Andre said
"I've never met anyone named Aki before," Tom said with a smile. "That's cool." It was true. He has heard a lot of unusual names when he worked in the coffee shop when he had to write them down, but her name was unique to him.He paced around, then went to a window to check outside. From afar he could see a vehicle moving towards the rest stop, probably. Some dead ones were on the road, but they weren't too close to the stop. He dragged his fingers through his messy hair and then turned back to Aki. "A car's coming. Hope they're generous."

"I hope so. I don't know how many more miles I can run before I need to sleep. The one mile from my car to here was enough." Aki said looking at Tom then out at the door.

Charlie stayed silent for the next few minutes as they drove. She was lost. Lost between reality and the way things used to be. Only days ago, she had been kicked out of school for talking back to numerous teachers. How could the world change so drastically in a few days? Sidewalks were once for dog owners, runners, children, but were now occupied by the rotting flesh. She had been at home when the outbreak first began, her parents on a business trip in another state. This worried her, not knowing if they would be safe in a shelter somewhere. As for siblings, she didn't have any. How this hell even started was far beyond her knowledge. Charlie shook the thoughts away and snapped back to reality.

She turned her head, now focused on Denny. Charlotte studied the girl silently, looking over her ever feature. The girls short brown hair complemented her full lips, her face resembled that of a China doll. She was pretty, pretty enough to be one of those models for Victoria Secrets she saw in ads all the time. Her facial features and body looked the part. The real question on Charlie's mind was exactly how long would the girl survive? Her and her doll like self. Was she strong and capable enough to defend herself when needed?

"Our first task once we get out of town will be to find you different clothes. I have some in my bag, but they don't seem...your style." Charlie let out a soft chuckle before lifting her hat, running her hands through her hair for a second before putting the hat back on.

Slowly, the truck came to a hault about 100 yards from the rest stop. She wanted distance, but not too much in case things went south. Charlie stopped the car, taking out the keys then securing them in her bra. She had learned that was the safest place for important object. Transportation was key in this new world. "Well, we're here." She reached into the backseat and grabbed her baseball bat, looking over at Denny with a smile. "Let's hope we don't get in any trouble."

"Hi Alysia, Ferra. I'm Ishmael." the man said with a smile. The man seemed kind enough, letting Ferra's guard slowly relax. "You two run pretty fast, almost lost ya for a second." he commented, making Ferra let out a small giggle. The two were pretty fast and agile, getting through that chaotic scene back there faster than most due to their size and quickness.

"So are you two sisters? Are your parents in there?"

Ferra was saddened by the question slightly, "No, no. We're not sisters, we just met a few minutes ago. I don't have any siblings. My mom was back there..." Ferra said, pointing a small thumb behind them. "A car ran into us and trapped her inside." the young girl explained, bringing the back of her hand up to wipe her tears that were forming.

Alysia left Ferra's side to go speak with another woman, but Ferra decided her feet were still a bit sore to do too much pleasure walking. She would need to save herself for when they needed to run. Looking around, it seemed several other people were at the rest stop as well. It was no doubt that this was not a dream. "Ishmael," Ferra started, looking up at the man, "Is your mom and dad here?" she asked innocently enough. She decided not to hold her shoes anymore, taking off her school backpack and placing them beside the notebooks, pencils, and her school lunch.

"Right," Denny left the truck as it came to a stop, she figured it was safe enough to leave her bag inside, but she made sure to keep her gun plainly visible in her right hand, she slammed the door and found herself approaching the group, she was anxious and shaky, but she felt compelled, the confidence to wave to them coming from the same place the confidence to introduce herself to Charlie came from.

They aren't sick, it's going to be okay.

Immediately, she saw the children, a man who was their... guardian? A woman... and several men, two, older looking gentlemen who appeared to be talking, a third who seemed to have been the first to notice Charlie and Denny's approach, and another... with... a sword?

It was the sight of the kids that made her relax the most, and the light of the rest stop did put her ever increasing heart rate at ease, still wary, though, the approached the young male, the white haired female, and the two older men. Taking a page from Charlie's book, she figured bluntness would be the best approach.

