Realistic or Modern The World Has Died

[Rokku Hizori]

The OOC

LOS ANGELES OVERRUN The city of Los Angeles no longer exists today, as the North-Western horde overwhelmed local police and National Guard soldiers in Southern California. There is currently no word on the number of survivors, but officials urged those who remained to evacuate. Washington is now considering whether it is in the best interest of the country to apply nuclear control options upon lost cities, but critics say that this will only result in killing any living people left in the regions. Senator Jorrison, R, AZ, maintains that the best option is to abandon the west. "Los Angeles was the last major city to hold out our way, now that it's gone, who's there to worry about? A bunch of walking corpses, that's who. I've already begun to urge President Malcom to deploy the full force of the US military to stop the horde in the Midwest, before it forces it's way through the east." Several Senators are in agreement, but the President remains staunchly opposed to blanket military intervention.
ZOMBIE FORCASTS In the Northeast, New York city continues to withstand the siege of the Great Canadian Horde, and maintains a supply line with Washington D.C. Virginia, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, and Eastern halves of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas are currently considered safe. Texas maintains it's foothold in Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth. The Southern Horde continues to wander through Louisiana, and the Air Force continues to bomb it in an effort to reduce its size. Other safe cities include Chicago, St. Louis, and our own Memphis has nearly completed its fortifications and is considered the last fortress in Western Tennessee.

Eric didn't care what the news said, he was getting the hell out of Memphis. Bravery wasn't exactly his strong suit, and he'd rather live to see another day in New York or something than to stay in his home. 'I'm not particularly attached to this town anyway' he thought, stuffing a small radio into a simple college backpack. He added some granola bars, bottles of water, and a few books he thought might be useful, and made his way down the apartment stairs to the outside. He didn't look prepared in the slightest, truth be told. A simple shirt and jeans wouldn't stop a bite or scratch, or whatever the hell spread the virus. He knew how zombies worked in the movies, and nothing had really been released that contradicted this. 'You shoot them in the head, you die, you zombify.' He stopped, annoyed that the damn government mantra from a month ago had indeed found its way inside his head. He shook his head and continued toward the parking garage; and that's when he heard the scream. "It got in! Put it down! Put it down!" The switchblade was in Eric's hand in an instant, but he didn't know where the commotion was coming from, and he wasn't about to wait around and find out. He took off running down the road toward the garage that contained his car.

 

[Koeseki]

An old red Mercedes sedan sat wedged against a traffic light pole, the bumper dented in with just the front of the hood slightly crumpled. A hint of radiator vapor could just be seen by a keen eye wafting ephemerally in the breeze over the engine. If one were to look into the vehicle at this exact moment, they would see an audaciously dressed woman sitting in the back seat with her right leg resting on her left knee. Her flowy purple blouse and the tiara on her head, that looked like a prop meant for a movie, looked, in a way, ridiculous compared to the current grim atmosphere of the city. The way she was moving, facing toward the front right seat and her hands gently gesturing, it would appear as if she were speaking to the driver.
Corrie tapped the eraser of the cheap mechanical pencil against her lower lip, "Really, Mr. Maric. You should really stop stalling and open up to me. Our appointment is only for a limited time, you know."
She leaned forward slightly, sparing a glance at the gopro dash cam mounted just over the radio console. Her right hand, pencil still dancing in it, briefly drops to brush the handle of the small sledge hammer laying on the seat just against her thigh.
"Do you have to be so stubborn?" she mumbled to herself, the impatience breaking the otherwise playful curl of her lips.
Mr. Maric, for those that care to know, was the man sitting in the driver's seat. He was a man, probably about 40, maybe older, with a slightly overweight build. He had a well styled, professional hair, with just a hint of peppering. His face had firm, but clean features. Some may even consider him attractive, if not for the inconvenient fact that he was dead.
The evidence that suggested that he was not simply unconscious or unwell was the busted out driver's side window and, just maybe, the gaping wound where his windpipe had been ripped out of his neck. Though, that whole area of the interior was coated in a generous amount of his evidence, still in the process of changing into a dark reddish brown.
Dead or not, Mr. Maric would be hard pressed to change his situation, as someone had thought to use seat belt straps to secure his hand to the steering wheel and bind his torso to the car seat.
Corrie was starting to wriggle a bit, wondering if this guy was a dud. Her instincts told her it was time to move on before the silence in the car got to her, or worse, the less silent things outside. However, this opportunity was too valuable. This was the only time she got to witness a potential fresh case, at least, when she wasn't distracted by trying not to get mauled. Stiffened her lip. She would stick it out for two more minutes. Until then, she was not going to let her eyes off of this man.

There was a twitch of his neck muscle, followed immediately by a delighted sparkle in Corrie's eyes.

