The flaps of Ivan's ushanka flapped in the wind. He did a lazy forward roll, briefly viewing the MiG he'd fallen out of. It was like a swan, and he was a much smaller swan, rushing towards the ground at terminal velocity. As the splotches of color began to gain detail, he pulled the ripcord on his chest, and a bright red parachute unfolded, a picture of Stalin imprinted upon it.
Ivan steered around in the air, using a road as a makeshift landing strip. His boot heels skidded along the ground; he landed on his hands and knees, crouching his head.
The Russian slowly looked up, the sun reflected off his gasmask's lenses. He quickly pulled off the parachute, and looked around. He somehow expected New York to be more.... glamorous. He pulled out a radio, and spoke into it.
"<Comrades, I have landed alive as planned. City seems to be deserted.>"
"<.....off ta-......Ivan, you mus-......avoi....Chech---.....unny...-nge tan-............>" the radio responded, giving off mostly static. Ivan reached into his belt, only to discover he had no backup radio. He made a mental note to build a backup radio, and designate it his new primary radio.
"You! Where is box for making chats?" he turned, asking a particularly decayed looking citizen. It shambled towards him, making a strangely familiar groan. Ivan couldn't place where he'd heard it, only that it set off some primal urge to kill it. Which he did. Ivan drew his Makarov and shot the walker in the head.
Holstering his sidearm, Ivan examined the ruined town. There was a hospital in the distance. Ivan hummed a little tune to himself, and tactically crouch-walked his way towards the building. Hospitals had anesthetic. Vodka was anesthetic. Therefore, he could find a stockpile there.

*Translated from Russian.

Thus far things hadn't quite gone to plan...The hospital was crawling with the dead creatures. He still didn't really know what to think about everything and couldn't even begin to process it; at least not until he felt better about his situation, and getting enough medical supplies from this fucking place would hopefully be a damn good start. 'The whole world has gone to hell...gotta' keep moving', he thought to himself as he made his way through the hallways as quickly and quietly as he could, always scanning the surrounding area looking for anything that could be useful and was reasonable to try and take with him. He had already gathered up some gauze, rubbing alcohol, a few bottles of stronger than over the counter pain killers, and even managed to stick two first aid kits in his pack. 'Goddamn I sure am glad I got here when I did...give it a few more days and this place will probably be cleaned out.' He thought to himself as he walked along.

BOOM!...the piercing sound a gunshot exploded in the distance, causing his ears to ring momentarily. Instinctively he dropped down behind the desk he was looting immediately as the noise rung and he could hear the dead creatures that he had managed to avoid and sneak around shuffle together towards where the direction that the had noise supposedly come from. 'Shit...why couldn't they go the other damn way.' his inner voice pondered as he waited for them to pass and then began to follow them slowly and as freaking quietly as he could. As long as he stayed behind them and they were distracted by the gunfire he knew that he would have a better chance to look around. He ducked into a nearby door that once opened revealed itself to be a maintenance closet, where he found a roll of duct tape, a flashlight, a roll of extension cord, and a multi-tool which he figured would come in quite handy sooner or later. Before he could turn around and leave the closet another gunshot rang out loud, and like before he waited momentarily before continuing on. 'I'm not sure I even want to know what's going on up there.'

Walking along the now vacant hallway, thanks to whoever the hell was blasting their gun around, he looked around but didn't see anything else that he thought was worth taking. Before turning a corner he doubled back around momentarily to give the area a once over with his eyes before leaving the hallway. Nothing. Then he turned his body back around to continue on and as his head turned and his eyes faced forward he was met by a grotesque and horrifying sight. Immediately he felt something grabbing at him and now he could clearly see the dead creature, that looked to have once been a nurse, lashing out at him with it's jaws like a rabid dog. For a moment he was in shock as the attack happened so suddenly, but soon his mind cleared and his instincts kicked back in as he used the handle of the fire axe he was wielding to force the dead woman away from him, pushing her back as hard as he could. The dead bitch stumbled back, but immediately lunged back after him again but this time he was prepared. Lifting the weapon over his head Maddox swung down hard, bringing the blade end of the Fire Axe to meet the skin and bone on the top of her head, splitting it down the middle. She dropped to the ground, his axe firmly stuck between the two halves of her once whole head. Maddox grimaced a little bit at the site for a second, but then, pressing his boot against the corpse laying under him he pulled and freed his axe from its mark. He turned the weapon around in his hand; 'maybe I should use the blunt side next time.' Maddox realized and looked forward to continue his trek.

