Haywood

He was now alone, yet again holding the line by himself. His last undercover soldier fell in the hands of his nemesis - Daniel. Of course, before the man's downfall, he took out one of Daniel's most trusted comrades. Eric, along with Henry, lay dead upon the sands he once called sacred.

These sands were - like years before the outbreak - tainted with tears of blood. Robert lived by such a code, a code where only he was appointed to pass on. But with nobody to lead anymore, with all his men dead, a question roamed his mind.

He wondered what else there was, what possible future could he provide when nobody was on his side. The rage of an ultimatum, a rage hidden within the deepest tempest of the soul rose like an aura. Though invisible to the human eye, there was an animalisitc ambience surrounding Robert - one that would eventually lead to Daniel's death if he didn't match such character.

Daniel didn't have to look at Henry again; the image of his closest friend's corpse was seared forever into his mind. He took the liberty of staring over his oponent, studying his movement intently... Robert was strong, but lacked Daniel's height, albeit height could be nullified by strength any day. He wanted to move first, but couldn't decide if he should wait and see what Robert would do. All of his men were gone... why did he still fight?

But that hesitance would only become a liability for Daniel. Without any more time wasted, Robert lunged forward into a full on sprint and threw his shoulder into Daniel's abdomen, tackling him to the ground. His hands remained on the man's wrist as they fell to the cold ground, crashing against the blood-filled grass.

Robert threw a quick jab into the man's face before backing away slightly and standing to his feet. "You should have moved with proper force against Tyler. Because of your actions, our grounds are stained with the blood of our fallen brothers! Stand! Stand and fight!"

Daniel staggered to his feet, wiping a spot of blood from his lip. "Tyler could've been dead, Robert! We searched for hours! The only thing I've done is follow your orders. Until now, that is."

"My orders? You, follow me?! You speak nothing but lies!" Robert grunted from his grinding teeth. He took a step forward, closing in on Daniel as his stare became more onimous. "You've stripped me of my throne, and now I shall strip you of everyone you love! After your death, I shall take that of your sibling, that of your friends, of your soldiers. I shall tear down everything you hold most dear!..............AGHHH!!!!!"

Once again, a second lunge followed. He ran forth and jammed his right shoulder into Daniel's torso to push him backwards and possibly into the grass once again. As Daniel recieved the blow from Robert, they both fell to the ground. Daniel pried from Robert's grip, pulled his right leg under the man's torso, and threw all his weight to the right, sending Robert to the ground. He sprung up and dropped a knee down to the cement and threw a hard fist into Robert's right temple. Failing to block the intense collision, Robert became dazed, but was not allowing such a weak man to defeat him. Quickly, Robert returned with even greater fortitude, sending his own fist into Daniel's face. Again, blood spilled from the man's mouth and furthered to paint the grass red.

As he stood up along with Daniel, Robert stared at the man as he attempted to read his next move. And it worked efficiently as Daniel failed to strike Robert with the incoming kick. Robert caught Daniel's leg and responded accordingly. He used his elbow to clash - once again - against his enemy's jaw, causing him to fall and nearly drown on his own blood.

Robert stared at the weak man from above. "You had upper hand upon the catacombs! Your blood against Tyler's! You have been bested by more devious mind" he stated, walking around Daniel was he watched the man puke out his own lungs. "We placed weapon upon every soldier, yet they feared to lift them, and fall upon the raiders!" he yelled as he picked up Henry's pistol.

"You... you don't get it do you, Robert? Your friends; the ones you assigned to me - They were brave! Especially the one you and your men just murdered!" Daniel shouted as hard as he could. "They were ambushed, but they fought hard!"

"Did they pray for a glorious death?"

"No, Robert, I didn't-"

"NO! THEY PRAYED......TO BE LED!"

Robert then cocked the revolver and aimed it straight at Daniel's forehead. "To the afterlife"
BANG! A loud shot cracked the air, piercing Robert's side. The man suddenly tumbled to his right, trying to remain balanced. Unfortunately, his eyes couldn't make of his surroundings and ended up crashing onto his knees. He looked down to where the heat initiated and could only see the color red. Even a monster's blood was the color of a human's. In attempt to remain alive, he held his side urgently, pressing against the wound. As he turned to face the shooter, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Emma stood aside Audrey, who was knelt at Henry's body. The younger girl held a hot pistol in her hand, staring straight at Robert. With the revolver still in his grasp, Robert decided to aim and shoot, but was met with unlawful force. Emma pulled the trigger once more, this time taking true aim and landing a round in Robert's right temple, sending the man to his death.

A loud thud described the end of the war as Robert's body fell backwards into the sands. The unbelievable result of the war would haunt both Robert and Daniel for the remainder of history. Robert had become a man so lost in his own ambition, that he ended up blinded by his desire to conquer. He failed to act quick enough and was ended by a mere child. But that event not only ended the war, but provided Daniel with a hint at the truth.

He showed the soldier how weak he had truly become. He showed him that those who remained in the past were not fit to live in this future. Robert was necessary evil that would guide Daniel to understand the truth behind survival. Because of Robert's 'victory', Daniel comprehended that he was no longer as strong as he once believed. He had faced many obstacles in the past, but none like Robert. The man had made himself into a monster in order to survive in this blasted new world. And it seemed that he had an impact on Emma, having her kill a human being for the first time in order to survive. Daniel feared what Emma would now become. He feared that she would lose herself and see things through Robert's eyes. But maybe.........just maybe, it was a most needed step for both of them. Maybe they had to become their worst nightmares in order to continue to live. Survival was the key for everyone, but the question was this:

Would one have to lose their humanity in order to survive?

Katie - Haywood - Shot

When Katie peeked her head up she saw Emma was gone. "Emma?" she called out, but her small voice was lost in the shouts and gunfire. Bullets ricocheted off of the buildings around her. People were dying and dead. There was too much noise... noise brought the monsters...

Katie got up. She couldn't stay there on the ground. She had to get higher, to look for the monsters. She had to find Emma.
"Emma!" she called out, moving carefully through the battle. Nobody really paid attention to her, a small being among fighting men. When a bullet went passed her ear she screamed and ducked down. Maybe staying on the ground wasn't such a bad thing after all...

