The Walking Dead - When Hope Is Lost

[Rinn]

Jack kept to the walls and corners as he slowly made his way behind his flock of undead pigeons, picking them off one by one. Almost into what seemed like a narrow alleyway until some sort of horrible classic rock started spewing out of the loudspeakers behind him. "Just fucking great!!" He yelled out of frustration. Forgetting momentarily about the small group of zombies he was stalking. Watching as if in slow motion when every single walker turned around at the same time. Jack just stood there in shock as all his hard work went down the drain. "Too bad it wasn't Dubstep, maybe their heads could've exploded..." he joked. Turning around and sprinting down the street as fast as he could. Abandoning the alley entirely and hopefully finding the other side around the block.

Dodging walkers by merely inches as he skillfully weaved around the now increasing mass of walkers, he noticed a balding, middle aged man that just made his way down the alleyway. "Was he alive?" He said to himself as he slowed down his pace a bit to make the quick dip into yet another alleyway. This one was mustve been the other side of where he originally was. It was narrow, with only a ladder, some trash littered around, and apparently a dumpster who's lid just closed itself. Jack stood there confused, did that old man just throw himself out? The walkers were too distracted by the music at the moment to peer between the walls and see anything worth eating here. So they were momentarily safe.

Jack slowly walked towards the dumpster as he placed his bow around his shoulder and pulling his knife out of his boot just in case the old man wasn't so friendly. He gave three light taps on the metal as he lightly said "excuse me sir, any metal cans or bottles need to be thrown in the recycle bin. Jeeze ever heard of sorting?" Surely some lighthearted jokes would prove his humanity, as well as a horrible attempt to lighten the mood.

[Daxam]

--Ash--

"Ash, are you coming or not?" Alex calls softly over his shoulder.

"I'm coming, hold on," Ash answers, trudging after Alex. "I'm pretty knackered right now."

"We'll be resting in a bit," Alex says, adjusting the medium-sized camping bag slung across his back. Laying across the top of the bag, where a bedroll would normally be, is his shotgun, secured by the cords that would be used to hold the bedroll in place, cut short to accommodate the weapon.

"Thank God," she replies, catching up to Alex. "How long have we been walking, anyway?"

"Since maybe eight or nine this morning, I think," Alex answers, stifling a yawn as they walk down the deserted street, littered with rotting bodies.

As they walk, Ash draws closer to Alex, distancing herself from the bodies that could spring to life at any moment. Although she's utterly repulsed by the sight of them all, she can't turn her eyes away. She remembers likening it to a car accident when the infection first began, the carnage being ugly, tragic, and yet impossible to ignore, and only continues to find truth in the comparison. Poor people, she thought, still gazing at the prone, bloody forms. No one deserves to die like that.

Tearing her eyes away from the scene surrounding them, she looks up at Alex, who is staring resolutely ahead, as if he hasn't noticed anything or he's used to it all. After everything they've been through since it all started, she doesn't remember seeing him break down even in the slightest. He may act tough, but it's gotta be eating away at him. To get her mind off of everything, she speaks up, saying, "What are we doing here again?" She thought about asking him how he was doing instead, but decided not to, certain that she'd get the same "I'm fine" she always got.


--Alex--

"I've told you," he answers, "we have to gather supplies, then we head north."

When the outbreak began, Alex managed to form a plan fairly quickly. After meeting up with Ash, they would travel to Atlanta, which was where they were now, gather supplies, then they would try to travel north, keeping away from the main roads and sticking to woodland. If that wouldn't work, then they would attempt to hot-wire a car and drive as far as they could before continuing on foot, until, hopefully, they make it somewhere with a colder climate.

Suddenly, his ears perk up as what sounds like music starts playing, not too far from where he and Ash are, from the sound of it. "Led Zeppelin...Not a bad choice," Alex mutters to himself.

"Ah, what is that brutal sound and where's it coming from?" Ash wonders, not bothering to hide her disgust.

Alex smiles and was about to mention something about him not minding it when he hears a low moaning. He and Ash duck behind a building as a group of walkers shamble past, heading in the direction of the music. "I don't know why anyone would wanna lead these things toward themselves, but we gotta get out of here before we wind up joining them," Alex whispers.

Ash nods and follows him into the building they were hiding behind, a cafe.

