Mercy

Mercy watched the man with knuckle duster’s storm through the gate and take out the last two undead creatures; she felt an involuntary shiver shoot up her spine as she watched him deliberately trip his sibling so she almost fell onto one of the creatures face first. Although e grabbed her and pulled her back, it made her heart beat faster and a peculiar sense of mistrust ebb into her mind, even if it had been a joke it was a rather risky one...

She watched Olivia rush around helping Rena take down a fair few of the shambling creatures, a mixture of worry and awe passed through her, though she also felt guilty for not being more helpful. She heard mention of animals being here...cows, horses, chickens...she lifted a hand to her forehead trying to process everything, she was beyond exhausted how was everyone else not? She wiped her damp forehead on her lower arm, only succeeding in smudging the dirt accumulating her skin as she tried to focus on the task at hand, she was so focused on keeping an eye on Olivia she had completely forgotten to retrieve her arrows.

She somewhat sluggishly moved across the grass towards the house, forcing herself to fight off the sudden weariness that settled into her bones...they weren’t safe yet but her mind had already decided they were. Without adrenaline pumping through her system the last couple of hours were catching up with her, she had forced herself to push Tamashii from her mind and soldier on but now they weren’t in immediate danger, she couldn’t pretend she was OK with it anymore. She finally caught up with Olivia who was washing the goo from her face in the pond, she smiled offering her a wave as she approached her. “How are you doing?” She asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice as she cautiously checked the young girl for signs of injury. “Nice takedowns by the way” She complimented her demonstrated prowess. “I’m just heading over to the house to see if they need any help” She told Olivia, touching the girls shoulder briefly before moving away from her unsure whether she would follow or not.

Once Mercy was at the house however her courage all but failed her, all she had to protect herself was an arrow...and the idea of going in there after knuckle duster man really did not appeal to her. Her heart begun to thump faster in her chest, which was never a good thing she had to take a few deep breaths to steady it again. “Hey! How’s it looking in there?” She called, placing a hand on her chest as she breathed an arrow still held in her other hand; her bow was slung back across her back. She jumped as the dark haired woman stumbled around the corner, jolting towards her but pulling herself back as her partner appeared by her side. She smiled as the other woman announced the back of the house was clear. “Good, that’s everywhere except...” She trailed off looking back at the house, painfully aware her hesitation was obvious. Stay strong, breathe She chewed her lip feeling her heart beat faster in response to her anxiety.

Tamashii & Mercy

Tamashii moved up next to Remy, her eyes falling on the girl who closed the gate she stiffened next to him watching the girl closely, though she felt her eyes wander as he asked if she could see Mercy. Her chest tightened when her eyes failed to find her companion, she ground her teeth and gripped the handle of her blade tightly. “No...” She whispered, trying to hide the bitter undertone to her voice. She physically flinched as he clicked his fingers, her eyes widening as they focused on the shovel wielding brunette in front of them, she was prepared for the worst when the girl returned to them, her hand resting on the handgun tucked in the holster around her waist.

She blinked in surprise at the girls words, she just...welcomed them in, she lifted her hand as the girl took off again. “Wait!” She called, but the girl was gone. “Damn it...” She hissed, glancing at Remy and Lucas she took a deep breath. “No time like the present” She told the pair of them before she got to her feet and approached the fence watching the other survivors warily as she effortlessly vaulted over the wooden gate, upon landing she sheathed the knife in her hand. She could see most of the group congregating around the house, her eyes naturally seeking out her familiar companion...Then one moment she was stood waiting for Remy and Lucas and in the next she had literally taken off at a sprint caution apparently thrown to the wind as she sprinted across the grass. “Mercy?!” She called, watching as the blonde haired woman stood in front of the house turned around sharply upon hearing her name.

A relieved smile lifted the corners of the blonde’s lips as with little regard to anyone else Tamashii practically flung herself at Mercy wrapping her arms around her neck. Mercy jolted in shock for a moment before briefly returning the embrace. “You’re ok? You didn’t...you’re not?” Tamashii stumbled over her words as she pulled back holding Mercy’s shoulders as she quickly checked her over. “I’m fine Ash...” Mercy murmured, her voice was small and wavered slightly as she spoke. “You don’t sound fine” Tamashii as she narrowed her eyes, studying Mercy for a moment longer before she looked round at the people surrounding them a certain amount of distrust apparent in her expression, she dropped her hands from Mercy’s shoulders but remained close by. “What’s going on over here? What’s the situation?” She asked no-one in particular.

It felt odd that everything was so quiet... Sure there had been a couple zombies in the living room and one lurker in the kitchen, but with the two of them, they were taken care of somewhat smoothly. Cat had separated the smashed skulls from the bodies as if to assure they would not get back up. That or he just wanted to ground his heel further into the decomposed flesh, Dog honestly wasn't too sure about it. They checked the bathroom, the closet, the basement... So far everything felt too easy. Then again, that far boy didn't exactly specify how many people left and stayed. He was running for his own life after all.

The strange thing was they hadn't found any animals, and they were almost positive there were some sort of pet in this building. By the smell and a logical sense. After all, it was stereotypical for farmers to at least have a dog to help around or either for fun since there is so much land. Undead or not, there were probably animals and honestly they were more worrying.

Regular people weren't really small, something like a cat or a toy dog could hide like under or bed or something.

Dog gave a sigh as she checked under the couches and tables in the living room, making sure nothing squeezed under there. Kicking the furniture lightly in a attempt to activate a groan, she got nothing. Her twin however was already heading up the stairs. Wanting to be sure her brother didn't get jumped on, the boyish dirty blonde followed after him, weapon in hand.

Five doors was seen on this floor and along the hall. Three to the left and two the right.

"Check left." came a firm command from the taller twin as he strides to the right without room for argument.

"You know, in horror movies, splitting up is when someone gets killed by the zomzoms." Dog hissed under her breathe, giving a annoyed pout before sighing and obediently going left.

Already she was feeling nervous without her brother her. Call her strange, but she did feel safer with her psychotic twin. He was terrifying, and she was scared of him as well, but she also felt the safest with him. It was hard to explain really... She was positive those survivors would think she was just as bloody insane. Heck they both probably were.... She didn't blame them, she knew how their presence effected others. If she had to guess, they simply felt off, they probably weren't sure how to place it exactly since they just met but they sensed dark chills... Animal instinct probably told them that.

The first room was a small bedroom, pretty simple and looked more like a guest room. It was a slight mess, but otherwise no signs of any living or dead thing here. The next was another bathroom, it seemed a bit more violent. Blood splattered the walls and their was a corpse in the tub. A groan hissing out as hollow glowing eyes raised itself from the tub.

Holding up the pipe cautiously as the undead corpse tried to shamble it's way out of the tub, the brown haired twin hitched her breathe before going over and quickly bashing the pipe against the zombie's skull. Hitting it repeatedly until the body stopped moving and decayed brains started to leak out. A shiver ran up her spine as she gave a gulp before moving on to the last room.

The door was cracked open, eerily swaying slightly. It appeared to be a child or teens room with a bunk bed, a writing desk, and several toys scattered all across the room. The smaller twin jumped a bit as she heard some banging and things knocking over from down the hall, but she decided to pretend it was nothing. Everything was fine... Cat was always fine... Yet she felt her stomach twists in knots with worry. Checking out the room, Dog halted as she spotted a lump black fur staring at her with golden eyes from on top of the bunk bed. Stepping closer, a soft warning mrrreow was uttered as the messy black fur fluffed up in alarm.

