We Who Live

[Whisker]

The sun was already sinking in the west, the red and purple shadows just faintly licking the edges of the horizon, when Nick cautiously stepped out of the brush and onto the main road. Back in the day, I-70 used to be a major intersection leading south and west out of Indianapolis, a thorough fair nearly six lanes across and bustling with the kind of traffic that made it a bitch to come home around rush hour. Now it was little more than a damned parking lot on the edge of the main city – a metal cemetery, if you will, of still cars that would probably never move again. It was definitely not the kind of place anyone wanted to be, but there wasn’t a whole lot of choice when it came to the main city. Most of the smaller roads were hell holes now. If the infected didn’t get you, the bandits would. And that was assuming you didn’t run across the last vestiges of a military blockade that would bring your progress to a screeching halt.


Shouldering his pack, Nick cast a look back at the wasteland behind him, then pressed forward, his expression deviating somewhere between resignation and wariness. He had started out in a group of three, but now there was only himself remaining. His cousin, Stanley, had been taking them to their Grandparents farm. Him and Stanley’s seven-year-old son Connor. It’d been dead at night and in the midst of a terrible storm. They’d come in with the idea of taking this old hunting road to avoid the bulk of the traffic heading out of town. It’d been a swell idea, he’d thought. He even encouraged his cousin to do it.


But sometimes even the best ideas crumbled first.


No, don’t blame yourself. Keep going. You’ve got nothing for it but to keep going.


And so he did, his shoulders weary, but his eyes determinedly cast ahead for signs of life … and more importantly shelter for the night. A small town, Hazelwood, was coming up according to the exit signs. He’d have to stalk it to see if it was safe, but it was the first sign he was moving in the right destination.


@Lancelot @MisfortunateDreams @Lancelot

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurence Stanton had a good few days.  At the end of the last town he was at, he found an old but functional bicycle in a locked shed.  Having some experience in acquiring such things, he quickly undid the lock on the shed and on the bike, before riding it off and out of town.  Unlike in the movies with the Wild Wild West though, he had set off mid morning.


A few hours of riding later, with a break for the totally not monotonous lunch of canned baked beans once more, the thief saw a blood splattered sign along the road.  "Welcome to Hazelwood."  He frowned at it before dismounting his bike.  The blood usually meant that some conflict had happened there, either by zombies or worse, people.  He cautiously gave a look around, before walking over to the sign, crowbar in hand.  After ascertaining that no one around was trying to kill him, Phantom took his hand and wiped off some of the blood.  "Hmm, larger than the last one, if only slightly."  He looked over the sign and saw that no visible smoke trails appearing over the modest town.  The thief checked his canteen again.  Almost out.  He gave a scowl.  Looked like he didn't have much of a choice in stopping then.  Hopping back on his bike, the lone rider paddled his way into town.


Another hour passed, and Phantom found himself on the roof of an out of the way gas station.  The roof of the shop of course; the overhang that towered over the pumps had long collapsed.  At first apprehensive of the location, the thief quickly dispatched the local Z's nearby before checking the status of the pumps at the central console in the shop to make sure they were either empty or shut off; he had robbed enough of them in the past with some... co-workers to know about it.  After making sure he wouldn't be sent to the next world in a ball of light and fire, he went through what was left of the shop's inventory.  Indeed, not much had been spared.  The first days of the panic had driven everyone to grab, steal and take anything that could be of use.  To be honest, the best loot now one would have to take off of the still living or the heavy infested areas, where many groups made their last stand.  Still, Phantom searched and searched, and for his persistence, was rewarded with a metal bowl and some packets of dry lemonade powder.


The thief cursed, before looking around.  Surely there would be some water somewhere, right?  He then remembered the bathroom.  One of the walkers tried to surprise him in there, and the fucker almost got him too.  Thankfully the crowbar was metal, which made it hard to bite through.  Now there was only a rotting corpse in the ladies' room.  He went back, and spotted the backpack on the dead zombie (an almost redundant phrase).  Another half and hour later, and Phantom had a small fire going on the roof of the building, burning pieces of old magazines and doing his best to mask the smoke while boiling the water in the metal bowl he had found before.

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

The air stank, thick and rotten like the corpse that lay half out of the hall window. Her heart fluttered, eyeing the flies and maggots that had taken housing in the large gap in the person's side. It looked as though the flesh had been bitten away, intestines and blood forming a puddle of dead-stuff around the torn lower body. She approached as slowly as she could, glancing back more than once at her apartment door down the hall that she had left ajar to take a look around. She had been hidden in the room for lord knew how long, and despite the screams and horrible noises had refused to open the door. She had been unable to move until the world had gone quiet.


Now she was faced with whatever seemed to be left. Which, as she had entered the hallway, seemed to be death. She had to face the reality of it though. So, with a very careful movement she grabbed hold of the corpse's leg and gave it a good pull. The body came easily, falling inward onto the ground at her feet. The hollow face of Mr. James Hart, her neighbor, rolled Lea's gut. With a loud noise she emptied the content of her stomach in the corner, the vile smell masking the stink of whatever food was half digested from her last meal.


It took her several minutes to regain composure. When she did, she looked up with blurry eyes to see a person coming down the hall toward her...

~*~
​

Lea's eyes grabbed hold of a sign coming closer to her as she drove down the freeway. It had a few worn letters which she made out to be Hazelwood, a town she had never before heard of as most of the places in Indiana were. Slowing she weaved around a cluster of stalled cars, deciding that if she were going to find a map she'd probably be able to do it there. Accelerating to a high speed, she gave a harsh curse as the car shuttered and began to slow at an alarming rate.


"No! No!" She moaned as the car rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. The empty sign eliminating in her face as it screamed a few times and turned itself off. She had been traveling for some time in the jeep, it was a rather sad moment to see that she would either have to ditch the vehicle or find more gas to fill the tank. She's have to try her luck wit the cars she had just past. There had to be something there for her to either hotwire or seep gas from. Worse comes to worse, she might find something amongst the ruined cars along with an undead.


Grabbing her gun and the metal pipe she had found in another town, Lea headed back toward with the parking lot with a plastic gas tank in tow.