Crawling on her belly, Katie used the bodies of people on the ground as cover as she made her way around. "Emma!" she screamed, her voice getting strained with tears. She hated this. Hated guns.
Suddenly, amazingly, she finally saw Emma. She was standing with another girl who was crying over the body of a man. Emma was standing, facing the mean man from before, the one who had spoken so badly about her daddy. She was pointing a gun.
"Emma!" Katie yelled and stood up, waving her arms and jumping. "Emma! Em-!"

BANG!

Something hit her hard. Katie looked down. There was red stuff on her shirt... and her shoulder hurt...
The little girl looked back up at Emma in shock. Then, almost in slow motion, she fell.
It hurt so much... very badly...
Daddy...

Rob-Haywood-Daniel,Katie,Emma,Etc

Rob tried to focus as the bullets when flying by him, people he knew were being killed...on both ends. Rob felt empty as he killed someone that he had known..talked to. Rob looked towards his colleagues for second before starting to fire again. Rob watched the grenade bob around, and who he was pretty sure was Robert run away as it exploded. As beautiful explosion as it was, he didn't realize that trucks exploded like that. "Huh" Rob shrugged as he started to reload. A bullet whizzed by him as he looked up. "ugh..."

Suddenly a truck smashed through the gate of Haywood. "Oh come on" Rob grunted as he started to run to find cover deeper into Haywood, he knew that the opposition would start flooding in. Not to mention the undead slowly coming in. And sure as he thought, they starting coming in. Rob sighed, "Come on" Rob stood up and started to shoot, "Where are yo-" Rob staggered backwards, almost tripping on a rock.

"ah..." Rob looked down and put his hand on his stomach. He felt a sharp pain which made him cringe. He looked at his hand, which was covered in blood. I've been shot....Aw Rob started to stumble in a random direction. Where was the?...what was it called again, the place...I need to go too... Rob collapsed against a wall of one of the buildings. Rob was angry at himself...There was a good chance he was going to die, probably not even a quick death. As Rob looked around, He noticed that many of the men on Roberts side were now dead. "Huh...We're winning" Rob turned around to see Robert burst into a apartment.

"Where.....are.....you....going?" Rob started to stumble and crawl. Visions of his family before the outbreak went through his head as he slowly went towards the direction Robert ran towards. He was not going to die...He promised himself he would find his brother...He was not going to die now. He was not going to die now. He was not going to die now. He was not going to die now.He was not going to die now. He was not going to die now.He was not going to die now. He was not going to die now!

He heard a bang...and after a while another bang. And just as Rob used most of his strength he came into view. What he saw was strange. The corpses of Henry,Eric and Robert. And Daniel, Emma and Audrey. "Well...I guess I can be called Robert now-*cough*" Rob leaned against a wall. Rob turned around and saw Katie. But something was wrong, very wrong. And when Rob realized what it was, His eyes widened..."KATIE!"

Matt-Outpost-Myriah

Matt had a small temptation to shove a gun right into her face, but of course he didn't. He of course followed her. And he listened as she told him what she thought.
[i] She doesn't understand, they all don't. None of them understand, they don't understand at all! I can't believe all of you fools. You keep going on and on and on, but none of you understand. YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND...But of course they don't understand, They're not me. Maybe it's sad that I want the power, but they're too stupid to do anything...But first [/b]
"Heh..I know a bit of German, Spanish, French..My family liked for me to know a lot" Matt Grinned

Abram - The House - Jess

The man hurried down the stairs, towards the back door in the kitchen, intending to go to the car when jess stopped him. She was talking crazy.... there were far too many windows; the horde would break in easily. "Jessalyn, you can't be serious. We're trapped and a horde that size could brake in and over run you easy." He scowled, breathing out hard. "I made a promise to Floyd to keep you safe... I could force you in to the car, but I'd rather not do that to you! Please, I'd rather not stay and get eaten, either."

"Jess, I know how to track a trail and we can find him together. Floyd isn't dumb enough to come around here with a herd swarming the place. He'll take shelter, figure that we've probably jumped and run away. If he's lookin' for us, we have a better chance of finding him or vise versa." He looked the girl in the eyes. "Please don't make me leave you behind."

Enrique looked at Thomas for a bit, he didnt like seeing him in pain. Were it not for Thomas Enrique would be one of the corpses walking around in the catacombs, and he was thankful for that. He knew Thomas was doing what he needed to do in order to keep their little trio alive but he didnt like signing up with the Outpost people, they didnt have the instinct to kill. They were too political about most things, for instance when they could have easily shot those guys in the street the guy with him, Rudy, thought it would be a good idea for them to wait and such. The fuck were they thinking? It would have been over and done with then, even if the walkers came by it'd get rid of the bodies and whoever came looking would likely think they soldier boys had tried to fight off the walkers, hence the shots. He knew for a fact he could lead better than that little bastard, he couldnt handle the fact that they were so civilian minded. He understood that Thomas and Bex werent military but they could understand what Enrique said when he said it, these idiots thought everything needed a debate.

Enrique noticed Reggie looking at him and stared back, he wasnt about to be sized up by anyone even if that wasnt what Reggie was trying to do. He registered what the man had said about training and decided it was time to speak up.

"If you're going to train your new recruits you should let me help," He said with a stoney face, "I have military experience, I know my way around a firefight and from what I've seen your people need more training. That is of course if you dont mind me roughing some of them up, which will happen now and then."