From outside, the car could be seen suddenly coming to motion, the chassis violently rocking on the suspension.
Inside, Corrie was desperately panting and smashing the head of her hammer repeatedly into the skull of the now very animate Mr. Maric.
Of course, this distraction made it impossible for her to notice the random guy dashing down the road in her general direction.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inventory ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
☣ Backpack ☣ Sledgehammer ☣ Rugged Laptop [0% power] ☣ 6 Notebooks
☣ 2 Packs of Cigarettes ☣ Lighter ☣ Ratcheting Screwdriver ☣ Pliers
☣ Vice Grips ☣ A Dozen Pens and Pencils ☣ A Small Computer Tool Kit
☣ Pocket Knife ☣ Broken Cell Phone ☣ And an Absolutely Fabulous Outfit​

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes




Joanna gripped the hilt of the knife and flung it around her body in the general direction of a make-shift target dummy. It left her hand and bounced off the wall a few inches from the dummy. She sighed and went to retrieve it. She stabbed the dummy in frustration before resuming her previous position. The radio droned on in the background about zombie hordes and overrun cities, same as always. Sometimes she had to check if it was on loop, it was so repetitive. ‘This city was lost, this state is in chaos, we don’t know the death count yet, etc., etc.’ If it wasn’t her city, she didn’t care. Today it was Los Angeles. She felt bad for them, of course, but she had early on convinced herself that she had too many of her own problems to worry about everybody else's, too.
Unfortunately, it now seemed her city might be next on the chopping block. Memphis was the last safe-ish place in Western Tennessee, and she guessed that it wouldn’t remain safe for long. There was a general sense of foreboding everyone in her town seemed to share these days. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time until their city was the one on the radio.

Joanna finally gave up with the knives and went outside. She didn’t know what her goal was, but she didn’t like standing around not doing anything. She leaned up against the outside of her apartment and watched everyone running around. Joanna had lived the majority of her life in this city, and she had somehow gotten attached to it without her knowledge or consent. Her parents had moved here when she was six from France, but she didn’t remember much about her old country. Of course, that was all in the Before.

There was the Before and the After. She had first started referring to things like this without really realizing it, but she found it was useful to separate her lives. The life she had before the dead started to rise, and the life she was currently stuck in, the one filled with death and horrors around every corner. This was the After.

It sometimes still surprised her how quickly everyone had adapted to the world being overrun with animated corpses. Frankly, it still surprised her how quickly she herself had adapted. Sometimes she hated this new version of herself, and sometimes she was too busy with an apocalypse to hate her new self. There was never a time when she liked herself completely.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric stopped in his tracks when he saw the woman beating something to death, and let out a sign of relief, assuming this was where the scream had come from earlier. "Well, at least I don't have to be in as much of a rush..." he mumbled. He made his way over to the car, and tapped a few times on the window. "You okay in there?" He asked. Eric was unsure whether it was a good idea or not to get involved, but he was close enough to bolt to his car if the need arose. Besides, if she was violently bludgeoning in some guy's skull, she couldn't be dead. He took the girl in, and it was...well quite a lot really. Her outfit and face didn't match her violent actions in the slightest, She reminded him of a young version of his drama teacher. "Wait, is that a tiara?" he said out loud.

The thought was banished, when a few gunshots rang through the air, and his heart dropped. This girl wasn't the source of the screams, The panic coursing though him was fighting with the urge to help someone, but at the same time, she seemed capable of protecting herself. Static met his ears, and he jumped when the sudden voice echoed through the city. "Alert! Alert! Undead reported in Memphis! Be Advised: Alert level is at three of five. Imminent danger. Residents are urged to remain in place until local law enforcement is able to resolve the situation. Repeat..." Three of five. Not quite fucked yet but still in bad shape. Memphis could take its chances at fixing this, and he hoped this woman agreed. He forced the door to the car open, and screamed "Hey! Come on! I have room in my car for you!"

 

[Koeseki]

