Heather - Road - Imogen

Heather looked to her side as Imogen appeared. She gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. "How do we keep getting into these situations Imogen?" she asked. "Us women kicking ass while the guys are off God knows where?"

The men reached them and the fight started. Heather was too concerned about staying to notice that they had company. Before any serious damage could be done the guys showed up.
"Thanks for coming," Heather said but her voice sounded muffled and slurred to her. What was wrong with her? She shook her head and nearly fell over. Her head felt light and heavy at the same time.
By the time DeSean was screaming for everyone to leave Heather was swaying where she stood. She prayed someone else was going to drive because she sure as hell couldn't. But of course that was not in the cards. So she manned up like the bitch that DeSean had called her and got into the drivers seat. It took several moments for her head to stop spinning enough to get the keys in the ignition and get going. She followed the others as best as she could, weaving and falling behind several times.

Now that she had time to think she knew what was going on : light-headedness, dizziness, the chills.. she had a fever. Damn it! They didn't have time for this!
She wasn't an idiot. She knew if she didn't get some treatment soon that it would just get worse. As a fever went up so did the probablility of hallucinations, black-outs, memory loss and eventually death. Her brain would fry like an egg.

But she drove on. There was no one else to do it, so she had to. She had to hold out and hold on.

-
When they finally stopped and everyone started getting out of the car and talking about their next move, Heather stumbled towards them, the rain pelting her. The jacket had come loose from the knot she had tied and was open, leaving little to the imagination. Bruises, bites and scratches were visible on her skin from the attack.

"Guys?" she said, her voice sounding like it was coming from a long tunnel. "I think we have a prob..." she didn't get to finish as her eyes rolled back in her head and she went down.
Anyone who felt her head would feel the blazing heat of the fever that was getting worse by the moment.

Scouts - The Pub - Alex

Cody hesitated. He licked his lips slightly and glanced between the three other scouts. "Roadkill... Yes, well--"

"Your 'roadkill' turned soon after you left," said a man as he entered the kitchen. He was a tall man with salt and pepper hair who looked to be in his forties. His voice carried a vague European accent that could have possibly been German or French. Hazel followed after him, looking dejected. "According to your doctor, he probably suffered internal bleeding." Cody silently nodded. The stranger than stepped up to the table and smiled rather charmingly, despite his grim entrance. "I am Michael. That's A-E-L."

Hazel gingerly stayed behind the man, rubbing at her arms. "I'm tired of cleaning them up... that man was alive when you brought him..."

Michael abandoned his greeting to turn to the girl. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke calmly into her ear. "It's okay," he muttered. "I dealt with him for you." Hazel noticeably relaxed upon hearing his words. For whatever reason, Cody looked embarrassed.

"You should go rest," Hazel said, smiling. "You were so bad yesterday..."

Michael softly shook his head. "No, I feel much better today. Besides..." He turned back toward the scouts. "I would like to go with you all back to your community. As a man who's been on my own for quite some time, you would be doing me a great service. I am a capable fighter, as your friends Cody and Hazel can agree. Despite the color of my hair, I assure you I am as healthy and fit as can be." He smiled warmly. "I regret leaving poor Hazel on her own, but the girl has assured me she is very capable on her own."

Chris leaned forward slightly, his forehead creasing. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked.

The man lifted his hands and shrugged. "I do not know. I've been in the city for some time now, so it is entirely possible. Either way, I'm sure I would have remembered you, anyway. You give off an imposing presence, I must admit." Chris wasn't pleased with that answer. It felt like Michael was trying to deflect his question with a compliment.

Cody finally spoke up, apparently focusing back on what was going on. "You guys said there was a probation period when that Reggie guy was around, so I don't know if we're still doing that..." He looked toward Michael. "But, uh, Hazel vouches for this guy. He helped us with the walker, too."

Michael raised his hands. "So, what do you three say?"

Katie - motel - Tyler, others

Katie walked slowly with her daddy. The streets were really quiet. She hated quiet. It meant something bad would probably happen.
They had a small group now. Katie wasn't sure how she felt about that. She liked being just her and her daddy. That way no one had the chance to hurt them. And she didn't get attacked to anyone who would die. Like Lauren.
When she closed her eyes sometimes, she could still see Lauren's face explode. It was what gave her nightmares and made her cry at night. But her daddy was always there to hold her and make the nightmares go away for a little while.

Katie also held her kitten close. The new boy, Liam, worried her. He was close to her age but he acted... funny. Like there was something wrong with him. It made her nervous. Could she trust him to not hurt her or her kitten? Could she trust him not to get sick and die?

They went through the motel, killing sick people as they went. Katie was sad for them. They had been people once, just like her mommy and big brother before they had gotten sick and become monsters.

But then they met someone who was not sick, but still acted strange. And he seemed to know her daddy but called him by the wrong name. Katie looked up at her daddy wide-eyed. When the man said something about kids she gasped a little and backed away, hiding behind her daddy's legs.

---

Jessalyn - Road - Abram, Leah, Turisa

Jess watched as Abram went towards a young girl. She looked hurt. The motherly part of Jess immediately wanted to race over and comfort her but they needed to be safe. She kept an eye out for anything coming their way while Abram checked her out then led her over.

She smiled and adjusted Ben on her shoulder in order to hold out her hand to the girl. "Hi there Leah. I'm glad we came along and met you. Abram will take good care of your leg. He's a good guy."

She would have said more but the car came out of no where right then. Abram helped Leah off of the road but the car was speeding too fast plus it was weaving. Jess tried to race off the road only to have the car weave in her direction. Jess screamed and covered Ben, trying to protect him with her body.
The car swerved at the last second, avoiding Jess and Ben. The tires squealed as the person slammed on the brakes and screeched to a stop a few yards up the road.
Ben started screaming at the loud noise and bad smell of burning rubber. Jess cuddled and tried to quiet him.
"Abram!" she cried.

