[IC] The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

[Roran Hawkins]

Alex Clark - New Orleans - Jamie/Chris/Cody

He stared at Jamie, at first infuriated at the man for leaving behind Danny and refusing to tell them what exactly happened, he then realized that Jamie was now going through the same that he had been going through so many times before. Grudging with his own instinctive reaction he looked outside when suddenly Jamie bursted into panick as Cody suggested staying any longer. Goddamn bastard. He didn't even tell them if Danny was dead or not. Sadly, the crawlers chasing them were getting closer and closer, and Cody eventually gave in and pressed the gas pedal. The groaning of the car fighting against the raging storm outside was terrifying in its own way, the rain rattling against the thin walls of the vehicle as wind made it shake violently as it moved. As the car started moving Alex instinctively grabbed a handhold above the doors and was glad he had done so when suddenly the car slipped out of control and they ended up on an overgrown front yard. He muttered curses in his mouth when both Chris and Jamie convinced Cody to turn back and leave, abandoning any hopes of finding Danny out here again.

They continued to safety a lot slower to prevent getting the car total loss, but this also lengthened their exposure to the storm, and the time it took to pass the crawler horde dead ahead. They slowly pushed their way through the horde, the noises of the storm overruling any sound they might have made, and so only few noticed the humans inside and started slamming on the vehicle, creating cracks in Jamie's window, much to further destablize the frightened guy., causing him to urge Cody to hit the gas, pushing him aside to do it himself. Alex tried to intervene, but was thrown back when the car jerked forwards in all of a sudden, holding on for dear life as the car slipped and turned circles over the road. For a few anxious moments it felt as if the car would tip over, but luckily they hit a mailbox that stabilized the uncontrollable vehicle somewhat so Cody could eventually regain control, only to hit something heavy and human-like, catapulting it over the vehicle. When Alex recovered from the shock he was staring outside at the motionless body, and as he heard the discussion going on he was already reaching for the door. "We can't leave without even checking." He said resolutely, checking the magazine on his bolt-action hunting rifle and stepped outside.

The storm hit him like a train and for a moment he used the car to stabilize and get used to the bashing wind. Step by step he got closer to the person - or crawler - on the ground, cursing the extreme weather for the lack of visibility. The person was face-down on the ground and didn't move at all, making it hard to see if it was a crawler or a guy. He checked where they had come from and could see the small herd shuffling in his direction, and cursed loudly, his words being swallowed by the storm. "Fucking Jamie!" He approached the body, very much aware of both the approaching crawlers and the other's eyes piercing his back, and poked the body with his rifle's muzzle a few times, before turning over the body with the rifle enough to determine if it was a person or something that had once been human.

[Myst]

Katie - Baton Rouge - Bingo Hall

Katie knew her daddy was right. He was always right.
But even so, her heart clenched inside of her and her throat felt sore. She looked down at the little ball of fur in her arms. It was looking up at her with it's large grey eyes, like it was looking to her to take care of it.

"It hurts Daddy," she said, tears streaming from her eyes. She hugged the small animal tighter to her. "My heart hurts."
She had promised to be good and listen.
She had promised...

"Please," she whispered, pleading with him. "Please Daddy. I don't want any more dying."
If she let go of this kitten, it would die. She knew it. It would be like she was killing it herself. Katie had never killed anything before, not even a spider, and she didn't want to ever start.

Katie's eyes went towards the two other people, the old man and the strange boy. She shrank away from them all. Reaching up, she held out her arm towards her daddy, wanting him to pick her up and hold her. She always felt better and safer when he was holding her.

---

Jessalyn - Bus - Abram, Ben

Jess listened to Abram talk. She really hadn't given him much of a chance and she felt bad about that. When he spoke of his child she found herself smiling. She didn't ask what had happened to his family. She could guess and really didn't want it confirmed.
When he moved up to work on getting the bus running she laid a hand on his arm. "Abram? Thank you," she said, knowing he could tell she meant more then just working on the bus. She was thankful to him for everything he had done and was doing for her and Ben and Floyd.

Floyd...
Her thoughts turned to him as she cuddled her almost sleeping baby. Where was he now? Was he out in this storm? Had he found shelter? She prayed that was so.
She missed that man. She missed him so much. He was ornery and short tempered and barely any manners, but she missed him dearly. She had to have him back in her life. She needed him back in her life.
Jessalyn's love for Floyd still burned strong.
Her heart wouldn't be complete until she saw him again.

Another flash of lightning and clap of thunder disturbed Ben and he started to fuss, working his way up to wailing. His little face turned red and his tiny fists balled up tightly as he prepared to announce his displeasure at the world.
Jess cuddled him to her chest so he could hear her heartbeat. She started to hum, then sing gently into his ear.

Goodnight my angel,
time to close your eyes,
and save these questions for another day,
I think I know what you've been asking me,
I think you know what I've been trying to say,
I promise I will never leave you,
And you should always know,
No matter where you go, no matter where you are,
You'll always be a part of me,

Goodnight my angel,
Now it's time to sleep,
And still so many things I want to say,
Remember all the songs you sang to me,
When we went sailing on an emerald bay,
And like a boat out on the ocean, I'm rocking you to sleep,
The water's dark and deep inside this lonely heart,
You'll always be a part of me,

Goodnight my angel,
Now it's time to dream,
And dream how wonderful your life will be,
Someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby,
Then in your heart there will always be a part,
Of me....

It was an old lullaby she had heard as a child and had grown up with. She had always dreamed about one day having a child of her own to sing it to. And even though the way he came was not pleasant, he was here now and he was her little angel. Jessalyn knew from the moment she looked into his eyes that she would give her life for this little life that had come from her.

---

Heather - Storm - Floyd, Seth, Hank(?)

Heather whirled around when Seth said that Hank was gone.
Gone?! How could they have lost him?! He was just there! Why hadn't she held on to him tighter?!

"Hank!" she screamed into the storm.
She couldn't lose him. God she couldn't lose that man. Not now. Now ever. Despite the fights and the hard feelings, he was her anchor. The person she counted on to be calm and collected.

Floyd ordered them to continue on, saying he would find Hank. Heather only moved because Seth nearly dragged her.
Please God, she begged. Please let that reckless son of a bitch be alive.

