Atomyk

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tremblay - Baton Rouge/Furniture Store He hadn't left the 'office' all day, his mind constantly spinning and churning at the display of charts laid out before him. More and more people were finding themselves in the city-- this wasn't exactly surprising, but not enough of them were passing through for Tremblay's liking. It was always going to be a matter of resources, at least until the world started to maintain some semblance of what it had been before. That could take years-- maybe even decades, until a new generation managed to come through. Still, there was no point in putting their hopes on the future, for it was the now that they had to deal with. They'd extended the olive branch to many groups in the area, striking deals with them in order to foster a symbiotic relationship of sorts. Those that insisted on being alone were eventually cleared away or assimilated into either Tremblay's or Magnus' groups. Or Richard's band of 'merry' men, if they were so inclined. Unfortunately, this pyramid of cards was starting to bend in on itself, with too many groups getting frustrated and feeling like they didn't need to associate themselves with the governing powers of Baton Rouge. Just staring at the map of angry red thumbtacks made Tremblay weary. As he moved to pick at his stack of papers, two men entered the room. It was Jon and Matt, who both looked a little bit lost to be back here. Tremblay was vaguely worried that something went wrong with their clearance, so he moved around the desk to meet the pair. "You're back too soon. What happened?" Jon seemed to hesitate as he shared a look with Matt. "Well," he began, pulling off his cap to rub at shaved head. "Magnus got there before us. His crew were already clearing the place... told us to leave. I know you wouldn't have wanted us to start a fight, so we just decided to come back here." Tremblay regarded this silently for a moment, before letting his guard down a little and sighing. Rubbing at tired eyes, he nodded his head. "Okay. That was for the best. I'm sure Magnus is just bored and wanted something to do. More power to him, as long as he isn't starting those foul experiments up again." Another look was shared with Matt. "That's not all," Jon said. "We ran into some guy wandering on his own. Managed to grab him, but he seemed to have wanted to be captured. He, uh, knew Matt. He knows you." With that, said individual walked into the room, and Tremblay found himself smirking. "A small world," he muttered. It was Jamie, one of the the Outpost scouts Tremblay had encountered during his trip back to New Orleans. Now, though, the boy looked ragged and tired. Tremblay wondered if he'd trekked up here by himself. "He says he came with another group," Jon said, as if to correct Tremblay's thought. "Him and Matt got to talking, and it seems he's got connections to both Outpost and Tyler." Jamie nodded, still standing in the doorway of the store. Tremblay waved him in, gesturing toward a collection of beds and sofas. "We have a few things to discuss, then. I'll talk to you later, Matt. You too, Jon. I just want to make sure I have a handle on the flow of information before you get to processing all this." Jon nodded dutifully, used to this cagey behavior, and led Matt away. Tremblay turned his attention toward Jamie, who looked rather out of place on the couch. "I was with a man named Enrique," Jamie said, apparently eager to get talking. "Someone burned Myriah's cabin down, and the guy's girlfriend got caught up in it. He flipped out and left, though I guess he wasn't too happy about being accused of murder." Tremblay gave him a grim smile at that. Matt had already informed him of this. "But... anyway, some stuff went down, and I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to be in Outpost any longer, but I didn't want to be with them either. Once we got close to the city, I slipped away. I doubt any of them noticed, honestly." Jamie seemed happy to explain why he was here, but Tremblay honestly couldn't care less. "You don't seem surprised that I'm in charge around here," he said. Having been looking down at the ground, Jamie looked up to hesitantly meet Tremblay's gaze. "Well, you had that air about you, you know? It honestly kind of made sense... I guess I was a bit surprised when Matt mentioned it, but we're all ending up here these days, it seems." "Yes." Not wanting to move into idle chatter, Tremblay leaned forward to press the issue. "Here's our situation. Normally, I'd tell you to get out of my city as quickly as possible, but your connection to Outpost could be useful to me. I heard Enrique had some sort of connection with Tyler, and I'd like you to explain that to me to the best of your ability." Jamie stared for a moment, before taking a deep breath and starting his explanation. It was illuminating for Tremblay, to say the least, as it quickly placed all the missing pieces in place. What should happen-- no, what needed to happen-- became apparent to Tremblay as Jamie talked, and he knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity. Just as long as his flimsy pyramid stayed standing just long enough for him to get it done.

