Black James(!)
Location: (headed toward) Agriculture
The journey toward Agriculture was unusual for James. Generally he was the only armed man there aside from the ubiquitous personal knife, and he tended toward slower, leisurely paces toward the area. Times past, he'd stop by the residence on the corner along the way and visit for a minute or two, drop off some fresh corn or just shoot the breeze. Friends lived there, or used to. Now as he walked by, his thoughts drifted back to the events of a few hours ago. Their corpses were still in there. Quite possibly, part of him would always be there, too. A dark memory that challenged his world view. Like it or not, he changed a bit inside of the dark residence.
Actually arriving at Agriculture was a relatively simple affair. The slowly dissolving white cover of frozen precipitation blanketed the area where they would be planting that year's crops in a few weeks, or their early ones, at any rate. James would not be there for it, though. He dearly hoped that he had passed along enough information and basic know-how about their farming setup. Newnan needed to eat.
"I'll just be a minute here, y'all." he said quietly to his escorts. He was being straight with them, too; the big guy just needed to grab a couple things - namely his notebooks.
The Captain had spent a long time working on compressing his working knowledge into easy to follow steps that took care of a fair portion of his essential duties. It was not a series of exhaustive textbooks, detailing the every nuance of his scientific and technical knowledge, but it was an excellent outline on building and maintaining a community. James took his example and did the same with some of his working knowledge, Agricultural plans for the community's future being most prominent. And they were
big plans. Someone in Newnan needed to continue his work now that he would not be around. People needed to eat.
James put them into a reusable grocery tote bag and stepped back out into the morning.
"Little somethin' for Bossman." he explained.
Ash & Thana
Location: Building
A (Ash's House)
Ash slowly stood. He collected James's axe and pistol with as much dignity as he could muster, and stepped inside of his door. Of course, he had quite overlooked such trivialities as telling Thana to stick close to him. He was in the middle of kicking his best friend out of town, three people had died on the
first night he had taken off in a year, and the woman he had seemingly, impossibly, found a real connection with was very publicly visited by the six-foot-five Texas Ranger "Ghost of Relationships Past" that expressed very real interest in picking back up with her. Given the circumstance, Ash wouldn't be surprised if he had overlooked more than just that.
Watching him, Thana waited while he picked up the axe from the porch and the gun. She looked around the yard for a moment to see if anyone was coming but it seemed pretty clear right now, thankfully. Turning her attention back to Ash she kept an eye on him as he stepped into the house. Letting out a slight breath she started to let her professional demeanor lapse. They were in the house now and she was closing the door. Time to address the elephant in the room but as the door clicked in its latch Ash beat her to it.
"I'm going to be straight with you." he blurted out the second the door was closed.
"Last night, I said some things to you. You were probably asleep, so I'll try again: The thought of you leaving puts a hole in me. I know it's only been a day and a night, but... I can't really put it in words well. I just wish that you would stay." His voice took on a more square, businesslike tone, but it was a flimsy cover for what he was actually feeling.
"Your man, Gavin? I would understand. You've only known me since yesterday, and today... Today is a shitfire I have to put out with my bare hands, and I'm not passing any judgement if you need to distance yourself from it, or from me." Thana hadn't even had a chance to turn around as he spoke and her hand rested on the wood of the door as he rambled off what he had to say. Swallowing the lump in her throat she wondered just what he was trying to say exactly. He said he wanted her to stay, again. Yet he was calling Gavin
her man and giving her an exit. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Was he just trying to be polite or was this way of showing her the door?
"No, I heard you. It was why I stayed this morning instead of leaving before you got up," she admitted. She still hadn't turned around to face him yet. His more formal tone was making her question if he really did want her to stay.
Squaring her shoulders she lifted her chin and brought her defenses back up. It seemed she wasn't exactly off the clock yet. If he was going to continue to be the Captain right then, she might as well continue to be the Lieutenant Commander; though she would have rather been talking to him right then like they had been the night before. Yet maybe it was better this way. He was giving her an out, even if she didn't want one. Perhaps he was giving himself one as well. He hadn't bothered to ask how she felt about things. He was just assuming and that grated on her nerves.
Turning around she took a parade rest stance and stared him down. She looked every bit the professional right then except for one thing, her eyes. Those light blue orbs looked dejected. Clearing her throat a bit before she continued in the same professional voice he had addressed her in but there was a slight bit of scathing sarcasm to her voice.
