Realistic or Modern The Dead Hills - IC

[Emotional Enigma]

Calliope eyeballed Dave now, sarcasm and humor no longer a luxury. In the face of discomfort it was always her go to; using humor as an emotional shield for any stresses. Before her mind had finished processing what her moves were like a game of chess, she heard a familiar sheepish voice coming from behind the disgruntled man.
"Please, don't shoot my sister," Daniel stood shaken behind him, his round face and dark eyes locked worriedly on the gun. The duffel bag was on the ground next to his ratty, red converse feet and he wheezed for air. Calliope could tell he had run the moment the man checked his watch, but Daniel was not too athletically inclined. Her heart fluttered and ached at the embodiment of fear on him. His whole body shook like a weak fig tree in a gust of wind. Not only did he manage to muster the courage to come down here, but he also mustered the energy he didn't have.
Daniel, with great force, yanked the bag forward, "We have food and medicine. We can give you any--"
"Danny, go" Calliope urged, trying to swallow her own anxiety for the situation.
"--thing, just please don't shoot us. We're just trying to stay alive, we have no one." Daniel was normally well spoken and was like a walking thesaurus, but the stress of the situation must've made him so nervous he had retreated to a simpler mindset, "We're alone..." He no longer looked like the smart, genius little brother she had been traveling with but instead a scared, lost animal in a cage. Calliope had to remind herself that that's what Daniel mostly was; he was still just a scared a kid just like the day they had first run from home. He never got to go to eleventh grade or go to prom or have a senior night. Daniel never got to even date a girl. Calliope wasn't even sure if Daniel knew if he was even into girls. Daniel knew about books and school and everything people weren't supposed to pay attention to, but he didn't get the chance to know about dumb things like sexuality or whether blue or red looked better on him. She kicked herself for allowing everything to happen so quickly and fall so far without letting him be a kid for once. And now he was standing there trying to be brave as if he wasn't just 14, and begging for his life and hers. There was her heart, her hope hanging in the balance; the only person she cared more about than herself. But she swallowed down the pessimistic thoughts and possibility of a bad outcome; she hid her feelings under a shroud of calm respite.


With a hand still clutched to the strap of the duffel bag, Daniel pointed with a shaking finger, "I-I-I like your gun" .

Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Dave was caught off guard by a young boy walking in behind the girl. He begged that he not shoot his sister. The girl’s reaction seemed that she wanted him away from this. It seems that Dave gave the impression he was going to shoot her. Though, Dave wouldn’t shoot the girl unless he needed to in self defense. As he spoke, the he put forward a duffle bag, holding it saying that he could take it. It contained food, water and medicine.

“Damn it...,” Dave muttered, lowering his rifle and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Keep it, kid,” Dave said with a sigh, he now had the rifle pointed down at the ground, holding it from the pistol grip.

“Alright, put your hands down, I ain’t going to do anything to either of you. You’re just a young girl and an even younger boy trying to survive.”

Dave brought his left arm up and check the time on his watch. He had to leave now. It was already half a minute over the rendezvous time. He cursed silently before shaking his head and sighed.

“We have a group, a big one. About 50 people, give or take. We’re almost full, though. But we have enough room for a couple more. I can bring you back with me. We have big, sturdy and strong walls, we’re hidden on a mountain. We have farms, more than enough food and water to last us years with our population. We have power, electricity. We have a strong crew that can fight and depend. We have military weapons and vehicles, including an Abrams Main Battle Tank. We have a fully functional medical and surgical facility, with doctors and surgeons. We can take you in, protect you, feed you, give you a safe roof over your head. But you’ll have to contribute by doing jobs. We have agricultural jobs, militia jobs, medical, record keeping, engineering, mechanical, electrical, construction, chemistry, science related jobs.. I mean the list goes on. But we can take you, care for you, keep you safe so long as you’re willing to contribute to the group and the society in there. But you need to make this choice now. I have to be at a rendezvous point with my group about two minutes ago. You need to make this decision now. Will you stay or will you come?”

Dave wasn’t about to let a young boy and girl continue to fight for their life out in the world that it is now. He felt much conflict, however, in offering them this. He still didn’t know if he could trust them. For all he knows, they could kill him before he gets into the HMMWV and take it and go. And right now, the Mountaintop can’t use another gravely injured or dead leader. It was in shambles right now with Mack being nearly dead. But, Dave still had some humanity left in him. He’d be damned if he left two young individuals to fend for their own without giving them a chance to live in safety at the Mountaintop. But their decision needed to be made now. Dave waited rather impatiently, glancing back and forth between them and his watch. They needed to decide now.

Emotional Enigma

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda's bloodshot, red eyes widened at the innuendo that the Scotsman dropped in response to her threat, "EY!?" She shook her head, leaning as far out the window so her toes were hardly on the floor, "YOU LISTEN TO ME, YA BIG JOCKIE YOU! KNOCK THAT SHIT OFF BEFORE I COME OUT THERE AND SHUT YOU UP MYSELF!" She shouted at him so loud that it hurt her throat. Great now everything hurt, fantastic. She had basically forgotten that Holly was there at this point as Archie continued his entourage of shitty wood puns.
"WHAT DID GOD SAY TO NOAH?"
"....what."
"GOT WOOD!?"
"THAT WAS NOT EVEN A JOKE, YOU PILLOCK NOW KNOCK IT OFF!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" A voice behind her caught Zelda's attention but she did not turn around to face him, she just knew it was Sebastian. Oh great, what did he want? "You do realise the whole floor can hear you right!?"
"Fuck off! I got this PIECE OF SHIT TO DEAL WITH!" Zelda barked, turning her attention back to Archie who was still making shitty puns. She knew he was only doing it to annoy her. Well, it was fucking working! "DO US A FAVOUR AND JUMP OFF THE CLIFF- Hey! Ow! No, no! Lemme go! Lemme go- I'LL BITE YOU!" Zelda gagged as she felt the scruff of her shirt being pulled back, yanking her away from the window.
"No, seriously that's enough!" Sebastian snapped, smacking the woman on the back of the head several times, "That's it! You're going back in the jacket till Mack wakes up, come on!" He growled, pulling harder. The mention of it made Zed's eyes widen in horror. No she couldn't go through that again! Not again! The thought of being in that strap jacket and in that dark room alone was too much for the woman to bear! Zelda tugged away from Sebastian's grip. But just as she did, she heard Archie again.
"HEY, ZED, WOOD YOU CUT IT OUT? I NEED TO AXE YOU A QUESTION?"
"WHATEYVARRGH!" And before Sebastian could do anything, Zelda had pulled out of his grip, Archie's shirt being torn off her from the force, jumped onto the window sill like a cat before launching out of the window... right onto the lumberjack's shoulders. "AXE ME A QUESTION!? GO ON THEN! WHAT IS IT!?" She shrieked, pulling at his hair and beard. Under other circumstances Zed would just have ignored him but.... AAARGH!
idalie Lava

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

During the insults thrown back in reply to his plethora of puns, Archie was practically bent-double from the laughter which shook him from head to toe as he rasped for breath. What the big lumberjack wasn't expecting, was the topless doctor who came flying out of the window and leapt upon his torso like it was some sort of Olympic sport. Archie let out a scream which broke his vocal capacity, surprisingly high till his natural bass caused it to cut out into a hoarse squeak of sorts. "OW! STOP PULLIN' ME DAMN BEARD - AAAGH" The Scotsman reached back and tried to fend the angry doctor off, before pushing her chin upwards with the heel of his palm. "I'M PRETTY SURE YER TIT JUST HIT ME, WHY'RE YOU HALF NAKED AGAIN?!" A rough tug on McKeegan's hair sent him veering sideways a moment till correcting himself by setting out his footing. Falling back - onto Zed whilst she attached herself to the big man, caused the Scotsman to start rolling over the grass verge with her still holding on. "IT WAS ONLY WOOD JOKES, LASS-"

A distant wolf-whistle followed as Archie slid down the verge till his skin was covered in grass stains - managing to slip from Zed's deadly hold till he lay half on top; scrabbling to pin her wrists down whilst his features bloomed a deep, blushing red. "I LOOK LIKE A RIGHT PERVERT MATE, COME ON--" "GET A ROOM YOU TWO" "I HAVE HALF A MIND TO PUNCH YOU IN THE BOOB." He partially sat back to massage his scalp and ensure she hadn't given him some sort of permanent bald spot trying to tear the locks out. "But y'know--" Archie sniffed, "I'm a gentleman and all that." The Scotsman practically teased till flicking Zelda hard in the side of her exposed chest. "Fucker."

Lava Rumble Fish

 

[Emotional Enigma]

Calliope sighed, but she understood her options were limited especially now. Her hands were scarred and cut up from hopping fences and grabbing onto broken glass from all her home break ins for supplies. Ashamed of how unfeminine they were she threw out her hand to Dave, "I'm Cali," Her jaw tensed and eased with her nerves like the tug and pull of the ocean, "And this is Danny. We could use a place to stay for awhile". She didn't want to accept help from someone else, she didn't want Daniel to think she couldn't take care of them, but resources would eventually run out and so would their luck. Given the circumstances, they had actually been very lucky to have ample supplies for the time being and no life and death events since the start of virus break out.
Daniel beamed with a glowing smile and pointed to the man's vehicle,
"Can I see your HMMWV?! My friend's dad used to ride in one when he toured overseas and he said they were cool and really resourceful and I want to what they look like and maybe get a see what they feel like and I want to see how they operate and --"
"Danny," Calliope interrupted her brother's excited rambling with a stern look, "Thank you," She said turning her attention back to Dave, "Can I have my bat back?" She nodded towards her bat on the pavement near his feet but still felt weary getting close to him. Daniel huffed angrily that his sister was ruining his exploratory inclinations and crossed his arms before picking up the gym bag again. Calliope snatched it from him more aggressively than she meant, but she was angry with him for doing the opposite of what she instructed and angry she was about to rely on a stranger. Still, she knew it was no excuse to take it out on Daniel who just thought his sister was about to be shot. She should be rewarding his bravery, not scolding him. What a twisted world they now lived in where she thought bravery was stupid and survival was more important.

Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

“I’m glad the truth finally came out,” Dave said as he handed Cali her bat back.

Dave was a little weary of them still. He had to keep an eye on them regardless. But they were just two young kids. They couldn’t do much harm. Though, as Dave thought this, he remembered that anyone could do vast amounts of harm if you didn’t pay attention. He’d make sure people kept an eye on them once they arrived back.

The young boy began to pipe up about wanting to ride, look around, and potentially even ride in the HMMWV. Dave was taken back by the young boy’s enthusiasm. He seemed to have a thirst for knowledge around him. This was some potential that Dave saw in him. Though, it was too early to say for certain. Dave was going to personally keep an eye on him, perhaps even try finding him a job at the Mountaintop. There were many positions that needed to be filled. Mechanical, engineering, electrical, you name it. Perhaps he would lend himself to one of those jobs, but Dave wasn’t quite sure just yet.

“You’re going to get in it right now for a ride,” Dave started with a small smile, glancing at the young boy momentarily, before he walked towards the HMMWV with the supplies he gathered. “Toss the supplies in the trunk behind the back row seats. It’s not comfortable in here, so just a warning. And the big hump in the middle is annoying. Just keep that in mind.”

As Dave got in the driver seat, and the two got in the vehicle, they drove to the rendezvous point. The rest of the crew was there. And they got a lot of supplies. On their way back, they claimed the remaining military vehicles they wished to grab. At the end of the day, they had acquired the M104 Wolverine, one M939, one FMTV, two HEMTT’s, the M1150 ABV, the AAV, and the M1135 NBCRV. The Mountaintop has become even more powerful with the additions, especially the AAV, or more specifically, the AAVP-7A1 variant. With a Mk-19 40mm Grenade Launcher and an M2HB .50 Caliber machine caliber, the amphibious vehicle could hold 29 occupants, four of which are crew. While its protection was less than that of a M2 Bradley, the amphibious vehicle still gave an edge over other groups in the region. More firepower was held in that group than any in the region. They held regional dominance. This was thanks to Mack and his leadership, however. And Dave knew that. He had to maintain it if Mack dies.