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Motel By the time they got back to the motel and settled in, it had become late afternoon, and the sun was bleeding across the sky. Tyler stepped out of the room had had fashioned for Katie and himself, moving across the balcony to look out toward the city. He crossed his arms over the railing, his eyes examining the pool sitting in the courtyard-- covered now, after they had moved the dead bodies into it. The smell was still incredible, even from here, and Tyler wasn't looking forward to having to burn the bodies eventually. If they planned to stay here, anyway. A motel probably wasn't the best place to live, especially when it probably wasn't doing so well before the dead started walking around. Tyler turned to lean his back against the railing, barely mindful of the fact that said railing was missing a sizable chunk just a few doors down. He looked at the room next to his own, that he'd insisted Scarlett and Liam take. As the rooms were fairly small, it was only fair that they stay in the next room, leaving George a room to himself. Tyler wasn't sure Scarlett would ever get along with George. Leaving the blood-red landscape behind him, Tyler stepped up to Scarlett's room, only briefly knocking before asking, "Katie? We need to talk."

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tyler - Baton Rouge Streets - Katie\Liam\Scarlett Letting out a deep sigh, Tyler placed a hand on Katie's shoulder. "Scarlett's right-- it doesn't matter now. Forget about them." He gave George a look indicating that he'd tell him more later. "We've all survived up to this point on our own, so becoming a smaller group isn't going to kill us. We're all going to be fine." He steered her toward the open street and away from the pub. He looked on the horizon for a sign of anyone, but he couldn't see much at all in either direction. They'd have to pass by a few of the chained walkers to get back, and the thought filled Tyler with a sense of unease. "I know the way," he said to Scarlett. "And I think we'll be avoiding the tall grass this time around." Moving to take Katie's hand, he started leading her down the road. Aa part of Tyler didn't want to do this-- didn't want to take Katie on yet another trip. He still wanted somewhere stable for her, a place where she could seriously learn and grow. It was just too bad that her daddy had to have messed things up once again.

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Shannon - The Road/Metairie Area - Zoe/Andrew Nestled in the back of the car with James, Shannon stared evenly at the back of Andrew's head. She didn't like this-- not one bit, but she understood the necessity. She was not stupid, Danny, thank you very much. Ultimately, it honestly broke her heart a little; No matter how many people they gathered, not all of them would make it. This rescue mission was risky at best, something these two were made harshly aware of upon hearing Jame's answer. Waiting a beat, Shannon leaned forward and placed her hand on the head rest in front of her. "Trained men," she clarified. "But the guys in the truck-- so are they." Then they mentioned an auto-shop, and Shannon's mouth went dry. "We could split up," she suddenly said, her eyes glancing toward James. Then, thinking on that a bit more, she added, "We just need to check these places out and see if they're there. We shouldn't need numbers for that-- if we're careful." "Whatever we decide, let's hurry and tell Danny's group so we can get going." --- Tyler - Baton Rouge/Apartment - Katie/Liam/Scarlett Tina and the others had entered the living room after Tyler had told his group. Elyse look dejected, while Caleb look flushed. If there had been an argument between them in the bedroom, they must have kept it quiet. "I'm going too," George announced, looking at the others. "Tyler took me on before. It's only fair." "Here's his bowl," Caleb said, handing Katie the bowl that Adam had gotten her. Tyler wasn't in much of a mood for this, so he reached forward and took Katie gently by the shoulder. Thanking Caleb, he turned Katie around, marching her to the door. George moved quickly to gather his things while they stood awkwardly at the door. Elyse clasped her hands together, hurt that Katie had pulled away from her. "Take care," was all she could muster. Once George was settled, Tyler quickly shuffled the kids out the door. He gave Tina and her group a small nod before leaving with George in tow. There was an unsettling silence in their departure. "We should head back to the motel we cleared," Tyler said, meeting Scarlett outside. "The one you met us at, Scarlett."