[1Gr1mm]

The map showed exactly what he needed to know. Where the small streets were situated and how to get to them. Unluckily for him, the map wasn't showing where the entrances to a certain buildings were, but from here, he could make out and answer to that himself. Few times he averted his gaze from the map and to the alleyway were he saw a couple before. He didn't see them... until they made it to the roof. Who knows if they actually noticed him, he didn't think so, not from the way they flopped down almost immediately upon reaching the roof. He stood up, approaching the edge of the roof. One look down and he understood why they were so eager to flop down up there. The place wasn't exactly peaceful. Quickly, he moved back, folded his map and put it back into his inner jacket pocket. Then he went back to the edge. They were stuck up there, and so was he here. Well, mostly. He raised his hand up, waiting for them to notice the figure on the roof. "Hello there!"

"Hello there?" He shook his head, that was one of his worst lines ever. Yet, all the lines seemed to decrease in quality drastically since this started happening. Did they hear him? He thought about it for a moment before deciding to call for them again. They weren't that far, they should be able to hear him. "Yo-" He began, but his words were cut off by the sudden bang. His very first thought was that someone shot another walker, but it turned out to be just increasingly loud piece of music. "Led Zeppelin?" He mumbled, his voice muted by the song. The vibration took him heavily off guard and he almost fell down from the roof. That happening, he took a few steps back, not wanting to risk it. He turned to the source of the music and watched how it attracted most of the walkers. A distraction? It was the first thought that came to Kim's head. Whoever was inside probably wanted to clear the area so he or she or them could make a move out of there. Risky, but clever nonetheless.

He turned back to the two on the opposite roof, wondering if they noticed him now that the music started blasting.

[VectorxMan]

"Ehh who am I kidding," Theo told himself. His knees popped simultaneously as he stood up. "Glad that's outta....," he mumbled before trailing off. Theo gave himself a swift and loud slap to the face with the hand not wielding his tire iron to ensure he hadn't fallen asleep. Nope not asleep. Just a case of rosey cheeks.

Down the block a rather round man threw himself behind a car. A man with a rifle. Both of Theo's eyebrows perked at this sight. The guy was looking around nervously. Random passing survivors were not an uncommon sight, however, the three people seemed to be headed to a common location. Maybe it's some kind of holdout? Theo's mouth had been suspended mid word so his next swallow was uncomfortably dry.

He shut his jaw as he turned and walked with a purpose to where he had abandoned his shopping cart. On a nearby shelf was his frameless backpack. He had his sleeping bag secured on the top of the bag, above the sideways velcro pocket that sported the letters U.S. Before the outbreak Theo had a metal frame for the pack. It would repeatedly impact his lower back whenever he travelled faster than a half~hearted run. After giving up the support skeleton of his mobile home he had to ditch a lot of his gear.

Suddenly, a great deal of joy flooded through Theo's veins. His little shopping fantasy was cut short by some muffled music coming from outdoors. Of the things in his dream cart he only had quick access to the top layer. He jammed a few eight ounce bottles of hand sanitizer and a bunch of kitchen cloths into his pockets. Then he snatched up his bag with his weapon hand and a four pack of ultra soft shit tickets with the free one. Theo turned on heel and dashed to the store's entrance.

While running, he awkwardly managed to get both straps of the pack on his body. The marvelous melody of Led Zeppelin's Kashmire could clearly be heard from the front. He hasn't felt this pumped in too long! As Theo approached the door he saw the heavyset man round the corner to the same alley the other two had used. Part of Theo's lower lip curled between his teeth. He wanted to bust out laughing because he could imagine the hamster wheel work in the big guy's mind in regards to the ladder. A bit of himself wanted to leap in joy when Fluffy threw himself into a dumpster. Then, another human rushed into the alley.

Theo inhaled deeply and exhaled calmly. Do it. He twisted the lock for the door and pulled it open. The next time killer was the metal accordian door which had to be unlocked with a deceased employee's key. He was about to play frogger, except replace cars and a frog with cannibals and yourself. What a comforting thought!

With that the man dropped the keys, shoved the door aside, and bolted.

[King Serperior]

