Tyler - Baton RougeHe sprinted fast, practically jumping over any small body of water. The ground here was almost like a small marshland, causing Tyler to almost trip over himself once or twice, but he managed to right himself each time without spilling Katie or her small companion. There were rustles in the bushes as he ran, but surely that was just the others running through as well. He heard Adam call from somewhere beyond the grass, "I knew it! There's a patrol coming around! Hurry, guys!" That news didn't do much to help, as Tyler imagined everyone was running as fast as they could. There was a growl at Tyler's right and he nearly stumbled over a walker laying on its stomach. He jumped away from as it reached its hand out to grab him, but it was too tangled in the grass and buried in the soft ground to move much at all. He assured Katie that they were okay, and they finally broke free of the field.
Adam and George were waiting at the other side. "I told you it was fine in there!" Adam said, but Tyler barely listened. They waited the few precious seconds it took for the others to come out the other side and ran quickly across the street. Adam commanded the group to duck into a hunting store and led everyone to crouch low behind the counter. Tyler took a look around the store as he got into place and found it was completely bare, though the walls were painted with large black X's. From their position behind the counter, they could just see a large truck pass by the store's front windows. The vehicle appeared modified, sporting metal and spikes that increased its bulk and ferocity. After the vehicle passed, Adam waited a minute before standing to his feet.
"They do patrols often a round sunset. Sucks to be us." He made his way around the counter, but Tyler stood up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"No," he commanded, pulling roughly on Adam's arm. Adam's brow furrowed and he looked toward the others. Tyler continued anyway, saying, "We're not going anywhere until you tell us more about this group."
"I, uh, we don't really have time--"
"We already risked our lives avoiding them. We have time."
Adam made an annoyed grunt and pulled away from Tyler. "Fine, fine, okay? Tremblay, they, um... Those biters they got chained up, that's not all they use them for. They use them like watch dogs all over the place. It's like... some of them keep as pets even, or something. It's fucking weird, man. They got a hold over this city, and they live all over Mid City South-- But, that's not all. They're always doing patrols throughout the city, killing biters or-or taking them for their stock." Adam let out a shaky breath and shook his head. "You guys... are lucky. New people travelling through the city-- They tend to be killed by the patrols. All of you, you should be happy you ran into me."
George considered this and tapped on the counter. "Okay, but how is your group still alive then?"
Adam's voice caught in his throat. He looked wide-eyed at everyone. "I... my group was in the area before they came into power. We leave them alone and they leave us alone. They used to be two groups who were at each other's throats, but they were brought together by a man named Tremblay, or something." He held up his hands. "Seriously, I don't know all the details! I got here after this all happened! All I know now is that he runs them all, but both groups got their own leaders." Adam licked his lips and went silent, apparently finished with his explanation. "Just... They're bad news, and you guys would be better off with us."
Tyler sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, thank you, Adam."
Adam clapped his hands together. "Look, no problem! I'm just trying to help." He then moved toward the front door and held it open. "After you guys," he said.
They pushed on down the road and came to a more business focused sector of the city. Small shops and stores lined the streets in accompany with a couple of apartment buildings. At a bar with both its front door and the sign above the door shot out, Adam led the group inside and to the back of the building. Tyler expressed confusion at where they were, but Adam revealed a door that opened to a staircase leading upwards. At the top of the stairs was a door, which Adam eagerly knocked on. An asian girl opened the door, practically jumping out of her skin at the sight of everyone. Adam quickly spoke up, saying, "Tina, I found these people wandering around the city. I couldn't leave them out there."
The girl's mouth fell open and she slowly nodded. "Okay..." She stepped aside and held the door open so that everyone could shuffle inside. As Tyler passed by her, he found her to be rather short, almost short enough to be a teenager. However, something told him she was older than that. She and Adam led the group down the short hall and to the right, where a living room was in place. It was a clean space, with a ring of couches facing the wall to their right. Strangely, the wall was painted with a half-finished mural of all kinds of things-- Flowers, space ships, animals, buildings-- and a high definition television was pushed off to the side so that it was propped up against a window. Half of the room was a kitchen, and a dining room table and kitchen counters were in this area. Two men sat there, talking amongst each other, while an elderly woman sat nestled into the living room couch. All three turned to the group with varying looks of awe and confusion.
"So, everyone..." Tina stepped into the middle of the room and shrugged. "Adam has brought friends."
George quickly stepped forward and held his hand out to the closest person available, the elderly woman. "I'm George," he said. "It's so nice to see other people." The woman smiled graciously and took his hand. "This is Tyler," he continued, pointing. He introduced everyone in turn except for Scarlett, who hadn't a chance to introduce herself up to this point. Once their introductions were out of the way, Adam began naming off his own group. "Tina," he said, pointing to the girl that let them inside. "Elyse," referring to the elderly woman. "Jace," referring to the older man at the table who Tyler guessed was in his thirties. "And Caleb," finally referring to the other male, who easily was about a decade younger.
Once introductions and greetings were out of the way, the two groups were left awkwardly standing amongst each other. Tina smiled at everyone before taking Adam by the arm. "We need to talk for a sec'," she said, pulling him into one of the side rooms. Tyler then chose to step forward and mention that they had a cat with them. "... And after dragging it across the city, I don't think it's doing well."
Elyse commented on the cat being lovely, but neither she or Jace seemed sure what to do with it. Caleb left the kitchen area to kneel in front of Katie so that he could get a good look at the cat. "Does the cat have a name?" he asked in a slight southern drawl. "Let's try feeding it with the supplies we have, okay?" He smiled a bit cautiously and offered to take Katie by the hand.
Tyler cleared his throat and mentioned the oral syringe. This got Jace's attention, who stood up and made his way for the second side room. "We have those. Let me go check." In the brief glance Tyler got of the room, it appeared to be a bedroom.
"Well, Adam told me everything that happened," Tina said, entering back into the living room. "He's right, you know. You guys will have to stay with us. It's safer that way." She pointed behind them toward the entrance hallway. "Keep going right and you'll find the bathroom and a room we're using to keep supplies. We don't have plumbing, obviously, but we have water so you can wash. Use the downstairs bathroom in the bar if you guys need to relieve yourselves." She scrunched up her face in disgust. "We rotate turns on keeping it clean, so keep that in mind."
"We have a garden out back," Elyse said, almost dreamily. "We've made up a greenhouse."
Tina nodded. "Yep, and we have more than enough supplies for all of you. Food, medicine... If you all help out, we should be able to maintain it." She then pointed to the two side rooms. "Those are bedrooms. We use both, but there's room to fit more. You guys can sleep in the living room if you want, but the living room has to stay clean, all right?"
Jace then returned with the syringe and handed it to Katie. "Here you go, kid." Caleb smirked at this and gestured for Katie to follow him to the kitchen cupboards. Jace stood where he was and looked between the group and Tina. "Tina give you the run down?" he asked. "You guys are welcome to stay with us, don't worry."