The Walking Dead: Among the Ruined// Spin-Off

Cole - On the Run A ringing in his ears, loud enough to almost drown at the raucous noise just beyond the walls. A soft hum could be heard despite all this-- a light whistling that reminded Cole of his mother. A harsh banging was occurring just behind him, a body slamming itself constantly into the side of the trailer. A rough growling was coming from the window in front of Cole, a diseased hand cutting itself up trying to push through the plastic. He stared at this hand-- his knife gripped harshly in his own-- even as sweat dripped and stung at his eyes. It finally occurred to Cole that it was he who was humming. "I'll drag 'em away," his father had said thirty minutes ago, rushing out of the trailer to potentially pull the horde away to a different location. It had worked, somewhat, leaving only a small group behind. Their trailer having been broken into recently, the pair of them only had one gun between them, and not nearly enough ammunition to clear out a significant group of the undead. So, Cole had waited for his father to return with that beauty of a rifle so that they could be free of these nuisances, but Cole was getting tired of waiting. His entire body felt hot, and a stabbing pain had nestled deep in the back of his head. The lack of hydration was no doubt going to be the death of him if these rotters didn't get to him first. Then-- a sudden crash from the front of the trailer could be heard. Perhaps they'd finally broke the barricade on the door (and it was only a barricade, with the lock having been previously broken by the looters). Cole wasn't immediately concerned, his focus still on this hand reaching through the window. Oh, how he'd come to loathe this hand within the last thirty minutes. He hadn't tried to stab at it for fear of it accidentally pulling his knife away, but Cole was rapidly losing his senses. The heat felt like it was enveloping him, wrapping around his spine and tugging incessantly at every one of his nerves. His arms felt numb and in pain, yet his legs felt jittery like lightning. With the sounds from the front getting louder, Cole decided he was done with waiting. Swearing, he jumped forward, planting his knife into the rotting hand. It wasn't living, so it didn't care much about this sudden development beyond becoming more erratic in its movements. Like Cole's sensible side had feared, the rotter pulled backward, slamming the knife's hilt into the window. It was the window that gave way. With a sizable hole now available to it, the rotter reached inside with both arms, pulling itself up enough to get its head through the broken window. Cole could only swear once again as slammed the heel of his boot into the monster's face and smash its head upon the wall. With it dead, Cole grabbed his knife back and made his way to meet the problem at the front-- "Jesus christ!" he exclaimed at the sight. A fat one had gotten through, his sizable gut (naked and sporting a number of open wounds) stuck in the doorway. It would have been funny, if not for the group behind him, ready to burst inside once the rotter dam was broken. Cole reasoned that he could take them one-on-one once they got inside-- there really wasn't much room in there-- but he knew they'd be crawling all over each other and swarming him given enough time. Instead, Cole rushed to the back and pushed the dead one through the window. Distantly, he noticed the banging from behind him was gone now. A little too late, he thought, tossing his knife outside the window before pushing his own head through. The light of the sun blinded him at first, causing him to slip slightly as he leaned his body forward. He held on tight, cutting his hands in the process, so that he could make sure he was ready for the head first fall. It was normally not much of a height, but the trailer sat on pairs of cinder blocks, making this fall out to be a potentially damaging one. He looked down toward the dead rotter on the ground and let go, banging his leg against the top of the window in the process. He managed to twist himself mid-air to land on his shoulder as opposed to his head. He landed roughly in the dirt, his lower body landing on the rotter and emitting a gross squishing sound. With no time to worry about the stink, Cole stumbled to his feet, his head whipping back and forth ins search for the dropped knife (a meager weapon, but his only one). He found it eventually sitting underneath the trailer, but by this time, some of the crowd at the door had took notice of him, changing their plan of action. Taking them on was out of the question, so Cole had only one option-- run. He'd have to find a safe place to stay and possibly return to find his father later. Hell, he'd tell Cameron to leave the piece of junk trailer behind. It had been a shitty place to stay anyway.

