time for someone to need her when a potentially hostile person was not too far in front of her. Being that the nature of this was urgent, however, she grabbed it. Holding the rifle in her right hand, and putting the stock under her armpit, firmly locking it in by applying pressure with her arm. She kept it pointed at Dutch, and grabbed the radio in her left hand, bringing it to her face.

“This better be damn important, because it isn’t a good time,” she replied, obviously annoyed that they were trying to get her now.

“Jennifer, your father, Mack. He’s awake,” the person replied, ignoring her annoyance.

“What,” she shot back, her eyes widening in surprise. Her breathing and heart rate began to rise.

“Yes,” the man replied, “he is. I think you should come back now and see him.”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Be there soon,” she said as she began to lower the radio, putting it on her belt.

“You’re free to go, Dutch,” she said to Dutch, against perhaps her better judgement.

Jennifer took her rifle off of him, and hurried to her gear, packing it up quickly, joy on her face. When she was all done, she ran to Milly and Zelda, informing them that Mack woke up. Without a moment to pause, Jennifer shot up the trail she used to get down to the bank and ran as fast as she could to gates. Seeing her, they opened it up and she ran inside to the medical building. Throwing the door open, she ran to the room he was in. He was there, upright, trying to walk. The two of them met eyes, and tears began to form in Jennifer’s eyes, as she ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

“Dad,” she exclaimed, holding him tight. “I thought you would never wake up!”

“You thought wrong, sweetheart,” he said with a chuckle, hugging her back. “You seem alright after getting shot yourself.”

“I am,” she said as she let go of him. “It hasn’t been easy, but yeah, I’m okay,” she said, rubbing her arm. “Enough about me, what about you? You were shot up real bad. I thought you were dead.” Jennifer took the moment to wipe a tear out of her eyes. “I thought I lost my dad again.”

“Oh, Jen,” Mack said as he closed in on her and held her for a moment. “You didn’t lose me then and you sure as hell won’t lose me now. You’re the only family I have left. I can’t lose you, and you can’t lose me.”

“But I have so many times, dad,” Jennifer said with tear filled eyes, holding her father tight. “Before and after the dead.”

“You won’t lose me anymore, Jennifer. I’m not losing you again. Your mother’d kill me.”

The two let a laugh out thinking about the joke. Jennifer let go, and looked at her father. She took a step back and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

“Sit, dad. I know being on your feet isn’t easy after being out like that, especially with a shot hitting the head.”

“Eh,” he grunted, swatting his hand as if to throw out the suggestion. “I feel fine. I guess my body’s healed after being out for so long.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Jennifer said, taking a moment to look out the window and at the colony she controlled.

“A lot has happened, dad, since you’ve been out. I’m glad you’re up, but you’re stepping into a vastly different place here,” Jennifer said with a sigh.

“I’m sure you can fill me in on the details. But not yet,” Mack said, shaking his head. He looked to a chair near the window of the room. He motioned to it. “Sit down, we can sit and chat a bit. Maybe even eat some snacks. I don’t want to get to business just yet.”

Jennifer thought for a moment. “Sure, but why don’t you sit in the chair next to it?”

“Sure,” he said. “Hey, Emma, mind leaving us alone for a little.”

“Sir, we really need to be looking after you,” she replied in a low voice, as if she felt defeat over something.

“I’ll be fine. Jen will get you if I need you.”

“Fine, sir,” she said after a small pause.

When Emma left, the two of them sat down in the chairs. On the table between them were an assortment of different chips and crackers.

“Potato chips,” Mack said as he lowered himself to the chair. He fell a bit into it, the chair catching him. He played it off. “I missed these,” he said, taking a bite.

“Yeah, I remember the many Sunday’s watching the Dallas Cowboys play and you with a bag of chips and a couple beers. Those were the days weren’t they,” Jennifer replied with a chuckle, reminiscing on fond memories.

“Mhm,” he mumbled, still chewing on the chips. “Dak Prescott sure was good. Fun to watch. The team was good, but just couldn’t make it to the damned Super Bowl while the days were left. It was always Tom-freaking-Brady and the Pats getting in.”

“Thank God they didn’t always win though,” replied his daughter. “It just had to be to the damn Giants and Eagles. Ugh.”

“Hah, double ugh,” he replied, putting extra emphasis on the ugh. “Miss those days. You, your mother and I, a family, a life. It was normal.”

“As normal as it could get,” she interjected.

“At least there weren’t dead walking around, and your mother was alive.”

“Yeah... I miss Mom. She was such a spark of love and joy.”

“I do too, honey,” Mack replied. “I do too. But she lives on in both of us.”

“She does,” she said quietly, eating a chip and playing with her thumbs. “Those were the days.”

“Indeed they were.”

There was a pause. The two are some more chips, and stared into the space around them. They knew they’d have to get down to business, but neither wanted to. Both wanted to reminisce on the past they loved, not the present they hated. But they knew they had to.

“So,” Mack started taking a deep breath in, “what have I missed.”

“A lot,” Jennifer replied.

“Well go on, tell me,” he said, rather impatient.

“Well,” Jennifer started with hesitation, “Dave took over while you and I were out. I just woke up earlier to find the horror that he created.”

“Horror,” Mack jumped in, confused. “What the hell do you mean?”

“To put it as short as I can, he got over a dozen people killed at the Marina Colony. He didn’t send out enough people to defend them. Helios got them.”

“You’re kidding,” Mack replied in disbelief.

“It only gets better. People here didn’t like it, they knew he was responsible. People rioted. He had LEO’s here enforce strict laws. It devolved into chaos. People died here fighting for him to come out after he locked himself in the house. He started doing all sorts of drugs. Opioids, methamphetamines, you name it. Command structure died here in riots. He finally spiraled out of control, and shot the place up, specifically trying to kill you. We stopped him before he did. But half a dozen died.”

“Jesus,” he said in disbelief. “Then who’s leading this place?”

“I am.”

“You are, Jennifer?”

“Yes. For awhile now.”

“And? How is the place now?”

“Fine for now. But it’s not easy at all. I don’t know how you had done it for so long, leading these people, dad. They have no confidence in me, mainly because of Dave’s failures.”

“Strong leadership and good judgement,” Mack butted in. “Well, honey, you won’t have to bear that burden anymore.”

“What do you mean, dad?”

“I’ll be taking over for you now that I’m up, effective immediately.”

“What,” Jennifer replied in disbelief. “You just woke up, dad! You aren’t ready to yet. You need time to rest more!”

“I’m fine, Jen. But this burden ain’t for you. It’s for me. You aren’t leading now. I will be.”

“You aren’t ready, dad! You need more time to heal!”

“Nonsense, Jennifer,” Mack replied with annoyance. “I’m fine. Don’t judge me with how I am. You don’t know how I feel, only I do. I am fine.”

“Bullshit, dad, the doctors won’t let you!”

“To hell with them.”

“They are your doctors. You’re alive because of them. You ought to listen to them.”

“I’m fine. Now get it through your head that I’m taking back leadership responsibility.”

“Like hell I will,” Jennifer said in protest, standing up from her seat. “You can’t yet! You need to rest some more.”

“Drop the tone with me, Jennifer, and listen to what I’m saying. I call the shots ‘round here, so you better listen. I’m taking back the role and it’s effective now. You aren’t looking after this place anymore.”

“Bullshit, dad! We have no idea how these injuries affected you, especially the one shot to the head! We don’t know what it has done mentally!”

“You listen to me, damn it,” Mack said as he stood up, using the walker in front of him to elevate himself up. “I am the leader again. You are not. This is final. Don’t retaliate against me. This is my only warning.”

“Warning? What the hell are you going to go,” Jennifer shot out at him.

“Get out,” Mack said, looking her in the eyes.

“Get out? Why the hell are you telling me that? We were just fine and dandy a couple minutes ago.”

“Get out, Jennifer. I won’t ask you again. My word is final. I’ll take your position, and get back to being the leader.” Mack began to take a step forward closer to her. “A-.” Mack paused, trying to search for a word. He seemed to be unable to speak it for some reason, as his speech slurred.
“Go,” he finally said.

“Damn it,” Jennifer exclaimed as she stormed out of the room.

The woman walked out of the building and I to the house she was residing in. She was angry about her father doing what he did. He was not ready, and she knew it. He needed to heal, and no one knew if he was mentally ready to do so after a shot hitting his head. There was almost certainly damage done to his brain from it. And whatever it does could impair his clear judgement. It already seemed to make his speech slurred, so there was no telling what else it could have done to him. He was not ready for it, not yet. And Jennifer was doing fine with the place. This angered the girl, but she had no choice but to accept it. She needed some time to distract herself, so she began to clean her rifle, what she had neglected to do.

After about an hour, she cleaned her rifle and a few other guns, ones that needed the cleaning to make sure there were no failures. When she was done, she was still trying to shake off her annoyance with her father’s decision. She knew it wasn’t the right one, and he needed to rest and be further examined before he takes the mantle of leadership again. For all she knew, it could end up being a situation similar to Dave. Because of this, Jennifer walked towards the medical building. But not to see her father, but instead Zelda. She had to speak to her about her father. She feared for the safety of the Mountaintop. Once entering, she walked past the room that her father was in. The door was closed, and the blinds were shut. But she was able to see that her father was talking with several of the higher ranking people at the Mountaintop. She didn’t bother to listen, but instead went towards Zelda’s office. Upon entering, she noted she wasn’t there. Instead, she sat down on a chair in her office in front of her desk, and waited to catch Zelda when she could. She had to talk to someone who medically knew the potential damage done to her father that would make him unfit to lead.

idalie Rumble Fish Emotional Enigma

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda William​

Zelda finally came back to her senses from an excited shout from Jennifer directed at both her and Milly. Mack had woken up! The woman’s sore eyes widened under the trucker’s cap as she clumsily scrambled to her feet. She grabbed the surprised Milly by her arm, pulling her up the bank along with Jennifer. Norris, annoyed at being left behind chased Zelda, nipping at the woman’s heels. Zelda cursed at the bird but continued. She still did not like that chicken…

Zelda was on the verge of collapse by the time they reached the medical centre. The shock of the news of Mack’s awakening shook the woman. A toxic concoction of this news, a hangover, and her emotional and mental instability all made her just want to drop dead on the spot. If this was what sobriety was going to be like, she did not want anything to do with it. Not that she could even remember what sobriety felt like.

She took Milly to the waiting room, the younger girl was a bit shaken from all the noise and she looked pale. She was clinging to her bear with shaky fists.
“Go get some candy from my office, you need a sugar boost.” she said before going to get up.

“But…” her soft voice whimpered, making Zelda turn around to face her, “Where’s Archie?”

Zelda’s brow crumpled as she contemplated an answer. She had noticed the lumberjack’s absence. Maybe he was still with Cali and Daniel. Yeah… that must be it. They were probably just talking and hadn’t noticed time running.

“He’ll be back soon, but listen I need to go, just go and sit in one of the rooms. Try to relax, okay?” she gave the smaller girl a flick on the nose. Zelda quickly caught herself in this motherly gesture and quickly excused herself to Mack’s room. She could only hope that the man was alright and she had not fucked him up.

Milly Mcdonald​

Milly had obeyed Zelda and gone to sit in her room with the candy Zelda had in her office but it sat uneaten on her lap. Norris pecked contently at it, unaware of her owner’s distress. Clinging to her bear, Milly rocked back and forth anxiously. She had never been separated from Archie for this long. Something must have been wrong… even when working or socialising with those he made friends with in the camp, he would always come back to her and the others. He said he would… but now he was still missing. And he wasn’t here and she had not seen him anywhere when they were running back. Her heart was pounding so hard against her chest she could feel it through the skin. Her wrists and hands ached from the stress and she kept looking out the window. Every time she glanced outside, she wished she could see Archie heading back, his axe over his shoulder, his flannel tied around his waist and his cap over his sunburned face. But she didnt…

This whole feeling had a sense of… familiarity. Suddenly all the memories which had been eased from the Scotsman’s affection resurfaced. The memories of being cold, hungry and scared in that gas station, with nothing to live off of other than the hope and prayers that her mother was coming back. Even in her worst moods, or at her busiest she would always have come back. But this time she didn’t. Milly shook violently as she sat waiting, desperately trying to stop herself from crying from worry. All she could hope for was that unlike her mother, Archie was actually going to come back…

Wait… Milly stopped shaking as a horrible thought assaulted her mind. Had… had she done something to make Archie angry with her? That's why her mum never came back, she was angry with her! But Milly could not figure out what she had done to make her react that way. Had she done the same thing with Archie without knowing it? She buried her face into her teddy, much like before, she could only pray that Archie was coming back…

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch listened to the stranger tell him to finish up and move on otherwise he’d get shot. The man simply watched her before tipping his cap at her again in a respectful gesture.
“Anything to please a lady.” he nodded before bending back down to refill his canteen. He knew he had to be quick if to not annoy the young lady to be shot on the spot like she promised. But as he did this, he suddenly noticed a flurry of activity on the bank as the gun wielding woman and her two friends (who he did not have a chance to meet) suddenly left the bank. One of them seemed to struggling to stay on her feet, like she was drunk or something and the other and younger girl seemed to be dragged off of her feet, the poor thing. Once they were all gone, he simply stood there staring where they had gone.

“Hm.. Interesting, huh Dom?” he looked to the mare as he picked up her reins, “Best we move on before she comes back.” He stood up on a rock to help himself up into the saddle. He heard Domino grunt when his weight lowered onto her back. The mare took a deep sigh and pinned her ears with a swish of her tail, indicating she was becoming irritated and had enough of being ridden. Not that Dutch could blame her. They had been on the road since sunrise, longer than usual.

“I know, love. We’ll head on down this bank and through the woods. Best we get a distance from wherever that lady’s gone. Sounds mighty busy up there. Must be a group or somethin’.” He patted the mare on her long and dark neck, “We’ll make camp before sundown and y’all can get a good rest.” he then clicked the mare into a walk further down the beach. Domino’s black ears flickered around as she took in everything around them. Dutch could not but help but be mesmerized by the way they moved completely independently from the rest of Domino’s head. As they grew closer to the woods, Domino stretched her head down in front of her to watch where she was stepping. Dutch leaned back in the saddle as she went down a slope further into the woods. Hopefully they would find a good place to bed down. But the woods were dangerous nowadays. Dutch darted his eyes and removed his revolver from its holster on his chaps.

“Keep an eye out, Domino. Who knows what nasty critters are a-lurkin’ in these here woods…”

ONE HOUR LATER

Zelda Williams​

“Seems he’ll be prone to seizures and the trauma done to his brain could hinder or impair any judgment he makes.” Emma explained, flipping through her notes. The other medic, Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck.

“That’s not good. I mean… he’s our leader and he can’t make stupid choices even if he thinks its right.” he said anxiously.

“I know but what can we do? He won’t listen to anyone.” Emma sighed, “Still. It’s better that he leads than his kid. What made her think she could take over is beyond me.”

