Jessalyn - Haywood - Choice

Jessalyn bundled Benjamin up against the chilly air. Using a fleece blanket, she fashioned a sling that went around her back, across her chest and over her shoulder. She slipped her baby boy inside, securing him to her body. It would keep him warm and also leave her hands free. It would also obscure him from view a bit. No need to advertise to anyone she might meet outside Haywood that she had a month old baby.

She had finally made the decision. It had been a month since the attack on Haywood. People were struggling to start over.
Someone was missing from her life.
She had waited long enough for him to come to her.
It was time to go to him.

Picking up the small bag she had packed, Jessalyn took one more look around and took a calming breath. Maybe they would come back after she found him. Maybe not. Either way she needed to say goodbye to the relative safety of Haywood and it's remaining inhabitants. She had no doubt that there would be firm objections to her leaving, but she had made her choice and was going to stick with it.
The man she loved was out there.
She was going to find him.
No matter what.

Outside the building, she made her way towards the rebuilt gate. The only person she really expected to have a problem with was Abram. The guy had become super protective of not just her but everyone in Haywood. It was like since Daniel had died Abram had taken it upon himself to step into Daniel's place and take care of everyone. While she appreciated it, there was no way he was keeping her here. She was prepared to fight him on this, and no one really wanted to mess with a new mother.
Ever since she'd had her baby Jessalyn had become more outspoken and more firm on her thoughts and opinions. No one told her what to do, especially when it came to how she was caring for Ben. The last person who'd tried to tell her she was doing something wrong with her baby had gotten their heads bitten off.

Jess found where a small group of survivors was talking amongst themselves. Well, some were talking others were just there.
"I'm leaving," she announced in a tone that said it was not up for debate. "Floyd is out there and I am done waiting for him. Something has happened that is keeping him from me. I am going to find him."

Shannon - Woods - Emma/James

The new year had started, Shannon figured, and that meant her birthday had passed her by. Oh well, there wasn't much reason to get excited these days anyway. It had been almost a month since she left, but Shannon still thought of Haywood. She thought of the people that had lived there, the people that had been lost there. She'd been one of the few to survive Haywood's bloody ordeals and it still weighed on her heavily. She had known she couldn't stay there any longer, not just because of the sad memories, but because Haywood simply couldn't sustain her and her friends any longer. She'd wanted Amelia to join her, but the woman had refused, stating that she wanted to protect what remained of Haywood in Anthony's absence. It was hard leaving without her, especially after the deaths of both Daniel and Poly, but Shannon knew that some friends just had to go their separate ways.

She'd left with Emma at least, and she couldn't leave James or Valentina behind either. The boy still clung to her as if she was family, and the girl... Well, Shannon had no idea what else to do with her. Perhaps it wasn't right to bring Valentina out into the wild again, but the little girl had never functioned correctly in a large group. She rarely talked, and only ever to James or Emma. Even then, Emma was far too distant these days for anyone to talk to.

For Shannon, it had been a very lonely month. Though she travelled with three others, she felt at times travelling by herself.

They'd tried to make a living in the city, travelling from building to building in order to keep out of the way of walkers. They eventually discussed trying to make a living in the woods, though starting up a discussion on the matter had felt a bit like pulling teeth. Shannon was unsure of her survival skills and didn't think they could maintain a life outside the city with her group of what were essentially children. All she could do was make a go for it and try to stick close to the city.

Only a few days into their camping venture, they'd managed to set up a small camp with cans on a fishing line for security. It was a humble set-up, and Shannon was thankful they had enough food and water from the city to last them at least a week. James began to express distress at being out in the open, even after Shannon explained the warning system they had set up to him. In order to get the boy to calm down, she and Emma had to maintain a near-constant watch. It was exhausting, and yet another detriment to living out in the woods.

It was evening when Shannon ended her watch to curl up into the tent next to James and Valentina. Emma took over the watch in her stead and Shannon managed to grab about an hour of amazing dreamless sleep.

But then something made the cans move and plink! against each other. Shannon was rocked awake and she sat up immediately. To her horror, the spot next to James was empty-- Valentina was gone. Shannon launched herself out the open tent flap and looked around wildly for the young girl. Her eyes eventually spotted Emma sitting next to the cold fire pit, her body wrapped into a fetal position. Shannon knelt next to the girl and found her staring silently into the ashes.

"Where's Valentina?" Shannon asked. "She's not in the tent!" When Emma didn't respond, Shannon reached out and shook her. "Emma, listen to me!" Despite her shouting, Emma wouldn't move.

Shannon cursed and made a break for the edge of the camp. She stopped at the fishing line and searched through the trees for some sign of Valentina, though it was too dark to see much of anything properly. Despite her better judgement, Shannon hopped over the fishing line and called out, "Valentina!" When nothing responded, she continued further into the forest. "Valentina! Come on!"

When she was far enough so that the camp was out of sight, Shannon heard rustling to her side. She let out a shaky breath and took a step toward the noise. "'Tina? Is that you?"

It was not Valentina. Out of the inky blackness came a short rotting man, his arms reaching out to take hold of Shannon. She yelped in surprise, unable to get away as the walker fell on top of her. She swore out loud and exerted all the force she had in keeping the man's snapping mouth away from her skin. This went on for only a few precious moments, but they felt like forever to Shannon. She began to feel her body give out from exhaustion, and she grunted out in frustration.

There was a small cry and the walker on top of her stopped moving. Shannon blinked in surprise and threw the disgusting corpse off of her. She found James standing over her, a bloody knife gripped in his hands. He looked at her fearfully, and Shannon was relieved. James had never had the courage to do something like that before, but now he had saved her life. She let out a happy sigh and pulled the boy into a hug.

