[center][h2][color=lightslategray]Edward Richter[/color][/h2][/center]
There was calm here. Not the type of calm that most people associate the word with - more like the calm that comes between raging storms. There was a tense atmosphere here, it was everywhere. Everywhere you looked, everything you heard, saw, felt, or tasted. Emptiness, overstrung fretfulness...Fear. 

But this was one of those times where Edward felt he could lose himself: reading. Even as a child, books brought him a sense of comfort, allowed him to be who he wasn't, if only for a few hours, he was free. And yet, the words that hung from this page seemed to mock him almost, remind him that...this time there [i]was[/i] no escape. Only pain. 

[center][i]“Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”[/i][/center]

Edward read the phrase over and over again for what seemed like forever before closing the book and sighing sharply, eyeing the cover as though it had offended him in some way.

 [i]"Of Mice and Men"[/i]. People would have considered the novel a classic, if there were people alive who cared anymore. Edward always had a certain respect, a fascination towards classics. Books that could remain relevant even [i]decades [/i] after being written. Words resonated like that, left an impression deeper than almost anything else in the world. 

[i]'If only people wrote more,'[/i] Edward mused inwardly, [i]'would there be so much conflict?'[/i] It was one of those pressing times where Edward almost forgot there were others with him. Hunter Monroe, Jack and Lacey Carter, Dabriah Sauagius, Riley Vega. Survivors, like him, all different in background, personality, philosophies. Yet all bound together through that one [i]encapsulating[/i] motive: survival. Were there different circumstances, any one of them could have been his enemy, could have been one of the Walkers that seemed to roam about, thinking nothing but of their eternal hunger. 

The RV moved to a rumbling halt, lurching briefly before growing still. Edward lifted his bright blue eyes up a moment but said nothing, a quirk of his brow being all the reaction needed at the present time. 

Content to simply return to reading and wait out another long night, Edward's plan was interrupted by the excited voice of Lacy, calling out to him:

[color=cyan]"Come on, why don't you put down that book and help Jack and I look around the outside of the building. Maybe we'll find buried treasure!"[/color]

[color=lightslategray]"I'll take a decent meal over buried treasure any day."[/color] Edward responded in his typical deadpan tone, taking a moment to stretch out before standing, fitting the book into his jacket pocket. 

[color=lightslategray]"Still, though...might find [i]something [/i] interesting."[/color] He added with a rolling shrug of the shoulders, his way of conceding to the request. 

He reached under the collar of his jacket, fingers latching onto the black balaclava he kept tucked underneath, pulling it up to cover the lower half of his face, giving him an 'urban-ninja' sort of look-- well....Debriah already held that title, being the only member of the team with a [i]katana[/i] of all weapons. 

Looking back to the table, Edward procured a single Luger model pistol (promptly tucked underneath his jacket) and a small assortment of [url=http://40.media.tumblr.com/516ab1621174a5a81ee4bcf7caae7543/tumblr_n7ue33sFAm1risli3o1_1280.jpg]knives[/url], which he seemed to hide about his person. 

Moving towards the still-open doors of the RV, Edward ran a hand through his mess of hair before turning towards Jack and Lacy with a bored expression. 

[color=lightslategray]"After you."[/color]