[hr][center][h1][color=firebrick]James Grady[/color][/h1]
[img]https://v.cdn.vine.co/r/avatars/6AE78329E91063505631975227392_pic-r-1396533712688c4afde8ecf.jpg.jpg?versionId=ZnGOSit0zozlhxpJk0w6QVx4cSozVRdq[/img][/center]
[hr][center][b]Location:[/b] Stately Residence Driveway just off of Ralls Rd. 
[b]Interacting With:[/b] [s]Alicia[/s], Dexter, Jamie, Richard
[/center][hr]

James looked in horror as his friend and confidant was pulled from her sniper perch in the window. One shot fired before she dropped her rifle on the roof and died, screams cut off by her own blood. James had tried to grab her, successful only in striking the toe of her boot with outstretched fingers. Then she was gone. 

He snatched up his pistol, attempting to give her a clean death. Sadly, he was denied this. The horde massed around her, tearing, eating, preventing him a direct line of sight. At least she expired quickly. A few short pumps exiting her jugular she she lost consciousness, adrenaline and shock taking the largest portion of her pain away until Alicia's eyes closed to a world that did not deserve her. James sunk into his chair, heartbroken. 

Alicia Gonzalez, a badass from a line of badassery, sniper, close combat specialist, friend. She was loved by more people than she realized. She would be missed. 

Dear God, this meant James had to tell everyone. 

He looked back at the man who jumped into the Hordebuster first. If there was any good that would come out of Alicia's death,  it was that she gave her life for this man. James prayed that he was important in some way; prayed that his continued existence had meaning. It had better. 

The intervening seconds between the first man entering and the last seemed impossibly slow. An eternity in a moment. Everything seemed to quiet in one detached space of indeterminate time. James's logical mind stayed sharp, covering the survivors' path to the 'Buster. His emotional mind betrayed him, fighting to express itself in blurry, myopic drops he had to blink away. Had to stay hard. He was surrounded by the Dead, backup just got eaten, and now taking on total strangers by himself. Stay hard. 

The last horse crossed the finish line, and James wasted no time pulling the suicide door cable to slam it shut. Not that he actually believed that reanimated corpses had mastered Truck Door Opening skills, but he nailed the manual locks out of sheer determined habit. Immediately, he remembered Alicia's rifle and retrieved it, half standing in his seat by reaching his arm out and blindly groping on the roof. Luck had the barrel in his hand after two fast passes. He lay it the front passenger seat with the rest of Alicia's personal effects, using the action to disguise wiping his face with his sleeve. 

James wasn't sure what he should say to these people. Ordinarily, there would be a witty comment, followed by a couple light questions to find out what kind of people they were. Then, he'd assess what he found out (or at least suspected), and either cut his ties to them or invite the lot back to Newnan. He was the official Recruiter, after all. It's what he did. 

But this situation was all fucked up. 

The question as to what he should say came to him in a flash of incredulous rage, following a weight pressing against his seat and a highly insensitive question hurled at him by one of the Ralls Rd. survivors:

[b]"[/b] [color=DC143C][b]For the love of God, do you have a cigarette?[/b][/color] [b]"[/b]

James couldn't believe it. Really couldn't. Perhaps he should have thanked the guy, the sudden rush of anger snapped him out of his more immediate sorrow, bringing him back to the here and now. He yelled with no small amount Southern Accented Belligerence,

[color=firebrick]"Are you serious? Did you not [i]just see[/i] what happened? Unless you wanna walk, you gonna shut up about CIGARETTE and [i]sit the fuck down[/i]!"[/color]

For half a second, James debated putting a bullet in the man's hip joint. But that would be counterproductive, and it was very possible that events were putting him in a dark place again. Yes, counterproductive. Instead, he pulled the Hordebuster around, circling the roundabout in the driveway and getting himself reoriented to the main road. 

The long driveway sloped up at a gentle angle to the street, and it was covered with the Dead. Ordinarily, this would mean the end. On the other hand, ordinarily he wouldn't be in the belly of Captain Ash's Custom Road Monster. Alicia convincing him to "borrow" the machine saved his life, and the lives of those they just rescued. Pity it did not save her as well. 

Black James stepped on the accelerator, easing the powerful beast forward slowly at first. On he pressed, picking up speed. At first, he was merely pushing the walking corpses out of the way, but by the time he was fully a third of the way up the drive, a chorus of bone pinged off of the steel of the Buster's great, reinforced cowcatcher as putrid bodies were thrown and scattered like so many undead bowling pins. James sat, steering the Dump Truck of Death through a field of rotting meat, mowing them down like grass and flinging them about in a way that would have been comical, were one to not see the pain and rage decorating his face. 

If he were [i]very[/i] lucky, he would have rolled over Alicia's corpse and destroyed her brain. But luck didn't seem to be on his side today. 

Back on the road, he hauled ass to get ahead of the horde. 

The moment he thought they were home free, his radio crackled. [color=a187be]"We'r un tack, all dow, mu pl dead,"[/color]

[color=firebrick]"Come again? Didn't readja, what was that about a tack?"[/color]

A tack... a tack... attack. Shit. He turned back to the people in the truck behind them, still keeping his gun in hand. 

[color=firebrick]"Aight, look. Ain't supposed to go down this way, ok? I'm a recruiter. This ain't the plan. I think home's gettin' hit, so I gotta cut this run short. If ya'll want to help, fine, follow my lead. If you don't, I'll let you folks out somewhere on the way. Someplace quiet. But I'm turning this bitch around and goin' aggro on some muthafuckas when I get there. Your call."[/color]