Zelda had been silent until this point. Even when she tried to speak to Mack, she simply got brushed off and pushed out the room. She had not seen Mack so secretive, and frankly it concerned her. What was so important that he had to shut everyone out? Even his own daughter. She had seen how he made her leave. Emma’s words burned her badly.

“Don’t say that about Jennifer.” she growled, “She’s better than any of you assholes, that’s for sure.”

“I never asked you, you trigger happy wino.” Emma snapped back, “You’re lucky Jennifer did not have you thrown off the cliff for that stunt you pulled this morning.” the other medics were looking at her now. No doubt Emma had told them some warped version of what happened.

“I’m saying it anyway. How many times has the place been raided, people died or someone went on a shooting spree since Jennifer took over-?”

“You almost did.”

“SHUT UP! ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!” She snarled angrily. To this, the medics kept quiet. She glared at them all angrily.

“I thought so. Just remember this.” She pointed a finger at them, “I’m the reason they’re both alive. If anything, you owe me!”

“Owe you? How the fuck do we owe you?”

“I kept Mack and Jennifer alive. The Mountaintop would have collapsed long ago without them. Dave would have killed us all. So yeah, watch your mouth.” Zelda finished speaking, glaring at them all. They all looked quite lost on what to say. Good. Zelda took a deep breath as she turned around to walk out. Telling them off like that… felt good. It actually felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders. But that mood soon came crashing down when the sound of Emma’s voice followed her into the hall.

“Just don’t forget, you’re responsible for Mack’s condition. If he fucks up, it’s on you!”

That statement made the woman stop on the spot, suddenly feeling rather sick. Wait… Emma was right. Despite her efforts, the trauma to his brain would impair judgement. And he was already acting up. What if he made a reckless decision and it caused the Mountaintop to collapse? It would be on her! Zelda’s sense of confidence crashed and was quickly replaced with a sense of guilt and worry. She left the meeting room and headed towards her office. This day was far too much… she needed a drink.

As she pushed the door open, the woman jumped with a quiet “Oh fuck” as she saw Jennifer sitting there at her desk, she wasnt expecting her to be there.

“Hey, missy.” she rubbed her head as she walked in. The room was dark which made the woman feel slightly better, her eyes hurt less and it was soothing to her headache. She went into a drawer and took out a flask that she had stored before. She unscrewed the cap and was about to take a drink from it when she… just couldnt. She could not figure out why but it just didnt seem right. Despite the overwhelming urge to down the whole thing at once to ease her frazzled nerves and the weight from her shoulders, she had to talk to Jennifer first. Right now that was a priority. No doubt she wanted to know about Mack’s condition. With a sigh, she put the flask down on the table, opting to take a sip of water from her canteen instead. It did nothing to dull the pain but it did ease her headache to a degree. She sighed and sat in the chair on the other side of the desk to look at Jennifer.

“Well… I talked with the other medics and it seems he’ll recover okay. It’s just… apparently, he’s now prone to seizures and the damage he took to his brain could… have an effect on any decisions he makes.” She explained, not looking at Jennifer the whole time, “...I really don’t think he should be leading. But… I can’t do anything to stop him.” She took the flask again and lifted it up. She was still battling internally whether or not to drink it. The urge was overwhelming and it was now causing the woman to become quite shaky but at the same time, she had to stay alert to talk to Jennifer. Not to mention that, despite their now stable relationship, Zelda was still concerned about the younger woman’s views on her. She remembered Mack telling her about his own drinking problem that he once had, probably to try and assure that she wasn’t alone. Which was not true. She was. And it was her own fault she was alone. But regardless, she was not expecting Jennifer to be sympathetic. Especially after Mack saying he had become abusive towards her when drunk. It made her worry that Jennifer saw her as less, despite what she said.

She put her head in her hands with a deep sigh, “Look Jennifer… I’m sorry I couldn’t fix everything. I really did everything I could but it was not enough. Maybe if I just… maybe if I…” she shook her head, not removing her hands from her face, “I’m just sorry…” She did not know what else to say other than that. It worried her terribly what Mack was doing. It could not have been good whatever it was. She just wished she could have been less of a fuck up.

Milly McDonald​

Milly had been pacing for so long she had no idea how much time had passed. She felt tired, her stomach rumbled from hunger and her mind span with the same frightening thoughts that just would not leave. Norris had nesled herself comfortably on a chair but was watching the girl as she paced, feeling her owner’s worried aura. Milly was not even aware of what time it was, how long she had pacing or that her stomach ached emptily as she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She just wanted Archie… but he still wasn’t here!

She couldn’t take it anymore, Archie was never gone this long! Clinging to her bear she left the room and made her way to Zelda’s office, she did not know where else to go. She needed someone at this point.

“Zelda!” She squeaked, trying to keep her emotions in check as she went in. She saw both the doctor and Jennifer were there. Zelda noticed the girl’s shaky and pale complexion.

“Milly? What’s wrong?” The woman jumped up, grabbing Milly by her shoulders and making her sit down, “You don’t look good.”

“I don’t- don’t feel good…” Milly whimpered, struggling to stop herself from crying despite the flowing tears on her face. She was just so worried she could not think straight, “Where’s Archie?” she whimpered.

“Archie what-?” Zelda’s eyes widened, wait what time was it? She pulled up the blinds, wincing at the sun streaking in. The sun’s position had changed, a lot of time had gone by.

“Oh my god… Okay… Um.” she looked at Jennifer, pulling her to the side away from Milly, “I’m going out to look for him, it’s been too long. Just… try to keep her calm.” she said before swiftly leaving the room and heading outside until she was several feet outside.

“ARCHIE!” She shouted, hearing her voice echo through the Mountaintop, “ARCHIE! WHERE ARE YOU?” there was no answer other than some looks from some people but for once, Zelda didn’t look at them. Finding the Scotsman was her priority. Where the hell was he?!

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch whistled as he watched the area around him, keeping his gun in one hand. It had been a while since they started moving and he had not been able to find a good place to set up camp. The woods was dense, bushes rustled from rabbits and other critters and the trees shook from birds flying to and from the branches. The forest was alive. Hopefully with the right fauna and not some certain undead creatures.

As he headed back to the bank, he noticed a change in Domino’s behaviour. The mare held her head up high and he could hear her snorting anxiously and she was tensed up. Her steps became bouncy, like she was ready to flee at any moment. Something was scaring her, meaning there must have been some kind of danger.

“Easy girl, easy come on.” He tried to assure the mare and clicked his heels against her side to get her to move forward. The horse however refused, rearing up onto her back hooves a little. Knowing she was going to try and bolt, Dutch pulled his right rein to yank her around and stop her from running. Seeing how upset the mare was, Dutch kicked his feet from the stirrups and dismounted before going to the mare’s head. Domino huffed and tried to pull away from his grip.

“Shhh, shhh it’s okay, Dom, dad’s here.” he stroked her shoulder, “C’mon I’ll go first.” he pulled the reins over her head and began to lead her down the bank of the river. Still prancing and snorting worryingly, Domino followed him. He hoped that by leading the way and her following, she would feel safe rather than her having to go first.

But as they walked past a thick tree. There was a site that made Dutch gasp and Domino rear up, thrashing her front legs in the air. A man was lying barely concious at the bank, and closing in on him was four zombies, all decomposed and shambling with their disgusting gurgles and groans, clearly intending to feast on the injured man.

“Shit!” He hissed under his breath, he would never reach him if he just ran. Scrambling into the saddle, he whipped out his AK47 from its holder within the saddle bag behind the saddle. He let go of the reins to hold the gun in both hands. He could only pray this would work.

“HYAH! GET UP!” He kicked Domino hard in the sides, causing the black horse to surge forward, sensing her rider’s urgency. Despite her own fear, she launched into a gallop towards the zombies. She was scared, but Domino knew that Dutch would not let anything happen to her. She could trust him.

Dutch stood in the saddle, his legs staying effortly still against Domino’s galloping sides. Aiming down the sight, he open fired. He kept his shots in time with Domino’s gait, shooting when her head was at its lowest point within the galloping cycle. He shot two in the head region, causing them to fall. The other two noticed the advancing equine and began to shuffle towards them. Dutch used his seat and legs to get Domino to gallop past the pair. But, as zombies were, they seemed to not understand they had run past as they continued shuffling the same way they were going. He grabbed one rein, spinning the mare on the spot to face the seemingly retreating zombies. Taking aim, Dutch open fired once again. Brain matter splattered the grass and sand as both bodies slumped to the ground.

Dutch panted heavily, his heart pounding in his throat and sweat rivering down his face. Domino panted from her sprint but seemed less upset now that the threat was gone. Dutch sighed and wiped his brow before throwing his AK onto the ground.

“Ahh… Jesus.” He huffed before looking down at Domino’s neck and giving her several strong pats on either side, “Aww good girl! Such a good gi- who’s a big bad zombie hunter, ey? Scared them right off ya did!” He laughed as he roughed up her mane. Hopefully, by giving Domino the sense that she was the one who “scared off” the zombies, she would be less inclined to fear the sight of them. She had encountered Zombies many times before, but you could not wipe out millions of years worth of instinct.

Jumping from the saddle, he rushed to the downed man. He was a tall fellow, either the same height or just slightly taller than himself and about the same weight. His brownish/ginger hair and beard were covered in blood, most likely from a head wound. Blood was gushing from his middle and ring finger on his left hand. Dutch cursed under his breath as he looked him over. Going into his saddle bag, he pulled out a bundle of bandages from when he raided a pharmacy.

“Good God, got yourself in a right state here haven’t ya, fella?” he said, trying to keep his voice steady from worry. The last thing he needed was for the man to panic, “No problem, we’ll get you to that camp and I’m sure some nice folks will fix you up real good.” he added as he gently wrapped the man’s head before moving to his hand, wrapping it tightly to stop the blood flow. The whole time he kept a lookout for anything that could be lurking in the forest.

Now came the problem with getting the man to the camp. He could not carry him… he looked to Domino who was drinking from the river. He put the man’s arm around his shoulder and pulled him up with a heavy grunt.

“C’mon you, we better get going.” He then looked to the mare, “Domino!” he raised one hand and made a gun shape with his fingers, “Reach for the sky!”

At that moment, Domino knew this specific command; she dropped onto her front knees, lowering the front of her body to make it easier for Dutch to get on quickly for a fast escape. He pulled the man towards the mare as she patiently waited.

“Now don’t worry, Domino here will take real good care of ya, just hold on…” He manipulated the man so he was slumped over the mare’s back, holding him up as he gave Domino a shrill whisper, telling her to stand up. The mare lumbered to her feet but with the unfamiliar man on her back with his unfamiliar scent and the horrible copper-like stench of blood, both old and new made her skittish. She danced on the spot and snorted, the white of her eyes showing. Despite his own stress and worry, Dutch knew he could not show those feelings to Domino. He had to take control and keep her calm and the only way he could was by acting calm. One stumble, rear or spook from Domino would send the man flying God knows where and hurting him more. He needed to avoid this at all costs.

“C’mon Dom, that’s a girl…” he began to lead her, but the mare seemed unconvinced and planted her hooves in the sand. But Dutch knew her weakness…

“There's a man goin' 'round takin' names, And he decides who to free and who to blame, Everybody won't be treated all the same…” He began to croon to the mare in a tone similar to the late and legendary Johnny Cash. Hearing this tone, Domino’s ears perked. She began to take soft steps after him, steady enough for the man to stay aboard. Dutch nodded at her before continuing the song…

Minute by stressful minute Dutch led Domino back where they came through the forest, taking time to watch where the mare was stepping, avoiding steep slopes and fallen trees. Dutch walked in front, cycling through many different songs Domino knew. He kept is voice low and calm, any loud or high pitched noise would just startle the mare and he needed her to be calm.
“It can lift you up, Never let you down, Take your world and turn it all around…” Dutch suddenly stopped when a rustling sound caused Domino to squeal and suddenly move to the side. Cursing under his breath, Dutch ran to her head, stroking her between the eyes.

“Shh, shh you’re okay, dad’s here, it’s okay…” he looked to the source of the noise, to see a young boy standing nearby. He did not look any older than fourteen or fifteen. What he was doing out here alone was beyond him.

“Hey, kid!” he called over, unable to contain the urgency in his voice, “You might wanna get out of here! This guy’s been hurt, you might wanna skidaddle before the same thing happens to you!” he knew this was harsh, saying he would end up like the injured man but it was the truth! The woods were no place for a young teen like him, alone and unarmed, “Seriously, go back to your group!” he added before continuing on his way with Domino, trying to resume singing but found it hard due to his overwhelming sense of fear for the man. This was too familiar… he had seen so much in Syria, his friends killed, their legs having been blown off, some of them with their guts spilling from their abdomen as they writhed on the ground in agony, screaming for their mothers or wives. He tried to shake these thoughts from his head. No, he could not think that way. This man could be helped. There was a camp near here. They might not want him there but surely they wouldn’t say no to helping him.

“C’mon Domino, not much further… Just hold on, pal.”

HALF A HOUR LATER

Zelda Williams​

“ARCHIE! THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” Zelda cried, now desperate for an answer. Something was seriously wrong. She bit her lower lip as she ran inside to her office where Jennifer and Milly were still.

“Did you find him?” she heard Milly whimper anxiously, clearly still very upset.

“No. I’m going out to look for him.” Zelda grabbed her Glock and headed back outside without another word. She only got just outside when the sight of a horse caught her attention. The black mare was being led by the same man they had seen at the river. She raised her gun towards him, not in the mood for this.

“What do you want?!” she shouted, to which the man raised his hands in surrender.

“I think I got something of yours, ma’am but seriously I really need help here! Or… this guy does.” Zelda took a good look at the figure slumped over the horse’s back.

“Wait- ARCHIE!” she shouted as she ran to the horse’s side, seeing the injuries on the lumberjack, “What hap- WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?” She took her gun back out and aimed it at the man.

“Woah easy, missy I did nothing! I found him like this!” the stranger looked at the man, “For real, he needs help!”

“NO SHIT!” Zelda growled and threw the gun on the ground, pulling Archie from the horse as gently as possible, “Least fucking help me get him inside!” she snapped at the man.

“A’ight.” The stranger nodded once without arguing, grabbing Archie by the legs and hoisting him up while Zelda pulled him up from under his arms and they pulled him into the medical centre. At this point the other medics were aware of the chaos and were rushing out to see them.

“Get him in the second ward, I’ll need adrenaline, bandages, stitches and antiseptic! Go!” she barked at the other medics, three of which simply obeyed and ran inside with only Emma standing there staring at her.

“What makes you think you’re in charge-?” she started to which Zelda ran up to the woman, pushing her face right up to Emma’s.

“NOW! EMMA!” She roared so loud and so forcefully she felt her body shake. The woman’s face went pale, as if floored that someone took that tone with her. She simply turned her heels and ran inside with the others and Archie. Zelda growled and walked in after them. She had so many questions but right now her priority was to get Archie stabilized, questions could come later.

