[b]Rudy - New Orleans/House - Ben/Simon/Enrique[/b]

"FUCK Disneyland!" Rudy cried, stabbing a shambling biter in the back of his grey bald head.

He turned to his current companions- Simon, Ben, and the guy called Enrique- and laughed. "That place was a dive. It was a shitty place before and it especially is now."

Ben turned from his spot by the windowsill and pouted. "No it wasn't. Just imagine it, seeing that magical land in all its glory-- With no rides!"

"Ain't so glorious now," Simon said, sitting on a kid's bed. It had a space pattern and was shaped like a rocket ship. Rudy shoved the dead biter out into the hall. When he returned, he closed the door to give the group a moment of peace.

"There still will be lines," he said. "They'll just be filled with biters now." Seeing Ben's frown, Rudy continued, "It might be cool, actually. Imagine cutting down a ton of them on a roller coaster. That's the kind of shit I wanted to see in a video game. Or a movie!"

"Forget all that," Simon said. "That just makes me depressed. I never even got to see Disneyland before all this."

"I never got to do a lot of things," Ben added.

"... Are you two serious?" Rudy said incredulously. "This, all of this--" He raised his hands. "--It's just... easier."

Ben turned around, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Hmm! Let me think," Rudy said with a grin. He sat down in a swivel chair and raised his hand into the air. "Our priorities before- our life [i]goals[/i], so to speak- included going to school--" He lifted a finger. "--then getting a job. [i]Then[/i] going to school again, so you can get yet another job! Oh, and let's not forget meeting a pretty girl and marrying her. Maybe even pop out a few children, huh?" Rudy grimaced. "Life before was bullshit, but things are different now. Simple. No more fucking celebrities to bother with, no more vapid television shows to keep up with, no more listening to anybody but the people that matter."

Grumbling, Simon scratched at his junk. "Is that it, really? What if we can one day make things like they were? We can change it all if we keep working at it--"

"That's bullshit," Rudy said, rolling his eyes. "There's no cure on the horizon. Compared to the amount of fucking biters out there, we're nothing. We're an insignificant speck amongst a sea of utter shit. All we can do is make sure Outpost is a damn fine place to live. You guys are my family. Out post is family now and you're all a damn better family than I ever had."

Ben was staring wistfully out the window. "I lost my mom. And my girlfriend."

Rudy glared at him. "You think I haven't lost anyone important to me? A piece of me was ripped out the day I lost someone very special. A whole chunk, just fucking gone. I said I had a shit family, not shit friends, do you get me?"

Slowly, Ben nodded. Simon wasn't so content. "You have a point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, dude."

"I don't care." Rudy stood up. "Whatever floats your fucking boat. I was just telling you how I feel."

---

[b]Shannon - Haywood/Daniel's House - Emma/Daniel[/b]

Shannon and Daniel stepped through the door to his home after having gone out for a quick supply run. "I'll get this stuff put away," he said, walking toward the kitchen that had so recently become the set of a Mexican stand-off. Shannon threw off her shoes and stepped into the living room. She'd been happy changing into a pair of track pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The dress was nice, but hardly suitable for the kind of day that had fallen on her.

She collapsed on the couch and smiled at the scented candle burning softly on the coffee table. She figured Emma must be upstairs then. 

It really was a quaint house. Aside from the second floor, it reminded Shannon of her old apartment. She looked around the living room and spotted patterns that felt very familiar to her. Parts of the living room were rather sparse, containing entire patches of free space. Some parts were furnished with a touch of personality, like the end table with the vase of flowers. The living room was both equally Daniel and Emma's, much like her own home had been both equally Danny's and Monica's. Shannon had had her own touch as well, but she always found it funny how the living room table somehow maintained an equilibrium of junk and sophistication. Danny would leave books and magazines scattered on the table, leaving Monica to put them away and replace them with candles and coasters. Of course then those would be removed, only to be replaced with more books and a half-empty can of soda.

Thinking of these things was not relaxing. It made Shannon upset and angry. She knew she had to forget about Danny and her old life, but that was impossible to do. That stupid idiot was still making her life hectic even when he was gone.

Shannon's head fell into her hands. She found herself sobbing and hated herself for it. After so long, how could she still be weak? Tears stung at her eyes and a lump was forming in her throat. She might have actually started crying if Emma had not then walked into the room. "Shannon?" she said quietly. 

Shannon quickly lifted her head and wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, sorry," she replied. 

Emma stared at her for a moment before taking a seat in the armchair. "I was putting Katie to bed."

Shannon looked at her confusedly. "That girl? You've got here here?" Emma nodded and her eyes looked downcast. Shannon felt like she should argue, but she refrained from doing so. The little girl couldn't have exactly helped who her father was.

"Were you crying?" Emma eventually asked. Shannon shrugged uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how to respond. God, where was Daniel? Had he run into another thief?

"Kind of." Shannon sighed. "Is there anything you miss, Emma?" She let the question linger, but when Emma took too long to respond, Shannon decided to fill the silence. "I miss a lot of things. I miss going to school. I was in college, studying fashion design. Really dumb idea in hindsight, but I'm making up for it. I miss my parents a whole bunch, and my... friends. But I guess everyone misses their friends..." Shannon rubbed at her forehead and stared into the candle's flame. "I miss going to the movies. I liked scary movies a lot, even though they made me scared. It was kind of fun being scared, to believe in ghosts and spooky stuff. I miss the internet a lot, because I used to look up scary stories on there. I mean, I used the internet for a ton of stuff, but I really miss those stories. There were websites dedicated to them. I even made this dumb little blog where I'd talk about them..."

As Shannon trailed off, she fell backwards into the seat of the couch. "But those scary stories aren't so scary any more."