#1

"I guess that's as good a reason as any. Ain't much to do nowadays besides hope and live, and sometimes eat. I heard they got a bitchin' burger place up out there anyway," Metro said, laughing at the almost too-real scent of sizzling meat pervading his nose. He knew it wasn't real, but the guy would eat a human burger right now if it meant hot meat. He dozed into a waking dream where hotdogs and burgers and steaks slapped him around and the greasy juices were falling like rain and there was all so much and it tasted so nice until a steak hit him and he fell and he couldn't get above the rising tide and a hot dog slapped him and the meat layered the surface like an oil slick and he couldn't get his head above the surface and he was so desperate for air and he could see the black leaking into his peripheral and he blinked. He could breath. It was a day-dream. They had been getting worse. He didn't know if that was okay or not.

He glanced back at Ellie and caught her stuck for words with her cheeks flushing with blood. How adorable. Metro gave a heartily laugh. "Sorry about that, I just can't keep my charm under control, y'know?" he commented sarcastically. The sudden yell frightened him. He would've shit himself if the shit wasn't already layered on in the centimetres after much too long without a change. How is balls hadn't caught some kind of fungal infection, he didn't know, but Dan commended them for fighting the good fight. "A fan of Poe are you? 'I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.'. How very sentimental." Metro picked up the cover of the book and looked at it. "How you managed to keep it for so long is pretty remarkable. I'll have to borrow it sometime," Metro commented.

"I don't want to just force you to make decisions with your supplies, so if you want to eat here or later that' alright with me. But if we're staying, I will find something for my fort. I wonder if they sell throne's at Wal-Mart. Always more of a Costco kinda guy," Metro said, his words trailing off as he dove into nostalgia, completely missing the not-so-subtle glance in his direction. Costco was cheaper, better quality, and he always loved the feeling of walking around a huge warehouse. "Would it be too difficult to build a moat for our fort, do you think?" Metro queried, trying to get a giggle out of the girl. Laughter's the the best medicine, and as far as Dan was concerned, Fucked-Up was a disease. Metro followed Ellie to the corner of the store where he was perched like a bird of prey, and she dropped her gear and started setting up some food. Top notch lady. I would've shot me and stole my stuff by now, Metro thought. He laid his rifle down, his beloved Val, down on a nearby conveyor belt, firstly as a sign he didn't have any bad intentions, and secondly as the bastard was going to break a rib in a minute if it kept banging away like it was. He looked down at the mostly-full tin and his stomach roared. His hands rose to his mask and he froze. "That ain't hardly fair. 50/50, split it up even. I'm going to have a quick glance around," Metro muttered as he sped off quickly. He turned the corner and punted an emptied bottle of coolant in frustration.

It wasn't that he was horribly scarred, nor was he hiding anything. In fact, he wasn't too bad looking. But the mask was a scary thing. And he was, by appearance, not. It struck horror in the eyes of foes in ways he could not. The mask was like something from a Star Wars convention, and it was his only leverage besides his rifle. He liked being anonymous. No-one knew he was Dan MacDuff, 23-year-old man-child who cried at The Notebook. To the inhabitants of this Brave New World, he was Metro, feared warrior of the wasteland, defender, saviour, survivor. So he returned to his feet and squared his shoulders, before marching around to the book aisle. He browsed for a little while, perusing the titles and authors, few jumping out. Until BANG. There it was. His book. He seized the paperback and headed back to Ellie.

As he turned the aisle he saw Ellie still sitting down. Val, his warrior woman, remained on the conveyor belt. As he neared the seated figure, he threw the book to let it slide along the floor to rest by Ellie's boot. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk stared up at her soft-green eyes. "Besides the multiple personality disorder and acts of terrorism, it's a fine code of conduct on how to live your life," Metro said as he awkwardly slumped his way onto his butt next to Ellie. He looked at the significantly-emptier can and grinned. "Listen up. Before I take this off, I'm still the hard-ass motherfucker you saw 10 minutes ago, alright? I am one with the mask. I'm scary. Don't forget that. Don't... not be scared of me, because I AM scary. Be intimidated, 'kay?" The clasp next to his left hear unclipped and the face plate swung to the right. He pulled the goggles off and seated them on the brow of the helmet, which he removed and slid it away. "You don't look as scared as you did a short time ago."

Scenario #6 (Open to anyone who can make a minimum of 3 posts per day - Levi, Calliope and Lindsey)

"Wake up! Are you OK?"

Levi blinked slowly, the soft voice of the young girl bringing him to his senses. His vision was still blurry but, after blinking a few more times, Calliope's face started to become clearer.

"Fuck... What happened?" he asked her groggily.

Before she could answer, she squealed in fright and stepped backwards as a hand slammed down against the back of Levi's head. He fell hard to his knees on the tarmac and coughed, dizziness taking over his senses. Attempting to crane his head to look back at his attacker, he realised that his hands were tied up.

"Get the fuck up, pussy." spat the raider, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and propping him back onto his feet. "And start walking."

He opened his mouth to object but thought better of it once he felt the cold barrel of a rifle jab into the small of his back. Taking the hint, he began to walk forward swiftly with Calliope, attempting to put some distance between himself and the raider's gun. There was no chance he'd be able to escape with his arms tied but he figured it was prudent to hear Callie's unexpurgated version of events.

"You OK?" he asked gently. When he wasn't dignified with an answer, he pressed on. "What happened?"

"You were sleeping the entire time we were walking," she informed him. "That man had to carry you, that's why he's being mean."

"You've been awake the entire time?" he asked incredulously, feeling a pang of guilt. "How long have we been walking?"

"I don't know," she replied uncertainly, biting her lip as she entered a deep state of cogitation. "Maybe... three hours?"

Levi sighed in exasperation, knowing that she was probably right. Had he been out for that long? The heavens seemed to agree; the sky was a pale, almost-diluted blue and the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon.