And once Floyd brought him back, Heather was going to kick Hank's ass for scaring her to death like this. Then she would probably hug him and maybe even ki-
She jerked herself out of that train of thought. That was over for both of them. She doubted he wanted anything to do with her in that way after all of the fights and hard feelings she had put him through. Not that he didn't deserve them, but still...

The wind was picking up and the rain was getting stronger. Everyone outside was soon soaked to the bone. Heather's hair was plastered to her head and some of it fell into her face, making it hard to see. They had to find shelter and quickly. Would the others have waited for them? Or had they left?

[HellHoundWoof]

Enrique circled backwards along his previous path, encountering the few scouts he had circling around with him. He gave them a pat on the back and told them to head inside and find someone new to take their positions, he eventually found Colton and had him go to sleep, he knew the kid would be exhausted by now, his messy blond hair was soaked and his clothes were wet. Enrique made one last cycle and then headed inside, he made his way to the kitchens where he knew Amanda and the other cooks would be preparing the meals for the returning scouts, unfortunately some of the returning would have to be on the walls. But they'd still get a meal eventually. He spotted Amanda, he forced a smile and approached her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him briefly.

"You look like hell Ricky," she said with a smile.

"You know I hate when you call me that," he said looking down at her, a grim expression crossed his face when he remembered the conversation with Myriah. Amanda noticed his expression and a worried look crossed her face. He smiled and pulled his pistol from his belt line sliding it into the back of hers.

"Head home as soon as possible," Enrique said calmly, "I gotta sort some stuff out with Myriah. We had a strange discussion while I was on the walls. But I'll fix it."

"Okay," she said worried, "Don't do anything overly stupid."

"Hey, I love you," Enrique said with a smile, she smiled and kissed him walking away. He watched her walk back to their shared room in one of the few buildings outpost had. He made his way towards the gates, where he had assumed Sylar would be. When he saw him he walked slowly towards him and extended his hand.

"Good to see you made it back," Enrique said, "Who all did we loose?"

[Rithas]

Liam-Somewhere He doesn't know

Liam looked around once again. He wondered if at this point he should know where exactly he was going. He never payed attention, which would get him eaten one day but so would everything he did...eventually at least. But on to more pressing matters. Well, He didn't have any "matters" but it was a fun word to say...matters....matters...matters matters matters matters matters matters mattersmattersmattersmattersmattersmattersmatters

If you looked carefully at him you would see Liam wasn't really in focus at all. Rather letting his feet carry him as his mouth moved but didn't say any words.. Perhaps you would call him weird. He was shivering slightly. Likely because of the fact his clothes weren't in the best of state. "Little fish big fish little fish big fish little fish big fish little fish big fish"

He entered a building, well. He made a mental note that he went into a building. once again he wasn't actually looking. Not even to the voices. A rather annoying in his ears made him walk slightly faster, everything was so silent to him at least. And all he could hear was his ears going weird.

He heard a noise behind him, and as he continued walking he looked behind him to see whatever that was. But as he turned back, his face as well as his whole body bumped quite hard into something. Causing him to slowly stumble back and then falling completely backwards.

As soon as he was entirely on the ground, he quickly found his knife in his hands. He started shaking very visibly. His eyes raced across the group, Two men...three men....The one he knocked into had a Little girl next to him. Well, She couldn't be more then four years younger then him but still.

"Don't hurt me Don't hurt me Don't hurt me Don't hurt me" Liam started mumbling, He was shaking loads now and trying to crawl backwards. Rather unsuccessfully to say the least.

He kept flailing around, until he heard a small sound. Which caused him to look more closely at the girl to see the thing of fur in her arms. Liam stopped shaking, in fact he suddenly stopped doing anything. Before quickly getting up and peering at the kitten....

"....Awwwwwwwww" Liam seemed to forget about anyone else aside from the girl and the Kitten, and to a lesser extent the man next to the girl.

Matt-Outpost-Sarah

Matt peered at Sarah carefully as she talked about Myriah, As if trying to see inside her soul. "Right...right" A flashed of annoyance was on his face before quickly going back to his tone. Which quickly turned in a smile. "It's truly excellent how the classes are going, A bright future in one area at least" He smiled. Aren't you happy Myriah?

Matt tilted his head as Sarah went on. He sighed before looking at Sarah. "Tsk...Well, I see that was likely to happen. But I don't really see a solution to that...I guess what you say is true. People...like to complain it seems" He looked at Sarah for a few seconds. Before suddenly looking away, "Oh...but...um...truly seems troublesome. But still, things are improving since...then"

Rob-STILL WINDY IN THE WOODS-Finch, Emma

He looked around to see if Finch was following him, he was...good. A cabin was in the distance, that was also good. He was tumbling about and he was rather tired of it. It seemed the door was locked though, "DAMMIT!" He screamed before doing what he thought would work. Which was Kicking the door as hard as he could as many things as he could. "COME ON!" Suddenly the door smashed open...sending Rob flying in. "Ow" He stood up. Seeing Finch coming in. He looked around, spotting someone in the corner.

"Oh hey Emma...Sorry about the door"

[SheriffLlama]

Abram - The Bus - Jess

Abram was about to turn to head to the front of the bus when Jess put her hand on his arm, offering him a thank you. He nodded in returned, resuming his trek to the front of the bus. One thing bugged his mind, however... It wasn't fair. None if this was fair. This girl, still a teenager, had been through too much... she'd seen dead people come back to life, living people fall dead to the ground, and she'd seen life enter a dead world. She was a tough kid, that was for sure... Abram could look in her eyes and see pure dogmatism and determination. She also bore that look when she held her little boy that said "Think about touching him, and I'll feed you to the walkers."

Abram pulled his train of thought to the present and assessed the situation at hand. At the front of the bus, he opened his pack to examine it, but a grimace poked at his lips when he viewed the supplies - or lack thereof. A large box of ammunition (Divided between Pistol rounds and rifle rounds), several water bottles, and several sundry cans of preserved foods. He removed a water bottle and took it back to Jess, then returned to the front. He went to the driver's seat and searched for a minute; nothing. He then looked to the glove compartment of the bus. He took his knife and began to work at the lock on the compartment. Sliding the tip of the blade into the keyhole, he put his ear close to the plastic frame, listening for a click. When the click came, he turned the knife and opened the compartment, satisfied at what he saw. A small lockbox sat inside, locked only by a cheap lock. He removed the box and forcibly smashed the lock. He opened the box to find a single key, labeled with the FORD logo. He grinned to himself and took the key, placing himself in the driver's seat. \

The man cursed when he turned the key, but the bus gave no response. He swore and shook his head. Why had he expected better than that?