~*~
​

"Help.." She gasped, her throat raw from the acids she had just thrown up. With a groan she straightened as much as she could without feeling like she would puke again. "P-please!"


The person gave a moan, tottering in her direction a few more feet before reaching out a hand. It was then that Lea focused on the face of the other survivor. Whom didn't appear to be a survivor at all. Dragging one foot behind and missing an arm, the half-faced thing lunged at Lea with a groan that blew a gust of rotten breath into her face. Lea screamed, dodging as best she could as the Zombie tackled her to the ground. The struggle was confusing, but with a slim chance of luck Lea had grabbed hold of a long piece of wood that stuck from a broken doorway.


She put all her might into kicking the beast away before she sent the splinter through it's belly. It wobbled,  tottering in place before starting back toward her. There was no where to go but back, fleeing toward her room she hoped that the 'break-proof' bolted lock she had bought for her door held up to the advertisement.

~*~
​

The lot, a term she had personally given to the clusters of abandoned cars on the road, proved to be as helpful as the others. Luckily enough she was able to secure enough gas to at least get her to Hazelwood, which is where she'd gladly say goodbye to the jeep and hello to a new-faster car. She rummaged around a few more cars in hopes of finding anything else good. It appeared that most of the cars had been sacked already. There was one jammed between two other cars that looked untouched though. She set to work looking through one of the cars trapping it, removing a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from the dead passenger's pockets before taking off the break and sending the car into the midsection between the two highways. 


"Lets see," She grumbled popping open the trunk to look through the stuff. She found a sturdy looking hiking backpack with sleeping bag. This was a real find, as Lea had been using a suitcase that she had been transferring from car to car up until that moment. Seeing as she'd need to ditch her car soon, it would come in handy. Other than that just a few cans of food and some top roman. Had it been before the End, she would have stuck her nose up and refused to eat the roman. Now, however, food was food. This was the most supplies she had found in one place in awhile. Even the car was in better shape then her old jeep.


After some deliberation, Lea pulled the dead from her new vehicle and set to work hot wiring it. It wasn't long before she had pulled up behind her old jeep and began transferring her stuff into the new ride. Then, with a quick check of the radio stations, she set off toward Hazelwood.

 

[Mion]

Ryan Sean Lockhart
​

Hand on his pistol Ryan continued to follow the road, it was all he had done in the past week besides short rests, exhaustively he hoisted up his duffel bag around his shoulder.  The moss green bag contained all of the gear that Ryan could fit in it from his old police car, around a week ago it broke down and so he filled the bag with all he could and ditched the thing.  He didn't need to ask himself why that was so easy, because he knew.  Along with the duffel bag Ryan had a small rucksack on his back, it carried personal items, his wedding ring and photo albums among other things.  He wore a navy blue shirt with a weathered black coat over it, black jeans and boots along with them.  He hadn't seen another person since the initial outbreak and only came across those monsters a few times again, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, it gave him a lot of time to think but maybe that wasn't what he needed right now.


At the edge of the road he stopped and placed his duffel bag on the ground before unzipping it, he took out a packed of beef jerky, he had picked up a few early on, had been rationing it to last as long as possible, that meant that he would be hungry most of the time but at least he didn't starve, his current supplies of food were running low he was going to need to stock up soon.  As he chewed on the jerky he sat on the ground, he picked up a stone and began to roll it around in his hands.  "How much longer?" He questioned himself once more "How much longer must I punish myself?"  He would occasionally ponder on this question, the world had gone and hit rock bottom on him, so why had he stuck around?  Why did he not just give in?  The answer was that he felt like there was others, people just like him, wandering in hopes of finding someone, something, anything.  He had mostly come to terms with this new world, but surely he wasn't the only one that prayed maybe it would get better right?


After his daily brooding snack session he begrudgingly picked himself up, it was getting harder every time.  And he continued to walk, following the roads again, until he came to a sign.  In his past life he would have smiled, but that was one thing that had not found itself on Ryan's face these past weeks, he felt relief, but his heavy heart did not allow him to feel joy, at least not yet.  Welcome to Hazelwood, it had a spatter of blood on it. "Population me."  He said cynically.

 

[WanderingJester]

Stanton kept a lookout from the roof of the Gas Station mart as the water boiled, peeking over the low barrier of the rooftop as he laid on his stomach mostly.


There hadn't been much going on, given the out of the way location of the gas station.  One had to make a specific detour down the main road into town to get to it, and aside from that solitary structure, most of the other buildings in the area looked boarded up or overall uninteresting, as opposed to the shops and stores of the downtown area.  Still, the quicker the water boiled, the more relief the thief would be able his present situation.  Phantom turned and gave a look over to the fire, and watched as bubbles began to form in the water.  He rolled over, and crawled to the opposite side of the gas station, where he had gotten up before.  The thief had taken a risk, raising the escape ladder that he took up at the cost of his usual sound discipline.  Though creaky, fortunately it seemed that no one was nearby, or so Phantom thought, now up on the rooftop, he scanned the area, only finding a few walkers stumbling around closer to the center of town.


The thief turned around again, seeing that the water had reached a rolling boil now.  Moving over, he quickly kicked the magazines that fed the fire, while grabbing some extra clothes from his backpack to shield his hands.  Opening up the canteen, he carefully grabbed the metal bowl, now extremely hot, and slowly poured its content into it.  A rush of steam came out of the canteen's opening, though the thief made sure that the life giving liquid wouldn't spill as he bottled up the top again.  The warm canteen would come in handy that night, as the temperature drop.  He looked over to his backpack, and replaced the clothing in it.  Soon all that was left of the fire was a scorched mark on the rooftop, as well as some charred magazines.  Phantom went back to one of the corners, but not before grabbing another can of baked beans and opening it with his trench knife.  He scooped the content into his mouth as he kept a lookout, occasionally pivoting and crawling to a different direction as he inwardly decided to stay at that spot for the night, as the sun began to set on the horizon.

 

[Whisker]

As the shadows lengthened, Nick felt his stomach clench in reflex. Though the foul odor of the dead and the dying had long become a familiar stench in the air, it was all the worse at dusk. At least during the day, one could see the noisy walkers, hear their grotesque gurgles and screeches and cautiously choose a route to avoid them. Come nightfall, however, the infected ruled the streets, hundreds coming together in hive minds to swarm and devour any who wound up in their path. And even if you were not the unfortunate soul who found themselves face to face with one of the dead, it seemed impossible to resist waking up in a cold sweat at the obscene moaning and shrieking that now consumed the night.


