As the two weary travelers came across the slowly decaying sign, Iris raised her eyebrows in an odd mix of confusion and shock. The sign was illuminated by the bright daylight. ”Hey Len, What’s that sign say right there?” she called, her southern drawl seeping from her lips, as she pointed.

Len gazed at the bent cigarrette from the crumpled pack in his hand, glaring. It was getting harder and harder to find a decent smoke in the world these days. Sighing, he flipped his zippo lighter, letting the flame lick the tip of his smoke. Taking in a deep breath, he blew a ring of grey into the air, before looking over at Iris as she called out to him. “Whaddaya want, Iris?” He asked, a drawl in his voice to match hers. The question was rhetorical, of course. He’d go see what she wanted regardless. Taking a few steps forward, hand resting habitually on the stock of his crossbow, he stared at the sign that Iris was pointing to. Squinting his eyes in the blazing sun, he read alloud: “Well-come to Virginia. Thas’ all it says, Iris. Well, wait jes a sec now, we got some graffiti.” Stepping closer, he inspected something that was carved into the sign. “Don’t feed the Langue….the fuck would someone be a-feedin’ them damn Earthworms for anyway? The fuck is wrong with people?”

Iris looked at the letters on the sign as Len read them, she supposed that made sense, her illiteracy didn’t help much in the matter. ”I could name lotsa’ things wrong with people, but I ain’t here to write your biography.” she teased, pushing his shoulder playfully hard as they began to trek into this new found land:



Len took another long drag from the cigarette, and lightly blew smoke in Iris’ face as she pushed him, letting out a chuckle. [b] “Sheeeiiiit, ain’t like you could read none o what you was writin’ anyway, Iris, so I ‘spect I’m safe.” Laughing, and realizing he might pay for that little comeback, he tossed the butt of his cigarette on the ground, crushing it beneath his large boots. He looked into Iris’ eyes for a long moment, remembering some of their childhood together. He gave her shit sure, but if someone else dared say that to her they’d be eating their teeth. Or a langue would be eating them, if they were lucky. He chuckled again, fondly remembering the time he got into a fight with a merchant back when they still had a group of people. Iris had kept him from getting flat kicked out. Of course, when you took a swing at the only guy in the group that knew how to “procure” things, it tended to piss people off. “We got ourselves a way’s yet to go, Iris.” Len said, pulling out his atlas of the US, and pointing to some distant hills. “Over yonder a ways is where we wanna be a walkin.’ ‘Course, there’s bound to be some a them Earthworms floatin’ around.” Len flashed his teeth in a grin. “Same ones some dumbasses been feedin,’ I recon.”

A grimace swept across Iris’ face as the smoke of the cigarette was blown rudely into her face. She didn’t like that Len took up such nasty habits, but was getting used to it regardless. Rolling her dark almond eyes she ignored his comment about her not being able to read or write, as they glanced at one another- holding their gaze. Iris looked away first, which caused Len to pull the atlas from his bag and look up their direction. Iris nodded painfully as he spoke, they had been traveling what seemed like forever. ”I’ve been wishing some dumbass would feed me.” she groaned, as the two walked slowly side by side. ”With that note, do ya’ think we could stop for some grub? I know you got some of that squirrel still.” she cooed, giving him a small pout as she stopped in her tracks. ”I’ll make the fire if you skin it!” she pleaded, getting to work on the fire before Len could disagree with her. A hungry woman was worst than a langue any day.

It wasn’t long before the two had a fire roaring, the smell of a slow cooking squirrel being drifted through the air. The last few days it had been raining, so this bright spring day was considered quite a blessing for any living creature.

Kara was wandering the rough lands of Virginia alone, her messy red hair blowing gently in the wind. She had been without human contact for 3 months now and all she had left was a locket around her neck and a few lousy makeshift weapons.
She was running out of water and food, I can't go on much longer... she thought to herself.

Off in the corner of her eye she could see something slightly resembling a light, Kara decided to get closer, having no other real choice.
As she got closer the light source became clear to her, a flame with two people sat next to it. She raised her makeshift projecticle launcher forward and approached slowly, aiming it towards the pair
"Grab any weapons and I'll shoot!"
Kara shouted this towards the couple, her voice timid and weak
"I don't want to harm you"
She shouted again, getting closer.