It appeared to be a cat, hiding from the dangers that looked here. By the way it acted, it was alive and not some zombie cat. Somewhat glad to see a living thing, but still cautious I case this cat was infected, Dog moved closer.

"Hey there buddy... It's okay I'm not going to to hurt you... You're just scared of all the crazy dead things right? Here kitty... It's alright..." Dog tried soothing gently as she moved closer, the fluffy bundle of black simply gave another mew and watched as she moved closer.

Thankfully, it allowed the human to pick it up and hold it, after some minor mess of complaint. Though after feeling the warmth of a living body, it settled down as Dog checked it over for injuries. Luckily it seemed this animal had gone uninjured. Giving a soft sigh of relief, she resisted the urge to smother the poor thing and only stroked the cat along the back before scratching under its chin.

The small animal gave a soft purr as it raised its head to get more of the attention.

"Now if only my Cat was this sweet and trusting." Dog chuckled softly before practically jumping as a loud muffled scream was heard.

It wasn't a scream from any human or undead, it was animalistic and it was so high pitched it was almost like a woman's screech. By the sounds of it, it was loud enough for about everyone in the house to hear, and maybe ones by the doors. By the sounds, it seemed to be a dog. Instantly, the cat bolted, clawing out of her arms and back on top of the top bunk in a effort to hide.

Not waiting a moment longer, Dog bolted out and headed down the hall to the last door Cat probably checked at the end of the hall. The agonized whines and whimpers continued as she ran into the room to see what had occurred. The door had been knocked down, broken and splintered and splattered blood. It looked like undead had already broken in beforehand.

It was a fairly large bedroom, probably the masters with a queen sized bed and some dressers lining to the left. Bodies of two skull smashed cats lay to the right. A groaning corpse of a legless lurker lay near the left wall. There was a dead corpse of a medium sized dog, body slowly rotting and its eyes hollow from the curse of this horrible plague. Another dog, a dirty brown with a fluffy tail and slightly floppy tipped ears, was cowering under the bed, it's body trembling.

There was a third dog, it's entire body trapped under a dresser, blood pooling from underneath. Its face was covered in bite marks, obviously having been in a fight, probably with the dead undead dog. They were fresh so it had to be recent. This may have been the noise from earlier.

The dog's brown head was sticking out, his white muzzle covered in dark blood. Cat was kneeling beside it, his right hand holding down the canine's skull as he held his metal pipe with his left hand, angling it like a spear.

Canine teeth were scattered around them, blood covering the white bone. Dog winced as her brother smashed the pipe against another tooth, one of the front fangs and another yelp was released.

Again and again he continued until finally Dog walked over and grabbed his shoulder.

"Cat what are you doing?! It's already hurt enough." Dog questioned a little sternly as she looked at her twin with a mixture of worry and frustration.

The black haired man merely glanced at her, stopping his slow assault. "It tried to bite... Besides it's already infected... It might as well think about what it tried to do before it dies." Cat merely stated coldly, his eyes sparkling with what one would assume as amusement, but that shine was slowly dying away as it appeared Dog disapproved of this interesting action.

"No need to torture the poor thing any further... Besides it isn't up to you to finish it... A pets owner should be the one to end it before it dies. Not some strangers. It's their responsibility." Dog said softly, watching her twin carefully before blinking slowly as he took a moment to look at her before his lips curled in a twisted smile.

".....heheheheheh... I suppose that is correct. Like our promise, it be a shame to forget it. Alright then. I took care of the rest of the undead, except that lurker and that dog. Do decide... Who's going down to tell those rats?" a deep ominous cackle emitted from Cat before resuming his expressionless mask as he noted that one of them would have to keep a eye on the quivering dog in case it was infected.

Thinking deeply, Dog was wary of leaving Cat by himself with anything. Then again, she wasn't all that keen of sending him to the others, he would probably just freak them out more than he already has.

With a heavy sigh she fixed him with a firm stare and pointed at him. "You stay, but don't do anything more unless your really provoked, got it? And no making your own games with the living animals here out of boredom. This is stressful for the both of us. I know... That you think what you do isn't wrong... You don't understand how people like them think... But please for now, lay low." the brown haired twin said softly, giving a smile as she reached up and patted his head before leaving the room, listening to his footsteps as she guessed he was going to finish off the lurker.

Cat didn't say a word when she left, but she knew that he understood and would calm down. He just got defensive when he was almost bit.. He just took his attacks a bit too extremely.

Opening the front door, Dog gave a somewhat cheerful but nervous smile as she called out. "House clear! But there are some animals upstairs! We got a infected dog that's still has it's sanity somewhat! So the owner may want to come see it and a surviving cat and dog!" Dog said loudly enough for at least some of the group to hear before looking at some of those who were already here.

"Hey!" Dog cheered a greeting towards the nervous woman with a arrow. It seemed she was hesitating in entering beforehand.. Not that the boy dressed girl blamed her much. But still she greeted her and the rest of these survivors cheerfully enough, not sure who some of them were but it seemed they were somewhat friendly with this odd group.

Kaylah watched as everyone paired off, she had no idea where she was going to go and her nerves were playing up. The thing was she needed to bite the bullet or something could happen without her help. Her mind rattled as she took her first step which was followed by another one. She planned to rotate around the plot of the land, well the inside of the land. As she moved she avoided the downed infected, the ones that the crazy pair took down without any regard to their well-being. As she moved some of the infected were being taken out by the other survivors allowing her to go further within the plot of land.

She did see one fetch the arrows before losing sight of them as she moved to check places others had not. She noted that the twins went into the house like a couple of death wishing crazy people. She passed a few of the other survivors but her eyes stayed fixed on what was ahead of her in fear of being overwhelmed by the undead and the chance of being bitten or having something infect her through other means. Also her best friend was with her so she was slightly more brave then she normally was. Eventually she stumbled across the tool shed.

Kaylah: “This looks untouched I think.”

She soon tried to open the door but it was locked by a rusty chain and lock. The woman in blue soon got closer to check the condition though for her it was in the worse condition possible forcing her to use her weapon to break it, it took a few strikes but the chain cracked in a certain area before falling apart. The lock was being dragged down by the chain that was not broken. With that done she slowly opens the tool shed up to see what was inside and what she saw was scary. The shed’s tools were all in one corner; well most of them some looked like they were missing. She eventually took a step in and when she turned to see one corner of the shed she saw something.

Kaylah: “Oh god no, I, I think I am going to be sick.”

And in deed she was as she left for a moment to vomit her breakfast up, her vial was down for the first time since she ate. If one looked they would have seen sausage and beans mixed with various fluids. It was not a pretty sight, Kaylah stayed where she was for a moment before making her way back to the shed that was left to her.

Kaylah: “That smell, the sight of whatever happened to that person.”

The corner of the room had a torso pinned to the wall via a pitchfolk. Under the corpse was the head of the victim, the neck area had one of the garden scissors which was pinning the torso's neck against the wall. The smell was really bad, how long was this body part here for? The torso was also naked and it was once a woman though it looked like she was tortured as she saw cuts and pins sticking out of the corpse body. The arms were on a workstation and two big rusty nails were going through the palms like a form of crucifixion. The legs however were missing.

Kaylah: “Don’t let there be a psycho around here who is not that nut who bashed the infected a new one.”

Her eyes soon darted around the shed as she saw blood scattered across it. The woman in blue soon lifted her vial once more to cover her mouth and soon checked the tools to see if they needed cleaning, some did but they could get to that making her pick them up and place them outside of the shed for reasons that would haunt her for a while.