The sledgehammer finally came to rest. Corrie was breathing hard and her right shoulder burned from the exertion. While the amount of spray is considerably less than from someone with a pulse, a few specks of blood managed to taint the hour and a half of work she had put into her makeup this morning.
With the blood pounding through her head louder than anything else, Corrie didn't even notice someone tapping on the window. Her hand shook with giddy excitement. She leaned forward between the front seats, with her hand reaching toward the dash, when she realized there was a voice, "Wait, is that a tiara?"
Corrie stiffened immediately, her body freezing in that awkward position, arm still extended toward the dash. She snapped her head toward the source of the voice, her eyes growing wide.
"Um... uh..."
The crack like popping of a firearm discharging caused her to jolt in time with them.
"I... um..."
She was trying to speak, but she was interrupted again, this time, by the city warning system. While that annoying sound blasted something ridiculous like trusting law enforcement to handle a level three alert, her eyes dropped from the guy's face and landed on poor Mr. Maric. More brain than skull could be seen, though that brain was more a mush oozing with blood and cerebral fluids. Fragments of bone and hair could be seen mixed in with everything. Worse, was the smell.
She was immediately nauseous.
Corrie held up one finger to Eric, "Hold on, I need to get the cam..."
She barely choked down a gag, and wrestled the gopro from the dashcam holder. The camera, triumphantly in her left hand, and the bloody sledgehammer in her right, she stumbled out of the door opened so graciously for her.
"Oh, hi... Uh, yeah sure.... Um, where is your car?
... Hold on."
At this moment, Corrie's breakfast was spewing onto the asphalt.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inventory ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
☣ Backpack ☣ Sledgehammer ☣ Rugged Laptop [0% power] ☣ 6 Notebooks
☣ 2 Packs of Cigarettes ☣ Lighter ☣ Ratcheting Screwdriver ☣ Pliers
☣ Vice Grips ☣ A Dozen Pens and Pencils ☣ A Small Computer Tool Kit
☣ Pocket Knife ☣ Broken Cell Phone ☣ And an Absolutely Fabulous Outfit​

 

[Rokku Hizori]

He watched as the poor woman heaved the contents of her stomach onto the road, and frowned. He wondered if it was the best idea to get tied up with someone who couldn't...stomach, for lack of a better word, the reality. Then again, could Eric really say he would react much differently? It was hard to say without having actually faced one of those monsters in person. He left the woman to her sickness, and surveyed the area around them. The parking garage was maybe a block away, and the few panicking people nearby were moving quickly to a building for safety. The short wait gave him a bit of time to think. Alert level three, Undead spotted in significant numbers; Police and National Guard units all considered active duty until threat is resolved. "You uh, about done? No offense but I really don't want to stay in this town for that level three to become a four." It had never gone to four, it was three for a week straight, but it had never been higher. Memphis's wall was nearly complete to boot, so it was all focused on one hole.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



Joanna's head flew up at the sound of the alarm. Her heart started to pound in her chest, blocking out all else. She forced her brain to work properly inside of her skull again, trying to process everything.
She was fine. It was just a three. Sure, a three was bad, and sure, it meant there were zombies in her city deadset on killing everyone they came into contact with, but everything was still going to be fine. It had to be.
Joanna raced back inside her apartment, planning on getting her ax. She tripped on one of the steps and let out a string of curses as she smashed her kneecap against the edge of the metal steps. She quickly assessed the damage, there was already a dark bruise forming, but decided she would live, hobbling up the rest of the steps. She flew through the door to her apartment and grabbed her ax. She had chosen an ax only because it was the most weapon-like thing she had in her apartment, not because she was good with it. The only reason she had it in her apartment in the first place was as a decoration. Lucky her that she used to be obsessed with axes. She wasn't strong, per se; the ax felt heavy and awkward in her grip. She just had to hope it would work to kill zombies.

She tried to think back to what the government had told everyone about these zombies. There wasn't much to go off of, save movies and what little the government had put out. It didn't do her much good. She had better things to worry about than government mantras.

She did vaguely recall being told to shelter in place, but judging by how LA had done she couldn't rely on the National Gaurd to save her, much less the local police. She was getting out of here.

 

[Koeseki]

Corrie wiped her mouth the best she could, and wiped her now gross hand off on the back seat of the car where the door was open.
She began to giggle, looking over the young man that was trying to "help" her.
"Funny, boy. I came to this city because it was predicted to become level 3. However, if you are offering, I wouldn't mind a ride to Barri's Garage. It's a bike shop on the way out of town.
You wouldn't happen to have a rag, or water? Mouthwash would be amazing!"
Corrie seemed to almost not even be looking at Eric as words just spilled out of her mouth.
While she was saying this, she was shoving the camera, a notebook, and the pencil into her red and black backpack. The wear and dust on it betrayed the fact that it was a journey that brought the item to this point.
Corrie bent down to tighten her shoe laces. In contrast to her fancy outfit, she was wearing some cheap looking athletic shoes. They to were worn by many days of walking. How the rest of her outfit was otherwise in such good condition was a mystery. The hammer had something to with that, but she wasn't going to talk.
"Like I said, where's your car? Let's go!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inventory ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
☣ Backpack ☣ Sledgehammer ☣ Rugged Laptop [0% power] ☣ 6 Notebooks
☣ 2 Packs of Cigarettes ☣ Lighter ☣ Ratcheting Screwdriver ☣ Pliers
☣ Vice Grips ☣ A Dozen Pens and Pencils ☣ A Small Computer Tool Kit
☣ Pocket Knife ☣ Broken Cell Phone ☣ And an Absolutely Fabulous Outfit​

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric gave the woman a confused look, and his concern was apparent. 'Great, a looney.' he thought, trying to maintain his composure. "Right. Well. See that parking garage?" he asked, and pointed to the concrete building perhaps a block and a half away. "Right there, fifth floor by the elevator." He heard her second question, and sighed and pulled his backpack from behind him to unzip it and rummage around inside. He held out a bottle of water, condensation still forming across it's surface. "No mouthwash, but here. I've got a few towels in my car. I was...more or less expecting this to happen." He said, pausing at hearing the rapid gunshots that indicated contact between National Guard and Undead. Eric turned back to the woman and waved her toward the garage. "So you're just hopping from one vulnerable city to another? Got some sort of death fetish or something?"

