[center][u]Scarlett Watson – Mall Parking Lot – Ashley[/u][/center]

Although the days were almost suffocating, the wind that blew in Scarlett’s face while riding her motorcycle was a welcomed feeling of freedom. She felt as if she had wings, but she could not fly for too long. The sound of her softail slim would soon draw out the walkers, and she needed to make sure they would not show up at her desired destination. She reluctantly slowed down to a halt, making sure she went off road and came to a stop behind a hefty bush in order to hide her bike. She had ridden for several miles now in order to get away from her problems and to check on a certain storage that she had been keeping fully stocked for several weeks now.

As she made sure that she couldn’t see the bike from any angle, Scarlett assessed the items that she had in her possession; her gun, machete, backpack with a water bottle, and a box of cigarettes with a lighter. “Not much to go on. Time to grab some food.” The blonde slung her backpack over her shoulders and slid her arms in, in one swift movement. Her destination in mind was the mall, but she had to go down a block at least before getting there, and that was where her biggest problem lay. The walkers usually stuck around to this area, mainly because there were so many people coming and going at all hours of the day. Not to mention that dogs usually made their shelter in shops at the mall since people had broken several glass doors, and those fuckers barked too damn much.

As she made her way down the block, she made sure her footsteps made little to no sound. The street was awfully quiet and empty, it was almost too weird. Usually it took Scarlett longer to make her way down the block due to the walkers obstructing her path, but today – even with her bike’s roaring – there were none. “Where the hell are they?” She muttered as she began to near the mall’s parking lot. That’s when she heard it. The moans and groans of the dead that were either near the mall or inside. There must have been some commotion to get them all to move this way. As she turned the corner she, her brows furrowed in a mixture of frustration and confusion. Many of the walkers were actually crawlers. It looked like their legs had been run over and they stuck to the ground with only their arms reaching out for their next victim.

Sighing, Scarlett unsheathed her machete and began to dig it straight into the skulls of the dead. She only killed the ones she needed to in order to get to the mall. She hated killing in general, whether the victim was alive or already dead. As she made her way closer, clearing a path, the woman noticed a blonde girl walking. She seemed young, younger than Scarlett by several years at least. Was she a teenager? What if she needed help? Scarlett’s humane urges come through first, causing her to reach up and wave towards the girl before she could even realize what she had done. She was on the run; she shouldn’t have done that.

 
[@datadogie]

[center] ~ [/center]

 

[center][u] Nathalie Soltero | The Creek/Finn’s Shelter | Grant Coleman[/u][/center]

The sun had set faster than Nathalie had anticipated. How long had she spent out in the water? She raised her hand up above the water and noticed her fingers hadn’t gotten wrinkly yet. It couldn’t have been that long. Shrugging, she returned to washing the dirt out of her hair, setting the machete in a small nook right above the water but below the ground level.

As she ran her hands through her hair, something started to seem off. A chill ran through her spine and she looked up immediately to see if she could find anything out of the ordinary. She could sense if in the back of her head; eyes piercing her skin. She was already naked, but she felt as if the stares were going to undress furthermore. She slowly reached for her machete in her hidden nook, slowly dragging it underwater to not bring any attention towards her movements. The leaves began to shift and move around her, twigs cracking underneath the heavy feet of her ambushers. Nat turned every which way but could not see where the source was coming from. She could tell it was all around, but there was no point or head of the attack. Furrowing her brows, she sank herself into the water, keeping only her nose and eyes above the surface so there could be something between the assailants and her body.

After a clear minute of pure anxiety and disorientation, her eyes finally stopped as she saw a figure emerge. The first thing that caught her eye was the glistening of a weapon in the person’s hand. She looked up to see a smiling man appear from the darkness, the image itself made her skin crawl as she treaded backwards in the water.

[b]”Look around you, you’re surrounded.”[/b]

Nathalie took that time to take quick glances either way; he was right. There were men lining either side of the creek and one by where were clothes lay. There was no way she could get out and make a run for it even if she wanted to, and she didn’t have her gun. She listened to the man speak about how they were planning to wait until the morning but decided to take advantage of the situation in which she was out for a swim. “What the fuck do y’all want.” The woman spat at him, venom in each word as she glared at him. She was not new to these situations, but what was new was that she was already fully naked and no one had even laid a finger on her yet. She was taken a bit by surprise when the man encouraged her to get dressed. [i]’What?’[/i] Even the voice inside her head was confused. He wanted her to cover up before what, robbing her? Raping her? Killing her and her companions?

[b]”Let me get a piece of that fine ass first though!”[/b]

Nathalie’s eyes widened as she heard another man speak out, her face going red with rage as she turned around. If looks could kill, she would have killed that man ten times over. She heard their leader threaten him to shut up and threatened the rest with the same punishment if they tried the same. At least he had some type of respect for women. “Try that shit with me and you won’t even get the chance to come back as a walker you piece of shit.” Her glare continued to bore into his soul as she spat towards him before turning back to the initial mad who spoke to her. He introduced himself to her, as if that changed the fact that they were here to commit crimes. “I wish I could say the same. You seem like a fine man, although your actions clearly show different.” Nathalie tilted her head slightly before lifting her hand to push her hair out of her face. “I’ll get dressed, only after your punk ass men look away. I won’t give them the privilege and pleasure of seeing me undressed.” Her hand tightened its grip around the hilt of her machete underwater, she had yet to pull it out of the water in case anyone tried to get in the water with her. She would rather die after killing a man that tried to touch her than to let herself be manhandled. “I will take my clothes and change behind that three right there. I will [i]not[/i] be changing in front of any of you.” Nathalie held her chin up to show that she would not back down, gun in her face or not. If this man was willing to kill one of his own for even thinking about violating her, he must have some kind of decency and respect for her wanting to change out of view.  


[@QT][@Juniper]