His mind was swirling with a torrent of questions, most of them regarding Evelyn. He had attempted to defend her from the slavers but the effort had been inefficacious at best and pernicious at worst. Judging by the temper on that particular raider and the way he had dealt with Samantha, it was not beyond the realm of possibility that Evelyn was being punished for his actions.

The compunction was starting to become painful. Emotions were a drawback in this world. Then again, they were also the only things that kept him human. The only difference between him and the walkers or, indeed, him and the scum that was forcing his inexorable march at gunpoint towards a fate worse than death.

It was not too long that he and Evelyn had made a couple of new 'friends'. Regardless of their actual feelings and the veracity of their friendship, the twins had been a capable force. They had made him truly believe that the dream of reaching the Black Mountain unscathed would become a reality.

Though his first encounter with Calliope and Lily had been far from perfect, he had persuaded himself to not dwell on it too deeply. After all, he had managed to redeem himself through his triumphant elimination of a herd of walkers. The plan was brilliant and had it been executed without a hitch; it made him feel as if he had something to offer to the world. He felt smart, powerful, creative and, most of all, a protector. He did not need to be afraid of caring anymore because he could now have friends and loved ones under his aegis.

And yet, mere hours after this victory, he watched his entire group get split off up and enslaved by predatory thugs. Whatever self-esteem his triumph over the walkers had given him had been swiftly eradicated by this greatest failure.

The most egregious splitting had to have been Lily and Calliope's. He and Evelyn had survived on their own for a long time and Scarlett and Samantha seemed quite capable, but Lily and Calliope were two peas in a pod. It was abundantly clear that Calliope kept Lily sane as much as the other way around. Still, at the end of the day, Lily was not a child. Calliope was...

"How old are you?" he questioned before he could stop himself.

"I'm nine." she replied shortly, eyes fixed on the ground as she trudged alongside Levi.

"I'm..." he paused for a moment, unsure of his own age. Birthdays had lost all importance. "Twenty six."

Calliope nodded glumly, acknowledging his answer but not engaging in any more small talk. Levi could hardly blame her, considering everything she was going through. Of all the people she could have been stuck with, he was probably her least preferred choice. If this was a perfect world, he would have gladly exchanged his knowledge on the medicinal use of Chlorothiazide Sodium for social skills vis-à-vis nine year old girls.

After a few more minutes of silence and relentless walking along the wide, unkempt road, they finally reached their apparent destination.

He had not expected this.

Their 'camp' was enormous, as they had managed to fortify an entire high school. Even from this distance, he could make out the lofty, red letters attached to the front of the main building: WARRENVILLE WHEATON HIGH SCHOOL.

The gang who had set their residence up here must have been quite large in number since the entire building was surrounded with a crude wall composed of scrap metal. It may have been poorly constructed but there was no doubt that it was getting the job done. The group approached a large set of barbed wire gates which must have been around twelve feet tall, barely concealing the magnificent white buildings that had, in better days, been used to educate the new generation in the hopes that they'd achieve great things. Now, it was being used as the personal fortress of a bunch of thieves, murderers and rapists.

"We're back!" yelled the familiar voice of Thorne.

Within a few seconds, the gate swung open and the group was hurriedly rushed inside so that the gates could be closed again. Their system seemed a lot more organised than what Levi had witnessed so far.

"Take these two to the holding pens." commanded Thorne, gesturing at Levi and Calliope.

A burly group of four raiders grabbed the couple and roughly led them over to what looked like a basketball court. He felt the bile rise in his throat at the thought of an area made for the purpose of sports recreation being used to hold slaves. The door was opened and he and Calliope were shoved into it unceremoniously before the door behind them was padlocked.

Levi straightened himself up and looked around for weaknesses, barely noticing Calliope walking away from him and to the opposite side of the basketball court.

"Damn it." he whispered under his breath, watching her leave.

The basketball court looked impossible to climb out of because of the evidently reoccurring theme of barbed wire. The hoops at each opposing side were still standing but he wasn't about to shimmy up that thin pole and leap off the top of the board; the fall would probably break his legs and he'd never be able to make the jump anyway. The only way out was the door they had entered through and, besides being padlocked, there was going to be constant surveillance by at least one guard.

It was a long time before he noticed something that threatened to actually give him hope but, knowing how fickle life was now, he tempered his expectations and slowly approached the girl crouched down in the corner, ostensibly trying to grab something outside the basketball court through the thin holes in the fence.

"Madam?"

#5

Marcus leads them through a trail,back onto the main road heading towards the fairgrounds. What seems like 30 minutes, he looks at gas gauge and realize he's running low. He turns back towards the duo and extends his hand with his palm facing out to tell them he's stopping, and not a moment too soon. As he looks at what seems to be a warzone, trenches dug deep into the ground, filled with zombies trying to crawl out but fail too. As he looks farther out he notices a huge fortress with wooden spikes, and a massive medieval like castle.

"What the fuck?"

End of Scenario 5

---

6.

How could this have happened? She was careful at every step, she didn't think she was getting complacent, she had everything she needed to survive the next few weeks before going out to find more food. She didn't think of the fact that people out there would be gathering folks up and using them as slaves, as if avoiding biters wasn't enough. Now she's dealing with raiders, men and women going around and creating a new world over. It's sad really, but for her to get caught and end up in this prison is enough to make her skin crawl.