Irene was already at the hospital, because of her father working there, she just woke up from a hit on the head not having a single idea of what has happened. It was weird because she was with her parents, taking care of a patient and now she wakes up being all lonely. What exactly did happen? Irene grabbed her bookbag, seeing some of her clothes, which it was the day that she was gonna sleep at her friend's house. She grabbed a first aidkit putting inside of her bookbag, just incase as she left the room.

It was quiet and there weren't no type of people around. The korean ran a hand through her hair walking around, scared and extremely nervous because she had no idea what was going on. The girl heard some noises(the people who are in the hospital) as she walked towards them. Whoever they were, they could probably help her....probably. "Hello....?' Irene spoke softly but in her voice they could hear that she was a bit shaky.

"Shit," thought Luanne as the group turned around. There went the element of surprise, but the trio was still caught in the middle. She wouldn't let them try any funny business, and the shotgun remained on the group even as one of the women was revealed to be pregnant. Bad people could have babies too, and at the moment Luanne didn't trust a single goddamned soul to be looking out for anything but themselves. That's how the sisters got as far as they had.

Luanne stepped out of the way, gun still trained, as the male went to open the door as ordered. It was a good idea to make the others do it, but Luanne personally didn't want to open up at all.

"Yer too dern soft, Dottie," she muttered under her breath. When the crying boy stumbled inside, however, she bit her lower lip, slightly ashamed. They all appeared to be having a very maternal moment until the doors were finally pushed open and the walkers started pouring in. Luanne made a dash for the counter where her sister was still seated, and crouched, drawing the metal baseball bat she had looted from her backpack.

"You get behind that counter now, y'hear Dot? I'll bash in the head of any o' them dead sons of bitches what try to get near."

Luanne gulped. She'd already beaten a few of these things dead again, but she was still incredibly frightened and it remained hard to be so brave for her sister. This fear cemented itself in her heart and forced her to quake when she heard the boy who had run off earlier to get some medicine cry out.

"Shit," she thought again. She really did hope the kid would be alright, but she had to tend to her own now. Protecting Dot was all that really mattered, and anything that improved their chances was welcome. She'd let the three newcomers fend for themselves at the front, and only really concentrate on stragglers that threatened she or her sister.

As if to test her resolve, one of the dead, apparently attracted to Luanne's running, split from the group and bolted after her. Her arms still trembling, the took the metal bat to its head when it got near and sent it flying with a sickening wet metal-on-skull crack. She began breathing heavily as her heart raced.

Bang.

The noise that disrupted the rhythmic beeping shook Shannon instantly. She once again held her breath for a few moments and bit hard on her tongue so she wouldn't cry out in pain. That was when she heard whisperings and mutterings in the room next door due to the silence already overwhelming her.

She remembered vaguely the patients in the ward next door - and she had deliberately decided to hide in this one because of that room already being occupied. She remembered now, the girl's name was Ryland. She'd briefly looked at Ryland's file and remembered that the girl had some terminal illness, she couldn't remember off the top of her head what the illness was; but she knew she'd be unable to function without help. She was hoping that Ryland hadn't been the victim of the recieving end of whatever was just fired.

Shannon was torn, she was considering hauling herself to her feet and investigating; maybe the people outside are friendly rather than hostile. God, she hoped that was the case. With a slight wobble and accompanied by a great deal of reluctance Shannon made slow steps across the hospital floor. She wanted to see and know these people before they knew of her, if they were friendly; she'd approach. If they were.. not so friendly then she'd return to her hiding place and wait further. Even thinking about going back to hide made Shannon feel idiotic, so she really prayed that the people now in the corridor outside the hospital rooms were incredibly, delightfully, amazingly friendly.

With a slight creek she cautiously attempted to peer through the crack between the doorhinge and the door itself. She saw a boy, quite good-looking, who looked like he had been torn out of a farmyard storybook. And beside him, quite a frail looking girl, with blonde hair and a look of confusion planted on her face. It wasn't until she saw the oxygen tank that she identified that the girl was in fact Ryland. She stepped through the doorway and into the corridor, standing in plain sight before the two teenagers. However, she noticed another girl aproaching also. A young girl, who looked asian in nationality, and had a bookbag alongside her. She hoped that she wouldn't be shot on sight when they noticed her, but they seemed to have been distracted by the Korean girl's call.