"Thank you, James," she said. "Thank you. That was so dumb of me."

The boy was quiet "... Where's Valentina?"

Shannon ended the hug and held James at arms length. Her eyes looked over his shoulder and toward the dark forest beyond. "... I don't know. She must have run away." Her gaze was brought back to James when she saw tears in his eyes.

"It happened again. It's going to happen again and again forever."

Shannon wanted to tell him everything would be all right, or that Valentina would be okay. All she could say was, "I'm sorry."

---

Tyler - Gas Station - Katie

Baton Rouge. Not nearly as large as New Orleans, but certainly a place with its own set of dangers. Tyler had wanted to avoid cities in order to avoid running into other people. Walkers were dangerous beasts, but they were largely predictable. Tyler could protect his daughter from walkers, but he couldn't be sure she'd be safe from the living. They were the unpredictable sort, prone to anger and hate and the craziest of things.

As they moved North, Tyler was unsure if they ever should stop. What reason was there to stay in one place? Stability? He knew Katie needed stability, but could he really say anywhere offered stability any longer? Perhaps it would be best to move North, where there would be less people. Perhaps eventually, the cold weather kept the walkers slow and at bay. There was more hope going North than staying where they were, at the very least.

He'd stopped at a gas station that looked like it had seen better days. The windows had been boarded up once, but now the glass was left broken, a few hanging boards left limply hanging on. This wouldn't be a good place for Katie to stay the night, but Tyler figured he had to at least check it out. He left Katie at the door that had a big red 'X' spray-painted over it and stepped inside.

The store racks were completely bare, some looking like they had been kicked around by someone letting off a little steam. There was nothing behind the counter either but dirty blankets and rags. The little gas station had been stripped completely clean, unsurprisingly, but that wasn't what got Tyler's attention. At the back of the store, a large rectangular bulletin board had been put up to lean against the wall. On it were rows upon rows of pinned photographs, written notes, and cries for help. Tyler reached out and grabbed a photo at random to examine the picture of an elderly woman smiling at the camera. She laid on the beach, her grey hair mostly obscured by her sun hat. Whoever was taking the photo managed to get a part of their finger in the shot, blocking off the bottom right of the photo. Tyler stared at this picture for a long time before pinning it back to the board.

He left the gas station and took Katie by the hand outside the door. He walked her toward the street, where he found a sign, stating: 'FIND YOUR LOVED ONES INSIDE!!'. Tyler sighed at this.

"Do you remember your grandmother, Katie?"

---

Danny - Outpost Cabin - Myriah

He found her in her room with no candles lit. She had been sitting at her desk, looking down with her eyes closed, as if she was dead. Danny walked over to her desk and lit a match so that he could light the candle. Myriah sprang awake as the light illuminated her. She took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes.

"Hey," he said. " You seemed down today."

She didn't respond immediately, content with rubbing at her eyes. "Yeah, I guess I was." She pulled away her hand to look into the candle's flame. "At the council meeting, we voted to approve Isaac's medical classes. He was really excited. I should be excited. But I just..." She raised her hand and began to count off her fingers. "Samantha. Reggie. Cain. Drew. Bill. Hansel. Steven. Greg. These are the people who had to be sacrificed in order for me to get what I wanted. In order for Matt to get what he wanted. How can I possibly be excited about any of this when it cost us so much?"

There was a stretch of silence while Danny mulled over her words. "Matt has enough say to end the classes. At least you get something you goddamn wanted out of this."

"I believe that's to coddle me. Or to keep me from talking. Either way... I've been made guilty in all this as well. It's disgusting, Rudy."

"God, don't say shit like that. Just..." He sighed and made his way toward Myriah's bed. He sat down on it and looked up toward the ceiling. "You tried your best. We've all made dumb fuckin' mistakes. The scouts are hard enough to deal with as it is without you getting you getting all down on yourself and shit." That was probably an understatement. Ever since the Thomas incident, the scouts had been constantly at odds with each other. Sylar had been made the new leader, but some of the scouts still preferred Enrique. "We barely stopped that horde from taking us out and everyone is constantly arguing. I'm trying to fucking stay out of it, but it bugs me that I still have to look at that dumb shit Enrique's face every day."

Myriah turned to him, her face disapproving. "Rudy--"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't fucking even. That man was working with Thomas and Matt, I know he was. I don't give a shit how much he hates Thomas now, he had a hand in killing our people. I fucking heard him say he wanted to kill Reggie a month ago!"

Myriah raised her hands in a calming motion. "Listen, it's okay. I understand. Outpost isn't the kind of place we imagined it to be. We just have to... keep working toward making things better."

Danny groaned and laid back on the bed. He heard Myriah place her glasses on the desk. "Actually," she said. "It doesn't have to be we. You can always go and find your friend-"

"Myriah!"

"I'd be fine without you. Elliot would be fine. All you could do was talk about her when you thought she was dead, but now she's alive and you-"

He sat up and glared at her. "Stop. I don't want to talk about her." He got off the bed and went for the door. "This is my home now and this is where I'm staying. Nothing will change that."

(Ignore this. I had an intro post, but then I realized how much it sucked after I finished lol. I'm going to enter when I see fit)

Camp

"It's settled DeSean, we don't have any other choice, just hurry up and pack your stuff!" Hank ordered, becoming irritated by the numerous acts of disobedience. It had already been decided that they had to move out because of a recent shift in walker presence. Just three days ago, Floyd had returned from his hunt and informed Hank that he had come across three walkers a mile and a half from their camp. Before that, walkers had never even appeared anywhere close to camp, but now it was in possible jeopardy.