Reggie - The Pub - Enrique/Hazel/Nicolas/Sylar

Reggie stared at Enrique momentarily. He wanted Enrique to think he was neutral on the idea. "The key word there being help. That's not to say we couldn't use a guy like you. Outpost is lacking in men with prior experience. They're a soft group, too caught up in the luxuries we've provided them." As everyone shuffled into the kitchen, Reggie pointedly stayed in the hallway with Enrique. "... If you have to rough some of them up, then so be it. Just don't make a big show of it. The council probably won't like what I have in mind for the scouts." With that, Reggie followed into the kitchen while everyone waited for the return of Jerry.

~~~

Hours had passed and the street outside was barely visible under moonlight. The group had buried their dead friend and disposed of the corpses of the gang members before coming inside to enjoy a meal Hazel had surprisingly prepared all on her own. Now, Hazel was in the process of handing out room keys while Reggie pulled his scouts to the side of the kitchen, Thomas, Bex, and Enrique included. "We've lost someone today," Reggie said, looking into the eyes of each and every one of his men. "It's not a new experience for us, but it is one that I can't stand for any longer. The other council members have not seen what we go through every time we leave those walls. We risk our lives to give our community what is little more than gifts. We give and we give yet none of them understand. They think we aren't as necessary as their comfort. While they've allowed us to expand our group today, who knows when they will vote against me to give us the shaft? From this day on, we forget what the council thinks and become a true fighting force that loses no men."

Reggie reached out and gave the men standing beside him- Phon and Luke- a squeeze on the shoulder. "Never forget Ben. I'd like a moment of silence." Reggie closed his eyes, and he trusted the scouts to do the same. He knew Myriah would not like the idea of the scouts seeking out this gang, but it was for the ultimate good. They not only had an obligation to Outpost, but an obligation to Hazel and her hotel. This gang- these raiders- had to be taken down. Besides, what did Myriah know? What did any of them know? All they had to show for their leadership was discord and mutiny. Reggie knew how to lead and knew what was necessary. "You're all free to rest now. Talk to the girl if you're confused where you're sleeping."

As the scouts began to split off, Luke turned to Reggie. "I was talking to the guy who that gang was tracking," he said. "Said his name was Nicolas and that he was just looking for a place to stay. I was thinking we take him back to Outpost."

Reggie nodded his consent. "And talk to the girl about leaving her a radio. It'd be nice if we could use this place as a new outpost." Luke nodded and walked away, leaving Reggie to seek out Sylar. When he eventually found the man, Reggie gave him a sympathetic look. "I hear Meghan'll be all right. She's going to be bedridden for a while, but Hazel said she'll watch her as long as she needs it..." Reggie gave a long pause, examining the look on Sylar's face. "I imagine you might want to stay with her, and that's all right, but my men and I have to leave tomorrow morning... I felt now was a good time to tell you that I wanted you to join the scouts. I was impressed today." Reggie smiled, hoping Sylar would at least consider the offer.

---

Myriah - Outpost/Counsellor Cottage - Matt

Myriah brightened. "That's wonderful! We only have Richard for sign language and Sarah for French. I was thinking of asking Sylar to help as well, but..." Myriah nodded. "Well, anyway, would you be willing to teach? You could always try assisting? I'm sure Richard and Sarah will have their hands full." If things continued the way they were, that was undoubtedly not going to be true, but Myriah could dream.

"I just want to foster a true community. A place where all of us can feel important and safe."

Anthony - Haywood

With only Amelia and two other soldiers by his side, Anthony fired upon the living corpses that were trying to enter Haywood's premises. Only about ten were visible, but as one was taken down, another one replaced it as it exited the surrounding woods. "Dammit, they keep coming!" Anthony cursed aloud as he continued to fire. It wouldn't be possible to just lock the gates because they were smashed in by Robert and his men. So the only option at this point was to finish off all the walkers and hope Haywood would remain afloat for one more day.

But that wasn't the only worry in his mind. Just a couple of minutes ago, gunshots were heard from a distance - wherever Daniel had run off to. Anthony wanted to go check it out, but there wasn't any leeway time. The walkers were pressing matters at the moment and they had become priority number one for whomever guarded the gates.

As Anthony turned to one of the soldiers, he witnessed the man run out of bullets. The young soldier started freaking out as the walkers got closer and closer to the gates. Suddenly, he started to back away and was about to run off before Anthony took him by the arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at him.

The kid didn't even respond, he wasn't fit to be a soldier, but was declared one anyway. "We can't stop them man, we just can't, there's too many" the kid finally got off his tongue. Anthony then threw the kid back towards the gates and gave him his own automatic. "You wanna live?!"

The kid nodded hesitantly, at first not comprehending. "Then you gotta fight. If you wanna survive, you're gonna have to fight to do so! I'm talking bout fighting, right here.....RIGHT NOW!!" Anthony said as he pulled his other weapon - a pistol - from his holster and began to empty the clip into walker brains. Then, as he continued to fire, he called out for Amelia. "Hey! Go! Go find Daniel! We've got this for now, but hurry, we can't keep them contained forever, these things keep coming!" Anthony yelled over all the gunshots. Right now, they needed reinforcements, ones that could actually shot a weapon. "And please, make sure Audrey is alright! I haven't seen her!"

Turisa - City Outskirts.

It had been seven or was it eight? long months since the outbreak occurred, One thing was for certain and that was Turisa had no flipping clue. One does struggle to keep hold or track of time when hell pretty much walks upon the earth where some might joke that hell must of ran out of space. Either way none of that mattered now as it had become the survival of the fittest and one could witness the true ugliness of what humanity was capable of when there is nothing left, Granted there were still good people out their trying to keep morals or running on a set of rules of right and wrong but in the end the majority would be more than happy to stab you the back to simply grab your weapon or bottle water.

For Turisa though she had a different focus and priority in mind other than the most obvious part on the modern day of living, And that was to make her way to New Orleans and at first it sounded like simple goal as one would not care of disposing of walkers. However nothing was ever simple and from the outset if was hard to even get out of Chicago being stuck on the front lines and so for a few months with what ever small straggle of survivors there was nothing but scavenging runs and dwindling numbers which eventually got to the point of leaving the city with what ever they had, Something Turisa pushed for from the word go. But where did that get her? Simply put being alone driving a SUV, She was desperate and yes she had done things that she wished she didn't but it was what come down to her survival and determination to get to New Orleans.