Rhonda - Outpost - Enrique

A pleasant enough greeting, enough to focus Rhonda's nerves and help her focus on the issue at hand. She smiled back, at least. "I just wanted to talk about Myriah... This may take a moment, so I'm not sure if you want to talk at your front door...?" She let that sit for a moment before suddenly waving the idea off. "Never mind, I just heard that you said something to upset Myriah earlier today? Now, everyone is entitled to their opinions and their right to free speech, but we can not possibly condone threats of violence, especially not after the last few months of our lives."

She placed a hand to her chest and paused. She was going to give Enrique a moment to respond, but she suddenly continued, incensed by her growing emotion. "And it isn't your place to be saying anything of the sort. You came in with that awful man and vouched for him. Whether it was your intention or not, you murdered innocent men, and you should be lucky Matt has decided to offer you a second chance. You are, frankly, a suspicious man and a bad influence on our people and our home. For your actions toward Myriah, I will have to bring my grievances to the council. You hope and pray that we are in a good mood this evening."

---

Tyler - Baton Rouge/Motel

He waited for something to end this awful moment. Tyler could die happy if he never had to face another stand-off in his life, but he knew this kind of thing was bound to happen for as long as he lived in this rotten world. His finger hovered over the trigger, taunting himself to make the slightest of movements and end Adam's life. If only he wasn't potentially aiming at his daughter, then Tyler would have taken the shot by now.

Sweat trickled into Tyler's eye and he flinched slightly, his aim moving away from Adam. This movement caused Adam to break out of his stupor and lower his rifle slightly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want to... shoot anyone..."

A loud bang echoed from the balcony above them, causing Adam to wildly aim upwards. Tyler took this opportunity to move forward and disarm Adam, but the noise from above revealed itself to be a walker, who fell over the railing and slammed into the ground in front of them. Though the rotting corpse broke its leg in the fall, it proceeded to crawl toward them with all its might.

Adam swore out loud and fired upon the creature, but more proceeded to fall from the balcony above. Tyler briefly imagined all of the walkers had piled themselves into the few remaining rooms they had yet to clear, for he had no other idea how they were suddenly falling from the sky in one massive group. He turned to fire on the crowd, focusing on any that approached Katie. He slowly worked his way back to her and stayed close to her side. He then spotted a walker land dangerously close to Liam and he turned to fire... but hesitated. Tyler stared at the walker, watching as it picked itself up and take a step closer to Liam. The boy was a liability, a kid in no position to help in the protection of his daughter. If Liam died now, it would be best for the group.

Tyler simply turned away to fire on a different walker.

Samantha - The road - Jessalyn, Abram, Leah, Turisa

Even after the rain had died down, Samantha continued to shiver as she walked through the cold woods. She had no idea where she was at, having walked for what seemed to be hours.

Samantha and her sister had been captured by a group of men near their old University and each had been taken a separate way. It hurt Samantha to even think of being away from Scarlett, but as much as she pleaded, the men simply laughed and ignored her. She didn't plead too much, being the proud person that she was. After being ridiculed the first time, she switched gears and began trying to fight the men with her hands tied behind her back. She bit, head budded and kicked as many as she could, only to be hit with a M4 buttstock and knocked out. When she had woken, she found herself in the back of a pick up truck, her still limp body jumping up with every bump that they ran in to.
Escaping from the thugs wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. The group had ran into some trouble with a horde of biters and Samantha had used it to her advantage. When the thugs got off to handle the biters, she brought her legs up so that her hands would be in front instead of on her back and she grabbed her backpack along with her handgun, sliding off of the pick-up trucks bed and running into the near by woods.

She could only wish that her sister had the same amount of luck as she had with escaping, wanting nothing more than to run into her in the woods. Sam had cried for hours; sobbing quietly as she trekked through mud and cold, swamp water. Each of her wrists still had the rope around them, but it had been cut through the middle so that she wouldn't be tied up anymore. Her arms wrapped around herself so that she could keep a little warmer. So that she would shake a little less. The sound of tires skidding to a stop was what snapped her out of her daze. Sam's head snapped up as she realized that just twenty feet in front of her was a road. Her heart sunk as she realized that the road could only mean more danger and immediately she turned to run back into the cover of the trees. At least she was going to until she heard a voice cry not too far away, along with the cry of an infant. "A baby?" Her heart broke as she remembered the last time she saw her baby brother before the outbreak. She couldn't leave someone with a baby out to die or suffer a much worse fate. Instead of running to the safety of the trees, Samantha sprinted towards the sound of the infant crying, her pistol already in her hand but the safety still on.

"Are...... Are you alright?" Samantha slightly stuttered as she slowed to a stop as the young girl with the baby came in view, a truck not too far off from them. "I'm not here to hurt you." She pointed the pistol down to the ground as she neared the girl and then stopped completely, leaving about ten feet in between them.

---

Scarlett- Baton Rouge

The sight of buildings made Scarlett both sigh of relief and tense up at the same time. She knew it meant shelter, yet she knew that there would be danger in every corner she turned at. Not only with biters, but with thugs like the ones she had escaped from hours ago. Lady luck seemed to not want to be on her side, not giving her any opportunities to get away without causing a scene. Instead, she had to lure a man away, pretending that she needed to go to the restroom. She waited until they were far enough to knock him unconscious and make her run for it.

Being away from her sister was weird. Not too much in a bad way. Scarlett had always been more of the independent type. She never really needed anyone to look out for her, nor had she ever looked out for anyone else but herself. Having Sam with her had may perks, but being alone, she didn't have any extra responsibilities nor worries. Just to feed herself and to watch her back. Of course, it didn't mean that her sister's well being still didn't linger in the back of her mind, nagging at her to go find Samantha.