Unbeknownst to the two in the bus, a group of four men sat in the woods across the road. "Wait until he leaves. Jenson, you follow him when he does and take him out." The leader of the pack said. The man called Jerry nodded, but was slightly uncertain of if he wanted to take on the guy. He was tall, muscled and he looked like he could use that rifle well enough. The men sat in wait for their chance to take these people's supplies.

Sylar - Outpost - Mariah/Sylar

Sylar spoke in an attempt to calm Mariah down. "Listen, listen... Mariah, we're all fine. Charlie's leg will heal; she's a tough kid..." The man spoke in his baritone southern voice, and sighed. "As for Rudy- Danny- err what he's calling himself now, I don't know how they're doing. They haven't come back, but I am sure they're fine." He said, trying to be as sympathetic as possible. He looked at her for a moment. "You should get inside before you get sick." He gave her as much of an empathetic smile as he could. He wasn't used to this kind of thing... this was the same reason that he wasn't friendly with many of the kids in outpost besides Meghan and Hazel.

Children made Sylar nervous... only one had put him at ease... there had only ever been one child that had gained the unconditional love that Sylar hid deep down under lock and key in his heart. He waited until Myriah walked away before he relaxed. He was about to walk towards his cabin when Enrique approached him. He swore silently... He really didn't want to talk to anyone else right now...

"Good to see you made it back. Who all did we loose?" Sylar read Enrique's inquiry as slightly hostile. What was he trying to say? That they'd screwed up, even though he'd not told him about the loss yet? Slightly defensive, Sylar attempted to level his voice. "Just... just Alan, though I'm not belittling his death." He breathed in. "Charlie broke her leg, but other than that we're alright." He studied the man in that moment. Sylar had originally hated him after the Haywood incident, but he'd come to understand slightly better. He too had made poor choices under the influence and pressure of others.

Emma - The Cabin - Rob/Finch

Emma sat in corner of the cabin by the unlit fireplace. It was then that she heard a fierce pounding on the door. She bolted to the bedroom, grabbing the rifle from the bed, and using all of her strength to force the bolt back. She aimed at the the door, bravely waiting for a threat to present itself. Her breathing was heavy and her heart pounded as she waited. When the door smashed in, she was astounded to see Rob and Finch in the doorway.

"Oh hey Emma...Sorry about the door" Rob muttered. Bewildered, Emma's breathing slowed, and she lowered the rifle, so as not to point it at Rob. Without any further explanation or greeting, she walked back to the Bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Rob confused her, she knew that. How could he be so lighthearted in these days?

[Atomyk]

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall - Katie/George/Jacob/Liam

He watched as his little girl reached out for him, one of her arms still holding the kitten close to her chest. "Please Daddy, I don't want any more dying," she said, tears in her eyes. Tyler felt as if had taken a blow to the gut. He hadn't wanted Katie to get her hopes up, but it suddenly occurred to him how deeply unfair that was. He scooped Katie into his arms, careful to mind the cat between them. He closed his eyes as he held her, her soft crying and tiny movements causing him to choke up. He thought of Katie's mother, what she would do in this situation. She... probably would not have advocated keeping the cat either, not in this situation. If Katie had brought home a stray cat in the days before, when she was still alive, then she would have--

No, that didn't matter. She was gone. Their family was gone. Katie had nothing left but Tyler, and all he did was screw things up for her. How could he possibly allow her hopes to be squashed yet again? "You... You can keep the cat, but we need to be careful with it." He let go of Katie to turn to the guy they had just met. He mentioned his name was Jacob. Tyler introduced himself, Katie, and George. He was going to ask about where they could get an oral syringe when another individual crashed the party. He knocked into Tyler, sending Tyler spinning around, a gun appearing in his hands out of instinct. His eyes went wide as he stared down this intruder, who appeared to be a kid frightened out of his mind. Tyler sighed and lowered his weapon as the boy begged them not to shoot him.

Tyler took a step toward Katie and put an arm around her. It was certainly coincidental that they all found themselves here in this moment, but Tyler was used to coincidences within his life. In hindsight, most of them turned out to be bad, unfortunately. "Jacob," he said, keeping one eye on the kid. "Any idea where we could get supplies? Or even a place we can stay that's not here. It's run down and not fit for all of us." He began to address the boy by pointing at the knife in his hands. "Put that down and tell us your name. What are you doing here?"

[Myst]

Jessalyn - Bus - Abram

Jess smiled as she took the water from him and drank a bit. Ben started gurgling happily and she smiled brightly, making kissing noises to her baby boy.
She looked up towards Abram and cocked her head. It seemed like he was having trouble getting the bus going. It was still raining outside.
"I hope you don't have to go out in this rain," she said. "There's no more lightning, but I still don't think it's a good idea to get wet," she added, bouncing Ben and making him laugh. He turned his head towards Abram, becoming fascinated with what he was doing.
"You want to see Benny?" she asked and went closer so the baby could see better.

Ben blinked his large chocolate eyes and moved his tiny fists, reaching and grasping for the various strange looking items around him. When he tried to put his mouth on the shifter Jess moved back quickly, which caused Ben to voice his displeasure.
"I really need to make some toys for you," she said absently. She didn't really have any baby supplies. No real diapers other then the cloth ones she had made from old clothes, no rattles or pacifiers, no blocks or stuffed animals, nothing bright and colorful, no teething rings or things for him to chew on or put in his mouth.
He wanted to play and she had nothing for him. It would only get worse as he got older. She didn't want to even think about when he started teething and she would have nothing for him to chew on to relieve the pain of the teeth piercing through his little gums.

Jess's face went from happiness to worry. How was she really going to care for this baby as it grew? What if they didn't find anything along the way? Would he grow to resent her? Was she not being a good mother already? Jess really didn't know how to be a mother, she had just been going on instinct so far. What if that wasn't enough?

