Jason put his rucksack back on. It was strange calling it 'his' rucksack, since he had only recently stolen it, but he had already grown accustomed to it; weird as it may be. "Yeah, I hear the military might have a quarantine camp or something here. Things got so bad in Denver, that people who were being evacuated in that direction had to turn back and be sent to Salt Lake City. At least that's what I heard. I'm trying to find my little brother, and this is the only lead I have." He began walking towards the city with his new companion. "Look, let's go in anyway, if that dude does lead the girl into a bandit shooting ground, we could kill them all and save the day."

He smiled at himself. He hadn't cracked a joke, or anything resembling a joke since before the Shamblers took over his group's camp. On the road with Robert, both of them were too traumatized at the thought of having to leave their comrades behind that they barely even spoke to one another. While in the cabin, Jason regretted not speaking to one of his last friends before having to watch him gurgle on his own blood and die. So this 'joke', however morbid it was, was kind of a big deal to him. Of course, he didn't let it spell out across his face, and instead tried to make it seem as if this was normal to him. He didn't want to remind himself of his sob story by telling it to a stranger he had just met. After all, this man probably has an even sadder story that he wouldn't want to be reminded of, nor speak about to a random guy HE had just met, either.

Keep yourself to yourself, I suppose.

Travis looked at the little girl she must of thought he was robbing her as she tried to offer him her food. "Keep the food, Girl Scout. I'm looking for info." He said he lowered his rifle so the cold barrel wasn't staring her in the face so she felt safe and besides she didn't seem like she was going to try anything, but just in case he kept his distance so if she rushed him he'd gun her down. Travis studied her a little her clothes were covered in gore and dirt and she looks like she's seen a lifetime of pain. "Jesus Christ haven't we all?" He thought. It was at that moment he realized he was going soft, he had to get his head in the game. "You alone or can i expect an army of Girl Scouts to take me out?" He asked his first question of the day.

Leah eased a little when the barrel of the gun wasn't pointed at her head and felt a little better when it seemed she wasn't going to get robbed. She'd spent all day to get those two cans and while it would have been worth her life, she'd have been dancing on the edge of life and death since finding food like that was getting harder and harder. The only real reason she found it was because it was in a location through a gap which she was fortunately small enough to fit through. As she stood she gripped her right arm in her left hand, suggesting she still felt nervous and maybe even a little shy, but then that was pretty normal when you had a stranger point a gun in your face. When he asked her a question about whether she was alone, she sadly looked down and to the left for a moment, taking a moment to be reminded of the image of her previous group which flashed through her memory. She looked up with her eyes, keeping her head low as she replied with the honest truth, "They're dead" she began, "We got trapped inside a house and... the few that survived, they sacrificed themselves to save me..." she replied as she cast her eyes down again, exhaling a large breath quietly. The effect it had still weighed on her allot, "That was a week ago, I think..." she finished.

The girl told him what happened to her last group and he couldn't help but feel for her, but everyone he loved died before this mess. Travis realized he was humanizeing her he needed to dehumanize her. "I didn't ask for a life story Girl Scout." He said a sneer showing on his face. "If your alone you can come with me. I can be of use to you and you to me. But I have one condition if you do travel with me, and that is no names if you address me you call me Cowboy, okay?" He said

She thought about his offer for a moment, debating running off and heading back to her safe spot. But then if this was a chance to get out of the city for good, she had to take it. And although he might not be the nicest man she'd ever met, company was never a bad thing. She vaguely recalled Dianna explaining that people were never meant to be alone. She nodded, "Ok" she replied before she scooped up her screwdriver from the floor, grabbing her schoolbag before slinging it onto her back again. She looked down both sides of the alley before looking straight up at the sky, since their conversation had started the sun had withdrawn a bit more, causing the sky to turn a darker shade of blue, "We should head some place safe, you don't want to be caught outside when it get's dark" she said before walking to the side of the alley she'd been running towards before being stopped. She crept out to spy around the corner before standing up straight, seeing it was clear save for a few walkers which were far enough away for them to walk on by. That could change at any moment however, especially if one of the cities herds was moving their way. "I know a good place, it's not too far" she said softly as she began to walk.