Taking a deep breath, Scarlett slid out her blade and began walking quietly into the town, crouching near the walls when any noise would be made. She had yet to run into any biters in the town unlike in the woods which made her slightly worried. She muttered quietly to herself about getting supplies as she began to look through windows, trying to find any type of shop. The sound of gun fire made her jump and she sprinted towards a nearby wall, her eyes wide and alert. She didn't think she had it in her to go up against another group of thugs. 'But what if they're good people? What if they can help you? You and Sam have been traveling alone for months' her conscious nagged at her as she took in deep breaths. Even if she wanted to go see if people needed any help, her legs were frozen. After the horrid encounter, she couldn't muster any energy to move herself. She'd rather face a herd of biters than have to face the risk of being abducted again.

Liam-Baton Rogue- Tyler,Katie,George,Jacob

Liam was fidgeting at the end of the group. He wasn't look at the couple or few walkers that came out. They quickly were dealt with by the group. So he needn't pay mind to those. His head went to his side as another person came out. He seemed...out of it perhaps? Liam couldn't place his finger on it. He still stayed at the back, not focusing on the outer world. When suddenly more walkers came, and as Liam turned his head it seemed that a walker was right next to him. Liam only make a small yelp before he kicked underneath the Corpse's knees' Causing it to stumble and fall...on Liam. Liam was trying as hard as he could to get the walker off him. But the thing was bigger then him.

Thankfully he remembered he had a knife, and with a quick scramble he dug the knife into the walker's throat. He tried to crawl away, but the monster decided he still wanted to try and eat him. "Ah!" Liam screamed as he kicked rapidly at the thing. "SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!" Liam shouted as he kept kicking. Eventually the undead let go, to which. Seeing as this was probably the only chance. Liam jumped onto the thing and started stabbing wildly at the thing's face. After a few succesfuly stabs (And a lot more after that) The monster stopped moving. Liam rolled over and sighed..."Thanks....guys...ow..."

Alex Clark - The Pub - Scouts

His crooked smile faded as he heard from a newcomer with an easily distuishable German accent that the man they had hit had turned. So after all, they had killed him. He imagined the man, panicked by the sudden storm and the herd of crawlers, running away as hard as he could, only to be hit by the only driving car in miles. They were responsible for that man's death, and he had a dark desire to see the remains so he could see what they had done. To feed the guilt that was nibbling on his sanity. He cleared his mind as the situation demanded his presence, for which he was grateful as ever. Always distracting himself with things to be done, that was his most important survival strategy. Considering how Hazel seemed to like the guy, and how he had been able to deal with the crawler as he resurrected, he seemed like a good guy. It almost felt as if taking him on would be like replacing Rudy, but he dismissed the thought from his mind. Rudy made his choice, and Michael was making his.

"I say we take him with us. It's not like we're overcrowded anymore and with everything that's been going on, we could use some decent new people." He said to the others loud enough so everyone could hear.

Leah - The road - Jessalyn, Abram, Samantha, Turisa

Leah nodded and followed with Abram as he lead her towards his friend, thankful that he was helping to support her leg as they moved. When she met the women with her baby Leah gave a smile which widened slightly as she spoke, she seemed nice and a little comforting at the same time, as if it were a natural part of her being, although she guessed mothers tended to have that kind of effect. "Nice to meet you, and, thank you for helping me" she said to both of them, her tone trailing down in tone as she seemed apologetic that they'd use their time for her. Abram then helped her to the side of the road, taking a look at her leg as he took off the bandage she'd done herself a while back. She had to admit she was surprised he hadn't asked her if it was a bite, but then she had to guess his medical expertise would tell him enough from looking at it. She grimaced as he said she'd messed it up pretty bad and let out a small pained sound as he treated it before redressing her leg. It stung but it looked allot better than the blood stained bandage she'd had on a second ago.

Leah thought about how it happened after he'd asked her, and opened her mouth to explain to him about it before he yelled to get off the road. She jumped and before she knew it she was on the bank being covered by Abram. Leah noticed Jess hadn't made it and saw that the car wasn't stopping, "No! stop!" she yelled and had attempted to move from Abram before the car swerved and narrowly missed the women with her son. Leah quickly got to her feet and limped forwards to make sure they were alright, her heart racing from worry which calmed as she saw they were alright. But then she noticed another women had arrived and she had a gun which caused Leah to draw her own. She didn't say anything, unsure what to do and so she looked to Abram for what they should do now.

Scouts - Outpost - Alex

Chris couldn't shake the nagging feeling he knew this guy, but he could offer no substantial reason why he couldn't come with them. He looked toward Jamie, who was staring down at the table. "I, uh..." Chris began. He looked up at Michael and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But we really should get going right away."

Michael smiled and nodded. "Of course. Thank you." He graciously shook Cody's hand, who nervously smiled back. Jamie suddenly stood up and left the kitchen, prompting everyone to awkwardly stand in turn. Chris shared a look with Cody before moving around the table and approaching Hazel. He thanked her for everything she'd done and followed Jamie outside. Cody left next, placing a hand on Hazel's shoulder and directing Michael to head outside. When they were all piled into the car, Hazel waved to them at the front door, happy the rain had finally stopped.

***

The gates of Outpost opened slowly, allowing Cody to drive the car inside. He parked the car next to the other vehicle by the scout's cabins and was met by a small crowd of scouts who had been worried about the group. There was a buzz in the air that turned suddenly dour when Michael exited the vehicle. Some of the scouts stared at him as if they knew him and whispered to each other about his identity. It was then that Chris moved forward and pushed Michael so that he was facing him. "Right, I know you now," he said, practically growling. "You left during the mutiny!"