"So you're just gonna take his word on this huh? I don't care what everyone else thinks Hank, this isn't a decision we can just take lightly! This guys been with us for what? A month? And now you trust him like he's your brother or-"

"You're my brother, not him. What's up with you?" Hank asked, raising his hands up in question. "The guy is trying to keep us safe, can't you see that?"

"What I see is a fool kissing up to the so called boss so he can take advantage of him. That's what I see" DeSean stated, poking his finger harshly at Hank's chest. As he walked away, he turned one more time, pointing at him. "I'm telling you, if we move North, someone's gonna die.............that'll be on you" he finished before heading back to his tent to finish packing. Just as he vanished from Hank's bubble, Seth pulled up in the small 97 Ford Taurus. He rolled down his window, literally - using the twisting lever thing - and called Hank over. "Is everything ready to go on your end?" Hank asked Seth as he came up to the Asian's car. "Yeah, I got the ladies stuff in here and mine. Aiden's stuff and the medical supplies are in the pick-up and then your stuff is in the............" Seth paused as he thought about it for a second. Hank let out a small laugh as he backed away. "I got my own things Seth, don't worry. Just letting DeSean and Gloria finish up there and we can head out. Who's going with you? I don't want anyone driving alone" Hank asked.

"I was hoping Aaliyah" he said with a smile, fixing his glasses as he played with his chin. "Never thought you were into black girls Seth? Guess the apocalypse changes people huh?" Hank joked as he waved Seth to keep going and head closer towards a certain path. Even with walkers at their doorsteps, this group wouldn't lose their sanity, their civilized persona. Once Seth moved the car out of the way, Hank looked around to see if he could spot Floyd. He finally noticed him by the motorcycle he decided to pick up during one of their scheduled runs. Over the last month, Floyd had become rather reliable, despite some camper's perspective on the matter. Every morning he would disappear for about two hours, which he used to hunt and scout the area. Though some members didn't find that acceptable because he never gave proper notice before leaving, he would just vanish. But despite that little detail, he always brought back enough food for everyone to at least have a decent lunch - enough calories and protein to keep a person running for the day. He would also help keep the group safe by scouting the area and making sure walkers kept away from the camp. That's how everyone - or some people - came to the decision that it'd be best to set out for a better and more protected location.

The plan now was to move north, following the Mississippi River up to Baton Rouge, and then hopefully diverge towards Alexandria. There, they would look for Camp Beauregard, a National Guard station. For now, that's what Hank wanted to do, unlike DeSean and his wife. DeSean's father had been in the Coast Guard before passing away from a heart condition, so the man believed the group should go South towards the Gulf of Mexico with hopes of finding some military personnel there. The unfortunate truth was that both plans were based on luck. Nobody truly knew what they would find, but had hope somewhere was safe.

Hank went up to Floyd to let him know everyone was ready to go. "Could you fix it?" Hank asked, the motorcycle obviously not fixed, but the man didn't want to put emphasis on it. "No" was all Floyd said to respond to the question. "Well, DeSean packed everything already, so were ready to go. Aaliyah will be going with Seth and Aiden; DeSean, Jennifer and Heather will be going in the SUV. You, Imogen and myself will be taking the pick-up truck. Unfortunately we don't have any space on it to take the bike, maybe yo-"

"It's fine. We'll find another" Floyd said as he stood up, packing the tools into a small bag. He handed Hank the bag because the tools were his in the first place. But Hank stuck his hand out to stop Floyd's motion. "You hold on to them" he said, starting for the pick-up truck. "You can give them back whenever you get a bike going" he laughed. In the distance, DeSean watched as Hank and Floyd seemed to be having a wonderful time. "Idiots. I don't trust that guy, always disappearing in the mornings like he don't got a worry in the world. Fucking idiot."

"I don't think he's a bad guy. He does bring in food" Jennifer responding as she climbed into the passenger seat. "Are you siding with him?" DeSean responded as he also hopped into the vehicle, closing the doors and locking them. "I'm not siding with him, I'm ju-"

"Nah whatever. All you guys don't see it, but that guy will eventually turn on us all. He's some kind of redneck trash. He's probably racist too, that fucker. And dumbass Hank doesn't even see it. Idiot! We still don't even know anything about him, he's a damn mystery. One of these days, he's gonna get us all killed, or he'll just do it himself. And why are we going North? The Coast Guard is in the Gulf, why can't anybody see that?! Everybody sides with Hank like he's a guru or something, a prophet. That niga don't know shit!"

Suddenly, Jennifer reached over and put her hands on DeSean's neck, then going up to play with his ear. "Don't sweat it baby, let's just...........I don't know" she said with a blushing smile. "You're stupid" DeSean joked as he went in for a kiss. The two made out for a second until the vehicle behind them honked. "IS EVERYONE READY?!" Hank called out over the sound of motors running. It was time to mobilize in this beautiful early morning.

Enrique-Outpost

Enrique rolled in his bed clutching the sheets, he dreamt of bad things. He dreamt of killing, before the outbreak, he saw his mother, then she was a walker, then his father, he saw everyone. Then he saw Amanda, he saw walkers engulf her taking her down, he ran and when he approached he saw a walker tearing at her flesh, he grabbed it by the shoulders and threw it off of her. When he looked back at it he saw himself, a decaying flesh munching corpse. He sprang from his sleep and grabbed his pistol, he saw a figure in the doorway halfway in and halfway out. He aimed his gun then the figure stepped into the candle light, it was Amanda.