"Hey..." she observed the rather... 'cosmopolitan' group, more curiosity than fear, now, "Did you guys... like... run out of gas or something?"

Tom gave Aki a look when the girls from the truck entered. He turned to watch the two approach the group he was with awhile ago. Both girls were obviously still teenagers like him. Surprisingly, a lot of them who were inside the rest stop were young people. He went to lean on the wall beside Aki while paying attention to the group while they talked.

Sifter said The place was ransacked by the previous visitors.

The only thing worth taking Yuri found was a highly detailed map of the El Paso County.

After checking it, he spoke out:
"Maybe we should head for Fort Carson?"

"It could be worth a look, although I'm sure the place is on high-alert and already swamped with similar-minded people since it's snug up against Colorado-Springs, population of half a million people... Plus in the event of national emergency, troops would be allowed to 'redistribute' supplies as they see fit, which could leave us on the shorter end of the stick than we're already on. Mind if I take a look at that map?"

As he perused over it, he managed to see Serena walk over to a little girl, and overheard bits of the conversation.

Sarafene said
“My name is Serena, what’s yours,” Serena asked.

“Name’s Alysia, pleasure to meet you… Seems like everyone is busy talking about supplies, but you’re just sitting here… Shouldn’t we be moving soon though? Those stiff-jaws aren’t going to hold forever, they’ll be here soon enough in due time,” Alysia stated.

“Oh I know… I don’t plan on staying here, though I want to break into a car, seems like people abandoned their cars here…” Serena said.

"You may not need to steal a car, if you ask nicely I'm sure someone can give you a ride if only we had a..."

"Hey..." she observed the rather... 'cosmopolitan' group, more curiosity than fear, now, "Did you guys... like... run out of gas or something?"

"No" replied Wayne, who was just getting slightly exasperated by so many interruptions, "I seem to have hit a roadblock and don't have a destination picked-out anymore. Seems I've already talked myself out of looking for a government hand-out and Yuri here talked me out of going into town to look for survivors."

Andre said
Tom gave Aki a look when the girls from the truck entered. He turned to watch the two approach the group he was with awhile ago. Both girls were obviously still teenagers like him. Surprisingly, a lot of them who were inside the rest stop were young people. He went to lean on the wall beside Aki while paying attention to the group while they talked.

Aki frowned slightly watching the grouo also. Her bright red hair fell to cover one of her eyes but she didn't really care about it.

Stepping forward, Miykael finally spoke up. "We don't want to go to the fort. Everyone who made it out of that damn blockade fiasco is heading there. It only takes one person being ignorant to how this plague works, one person thinking they can fight their fever, and that entire population will be compromised. if we're gonna stay in a group like this, we've got to find a middle ground until we can build something permanent. Not too many, not too few. Safety in numbers, Danger in communicability. We should find something big and easily closed off. Something the few of us can defend and easily take to the rooftops to find food and other supplies. What's more, we don't know what kind of system those soldiers are gonna be using. If food starts to become a commodity, can we trust the strong, organized group with guns to protect and serve like they should? Or will they do what they feel they need to in order to survive? No. We have to trust eachother. And we definitely cant trust any sort of militant group. What's more, we shouldn't deliberate too long. As people realize they are trapped in this city there will be more and more looting. We need to hit the major targets first. The best places would be organized or institutionalized facilities since they would have supplies for living and caring for people who cant leave. thats us now. We've got to take over something like that. And we have to do it fast." Taking a few steps back, Miykael excused himself from the conversation.

Instead he turned to the children... He loved kids, and now they were more precious than ever... He used to be a live in nanny for a little five year old girl with autism when times were tough and he needed money... It taught him exactly how much he wanted kids of his own... and the possibility seemed empty now... first he was very particular about the women he dated... he was demisexual, and they didnt hold the same physical attractiveness to him as they did to other men. he had to know the person, and actually feel love for them to have any kind of sexual encounter... So it wasnt like he could just strike up a happy relationship with someone... it took time... and the right kind of person... whats more, even if he found someone he felt he could have a child with, what were the chances he could bear to bring one into this world... He didn't want a child of his to do what he had done in the past week... he didnt want to have done them... but he did... and he had to live with that... and the unfortunate truth that to survive... he may have to do worse things...