Michael's hands bunched into fists, his warm demeanour entirely gone. "I did. And?"

Chris looked around briefly. "Well-- You... It was suspicious. And--"

Lucas stepped forward from the group and spoke up. "Chris, to be fair, the council said they didn't know if Michael was to blame." Chris stared at him, unsure what to say to that.

"Then there is no reason for all this," Michael interjected, relaxing slightly. "I left Outpost and decided I wanted to come back. I expected the worst of you to expect this of me, so I was unsure if I should let on..." He looked around at the group and smiled. "But see, such a warm welcome. I thank you all for escorting me here, truly, but I must see the council about my arrival. Surely, I should look into some manner of security for myself."

Michael turned around and left, the group parting to let him go. Jamie, who couldn't have cared less about any of this, nudged Alex. "You should, uh... see Myriah." He still looked upset, for whatever reason. "And if anyone asks, I'm sorry about today."

---

Tyler - Baton Rouge - Jacob/Liam/Katie/Scarlett

The kid had managed to save himself, though Tyler was too caught up in the onslaught to pay much attention to the event. In fact, all of the adults were busy weaving back and forth around the undead in an attempt to keep distance between them and the monsters. When the group began to thin out and no more fell from the balcony, Adam stepped forward and kicked a walker into the pool. He laughed at this before turning to the others. "Fuck this place! I'm taking you guys back to my group, all right? You gotta protect those kids. Oh, and that cat!"

Quickly, Adam began to run around the pool and toward the fence at the back of the motel. Tyler made no move to follow, but George began to ran forward. He stopped to turn around and face Tyler. "You said we needed more supplies! We should follow him!" Then he was off running before Tyler could make a rebuttal.

Letting out an annoyed grunt, Tyler took Katie's hand. "Looks like we're hopping a fence," he said. He ran with Katie to the aluminium fencing and waved down George who had already hopped to the other side. "Grab her!" Tyler ordered, grabbing Katie-- kitten and all-- and lifting her over the fence. George scooped her into his arms from the other side and Tyler jumped over after her. He made no attempt to stop for Liam, but Jacob was nice enough to help the boy over. Then, they ran across the street toward where Adam had stopped to wait for them. He gave the group a thumbs up before turning the corner down the connecting road.

Then, "Oh, shit!" Adam cried. He aimed his rifle at a girl standing up against the wall, his eyes squinting and his hands shaking.

Tyler moved around Adam and held out his hand to the boy. "Woah, woah," he said, exchanging a look between them. "Cool it, she's defenceless." As the others began to move around the corner to see what was happening, Adam reluctantly lowered his weapon. Tyler let out a sigh and looked at the girl. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Alex Clark - Outpost

It was yet another awkward homecoming. Apparently Michael had been here before during the infamous mutinty that had occured not long before he himself had joined the Outpost. Nobody seemed to notice that Rudy was missing thanks to the scene around Michael, and he was grateful for that. He didn't feel the need to explain why he was gone in front of so many people. Instead, as soon as they got out of the car, he followed up on Jamie's advice and found Myriah. He made his way to her cabin and gave a soft knock to the door. He was planning to tell her first, and then give the council an official report of their scavenging mission. Since Rudy had been a quasi-leader of the Scouts together with Enrique, and the fact that Alex didn't really trust Enrique despite the soldier-like attitude and training the man could bring, he'd rather report it to them in person.

Enrique-Outpost-Rhonda

Enrique stood tall and listened to her, he had hoped his appology and explanation to Myriah would have been enough but evidently not. He tried to keep his calm and then she brought up Haywood, he felt his blood boil. He stepped out the door closing it behind him.

"This is the second time I've heard shit about that two times today Rhonda, and given what you think transpired between Myriah and I does it seem to be a good idea to bring it up again? And how fucking dare you pull this shit too. I have busted my ass for Outpost, I've spent every day since that incident training those scouts so that if they have the misfortune of fighting man like that they would come out on top. I have worked my ass off for this community, and for Amanda." Enrique voice rose a bit, and he called himself hearing Amanda stir.

"Look, you wanna take this to the council you go ahead, and I'll explain myself, I'll also explain how Myriah threatened Amanda's life and my own, and they might believe her over me but I gurantee I will have scouts on my side, and when I'm exiled or killed they won't stand idly by... So when shit hits the fan Rhonda know that you and Myriah are gonna be part of the reason that outpost burns."

Enrique stood in his doorway, his posture war like and his eyes like those of a beaten dog, he knew she would tell. He didn't fear, his little speech had given him more confidence than he should have even considered. He was being a dangerous fool.

Scarlett - Baton Rouge - Tyler/Jacob/Liam/Katie

Scarlett stayed frozen in her spot, listening as the gun shots continued. There were many more than one and by the sound of them, there were plenty of biters too.

As the gun shots died down, she slowly sheathed her blade and began to take deep breaths. "It's okay. They're probably gone now. It's okay." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, crossing her arms afterwards. She turned both left and right before beginning to make her way slowly towards the corner, her back still on the wall. Her mind was racing with the different types of possibilities and outcomes. Surely if there were any biters around the streets, they would have heard the shooting and would start to make their way towards the sound. She needed to get out of there. That or get into one of the nearby buildings and hide out for a few days.

