"I like that name," Johnny said about the horse he was riding, Roach. He smirked as he trotted alongside Reena, still green at riding but already getting a bit of it down. It was a lot easier when he didn't think about it. He could see a few bonfires far out in the distance nestled within the seemingly never ending forest. It had only been a few days since all hell broke loose, but the idea of other survivors out there still worried the man. It was to early to tell, but he had a feeling things would soon get a lot worse than just the dead coming back to life. People without law and order under intense surviving situations could potentially be the worst kind of problem for them, assuming they didn't lose it themselves. He wondered if anyone was alive back in the city. Here he was, looking for weapons in the wilderness, when in the city he and his crew had an arsenal. If only he thought about it back when it all started, but then of course he might be dead right now if they never came across James. When he saw Gandalf torn open, he rested his hand on Reena's shoulder to tell her how sorry he was. He personally didn't get choked up about animals dying, but he knew the horse was close to her like family. Though he didn't even hardly know the girl at all, surviving with someone just sort of brought an untold respect. He already felt like he knew Reena and James better than most of his life long friends, the ones that never became anything in life and drugged themselves away. None of it mattered now. He was just glad he never wasted time on getting a real job, how pointless that would of been. When she told him to follow close, he took it a little to literally. His attention was observing the house, but also listening around, and in doing so he didn't realize Reena was going slower than him and he bumped into her. "Shit, sorry," he whispered. He continued looking for the weapons, searching room to room. He didn't find them, but he did spot an acoustic guitar by a stand. He instinctfully picked it up and strapped it around to his back. Assuming these were the end days, he figured there would be quite a lot of time to kill between now and whenever it happened. Just as he was going back to find Reena, he spotted headlights coming up from the outside. They were far enough away to maybe be going somewhere else, but if they were coming here then it meant bad news. "Reena," Johnny whispered a bit louder. "Someones coming." --------------------------------- Raven spent her day until sundown tending to the chickens and cows. James taught her what she needed to know, and within a few hours of work she almost forgot about the threat of everything around the farm. It was hard work, but the kind of work she enjoyed. As a former hairstylist, it felt good to get her hands dirty again. Granted it was a completely different and worse kind of dirty, but she didn't much mind the change. "James!" Raven yelled. "I think if things go back to the way they were, I might stay out in a place like this. I'm a city girl, but I never realized how much I'd like this!" Dallen revealed himself from the top of the barn, a 30 ot 6 strapped around one shoulder. He had a view of the entire downhill plains and forests, enjoying the scenery as the sun faded from the sky. "They back yet?" Dallen asked Raven. "You're the one watching everything, you don't know?" Dallen sighed. "Have you even slept yet?" Raven asked. "Wanna help us with the cows?" "No," he grunted, then went back to his post. --------------------------------------- "Not dead!!" Ethan shouted, unsure as if the woman was about to smash his brains in as well. His hands were up defensively as he looked up at his savior. Blood from the creature covered his face and it didn't stop pouring out from the thing's broken in head. Ethan brought himself up and attempted to wipe the blood off with his jacket, spitting to the ground in the process. He picked up the dead one and chucked it out onto level ground, then climbed out himself. He then dragged the dead one's body and tossed it in the river, watching it slowly get pushed down and away before he ackowledged the girl again. "Thank you," he said, breathing slightly hard from both the physical pressure and the adrenaline. "I'm not bit, you can put the stick down." He walked by her and went for his wife's corpse, dragging it back to the hole. Once she was in, he got out and started tossing in dirt to cover her up. As he did, he realized the uncomfortableness of the situation, and so he turned to the girl again. "I'm sorry, I'm Ethan," he said, leaning against the shovel upright. "I owe you my life. But before I get to that, I have this to do." He started covering the grave again. He wanted this to be done alone, but it was hard to say that to someone who literally just saved you from getting your flesh torn off. Without asking her anything else, he felt compelled to talk about his wife. "She, uh, she deserved better than this," he said. "She's the mother of my children. Heh, I remember when we first met. We're both teachers at Valley Graves High, by the way." He could almost tell that this stranger could care less, but he cleared his throat and continued on anyway. "My first day, she showed me around the school at lunch time. I found out later that she didn't have to do that, she just liked me so she did. I remember tripping on a chord in the break room and spilling apple juice all over her new clothes. Heh heh. I tried to clean her shirt with a towel, but all the ladies in the room kept telling me to stop because we're not allowed to touch women there. I never would have imagined she would be the one. Anyway, like I said, I have to finish this." He continued to put dirt over the grave. "You from around here?"