The young girl seemed to utter more words than Mark could care to hear, but she seemed afraid and lost, uneven. Mark let out a brief sigh as his conscience kicked in and made him suppress his complaints, it was either he took this girl to a safer place or leave her here for dead. His wife wouldn't have wanted that. He turned his head leftwards as the two walked, he then let out one last sigh, and readied his wrench.
"Rachel would do for now. Rachel sounds good, I can work with that. Keep it down, I don't want us outnumbered by walkers and eaten. We will speak more when it is safe, move."
Dying while being thirsty, not an option, Mark thought. -Heh-. The two had almost reached the gas station, Mark pulled out his wrench and gestured Rachel to ready herself.
"Put that gun away kid, stick to the blade. We are near the city, god knows what a gunshot would attract."

They arrived at the gas station, it was abandoned. There was an old pickup truck that was halfway through the small grocery shop. Flat tires, some grass grew around them, this wasn't recent. There was a body laying on a chair just by the sign that said 'Monty's Corner, gas and chips'. Mark couldn't tell the facial features of the body, its head was blown open, somebody did this. The scene at the gas station was horrid, the place was probably looted, to the very last straw perhaps. Nevertheless it had to be searched, when you are thirsty you are desperate. Mark walked closer to Rachel and looked at her face for a moment. God.
"Rachel, I will go inside and check whatever is left, you stay here and keep my bac-- just stay here and watch out. You can look around Monty over there, check his pockets," Mark pointed at the body sitting in the chair, assumed it was Monty, "Be careful."

Watch my back. He almost said it, he almost relied on a stranger, he almost trusted a nobody. But it was just a kid. He was conflicted again. He took one last look at Rachel then slowly moved towards the pickup. Mark stayed careful as he moved closer to the pickup's door, the glass was broken, there was a dead body in the driver's seat. Brains all over the windshield, a neck hang in the air, the head was completely blown off. Shotgun. There were evidence of heavy firepower, the other door had its window completely broken, some gunshot holes in the leather that covered the door's interior. Mark looked around, there was nothing salvageable, only an old cassette tape that said "Moonlight Mixtape".
Mark walked into the store, it was Chaotic, and looted to the last bag of Doritos. There was absolutely nothing edible, or usable, or smokable. Mark let out an angry fit.
"GOD DAMN IT". His lungs felt heavy, his little cry didn't grab any undead attention, he wiped his lips and moves over to the broken fridge. Looted. Beer, looted. Water, looted. There was a carton of expired skimmed fat milk, Mark grabbed it and shoved it in his Jacket's pocket. He kept looking around for any expired trash.

Travis let the girl lead the way, she reminded him so much of his older sister. She acts two times her age and is braver than most guys "Maybe it's a girl thing." He thought as he fell in behind the little girl they stopped at the end of the alleyway and he saw what she saw, a couple of stragglers he could take them out but that might draw attention so it would be best to go around. "All right Girl Scout, Ladies first. I will be right behind you and I won't let anything sneak up on you." He said quietly enough for her to hear, his rifle pointed down range just in case the stragglers saw them, which he prayed was not the case.

Leah didn't respond but merely acknowledged what he'd said with a nod after he spoke, looking up and down the street to make sure it was clear before she quickly moved to the other side of the road and onto one of the many front gardens that lined the street. She continued onward, moving around the side of the house cautiously, peeking around corners before walking out and exposing herself. It was fairly clear how Leah had managed to stay alive by herself, even if it had only been the seventh day on her own. Because the truth was that she was cautious, small and seemed to stick to areas where she wouldn't be too exposed while at the same time had a many different amount of paths. "This way" she said quietly as she moved into the back garden and towards the back fence where a hole about her size was situated. She turned around, looking for something before she pointed at a tree in the corner of the garden, "If you use that to climb over, I could wait for you on the other side?" she asked. Travis could attempt to climb the fence, but from looking at it he'd find it didn't look all that stable.

"Oh fuck, oh shit, oh shit." he panted, running as the sun began to dip below the horizon, dyeing the sky a flaming orange, then a blood-red, and finally a deep bruise-like purple, until all that was left of the sky was a chalky mauve. Soon enough a stygian darkness, along with the groans of the hungry dead, would flood the sky, Michael needed to find himself some shelter soon. He couldn't help but become aware of the eerie feeling that began to engulf him, he realised there was a total lack of lighting everywhere in the city. If he didn't find a place to stay until morning, he would be stumbling about the city in pitch black, practically blind whilst walkers hunted him down.