"Enrique..." She said slowly walking towards him. She lightly grabbed the gun and pried Enrique's fingers off of it. She put it on the floor beside the bed and held him in her hands. Enrique let out a shakey breath and relaxed his shoulder putting his head on Amanda's chest, she put her hands on his head.

"I'm so sorry," he said carefully, "I... I just... The dream was so vivid."

"Who was it this time?"

"You, except it was me as a walker... I don't know..."

Amanda laid Enrique back and crawled into bed beside him putting her head on his chest, he leaned his chin against her head and sighed. She smiled and closed her eyes, Enrique stayed awake, he couldn't stop seeing it. Her screaming was real, it had to be, he was there, it was him. He sighed and closed his eyes letting exhaustion take over him, after the darkness he felt Amanda shaking him. He woke up and sun was pouring in through a window in the small room they shared. He sat up in bed and looked over at Amanda, she flashed a smile and pulled on a new shirt, Enrique stood and picked a shirt and pants from his duffel. He pulled them on over his boxers. He fastened on his belt and then attached his axe to it, he grabbed his pistol off the floor and slid it into his belt line. He felt a hand grab it and when he turned around Amanda was putting it into her belt line.

"What do you say you let me have la pistola today?" Amanda said smiling, Enrique smirked and gave her a small kiss then the two left their room. Enrique went to his usual task of training the scouts and Amanda to the kitchens, she had become a remarkable cook as of late. When Enrique arrived at the range he saw all of his scouts lined up, 3 rows back of 8 across. He walked through them making sure each was at attention, he only had to correct one. He moved to the front and smiled.

"Colton! Front and center!" Enrique shouted, he watched the teen that had been by his side for some time now leave the front row and stand in front of him.

"Sir?" Colton said clearly. Enrique had trained this kid well.

"Commence PT, lead them in push-ups and sit ups then we are running laps, after that we hit the range, today we're working with bows, allot of you are shit on stealth. Some too fat, some too stupid, that'll change today."

With that the scouts got into push up position and Colton led them, he counted out with each up. Enrique followed along but at his own pace. He wasn't slower, hell he could have been a few ahead. He just didn't feel like leading today, he simply worked alongside Colton. This kid had talent, he was a good shooter, light on his feet, he had a pretty damn good warriors code as well. Enrique simply let him lead today, his dreams still plagued him, so much so that the scouts had to tell him to stop doing sit ups. He acted like he meant to and told them to run, he took his place at the back to make sure there were no stragglers, anyone who lagged behind got everyone an extra 2 laps. He ran these boys ragged but they were fine with it, he knew they respected him. He knew they were soldiers and were damn good at it. On their third lap around a few kids were running alongside the scouts, Enrique let them run. He smiled and pushed onwards, ignoring the pains in both his legs. He'd been shot in both legs but damned if he showed it to these boys.

Katie - Baton Rouge Gas Station - Tyler

They had been traveling a long time. It seemed like every day they were walking, always walking. But whenever she asked where they were going, her daddy had no answer for her.

They had stopped at a gas station that was very dirty and messy. She waited at the door like her daddy told her to. She had meant it when she said she would be good from now on.

Katie wrapped her arms around herself. She hated her daddy being out of her sight for even a few minutes. Ever since they had been reunited she'd had MAJOR seperation anxiety. She didn't go to sleep at night unless she was somehow in contact with him, either his hand on her head or her head on his leg or her hand in his.

But he came out fairly quickly. She hugged him, as was her custom when he returned even if he had only been gone for a second or two.
Then he asked her a funny question.
"My grandmother?" she echoed. She scrunched up her little face trying to remember. She looked sad when she failed. "I don't know Daddy. I'm sorry."
She felt like she had disappointed him by not remembering what he wanted her to. Disappointing him was the last thing she wanted to do. So when her stomach gurgled moments later she didn't say anything. She was actually hungry, but didn't want to bother her daddy. She was tired too, tired from all the walking, but she kept going, just slower then before.

---

Heather - Camp - Undercurrent

She didn't like it.
There was a sense of trouble in the camp. She tried to tell herself that it was because of the added stress of packing up and moving along with the threat of the horde moving closer, but it was more then that. There was an undercurrent brewing, trouble of some kind.
They couldn't turn on each other. Not now.

Everyone could tell that DeSean did not like Floyd. Heather felt it was jealousy more then anything else. DeSean had been Hank's right hand for so long, he felt that Floyd was a threat to that.
Heather sighed. Hopefully in time DeSean would see that wasn't true. They needed to stay together, now more then ever.

She climbed into the SUV. "All good here!" she called out. She overheard part of DeSean's grumbles about Floyd and Hank. She shook her head. She wasn't even going to get involved in this testosterone induced hissy fit. Even Jennifer was having trouble settling him down.
She guessed it was a good thing he could get through his complaints now, that way he didn't vent them later or worse, act on them.
The only question now was: where were they going?

Markus Finch - Louisiana Expresslane

Markus Finch climbed out of the Jet Black 1967 Impala fists clenched in rage. The gage red E in bright Red.

How had he let something so stupid happen to him he thought.

His frayed suit blew about in the wind as did his greasy black hair.

Finch retrieved his belongings from the passengers seat and with obviously anguish left the beautiful car behind. He made careful note of its location so the car could be retrieved at a later date.

With a slight limp in his gait Finch set off down the highway towards New Orleans unsure of what to expect.