The crew who went to the hospital were able to grab crates of medication and new medical equipment. While they couldn’t bring an MRI to the Mountaintop, they brought a lot of stuff that could be of aid in medical emergencies. All in all, this run was a success over anything they had expected. It was a break that they needed after the past couple of days. And they also had two new additions, with one having the potential to be of very much use at the Mountaintop. While he is curious, it would be paramount the secrets held by the ruling party of the Mountaineers that could not be discovered. It would not end well.

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

“Alright,” Dave said, turning to the new arrivals after radioing into to the camp guards to let them know they were coming, “we’re coming up on the Mountaintop. We’ll need a medical evaluation of you both. It’s a standard procedure for new arrivals.”

The walls and gate came into view. With the gates open, the vehicles entered and were directed to vehicle parking. There was barely enough room left for them to park. Dave got out of the HMMWV with the new arrivals and directed the remaining people to figure it out, putting priority on the vehicles with weapons to be locked in. If worst came to worst, regular cars and trucks would have to be parked outside the designated parking area.

With the new arrivals behind him, Dave directed them to the medical building. With no one there in the front, he rang the desk bell. One of the doctors came over.

“Dave,” she said as she approached him. “Good new.”

“Mack and Jennifer are awake,” he asked before the girl could say another sentence.

“Kind of. Well, Jennifer woke up for a little. But she was still drugged out and somewhat incoherent. She’s awake and stable. But Mack hasn’t waken up yet.”

“Shit,” Dave said, sighing. He ran his hand down his face in frustration. “Alright. I have two new individuals who need the screening.”

Just as Dave was speaking, some yelling back and forth began. Dave ignored it at first and began to speak to the doctor again, but was cut off by the sound of yelling, and presumably, a fight.

“Jesus Christ,” Dave said, annoyance building in his face. “Cali, David, stay here.”

Dave walked out the office and went to the sound of the voices. Rounding the corner, he saw Archie and a top less Zelda I’m the ground. Dave started walking towards her, anger building in his face, making a fist to contain it.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Dave snarled st Zelda, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her up. “What the fuck is going on here?”

Dave looked at both her and Archie. He was utterly disgusted by this, but especially angry that a doctor was outside, fighting a new member, with no top on, while the leader of the group is in a coma. The amount of irresponsibility in this was mind boggling to Dave.

“Come with me, McKeegan we talk later” Dave said, yanking Zelda’s hair hard and dragging her into the medical office, past the doctor and Cali and David, and into he conference room in the back, closing the door behind him and locking it. He yanked her hair again, this time down. It was with such force that she was throw down on the ground. Dave then began to walk along the length of the wall with his hand covering his mouth. Angry was the kindest way of putting his mental state at the moment.

“You stupid fucking drunk, worthless piece of shit,” he yelled at her. “Our fucking leader is barely alive, and you are out there, wrestling around with the Scotsman? You have a fucking job to keep our leader alive!”

Dave kicked her stomach while she was on the ground before walking back in forth in anger.

“I don’t know what the fuck Mack sees in you, but all I see is a goddamned failure. You couldn’t protect anything in your life. Your husband? Dead. Child? Dead. Then you turn to a fucking bottle, get drunk everyday and somehow get Mack to let you stay here? Your responsibility is to be taking care of Mack. You owe him after everything he’s done with you, you worthless piece of shit.”

Dave walked closer to her, getting in her face.

“If you fuck up one more time, you’ll be real sorry. Get out there and do your fucking job. I’m giving you a gratuitous last chance. Because next time may end you in a straitjacket. Or six feet under. Im tired of your bullshit, your failures. You’re not productive. You fuck up. Your medical skills are shit. Everything about you is fuck up’s, alcohol and worthlessness. You’re a worthless piece of shit, and I don’t know why you’re still alive, why you haven’t killed yourself. You’re so fucking worthless to everyone, even your dead husband and child. Now go get your worthless fucking ass out there and do your fucking job. Don’t let me catch you dilly dallying again. And get a fucking shirt on now, you indecent piece of garbage.”

Dave took her by the hair and pushed her into a wall. He then walked out and to the front where Cali and David were.

“Sorry you had to see that,” Dave said to them, anger still in his voice. “I need to just go over something with you. Our leader right now is in a coma. He and his daughter were shot up. I’m second in command. As you heard, the daughter woke up but the father hasn’t yet. I’m in charge for now. We at the Mountaintop have rules here. We have laws, a class structure, etc. We go by ranks here. To live at the Mountaintop, you must do a job here. We have tons, from inventory and record keeping, to gunsmithing, mechanical, electrical, farming and agricultural, engineering, etc. you’re start at the lowest rank here, and when you get accepted into a job, you move up one who rank. Your actions and work here will gain you points here to move in the ranks. Being accepted into a new job gets you up one rank immediately. Your rank and status here reflect also what you can and cannot get at shops here, be it good, firearms or medicine. You want to keep getting points here to get better things and whatnot.”

“Hold on, you can take them in a minute,” Dave said to the doctor, before sitting down and looking at Cali and David. “What are you guys good at? Anything you can do to contribute here for a job? What are your skills? What can you do for this group, this society, to make life better here?”

Dave was still angry with Zelda. But he had other things to focus on. If he could, he honestly thought he’d kill her. He never did like her. He viewed her as incapable of anything, and just a fuck up. He wanted her dead or gone. But if Mack woke up and found out he killed her or something, he’d have issues of his own from him.

Emotional Enigma Rumble Fish idalie

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda Williams​

Zelda growled as she struggled against Archie's grip, trying to get away. She stopped when she felt... her boob being flicked?! "I'LL SCREAM!" She snarled at the man as she tried to fight back, only for an angry and familiar voice to break through. Rolling her eyes up, she saw Dave marching towards the pair angrily. Oh boy. "Uh-Dave-OW!" She yowled as she suddenly felt her hair being yanked painfully, dragging her to her feet. Zelda hissed at the pain in her scalp, her head rattling as Dave angrily shouted at her to explain herself. Zed looked to Archie. "I-I was- OW AH!" She yowled, suddenly being pulled, almost off of her feet by the taller man. Zelda bit her lip as she tried to keep up with the man to avoid having her greasy hair yanked even more. It felt like he was going to pull the hairs from her head!

Once they were in the conference hall, Zelda felt herself being thrown to the ground, making her hit her head on the floor. The woman groaned as she tried to sit up, her hungover head spinning from the impact. But before she could, she was faced with the wrath of Dave, letting loose all of his anger towards her. While Zelda was no stranger to insults, she was still taken aback from the sheer hatred in his tone. She knew he didn't like her, fuck she didn't like him either but not like this. Zelda couldn't think of anything to say, everything he said was right! She was a fuck up and a nuisance to the group who had no right to be here.

"I...I-ACK!" Zelda gagged as she suddenly felt Dave's foot hit her in the stomach with a great force. Gripping her stomach, she got onto her hands and knees, suddenly feeling her mouth filling with saliva. A mix of both the hangover and now the kick caused her stomach to lurch and the energy bars and trail mix came back up, all over the floor as the woman emptied her gut out. Thankfully, it did not last terribly long, but while this happened, Dave continued his attack on her. But what hit her the most was the mention of her husband and son. At this, the woman froze, staring at him vacantly. He was one of the few people who knew about what happened to her, and here he was using it as a weapon. But... he was right. She failed to protect Mark and Jason. If she could not protect her own family, how was she supposed to actively protect or help anyone else? When he finally finished his attack, Zelda hardly reacted to being shoved by the hair into a wall before he stormed out. She stood there for a while, really not able to think of anything other than what he had said. The woman let out a deep sigh as she slowly made her way out of the room, only pausing to look out the door. She could see Dave talking to a young woman and a small boy. The same pair that she had been dragged past by Dave. She wanted to talk to them, prove she was not as useless as Dave said but... that was a bad idea. And she didn't want to face Archie. She couldn't deal with it.

Zelda made her way into her office, shutting and locking the door after setting it to "Do Not Disturb". Not looking outside, she shut the window and closed the blinds and curtain. She didn't want to see anybody else. Ever. She'd had enough. She just wanted to end it all. But she could not remember where she had put her gun. With a sigh, she put her photo frame face down on the desk. Once she had done this, she crawled into the space under her desk. Sitting with her back against the side, she couldn't stop thinking about what Dave had been saying. What was she supposed to do about it? There was nothing she could do as far as she knew. He thought she was a worthless fuck up, everybody else thought she was a worthless fuck up. And they were right. Not knowing what else to do, she reached into the basket that was at her feet. There were three bottles in there. There were others hidden... somewhere but she couldn't remember where at this point. Probably at the back of a cupboard or something. Taking a moment to look around the darkened room, she couldn't hear anything except for the sounds of people moving around outside. She doubted anybody would come looking for her. She could jump off the top of the mountain and people wouldn't notice. Opening one of the bottles, Zed sighed heavily as she couldn't stop her thoughts from going around in her muddled head. Zelda took a long drink from the red wine, not intending to do anything else. Whatever she tried to do; she'd just fuck it up...

***
Milly McDonald​

Milly was still trying to calm herself down from her panic from before. But just as she managed to do that, the sound of shouting and then something being dragged. Milly jumped and looked out, just to see Zelda being dragged by her hair down the hall by Dave, the second in command. That sight made the younger girl jump to her feet, despite her wariness of the woman, she was still alarmed. "Zelda!" She cried, trying to run after her, only to feel a hand on her arm, making her jump.
"Don't bother, probably did something to deserve it." Emma said, letting go of Milly's arm. Milly yelped as she looked down the hall.
"But she-"
"Leave it!" The doctor snapped, making Milly sit back down, rubbing her arm anxiously. She bit her lip worryingly. She turned her attention back to Jennifer, who was still asleep. She picked up Norris as she hopped back into the room. The silkie hen clucked happily and put her head on the girl's shoulder. Milly, feeling overwhelmed by it all let out a quiet sniff as she hugged the hen. She really wanted to help the doctor, she looked like she was in some kind of trouble. Why did everyone feel the need to beat the woman down? Maybe Archie could talk to her? Speaking of Archie, Milly looked around anxiously. He was gone for a long time. Where was he? She needed somebody to talk to.
Peacemaker .45 idalie Emotional Enigma

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Archie snorted, "Yeah o' course screamin' is the way to go about it." He rolled his eyes and at long last released her -- moments before Dave began his marching, only to wrench the poor Doctor by the hair and drag her, howling, into the medical centre whilst leaving the Scotsman with a threatening promise for later confrontation. The big man, however was conflicted at having Zelda dragged off without so much as giving her a dignified moment to collect herself. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle a small, angry alcoholic.

Whilst Dave and Zed were missing, McKeegan turned to the new arrivals and stuck out a hand. "Aye, sorry about that. Not me best day, seems I've ruined the welcomin' committee." He let out an uneasy laugh, "Names Archie though. If either of you finds yerselves in agriculture, I'll show you around." Winking humorously, the big man cautiously kept an eye out. "Either that or I'll be where the heavy liftin' is. You two should fit in nice here, there's a few kids around to hang with if yer sick of adults. I know I am." He aimed the latter comment towards the boy, alas his brows lifted in recognition of a disgruntled Dave to be on the return, albeit without Zed. McKeegan gave a mocking salute. "Gotta run before mammy over there starts gettin' up in arms." Flashing a grin, the Scotsman turned and started jogging till passing the superior and into the centre in search of Milly. Nevertheless, he made a mental note to check in on Zelda later on and see how far down the rabbit hole she'd gotten herself.