Well in some sense of Irony or simply god having a sense of humour, Turisa had arrived at her target destination but now that she got here she didn't know where to start or what to do. Of course she knew of what the very first thing in her mind was to do but going straight into would probably be suicide as it was a city probably full of walkers and not to mention all the dam gunfire she could hear and that was one thing that concerned the former officer, One was the fact that people managed to survive which gave her a glimmer of hope while worrying of the that they could be fighting to their last breath or worse each other, It was one thing that really screwed up a lot of things in Turisa's mind, when humanity needed to probably work together the most it was when it turned on itself in a dime.

Turi was on the outskirts of the city, She remained there once she stopped to check out the local area and by god was it a decision to make, upon pulling up in her vehicle all she could hear was gunfire of in the distance which probably explained the lack of walkers and the golden opportunity to check out some of the stricken vehicles and some structure for any supplies should there actually be any left by some small chance. She passed a gas station earlier on the way in which did not bring any real success and so the Latin woman found a spot to park her truck out of the way to avoid it being to easily noticed and climbed out after switching of the ignition. Grabbing her police jacket and locking up the vehicle the woman began checking the surroundings and once she felt it was safe began checking out a small convenience store across the street.

Emma - Haywood - Katie/Daniel/ETC

Emma's hands dropped to her waist, her right hand gripping around the 9mm pistol. She had never done something so surely, so decidedly, not even blinking when she pulled the trigger and killed Robert. Despite what many people in the community believed, the life of Robert Dalton was not the first she'd taken, and as the pistol smoked at her side, she burried any hint of regret for what she'd done in her heart. However, what did make her flinch, even stagger is what happened when she turned around. Katie...

"Baby, I need you to go back inside-"
BANG! Katie dropped to the ground with a startled scream. A shrill scream broke from Emma's mouth as she ran toward the little girl. "Katie!!" She slid to her knees, scraping her skin through the denim of her jeans. Where had the shot come from? "Daniel!" She cried; she needed his help. He was at her side moments after she went beside Katie. "W-w-what do I do?!" She sputtered, meeting her brother's eyes with tears streaming from her own and down to her cheeks. "

"Emma, you need to keep yourself together, or you'll be no help to Katie!" He commanded. "Put pressure on the wound, keep the blood inside, and take her to Doctor O'Connor!" Daniel tore away and broke into dead sprint toward the gate. Emma wrapped her arms around the girl, pressing her arm hard on her shoulder. Only minutes later, she burst through the doors of the infirmary with the Doctor. When they were in the room, Emma lay Katie on the vacant operation table, Doctor Riley came to her side.

"Alright, we're going to do the same thing we did with Lauren and we're going to cauterize the wound." They went through the proccess in a short two-minutes. "She's going to be okay, but she'll be in pain when she comes to."

Daniel - Haywood

Daniel raced away from Emma, stopping at Audrey's side. He bent down, putting a hand on the girl's arm. "Audrey, we have to help the gates!" He pressed her pistol back into her hands, pulled her from Henry's limp corpse. He took a sprint back to Eric's body, flipping him over and removing dark, green AUG from his shoulders. He rejoined Audrey and the two ran to the gates. What he saw was chaos; walkers in a group of at least two dozen. Audrey stammered a slight whimper from her lips, but followed Daniels lead and raised her weapon.

Daniel aimed down the sites, pulling the trigger. One, two, three; he gun downed the walkers in precise speed, but they seemed to keep on coming. "MAKE EVERY SHOT COUNT!" He barked, firing again and piercing a walkers head. He tried to fire again, but his weapon clicked; he was out of ammunition. He swore loudly, tossing the rifle away and reaching back to pull his combat axe from its strap on his belt. He waited for a walker to come close, rushing it and swing a heavy blow into its head and killing it. He swung his axe at another, another, a third! It seemed like and endless stream of undead. The man could feel his heart racing, as biters flowed into their home. It wasn't over, though. Oh no, it wasn't over. "Come on, soldiers!" He screamed, swinging his axe to kill yet another walker. They might have won the battle with Robert, but the war was not over...

Jessalyn - House - Abram

Jess felt like crying. She held on to her stomach and looked at Abram with wide eyes. Would he really leave her behind? Just like that?
It made the little trust she had in him waver. Floyd would never consider leaving her. Never.
But Floyd is not here, her inner voice said.
She was so scared. If she went with Abram, would he leave her at the drop of a hat?
Jessalyn closed her eyes and prayed. She prayed for Floyd to appear.

"Okay," she said in a quiet voice. "But if we don't find him, we come back," she insisted. "I'll come back by myself if I have to."
And she meant it. She and Floyd were never going to be apart for long ever again.

Because she...
She loved him...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie - Haywood - Emma

Katie didn't know how long she was asleep, but it hurt to wake up. She was already crying when she opened her eyes.
"Emma!" she called, then screamed when she didn't see her right away. "Emma!"
When he friend came into veiw Katie reached out for a hug. "It hurts Emma... it hurts..." the child cried. "Please make it stop."

The sound of gunfire and fighting outside made the child curl up into a ball against Emma. "Make it stop," she pleaded, no longer talking about just the pain in her arm. "Please Emma... make it stop..."

Rob- Haywood-Katie,Riley,Emma ETC

Rob woke up with a groan, He looked around with a sour look, then sighed with relief. "Good...I'm not dead, I think..." Rob put the hand to his wound, He put his two feet on the floor. He tried to walk, with a little bit of success. Sure it was very sore and it was very stumble-y. But he could walk, slowly...but he could walk. "Sheesh...Getting shot is painful" Rob mumbled as he looked around...He swore that something happened before he passed out. But he was quickly reminded of it as he looked around, "Oh shi-" Rob grimaced as he saw Katie. "Oh, your okay...That's great" Rob looked at her, wondering how the hell she got shot. But She couldn't just be talking about the pain...Rob then noticed that there was still gunfire.

Now why was that..."This is because.....Oh double shi.....t" Rob at that point realized that Robert smashed the gates open, and of course the undead have been attracted by the massive amount of gunfire. So even if Robert was dead, they were dealing with the undead. Rob wished he wasn't wounded, but he pretty much stuck in here. But at least he had a gun, if somehow one of the undead got in here. He could protect...well he hoped.