IRIS
LEN

*******

Len was enjoying the warmth of the fire, his assault rifle laying a few feet away, crossbow right next to the log he was relaxing on. He looked over at Iris, smiling as he bit into some squirrel. “This is the life, ain’t it? Sittin’ in the while, eatin’ food ya hunt with yer own bow. Goddamn, if it weren’t for the Langue hangin’ around, this would be the perfect life, ya know? Must’ve been amazing, in the days before those overgrown worms took over.” Taking another bite of squirrel, he set the tiny little leg down, sighing. He felt a bit stupid, nostalgic for a time he never even knew. But that’s how it was these days. He was about to say something else, when he heard someone yell;

”Grab any weapons and I’ll shoot. I don’t want to harm you!”

Len rolled his eyes, turning a steely gaze towards Iris. “Son of a beeoch, Iris...we jes’ can’t catch us a break, can we? It’s always somethin’ I suppose.” Raising his hands slowly above his head, he sighed heavily, once more rolling his eyes in exasperation, and turned to face whomever had spoken. He was shocked to see a young looking redhead aiming….something at him.It looked like a makeshift weapon of some sort, something crudely thrown together. He noted how timid she sounded she’d spoken. He looked at her, eyes flitting up and down. Yeah he was checking her out, how could he not? He wasn’t dead after all. But the nerve of her, to just walk right up to them like that. He turned back to Iris, then shrugged, and lowered his arms, slowly beginning to roll up his sleeves.

“Ya know what, Iris? Screw this crap, I ain’t havin’ someone with a freaking ghetto-ass sling threatin’ me.” he began to glare at the woman before him, eyes furrowing heavily. “Awright miss, you wanna go? You wanna fuck with us? Fine, you and me, right fuckin’ now. I’m ready to dance, let’s do this. Throw your pussy weapon away, and let’s tangle girl. I love me a good fight, ain’t that right Iris?” With those words, he started forward, slightly raising his arms and lowering his body, a street fighting stance, relaxed, eyes glittering with delight.

WHAAAAAAAAAP

The sound of Iris’ hand slapping against the back of Len’s head echoed only slightly. What she had lacked in intelligence she made up with speed. ”Ya’ just can’t go around beating up ladies!” Iris argued, annoyed that she hadn’t even gotten a bite of her food yet before this woman showed up. She turned to the red head, looking a tad bit apologetic but mostly annoyed. ”Y’all have to excuse my brother, he ain’t got no type of manners. We don’t have much on us, but if you want make some type of deal we can do that.” she spoke, carefully eyeing the weapon she held pointed at them.

Len gasped in surprise as Iris’ hand connected with his head. He turned towards her, startled, dropping his hands and rubbing his head. “Hey, what the hell??” he murmured, looking hurt. He raised an eyebrow as she mentioned not going around beating women. “Oh come on, dad did it all the time!!” he exclaimed, eyes wide. “‘Sides, she’s the one who came up to us, holdin’ a cotton-pickin’ weapon, threatin’ you an’ me. If any gal ever deserved a beatin’, this one does!” Folding his arms over his chest, Len listened as Iris spoke to the woman, glaring at her. He rolled his eyes as Iris told the newcommer that he never had any manners. “But she don’t have no manners, neither,” he argued, if possible, eyes narrowing even further.

Scoffing at the idea of a deal, he turned to face Iris again, arms still folded over his chest. “Wait, what? Trade? With someone tryin’ to steal from us? What kinda’ survivors are we, lettin’ people jes’ do that crap? Damn, Iris, why don’t we jes’ go a wavin’ a neon sign, say’s ‘bitches ready to be robbed, come one, come all’ over our pretty lil’ heads. Sheeeiiit. That’s how things go, ‘round here. Lettin’ this gal take ‘vantage of us.” He glared coldly at the red-head, jerking a thumb in her direction. “Be different if she’d jes’ said please or somethin’, ya know? Goddamn youth these days, sheeiit.”

Blinking slowly, Iris listened to Len bitch on and on about things. ”Maybe if you stopped running your damn mouth the lady could have had time to say something!” Iris growled back, raising her voice, ”The only sign you should be waving is one that says you’re a big, dumb, langue loving, squirrel sucking, smelly, inbred… ass!” she screamed back. Iris was hungry, so how could anyone blame her? Before Len had time to think, Iris charged at Len pushing him as hard as she could, toppling over their slow cooker (stick) and knocking the remaining squirrel into the fire below.