The question was asked, and three Tanks sped, as much as they could, down the road away from the garage. Probably not the best sign. Eric opened his mouth to say something else, but a few explosions drowned him out. They were deploying heavy artillery, already? Another round of static filled the air, and the words blared through Memphis. "Alert! Alert! Threat level raised to four of five! All militia are required to report to the nearest armory. All others are recommended to shelter in place or report to the nearest..." The announcement was silent for a moment, and there were several whispers of hesitation before it resumed "Recommended to report to the nearest place of worship of any denomination." They didn't sound sure about that last part, but it sounded like they were just telling everyone to pray to something. Pure desperation. "I guess they've been online too, following the theories. Anyway, follow me." He said, and pushed forward toward the garage.

Nearer to Joanna, the sounds of military vehicles moving to a tactical point to engage the undead. Shouts, orders, and gunshots filled the air. She would hear the fighting slowly growing closer, the gunshots just barely louder than the snarls of the undead.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



It became very clear very quickly that Joanna didn't have a plan. She got halfway to the parking garage when she heard the gunfire. She slowed to a walk as she continued in the direction of her car, realizing with a sinking feeling that her car was in the same direction as the fighting.
Well, this complicates things a bit. She thought to herself. Her grip tightened on the ax handle as she considered her options. She either ran the risk of getting killed by continuing, but potentially get to her car and get out of there, or she could turn around and run in the other direction, away from the zombies and towards who-knows-what. She didn't have a lot of time to weigh her options. Was it her imagination, or were the shouts and gunfire getting closer?
She sighed, silently said goodbye to her car, and wheeled around, sprinting in the other direction. As she ran she tried to think of other ways to obtain a car. She could steal one, but she didn't know how to start a car without a key. She could hitchhike, but that seemed like a last-resort option. Then again, what other choice did she have?
Joanna was gasping for air when she heard the sound of another alert, cursing silently as she listened. A four was bad. A four was really bad. A four was time to start panicking. So she did what any normal person would do. She sat down on the curb and cried.
She only allowed herself to cry for a minute before she got up and continued on. She had no idea where she was going to do. Her brain was foggy with panic, her eyes stinging with tears she couldn't afford to cry. She began to run again, the bruise on her leg aching with every stride. She might have tripped a few times, but no one was there to see it.
In the distance, she could see two people, a man, and a woman, the woman of which was dressed in a bright purple blouse and a tiara sitting slightly askew on her head. It made Joanna's simple black t-shirt and jeans look pathetic. She yelled to them as she drew near.
"Help! Please, can I come with you? I don't have a car anymore, and I need to get out of here. We all need to get out of here."

 

[Rokku Hizori]

After finally being about to set off to get the hell out of her, Eric heard the desperate plea, then saw the girl who made it. As flamboyant as the woman was with him, this new one was as normal. She also didn't seem to have any additional supplies, then again, neither did the woman he happened upon beating the head in of a zombie. On the other hand, why had he offered the first person a ride in the first place? "Probably because she seemed handy to have around in a zombie fight." He mumbled to himself, barely audible to the others. He immediately recognized that with more people around, he would definitely need to stop talking to himself. Out loud. He looked into the eyes of this new woman. "Look. I can probably squeeze you in, but it's not going to be comfortable. And while we're together, we'll need to work together, and if you guys want to split after we leave the city, sure. Whatever you want. But until then, we're allies." He thought that sounded good enough, and hopefully they realized everyone needed each other. He waved them toward the direction of the garage, and began walking.

