[hr][hr][center][h1][i][b][color=steelblue]Ash Holloway[/color][/b][/i][/h1] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/0d55b471-c5e5-4224-a6dd-f93f52f38ebd.png[/img][/center] [hr][center][color=steelblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] Armageddon -> Northern End of the Franklin Addition [/center][hr][hr] His ears were ringing, or they seemed like they were. It was the sudden rush of blood and adrenaline that might strike a novice soldier, just shipped in from the world. His head was in pure survival mode, without the benefit of his years of military experience. [color=steelblue][i]Get your head right, soldier. This is any other missile strike. Any other shock and awe attack. Treat it like that.[/i][/color] The Soldier was right. God may have played a cruel joke on them just then, but he couldn't shake his fist at the sky and hope to get anything accomplished. His mind crystallized every detail of what he saw before he stepped back into his big truck and started rolling back in the general direction of Newnan. Thana was with capable people, and two strange women [i]in a tank[/i]. If memory served, it looked kind of like an old 40's model Stuart. A good mechanic could make one of those run forever. One was a young woman with very familiar eyes, though he couldn't place why. The other was dressed erratically and in stark makeup. And older man, too, who looked out of place among his group. James and Ryan lay broken at the bottom of a rip in the earth. Underneath his numb emotional state, Ash noted a streak of something tear within him, promising distinct pain when he allowed himself to feel. James was dead. His mercy only gave him an hour. Less. Beatrice, Gavin, and Thana survived, along with the female tank team. They were the best chance that any survivors had to avoid Eden's marauders. And Ash was the best chance that any of his people that could still walk had for survival. This was the right plan to execute, if only he could get back into his former home. Ash tried very had to ignore the giant hole in the earth that had formed mostly outside of the walled and once habitable section, but considering that the road he had to take basically skirted the smouldering abyss, this passive denial was doomed to failure. His road was straight and solid. Ash forced his head to turn to the side far enough for the hole to fill most of his vision. It was an awe inspiring and terrible vision - and it snapped him back into reality immediately. It didn't matter that there was no Newnan, no Army, no United States anymore. He was [i]Captain[/i] Ashton Jameson Holloway, an Engineer and Combat Officer in the finest army that the world had ever seen. His people needed him, what few were left. Ash shifted his Hordebuster into gear and barrelled down the dusty road with a greater sense of purpose. North. Straight north. Find a way past the hole, find a way into Newnan. Help who you can. Get them to safety. It occurred to him briefly that he was following the same path that he did to get down to the Water Treatment Facility; the same path as the tank did. The route was reliable and open, and he continued to follow it up, past the downed walls and ruined buildings across the span of collapsed earth. Somewhere in that rubble-strewn crater was a pile of timber that used to be his home. Within that home was a refrigerator. And within that refrigerator was the remains of his supper from the previous evening. James's last barbecue. It seemed like a fitting name for the day so far. [u]Episode 63: James's Last Barbecue.[/u] Gradually, Ash began to see token sections of upright wall, even breaks in the destruction where he could see land coming up to Newnan's interior. It was not safe to traverse, granted, but people might have gotten out. But this was temporary in nature, as his mission to find a way in took him away from Newnan proper, veering into a residential area one street over from the walls. The town was obscured by trees and well scavenged houses for a block or two as Ash made his way around, but the column of smoke that followed the mushroom cloud above Newnan was still clearly visible beyond. North and east. Circumnavigate his destroyed home. No survivors yet. Then suddenly, there was a break in his luck. A clear view of the Franklin addition could be glimpsed down one of the residential streets. Ash turned his massive motorized beast down the road, barely bothering to breathe with apprehension. As the Hordebuster neared the remains of the area set aside for their Franklin people, he slowed a bit, trying like hell to catch a glimpse of any movement that wasn't smoke or shifting rubble. He then loosened his gun in its holster, just in case the unexpected might occur. First priority: Survivors. Where the hell were they? [hr][hr][center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e7de846f-30f3-4613-933c-40dce7104529.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e4117d5f-65c8-4b8e-98df-5810a59267c5.jpg[/img][/center][hr][center][color=dc143c][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Other Side of Armageddon [/center][hr][hr] Thalia remembered playing D&D as a kid. Even a bit in college. It wasn't like there was a whole lot to do among the other electronic engineering students, aside from drink. And as it turned out, she could do both at the same time rather proficiently. But that wasn't the reason why the thought of Dungeons and Dragons popped into her mind. It always seemed to Thalia that, although the adventure modules were expertly drafted, it never seemed like the adventurers [i]themselves[/i] had much of a reason to hang out. It just seemed like, given the situation, a whole bunch of borderline sociopaths with melee weapons and breathtaking anger issues just decided one day to all go on the same quest at the same time, hopefully not to kill one another in the process. A handful of professional warriors just meet up someplace and decide to trust each other while they go a'questin'. It made no sense. None. Then today happened. If their slightly portly Dungeon Master could see them now, it was very possible that Thalia owed him an apology. A big, shiny one. As it turned out, that was [i]exactly[/i] how it went down. Not just with these people, either, but her first meeting with Lola went in a similar manner. But [i]this group[/i]... wow. They had literally just met, got themselves caught by an adventure hook, and instantly decided to hit the road together. Plus, there were more than enough colorful personalities and rugged individuals between them to populate numerous dark corners in watering holes across the realm. Thalia counted herself among that number. Thalia nodded back to Thana, the newest addition to their Island of Misfit Toys. Yeah, of course she lost someone to them. It seemed that everyone in the area did. She looked like she could handle herself and was highly motivated. [color=dc143c]"Thalia Carmichael. Tech and Security Specialist, MSS. "Angel" works, though."[/color] They seemed decent. Decent enough to join on a retributive killing spree. Still, they hadn't gotten past basic introductions, and they were climbing back into vehicles. [color=dc143c]"Hey! We're going to need to pool auur resources and get a plan togetha, yeah?"[/color] she rattled off in moderate Bostonian. [color=dc143c]"We need a staging point and you need to read us in!"[/color] Nevertheless she headed for her spot in the turret of Lola's tank. This place was not safe.