She turned and went to the door, looking out of the glass at the outside world. It was so big and dangerous. What if she couldn't keep him safe? What if she lost him? Just like she had lost Floyd?

Katie - Bingo Hall - Tyler, George, Jacob

Katie cried out happily when he said she could keep the kitten. She hugged him tightly with one arm, holding the kitten out of the way with the other. "Thank you Daddy!" she cried. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
She gave her daddy a big kiss on the cheek as he put her down. "I'm going to call him-" she stared and was cut off by someone running into her daddy from behind. She gasped, tucking the kitten against her instinctively to protect it.

When the strange boy saw the kitten in her arms and came closer she backed away and behind her daddy, not wanting the new person to try to take her new friend.
"Daddy...?" she asked, fear and uncertainty in her voice.

[Atomyk]

Scouts - New Orleans/The Pub - Alex

Chris gingerly followed Alex from his side of the car, leaving Cody and Jamie to stew anxiously inside. A large gust threatened to blow Chris off his feet, but he managed to plant himself to the ground with just a steady hand placed on the car. Chris was a heavyset man and had been often said to have more muscles than brains, but he believed that had worked out for him with the world the way it was now. He raised his free hand to shield his eyes from the rain and stepped up to the body as Alex rolled it over. The sight that greeted them was no doubt a living man, or at least a living man up until he was recently run over. His long brown hair was slick with rain and blood. Chris' eyes met Alex's before looking toward the biters coming their way.

"Get back inside! I got 'im!" Chris leaned down and shakily placed a hand to the man's neck. He was no expert in checking for a pulse and it wasn't so easy a procedure with a storm battering away at him, at least in Chris' opinion. In a moment, Chris determined that he could feel a pulse, so he quickly shouldered his rifle and scooped the man into his arms. The man was light and barely weighed anything at all, indicating to Chris that the man probably hadn't been very healthy before they ran into him. With a few grunts and curses, Chris got the car door open in and managed to sit down with the man on top of him. The dead managed to reach the trunk of the car by the time the man was set up between Chris and Alex, but with some panicked urging from Jamie, Cody stepped on the gas and moved them forward.

Jamie muttered in the front seat about grabbing the man being a really stupid idea, but both Cody and Chris managed to ignore his mumbling. Looking the man over, Chris wasn't sure if he had broken any bones or not. Surely this was the improper way of transporting someone with possible broken limbs, but there was nothing else they could do. Chris grimaced as the man's blood seeped into the car upholstery. "Alex, hold on to him and keep him steady. I'll get his head level." It was a little freaky, but Chris managed to grab the man's head and kept it staring straight ahead.

The car finally pulled into the hotel and Jamie let out a cheer. Cody turned around Chris and Alex, giving the man between them a grimace. "Both of you get him inside," he said, opening the car door. "I'll go warn Hazel she's got company." He stepped out of the vehicle and motioned for Jamie to do so as well, who was more than happy to oblige. The pair crouched low and charged for the front door, causing Chris to sigh.

"Come to my side," he muttered, before opening his door and carefully pulling the unconscious man with him. Chris tried to keep the man sitting and level, but it was rather difficult in the confines of the car. After what felt like ages, Chris had the man half outside the car and in his arms. "Hurry!" he yelled, unsure if the biters were still on them.

[Rithas]

Liam-Still has no idea where he is-Tyler,Katie,George,Jacob

Liam looked at the man for a second, flicking between him, the girl and his knife he slowly put his knife away. "Oh....Um...." He looked at the Kitten for a second. "My...name is Liam, Uh....I was...wondering around for food...or something. I don't know...something" Liam seemed distraction by the kitten. His eyes flashed up at the man. "Haven't...talked to anyone in a while....Especially hasn't seen kitten...." Liam eyes once again flashed through the entire group. He seemed to start shaking again, if not at a less extent. "Cross...I meant Liam Cross" He took a smell step forward.

"Can....Can I please see it....I mean....the Kitten....please?" He seemed to address the Girl. Manners worked these days didn't they? Did they ever work?. "Pretty please?"

His eyes wandered to the other two men behind the front two. One of them was called Jacob apparently, He didn't know which one. But one of them for certain.

"Um...I..Don't know...what your names are..." His eyes dashed up to who seemed to be the main person. They seemed to be a group at least. "So..."

Rob-The nice less windy but has a bit of a draft cabin...in the woods-Finch,Emma

Rob tilted his head as Emma seemed to just go into another room. "Right...I'm sure she's fine." He waved his hand to try to demonstrate something. Finch was being unusual quiet, but he didn't mind. Well, maybe he was talking but he could hear him. He sat down on whatever was closest to him. "Huh....We should probably close the door-Oh...right, I broke that...A little bit of wind never hurt anyone. But it does mean we'll have to constantly watch. Damn...and I wanted to have a small rest." Rob got up and turned to where Emma went in. "You Okay? Your not, Doing weird things in there....or whatever you do" Rob looked towards Finch and shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine..."

[SheriffLlama]

New Orleans - The Bus

Abram smiled as he watched Jess play with her baby. The little boy was so small, but he had made such a huge impact on his mother and Abram. The man had come to be very protective of Jessalyn, protecting her as if she were his own daughter. This sense of protection sounded and made itself known when he spotted something out of the window. It was in the woods on that side of the road, where he spotted a man - a living man - walking past them.

He removed his pistol from his belt and set it besides Jess. "Stay low, I'm going to check out the area." He exited the bus, drawing his rifle. Stepping into the woods, the man watched the figure move in the heavy rain. The rain would muffle the sound of his footsteps, so he made no attempt to be slow and stealthy. It was when he lost sight of the man that Abram became worried. The man slowly kept on his trek, warily watching the woods ahead of him.

"Hold it, buddy..." A voice came beside Abram. His body swiveled and he came face to face with a very ugly man. His mustache and beard were grown out far too much to look remotely decent, and his face was grimy and filthy. "Hand me the rifle, and put yer' hands up!" He snapped. His barrel almost touched Abram's left temple. In a quick motion, Abram swiveled to his left, bring his elbow to the man's head, and send him back. The man attempted to aim again, but Abram's hand came to his shooting wrist, twist it hard. The man dropped his gun with a cry of pain.