The days begin to combine as she loses track on how long she's been in this hell hole. It's been a regular routine, she gets a rude awakening of getting kicked in the ribs, spat on or one of the men groping her, goes out and helps reinforce the walls or kill biters, if she does good she gets food or water, never both, or none at all. Then she would be the men's entertainment for the night, and then get thrown back into her cell. Then for the final part of the day, where she constantly digs, it wasn't her intention to dig her way out, it sort of started that way. One moment she was doodling on the ground trying to keep herself amused, next thing she realizes that they don't pay enough attention to her to know what's she doing. Every night she would wait for them to walk away from patrol in her area and she would begin digging, even in the early mornings she would do it, when they assume she was still asleep. She would use the loose grass, leaves and hay that's around the area to conceal her work, and when the coast was clear she would continue her efforts of escaping. She would check her progress to see if she can squeeze under and make her escape, today was looking like her chance. Just a few more inches in diameter and she will be set. Until she heard someone calling her name that is and she froze in fear and slumped to the ground beginning to conceal her work, reaching through the holes of the fence to grab the loose hay and grass. Hoping they don't catch on.

Aldo silently considered the mans words, he seemed to be forth coming enough, however just because one was forthcoming did not mean anything at least not him, deception was more then a two way road and if you don't know how to walk it then you are doomed to be lost to it. Seeming that Arlo was hiding in the back he had a back up plan so he would play the game for now if it was for the better or the worse. Keeping the gun raised he walked across the rest of the parking lot and slowly came to the door, looking at it he could easily see some fishing wire tied across it now that he was close enough, moving his eye's around he observed the area around the door. He saw the different random items that seemed to correlate with the fishing line, if he had to guess it was some kind of trap intended to alert someone to walkers, that was actually a pretty ingenious system. Aldo looked back up at the man and spoke.

"If its all the same I would rather enter through the service entrance and avoid your detection trap give me a moment."

Aldo lowered the gun and slowly made his way around to the back, he kept his eye's open and himself on alert for any passing walkers but it was damn near peaceful around here. Making his way to the entrance Aldo slowly slipped in an walked forward, Arlo was crouched near the door to the front with his shotgun ready, raising his finger Aldo made the hush sign to tell him to remain where he was and be quiet. Arlo merely nodded as Aldo walked to the door and slowly pushed it open half way and entered the store, the man was now in front of him only a mere couple feet away or so. There was a rather long and awkward silence between them after that, they both seemed to size each other up at the others behest.

"Well then I suppose this is rather awkward in a lot of ways..."

Aldo ended up being the one to break the silence between them in the end.

"I have not come across someone a live in almost six months, at least not one who was not trying to shoot me anyways. I would like to say it is a happy day, but unfortunately a problem presents itself. I don't trust you and you just as well don't trust me, deception is the law of the land now, an either one of us could kill the other for their supplies without hesitation. Either you don't care I am here or perhaps you do, the problem is I don't know, so the question I pose is where do we go from here?"

Aldo silently waited for a response, depending on that response there would either be a shoot out or there wouldn't they would soon see.

#6

As if her behaviour hadn't already been suspicious enough, the woman slumped to the ground in response to Levi's attempt to get her attention. He wasn't an idiot; he knew she was up to something that would get her in a lot of trouble with the raiders if she was spotted. Either she was stashing supplies away or, somehow, attempting to escape. Both of these scenarios would possibly result in his benefit and, with his extreme contempt for the men who had enslaved him, he chose to aid her in whatever manner possible. Taking a swift glance back, he breathed a sigh of relief as he confirmed that they were not being watched.

"Madam," he repeated. "I'm not one of them, if that's what you're thinking. Can you please help me? They've tied my wrists together and it's killing my shoulders."

She remained silent, as she slowly turns around. Revealing the blood and dirty on her fingers. The man is telling the truth and she begins to shuffle towards him, it took some time to loosen the ropes, it would have been easier if she had her knives but the raiders confiscated them upon abducting her. Finally the rope drops to the floor, and she scoots back letting the man stretch out his arms. Cautiously keeping an eye on him.

Hannah ducked below the eager arms of a walker, and then came back up again to shove the hefty torso of a former food fan aside. The hungry crowd was thinning, as the group moved from its center mass, but every second was touch and go.

Oskar followed her, carrying Camellia and using the fluctuating path of safety made by Hannah to get the both of them out of danger. From time to time he would look back at the girl to see if she was still with them; she had a limp in her movement, but she was still moving quick enough to be considered viable.

The weight of the car battery, an M14 rifle, and a fully grown woman added up to one demanding payload. Oskar wished Woody was still with them more than ever, that old man could’ve carried the whole lot and then some without breaking a sweat. With every step he took, the former Polish national was starting to consider just giving up; he’d be pained for the rest of his life for leaving Camellia to her fate, but God damnit, he promised his wife he’d find her. He promised her as the barricades came down, and the National Guard started evacuating the facility.

Family was everything to Oskar. He would gladly sacrifice his soul, his conscience and perhaps even his own sanity if it meant he could just find his.

Hannah stopped running suddenly; something marvellous had stayed her need for haste. There was a church up ahead, one of those modern looking structures so common in the U.S. It was surrounded by low lying sandbag walls, and barbed wire – and a carpet of festering corpses were piled about the place. A couple of military trucks stood abandoned, and she could even make out an LMG at the church’s entrance still attached to its semi-permanent bipod.

There was a sign, that had been hastily nailed to the church’s original message board.

St. Timothy’s CDC Safe Zone

Safe zones like these popped up all over the country following the outbreak. Most fell quickly, as the soldiers ran out of ammo, or abandoned them. Those who sought shelter in these zones more than often joined the ranks of the dead, and in hindsight, establishing them was possibly the U.S government’s greatest blunder. They were like fast food outlets for the ravaging hordes.

What really caught Hannah’s attention, and why she had stopped however, was the HUMVEE parked lazily on the curb just outside the entrance. Military vehicles ranked high above their civilian counterparts; more often than not, they were designed to last. Provided it had gas, then it offered hope of a way out of this Hell hole.

“Oskar, check that HUMVEE, see if she’s viable,” she snapped.

“What will you do?” He asked, curious as to how she intended to hold off a horde of the dead by herself.

“I’ll play rear-guard, keep ‘em off you for as long as I can. If the thing is operational, then get that battery changed over. If not, head into the church and we’ll take our chances,” she said, slamming her last magazine into the base of her rifle.