Once inside, Zelda pulled on her mask and gloves. There seemed to be a change in the woman’s aura, one that the other medics hadn’t seen. Fast, alert and with an air of determination. Sort of like… a surgeon. Once she was kitted, she went to Archie. She shook her head at the cowboy’s shoddy bandaging but at least it limited the bleeding. The amount of blood on his hand was concerning. Zelda gingerly unwrapped the bandage and what lies underneath caused the woman to gasp and step back. The tips of two of Archie’s fingers had been cut off! The other medics looked panicked. Zelda’s eyes widened and her breathing quickened. The only reason anyone would cut off a body part was… oh no.

“What is it?” Sebastian asked her, surging Zelda back into action.

“Apply pressure to his fingers!” She answered in a blunt voice, devoid of any emotion. She could not alert them about this. It’d cause chaos and she wouldn’t be able to focus. She looked down at the Scotsman with a shaky sigh and shook her head.

“Should have guessed you’d get yourself into this, ya big dumb idiot…” She grumbled before her gaze softened and she breathed in deeply, “...Don’t die on me, Archie...”

Milly McDonald​

At this point in time Milly was completely beside herself. She sat in the corner of the room rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around her knees. She could hear Zelda shouting for Archie outside but there was not response. The younger girl sobbed quietly from worry, her worst fear was coming true. He wasn’t coming back. Something had happened.
She did not look or respond to Jennifer.

“It-It’s happening again…” she sobbed, unable to control herself anymore. The fear of losing what was like another parent was too much for her to cope with. She could not bear it a second time!

The sound of chaos in the hall caught Milly’s attention. She could hear Zelda’s voice among them. Something really bad must have happened. Gingerly, she got up and opened the door to peek through. Among the medics and other people, she caught glimpse of the man they were carrying.

“ARCHIE!” she shrieked as she threw the door open, desperately sprinting from the room and pushing through the other doctors to get to him. She was hysterical, crying so hard she could barely breathe as her heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to burst. She just wanted to get to him!

“Archie!” she cried as she just managed to get to him. She tried to grab his hand . She needed to stay with him, he was always there when she needed him and she had to do the same for him!

“Woah woah, you can’t do that!” She suddenly felt two arms grab her from behind. Feeling another person touch her who wasn’t Archie or Jennifer only panicked the younger girl more as she struggled to get free.

“NO! NO! LET ME GO! ARCHIIIIIIIIE!” She screamed, trying to pull free from the medic, becoming more and more upset the further away they took him.

“Shh! Shh! It’s okay we’re trying to help him but you can’t come in!” he pulled her further away.

“HE NEEDS ME, LET ME GOOOOO! PAPA!” She tried to pull away but was yanked back so hard she fell backwards onto the floor.

“No he doesn’t! Just stay put and be quiet, this is urgent!” And with that the medic shut the door to the ward. Milly scrambled to her feet, trying to pull the door open but it had already been locked. All Milly could do was pull and yank at the door before resorting to banging her fists against it so hard that after a few moments, they were black and blue from bruises.

“Please…” she whimpered as she dropped onto her knees, all of her strength having been spent, “N-not again…” unable to cope anymore, she liked on her side, sobbing weakly. She had left her teddy in the room but still curled her arms around herself as if hugging it. She was back in the gas station. Alone. She had just lost her mother a second time. If Archie died… she could only sob, nothing could comfort her. She just wanted to go home...
idalie Emotional Enigma Peacemaker .45

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

He was practically dead to the world, lying on the riverbank with tree pollen resting across his eyelashes -- the only semblance of life being the hesitant rise and fall of his chest. Beneath the big blue sky, propped almost ceremoniously he could hear the deathly rattle of the undead and exhaled in one, long breath. What would happen to Milly? He only wished she wouldn't be the one to find his body by the end of it. Anyone but her. Whilst bracing himself for the pain of being torn apart, he coughed wheezily, a glob of blood forced from his lungs as he juddered and sank into the water. His preparation for death was intervened, however, as the thundering of hooves caught his attention and then the familiar rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. McKeegan forced back his slumber, staring at the fuzzy, unfocused shape of another man. With the walkers rid of, Archie was pulled to his feet, eliciting a sharp cry of pain; clutching at the puncture wounds of his abdomen as even the shirt tied around his waist couldn't help as he altered his position causing it to gush. Nevertheless, the silhouetted figure offered some medical assistance to his fingers and head.

Helped up onto the horse, slumping forward and into the beast, streaks of crimson dripped down the fur of the ebony mare. Arch turning his pale face toward Dutch with another gurgle and splutter of thick, coppery blood. "--Dan," He mouthed, barely forcing out the whisper. "Dan." His brown irises grew duller before Archie slipped from consciousness a second time. Moments before they did come across the boy himself. The stumps of his fingers were still bleeding profusely, albeit the amount had lessened unlike the three points lined over his stomach as if some gruesome constellation -- hidden partially behind hurried his make-shift bandaging.

Noises followed whilst he drifted in the nothingness of his hellish sleep. Plodding of the beast, singing of a man, and what seemed like years afterward -- the familiar sound of Zelda. The sensation of her arms wrapping around him had Archie groan and shudder; carried inside the medical centre from the smell of it. Disinfectant and rubbing alcohol that managed to sting the insides of your nostrils if you hung around too long. He trembled as if freezing, barely bringing himself to open his eyes. Looking on at the shadows flitting back and forth in blue surgical masks, he panted and made another odd noise as another surge of vomit and blood rose up -- rolling on his side instinctually to empty his stomach a second time. When he'd let himself collapse back, Arch stared intently at Zed. There was something he needed to tell her, for the greater good of the group at least. "Bit --" McKeegan's head turned, gazing down at the fingers missing. Below the knuckle and hardly salvageable. "I -- got bi-t."

A whisper this time, as sweat beaded his forehead, pulling away the saturated, stretched woollen shirt he always wore to give them a glimpse of his mocking, Orion's belt, smiling back up as he involuntarily spasmed. It had never been so red. Bed, skin, hands, teeth, hair. Everything drenched, everything stained as the big lumberjack fell away. Where was Milly? His Milly, the one that called out to him. Hands outstretched, thin and familiar. Milly had always been more than just a face or figure to care for. She was his daughter in more ways than he could count, the one he would likely never have in this savage new world. Not when the youth already struggled.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45 Emotional Enigma

 

[Emotional Enigma]

Daniel couldn't make out what the man had called out to him, couldn't see anything but him against the dulling of the sky. He shook his head, not able to tell him zombie or person. He stumbled backwards, tripping over an outreached vine and flopping onto the forest floor. He scrambled to his feet and ran off, kicking up leaves in the process. He kept running in any direction, his lungs burning with intensity and his throat drying from increased air inhalation.
He ran until his legs felt they would give out and his lungs couldn't take any more abuse. Now he was somewhere deeper in the forest and even more lost. He had made so much progress only to have digressed in the end. He wandered around, the dark closing in on him. He'd never been without Calliope, not a single day, and now suddenly he had to figure out how to fend for himself. He drifted further and further from any familiarity, still no sounds of anything, and found a shallow cave. He ducked inside and sat down. It wasn't the best place to be but better than being out in the open. He made no loud movements for fear of attracting anything living in the cave.
The cold was setting in. He never redressed after swimming and he was freezing. Time was running out and he was about to give up. He was tired and angry at himself; he just wanted someone to find him finally and go home. He wanted his family back and his friends. He wanted his old life.

***********************
​

Calliope was sifting through her journal when she heard loud footsteps in the hallway of her apartment building. They thundered down the hall and then stopped next door. A loud knocking came and then voices,
"Did you hear?! Mack's awake!"
"What? What a shit storm. Jennifer is going to have a lot of explaining to do."
"Come on! Everyone is talking about it downstairs in the lobby!"
The voices ceased and the thundering steps started again back down the hallway. Calliope stood from her seat, rather confused, and left her room. People were running past her and shuffling down the steps, practically shoving her down. Who was Mack again? She couldn't exactly place a face to the name, but everyone was extremely overjoyed by his awakening. After descending the steps, Calliope pushed through the crowd of people all murmuring about this recent event.
She left the building, far too crowded for her taste, and walked towards the medical building. People were running about and it was loud with chatter. She could hear Zelda's screams from one room and followed the noise. She only made it to the doorway when her eyes locked onto a body on an operating table. She hadn't noticed Milly crying outside the room, hadn't seen the blood that dripped in a pool on the floor, and she definitely hadn't seen Danny.
Calliope grabbed a nurse running by aggressively, her heart about to leap out of her chest,
"Where's Danny?" Her voice was barely over a whisper, anticipating the response but the woman just looked at her dazed, "Where's Danny?! Where is he?!" Calliope became even more aggressive, her eyes welling with tears and her grip tightening on the nurse's forearms,
"I-I don't know who that is," She woman pried Calliope's hands off of her with great force, "Ma'am please, you're hurting me. If you're not doing anything here, please go wait in the lobby. Our doctors need absolute focus--" Calliope didn't wait to hear the rest of her sentence. She shoved the woman away, more forcefully than she meant, and ran down the halls. Her eyes scanning every room and shoving past more people. The more rooms that turned up empty or without a small boy's figure in it, the more her stomach ached with fear.
She grabbed another nurse, asking the same question but the woman gave another worried shake of her head. Calliope, growing more desperate and teary eyed motioned with her hands,
"HE'S A LITTLE BOY, HE'S THIS BIG!" Her voice cracked with anguish, "He's.... little. He's my little brother, where is he?" Panic seared her body, worry ravaging her brain. She ran back to the room where Milly was crying, now seeing a doctor on her knees and sobbing. Everything was happening too fast, too much stimulation, too much information. She felt invisible and powerless.
Every nerve in Calliope's body tensed as she neared the body on the table. After realizing just who it was and who the doctor was, her heart sank yet again but a small dosage of relief along with it. It was Archie, not Daniel. Which meant Daniel could still be okay. She left the room, unable to allow her emotions cloud her goal. She was scared shitless, more worried right now than she was when David held her at gunpoint. The unknown was more terrifying than actually seeing the threat and right now, Daniel was part of the unknown.
She ran back to her room, shoving anyone in her path and slamming open her door. She ruffled through everything, throwing things to ground that were not needed and causing a loud mess. She holstered her combat knife, grabbed her baseball bat, and grabbed a flashlight. Calliope found herself at the gate to the colony now, her grip on her flashlight slick with sweat as night fell. Already she had no time. Daniel wouldn't survive the night. If a zombie didn't find him, surely something or someone else would.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45 idalie

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Footsteps came down the hall and ended up outside of Zelda’s office. The door opened, causing Jennifer to turn in her chair to see who it was. Thankfully, it was Zelda.

“Hey, Zelda,” she responded to her. Jennifer turned back to facing forward in her chair as Zelda walked around to her desk. “Jennifer suppose you know why I’m here.” Scratching her head, she looked at Zelda. “My father, what can you tell me about his condition.”

Zelda began to explain what his current condition was. Her father was anything but fit to lead at the moment. She knew it, and so did Zelda. Jennifer just lowered her head, shaking it slightly. Zelda began to then go on and apologize for not fixing him 100%.

“Don’t blame yourself, Z,” Jennifer said, looking down, her voice low. “You did the best you could. There wasn’t anything you could do about it to fix him all the way. He was shot in the head. The only thing that’d fix was not getting shot in the head. Don’t blame yourself. This is not your fault, and I don’t blame you. No one should. We’re alive because of you. I, and I assume he, are grateful for it. You did your best. You did what you could do. And we’re alive because of you. That’s all that matters.”

As if almost on cue, Milly walked into the room. Her childlike aurora was enough to change the whole mood of the room. It was suddenly more lighthearted and hopeful, only because of her. Greeting her, Milly turned her attention to Zelda. They began to ask where Archie was.

“None if you had seen him since we got back,” she butted in, thinking that they did see him during the time that she spent with her father.

The situation quickly turned into chaos as Zelda began searching for Archie. Jennifer got off of the chair and followed Zelda as she began yelling out his name in desperation, frantically yelling his name in the hopes that he would show up. But alas, this was not the case. They couldn’t seem to find him. The longer that this carried on, the more desperate Zelda became. Jennifer just sat there for a moment, trying to think of if she’d seen him and possibly forgot. But she couldn’t remember if she had. She was about ready to conduct a search for him, until a voice was heard other than Zelda’s.

Turning to look in the opposite direction she was looking, she saw the man she had seen at the lake earlier, with Archie on the horse. Archie was far from looking okay. Zelda pointed her gun at the man, Dutch, as a back and forth began. The standoff ended when Dutch convinced Zelda he needed immediate medical attention. Jennifer helped as much as she could getting him into the room, but that was it. She couldn’t anything else. It was up to Zelda and the other doctors to try and save Archie.

Outside the room Archie was in, Milly was crying hysterically, trying to get back to Archie. She was pushed out by the doctors, and Milly just wanted to be with him. Jennifer had never seen Milly like this, and it broke her heart. She crouched down and wrapped her arms around Milly, and spoke softly and calmly, trying to calm her down.

“Milly, shhhhh, Archie will be okay. Zelda will save him. Just relax a bit, honey. Shhhhhh, he’ll be okay.”

The issue with Milly at the moment was that she was in a bad position in front of the door. If any of the doctors needed to get out and get something to save him, Milly would be in the way. Furthermore, if Milly got a glimpse of Archie, what she could see that they’re doing with him could hurt and horrify her even more. Jennifer knew she had to move her away from her.

“Milly,” she said, trying to pick her up, Milly not cooperating. “Milly, come on, we need to get you to Zelda’s office, okay? Please, Milly, we need to get there for Archie so we aren’t in the way in case the doctors need to get out.”

It didn’t seem that Milly was going to listen. Jennifer had to drag her in, Norris following her into Zelda’s office. Jennifer knelt down again and rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down and relax her. In the process, the fate of Archie had somewhat creeped into the girl’s mind. She was beginning to think he might die. This caused her to start tearing up herself, which she tried her hardest to keep in. But she couldn’t. Water began to slowly crawl down her face. She held as much as she could in, hoping Milly wouldn’t notice. She had to be strong, for her.

Jennifer didn’t understand why or how this happened. Furthermore, she didn’t know where Dan was. She thought Dan would be near Archie. But it seems that he wasn’t. This begged the question of who was behind this. The only person that made sense in that moment was the man, Dutch. Her anger began to rise, and she wanted a word with Dutch to find out what the hell happened, somewhat convinced he was responsible for this.

“Milly, stay here, I’ll be right back,” Jennifer said, getting up and drawing her gun. She was angry, and her tone made it clear. Running out the building, she found Dutch, and pointed her gun at him. “You, come with me, now. No if’s, and’s, or but’s. Move into the medical building.”