Up at the road, the bandit's friends were moving towards the bus. The leader, called Nate, quickly jumped up the bus stairs and pointed his assault rifle into the first seat.
The barrel pointed directly at a young girl who held a small baby. The girl instantly moved to protect the child, but Nate grabbed the pistol in her hand, wrenching it away.

"Hold on, little missy, we ain't gonna hurt you..." He said in his thick Louisiana accent. "Just looking for some food." Nate was a handsome man, and he was quite charming as well.

It was then that a loud shot pierced the air, and Nate's ears twitched and so did his body. "Hank, c'mon! Eric, you stay here!" The man said, and he and his friend left the bus. Eric eyed the girl for a moment, glancing her over... She was a pretty one, that was for sure. He knelt down, removing his ball cap.

"Evenin' ma'am," He said in a southern accent akin to Nathan's. "You got a mighty fine boy right there... He looks like a healthy one, too." Eric came close the the girl's face. "Who's the father?" He smiled in attempt to appear sweet, but all the while, his hand slid closer to her leg. Before he could lay a finger on her, a pair of dark hands came around his head, one seizing his chin, and the other gripping his throat. With a violent pull, Abram snapped the man's neck, dropping his corpse to the ground.

By that time, Abram guessed that the raiders had found their dead friend in the woods, as a barrage of bullets shattered the bus windows. Abram threw himself to the floor, covering Jessalyn and Benjamin. The bullets ceased and Abram took this opportunity to crawl to the stairs of the bus, jumping out and laying prone on the ground. The man took his rifle and pointed the barrel under the bus, getting a clear view of the woods. He aimed down the scope, searching the trees for a target. It was then that a short man peeked out from a tree, firing his assault rifle at the bus, Abram quickly caught the man in his crosshairs, pinpointing his head and firing a single round to kill him.

Quickly, he got up to avoid being spotted. The flash of his rifle had been totally visible against the black road. The sniper dropped to the back of the bus, hiding himself behind the wheel of the vehicle. He fit his barrel under the crook of the wheel and the ground, aiming down the scope. He searched the woods for the sight of another bandit, but he could see none. Then, he spotted it. It was a barely visible, very minuscule glint of metal, but it was enough to give away the man's position. Bullets sailed towards Abram, but the man rolled over behind the wheel in time to dodge them. He quickly repositioned himself, trying to spot the man again. Where had he gone? Abram jumped to his feet, returning to the bus. "Jess, we gotta go-" He was cut off as a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him to the ground. He saw a tall man, most likely the one that he'd been shooting at, standing above him. Abram quickly threw he heavy kick upward, sending the man back a few feet. He jumped to his feet and charged the bandit.

The man threw a heavy punch at Abram, but he retaliated with a swift dodge, throwing his knee into the man's stomach. Abram tackled the man to the ground, kneeling to his chest. He threw a heavy punch to the man's jaw, warranting a pained grunt from the bandit. Abram reached for his knife, but the man kicked it away, placing his feet under his chest and throwing the soldier back. The man picked up Abrams knife and swung hard towards Abram's neck. The man sidestepped, grabbing the raiders arm, and wrenching the knife from his hand and turned towards him. He took a heavy stepped forrward and plunged the blade into the back of the bandits hand. Abram watched the man fall to the ground. He quickly went to bus and stepped in. "Jess, we have to leave... the walkers heard all that..."

[Myst]

Jess - Bus - Abram / Bandits

Jess nearly screamed when the strange man appeared. She tried to pull her pistol on him but he quickly took it from her.
"Stop! I have a baby!" Jess cried as she covered Ben with her arms in an attempt to protect him should the man fire. When he said they were looking for food she looked up at him, trembling. "We have no food," she said. "But we do have friends with guns who'll be back any minute."

Her threat was not needed because moments later there was a gun shot and two of the men left, leaving one behind. Jess could tell by the look in his eye what he was thinking. Her eyes roamed the woods wildly. Where was Abram?
"Don't touch me!" she screamed when his hand came towards her leg. His mother's distress caused Ben to howl his displeasure, his small face turning red in upset.

But before the lecher could touch her Abram suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Abram!" Jess cried out as he killed the man with little effort. They had no time to speak before a hail of bullets crashed through the windows.
"Stop!" Jess screamed, covering Ben as Abram covered both of them. When he crawled out she stayed on the floor, crying and praying the shooting would stop. For a few moments all that could be heard was the sound of Ben crying. Jess tried to comfort him but it was hard when she was terrified herself and the baby could sense that.

Abram returned the to bus and Jess stood, hoping to God it was over. Her eyes went large as she spotted movement behind him. "Abram!" she screamed but it was too late. The third bandit had gotten hold of Abram and pulled him to the ground. As they scuffled, Jess tried to find some kind of weapon to help Abram with. By the time she had decided to put Ben down on a seat and go out herself Abram was coming back, saying they had to get out of there.

"He's okay," she told Abram. "He's okay," she repeated thankfully, pressing a kiss to the baby boy's forehead and hugging him tightly, tears springing to her eyes. "It's okay baby... Benny, it's okay... Mommy's here... shh..."

Poor Ben was still upset, not understanding what all of these loud noises and shouting and screaming meant. He was still crying but it was quieter now, more like blubbers and whimpers. Jess cooed and shushed him, trying to calm him down and hoping he would just go to sleep until they reached another safe area. Or at least relatively safe.

Jess didn't ask what had happened to the other men. She already knew. So instead she placed Ben into the sling across her chest and covered him with her jacket to keep the rain off of him. She grabbed her bag and found where her pistol had been dropped. "I'll follow you," she told Abram.

[DELETED324324]

Jacob, The Bingo Hall, Tyler,Liam,Katie,George

Jacob was about to say something but a man came running into the build he looked confused and beleaguered, and clasped a knife in his hand, Jacob reached into his vest and pulled out his pistol but did not pull it on the man but was simply showing the man that it was there, truthfully he had no idea how to shoot the damn thing, but he had read up on how guns work back at the library. Tyler then asked Jacob where they could stay and get a oral syringe so Jacob gave his best guess as to where to get one "Well all super markets with pharmacy's have them in boxes of baby Tylenol, and i read once in a book on animal care and there was a recipe for kitten formula in it, so we have something to feed it." He was feeling useful.

