ICanBeAnyone

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

She nodded a little as he said the whole world had gone to hell. She couldn't agree more. She was just damn happy that when the shit hit the fan she had been home in Seattle and not in LA, or New York. She was almost certain she wouldn't have survived nearly as long there. His pulse was a little on the fast side, but nothing outside the range of expected given what they had just experienced. "You a nurse or what?" he asked and she shook her head. "Nah, just had more than my fair share of first responder training.

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Her first instinct was to unsnap her holster. She was going to have to retrain herself. Her gun could no longer be her primary weapon of choice. It was no longer practical. She helped him to his feet as he started to get up. She agreed completely, they needed to get out while the going was good. She watched him head off in the direction of the alley, and she followed behind him, moving almost sideways as she watched where he was going and behind them.

She stopped with him and leaned out of the alley taking in how far away the dead were. He asked her if she had any ideas and she stopped for a minute trying to think about where they were on a map. They could go up... but he had the dog. Dogs didn't do so well with ladders. She rubbed her head trying to think. "Alright..." She sighed softly, and glanced out again. She saw a couple of small shops, that if they could get in and block the doors, they could probably find a way to get past these.

"Here's what I am thinking." She said quietly. "Let's make a run for one of those shops over there... If we can block the entrances we should be safe for this group to pass us by."

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

She Shrugged as he looked her over wanting to know what she was doing out here. "It was time to move on from my previous place. I know of a few places around here likely to have a few supplies, with as fast as this thing hit, I am betting the looting was kept to a minimum." She said. Her eyes widened with worry as he said he needed a minute before sinking to the sidewalk.

She leaned over him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Deep breath, sounds like the air might have gotten knocked out of you.. Just breathe deeply and it will pass." She crouched down so she could make eye contact. "Feeling a little dizzy?" She wanted to know as she slid her hand down his arm to monitor his pulse. "Don't rush, and don't try to talk, just nod." She glanced down at her watch monitoring his heart rate. "Have you been short on rations? drinking enough water?" she asked.

It was likely that the physical exertion with lack of food or water was leaving him far more exhausted than normal. If that wasn't the case, it was likely the adrenaline. If you weren't used to it, it could really play hell on your system as the rush vanished.

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

@SmileyJaws Sorry, not my best.

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

The minute she was free she sank to her knees to retrieve her knife, that unfortunately meant she was having to put her foot in the face of the one she stabbed through the eye. The sound a knife makes as it slides free from a human body is nauseating. She yanked it free and turned back to where he was struggling with the corpse. She heard him yell for her to "Kill this Fucking thing" What the hell did he think she was trying to do? She was actually trying to make sure she didn't injure him instead.

Ray had to get between the dog and the man. She put her hand on the creatures forehead turning it so she could stab down through the ear. She slid the knife out then put her hand on its shoulder and hip and started pushing to get it off of him. "I appreciate the back up man." She said as the now completely dead body slid off of him. She stood up from her crouch and offered him her hand to help him up.

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

Ray hated being cornered, and she closed her eyes as the sound the dead made washed over her. It was in that moment she realized that she was unlikely to make it out of this alive. The dead closed in on her blocking her view of anything but them. She stabbed her knife into the temple of the first creature. It wasn't as easy as the movies made it look. Knives didn't like bone. You had to work at it to make it slide through an area that was not well protected. She had to push with her free arm and one leg to pull the knife free. The knife didn't escape unscathed either, she looked at it, and the tip had been broken off during the struggle.

She saw another zombie fall and then heard a voice shouting asking if she was ok. "Peachy. Just out for a stroll amongst the local wildlife." She joked as she turned to the side where another was coming upon her. She was fortunate that the positioning was right for an eye strike. The knife slid in easily, but the serration caught as she tried to pull it out. The zombie fell, taking the knife with it. She was not happy that her next resort might have to be a loud weapon. She took a quick look around and it seemed they were down to one. She was about to ask her rescuer for help when she was forced back against the building as the last creature standing lunged at her.