And recently, he could've sworn that he heard animal cries mixed in among the din, snarling and howling the likes he had never heard from any creature living or dead ... 


But as it so happened, there was no such noise right now. Things seemed quiet. There was nothing he could see besides hundreds of cars lying in disuse like so many graves in a lot. Keeping his hand resting on his knife just in case, the man moved on, his eyes darting left and right each time he passed one for signs of life and/or usable supplies he could take with him on his journey. At least once in his approach to Hazelwood, he stopped to change his clothes to something thicker than his old flannel shirt and lined with pockets. The idea behind it was not only a concern for additional warmth, but something he could fill to bursting with thick odds and ins that could double as armor ... or at least do so until he found something sturdier. He knew it would make him a little noisier than usual, but hell if that would matter if he wasn't hunkered down by the time the sun touched down.


Fortunately, he wasn't too far away.


It took him only an additional five minutes to stroll around an underpass and come face to face with the turn off ramp that led into the heart of ol' hick town Indiana itself. Relief filled him like a burst of hot air and he increased his speed. But after just a few paces, he halted again, his expression changing from faint hope to grim faster than flicking off a light switch.


Someone was moving up there. He was sure of it. He could see the outline standing just before the sign. 


One of them?


His grip on the handle of his blade tightened. His knuckles went white. Like a burst in his mind, the screams from a young boy resounded in his mind as well as that god awful moaning. 


Connor … 


Nick bit down on his lip. It wouldn’t be too hard to take down a single one. He’d done so before even though he’d nearly been sick afterwards. 


But what if it isn’t? Should I take my chances?


Nick hesitated, his mind jumping about in indecisiveness, then made to step backwards to hide behind one of the parked cars. Though he did so as quietly as he possibly could, he wasn't quite able to avoid stepping on some glass from a shattered window, the sound ringing out with an audible CRUNCH.


@Lancelot

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

Her breathing came in harsh gasps, air ripping from lungs as she moved downward on the fire escape. The metallic thumping of her suitcase hitting against each step echoed in her ears behind the loud drumming of her heart. She paused only once, glancing upward at the struggling monster several floors above her. It staggered around the landing by her window, growling and making noises in her general direction. What in the world was going on?


~*~


Lea had been on the move for some time now, Sticking to main highways and freeways as she moved up toward her destination. Of course, she couldn't even be sure that Sam was alive. They had never got to talk again after their quick chat on her way home. He had said he'd called her back but signal was lost not long afterward. It left her with only a lingering hope that maybe he had made it, that perhaps he was somewhere wandering around just like her. Of course, he might have had the same idea as her. He could be in New York, walking into whatever zombie feast was taking place there.


She shuttered at the thought, giving her head a shake as she focused more closely on the road. She was entering into Hazelwood, the cars growing thicker the closer she got to the town. She'd have to get off the freeway soon or ditch the car, but she defiantly didn't want to do that until the morning. The sun was setting quickly and one didn't want to be alone in the dark. She'd have to park somewhere and search the car in the morning.


Pulling the car off the freeway, she looked for an opportune place to pull over at. It was dark when she found what appeared to be a ransacked gas station. She pulled in so that the lights hit the empty store, eyes searching for movement inside. It took several minutes for her to be comfortable enough to turn the lights off and reach across to the passenger side for her pipe and flashlight. A quick inspection of the area would tell her if she was going to spend the night there or not.


She clicked the door open and stepped out into the dark station.

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurance Stanton cursed inwardly as he heard a vehicle rolled up to the station.


Phantom pulled out his glock, still with only one bullet in the chamber.  He might know that there was only one round in the gun, but no one else does.  It wouldn't be the first time he had used it to bluff his way out of a rather bad situation.  Still, he would rather avoid trouble than to have a plan to get out of it.  Preventive measures and all.  The thief slowly but carefully peaked over the side of the rooftop, watching the car roll up and stop.  Didn't people know that sound attracts the Z's?  Shouldn't they know by now?  He shook his head slightly as a single figure stepped outside the vehicle.  One person?  Who else would be crazy enough to travel by themselves?  Probably a vagabond like him.  Or was there another person just waiting in the car?  It all reminded him of an old movie he saw outside an electronic store.  He had been younger, and since the window showcased a new television, it broadcast this mob movie where someone always got shoved into the trunk.


Sliding back down and hopefully out of sight, Phantom laid on his back looking up at the darkening sky.  He would need to make some shelter soon, as the nights were getting colder and the heat from the canteen would only be so warm.  Holding the gun in a position as to easily aim at the entry point to the roof, he contemplated his options.  Getting some sort of sleeping bag would be a hassle, but perhaps necessary in the coming months.  For now he would make do with newspapers, books and other insulation he usually used.  Phantom thought about where the sports stores might be, and cursed the necessity for middle America to put all the good stuff in the center of town like they usually do.  He exhaled into his hand.  The thief would wait until whoever was at the station to leave, then move down and grab a few more of those magazines for warmth.  Maybe he would even luck out and find some cardboard boxes he may have overlooked earlier.


Phantom waited patiently, listening and tracking the newcomer's footsteps beyond his little sanctuary at the moment.

 

[Mion]

Ryan Sean Lockheart
​

As Ryan was about to move on into Hazelwood he heard a loud crunch behind him "One of those freaks didn't sneak by me did they?" Ryan thought slowly looking over his right shoulder, he saw nothing out of the ordinary... well the new ordinary, just a bunch of empty cars.  Ryan knew it couldn't have been one of those freaks now, even with the little Ryan knew about them he could tell that they weren't exactly what you would call stealthy, no this was different to them... either Ryan was going mad and had begun to imagine things or someone was here with him, "Another human?"  Ryan thought hopefully, after the outbreak he had a feeling it would be best that he was on his own but in truth he was left with a hole of emptiness in his heart, something that wouldn't help when Ryan was so lonely.