Jacob took a deep breath before he went on "I've been staying at the city library but there is a motel six nearby, that seems safe." Was the last thing he said before going off onto a tangent about hotel bedrooms and hotel wait staff. But then he remembered something important about kitten formula "Also stores like Wal-mart carry kitten formula." He said interrupting his tangent about hotels. This kid was everywhere but he had the brains to back it up at least.

[QT]

DeSean - Roadway - Seth/Heather/Group

"What the hell do you mean?!!" DeSean yelled as he took Seth by the collar and slammed his back into the SUV. "How did you lose him?!" he screamed again, aggravated by his non-returning friend. Seth had become speechless by the sudden urge of violence. He fell to his knees in attempt to evade any further aggression, but failed as DeSean forced the young Asian back to his feet. "Dammit!" DeSean finished as he pushed Seth to the side and hurried to the trunk of the vehicle. He looked inside as rain continued to pour from above. Quickly, he pulled out an semi-automatic rifle, the only weapon they had left and loaded it. He motioned Imogen to get out of the truck because she would be the one accompanying him.

Seth at the moment had walked back to the vehicle parked last in the line of cars. He lost sight of Heather, worrying about his own safety at that exact moment. As he entered, he couldn't face Aaliyah neither Aiden. He was falling into a phase where his self-doubt overwhelmed his ability to process. Like Hank, Seth wasn't hearing anything other than his own thoughts. It was as though he was in a world within his mind - a one-man life sentence in the darkest prison. He had begun to blame himself for losing Hank, for allowing Floyd to follow as well. He wasn't even strong enough to face Heather, running away alone like a coward. He didn't understand why he was so weak, why he couldn't be as strong as Hank or DeSean. They did't even allow him to use a gun because of what had happened a couple of months ago. It was a horrible feeling to feel weak, to feel useless. He was more of a liability than a positive. It was all pointless.

---

Floyd/Hank - Building

"No! I saw him! Over there!" Hank called out to Floyd, running through the corridor at full speed. Floyd at the second thought Hank was hallucinating, believing that what happened to Heather made him snap. The thing is, he could't go back without him, if he did, there would be very crucial consequences. The black man would assume Floyd himself killed Hank, the others of course might not, but wont have any saying in the matter. In fact, their own sorrow might give them the push to make rash decisions. So there was only one choice, and that was to bring Hank with him, no matter what.

"Tsk!" Floyd cursed as he continued to run down the hall, following the sprinting Hank. Suddenly, Hank stopped at an intersecting hallway, having two options before him. He could go right, or he could go left. The man looked in both directions, then cussing due to the inability to make a choice. He had lost the trail, not certain where the other person had gone. That little pause gave Floyd a chance to catch up to Hank, coming up next to the man. "What are we tracking?" Floyd asked, crouching down to look at the ground, looking for some kind of clue. Suddenly he realized that Hank must have not been hallucinating when he noticed a muddy footprint. Floyd then took lead, signaling Hank to follow him.

The two men then started down the right corridor, taking it slowly now since they lost sight of their target. Floyd pointed at a door, the one the tracks led to. He crouched near the doorknob, placing his hand on it gently without making a sound. But Hank didn't seem to grasp Floyd's plan and quickly smashed the door open with a fierce kick. He rushed in with his axe in grasp and looked towards the person he had been following. "Why are you chazin me man?!" the victim stated with his hands stretched out for protection. "I ain't do nuthin!" he added.

Floyd looked at Hank then the other man. "You're one of them aren't you?" Hank started as he took a step forward. "You've got the same tattoo, look!" Hank said, pointing at the man's sleeveless arm. There, on his right shoulder he had the tattoo of an eyeless crow. The four monsters from earlier had eyeless animals tattoos as well, all different, but all wit the same concept. "You're friends..............You know what they did?" Hank asked the victim taking yet another step towards him.

"Wh-What are you talkin about man? I don't know whatchu talkin about, It's just me here, nobody else"

"Your friends took advantage of one of our members. They stripped her in front of my eyes and shamed her as if she was not human. And you dare lie to me! You were outside, on watch weren't you?! You saw it all yet you say you had no involvement!"

"Calm down man, I ain't like those guys. The things they do- they did. I don't do those things. I'm sorry for your friend. I know how those guys can get, but I mean, I ain't like them. I just saw that horde out there and ran away. I'm a survivor, just like you guys, nuthin more man" the guy said, standing up and walking towards Hank, leaving the corner he was at. "How bout we just-just start over alright. Like I said, I had nuthin to do with what happened to your friend, but I am sorry. I'm Charlie" the guy said, extending out his hand to shake Hank's.

But suddenly, Hank came crashing down with the axe and completely sliced the guy's hand completely off. "AGHH!!" the loud yell came. Floyd didn't react fast enough to stop Hank. He then backed off as Hank moved closer to the monster. Hank swung again, this time missing the man's head as he fell to the ground. He then quickly returned with a downward motion and managed to clash against the man's right thigh. "AGGHHHH!!" another scream came. And then there was silence as he passed out. The man's eyes rolled back and his head thumped against the hard ground, but breathing could still be heard. Floyd looked towards the hallway, hearing the numerous moans coming from every direction. "We done here?" he asked Hank in a whisper. Hank raised his axe one more time to finish it, but stopped as the man woke yet again. He held up his hands to protect himself from the future blow.

Hank held the axe there for a second, looking at the man with anger and rage. But suddenly, he thought of a worse possible death. His axe slowly came down to his side, not striking the man. "I hope they tear you to shreds" he told the man as he walked away back towards the hall. He used the axe to cut the doorknobs off the door so that it wouldn't shut. Then he yelled. "OVER HERE ASSHOLES!!!" He slammed the top of the axe to make the most possible noise, calling the walkers to his location. Floyd urged Hank to get going by shaking his shoulder. "We gotta go" he said one last time. And with that, the two started towards the exit.

[Myst]

Heather - Roadway - Group

As predicted, DeSean did not handle the situation well. Yelling, he started beating on poor Seth. Still holding the coat closed, Heather grabbed DeSean and felt some of her fire come back.
"Don't take it out on him! For God's sake, he's a kid DeSean! Get over this he-man attitude of yours," she snapped and shoved him.

