[center][u]Nathalie Soltero | Wooded Area | Finn & Nicole[/u][/center]

Nathalie kept close to Nicole, listening to her hushed whispers as they made their way out of the mall. She was almost ecstatic at the idea of not only being with trustful people but being able to just get some sleep and something other than chili inside of her growling stomach. Her pale blue eyes scanned their surroundings as she kept close, listening all while keeping an eye out for danger. Finn was truly amazing, leading them through the dead, taking any out that they would come across with. 

Once the trio was out of the mall and past the parking lot, Nat’s stomach beginning to fill with butterflies as she saw a truck hidden in the brush. She wanted them to be butterflies, rather than knots of anxiety. She kept close to her companions, only halting to a stop when Finn stopped abruptly right in front of her, causing her to run into his back. Alarm and fear began to fill her body before Nathalie even knew what was going on; the dead. Before Nathalie had time to react, Finn was already in action. He tossed her his truck keys and exclaimed for both of them to run for it while he distracted them. “No…” her voice came out as a whisper as she looked around frantically. There were too many for just him. As strong of a man as he might have been once, he was undernourished and exhausted. There was no way. “Finn!” Nathalie ran over, hopping up a bit and holding on to his backpack as the dead seemed to create out of thin air. “Finn, give it to me! It’s weighing you down!” She tugged as hard as she could, forcing him to get out of the restraints before returning a glare to him. She knew he would be mad but she didn’t care, he would realize that she was doing him a favor. “I’m not asking.”

The backpack was heavier than she expected, but it didn’t stop her from putting it backwards so it would hang from her front side. “Nicole!” The woman spun around, stopping only when she saw the girl’s frozen, deer in headlights look. “Come on!” Without saying another word, Nat grabbed the teenager’s hand and began pulling her in the direction that they had initially been walking towards. The truck wasn’t far off, but it was far enough to be covered by more brush so the dead couldn’t sense where they had gone. 

“Nicole, I need you to hide in the truck… Do. Not. Argue. I am not taking no for an answer.” The words left Nathalie’s mouth without looking at her partners face. She unlocked the back seat and swung both backpacks in before urging and pushing Nicole inside. “Lock the doors, stay low. I am going to go get you brother. I promise nothing will happen to him.” As she spoke, Nathalie shrugged on her jean jacket that she grew to hate and love at the same time. It was what stopped so many bites and scratches from possibly happening. “Nicole, please stay low and try to cover your face with the backpacks. I’ll be back with Finn. Lock. The. Truck.” Her final words came out in a tone as if a mother was scolding her child, firm and full of authority.

Nathalie made sure to close the door quietly as she could, leaving it to Nicole to lock it from the inside as she had given her the keys just in case. She made sure to leave only after Nicole had covered herself up, keeping herself hidden from prying dead eyes. Turning on her heel, she began to make her trek back over to where Finn had remained, the sounds of the struggle evident even through the shrubbery. Her eyes widened as she saw at least fifteen dead making their way over to Finn, who already seemed to be struggling with the few he had surrounding him. Taking advantage of the fact that all of the dead were looking away from Nathalie and towards the man, Nat began to quietly make her way to the nearest straggler, only standing up straight when she was pulling back to get enough force to get her hooked machete deep into its skull. One down, several more to go. She followed those same steps to the following two. Pull back, release, blade in skull. Her luck ran out when the others started noticing the movement in what must have been their peripheral vision, if the dead even had it. “Finn! We need to clear a path and go!” The time for being quiet was over, she needed the attention of the dead focused on her as well in order for him to be able to get more. “I can’t. My arms. They’re too tired.” Her statements came out in exasperated pants, trying to catch her breath. Her exhaustion was at it’s peak and she didn’t want to waste more time and energy. She hated using her gun, but it was clear that they were both out of their league with trying to take on the remaining eight dead with how tired they were. It was a call she would have to take and would hate herself for it. 

Without giving it more of a thought, with a quick swing of her machete, she let the blade crush into the skull and left it there as the corpse fell to the ground. As fast as she could, while being safe, Nathalie pulled out her 9mm Berretta and immediately checked to see if there was one in the barrel. “Check,” she breathed out before taking the safety off and pointing at her first target. “Just like abuelo showed you, front sight, front sight, slack, pause, squeeze.” Her eyes concentrated on the the front sight, making sure they were aligned before pulling the trigger. The first bullet was always the hardest, having the loud bang ring through her uncovered ears and the recoil startle her. Her Abuelo pulled through though, watching as the corpse dropped to its knees and then directly to the floor. With another deep breath, Nat followed through with another three bullets to three skulls. Four lucky headshots in her time of need. Before she knew it, Finn had done away with the remaining dead and all that was left was for them to get the hell out of there before more showed up due to the sounds of the bullets and the struggle. Breathing deeply, Nat immediately turned the safety back on and pulled the machete out, not bothering to clean it. She ran over to Finn, doing a quick once over on him, running her hands down from his face to his arms, and finally his hands. No visible bites thankfully. 

Taking one of his hands with one of hers, she grabbed it firmly and started tugging him along so they could run towards the truck. As she had already guessed, not only did he catch up to her pace but he surpassed her and began to pull [i]her[/i]. Once they reached the truck, Nat frantically knocked on the window of the backdoor, smiling widely when Nicole surfaced. “Open!” Nicole nodded and began to quietly pull the locks out so they could all get in. Finn in the driver’s seat and Nathalie sliding into the back with Nicole. As they all settled in and began to move, Nathalie turned over and smiled tiredly at Nicole, grabbing her hand in a reassuring manner. “Told ya I’d get him back. I never break promises.” A yawn broke the finishing word to her sentence and she immediately began to feel the adrenaline leaving her body and exhaustion crashing into her like waves. Her eyelids fluttered for a bit, fighting to stay open, but they finally gave out as she began to succumb to the waves that were crashing into her. 




[@Juniper]