Looking at the girl, Hannah nodded, “go with him, and do what you can to help. Maybe give that church a quick once over, make sure it’s safe enough for us to fall back into.”

#6

Levi winced at the sight of Lindsey's bloody and dirt-encrusted fingers. He didn't want to alarm her so he kept his worry to himself. Or at least, he hoped that his concern stemmed from concern for her mental well-being than outright selfishness on his part. Whatever she was doing was eventually going to lead to an infection but better her than him.

Fuck, what am I becoming? he thought furiously, the guilt intensifying as Lindsey began to work on his ropes.

As soon as the knots were undone, he swung his arms forward and stretched endlessly, grunting with satisfaction at the pops and cracks. He offered a smile to his saviour and thanked her with unabashed gratitude before raising his index finger to indicate that he'd be back in a minute.

Levi headed over to the dark green, wire chain fence and slipped his fingers through, squeezing it as hard as he could to test its integrity. It wasn't too sturdy but the possibility of ripping it off through brute strength was nil. He had to find a weak spot somehow. He looked to his right and spotted two figures far in the distance, their features inscrutable from his vantage point.

The men were seated in two chairs, guns at their side. Their post was obviously boring since they had decided to entertain themselves by indolently kicking a basketball back and forth. He looked over his shoulder at Calliope, glumly sitting against the basketball post, then back to the basketball. Eureka!

"Hey!" he yelled to a couple of armed raiders lounging nearby. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Without warning, one of the men raised his rifle and pointed it at his general direction. He yelped and fell back as the shot rang out, the bullet nowhere to be seen. It must have been a warning shot. Their roars of laughter carried over to him along the gentle Autumn breeze, furthering his resentment of these people.

"I'm sure you have more of those inside that palace, can't we have that one?" he pleaded, obviously referring to the basketball. "We have a kid in here!"

He could see them both looking up at him and then to each other, as if contemplating their response. Their answer was definitely not what he had been hoping for as the one on the right pointed his rifle at the ball, cackling.

"Don't waste the bullet, Thorne wouldn't like that!" he warned.

Now he had done it. The two immediately stood up and booted the ball hard towards the court, walking menacingly over to him. Once their eyes were discernible, he could see the malicious intent in them.

"Wait, wait, I just wanted to stop you because I can trade!" he pleaded.

"The fuck are you talking about?" demanded the taller of them, face pressed up so close against the fence that Levi could smell the vomit-inducing mixture of blood, sweat and alcohol emanating from him.

"What do you have? The boys already stripped you clean. You hiding something in your panties, princess?" asked the short and stocky one, guffawing at his own wit.

"I have... information." he said ambiguously, trying not to betray how uncomfortable he was.

"Information?" repeated the tall one, handlebar moustache bristling with indignation. "What the fuck you gonna tell us, how we can cook meth?"

Levi's heart lifted.

"Actually, I have a degree in Chemistry, so I could-"

"Where the fuck are we gonna find the ingredients and equipment to cook meth, shitbird?" demanded the shorter man.

Levi grimaced. The man had a point. The only information that would actually be valuable to these two and prevent him from getting his skull caved in, would have to be more than theoretically sound. It had to be practical.

"You people grow your own food? Any herbs?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we got a couple of whores who grow some shit. I don't know what, though." replied the tall one.

"Parsley?"

"Yeah, yeah!" he said, his dull eyes lighting up. "I heard 'em talking about that. Parsley." he repeated in an exaggerated drawl.

"Great, you can-"

"Boy," started the short man in a threatening voice, pointing the barrel of his gun at Levi's forehead. "You best not even think about telling us to smoke parsley."

"No, no," assured Levi, raising his hands up to express the universal gesture of 'don't shoot'. "Parsley contains a phenylpropene called myristicin. It's a psychoactive substance that can induce powerful hallucinogenic effects by encroaching the brain-blood barrier and-"

"Get to the point, college boy."

Levi felt elated. He had purposely chosen to be as verbose as humanly possible in the attempt of creating a rapport between himself and the raiders. Judging by the epithet he had just been called, they at least considered him a figure of authority on the subject.

"The point is, I can teach you to make cheap drugs with long-lasting effects. Think of where that'll get you. All I ask for in return is the basketball." he said, laying down his terms.

"How about we come in there and beat it out of you?" asked the tall one, smirking.

"You won't know I'm being honest." he replied flatly

The raiders stared at him for a while, evidently sizing him up. He smiled back at them calmly in spite of his heart smashing against his ribs.

"Fine, take your stupid fucking ball." said the short one, grabbing it and tossing it over the edge. After throwing the basketball to Levi, he produced a battered walkie-talkie from his pocket and muttered into it for a while before pressing it against the fence. "Speak into this."

Levi chose not to question this but instead immediately leaned forward, reciting the instructions slowly to the person on the other side who was no doubt writing this down. The two men grimaced at some of the required items but Levi was certain that they wouldn't have difficulty procuring these things, what with them being prolific raiders and all.

"... And then strain the mixture into the bowl." he finished, looking up uncertainly at the guards.

To his great relief, they nodded at him in a satisfied manner and began to leave. Just before they had passed the court, however, the taller one turned back and offered his parting words.

"Don't even think about telling this shit to anyone else," he threatened. "Or me and Danny here are gonna come back and cut your tongue out."

Levi bit back a retort and gulped, turning around and leaning against the chain fence. The ball, dusty and old, was stationary next to his feet. He crouched down and picked it up, pressing his finger tips into it before bouncing it against the court a couple of times. It was hard, sturdy and had a satisfying bounce. Perfect.

"Here." he offered, after making his way over to Calliope who was still sat against the basketball post. He held out the ball to her in both arms and attempted a warm smile. "You look bored."