When she saw him taking a gun out of the car she knew what was in his mind. "Calm down before you do something stupid," she told him. "We've been through enough tonight without losing anyone."
She was shivering in the rain and from the aftershocks of what had happened. Her teeth chattered and her body shook as she spoke, the rain plastering her hair to her face.
"Floyd told us to come here while he went after Hank," she told DeSean. "If you leave us here we won't have any kind of protection."

He didn't seem like he was listening to her. Fear and panic spiked in her, so much so that she let go of the coat to grab his arm with both hands. "DeSean!" she nearly cried. "Please! Please don't leave us here. What if there are more of them?" she asked, fear making her eyes large. "DeSean please," she pleaded, lowering her voice. The coat had opened enough for him to see her bare stomach and between her breasts but not any more. "They attacked me," she told him in a low voice, not wanting to upset Jennifer or Imogen. "They hurt me... and they hurt Hank... If Floyd hadn't come along when he had, they would have done a lot worse to me and likely would have killed Hank. You may not like him, but I trust Floyd to come back with Hank. What I don't trust is you leaving us here alone. DeSean... please... don't let them hurt me again... don't let them hurt Jennifer. Stay... protect us."

[Roran Hawkins]

Alex Clark - New Orleans - Hotel - Chris/Cody/Jamie/Hazel

He didn't really have to do much as Chris checked if the guy was still alive. The crawlers were approaching slowly and nerve-wrackingly steadily, but they were not in immediate danger. As Chris dragged the man inside the car, Alex swiftly followed and slammed the door shut after he finally got in, suddenly closing out the storm. The sudden change of volume was only ruined by Jamie's complaining, and sadly for him Jamie didn't catch his angry glare. Helping Chris to get the man a rudimentary form of first aid, they raced towards the 'Hotel'.

Once there Cody and Jamie quickly ran inside through the raging weather as Chris waited him to help drag the man safely and carefully inside the building. After quickly running around the car with his rifle at the ready Alex concluded that there were no crawlers around to attack them immediately, as far as he could see in this bloody storm. Turning to help Chris they carried the man inside. He couldn't help noticing how fragile the man felt and could already feel a tingue of guilt coming up. They had practically killed a starving, panicked guy running around in a bloody tornado. He might've been just as dead without them, but at least he'd have had some sort of chance. Violently shaking his head he carried the guy inside where a helping hand immediately closed and locked the door again, shutting off the storm, and then led them to a place where they could deposit the guy.

[Atomyk]

Tyler - Baton Rouge - Liam/Katie/Jacob/George

Tyler stared at Liam, trying to work out what they were going to do with him. Tyler had no interest in taking care of other kids. "The cat's sick," Tyler said bluntly. "So don't touch him." He looked down at Katie. "... Unless Katie says so." Then he left his little girl's side to offer Liam a hand up, but the boy got up on his own. Tyler stared him down nonetheless. "What the adults say, you do. If you understand that then you can come with us."

With that out of the way, Tyler introduced Liam to everyone and got George to start getting the supplies ready. They had set aside only a fraction of it all for the three of them, but with the addition of two more people they could carry over half of what was there. "This won't last us long, so we're going to need to find a supermarket of some kind anyway." He handed Jacob a backpack. Tyler still wanted to ask about the cell phone but they had wasted a lot of time running into each other. "First stop's the motel, so you lead the way, Jacob."

At the front door, Tyler pulled Jacob and George aside. "I don't know how well you two carry yourselves in a fight, but the children are our priority, got that?" Tyler avoided the urge to say Katie specifically. He then walked over to the kids and took Katie's hand. "Everyone keep calm and stick together. We're smarter than anything else out there."

---

Scouts - The Pub - Alex

Chris grunted and swore as they carried the man through the parking lot. He occasionally shook his head wildly in order to get the rain out of his eyes and mouth. When they were inside with the door closed behind them, Chris let out a heavy sigh. "Hell. Once Enrique hears about this, I doubt they'll let Jamie on these supply runs ever again."

The pair got to the end of the hall where the kitchen was. Hazel and Cody were waiting for them. "Here, here," the girl said, passing a room key to Alex. Her voice was exasperated and almost sounded out of breath. "It's the room behind the stairwell. Another man is in the next room over. He's sick, so try and not disturb him." Chris peered behind the pair into the kitchen, where Jamie was sitting at table and nursing his head. "Oh! And--" Hazel hopped back into the kitchen momentarily and returned with a pair of towels. "For the bleeding," she said. Chris nodded and tucked them under his arm.

They got the man into the room and hovered over the bed with him. Chris had the man's torso so he gently laid the man down first. He paused to throw one of the towels over the pillow and softly let the man's head rest on top of it. When both scouts had finished, Chris shook his head and ran a hand through his short brown hair. "Thanks, man. You and Cody... you kept your cool." He smiled at Alex, despite the situation. Chris was just happy most of them made it to safety.

Thunder rocked the hotel and Cody let out a nervous sigh at the door, revealing his presence. "Hey," he said, moving to look over the unconscious man. "I'll look him over and see what I can do. Hopefully he'll live long enough so that I can actually do something..." As Chris moved to leave, Cody waved him to stop. "Once the storm dies down, you guys will need to look for Rudy. I don't know how long I'll need to monitor this guy, so..."

[Roran Hawkins]

Alex Clark - The Pub - Scouts

Carefully putting the man down where the woman directed them, he let out a loud sigh once all the tension was done. They were safe. For now. The raging storm outside still ruled over any ongoing conversation inside, but it didn't silence it. The small building filled with survivors felt like a candle in the night. Stepping back and leaning against the wall he shivered. He was soaked to the bone and the whipping winds outside hadn't helped at all. Excitement and excercise had kept him warm untill now, but now he was cooling off really quickly. Cody, who had remained in the carand was mostly dry took care of the unconscious man while he and Chris took a moment's respite. As Alex undid the first of his two sweaters and hung it somewhere to dry a bit, Chris started speaking to him. "Eh, no problem man. Got to keep a clear head in such situations..." He replied a bit awkwardly, surprised by the honest praise.

As he undid the second sweater thunder spoke outside and reminded everyone of the dreadful situations outside. Despite the inhabitants' best efforts the storm's dark embrace had left the interior of the house in an eery yet mild darkness. Alex stopped thinking about the storm for a moment as Cody spoke to both of them. "Ofcourse. We can't leave him out here either. We've got to try at least. He'd definately do the same for us." Alex replied on a serious and convinced tone. He didn't know what Chris thought about it, but he definately didn't want to give up on Rudy yet, unlike Jamie.

