Florence nodded at the woman's words. She could tell that she had lost much too during this crisis. "I'm Florence, by the way," she said, extending her hand to the woman. "Florence Kelowna. Of Armadillo, New Austin."

"Hello. Lee. Born and raised in good ol' Blackwater." Lee looked at the other woman's hand for a moment before taking it. She gave it a quick pump before dropping her hand back to her side. The other still held the knife. She carefully slipped the fine metal back into her boot. "And you?" She looked at the man.

Rob, no longer worried about Lee, put his gun back on his back and held out his hand.
"Robert Walker, from Manzanita Post. Pleasure to meet you, Lee." He then looked at Florence, "and you too Florence."
After shaking both hands he dropped his to the side and started looking around.
"So, whats the plan now?"

"A rare pleasure, Mister Walker," Florence said, shaking Robert's hand. Most of the folks from Manzanita Post didn't make it, she was glad at least he had managed to get away. Florence looked around at the three-some that they were. What they needed to do now was get out of town - any settlement was a danger zone.
"I suggest we get the hell outta here," she said authoritatively, mounting her horse. "I've yet to go up to Cochinay...have either of you been up there? If not, I'd like to see if they were able to hold back the hordes." However, the further north she rode, she noted that the hordes became larger and larger, as she spotted an increasing amount of undead wandering the wilderness, aimlessly. Nonetheless, there could be survivors up at Cochinay and if not, hopefully provisions would make it worth their time.
"You gotta horse, Miss Lee?"

"Well we shouldn't head out now. It's gettin' late. It's about time to feed." Lee looked out at the horizon as the sun was getting dangerously close to setting. "Let's head back to my bunker. I have a few supplies and medicines. As well as a horse and my satchel. Got all kidsa stuff in there." She started heading in that direction, pulling a dagger from he corset and a few throwing knives from inside her sleeve. One must always be prepared for an attack. You never know when those undead buggers would leap out at you. Especially at this time. "Well, whaddya waitin' for? C'mon!" She prompted the others to follow her when she realized they hadn't moved.

Florence bit the inside of her cheek, debating on whether to listen to Lee or to go with her instincts and take to the plains. Regardless if it was getting late or not, she knew that nothing good came from staying in towns. But she figured she'd have to tonight. Robert and Lee were the first decent survivors she had found. Having the undead rise from the earth really put folks into a frenzy. Played havoc with their minds until they were no longer sane. Some had their way of dealing with the crisis, others just let the voices inside their head take over.
"Fine," Florence finally gave in, dismounting and peering around the seemingly abandoned streets of Blackwater. "But at first light, I do suggest we head out."

"Fine with me. I just need the night to get my stuff together." Lee said, continuing to lead the way. "I have hay for the horses too."

"Alright," Florence took hold of the reins of her horse, bringing it along as she followed behind Lee, Robert in tow. She was skeptical of this. Following a stranger into somewhere private? The way Florence saw it, it was useless to fight and deceive one another at such a time of crisis - everyone was fighting against the same thing. Unfortunately, others did not see it that way, and would rather keep survival all to themselves. Florence hoped Lee was not one of these people.

The small party of three came to a run down building that looked as though it had begun falling apart long before the disease. With its crooked signs and its warp rafters, it looked uninhabitable. There was almost no roof on the building. Lee lead them inside including the horses. She stopped at the farthest end of the room and picked her was over the debris until she was standing behind a counter. Here, she bent down out of sight and came back up, pulling open a trapdoor. The trapdoor was big enough to fit the horses and opened onto a staircase, leading into a basement.

Inside the basement, the walls were lined with shelves covered in bottles and packets of various kinds of medicines. In one corner was a mat with some wool blankets and a feather pillow. in another corner was a door. Lee reached for the reins of the others' horses.

"They go in there" She pointed at the door. "They're safest there. Not like the undead would really be a threat. They're too stupid to figure out the trapdoor."