Gently pulling aside the curtains of the recovery unit, the lumberjack ducked inside - closing them behind. Moving in, looking a little worse for wear, Archie began smoothing down his hair before placing his hand upon Milly's shoulder - coming up from behind. "Heya sweetheart." He sat himself beside his younger counterpart. "Sorry I left, Zed and I were playin' a few pranks is all." The Scotsman paused, taking her expression in. "Whats the matter? Huh? You alright in there?" He lightly, bopped Milly on the tip of her nose. "Y'know Jen is gonna be alright. Mack too. They just gotta get their rest." It was the only thing McKeegan could assume was getting her spirits down ... or perhaps Emma, who he immediately shot a glare at for the sake of glaring. Alas, he wound his arm around her shoulders in comfort.

Emotional Enigma Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish

 

[Emotional Enigma]

​

After Calliope jumped into the vehicle, and Daniel followed suit without injury, she took a guilty moment to let herself breathe. She let all her doubts and fears and everything she had been carrying melt away momentarily as trees passed in the distance. When she wasn't looking at the world so hypercritically, things actually seemed peaceful. It seemed as though Mother Nature was taking back her home again; roots had sprouted through concrete and around buildings. Once the vehicle stopped though, her nerves twisted up all over again and she climbed out, bat tightly gripped in her hand.
She was pleasantly surprised that Dave had been telling the truth and hadn't secretly taken them to a white tented area meant for injecting poison and killing people. These were at least the nightmares that ran through her head most of the time and rarely based on reality.
She listened for anything that could be useful information but all she could ascertain for the conversation Dave had with the doctor was two probable patients in critical condition. This didn't sit well with her; the virus could spread quickly through a camp and she didn't want to be here when it happened. But she trusted her gut, or rather trusted Dave. He had said their people were healthy.
Calliope stood next to Daniel after Dave strode away but fought back a grin when he called Daniel "David". It didn't seem like Daniel was too bothered however as he was still taking in his surroundings. It was like an over stimulation to his malnutrition life. He didn't think successful areas still existed; thrived. Calliope was also in awe of the impressiveness of an actual, working headquarters untouched by the devil's virus; or at least that's what she'd call it if she were religious. She had abandoned things like religion as it only proved to be more baggage for the road. What use would it be to accept that there's a God and he thought everyone on earth was disgusting enough to deserve such a cruel end?
The man who introduced himself as “Archie” didn’t intimidate Calliope quite as much as Dave had. In fact, his cheerfulness was almost exhausting just to watch. She was reluctant to shake his hand, really just wanting the moment to breathe and take everything. But while she felt bombarded with stimulation, Daniel seemed to fair well. He smiled at Archie excitedly and fidgeted with glee, unable to sit still.
“Thanks,” Calliope shook his hand but stepped back and kept a distance. She felt better once he had ducked behind the medical curtain though she wasn’t sure how to feel about what he said. There seemed to be a lot of conflict in the camp which spelled trouble.
Daniel had started mapping in his brain the locomotion, speed, and durability of the HMMWV a little ways away from Calliope before she touched his shoulder lightly, her metal bat occupying the other hand,
"Danny," She followed his gaze but had grown bored of the vehicle already as she didn't find it nearly as amazing as he did, " Hey, listen to me for a sec". She wanted to make it clear to him.
"Danny, don't get too attached, okay?" She tried to keep her voice low in case Archie had heard them, "If anything happens, don't hesitate to run." She felt like a broken record, constantly repeating herself and nagging about his safety. This seemed to rub Daniel the wrong way because he shrugged off her hand and didn't look at her. Sometimes being his older sister was so difficult and most of the time she didn't know what to tell him, she didn't even know what she would do half the time let alone him. But it felt like Daniel was also upset with her from her nagging earlier and was quickly becoming a big fan of their possible new home. If he chose the camp over her she didn't know how she'd ever get him back..

Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

11 Days Later...

The Mountaintop was in a state of crisis. Mack still had yet to wake up. He was in stable condition, however was put in a medically induced coma, the doctors feeling it was the last thing they could do to try and prevent further brain damage, as intracranial hypertension started to become a growing issue as he was unresponsive to treatments. The Mountaintop community stood by everyday, hoping he would wake up and lead the group again.

They wished this because things hadn’t been going too well with Dave at the Mountaintop. Every year, on May 19th, some of the folks at the Mountaintop had a tradition to drive an hour and ten minutes down to Summerville Lake and trade supplies with a small community there, mingle, and enjoy the lake, virtually untouched by the fall of civilization. In a time like this, many in the community needed a distraction from the stressful events that transpired at the Mountaintop. Normally, Mack would send a heavily armed convey down to the Marina community. However, with Dave being in charge, he found the tradition stupid and useless, but let them go anyway. But he gave them less guards and less equipment in the convoy.

Mack knew the threat of groups like Haeredes Helios. He knew their desire to kill Mountaintop members, due to their religion. And recently, with their attack on Jennifer and Mack, their threat was worse than normal. But Dave ignored it. He thought it would be fine. He sent out one M35 and two HMMWV’s, one with a 240B on top. The militia head tried to get more firepower to go, realizing the threat of Helios. But Dave shot it down, stating it was “unneeded” and “crazy” to add them as that much of a threat. Only one HMMWV came back, the one with the 240B on top, and it had only one person inside, a militia Sargent. The news he brought was one that brought the Mountaintop into a state of anger and protest.

Haeredes Helios launched a sneak attack on the Marina colony and Mountaintop colony. They butcher women, children and elderly in gruesome ways that no person deserveddeath, rounding them up like sheep. He only survived because him and two other people went to investigate an undead infestation the Marina colony had been dealing with in the armed HMMWV. However, Haeredes Helios scouts were there’s first, and ambushed the HMMWV. The two others were shot as they attempted to escape the barrage of incoming fire. The Sargent escaped with just a graze on his arm. As he made his way to the Marina colony, the colony was in flames, and Helios members were shooting anyone who ran, and brutally butchering them. He left as soon as he saw the horror show. A total of 15 Mountaintop members were killed, and an additional 20 from the Marina colony.

Blame, anger and outrage was directed at Dave as a result. But he deflected, blaming the crew who went out to take care of an infestation, and the carelessness of the group to properly respond and defend themselves against Helios. Families and friends of the massacre began to protest Dave, citing his approval of much less vehicles and arms than Mack permitted, leaving them to be sitting ducks. They also pointed out that Dave was shifting blame to everyone than himself. Calls were made for Dave’s imprisonment by Mountaintop law enforcement. The majority of officers complied by trying to arrest protesters, while a small handful of them defended the protestors. It was hell. The Mountaintop was in a power struggle, as the removal of Dave became a point of protests and some violence. Not only this, but they were short handed, with the massacre leaving many job positions open and in need of attention in the Mountaintop.

Before the massacre happened, Jennifer began to heal rather rapidly, beyond the doctor’s expectation. Jennifer had stayed largely silent on the matter with Dave. She knew him personally, and this made it a conflict of interest with her. She understood the outrage. She herself felt that way when she found out. But she just didn’t want to put him in jail. She felt stripping him of leadership would be best. But third in command was killed in the massacre. There was no definitive answer to who was next in line of succession.

Furthermore, Dave locked up the house that Mack and her lived in, and had it guarded. No one was allowed in, but all of Jennifer’s stuff was in there. It had been about a week since the massacre. There were still protests, but on a smaller scale. No one wanted to be put in jail. But tensions were extremely high. Everyone awaited Mack’s conscientiousness again.

Jennifer had fallen asleep in the bed she laid in when recovering, sitting by her father’s bed since she had healed. She couldn’t go to her bed as is. Dave wouldn’t even let her in. As she woke up, she checked the monitor.

Nothing new with her father.

She then checked the time. It was 9:37 in the morning. She’d slept in rather long for her normal sleep. Still somewhat asleep, she sat up. As she did, a doctor came in.

“Anything new,” she asked the doctor with a yawn.

“Unfortunately no. We still have nothing,” the woman said while looking over his machines.

“Damn it,” she said, lying back down. “We need you up, dad,” she whispered.

As she closed her eyes again, three gunshots range out. Jennifer jumped up and ran to the window to see what was going on. A Mountaintop citizen with a gun was shot law enforcement. This prompted protesters to get angry. They began to rush law enforcement around the house. Law enforcement began to deploy their riot gear for riot control.

An MRAP with a 40mm grenade launcher appeared, and tear gas was shot into the crowd of protestors, as other law enforcement began to try and push protesters back.

“Holy shit,” Jennifer gasped as the protestors began to get pushed into a corner, and getting arrested.

The protestors were then rounded up and forced down to the holding cells. It was becoming hell. Dave had not been seen in several days, cowering to inside the house, guarded by law enforcement.

“He needs to be taken out of power. He’s incompetent and he’s tyrannical,” said a voice behind her, it being one of the doctors.

“I know,” Jennifer said as she turned back to the window and watched the chaos. “This is getting out of hand.”

“You’re Mack’s daughter. Can’t you do something about him,” the doctor asked in a rather aggressive tone.

“I have no authority over him or this community. I can’t do anything,” Jennifer replied in a tone that expressed no emotion, trying not to anger the doctor.

“Bullshit,” the doctor said under her breath as she turned and walked away in frustration.

Jennifer just sighed, and walked away from the window and to the bed. She sat on it, and lowered her head.

“Dad, please wake up. We need you,” she begged in a whisper to him. She knew it wouldn’t change anything. But they needed him awake. They needed Dave gone.

 

[Rumble Fish]

Zelda Williams​

Zelda knew about the chaos. How could she not? She could hear everything that had happened. The thought of people of the group being slaughtered in cold blood was a frightening one. And while she had not seen it, she had heard doctors talk about the protests going on, people looking to have Dave imprisoned. Ironic. Calling her a fuck up, when he was an even bigger fuck up than she ever was!

During this time, nobody had seen Zelda for at least a week. Having shut herself up in her office with the blinds closed, the last eleven days were a total haze. At least... she thought it had been eleven days. She couldn't remember. Then again, she couldn't even recall her own name at this point. She wanted to get back out there, she really did! But after what had just happened and with the civil unrest, the last thing anybody in this community needed was her there.

Zelda gasped for air as she finished the last of the... what was it? Whisky, wine...bleach- what was it?! Whatever it was, the bottle was thrown across the room and there was a shattering of glass as it presumably hit a wall. Zelda put the back of her head against the cold wall with a sigh. Or was she cold? Weird... cold and hot at the same time, was that possible? Of course it was, the universe can do whatever the fuck it wants. Wait... what was she thinking about now? Fuck.

The woman kept her eyes shut as she clumsily fumbled around under her desk. She was sure there was more. Feeling around the bottom of the basket, she touched something cold and metallic. Her eyes opened as she felt the shape of it. A... a pistol? How did this get in here? Is that mine? Did I put that in there? Was it Mark's- Oh god... Mark. Fucking hell... Why did I just let him die? I should have done something. At least... I'd be dead rather than them. That would have been better. Or am I already dead? It's dark as fuck in here- whys it so dark?! Dark as my fucking soul. Wow... that was deep. No, wait what's that? Is that a gun? Where did that come from? The woman sighed as she picked it up, holding it flimsily in her grip. Pulling back the chamber, she felt around and found it still had a bullet in it. The woman sighed and looked upward at the darkened ceiling. A loaded gun, huh? Zelda slowly opened another bottle, not letting the gun go from her free hand. Now that she thought about it... or at least she thought she thought... wait what? But still. She was a fuck up, yeah? Worthless, useless, all the things Dave had called her, they were all true. There wasn't any reason for her to be here. She didn't even want to be here. Without Mark and Jason, what was the point? If she did it... she'd be doing them a service right? she would not be around to drag them down anymore. And if Mack ever woke up, he would feel the same way, surely? Breathing deeply and shakily, she took a long swig from the bottle and brought the gun up close to her face, at this point just trying to build up the courage to pull it...