Talking about Jamie... He beckonned Chris as he made his way to the table where Jamie was resting his head in his hands, and took a seat right across. For a moment he felt like unleashing all of his frustration and anger about the loss of Danny and this entire situation on him, but he recognized Jamie's position as one he had foundhimself in not too long ago, and being agressive would only deteriorate the situation. Instead, he took a moment to calm down as he inspected Jamie a bit. "Jamie. Look, what happened out there, it's okay. Everyone is prone to panicking, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Nevertheless, we need to know what happened out there. When you last saw Rud- Danny- whatever, was he still alive?"

[HellHoundWoof]

Enrique-Outpost-Sylar Myriah

Enrique let out an exhausted sigh and rubbed his eyes, he looked towards the surviving scouts as they went to get a hot meal in them.

"Good to hear we didn't loose to many, that's too bad about Alan, and I'm not entirely sure how many medical supplies we have in stock currently. But she should be fine..."

Enrique looked towards Myriah and tried to look as appologetic as possible.

"Myriah," Enrique said his voice low and calming, "I misinterpreted what you said as a threat to Amanda's life, and I apologize if I came off as threatening. I was trying to establish that I have done everything I have for Outpost since Haywood. I'm sorry I phrased it so poorly, I just wanted it to be clear I will protect her with everything I have."

Enrique smiled and walked off towards his and Amanda's home, he opened the door to the room and saw Amanda aiming his pistol at the door. He smirked sd she lowered her hand. She walked towards him as he entered the room and closed the door. He sat on the bed and took the pistol out of her hands and set it beside him, he pushed his hair back and pulled out his knife. He set it on a table they had in the room and pulled his duffel from under the bed. He looked at its torn and stitched and duct taped, he smirked and unzipped it he teaches inside and pulled out a shaving kit from around the bottom. He was thankful he had left this in his duffel before he left his home. He pushed the memory of the first day from his mind and tossed the kit to Amanda. He smiled at her as she stood in front of him.

"I could use a shave, and a haircut." Enrique said smiling at her, he let her cut his hair short, practically an inch long and choppy in some places, he couldn't see his own face so he let her shave him. He had requested a goatee and she expertly shaved his sideburns and cut back his goatee. She held up a small broken shard of a mirror and showed him sides of his face then his goatee. He could see that he looked less scary and slightly more clean cut, not to mention younger. He smiled at his new look and collapsed in his bed his pistol laying under him. He sighed and fell asleep as Amanda laid down beside him, he repositioned himself so that his pistol was in his left hand and Amanda on his right. He kept the pistol aimed at the door, he slept soundly and relaxed.

[Winter]

Leah - Outside of town

It had felt like hours, her feet sore and burning as they rubbed against the inside of her shoes, blood mixed with mud covering a portion of her left side as she silently continued to limp slightly, alone. She'd not slept well, unable to escape the nightmares that played throughout her mind with each moment she closed her eyes or rested her head. The gun she held in her right hand felt heavy and she debated putting it in her backpack before deciding it might be best to keep it out. There was never telling what could be lurking around the corner and between her handgun and her screwdriver, she'd prefer not to get too close to those things. Her eyes looked up from the floor, seeing a town which caused her to both worry and feel hope for some place safer to rest. She took a hasty step forwards, her leg twisting which caused her to let out a small cry as she fell forwards onto her left hand, resting on her side for a minute as she winced while pressing a hand to the bandage over her thigh. After a minute more she eventually got herself up again before continuing to make her way to the town, if she was lucky maybe she could scavenge some medical supplies or some clothes she could tear apart to use as a substitute. The thought of that made her exhale, remembering the tips which had been passed to her by Mark before he'd got bitten, it had taken her a long time to get over that day, another who had been there one day and gone the next.

[SheriffLlama]

Abram - The Road - Jess/Leah

While Abram's jacket was waterproof, in no way was it immune to the cold. He felt it seeping through and pricking at his skin. He was tough, though... He could take a little bit of cold. Jess couldn't, however. With her lack of nourishment and the fact that she was keeping her son warm as well meant that she would get cold easier than he; for that reason, Abram made sure Jess and Benjamin had the thicker jacket to bundle up in. Part of Abram wanted to offer to carry Ben for a while, but he didn't want to impose and sever the peace of the sleeping baby. The rain had stopped about two hours after they left the bus, but January was not exactly warm, especially after rain.

Abram had been mentaly sorting the supplies of their bags, trying to calculate how long it would last them. Though the supplies were diminishing, Abram wouldn't tell this to jess.

He had been keeping up with the road signs as they'd passed them, and from what he could gather, they were nearing Baton Rouge. He hadn't been sure if they'd been heading towards Baton Rouge or New Orleans, as his compass had been left in Haywood, but he'd found that they were headed towards the first when he saw the off-ramp signs. He put a hand on Jess' shoulder, indicating for her to stop for a moment. He could barely make out the tiny silhouette of a person- or a walker, more-likely. "Give me a sec, kid..." He said, pulling his rifle from his shoulder.

They hadn't seen any walkers on the road so far, but that just made Abram wary of the possibility of them running into a herd. The man braced the rifle against the crook of his shoulder, peering down the glass scope. He could make the back of a head, stranded with long brown hair. Abram reached to the back lens of the scope, gripping the zoom shifter. He scrolled the zoom as far as he could, and found that the figure was a girl, who was very much alive. Abram waited until she turned her face enough so he could see. She looked very young... A little younger than Daniel's sister... She was moving slow, looking like she was injured. Abram shouldered his rifle, looking down the road. "There's a girl up ahead... she's about one hundred yards or so..." He began walking. "She looks hurt, I'm gonna catch up to her."

Abram picked up a jog down the road, and after a minute, he was about twenty yards away. "Excuse me!" He called to the girl. When she turned around, Abram saw the startled look on her face. "No- don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. You look like you're hurt." He kept his rifle shouldered, but his hand hovered around the pistol that was tucked into his waistband under his shirt. This little girl looked innocent enough, but he wasn't naive enough to think she wasn't a threat at all.