They'd get maybe halfway there, when the gunshots grew louder, and human screams could be heard behind them. Eric looked back, and saw that one of the militias had engaged a small group of undead. And this militia, somehow, still didn't know what the fuck they were doing. One man ran out of bullets, and then just starting swinging the gun at the nearest rotting form. At the jaw. Granted, the lower jaw flew off, but the zombie then just shoved its skeletal fingers into his stomach, pulling out whatever it could get ahold of. One of his partners then shot him in the head. Wasting a bullet, in Eric's opinion. They didn't stay dead unless you bludgeoned them after they came back. "Let's pick up the pace. They aren't holding that line." Eric then began jogging in the direction of the garage.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



Joanna stopped a few feet from the pair, gasping for air. She really needed to get in better shape. Someday she was seriously going to regret it if she didn't work out more. Maybe today if she didn't get the hell out of there. She decided that it definitely wasn't her imagination, the shots and snarls were getting closer. She tried not to think of what that meant. That combined with the fact that the threat level had risen from a three to a four in a very short period of time... The future of Memphis didn't look bright. She shoved that thought down. Better not to think about it.
She sighed with relief at the man's words. She wasn't doomed after all. Well, that wasn't guaranteed, these people might turn out to be psychopathic murderers. She shrugged mentally, figuring she'd rather die at the hands of a human than a zombie. She didn't like the thought of being a zombie very much. It didn't sound like the most pleasant experience. Or, maybe she wouldn't die at all. That was the hope.
She met the man's gaze and smiled half-heartedly. "Great. Sounds great. Thank you, I would probably have died without you. Actually, no, I would have died. So that's pretty cool, I would say." She was rambling, she realized, and stopped.
She nodded at the man's gesture to follow him and jogged to catch up. She was just regaining some of her lost energy when they encountered a militia. It was horrible to look at. She tried to ignore the screams of pain coming from the militia members as they fought, and the snarls and gurgles of the zombies. She watched a man get his arm torn clear out of the socket by a muscular zombie with its throat ripped out, and shuddered. The man's scream echoed in her head. She fully agreed when her new ally suggested they speed up. God, she really needed to toughen up. The world had turned bloody and brutal very suddenly, she was still getting used to it. Clearly, she needed to get used to it faster.
She held back a groan when they started jogging again. Her legs burned as she ran. Unfortunately, she was too distracted with herself to notice the stray zombie running headlong at them.

 

[Nagabe]

𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙰.​

​

Corey was surprised that he himself, a small little one who was barely 8 managed to escape a terrible car crash his parents got in on their way to... somewhere. The crash made everything blurry and he had no idea where his dear parents and aunt went off to and all he managed to get away with was a bag full of water, food, clothes, and a few things in his own backpack. The only saving grace Corey had was the ability to duck, dodge and weave through zombies, and that's how he was able to run away from a giant hoard unharmed by the zombies at least.
Wistfully; the car crash left the poor boy with a cluster of cuts and bruises, but nothing resembling anything related to a zombie. He also had a slight limp and his head was dizzy with confusion, stress, and the pure urge to break down crying since he was worried about the safety of his parents. He had to sit down somewhere, luckily there was a large rock conveniently place on the road used as some sort of roadblock or perhaps a weapon? maybe something completely different. Since the little one couldn't see the incoming danger he simply took a seat and started munching on a tasty, gooey, and melting granola bar. He was truly beaten up, his clothes having tears and the bag being a bit heavy due to how many things in it and it didn't help that he refused to leave his backpack behind either. He didn't have a weapon, he was only 7 and wouldn't know how to use one anyway. He was more focused on trying to find a way back to his home where his parents would surely be, home was the safest place on earth right? He also wanted to avoid these horrible "night creatures" as well, trying to figure out how to do so. He had no idea what the current party was running from, nor how many zombies were truly coming. At the moment, he was mainly focused on resting and thinking like his dad, he always knew what to do after all...
( I'm a bit busy at the moment so sorry if this seems a bit rushed, I wanted to reply today tho hehe- )

 

[Rokku Hizori]

The new girl sounded like she understood, and judging from the silence of the other, she did too. Unless she was just traumatized by her recent zombie murder. He was lost in thought for a moment; then he saw it. It came from another part of the city, and save for the missing eye and hand, looked like a normal person. 'Fresh turned, the most dangerous.' He thought. Every blog and government PSA had mentioned that. It made sense, after all, none of the muscles were decayed. This, however, didn't help them at the current point in time. They weren't far from the garage, and though you could survive bites, he doubted anyone wanted to take their chances. He did still have his switchblade out, but he wasn't about to engage with the thing that close, not unless he had to. Instead, he got creative. Mid-jog, he pulled off his backpack and swung it around to meet the creature in the stomach. The zombie lost it's footing, and stumbled into street. "Just keep running and I promise we'll plow it over with my car!" He shouted. He would certainly feel more secure fighting those things with several tons of steel between them.

As the group got closer to the garage, Eric looked to the left cross-street, and saw a kid, sitting on some rubble. Eating. 'God damn it not another person to save.' He wasn't against it, not really. But, he also had to look-out for his own well-being, and two additional people he didn't plan for was already a lot. A third? That would make one man's provisions evaporate in a day or two. But...was he really going to let this kid get torn to shreds by the incoming horde? He stopped in front of the garage, considering for a few seconds, then sighed and screamed "Hey! Kid! Come with us and we can keep you safe!"