Suddenly, the sound of a clicking fence made her stop in her tracks, eyes wide with fear. It was obvious that it wasn't biters due to the sound of footsteps hitting the pavement after they jumped over the fence. Part of her mind prayed that whoever it was go the other way around, the other part of her mind was shouting at her to run the opposite way. Before Scarlett could make up her mind and make her legs move, they were there. She stepped back a few feet as the man shouted a profanity and pointed his weapon at her. "No, please!" Her voice came out as a whisper as she put her hands up, pleading for the man not to shoot. Tears filled her eyes, not because of the chance that the men would take her like the raiders before, but because she was tired of running and didn't think she had it in her to fight off the living. As more came around the corner, she kept losing faith in her chances of escaping, until one of the men came between her and the pistol. "Woah, woah... Cool it, she's defenseless. Are you okay?" Scarlett stared at the men for a second and nodded slowly. She didn't know if the man was feigning sincerity or if it was genuine, but the sound of it in his question made her relax the slightest. "P... Please I don't mean any of you any harm I was just passing through.... Please don't kill me." She gave them a pleading and apologetic look as they stood there, her hands still up for the group to see she meant no harm.

Myriah - Outpost - Alex

She opened the door only slightly at first, making sure she got a good look at who was behind it before she allowed them inside. When she saw that it was Alex Clark, she was honestly surprised. She opened the door fully and smiled at him, though it was plain to see her usual clean appearance was rather unkempt. She invited him inside quickly, not wanting to dawdle outside her cabin. She placed him in her "library" of sorts, though really it only contained two bookcases and a chess set. "What brings you around?" she asked, moving around the room in search of something. After a few moments of this, she paused and touched at her head.

"... You were missing. You, and... did everyone make it back all right?" She sat down at the chess table and tried to relax. "Poor Allen lost his life in Sylar's group."

---

Rhonda - Outpost - Enrique

"That's ridiculous!" she immediately blurt out. Her stance shifted slightly, as if she was puffing out like a blowfish. She puffed out her chest, crossed her arms, and lifted her head slightly to appear ever-so-slightly taller. It was an automatic movement, known by others to indicate that Rhonda was extremely upset and probably going to start berating someone. "Myriah would never threaten anybody! That woman loves this community to death! No matter how much you say you've done, it will never be as much as Myriah has done for us all." She hadn't meant to come here to argue, but she found her cool flying wildly away from her. Distantly, she figured this man would have knocked her teeth out by now if she were a man. "Just to even think about threatening our home...!"

Rhonda suddenly took a step back, trying to calm herself down. She needed to de-attach from this situation before it escalated. "The council will hear everything. I'd think carefully about my actions from now on if I were you." She didn't want to leave just yet-- She wanted to stand tall and get in Enrique's face. Rhonda had never tolerated any attempt to intimidate her, especially not after her first husband. She wanted to argue until the sun set, but she knew that was a foolish idea. "... Goodbye," she muttered, suddenly turning away. Like her word, she made a beeline for the administration building.

---

Tyler - Baton Rouge - Scarlett/Liam/Katie/Jacob

His interest perked slightly. Did this girl perhaps have a place to be...? Tyler glanced toward Adam, who still looked intoxicated. Whatever group Adam said he had, Tyler wanted to know of the alternatives. "Just passing through?" he asked, looking back toward the girl. "Do you have a group? We... well, most of us were travelling alone before we ended up together, and we need a place to stay... Supplies. If you have a group--"

Perhaps only now paying attention, Adam spoke up. "Wait, I'm taking you guys to my group. We have supplies... Lots of supplies!"

Tyler was growing annoyed at Adam's voice. He was a junkie who'd probably hallucinated this 'group'. "Adam, I'm not taking my daughter to some drug den." Tyler didn't care if Katie asked what that meant later, he wanted Adam to just go away. He stepped up to the boy and leaned into his foul bloodshot face. "You're high," he said, speaking only loud enough for Adam to hear. "I don't know where you got it from, but it doesn't give me much hope for your 'group'."

Adam stepped back from Tyler, looking more confused than scared. He glanced at Katie and mumbled something about not knowing Tyler had a daughter. Tyler moved to grab Adam and repeat what he said, but George stopped him short by loudly clearing his throat. Tyler turned to him with a glare. "Tyler," George said slowly. "You never let the girl speak." He then stepped forward to move between Tyler and Adam. "Do you have a group?" George asked the girl. "Like my friend said, we need a place to be before sundown, so we need to see what options are available to us."

Baton Rouge- Jacob,Tyler, Katie, Liam, George, Scarlett

The Group went room to room clearing things out and making sure everything was okay, they found someone who wasn't trying to eat their faces off who seemed to recognize Tyler but called him by a completely different name. Before Jacob could ask what this Adam guy meant what seemed to be a wave of walkers descended upon them and chaos ensued, gun shots rang out, empty shell casings hit the floor, Liam went down but Jacob did not help him because he didn't trust his own marksmen ship to hit the walker on top of the kid so he engaged another walker. Eventually the chaos died down and the only things left were the group and the smell of cordite.

The guy they found at that point ran off and clambered over a fence the group in hot pursuit, Jacob helped Liam over and climbed the fence himself, but he looked like a fish on dry land obviously he had never climbed a fence before and it showed when he fell off onto his side landing on his lap top bag and muttering a slew of curses. Getting up and brushing himself off he tailed the group and the chase ended when Adam took a random girl hostage, and Tyler (if that's even his real name) talked him down. Then things were calm and Adam mentioned a group but Tyler doubted him and George spoke up asking if there really was something and finally Jacob who had sat quietly this entire time said something "Statistically speaking the more of us there are, the safer we are from outside threats. But our chances of starvation and dehydration increase." He said totally oblivious to the conversation just throwing in his two cents.

Scarlett - Baton Rouge - Tyler/Liam/Katie/Jacob

Scarlett kept quiet as the men argued, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to herself. What if she told them she did have a group? Would the men force her to take them to her imaginary group? And if she told them she didn't have a group? The thought was quickly pushed away as she heard the man that had gotten in between them had a daughter. 'Maybe they aren't so bad' a small voice in the back of her head told her, trying to make Scarlett relax. "Yes.... Just passing through." She shot a glance at the man in the back say what the probability of their group getting bigger would be and for a fraction of a second, thanked god Samantha wasn't around. Even with the situation at hand, Sam would have rolled her eyes and made a snide comment, maybe calling him Captain Obvious. Scarlett knew better than to risk her life with a group of strangers.