She pulled her leg up between them, and was managing to hold it off but just barely, it's teeth were snapping less than an inch from her face. She used the leverage the wall gave her and pushed it farther away wincing as its decaying hands grabbed at her pant leg. "A little help please." she said holding it away from herself.

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

@SmileyJaws I am having fun already

[ICanBeAnyone] If Help Arrives [SmileyJaws]

Everyone has a different idea of how the apocalypse is going to go. Ask them. Some will say they are hoarding toilet paper like it is gold, others will swear guns and ammo is where you need to be prepared. Even more will have stockpiles of fish antibiotics, but no one is ever prepared for the reality of a disaster. Canned food will only get you so far if there is no way to get anymore when it is gone. You can prepare, and think of scenarios from dawn until dusk, but you are never ready for the day the world will end.

By her reckoning, it was August 25th. It was probably a fairly close guess. The world had been without communication, power, and other niceties for almost a month now. She sighed and glanced out the window between the boards she hastily nailed in place. The stench was unbearable. There were rotting corpses, and then there were ones that were still managing to crawl along. She wasn't keen on the idea of moving on, but her supplies were getting low. The truth was, not everyone was dead because of the infected. Illness took so many. With no water, no corpse disposal, people got sick, and once they died, they made things worse.

She pulled her hair back into a tight braid and tucked it into her shirt. She wore things that were as close to her body as she could get them. She had learned that anyone or anything that could get a grip on you, could get a bite out of you. She was thankful for her training on the police force. Even if she hadn't stayed on the force long, it was coming in handy now. Her body guard experience did more for her right now though. She began gathering her weapons, yes guns and ammo were nice to have, but the ammo would eventually run out. She was actually very glad that the death toll had risen so quickly, it kept looting to a minimum. The last she heard before official broadcasts stopped, the death toll was at about 80%. In a city this size, it meant there were about 100,000 people still alive.

That was a fairly large number, but when you take into account that there would be many women, and women with children who would be holed up and unlikely to venture out, that number decreased significantly. There were of course gangs, and large groups to be concerned about, but if you traveled quietly it would likely be as safe as it could get.

She made sure she not only had her gun, but a large knife as well. She knew the next stop on her destination, she needed to hit a military surplus store. They would have things she could use, if she was lucky no one else would be there and she could hole up there for a while.

She slipped out the door of what had once been her home, keeping her back against the rough wooden exterior. She wanted to keep things from sneaking up behind her as much as possible. She slipped a mask over her nose and mouth to reduce the amount of contaminants she breathed in. This wasn't going to be easy. She jogged from one building to another, her eyes scanning around her, including the ground. She didn't want to risk being pulled down and swarmed.

She drew in a sharp breath as she pressed herself against the porch of her neighbors house. There was a small group of three or four of the dead making their way down the street in the opposite direction she was heading. She forced herself to take slow calming breaths so as not to give herself away. Once they were past her she continued on her way, keeping her eyes out for both the dead and the living. It was the living she feared. The dead were predictable, the living were not.

The journey towards the store she had in mind was taking far longer than she thought. She had been on short rations, so her body was getting more and more exhausted as the day wore on. Just a few more..."SHIT!" She thought to herself. There was about 5 things heading straight for her. She glanced around, but there was really no where to hide. She pressed her back against the brick of what had once been a bank. She tried the door, but it was locked from the inside. That would be no refuge for her today. She inched slowly along the building, her eyes wide as her path brought her closer to the group. "This is stupid Ray. Five against 1. Today is not a good day to die." she told herself. She drew her knife. You had to take out the brain, she hoped she wouldn't have to shoot. It might bring more attention this way than she could handle.

Her foot slipped on a discarded soda can and it skittered noisily along the concrete. It had the unfortunate side effect of drawing the attention of the group. She clenched her jaw, adjusted the grip on her knife and prepared to fight.