"Hello...?" Shannon felt like laughing, she wasn't nearly confident and self-assured enough to approach with such a simple one-worded introduction. She took a deep breath - which without her control was quite loud anyway.
"I'm uh.. Shannon. I worked here, I'm behind you. Don't.. Don't shoot." For same strange reason she raised her hands like was already being held at gunpoint, she was battling mentally with her nerves; hoping they wouldn't get the best of her. She was hoping these... people would allow her to accompany them. She wasn't sure what use she'd be with nothing on her person, but she knew the hospital layout and quite valuable hideout locations if they needed to stay anywhere to rest up; she was also mildly informed on Ryland's condition

Dot panicked. This wasn't anything she had been prepared for. One or two, maybe... But this was overwhelming. Dropping behind the counter, she pushed the Mosin up above the register and began blind firing. It hurt her arms something awful, but she didn't care. The fear was overwhelming. She heard some thuds as a few of the horde dropped to the floor, but the relief she felt quickly faded as the groans grew to a cacophonous roar. She hadn't slowed them down at all. Rather, the sounds of the gunfire were drawing more and more of the undead towards the pharmacy. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't know what to do. She started crying, and ran. She didn't know if there was a back door, and whether or not there was, she didn't know where it would be. She just had to get farther away. She needed time to think. This was going very, very poorly. She couldn't see where Luanne was anymore, and she was ashamed to admit she didn't much care.

As Cael Maddox followed the small herd of dead creatures from what he considered a safe distance, making damn sure not to alert any of them to his position, a strange thought came to his mind. It pertained to how he was feeling, or rather what he wasn’t feeling. In all of the craziness around him and with all of the death and disorder that he had seen in the last day or so one would think that he would be scared, but he wasn’t. A little in shock, definitely, but not scared…really more numb than anything. The only person that he truly cared about, other than himself of course, was his brother, and he was thousands of miles away fighting a war that most likely would never amount to anything; especially now that the dead were walking the earth. Maddox wondered if it things were as bad across seas as they were here, he hoped not. ‘Maybe we’re the only place affected by all this crazy shit’. He thought to himself, immediately feeling the idiotic optimism in his inner voice.

He was, and had always been, a realist…a borderline pessimist, and he understood that whatever it was exactly that was going on around them probably wasn’t something that could easily be controlled. The insane rate of spreading that was already evident was information enough to prove that shit was going down, and that things would probably be much…much different now than they were, and he really didn’t know how he felt about that fact. It seemed like it had taken thirty years for him to realize that maybe he needed to change some things…and now all hell breaks loose; was he supposed to take that as a sign that he wasn’t supposed or deserving to get a fresh start after all, was it just a little to late, or was this the kind of fresh start that he had needed all along…only time would tell.

Maddox was pulled out of his thoughts as the sound of voices coming from a short distance away shook him into returning to the reality of the moment. He crouched down, getting low enough behind the table he was looting that he was confident he wouldn’t be seen. Quieting his mind, which was a victory in itself, he attempted to listen in on what the voices were saying. All he heard was what sounded like someone begging to not be shot, which gave him the impression of potential danger. He was glad that the small herd of dead things had already passed where he assumed the voices were coming from, but he hoped to every fake god that the noises didn’t attract them back towards their direction. For now, he would just wait and see what happened…he was ready for a fight if it came to it.

Travis heard the small voice whisper ' hello' and his ears perked up. He shoved Ryland behind him, and quickly raised the shotgun toward the voice. He nearly crouched, not trusting anyone in this world. Ryland's shaky breathing shook him to his core as she followed close and her hand brushed his wrist, clinging to him for dear life as they approached.

"If you have weapons you better drop them…", he muttered in the darkness, as a light flashed over his head and powered down. That's when another voice shook him to the core, causing him to swing and nearly hit Ryland in the face with his shotgun as he turned on Shannon, "Don't move…"

"Stop! Stop…I know her. Travis…", Ryland whispered, reaching a shaky hand up to the top of the shotgun. She pressed lightly, and although Travis sighed in fear and frustration, he lowered the gun toward the ground, and stood there, simply staring at Shannon, "Are you…are you armed?"

As Ryland asked the question, she stepped forward, boldly stepping toward the familiar face. However, as she did so, a pain ripped through her chest, causing her to stop and clutch at it. She fought to gasp for air, only for her entire respiratory system to fail her. After a few staggering minutes, she fell to the ground, her eyes rolled back in her head and her body quivering.