Having decided not to take the risk he thought about camping on one of the surrounding rooftops, hopefully safe from harm. Spotting the silhouette of what appeared to be the tallest building in the skyline, he headed immediately towards it. Michael could still see, from what little light was left, that the door was inaccessible and he had to find another way. Turning into the alleyway he spied a fire escape which lead straight up to the roof, unfortunately the ladder was pulled up to the first platform. Michael was beginning to panic, daylight was fading fast, he half expected to feel a walker's teeth bury itself into his leg or shoulder.
Ignoring the quiet growling behind him, he took out his hatchet and jumped upwards, attempting to hook it on the lowest rung of the ladder and pull it down. He missed the first time and tried again, this time he managed to catch it and hauled it down with an almighty crash. Unbeknownst to Michael, while he was cursing his own stupidity, a lurker, stirred by the crash of the fire escape ladder, was sneaking up behind him. Michael, still not aware of what was going on behind his back, was already up the fire escape to the first floor. Reaching the platform, he turned round to pull back up the ladder only for his hand to meet the cold and clammy claw of the walker on the last rung. Unable to see it due to the setting sun, Michael became panic-stricken and reached for his hatchet, the walker growled loudly as it tried to pull itself up with its decaying muscles. Hacking wildly in front of him, Michael only managed to hit the lurker on his fourth swing, carving its face in two. The walker fell from the platform onto the concrete with a heavy thud, luckily Michael pulled his hatchet free before so. "Lucky, way too lucky." he whispered to himself, still panting. He took some time to catch his breath before making the rest of the way up to the roof.

With all the excessive noise and crashing coming from the side of the building, Florence grew quite alarmed, grabbing onto her rifle and approaching the top of the ladder, only to see a survivor struggling to make his way to the top. She was unsure whether to be relieved or feel in danger. She had met a fair share of kind people during her travels, as well as some vile human beings who cared only for their survival and didn't mind putting a bullet in you, to get whatever you had. Florence had to be cautious. She wouldn't shoot him down but she definitely wasn't going to let him get too close without an explanation. She had never had anyone up on the rooftop with her. Her supplies and bedding were sprawled out, making it easy for the survivor to take something if he really wanted to.

Once the survivor made it to the top of the ladder and hoisted himself onto the concrete of the building, Florence had the barrel of her gun inches from his nose. She really hated to be hostile like this but, at such a time as this, there was no such thing as being too careful. She really hoped that he was an honest man and meant her no harm - she was in desperate need for human interaction. The man appeared distraught, his face flushed from colour. Florence wondered what she looked like to him before she spoke. "Who are you? What is your business here?"

"Woah, woah, woah! Easy there, just... just put down the gun." he pleaded with his arms in the air, his voice practically a whisper. He would have stood back if not for fact he was already on the edge of the roof. "Just take it easy. I'm not here to hurt you, I didn't even know you were here." slowly, he lowered his hands "In case you haven't noticed, it's pitch black out there and we're in a walker-infested city. Now, I know you're probably not the trusting type, but please, just let me stay here for the night and I'll leave first light. I promise." he smiled, hoping this would let the woman know he was friendly. He wasn't exactly fond of the idea of sharing a living place with others himself, considering the last time he was in this situation he woke up with a psychotic killer hanging over his head, but he was less fond of spending the night looking for shelter in vain, only to end up dead, or worse. "Look, if it makes it any better, I can give you a little food if that's what it takes, I haven't got much but here." he said as he slowly reached for his bag, clearly showing the woman that he wasn't reaching for a weapon. "I hope you're a fan of sweetcorn." he smirked.

Florence followed the man with her gun until he explained himself. He appeared quite jittery and nervous - but also very kind. Florence was relieved by this and eventually lowered her gun once he asked to stay the night and offered to share his food with her. He seemed trustworthy enough, she would have to put some faith in him. It was either that or force him back down the fire escape, which she wasn't fond of. She wanted to help this man. It had been far too long since she had another human to converse with, share her thoughts and emotions with. She doubted this simple survivor could give her that kind of companionship, but at least he was someone to talk to. She just hoped he wasn't two timing her, and would rob her in her sleep. He appeared overly friendly but precautions had to be made. Nonetheless, she would trust him for the time being.

"Keep your food," she told him as she slung her rifle over her shoulder. "I don't have much but I have enough to last a few more days. I want you to keep your food," she gave the man a reassuring smile. As she pulled out a can of beef, which would be her dinner, she looked over at the man who was getting into his sweet corn. "I saw a group of survivors earlier. Are you with them?" she asked. "I'm Florence, by the way. Florence Matthews," she introduced herself, extending her free hand.