As Ryan turned around to face the direction from where the noise came from he slowly drew his pistol, a Colt Delta Elite, it was once his wife gun but after her death he had switched his own gun for hers.  Holding it steady and prepared he called out "If anyone is out there then you better come out now, and make sure you don't do anything stupid while your at it!" Either Ryan would have a shot at intimidating a would be aggressor or he was moving onto his next step of insanity, he was hoping for the former.


@Whisker

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

The station that Lea had found was torn apart. This wasn't out of the ordinary though, not when most of the world looked like a dump trolled by undead. It wasn't something that unnerved her anymore, but she still had to be careful. She clicked on her flashlight to give the place a once over. It looked like it had once been a pretty popular place for people to pull over on trips through Hazelwood. The building had once been kept well, she could tell by the nicely painted walls and up to date pumps. Of course, this time had also been awhile ago. The windows that weren't shattered to bits either had blood smudged across them or large tags from gangs that had probably already passed through the area. A cluster of cars stood a few feet away but from what Lea could see there wasn't much threat there.


Satisfied with the fact that the coast was clear, she clicked her flashlight off. Standing outside her car for a moment, she allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness in order to avoid having to use what was left of her lights' battery. She'd be very stupid to use it when there was no need for it. Plus it could draw unwanted eyes to her that weren't otherwise in the area. She may have already done so from the noise of her car, but if it hadn't then she would rather keep from doing so.


When her eyes had adjusted enough for her to see in the night, she wandered across the lot to the storefront. It appeared just as empty as the lot outside and just as destroyed. She'd find little here, just like the other stations that she had passed through on her trip from New York. Inside she inspected the shelves, coming up empty like she had expected until she came to the tiny section of toiletries. Glancing over her shoulder like she was expecting someone to be there, Lea grabbed what was left of the womanly essentials. Pads, tampons, even toilet paper had become such a rarity that the sight of it now brought tears to her eyes. Of course, had anyone seen this small display of her's they would have thought she was crazy. Men didn't understand, though.


It took her a minute to finally regain some of her composure. When she did, the rest of the store was inspected. Nothing else was found, so she headed out to her car to put her stuff in the trunk with the other things she had yet to go through. She then looked around. It would be nice if she could figure out how far she was from Hazelwood from there, it was likely to dark but if she could get a vantage point then maybe...


She eyes spotted the rooftop just as she was thinking this. She had seen some stairs when she had been rummaging through the store. Heading back inside, she went to the stairs and headed up. The hall was dark, but nothing jumped out at her. This was the easiest raid she had done yet. All the Zombies had been killed already, probably from someone already passed through.


With a last push she came through the door at the top of the stairs, eyes wandering around the rooftop. It had a nice view of the surrounding area but nothing really was up there. Her heart jumped, hands reaching as quickly as they could for the gun strapped to her side. She pulled it out, clicking the safety off.


"Put it down." She announced, eyes fixed on the gun and shadowy person that had it pointed directly at her.


@WanderingJester

 

[Whisker]

“If anyone is out there then you better come out now, and make sure you don't do anything stupid while you’re at it!”


Dammit, bastard heard me! Fucking glass …


From his hunkered down position behind the battered old SUV, Nick could see the man turn in his direction, a hand going for a weapon – most likely some small firearm – concealed in his belt. Truth be told, he didn’t blame the individual for his reaction. Had it been him standing up there exposed like that, he would’ve been quick to do the same thing. But as he was down here crouching behind the cars, Nick hesitated to pop his head up above the hood for pistol man to get a bead on.


Instead, he drew out his own pistol, a battered Glock 19, loaded it with a few rounds from his dwindling supply, then cautiously took a glance about. He wasn’t exactly particularly eager to shout and make a lot of noise for any walkers who might be about, but it was a helluva lot better than getting his ass shot!


Nervously, he cleared his throat.


“Like hell I will! How do I know you won’t shoot my ass when I come out? Huh?”


There was a pause as Nick reaffirmed his position by glancing in the car mirror above. There was no one sneaking up despite some far away moans in the distance.


Got to be careful …


But even as the thought entered his mind, a flicker of movement caught the corner of his eye. A shambling corpse that was no more than a drunkard shadow in the bad lighting of the sunset had emerged from the shadows of the rundown overpass.


And it wasn’t alone!


A blood-curdling shriek resounded soon after as two more came stumbling out from somewhere in the direction of town. As they passed under the flickering streetlights, he caught a glimpse of unkempt ragged hair as well as dirt-encrusted flesh run brown with dried blood. His blood turned to ice-water and despite his previous misgivings, he shouted towards the survivor on the hill.


“Shit ... Behind you!”


@Lancelot

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurance Stanton almost laughed at the audacity of this person.  Almost, if it were for his sense of self preservation.


The thief had been listening to them walk around from the roof.  They scavenged around underneath in the store, though with what he wasn't so certain.  The twice over he went through had cleared it of anything valuable or useful to him.  Did he missed something?  Was he getting sloppy since the apocalypse?  Phantom did his best to push those thoughts out of his mind.  As their footsteps got louder and closer though, his eyes darted to the door on the roof.  Shit.  He had forgotten about the rooftop interior entrance.  It was the kind of mistakes that would've gotten him killed under even remotely worse circumstances.  Cursing himself for relaxing his guard and overlooking something so simple, the thief had no choice but to readjust his aim that way, hoping still that the person would just come up, look over the side, and maybe, just maybe, they would leave.


Of course that didn't happen.  As soon as they came up, after the initial glance the girl nearly jumped out of her skin.  With what looked like shaking hands she pulled out her own sidearm quickly, and Phantom considered it a small miracle that she didn't shot him or herself just pulling the thing out.  A slim figure from what he could make out in the dark, the girl pointed her weapon at him, and quickly gave him a command to drop his weapon, in a moderately loud voice to make everything just even worse.  "Shit, you wanna going ahead and just fire a few rounds up into air while you're at it?  I don't think all the Zeds in the area heard you sweetheart."  His Tennessee accent coated his words as Phantom too clicked the safety off of his gun.  The two stood/laid still, pointing their weapons at each other for a moment of awkward silence, then the thief gave a grin, though given the rapidly darkening environment and his usual hood over his head he wasn't sure she saw it.  "I've had my gun trained on you for at least five seconds before you even noticed me, hon.  You really think I couldn't have domed you already if I wanted to?"