Kaylah: “OK we have a crop, a sickle, a do-da, a thingy, a hoe and a few other tools for use.”

She soon went back into the shed and checked the other side of it where she saw a piece of wood that was about the length of a dinner table covering something. She made a face not sure if she should or not but in the end did. What she saw when she moved it was an infected sitting there, it clawed at her but it was not moving; it couldn't?

Kaylah: “What is wrong with this place?”

The undead had no legs so it was not going to walk towards her, but it could drag itself if it were not for something binding it to the wall. A sword was holding the dead in its tracks. It made a little noise, this shed was really uncomfortable as everything was injury related, no arms, legs or a head. That scared the shit out of K.K making her quickly before behead the semi moving corpse, half of its head already seemed to have been cut but the job was not finished yet. She did it with little effort as she watched the head roll across the shed floor.

The dog was outside chasing its tail, it sensed no danger and so it was off being a dog. She was rather friendly to those who had no ill intentions towards her or K.K. Eventually she stopped and sat waiting for Kaylah to return to her. Bruiser was close by but not actually outside the shed.

“Mercy?!” Someone came running from the fence and crashed into the blonde woman, apparently someone very important to her. Mercy. So that's her name. It's gotta be short for... what, exactly? Leaning heavily on Tony as they watched the reunion, Chris imagined how she would react if separated from him – only to quickly cut those thoughts short. She didn't want to imagine that.

Tony held her upright with an arm around her waist, reducing the pressure on her knees, but she felt weaker with exhaustion the longer she remained standing.

Brushing aside the distrustful look from Mercy's friend – her name, Chris learned, was Ash – they listened to the breakdown. “What's going on here? What's the situation?” Before anyone could fill the newcomers in, one of the odd pair appeared from inside the house and announced it was clear. Chris added one cat and one dog to her survivors' head count... but she was starting to lose track. She looked over the group before her; Blue was missing, though a scan of the farm grounds found her heading towards the shed.

“Right,” Chris muttered, then cleared her throat and faced the group. That woman, Ash, wanted an explanation. “Rough count, there's... twelve, thirteen survivors here, more if you count animals. The fence is good, but if we're gonna stay, it'll need to be reinforced.” She gestured around the farm as she explained, pointing with her bloodied baton and glancing back at the survivors between sentences to assure they were listening. “Grounds are clear, animals all survived, 'cept the dog. Lloyd Mathews,” she pointed to him. “This is your farm, that's your dog.” She dropped her arm and took a breath, frowning in thought. “Everything else seems good. Just gotta clear all the dead infected out of the house and the grounds. If we line them up outside the fence, might help mask our presence here.”

With little else to say, she looked over the group again. Tony watched her, smiling, then turned to the others. “My name's Anthony Harper, but please call me Tony. This is Chris.” He offered Mercy a smile and pointed towards the well. “Your arrows are over there, all cleaned, if you still want those.”

They were silent, then, allowing the others to absorb the information; this was likely the first moment of relative peace any of them had experienced in a while. There was an unspoken agreement among the survivors that they would be living on Mathew's farm for the time being... but how long would Chris be comfortable with that? At least for a good while she had no choice; she hadn't stopped running for so long, and food was so scarce, if she didn't rest soon Tony worried she might fall ill.

He knew her, though, and he knew she already realised how limited their time at the farm would be. No doubt she was thinking of restocking and moving out as soon as she had the energy.

Time Skip - 2 days later. Time - Morning

~Remy & Lloyd~

The farmhouse was a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Not only did it have the typical upstairs and downstairs, but a fully furnished basement and attic that could be used for living space and storing things. There were several rooms an all four floors, half having been converted into bedrooms and the other half used to store important things; food, clothing, weapons, and farm tools.

The kitchen was huge and fully stocked; the Mathew's clan had been efficient, Remy gave them that. The storerooms were also stalked and barely anything had been used. It had to be because nobody had ransacked the house and the last group had only used the bare minimum to get by. The farm was also self sufficient for the most part.

Lloyd was young, only 22, but Remy was impressed how quickly he took to being in charge of seeing that all his new "guest" had the things they needed and a place to sleep. They were given fresh clothing, blankets and a room, though they were put two to three to a room. It was better to keep them closer together, rather than all spread out. Not to mention, there being the chance for more survivors eventually. Though that seemed slim to none.

Remy found himself being in the same room as Ash and Mercy on the first floor. He was not sure why Lloyd decided they should be in the same room. He assumed that Lloyd thought they all knew each other because Remy had shown up with Ash and the girl had a very public reunion with Mercy. Oh well, it didn't matter. A room was a room. The room they would be staying in had a twin size bed and a bunk bed. It looked like it had once belonged to children. There were toys everywhere and stuffed animals and posters of cartoons on the walls. This saddened him because he knew the children who had once been in this room were now dead.

Lloyd had not said as much, but it was clear he was the last of his family.

As for Lloyd, he had his own room on the second floor. His original room that he had lived in all his life. He had been up there for a while, mourning the death of his beloved felines and canine family members. Only Whiskers and Marvin had survived. The way that man had treated Bosco before he died still made him boil up inside. He wanted to kick that man... that man named Cat from his house, but he decided not to start a war among the survivors. He would leave things the way they were for now.

And because he feared the Cat was completely messed up and nothing would help him, he put him and his sibling together in a room in the attic to try and distance them from the more "sane" members of the group.

---

~Olivia~

Even though it was early in the morning, she was wide awake. Olivia looked out the window. She sighed, shaking her head. The silence should be welcoming, but it scared her. This calm could not last forever, but she really wished it would. It was Heaven to not have any death in her life for two whole days. She knew a time would come when the group would have to send out scouting parties to neighboring towns and do surviving stuff, but she hoped they held off a little longer. The farmhouse was stocked like the Mathew's family knew the outbreak was going to happen in advance. Though she knew from experience that farmers usually lived this way.

The redhead looked around the room she was in. It was pretty bare. There were only two twin size beds, a lamp and a dingy old dresser. No decorations, no nothing. Her roommate was the strange girl who wore all blue, who she had learned was named Kaylah. Their room was right next door to Mercy, the cop Remy and Mercy's friend Ash. She wished she could share a room with Mercy, but did not want everyone to think she was a big baby, so she kept her mouth shut when Lloyd laid down the room plans.

---

~Rena~

Day 2 found her waking up at 6 am. As quietly as she could, she got out of her bed and tip toed out of the room and into the adjoining bathroom. The room she was in used to be a master bedroom. It was across the hall from the other two rooms that Remy, Ash, Mercy, Olivia and Kaylah occupied. Rena's roommates were Chris and Tony. Nobody really had the chance to do much talking, because they had been working really hard in getting the farmhouse ready to live in again, clearing it of dead bodies and reinforcing the fence, but Rena thought the duo were nice enough.

She took a quick shower and got dressed in a fresh pair of leotards. The rest of her clothes were outside hanging on a line. She had washed them yesterday and hung them before going to bed. Rena put on her pointe shows and headed toward her destination.

The fact that there was working water made her want to dance with joy. So she did, down in the basement. It was sectioned off into two parts. One part of it was just a huge open room, probably had been used as a game room, and the other part was two rooms that just had random junk inside them.

She looked around the basement, and started to do some warmup exercises.