Milly McDonald​

Milly hardly left Jennifer's side over the last week and a half. She stayed with the woman while she eventually felt strong enough to get up, even helping her walk at first. Though with Jennifer being Jennifer, she recovered quickly and grew strong faster than anyone expected. Milly was relieved to see that her friend was better, but she knew she was very worried about Mack, who had still not woken up. And while this was going on, there was anarchy throughout the community. Milly had not been given much information over what happened but she knew that the man Dave was the cause of it. She remembered him pulling Zelda by her hair and, from what Archie had told her, he was a nasty piece of work as her mother would say. She wanted to try and help Jennifer stay positive, like Archie said.

Milly had been outside with Norris and was just coming back into the ward, where she heard the doctor and Jennifer speaking. The doctor, Emma sounded angry that Jennifer wasn't doing more to help. Was she serious? What could Jennifer do?! As she stormed off, Milly glared at her as he went to walk past her. As she did (as she could not think of anything better to do) Milly stuck her tongue out, blowing the loudest and longest raspberry she possibly could. It certainly got a reaction from the doctor.
"Grow up." The doctor grunted angrily, to which Milly squealed in annoyance at her arrogance and gave the doctor a hard kick in her shin.
"you... bi-bi-big meanie!" She snapped as Emma continued out the ward before Milly calmed down and turned her baby blues towards Jennifer as she was with Mack. A knot tightened in Milly's stomach, feeling greatly sorry for the woman. She just wanted everything to be okay again. She sat near the woman, but not terribly close to her. She didn't want to upset Jennifer. Not while this was happening to her dad. Milly put Norris down who slowly pecked around at her feet. She went into her pocket and pulled out a packet of smarties that Archie had given her. She shimmied closer to Jennifer, putting the tube near her. She just wanted to help but... what could she do?
Peacemaker .45 idalie

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

Since the massacre down at the Marina colony, Archie had been more on edge than usual. Work somewhat ceased during these days of unrest, where people bellowed and fought against the man who had them and their future under his selfish thumb. The Scotsman kept his head down for Milly so far, not wanting to draw too much attention and get them both arrested or worse - thrown out. Nevertheless, he struggled on by with the promise that as soon as he had a chance, he'd snap Dave's neck himself. For what he'd done to Zelda, and then throwing lives away to the winds. God forbid it could've been Milly. Alas, he'd left Zelda to her unresponsive state due to the uproar of everything that was going on. He'd made several promises to himself to go check in on the woman, yet seemed to never have the time as he picked up the slack of those on strike; meaning every day he'd come back to him and Milly's shared room tired and barely able to keep his eyes open. It didn't help the young girl had nightmares, and more often than not needed either him to sit with her, or sleep with an arm draped over as a parent does to a child.

When he'd managed to get a little more freedom, taking his own minor strike to rest up did McKeegan gather together some of the stew and bread rations - still hot - in a small pot to the doctor's room. Knocking didn't help, then again, when did it ever help? Thus, he barged in using his shoulder. "Zed? Sorry I haven't--" It was dark, although the light from the doorway managed to outline bottles on the floor, broken glass, clothes, books, bedsheets, smelling like something had died in a puddle of wine past its use-by date. Then to the corner, the older woman huddled. Skinny and unwashed, a gun in her hands which almost made the lumberjack throw down the tray. Instead, he placed it on the floor, hopping over to make a dash towards the doctor, "Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart,--" By the looks of it she was beyond plastered and in another realm of reality. "That ain't a way to deal with anything, is it? Huh, lass?" Sitting to the side of her, he gently unwrapped her weak grasp from the handle of the firearm and pulled her into a half-hug. "Come-on, yer not in the right mind." Checking the safety was on for the gun, he stuffed it in the back of his belt and scooped the doctor up placing her momentarily on the bed. Cupping half of her greasy, unwashed features he sighed; stroking her cheek fondly. "You probably don't know what the fuck I'm on about."

Shaking his head, McKeegan glanced towards the door and picked up the meal once more, finding a clear surface to place it before moving on to crack the windows open. Gathering up the bottles and generally tidying till the floor was clear. Plucking shards of smashed glass out from the carpet and dragging in a tub. Whilst he waited to cart water back and forth, both heated and cold, he kept an eye on the practically comatose woman, ensuring she hadn't moved or attempted rolling off the bed to throw her guts up. It took a good twenty minutes, perhaps longer - keeping himself busy by organising the room she'd neglected. Managing to undress Zed, keeping a clinical mind, Archie moved her from the bed into the bath. Supporting her head and neck like a newborn babe, humming to himself. He did his best to un-mat her hair, scrubbing the Doc down with carbolic soap and a lot of elbow grease. When he'd finished, the water was disturbingly dark grey. It made a change, however, considering she didn't have that permeating stink of body odour. Even he had to be truthful about that.

Whilst she slept it off, wrapped in a towel and occasionally scooped up to be moved back and forth, Archie made the bed, did the laundry, and tucked her up in the fresh sheets whilst he emptied the tub. By that point the stew had gone cold, thus the Scotsman used a spare camping ready to heat it back up for when she'd decided to emerge from her beauty sleep.

Rumble Fish

 

[Emotional Enigma]

After they had gotten physically examined, which made Calliope very uncomfortable despite her promiscuous past before the world changed, Calliope and Daniel had been set up with a small apartment like home. It was cozy with very little furniture; only featuring a bed, nightstand, coffee table, couch and mini kitchen. As far as anything else went, Calliope was just guessing at whatever her new routine was supposed to be now. No longer having to patrol her surroundings, be vigilant, and hunt for food, she found herself having more free time than she was comfortable with.
The news about the Marina colony massacre, though she was still new here, reached even her ears. She didn't know of the colony nor had the oppertunity to partake in their festivities but still felt remorse for such a wide group being wiped out. Her next thought was when would this murderers come for this colony? How long until they breached their walls? Were they prepared? Did they know? Whose is they and who is running the colony to be exact?
Calliope stood at a counter in the small apartment kitchen. Daniel sat on a couch bored, tossing a rubber ball up and down in his hands. Calliope opened cabinets and shut them again, knowing there was only the canned food they had brought sitting behind the doors. She sighed, frustration with the newly found chaos and their lack of diversity in food weighing on her. She could hear the chanting and loud yells through the window. They had just gotten accustomed to not having to constantly move around and now it seemed another problem had arisen on them. Again, Daniel seemed unbothered as he did with most things. Daniel was still young, still a dreamer. He saw the world in a much brighter light than his sister who only saw potential dangers.
"Cali, just grab something," He whined.
"Danny, you can't keep eating just fruit, you need some fiber," She felt tense and tired. She hadn't gotten used to sleeping soundly all through the night yet. She used to wake up periodically to scope their perimeter, and not getting up in the middle of the night made her nervous.
"Then go get some," Daniel stood up and bounced the red ball against the floor, "Doesn't this camp have a food supply you can take from?"
"I haven't really talked to them about it yet Danny. I'm trying to be respectful."
"You're not being disrespectful by asking for food, or in your case, fiber,"
"I'm working on it Danny!" She snapped, her voice sharp and strained. She slammed her hands down on the counter for a moment, the only sound was Daniel's rubber ball tapping the wooden floor. Soon the tapping stopped and the sound of the door opening was heard. Calliope turned her gaze to door almost as soon as she heard it but only caught a glimpse of Daniel walking out. If she had any energy left from her sleepless night, she knew she would've been having a panic attack seeing him leave without her. But she was tired. Tired of being scared for him all the time, and tired of seemingly doing a bad job at keeping him safe. Every other day they argued and all Daniel talked about was Dave and Archie. He wanted to be with men and do the things they did and see their toys. Calliope couldn't offer Daniel anything but suffocating protection and worry.
She sighed again, buried her face in her hands and leaned onto the counter. She bit back frustrating tears as her cheeks burned with useless anger and pain. She didn't want to feel like she had to mother Daniel, she missed her old life even years after it was gone. She almost missed the fear Daniel once had because it made him trust and listen to her. She almost missed it. If it hadn't been for the dreadful look in his eyes at every crack of a stick or hoot of an owl, she may have actually missed it.
She told herself she wouldn't cry, but it was something she'd knew she'd break. She sat on the couch where Daniel's red ball sat under the coffee table and cried. The hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she rocked a moment in sobs. Never did she want anything more but for the world to just stop. It seemed finally when her responsibility of keeping them alive had been lifted and put onto this new camp, did she find that she felt like she had no use anymore. In those silent, still moments was when her loneliness and heartache attacked her. She didn't want to be strong anymore, she didn't want to be responsible for protecting someone else when she could barely protect herself, and she didn't even know what to protect him from. She didn't know anyone in the camp except this Archie and Dave, and she didn't know if she could trust them. Though they had proven to be trustworthy so far, what's stopping them from throwing them to the wolves. Calliope's head was full of such dread, doubts, and discomfort.
Though she was grossly depressed, she swiped at her tears and wiped her face furiously. She got up off the couch and walked to the little area where a bed lay in one room. She stripped off her clothes and changed into the only other clothes she had; cargo pants and white t-shirt. She put her hair up, her boots on, her combat knife on her belt, and her baseball bat on the other side. Calliope walked to the bathroom for one last check to make sure her cheeks and eyes weren't pink from her earlier breakdown and then stormed out of the apartment.

Daniel sat atop of a building watching the chaos below. He heard whispers and talks about the recent massacre at the nearby colony but with no prior experience of who they were, he didn't have much remorse for it. He didn't feel empathy for the lives that were lost, but death wasn't such an abstract idea anymore. Daniel secretly wondered if those who died might be happier not having to fight to survive anymore. But he shook his head, dispelling the negative thought. Anyone dying wasn't fair, nothing was fair. Daniel thought maybe one day he could create his own colony full of scientists, mechanics and chemists and they'd all save the world. They'd be like the Justice League of the dead world and everyone would love them. But Daniel knew that even the best super heroes like Wally West had their enemies and he wasn't sure he could fight them off like his sister often did. He admired her strength but hated how far gone she had become. She used to be a teenager who liked to go to parties and flirt with guys and plow people down in soccer, but that her had all but washed away with the wear and tear of this new world in these past years. Daniel regretfully resented her for not being the carefree sister he used to have so much fun with. And now that they had come into the Mountainneers group, she was more closed off than ever. She didn't dare wander too close to anyone's proximity and only responded to people mostly by sarcasm or humor. She often used these tactics as emotional shields and was actually more scared than anyone, Daniel could see it ever since the start of the virus taking hold of the world.
Daniel sat there on the roof awhile longer, thinking about the rising chaos below, the massacre, Calliope, and Dave. He laid on his back and closed his eyes, listening to yells and the sounds of violent contact in the crowd.

Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Jennifer let out a small chuckle upon seeing a smarties roll out in her direction. Jennifer sat up and looked at the roll in Milly’s Hand stretched out towards her.

“Thanks there, Kiddo,” she said taking the roll. “This used to be my favorite treat when I was young.”

Pausing for a second, Jennifer looked up to her right in thought for a second, closing her eyes and unlocking memories that had long been forgotten.

“You know, when I was younger, my brother and I used to trade these to each other. Him and I were best friends.” Jennifer laughed for a second, shaking her head and smiling. “I remember this one time when I had this toy gun that he wanted. It was a cap gun, a lever action one. We’d always walk around the woods behind our house and pretend to be a cowboy and cowgirl exploring the new frontier. And I had that gun that he always wanted to. And he came in offering me 10 rolls of smarties to carry that gun into the woods that day. I said no, and he got all mad. We had done bickering back and forth, and next thing I know, he’s throwing the smarties at me and trying to rip the gun from my hands.”