Travis followed the girl until they hit a fence literally, this house was a small little house with paint already chipping and the fence literally looked like it would break if he put any weight on it. "All right Girl Scout, See yah on the other side." He said and left the girl alone so he could climb the tree, it was a difficult climb seeing as he was a pretty muscular guy and his weight caused branches to begin to snap. But when he finally found a branch that let him shift comfortably he lined up his jump and took it, he did a roll at the end of his jump so he wouldn't hurt anything and took a shooters stance. Content that it was clear he pulled his bag off his back and went through it, he pulled out a bag of bread that had maybe 6 pieces left and inspected it to make sure he didn't crush anything, then stacks of money followed a couple of the bills had ink stains on the bottom but were just fine,and finally the last thing to come out was peanut butter. "Alright." He said putting the stuff back "I didn't crush anything, Let's get moving Girl Scout." He said and started walking back to meet the girl half way.

Leah watched as the man began his climb before making her way through the hole in the fence, finding it fairly easy to pass through thanks to her size. When she reached the other side however, she found herself standing behind a crouched walker which seemed to be digging through the midsection of a dead dog. She froze up for a moment, having not expected one to be there as she'd passed through here earlier to find it was empty. Silently she crept forwards, pulling out her screwdriver as she approached before raising it above her head ready to strike, focusing all her attention on keeping as quiet as possible while she moved. Unfortunately she hadn't noticed the stick, having gotten halfway before her foot pressed down it, causing it to snap in half which caused the walker to stop for a moment. Leah stopped dead as her heart raced, simply waiting a moment before the walker continued to feed on the canines corpse, allowing Leah to continue moving forwards before she plunged the screwdriver into the back of it's head. The walker let out a fading growl as it slumped forwards over the dead dog's body leaving Leah who exhaled deeply, apparently she'd been holding her breath without realizing. When the man had finally jumped over she'd remained quiet as he checked his bag, taking a quick look around before looking up at him again as he confirmed his things were ok. She nodded and began to move forwards again.

Ten minutes latter they found themselves outside of a house, standing in the back garden. The windows and doors were heavily fortified with planks of wood and although scratch marks could be seen from where walkers had attempted to claw their way in, it seemed the place held up pretty well. "This is it" she said before quickly jogging to a large create on the porch which thanks to the drag marks next to it, had clearly and recently been moved. Leah moved behind the create before she began to push it, using her full body to move it as she pushed it all the way to the front door, struggling only a little. She then climbed on top of it, pulling out her screwdriver again which she jammed under one of the wooden planks which laid over the top part of the door, where the stained glass of the door had once been. She placed the wooden plank on the create by her feet before she put her screwdriver away, jumping up and squeezing herself through the gap in the top of the door. A few minutes latter the door would swing open and Leah would walk out, once again pushing the create back to where it had been before. "Come on in cowboy, before it get's dark" she said jokingly as she entered the building.

Inside was what you would expect from just about any abandoned house: mess, dirt, rubbish and the occasional blood stain. There were a few things that were evidence of Leah too, such as food wrappers and a small den in the corner made from many different blankets which she'd obviously been sleeping on. It was a sad sight really, the room was dark and dirty and although it seemed it had been keeping Leah safe, it was hard to imagine spending time here alone. There were some maps of the city by the blankets as well as a single can of food which she'd brought back from her last scavenge. "It looks worse than it is..." Leah lied before she made her way over to where her blankets laid, taking off her bag before setting it down. She pulled out the food she'd scavenged from today, putting it with the other can before tossing it into the corner. She then took out her gun, which the man would now be seeing for the first time, placing it down next to her screwdriver.

Travis admired the girls handiwork on the dead walker, she was dangerous that one. After following her inside and taking in the house he looked at her and thought "Out of all of the places in the city why would she stay here?" When she set her gun down alarms went off inside Travis' head. "Why didn't you shoot me back there?" He asked setting his AR-15 down next to her pistol and pulling his own pistol out of his inner coat pocket and cocking back the slide and setting it down. He doubted the girl would understand what he meant by unloading the gun and setting it down but if she did then she would understand he's being peaceful. The last thing Travis set down was his backpack. He leaned against the wall and took a look at the girl again, she was dirtier than those orphans the TV commercials show you to sponsor a child in Africa, he was gonna have to find her some new threads, maybe take her to the mall off of the city center. He chuckled aloud at these thoughts like it was a funny joke, because it kinda was taking the girl to the mall like it was a normal day in suburbia.