"I.... I don't have a group. I'm sorry to disappoint. My sister and I were taken by some.... men.... I came looking for supplies and hoping that I might find her." She frowned slightly and stood up straight, her hands now by her sides. Now that they knew she was alone, would it change their opinion about her? With one hand, she reached up to her face and wiped the couple of tears that had ran down her face, the other hand staying near her blade.

Tyler - Baton Rouge - Scarlett/Liam/Katie/Jacob

Adam grinned at this and started walking forward, his stride becoming strangely jovial. He practically skipped as he stepped on to the road and turned around to face everyone. All in one motion, he shouldered his rifle and pointed down the road. "Then why don't we all meet with my group, all right?" He shot a look toward Tyler and raised his hands into a shrug. "They're not bad people. There's only five of us and one of them is an elderly woman, for god's sake." Adam looked to everyone in turn, his eyes wide. "Really, they-- They're all nice people. Nicer than me, I promise. We could ask them if they've seen your sister! Your loved ones! We have food, medicine, shelter... and-and it's dangerous to be alone at night around here. The biters, they... They..."

Adam was starting to ramble, so Tyler gestured for him to stop with an outright hand. He then looked toward his daughter and nodded. "Katie and I have been alone for quite some time now, and I know the rest of you probably have been as well. It's ultimately your decision if you go with this guy." He then smiled a bit sadly, walking up to Katie so that he could kneel and look her in the eyes. "I know you're looking out for that cat, so... if you think we should go with Adam, then we'll go." It was the least he could offer, after dragging his poor little girl for miles and miles. Tyler tried to think of some way of getting the help the kitten needed, but he couldn't think of much reliable with the sun so close to setting.

George stepped away from the group and took a place beside Adam. "Well, I know I'm going. I want to meet more people. It'd be nice to have you along, everyone." Adam nodded along with what George was saying, his mouth fixed into a toothy grin.

Alex Clark- The Outpost - Myriah

She looked surprised to see him, and he understood that. He didn't really know Myriah that well, and the fact that he visited her was simply on Rudy's request. he followed her inside, taking a brief look inside. He saw a chess game lying around, aswell as two books, and he almost felt a bit of jealousy as he looked at Myriah again. She looked a bit... he couldn't quite put a name on it, and decided to blame it on the entire situation with the dead rising again. Then she started talking, and he already felt more and more guilty, even though there was nothing he could have done. He looked around for a moent, pondering for a way to put it, but then he decided to just speak.

"Everyone is our party is okay, but not everyone did return." He said plainly. "When the storm his us Rudy was separated from the group in the middle of a crawler herd, and we were forced to flee to the Pub. We returned an hour and a bit later, and miraculously found him again in good shape. He had encountered two other survivors, of which he knew at least one from earlier." Alex continued, initially shrugging. "He decided to stick with them. He told me that I had to come tell you it was his own free decision to stay with them, and that he was okay. He explicitly asked me to do that, so..."

Scarlett - Baton Rouge - Tyler/Liam/Katie/Jacob

Scarlett watched as Adam, the man who had pointed his weapon at her, made his speech. There was something slightly off about him and it made Scarlett doubtful. Maybe Tyler, the man who was kind enough to stop Adam, had spoken the truth about the drug den. Could it really be that bad though? There was an elderly woman there. 'Maybe he found the drugs here and his group doesn't know about it.' She tried coming up with an excuse for her to go with them. The sound of shelter and maybe having word on her sister was too good to pass up, but she couldn't dismiss the possibility of it being a trap.

Scarletts eyes wandered to Tyler and his daughter, a feeling of warmth made Scarlett smile the slightest bit before a light bulb went off in her head. Behind the other men was another young boy. Surely, the so called group would cause no harm to the kids, and from what it looked like, Tyler wouldn't let anything happen to his daughter. Or at least Scarlett hoped. "I'll go...." She spoke up from the back but made no signs of moving. "I'll go if they go." She gestured towards the Tyler and his daughter. She wasn't about to make a stupid decision by going alone with an unknown group, so she banked on the idea that father knows best.

Baton Rouge, Jacob- Tyler,Katie,Liam,Scarlett,George

Jacob didn't have to think about it. "I don't know who you really are Tyler, but you haven't given me a reason to not trust you. So i guess I will stay with you." He said and scooted a little bit closer to Tyler, showing him his support, besides this was the closest he's ever had to having friends nobody wanted to hang out with the smart kid in school, and when he worked he never talked face to face with his co-workers. And Tyler didn't shoot him in the face when he first saw them which he thought of as kind of a bonus.

But Jacob couldn't stop thinking about what Adam had said to Tyler "He called him Thomas, and recognized him, What if it's a ploy by Adam to sow discord into the group and split them down the middle and make them easy pickings?" He thought but then that would put Tyler in on it which he highly doubted, but he has been wrong about people before. For as many books as Jacob read, he felt like a idiot and had trouble grasping what was going on between the two.

Myriah - Outpost - Alex/Council

She stared at him for a good long moment, examining his face. She was trying to determine if he was lying, or perhaps just being coy with her. She was sure something had happened to Rudy and it was entirely possible Alex was the man behind it. She didn't know him well enough to say either way, but perhaps his coming to meet her was all she needed to know. That he specifically mentioned Rudy meeting someone he knew and that Rudy had desired to tell Myriah that it was his own free will... Well, perhaps she had nothing to worry about after all.