As he ran, his legs pumping with adrenaline, Cole began to hum.

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tremblay - Furniture Store - Matt/Magnus "Well then," Tremblay said, crossing his arms. "We can hardly let our friend leave without saying hi first." He turned back toward the desk, flipping one of the maps around so that he could get a look at the area. "If he's been with Tina's group, that means..." He points a spot, nodding. "I'll see to him eventually. Jon--" He turned back around. "I need you to go do that errand I asked of you. Jackson, you're free for today. You too, Matt. I'll call you later to discuss our friend." Tremblay moved back around to examine the charts. Everyone else moved to leave, and it took a moment for Tremblay to realize Magnus was still there. "Ah, right." He nodded toward the exit. "You may leave as well. My group will handle the newcomers. We don't need your hand in these matters."

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tyler - Apartment - Liam/Scarlett/Katie He hadn't quite expected such a reaction. He felt pleased by it, but he wasn't sure how he liked being so joyful of her anger. He returned her smile regardless, watching her as she pulled out her pistol. Bullets are faster than blades, she said, staring Tina down. Cautiously, he placed a hand on her arm as they walked. "I don't think we have to worry about that," he said, his voice soft. "We'll just head in, grab our stuff, and go without trouble." Tyler knew it might be an issue to drag Katie out of there, but there was nothing that could be done about that.

***

Tina stepped inside first, instantly calling Caleb, Adam, and Elyse with her into one of the bedrooms. Jace followed after, leaving Tyler and Scarlett to talk to the others. Shaking his head, Tyler moved to kneel in front of Katie. "Some stuff's come up, honey. We're going to have to leave." He looked to George and Liam. "Scarlett will be coming with me, as will the cat. You two can do what you want, honestly." George's look of shock turned to anger. "Excuse me? Just like that, you're going? What did you do out there?" "Does it matter? I'm not welcomed any longer, but you are. Just do what you want, George." The man licked his lips, shifting slightly to grip at the dining table. "I... Well, I don't know. This is rather sudden." He looked to Scarlett. "What... do you think?" he asked.

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tyler - Baton Rouge Streets - Scarlett He was thankful Scarlett was sticking up for him, but his mood had hit an all-time low. He'd just gotten Katie a place where she could be happy again, but his stupid actions caused it all to go wrong once again. "Tina had a point. If my past refuses to go away, I'll have to deal with it. Right now, Matt knows where we are. If I take Katie and go, then we'll all be safer." He almost recoiled from her hand on his shoulder, but he decided he liked it that way. Someone was finally on his side-- someone who he'd honestly been pretty genuine with. Not fully, of course, but-- "You don't have to stick with me. George will want to stay, and Liam..." He shrugged. "The kid'll probably want to stick with Katie. I'm not sure that'll be a good idea, but I guess we'll have to see." He reached up and took Scarlett's hand, giving it a slight squeeze. "But thank you for being here." He then nodded in the direction Tina and Jace went, indicating that it was time to go.

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tremblay - Furniture Store - Magnus/Matt "I'm aware," he said, not looking up from his current endeavor. He had to make sure he had every group in the area still pursuing their deals their community. A group or two seemed to have decided lately that they didn't need to continue this anymore, to which Tremblay would need to rectify. "But it's not as drastic as you make it out to be." He looked up now, his accent suppressed more than usual. He tried to come off as more English around Magnus especially. "We'll get to them in due time. What is more important is making sure the groups we do have in the fold aren't thinking of being roughly independent." But then Jon walked in, followed by Jackson and Matt. The bigger man simply nodded to Tremblay, while Jon looked like he was in a surprisingly good mood. "The deal went well," Jon explained. "But it was an interesting one. Matt decided to taunt some guy he knew-- a man named Thomas or whatever." Tremblay's brow raised at this name. The details were brief, but he'd ascertained that Thomas was also Tyler, a man he knew quite well. "Is this true?" Michael Tremblay asked, moving around the desk. His maps forgotten, he came up to Matt and looked him in the eye. "Tyler is here?" --- Adam - Supply Room - Katie/Liam Hastily, he moved backward to clear up the trap door from the children's prying eyes. He turned back to them and managed a smile. "Look, guys, you can't tell anyone you saw me in here-- not even Elyse, okay?" He looked over both of them, unsure if he could trust two children to keep a secret. "Oh, I... I have something for you, Katie." Pulling his pack around, Adam pulled out a small glass bowl. It was blue, and in the center was the image of a cat with a crown on his head. You may feed me now, was displayed under his feet. "It's a cat bowl. Managed to pick it up this morning."