Callie's face lit up upon seeing the ball but the elation lasted barely a fraction of a second. Still, it was not a completely futile effort to connect with her; she stood up and took the ball from him, mumbling a quick thanks.

"That was a lot of work, kid. Fortunately, shooting hoops isn't the only good that ball's gonna do for us." he thought with a hopeful grin, returning to Lindsey.

"Sorry about that, she got caught up in our group with her sister. Our entire group got divided among different raider groups and now she's stuck with me." he explained lugubriously. "She would have been better off with anyone else but those are the breaks. Look, I know that under normal circumstances, we'd take time to get to know each other but since these aren't normal circumstances, I'm gonna be straight with you."

He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that no one was listening before continuing.

"I know you're trying to escape. And that's good!" he added quickly. "I'd rather get killed escaping than stay here. Death would be preferable for the girl, too, they're going to do awful things to her. Will you be able to exploit that weakness," he nodded in the direction of the area that Lindsey had been digging. "When night falls? Because we need to get the hell out of here before we all end up dead or worse."

#4

Wade just lowered his hands to face the man at a more stronger stance, as he entered through the service door. Wade just stared at the man's face. He only wondered what the man standing before him was motivated by. The man seemed peaceful enough, as he had agreed to join him in the building. There wasn't really any use in resisting, as Wade had no means of grabbing his gun quick enough, it being on a sling behind his back. His hand weapons were in his tool belt that he wore, and accessing them would not be faster than this man raising his firearm and firing.

The man broke the silence and, although Wade had listened carefully to everything he had to say, what stuck out the most was the question "Where do we go from here?"

Wade let the silence last a bit longer, before lifting both hands to shoulder level, showing the palms of his hands, and leaving his right hand in the air, while he peeled back his coat with the left. He opened his coat to where the man could see what he carried, and slowly reached into the small interior pocket, pulling out the cylindrical shape of a tin of wintergreen skoal(long cut, his favorite).

Wade carefully did so, not making any sudden movements and maintaining eye contact the entire time. He held out his hands with the can of dipping tobacco in his palms and pulled off the lid. "How about a pinch of dip?"

It was an odd peace offering, something reminiscent of the peace meetings between warring factions, though, with a can of dip. Wade hoped damn well that the man dipped, or was at least polite, because this would go nowhere fast. "We might discuss our predicaments a little better and compare skills in order to see where we can go from this meeting. But let's do so, over a can of dip." With that, Wade took one pinch out for himself, pulled back his lip and placed it between his lower lip and gums, to demonstrate how to enjoy it, and that it was safe for use.

Many people had never even seen a man dip before, and Wade had met many people like that. It all depended on how someone was raised. At least this man's reaction would tell Wade a little about the man's life.

"How bout a pinch of dip?"

Aldo had been watching the man very much like an eagle watches prey before it lunges for the kill, the man kept eye contact with him while he slowly reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a can of American chewing tobacco. It was almost as if this man was aware that perhaps there was something more to Aldo then him just being and old man with a gun the way he carried himself, it was that or perhaps he was weary of the fact that Aldo still had the gun in hand ready to fire and quick movements would be a rather... well bad move in any case. When the tin was offered to Aldo he looked at it for a couple seconds, back in the day he had done chewing tobacco when he was still young man in Italy but he had given it up after a time. In reality he had not touched tobacco products for over twenty five years now, but given the circumstances and the way in which this man offered, Aldo felt like this was some sort of a peace offering or a way to break the ice.

The man did certainly seem like what the Americans would refer to as a blue collar type of man, maybe this was the way men such as this one breaks the ice, there still were things in America that Aldo did not know or maybe he was just thinking about this too much. Aldo finally made his decision, reaching forward he took a pinch of the dip and placed it between his lower lip and gums very much like the man before him had. It tasted very much different from the tobacco he had chewed in the day, or perhaps he had just forgotten what chewing tobacco tasted like. After a couple minutes of the tobaccos juices dissolving into his mouth Aldo felt the saliva build up in his mouth, he turned his head slowly and spit some of the saliva out looking back at the man.

"Thank you, I can tell that... dip is something that you find... how do Americans say... joy in. It must be hard to come by now and days given the predicament this world finds itself in. You truly do not seem like a bad fellow to me, I always prided myself on being able to read people, so in good faith I will not deceive you. Arlo present yourself."

No sooner had Aldo finished his sentence did Arlo open the back door all the way and enter into the front of the station, the Berelli shotgun was still in hand, cradling it in his arms he kept his finger on the trigger but kept the gun pointed in the opposite direction.

"This is Arlo, my name is Aldo, what if I may ask should we call you?"

Aldo became silent again, pulling Arlo out of hiding was maybe a quick or rash move, but he was confident this man was not going to try anything, he was smart if nothing else and would not try to do something rash. He hoped he was not getting ahead of himself.

#3

Kylie seemed to lag behind the rest of the group as they moved along the road. Even as she was running with them her limp kept her from moving at an efficient speed. At least they were moving faster then the walkers. She almost regretted dropping out of gym class her junior year. But then the group suddenly stopped. Kylie looked upwards with a gaping mouth. A church. And unless there was always barbed wire and sandbags surrounding the property there might be other survivors inside.

And if they were hiding out in a church they might not be too dangerous. All Kylie could picture was the little old ladies in the choir at her church wielding guns and melee weapons. She held back a nervous laugh. As the rest of the group made a plan.

Kylie swallowed the lump in her throat as she was brought into the plan. They wanted to check out that weird car, and maybe even the church. She only hoped this place was abandoned. She didn't want to rob anyone. She wasn't a raider.

“Yes ma'am.” Kylie said softly to Hannah, removing her machete from the sling on her hip. As she followed behind Oskar she turned back to Hannah. “And...my name is Kylie.” She said before rejoining behind Oskar. She figured if she ended up dying, she at least wanted people to remember who she was.