After clearing the house of the infected and ridding it of their corpses, Chris and Tony stashed their rucksacks with their gifted clothes. Chris took Tony's bag and slid both of them underneath the bed she had been assigned; she wanted to be packed and ready to go should they need to make a quick exit. The moment she stopped moving, she all but passed out. Tony caught her as she wavered and guided her to her bed. By the time he had her lying down, she was fast asleep. She slept through the first day of their stay at the farm.

Tony spent the first day at Mathew's Farm tidying the house. The survivors had cleared it of the dead and reinforced the fence keeping the grounds safe, but little had been done about the old, empty house itself. It was the very least he could do to repay Lloyd's kindness. He found a broom in the kitchen and set about sweeping the floors and removing cobwebs from out-of-reach places. He glided around the house with a preoccupied look on his face, regularly checking on Christina.

Every few hours she would change positions and groan in pain or scrunch up her face, and he would wait until she relaxed again, then slip out of their shared room to finish what he started. The farmhouse was surprisingly well stocked, but it had clearly been empty for a short while. Tony worked long into the evening hours making the house seem like a home again, and smiled at everyone he saw. He desperately wanted to get along with them all.

As the sun rose on the second day, Christina awoke. The piercing pains in her legs receded to a dull ache, the kind felt after a good workout. For the first time in weeks she felt well rested, and the realisation of where she was and who she had met settled in quickly. Sitting up, she watched Tony sleep for as long as it took to know he was alive and well, then looked at the third bed. Empty.

In the time it took to clear the house two days ago, she only briefly engaged with her roommate. That was all she needed to figure the girl was a dancer, and that might explain where she had gone so early.

The room had been cleaned, she soon realised; Tony's work, no doubt. Quietly, she slid out of bed and pulled one of the rucksacks from beneath it. She took spare clothes from her bag – she wasn't yet comfortable wearing the new ones, so she produced her own; the fire department logo printed on the left breast of the navy shirt and in the label of her combats – and slipped into the bathroom.

If the shower was a person, she would have hugged it. She washed away dirt and pain of days spent constantly moving, wasting not a second of the luxury. Once dressed, she marched through the house to the outside.

Christina soaked in the morning air. Even knowing the fence was reinforced and seeing no signs of the dead, she remained a little tense. It had become habit, now. She felt strange at having a distance between herself and Tony... and yet she could not decide whether the feeling was negative or not. She leaned on the well and braided her dark hair, watching the grounds. How long had she slept?

Kaylah had been up late; it was hard to sleep even with the safety of the farm. The room was rather plain, if it were not for her or Olivia the room would be completely plain. The kicker was she was sharing with a 13 year old, she wondered if a stripper sharing a room with a 13 year old was a good idea? She did not mind sharing a room with her though she did wonder what the 13 year old thought of her. It had been two days since any infected or death had happened. What she did while up late was check the farm grounds for any infected, they were sneaky even if they were stupid, also the image of that torso was haunting her.

Kaylah was laying down on the bed that was appointed as hers though she was not sleeping, how could see. Things had not been this calm since the infected arrived. KK slowly looked up seeing the young girl making her look around the room herself, why she had no idea as nothing was here to look at. The stripper soon spoke up though hoped not to make the young one jump.

KK: “Hi…….”

She paused wondering what the 13 year old thought upon Kaylah speaking. She soon said something else.

KK: “Ummmmmm may I ask your name?”

Kaylah had not had time to match names with faces so she was still a little lost. The only names she remembered where the twins. Cat and Dog, they were not the usual names so it was hard to forget them. She was sure she would remember the young girls name as she was the youngest one, how she forgot was embarrassing. Due to Kaylah’s stripping ways she would always wear something revealing, so her blue costume would be washed again today. She had a backup costume as well, in many ways she should of picked something that did not show so much flesh.

Her back up was similar to what she wore but this one was Magenta though some would say pink or Purple. It was the costume of the characters costume she was wearing now. Mileena from Mortal Kombat was her favourite character for many reasons. It must have been the vial that came with it; blood could not get in her mouth but could still get in her eyes which had yet to happen. Her attention was on Olivia, might as well make a friend with the roommate first. Also Olivia reminded her of innocents and she was cute as well like a 13 year old girl should be.

- Mercy -

Mercy had spent the first day helping where she could despite Ash’s strong objections, having thanked Tony for kindly retrieving her forgotten arrows she had ended up spending most of the first day settling the animals around the farm whilst the others sorted the houses. The horses in particular had required a lot of her attention. She managed to keep going right up until early evening when Ash had taken her aside and forced her stop with a particularly grueling lecture. Too tired to argue she had retreated from the battle, flopping onto her allocated bed and slipping into an easy sleep.

Having woken up stupidly early Mercy had already invaded the shower, finding the entire experience to be positively heavenly. She couldn’t deny she felt great at this moment, it had taken a great deal of scrubbing to remove the dirt that accumulated on her pale skin but now it was gone she felt good about herself again, she had even found clothes that fit her in the house a plain white tank top that was a little too clingy for her liking but would suffice and a pair of straight cut jeans which she needed a belt to fit into comfortably, she’d also treated and re-dressed the wound on her left arm glad it seemed to be healing nicely, it would have healed fast if she’d let the air get to it but if they had to move again she wanted it protected from the shamblers.

She had tiptoed out of her shared room as soon as she was done and quietly made her escape to the barn waving a greeting if she happened across anyone but she didn't stop to chat though and quickly continued on to the barn. Within a matter of minutes she had managed to feed the larger creatures leaving Comet happily munching on her hay inside her stall, she had tied Bandit up outside Comet’s stable with a similar net of hay so she could give him a much needed groom, She'd also given the resident Cow a bit of attention and a large serving of hay to keep her happy...she hadn't even entertained the idea of getting everyone fresh milk for the morning, she wouldn't even know where to start. The Pinto gelding stood at a grand height of 16 hh and was well built, he still seemed rather unsettled although he was eating his hay every small sound had him lifting his head and snorting through his nose. Brush in hand Mercy gave him a few reassuring strokes with the body brush, smiling as he nosed her inquisitively. Easiest way to a horses heart through their stomach She thought to herself, moving the brush over his dull and dusty coat. “And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand” She sung softly to him, raising an eyebrow as he focused a long slender ear on her. “When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am” She continued, before humming along to the well known instrumental , this world was so lacking in music she couldn’t help but to occasionally sing to herself. She’d stored a great many songs in her memory, although she wasn't sure whether the melodies were right anymore.

“I don’t suppose you have a musical preference?” She murmured to the Pinto leaning back to look at his face, she was completely unaware of her surroundings despite Ash’s constant instruction to be ‘alert’ and ready for anything. Catching sight of her the gelding merely snorted loudly and continued eating his hay. “I didn’t think so” She chuckled lightly, before putting a hand to her head. “Oh good...I’m talking horses now” She sighed to herself, pushing her fringe out of her face she continued to flick the muck from Bandit’s coat. "Definitely signs that I'm losing the plot" She muttered to herself.

~Olivia~

She was startled out of her thoughts when Kaylah suddenly spoke to her. Olivia had no idea the woman was even awake. Her internal clock told her it was very early in the morning, probably around 6 or 7am. Growing up on a farm, Olivia had a good sense of the time, even now. She looked over at the girl who was now wearing a strange pink outfit and hesitantly smiled.

"Oh, I'm Olivia." She brushed her hair out of her eyes and sighed, as if releasing all her built up stress. "You're Kaylah, right?" The introductions had been a little hurried the first day everyone came together, so it was no wonder that her roommate forgot her name. She climbed out of her bed and walked toward the door that led into the hallway. It was pretty quiet, so she assumed most people were still asleep.