The Walking Dead - Among the Ruined - Season 3

Tyler - Baton Rouge Streets - Matt/Scarlett "I--" He had nothing to say. He could feel the tension suddenly coming in from the others in the group, but there wasn't much he could do at this point. Further argument would just get Matt all up in his face, and who knew what his companions would do then. So-- "This conversation's over," Tyler said. "Good," said Jon, signalling for the others to leave first. "Come on, Jackson," he said to the big man, who shuffled out dutifully. "But," Tyler said, trying to sound meek. "What's in the bag? What did we just give you?" Jon shared a look with Tina and Jace before laughing. "Wow, aren't you guys messed up? Didn't even think it was a secret." A look of amusement was clear on his face. Jesus, was he having fun watching all this? "Drugs. Medical or otherwise. Some people just want to get high, especially with the world gone to shit." With that, the three men left, leaving Tyler and the others in awkward silence. Without a word, Tina moved to leave, Jace hesitantly following after her. Tyler almost let them go, but soon he was rushing out of the building to stop them. "Hold up," he said, repeating himself louder when Tina chose not to respond. "Tina!" She rounded on him, and he couldn't quite decipher the look on her face. "I get it," she said, surprising Tyler. "You probably did some bad stuff to get Katie back, I get it, that's in the past, and it doesn't matter to me. But--" She looked back at Jace for a moment before continuing. "This Matt guy, whoever he is, sounds like he has it in for you. He's working for Tremblay now, and that means Tremblay might have it out for you. Do you get that? We're all in danger now, because of you." Tyler hadn't considered that, honestly. He was expecting them to be angry about what he'd done. "I'm sorry. But that's not my fault, I--" "It's not?" she asked. "We don't care about your past, but they do. That man who tried to kill your daughter did. We can't have you around anymore. I need you gone as soon as we get back." She turned to head down the road, Jace pleading with her to stop. Tyler felt a familiar warmth wash over him, and he grew angry all over again. "I'm putting you in danger?!" he yelled, forcing her to turn back around. "Who's the one supplying drugs to a group of thugs? You have exposed my daughter to drugs! Your idiot friend Adam has been using them to get high! He almost killed us when we first ran into him!" Jace moved forward to protect Tina, but she only stared for a moment, eventually shaking her in disbelief. "Don't you dare make that kind of stuff up. Adam wouldn't do that... Katie or Liam would never have known! They'd never have found it! They never will, okay?" This got Tyler moving forward, and Jace placed a hand against his chest. "Are you suggesting I leave my daughter with you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "That's not happening, Tina. You just heard what I'm willing to do to have her with me." A harsh few seconds passed. At the back of Tyler's mind, a ludicrous thought passed his mind, of the idea of a tumbleweed passing by in this instance. Of course, there was no tumbleweed, and Tina knew better than to argue. "Okay. Just take her and leave, then. I'm sorry." She looked to Jace and sighed. "We're going on ahead." She turned to leave, Jace lingering for a moment to shake his head at Tyler. Then, they were both gone, and Tyler could only stare at their backs. "... Scarlett." He turned to her, bringing up his hands to grip at his head. "Jesus, I've fucked everything up. I'm-- I'm sorry."