Phantom gave a quick jerk of his head to where the ladder up to the roof was, though he kept his gun up.  "Now, it looks like we've got ourselves a good old mexican standoff here, and while I can't speak for your sake, I have no wish to leave the mortal coil currently.  So hows about you piss off, or you let me do the same, and we pretend this little rendezvous never happened?" he more or less butchered the word "rendezvous," between his southern accent and lack of knowledge of it.  However, if that bothered him, Phantom didn't show it as the semi-tense situation continued.


@MisfortunateDreams

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

@WanderingJester
​

Lea glared through the darkness at the figure. Not sure whether it was male or female until his thick accented voice cut quietly through the silence. She hesitated as he spoke, refusing to lower her gun as her mind clumsily thought through the situation. There were a few options as far as she could see, though none of them were generally appealing. The first was to stand her ground, fire her weapon. However, the likelihood of this going well was slim to none. Though she had spent many years with her dad and his navy-platoon mucking it out in training she was no were close to being equipped enough to use a gun. She had fire it as many at five times in her life. The only reason she had it was safety purposes. She had gotten it cause it made her dad feel better with her moving to a big city. The darkness would make her already risky shot almost unavoidably stupid.


The second was to stand her ground and hope that he'd lower his first. Then the last was to trust him and lower it. Though this left the question of whether or not he was going to do the humane thing and let her go as he suggested. Or if he was going to be a savage and shoot her in the back as she fled. From the sound of him he would probably do the later. He sounded harsh, much like the men she had seen ransacking the family she had passed on her way west.


Her mind jumped to the memory, the sight of the people helplessly getting raided as the scum searched their stuff. She had just watched from her safe place in the brush nearby, thankful that the family had come along first and not her. She knew her situation would have been just as bad. At night, she could sometimes still hear the screaming. This wasn't the time for that though. The life or death situation she had already been in had just magnified by ten because she wanted to get a good view of the city.


Rendezvous. She corrected him in her mind. How do you even get rendezvous wrong...


She glanced backwards at the door before returning her gaze to the guy. This was the first person she had seen other than that family and their attackers. The first one she had actually talked to in ages. She needed to have faith in something, and if it wasn't that this person had some shred of decency then what else could she hope for. Slowly, so as not to alarm him, she lowered her weapon.


"I'm looking for a friend." She said just loud enough for him to hear, taking caution to the warning he had issued earlier about attracting zombies. "His names Sam. Samuel Connor. Maybe you've seen him?"  

 

[Mion]

Ryan Sean Lockhart
​

"Like hell I will! How do I know you won't shoot my ass when I come out? Huh?"  the voice yelled back from an old battered SUV.  Ryan remained stoic, not giving off anything and remaining calm.


"You can't... But if you stay where you are now I can guarantee I will, I know that much."  Ryan responded, if things escalated beyond words he was confident that he was more and capable of holding his own.  But it seemed the situation defused before things came to that, with 3 zombies attracting the attentions of the 2 survivors.


"Shit... Behind you!" The man yelled once more, "Does he think I am some sort of idiot?" Ryan thought reluctant to give his back to the stranger, but his curiosity soon override his mind as he sneaked a peak over his shoulder, and by god he was glad he did.  The zombies were close, but lucky for Ryan not close enough...  Ryan swirled round to face the first creature, just as it grew close enough he pressed his pistol to it's temple before quickly pulling the trigger, the once human now lay on the floor finally dead again as the 2 others continued their endless march. Ryan slowly backed up towards the cars, aiming down his sites at the zombies firing until they both dropped to the floor like the first.


A loud, exasperated sigh escaped from Ryan "Thanks... I owe you one." He said directed to the stranger hiding around the jeep. 


@Whisker

 

[WanderingJester]

Stanton watched as the girl in front of him lower her gun, though not necessarily putting it away.


As the sign of good faith, the thief clicked the safety on for his weapon, loud enough to let her know that, but he still kept the weapon out and pointed in her general direction.  He visibly relaxed though, and he shifted his posture so that he leaned up against the side of the roof, but not enough to expose himself to anyone looking up there.  She had looked like she was seriously contemplating on shooting him for a moment or two.  Phantom would be lying if he didn't hold his breath for a little, at least until she lowered her gun.  Who knows?  She can very easily just lift the thing up and shoot him now, but given the lose-lose situation the two of them were currently in, he had to make the best out of a bad situation.  What he didn't expect was her being so open about what she wanted, specifically this Sam Conner.  A brother?  Boyfriend?  The thief gave a shrug.


"Ain't seen no Sams since the world ended up in shit's creek without a paddle, though to be fair, I ain't asked a lot of people their names, since they're usually trying to capture or kill me.  I'll give ya this though sweetheart: if your Sam went anywhere near Cincinnati, he's as good as dead, or turned into one of those walkers.  The place is a hellhole, just like all the other cities from what I've heard."  Phantom remembered the lone radio in the Confederation "re-education camp" picked up.  The reports coming out of the Northeast, D.C. and as far south as Charlotte, nothing was good.  At least it was better than when they tuned into what went on at Baltimore.  A camp there left their broadcasting equipment on for one reason and another as it was being swarmed by the Zeds.  The screams, pleads and cries that came out of that box kept most of the prisoners awake for a good while after that.


Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, Phantom gave a stretch of his muscles.  "So... you leaving or am I?"


Suddenly a gunshot rung out, then another two.  Phantom cursed before raising his gun again, only at the direction where the shots came from, rather than at the girl.  He peeked over the side of the roof, where the flashes came from.  Slowly but surely, the nearby Zed's (the closest being on the main road into the center of Hazelwood) began shuffling their way towards the disturbance.  The thief slid back down and looked at the newcomer.  "Get down!" he hissed before mumbling to himself, "of course this would be my luck.  Another wannabe hero that ends up drawing a mob towards them."