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall - Katie

He figured Katie wouldn't remember. He was almost thankful his mother had died before all this mess started. Though, it was a shame Katie never got to meet Helen's parent's at all. "She's looking down on us," he said. "Her and your mom. It's because of them that we're together, Katie. I'm not going to let them down." He smiled and knelt down to her level. He tried to keep the distance between them close when he could, she had been terrified of him leaving her side ever since they reunited. "We just need to get us some food, all right? Hopefully we won't have to go scrounging in cars again..."

He stood to his feet and led Katie down the street. They passed a store or two, but everything looked about as ransacked as the gas station. It was with heavy reservation that Tyler eventually stopped at what appeared to be a bingo hall. Certainly not your usual place to find supplies, but perhaps that meant it had been looked over all these months. He considered leaving Katie at the door again, but certainly he would take longer in here. Putting his little girl through a mental breakdown was about as undesirable as anything else these days, so Tyler was forced to bring her inside.

Dim lighting escaped the dirty and graffiti-stained windows, giving the hall a a bleak and weary atmosphere. It looked clean enough, with rows of white tables placed from one end of the hall to the other. Tyler weaved Katie around the tables and chairs in order to an office of some sort. Perhaps they even had a kitchen in the back, depending on how the owners ran their establishment. He'd recalled a bingo hall back home that served alcohol, but he could scarcely remember much about it. Helen had been the one who had indulged in those particular vices.

Before the 'Employees Only' door, there was a spotless wooden counter with a collection of backpacks hiding underneath it. Tyler furrowed his brow at this and knelt down to examine them. "Help me look through these, Katie. Show me if you find anything neat."

George Townsen- Baton Rouge/ Bingo Hall

George was sharpening his knife for the millionth time in the Employees Only section of the Bingo Hall. The boredom was the worst part of this damn apocalypse. Afraid to go outside alone, George set up shop in the Bingo Hall. He had originally been part of a group of 10 others that had made it all the way from San Diego, but they all either became walkers or shot themselves. Both in some cases. He had just finished up when he heard a noise from the other end of the door. He grabbed his shotgun, and crept towards the door. When he heard the voice, he knew that it was no walker. Most likely somebody pillaging his stuff. He opened the door slowly, and pointed the shotgun at what appeared to be a man next to his daughter. "Back away from the backpacks. Now."

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall - Katie/George

When he noticed the door creeping open, Tyler quickly took hold of Katie's hand. He'd managed to get himself into a standing position and pull her away by the time he found himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. He slightly shook his head and held in a swear.

"We're sorry," Tyler said. "We didn't mean any harm. We're on our own, so we--" He paused to take a breath. "We'll leave you and the area alone, we promise." He inched slowly away, his head downcast in an attempt to seem as nonthreatening as possible. He went to turn Katie around when an idea popped into his head. Could they really just walk away? They were new in these parts, and Tyler imagined the next place they explored would end in similar results. It was a bitter thought, but a man and his daughter were easy targets.

"Wait," Tyler said, turning back to the man with a shotgun. "Have you been in the area long? How far have you seen? How far have you... explored? It would help us greatly to know." That it would, but if the man figured they had a crew waiting on them, he probably wouldn't be so loose with his information. The ball was in his court now, Tyler knew.

Matt-Outpost

Matt wondered for a second...The air was bitter, perhaps it was angry at him. Like it was sentient.which of course was silly, but sometimes Matt could swear that air felt like like knives. Perhaps it was only him. Him....by himself.

When they came back...there were many emotions...Perhaps, Matt had judged Thomas differently....or apparently Tyler different then he thought it would be. That was bad, People were gone. And everything wasn't as smooth as he Wanted it to be. And He didn't even expect that much smoothness. But what happened in Haywood seemed to affect everyone else.

But in a way, Matt was back to being with the counsel deciding the directions of things. It seemed the most difficult period was over for now. He seemed to be constantly tired now, or was he always tired...He couldn't remember. For now he was just looking at a table taping his fingers against the table like a bored child at School. "Next thing is....Something...Next thing....next thing"

Aoife-Outpost

A new leaders for the scouts, thankfully someone who wasn't crazy...At least not yet. Things felt a bit tense, but she was focused. The hoard had pasted. Matt was still here, leading the whole place. She felt sick at the fact, but she was just a member of the scouts. That was all. Was today her birthday? Today or tomorrow...Somewhere in January certainly. That was the month if she kept count. "Go....me" She sighed. At least there were people who she could trust. Not many people could say that.

Aiden-Camp

It was weird, they had stayed here for quite a while. But now it was time to move, there was friction. Certainly over Floyd,Aiden had hoped it would ease. But it had only gotten worse, He sighed. Did they even know where they were going? But that was all. They were going, his supplies and everyone's else was ready. He had his precious bouncy ball. Getting into the Vehicle, he sighed deeply. "Bye sweet uncomfortable camp "

Rob-Somewhere Rob doesn't know the name of-All Alooooone

Rob scratched at his legs, they were so itchy. He wondered why they were itchy, they only gave him bad memory's when they had the serious bad case of the bedbugs. All their legs were full of hives and bleeding spots. Those memory's gave him the shivers. Also because it was cold, but that wasn't the point. The point was that his legs were itchy, and he had nothing to treat that. He hoped that people would leave the useless things like...Leg itchiness....lesser medicine...But no, they even took that. Damn them and their un-itchy legs. A lot of them were probably rotting at this point. The medicine wouldn't solve that would it.

Rob still wondered if he should of stayed at Haywood once he recovered. There was nothing left for him there...was that his excuse? Perhaps it was the fact that he could do better by himself. Sure he had been in Haywood for a long while. But was it really Haywood anymore? It seemed so...destroyed.