"Hey!", Travis yelled as she fell. He attempted to break her fall, sinking to the ground with her as he ran a hand over her face, "What the hell?! Do something. She was fine a few seconds ago…do something!"

He glanced up at the woman in front of him, and then back at the younger lady behind him, as his hands frantically played with the tube in her nose, checking it for air.

Irene stopped her tracks looking at the group of people, two girls and one guy. One of the guy was holding up a weapon, Irene immidietly put her hands up, like if she was surrendering to a cop. "I'm sorry, I just want to know what's going on. I seriously, don't want to hurt anyone.... I'm more of a medic... I think. But still. Please don't kill me." The korean said, nervously while looking at Shannon introducing herself, it seems that Shannon wasn't with them. Irene gulped nervously looking back at the guy, he lowered the gun. So she just stood there, seeing that they basically ignored her. "Alrighty then......" her hands went back down slowly, clearing her throat crossing her arms closer to her chest as she stood there. "Maybe.. I should just leave..." Irene told herself, but she decided to wait for them to see what they were going to do, never know if she turns around and he just shoots her from behind. All she wanted to do was to get some answers into what was happening, and they were basically the only people in the hospital for her to ask.

Only seconds had gone by, but Maddox had gotten a chance to listen to the voices coming from around the corner. At first there seemed to be conflict but that seemed to die down a little bit. His curiosity was peaked when he the voices he had been listening to sounded so...young. He could tell that most, if not all, of the people over there were freaking teenagers. He shuffled forward, still crouched, hoping to get a better view point on the teens and ended up leaning behind a stand near the corner of the room. Looking around the corner he spotted them, not exactly what he had imagined when he heard gun shots and yelling, but he was correct that they were all young...younger than him at least. Not that he was old or anything he reminded himself mentally, but his teen years had definitely come and gone.

Maddox was looking at a strange group of people; a read head, and blonde girl that seemed to be on oxygen, a country boy with a gun, and an...Asian girl. 'Wait...' He thought to himself. 'This sound like the setup to every stupid fucking "walk into a bar" joke that I've ever heard....you've gotta' be kidding me.' The thought made flash that handsome, but dangerous smirk that his crazy ex-girlfriend told him time and time again that she loved so much before she cheated on him with his buddy...He digressed. The smirk faded away as he once again remembered where the hell he was and just why it was that he was there...the dead were walking the earth. Looking each of them over from his stealthy vantage point he realized that despite what he had thought before...he wasn't ready for this fight. He knew that he could be a dick sometimes but he wasn't about to beat up a bunch of teenagers, especially one that looked sicker than all hell...and he didn't know what he was going to do. For now, Maddox figured, it was probably best if he just stayed right where he....'Ah shit.' His inner voice rang aloud in his head, not even letting him finish his previous thought. As he was looking at the oxygen toting blonde, she crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He knew it had to be something to do with her oxygen and instinctively he almost rushed towards her, but immediately reminded himself that he wasn't the hero type. He had all but decided to just leave things be, and had even began turning to leave the area, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a word printed on the cart that he was leaning against that he just almost couldn't even believe...OXYGEN...was printed in bold yellow letters and he could see the rack on the top of the cart which held, yeah you guessed it...fucking oxygen tanks. He looked up towards the sky and shook his head at the gods that he didn't even believe in and hesitantly grabbed a canister that felt full and began to stand up from his place of observation.

"What the hell?! Do something. She was fine a few seconds ago…do something!"...Maddox heard the country boy spout out...something about the guys cocky face...and that hat...he could already tell he wasn't going to like him.

"Hey bub, she could probably use this." Maddox said, lifting his hands up in the air to show the teenagers that he was holding a weapon and to put the oxygen tank firmly on display for them to see. "I come in peace." He spouted almost sarcastically, his smirk returning momentarily as he approached the group. "By the way...shouldn't you guys be in school or something?" His question was hypothetical, an ice breaker if you will, and he motioned to the gun toting redneck to let him help his friend. "She doesn't look like she's doing to hot buddy. I'm not going to hurt anybody...I'm here to..." He almost struggled to get the word out of his mouth and he still couldn't believe he was even doing this..."help."