Maybe he could play with the children and forget the sadness all around... maybe their innocence could bring him back a little bit...
He just hoped they wouldn't be scared of him! Who knows how he looked right now!
"Hello you two! What are your names?"

"No" the younger of the two older white gentlemen was the first to respond to her, he seemed annoyed, like an exhausted parent having to deal with questions from children, "I seem to have hit a roadblock and don't have a destination picked-out anymore. Seems I've already talked myself out of looking for a government hand-out and Yuri here talked me out of going into town to look for survivors."

He motioned to another individual... Yuri... That was the older one's name, that was distinctly eastern European. That brought an interesting question into Denny's mind-- what about the rest of the world? America was a powerhouse, but it wasn't the only, nor the most powerful in the world. Was the rest of the world okay? Hell, even ignoring east Europe-- what abut the east coast? She hadn't been getting any raw information about... anything. Not recently at least.

"Huh... well..." She shifted uncomfortably, she didn't need the gun, these were just people gathering, not really sure of where to go next, like her, "It'll cramp, but... I don't think the owners would mind if you, umm," She raised her hands in a weak air quote, a slight smirk forming on her face, " 'borrowed' a few cars... I've slept in worse places, and.. well I think, being able to move quickly is good, y'know? That... and the government can't be completely gone yet, right? So being near a radio has to be good." She glanced at Charlie, realizing neither of them discussed their plans for survival, "Well, that's what I was thinking of doing-- for a while at least."

Out of the corner of her eye, Denny noticed the guy with his swords moving to speak, "We don't want to go to the fort. Everyone who made it out of that damn blockade fiasco is heading there. It only takes one person being ignorant to how this plague works, one person thinking they can fight their fever, and that entire population will be compromised. if we're gonna stay in a group like this, we've got to find a middle ground until we can build something permanent. Not too many, not too few. Safety in numbers, Danger in communicability. We should find something big and easily closed off. Something the few of us can defend and easily take to the rooftops to find food and other supplies. What's more, we don't know what kind of system those soldiers are gonna be using. If food starts to become a commodity, can we trust the strong, organized group with guns to protect and serve like they should? Or will they do what they feel they need to in order to survive? No. We have to trust eachother. And we definitely cant trust any sort of militant group. What's more, we shouldn't deliberate too long. As people realize they are trapped in this city there will be more and more looting. We need to hit the major targets first. The best places would be organized or institutionalized facilities since they would have supplies for living and caring for people who cant leave. thats us now. We've got to take over something like that. And we have to do it fast."

He quickly moved away after he said his piece, Denny found herself staring in silence for a moment, giving another glance to Charlie, as if to say 'What!?' A part of her recognized, that if this did indeed become an absolute worst case scenario then... maybe? But she wasn't ready to give up on the government yet. What was baffling is how... out there... it all seemed, so suddenly.

"... Right," Danielle muttered, to no one in particular. Her eyes wandered to the younger male leaning against the wall, and the red-headed girl, both looking apathetic... perhaps rightly so. She looked back to man who had first responded to her, he seemed like he most... 'in the know' about what was going on here.

"So... are you all a group? Are you guys related or friends, or something?"

Ishmael tried to hide a frown when he Ferra had told him what happened to her mother. The horde had to be upon the bridge by now and If the woman was trapped in the car like she said she was he didn't such much of a chance that her mother was still alive.. Seeing the forming tears in his eyes hurt his heart, something he didn't even believe to be possible anymore. He didn't know what to say to her in the situation. He could tell her that er mom probably got out but that felt like giving her some sort of false hope."Its good that you and Alysia got here. All by yourselves at your age is really impressive." giving her the same smile from earlier.