Florence looked around in amazement as Lee led the three of them through this trap door, into the basement quite unlike any place Florence had ever seen before. She gawked at the shelves upon shelves of bottles and medicines. This place was like a gold mine. With it being so secretive and hidden, it was nearly impossible for any undead to get to them. It would be hard to leave this place.
Florence took a hold of her horse's reins and led it into the room that Lee had shown them. Just as she had promised, the room acted as a miniature stable, complete with hay and stalls.
After hitching up her horse in the make shift stable, Florence stalked back out into the main room and peered around. "This is some place you got here...how long you been hidin' out here?"

"Since my pa died." Lee said, tidying up the room to accommodate two extra people. "But I used to work in the store upstairs before everythin' got all messed up. Apothecary's apprentice." She was proud of that title because most women weren't even allowed to work.

"Well that's a mighty fancy title," Florence remarked. While she wasn't ashamed of being a dance hall girl,she wasn't exactly proud of it either. But it beat prostituting and it paid exceptionally well, compared to what other women made that worked on their own. But an apothecary's apprentice, Florence thought. That must have been some job.
"And I'm sorry to hear about yer pa...we've all lost someone in this fucked up situation," she remarked, not bothering to pardon her language. Out of all the things that truly mattered, manners weren't one of them. Not now.

Lee smirked a little at Florence's foul language. It meant she didn't have to hold her own foul mouth back. "Yeah. Most of us lost EVERYONE. Fortunately, I only had my pa and my mentor. I hated 'em both. Assholes. Womanizers." She kicked a bag of grain aside to make room for bedding.

"Not much of a loss then, I presume?" Florence wondered out loud. Sure, everyone lost at least someone but some more than others.
She took a seat on one of the old, wobbly chairs that Lee had made room for. Remaining silent for a moment, she decided it was appropriate to share something about herself. "My husband is missing," she said without breaking eye contact with the floor. "I can only assume he's some brainless creature right now...but I ain't gonna stop lookin' for him until I see his drooling corpse with my own two eyes."

Lee admired the woman's loyalty and affection for her husband. Lee had had a lover at some point in her life, but, just like all men, he treated her poorly and then left. She rubbed her abdomen where a scar stretched from one end to the other. He'd beaten her when she told him she was pregnant and then ignored her. When the baby was developed enough that it was noticeable, people started talking about it. He came back one day and cut it out himself. She almost died had it not been for the apothecary's wife. She had loved the apothecary's wife. that's why she'd taken the job. But the woman died shortly afterwards.

"Not at all." Lee pulled a pipe out of a nearby drawer and then lit it on one of the oil lamps. She took a deep breath and then let out a puff of smoke. "Hope none a ya mind tobacco 'cause I ain't quittin'"

Florence watched as Lee ran her hand over a particular area on her abdomen. Some sort of unfortunate incident must have happened to her, she could tell by the forlorn look upon her face. But Lee did not say anything about it and if Florence knew a thing or two, it was to leave well enough alone.
Florence watched as Lee lit up a pipe, viewing the item as if it were pure gold. Food was hard enough to find in this crisis, things like cigarettes were as rare as a priest in a whore house. Florence had long since enjoyed the luxury of holding a lit cigarette between her fingers, inhaling and exhaling.

"Want a little?" Lee held the pipe out to Florence. "I don't got much, but I don't smoke much either."

"If you're offerin', I ain't gonna say no," Florence chuckled, taking the pipe from Lee and bringing it to her lips. The familiar sensation revisited her. It had been close to a month since the last time she had smoked. After taking a few drags, she handed the pipe back to Lee. "Thanks for that, partner."

"Don't mention it." She gave Florence a half-smile. "Seriously. I don't want nobody tryin' to take what I got left." She chuckled a little.

"You got it," she shot Lee a grin, something rare at this point. She looked around the room once before getting to her feet. "If we want to head out for Manzanita Post tomorrow, we need to get up early. I suggest we get to sleep soon."