Iris stopped, and it seemed the world stopped turning on it’s axis as well as the slow motion of the squirrel falling to it’s death repeated several times in Iris’ head. Whipping her half shaved head at the woman she smiled with a cheeky grin. ”You’ll have to excuse’ us for a minute.” she chirped, before turning to the grounded Len and springing on top of him- her legs straddled above his chest. She began slapping him violently across the face, yelling things that not even Iris quite understood.

Kara noted the pair fighting and slowly approached closer, grabbing the crossbow from next to the rock.
She aimed this at Iris, though not quite sure how it works
"Get up!"
She shouted as loud as she could, the fear in her voice getting more obvious.
I should just run, Anna wouldn't have gotten this close she thought to herself

Alex was totally and completely lost. She was lost in more then one definition of the word. She had no idea where she was, or if she was even close to her end location. The girl had never read a map or even held one, so her geographical location was a complete mystery to her. But she also felt lost in the psychological sense, although she would never admit it. She wasn't sure how to act without a set leader, she had never been a leader herself.

And little did she know, she was going the wrong way entirely.

The young girl paused a moment, trying to recover breath and strength she couldn't remember ever having. She bent over at the waist, hands bracing on her knees. She shivered involuntarily even as the sun bore down on her exposed skin. It had rained that part night, and Alex had made the mistake of falling asleep out in the open. She could have been eaten, but instead woke up soaked to the bone and ill feeling. Her backpack and supplies had become completely waterlogged as well, feeling heavy on her back.

A far off sound caught Alex's attention. It sounded like voices talking, or more like arguing, in the distance. Alex tried to push back her fear, she would have to do the only thing she knew how to do. Steal. Alex crept close to the ground, her light steps coming in handy now, as she approached the camp. She kept to the shadows, completely hidden to anyone who wasn't looking close enough. There were three people, a man and two women. Maybe a group? They seemed to be all arguing with each other, the red head had a weird weapon, the girl with the cool Mohawk was jumping on the man.

And watching that squirrel fall into the fire broke Alex's heart. She clamped an arm around her empty stomach, trying to smother the biting hunger. Well the option of stealing their food was out, but she remained watching. Maybe they would all kill each other and there would be things to loot. She shivered again, wishing the heat of the fire would reach a little farther.

Heavy eyelids slid down over a set of deep brown eyes fighting back what was forsure a losing battle. Small red drips fell from the chin of the inclined head to the small puddle that was now forming just below the kneeling figure. Small jerks began to ripple across the body, as the battle was lost. There was not a human a live to this day that could have won this battle of composure, it was just impossible. Things like this, even the most cold hearted would have had that internal moment of weakness. Corbin, it was just too much as he placed the last big rock over the small hand. “I’m sorry,” he whispered while raking the back of his hand across his cheeks, ridding the stream of tears that were cascading done them. “Only if I was just a few minutes earlier.” He mumbled through the hard swallowing.

Pushing himself up, his red-tented orbs looked over the larger pile of rocks some inches away from this smaller one. “I’m so sorry.” He exclaimed to the unknown female. “Only if I was sooner, just maybe I could have.…” He fought back the notion to vomit. His mind playing the role of the punisher as the mental images of all those that he has buried flashed before his mental eye. “Fuck!” He screamed out as the pain ripped through him. Tears falling as his mind relived burying Karri. “You may rest now, your fight is over.” lowering, a small rose slips from his fingers, landing in between both graves. “Please understand and forgive me for what I must do now.” He whispered to the graves.

Turning away from the graves, his orbs focuses upon the two scumbags bound to a tree some fifty yards away. Pulling his knife out and shaking his head, “Naw, this one is too sharp.” Moving about the rubble, his eye comes across something that completes the task at hand. Reaching down he picks up the shard of glass. Head nodding as he turns and twist the piece before his gawking eyes. “This will work nicely.” His heard lifting and turning toward the two men. “Yep, this will work nicely.” He repeated as he walked toward the men.

The screams that echoed out was bone chilling to any whom heard it and didn’t know what was going on, but to Corbin, it was music to his ears as he stood and watched the blood run down the inner thigh of both men, then he took the castrated part of their body and shoved into both men’s mouths. “Yep, you both are qualified _ _ _ _ suckers!” He turned away from them, his eyes coming to a rest on the two graves. “Please understand that they deserved this and I hope you don’t judge me too harshly.” He muttered while he turned away and headed off into the horizon.