The man did as she instructed, though he didn’t seem happy about it. She walked him towards Zelda’s room, instructing him into it and closing the door. Milly was still there. But she couldn’t focus on Milly yet. She needed to know what happened.

“Okay, Dutch,” she began as she cornered him, her gun pointed at his face. “Archie ends up like this, and you just so happened to find him and stroll back here? How the hell can we trust you? Because this is sure as hell coincidental. So you better start talking: now. And if you try anything, I will kill you. So choose your words and act wisely. Tell me what happened since I last saw you at the lake.”

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda Williams​

Zelda was frustrated with all the chaos and noise but she kept her focus squarely on Archie as he briefly arose from his blood-loss induced coma. Only to gurgle out that he was bitten! Zelda glanced around at the other medics to see if they had heard. She did not want them to panic or for anyone to make stupid decisions.

“Right… shut up and listen to me! All of you!” she snapped at them as she turned around, “I’ve just been told some information that is extremely important. From now on, this man is in quarantine and under my supervision. Nobody but myself is allowed in here until I say so.” she said in an authoritative and blunt manner, not leaving them room for questions. They all looked at each other in confusion.

“That means get out now!” She barked, causing all the medics to file out accordingly with Emma being the last to leave, who simply glared at the woman before leaving. Zelda sighed and pulled the curtain around to give Archie some privacy.

“I know you're tired and I know you want to sleep but please, you need to stay with me.” She put a hand on Archie’s cheek and looked into his fading eyes, “I can't lose someone again.” She said in a quiet and vulnerable tone before getting her tools out to patch the hole in his abdomen. The wound on his head and the bleeding from his knuckles had been stabilised and his hand and and wrist were wrapped in a thick cast and his head was heavily bandaged. She kept an eye on the man’s vitals as she worked on him, talking to him the whole time. The last thing she wanted was for the man to panic or slip away. She had to watch for any changes in his behaviour to indicate turning. She could only pray he had cut off the digits soon enough…

Milly McDonald​

Milly wailed at being grabbed by Jennifer and dragged away from the ward door and into Zelda’s office. She weakly fought against Jennifer’s grip but could not put up much of a fight. Once inside, she felt Jennifer hold her and gently rock her back and forth. Milly instinctually clung to the woman tightly, burying her face into her. She could not stop crying, even after she felt as though she had cried out all her tears.

She could hear the doctors leaving Archie’s room so jumped up from Jennifer's grip and opened the door to ask one of the medics what was going on.
“Where’re you going?” She squeaked, “How’s Archie?”

“Don't know.” He shrugged, looking worried, “looks bad though.”

“Where's Zelda?”

“Told us to get out.” He rolled his eyes, “She probably figures she could have her way with him given he can't say no.”

The mere mention of that was enough for Milly to shriek angrily and kick the man hard in the shin, making him yelp.

“DON’T SAY THAT!” She yelled, despite the throbbing agony in her knee from the sudden activity and hard impact “IS ARCHIE OKAY?” She added, starting to cry again from both the pain in her knee and the despair over Archie’s condition.

“Jesus Christ, you little cu-!” He raised a hand up above his head, clearly intending to strike Milly. Seeing the man’s hand suddenly caused Milly to shrink back. But just before he went to hit her, he seemed aware of the fact Jennifer was in the room and the door was open. He growled under his breath and lowered his hand, much to Milly’s relief.

“He's stable except the wound in his stomach. She'll deal with that. Aside from that… why she wants him to herself I don't know. She doesn't want anyone in though.” And with that he left. Milly bit her lip and scuttled back into Zelda’s office and to Jennifer. She say against the wall with her knees pulled to her chest as she rocked back and forth with her teddy between her legs. She had not done this in such a long time but without Archie’s comfort, she didn't know how else to react… her stomach rumbled painfully but Milly was too wrapped up in her distress to pay attention, though Norris seemed to notice it as she grumbled irritably and gave Milly a blunt peck on the stomach to which the girl didn't react to. She just wanted Archie.

Milly was too upset to notice Jennifer leaving briefly and only came back to reality when a tall man she had never seen followed the young woman in. Milly whimpered and pulled away from Jen as she saw she had her gun pointed at the man, demanding an explanation for what happened to Archie.

Realising this man might have been responsible for Archie’s condition, and seeing Jennifer so angry and having her gun out was too much for Milly to cope with, she scrambled away to the far corner of the room and curled up into a fetal position and facing the wall, desperately trying to escape. She tried to escape with her mind, taking her away from this awful time… back home with her mother. She found herself escaping back into one specific memory of them sitting in the back garden, next to the outside fire pit during twilight, huddled together under a blanket, watching a Disney film on her mum’s iPad and cooking toast on the fire. She could even smell the toast. She just wished it was all real…

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch was about to go back to Domino, who was standing calmly outside when he heard a voice of an angry young woman address him, telling him to get inside. He turned around to see the girl from before pointing her gun at him. Again.

“But I-” he sighed “Okay…” he did not see the point in attempting to answer back. He did not have his gun. And she was clearly serious about shooting him. He simply followed her inside only to be locked in a room, in a corner and still at gunpoint as she grilled him over what he had to do with the man being hurt. Archie, that was his name. He kept his hands visible to the girl, showing he was unarmed.

“Okay, okay.” he said, trying to keep his tone calm despite his racing heart, “Let me explain. After you lot ran off, I continued onwards through the woods. I found Archie at the river bank with four, seriously four,” he raised four fingers for emphasis, “Zombies about to feast on him. Popped a cap in ‘em and saw he was hurt like that. I swear on my life, ma’am I didn’t lay a finger on him. Believe me… I would never hurt another man unless he was being a big ol’ nasty. And… well, I came across a youngster in the woods, though he didn't seem to see me. If I had to guess, Archie was in the woods looking for him.” he glanced at the younger girl huddled in the corner, her forehead repetitively hitting the wall as she rocked back and forth. His heart felt heavy at the sight.

“Look… Trust me. I never hurt Archie. If I wanted to hurt him, I would have left him at the river to die. But I don’t do that. I don’t believe in leaving a man behind. But… if you still don’t believe me… just do it.” he sighed heavily, realising that this was possibly the end for him. It had been a good run at least... “Just… Take care of Domino for me.” he shut his eyes in preparation for the bullet. At least he'll be able to see his brother again.
Peacemaker .45 idalie Emotional Enigma

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Darkness. The comatose realm of undreaming held him shackled as thoughts restlessly emerged. Milly, alone. Daniel, lost. Zelda's tears. Calliope's anger. Jennifer's gun. The soft, rotting mouth with those brutal teeth as they gnawed and scraped on his hand. Tearing, gurgling, supping on the flesh as it peeled back, sucking on tendons and bones like dribbling canines. Nothing more than a perished survivor, among the rest who had failed their mission. McKeegan; frozen on the hospital bed, if not for the occasional breath whilst the doctor set herself to work. Arch's eyes fluttered back open partially, heartbeat quickening in an already elevated state. His eyes lazily tracked over to the silhouette of Zed as she tended to him, half-heartedly listening to her talk whilst dipping in and out.

He was too drained to talk after his final words, all quite damning to admit you'd been bitten. Perhaps he should've taken the whole hand? What would they do to him if he turned? A shot to the head? Would Milly see? The distressing scenario ran through his minds-eye repetitively. If anything he wanted the group to appear before him, bright and bold as day. How desperately he desired to talk, to lament his failures to the doctor and her little ruddy nose.

She wasn't a conventional, blonde-bombshell that was for sure. But there was an undeniable charm one could find, the further into history and behind useless facades as you could manage to get. Admiration perhaps, or a sense of being cared for. Spending so much of his time being the father to the fatherless, it was relieving to know that when he tried to have everyone's backs, there was someone a this too. Alas, death wasn't an option. Not yet. Not yet.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45 Emotional Enigma

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Dutch gave his side of the story, as Jennifer demanded at gunpoint. She listened to every word he spoke, paying attention to many different things, such as tone and body language, to catch him if he were lying. What caught Jennifer off guard was Dutch’s comment about a “youngster” in the woods. The girl shifted her eyes to the corner of the room for a moment.

“Daniel,” she said quietly, her gun lowering slightly, eyes still pointed away from Dutch. “What the hell was he doing so far away?”

Dutch spoke more, this time trying to make his complete case for his innocence. It seemed he was ready for Jennifer to kill him. But everything the man said seemed genuine to her. The more she listened, the more ashamed she felt. She knew at this point that Dutch was telling the truth. Everything about him in this instance pointed out he was telling the truth. As this rang in her mind, Dutch began to tell her to shoot him, telling her to take care of Dom, his horse. Jennifer lowered her gun with a sigh, shaking her head in slight embarrassment.

“Damn it,” the words seeping through her mouth quietly, turning away from Dutch and putting her hands on Zelda’s desk. “You’re telling the truth, I see it.” Jennifer kept her eyes down on the desk, away from Dutch. “I’m sorry for... that. You’re free to go live and fight another day.”

Jennifer turned her head, only looking at Dutch from the corner of her eyes. “Thank you for saving Archie. Hopefully we can save him now.l

It was during this time that Jennifer turned her head to find Milly. Milly had moved from her original spot to a corner in the room. She was scared, emotionally distraught from what happened to Archie. This shook Jennifer, seeing Milly so distressed. Having Dutch confronted in front of her certainly didn’t help her either.

“Oh, Milly,” she said gently as she walked over and cradled her. “Just relax, okay? Calm down, you’re okay.” Jennifer rocked her back and forth, grabbing a tissue to wipe away her tears when she could. “Archie will be okay, we just have to let Zelda save him. He’ll be okay, there isn’t anything to worry about. Shhhhhhhhh, relax, Milly.”

Jennifer obviously didn’t know whether or not Archie would live. She knew this when she had said that to Milly. But Milly needed comfort in the moment. So Jennifer said something in an effort to comfort her. She continued to hold her and try to calm her down, rocking her back and forth with a soothing and calm voice. It was all she could do to help Milly. She hoped it helped in some small way at the very least.

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch listened to the woman, Jennifer, as she seemed to relax and believe what he was saying. She lowered the gun, expressing her guilt for suspecting it was him. Dutch let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his black beard. One the one hand he was angry at being falsely accused of this crime, as well as having his life threatened for it. But at the same time, he could not blame the woman for her impulsive thought process. Her friend had been badly maimed and he clearly meant a lot to both her and the younger girl who was still in the room.

“Hey.” he tried to assure the woman, who was clearly upset, “I get it. If he were my friend I would react the same.” He looked to the smaller girl as she was still cowering in the corner, now being held by Jennifer. She was clearly shaken from what has just happened as well as that confrontation.

“Look… I don’t wanna burden you any more than you probably already are.” He said, not moving any closer as to not frighten the younger girl anymore, “But I’ll be setting up camp just outside your border. I wanna know how Archie is, won’t die peacefully if I didn’t.” he said before folding his arms at the pair, “Hm. Well. Guess that’s it then. Ladies.” he tipped his hat again before swiftly leaving. Once outside, he took Domino by her reins, leading her away back towards the river. The mare whickered and put her nose on the man's shoulder. He looked at her and gave her a stroke between her nostrals.

“Man. Never seen a lady wielding a gun with that kind of confidence. That was something else…”

TWO DAYS LATER

Zelda Williams​

‘Day two; Archie is still stable. No changes in temperature. Pulse is normal. No signs of aggression. Blood sample was negative.’

Zelda’s hand shook as she wrote it all down in her notes, the letters all jagged from her quaking grip. There was a gradual change from the handwriting seen in her first entry, crisp and clear and today. It looked as though it had been written by a drunk.

But Zelda was not drunk. In fact, quite the opposite. At this point in time, she had been stone cold sober for two days. And it was something that did not agree with the woman whatsoever. Her hands shook terribly, it felt like there were ants running all over her body and she was sweating like a sinner in church. It just would not stop. She needed relief but that would mean leaving Archie’s side. That was something she simply could not do. There could not be any chances for error in this. After what happened with Mack, she simply could NOT fail again! Just the thought of it sent shivers down the woman’s spine. She had to stay awake. Stay alert. Who knew what could happen to Archie after he got bitten? It was only a matter of time until he-

*Knock knock knock*

“GAH!” Zelda jumped violently out of her seat, dropping her bottle of water at the sound of the door being knocked harshly, “Who is that?!”

“Um… Just me.” Sebastian’s voice answered, sounding a little shocked at her reaction, “I’ve brought your and Mr. McKeegan’s lunch.”

“Oh… right just… leave it at the door.” Zelda answered, still shaking from the fright she had got. She waited until the man had left before quickly ducking out to pull the trays in before shutting the door and locking it again. Zelda sighed and wiped her clammy forehead. She did not know how much longer she could take this stress. She put Archie’s lunch on another table and took her own. It was a simple broth with chicken. This was the only type of chicken the woman could tolerate. When it was dead. She brought the spoon to her nose and sniffed it. Somehow, the aroma of what others would call a delicious broth almost made the woman sick. She had been feeling terribly nauseous and that made her not want to eat. But at the same time… she had to. That or she could pass out and then what would become of Archie? It was by some miracle that the other medics were actually giving her food. Well… that was a stretch. She was pretty sure she was just being given the leftovers. An afterthought. As always. Like they suddenly realise “oh yeah there’s that fuckhead watching him, best feed her so there aren’t two zombies to behead” or some bullshit like that.

Zelda growled a little as she made an attempt to eat. Yep, definitely leftovers. She could practically smell the grease which would come from the bottom of a pot. Still, she was hungry. Zelda was not sure why she had suddenly become so aware of her hunger and actually tried to feed herself. She never had before. Then again she did not have to deal with this before. Maybe that was it. Yeah. She did not actually care. She just… Didn’t want Archie to wake up to a potential zombie or corpse. Either sounded awful.

She only managed to eat about half of her bowl before beginning to feel sick. She put it to the side as she took back the blanket she had stolen from another bed and wrapped herself in it as she watched Archie. It was chilly in here, at least that’s how Zelda felt. The colour seemed to be returning to Archie’s cheeks which was a relief. Shuddering a little, she pulled the blanket further around herself. Aside from her usual tatty jeans and the oversized black top that hung over her thin shoulders, she did not have any other cover. Not that she needed it. She barely slept either. She had only been sleeping in two-hour blocks every eight hours or so. She needed to be awake… aware… awake…

Milly McDonald​

Milly crouched at the door to her room, looking outside. It seemed to be quite a fair day and there were a lot of people wandering around outside. But she did not want to go outside. After what happened to Archie, she could not shake off that fear of that possibly happening to her. He went out on his own and he got so badly hurt that she was not allowed to see him. Without him, she couldn’t build up the confidence to go out and play like she normally would have.

Milly shuffled back into the room and sat on her mattress, hugging her bear tightly. The last two days had been horrible. All she could think about was Archie. Nothing else. She had not been able to sleep properly the last couple of nights. Without Archie, her nightmares had grown worse and she could only sleep for a hour before waking up screaming from a night terror. A mixture of the dark and being alone only made it worse. It left Milly feeling too listless and anxious to do anything.