"I thought my man had told me he needed me to stay close. If that is not your desire anymore, just give the order and I will collect my things, Captain." Why was it so hard to talk to her? Hard conversation seemed to roll last night without effort in the slightest. They clicked, period. Now, he couldn't communicate a basic feeling to her, to let her know that he didn't want to force her into any situation in which she was not comfortable. And this day so far was one of the most uncomfortable situations he had been in, bar none.
"Thana, that is not what I mea..." Hold the phone. Did he hear her right?
"Your man?" His expression altered considerably. It wasn't quite alarm, and it wasn't quite happiness. More like the surprised expression of a man who had just found out a recently deceased relative had left you a financial windfall. The day so far was a tragedy, but hearing her out loud stating that? Even if she was pissed off or disappointed, it snapped him out of his mood quite effectively.
"Did I stutter? Yes, my man," she said in a rather frank voice as she stood there. She hadn't thought that was in question; not after last night.
Ash stood to full height, a vision of proud determination
"You're damned right I'm your man, Thana. And you're my woman, and I need the hell out of you." He bent his knees enough to drop what he was holding safely, and moved to take her in his arms.
"If I've got anything to say about it, you're not going anywhere." Holding out a hand like a cop about to stop traffic she stood her ground and eyed him.
"Now that that is all cleared up do you care to explain to me just what in the hell made you think I would wish to distance myself from you?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side and rose a single brow in question.
Ash stopped, turning his head to the side in the same manner as Thana. He thought the reasons why were pretty obvious, but if she wanted to hear it from his mouth, he had no problem with that.
"Alright." he cleared his throat,
"We woke up to three deaths inside of our walls, Thana. One suicide, one eaten by the suicide, and one murder. I'm damn near a mess because I decided not to kill my best friend for committing the murder; instead I'm kicking him out into the greater world which will probably lead to his death anyway, just a lot less merciful than a bullet to the skull." "Because what we have here is fragile as hell, and what the people of this town haven't figured out yet (but I think you understand) is that our safety in here is largely an illusion, and we're held together by the shared belief of community and a chain of command that's dependent upon setting and following the rules that I'm breaking right now." "And let's get to the elephant in the room: A six-foot-six slab of Texas brisket that you used to date just sauntered his lightly charbroiled ass into my town and professed his undying love for you. Truth be told, it made me a little insecure. If anyone's going to do that after not seeing you for a long assed time, it's going to be me, except that I don't have any plans on letting you out of my sight any longer than I have to. So can you put your hand down so I can give you a fucking kiss, please?" "Your lips can wait a few more minutes," Thana stated as sternly as a drill instructor about to rip into a piece of fresh meat during Hell Week, her hand not wavering in the slightest. She had a few things to say about the
reasoning dump he had just laid on her and she knew if she let those lips of his anywhere near her, her mind would blank of anything else but a repeat of the night before.
'We are going to go over that absurd list of reasons why first." Taking a step around him she made her way out of the hall and into the living room. Her hands clasped behind her now but keeping her distance from him.
Meanwhile, Ash nodded, holding his position. He nodded his head, hopefully getting the nonverbal message across that he was listening. In an effort to support her in making this assumption, he gestured toward her, intoning,
"Please." He followed Thana, but kept roughly the same distance as she set a moment ago. When they reached the main living room, he found a spot toward the center of the room and rooted himself, neither advancing to nor retreating from her movements.
"As far as the deaths and exile go, that is life. The deaths, while tragic, happened. They are over and done with. Nothing can be done to change it and there is no point wondering if there was something that could have been done to prevent it. What if's just cause more trouble. The exile was the right call and I wouldn't worry about James. The man's been surviving in these back woods longer than either of us have been drawing breath." Pacing around the room slightly she took a breath and continued. Her voice still professional and detached as ever.
"Like you said, the safety is an illusion. Why I had no problem turning around and walking right back out that gate. As far as the rules go, you aren't breaking them. You are in charge here, you set the rules. You can change them. Simple as that. Death, fragility, rules. They were all there when I stepped through those gates, they just said hello this morning. Them being a reason for me to distance myself from you is bullshit. They would be excuses, rather weak ones, and personally I have no time for that." Remaining quiet, Ash listened to what she had to say and here philosophy on Life After The Apocalypse. Not a comment nor throat clear to be had. While he agreed that James had a better than average likelihood at surviving out there, it did little to make him feel better about the decision to remove him from Newnan. Nonetheless, while he did not agree completely with what she had to say, there were a couple of points raised. He nodded again, continuing to listen to Thana as she spoke her mind. The sound of her voice was becoming rather hypnotic.