He began looking around at all the other people that had taken refuge here like themselves, taking note of the white-haired girl Alysia had engaged conversation with, when Ferra had asked her question. "No kiddo, just me." He said with a small laugh though it wasn't very genuine. He didn't like thinking about his parents much, still he hoped wherever they were they were safe.Deciding to get off that train off thought and noticing Ferra placing her shoes down he figured he could change the topic. Did she really run here in those? Her feet must've hurt like hell.

"We should definitely look into getting you some new shoes more suitable for running, odds are you're going to need them." He doubted they'd find anything in the rest stop itself but if they were lucky they might find something in the cars, and he could kill two birds with one stone.

Wayne shrugged and summed up an explanation in response to Denny's expression: "I guess so. The government's priority will to re-assert control over the situation as soon as possible. Sounds great on paper. But then you realize that being independent or self-sufficient means you aren't necessarily under government control. Ergo, you become a threat to the US Government because you're just about the only thing left afloat... rats will cling to you."

He sighed, "Best chance is we lay low until the time comes for the government to get its act together, then hope they'll let us surrender peacefully on the condition we can maintain some degree of autonomy. Of course, every local government bureaucrat will want a piece of that pie too, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't last more than a week. Gathered supplies won't mean anything if we don't have anywhere safe to use them, and there's quite a few large parks out in the mountains to the west. Many of them have some pretty lavish seasonal ski-resorts. Worst case is this all blows over in 36 hours and we get busted for trespassing, so we may as well do it with some style and dignity."

Two weeks earlier

Harley Putnam blew a plume of smoke from her mouth, her face contorting a bit as she handed off the blunt to the male across from her, “So, you’re pretty fucked up. I’m pretty fucked up. I think we have a bit of a mutual agreement here…”

They both laughed, hers tapering off into a content frown as another plume of smoke was blown into her face.

“You’re not fucked up. You’ve been fucked over…”, the boy whispered, “I think you’ll get out of here and make so much of yourself. You just need a chance.”

Harley laughed, her eyebrows raising, and snatched the blunt from his fingers to bring it to her lips. As she exhaled once more, she narrowed her eyes, “You really believe that bullshit? People like us…we don’t get out of places like this. This is my last year I can come here, before they send me somewhere worse. And you…You’re too nice to end up here. I figure the streets will kill you, like that one kid. I’ll save your newspaper clipping…”

As if he wasn’t phased at all by her harsh words, the boy laughed and picked up her empty hand, running a thumb over her knuckles, “Promise?”

Snatching her hand from his, Harley rolled her eyes, “Why do you have to ruin everything with ‘moments’? I’m pretty sure you’re aware by now that they’re onto you. Hayden can only keep covering for you for so long, before you catch another charge. You’re a month away from eighteen. Don’t fuck this up for yourself. It’s kinda hard to be a dreamer, if you can’t stop fucking up…”

“So, being in love with you is fucking up?”

“Yes. Because you can’t love me. Like…seriously, just don’t.”, Harley scoffed, as a loud knock reverberated through the steel door next to them. Jumping up, she slammed the window closed, tossing what was left of the blunt out through the bars and into the empty gravel lot behind the center.

“Is everyone decent?”, Hayden Singer’s familiar voice rang through the steel door, before it creaked open. Harley took a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky sigh as she realized they weren’t in trouble, “Dear god it smells like straight pot in here. Where the hell did you get it?”

“Moms are good for some times…you know…for people who have them.”, Harley snarked, pushing the door to where it wasn’t wide open on them, “So, are you here to break up the party, or join it, chief?”

“Stop it, Harley. I shouldn’t even let you two have contact. I could lose my job. Last thing I need is to be caught smoking with you guys. C’mon Hank.”, Hayden scolded like a parent. Harley rolled her eyes, reaching out to Hank with both hands. She leaned in and placed a rough kiss to his lips, before shoving him toward Hayden, whose jaw hardened in awkwardness as he pulled Hank away, “Dinner in a few…”

---

Present day

Harley was ripped out of her memories by Hayden’s boots padding across the ground. She replaced her look of whimsy, with one of annoyance, and pulled her hair behind her ears, “Find anything?”