Plus, Being by himself hadn't been so bad...Then again, he hadn't actually seen anyone else....the numbers dwindled every day it seemed. Soon there would be no one at all, but he shouldn't make himself sad.

Rob felt his hand, he had a wound across his palm. He didn't remember what exactly happened, but he cut himself deep across the hand. He had bandages thankfully. But, he could grip anything with that hand for a while. But no infection, and that what mattered. But for now he was moving...While humming a song.

Emma - New Orleans

To say the least, Emma Jane Crowe was not the same person she had been two months ago. However, witnessing the murder and burial of the last member of one's family tended to do awful things to the mind of a fifteen-year-old girl. Said girl would face many trials, which included nightmares, extreme depression, social withdraw, and several other symptoms you would find listed in a drug commercial. Emma had dubbed this particular drug, "loneliness". If Emma had gone to Doctor O'Connor with all of these side affects, he'd have quite the fit.

Loneliness contributed to the reason Emma walked beside her friends without speaking a word. She'd not spoken a single syllable to Shannon, James or Valentina since they'd exited the gates of Haywood. Loneliness was the main reason that she spotted a walker, raises her pistol, and pulled the trigger without so much as a flinch.

Loneliness was also the reason she had been seeing apparitions of her dead father, Lionel Crowe. The last time first time she'd seen Lionel was on her birthday, December 18th. Of course she knew he was only in her mind, but she decided to take advantage of that and talk to what was most likely her conscience telling her to get it together.

That night, Lionel stayed away, leaving his daughter to ponder her life. As Emma was woken in her tent, she stood from her sleeping place beside Valentina and picked up her jacket off of the tent floor. As she crawled from the tent, she zipped her coat and sat in front of the measly fire pit that Shannon had built, leaving the woman to sleep in her and James' tent.

Emma sat with her pistol hanging on her hip, and her eyes gazing into the fire. The girl pulled her knife from her belt and held it in her hands. She inspected the engravings, EJ Crowe. Part of her wished she'd left the knife in Haywood, as it bore heart wrenching memories. However, the latter half of her cherished it, as it had been a gift from Daniel on her fourteenth birthday. It was her single remainder of her late brother, so it was a dear possession and a burden at the same time.

To her surprise, she started crying, her tears running down her cheeks and chilling her skin. She fell to what she did when she began to feel emotional; she checked out of reality and zoned into her own thoughts, so much that she didn't see nor hear Valentina run away. It was a complete shock when Shannon shook her violently. She didn't know what was going; she was too disoriented. So Shannon and James darted off into the woods and Emma became suddenly aware of how alone she was. She kept looking around, drawing her pistol, hoping that Lionel would show up to take her mind off the fear... A screamed echoed in the woods, but it cut quickly.

When all went quiet again, Emma found herself sinking to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes... she was such a mess...

New Orleans woods
Markus Finch was startled awake as a scream pierced the cool night air.

Finch sat up and looked around... Darkness... As he expected.

One with was for certain he was not alone in these woods.

The aging man wrestled with himself for a moment and finally curiosity got the better of him.

Against his better judgment Finch set off into the night air.

A short time later

Finch froze as he heard the noise.

Was that just a sob? Finch thought to himself.

He continued walking slowly.

Not slow enough apparently as he tripped head over heels over a body.

Finch cried out in surprise as his body crashed to the ground. His arm twisted beneath him at an odd angle bringing tears to the old man's eyes.

Finch slide away slowly from what appeared to be a young girl in front of him.

He could not tell if it was a walker or not but his injured arm couldn't reach his luger.

Rob-Woods

Perhaps it was the fact that there seemed to be slightly running out in the built out areas, but Rob had found himself over the last few hours in the woods. Less Undead was a good thing at least. Thankfully no vampires either. But Rob was wandering. If not a little lost, but that wasn't a problem yet. And hopefully would never would be. But for now Rob was skipping over the trees, trying to twist a ankle. Which would be a very bad thing. Though he couldn't see much at the moment, he had allready walked into a tree a couple of times. But he hoped sound would be enough to alert him.

"Deeper and Deeper I go...Or....lighter, I don't know really what direction I'm going in...is Lighter a term people use anymore for walking?" Rob sighed as he kept going forward. He paused as he heard something...sobbing?

"What?" Rob gripped his rifle as he headed towards the sound. Perhaps it was another Survivor...he hadn't seen one in a while. Though if the person was crying then perhaps they had been bitten. And are going to eat him. Or perhaps it was just a biter who moans just sound like crying. He didn't know, but he had to check it out. With his gun close, he came closer and closer. Before coming into sight with the source of the sound...A rather familiar sight at that.

"Emma?" Was the only thing he said as he walked closer. If even completely ignoring the injured stranger rather near him. "Is that you?"

Emma - The Woods - Rob/Markus

Emma became suddenly aware of how alone she was in the woods; all by herself in the pitch black night. She'd been on her own before; but that was during the day, when she could see the walkers that wanted to eat her. When the line rattled and the cans clanged together, the girl swiveled around to search for the noise's origins. It was then that a heavy body knocked her over, and she let out a cry, dropping her gun in the leaves. She desperately fumbled for it until she felt the cold metal of the weapon. She picked it up, she pointed it at the black figure of a person, hoping her would stay on the ground. Keeping her aim trained on the person, she crept to her tent, and pulled her backpack from the flaps.

From the right strap she pulled a flashlight, clicked it on, and pointed it towards the newcomer. She saw it was the face of an old man, worry filling his eyes. She relaxed her grip slightly; he looked like he didn't have a gun; not in his hands at least. The girl was astounded as a voice from her right called her name. "Emma? She frantically diverted her aim to the voice's origin.