He looked Katie and frowned, "I'm sorry"

Matt-Outpost-Myriah

Matt grinned with fake delight..."Oh, We'll see...I have to check, my schedule, but probably" Matt smiled, Of course he thought it was...rather unnecessary to be teaching all of these languages. But if Myriah thought for whatever she though now then he would agree...for now. "Well.."

Sylar - The Pub - Scouts/Hazel/Nicolas

Sylars face was grim with anticipation while Reggie gave his speech. He listened while the man spoke of Ben fondly... It was true, he was a good kid. He was just so young; he wasn't ready for battle like that. He might've been older than Meghan, but Meghan had undoubtedly been in far more tough situations before they reached Outpost, just a month ago. It was suprising that she was alive - She'd gotten out of a swarm of walkers, she'd pounded out of several firefights, she'd been kidnapped, but she was still alive and thriving... until now, that is... she'd never been shot.

When Reggie was done speaking, the man approached Sylar. He listened as he spoke, proccessing the offer. He'd love to join them and help, but he didn't want to leave Meghan here with a complete stranger. "I'll give you an answer in the morning, let me sit on it."

Anthony - Haywood

Despite their attempts to prevent the walker infiltration, those monsters managed. Suddenly, the front line had to retreat in order to save themselves and continue their attempts. Anthony jogged alongside one of the soldiers - away from the gates. "There's too many, were running out of ammo" the soldier stated. Anthony grunted and continue to jog, suddenly finding himself surrounded. He grunted and continued to fire as he turned to find the apartments blocking his way.

Suddenly, one of the walkers trashed its teeth into the soldier accompanying Anthony. The man screamed for help, but all Anthony did was turn and attempt to open the door to the apartment behind him. With helpless attempt, he took three steps back before charging at the door and sending it to the ground - breaking it off the hinges. "I ain't gonna die!" he told himself as he made his way through the apartment, walkers chasing his every move.

In the meantime, a mass number of walkers headed towards the building the civilians were held in. Apparently, a lot of noise came from that general direction. The noise was most likely questioning tenants, wondering what was happening? Who had won? Etc.

But soon, the noise got louder as the tenants screamed for their lives. Since they were not armed, they had no way of defending themselves against the attack. One after another, the civilians were torn into shreds by rotting teeth. The old who could not run were taken down first. Then came the children, unable to push away from the walker's overwhelming strength. Haywood had now become a land of massacre. Though nobody outside could see it, the noise was enough to know what was going on. The walkers didn't even give those people a chance to come back to life.

It had all gotten out of control. Daniel and Audrey both reached the gates on time, but they weren't enough to prevent the mass amount of walkers from entering Haywood. Even they ran off in order to save themselves. So as of now, there was no protecting the tenants - it just wasn't possible. This new world created a rule where one's life was more valuable than another's.

In addition to that, ammunition was at its lowest and would definitely run out soon. Anthony had already run out and was forcing a kitchen knife into the brains of his enemies. His arm was getting sore from having to stab the living dead so many damn times. The apartment he was in was full of dead walkers, about six. At the moment, he lay on the kitchen floor in attempt to catch his breath. But outside the apartment, walkers munched on his soldier friend, ripping the man into pieces as they dug into his stomach.

At first there were only about twenty walkers, but the noise of gunshots seemed to have awoken twenty more. No longer knowing how to get in contact with Daniel and the others, Anthony jumped through the back window of the apartment - a back window every apartment had. He had to force the gates closed no matter what, because it was the only way to keep even more walkers from entering.

So quickly, he ran back around the apartments heading towards the gates. He made sure the walkers were distracted before acting. The problem with closing the gates was that one of them was completely bent and had holes all over it - holes big enough for walkers to fit right through. That one gun Robert had used completely shattered the gate. But unlike the door Anthony smashed down, the gate was still on the hinges, deeming it close-able. First, Anthony ran to the one good gate and quickly closed it up. Then he turned to the bent-up gate and attempted to close it, but it was so beat up it touched the floor. Anthony attempted to push it closed, but it dragged against the concrete underneath. "Dammit! C'mon!" he cursed as he continued to try.

Though it wouldn't completely prevent anymore walkers from getting in, it would surely prevent the same numbers from infiltrating. If closed, the walkers would only be able to get in three at a time, unlike the ten that got in simultaneously when the gates were open. And if they got through this hell today, then they would be able to fix the gate the next day. But right now, it seemed improbable. "DAMMIT!!"

Daniel - Haywood

It was hopeless, Daniel decided. The walkers were going to swarm the compound and spread like wild fire. He gripped Audrey by the arm, pulling her away toward the head building. "We have to get to my office, up high." Daniel grabbed a discarded assault rifle and busted into the building. He took the rifle and slid it between the two doors, locking it in place. The door to the infirmary opened and Emma stuck her head out. Daniel pounced quickly, wrapping his arms around her, currently thanking God that she was alive. "C'mon, we're going up to my office!" He ushered her towards the stairs, but she turned back, a worried look on her face. "But Katie-"

"Riley will get her!" Daniel reassured, and to confirm this, O'Connor came through the doors and followed them up the stairs. Before heading up the stairs, Daniel ran to the infirmary, grabbing the rolling medical bed out of the doors and to the front doors. He flipped it on its side a braced against the door. He went and pushed the tool shelf, which weighed along the lines of two-hundred pounds, from the infirmary to the doors, flipping it on its side and maneuvering it so that it prevent the doors from being opened. Satisfied that it was blocked off, Daniel ran up the stairs to his office, where Audrey, Riley and Emma waited. O'Connor had lain Katie on the couch against the wall. He produced his revolver, giving Daniel a concerned look.

Daniel stormed to the window, opening it and looking out. The truck was about sixty yards away, but a good distance from the gates. A distraction... He saw that Anthony was attempting to close the gates, but the walkers were going to notice him soon. He had to draw them away. "Riley, give me your gun!" O'Connor handed him the long revolver. Daniel stuck his arm out the window and fired two shots at the walkers. The horde turner towards the window and started shuffling towards him. He lined up a risky shot and put a bullet in one of the walker's head.

"Don't waste Ammo, Daniel!" Emma objected.