Shaking her head a bit she rested her hand on the mantle of the fire place and glanced down at the ground. Her tone taking a softer tone, speaking to him now like she did last night. As Thana, not as the Lieutenant Commander.
"Now Gavin. Yes, he and I were together at one point. I am sure there were women before me, before the outbreak happened. Yes, I cared deeply for Gavin, very much so. So much I thought I loved him but he showed me the door. Do I still have feelings for him?" Looking up and towards the window she stopped for a minute. Did she still have feelings for him?
"Yes. I still care for him, part of me always will. Gavin is a good man. Sweet, handsome, romantic. Really, the perfect guy in most girls eyes. But we haven't been together in years, since before the outbreak, and he was the one to end it. Him telling me he loves me, yes it threw me for a loop. I wasn't expecting that anymore than I was for him to show up here. Had I known he was here last night, things may very well be different." She stopped there and let the words hang in the air before finally looking over towards Ash.
"But, I didn't and today is a new day. You have nothing to be insecure about and you should have just asked instead of assuming I wanted to walk away, especially after what we shared last night," she said in a voice that cracked slightly but she held her composure.
"For example, you said if anyone was going to show up and tell me they loved me after being away from me for a long time it was going to be you. Are you trying to say something there?" she asked rather bluntly before her bottom lip curled in and she bit it lightly.
"Thank you. I never assumed you wanted to, Thana. I just wanted you to know that if you chose to, I would understand. And last night was... yeah." He really didn't have words for it, but he tried anyway,
"So much more than the physical part of it." He smiled,
"But that was, well, heaven all by itself." His heart palpitated rapidly as he geared himself up to speak the words he knew he was about to say. He was nervous, truly nervous, and for a moment, he had forgotten about all of the bad that he had been a part of an hour ago. It was insane. A day.
Less than a day. Horrible timing, drama unfolding left and right. But there it was, bright as the sun:
"Thana Martin, I am in love with you. Obvious, undeniably, madly in love with you. I can't help but be. I didn't ask for it, but it's there and its not going anywhere. You did this to me, and I am so grateful that you did. But if I have to wait another minute to kiss you, I might explode." What the
fuck was with today? If Thana had been the type to wear her heart on her sleeve, as her sister had been, she might have either fainted right then or screamed. Yet, Thana was Thana and she just stood there for a moment taking in what she had just heard. Her brow quirking slightly as her lip slipped from between her teeth. She seemed to nearly have the same response to Ash professing his love to her as she had with Gavin. Surprised, shocked, and oddly detached.
"I see," she said in a blank tone.
"Well that is interesting because..." Her words trailing off and it wasn't clear if she was still in shock or dismissing what he had said as if he had just told her more snow was on the way. Clearing her throat she stepped over to Ash with her hands clasped behind her and tilted her head back ever so slightly so she could look into his eyes. Then she continued,
"I feel exactly the same way," she added softly as she reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt. Pulling him closer and brushing her lips lightly against his.
"This is where you kiss me soldier." On this day, an occasion of murder and exile was interrupted by hope from an unlikely source.
"Yes ma'am." he whispered, curling his hand around Thana's waist. He pulled her into him, closing the gap between their lips and partaking deeply of her in the waxing light of the young morning. His other hand found its way into the close curls of her hair, holding her steady as Ash lowered her into a shallow dip. He held her there, enjoying the warm firmness of her lips for long seconds before bringing them both upright.
There was a look of determination on Ash's face. It was similar to the look from earlier, except this time it was colored with dutiful optimism instead of rage and defeat. He knew what he had to do concerning the greater issues of the day beyond himself, but somehow, that sense of hope broke through. Because of this woman, Ash felt lie the optimal version of himself; the stalwart, professional Captain, full of the objective wisdom and mercy and will to pull everyone around him forward that made him a decent man in the first place. Thana was right, earlier. He did make the right call. Ash needed the love and strength of someone to remind him of who he was, and why he was the man in charge. There would always be things beyond his control that he would have to react to. But you can only move ahead in this world, else you perish. In a strange way, part of Ash wished he was leaving with James.
"I needed that, Thana. And I need you. When we are done with today, I intend on thanking you properly." 