“Just some chips and these…”, Hayden murmured, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. He tossed them to her, and sat down on the ground across from her, picking her legs up to place them on his lap, “Look, I know that seeing Hank…well…the way he was…”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying that maybe you need to take a little time to grieve, and I’ll give you space, but you need to eat…and you need to stop the bullshit…”, Hayden continued, causing Harley to scoff.

“Do you ever…shut…the fuck up?! I’m fine. I’m…I’m just fine. I don’t need you to babysit me. Those freaks are pretty slow, you know.”, Harley cried out, echoing through the empty alleyway. Hayden fought the urge to clap a hand over her mouth to quiet her, but as she calmed and crossed her arms across her chest, he sighed.

“I just think you should think about the affect of the cutting, out here. That’s all I’m saying. Things are dirty. I have blood on me, and I haven’t even killed anyone.”, Hayden explained.

“You pushed that old bitch off the balcony of the hotel. That’s killing.”

“She was spitting all over my face and snarling. She looked possessed or something. I didn’t have a choice.”, Hayden retorted, his eyes almost bulging out of his head as he tried to save face and explain, “I would never kill anyone…ever.”

“I would. I’d kill you for the right reward.”

“I know you would.”, Hayden sighed. They sat in silence as Harley pulled out one of the cigarettes and her zippo, lighting it up with a small cloud of smoke.

“So where do we go from here? I mean…we’re eventually going to starve, at this pace. You’re shitty at scavenging.”

“Is that all you know how to do?”, Hayden snapped, his eyes wide with annoyance and hurt feelings, “You just put people down. That’s what you do, and I can handle it, but dammit. I’m attempting to keep you alive. You’re my burden…not the other way around. Who else is going to protect you?”

“Who says I need protecting, my knight in shining armor. Look. I’m sorry, alright? I don’t say it often, and I wont’ say it again, but I’ll work on it. Just stay out of my hair, and I’ll work on being…n-nicer to you.”, Harley struggled to get the words out of her mouth, as a noise sounded from beside them.

“We should go. Th-there’s…we can go up this way. Surely there’s something here, and not just a random road. Last thing we need is to be out here tonight in the snow.”, Hayden whispered nervously, standing from the ground. Equally nervous of the rustling bushes near them, Harley stood from the ground, grabbing Hayden’s sleeve, and they made their way up the road.

It wasn’t long until they reached a mailbox, and a few yards further, a clearing in the trees, leading to a massive house. Hayden immediately recognized the building and started laughing like a maniac, his voice echoing through the trees. Harley raised an eyebrow, staring over the empty lot to the house as she allowed him to celebrate.

“Holy shit! It’s the lodge. We used to come here when I was a kid, all the way up until last year. It’s huge on the inside and…if it’s empty, we could stay there.”

“And food?”, Harley asked, her eyes narrowing.

“That will come. Let’s go.”

"style and dignity."

That last part irked her a bit, she tried not to let is show on her face, but she felt insulted-- "Umm, I don't know... I think holing up in a cold, far away place that might not have any power with..." She looked at the people shuffling around the rest stop again, "... with strangers, you know? That's crazy! If it gets bad it'd take weeks for help to find you, and like, I don't know, I'd rather stay close to the city, once stuff dies down, I mean, it's still home... and cars... cars can move faster than ski lodges."

Something sparked in her head, "Denver! T-there's got to be something for... for people who aren't dead... at Denver!"

He hadn't answered her question, she yelled over to the red-haired girl and the boy around her age, "Are you guys like a group of friends or family or something?"

Alysia looked up at Miykael as he asked her her name and shrugged.

“Name’s Alysia, yours?” She asked before her attention returned to the white hair girl, there was quite a group forming and the girl couldn’t help but to feel a little claustrophobic. She took a few steps back before heading outside of the building to the rest stop before spotting something.