@MisfortunateDreams @Lancelot @Whisker

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

@WanderingJester @Lancelot @Whisker
​

Her heart beat calmed when the safety of the man's gun clicked. It echoed in her ears for a short moment as the realization that she had picked the right path washed over her. Killing someone was something she had yet to do and she refused to do as long as she could. Of course, if she got into a tight spot that didn't mean that she wouldn't. The world was a funny place now. It wasn't a matter of who was who. It was now a matter of if you were weak, you would die. If you picked wrong, you would die. If you did not do what was needed, you would die. If you were not willing to kill someone who was trying to kill you, you would die.


Lea gave a soft sigh when the guy told her he hadn't spoken to any Sams. It caused the hallow cavity in her chest to ache dully. Her mind traveled to her friend, playing the last words she had heard from him over. Such a short phone call. She should have stayed on the phone with him, walked. If she had done that though, there was no guarantee that she would be alive today. It was pure luck that she had been safely in her apartment when the outbreak got bad.


Her mind was ripped away from this thought when gunshots rung out. Her heart thudded, her mind buzzing as it once again try to sloppily take in the situation. She hated this. She hated the way the world was now. Why couldn't things be normal, like when she lived back home with her dad. She wasn't prepared for this. No one was...

~*~
​

"Come on, L." Her father stood over her, a gun pointed at her temple. "You're better than this."


She hissed, pushing away the paint-ball gun as she lifted herself from the mud and readjusted her gear. They had only just allowed her into their weekly spars and she was doing just as they thought she would. Clumsily she waddled around, getting hit left and right. Her cameo gear was now a spattered yellow and blue mess. There was no helping it, war was not her strong suite after all.


"What did I tell on the way here?" Her dad gave her a smart-*ss look. "Don't remember?"


She bit her lip in spite, hating that she had worked so hard to be accepted into this but was doing so bad now. Around her the calling and hooting of a victorious team coming from the arena sounded. It wasn't her team, not this time and not the others either. She was holding them back.


"Well, maybe you should sit out this round." He jabbed a finger toward the benches. "Think about it and maybe you'll realize what you're doing wrong."

~*~
​

You have to treat it like it's life or death. Baby girl. One day, it might be.


Lea hit the ground faster than a blink. Her legs bending in a low, yet ready crouch as she moved quickly to the ledge of the roof. Her eyes scanned the parking lot of the station. The gun shots weren't around her, but they were close. The thought of other humans actually being alive in the waste that the world gave her hope. If so many people were still kicking, then maybe Sam and her dad were still out there too. Perhaps that gunner was actually Sam fighting off a horde of zombies as she sat there on a roof with some stranger.


Or perhaps its scumbags raiders calling zombies there to eat their victims. She shook her head.


"We should check it out." She commented quietly to her companion, whom she had just realized was wearing a hood. "They could need our help."

 

[Whisker]

“Thanks... I owe you one.”


Nick’s throat tightened even as his dry lips cracked a smile. For just a heartbeat or two, he felt a ray of sunshine rise in his chest even as the world around him succumbed to the darkness. But that peaceful, buoyant feeling evaporated as surely as a balloon being punctured as the ringing silence that came after was broken by a string of moaning, an edict that announced the true awakening of the dead. Like a man in a dream, his eyes drew a line from the faceless shadow standing before him down to the gun in his hand, then bounced it over in the direction of Hazelwood. 


It hadn't dawned on him right away, but he knew it now. They were coming. And though he hadn't been the one firing the gun, he was in just as much shit as the guy standing in front of him if he stayed here.


No time to debate on how stupid this was. We gotta move.


Deciding to take his chances on the gun versus the approaching horde, Nick popped up from behind the rusted van and began ascending the hill towards his 'ally' as though his own ass was on fire. He didn't want to think on how he must appear to this stranger; a ragged figure with matted hair, shabby clothes spattered in mud that was 3 sizes too big, and skinny as a drowned sparrow. But if he wanted to continue to survive ... and he so very much did ... he would just have to gamble on the stranger.


Once he reached him, he took a moment to catch his breath, his hands falling to his knees, but then he looked up.


"Gotta circle around; they're coming off the hill. Our way in is blocked."


He could tell just by the sounds alone. The cacophony was bouncing off the buildings ahead of them. He could even spot shadows fluxing out and coming right towards them. If they stayed here, they'd be overrun in under two minutes. And that was just from the ones that they could see right now ... 


@Lancelot

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurence Stanton gave an incredulous look over to the girl, even if most of it got blocked by his hoodie.


They both used what little cover the roof provided now, each taking occasional glances over the edge.  The gunfire had stopped, yet the Zeds continue to head in that general direction, slowly but steadily.  Out of nowhere, the girl assumed that they had formed something of a team or a partnership, a notion that Phantom would quickly disabused her of.  He quickly clicked the safety back on his pistol before stowing it away.  Grabbing his backpack, the thief quickly tossed it over his shoulders and began heading towards the ladder he took up to the roof.  "You want to be another dead hero?  Be my guest.  I'm going in the other direction.  They might be stupid enough to draw a Z-mob their way; I ain't stupid enough to follow them into that mess."  The sky was more or less completely dark at this point, allowing only the stars and the nearly full moon to provide illumination.


Phantom took a look over the edge, and scanned the area.  With the nearby zombies being drawn by less noise disciplined suckers, he didn't expect a walker to be in the lot, let alone near them.  Still, Phantom preferred to avoid traveling at night as a rule, despite him breaking said rule many times.  The habits of a professional thief were hard to break.  He had always navigated out of danger, even in the drug fueled violence riddled streets of West Tennessee.  He gave another look over to the girl that he had the standoff with. "Well, seeing as you're not moving, I guess I'll be going.  Appreciate you not shooting me, since I would've had to return the favor.  Say hi to the Zeds for me, and have a nice life."  He unlooped the crowbar from his shoulder and hooked it to the stairwell, before starting his way down, unhooking the tool as needed just in case there was any zombies below that he couldn't see.


Just as Phantom hit the ground, an arm grabbed him on the shoulder.  For a moment, the thief thought that the girl had followed him, just before he turned and saw the decaying face of an accountant with wide jaw staring back at him.  "Shit!" he hissed quietly just as the moaning zombie tried to pull him in for that deadly love bite.  Sliding the crowbar in between them, the thief struggled with the death grip of the Zed as it used its other arm to grab him as well.  He backed up, then, like a stereotypical dick from a horror movie, he tripped.  Going down, the zombie on top of him, Phantom thought about why his life didn't flash in front of him.  Then his adrenaline hit him.