Graham walked in silence with Jason for a while. He had very little to say, it wasn't as if he could make small talk over the weather or what either of them had for dinner last night anymore, most of the time it didn't matter what weather it was and the answer to what someone had for dinner the previous night was often "Very little". He eventually opened his mouth after seeing the two that had entered before them climbing over and under a fence into a house. He moved his arm to stop jason before crouching and holding his rifle closer to his chest.
"That might be their hideout, could be swarming with bandits." He looked around the area, it seemed rather unfortified if it was a hideout.
"But saying that, you'd expect to see a lookout or somethin' if it was, could be they're just scavenging the building." He thought for a moment before continuing.
"The way I see it we have three options; Kill them, negotiate with them or pass by them, your call"

She watched as he settled himself down, placing his own guns next to hers before leaning back against the wall. Her brow furrowed slightly as he asked her why she hadn't shot him and really, she could only answer with the truth. "I hadn't noticed you while I was running and you were already aiming at me when I turned around... I thought that if I drew my gun, you would probably shoot me before I had time to aim it... especially since I'm not a very good shot" she replied. She noticed he didn't have anything comfortable to sit or lay on and took a few of her own blankets as well as a couch cushion before passing them over. "Here, you'll want these" she said before she moved about her own blankets and cushions till it reformed her previous den, minus the things she'd given to him. "Why didn't you shoot me?" she asked eventually, "You could have just taken my stuff and carried on going" she said as she looked up at him from her seated position. He was a large man, well, larger than the usual adults she'd known and seen; he looked mean though there was something else there, something that was softer beyond the wall of mean he seemed to present.

He stared at the extended hand in front of him, considering whether or not it was worth it to tell the woman his name. Deciding to trust her he shook her hand, unlike the walker's hand he accidentally touched moments earlier, it was somewhat warm and wasn't trying to claw at his face. "Well, Florence." he chuckled "My name's Michael. Michael Andrews." Florence seemed friendly. She even let him keep his food, which surprised him, but then again, so did the psycho who tried to chop him up with a hatchet in his sleep. He wished he could hold his hatchet in his hands, as he would feel safer with it but he didn't want to seem aggressive. "And no, I wasn't with any group, yours is the first living face I've seen in about..." Michael calculated the days in his head. "A month and a half...maybe." He said, unsure if he got the dates right. "Why, are they close by? Do you know how many of them there are?" A spark lit up in Michael's eyes, hopeful for the first time in awhile. A group nowadays meant safety and safety meant living. "I really hope they have food with them, or at least something different than old cans and tins. Sweet corn and cold soup isn't as great as you'd think." he let out a half-hearted laugh before going into his bag again. He removed the half-empty bottle of water from it and took a mouthful. "Here, if you need it." he said, handing over the bottle.

Travis listened to Girl Scout tell her story she even offered him a few comforts which he took, then she returned his question and Travis wanted to lie to her and say he needed an accomplice, instead he told her the truth "Because you remind me of my older sister, she died about your age, but the reason you remind me so much of her is because like you she was unusually resilient and brave. You even look like her a little." He said a weak smile on his face he seemed to be in so much pain just at the thought of his sister. But he changed the subject before he would reveal more "How bout i teach you how to shoot tomorrow, we can also get you some new clothes while we are at it." He said but one could tell his thoughts were still on his sister.

Like so many others, it seemed he too knew the pain of loss. She held a sympathetic expression as he told the truth of why he hadn't shot her, although there was a question which lingered deep within her of whether he'd have shot her if she hadn't been fortunate to remind him of his sister. She threw the thought away for now, deciding it wasn't important. After all she was still here, breathing and continuing to survive and the reality was he hadn't shot her, which was all she needed to extend her faith in that he wasn't a horrible person. When he mentioned teaching her how to shoot and getting some knew clothes she suspected he was changing the subject, especially given the expression he wore. But Leah knew what loss felt like and so she didn't try to continue it other than offering a small smile, "I'd like that" she replied. She'd tried to find herself some clothes over the last week but it hadn't been easy, and the clothes she had found where either blood stained worse than her own or were far too big for her. Leah took one of the cans of beans and a can opener which she'd found in this house some days ago. She placed it on the floor and opened it up before looking to the man, "Are you hungry?" she asked, "I have plenty, and we should probably eat something to keep our strength up if we're gonna be heading out tomorrow" she said, wondering if there were bowls in the kitchens cupboards. Since she hadn't had company here she'd had no reason to check for bowls or plates.