Pink and red streaks filled the sky telling all who looked into the sky that the day was coming to its end, one more day of misery now gone and bestowed into the books of history. Many of these types of days filled the mental pages of Corbin‘s history book, it seems like life had it out for him for each and everyday he managed to live through that day’s hell. If he believed in curses, he would swear up and down and all around that he was life’s prime target.

The sun bid its last breath to the land that Corbin walked upon as it slipped below the horizon. The chill in the air told him that a rather nice size river must be close for the temperature to drop so suddenly. His arms crossed over his chest, hands tucked into the warmth of his armpit, a grumble escaped with each tiring footstep. It has been a few days since he had a good nights sleep, something really hard to do these days but there was once that he did managed to grab one. His mind drifted back to the colonies, “Don’t go there asshole.” His mental voice scolded.

Off to the right something drew his attention, pulling his mind out of the clutches of the flashback; his orbs watched the flickering orange light splashing upon the small band of trees for what seemed like an eternity. This, this is what this life is now, nothing but constant hesitation, scanning over a unknown area and hoping like hell that it was just your mind playing tricks on you and there was nothing there. “AHH FUCK! What now!” he hissed at the night, not wanting to investigate, yeah like that wasn’t going to happen, “Fuck you life!” he hissed as once again the curse was upon him.

“By the backwards ass of an ass! I’m just walking up to this!” angrily he stomped toward the flickering flames. “Let’s see you get me out of this shit this time you bitch!” His eyes glaring at the sky as if it was the shadowy figure of life. ‘What lessons are to be learned when walking at night in an unknown landscape?’ This was the resounded reply from the shadowy figure of life as Corbin trips over several unseen dead branches, hitting the ground with a huff.

“WELL FUCK ME!” he shouts out, having his fill of life’s never-ending bullshit, rises up from the ground. His eyes locking onto the figures at the campsite. “I hope your fucking day has been better than mine.” his hands sprawling outward with the palms turned upwards. “What the fuck else can go wrong.” He shouted at the sky.

The streaks of lighting shot across the sky and ended with the angry boom of the forth-coming storm.. “That is just fucking great!” Corbin shaking his head…

The red head shouted.

Iris stopped wailing on Len. She looked over her shoulder to see that the woman had stolen Len’s crossbow and had it pointed right at her. Getting one last slap across his face, Iris stood up and slowly turned around. Perhaps this woman wasn’t as friendly as Iris had hoped. ”Alright, alright.” she spoke quietly, her palms outward as she begged for a sense of mercy.

The sky was becoming grey quickly out of no where. Spring usually had such sporadic weather that it was no surprise at all for one moment for the sun to be shining and the next- a downpour. Iris glanced up at the sky and then back at the woman, ”Them earthworms love the rain, I suggest we get out of here soon. “ Iris nodded, looking down at Len before she started gathering some of their packs. The woman still had their cross bow - but when it came to the Langue’s.. that was the least of their problems.

As thunder and lightning erupted in the sky a loud voice came rumbling from behind the red headed woman: “I hope your fucking day has been better than mine.” he called, and continued speaking loudly at them, but Iris ignored most of it. ”Just great..” she groaned, kicking Len’s leg with the toe of her boot, ”Crazy people are a coming! Let’s get the fuck out of here!” she whispered to him harshly, hoping he’d kick it into high gear and they could find someplace high off the ground while the rain past.

Len was taken completely by surprise at Iris’ sudden attacks--so much so, that despite the fact he outweighed her by quite a bit, she was still able to easily take him down. He was just about to attempt to reverse the situation, her slaps across his face not really phasing him too much, when an icy chill ran down his spine at the bitch red-heads word’s. Well I’ll be an ass in heat, he thought as he heard the woman tell them to get up. His suspicions were confirmed when he gazed beside Iris, seeing the woman holding his own damn crossbow. Son of a bitch, he thought bitterly. Letting out an audible sigh, he glared up at Iris, but she was already standing to her feet. He looked from Iris to the redhead, and noted how hesitantly, how...strangely she held the weapon. It was as if she’d had zero experience with one. Thinking he could use that to his advantage, he was shocked from his train of thought, as Iris kicked him in the leg. He blinked, listening as she told him crazy people were on the way.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, he realized for the first time that it was starting to storm. He’d been so lost in anger and...thoughts of revenge against the red head, that he hadn’t noticed the giant drops of rain that began to speckle the ground. Shaking his head, Len jumped to his feet--but instead of helping Iris take up their packs, he stepped towards the Red Head. He glared menacingly at her, cracking his knuckles, yet strategically placing himself between his crossbow and Iris. He wasn’t about to let *anyone* take Iris from him. She was the last family he had left. He’d never let her know this, but he was terrified that the langue would one day take her...or someone like this damn...intruder, would kill her. This woman, aiming his own weapon at Iris, hit a chord deep within him, striking a fuse that would not easily be put out.