The horde were a couple hundred yards off at best, gathering strength with every collective step. More walkers were merging with it, riled up by the commotion, and they poured into the flanks in endless streams from houses and driveways.

Hannah needed a strategy, but truth be told, there was nothing for it. She had thirty bullets, and so the best she could do would be to slay thirty of her enemy. Then it’d be down to close quarters combat, and judging by Woody’s fate, that wasn’t an effective countermeasure.

“How’s that HUMVEE, Oskar?” She called back towards the church, hoping beyond hope that they had a way out of there.

Oskar had already gotten the hood of the hulking green military vehicle open, and was busy routing around the interior. Camellia lay nearby, moaning with her badly injured leg; it was a serious wound, and one that needed treatment. Setting the obviously shattered bone could wait until later, but for now, infection was a strong possibility.

“Kylie,” he said, taking a break from the bonnet to look at the girl. “It was Kylie wasn’t it?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I noticed you’re limping. Show me the injury, if you would. I need to know it’s not a, er, how do you say? Zombie bite?”

#3

Kylie looked down at the other girl, frowning, she pitied the other women. Kylie crouched down next to Camella, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting way. "Don't worry" Kylie said to Camella, not knowing if the other girl could even hear her. "Once we are all safe your leg will be patched up." The last thing Kylie wanted was for the girl to die of shock or something. Kylie then looked up at Oskar, watching as he rooted around in the car. She hoped that he would be able to get the car working. The hoard was approaching faster and faster. She knew Hannah didn't have enough bullets to kill them all.

She jumped a bit when she heard Oskar say her name, she almost smiled despite the circumstance. "Yes...my name is Kylie." She slowly stood up, looked Oskar in the eye. Kylie swallowed nervously, hoping he would believe what she was about to say. "I...I promise it's not a zombie bite." She would have turned by now...right? "I can show it to you later, it's not bad enough for treatment right now. We need to get Camella safe and fix up her leg." She crouched back down, rubbing Camella's shoulder.

She figured she might as well quickly tell him what had happened while he tried to fix the car. "My old group...my old camp...we uh...had a bunch of bear traps around it to keep raiders and walkers away." Kylie smiled softly for a moment, recalling her friends. "Two days ago I was messing around with some of my friends when my leg got caught in one of them." Kylie winced as she said this, as if recalling the pain. "My group was able to get it off my leg, but it didn't have enough time to heal before I uh..." She decided to leave the raider attack out of her story. "And yeah now I'm here."

Ellie was quite surprised to find that Metro could, and had quoted The Raven, one of the most profound words in the book, if she were to be honest with herself. Impressive, he had definitely earned some respect from her. His earlier, slightly narcissistic quote bounced off her shoulders and fell to the floor with a lighthearted eye-roll in response, paired with a small huff of breathy laughter. Small, but there upon her face, was a smirk. Nodding with that same small smile, she agreed, "Yeah, when you want, I'll lend it. As long as you can keep it in good condition, too" Looking over her prized book proudly, she directed a pointed stare at Metro, giving him another once over, as if determining whether or not he was worthy of her book. Though, she found herself going along with the idea. He seemed to like it, so why not?

Tilting her head to get a little bit more comfortable in looking up at her standing partner, Ellie considered his words. She knew that staying would only give them time to attach to this place, not wanting to leave. But in the long run, besides probable defense, this place had nothing to offer. No, they would have to leave if they wanted to survive. Just as she was about to speak her mind, she heard Metro's voice echo from behind his mask, questioning the probability of a moat. Giving a light laugh, Ellie played along, "Well, in that case, why not make a castle? I'm sure I'd manage as a princess. Who knows, maybe you'll qualify as my knight." She chuckled lightly, all smiles now. She hadn't truly registered what she said, and if she had, she would have noted the possessive terms in use.

Taking a deep breath to settle herself from her light laughter, evening her face once again, settling her gaze on the dark mask. "In all honesty, I think we should just eat and head out. I'm sure we can find a place to rest along the way, I have my sleeping bag, and an extra blanket. Maybe we can search the place before we go." She shrugged, eyes glazing over. This decision could lead them to their death, or salvation. No matter what, she knew they would have a their fair share of hardships.

Her fingers still wrapped around the can, she watched as Metro lifted his hands to his mask, only to pause and turn away. He had left his weapon beside her, either a sign of trust, or that he was baiting her. Either way, she remained seated, looking down at the can he had told her to make even. In all honesty, she was a little hungry, but she knew that compared to her, Metro must have been starving. While he was away, she dropped a few more spoonfuls of beans into her bowl, leaving just a tad more than half of the chili in the can. Not noticeable if he hadn't split it. She smiled to herself.

When she heard footsteps coming back in her direction, she removed her sly smirk and set the can down. She'd had a taste of the chili from her bowl, and to be honest, it wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't heated, but just as well; it was food. She was surprised however, when she was greeted by something smacking into her boot. Looking down at her cross-legged feet, she saw a book near her foot. She looked down at in it curiosity, listening to Metro's description, just as she had her's, it seemed Metro had a favorite too. "I'll trade you?" She suggested, lifting her own book with a timid smile. She swapped her copy for his, tucking the new book safely into her lap.

When she felt him get closer, Ellie watched as he plopped to the ground, his mask turning to her once again. What happened next, she hadn't really expected. Sure, she had offered food, but that didn't mean she expected him to eat with her. Heck, she would've been alright with that. I mean, they did just meet. She listened carefully to each word that fell out of his mouth, watching in a shocked silence as he began to remove his mask. Plenty of different possible faces sprouted up into her mind, most all of them had deformities, or burns, even one possibility that a zombie lay under the mask she had grown slightly accustomed to.