Jennifer had attempted to try and get Milly to leave the room to eat or play but the younger girl just did not have the will or drive. She needed to eat, since it had been a few days since her last meal but the thought of eating made her feel sick. She was too worried. That night after Zelda had started work on Archie, she did not sleep a wink. She was up the whole night crying. Jen had stayed with her for some time to try and reassure that he would be okay but she just could not believe it. She could only imagine the worst was happening to her friend.

Her stomach growled painfully, making the younger girl wince. She knew she needed to eat but... she didn't want to go outside. All the confidence she had before was gone, and she felt terrible about it. She just wanted Archie back. But she had heard nothing for two days about him from Zelda, who had not been seen either. Milly bit her lip and rubbed her stomach in a circular motion, hoping to try and ease the discomfort from it. She was still trapped in that despair of losing another person who mattered so much to her. Now that it had happened a second time... what now? Milly lied on her side, facing the wall. If there was no word on Archie by tonight... she did not know what to do. All she wanted to do now was just lie here and... nothing else.

Peacemaker .45 idalie

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

His head was pounding. Throat dry whilst he felt physically sore and aching, like a day after working out at the gym and forgetting to stretch. McKeegan let out a long groan initially, cracking open his sleep-encrusted eyes and breathing heavier into the oxygen-mask with a grunt whilst shifting about. Raising one sluggish hand, he pulled the mask down and took an inhale of the room's air, raggedly letting his chest rise and fall whilst the heart-monitor picked up from his resting heartbeat to accommodate the new movement. Still recovering and being subject to prior sedatives, Archie had to take a moment to regain location; thankfully recognising the med-centre and the familiar figure of Zelda sitting beside him.

"Zeld." He coughed, putting the back of his hand to his forehead. "Grab me some water, lass." The Scotsman pleaded, "Cold water." How long had it been? The last thing he remembered was Dan running off into the woods, how he'd fallen and then -- bitten. He inspected his current resting hand and shook his head with an almost angered growl, mostly aimed at himself. "Fuckin' great. What a Tits McGee, badger-fucking, piss-poor, brain-eating, corpse-kissin', rat-arse, fuck." The string of curses really did show he was indeed, conscious and fully functioning. Considering he now stared at the bandaged digits and the two missing ones. Permanently stuck looking like he was at a punk-rock concert, although he supposed it could be worse. He could be dead for one.

"Doc, you alright? Where's Danny? Where's Milly?" His eyes tracked over to her and the state she was in. "You don't look so well, love. Shakin' all like that. Whats happenin'?" The lumberjack frowned, unable to recall much. Not being saved, nor where he'd ended up, or how far he'd trudged. There was memories of Milly having fun by the river's edge, holding Zelda against him whilst she wore his cap pulled low and watching Dan's features slacken with awe as he skipped rocks with the boy; accompanied by Jen and her fishing poles. They had been happy. Happy for such a dark age to live in. Dismissing the discontent, the threatening hunger, and ever-present hungering corpses who shambled from place to place.

Just what had happened? And why did his abdomen feel as if it could burst if he sat up?

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish

 

[Peacemaker .45]

A knock was sounded on the door. Walter slowly managed to get himself up, uses the crutches to elevate himself up. Walking his way to the door with the aid of the crutches, he opened it up.

“Oh, Jennifer,” he said in surprise as she appeared in the doorframe.

“Can I come in,” she asked.

“Sure, sure, go on in,” Walt replied, moving him out of the way so she could walk in.

Jennifer walked to the small table in the room where a chair was. Lowering herself onto the chair, she sighed quietly. There had been a lot of stress on her as of recently with her father. He had been alien to her, often disappearing behind closed doors, or just in general, only to reappear and avoid every question she asked. Mack was up to something. And from the looks of it, something no good. But what was the question. Jennifer intended to find out. Perhaps Walter knew something. But she couldn’t be sure of it. The two of them had grown to be somewhat friends. Jennifer spent some time talking to him in the recent days. She wasn’t so sure if he could trust him or not, but for now, they were just friends. Anything she didn’t want him knowing she wouldn’t say.

“How you holding up,” she asked him as she leaned back in the chair, extending her arm onto the small table.

“Been better, been worse,” he replied as he made his way to the opposite chair of Jennifer’s. Pulling the seat out, he sat down on it, placing his crutches against the wall. “What brings you here this time?”

“Well,” she began with a deep breath in. “I wanted to check up on you, see how you are.”

“And,” Walter chimed in.

“And what?”

“I know you came here for a little more than just a friendly talk. You already know how I am. We talked yesterday. I sense there’s something else.”

Jennifer looked to her side for a moment. She knew he was right. They’ve talked on several occasions since Mack had taken control over the Mountaintop once again. Finding herself caught in her own antics, she sighed, once again.

“Okay, you got me, Walt,” she began. “I need to know something, or rather, anything you know.”

“About,” he questioned her.

“My father.”

“I’m sure you know more about him than I do.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Jennifer looked side to side briefly before leaning in and lowering her voice, as if she were being watched and wanted to remain subtle. “I know my father up until the point I lost him, thought he died when this all started. You, on the other hand, have been here longer, correct?”

“Yeah, I have. Back when this place was getting more built up. It was a lot smaller back then, and I was always doing grunt work in the mine shaft. Barely got to see the light of day during the day.”

“Wait, hold on,” Jennifer immediately shot in once she heard where he worked. “The mine shaft? You worked down there?”

“Yup. I helped built and dig more of it out so that we could put stuff down there. Dirty freaking work in the ‘Devil’s Hole,’ as I liked to call it.”

Jennifer took a second to think. There was a connection to a light in her head that was about to light a lightbulb in it. But she needed to figure the connect first. She had to probe him a bit more to get it.

“What can you tell me about the mine shaft in the early days?”

“Oh,” Walt chuckled, “It was absolute shit. Whoever started building it just dug a huge hole and that was it. But, oddly enough, they had this one room that was dug. Mack never let anyone down there. He said it was too dangerous. He keeps the door locked at all times. Only he knows where the key is. I thought it was weird, kind of suspicious too, but I didn’t want to get on his bad side. So I stayed away from it. Just did my shitty job making the shaft what it is now so it’s functional.”

The connection in Jennifer’s head finally was made, and the lightbulb in her head lit up. She turned to look out the window for a second. She was thinking about what the door was that Mack wouldn’t let anyone inside. When she was in charge of the Mountaintop, not even Jennifer herself knew anything about this room. Jennifer had seen Mack and a group of others going in and out of the the mine shaft, disappearing for hours everyday. Mack had been hiding something from her, from everyone. Jennifer think she finally knew where the secrets were hidden. But what they were was a whole different question she intended to answer, whether he father liked it or not.

“Huh,” Jennifer replied while still looking out the window. She was more focused on figuring out what the door lead to than responding to Walter at this moment. “Hey, Walt, I need to go check on Milly. She hasn’t eaten in days. I need to see if I can get her to eat.”

“Leaving so soon,” he asked her, curious to whether or not she was using that as an excuse to leave.

“Yeah, I have to. She needs to eat something,” she said walking to the door.

“Hey, Jennifer,” he said as he quickly tried to get himself up from the chair. “I don’t know what the hell is going on in that pretty little head of yours. But if you plan on trying to get into that place, you have to be careful. I heard there were a variety of traps there that could kill you. No one who ever tried to break in there was ever seen alive again. It’s nothing more than rumors I heard from the folk down there. And if you’re thinking about going down there, I want in. Something is being hidden there that Mack doesn’t want any of us to see. And I don’t think it’s good. I want to know what in the hell theyre hiding.”

Turning her head slightly, she caught Walt out of the corner of her eye. He had assumed what she was going to do, and he was right, but she wasn’t about ready to admit it. Not yet to him, at least. She just nodded her head before exiting the room and shutting the door.

Jennifer grabbed an apple on her way to see Milly. The poor girl was starving herself over what happened with Archie. It had traumatized her. Not only this, but Dan and Cali were missing, and no one knew where they were. Search efforts yielded up nothing. This too may have bothered Milly, but to what level was unknown to Jennifer. All she knew is that Archie’s incident had left the girl in a state of despair. Not eating was only making it worse for her.

“Milly, it’s me,” Jennifer said as she walked through the door. She found Milly on her side on her bed. Jennifer walked over to it and sat down near her. “Hey, I have an apple for you. Would you take a bite of it? It’s one of the best apples we have here. They’re sweet and yummy! I had one earlier, i can vouch for them. Why don’t you give it a bite? You may feel a bit better if you do.”

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly kept her face against the wall as she heard Jennifer walk in. She felt the older woman sit next to her. She glanced to her briefly, seeing she was holding an apple. Her sad eyes travelled to the woman’s face as she tried to get her to take a bite of it. Milly nibbled her bottom lip, which was quivering slightly from emotion. Her stomach grumbled as she looked at the apple, causing Milly to look away, feeling rather embarrassed. She wanted the apple, but she just could not find the will to actually take it from Jennifer. But… not taking it would be impolite.

She took the apple from the girl and just… stared at it, trying to build up the strength to actually take a bite from the fruit. But she could not see any point. But she knew that Jennifer wanted her to eat it. With a sigh, she took a very small bite from the fruit. The sweet juice squirted from the apple’s flesh onto her tongue, making her salivate. But despite that, she kept the bite small as she started chewing on it.

For whatever reason, maybe it was the motion of eating it or its taste, but the sudden sensation in her mouth seemed to cause a number of thoughts to rush through Milly’s mind at once. Archie was… she did not know, he could even be dead and they just weren’t going to tell her! Cali and Daniel were missing, the last she saw the pair of them they were both angry and she never got to say anything good or positive to them before they vanished! And Jane… the young girl’s eyes started watering rapidly and tears leaked down her cheeks as she remembered Jane. After her mother abandoned her, Jane was the only friend she had. Having Jane had given Milly a drive, a will to live now that she had a friend to keep her safe and to keep her company. Ultimately that was all Milly ever wanted in life. A friend. But… she did not have any anymore. She tried to keep her expression straight as she fought back against these emotions. Of course, she saw Jennifer as a friend, almost to the point of seeing her as a sister of some kind. But Jennifer had her own things to deal with and the last thing Milly ever wanted to do was to interfere. Running this community was a lot more important.

Ever since the world fell apart, everything that meant to Milly had been taken away and was still being taken away. It did not matter what she did, how good she was or how much she loved someone, they would still be taken away. Why?!

Milly could not hold it back anymore. She struggled to swallow the apple piece as she felt a sudden surge of emotion, causing her to burst into tears, despite Jennifer sitting right there. She felt her muscles tense, causing her to drop the apple onto her lap, which was now wet from the flood of tears. She just could not handle the pain anymore. The world was too much of a frightening place and she just could not cope with it anymore.

“I want to go home!” She sobbed, unable to hold it back, “I want to go home RIGHT NOW!” she added, hitting both of her knees with her fists, ignoring the pain that was caused by this action. Her hands were still black and blue from when she banged the door but she couldn't even register the pain coming from them as she hit her knees. At this point the only way this could be described as would be a tantrum but Milly just simply could not hold back her frustration with this wretched place. It was supposed to be safe! But in their short stay, Jennifer, Mack, Zelda and now Archie had almost died! She could be next! She didn't want to live in a place where any second she could lose another person who means so much to her. This was not a safe place. Nowhere was. The only truly safe place Milly ever knew was her home and in her mother’s protective grip. Her mother that she had not seen for so long and was possibly not even alive…


“I want my mum!” She gasped, her head still in her hands, “I want my mum, I want my room…” she paused, gasping to catch her breath from the relentless sobs that just would not stop despite her best efforts.


“I-I-I just want to go home… I'm scared here…” she managed to calm herself down to a degree despite the fact she was still crying but not as extreme as before. She looked to Jennifer before picking her bear up, hugging it close to her chest. This was all she had left of her old life. She didn't know what she would do without it. Losing her teddy would be… losing everything.

She missed everything. Right down to her rubber duck that quacked when squeezed that she would play with in the bath. The carved duck Archie had made her was right next to her, as well as the bluebird. She never wanted them out of her sight. She looked at Jennifer, still feeling extremely distraught but now rather ashamed for acting like that. She must have thought she looked like a real spoiled brat, crying like that. But… she couldn't help it. It had been a long time since she had mentioned her mother or her home, but being so overwhelmed with so much fear and despair, she did not know what else to think about. She did not what else to do but to lean into Jennifer, just wanting to be held. The thought of being alone again was just too much for the younger girl to cope with. She sobbed slightly, unable to stop herself from shaking.

“...I… I know that before she left, she was angry and…” she shuddered a little at the memory, “Sh-she hit me but…” she bit her lip, “I still want my mummy...” she looked away from Jennifer, despite holding onto her, feeling completely exposed. She just shut her eyes, somewhat afraid of what Jennifer was going to say. She did not think she would say anything bad but… she felt so weak. All she could do was pray that Archie would be alright…

Zelda Williams​

Zelda jumped as she saw the Scotsman’s eyes flutter open. She stood up, a little anxious but at his humble request of water, the woman just stood there stunned. He… he was not infected at all? But… Her head spinning, she did as he asked and got him a bottle of water and placed the tray with his meal on his lap if he wanted it. She sat next to him again.

“Archie… Uff.” She shook her head, “Gave me a hell of a fright.” she sighed at the man. She was still wearing the cap he had given her the other day. She could not help but smile slightly as she felt the wave of relief seeing him not only alive but talking.

As he then started insulting himself for getting himself hurt, the woman shook her head slightly.

“Archie, it’s okay… it was an accident.” she tried to assure him as she pulled the blanket tighter around her. She could not stop shaking, and her forehead and hands were clammy from stress. As the man then asked her about both Milly and Dan, her smile faded. She rubbed the back of her neck.

“Um… Daniel…” she did not want to tell him how they hadn’t found him or Cali. He loved the kid and the news of his disappearance would surely take a huge toll on him. She could not afford that when he still needed to recover.

“Cali found him. But I guess they had enough of this place cause they just headed off.” she explained. Inwardly, she felt truly awful. It did not matter what she thought about the situation. To her, the whole thing was her fault. If she hadn’t lashed out at Cali like that, Daniel would not have been in a bad mood and would not have ran off like that. She never got to apologise to Cali like she wanted to… Another relationship ruined by her own stupidity. But she could not focus on that right now. She had to focus on Archie.

“And Milly… Well, I don’t know.” she admitted, feeling the knot in her stomach tighten, “See… since you were bit, I didn’t want anyone in here except for me. Selfish I know but… I couldnt take risks. Better I potentially got infected than…. Well anyone else.” she explained. She knew Milly would be pining for Archie, seeing how good their relationship was.

Getting up, she briefly opened the door to another medic.