“Now you listen good, Cupcake,” he snarled, suddenly dead serious, color draining from his face as rage began to overtake him. “Lookit’ you. Can’t even hold the damn weapon right. You got 5 bolts right there on that weapon, sure. An’ only two of us. But how fast you think you can reload that bitch? I’m thinkin’ you *might* manage to pop one bolt in there in say...7 seconds, and that’s bein’ mighty generous, given you’ve clearly never touched one of those before. Now yeah, you might manage to shoot a bolt through my sis over yonder, but then what? How fast ya think I can get to ya? Long ‘fore you reload my crossbow, I guaren-damn-tee.” He took another menacing step forward, not caring about the threat of Langue. Not at this time, at any rate.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody threaten’s Iris. You can either drop that crossbow, or shoot one of us and get yer damn heart torn out and fuckin’ fed to your bleeding corpse. I’ll let you decide. We can settle this like...civil folk...or you can lie dyin’ in the mud.” Len shrugged, folding his arms over his chest, his hair dripping as the rain began to pour down upon the little group.

Iris shook her head, her burgandy mane of hair plastered to her cheeks. She wouldn’t admit it but the rain was getting her mighty nervous, and she wanted to make sure they were high off the ground from those damn monsters. Hoisting both Len and Iris’ packs onto her back she kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out completely, trying to cover the scent and smoke that they had been there recently. Come on Len, we gotta get!” Iris pleaded, her dark almond eyes staring intently between him, and the red head next to them. With her gaze on the red head she spoke very seriously, ”You are either with or against us. The langue will be popping from the ground and we ain’t going to be here to see it.” she pushed past the woman with her shoulder, making it clear that she meant business.

Tense and ready for a fight as he was, the look of fury upon his face, the fire in his eyes, melted away as Iris pleaded with him to get out of there. The storm, the rain...the Langue would soon be here, and he knew Iris wouldn’t leave if he stayed here. He’d be putting her in far more danger than the redhead with his crossbow. Shoulders slumping slightly at this realization, he threw a soft glance towards Iris. “....Alright. Yer right...we gotta git…” Closing his eyes for a moment, he turned back to the red-head, as he heard Iris tell her she was either with them or against them. Boldly reaching down and grabbing his Colt AR-15 from in front of the fire, he shot a glare at the woman.

“Keep the goddamn crossbow. Ya might be needin’ it, for all the good it’ll do ya against the Langue. If I was you, I’d prolly get movin,’ but I’m supposin’ you gotta make that choice for yerself. Either way, we’re walkin’ outta here. You wanna shoot us in the back on our way out, that’s on you.” Following Iris, he pushed passed the woman, purposely jostling her with his shoulder. He noted a man not too far away, but he didn’t really give a crap. Getting away from this spot took precedence over these people right now.

Taking off towards some structures, the rain began coming down a little harder.

"Lookit’ you. Can’t even hold the damn weapon right."
These words hit Kara harder than they should have, she was almost certain she was holding it in the same way Anna once did.
But then she realized the storm, Kara stood there petrified as Len and Iris walked away. Fear was filling her body, Anna's death playing through her mind over and over again, the one person she loved being ripped apart by the langue. Kara began to shake, still stood there pointing the crossbow at a target that had long walked away.
"Anna..." she spoke to herself, a tear dripping from her eye.

She snapped out of it after a few moments, and began to run towards Len and Iris. These maniacs could very well be the only way for her to live on.
"Wait up!" she shouted, tears running from her eyes.
Kara quickly caught up to the duo
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have tried to do what I did"
She said all this crying slightly, realizing that she will need friends to survive
"If you have me I think I can be a great help to you"

Corbin noted the situation, but figured that maybe a little senile craziness would defuse the situation. Like most events, you have people pulling weapons and yak, yak, yak, instead of the saying if you pull a weapon on someone use the goddamn thing and do not sit there and talk bullshit. Hell if that female wanted to kill them she would have done so already. Why in the hell would anyone talk with her? He just shook his head and waved his hand at the bunch. Hell if had been him, he would have just pulled out his 9”S and shot them all, the hell with just standing there gossiping with them.