Time: About 1200 hours
Place: Empty road leading into Atlanta, Georgia
This is Major Tobias Wallace. Yesterday we lost Privates Matt Jenkins and Elizabeth Parkman. We were ambushed by survivors of this living Hell. We had stopped to help what appeared to be an injured man laying on a road. We were worried that he had been bitten, so Private Jenkins volunteered to go alone. I wouldn't allow it and sent Private Parkman to cover him. They died before my eyes as a volly of gunfire from the South came down on us. The civillians were hiding in a small shack about ten feet from the road, estimated to be five men. Corporal Sanders used one of our last grenades to blow them to Hell. All this gunfire and the explosion would drag the walkers for miles around. We did what we could with the Privates after we stripped them of all the supplies we needed. General Smith gave a short eulogy and we quickly buried them in a shallow grave. They didn't deserve this, no one did. *Sigh heard* We are under our last orders to make our way to Atlanta, Georgia. It was said that the military was making a last stand in key cities around Americe. Yea, I've seen what happened as we left our base. The walkers overran the defenses. My men wanted to go back, to defend their comrades, but we were under strict orders from the President. The squads with the best records were to be relocated ASAP to key checkpoints. However, as I watch from the window of our transport, I have to wonder.......would we have been better off dying at the base, comrades by our side?
This is Major Tobias Wallace, out!
-Log number 187
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As he turned off the recorder, Tobias sighed. Has it really been two weeks? It felt more like two years. All of this death, living and otherwise, would easily drive a man to commit horrible acts. He shook himself a little. Now was not the time to think of the past. He had his men to take care of. Tobias grabbed the walkie-talkie, clicked in on, and said, "Corporal Cormak? How are we on fuel? We are almost on empty in the tank." There was a slight rattling sound as as she moved from her position to the barrel tied down in the back. She quickly replied, "We have about a quarter barrel." Although she couldn't see him, Tobias nodded out of habit, "Okay, when we next find a relatively safe zone, we will refill our tank. However, we'll have to siphon more gas as we continue. Major out!"

Eventually, they reached the outskirts of Atlanta. It was shocking to see that the military barracades no only failed to defend against the walkers, but had sucessfully prevented fast escape from the dead behind our lines. After taking a quick look at the remains of the slaughter, I pulled out the walkie talkie again, "Okay, here's the plan, find a safe location where we can move out fast if things get hairy. I don't want us looking like that. I'll go in on foot. I will be making reports every ten minutes. If I am in trouble, I will click the walkie twice. Understood?" After hearing the confirmations from everyone, Tobias stepped out of the vehicle and shouldered his bag. He unholstered his pistol and pocketed the silencer. He wasn't planning on firing it, but he didn't need any jams.

Tobias watched as the transport moved around a corner and continued on. He knew his men would be ready for a retreat if it came to it. Taking a deep breath, he started walking into the city. There were a few crawlers that he quickly dispatched silently with his combat knife. After every kill, he made shure to carefully observe his surroundings. Nothing.....though.....there was some odd noise ringing through the alleys. That's what was keeping the walkers at bay. Whoever that sorry guy was was pulling them from as far as they could go to his location. Tobias, going against the norm, followed the sound as well until he saw a horde of them. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted a fire escape. the ladder was lowered, but it appeared that it could be pulled up. Looking back at the horde about 200 feet away then back at the escape, he figured that he would have 3 minutes from the moment he broke cover to get up the escape and pull the ladder up before they closed in on his position.

After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm his already calm nerves, Tobias sprinted across the street towards the ladder. Luckily, he was almost at the ladder before some of the things noticed him. Most were clambering around looking for the music, but a few were shambling towards his direction. Tobias hit the ladder and started to climb. Thirty seconds later, he had reached the top. He looked and saw that they were aboint 90 seconds away. Steeling himself, he grabbed the top rung and pulled as hard as he could. The rusted hinges fought against him loudly, but in about 45 seconds, the ladder was pulled up about 3 feet above the heads of the undead creatures.

Satisfied that his work was done, he locked the hinges down, so the ladder wouldn't fall back, and began to climb upwards, to the roof. It took about five minutes of careful climbing to reach the top, so he pulled out the walkie and said, "I am on the roof of a building. The walkers are everywhere on the streets. However, now that I am about 20 stories up, I can see that there are a few paths that I could take to get out of here. Wait....I see two figures on the roof adjacent to me. Judging There is what I believe to be a three foot gap between the fire escapes of this building and the one they are on. If I can convience them that I am no threat, I may be able to save some lives. Major out!"

Tobias walked to the edge of the building's roof and called out, "Attention, civillians, this is Major Tobias Wallace! What is your current situation?"

[Assassin958]

Tom tried to stop gasping for air, but he couldn't help it. He assumed that the senses of the dead aren't so fine tuned as to hear him, but it's tough to go against his instincts. Tom took a deep breath through his nose.

Bad idea, it smells in here

He continued to breathe through his mouth before realizing that there was a sharp pain in his back

I must have landed awkwardly on my rifle

He had gone back first, all of the contents of his bag had dug into his bag upon impact. Tom panicked momentarily.

Are my scotch and cigars still intact?