“Hey. Do me a favour and get Milly and Jennifer for me.” She said before swiftly closing the door. The medic on the other side stood there for a moment before simply shrugging before going on to tell them.

As she sat down, she breathed out through her teeth which seemed to catch the Scotsman's attention as he asked how she was. She knew she looked like death so his question was understandable.

“Um… I’m fine.” she rubbed her eyes, “Just… tired. Havent slept well the last couple of days… Haven’t had a drink either. Feeling rather… shaky you know?” she kept rubbing the back of he neck as she talked. She felt like if she stopped moving the shaking would worsen as well as the sensation of what felt like ants running around her whole body. She sighed through her nose as he asked what was happening.

“Okay… this is going to sound weird but, a guy called Dutch found you pretty much dead next to the river and brought you back here on your horse.” Zelda was still deeply suspicious of the man, despite what she had heard that he was not responsible for Archie's condition. She could not afford to assume he wasn't. How could she know this was not some kind of sick joke? As she explained this, she tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke, if anything the whole toxic mix of… everything made the doctor want to scream. “I’ve watched you for two days to ensure you did not turn… guess it worked.” she gave him a weak smile before sipping cold water herself. It was her only relief. That and that Archie was finally awake and Milly and Jennifer would be coming to see him. Seeing the pair of them was surely what Archie needed to recover fully.
idalie Peacemaker .45

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Archie took the water with a grateful inclination of his head, popping the cap open with a twist and taking a long needed gulp. Adam's apple bobbing as he quenched the damnable thirst before lying back with a slow pant. The Scotsman adjusted his position to sit further upright, features betraying the pain it caused before coming to rest. "Sorry for givin' you a scare, love. Guess I should stop jumpin' up from the deathbed with people around, eh?" McKeegan jokingly winked.

He listened attentively to the news of Daniel and Cali, nodding to himself with some element of sadness. "I liked the two of 'em, but I suppose Cali was never the sort to stay around for long." Arch let out a small sigh, rolling his head from shoulder to shoulder; loosening up the tight, uncomfortable muscle. "I shouldn'ta scolded him like I did. I could see the hate in that lad's eyes. Like I'd killed his mother or somethin'." Using his better hand, he rubbed his brow and shut his eyes tight. "I just wanted him to be on the straight and narrow, that gal Cali, she's a good sister but hell -- my dad woulda belted the shite outta me for runnin' out into the woods alone." He laughed somewhat and let his gaze drift up to meet Zeldas.

Reaching over, Archie put his hand on the Doctor's knee, giving a comforting squeeze. "I'm sorry I put you all through this. I ain't got the sense I was born with." He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip in contemplation before moving to grab her palm when Zelda returned to her seat.

"I could kiss you, but I think I'll stick with just sayin' thank you. But since I'm awake now and I ain't some rottin' son-ova-bitch, I gotta start lookin' out for you, huh? I know you did me a big service. Just look at you, and I don't believe for one minute you wanted a death wish by stayin' here. I'm happy it was you though -- wouldn't ask for anyone less." He drew his rough, worked hand over hers and tipped his head. "So, as yer faithful patient, I'm perscribin' a nap."

His smile softened, relaxing the creases around his eyes and the lines in his forehead. "Keep sober for me this time, sweetheart. If that's one good thing comin' from this. I know it's bad, but hell -- I care about what that shit is doin' to your liver. I need my lilypad, don't I?"

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Milly erupted into a tantrum, catching Jennifer by surprise. She had been upset, but it seemed she had hit a boiling point. This was something she’d never seen with the poor girl. The entire time, Jennifer just listened, but looking at the girl with pity in her eyes. She didn’t want to interrupt Milly and speak until she knew she was done.

As Milly began to calm, she revealed that she was scared at the Mountaintop. Upon hearing this, Jennifer shifted her eyes towards the ground in a moment of thought. With everything that has been happening there, she understood the girl’s fright. The more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that this wasn’t quite the safe utopia that Mack had made it out to be. Whether or not this was his fault was up for debate. But the safe place he promised her had been anything but safe. They had walls to keep the dead out. But the living were more of a threat now, as shown by what had happened when Dave was in power.

As Jennifer returned her eyes to Milly, she began to open her mouth to say something, but was cut off as Milly spoke again. This time, she said something that she had experienced in her life, but perhaps to a far worse degree. Milly explained she missed her mother. But before her mother left, she was angry, and hit Milly. Jennifer’s posture changed as she let out a sigh. Bringing herself closer to Milly, she wrapped her arms around her for a brief moment, before letting go to speak to her.

“Milly,” she began, pity shining from her eyes. “I miss my mother too. I watched her die. There wasn’t a thing I could do.” She began to sniffle, as a tear emerged from her eye. “My dad used to abuse my mother and I. He hit us on his drunken raged after my brother died. He’d hit us, verbally abuse us... he did a lot that I don’t even want to speak of. But I get how you feel. I was there, and in ways I still am. But my father changed. And I thought he was dead. But look what happened. He’s alive, and he changed.”

Jennifer shifted herself once more and put her hands on Milly’s shoulders, bringing her head in low to speak to her, looking her directly in the eyes.

“She might still be out there. Maybe she is out there looking for you. I don’t know, we just can’t. What trying to say is don’t lose hope, Milly. Never lose hope. One day we might find her.”

Taking her hands off of her, she returned her gaze to directly in front of her at the wall. She wanted to try and reassure her that the Mountaintop was safe. But even she too was in denial about it. She wasn’t sure about what she wanted to say to her in regards to it. However, her thought was cut off when she heard a knock on the door.

“Who is it,” she yelled to the person behind the door.

“One of the medics. Zelda sent me to tell you Archie is awake.”

Jennifer turned to Milly, a smile building in her face. “He’s awake,” she said, a chuckle of joy coming from her. “Thank you, we’ll be there soon,” she replied to the medic, before turning to Milly. “Come on! Let’s go see him!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jennifer ran to the room where Archie was. She was filled with relief. “Archie,” she said with a sigh of relief, walking over to his bedside. “We thought you were going to die.” A single tear emerged from her eye, before letting out a small laugh for what she was about to say. “You stubborn son of a bitch, you just didn’t want to die,” a smile beaming from her face.

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly clung to Jennifer when the girl pulled her closer into a hug. She just could not cope anymore. She just wanted to go home to her mother, this place was far from safe and it was at the point where Milly was simply thankful that she had not been shot yet. Any loud noise resembling a gun scared her terribly, playing a part in why she did not want to leave this room anymore. Without Archie, Milly simply did not feel safe.

As Jennifer started speaking, Milly froze as she mentioned that her mother had died and she had seen her die. Suddenly, she felt intensely guilty. She had just gone on about how her mother was missing and yet Jennifer’s own mother was dead! What did she have to complain about? At least she could have that faint hope that Eleanor was still alive somewhere. Jennifer didn’t have that. She looked at the girl sadly before turning away, her eyes still shining with tears.

“S-Sorry… I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” she mumbled. She did not want to be a burden on Jennifer like that. She continued to listen as she told her how Mack had been abusive when he was drinking, something Milly had only heard snippets of but never the whole story like that. Again she glanced down.

“Is...Is that why you hated Zelda?” she asked, remembering both her and Archie’s initial interactions with Zelda and how unpleasant they were. She did not feel angry about it, she totally understood. And of course they had all moved on but she wondered if those thoughts still lingered. She felt Jennifer put her hand under her chin and raise her head to look at her as she assured Milly that her mother could still possibly be found. Milly glanced away. She really did miss her mother but… she was afraid. After they had been thrown out of their group, her mother had blamed Milly for it happening and grew more bitter towards her. Would she still be angry? Milly shuddered a little at the thought but… there was still hope wasn’t there?

The sound of the door knocking caused Milly to jump violently, feeling as though her heart had stopped. She bit her lip and turned away from the door, too upset to really pay attention to what was going on. Even when Jennifer answered it and spoke to the person at the door, she did not look. But before she could think about anything else, she heard Jennifer speak up again, sounding much happier than before. She turned to look at her as the woman said that… Archie was awake?

“Wait-what-” before she could get a word in, Jennifer had grabbed her and was pulling her along. Milly did not even react to being pulled outside. She was in too much shock over what she had just heard to do anything.

*​

Once in the ward, Milly stopped at the door as Jennifer went ahead. She bit her lip, unable to stop herself from shaking. She was scared of what she was going to see. Jennifer and Zelda had looked awful when they were here. Bad things happened here. The thought of seeing Archie hurt worried the younger girl terribly. But… she had to see him, she could not just not see him.

Breathing in shakily, Milly walked into the ward. Jennifer was already talking to Archie and Zelda was standing a little away. The woman looked quite rough but Milly could not focus on that. She turned to Archie. He was lying down but he looked bright. Milly bit her lip and looked at Zelda for a moment before walking to the edge of the bed. She wanted to say something to the man but could not think of anything. What could she say?

Not knowing what else she could do, she sat on the bed and, after putting her teddy on the bedside table, snuggled up against Archie as much as she could, putting her arms around the man, burying her face into the crook of his neck. She did not want to be separated from him again. She let out a quiet whimper as she hugged him, not able to say a word knowing if she attempted to, she’d probably burst into tears. Her hands were still heavily bruised but she did not care as she gripped onto him. She had thought she lost him. She had already lost her mother, she just could not lose someone else she loved again. Her heart would not be able to take it. She was never going to let Archie out of her sight again. Or her grip.

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch pulled the reins gently, feeling Domino come to a walk after her long trot. The mare hung her head and huffed as she swished her tail. He kept her at a march as he made his way to the medical centre. It had been two days since Archie had gone into the building and he was desperate to see how he was doing. He had attempted to visit the day before and was instantly turned away. Well, if you call being given ten seconds to leave or he’d be shot “turned away”. This time, it seemed to be a different story. He was halfway through the camp now and not a gun in sight. Domino still seemed anxious as Dutch could hear her snorting as she breathed.

“Easy Dom, we’re almost there.” he assured the mare as he stroked her long and black neck. Once they got to the entrance, the man took a deep breath as he dismounted the mare. He put the reins over her head and tied her the pole next to the door where there was a nice patch of grass for her. Fishing into his pocket, he brought out a parsnip he had found a few days ago. The mare had a particular fondness for the vegetable as she gobbled it up without another thought. Dutch chuckled and gave her a scratch between the eyes before heading inside.

As he walked in, he noticed a door that was open and gingerly poked his head in. There he could see Jennifer, Milly and Archie. He let out a quiet sigh and smiled through his beard despite his anxiety that he might possibly not be welcomed here.

“Knock knock!” he gave them a friendly wave, “Just thought I’d check on how this dude is doing. Seems he’s alright now.” he said as he looked at Archie giving him a polite tip of his cap. He instantly felt a weight come off of his shoulders seeing him like this. A far cry from when he was on death’s door before.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda continued drinking from her water bottle as she watched Archie as he talked about how he had liked Cali and Daniel. She furrowed her brow slightly. He really did have a better relationship with them than she had. She still felt terrible about it all. She just wished she had treated them better. She still blamed herself for Daniel running away like that. She put him in a bad mood by shouting at Cali like that.

Her thoughts were broken as Archie then put his hands on hers, rubbing them. He was apologising for getting himself hurt, something Zelda just snorted at.

“No no, don’t apologise. It wasn’t your fault that happened.” she sighed shakily. She still felt ill. But what he said next really caught her attention. That what she did was not a death wish. The woman simply blinked as she thought about what he had just said. She had never actually thought about that. All she had been thinking about was saving Archie and getting him well again. It was only now that he mentioned it that she became aware of the fact that, if he really did turn like she was scared he would, she’d be his first target. He could have killed her. But… she couldn’t die now! Archie still needed to recover and she certainly was NOT trusting any of those idiots with him. Most other medics only had high-school first aid education. With a sigh she wiped her brow with her clammy hand, still feeling extremely nauseous. When the Scotsman then told her to take a nap, she just snorted and shook her head.

“N-No, I’m fine. I can sleep later.” she waved a hand slightly. But as soon as he mentioned how she should stay sober, the woman bit her lip and froze. Stay sober? She glanced away from him, still biting her lip. She seriously felt that if she did not have a drink by the end of the day she was going to throw up and die on the spot. That or she was going to lose her mind. She thought back to the other day when she snapped at Emma, pointing the gun and ready to kill both her and the children in the camp which (to her horrible hindsight) would have included Milly! That was after five days being sober. What if she tried to do something like that again? She could not bear the thought of doing that again. What if she did not have Jennifer there to stop her next time? For Zelda the thought of potentially doing that again and far worse was unbearable. Maybe… if she could get her gun back from Jennifer she could just- NO! The woman shook her head, no she was not going to do that. Archie needed her, she couldn’t….

“...I… I can’t promise I will.” she glanced away from him for a moment before returning her gaze, “But… I’ll try.” she added, trying to smile when in actuality she just wanted to cry. It was all just too much for her to cope with and with her only relief now inaccessible, she could do nothing other than just face it. This was going to be hard. But, if Archie wanted that from her she wanted to do it. The thought of disappointing him was hard for her. Everytime she had disappointed Mark or his parents it had been awful in both their reactions and what they would do and say both to her and about her to other people. Not that she did not deserve that disgust. She just could not cope with that again…

Zelda was so deep in thought that she hadn’t noticed the trio consisting of Jennifer, Milly and Dutch arriving, all fussing over Archie. Jennifer was beaming, Milly was clinging to the Scotsman like her life depended on it and Dutch… she gave Dutch a glare as he stood from the door. She still did not trust this man. But she could not just throw him out. Seeing such a scene of happiness made the doctor… uncomfortable. She did not feel right getting involved. Zelda got up from her seat and moved to the other end of the ward, sitting by the window. She still had the blanket around her shoulders and was holding the bottle of water in her shaky hand. Looking out the window, she took a sip as she watched the horse that Dutch owned, grazing outside. She sighed and put her forehead against the window with her eyes shut. That nap sounded good right about now...
idalie Peacemaker .45

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Archie laughed again, "You're still as stubborn as an ass." Releasing her from his hold, the Scotsman lay back and breathed out with a hitch as the exhale tightened his stitches. Gazing toward the doctor, he tipped his head forward with sincerity, "Look, Zed. All I'm askin' is that you try and if you fail, you try again. It won't happen overnight, but you know I ain't the sort to get angry over somethin' like that. I'll be here for you. I always am. You don't have to be so scared lass." McKeegan gave one of those knowing smiles, "And you're dead wrong if you don't think it was my fault because everyone knows I got two left feet and shoulda stopped running after that little bastard before I managed to fall down a fuckin' ditch."