Watching the fiasco was flaring his attitude of why sometimes it was just best to stay alone. Shrugging his shoulders to the situation, he turned and headed back down the hill. His idea was to find some kind of shelter for the night, for it looked like the storm was going to be hanging around for sometime, and that just sucked to all means. Nothing like being cold and wet, and with the way things are going it would be his luck that in the next few days he will sick as hell.

Walking on, his thoughts were on the people he just left behind. He really wondered how in the hell they managed to survive this long. A slight chuckle escaped his lips as a mental image popped into his head of how he thought they did it, but this dirty image faded fast as the heavy drops of rain began to instantly soak into his clothes, bringing the cold with it. Cursing he sped up his walking for off in the distant view of his gaze, the streaks of lighting should promise of some kind of structures ahead of him.

Several long moments later, Corbin entered into what appeared to be an outer-rimmed Gas station. Pulling out one of his 9’s he entered the already looted store, but supplies at the moment was not on the top of his list, but a dry place to lay his ass down was. Moving behind the counter, he sat down and leaned against the shelving. His gaze fell upon his knife for a few moments before putting the weapon back into the back of his pants.

Letting out a big sigh, he closed his eyes and attempted to get as much rest as he could…

Kara followed behind at a safe distance, not too far, but not too close. She was still shaking, the langue could easily show up any moment now and kill Len and Irs. Then she would be alone ago, she seemed to have a knack for surviving unforgiving odds.
"Hey uh, where exactly are we going?"
In her mind Kara imagined a huge compound, full of people all living happily. It would be like the langue didn't exist. Everytime she blinked she could see it again, her parents would be there, her mentor would be there. But most importantly Anna would be there, sweet innocent Anna with her beautiful blue eyes and long blonde hair.

Kara had thought about giving up many times, finding a way to kill herself. But Anna wouldn't want that, she always had a dream and Kara was going to make sure it happened.
Every night back at the sanctuary Kara and Anna would climb up onto the roof of the living quarters and watch the sunset together, cuddling.
"We're gon' expand this place"
Anna would say this every time
"Find new people, repopulate."
Kara would always just sit and listen to Anna talk about her plan
"My father reckoned there's a way to kill all the langue, he never told me what though. But I'm gon' find it Kara, you can trust me on that. And when I do, we're gonna get married and have a family of our own. It'll be like this never happened!"

Kara's eyes opened and she was back to reality, her eyes began to well up again.
"Anna..." she said to herself, though Len and Iris could hear her quite well

Alex listened from the shadows of the trees as the trio seemed to calm down enough to communicate with each other. Alex was liking the man's style more and more. He had a cool approach to everything, even when the redhead was pointing a crossbow at his friend. He even got in between it and his friend, improbably guessing that the redhead lacked the guts to fire on the two of them. And he spoke in such a way that Alex knew he meant business. Alex shivered again as the rain began to start, holding back a growl. Great, right as her clothes were starting to get dry. She watched as the man pushed past the redhead, with his friend with the cool hair following close behind. Both of them pushed past the girl violently.

It was clear to see who was the easier target. The redhead seemed to be too scared to move, easy pickings. Alex waited until it seemed like the man and the woman were a distance away before she began to creep out of the trees, still keeping hidden. She needed the element of surprise. But right as she was making herself seen she noticed something. The redhead was crying. Alex swallowed, tense. And then quickly ducked back into the trees as the girl ran past her, trying to catch up.

Alex let out a soft curse, knowing the redhead wouldn't be able to hear her. She half expected the man and woman to laugh her off. What could the two of them do with such an emotional weakling? Bait maybe. She was mostly angry at her loss of a good target. Alex rolled her eyes, trying to compose herself. The redhead likely didn't have anything on her. Her painfully empty stomach forced her to check the abandoned fire pit, to see if any of the squirrel remained. But there was nothing but dust.

She looked up at the three figures, now pretty far away. Maybe they would eventually kick out the redhead. Or better yet, lead Alex to something. She followed behind the three, keeping as slow and quiet as she could. She was getting pretty close to them, but something was making it hard to walk. The ground and mud felt loose and shifty. Alex nearly found herself stumbling, catching herself. But not before letting out a curse and a gasp.