She shined her flashlight right into the face of Rob O'Dara. The two must have been together, she assumed. Without warning, Emma jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him, thankful to see a friendly face.

Rob-Woods-Emma/Markus

A flash of light on his face caused him to flinch for a second, before quickly looking down to see Emma hugging him. "Oh...Hi, Emma. I didn't think you would be here...or anywhere..." Rob awkwardly had his arms in the air. He wasn't really a hugging person. Though this did give him a chance to look around, even if it was dark and he couldn't see much at all. It did seem that Emma wasn't alone...He couldn't remember who she left with. Perhaps she met new people. he didn't know. But it was good to see her alive, though this was quite a coincidence that he found her....camp in the night.

"Oh...Umm, I see you are Alive...That's great. I think I see evidence of other people...." Rob looked around for a second. "Sorry, I haven't talk to anyone in forever, So...I'm rusty in talking." Rob paused for a second as if he had to think hard to say something. "Are you okay?" was the next to come out of his mouth. He wasn't going to lie about hearing her cry. She had bee through tough times, perhaps more since he last saw her. But she was alone in the night, that was never good.

His eyes diverted to the man who was on the ground, he gave a quizzing look. "Who...are you?" Rob asked quietly, Emma didn't seem to know him.

George- Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall- Tyler/Katie

George just looked at the man and his daughter with pity in his eyes. He lowered the gun, and leaned it against the counter. "Hold on, just a moment" He said as he went into the backroom, and emerged several seconds later with two bottled waters. "Here. It ain't cold, nor does it taste that good. But it's clean water." He said as handed the man and the girl the bottles. He leaned against the wall, and said "Mister, If there are any other places around here that haven't been looted clean, I don't know about it." he said. "And I spent two days scouring the area, so I'm damn near sure that there are none" He added.

Finch-Woods-Rob/Emma

Markus felt fear stab through him as he realized he was completely helpless to these people.

oh what I wouldn't give to be invisible right now Finch thought to himself as the young man's attention was drawn to him.

"Who... are you?" The young man asked.

Finch sputtered over himself for a moment not expecting to introduce himself especially to people that would surely kill him once they knew he had a weapon.

"My name is Finch... I think my arm is dislocated. " He finally blurted out in a light German accent. His teeth gritting in defiance of the tears that he could feel forming even now.

"Please don't kill me." The old man spluttered out. His composure barely being held together.

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Bingo Hall - Katie/George

Tyler nodded and accepted the water graciously. "I was afraid of that," he said, as he opened one of the bottles and handed it to Katie. He whispered to her, "Take a few sips, but no more than that. It needs to last." It had been a hard trek North for Katie. Tyler had overestimated himself and his ability to find resources. It hurt his pride as both a survivor and as a father to admit that he hadn't provided his little girl with everything she needed. For the last few weeks, the world had felt stripped and polluted, unable to sustain life for much longer. He knew that it would be worse in the suburbs, but Tyler couldn't imagine what life awaited the future of mankind. He'd tried to put a stop to all that before, but now Tyler felt foolish for his actions.

He turned back to the man and let out a deep breath. "Thank you. If everything around here is picked clean, we'll just have to keep moving." If everything really was cleaned out, then either a lot of people had been through the area, or there was a group hoarding the supplies. Once the leader of that kind of group himself, Tyler knew it was unlikely they'd give either he or Katie a second thought. "Just one more question, have you seen many people in the area? Either just passing through, or... just, in the area?"

Hank - Leaving Camp

As the three vehicles started to pull onto the read, Hank's truck led the others. The pick-up tore through the terrain and found itself on the smooth road within minutes of travel. The other's soon joined him as they exited the woods. They were all leaving the camp they had once called home, a small place but full of memories. They had been able to fortify there for so long, but like always, it was merely another stop-and-go.

For about an hour the three vehicles had continued down the road, reaching highway I-10. They were still about half-an-hour from it, but soon enough they'd reach it, or so Hank thought. Anyway, during the drive, there had been conversations - in all three vehicles. Though the situation probably called for silence, it wasn't like that at all.

"......I'm sorry to hear that Floyd. Do you know if she got out?" Hank asked the man in the backseat. He looked at him through the rear view mirror awaiting a response. For a second, Floyd did not want to continue speaking. He had already shared so much with both passengers. But despite his desire to keep quiet, he felt that these were the only people he'd ever get to talk to again. ".....I don't know. I saw tracks, but............." he paused for a second, wiping his face with his hand. He stroked his goatee and swallowed as he gazed at the rear view mirror himself. ".......I don't know" he said again, unable to continue. It was like something clicked in his mind that locked him in place. It wasn't anger or rage, it felt more like guilt. It was his fault the entire situation had gone the way it did back then. Because he overreacted, he pushed away and lost the one person who seemed to actually accept him. If only he had remained in the house instead of wondering out to reflect on his mistakes.

"It's alright man, if she's out there she'll be able to find you. Even though this world seems huge, it always seems so small. Next thing we know she'll pop out of nowhere, I have a feeling" Hank responded, trying to ease Floyd's worry. Honestly, Hank didn't care much about Floyd's past, he actually didn't care much for anyone's past. He understood that in this new world everyone loses people, everyone has their story, but it doesn't matter. What matters is who one becomes after their experiences, after their loses. It's how one comes back from those graves that makes them reliable or not, that makes them human or a monster. But like he does to everyone, Hank attempted to show compassion to help them get away from becoming a monster.