“And the next thing I know,” Jennifer continues, her grin widening and her laugh breaking up her words, “the little bastard’s on top of me and we’re rolling around on the floor, yelling at each other, hitting things and knocking them over. And, at the time, I had a goldfish in my room in a bowl. We’re rolling around, fighting for the gun, and next thing I know, we hit a little table, and all the sudden, a fishbowl comes sliding off, going over our heads and hitting the floor. The glass didn’t break somehow, but the fish and water go flying out and onto my floor. Now I’m screaming and crying, my brother was yelling and crying too, and my dad comes in.”

“When he comes in, he goes, ‘what the hell is going on here,’ and didn’t notice the fish yet, flopping around on the floor. I scream back that my brother killed my fish. My dad then looks at this fish flopping around, and grabs it with his hands, and the bowl, drops it in it and runs to the bathroom. He comes back with the fish swimming happily in the water and places it on my desk. But then he turns to us and he starts yelling at us for being stupid. He ended up taking our cap guns away for a week until we apologized to each other.”

Jennifer’s smile began to fade into a sad stare into the distance. “Those were the days,” she sighed. “Back in Texas, before my life went to hell, before my brother died, all too soon. And when that happened, my life spiraled down from there. It never got better. And look at me now. I’m stuck in this world, my mom’s dead now too, my dad is barely alive, and someone I used to know well before the outbreak is hold up in that house with the chaos outside.”

Jennifer began to unroll the smarties wrapper and began to eat them one by one, favoring the pink ones. It tasted incredible, even better than her memory served her. She savored every second as she chewed and let the remnants sit on her tongue, her eyes closed, basking in the tastiness.

Her moment was ruined once they were all gone and nothing but a wrapper remained. With reality setting in, she knew she had to get out and try and get into the house Dave occupied and try and talk to Dave. She knew him before the outbreak. Maybe he would let her in if she bugged the guards and him enough. But first, she wanted to get outside and get done fresh air. Being in that medbay for so long wasn’t something she enjoyed, just as she disliked being in hospitals for so long, something she’d have much dreadful experience with.

“Hey, Milly, I’m going to get some fresh air. You can come with me if you’d like. I can’t be in here anymore. It’s so dreary and dreadful in here. It’s a shit storm outside, but better than in this depressing place.

Getting on her feet, though she wasn’t quite strong on her legs yet, she managed to walk normally bro the door. She looked outside, and the protests were over, but some of the law enforcement of the Mountaintop still remained, watching the house. Jennifer felt that they had to know that Dave was in the wrong. But they had a job to do, and we’re probably too nervous of what tyrannical things Dave would do if they didn’t comply. Sighing, Jennifer reached for the doorknob and turned it.

With the door swinging open, the brunette took a step outside. The outside air was lighter, and heat reflected off of the building onto her. The heat felt nice. Jennifer then closed the door behind her. As her body began to turn and walk before her head looked straight, Jennifer felt a collision with someone. Not expecting it, Jennifer fell back on the ground, her physical state being weaker than she’d like. Recovering from the fall, she began to rub her head as a small headache began to form. Rubbing her eyes, she saw another girl, approximately around her age that she walked into.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Jennifer said as she began to try and pick herself up. She was weaker than she’d like, and getting up was a bit of a struggle. She held onto parts of the environment around her to prop herself up.

Once up, Jennifer got a better look at the girl. She’d never seen her before. Jennifer had become familiar with the faces there, but not the names. Jennifer didn’t recognize the girl’s face. While she knew that the Mountaintop recruited people sonwhat frequently, they also were scared of their base being discovered. As of now, no one knows exactly where they live other than the residents. And even then, residents are kept under tight watch to ensure that they aren’t sleeper agents, double agents, or moles planted into the Mountaintop to feed information to groups out there, like the ones who attacked the Marina colony.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t looked where I was walking,” Jennifer explained to the girl, getting a better look at her. “I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you new? Who picked you up and recruited you here?”

Jennifer was more cautious than she was truly inquisitive of the girl. She didn’t know whether or not anyone really noticed her coming in among the chaos. But perhaps she missed her arrival in the time she was recovering.

Rumble Fish Emotional Enigma

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly tilted her head a little as Jennifer thanked her for the smarties and mentioned that they were her favourite when she was a kid. She kept quiet as Jennifer then started recounting a memory from her past. Preening the fur on her bear's head, Milly listened to the woman's story with intrigue. She was allowed to go into the woods? There had been woods outside of Milly's house where she had seen kids playing in the trees or playing games. She had never been allowed to play though. Woods were full of killers. At least... thats what her mum would tell her whenever she asked. It seemed that everywhere that was not their bungalow was dangerous. But... this place was safe. Right? She wanted to think that but given the amount of fighting and anarchy right now, it wasnt. Did that mean Eleanor was right when she said everywhere was dangerous? Milly tried to shake those thoughts from her head as she silently listened to Jennifer's story, smiling slightly when the woman laughed.

But once it was done and Jennifer lamented her current situation, Milly's smile faded. She hated seeing her in this position. "M-Mack will wake up, he's... he's stong like you." She knew Jennifer was a strong soul but after going through all of that? It would break anybody. She tried to think of a way to cheer the woman up but she was stuck. She didn't want to mention her mother given that Jennifer had just said hers was dead but... she could try at least. "...I didn't know my dad and I didn't have a brother or sister. Or... anybody other than mum." she said softly, stroking Norris as she slept on her lap. Raising her head a little, Milly smiled sadly as she remembered something. "Heh... I remember... one time we were in the garden and I had a small playhouse at the back which I hadn't been in for ages. Mum and I were playing and I wanted to go into the playhouse but... a raccoon and her kits had taken over it. Mum wanted to get rid of them but I didn't. I spent two years giving them food from my meals. They... became friendly and let me sit with them. But they left when the kits grew up... They were the closest things I had to having friends." her smile faded and her eyes cast down as, like Jennifer she realised how bad things were. "...I just... Just wish I knew where she is... or if she's alive." She mumbled, rubbing her arm anxiously. It had actually been some time since Milly actually had time to properly think about Eleanor. With everything else about Jennifer's recovery and now the protests, she had not had much time to ponder. That and having Archie with her really helped. Although she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about keeping him awake at night. She knew he was busy during the day and needed sleep but, despite his care, she still had consistent nightmares and night terrors and she didn't know how to stop them. All she could do when it happened was just apologise to him every time.

Milly jumped out of her thoughts as Jennifer talked about going outside and invited her to come. Milly bit her lip. Outside? She was still very uncomfortable with being outside. Especially now with the protests. She had tried to stay indoors to avoid it as much as possible but... she didn't want Jennifer going outside alone. After everything she told her, Milly wanted to assure her that, while Mack was still in a coma, she did have someone with her. "Okay." she mumbled as she got up, letting out a pained squeak as her knees snapped. They were hurting more recently. In the past, she took fish oil capsules and other meds to curb the pain but it had been some time since she last had them. Still, she did say she'd go with Jen so went through with it. She grabbed her bear, holding it tight against her chest. Norris meanwhile hopped easily alongside Milly, given her slow pace. The hen, despite her missing leg had no problem keeping up with the pair.

But just as Milly got to the door, she opened it to see Jennifer on the ground in front of a stranger. With a worried squeak, Milly ran -or hobbled- to Jennifer's side as she managed to get herself up. She looked at the girl worryingly before turning her attention to the stranger, glaring at her slightly before her gaze softened and looked back to Jennifer, blinking gently "You okay?" she asked before looking back at the stranger, worried about her reaction to the pair of them. Milly moved over slightly so she was just slightly ahead of Jen, not sure who she was or why she was here. Norris crooned and lied on one of Milly's feet, the hen tilting her head at the woman too.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda had the gun pointed to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. At least this way she would be able to see Mark and Jason again. Even if they disown her like the should, she just wanted to see them... just one more time.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger, the sound of the door opening made her eyes fly open and freeze. Moving the gun slightly, she saw a figure at the door which could only have been male. So... she had done it? There was light coming from outside and that's what people said right? So... "M-Ma...Mark?!" She just managed to get out, though to the person it probably sounded more like a slurred grunt. As they came closer, she just managed to see that it was in fact Archie, not Mark. As she felt him pull the gun from her flimsy grip, she made a feeble attempt to grab it back, only for him to take it further away. He was talking to her, she could see that but she could barely hear what he was saying. All she could do was stare at him. She just wanted to die, but he wouldn't let her. Her only chance to escape was gone... She bit her bottom lip, which was quivering as she turned her head away from him, tears leaking from her bloodshot eyes. So he just wanted her to suffer too. Great... At this point, Zelda was in too much of a daze to realise exactly what was going on. Maybe if she just went to sleep she might see them again or this whole thing was just a dying dream and she was actually dead...

"Zelda? Where are you?"
"Why?"
"You said you were just grabbing something from the reception two hours ago- Are you at the bar?!"
"Um-"
"Jesus Christ, it's 11am, Zelda!"
"Mark-"
"NO! Get up here NOW!"
"Okay... Okay...is Jason okay?"
"He's in here. He said you told him you two would go swimming today."
"We will! We will! I'll be up in ten minutes, okay?"
"You'd better be... actually... Zelda, you should come up now."
"Why?"
"Seriously, you need to come back to the room, right now it's urgent."
"Why? Is it Jason?!"
"No, no he's fine but... there's an EAS on the tv, saying everyone in the Virginia area needs to take shelter."
"Mark, it's probably just a paranoid weatherman."
"No... it's something to do with a contagious disease that's going around."
"Probably just a paranoid doctor."
"Get. Up. Here. Now!"
"Okay... Okay..."
"I'm not joking, Zelda this is- wait..."
"What is it?"
"OH MY GOD!"
"Mark? Jason? What happened?"
"ZELD-"
"MARK!"

"MARK! JASON!" Where was she?! Zelda launched upright in a panic, she had to get to them! It was only after a couple of moments that the world stopped spinning. She still felt dazed and not with it. Looking around, her blurred vision took in the fact that... the room was clean? The window was open and it was bright. Her bottom lip drooping slightly, she noticed Archie sitting there. What was he doing here? The woman, despite her drunken state, quickly deduced what had happened. With a shaky sigh, she lied back down, facing away from the man. She could smell food, and she hadn't properly eaten in days. Her stomach ached and rumbled from the smell which just made the woman curl up with her arms around her abdomen as she faced the wall. Hopefully, he would just go away. "...What-Why are you doing in here?" she mumbled, barely able to get a word out.
idalie Peacemaker .45 Emotional Enigma

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

As Zelda mistook him for Mark the first time, Archie knew she was in a bad place. Considering she rarely spoke of her late husband and child, he'd assumed she'd prefer bygones be bygones. No matter how much they hurt to be hidden. It was the second time she cried out for her family, that made McKeegan jump and look towards her with slight panic, leaping up from the nearby chair to sit on the edge of the Doctor's bed. Zelda faced away from him, curling up into the fetal position which lead to the Scotsman putting a comforting hand on her arm. At least, he hoped it was comforting. It was, however, had to miss the sounds of her stomach. No doubt she hadn't been out to the canteen since the fiasco with Dave and their fight. "You were -- havin' a tough time, lass." He sighed, putting his palm on her head, over the damp locks of hair with a comforting, almost parental pat. "But, you better sit up. Gotta eat."

At that, he got to his feet with a slight grunt of exertion. Moving to the stew which had been kept warm over the camping stove, and placed it back on the tray, beside a bread roll which had been baked that morning by the kitchen units. "Here we go, I got you some water and painkillers too. Knew you might have a bit of a headache when you got up." Archie moved the glass to the side, dropping the little white capsules next to it. "We don't have to talk about what happened, but I need you to get back into tiptop shape, alrighty soldier?" He aimed one of those smiles which made the corners of his eyes crease and flicked the ends of his 'tache upwards -- warm, weathered features, tanned and battered by the elements of his work. It was still slightly forced, yet it was to be soothing. He didn't want to bombard the poor woman moments after waking from her drunken stupor. "Don't fight with me on this, you know it won't work for all the tea in China."