"What about here Rose?"

He didn't hear any kind of response. He never got a response. No matter how many times Espen asked the teddy bear the stuffed animal remained silent. Espen glanced at the lofty tree. If Rose doesn't think this is a suitable resting place then Espen doesn't. The man squeezed the plushie closer to himself before trudging away from the possible hideous sepulcher. After only a few steps, he felt his finger get lightly prodded. Espen peered down at the toy to find a small flower stem sticking out of it. The stem's discoloration showed the flowers that filled the teddy bear were dying which Espen couldn't allow. His trudging gradually turned into jogging as he looked around the area for flowers.

Eventually, he came across some roses that not only looked nice but would partially mask the stench of his decaying sister's body. Espen cut away at the stems of multiple flowers with his knife until he could fill his coat pockets and hands with the aromatic flowers. Should be eno-
Espen's thoughts were interrupted by the angry boom of thunder. Well... shit. He didn't wanna get soaked or eaten so Espen sprinted towards the closest shelter to him, some old (hopefully) uninhabited buildings.

Once inside some structure with a roof he placed Rose onto the ground and proceeded to undo the stitches that kept the bear's cloth together. The moment he did so he saw her. Rose's body surrounded by equally lifeless lilies. Espen's attempt at holding back tears was absolutely pointless. He was hunched over the corpse, crying and sobbing. One of the reasons he entered this place was to stay dry and his tears falling onto Rose made entering here somewhat pointless. He slowly removed all of the dead lilies and replaced them with the newly picked roses then sewed the toy back together.
"I'm sorry."
Espen wiped the tears from his face and placed his only companion down, letting it lean on the wall. He looked at his overcast surroundings and sat himself down next to the bear.
"We'll just have to wait."

Approaching the large empty grain silo Iris looked at the decomposing outside, running her hand along the exterior she felt the chipping paint crumble against her fingertips. Soon they met with the ladder to get inside. ”Let’s hope she’s open.” Iris mentioned to Len and Kara, giving a cheeky grin. She looked liked a wet dog, but the shower had been long overdue. Gripping to the slippery metal ladder, Iris began quickly ascending. Losing her footing when she was a bit more than half way- she let out a sharp gasp before flinging her petite body to the cold metal, holding on for dear life. ”Fuck!” she muttered, gathering herself before continuing her climb.

As she reached the door and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Looking down to Len and Kara Iris gave a thumbs up to indicate she was okay and that it was safe to climb up. Pushing open the door Iris was greeted with an unpleasant sight- the silo was empty. The group could not use the grain as a layer of protection and more room to walk, but the few feet of inner ring of railing and landing would be enough for the night.

Len grunted in reply as Iris mentioned hoping the door was open. He expected it to be, but if not...hell, he could always make an entrance if need be. He gave Kara a quick glance, before following Iris inside, wondering what sight would await them. He’d seen some...interesting things in abandoned buildings. Some quite grisly.

He watched as Iris started climbing the wet ladder. “Hey there now, you be a-care--” he hadn’t even finished the sentence when she lost her grip. Eyes wide, he dashed forward as though to catch her should she fall, but she somehow managed to stay on the ladder. Letting out a deep sigh of relief. “Don’t go breakin’ yer neck now, ya hear?” he hollered up as Iris began to climb once more. Turning to Kara, he said “Awright, let’s get a climbin’ and try not to fall, eh?” With that, he took hold of the rungs. He was wondering if he’d lose his grip around the same place Iris did, but he made it up without incident. He glanced around, noting the emptiness of the area.

“Well, ain’t this a son of a bitch,” he spoke, crossing his arms. “Well, leas’ the worms might not be smellin’ us as good up here. I hope.”

Kara followed them up, climbing up the ladders very slowly being sure not to make the same mistake Iris did.
She caught up to them and looked around, disappoint in her eyes
"Uh, this is your hold out?"
She said, drenched in rain.

Kara looked around the small area, being very careful with her footing
"It's better than nothing I suppose"
She sighed before sitting on the flooring, removing her wet head scarf. She kept her eyes on Len and Iris before deciding to talk again
"Listen, about earlier. I don't know what I was thinking"

Sitting down made his own weariness apparent. After a long yawn, Espen jabbed himself in the leg, but the pain didn't make him wakeful. His eyes repeatedly closed and opened as he fought the futile battle against sleep. Espen willingly laid down and reached for his teddy bear. He easily ignored the cold ground and squeezed the plushy close to himself, he finally closed his eyes.