"I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat. Will you come with me?"

---

~Remy~

He was wide awake when Mercy got up and tried to sneak around the room. He watched her for a moment, though turned away and snuggled with the dog that had climbed into his bed last night. Marvin, was it? The half pitbull, half black lab seemed wary of most people, especially considering what happened to his canine companions... with the undead and then with what that man Cat did, but he had taken a liking of Remy almost right away. It was comforting to him to sleep in a real bed and have a warm body to snuggle against, even if that body belonged to a furry dog.

Remy looked over at the bunk beds, noting the lump under the sheets. Ash was still sound asleep, or else she was also pretending like he was.

Mercy soon left the room, leaving the bathroom free. He got out of bed and quietly made his way to the shower. The water on his sore, naked form felt like... well, it was a feeling that was so good, that there was not a proper word for it. Once he was finished, he dried off and put on some of the clothes Lloyd had given him. Just a plain pair of blue jeans and a baby blue tee-shirt.

Out of habit, he also put on his bullet proof vest.

As he was walking toward the door of their room, he tripped over his duffel bag that held all the supplies he had taken from the LAPD headquarters so many months ago. The sound that came from the bag was really jarring in the dead silence of the morning.

"Oh real graceful," he muttered under his breath.

It had been a long few days, stuck in the attic with her twin brother. Though the two spent most of their time doing what they did everyday. Training and honing their fighting skills, and of course Cat always own and Dog came out with a couple bruises. It was a regular routine. They would do two hundred push-ups, sit ups, pull-ups and thirty minutes on benches.

Then came the sparring, in which Cat usually allows Dog a few strikes and easy blows, before throwing her to the ground and kicking her in the stomach to prove who was victorious.

Quite normal for them.

Though they were trapped here, they probably could escape if they so wished. They had risked similar situations before and those were experienced gangsters who were used to shooting people. This group didn't seem like so since their reactions to the sight of a broken jaw dying dog.

Cat of course didn't see the big deal of it, if someone tried to bite someone who could give them mercy then they deserved punishment. Be it human or beast. Plus it was not worth crying about it since the animal was infected, it would have just turned and killed them. It was illogical to get that upset over a useless animal that no one could even cook and eat.

It was too bad, they used to eat street animals all the time, dogs, cats, sometimes a rat when there was nothing to eat. Now they could just infect you like everyone else and served no further purpose.

"Ow I give I give!" Dog yelped as her brother kicked her in true stomach, groaning as she rolled over onto her back. Grumbling a bit about how she lost again.

The tall man merely looked down at her boredly. "You need to be lighter on your feet. You won't get away from anything with that sluggish pace." Cat responded simply before going over and sitting by the window. Watching and examining all that went by. People, animals... It was best to examine possible enemy habits in order to use it against them.

Dog sighed as she looked toward him and the window. She wanted to go outside as well and play with the animals, maybe talk to some of the people. That blonde girl seemed pretty and nice, and the little red head was quite adorable.

But she also couldn't abandon her brother, that was impossible. Even if he was the one that freaked them the fuck out. She still loved him. Grumbling, Dog crawled over and lazily placed her head on his lap.

"Mhmm why do you have to be so mean?"Dog whined and pouted, lightly batting at his chest.

Cat merely continued staring out the window, ignoring his twin's actions. "Because they are weak. Why bother with things that could die anytime? They are not worth lying for or to pretend for." he merely stated making Dog sigh again.

Waking to an empty room, Tony's first reaction was to panic. As he regained his senses, he noted the open rucksack on his friend's bed, and the unmade state of it. Still, he worried, for Chris had slept almost an entire twenty-four hours. She would be confused, and concerned, and things he couldn't predict. The farm was the first to offer them peace in a long time, though, and he daren't interrupt whatever moment she was taking for herself. In silence he made their beds, and re-packed the rucksack, showered, dressed and went to fetch his broom.

Not that it was his, but he liked to think the chores were designated, too. It made things feel more like home, and cleaning calmed his nerves.

The odd door opened and closed, and birds were twittering from somewhere outside, yet all else was quiet. He found the kitchen exactly as he left it the night before; as clean as half a day's work could make it, and still tidy. With his broom in hand, he worked from the kitchen out, searching all the while for remnants of electrical systems he might pair with his own collection and, hopefully, create a form of communication.

Out in the steadily rising sun, Christina's semi-logical thoughts scattered as the singing drifted to her. At first she considered not investigating, but as the soft singing went on, she was drawn to it. No one sang since the world fell apart, there had been no music, and what replaced it was a tense air and an off-key chorus of groans. To hear music again, though faint, encouraged an unfamiliar nervousness. Not the kind she felt when she had to be alert, but something she wasn't sure how to describe. Chris followed the sounds until they grew loud enough to lead her to the barn.

She allowed herself a quick peak inside, then ducked back out. In those few seconds she formed a rough image of the barn in her head, the animals and the woman in it. Snapshot looks were another habit, though it not born from the infection epidemic. She was conditioned to look wherever she went, as a firefighter, and take in as much of her surroundings as possible in limited time. But doing so now felt wrong. Almost like sneaking around; she didn't want to sneak, to have the others think she couldn't be trusted.

So it came about that she took some few, careful steps into the barn with her hands in her pockets. Mercy didn't seem to notice, though, as she conversed with the horses. Chris waited, puzzling over what she could say. Eventually, she decided honesty would pave the way to a conversation. “That's the first singing I've heard in a long time. Thanks.”

- Mercy -

The quick movement at the edge of the barn caused Bandit to lift his head, his ears pricking forward as he studied the entrance to the barn for a moment longer before returning his full attention to the hay in front of him, stamping one of his back feet and swishing his tail. Mercy was trying to decide what she wanted to hum along to next, she had made it to Bandit's flanks by the time Chris decided to edge into the barn. The Pinto immediately turned his head towards her watching her with wide eyes and pricked ears as she approached them, he puffed air through his nostrils before merely watching. Mercy was about to question him on his behavior when Chris's words reached her ears, she jolted in surprise turning to face the other woman hastily her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Oh god! How long has she been stood there?

She gingerly tucked her hair behind her ear, pulling a warm smile onto her face she admitted. "I didn't think anyone was listening..." glancing at Bandit as he shifted round to be more inquisitive of Chris. "...but you're welcome" She murmured to the dark haired woman biting her lip and hoping the color in her cheeks had begun to seep away as she took a step forward and ran the brush along Bandit's neck. "How are you feeling now?" She inquired trying to keep concern from crossing her face but she wasn't the best at hiding things, she remembered she hadn't seen Chris the day before, she was sure Tony had mentioned that she was resting.

She waited patiently for a response from Chris however Bandit had decided he also wanted her attention as he stretched his head towards her straining on his lead rope as he did, though he couldn't reach, his next move was to turn his head practically on its side and stretch it towards her that way. Mercy breathed a small laugh at the horses antics, it was horse logic that this simple action extended their reach. "Sorry, he's pretty harmless just way to curious for his own good from what I can gather" She apologized though she wasn't really accountable for his actions. .