She hadn't spoken for long enough to probably make the moment feel awkward, so Myriah quickly looked down at her hands and nodded. "Thank you for telling me this," she said. "It means a lot to me." She stood now, looking more relaxed as she stepped over to one of the bookcases. "He'll be all right, I believe." Despite her relief at Rudy's safety, she felt a growing worry rise up and gnaw at her. She'd panicked and gotten Rhonda up in arms over nothing, and now there would certainly be consequences for her actions. She knew panicking all over again would get her nowhere, but she felt her heart start to beat fast and faster anyway. Still staring at the bookcase, Myriah said, "I don't know if you've spoken with Enrique yet, but I've heard he's in a bad mood today. I guess with Rudy gone, someone will need to report to Enrique instead."

She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a shaky breath. "But thank you again, Alex. I need to go see to something." She proceeded to contain herself long enough to let Alex out the door before leaving the cabin herself so that she could talk to Rhonda. She tried to help it, but she practically sprinted into the administration building, frightening a few people who saw her.

She saw Randy exiting the office and waved him down. He stared at her confusedly as she approached him. "I was just coming to see you," he said, scratching at his neck. "Rhonda has asked everyone to meet in the deliberation room."

It was like a punch to the gut. She was too late. "Is she-Is she in there now? Did she say what the meeting's for?"

Randy shrugged nonchalantly. "She's in there. Don't know what it's about, but she says it's serious." He started pulling away, gesturing for her to follow. "You coming? You know how Rhonda can get."

Oh, I know, she thought. She knew all too well.

***

She and Randy entered the deliberation room to find just about everyone already there. She looked around briefly and found that Matt was missing-- It was a strange day when she considered that to be a bad thing. She quickly walked up to Rhonda and pulled her to the side. "Rhonda, what are you--"

The woman held up her hands. "Wait, wait, I know what you're going to say, but this is something we need to do. That man is a bad seed. They both are. Everyone will know the truth, all right?" She smiled at her, but Myriah felt like screaming. She wasn't ready for this. It was too soon. She'd thought Rudy missing meant that her life was in immediate danger and so she had stupidly acted too soon. Now things were going to escalate beyond her control, and Myriah didn't want to think what would happen to her and to Outpost.

"Rhonda, you're moving too soon. We need time to think this all through--"

The woman began to puff out, her agitation rising. She was too angry to listen at this point. Myriah had launched her like a rocket and now she was going to come crashing down on all of them. "I know you're scared. Just sit down, honey, and I'll handle it." Defeated, Myriah sat down in the circle of desks with the others. She found them all looking at her curiously, though Isaac strangely looked angry. It couldn't mean anything good.

Rhonda took her place and quickly got the meeting started. "Welcome, everyone. I'm afraid to say I couldn't prepare snacks for this meeting, but the matter we discuss today is gravely serious." She paused momentarily before choosing to stand. "It concerns a fellow member of our council, Matt, and a man currently within our scouts, Enrique. I have reason to believe that one of them-- likely both of them-- had a hand in the murder of our dear Samantha."

The room exploded. The floodgates had been opened, and Myriah felt like someone was suddenly gripping at her head. Everyone was thoroughly confused at this declaration when they believed the matter had been solved. Eventually, Sylar stood up and called everyone to order so that Rhonda could continue. She thanked him before continuing, her face set into a grim frown. "Immediately concerning is the fact that, today, Enrique threatened the lives of not just Myriah, but myself and the people of Outpost. Myriah came to me earlier today and said that Enrique had threatened her. After I confronted him on the matter, he grew angry and threatened me as well. He is a temperamental man who does not have our community's best interests at heart."

Randy cleared his throat. "He did come with that man, Thomas. We can't deny that. Their actions resulted in the deaths of far too many people. Those could have been my boys out there."

Isaac looked already done with all of this. "He stated that he was manipulated by that man just as we were," he said. "And he has given us no reason to doubt him. Until today, apparently."

"Not apparently," Rhonda said, her hands balling into fists. "You know us! Myriah and I have been with Outpost since the very beginning!"

"So why threaten Myriah today?" Isaac asked. "Unprovoked? Did you say anything to upset him, Myriah?" He looked at her accusingly and Myriah felt herself shrink under his gaze. She swallowed and nodded shyly, for she really had nothing to say.

"He threatened her because she was nearing the truth," Rhonda rebutted. "Enrique was a close friend of that man... and it was Matt who spoke highest of Enrique when he returned. It was Matt who approved of the plan to attack that other community and it was Matt that led us all to finding Reggie guilty of Samantha's murder."

Sarah looked a bit shell-shocked, but she managed to speak up. "Rhonda... I believe you when you say Enrique threatened you, but the only connection between him and Samantha is conjecture." She said the last word slowly, as if she was making sure she was using it right as she said it.

"But he fit Myriah's description!" Rhonda cried. "It all fits! If we just question him--"

"Frankly, this is ridiculous." Isaac stood up now and stared Rhonda down. "And it's a poor attempt at throwing guilt off of yourself, Myriah." She felt another blow to her gut. Her eyes went wide as Isaac turned to her, hate behind his gaze. He knew, she realised. Matt had gotten to him. Rhonda and the others began to cry out about this second declaration, but Isaac drowned them out by raising his voice. "I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, Myriah! I never would have believed you were capable of that, but this farce just proves it." He spoke to everyone now, his hands raised animatedly. "Myriah had a hand in the mutiny, everyone. She didn't want to be our leader any more, so she came up with the plan. It went wrong and Jonas tried to kill her, but Myriah tried to manipulate us. Matt found out, and now she's trying to silence him."

More upset outcries. Myriah couldn't do a thing but stare at Isaac, her mouth stuck agape. "Myriah's name wasn't in the journal!" yelled Randy.

"Reggie's journal only spoke of Jonas," Isaac responded. "A dead man. He wanted to keep the live ones out of it." There were cries that Isaac had no proof of this either, but he only shook his head. "Matt predicted this would happen, so he got proof." Isaac then left his desk to open the door to the hall. Everyone went quiet as he stepped aside and allowed a tall older man into the room.