"I'm not, I'm making it useful." He snapped. He marched to his desk and opened the bottom drawer on the left side. The drawer contained things that he'd never let Emma touch; a half bottle of whiskey, a half a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter. He'd quit smoking long ago, but he kept them in the drawer just incase. The whiskey had been there when he'd been shown the office and he assumed it was Bruce Levi's. He could do this... He took off his over shirt and ripped through the sleeve. Daniel pulled the bottle of whiskey and the lighter from the drawer. He uncapped the bottle and threaded the shred of his shirt into the head of the bottle. He looked out the window again, towards the truck... it was close enough to throw the bottle... Daniel flipped off the lid of the lighter, and sparked a flame, igniting the flame. He held it under the cloth in the bottle until it was well lit. Taking a deep breath, Daniel reared back, and threw the bottle out the window towards the truck. He came short a little bit, but hit the tire of the truck. The alcohol from the whiskey bottle spread across the front of the truck and the flame from the rag ignited the rag.
The walkers turned their attention to the bright fire.

Daniel hurried and grabbed his axe from the desk, turning to Riley. "Keep them safe!" He turned and bounded out the door and down the stairs. He went to the back door of the building and pushed out. A walker was meandering through the back area, but Daniel dispatched it with a swing of his axe. He made his way around to the gates, coming up beside Anthony, he threw all his strength and weight into the gate and helped push.

Myriah - Outpost - Matt

Matt seemed to be genuine in his excitement, but Myriah wasn't entirely convinced. She had never been able to get a good read on him. At the very least, she understood he wasn't the biggest fan of the council, but otherwise... "If you're busy, we can just work around that," she said, standing up. "I'll tell Richard and Sarah that you plan on speaking with them tomorrow."

She then made her way to one of the bookcases and examined the bottom shelf. There had to be language dictionaries around here somewhere. "And I'll keep in mind your grievances about the council. I can't make any promises, but if change is destined to happen, then it will happen, even if takes some time."

***

The next day, Myriah was happy to see that people really were showing up for classes. Although Sarah's French class had attracted a whopping twelve individuals (At least five more than Myriah even expected), Richard's sign language class had only attracted seven, and one of those were Richard's brother Elliot. It was unfortunate to see as Myriah had largely started this for Elliot's sake, but perhaps once more members of the community started using other languages, there would be an increase in attendance.

The administrative building was already so packed with the cafeteria, council room, and the clinic, that the two classes were forced into rooms at opposite sides of the building. Further language classes would have to share the rooms and Myriah wasn't sure how she should schedule things. With the people on the wall being on rotation all hours of the day, there had been scheduling conflicts to consider, but for now both classes were to occur once a day, with French at nine in the morning and sign language at eleven in the morning.

With Richard's class about to begin, Myriah gestured to the man to speak with him. She spoke only in sign language, hoping those in attendance liked what they saw. "Not a big turn out." Myriah's signing was slow and precise. She had always been a bit of a perfectionist and her signing reflected that, even if Richard and Elliot found it a bit slow. "But once Reggie and his scouts return today, perhaps some of them will be willing to learn as well."

Richard frowned at her. Despite not being deaf himself, Richard had been using sign language for the past twenty years, ever since his parent's learned that their second child had been born deaf. He used sign language in turn, probably knowing that Elliot and Myriah were the only ones in the room who would understand him. "Reggie won't want classes interfering with his training. And no on the wall wants anything to do with this either. Sarah is an attractive woman, so it's no wonder she had more people interested."

That fact had not been lost on Myriah, but she hadn't wanted to admit it. "Please, I promise I will get you more members. Matt said he would help with the classes and Sylar should be able to help as well. Teach what you can to those who are interested and I know more will follow."

Richard didn't look convinced. He turned away from Myriah and began speaking with his class. Myriah saw that as her cue to leave, but she stole a glance toward Elliot before she left the room. For once in a long time, the boy didn't look entirely miserable.

---

Reggie - The Pub - Enrique

Despite getting his scouts up at the first sign of late, Reggie was forced to extend their stay at The Pub when Hazel had been insistent in her desire to cook breakfast for everyone. Equipped with the supplies the scouts gave her yesterday, Hazel had prepared a meal with only minimal help, prompting Jerry to call the girl a miracle worker. Of course, no matter Hazel's prowess in the kitchen, most of the scouts were sapped of their energy due to yesterday's events. The meal was largely eaten in silence.

As the meal was finished, preparations to leave began and Reggie approached Sylar once again. "I've given you the night, but now's the time to decide. You could always join a weeks from now, but our latest operation can't be put off. The gang that shot Meghan will be out for blood and I'll need the best of what Outpost has to offer."

Shannon - Haywood/Civilian Apartments - Shan/Ryder/James/David/Valentina/Polyester

The buzzing inside the apartment building felt way too loud. The building wasn't the biggest they had, so Haywood's civilians were forced to pack together, crowding both the hallways and the scant few apartments. No one could keep quiet and the sounds of distant gunshots kept everyone on edge. "What's going on?" some asked. "It's finally over, isn't it?" Shannon had no answers for them. No one had any answers.

She was huddled in one of the apartments with James close at her side. She had been wallowing in the fact that she was largely useless to Daniel, her arm still in a sling and forced to hide away with the other civilians. Slowly, she began to realize that it was important for her to be here. What state would James be in if she was out on the front lines? The boy was quiet for now, but he had practically had a death grip around Shannon's arm. There was also Polyester to consider, the quiet guy who for now looked about nervous enough to throw up. It was a similar look plastered on the faces of everyone around Shannon. For most of them, Haywood had been a place of constant strife and hardship. None of them could find the courage to look at this situation in a hopeful light.

Then the inevitable happened. "They're in! They're in!" Shouting could be heard outside, sending everyone in the apartment into a frenzy. Shannon swore under her breath and held James close to her as everyone began streaming into the hallway. As the door opened, the shouting increased in volume and Shannon could see civilians shoving past each other in order to get away. In the chaos, faint moaning could be heard.