 

[Nagabe]

𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙰.​

​

Corey stared at the group passing by him looking a bit confused as he raised an eyebrow in interest before his mother's words played through his head. 'Never go off with strangers and instead wait for us to come to find you. He was going to ignore the man and carry on with merry way until he noticed the horde coming towards them in a slow yet horrifying way as he got up, dropping his bag by accident, and was getting ready to follow the group until he realized that he dropped his bag. Since he was an expert by now at dodging and weaving, he showed off his skills at reclaiming his bag while dodging a few monsters on his way, before catching up with the group unharmed and just out of breath as he started coughing due to the lack of air, and eventually regained his breath as he slipped inside the garage, soon sitting on the floor as he just stared at the man who rescued him, before he gave him a smile that was so sweet it could've given that man type 2 diabetes right there and then. "Thank you." That was all he said with a soft voice before he handed him a simple candy bar. By the looks of it, his backpack was full of food and a bit of water since he opened it to give the man the candy bar, showing off a bit of the goody's inside.

The kid then thought to avoid a scolding from his mom from going off with strangers, he stared at the man with his big ol' eyes revealing that he had a nice-sized mouse plushie, and smiled gently again. "My names Corey, what's yours?"

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



Joanna stared blankly at the zombie, frozen. Thankfully, the man with her was smarter than her and sent the zombie stumbling back with his backpack. She agreed when he said they would just run it over with his car.

She wanted to smack herself in her forehead when her new ally yelled to a kid eating by himself. This kid clearly couldn't have been more than seven or eight, how in the world would he help them? He would be just another thing holding them back from getting away from here. Then again, she would have it on her conscience forever if she left a kid to get mauled by zombies. She supposed she didn't really have a choice, either way, seeing as the man with her had already invited the child into their safety. Supposed safety, at least. There was no guarantee any of them would make it out of this city alive, but she decided against telling the kid that. It didn't seem like something you said to a child.
She smiled at the kid as he approached. He was agile, she admitted. Maybe he was slightly less helpless than she thought. "I'm Joanna. Nice to meet you, Corey."
She wasn't what one might consider 'good' with children. In fact, some might go as far as to say she was quite awful with children. She had no idea what to say to them, how to keep them entertained. It was too difficult.

(Sorry I was a bit rushed I wanted to get this out before I have to be gone for three days)

 

[Rokku Hizori]

"Corey. Hi. I'm Eric. Let's get away from these things."He was not in the mood for pleasantries, what with the threat of the horde trapping them inside the garage. The front line inched closer and closer, the militia doing its best to hold it. He looked as the child handed him a candy, and caught a glance at the supplies the kid was carrying around. 'Well. That should hold us over a few more days, assuming this kid'll share.' The thought came and passed as he took the candy bar, and said a hurried "Thanks." Eric looked behind them to see a few more stragglers breaking through the line, and he darted over to the elevator. He slammed his hand on the button, and waved everyone over. "Fifth floor, let's get there before the power goes out."

 

[Nagabe]

𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙰.​

​

Corey beamed at the man as he even handed one to ‘Joanna’ and the other mysterious lady that he had yet to meet, but at least they all knew his name. After a minute of rest and catching his breath, he looked at the man and his pupils shrunk. The power going out? Which meant they’d be stuck in the dark with those monsters? Every little kids worst nightmare… He then en got up as he placed his rat plushie in his backpack, the head sticking out slightly as he looked at the man before holding his hand. It wasn’t his parents, but he was too scared to care as he beamed up at the other as I have flashbacks of Lee and Clementine. Anyways, enough of breaking the fourth wall. Corey followed Eric where the man said they were going as he looked up at him with a cute smile. “I have a dog.” He said simply before giggling quietly. “He’s a big dog! His name is Rusty, but he’s really fast. Mama and papa left him behind tho, said grandma will care for him but grandma is all the way in Norway.” He said softly, and it was obvious to the grown ups that they left the dog for dead which was very heartbreaking but the poor boy didn’t know the truth.

“Do you like school? I don’t. The kids pick on me coz of my parents having a funny accent. I don’t know where they are, do you think you can help me look for them?” The boy then glanced up at Eric with such hope in his eyes, tho the sad truth might be that his parents are probably dead.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes



Joanna took the candy bar from the kid, shoving it in her back pocket for later. It was already squished and melted, how much worse could it get in her pocket? She wasn't a huge sweets person anyways.
She hesitated before following Eric into the elevator. She wasn't big on elevators in the best of times, and the zombies snarling and militias firing their guns didn't help much with that fear, surprisingly enough. With the power about to go out, they very well could get stuck with no way to get help. It wasn't as much of an irrational fear now. She forced herself to swallow that fear and waited for the elevator to arrive. It seemed like they could just as well have taken the stairs with somewhat less risk of getting stuck. Then again, there were the zombies hurtling towards them that probably wouldn't be warded off by a flight of stairs. She tried to distract herself from the thought.
She listened to Corey's rambling with only mild interest, her mind on other things. "I'm sure your grandma will take great care of him."
She had a dog in the Before. Unfortunately, she died around a year before the dead started to rise. Maybe she was lucky never to have seen that.
More talking from Corey. Joanna decided to leave this question to Eric, as she didn't want to be the one to tell a kid their parents were most likely dead or dying. It was too early in the day for that.
"This elevator sure is taking its damn time." She remarked as passive-aggressively as humanly possible. She didn't even know who she was mad at. Perhaps she was mad at the elevator. She tapped her fingers on the wall, watching the militia get killed. It was a brutal sight to behold, with men and women alike getting killed at the hands of brain-dead murderous corpses. Soon this militia would rise again, only this time with the uncontrollable urge to kill everything in its sight. She hoped she would be far, far away from here when that happened.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

'Oh fuck me.' Eric thought. He was not big on kids, and he couldn't imagine telling the kid the truth, at least not yet. He looked at Joanna with a depressed look, and told the kid "We'll do what we can to find them. They may be...very lost though." It was the best half truth he could think of, and it wasn't great. For now it would do, however. The elevator dinged and opened, empty of living or dead. Eric pulled the kid inside, motioning the others to follow.

The elevator creaked and groaned as it rose, but it made ot to the right floor. "I don't know how long they can keep the power plant protected, so we better move before the garage turns into a cave." He lead the group along to a beat up sedan, slightly rusting and overtaking the paint. It wasn't pretty, but it ran. Eric unlocked the doors, and guided Corey to the back seat. " Buckle up." He commanded, remembering the guy in the front seat when he met the first woman. He moved to open the trunk, and rummaged around to find a handgun. He loaded the clip, and looked over the other three. Joanna had her axe. The other woman had a club. The kid...could use his switchblade if it came to it. He finally slammed the trunk shut, and turned his head when heard a man yelling.

"Hey! Help! Can I please come with you? I don't want to die!" The man was limping toward them, holding a stomach wound on his left side. The blood there was dried, and the man himself looked pale. "Please, I was part of the militia...I can't do it anymore! Please!" Something was off about him, but Eric couldn't place it. "Look, we've got no more room. I can toss you some bandages and a first aid kit, bu-" the man interrupted him, sounding more desperate and demanding this time. "Please! Just to the next fort! All I need is the next fort!" There was something off here, he could feel it, but wasn't sure what it was. He looked at the other two women. "Well?" He asked.

 

[Nagabe]

𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙰.​

​

Corey wasn’t really a fan of elevators, especially now. Being cramped in such a small compartment with others without his mom was the worse thing ever to the poor boy which was probably getting ready to be replaced with things much worse then a cramped elevator as he gripped Eric’s hand tightly which is giving me big Lee and Clementine vibes before he soon found himself running. “Caves aren’t fun, does that mean this place will get bats?” The kid asked stupidly, but of course small children do tend to ask stupid questions. In the car, he followed the mans orders as he buckled up when he was told, but usually he did buckle up whenever his mother told him to do so. It was odd... not having his booster seat felt weird, yet it gave the small child a sense of a ‘I’m a grown up now’ feeling as he smiled happily, before he took what seemed to be a mouse plushie from his bag as he held it up. “This is Wilton, he‘s my only friend! Ever since we moved here people make fun of me because of my dads accent, have any of you moved here?” He asked simply, the small child wanting to know his friends a bit more. He couldn’t wait to tell his parents all about them, the cool lady who seemed to be seemingly mad at everything and the other one who seemed quiet, or at least to Corey she did and of course Eric, the one who Corey feels the safest towards at the moment. “where are we going?” he asked, right before the man seemed to cry for help, but Corey noticed how Eric only asked the adults for their advice, a typical grown up move. Either way, Corey said nothing.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes


Joanna hesitated. The man had dried blood covering him, and of course, they were led to believe it was his. She shook off this thought. He was probably exactly who he said he was, a militia soldier who didn't want to lose his life. She could sympathize with him, though she didn't want to. She was trying to re-create herself for the After, a version of herself where she valued her own safety over others. A version that would keep herself alive.
This created quite the conundrum. Why should she care if this guy died? But he looked so desperate...
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard a voice telling her that desperate people are the most dangerous. They'll do anything to assure their own safety.
She finally spoke. "I'm sorry, sir. I'd love to help you but we just don't have the materials or space." Something inside of her broke. "But I suppose you could come with us just a little way. We can't spare any supplies, though."
Joanna immediately regretted saying it. She didn't like the way the man's eyes lit with a strange hunger when she allowed him to come, or the threatening step he took towards them while asking for help. She scolded herself for being so stupid.
Well, what's done is done.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