Jack rode through Jonesboro fast but careful. The streets had gone mad, but not quite as mad as some of the people. There was a lot of looting going on, but then again that wasn't at all surprising. There were a lot of broke students who probably got hard at the idea of free shit, despite all the actual shit that was going on. He had to admit, he would have loved all this when he was a teenager. Well, the getting free crap and smashing things part anyway. The whole virus thing put a bit of a downer on the whole situation. Still, Jack wasn't exactly loaded himself, if he needed to at least he could hold up one of these stores extremely easily. Get enough cash to make it back to Ohio in no time. Still, that wasn't why he was here. He had to keep a low profile and go visit a dear friend in the hospital. He definitely wasn't looking forward to that any more. With all that was going on the hospital was likely jam packed. It was going to be a nightmare, especially if the sick were all over the place.

He would think about that when he got there though. He had his handgun and his blade. If anything kicked off he could handle it. He drove through the streets and all the way to the hospital, quickly having to skid as he spotted a large crowd of the sick outside of the place. Surprisingly though there wasn't that many cars. He guessed a fair few people had fled or had even been turned away due to lack of space. He quickly sped around the sick and pulled up behind the hospital, parking his bike and quickly taking out his blade. He didn't want to hurt anybody if he didn't have to but from what he had heard and seen the sickness turned people extremely aggressive. Although the chaos would technically make this easier, he wasn't taking chances with his own health, he would drop whoever if he had to. Sick or not. Jogging over to the rear entrance of the hospital he quickly entered the building, pulling the door closed behind him before making his way down the hall.

The vision of the first couple of people he saw fucked him up. It was a nurse, or at least someone who had been a nurse. She was one of the sick ones now. She was on her knees chewing on another poor bastards face, blood all around her mouth and flesh hanging from the right corner of her mouth. What on Earth did this virus do to people? Jack had seen a lot of people do a lot of fucking drugs and not one of them had ever done anything quite like this. They got mad and stupid and did mad and stupid shit, yeah, but they never ate a dudes face. That was a step or two over the line even in Jack's mind.

“Oi you filthy bitch, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Marcus Carter? Got throat cancer... Hello!? Anybody home?”

The woman, if she could still be called that, got to her feet and stumbled slightly, replying to Jack's words with what could only be described as a growl.

“Yeah, I didn't think so. Go on. Sit your ass back down.”

The woman stumbled forward, growling.

“Sit the fuck back down and finish your dinner. I'm warning you, I don't taste good, and this blade definitely doesn't.”

The woman growled louder this time, stepping forward once again and lunging at Jack. He had always been quick on his feet though, he quickly sidestepped and kicked out the woman's leg from behind her, sending her flying to the ground.

“Uh, anyway, get well soon darling. I'm off to find my friend.”

“Crazy ass woman.” Jack chuckled as he climbed the stairs. From what he could tell via the floor directions and such his friend should be on floor number three.

Finally reaching the floor Jack started once again down the halls, looking through each tiny ass window to see the inside inhabitant. Finally finding the man he was looking for Jack tried the door handle. It was fucking locked. Course it was. Taking a step back he put the full force of his leg into the lock, busting the door open and making a very loud noise. The pitiful looking man's eyes flew wide open and he quickly inspected Jack; the intruder. Very unexpectedly he suddenly burst out laughing. Not just a small false kind of laughing either. The bastard was borderline in hysterics.

“You dumb pricks.” He laughed. “Not only do you go through all the trouble of finding a man who's dying of cancer anyway, but you come all the way here when all this shits going on. If that's not enough, look at this.” He lifted his blanket a bit revealing a large chunk of flesh missing on his calf. “Bitch nurse put me in here and said to wait for a doctor. That was... I don't know how long ago. Shit's been crazy. Kill me you dumb fuck, you'd be doing me a favour.” The man laughed once again, lowering the blanket back over his leg.

“So, now you finally grow some balls. Too little too late I'm afraid. We don't care about you. We only care that we be the ones to end you. Goodbye former brother. I hope you burn in hell with all the other piece of shit cowards.” Jack spat, lifting his blade up.

“I'll see you there Jackie boy.” Said the man calmly. His final words.

Jack brought the large knife down, piercing the middle of his former friends chest and giving the blade a forceful twist, ending his life.

It was time to get out of dodge.