"Fuck this."  The crowbar came up, straight end first, and drove itself under the chin of the zombie.  It went through the skin, then through the roof of the mouth, and into the brain.  A quick twirl of the tool later, and the zombie collapsed on top of the thief limp, the head falling over to Phantom's side, missing his body.


@MisfortunateDreams @Lancelot @Whisker

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

Leanna Archer
​

@WanderingJester 
​

Lea watched as the guy headed toward the ladder, somehow offended by her offer to check it out. Her eyes glazed over the lot again as he left. There was a silence that filled the air, the roof empty expect for her now. She wasn't wrong in her thought to help out, perhaps a bit crazed but what if the person could be saved by them? She allowed the choice to sink in, then stood and dusted off her jeans and the sleeves of her jacket.


Below was a muffled sound of bodies struggling. She followed the noise quickly, wondering if the sarcastic person had been caught up in something undesirable. Lea arrived when the zombie dropped, head sagging as the guy impressively shoved his crowbar through the corpses' head. She let out a small, impressed grunt before clearing her throat to get his attention.


"You're right." She said, coming down the stairwell as the zombie hit the ground. "Getting involved in whatever is going on wouldn't be... smart. Maybe we can share a meal?"


She gesture to her car. All her stuff packed into the back. It had enough in the tank to get them to a place safe enough to start a fire. Maybe even take a pit stop at a store to rummage around. Lea doubted the guy would take her offer. He didn't seem like the type to accept company. She, however, knew that this guy could handle himself. If surviving his sarcastic tone meant she had a person watching her back then she'd make the sacrifice.


"I'm Lea." She tried, hoping the offering of her name would buy a bit of his time. "Leanna Archer."


((Sorry, I'm drinking at a family function and it seems a bit hard to force words to work at the moment. My next post will be better I swear.))

 

[Hoax]

"God- frickity- stupid- ugh!" 


Loren's grumbling switched sporadically in volume as she trudged along, glaring at the dusty ground in front of her. It had been almost a day and a half since her and Felix had gotten separated, and already the initial panic had passed, giving way to self hatred. She should have killed those infected, should have chased after her brother before he was out of sight. But damn if those dead fuckers didn't bunch together perfectly to drive the kids apart...


No. Felix would be fine. He was just as capable as Loren, plus he had the rifle-


"HECK." The blonde finally yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Felix still had the rifle. This was absolutely fantastic for him but meant that Loren had... Almost zero weapons? Frick. This town was gonna suck so much ass.


The two siblings had been on their way... Really anywhere, and spotted Hazelwood in the distance. Loren hoped desperately that her brother would manage to meet her there since going back to look for him would be near-suicide. There had been a lot of infected, but since Felix had been on one side of the horde and Loren on the other, she figured he could have gotten away just as she did.


Taking a sort of roundabout way in, the teenager slipped her knife -and only weapon- out of it's awkwardly makeshift spot on her hip. If she was lucky there wouldn't be too many stumblers, maybe a corner store or gas station to scavenge from, and no volatile survivors to deal with...


.. Yeah right. Like luck was ever on Loren's side these days.


Within only a few minutes of walking into town a gunshot rang out, then another. Clearly someone was having a time with the undead... But at least it started to draw a few stragglers out of their convenient hiding places, the groaning monsters making their slow way towards the noise and away from a very relieved Loren. A few spotted her however and changed course, twitching and flailing their arms at her as they approached.


"Oh shit... Uhh, hey there." Loren muttered, backing up and towards a hopefully empty building. "Sure is a nice day today, eh folks? Heh... I'm gonna run now." 


Small talk finished she spun around and bounced up the front steps, slipping into the house and locking the door behind her. Safe, minus the thumping of five people's dead hands scrabbling at the wood.

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurence Stanton pushed the now stilled corpse off of him, taking a breath before getting back up.


Too close, Phantom thought as he held his crowbar in hand, scanning the area for any more threats.  Just as he finished making sure his surrounding was clear, he felt his heart pounding in his rib cage.  As Phantom gave a look to the suit wearing zombie, he felt as though his chest tightened.  Rather than having the adrenaline run off, his pulse grew faster and faster.  The thief's breathing shorted and he got to one knee.  Quickly reaching for something in his backpack, Phantom found what he looked for after a second of searching: a deck of cards.  Pulling it out, the man quickly shuffled it in his free hand, with the technique that would make a magician jealous.  Slowly, but surely, his breathing and heart rate slowed, and he found it easier to get a handle on things again.  Getting back on two feet once more, a clearing of throat made the thief look back up.


The girl turned and climbed down the ladder before admitting she was wrong and offered him a meal as she gestured to her car.  He raised his eyebrows.  Perhaps a trap?  Then again, one doesn't get much opportunity to partake in free food these days, without have to subject oneself to indenture servitude or stealing/killing/robbing.  He gave a look over to the car, then back at the girl and to the car again.  She gave him the vibe of someone naive enough to try and help every single person they would come across.  Still, she did offered free food.  Phantom gave a shrug before heading back into the gas station store, pulling out his flashlight. "Fine, you go get your stuff and I'll cover you from the rooftop.  Don't make any noise and use the inner stairwell to get back up.  I'll help you once you get inside the store if you need it."  He clicked it on before searching carefully through the store, not letting the light be seen much from the outside.


"Folks call me Phantom.  Now let's get some food in our stomachs.  It's going to be a cold night and we can't risk a fire in an exposed place like the roof."


@MisfortunateDreams

 

[MisfortunateDreams]

[SIZE= 24px][COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]Leanna Archer[/COLOR][/SIZE]
​

@WanderingJester
​

Lea gave a quick nod of her head before she took a few hurried steps toward her car. She paused before Phantom could walk away and waved for his attention. She then gave him a smile.


[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]"It's nice to meet you."[/COLOR] She said before turning to her car. She decided that it was best to grab everything she could and just bring it with her upstairs. She popped the trunk with the lever next to the steering wheel, then with her new pack in hand, headed back to sort through things. She started by putting all of her things into the bag. An extra pair of jeans, two clean shirts, an extra pair of underwear along with two pairs of socks all went into the large hiking backpack. She then transferred over the few cans of food she had been saving and two bags of top roman. With her stuff taken care of, she moved to what was in the trunk.