Eric raised his hand, cautioning the man back. " Calm down or we're not taking you anywhere. I still don't want to do it at all, and I've already picked up three strangers. My charity is almost at capacity." He really didn't like that Joanna had invited the man, but he had asked for the opinion of the two adults present. Corrie's silence continued, and though frustrating, likely meant she was still dazed or agreed with the other woman. "We'll take you out of the city, the next little hamlet, after that, you're gone. And like the lady said, we can't give you anything." The man's eyes went wild as he nodded his agreement, and Eric lowered his arm. The man moved forward, still a bit too fast for Eric's liking, but the guy did seem desperate beyond belief. He saw the man go for the back seat, next to the kid, and he corrected that problem almost immediately. "No, Front seat. If you try anything I'm going to ask one of these women to beat your head in." The man, despite his alleged fear, nonchalantly shrugged and moved toward the front. He plopped down, no longer clutching his side as he had before. "Whatever you say, I'm not looking to make enemies."

As the mystery man passed Eric, he really looked the man over. He was grungy, and looked like he hadn't bathed for days; not that that was unusual; for militia or guards anyway. His limp seemed a little exaggerated, but there were any number of reasons for that. Eric frowned. He was trying desperately to find some reason to toss the man aside, or shoot him. He looked at the clothes, nothing unusual there either. A simple brown t-shirt and a cheap camo pants seemed to enforce his story, though anyone could have their simple gear, and he wondered why a militiaman would toss aside his protective gear. He looked closely at the would on his side, and noticed something odd. The blood was dry to the center, and no fresh bleeding could be found. "So, when were you wounded?" Eric asked, and the man seemed taken aback. "Few days ago, I was on patrol. It still hurts like a son of bitch though..." Eric wasn't sure how much he believed him, but he shrugged. "Joanna, if he does anything, shoot him." He said, handing her the weapon before moving to the driver's side seat.

 

[_Chrysanthemum_]

Joanna Barnes


Joanna nodded at Eric's words. "It would be my pleasure."
it wouldn't, obviously, but the man didn't know that. For all he knew she enjoyed watching puppies get slaughtered and wouldn't hesitate to shoot him. Honestly, she didn't even know how to use a gun. The only thing she knew was she had to pull the trigger at some point and then theoretically it would shoot.
She eyed the man in front of her as the car started. He wasn't acting like he was in pain anymore, he seemed pretty calm all things considered. Her hand tightened on her axe. She was fairly sure she was holding the handgun right, but either way, she tried to hide it for where the man could see it, in case she was holding it wrong.
She leaned forward, towards the strange man. "Was it a zombie?" she asked without preamble. It didn't look like a zombie wound, really. Not that she had seen many zombie wounds on people who weren't zombies, so she couldn't be sure, but it looked like someone had stabbed him with some sort of sort sharp object. Granted, a zombie could have found something to stab him with, but she didn't think zombies did that.
She wished she knew more about the strange world they lived in. She hated feeling so helpless, like she was stumbling around in the dark. Maybe if she had known more, if she had been smarter, she could have saved her girlfriend. No. She refused to let that cloud her reasoning. She and everyone around her were in too much potential danger for her to be distracted.
He would have killed them by now if he had wanted to, right? She couldn't think of why he would wait, unless he hoped they would bring him to more supplies, or if he was going to use them to get out of the city and then kill them. Or if he was just using them to treat his wound and then would kill them. It turned out she could think of quite a few reasons.
Or what if Eric and this man were conspiring together in some mastermind plan that she couldn't begin to fathom?
She kind of doubted the last one, but you never knew.

 

[Rokku Hizori]

"You bet your ass it was. Clawed at me trying to rip a chunk off with its hands, They're some nasty things. Some of them don't even eat, just kill." The man confirmed one of the the things the internet had mentioned when the service was still up. "What else can you tell us? What rumors can you confirm?" Eric had thousands of questions now, and he figured the best way to get information was from someone who had fought them and survived. Officials had been sparse on the details other than that you could survive minor bites. "What kills them aside from the obvious? What-" The man held up a hand. "Easy man, one question at a time. I can't tell you much, other than that they want you dead. As for confirming rumors..." The man seemed to hesitate, but why Eric couldn't be sure. "They're learning how to use tools and weapons. And..." Another hesitation, this one longer than the last. "They don't like holy things. Doesn't matter what religion, burns 'em like fire. That's why they told everyone to go to a church or something." This guy had to be joking. Was this an rpg? Eric's look must have given him away, as the man huffed. "Believe me or don't, makes no difference to me." Eric frowned, and decided to just starting driving, finally taking them out of the garage and making good on his promise to run over the zombie from earlier. They were off, for good or bad, headed for somewhere that wasn't Memphis.