- Tamashii -

Tamashii had been rather beneficial when it came to clearing out the house, she wasn't exactly squeamish and unlike Mercy she was pretty capable at lifting and shoving things about. She'd volunteered to help reinforce the fence and had even successfully kept her temper under control...well until the evening when she may have been a little harsh on Mercy, her outburst was justified though she didn't want to take any risks. Just like now, she knew at this moment they were safe...but she was still prepared to move again at the drop of a pin, she hadn't allowed Mercy to empty her bag preferring to keep them travel ready. After mostly everyone had gone to bed, she had found her way to the shower...it was funny how something like showering used to be taken for granted before this, just the feel of the water was blissful rubbing away the muck and grime from her aching body had taken a while but she hadn't minded. She'd been suffering from Insomnia for a while now, her body was almost convinced she didn't need sleep to function, Soon after showering she had forced herself to try and sleep...finding it was surprisingly easy with the threat of those creatures being less imminent.

- Day 2 -

Tamashii had stirred at the sound of Mercy moving around the room, she already had an idea of where her companion was headed for...she hadn't felt the need to follow her, though she felt a peculiar feeling of dread ebb into her stomach she couldn't follow her friend everywhere she went so she forced herself to enjoy the comfort of her borrowed bed whilst she still could. You should get up... She told herself, though she merely pulled the cover over her head, remaining stoically where she was. She heard Remy begin to move about which made her feel guilty for remaining where she was but...

She'd actually managed to slide back into an uneasy sleep whilst Remy was out of the room, she didn't even hear him come back in. She did however hear him on his way out, the sound the duffell bag made as his foot connected with it, brought her back into reality with an almighty jolt and a severe overreaction as she went to throw herself onto her feet, forgetting she was wrapped in covers she ended up flailing about for a moment before she fell backwards off of her bed with a small squeak of surprise, she landed in a rather undignified heap on the floor. Pushing the cover off of her in a huff she threw Remy a withering look as she ran her hand into her messy hair. "Jesus, Remy" She grumbled, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment before she got to her feet reaching for the fresh pair of jeans she had rested on a chair beside the bed. Not fazed by her state of undress, she had worn a large men's shirt to bed the night before after being unable to get comfortable in jeans, besides she figured he'd look away if he found it uncomfortable.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you woke everyone up with your clumsy feet" She chastised him, using it as an opportunity to vent her frustration over the embarrassing moment she had just had. she turned her back to him, to unbutton the night shirt. "Where are you headed anyway?" She asked curiously, quickly pulling on a navy short sleeved V neck t-shirt, she ducked down beside her bed pulling out her holster and securing it around her waist before searching around for a hairbrush. "I'll come with you" She decided before he could answer her, finding the brush she quickly raked it through her hair before coming to stand by him.

Olivia: "Oh, I'm Olivia."

Olivia: "You're Kaylah, right?"

Kaylah: “Yeah that is my name though you can call me KK, KK Slider or if you want Blue which one of my other friends used to call me.”

Olivia: "I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat. Will you come with me?"

Kaylah: “Sure, I think it is time to feed my best friend. That reminds me should I feed the other dogs here or should I leave that to the owner?”

She was not sure why she was asking Olivia, why would she know? Maybe she would bump into the owner or maybe the dogs would be feed already. This was a farm after all and the people here would be up at 6am, some even earlier. She was soon up where she patted herself down before taking a step towards the door way, she had grabbed her bag on the way as she had her other costume in it. She could wash her clothing more often now though for how long remained to linger in her mind. She would follow Olivia and made a gesture for the young one to lead.

Kaylah: “I love your name Olivia; one of my friends has that name. I met her at work and we became friends but when the infected came I lost contact with her. I wonder if she is still alive. Maybe a change of subject is better, so do you have any nicknames or is Olivia the only thing you liked to be called.”

As she took another step the floor board creaked making her look down, it looked like it would need to be looked at though it was nothing serious so they could just live with it. Kaylah felt very talkative today but she did not want to bombard Olivia with a million questions. She had not said much, she said a few things to the dog but it was not the same as talking to humans though Bruiser was here best friend. A little sadness struck her as she remembered Cinnamon, the Pomeranian, though always yappy he was still a cute and sweet dog. She also remembered her German Shepard Rexcalibur; she was brave just like Bruiser and was an attack dog just like Bruiser. Lastly was her Grey hound Lucky Star, the runner and prize winner of the four.

Quietly Kaylah said.

Kaylah: “Cinnamon, Rexcalibur and Lucky Star. Mama misses you so much.”

She loved animals and could not bring herself to kill one even a zombie one so she would be useless in that situation. Another thing that she soon realized is that she had not been flirty with anyone in a while; she was in a group now so maybe she could do it. Cat was freaky so he was off the list; Olivia was 13 so she was off the list but there were others she could flirt with. She wanted to get to know Dog, they would be fun to be around though the same could be said for the others as well. She did hope her and Olivia would become good friends, she saw no reason why they would not.

For the two days she had been here she had been around someone or her monophobia would play up, 20 minutes was all it took as Bruiser would run around the farm, she had did so since they cleared the farm out. Kaylah would check her hands and arms as she followed Olivia, her other fear was lingering in her mind as well.

The flush of the other woman's cheeks amused Chris enough to make her smile, almost. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a lopsided half-smile for the briefest of moments. Just as no one sang any more, no one blushed, either. They were such oddities, like rare jewels that ought to be cherished. “I'm feeling better,” she replied, but even then, her voice had a sleepy rasp to it. The words were true, though; the more she moved now, the more strength returned to her muscles. “Sorry I scared you, I didn't want to freak you out.”

Chris shifted her attention to the desperately fidgeting horse, figuring Mercy would appreciate the chance to cool her cheeks. Chris needed to stop staring, too, if she was going to maintain her impression of stoic hardbody.

The horse's straining movements coupled with Mercy's quiet laugh made it harder not to smile, or at least smirk.

“He's beautiful,” she murmured, barely aware of her own words. She stepped closer to the horse, standing opposite Mercy and pulling her hands from her pockets to stroke his long face. “Hey, boy,” she said quietly, running one hand over his coat, while the other gently held his head still. Marvelling at the healthy, wholesome look about him, she wondered how he managed to survive the infected. Lloyd's poor dogs hadn't, and that made the horses, and the cow, and all the animals that much more important. Chris chanced a look at Mercy. “What's his name? It is a boy horse, right?”

---

Tony coursed through the house in his mission to find whatever might be useful to communications. He swept, mopped, wiped and tidied as he went, and slowly the house started to gleam. But his search yielded nothing. Whoever holed up in the farmhouse prior to their arrival – Lloyd's family, he assumed with a wave of unnecessary remorse – they only thought to stockpile food and all that was vital to keep living. There was an old, broken computer and a radio, but without tools they were almost useless. It so happened that Tony couldn't find any tools, either.

He made his way slowly to the attic, armed with his broom, for there were sure to be plenty of cobwebs. In no particular hurry, and still getting used to that feeling, he paused to sweep the second floor halls and the stairs, and give the banister a wipe down. For a tiny moment, he wondered if his efforts were something to be proud of, or if he was wasting time. Refusing to think such things, he flung open the door to the attic and strode in.

Oh dear. He forgot about the twins.

Standing a few strides forward of the doorway with a broom in his hand and an array of cloths tucked into his belt, vulnerability seeped from his every pore. The sudden attack of uneasiness and perhaps even fear became painfully obvious in his eyes, his tightened grip on the broom handle, and the shiver that ran over his back. He faced the twins and uttered, “H-Hello?”

They were unsure how long it's been, minutes, hours... But they stayed there in the same position with dog slowly dozing off comfortably in her brothers lap. Though she jumped upright when the door was knocked wide open. Her guard up and fists up in case of a sudden attack, slightly freaked out by the loud noise.