"Guys, stay close to me," she said, following the other civilians outside. When she reached the threshold, a man ran into her, almost knocking her to the ground. He didn't even bother to offer an apology as he stumbled back on to his feet and continued running. Though Shannon couldn't see what has happening at that end of the hallway, the screaming gave her a good idea. She looked behind her to make sure Polyester was following, but found him still back inside the apartment, his eyes set firmly on the ground. "Poly! Come on!" she called. Though he didn't look up, he quickly fell in behind James and her.

Shannon cautiously stepped forward and fell in with the stream of runners. As they were on the first floor, the two ends of the hallway both went to exits out of the apartment building. To Shannon's right was a line of apartments and to her left was a line of windows. As she neared the second exit, she saw walkers banging against the glass. "Turn around!" someone suddenly screamed. "They're here too!" Despite these words, the civilians continued rushing toward the exit like a rapid river. It wasn't until walkers burst through the doors and fell into the crowd that the stream began to slow. Everyone began to pull back and head for the stairwell, pushing Shannon and James along for the ride.

A sudden breaking of glass was heard and walkers began to poke through the windows. Some grabbed fleeing civilians while others fell into the hallway. In an attempt reorient herself, Shannon shoved against the wall of the hallway and pulled James close to her. She called out for Polyester, but she barely heard her own voice over the uproar. It only took a few precious seconds for her to spot him, but by then it was already too late. Poly had been grabbed by one of the walkers in the window and was bitten in the neck soon after. He screamed out in anguish, but all Shannon could do was follow the others up the stairwell.

She passed others who had hurt themselves heading up the stairs. One woman had been trampled in the chaos. James let out a yelp at the sight, but Shannon was quick to push on to the second floor. There, she saw some people move to hide in the apartments, but most of the crowd was heading further upward to the final floor of the building. She moved to follow them, but paused when she saw a little girl at the foot of the stairs. It was the little girl with the eye patch who had pulled a gun on Shannon and Daniel days before. She and the others with immediate medical conditions had been brought to the third floor, but Valentina must have run off from them. Of course, now the girl just looked shell-shocked and lost amongst the chaos. "James, take her hand," Shannon commanded. Thankfully, the little girl took James' hand without complaint and the trio headed further up the stairs.

On the third floor, the remaining survivors had crowded at the back of the hallway. Presumably some had decided to hide in the remaining apartments. Shannon spotted David Johnson in the hallway, the doctor who had fixed up her arm when she first arrived in Haywood. He was speaking with the raider woman in the wheelchair and two others Shannon was unfamiliar with. The girl of the pair caught Shannon's attention in particular, as she was wearing a strange backpack with what appeared to be an oxygen tube connecting it to her nostrils. David turned around and let out a sigh of relief upon spotting Valentina. "There you are," he said, looking down at Valentina. He then looked to James and said, "You two go hide with the others." James nodded silently and led Valentina away.

With the moaning still echoing from down the stairs, Shannon reached out and grabbed David by the shoulder. "We need to barricade the stairs," she said, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

The doctor nodded. "I thought so too. You go join the others and I'll get all the able bodied people we have working on that."

"I'm able bodied," Shannon said, even though David was looking directly at her sling. He shook his head.

"No time to argue."

As David went around to asking people to move furniture out of the apartments and to pile it on the stairs, Shannon began to head downstairs. Someone had to tell the people on the second floor to move up to the third floor. However, fresh screams stopped the girl in her tracks and she realized the walkers had already made it to the second floor. "Crap!" she exclaimed, practically jumping back up to the third floor. "There's no time! Hurry, everyone!"

Anthony - Haywood - Daniel

Even with the gates closed, the chaos resumed. Screams and excruciating cries for help came blasting from the apartments. As Anthony turned in the general direction of the noise, he came across two walkers coming his way. Behind him, the gate still had large enough holes to allow more walkers to infiltrate, making him worry that they'd be attacked from their backs. Quickly, he turned to Daniel - the man currently still in charge. "These are the only walkers in our streets, the rest have to be in that building" Anthony pointed. The next ten minutes would be their only chance to kill all the walkers. At that exact moment, all the walkers that remained - excluding the two roaming towards Daniel and Anthony - were threshing on the tenants of the first and second floor of that specific building.

"I'm going to the supply room. I have to get the propane tanks we still got" he stated as the two walkers had finally reached them. Anthony jammed his knife into the walkers skull, keeping the cadaver away from his body as he forced it into the ground. He then came from behind the walker that targeted Daniel and took care of it the same way. "Were burning that building to the ground and everything inside. Nobody's taking our home, not Robert, not those walkers, not anybody!" Anthony stated as he retrieved the kitchen knife from the dead. "Get whomever you can and make sure nobody leaves that building. We gotta contain them inside or else this wont work. I'll be back as fast as I possibly can" he finished as he ran off in a full-throttled sprint.

It was a terrible sight to witness. Everything they had built was basically being destroyed. The screams continued, but as time passed, they eventually turned into moans. It had become so hot from all the fires that started. Some had died out, but some continued to rise into the heavens. The holes on the gates still worried Anthony as he ran to the armory. If they don't kill all the walkers in the building, they wont have time to plug up those holes, which would eventually lead to another attack.

Problem was, the building still had people in it. But as of right now, it was either him or them - and Anthony wanted to survive.

Rob-Haywood-Important People, and a lot of undead

Rob clenched his fist as contrary to what he said, the undead bastards did get into the civilian compound, and very much to his terror, he could hear everyone being eaten alive. "Oh for fuck sake!" He punched a bed. He started to slowly limp to where he thought it was safest, also he was kinda following Riley, since it seemed he the job with Katie. Rob was just kinda ignored, which in a situation where the undead were coming to eat him and he was also injured...wasn't exactly the best feeling but he discarded that and went on.Rob thought that he must of hurt another thing aside from the obvious wound in his stomach area. Rob did a gun in one of his hands, because he also thought he should never go without a defense, especially here.