The mask off now, Ellie could only stare. The face in front of her was most definitely not a zombie, burned, or deformed. And it most assuredly wasn't scary. Perhaps it could've been, if she had seen it in any other light than the one she saw now. This was her partner, this was who he was. She couldn't find any words to respond to Metro, instead her arm reached out, slowly, fingers dancing softly against his skin. Her soft green eyes searched his, looking for any sign that she should stop. Something in the far back of her mind told her it could be dangerous, but another voice, this one more prominent, told her that she was staring at another human being. A living, breathing face. It was incredible. She stared intently at the man in front of her, absorbing every detail: The small indents on his slightly dried lips, the dark circles from lack of sleep, and most importantly, the eyes. Eyes she hadn't had the luxury of seeing before, and one she wasn't sure she'd get again. If that was the case, she wanted this moment to be forever etched into her brain. Her gaze still locked on Metro's eyes, she let out a breathy whisper, "I don't want to be afraid of you..." Her voice trailed off, realizing she was most likely crossing a boundary, she winced and pulled back, slowly retracting her palm from the face she wanted nothing more than to engulf in.

Her face heating with the blush that rose along with a redness that flowered over her cheeks, she ducked her head behind her hair. "You're my partner in this mess, after all." She said, her voice a little too quick, a little too high. She wanted to look up again, just to look at him, to take him in, and hold him in her mind. Shaking her head, she turned to her bowl of chili and began to eat, using all the willpower she had not to look back up at Metro, fearing she would be met with disappointment- or disgust from him.

Oskar gave the girl a sympathetic nod. He knew that the walkers were the least of everyone’s problems; bands of the living roamed the land, gunning and raping their way across the Chicago area. Hannah had steered the group clear of them since the fall of Camp Defiance, but they had seen these so called ‘bandits’ from afar.

Most of them were territorial, killing any who came onto their turf and stealing what their victims may have had on them. Others though, were hunters; the kind of men – rarely women – who stalked about the ruins of mankind, searching for hapless survivors that they could kill and maim. The latter were a scourge, and they seemed to delight in their twisted ways.

“I understand,” he said, then looked back at the HUMVEE’s engine compartment.

There was good news, and there was bad news. Good news was, everything looked okay, and there was half a tank of fuel. The bad news was, the battery had been taken long ago, and one of the tyres were flat. It would be workable, but he’d need a good fifteen minutes at the least to get her road worthy.
“How’s the hummer looking?” Called Hannah, as she shouldered her rifle towards the approaching horde.

“She’ll work, but I need time,” yelled back Oskar.

“Alright, how long?”

“Fifteen, maybe twenty.”

“You haven’t got that long. You’ve got ten minutes.”

Camellia stirred, moaning weakly. Oskar looked down at her, and knew she was losing too much blood. They had to do something quickly, but he was damned if anyone thought he was going to be a hero. He needed the HUMVEE operational.

“Kylie, check that church for anything we can use for Camellia, but be careful,” he ordered, more than asked.

Kylie relaxed visibly when Oskar believed her. She was telling the truth, she trusted Oskar enough to do this. She wasn't sure why she trusted him so much, as he had also run off with Hannah when Camella was trapped. No matter. Trust was important. This was a bit of a problem however, because while she trusted Oskar she did not trust Hannah. She seemed like the dictator type of ruler. Kylie leaned closer to Oskar, her voice hushed. "Thank you for believing me. Other people probability wouldn't have taken the risk of someone who looks like they are bitten." She looked over at her shoulder at Hannah before turning again to face Oskar. "If you would...could you keep this between us? I would greatly appreciate it."

She looked down at Camella when she moaned, frowning at her pain. She nodded to Oskar. "I can do that. I'll be as quick as I can. Good luck with the car." And with that, and a machete in her hands, Kylie got low and got quiet. She krept as quietly as possible towards the barrier around the church, finding the lowest point to carefully step over. Once she was over she looked back over towards Oskar before entering through the front door of the church. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the interior, too scared to even breathe, She didn't want to alert the dead. It was silent inside. The stone walls kept out the sounds of the outside world. Kylie almost felt peaceful. She shook the drowsiness from her head. She had a task to complete.

The church had clearly been used by a group for awhile, and looked pretty cleaned out. Kylie began to dig through the mess all over the floor, frantically looking for something to use as bandages. She knew she had some in her backpack, but it wouldn't be nearly enough. Soon Kylie's hopes were answered, underneath an old sleeping mat, caked with blood, was a med kit. The white cross standing out from the filthy box. Kylie set down her machete, looking around once more before opening the box. She smiled, it not only held some rolls of bandages, but also a bottle of what looked like hydrogen peroxide. It could be used to clean the wound. Kylie shook the bottle, glad to hear some liquid sloshing around inside.

Trying to wrap up her search, she found a bottle of pills of which their purpose was not known to Kylie. She kept them just in case. She was hoping to come across something for a splint, but nothing inside the church seemed to be useful. Hopefully what she found would be enough. Right before she was about to leave, one final thing caught her attention. A package of batteries, and there was only one left. Kylie tried to contain her excitement as she pocketed the battery, picking up her machete and heading out of the church.

As she stood in the doorway of the church she looked out towards Oskar, giving him a tiny wave. She did not notice the zombie behind her, his moans blending into the sounds of the herd.

Scenario #7 (Open to all who can post a minimum of 3 posts per day - Samantha and Lily)

Samantha kept a watchful eye on the men that had taken her and Lily.

Rather than leaving immediately, the raiders stayed a while longer going to go through a few houses. Forcing the girls to sit on the floor of an old one story house while they waited.

After several hours later, they began to make their way out of Wheaton. Both girls quiet most of the time, only speaking when asked a question. Even after being humiliated in front of everyone, Samantha kept her head up, not wanting to show weakness.

It wasn't until a few hours later that they stopped for a quick break. The thugs hadn't tied them up, which made Samantha want to laugh because it meant that they weren't taken as a threat.