Cat however remained still, already knowing it was one of the survivors by the footsteps. He merely glanced toward the trembling boy, eyes wide with fear like a mouse cornered by a cat. This man had no chance if either him or Dog decided to do something. He was one of those vulnerable people who probably didn't have a ounce of physical training in him. So in other words, he was mostly harmless and so Cat did not care since the man carried no real threat like a gun. Someone like him was not worth the effort in killing, nor making him suffer.

The black haired man stared him down with motionless blue eyes before resuming staring out the window.

Dog however blinked in surprise at seeing one of the survivors up here, especially this boy whom seemed absolutely terrified. Of course, the tall brown haired boyish girl forgot about that and just about bounded toward him like a excited puppy greeting someone at the door.

"It's a persooooon.... OW!" Dog was cheering as she just about made a bolt to him, but felt Cat lazily grab her leg, causing her to completely face plant onto the floor boards with a loud thud. She laid there for a second before lifting her face from the ground, her tan skin now red.

"What was that for bro? That hurt! Dude you don't go grabbing people out of the blue. You're going to break my nose!" she barked at him angrily though her twin simply remained calm.

"He will die of fright with that attitude of yours. Tone it down you annoying dog." Cat muttered before letting to and crossing his arms.

Dog pouted before standing up, her nose wiggling a little before she made a slow approach to this skinny dorky kinda guy.

"Hey uh, sorry about that. Just not use to seeing people other than us. Ya know, with being up here with the spiders and boxes." she gave her husky laugh as she rubbed the back of her head with her left hand and scratched her right cheek with her free index finger.

Thinking how to somewhat calm this scared man down, Dog got a idea that seemed to at least make some people laugh.

"Well none of you know our names right? Well it's kiiiiiindaaaa funny and people always seem to get a kick outta it. Mr. Scary over there is my twin brother, Cat, and I'm Dog. So we are CatDog. Get it?" Dog grinned cheerfully, making a slight jazz hand tada motion after introducting her and Cat.

- Mercy -

Mercy caught the brief lopsided smile if she hadn’t already had color to her face she was sure she would have after that, at least her embarrassment had caused amusement and not scorn. She caught the slight sleepy rasp to the other woman’s voice; it caused her to wonder just how hard the last few weeks must have been on her. “That’s good to hear” Mercy commented with a warm smile to accompany it, though her expression shifted to embarrassment upon Chris’s next comment. “No, no its OK, you didn’t scare me. I was just surprised and to be honest with you it’ll take a lot more than sneaking up on me to freak me out” She assured Chris with a broad smile. Although she’d probably need CPR if that dark man from the attic snuck up on her, her heart would probably just stop beating.

As soon as Chris shifted her attention to fidgeting Pinto, Mercy lifted a hand to her cheeks as subtly as she could in an attempt to cool it down beneath her cool fingertips, the smile fading from her face as she dropped her gaze momentarily to her other hand which was still tucked inside the strap of the body brush before lifting it again to watch the gelding’s antics.She nodded her head in agreement with the murmured comment, glancing at the other woman as she took a step towards the curious Pinto; she felt her mouth twitch up into another small smile as Bandit retracted his head curving his muscular neck so he could push his face against Chris's hand. She continued to run the brush over his withers and shoulder flicking the dust from his colored coat as she watched the exchange. Bandit focused one of his slender ears on Chris as she spoke, audibly inhaling before blowing the air back out of his nose softly.

Luckily Mercy had just shifted her gaze from Chris to Bandit as the dark haired woman chanced a glance at her, her eyebrow lifted ever so slightly at the Pinto who was trying desperately to get Chris to scratch his forehead now. “Hmm?” The blonde hummed in response to Chris's questions. “Oh! He’s called Bandit I believe” She answered smiling apologetically. “Yup, he’s a boy...the other ones a girl, Comet. She’s just over there” She continued lifting herself up onto her tiptoes so she could point over Bandit’s withers to the buckskin colored horse stood in the stall behind him, who was visible for Chris to see under the curve of the Pinto’s neck. "They're both in pretty good condition considering, well you know" Mercy commented as she ran her fingers through the small tail of mane resting across the gelding's withers.

Bandit had positioned himself across the front of Comet's stall during his attempt to reach Chris not that the other horse seemed overly bothered, in fact Comet seemed completely disinterested in everything happening outside of her stall, she was far too busy stuffing as much hay into her mouth as she could manage. “Have you been around horses much before?” Mercy asked in a light tone as if she were attempting to spark up conversation, it had been such a long time since she’d had the chance to just talk to anyone other than Tamashii. “You seem really comfortable around them” Mercy observed looking from Chris to the Pinto before taking a step towards his flank to run the brush across his coat there, in fairness he looked as if he just needed a good bath. Whilst awaiting Chris’s response a thought flickered across Mercy’s mind. “I’m Mercy by the way...sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself the other day after you...” She trailed off having decided that bringing up the store probably wasn’t a great way to promote conversation.

Remy

"Jesus, Remy"

He inwardly chuckled at the reaction the sound got from his unlikely roommate. Having only known Ash for a short while, it was exactly what he would expect from the girl. He turned to look at her, not hiding the way he openingly looked at her as she fumbled around for her clothing. He had not seen another person in such a state of undress since the very beginning. Usually, people kept everything on just in case. She was an attractive woman, so if she was not embarrassed, than there was no reason he should turn away. After all, she would have asked him to if that was what she wanted.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you woke everyone up with your clumsy feet."

Remy looked down at his boot covered feet and hid a grin. She would have no idea that back before his academy days, he was known as an awkward and yes, very clumsy. It was not until he started training to become a police officer that he came out of his shell and started to blossom.

“Oh dear,” he said, in mock shock. “I’m so sorry that I woke you. Next time, I will leave my bag of weapons behind so that I do not chance making any loud sounds.”

"Where are you headed anyway? "I'll come with you."

Bending down, he picked up his offending bag and tossed it around his shoulders. He would not be leaving that behind for any unsavory people to find. Turning, he glanced at Ash.

“I figured that I would go and check out the perimeter of the property and take out any undead that are getting too near the fence.”

His stomach rumbled loudly, causing a slight flush to come over his cheeks. “And apparently after that, I’ll need to find something to eat or vise versa.”

“So we’ve got two choices, check the perimeter first or get something to eat? I’m game for both.”

---

Olivia

Olivia looked at Kaylah’s dog and smiled. “It is really nice to see so many healthy animals. I never thought I would see that again.” She hesitantly reached over and pet the dog behind his ears. The dog did not seem to think she was a threat.

“It would probably be nice for us to feed Whiskers and Marvin… if we can find them. After what happened before, they are both understandably spooked by strangers.” She frowned slightly at the memory of how she and the others had found out what that creepy guy did to that poor infected dog. A normal person would not have done that. They would have put the dog down in a humane way if the deed was needed to be done.

She heard Kaylah whisper something, but did not want to intrude. It sounded like she had said a little prayer, but Olivia wasn’t sure.

“Um… Whiskers is the tuxedo cat and Marvin is the pitbull black lab mix,” she told the girl just to make more conversation.

Tony

If the abrupt realisation of having barged in on the twins had not been horrifying enough, the girl leaping to her feet with her fists up only added to the terror. The man's unwavering gaze unnerved Tony even further. He knew from the others just what that man had done, and saw with his own eyes how violently strange the pair were. Whether or not they wanted to hurt him, Tony wanted to bolt out of the attic as quick as his legs could manage. But he couldn't; like a deer in headlights he dare not move.