Another backpack. She paused when her hands ran over the men's clothing, holding it up as she peaked toward the roof. She wondered if Phantom needed a change, she certainly couldn't fit into it. She grabbed the other backpack and stuffed the male clothes into it, telling herself that if Phantom didn't need it she would surely run across someone who would. She could even use the T-shirts herself, it didn't really matter that they were to big.


She grabbed the last bund and pulled it open, eyes widening when she saw the jackpot inside. She had to keep herself from hooting in joy, instead stepping back to get a small silent jig next to the car. When she was finished silently celebrating, she returned to the sack and removed the flashlight, pocket knife, matches, extra can of food, and the opened box of band aids. She stuffed them into her bag and, with the stuff sorted through, grabbed the two bags before heading up to the roof.


She used the inner stairwell like Phantom had suggested, wondering what this dinner with a complete stranger would be like. She hadn't spoken to another human in so long she almost didn't know how to act. She certainly didn't know what to say. When she reached the roof she plopped down close to where Phantom was and pulled out one of the cans of baked beans. She had been saving her cans for awhile, mostly because she couldn't get them open without a can opener. Now, though, she had something that could get it open.


She pulled out her new knife and clumsily opened the can as her mind wandered to Phantom and Sam and her dad. When it was open, she set it down in the middle and took out a spoon and a fork.


[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]"It's not much but it's all I can offer. Oh, and I have some pineapple for dessert. Spoon or fork?"[/COLOR] She questioned.

 

[Mion]

Ryan Sean Lockhart
​

Ryan watched as the stranger ascended the hill, he was in worse shape than he was... significantly worse, if he hadn't already spoken to him he could have mistaken the man for another zombie.  Ryan had his gun ready for anything, but he decided to holster it for now, the stranger obviously meant no harm.


"Gotta circle around; they're coming off the hill.  Our way in is blocked" The stranger said, things weren't looking too good, perhaps if Ryan knew that the zombies were attracted by sound then things would have gone a lot smoother...  Ryan glanced over towards the buildings, there were already more freaks coming towards them, too much to handle at once.


"Best get going then, won't be long until they are at our heels if we stall too much."


@Whisker

 

[WanderingJester]

Laurence Stanton climbed back up to the rooftop, and gave a look around parking lot, wondering if he was making a huge mistake.


The enthusiastic girl waved at him from her car, and Phantom wondered why should wouldn't just grab her stuff and go in the first place.  Wondering how she hadn't already been robbed or something.  Still, free food was free food.  Therefore he kept a look out over the area, making sure no one, or zombies were sneaking up on his ticket to dinner.  The girl seemed to go through the stuff in the actual cabin of the car for a few moments, before moving to the trunk.  The thief on the rooftop would spare her a glance once in a while, before scanning the area once again.  After a moment, a sudden movement caught his eyes and his head turned sharply to it.  He rolled his eyes as he saw the girl dance quietly next to the car before grabbing the stuff into her bag and coming back.  Phantom got up, and silently went downstairs via the stairwell.


Meeting Lea downstairs, and waited for her to head up first before heading in the bathroom.  He found an exposed pipe running along the wall, and that the bindings holding it onto the wall had rusted up a lot time ago, like much of the disgusting bathroom.  Taking his crowbar, he did his best to quietly break the pipe off of the wall.  After a few moments, the pipe came out with a pop, and Phantom quickly caught it before it clattered on the ground.  The water had long ran dry in this area apparently.  Looking back outside, nothing seemed to have heard the noise, and so the thief went back upstairs, closing the rooftop access behind him and jamming the door shut with the pipe.


Walking over to Lea, Phantom couldn't help but gave small sigh at the canned beans in her hand.  Not that he wasn't appreciative of the gesture; any free food was good food at this point.  He had hoped for a bit of variety though.  Perhaps that's why even his normally neutral expression gave a small smile when the girl mentioned some pineapples for dessert.  Sitting down on the cardboards he had gathered on the rooftop at some interval before, Phantom looked at Lea.  "You got a disposable fork?"  He too, pulled out something: his canteen.  While not full to bursting, he figured it was only fair he shared something as well.  "I've got some water if you want it.  Also, got this, if you want some flavor as well."  He pulled out the orange gatorade powder from his pocket.


@MisfortunateDreams

 

[Hoax]

Sliding to the floor with a soft thump, Loren leaned against the hallway wall and took a deep breath. All good, all good... Just locked in a house filled with spiders and mold and possibly more infected and... And... 


"Aaaand pull yourself together." She whispered under her breath. "There's other people in town, focus on finding them. So long as they don't shoot me on sight, that is... Welp, here's hoping." 


With that pleasant thought in her mind the kid hauled herself to her feet, squeezing already-white fingers a bit tighter around her knife as she headed further into the house. 


It was exactly what you'd expect; Furniture was wrecked, dried blood trailed down the hallway. Spiders had built a considerable web-system in every ceiling corner and beyond. Loren herself moved slowly and silently, peeking into every room to make sure nothing unpleasant could surprise her. Within ten minutes the first floor was clear, leaving upstairs and... The basement.


Why the fuck did houses even have basements?


Loren paused at the top of the stairs, leaning down to listen for the telltale groaning or scrabbling. Sure enough a soft gnashing of teeth and fleshy noises met her anxious ears. Heck. Grabbing a nearby broken clock off the coffee-table she tossed it down the stairs, hoping it was just one infected and not a group. With luck it would stumble awkwardly up the stairs, straight into Loren's waiting knife.


A shadowed head appeared at the bottom and sure enough it growled loudly and started it's stumbling path up to it's waiting demise. A shaking knife plunged into the skull with a quiet yelp from it's owner, quickly jerking it out and stepping away in case of retaliation. None came. The monster slumped over and gurgled for a few seconds, returning the house to a relieving quiet.


"... The question is, do I actually go down there?" She muttered after a moment, glancing back towards the rest of the house. "Murder basement VS... Gee I don't know, hopping through a window and leaving forever?"