Anyhow, the conversation in the other car was very different. Seth, Aiden, and Aaliyah were having a rather, fun time. ".....And then, the ugly Whataburger lady brought him a fork and held it from the actual points with her bare hand. I was light 'Ugh!' and then Hank just took it and started eating without realizing. It was hilarious. Once we told him she was touching it all over with her bare hands he nearly threw up. Hahaha!" Seth laughed. The Vietnamese young adult always thought himself funny, though his jokes usually weren't the funny part. It was his delivery that was hilarious, it was just awkward and sometimes didn't make any sense. In addition to that, his English was sometimes perfect, but other times completely messed up.

"There was time when we went bowling and I beat them badly. It was like, heck I don't remember, but I destroy them. It was strike after strike, I was amazing! But we also played basketball and I just sucked. I remember that Hank always got angry when I couldn't defend. He used to be an asshole, good thing he changed" Seth shared. He couldn't tell if Aaliyah and Aiden were listening because he kept his eyes on the road, making sure he didn't fuck up. If he did, then DeSean would never again allow him to drive, saying that Asians didn't know how to drive correctly.

In addition to those conversations, there was also the one in the SUV. DeSean and Jennifer spoke about the hardships they may face once they get to their destination. "I really don't think we'll find any reasonable personnel once we get there. All other stations were wiped out, I'm not sure why were even trying" DeSean said. He was still angry about the decision that was made, uncertain why the others trusted Hank over him. He was the one with a Military father, not Hank. Of course, he himself had never been in the military, but thought that he knew a lot more than Hank. In his mind, he was a better leader than Hank, but didn't want to fight him over that. Jennifer also believed DeSean would be better in the lead, but of course, she only said that because it was her husband. "Don't you think so Heather, that we should go towards the Coast? I mean, c'mon! That's the Coast Guard out there, walkers don't go into the water, they can't swim. And I know you don't agree with Hank, you never do. Hahaha" he laughed as he plugged in his Iphone to the car using an AUX cable. "No, don't. It's going to run out of battery" Jennifer stated, reaching to unplug the cable. "Hey!" DeSean said, slapping his wife's wrist. "Don't touch a man's radio" he stated with a smile. Jennifer huffed and crossed her arms. "We might as well listen to some music while we ride, ain't no better trip" he said as Drake took over the stereo system. Of course, it wasn't too loud, DeSean wasn't stupid. He didn't want to call any walkers towards them via music tone.

But suddenly all those conversations came to a halt as Hank's truck stopped. It's brakes squeaked a little and Hank's hand came out of his window to signal the rest to stop. In front of all the vehicles was a rather big town with cars parked all over the road, blocking their set destination. "Damn" Hank cursed as he put the truck in park and exited. He came up to DeSean's window and pointed at the road ahead. "It's all blocked, were not getting through that for sure. Were going to have to go back and take that other road we passed by back there" he told his brother. "Man, we passed that up like twenty-five minutes ago. We can't spare the gas nor the time. This was your decision, to go this way, no own up to it. Were not going back. It's gonna get late by the time we go back. And look, I-10 is right there just across. We can either move these cars out of the way or walk. I say we force our way through."

"That'll make too much noise. We don't know what's out there" Hank said, turning towards Jennifer. "What do you think?"

"I say we do whatever DeSean says" Jennifer started. "We can't go back, it'll get dark by that time" she added. Hank then turned to Heather and tapped the vehicle's window frame. "Alright, I'll be right back" he stated, going towards Seth's car. He knocked on the window, giving Seth time to roll it down. "Yup?" the guy questioned. "It'll all blocked up ahead, there's no way of getting through without making noise. DeSean says we should just do it anyway, but I don't think that's a good idea. I say we walk through, scout it out, then come back for the vehicles. It's our best bet right now."

"Alright. Who's all going?"

"Well. I was thinking You, Floyd and I could do it. I need DeSean to stay and keep everyone else safe just in case. If all goes wrong at least he'll be here to protect everyone. You up for it?"

Seth turned to Aaliyah for a second, and then back to Hank. "Always" he said with his chest up, trying to impress the girl with his courageousness. The kid turned car off and handed the keys to Aiden before heading to the open trunk. He pulled out his backpack and put it over his shoulders. "Can I get a gun?" he asked Hank as he followed him to DeSean's vehicle. "No. You still haven't earned it back yet" he told the little man. "Were going to scout it out first, see what's out there if anything. You take over till we get back. Forty-five minutes tops. If were not back, head back to th-"

"Got it" DeSean stated, exiting the SUV and going towards the back of it. He pulled out a hunting rifle and handed it to Hank. "It's loaded. Is baby getting one?" DeSean asked Hank. "I think I should" Seth said, coming out of nowhere. "No!" Hank stated. "He hasn't earned it back yet" he added. Both DeSean and Hank laughed as they fist bumped. "You better come back" DeSean stated, forgetting their differences and focusing on their friendship. "You know I will, I always do" he stated as he walked back towards the pickup. "Floyd, were going on a run, you coming?"

Floyd went ahead and nodded in agreement, asking Imogen to pull up the seat so he could get out. Because it was a two-door truck, one had to slide the seat forward so the back passengers could get out. "Do you mind if he borrows this?" Hank asked Imogen, referring to her crossbow. The only other weapons in camp were DeSean's revolver, his semi-automatic rifle, and a couple small pistols others in the group had. Other than that, there wasn't many weapons to go around. "Alright, let's head out" Hank ordered, walking towards the menacing blockage in the road. He started the timer in his watch at the exact same time as DeSean.