The girl came bounding at him, and Tony's heart stopped beating for a moment, only to kick back up again at twice the pace when the man's hand dragged back his sister. The thud of her head hitting the floor made Tony hop back a step. After that, the girl didn't move, and he was sure she had a broken nose or a split lip or something. She rose again, unhurt, and scolded her brother. Confusion painted itself across Tony's features, temporarily disguising his nerves. What, exactly, was wrong with the two of them?

While they conversed, in calm tones as if this was a normal experience for them, Tony's eyes darted from one twin to the other, trying to decipher their intentions. By the time the girl began to approach him again, he still hadn't figured it out. He tried to watch her and keep an eye on her brother at the same time, but he was never as good as Chris at multitasking. He couldn't help but flinch at the jazzhands, either.

The reference to the cartoon managed to briefly distract his thoughts, but curiosity brought him back to the present. “...Don't you, uh... have real names?” he whispered, squeezing the broom handle.

---

Chris

Mercy didn't seem to be recovering from the blush at all. Chris offered her an apologetic look, but she had turned away to cover her cheeks. At least she didn't seem angry at being embarrassed. Chris allowed herself to relax a little more; the muscles in her back, shoulders and arms had been tense since she woke, ready to react to the slightest sign of danger.

She smirked at the puff of air from the horse and obediently scratched his forehead.

“Hey, Bandit,” she said, straightening as if to introduce herself formally to the horse. “Comet.” She nodded in greeting to his companion. “Good names.” Relief settled in, calming her nerves, when she learned Bandit was indeed a boy, and that she hadn't just made an idiot of herself in front of this almost-stranger. Chris wondered why she cared so much whether or not she came across as an idiot. She didn't plan on staying at the farmhouse for long, anyway. Right?

She felt her features contort to a frown and hastily turned her attention back to the horse, and to Mercy. “Has he been neglected for ages, or am I just irresistible?” she asked, then immediately considered what might be made of such a comment. She added, clearing her throat, “Uh, to horses. I mean.” Narrowly avoiding another frown, she reached for her baton. In the aftermath of the infection, touching the weapon became a comfort, even when she didn't intend to use it. She found it gone from her belt, having forgotten, in her sleep-dulled mind, to take it with her when she woke up.

Chris sought stability in Bandit instead, fulfilling each of his not so subtle requests. “My grandfather loved horses,” she said in answer to Mercy's question, her tone audibly lower. An image of her plump, grey-bearded grandfather leading a blue roan horse around a field fluttered across her mind.

Eyeing the woman again when she began to mention the store in Karn, Chris recalled the reunion she witnessed between Mercy and her friend, Ash. Only after a moment of silence did she realise she hadn't responded or given the other woman her name. She couldn't recall if Tony had told anyone, and the last hour or so before she passed out was blurred in her memory. “Yeah, I heard your friend say it. I'm Christina.” My friends call me Chris, she wanted to add, but decided it was too familiar a nickname to be handing out if she intended to leave soon. “And don't worry about it. Any decent human being would've done it.”

Olivia: “It is really nice to see so many healthy animals. I never thought I would see that again.”

The woman in blue watched the young woman pet the dog. Generally dogs were good with children so it was a safe bet the dog would not go for her.

Kaylah: “Certainly is. I hope it stays like this. I don’t think I could handle losing another animal in such a short time.”

Olivia: “It would probably be nice for us to feed Whiskers and Marvin… if we can find them. After what happened before, they are both understandably spooked by strangers.”

Kaylah: “I am sure we could get them too eat, animals can tell who has a gentle soul so I am sure you and I could get them to eat their food. Also I am sure they are hungry by now. I think if anyone can get them to eat it would be you Olivia.”

Olivia: “Um… Whiskers is the tuxedo cat and Marvin is the pitbull black lab mix,”

Kaylah: “I have not seen a pitbull in a while and I don’t think I have ever seen a tuxedo cat. I mostly see tabby cats and the odd fluffy and rare naked cats. Did you have any pets?”

Kaylah just followed the young woman, she was grown up and it was a shame she could not experience the full child and pre-teen years like any other child. The funny thing was she did not know what started this undead nightmare, all she remembered was returning home, locking the doors and staying put for a few days before leaving due to running out of food as well as a few other basic things. She soon stopped thinking about back then due to the deaths of her three of four furry friends.

In many ways she was kind of on edge, even within the safety of the farm. The madman in the attic and the infected who could surround the farm at any time. More importantly the self-harm that could happen right here in the safety of the farm. She could bang her foot, cut herself when using a knife and fall down the stair. Anything could happen to one who had a fear of hurting themselves in any fashion. She kind of shivered a little over the possible injury related events that could befall her. ‘When will the madness end’ she thought to herself.

She was most likely the nervous wreck of the group, always fearing for her safety and being left alone. As she followed she rubbed her right shoulder to reassure herself that everything was fine. ‘Who will save the animals if the infected over run this place?’ she thought to herself. The question kind of answered itself as she would attempt it the best she could. Her face made a few expressions, one of concern, one of fear, another of sadness but the last one which she kept was a strange mix of a smile with a bit of a frown.

Dog tilted her head a little as the terrified boy gripped his single defense, a broom, tightly as he curiously questioned their names. The tall boyish dirty brown twin rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed and trying to think of a way to explain the situation, it was a pretty simple thing for her and Cat, but for 'normal everyday people' it would seem quite bizarre.

"Nope, we don't have any actual names. We only have our code names to call each other by. No mum or pa to give us any. Just some people when we reached the age of five or so when our skills started settling in. So it's just us brothers. Very weird brothers." she mused with a slightly sad smile.

It would have been nice to met her mother, maybe. Then again she could of probably been just as bad. She did leave them, probably not wanting to deal with the two of them. It was hard enough surviving on the street on your own, but with children it must of been hard. But despite that, Dog was thankful her mum took the time to birth them, even if life had never been on the twins favor.

But maybe if they were born normally, Cat would be as well. Or maybe not.. But at least he could have gone to a therapist and at least had someone other than Dog love and understand him. It was hard though for both of them.

"But what's a 'normal' name anyway? They have two names right? Mhmm hey bro what's some normal people names? Your the one who read all those letters." Dog asked her brother curiously.

The tall black haired man simply continued out the window, seeming to ignore them before he finally spoke in his deep calm smooth voice. "Tony." he simply said before resuming his silent treatment.

"Awe right like from the cereal box? Quite sad when a cartoon animal gets a normal name compared to us eh?" Dog laughed cheekily before looking at the nervous skinny man.

"Heeeeey buddy could you do me a huge favor? Could you watch Cat here while I get some water? I'm dying of thirst and getting all choked up in this dusty attic. Cat probably could use some to but he doesn't complain much. Don't worry, I know he's scary and he's sorta proven that already with things." she said, giving her brother a quick glare that was ignored.

The smaller twin looked to their guest again with a pleading smile. "But I swear nothing will happen as long as you don't just pull a gun on him. Otherwise your absolutely safe because... Well.. No offense but you don't look like much of a threat there buddy. He could probably help you find some things you need up here. There's tons of junk that I don't really understand, but Cat's a good scavenger so he could probably assist with things. Just ask nicely. He's really just like a big kitty cat. Doesn't like getting bossed around and does his own thing." Dog asked putting her hands together in a praying/ begging motion.

"Congratulations. You have proven why you are called Dog, begger." Cat said from his unmoving spot.

"You shut up! I happen to be the master of the puppy dog eyes, and do not diss the puppy dog eyes! They are useful I tell you!" she barked back at him with a huff before laughing a little.