Espen's exhaustion and the rainfall limited Espen's senses, but he was still capable of hearing the curses and words uttered by fellow invaders. Sleeping while other survivors are around would be asking for death. Espen rose as alive as ever, he briskly grabbed his things and prepared his crossbow. The man inspected the area before noting some boot marks leading to a silo. He grasped the metal ladder and climbed upwards. Espen wrapped his fingers around the slippery handle and opened it.

Regardless of his awkward footing, he aimed his crossbow down towards the bottom of the silo at the three invaders.
"I can't really go to sleep until you guys do." Espen stated as he rubbed his eyes, still aiming his crossbow at the three of them.

Kara stared at Espen
'Guess I'm not the only one who points weapons at these guys' she thought to herself, deciding it best to keep her mouth shut
There wasn't much she could do for Len and Iris in this situation, she barely knew their names, and they didn't know hers.

She sat back, eyes fixated on the crossbow, one hand on Lens crossbow still.
Kara sighed before deciding to say something
"Easy now, we're friendly"
She said to him
"Atleast I think so anyway..."
Kara muttered the last part under her breath

Alex had kept herself hidden, following after the group of three survivors until they entered the grain silo. She watched in silence as the three made their way up the ladder. The girl shivered again, wrapping her arms around her shaking torso. It had begun to rain again, which was nice because it masked her footsteps, but she was terribly cold. She made her way into the silo, not yet climbing the ladder herself. She listened to their conversation, briefly questioning why she hadn't left. Maybe she wanted to find herself a group, but knew her social skills and stubbornness wouldn't let her admit defeat.

And yet it was nice to be out of the rain. The bottom floor of the silo was damp and smelly, and Alex knew it would have been dryer in the upper levels, and yet she settled herself down onto the ground. And like a dog begging for table scraps Alex hoped they would accidentally drop crumbs off their ladder and into her lap.

She shivered again, her gnawing stomach making it hard to focus on anything other then food. She was have to wait until the weather got nicer, as well as the sun came up, to try and find her next meal. Her thoughts were interrupted by a new voice, approaching the silo. Alex backed herself into the farthest edge of the silo, blending well into the dark corner. She held her breath as the man climbed up the ladder, cross bow in hand. She tried to control her breathing as she listened to the man threaten them.

She hugged her combat knife to her chest, like a child holding a doll, and waited for the danger to pass.

Espen returned his hand to his crossbow after rubbing his tired eyes. Looking back down at the three, he noticed one of them was armed and some were staring at him. Another arbalist. Espen's grip tightened around his crossbow and he attempted to aim his weapon best he could towards who he thought was a possible threat.
“Well I’ll be a monkey’s son of a bitch!! What the fuck, Iris? Every gat-damn-body and their special cousin’s be drawin’ down on us today! This is startin’ to get just a lil’ on my nerves, Sis…”
Espen's attention was immediately drawn to the man with the funny way of speaking. Still aiming his crossbow at the armed lady, his eyes were following the man. He took a step forward and Espen slowly directed his crossbow towards him. The fastest way to him would be by the ladder and he would rather not have anyone climbing it.
“You got ‘bout two cotton-pickin’ seconds to lower that fuckin’ peashooter before I plant my boot so far up your ASS you gonna taste leather for the next ten gat-damn years!!”
Espen chuckled a bit. What an odd way to threaten someone. Espen didn't really care about how furious he was.

"Easy now, we're friendly"
Espen didn't like killing people. Most of the time. He has heard so many variations of those words so many times that they lost all merit; especially in situations like these. Espen felt he had the advantage, being so high up and the three of them confined into one space. Like shooting fish in a barrel. But instead of fish, it is people... inside of a silo...

Espen ignored the talk of them being friendly as he really examined the situation. He was unaware of whether or not they had any weapons on them, they outnumbered him, and more importantly... the only way he could possibly go is down. Even if he did manage to shoot one of them, they could retaliate. Espen didn't wanna test the durability of the silo against arrows or bullets. Higher ground didn't mean shit currently. Walking away was no longer an option. His choice of trying to confront them was dumb.

The arbalist lowered his crossbow and decided to ask something he has been bothering him for a bit.
"Hey hothead, where is that accent from?"