[hr][hr][center][h1][i][b][color=steelblue]Ash Holloway[/color][/b][/i][/h1][img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/85b1d99e40c547d7e771e7688130f28a/tumblr_ojog8uNf9k1qdhps7o2_r1_500.gif[/img][/center][hr][center][color=steelblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] Arnco Mills Safehouse (E10)
[color=steelblue][b]Skills:[/b][/color] Leadership, Engineering [/center][hr][hr]

	[color=steelblue]"Thank you, Riley."[/color] said Ash deliberately. He was on task, but didn't want to seem ungrateful. This kind of a thing wasn't a big deal for him, being military. He was accustomed to receiving a task and completing it without so much as an acknowledgement of job well done. Task performed, move on to the next one. Feedback was had only if the job was substandard, and it was safe to assume that one tended to avoid that type of feedback. On the one hand, these people had toiled faithfully for Ash, and before him Leann for a long time now. They might as well all be soldiers. On the other hand, life had handed them a beating of monumental proportions earlier that day. An ounce of politeness wasn't going to hurt anybody. 

	With the light focused on the relay, Ash was able to clearly fasten the connections to the machine and extend the antenna. He would have felt better if he had a small satellite dish instead, but for the intent of reaching other safehouses, the antenna would suffice. Now that he had this, there was a good possibility he could coordinate with the other survivors and work out a plan for when it got light out. Because one way or another, Ash wasn't done surviving just yet, and he was pretty sure that others weren't, either. They needed a leader, no matter how crazy he might be. 

	[color=steelblue]"Thanks again, Riley."[/color] he said, a little more confidently now that he knew the walkies were functional and the relay was set up. But before he got to using either, Ash waited to hear reports from his team. Riley and Tiffany gave the house the "all clear" tag, which was just fine by him. Jack and Niesha found a good haul for themselves, adding what was found to their existing supplies. Jobs completed, it was probably a good time for Ash to be a Captain again, or something close to it. The earlier thought of Leann McCormick, Newnan's first commanding officer that was lost to them a while back, prompted Ash to move his hand to the breast pocket of the jacket he now wore. It was a brown flight jacket that belonged to Leann's father from World War II, and in that pocket lay her Lt. Colonel insignias. 

	Very briefly, Ash had considered adopting her military rank in addition to the command of Newnan, but decided against it. It seemed too presumptuous. It would have fit a pattern, though - Ash was only a Lieutenant when all of this started. He pulled his Captain's Bars off of his own dead C.O. when the apocalypse really started to hit. They needed a Captain and he was the only guy there remotely qualified; moreover there was enough of a government left to formally approve the battlefield promotion. So no, Captain it stayed. Maybe he even earned Lt. Colonel, but he didn't feel that it was his call. 

	[color=steelblue]"Alright, fall in."[/color] he said aloud to get everyone's attention. [color=steelblue]"Gather around, let's take a head count... Riley, Tiffany, Niesha, Jack, and myself."[/color] There had to be more than five that got out. Ash sighed. [color=steelblue]"Okay, we're out, alive... We have emergency supplies, walls, and a roof over our heads. It's something. We have functioning radios. That's something else. It's been a long, bad day. Everyone grab an MRE and settle in for the night. Stick to this main room, I want everyone in sight of each other. Now, I'll take first watch. While you all eat, I'm going to see who's checked into the other safehouses. Okay? Let's do it."[/color] 

	As others got settled in, Ashton set himself back to the radio. He was going to deal with the news from Tiffany that they were all seeing [i]dead[/i]dead people after a little bit. This took priority. It was a simple task of getting to the right frequency, made slightly more difficult by the fact that it wasn't preset; he had to dial it to the proper frequency manually, at least for the first time. Though long before he got to the correct span on the dial, a barely audible transmission issued from the speakers:

[center][i]"garblestatichellostatictonighttomorrowstaticstaticalivestaticanyonestatic"[/i][/center] 

	[color=steelblue]"Hold the goddamned phone..."[/color] He couldn't tell if it was man, woman, or child. He didn't know were it was coming from. All Ash knew: [i]Someone else was broadcasting[/i].



[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=dc143c]Thalia Carmichael[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e4117d5f-65c8-4b8e-98df-5810a59267c5.jpg[/img][hr][b][color=crimson]Location:[/color][/b] Eden, Grand Gallery turning into cross corridor in front of Mechanical
[b][color=dc143c]Skills:[/color][/b] Stealth, Survival, Pistol [hr][hr][/center]

	Team Lola seemed to be doing a fine job, operating as a distraction. First in that tank, a place that she called her big metal home over the winter. That tank got the sneak attack crew in there in the first place. Damned fine piece of work. Then of course was the singing. Thalia was fairly certain that it was one of the worst ideas ever, provided they were still entertaining stealth as an option. Tio Caesar would never have gone for it, period. But his was a singular school of thought. Old school, adaptive, chillingly effective; the kind that Thalia herself used, like some sort of Mexican ninja. So the application of music better suited for a binge drinking New Year's Eve party would have never been allowed in her family. 

	Damn, but it was proving effective. As long as it worked, Thalia didn't care. 

	Thalia continued in her original direction north, keeping to the wall and aiming to join up with Thana, or at least where she heard the woman's weapon report last. Doing so meant passing by the trio of Edenites that Alexander took out while providing his "cover fire", a thing which gave her a bit of a smirk. But one little detail did catch her eye: Two of the downed men carried 9mm pistols as backup. [i]That[/i] was something worth taking note about. She decided to risk the couple of seconds necessary to check the models on those. A sly smile crept over her face as she recognized two Glock-compatible weapons, and she silently thanked her father and uncle for utilizing a standardized 9mm as their company's base sidearm. Many people wanted a .45, but no, most firefights were resolved by shot placement and magazine capacity over the ability to place a huge hole in somebody. Logistics were a lifesaver sometimes. 

	Keeping her pistol high, Thalia knelt by the bodies and set her machete to the side. With her free hand, she pulled one pistol from an Edenite belt and thumbed the magazine release, then repeated the other with a gun on the floor. She snatched up both, checked the counts, and shoved them both into her back pocket. Thalia recovered her blade and continued, this time cutting left in hopes of meeting up with Thana and getting their little group back together. Though it wouldn't hurt to check that door labeled "Mechanical" first...