Sarah suffered a sharp intake of breath. "Michael!"

Isaac went back to his desk, allowing everyone to stare at Michael. "We all believed Michael was partly to blame for the mutiny, as he had gone missing that night. Now he's here today to confess."

Silence enveloped the room again as Michael nodded. "I have been away for some time and I have deliberated during that time how to atone for what I have done. I came back to you all when... had to say something. Though the plan was to pretend a mutiny attempt had taken place, Jonas decided to take it a step too far. I was a coward who ran and allowed him to proceed with his change of plans. I am thankful to hear that Reggie had the nerve to turn on his fellow co-conspirator and stop him." The man then looked straight at Myriah, and she knew it was all over. "And I am sorry, Myriah, for not following our plan to the end."

The room broke out into shrill dialogue once again, but it was all becoming a vague indiscriminate buzz to Myriah. It was all the same. "Lock him up!" Randy cried. "If he's really confessed, lock him up!"

Michael looked defensive to this and Isaac waved Randy off. "Matt and I have promised him that he can leave after this in exchange for his confession. As he had no hand in the murder attempt, we believe this is fair. As for Myriah, we feel--"

"No!" Rhonda yelled. Others echoed her, and the buzzing began anew. It was all entirely useless, Myriah knew. Whether they believed Isaac or not, Matt would not rest until he had planted a seed of doubt in every single person of Outpost. There would be rumours and accusations... soon, Myriah's status would be nothing compared to what it used to be. Even worse, she would have to start looking over her shoulder every time she left her cabin. She lifted her hands to rub at her head and drowned everyone out. Her glasses slipped from her face just like everything else that was slipping away from her.

---

Shannon - Forest/Cabin - Emma/Rob/Finch

They stepped over fallen branches and trees, dismayed at the state of the forest. James' face grew more concerned the further they went, and Shannon was starting to think the campsite would be missing, having been blown away in the storm. It was disorienting trying to find the tents amongst the carnage, but Danny was the first to see and comment on the broken remains of the fishing line, indicating to Shannon that they were close. After stumbling around a bit more they found the remains of one of the tents stuck in a tree. They pulled it down to find a few blankets, but nothing of much significance. They found the fire pit soon after, but it was all that remained. The second tent had done like Shannon feared and flown far far away.

"Damn," Danny muttered, looking around. "What made you decide to camp out here, anyway?" No one responded to him, both Shannon and James too caught in the fact that their friends were missing. Beside her, James brought a hand to his face and sobbed.

"It's just like Valentina," he said, eyes watering. "Emma's gone too." Shannon moved to hug him, but he roughly shoved her away. "No! This isn't fair!" The boy ran to the edge of the clearing and yelled, "Emma! Rob!" When no one responded, he turned around and shook his head violently. "They're gone! You'll be next and then I'll be alone!"

Danny looked more annoyed than concerned, so Shannon gave him a vexed look, causing him to stare down at his feet. She approached James once again and hugged him despite his physical protests. "It's okay," she cooed. "I'm not leaving you. I'll never abandon you." James only cried as a response. She let him cry into her sweater, still damp from the rain anyway.

"... It'll be dark soon," Danny said from behind her. "We should head back and find a place to spend the night."

She looked behind her and into Danny's eyes. He looked embarrassed, almost uncomfortable. He'd left his home and his friends to be by her side. She still had her close connection with James, but Danny didn't fit into that. She didn't want him to start regretting his decision, for honestly she enjoyed having him around again, even though it would take some time for their friendship to go back to the way it once was. If it even ever did. She detached from James and straightened up to look beyond the line of trees. "I know," she said. "But we have to spend some time looking for Emma. She couldn't have possibly gone far in that."

Danny stepped up beside her and stared at her. "... Okay. We can do that, I guess. We might have run into her back in the city if she had went that way, so..." He let out a sigh. "Fuck, I don't know. Outpost had a few routes into the city, and most of them passed by cabins in the swampland. We could go find one."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. You hear that, James? We're going to look for Emma." The boy nodded, but didn't look confident. She didn't expect him to, after their search for Valentina ended in disaster. Danny led the way, thankfully somewhat knowing the forest due to his time at Outpost. One day she'd have to ask him about it. She was curious about the place her best friend had lived the last few months; What kind of connections did he make their? She knew he was a surly kind of guy, but certainly he had made friends. He'd always been able to make friends, even when he strangely acted so distant with everyone else.

Their walk through the forest was a silent one, with Danny stopping every so often to suddenly switch directions. James followed obediently behind them, sniffling as if he had a cold. The forest was less damaged the further they went, but also increasingly swampy. Danny swore under his breath a couple of times and moved them around bodies of water that they could not pass with what they had on. After Shannon believed they had been walking for about twenty-five minutes, Danny clapped his hands. "Okay, I definitely know where we are now! There's a cabin we used for transitioning into Outpost around here. Shit, it's the only one for miles, so if Emma is anywhere, it'd probably be there." That was if she found it and was safe, Shannon thought. It was just as likely Emma had fallen into a river and drowned.

They found a trail quickly after Danny realised where he was going. They spotted the cabin poking through the trees, looking like a beacon of hope in the setting sun. They stepped on to the porch a minute later and Danny grumbled at the front door. "Someone broke the damn thing again..." They stepped inside and Danny attempted to force it back into place. "There... shouldn't be anyone here," he grunted as he shoved against the door. "Anyone from Outpost, I mean. Since... there was... Fuck! None of the scouts have used this place in a few weeks, as far as I know."

James, having managed to calm himself down, became excited at the possibility others were around. He ran down the hall, crying, "Emma! Rob!"