"I, uh, got you somethin' too. Made it. Took me a few tries." He placed the tray down on the bed carefully, before producing a small figurine made of dark, sanded wood. A little rough around the edges, but there was care which went into it. A young, mystical man, with a hood pulled around his features; draped in leaves and boots. It was the size of a thumb (Archie's thumb, mind you). "It's Ghillie Dhu. My nan used to tell me stories about it. Seems like you could use a kind little fella to help you get by." He held it out expectantly.

Rumble Fish

 

[Emotional Enigma]

​

Calliope was holding a mini notepad in her hand and a pen in the other, jotting down a list of the things she had in the apartment and the things she still needed. After her breakdown this morning, she thought maybe she could scavenge around for more toys or something for Daniel to tinker with; maybe he'd appreciate her more if she tried to show him how much she cares. Wishful thinking. She barely noticed anyone had run into her when a girl fell onto the ground. Because of her athletic stature and years of being constantly run into on the field, she only wobbled a little before finally taking her eyes off her pad.
She saw the girl on the ground and choked back a laugh. She wasn't laughing at her so much as laughing at the idea she hadn't even noticed her. She was more worried about finding toys for Daniel than her surroundings and it had been a long while since she had been allowed a luxury like that. Her grin however faded with a meek, pale girl opened a door and came out after the first with a stank face on. Calliope wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she figured if she tried she could break the girl's knee caps with a single kick to both of them if she wanted. She didn't feel threatened as much as she felt annoyed at the meek girl initially ignoring her. This gave her a bad taste in her mouth and didn't make her keen on making friends. She reminded her of the girls in her high school who loaded make-up on in the morning and made prom such a big deal. Definitely not her crowd. When the girl asked if she was okay, Calliope only slightly nodded, her face remaining still like a Noh mask with a slight smile.
She folded her pad down and jammed her pen into her jean pocket, "I'm fine," She first said in a low tone. Then the girl began asking a barrage of questions which made Calliope even more uneasy. She licked her bottom lip a moment, thinking of how to address her questions but also feeling angered. She swallowed it down though her mind telling her she couldn't be an asshole forever and certainly couldn't hate everyone forever for her own misfortune. That attitude was pushing Daniel away; his bright personality and soul dying to be around people and hers dying to be away.
"I'm not from around here, you should probably ask Dave about the details." Her gaze lingered over the girl. A bit taller than herself and well-kept. Certainly more well-kept than herself, Calliope harboring scars all over her hands and dirt stains on her clothes. She looked a little unwell, possibly from prior events Calliope wasn't aware of.
She nodded to her knee, "Ice helps a lot. No more than a cup of frozen water." Calliope neglected to inform the girl of her bad medical past with a torn ACL, but figured the information wouldn't be much help anyway, "I used to get strawberries, if there's any skin irritation soap and water are best, nothing more nothing less." She looked around the area trying to find something to take her attention away from her awkwardness. She turned back remembering she may not know what she was even saying, "Oh, strawberry is like when the skin peels off in a side tackle." She could feel herself making the situation worse with her word vomit, "You know, when I got hurt Daniel made this--" She laughed again, recalling the memory with her hands in the air; they touched an imaginary something floating in front of them, "--brace. It wasn't the best but it did the trick. I could ask him to make another one if you need it." Her smile faded again, remembering the years of cortisone shots in her knee and the soccer tryouts she never went to in college. She almost felt jealous now, what she'd do to have the all the chances she ever gave up back again.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

Jennifer turned to Milly and gave her a pat on the shoulder with a smile. “I’m fine, don’t you worry.”

Jennifer than looked back at the girl. The girl seemed slightly irritated, and this rubbed Jennifer the wrong way. The girl didn’t really answer her questions either. She said that Dave should be the one she’s talking to about in regards to her arrival.

“I’d talk to Dave, but he’s kind of held up in my father’s house. I’d like to get in there just to get some of my supplies. So, I can’t really talk to him, given the shit show right now,” Jennifer replied to the girl, trying to keep her attitude out of it. Though some annoyance by the girl’s initial reaction did annoy Jennifer just ever so slightly.

The girl then began to say what she should do with her knees. She then brought up a person named Daniel, whom Jennifer never met or heard of. The girl did it as if she knew Daniel. She told the story about a cast he made for her. But still, Jennifer didn’t know who David was. Either way, she suggested possible remedies to her knees. Though, her knees weren’t so much of an issue. She was just weak after the recent event.

“Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m okay. I had recently been shot several times, and was out for a week or something, and I’m still healing and recovering right now. But thank you for the suggestion.”

Jennifer then took a quick look to the side in a moment of thought. She was trying to think of how to word the next question in her head to not annoy or seem noisy to the girl. But she was still suspicious oh her.

“You mentioned a ‘Daniel’ earlier. Pardon me if I sound noisy, but is he someone here today? What’s your relation to him?”

Not too long after the question was asked, the sound of another gunshot. Echoed into the walls. Jennifer grabbed Milly, and the girl, and ducked them down between the small wall and in front of them and the outside. The sound of some shouting followed by more gunshots filled the air. Jennifer peaked up a bit to look. It seemed as if someone barricaded themselves in a store and the Mountaintop law enforcement started to moved in with the MRAP.

A back and forth followed between the suspect and the law enforcement. The man kept yelling about Dave being responsible for his wife and two children being killed at the Marina, while law enforcement tried to talk him out of the barricaded store. Furthermore, the man revealed that he had killed the third in command of the Mountaintop in a confrontation with them to try and get them to get Dave out. Emotions were running high at this time, and this man was losing his mind after losing everything he cared about.

Law enforcement pleaded for the man to step out and drop his guns. But only silence ensued for several second, followed by the thundering sound of an exchange of gunfire between the two forces. Initially ducking down when she heard the shots, Jennifer again peaked up and saw a hectic scene. The man who barricaded himself was shot, his body, or what was left of it, was hanging partially out of a shot out window, while an officer was shot, blood erupted from his throat as the other officers tried to save him. This would be to no avail, however. The officer died.

The Mountaintop was all but turning to hell with Mack being in a coma. Jennifer say the state of this and she was worried. Something had to be done, specifically with Dave. Dave had been running this place to the ground in such a short period of time. And this place was an incredible feat for the current state of the world, and how Mack was able to grow this community andmake it the powerhouse it was. It was self sustainable, it was strong on both offense and defense, and it had enough room for a sizable amount of people to live comfortably. Dave was jeopardizing that, as well as the welfare and wellbeing of the citizens here.

“Fuck,” Jennifer stated while staring at the wall on the opposite side of her with horror in her eyes. “Something needs to be done. This can’t go on any longer. This place is turning to hell the longer my dad is in that coma and Dave is in charge. This can’t keep going on. There won’t be a Mountaintop left at this rate.”

Jennifer closed her eyes and began to think. She was unaware of what she could do to change the state of the place. Dave wouldn’t listen to anyone. He wasn’t seen in days, nor would he listen to anyway. Jennifer knew that she couldn’t do anything right now. And all of her gear, aside from whatever was left in her shot up truck, was in the house he was in.

But still, there was simply nothing that Jennifer could do. The law enforcement here seems to be loyal to him, either out of fear for their lives or not. She couldn’t just storm the place and take him out. But she additionally wasn’t sure diplomacy could work either. However, realizing that her truck still had weapons in it gave her an idea. She needed to get one of her guns for now. The place was not safe. And she needed to have something to protect herself from whoever wished to do harm next if she got in the way. But she would have to sneak and get it. But this girl, she couldn’t say the plan to her. Who knows if she would just tell Dave himself? She couldn’t know whether she could trust her or not. She didn’t know if the girl could be an asset or not.

“Okay I don’t think it’s safe out here right now. Milly, come with me back to the hospital room. We need to talk,” Jennifer said as she got up cautiously, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Jennifer then began to think once again about whether or not the girl should follow or not. She didn’t know whether or not to trust her. But one thing she did know is that she had a plan. But she’d need help with it. The plan wasn’t much, but it was something, something she couldn’t say to the new girl if she isn’t on her side.

“You can come too if you want. Or you can continue doing what you did before. Either way, Milly and I are going back inside the medical building. It’s up to you.”

Jennifer hoped she could perhaps gauge who the girl was and maybe see if she can get someone else on board with the plan she was crafting in her head. It wasn’t a one person job. And any help will be crucial to its success.

Rumble Fish Emotional Enigma

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly kept very quiet as the stranger and Jennifer spoke to each other. She tried to pay attention to what was being said but she simply could not focus. The constant sudden and loud noises were making her extremely uncomfortable. Biting her knuckle, she wanted to go back inside. It wasn't nice in there with Mack in his coma and... Emma was there but it was still safer than being out here with all this chaos happening! She wanted to try and get Jen to come with her back to the hospital but she did not want to interrupt her. It was far too noisy here, it made her extremely uncomfortable and scared.

Her fear was made worse when Jennifer suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a wall. She had not seen what had triggered this reaction but the sound of gunfire made the girl cover her ears and squeezing her eyes shut, whimpering. This was too much! As she was pulled around, Milly had dropped her bear but she was too afraid to go back for it, not while there was gunfire, which sounded like explosions to Milly's sensitive ears. Norris seemed to notice her distress and jumped onto her lap, preening her cheek softly as if trying to reassure her. But Milly could not focus, she just wanted it to be quiet. She wanted to go home! The thought of staying here with all this chaos and death was too much for her to bear. It was only when Jennifer mentioned going back into the medical centre that Milly finally opened her eyes but still kept her ears covered, just realising how much she was shaking. When Jennifer mentioned that they had to "talk" Milly gulped, "Talk? Wh-what about?" she asked anxiously only to see Jennifer offering to let the girl come in too. Milly bit her lip, seeing her bear out in the open. She wanted to grab it but the thought of being exposed to all the fighting was too scary. She stayed very close to Jennifer and watched the girl with worry. Without her bear to hold onto, she put her hand on Jen's arm, hoping she would let her hold on until they were safely inside.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda didn't look at Archie as he mentioned she had a rough time. She just sighed and shut her eyes. Her head hurt but not as much as her chest and wrists. It was a strange thing. Whenever she felt extremely distressed, they always hurt. As she felt the man pat her head, making her freeze upon the contact, remembering what Dave had done to her. She then realised that her hair was damp and it... smelled sweet. Wait... did this mean he had... What was the point in asking, she knew the answer. As the smell of food grew stronger, Zelda groaned as she forced herself to sit up, her muscles hurting. She looked at the stew and fresh bread that Archie had placed on her lap. Biting her lower lip, she looked at him with a lost expression. What she hadn't realised was that her eyes had seemingly grown in size and looked intensely sad. An accurate representation of what she was feeling. And the warm smile from him only made her feel worse. She didn't deserve this kindness from him. What did she do to deserve it? Nothing. So having him do this without warrent was confusing and upsetting to the woman. The scent of the stew wafted into her nose and made her come back into reality. She opened her mouth to protest "I-!" but was immediately interrupted by Archie, claiming she couldn't do anything about it. Her mouth still open, she tried to think of some kind of rebuttal. But it was not needed as her stomach did a flip and rumbled even louder.