"Well..." the Mormon started "the whole story begins with God, and he makes the whole universe! So one day,Jesus had to come down from his planet so he could sacrifice himself for your sins... and... and... then Joseph Smith was contacted by the all-American angel Elohim, who gave him the location of these tablets. So Joseph Smith finds them and they lead him to the promise land! So he takes a bunch of people with him... but like Jesus, Joseph Smith had to sacrifice himself and Brigham Young had to take over. SO then eventually, the Mormons found Salt Lake City! That's where I come from..." Elder Rivers continued to babble on and on with a tint of nervousness.

In the middle of his talking, Elder Rivers looked up at Santa to check how he was holding up- or if he had already left. Things would have been much easier had Elder RIvers still had his partner.

"If you have weapons you better drop them…"

The shotgun and his instruction were so intimidating he almost convinced her that she had a machine gun and machete on her person. "Don't move.." She wobbled a little at his warning, and was opened her mouth to explain why she was approaching them and that she was harmless - when Ryland did the job for her.
"Stop! Stop…I know her. Travis…"
Shannon had in fact signed in Ryland for her appointments when she had been working the main reception and Ryland's clinic, she'd always sent a friendly and encouraging smile her way when she'd walked up and explained the personal details that were required. They'd never really spoken officially, but Shannon had never really disliked the girl. In fact, she'd actually imagined them both being good friends.
"Are.. are you armed?" She was about to open her mouth and inform her that she was not armed - though now she was thinking that perhaps finding a weapon of some kind was probably a smart move - but she was quickly interrupted by Ryland's stumble and descent to the ground. Her eyes widened and for a moment she thought her feet had become glued to the floor.
"What the hell?! Do something. She was fine a few seconds ago…do something!" Shannon struggled to process what these words for a few moments, the situation with the world and Ryland had dazzled her briefly, and she couldn't control her thoughts until a male who seemed far older than any of the people present pushed ahead and over to the boy and Ryland. Travis. That was his name, Ryland had said it when calming him down. The male said so many things that Shannon could only roughly assume that he was there to help, he started off supportive, then sarcastic, then back to being supportive. She didn't trust the male and she was sure Travis wouldn't either as he was already skeptical of her own loyalty.
"She might need a new tank.. perhaps that was what the doctors had in mind before.. this, happened. I know where we can get some more, if you trust me enough to follow me." Shannon stated calmly, proud at how she'd kept herself cool while explaining her case. "I'm Shannon, by the way. Shannon Callahan." She had a strong Irish accent and it rang out into the small hospital hallway when she introduced herself.

double post.

Santa listened on as Elder Rivers told the story of Joesph Smith. He stood there seemingly enthralled by the Missionary. Then again, having a mask made it hard to confirm such things. But one thing was clear, that Santa was infact still there and didn't leave. When there was the lull, there was a question that had to be asked. So Santa held extended out his left hand, first pointing his index finger at Rivers. He then held up his hand again with two fingers before shrugging.

Hopefully this terse question would be recognized. After all, Santa would not like to interrupt a missionary, well at least at this moment. Santa dropped the iron bar and began a short golf clap, and nodded at the man. After that Santa picked up the iron bar yet again, and continued peering at the man.

As he was explaining, Elder RIvers noticed the mall Santa made a strange unexpected movement. It seemed that Santa was raising his hand- he had something to say. Elder Rivers' face lit up. "Uh huh!? Uh huh!?" Elder Rivers leaned in to Santa.

Needless to say, Santa's gestures were difficult to read. All this holding and dropping and clapping and nodding appeared cryptic to Elder Rivers. "Hey... If you're Santa Claus... that must mean you need a sleigh right? I get it! You must miss your sleigh. Thanks for listening to me, by the way."

Santa thrusted up his iron bar and concrete as he waved it rather enthusiastically, as he growled out something, along the lines of "Hrooo hrooo hrooo.", though with the mask covering his face, alongside with his eagerly rushed speed of the chant it made it quite difficult to tell. Yes, he did need a sleigh quite badly, how else could he deliver Christmas cheer without one? Santa kept waving the bar in the air, as he lowered it down to hip level. Adjusting his hat, which slid slightly to the right, he gave a nod to Elder Rivers, before giving a thumbs up with his left hand.

Elder Rivers nodded. He was still unsure what the raising of the bar meant. "Ho ho ho?" Elder Rivers replied. It was refreshing for him to see, that even in spite of the zombies, this mall Santa could keep in character and on top of that, retain Christmas spirit. In addition, Elder Rivers was no longer alone again. It was, once again, two by two.