"There's only four of them. I guess they joined up with the other thugs for the numbers." Samantha looked at Lily and frowned, feeling bad that she was taken from her sister. "Don't worry. I'll help you get back to your sister...." She looked back up and noticed that the nearest to them was a good few feet away, keeping watch. They were in the midst of a forest, so she had no idea where they were headed to. "I'm going to need some help though." Samantha's voice was a hushed whisper, barely loud enough for Lily to barely hear.

"No problem," replied Oskar, smiling at Kylie briefly. "And do not worry; I do not stir the cauldron of shit. That woman over there is on edge as it is, but she is good at what she does, and I have stuck by her this long because of that. I want to find my family, and that power hungry feminine warrior over there is my best bet of doing so."

He watched Kylie walk off into the church, thinking for a moment to give her his rifle- no, he needed it. What if he couldn't get the car working? The rifle was his only means of defence.

Shifting around to the HUMVEE's rear, he was relieved to see the spare tyre still mounted up and in good condition. The jack was secured inside the rim, and he was grateful that the American military were so organised. In Poland, more often than not, if an army vehicle broke down, then there was a fifty-fifty chance of there being no spare parts to fix it with. That was of course, when Poland still had an army.

Within five minutes, he'd jacked the six tonne monster on one side, and had the busted tyre off. He'd found the tyre wrench nearby, embedded in the skull of a badly decomposed corpse, which was an essential albeit grizzly blessing. He was halfway into positioning the spare when he glimpsed Kylie waving at him from the church, and he smiled back at her, confident that she had found something for the ailing Camellia.

"Hold on Cam," he said, "we'll fix you up."

"Don't bet on it," she wheezed. "Prolly just get you killed too anyway, may as well just leave me."

"Oh Cam," Oskar had said, not wanting to entrench her guilt over Woody. He looked back at Kylie as a way of ending the conversation - and saw a shadow moving behind her.

Hannah was quick with her weapon, having been through basic training before the outbreak, and having used it several times since. Oskar on the other hand, whilst a keen huntsman back in his native land, was no soldier. His rifle, secured around his shoulder by its strap, tried to choke him as he attempted to bring it around.

"Fuc- KYLIE LOOK OUT!" He yelled, floundering in getting his weapon up in time.

#3

Kylie looked over at Oskar with a confused expression? She was about to call back when suddenly a colossal weight crashed down on her. The sheer weight of the zombie that had crept up on her was enough to knock her off her feet. The zombie was large, maybe a bodybuilder when he was alive. But Kylie had no time to think about when he was alive, because in several seconds if she didn't do anything she would be dead.

She immediately began to struggle, using all of her terrified and terrified energy to try and push the zombie off of her. She had both of her hands on his shoulders, using all of her strength to push him off. The smell of his rotting flesh was enough to make Kylie ill, but she wasn't quite ready to die. Minutes ago she was wondering if dying would be better then living, but right now getting her face chewed off didn't sound like it was worth it.

With a final shove and a grunt, Kylie pushed the zombie off of her, frantically backing away on her hands and back as the zombie began to get his bearings and began to crawl after her. Kylie gave a few desperate kicks to the zombie's face as she struggled to get her machete out of it's sling. And with only seconds before she was overpowered, the machete came free, the force of her yanking it out of it's holder caused her to embed it right between it's eyes.

The zombie soon stilled and Kylie was silent. Her breathing was horribly erratic as she hyperventilated. Her panic attack only continued as she removed the machete from the walker's head, only to drive it back in. She continued to do this several times, tears streaming down her face as she did so. She splashed the brains of the walker all around her, silently thankful that the med kit was safe in her backpack.

Oskar finally freed his rifle from its entanglement, and was about to move on over to the church when he felt a hand clasp tightly on his shoulder. He turned, his heart skipping several highly charged beats, and stared stupidly into his own reflection. His brain quickly caught up to events, and he realised it was the large visor of Hannah's flight helmet.

"Go back to sorting out the car, I got this," she said quietly.

"But the zombies!" He sputtered.

"They'll get here when they get here, my thirty rounds wont count for shit, now hussle up," she retorted, and moved on towards the church.

She stopped when she stood over Kylie, and gave a long approving look at the slain walker at the girl's feet. Hannah could tell Kylie was in shock, and moments away from being an ineffective team asset. With this in mind, she grabbed the girl and gave her a hard shake.

"It didn't get you, that's all you need to think about," she said, with quiet firmness. "Learn from this. Always check your AO for hidden hostiles before dropping your guard. Dwelling on what may of been wont help, understood, soldier?"

Meanwhile, Oskar had finished putting on the HUMVEE's spare tyre, and was in the process of hooking up the battery. He hoped the thing was charged, and that it had a high enough voltage to power the vehicle - otherwise they were screwed. Camellia held the answers as to where the thing came from, and how she'd found it, but she didn't seem much in the mood for talking.

Clipping the terminals into place, he looked down at her, "Cam, where'd you get this anyway?"

She ignored him, and stared vacantly at the ground. Her chest's heaving rhythm had slowed to a slight murmur. After a few seconds, she looked up at him; he noted her pale face and darkening eyes. Time was rapidly evaporating for her.

"Cam, where'd this battery come from?" He asked again, trying to keep his voice controlled as the moans of the approaching herd started to break 70 decibels.

"Was on a work bench in a garage," she whispered faintly, "plugged in to some generator. Generator was off. Battery was warm."

Oskar's first thoughts to this were: FUCK, we've just stolen something from someone who's alive. His second thoughts were: FUCK, what if they want it back?

"Did you see anyone around, apart from the walkers?" He asked next, standing back from the now attached battery.

She shook her head.

Good enough for him. "Alright, we're ready, let's go!" He shouted off towards the church, before pulling open the driver side door and getting himself seated.

"Leavin' me huh? Smart." He heard Camellia say, with a hint of a chuckle following her words.

He sighed, and climbed back out of the vehicle. "Sorry Cam, I was too eager."