Rob was finding it hard to figure out where he should be, Was it okay to just hog along? All He knew that he didn't want to die...and that was a good start.

Matt-Outpost

Matt was very busy, The classes that Myriah had tried hard to push out were doing just what they supposed to...and a little bit more. Both were doing the things they were meant to, French and sign language respectively. The sign language was easy to change. Richard was rather obviously angry that the scout had basically told Elliot to screw himself, So all Matt had to do was promise to change that, and a few other things. And Matt would, He actually wanted people to learn sign Language, He wasn't just gain power and give the middle finger to everyone. That's how you get killed in a back alleyway. So he would of course do that.

Sarah was, easier then Matt would of thought, apparently she just hated a lot of people, and maybe maybe liked him? Matt Didn't know, but people were actually learning french, also Sarah was very attractive, and apparently that still helped in this world. Who knew? But it was always good to have allies.

Now of course they would be people in the class who even though a lot of people agree with us and many other things. would just not happen to agree with the idea, obviously They were instructed only to give small things at first to figure everyone out, then they were just isolated and all they did was learn whatever they wanted to learn. Everyone wins, but Matt wins more. and Matt always liked that.

There was still many things to do, but things were being set in motion, it would be very soon when the scouts came back, Matt wondered if the the new people would join in...Maybe, who knew? It's not like one's crazy or manipulative or anything. Though that could help...

Daniel - Haywood - Shannon/Rob/Anthony/Emma/EVERY FRICKING PERSON IN HAYWOOD



Daniel wanted to close his eyes, to not look upon the slaughter that was taking place. As Anthony called to him, he nodded, horrified that they indeed had to do what needed to be done. "I'll get anyone who's not bit and get them to safety, you light the building! Come to the back door of the main building and we'll let you in and we can wait for the building to fall. Daniel ran to the apartments next to the compromised building, and he searched for options. He saw that a metal ladder hung off the side of the fire escape on the side of the building. The infected building didn't have a fire escape, and Daniel chided himself for giving them the worst possible building to hide themselves in. He shook his head and ran to the stairs of the fire escape and bounded up them. At the third flight of stairs, he stopped and took hold of the tall ladder.

The window adjacent to the fire escape was easily reachable with the ladder's length. It might be risky, but so was leaving Shannon and James in there... Daniel seized the later and lay it against the rail of the metal rigging. He let the other end fall, shattering the window with a loud crash. Carefully, Daniel stepped across the rungs, using his unfortunately poor balance to hold himself aloft. He jumped into the building, hearing the screams of dying people. He found a startled Shannon staring him in the face and Doctor Johnson looking terrified too. "David, help me move this buffet!" He barked, snapping the man from his daze. "Anthony is going to burn the building down and we have to get to my office!" The two hurried to the large piece of furniture, and David backed up towards the stairs. The buffet fell with a loud thud. Fortunately it fell in a perfect position to block the stairs for a minute or two, but unfortunately it fell against David, who lost his foothold and tumbled down with the furniture piece. Before Daniel could help, a walker appeared beside the older man and began to devour him. Knowing it was a lost cause, Daniel turned to his friends. He looked at Shannon with a nostalgic look of fear in his eyes, remembering the dangers they'd tackled that first week he'd been in New Orleans.

"Out the window, to fire escape. Valentina you go first, James second, then Shanelle and Ryder! Hurry!" He barked. He could hear the walker banging on the buffet counter. As everyone proceeded out to the escape, Daniel helped shannon get out. "Careful!" He commanded, especially concerned for her in particular. He then turned to Lauren in her chair. "This won't be fun, I promise you, but we can do this." He put his arm around the woman and supported her wait, helping her to the window. He went first and stepped precariously onto the rungs of the ladder. Thankfully they were decent in width enough for him to step on. Lauren painfully climbed out onto the ladder, and Daniel picked her up. This was uncannily risk, but she couldn't walk alone, and they were to big to walk at the same time. When they had all crossed the ladder to the fire escape, the party began to move down the escape and to the ground. Walkers banged on the windows, but Daniel ushered them to the back of the head building. Daniel pounded on the metal doors and a few moments passed before Emma and Riley appeared at the door, allowing them into safety.

They all huddled up into Daniel's office and waited for Anthony to work his magic...

Sylar - The Pub - Meghan/Reggie

~The Night Before~

When Sylar was done talking to Reggie, he wandered back to Meghan's room and sat on the bed beside her. He looked at her for a moment and almost felt like he was going to cry. He'd almost lost her... And now Reggie wanted him to leave her with this Hazel chick and join the Outpost Crusade. It was then that Meghan coughed and sputtered, her chest heaving drastically. Phon's bandage work had been stained by her blood and her formerly gray t-shirt was ruined. "Hey, hey, don't try to sit up." He placed a weary hand on her good shoulder, holding her down. "Don't move."

"Did we-" She coughed harshly. "Did we win?" Sylar nodded, his face clear and emotionless, a face he'd tried to perfect when he didn't really care about people... but he didn't keep to his practice when Meghan was hurt... she moved him to tears...

"Yeah... we won... and Reggie wants me to join the scouts..."

~In The Morning~

Sylar woke from his sleep, observing the dim light that peeked through the curtains. He rose sleepily and slipped into his shirt and boots... That bed was comfortable.. He reminded himself to consider thanking Hazel, but knew he really didn't want to talk to her. He reached down to the floor and picked up his crossbow, placing it on the bed. He strapped the quiver to his side and shouldered the crossbow. The man exited the room, careful not to disrupt Meghan's rest. He found Reggie looking for him. When Reggie announced his ultimatum, Sylar nodded.

"I'll be more than happy to put an arrow in those sons of bi*****" He spat. He didn't know why he was so passionate about protecting Meghan, but it came naturally like he was protecting his little sister.... or a daughter...

Abram - Jess

Abram nodded as Jess agreed to come. "I'll find him, I promise." He lead her out to the car and started the ignition. It started with forced effort and Abram slammed hard on the gas. The wet yard was bumpy from the rain of the previous day, and mud splashed the metal frame of the vehicle. The walkers didn't have time to notice the car race from behind the house and jet past them, only to see it drift loudly onto the road and leave them in it's dust.

Abram thought to himself.. In honesty, he had no idea if he could actually find Floyd, but he would definitely try. "Jess, I'll find your boy, I promise you.