With a sigh, Zelda turned away from the Scotsman and started taking small bites from the bread, which very quickly became large gulps which resulted in the bread vanishing within a minute before moving onto the stew. She couldn't tell if it was that being drunk still was giving her the munchies or if she was really that hungry but whatever the reason, the stew was also gone within a few short moments. It was only after she finished that she realised that Archie was holding something towards her, a wooden figure of a little man named "Ghillie Dhu". Must have been a Scottish thing. Zelda was acquainted with Celtic mythology but only from her homeland, Ireland. She took the figure slowly, "...Thank you." she said, though due to the slurriness of her voice it probably sounded nothing like that. She put the empty tray to the side and lied on her back after taking the aspirin. Holding onto the figure, she stared at the ceiling blankly before she felt her eyes grow wet and her breathing become shaky as she thought about what happened the night before. She couldn't remember anything! Except for the gun. That was it. And given that she was somehow alive, clean and Archie was there, it was pretty clear what had happened. Holding the figure close to her chest, she didn't look at the man but felt a couple of tears fall down her face. It didn't make any sense. "...Why did you stop me?"
idalie Peacemaker .45 Emotional Enigma

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

The big man seemed pleased as she sat up, although when it came to her expression meeting his -- Archie could feel those large eyes chipping away at his heart. Far different from the women he'd met on his first day in camp, or the one he'd wrestled down a hillside because of a few puns. He silenced her again and sat by her bedside to ensure she finished the meal set out. As expected, he put a little too much soul in to leave within those moments of her evident vulnerability. When she'd cleaned the plate McKeegan appeared pleased; a gleam of triumph in his gaze, unapologetically visible. Even with her slurred thanks, the Scotsman nonchalantly waved his hand. "No problem. Knew you might've been feeling down. More than the usual."

Watching her lie back, he instinctively began to adjust and pull up the bedcovers with care till her breath became shaky. The tears only served to cripple the Scot as he suddenly furrowed his brow with worry. "Sweetheart, sweetheart." He soothed, cupping her face in his hands to rub away the droplets which clung to her cheeks. "Because a life is worth livin', lass. And you? You're important. You helped Milly, you helped so many goddamn people I bet you can't remember their faces." He tilted his head. "It ain't your time. You were off your face on -- whatever that stuff is, and I know a clear mind needs to make a decision like that. There's more things to live for than trying to ... trying to bring back the past. Thinking of what-ifs." Moving in, he wrapped his arms around the woman, "Come 'ere." He sighed against her hair, "People depend on you. People need you. You're like --" His features contorted into theatrical thought. "A lilypad. Always helpin' things cross to the other side, but you think that's all you gonna do. You just don't realise, you can bloom. And a waterlily is the most beautiful kinda flower to be."

He smiled. "So, lilypad, you can't die now. You gotta find a way to bloom, for yourself." He tapped his finger over her heart. "I know you got it in you. You don't give up easily. You're not the type, just someone who tricks herself into thinking she ain't got any fight left. And sometimes, she cares a little too much about what people whisper, or what people say when they don't get the whole story. I know why you wanted to do it. I've thought about it too. I lost everything, I had a shotgun in my mouth and I thought; this ain't the way I'm letting them take me. Not with this god awful taste on my tongue. First I got angry, then I got lazy. But I lived for the sake of livin'. And I flipped a big, fuckin' bird to God."

Rumble Fish

 

[Emotional Enigma]

Calliope felt a bit embarrassed after Jennifer explained her injury but she wondered what could've caused it. She figured whomever shot her must've been a really bad shot to have shot her several times and she was still breathing. The people she had come across normally didn't miss, not that she had first hand experience herself with the sensation. Her curiousity was perked even more at the talk about problems with the colony; the "shit show". Her interest didn't overpower her will to keep Daniel safe though, the sound of trouble was all so loud in her hears. Between getting the 3rd degree questioning and the mass supply of military grade weapons, the place was adding up to be a perfect storm for bad luck. Calliope crossed her arms almost defiantly,
"Actually, I have to go". The constant questioning would soon deteriorate any patience she had left with prying ears and judgement. As if the situation hadn't been uncomfortable enough, Calliope soon found herself amidst panicked chaos momentarily. The sounds of shooting, a much familiar sound to her now, and screaming tunneled it's way to her. Before she could react, as her processing time was slower than others, her arms was being yanked by an invisible force. It ripped her behind a wall blocking her view from the event. Calliope studied Jennifer again briefly, suspecting her wounds must've healed quickly for her to tug so much weight without a single limp or showing of pain, all the while having trouble standing just moments before. But she trashed the thought as it didn't seem beneficial to her at this moment. Her eyes darted around pausing briefly on Milly who seemed to act younger than she looked. She gave only a split second thought as to why she was carrying a toy bear or why gunshots pained her ears. At this point, she was being introduced to people who seemed to not have been exposed to the virus that affected the world years ago. The virus wasn't just that thing that killed people and reanimated corpses, it was also the newfound greed and fear that arose in people. Live people were the virus.
Calliope ducked her head out on the other side of the wall, peering around to see any movement. Her eyes caught the glimpses of military-looking personnel closing in on small, convenient store. She heard the screams and David's name, but nothing he was rambling seemed to make any sense to her, but it did serve to put another check next to "This places smells like trouble" box in her mind. As gunshots ensued, like Jennifer Calliope too retreated to the safety of the wall but she urged herself to look back out after silence had fallen. She wished she hadn't. She watched most, if not all, her family die each trying to salvage what was left of them. To see men trying to do the same once again, it was like a cruel twist of fate to remind her no matter where she went, everyone was fighting for the same thing; survival. She wanted to run again, it's what she was good at and it's what she knew. This place wreaked of bad vibes but she knew Daniel would never willingly go with her and he'd never forgive her if she stripped him of this opportunity to be happy. Her eyes glazed over as she sighed, the scene being all to common. Calliope however was concerned with the look on Jennifer's face. She wasn't sure why she seemed so horrified. Slowly, this image of Jennifer was forming in Calliope's mind and it wasn't the picture of strength or reliability. Calliope had seen so much death, has touched so much pain, and killed all the possibilities of trust in just bout everything that she almost felt jealous of Jennifer, able to still feel horror or shock. Calliope had to wonder just how far Jennifer had wandered into the new world if she still held such hope and disappointment ; after all, one can only be disappointed if they had high expectations to begin with.
"This can’t keep going on. There won’t be a Mountaintop left at this rate.” Jennifer had said, but Calliope wasn't all too sure what the Mountaintop was yet or what it was supposed to be, she was entirely unsure of what Mountaintop Jennifer could be imagining or had experienced.
As Jennifer rose to her feet, bringing Milly with her, Calliope stood too. She wanted to turn down her Jennifer's offer to come along, but the opportunity to see what else the colony had to offer may prove useful to her later so she shrugged and followed after them. As they walked into the building, Calliope gave a gentle kick to the bottom of the door panel, testing her knife's comfort ability in it's home on her waist as she didn't expect she'd have to use it earlier but now she had to start preparing for worst case scenario.

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Peacemaker .45]

As the three agreed to go inside, Jennifer turned to look back at the scene. The officer was dead, and there was nothing more the others could do. Another shot rang out, but this was one of the other officers making sure that the dead one didn’t reanimate and become another undead. The walls around them may have kept the undead out, but they contained any undead that were inside. As soon as one was in, they would potentially spread like a wildfire. One bite to another person meaning there could not be two potentially lingering around, until another person is bit, and they keep on multiplying. It was standard procedure to do so with a newly dead person in this world. The risk of them turning was all but real if the spinal cord or brain was damaged enough.

Sighing at what happened, Jennifer looked down, and as she did so, she saw Milly’s teddy bear. Knowing how the teddy bear was a safety blanket for the girl, she walked to it and picked it up.

“Milly, you forgot this,” Jennifer said, handing it to her.

Jennifer was never quite sure why Milly acted the way she did. For someone as old as she is, she acted as if she were years younger. But the circumstances of her youth and upbringing were unknown to her. Perhaps, Jennifer thought, it could be a circumstance of how she was brought up. Or maybe it was something else. In truth, she didn’t quite know. But what she did know is that something led her to be this way, potentially from her childhood upbringing. Whatever the case is, she was different and to keep her alive, she needed extra protection and care. And, furthermore to keep her sanity, she needed her stuffed animal. People grow attachments to inanimate objects, and they mean the world to that person. That bond was obvious with Milly and her bear, and Jennifer knew that, which is precisely why she went out of her way to get the teddy bear for her.

The new girl, Cali, had decided to come. Jennifer read her body language, and gauged her toned and words. She seemed anything but kind, at least as of now. She seemed to have an attitude, one that made her mad at everyone. The vibes Jennifer read concerned her, as they weren’t anything she considered “good” these days. Jennifer couldn’t tell whether or not she could become a valuable asset or even a friend, or if she’d stab her in the back (literally) at the best possible chance when she saw an opportunity to gain something, be it food or something needed for one to survive.

Furthermore, Jennifer could see the judgement beaming through her eyes into her thoughts. She could see she was forming thoughts of the person Jennifer was, perhaps even the sincerity of her, and what Jennifer herself had been through. While she knew that everyone has gone through hell to be alive at this point in the world, Jennifer knew her life was one of the hardest that perhaps any survivor alive in this area, or everywhere, had to face. Her life fell apart when she was young, and only until this point could someone look her in the eyes and see the trauma and hardships she endured, and how she was able to turn it around in the end, as she hadn’t had any hope for a long time until now. Maybe foolish of a seasoned survivor or not, she had hope now, something she had lived without for so long. This place, the Mountaintop, was a place where she got her father back, someone she thought died years and years ago. And after failure after failure, she thought she found a place to live, as it was fortified and a place one foolishly would try to mess with. The Mountaintop was a glimmer of light in a dark, dark tunnel that Jennifer had traveled through for so long, devoid of any direction or way out. The sudden caving in of the tunnel because of Dave threatened her life, and her future to live safely. She would be damned to let the last good sliver hope fade because of him.

Passing down the hall, they finally made their way into the room Jennifer was in with her father. Her father still was in a coma, and had not yet shown any signs of him awakening soon. It was merely a waiting game, and a damn long one while Dave ruined this place. With everyone inside, Jennifer slowly and quietly shut the glass door to the room, blocking out any noise that could make it into the fall. Secrecy was her best and only friend here.

“Okay,” Jennifer started as she closed the door, turning around to the two behind her slowly, “Dave has run this place to hell. When my father ran this, it was functional and non of these issues presided here. Dave has threatened the lives and wellbeing of everyone here. He has repeatedly screwed up and his mess ups have lead to too many dead. And he’s locked himself away like the little chicken he is, avoiding responsibility for everything, while this great place is crumbling.”

Jennifer began to walk over to her bed, and scooted herself up onto the bed and began to lie down.

“The linger this goes on, the sooner this place falls. And I want no part in this place falling. I want to save it before it gets worse. We need to get to Dave, and he needs to step down. If my father was awake, he’d throw Dave’s ass in jail. But my father isn’t, and right now, I have a high rank, and I should be able to get to him. But I can’t. And now, people are going insane and shooting each other. We aren’t safe the longer we sit here and pretend we’re going to be okay.”

“Dave’s shut off access to the armory. No one can have arms right now. He took away everyone’s guns, and the armory is heavily guarded right now,” she said, adjusting the bed to sit her up more, being able to see the two easier, while still lying down. “We need to defend ourselves, we also need Archie. But, what we need to do is g-,” Jennifer said, stopping herself mid sentence.

Jennifer turned her head and looked away for a second. She knew what her plan was, and she almost said it if it wasn’t for Cali being there. She didn’t know if she was trustworthy. She didn’t know whose side she was on, if she were on other. She had to figure out how to deal with this with her there.

“Hey, what’s your name? I don’t believe I caught it. Anyway, let me ask you something,” Jennifer began, looking at Cali. “Do you trust Dave, with how this place is right now? Do you think this is right? Are you worried about your own safety?”

Jennifer had to gauge where Cali was, and see if her answers were sincere or if she were a liar. Jennifer was going to watch her extremely closely with her responses. She had to see where she was at as to whether or not she could trust her.