The Mormon smiled. "Now let's find you a sleigh." he said, holding out a hand to help Santa get up. "There are plenty of stores so I'm sure we'll find a sleigh somewhere around here... Say. You haven't seen anybody come down here right? Was everybody in a hurry to leave? Where are all the zombies?" Elder Rivers asked. He was curious as to why there were so few zombies in the mall of all places.

Santa gave a growl and a nod, as Rivers replied with a "Ho ho ho.", affirming that yes, that was the message he was trying to get across. As Santa got up, accepting the Mormon's hand he peered at Rivers. He listened thoughtfully to the concerns of the Mormon, before giving a simple shrug, upon the subject of the zombies. He kept a tight hold of his bar, as he turned his head glancing both to the left and right to observe the various stores, to determining which one would most likely have his sleigh.

"Hrr" he said as he pointed his bar with concrete down the hallway, and began heading that way. Santa cocked his head back as he waved with his left hand, gesturing for the man to follow.

Selina and Kate

"Oh god, no," Kate kept chanting over and over again, while Selina ushered her backwards with her body. They had been keeping up alright, the two of them, but it was getting hard, and an escape would have been welcome. It was difficult to absorb the activities of their surroundings, but from what Kate had been able to grasp, one of the girls was heading to the back of the pharmacy, while the other was trying to hold her own against another walker. She couldn't see the boy, but she could see her brother wildly attacking another zombie.

"We have to get out of here," Selina said, pushing Kate towards the back of the pharmacy, following whichever one of the twins had taken her chance to make an escape.

"What about David," she snapped, struggling to reach for her brother who looked to be in a daze, "Snap out of it, David!"

---

David

"Snap out if David!" David could hear his sister screaming at him, sounding aggravated with him again, like when they were kids. Aggravation, with just a touch of hysteria. Blinking confusedly, he began to slowly back away from the decapitated corpse at his feet. Killing had never really been a hobby of his prior to this apocalyptic shit, and now that he thought about it, it would have never really suited him anyway.

He was more of a business man, made for fancy suits, and mathematics. That's what he had been studying for anyway. A look in the mirror and a self-assessment had told David everything he had ever needed to know about himself when he was a teenager; tall, but not too tall, fit, but not athletic, sassy, but not aggressive. An average man, with average goals. He was supposed to graduate, get a job, keep going to college, meet a girl, get married, have kids...the whole done deal.

Instead, he had gone to bed and woken up in an unending nightmare.

David gasped as something warm, heavy, and wet thudded into his back, before falling to the ground by his feet. Turning around, he flinched as he was greeted with the severed head of another walker whose chin had collapsed inward from the force of something bashing into it. Following the splattered and winding trail of blood that had leaked from the zombies head as it had been tossed (or really catapulted) to David lead him to the kid again. You know which kid. The boy kid. The one who had come in holding some kind of case that David was unfamiliar with. And David was unfamiliar with a lot of things these days, so that really said nothing about what was inside of the case.

"Shit," he grumbled under his breath, running towards the kid, "You, okay?" He asked between looking to check for walkers approaching them, and looking for his sister and Selina. They were at the back of the pharmacy, both waving to him frantically. Selina seemed to be trying to catch the attention of the remaining twin, but looked hesitant to leave Kate to provide support for the girl. Kate would be upset with her later. Upset for leaving David behind, upset for not helping the girls. But David understood why Selina was doing it, and honestly didn't blame her. He would have protected his sister, too.

"Come on kid, let's go," he whispered urgently, trying not to attract the attention of any more walkers.

---

Selina

"There's a back entrance!" Selina shouted to the remaining members of their unofficial, abruptly put together, group. She looked apprehensively at a few approaching walkers who had been aroused by her making noise. They were ambling along slowly now, but she had experienced first hand what it was like to get up close and personal with one. It's like their victims sent them into a frenzy, allowing them, even if it was just for moment, to attack with almost normal speed.

"We have to go," Selina said sternly, watching tears begin to trickle down Kate's face. The back entrance was just a few feet away from them. Almost freedom was almost in their grasp. Almost. Looking back, she could see David begin to move in their direction. Whether or not the kid was following was none of her concern, but she hoped he was. Being selfish was hard, and after all, he was just a kid. A small kid. His chances of surviving were worse than theirs.

"Look he's making his way to us," she said in relief, hoping Kate would allow Selina to drag her to the back entrance now.