He realized it was probably too dark to check on his possessions. He couldn't see his hand if it was right in front of his face.

How long will I be in here? An hour, a day, a week?

Tom started to panic. He realized that no one would find him, and he'd have to wait for the hoard to go away. But why would they? What if they never did? What if he was forced to sit in the dumpster forever as hundreds of the dead piled on top of it? What would he eat? Garbage? Fuck that. Tom started to panic. His life was over, he'd never see the sun again.

His breakdown was interrupted by three bangs on the side of his shelter. No, not bangs, they sounded more like knocks. Were they swarming him? Was this the end? No, the dead don't knock, was it a... living person?

Almost as if on cue a muffled voice managed to penetrate through the metal walls of the dumpster. Between the music and his hiding spot he couldn't hear a word of what was said, but he knew it sounded human. Tom Pushed the lid up and poked his head out wearily. Sure enough, his guest was a young man with a bow slung over his back and a knife in his hand. He almost panicked and retreated back into the dumpster out of instinct.

There are walking corpses out there, people carry knives now

With the immediate threat of death wearing off, Tom realized how absurd he looked. He was Tom Reynolds, he owned a house for every season and a wine for every year (after 1950) in his cellar. He shaped government policy with his vast wealth and dined at the finest restaurants for every meal. Now here he was red-faced, drenched in sweat, leering at someone from a dumpster like some kind of psycho. Tom stood up fully and attempted to brush off his shirt.

"A bow? That's cute. You know what century we're in, right?"

Tom attempted to casually climb out, but instead he rolled over the edge like someone who doesn't have the arm strength to get out of a pool. He hit the ground and felt the wind get knocked out of him.

Yep, still drunk

Tom groaned.

[Daxam]

--Alex--

Alex and Ash creep through the cafe, weapons drawn and at the ready. To get his bearings, Alex glances out of the window and sees the university down the street. At least I somewhat know where we are, now, he thinks, refocusing ahead of him. He and Ash continued their sweep through the cafe and relax, having not found anything dangerous. Turning to Ash, Alex says, "While we're here, we may as well make the best of it. See if you can't find anything we can use and I'll keep watch out here."

She nods and walks farther into the cafe, towards the kitchen. Alex picks up a fallen chair, sets his bag next to it, and sits down, laying his shotgun on the table next to him. He runs his hand over his face and sighs. His eyes drift toward his bag, remembering what he has in it. About a week after all hell broke loose, he and Ash came across what appeared to be the site of a battle, bodies strewn across the ground. As much as they resented it, the two of them roamed the battlefield, searching for anything they could use. Alex found an unused grenade and, almost on impulse, picked it up and stowed it safely way in his bag, careful not to let Ash see. She still doesn't know about it, Alex having been too afraid of what she'd say to tell her. As usual, he starts thinking about what he'd do if the time came. Would he be able to pull the pin if it meant her safety? As he thinks, he grows more aware of a subtle pain forming in his right arm. Not again, he thinks, massaging it.


--Ash--

After a few minutes, Ash walks out of the kitchen, empty-handed. She walks up to Alex, pulls a chair up next to him, and says, "It looks like someone else made off with everything before we got here."

Alex swears quietly under his breath. "Oh well," he says after a moment. "We'll head up the street once the coast is clear and see if we can't find anything up that way."

Ash nods and sits back. "I'm just glad we're taking time for a kip," she replies, closing her eyes. She looks over and sees Alex rubbing his arm. She looks at the scars, still somewhat amazed that he survived a lightning strike. "Is it bothering you again?" she asks, concerned.

"I'll be fine," he answers.

She looks at him a moment, worried. Then, she says, "Well, we should still probably get you some pain killers or something. What would we do if we're surrounded by those things and you can't do anything because you're having an episode?"

He smiles. "I'll agree with you on that." He stands up. "We can probably get going now. If I'm correct, there's a pharmacy around here somewhere. But, before we find that, I think we should find out who's playing that music. If they're friendly, they'll be more likely to have some painkillers or something."

Ash gives him a soft smile and stands up with him. They walk out of the cafe and, after checking if the coast is clear, they begin to cautiously walk up the street, following the lyrics of Led Zeppelin.

[Rinn]

Jack watched cautiously as the man slowly peeked out of the dumpster only to quickly retreat back. "Figures..." Jack muttered. Of course he would get stuck with a scared old man. He noticed he eyed his knife when he retreated back in so Jack decided to quickly stuff the blade end in his pocket, not to let the man think he was planning to harm him. A couple seconds later the man popped out again, followed by some kind of slurring about his bow. A potent aroma of pure alcahol escaped his mouth as he attempted an insult to save face. Jack was about to retaliate with a snarky comeback but before he could, the man apparently tripped over himself and landed quite clumsly on the hard concreete with a thump and a groan.