The lumberjack, nevertheless, got himself a surprise as Milly entered the room and made a beeline toward him. Methodically setting her bear down before sitting on the bed and shifting about to snuggle up and embrace him. McKeegan got a little teary-eyed himself, although he hid it well. Cupping the back of her head and embracing the girl tightly he pressed his lips to her temple repetitively. "It's good to see you again, bluebird." Arch sniffed and exhaled, trying to rein in the emotion. "I came back for you, hm? I told you I wasn't gonna die anytime soon. You kept me goin' kid and I love you, so, so much." He paused to catch the corner of her eye, tilting Milly's features slightly. "You hear me? I love you and I ain't lettin' go anytime soon. You're my girl."

Glancing up with his glassy, hazel irises, McKeegan rolled them at Jennifer and grabbed her wrist; tugging her in for a quick, one-armed hug. "Right as rain, like you always are, huh Sparky?" He began to chuckle before releasing her. "Thank you for lookin' after this muppet right here, I know she can be trouble." He motioned toward Milly with a fond squeeze. "Silly Kermit only likes crustless triangle sandwiches, and god forbid you put ham in them."

During the warm reunion, it was unavoidable that he'd notice Dutch lurking about at the back of the room, beckoning him forward. "You were the guy then, right? Sorry you had to see me at my worst, but hell, you got yourself a friend in me for that. I heard it was a close call." McKeegan stuck out a hand, "Might know the names Archie, but tell me anytime you need that favour returnin' son." His other hand gently rubbed Milly's back in circles, often what he'd do to help her sleep, yet it was interjected with kind murmurs and apologies for his absence.

"Hey, Doc. Get over here too." He interrupted Zelda, opening his free side for an evident hug, "You can't be refusin' an injured man now, can ye? Or I'll just have to tell Jennifer here and I heard she's got strings she can pull."

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

The reunion with Archie was one that couldn’t come soon enough. Zelda had exhausted herself trying to save him, Milly was on the brink of collapse, and Jennifer was in the midst of trying to figure what the hell was going on at the Mountaintop, while trying to keep Milly from losing it. Him waking up was just the thing the small group needed.

There had been a long road for each survivor to get to where they were now. They all had their burdens to bear. While Jennifer didn’t know all of theirs, she knew hers had changed and shaped her constantly. She was ever evolving, and while Archie was out, she found herself in a motherly or sisterly sort of role with Milly. It was a role she struggled with at times, but she tried her hardest to make sure Milly was okay. But she didn’t have the connection to Milly that Archie did, and what she couldn’t give, he filled in their first moments together after he had woken up.

Being pulled in from the Scotsman, he called her an nickname she hadn’t ever heard. Before she could respond, he began to thank her for watching over Milly, giving her a one armed hug. Which, she returned by squeezing him back rather firmly, which she had hoped didn’t hurt him.

“I did my best with her. Making her eat was even worse than that. You had her worried sick. She barely ate at all, even after I tried getting her to numerous times. But one thing I know is that I can’t make her sparkle quite the way you make her,” she replied. But she took a second to pause and think over the nickname he called her. “So...Sparky? That’s a new one. Where’d you get that one from,” she asked with a giggle.

A voice from the back of the room caused Jennifer to turn around. It was Dutch, the man who saved Archie. Though he was just outside of the Mountaintop, Jennifer never took the time to talk to him in the two days he’d been there. She had been too concerned Milly, and her father’s unusual behavior, to spare him some time, when she had any. Most of her time was spent trying to take care of Milly. Archie and Dutch conversed, with Archie explaining he owed him.

“We all owe you for this one, Dutch,” Jennifer chimed in, flashing a brief and slight smile before fading away quickly.

Archie, turning his attention to Zelda, tried to get her to come in for a hug. He went on to say how he could have Jennifer pull a few strings. Jennifer look at the ground for a moment, before throwing her arms up in a shrug.

“I mean, if you really need me to, Arch,” she said with a chuckle. She turned her gaze back to Zelda. “How long do you think it’ll be before we throw him back into the agriculture? I need someone to be out there growing food for us and taking care of the land. Lord knows I’m shit with that stuff.”

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly did not respond to anything other than what Archie said. She kept her face buried into his neck and not looking at anyone else. As she heard the man Dutch speak, her grip grew tighter and she whimpered worryingly. She did not know the man at all, and despite what was being said, she did not want to face him. She had just got Archie back and she was not about to let go again. The feeling of him rubbing her back and the sound of his gentle reassurances comforted the girl greatly. When Jennifer mentioned how she would not eat, Milly froze for a moment.

“S-Sorry…” she mumbled. She was not sure why she was apologising but she felt that she had to for not doing as Jennifer wanted. She was in charge after all. As the topic of eating had come up with Archie mentioning her sandwiches, Milly was suddenly aware of her own hunger as her stomach grumbled quietly. Milly’s grip on Archie tightened and she buried her face further into his neck. Nuzzling him affectionately she shut her eyes and sighed. For now, her universe was back in balance. Even just for a short time.

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch took in the scene in front of him. He could see Zelda sitting by herself away from the others. He frowned a little, wondering why she was doing that but he turned his attention to both Jennifer and Archie as they spoke to him and Archie put his hand out. Smiling broadly, Dutch took the man’s hand and shook it.

“ Dutch Malloy.” he replied to Archie saying his name, still smiling as he did. He then listened to Archie and then Jennifer as they both said that they owed him for saving Archie. Dutch blinked a few times before chuckling as he shook his head.

“Y’all don’t owe me anything.” he tipped his cap a second time, “Just did what any decent man would have. The army taught me better than to leave a man behind.” he explained as he sat down, taking off his cap to run his hand through his hair. He looked them all over before glancing to the younger girl who still seemed anxious about him as she refused to look at him. Dutch rubbed his beard, trying to think of a way to reassure her.

“Hey.” he scooted closer, noticing Milly look at him with her one good eye, though she did not answer him, “Once y’all feel better, would you like to meet Domino? If you gotta thank someone for saving your friend here, it’s her given she carried him the way here. She really likes parsnips if there is any.” he said in a tone that would hopefully interest her. Milly still seemed anxious and did not reply for a few moments. But after a while, she finally seemed to pluck up the courage to speak to him.

“...Is she nice?” she asked him in a very gentle manner that suited her whole demeanor.

“Nice?” Dutch raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, “She’s the nicest ol’ mare y’all meet in your life, I guarantee!” he added. This seemed to peak the girl’s interest, but again she took her time answering.

“...ok.” she mumbled, “later.” before resuming her spider monkey like grip on Archie. Dutch had no idea what kind of relationship these two had but it must have been strong for her to act like this. Dutch decided to leave her alone and just sat there, watching them all.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda kept her gaze directed out of the window as the three conversed. She still seriously did not feel comfortable being around something like this. That sense of familial comradery did not make sense to her anymore. She could not afford to let herself be overly involved with them. The thought of something happening was too awful and she knew well that she would not be able to cope with a loss that big a second time.

She only turned her head when she heard their voices being directed towards her. She frowned a little, only looking at Jennifer as she asked her when Archie would be back in action.

“...Two days? Something like that? Then again he’s a stubborn fucker so it’ll probably be quicker.” she answered the woman before turning her head back to the window. She only got a few seconds peace when Archie then spoke up, telling her to come over. Zelda tried to stay annoyed but… she couldn't.

“...I hate you.” she growled as she finally turned around and headed back to the bed. She really did not know what he wanted from her. But judging by the position of his free arm, it must have been a hug. The woman looked at him for a moment before snorting and sitting on the bed. Rather than look annoyed, she just looked tired. And she could not help but wonder exactly why he would want to hug her. She was sweaty, clammy and imagined that she probably smelled rather bad at this moment. Then again this was Archie. This man was stubborn.
Peacemaker .45 idalie

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

He hushed Milly's apology, drawing Jennifer in for the tight hug. "She's a sweetheart, worryin' so much about a lump like me." Archie nuzzled the top of the younger girls head for a second, yet his eyes creased with a smile. "You've got somethin' about you, Jenny. Bright ideas, always manage to keep goin'. But hell, even a spark can turn into a firefight and I've seen that shit before." McKeegan chuckled, features momentarily contorting into a pained wince. "Ah, don't start thinkin' I'm some soppy old man for it."

His head turned to the approach of their new personal cowboy service, shaking his hand with a firm, iron grip before releasing it. "A military man, eh? Thought about it myself. Not that I'd do well gettin' shot and shouted at." Archie cracked another good-humoured smirk before Dutch began speaking to Milly. Now he was grateful for having his hide saved, hauled back home by the bloke but the woodsman was wary. People were sneakier nowadays, two-faced, the sort you didn't expect help from. Even if a military man or not, McKeegan held Milly closer. "I'll come out to watch." The big man murmured.

"Two days? You two tryin' to kill me?" He questioned, waving his stumpy hand. "I can supervise some little shits to do it, we got a few strong lads about to fill in my quota. It's time they started learnin' a trade."

When Zelda sat on the bed, Archie used his arm to hook her in, pulling the Doctor down till he was sandwiched by Milly and Zed on either side. He smacked a kiss on her brow, holding the woman with a warm enthusiasm and care. He leant near her ear, "Sweetheart, I ain't showered in two days and I smell like a bucket of hospital disinfectant. Relax." His fingers drew up and down the length of her spine, lightly due to the bandaging over his half missing digits.

McKeegan breathed out rhythmically, heart achieving the steady thunder of pulse. "And the best thing is, I ain't lettin' go of either of you until you have a nap. Because I'm awake and if I see you not sleepin', I'm gonna start bashin' you over the head like a caveman. Aye? You might have medical words and shite, but I'm a real prehistoric kinda guy when it comes to sedatives." He grinned and gently pinged one of Milly's ears. "You too."

The Scotsman glanced at Jennifer and Dutch, "I think we can make space if you two wannae get roped into this." McKeegan remarked, refraining from anything near laughter, being too afraid of busting a stitch.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

The explanation that Archie gave to Jennifer about his new nickname for her made her chuckle for a brief moment. Archie began to speak to everyone there, asking both Jennifer and Dutch to join in on the group hug that he was having with Zelda and Milly. Jennifer took a moment and turned her head towards Dutch, before looking back at Archie.

“Ah, what the hell,” she said as she moved forward and joined in on the group hug

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several Days Later

Midday summer sun was blaring upon the Mountaintop. As the days went on, things were getting even more conspicuous to Jennifer. Mack had almost vanished, and any access to the mine below the house was shut off, with armed guards preventing access. This caused quite a number of citizens in the community to sleep elsewhere, if they were so lucky to find a bed. Many slept on the ground outside. Tensions were once again rising at the Mountaintop. There had been whispers of something brewing with the citizens, and even some of the law enforcement members. There was no way to know if any of them were true. But, there were whispers. People at the Mountaintop were sick of the leadership these past couple of months, rightfully so. It seemed as if many feared a repeat of Dave, but perhaps even worse. While some played off th conspiracy theories, a number of people were on edge. Something was brewing at the Mountaintop, but Jennifer didn’t know what. She tried to ignore the whispers for now. But she knew something was brewing.

Jennifer tried to keep Milly occupied. Archie needed time to rest, as he was still healing. He wasn’t 100%, so Jennifer tried to keep her busy in the downtime. During this time, she had felt her relationship with the girl had strengthened. Something Milly had expressed interest in was meeting Dutch’s horse, something he proposed to her when Archie had woke up. With this in mind, and her having free time to kill, Jennifer decided to go see Dutch and see if he could have Milly meet her horse.

Jennifer had still been weary of the man. His intentions and actions seemed genuine. But, she couldn’t quite know with him. Not yet. She wanted to trust him, but she didn’t have a reason to completely trust him yet. While he did save Archie, there was still some uncertainty in Jennifer’s eyes with him. Her interactions with him, for now, were friendly, but cautious. Until Dutch gives her more of a reason to trust him, she would remain cautious of him. Part of the reason she didn’t have Milly come with her to meet Dutch at first was because she wanted an opportunity to talk with him, one on one. Her hopes were that this would perhaps would clear up any doubts she had with him before Milly came out to meet his horse.

Exiting the the inside of the Mountaintop, Jennifer found herself outside the walls of it. With a handgun holstered to her hip, she began her walk towards where Dutch was outside. Luckily for her, he was close to the gate, so she didn’t have to walk far to find him.

“Hey, Dutch,” she called out to him as she approached him, “you got a minute to talk?” Jennifer stopped once she reached his encampment, and leaned herself against a tree. “Nothing serious, so don’t worry about anything. Just want a friendly chat.”

Adjusting her hat slightly, she looked at his horse briefly. It had been a long time since she had been on a horse herself. She had taken classes on how to ride them. Though she never owned a horse, she found a sort of joy in riding them when she did. She felt like a cowgirl when she did, something she always found the idea fond of since she was young growing up in east Texas.

“I really want to thank you again for saving Archie. It’s a debt we can never repay, but are forever grateful for. Archie finds a way to always raise our spirits and make us happy. Losing him would have been a big loss, and Milly could never take that. So, again, thank you. And sorry again for threatening your life. I regret that and feel bad about it ever since I did that to you.”

Jennifer looked away for a moment for a brief awkward silence, before speaking again.

“When you were talking to Archie a couple days ago, you mentioned you were in the military. I had family in the military. An uncle of mine was in the Marines. 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, if that means anything to you. He was in the Second Battle of Fallujah, damn near almost died when his platoon was pinned down in a store. Insurgents were firing on them from all sides. AK, RPG’s, you name it. He somehow escaped, but he was wounded.” Jennifer paused for a moment, lowering her head and sighing.

“That was a bloody battle. We lost a lot of good men that day. My uncle was a man in a dark place when he came back. He took his own life a couple years before this whole thing started.” Sighing again, Jennifer returned her attention to him. “If you don’t mind me asking, what branch were you in? What did you do? I don’t mean to be prying you for anything. I was just curious.”

idalie Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

It had been a few days since Archie woke up and Milly was in higher spirits. She stayed with Archie as much as possible, playing checkers, I-spy or simply just talking. Zelda allowed her to sleep in the ward in the bed next to Archie. The younger girl was adamant that she was never going to let Archie get hurt again. She would rather something happened to her than to Archie. He did so much for them, he needed to be cared for himself.

At this particular time, Milly was outside with Jennifer. Despite the Scotsman’s recovery, Milly was still deeply troubled about not being with him. She clung to Jennifer’s arm with one arm and hugged her teddy with the other. She held the girl with a grip similar to that of a scared child holding onto her mother. She was still very anxious about being outside, keeping very close to the woman. She noticed that they were approaching the man Dutch’s camp. Milly bit her lip and slowed down as she walked. She had not seen the man much as she had mostly been with Archie so was still very unsure of the man.

As Jennifer spoke to him, Milly kept still, standing behind Jennifer slightly, preening the fur on the top of her bear’s head worryingly. She nibbled on one of its ears in an attempt to comfort herself. She just wanted to go back to Archie. Ever since she mentioned her to Jennifer, Milly had not been able to stop thinking about her mother. Despite Archie’s recovery, she still felt terribly unsettled here. It simply was not safe. Milly just wanted to go home and be with her mother again. It was the only time in her life she had felt safe and it was upon leaving that safe place that everything began to go wrong. She kept very quiet as the pair spoke, feeling intensely uncomfortable.