“Uhm, you guys….” She poked her head back into the rest stop.

“You guys, there’s people coming this way, and a lot of them, I think they’re the monsters… you know, the stiff-jaws… the walkers, or whatever you call them, yeah they’re headed this way, maybe we should move.” She stated.

---

Serena stood up and looked outside after Alysia’s comment before looking back in.

“She’s right, if we want to survive we need to get moving, hey, Wayne was it? Hey can some of us get into your car? And we need some cars, we need to get out of here…. What’s the consensus on where we should go?” She asked before looking back outside. They were moving slowly.

“I’m going to jury-rig a car here, get us out of here,” She stated before heading out with her backpack, glad she had the tools to do so. The girl broke into an older looking car, no alarms going off before she rigged it to work. The girl stepped back inside.

“Got a car running, it’s a van, I can fit a total of 8 people in it.”

"And I've got a truck." Charlie spoke up from the back of the group. She leaned up against a wall, her bag slung over her shoulder while her baseball bat remained in her right hand, hidden from the group. She stayed silent throughout the conversations, listening to what each person has to say. Somewhere remote did sound like a good idea, but there would have to be constant runs for supplies.

"My car can hold about three or four people. You guys decide, but you better decide fast." Charlie glanced out the window, the horde of the dead increasing in both distance and the amount of them. Her grip on the bat tightened as she stood up straight, taking a few seconds to look over every one. She looked over at Danielle and smiled then she tucked a loose strand of her hair beind her ear under her baseball cap before turning to face the group.

"So, what'll it be?"

"I'm in the truck bed if thats alright. I can cut the deaders down if they start to swarm us."

They hadn't come to a consensus on where they needed to go, but going was agreed to be a priority. It looked like the sick were leaving the cities, and headed straight toward where they had... gatgered

Safety in numbers after all...

Denny blushed a deep maroon at the touch from Charlie, smiling, she declared her spot as "S-shotgun!" And made her way back to the truck.

Sarafene said Serena stood up and looked outside after Alysia’s comment before looking back in.
“She’s right, if we want to survive we need to get moving, hey, Wayne was it? Hey can some of us get into your car? And we need some cars, we need to get out of here…. What’s the consensus on where we should go?”

She asked before looking back outside. They were moving slowly.

“I’m going to jury-rig a car here, get us out of here,” She stated before heading out with her backpack, glad she had the tools to do so. The girl broke into an older looking car, no alarms going off before she rigged it to work. The girl stepped back inside.“Got a car running, it’s a van, I can fit a total of 8 people in it.”

Wayne nodded and hastily glanced again at the map, looking along their road for anything really that was important enough to have doors, but wasn't near enough to anyone to be instantly swarmed by everyone and their dog with half a mind to seek shelter.

"A bit up Highway 9 there's a secluded luxury mountain-resort in Pike's Peek National Forest" He said, pointing at the spot on the map. "A fair bit south of the ghost-town tourist-trap of Alma, we can try sending people there to see how the world is doing without much fear of being swarmed. With luck they stocked the place early for the winter-season."

He wasn't sure if anyone would follow him as he saw the katana-wielder hop into the cargo-bed of his pickup. Don't be a hero, kid, you'll last longer. He thought to himself as he shook his head, but he wasn't going to complain. The guys may actually know what they're doing.

"I'll ride anywhere." Aki said finally making a comment. "I won't be much help in a fight though. The knife I have is a piece of junk." She saic crossing her arms and closing her eyes. She wasn't going to mention her laptop or her hacking skills. Not until she knew she could trust everyone in this group.

Tom watched as the sword guy calls the back of the truck. He knew he wasn't an expert like that guy, but he had a good swing. For now, it would be enough. It's not like he had time to practice hitting dead people down. He followed them to the truck, and decided to talk for the first time to the ones who came last.

"I'm going with you guys, that okay?" He called out to the girls, Charlie and Danielle. "I'll be on the truck bed as well."

He grabbed the golf club from his backpack and smiled. "Tomlin, by the way."