"Great, not only is he NOT a cute redhead, but he's shitfaced." Jack let out a sigh and quickly scanned his lumpy torso for any bites, scratches, or broken appendages. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises he seemed okay. The bag he had with him had torn a little on one side and seemed to hold some rather "unique" version of supplies. A wooden box with the words "Cuban" on the side poked through the canvas hole. Jack couldn't help but let out a chuckle. One thing bothered him though, where was his weapon? There is no way this man could of made it so far without one. Jack quickly scanned him again, no handgun, no shotgun, no baseball bat or even a hammer of sorts. He may be laying on it but he didn't want to move him just on a hunch. Then he remebered the dumpster. Jack carefully lifted the lid to see a hunting rifle just at the very bottom. "Duh!" He said as he reached down to grab it. Was this the guy who made that gunshot earlier? He'd better ask him.

Jack quickly unloaded the rifle and placed the gun and its bullets by the mans feet. He pulled out a bottle of water and splashed a bit of it in the mans face to wake him up. "Hey, old guy... did you shoot that gun earlier or did you hear the gunshot too?" He took a big swig of the water before offering it to the half-drunk-half-awake man. "Look im not gonna hurt you, I just want to know if there are other people here too?" Jack started to grow nervous, they stayed in this alleyway for far too long and he could hear the group of walkers growing in number. Pretty soon they will start wandering into the alley and he only had a handfull of arrows left. He didn't want to leave the guy there, but he will if he has no choice.

[Assassin958]

Tom was hurting all over, both in his physical body and his damaged ego. He wanted to lay there for another minute, or maybe a lifetime, but as he began to regain focus the sound of the hoard entered his mind again, and he began to sit up. He was about to glance up and say something when a splash of water hit his face.

"Hey what the fu-"

Tom's initial surprise was interrupted by his sudden realization. He was really thirsty. While packing his supplies he could only fit so much, and while he doesn't regret his decisions, booze doesn't exactly keep one hydrated. He watched the water as he asked him about the gunshot.

"I didn't fire the shot, I heard it and came this way."

Tom stared as he took a giant sip, and then greedily grabbed it when it was held out to him. He finished it off in a moment of absolute bliss as he heard concerns being expressed about whether there were other survivors in the area.

"Well" Tom said as dropped the empty bottle, "If you didn't fire the shot and I didn't fire the shot, then I guess there are others still to be found."

Tom picked up his rifle and began to reload it glaring at the individual who had so brazenly unloaded it. Not making a bitter comment about the sacred nature of his personal possessions was his way of saying thank you.

"I saw at least two other people disappear into this very alley, which is why I came running down it."

He bent over and gathered his supplies together. He checked his bag and saw that the glass that he'd been drinking from was cracked. He tossed it to the side of the alley.

"Straight from the bottle it is then."

He felt that the boy was getting nervous, and he realized that he probably should be too. He looked onto the street and saw quite a formidable hoard. It wouldn't be too long before some of them found their way into their little conversational vacuum. Although he was still tired and sore, he felt much better from his minor hydration. He had a burst of energy and excitement in the fact that he actually found another person. He couldn't help but crack a smirk.

"Lets get going then"

Tom approached the ladder. He grabbed one of the lower steps and began a slow ascent

"I'm pretty sure they went this way"

[VectorxMan]

Theo had waited until none of the dead were within thirty feet of the door. He begged his inner highschool lineman frame to launch him into the alley diagonally across the street. One sprinting step at a time was the best he was offered. Besides Kashmire's second play through, one line was on repeat in his head,"I'm so glad the alley is away from that walker magnet." Many of the immediate loner walkers had gathered into minor groups. A few blocks ahead of Theo was a sizable herd. They were helbent on merging with the swarm drawn to Led Zeppelin.

He slowed his pace by fifty percent as he crossed the alley's threshold. At the last moment his eye caught a quarter dozen walkers' body language showed interest in his flesh. Where one goes more will follow. Good thing they were twenty feet away. Both of the individual men Theo had seen before were by the dumpster. Fluffy seemed in poor shape from what Theo could see. He was struggling with a ladder that lead to the building's roof. Theo slowed his pace to a near stop when Robin Hood looked his way. "Please, after you, the people behind me are the unfriendly ones."