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch was busy washing his face when the familiar sound of Jennifer’s voice came to him. He turned around to see both her and the smaller girl, Milly. She greeted him politely, making the man smile and walk over to them. Domino did not seem to notice the pair as she continued to graze, occasionally swishing her tail at flies.

“G’day ladies.” he said as he smiled at them. Upon hearing Jennifer once again thank him for helping Archie, the man simply chuckled.

“As I say every time, ma’am, no need to thank me.” he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. She really must have been thankful because of the continuous ‘thank yous’ from both her and Archie. He looked at Milly as Jennifer gestured and spoke about her. As he did, he noticed the younger girl look away from him shyly. He still did not know much about Milly but from what he could see, she seemed to have visual problems. One of her eyes was grey and the other was not quite as grey, he could still see the baby blue in her iris. She seemed to have trouble focusing on things. Maybe that’s why she was so timid. When Jennifer again apologised for threatening him, once again the man chuckled.

“And again, like I say, no apologies needed. I would have reacted the same way.” he said with a smile. Then, she began to describe her own family’s history with the military, a topic that deeply interested Dutch. He blinked a few times and kept silent as the girl talked, only nodding occasionally. What she described was both intense and heartbreaking, the end of that story leaving the man in a sober mind. He was all too aware of the effects of war on people. All he knew was, if he did not have the friends he had in his branch and his brother back home, he could have potentially gone down a similar path. When the topic came back to him, he lifted his head before answering.

“Me? Oh, I was in Afghanistan. Worked with some Brits over there. I was a Marine from Camp Dwyer.” He explained, when she asked him what he did, the man went quiet. He tried to remember but… it was almost as if his brain was working against him. Whenever he thought back, all he could remember was the carnage.

“Oh… um… y’know. Shootin’ folk, avoiding grenades, helping hostages… stuff like that.” He finally answered. He doubted it was good enough but he really did not want to dwell on it too much. Instead, he turned his attention back to Milly.

“Hey.” he said as he stepped closer to her, “‘Member how I asked if you’d like to meet Domino?” he asked her in a tone that he hoped she would find non-threatening. After a moment, she simply nodded.

“Well, I got a parsnip here if you wanna feed her it.” he added, fishing into his pocket to pick out the vegetable.

Milly blinked and looked at Jennifer, slightly worried. But… he did seem genuine. She blinked a few times before stepping carefully towards him. The man turned his head and made kissing sounds towards the black horse, who in turn turned her head and walked towards the man with a whicker. Milly froze a little at the sight of the creature. She did not want to admit it to him or Jennifer but… she had never properly met a horse before. She had read about them, seen them in films and had even seen some horses walk past the bungalow once or twice but she had never physically met one. It was quite overwhelming. She bit her lip and looked up at the man anxiously.

“It’s okay, Domino’s a pussycat, she won’t hurt you.” He said as he handed her the parsnip, “Just keep your hand flat and she’ll just take it off you, okay?” Milly only nodded as she walked a little towards the horse, who chuffed at the scent of the parsnip and took a few steps closer. Milly just kept still and put her hand out with the vegetable in her hand. Just as Dutch said, the mare stooped her dark head and Milly felt the horse’s velvety lips brush against her palm as she took the parsnip. The feeling of the hair and whiskers on Domino’s muzzle tickled, causing Milly to giggle slightly from the sensation. In turn, Dutch smiled.

“Hey… you wanna know the real way to make friends with a horse? Not many folk know it.” He asked, to which Milly nodded. She had just fed the mare and the thought of actually being friends with her was a good one.

“Great, so-” he gently grabbed Milly by her wrist, putting it just behind Domino’s shoulder, below her withers, “Now, all you do here is just scratch her right there.” He instructed her, earning him a puzzled look from the girl.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it, just give her a good scratch, you’ll see.” He responded. Milly, still seeming a bit confused took his advice and started scratching Domino in that spot. After a few seconds, the mare seemed to enter what could only be described as a state of euphoria. The horse groaned as she pushed her neck out far and up, almost nibbling the air and one of her back legs going slightly limp, causing the right side of her rump to slouch. Milly looked at the mare and could not help but laugh a little at the display of bliss. But her amusement suddenly turned back into anxiety as Domino suddenly swung her head towards her. Milly squealed and braced herself for the impact of a bite.

However rather than the harsh sensation of a malicious bite, Milly was instead greeted with… a soft nibbling on her shoulder and the back of her neck.

“Wh-what’s she doing?” she asked Dutch in slight panic.

“It’s okay, Milly.” Dutch laughed a little, “Dom’s just grooming you back. Basically it’s how a horse says ‘I like you, lets be friends’. Good huh?”

Milly was not quite sure how to feel about this, but after a few seconds, she started to… enjoy it? Yes, she could feel the mare’s teeth but it was a gentle contact. It almost felt therapeutic.

Dutch smiled, “Looks like you two are gonna get along just fine.” he said, “Tell you what, you come see Dom a few more times to get fully acquainted and I might let you have a wee sit on her someday. Would you like that?”

Milly’s face seemed to light up at that proposal, making Dutch laugh a little, “I take that as a yes.” He then turned to Jennifer, “And if you want to Jen, you’re welcome to have a ride on Domino too. Any time you fancy, just give me a shout.” he added as he heartily patted Dom on the neck, who was still grooming Milly, clearly loving the attention. Milly turned to look at Jen excitedly, unable to stop the smile on her face.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda had watched Jennifer and Milly leave from the ward window. No doubt they were going to see Dutch. Zelda was still uncomfortable with the man so had stayed put. Not to mention, she had to tend to Archie. Well, not so much anymore. True to his word he was up and about a day later. Not only to work, but also to… watch her.

It did not matter where she went, what she was doing he was always there! And Zelda seriously would not have minded so much except… the woman had been feeling increasingly agitated at her sobriety. It was getting worse far more than it was getting better. She couldn’t sleep, she felt sick when she tried to eat, and she might as well have parkinson's with the amount she was shaking. Zelda did not know how much longer she was going to take it! It had almost been a fortnight! The longest time she had gone sober prior to this was almost a month and a half and… the results involved a lot of chaos and a strait-jacket. That was all the woman’s muddled mind could come to. She was dangerous sober. Just as dangerous as she was drunk. There was just no release.

Zelda was sitting in her office, just listening. She had no idea what was going on in Mack’s ward. All she knew was that nobody was allowed in there. Something that was so frustrating to Zelda. She was supposed to be tending to his care but she couldn’t! And being denied her only relief from her otherwise awful existence made her feel all the worse.

She could not take it anymore. She reached under her desk and pulled out a bottle of wine and another one of whisky. She cursed herself internally as she opened one of them. Giving up this soon? Pathetic! But what else could she do?

Once she had taken a few long gulps from it, despite finally beginning to feel less shaky and much... lighter, it did not take away the awful feeling of dread as she realised what this meant. She had failed Archie. And despite what the Scotsman had said, she could not escape the awful thoughts of what his reaction could be. After taking a few more, she did the only thing she could think of doing. She went under the desk, pulling her knees to her chest and putting her forehead on her knees. Unable to stop the tears from falling, she tried to keep her sobs to a minimum, as to not attract attention. She just felt awful. All she could do was either hope he would not find her, or if he did his punishment would be swift.
idalie Peacemaker .45

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Archie had been in recovery for a day or two, yet walking around was a slow process and he'd found it was nigh impossible to bend over in case he popped a stitch. He'd spent more or less time continuing to sleep, having suffered a severe amount of blood which left him lethargic and fatigued. It helped, nevertheless, besides being reminded to keep drinking fluids. He was a tough man but even human tenacity couldn't speed up the rate of healing. He'd be out of work for a couple more weeks at most until the flesh had really started to strengthen up considering the damage to his abdominal muscles. Being around Milly helped, alas the girl seemed to cling on like a spider monkey for half of it much to his amusement -- however McKeegan was genuinely touched by her concern. He'd remarked several times, and he'd remark it until the day he died -- Milly was the daughter he wished he could've had himself. Wished he could've saved and kept in those initial days of the apocalypse. Helped her avoid the tragedies she'd endured.

The Scotsman was up and about in the afternoon, finishing off a brunch-like meal till he went to seek out Zelda. Milly, after all, was off with Dutch and he was sure that if anything happened it wouldn't be inside the mountaintop. Thus, free from his limpet of an adopted child, he sought the Doctor who had remained with him through the thick of it. Her abstaining from alcohol was taking its toll, and that was something he could see without having to ask. Rapping his knuckles on her office door as fair warning, he continued to open it without waiting for a response. "Lass, I was gonnae ask someth--" Arch paused in the doorway. "Lass?" He couldn't see her, but he sure as hell knew the sound of choked sniffling didn't come from ghosts. "Ey, Lilypad?" The lumberjack's brow creased in worry as he slowly inched inside.

Reaching the desk, he got down on his knees with a grunt and hiss, doing his best to avoid bending. "What's all this then?" He arched his brow, pushing out the chair so he could sit in front of the distressed surgeon grasping at her and being careful to quite literally drag her out. "Come on, come here, tell me what's happenin'." He swept back her hair with a rough, warm palm and wrapped his arms around the woman to embrace tightly. "Oof, aye, come on. No more hidin' under that, I've told you I'm here." Archie gently scolded, searching her expression before the gaze landed behind her and on the open bottle of wine. He let out a nasal sigh but still kissed her forehead. "I think I've got an idea why and it's a silly one to get so up in arms about, you muppet."

Rumble Fish

 

[Peacemaker .45]

When Dutch responded to Her question about what he did in Afghanistan, Jennifer could sense that there was something behind his words that was bothering him. Perhaps it was PTSD, as many returning soldiers have it. Many would come back changed people, having to suffer through the horrors of war and the things they did. Her Uncle was that way. He had severe PTSD. All she knew was what he told her, or what she heard from others. Because of what people went through in war, Jennifer had the utmost respect for them. When the dead weren’t walking, she would take a moment to thank every veteran she had ever seen. She’d even paid for one’s lunch on occasion. She was a patriotic American.

Having gone through horrors of her own, Jennifer could understand the pain in talking about things that soldiers endured. This world made her into a survivor, and many horrors were inflicted on her, and she witnessed far too many in a short span of time. His, what appeared to her, as reluctance to really say much about it, was something she understood. She could see in his eyes that there was something that came into his mind that bothered him. She decided to not dive any deeper.

“Well thank you for your service,” she said to him with a slight nod. “For whatever it is worth today, thanks for your service before the dead rose.”

Dutch had turned his attention to Milly, and offered her to feed his horse. Milly looked back at Jennifer, almost as if asking for permission. “Go ahead,” she said with a smile and a small chuckle. It wasn’t often that horses were seen after the dead rose. Milly needed to experience feeding one at the very least. They were majestic animals that Jennifer always had a soft spot in her heart for.

Watching the interaction between Milly, Dutch, and Domino, Jennifer stood back and smiled. She could see Milly loving every second of Interacting with the horse. It was a heartwarming thing that didn’t occur often in the times they were in. As Milly was being groomed back by Domino, Dutch began to tell Milly that she could ride her after a few visits. He turned to Jennifer and offered the same.

“Honestly,” she began with a smile, “I would love to. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a horse. I missed them, and I’ve always had a soft spot for them. I would love to, Dutch. Thank you.” Jennifer paused for a moment, and looked at his camp briefly, taking note of his supplies. She couldn’t tell if he was low, but she figured hospitality would be a nice gesture. “Hey, are you low on anything, Dutch? Do you need any food, water, ammunition, anything like that? I can get some for you. It’s the least I can do for you after what you’ve done for us. You’ve shown yourself to be a good, caring man. We owe you something in return. If you need anything, I can get it for you, whether it is now or later.”

Rumble Fish

 

[Rumble Fish]

Dutch Malloy​

Dutch gave the younger woman a smile at her thanks for his service. It was such a rare thing to hear nowadays. Then again, it was rare for anything remotely positive to be said nowadays with all the death and carnage that has come with the dead rising. His smile grew wider at her enthusiastic reply to his offer.

“Well, Domino doesn't normally take to folks as quick as she has with you two.” He said, giving the black mare a pat on the neck, “So why waste an opportunity. I mean, she seems to like you two more than say… your doctor friend there. Then again she doesn't seem to like me either all that much.” He shrugged. It did bother him somewhat about the woman’s hostility towards him but deep down he really couldn't blame her for it. He would just have to work hard.

​

At Jennifer’s offer to give him supplies he might need, Dutch took a moment to look around his makeshift camp. “Hmm… all I can think of the now is I'm beginning to run low on food and I'm practically out of ammo.” He said, “used the last of it on those creepy things the other day. Oh well, ammo well spent I would say.”

Milly McDonald​

While the two adults conversed, Milly finished scratching Domino, giving the mare a pat on the nose. The horse chuffed before putting her head down to graze, seeming very relaxed. Milly went to walk past Jennifer to go back to the tree where they had been before, but as she went, she let out a yelp as she felt her leg suddenly go down into a rabbit hole that had been on her blind side. She felt her knee get cut from a stone as she scrambled herself free from it and instantly retreated to the tree.

Milly looked for her teddy, not seeing that it had fallen down the slope and was now near both Jennifer and Dutch. But Milly’s knee hurt too much for her. All she could do was just hold onto it, she could feel blood running down from the cut. It was not a big cut but it still hurt. She looked back towards Domino again as the horse seemed to enjoy the attention that she was getting from the pair. Milly blinked back tears from the stinging pain and just kept rubbing her knee. At this point, she really wished that her mother was here. She could not help but think back to when she was a child, whenever she hurt herself, her mum would kiss it better. She couldn’t ask that of Jen, that would have been to strange. Pulling up her jeans, she continued rubbing her knee in an attempt to make it feel better.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda could not bring herself to look up upon hearing Archie walking in. She just couldn't handle it anymore. The thought of him seeing her as a failure was just too painful to bear. She kept her head on her knees and did not look up. At least, not until she was practically dragged from under the desk. She tried to fight against him but ultimately did not have the strength to. When he kissed her forehead, she stopped struggling. He… was not angry? But… he should be!

“Silly? Silly? How is this-this silly?” she asked, hiccupping slightly, “It’s only been two days and I… I’m such a weakling!” she refused to look at him. Why was he being so accepting of this? She went against what he wanted! She still refused to look at him, not caring about what he was going to say. She just felt terrible. Since she had already fucked up, she might as well just... taking the wine again, she sighed deeply before throwing the rest back. What was the point?

"...Mark would hate me." She mumbled, her tone more slurred, "I mean... I'm sure he did. If he didn't then he wouldn't have..." she couldnt bring herself to finish that sentence, it hurt too much. She just looked at Archie, feeling completely defeated before turning her head away from him. At this point she just wanted to curl up into a ball and die.
idalie Peacemaker .45