Rumble Fish Emotional Enigma

 

[Rumble Fish]

Milly McDonald​

Milly was too upset by all the unrest and noise to notice that she had dropped her teddy outside, she could still hear shots but couldn't see where they were coming from. She kept her ears covered, to her the gunshots sounded more like nuclear explosions. Unable to cope with it, she started stimming, rubbing her hands together constantly. She had a few ticks like that, whenever she got upset and didn't have her bear, it was either rubbing her hands together or biting her knuckle. All of this was far too overwhelming for her to cope with. It made her want to scream, but she knew she couldn't. She had to try and stay calm and positive, but that was becoming more and more difficult! Thankfully, Milly did not get to that level as Jennifer suddenly appeared, holding her bear. Milly's eyes lit back up as she took the stuffed toy from the woman, hugging it close to her with her eyes closed. Suddenly, everything felt better. Norris, as if envious of the attention the toy was getting, squawked and pecked at the bottom of Milly's jeans, making the girl giggle slightly and pick the hen up as the three of them went inside. "Thanks, Jennifer." she said quietly, giving the girl a kind smile.

She looked at Cali as she followed the pair in, moving closer to Jennifer worryingly. Given she could only just see out of one eye, she could not see the expression on the girl's face very clearly, but she could tell by her tone of voice and how she held herself that she seemed... angry with them, or annoyed. Milly tried to avoid the girl's gaze, having never liked looking people in the eye in the first place. She had still yet to say anything to the girl but frankly, she was scared to. Once they were in Jen's room, Milly sat on a chair since her knees were aching badly from the vigorous movement from before. She kept Norris on her lap, preening the hen as well as having her bear with her. She listened intensely to what Jennifer was saying, stopping only for a moment as she realised Norris was attempting to peck one of her bear's eyes out, swatting her away with a quiet squeal of annoyance.

Turning back to Jennifer, she nodded a little as she listened. She was right, something had to be done. But they were stuck. As Jennifer talked about firearms, Milly shifted in her seat uncomfortably before getting up to sit on the end of Jennifer's bed. Mostly to see her better, but also she was still very wary of Cali. She let out a sigh and shook her head. "Wish Dave got shot up rather than your dad." she said before clapping her hands over her mouth so hard that it actually hurt and her eyes widened at the realisation of what she had just said, "S-sorry..." she mumbled as she rubbed her hands together anxiously before trying to get back on the topic at hand. "Um...Z-Zelda might have a gun." she blinked, thinking back to when she was in the woman's office for a checkup after her nose was injured. "She... she mentioned it. Maybe ask her?" Then again from what Milly could remember this was before Jennifer had woken up and Zelda was not in a good place and was extremely drunk at the time. So... normal?

Milly blinked softly as she looked at the stranger as Jennifer then asked her name and other questions. She knew why Jennifer wanted to know. Milly scooted closer to Jennifer anxiously. She did not want to make the girl uncomfortable but at the same time, she was still anxious around her, having never been good with strangers. What if she was working for Dave or something? She didn't know. She just clung to her bear as she waited for the girl's answers.

Zelda Williams​

Zelda listened to Archie speak, still staring at the ceiling as he explained why he stopped her from going through with it. As he mentioned how she was “off her face” the woman put a hand over her eyes in despair. “Oh God, you're right… I… I-I can’t even die properly! I fucked that up too?!” she just managed to gasp out, almost losing control of her breathing. “Christ… I-Archie I get what you mean but… Dave’s right. I can’t do anything without fucking it up.” She stopped when Archie brought up how she had helped Milly and others, which just made her sigh sharply through her nose before continuing. “Yeah, and what do I get for that? Fuck all! That’s what. Milly’s afraid of me, Jennifer hates my guts, everybody looks at me like I belong in a corpse. Think I like what people say about me? No, but it’s not like I can do anything about it! Nobody looks at me like they do with Emma or Dave or Mack, doesn’t fucking matter that I know more about being a doctor than all of those morons put together! All they see is a… fuckin’ useless drunk mess! Not that they’re wrong.”

She shook her head a little as she sat up, looking at Archie with a more intense expression, “I mean, you ever had to listen to people say like, oh I don’t know; ‘What's this then? We've got an alky doin' our medical procedures? Jen, is yer Da plain mad?’ or-or ‘Why don’t you just do your damn job, and while you’re at it, lay off the alcohol?’ huh?” She had waved her hands a little and mocked both a deep and Scottish dialect and then a younger voice before giving the man a glare. “...Yeah! Don’t think I forgot about that!” She snapped, despite her slurred tone and thumping headache, she remembered every foul word thrown her way and everybody that said them. And despite trying her best to ignore them or not care, deep down it left its mark on the woman.

The woman was halted before she could continue by Archie who mentioned how she was “off her face” at the time. “I knew what I wanted, though! I still want to do it! The second you leave this room I’ll just do it again, even if you take the fucking gun!” She stopped and shut her eyes, trying to contain herself. She didn’t like this. Saying all of this to another person. It felt wrong. Why couldn’t she be strong and keep it to herself? “...It’s just… Nothing goes right. I couldn’t keep my family safe, I couldn’t save Mack-” Her eyes flew open as she just realised what she said. She looked at Archie anxiously before finally sighing, knowing she was not going to win if he argued. “...Yeah. I did Jennifer and Mack’s surgeries. But… Mack’s not waking up. Dave’s lost the plot. The whole community’s collapsing… I should have done more, I-I could have- This is all my fault!”

She kept silent as Archie continued to speak, trying to reassure her that not all hope was lost, something Zelda just could not believe. What was left? All she had now was… well, Archie basically. But she didn’t know what to feel about that. He was a good man, she could see that. But the thought of him getting involved with her problems was too much. She’d just do to him what she had done to Mark and Jason and ruin them… maybe lead him to his death. As he wrapped an arm around her, Zelda froze again. It had only just occurred to her that it had actually been such a long time since she had been touched by another person, and being a positive experience. She kept silent as he mentioned that she was somehow still important, but she couldn’t believe him. But it did sound nice… she couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly as he mentioned her similarity to a lily-pad.

As Archie then mentioned that he knew why she wanted to do it, Zelda was ready to snap at him. She had heard this before from people who had no idea what she was going through and at this point, she was so sick of it she was ready to give him an earful. But before she could get a word out -only an angry grunt being able to escape- she listened to the man as he described his feelings, making the woman blink slowly. He really did know… Once he was finished, the woman slowly wiped her eyes as tears were still flowing. She was not sobbing or even breathing shallowly, but it took everything in her to not lose it. She needed some relief. Zelda instinctively put her hand towards the bedside table to grab her flask, only to feel nothing there. With a deep sigh, she stared upwards, twiddling her thumbs as a way to distract herself. Despite her headache and still feeling the effects of the self-destructive bender, she couldn’t shake off that sick and anxious feeling that wouldn’t go away unless she had some. Her hands were already shaky. “Can… Can I have my flask?”
idalie Peacemaker .45 Emotional Enigma

 

[idalie]

ARCHIE "THE SCOTSMAN" MCKEEGAN​

He gave a long, almost disappointed sigh in addition to a pointed stare at the Doctor after her rant came to a close. "Now, I don't take kindly to people mockin' what I sound like. Maybe, I just woke up from gettin' shot in the fuckin' chest a day before and I was a little sick of everyone talkin' shite so I took it out on you. Huh? I don't trust places like this easily now, love." McKeegan wrapped her in one of those embraces where you simply dissolved into it, hidden from the world behind those arms of his and cradled to his chest preciously. The Scotsman continued to rub soothing patterns upon her back, each slow and methodical in a clockwise circle. His beard half against her forehead ticklishly from how he rested it, with the scent of pine sap, faint sweat from working that day, and earthy hints all-encompassing -- not mentioning the touch of soap and sweet-smelling bath products he'd used to clean the Doc up with.

"It might come as a surprise, lilypad, but I don't really want you to die. Not yet. Sure you'll get up in my face and tell me every day how useless you are, how you ain't worth nothin' or how you didn't have much of a life before all this anyway ... but I'm right here. And I swear to God I ain't leavin' you again, not for a second. You and Milly are just gonna have to get used to each other 'cause I'm carryin' you both from here. and you better be alive and kickin' for it." The big man nudged her chin affectionately. "Mack would've died without you. We ain't got anythin' more than medieval surgery bollocks again with a buncha penicillin and a few antibiotics so -- to me you're a goddamn miracle worker. Your family dyin'? Now that's a heavy-weight you're puttin' on shoulders not made for it. I'm not sayin' stop looking at the past full stop, I'm just sayin' it's time to stop wishin' you could change it when you ain't some sort of superhero. You can't stop it, no matter what. Not even if you had some whack magic to throw around."

McKeegan tiredly rested his eyes whilst cuddling far more into the medical professional's side than was really necessary (However he felt it to be necessary considering how low the woman was feeling). Nevertheless, he was faced with her last, dreading question. McKeegan could've screamed. He shook his head, "Sweetheart you just came off a fuckin' bender. Give yer liver a minute or two, take some alcohol with a meal. I know it aint easy to go cold turkey -- dangerous even -- but not right now." Fondly, he patted her head. The sounds of the riot raging on, drew his head to glance at the windows and momentarily stroke the alcoholic's hair. "I gotta find Milly. Outside is gettin' worse and I left her with Jen. Gotta send a prayer to whoevers watchin' the poor girl. Shes a bit of a handful, even when she don't speak too much."

Rumble Fish Peacemaker .45

 

[Emotional Enigma]

Calliope stood in the room, feeling uncomfortable with the sudden tension of the matter. She was gaining courage but not enough to stick her nose where she thought it'd get cut off.
"Dave is--?" She searched Jennifer's face for some indication this could all be a joke but her face was all too serious. It started settling in that this was quickly becoming a hostile situation. She threw her hands up at Milly's offer of where to acquire a gun,
"Wait, wait, wait," Her knife clanked against her belt, "You guys have no idea what you're getting yourself into". Her hands tingled for action with bent up frustration and energy, but she knew all too well how dangerous this could escalate and how her actions negatively effected her before,
"Listen, I don't know anything about the Mountaineers but I know a lot of about people and I know a lot of mutinies, and trust me they don't end well," She lowered her hands and took a deep breathe, "You guys clearly allowed me in on this conversation for some reason and if by no other reason than to hear what I have to say, then listen to me. This is a bad idea, someone always gets hurt; someone always--" She paused, the memory a little too painful to drag to the surface, "--it's just a really bad idea." She struggled to think a positive resolution to Jennifer's concerns. She wasn't sure there was one and Calliope didn't want to be apart of this game anymore. She thought it could be beneficial, she thought she could turn off her feelings towards the present colony, but talk of an undercover takeover brought back rib shattering memories.
She shook her head trying to sort out her feelings from logic, "I want to help you Jennifer, I believe in this Mountaintop that you remember, even though I haven't seen it, but--" Her jaw eased and tensed while her hands balled into tight, red fists, "--I can't be apart of more people dying. I can't be there and know I can't help another person." She took a breathe, "It can't be my fault again." She felt needlessly dramatic and weak. It was these moments where she stood her ground she felt most broken; it was in these moments she wished she hadn't destroyed everything left in her leaving only the vulnerable pieces.
"I want to help you Jennifer, I just can't be there. I won't be any help to you, I'll freeze up." She crossed her arms, a mannerism quickly becoming part of her character, "I would be there, but from what I've seen of David he's stubborn and headstrong. He won't go down without a fight and it's definitely not a fight I want to be there for."
She fixed her face again, just moments before harboring a worried a expression. It made her appear human and she didn't want to seem human. Calliope wanted nothing more than to seem like an outcast; it made getting in and out anywhere easy. Being invisible.

Peacemaker .45 Rumble Fish