James, I've been thinking lately, more than usual actually, which is a feat since we both know I'm always thinking about something. But it's been more about you lately; wondering if you're alive, safe or if you're with someone you can trust to watch your bad. I know it's difficult, but just like you used to tell me, there's a light at the end of the tunnel - you just have to wait for it. I mean, I know James, but I can't just sit and hope that you're not going to die and that you'll find your way to me. It's not often that I come across something I don't know, James, but right now the only thing I want to know but have no access to the information, is where you are. James I -

The hand holding the black pen shuttered to a halt on the page settled on the table in front of her as the door to the RV swung outward, signaling the entrance of another human being, most likely looking to use the bathroom. What the young woman was greeted with, however, was Marcus entering the midsized RV, equipped as if to leave. Had it been anyone else she would have slid her letter away, into the journal she kept in her bag, though the male who walked in now had stayed a month at the local library; she would write her letters to James every morning as her time to reflect over everything that had happened that previous day. It was her own way of coping, and possibly the only reason she had managed to stay sane after so long wandering and witnessing the most terrible things; she never forgot a thing after all. He never said a thing to her, but she knew what he was thinking by the look he gave her and the fact that the rest of the camp was still asleep. When he was gone, she had stood, tucking away her things inside of her own drawer and stepped outside.

When the sun had risen above the horizon, Anastasia found herself sitting by the edge of the encampment, her slingshot settled on her lap with a small pouch of rocks she had been collecting the day before. One leg sprawled forward at an awkward angle, the hem of blue-grey skirt touching just beneath her knee, leaving the end of the angry red scar exposed. The accident had been over a year ago, but when she'd been separated from James she'd fractured it again and it wasn't healing properly anymore. One of her crutches leaned against the side of the rock she sat on, within reach in case she needed to get up, but far enough away that she wouldn't accidentally knock it out of reach with her elbow. A closed book in her hands, held between long and frail fingers, delicate and easily broken, though strangely enough there were no scars on her hands and the soft skin as unblemished; not even a single freckle marked the skin. She was much like a doll, sitting in place watching for walkers as the others slept. It has been a long time since they had been able to make camp in such an empty place, so devoid of undead life that they barely had to worry about being attacked while they slept. It was just an empty field, not far from a farm house though right beside the road where their vehicles were parked.

Lara woke suddenly from a restless dream. Lazlo, whom she had been using as a warm pillow, whimpered at her and she gently stroked his coat as she closed her eyes again. She had the same dream several times a week. It was more of a nightmare than a dream. On top of everything else she was basically reliving the two worst things she had experienced since the start of the end. The zombification and beating of her lover, handed to him by her own hand and bat. And the death of the child, who Lazlo actually belonged to. Her dream was always vivid and always the same. Rodger, her lover, was the reason for Mathew's, the child's, death. It was Rodger who had bitten the child and turn him in her dream though she child had actually died of an illness she could not fight off without the proper medication, which she had not had at the time. In her dream she beats both lover and child to death with a baseball bat. Her body can't take the emotion that starts swirling around in her after this and so she usually wakes, suddenly. Today she woke with tears in her eyes. Lara wiped them away and composed herself before deciding she should get up.

She sat up and stretched. Looking around the encampment to find most everyone still asleep. She smiled at this. It had been a while since a good night's sleep was even an opportunity. She looked around and noticed Anastasia. The former nurse decided to check on the girl. She was all to aware of her injuries and wanted to see how she was doing today. It was the nurse training that made her do this. She stood and headed to where the other female was seated, taking her bat with her. Lazlo followed, as usual. "Morning girly." She greeted as she took a seat beside the girl on watch. "How are you feeling today?" Just a general question she asked almost everyone, on a regular basis.

Before the start of all this Lara had just been a regular old nurse. Her patients seemed to like her and that was all that seemed to matter to her. She got along well with almost everyone, she was fairly outgoing even outside of work. After everything started she closed her self off. Only choosing to be outgoing when she was making sure everyone was okay. Though she was usually nicer to Anastasia than most other people. Often referring to her as girly, chick, or chica. She wasn't sure if the other female like the nicknames but nevertheless they seem to come out of her mouth anyway.

As a new day dawned on the survivor's encampment, the early morning peace and quiet was broken, as it always was, by the sound of claps and grunted numbers.

"Forty-eight..." Nick breathed as he pushed his body off the dirt, quickly bringing his hands up to clap beneath him, then throwing them out to catch his fall. "Forty-nine... fifty." The bare-chested man sat in the dirt, sweat dripping down his face, forcing air into his lungs with every breath. It had to be said that at least as far as motivation to stay in shape went, the apocalypse beat the absolute hell out of a new-years resolution. There was no place for cubicle mice in the new world, Nick had realized early on - if you wanted to have any damn fun with this shit at all, you had to be strong; which is why he began every morning at the crack of dawn with a routine of push-ups, sit-ups, and jump-roping. Well, that and the fact that there was often little else to do.

Bored, Nick rose to his feet and brushed the dirt off his track pants. Casually, he reached into his tent and produced his current weapon of choice. He went through weapons fairly quickly, either due to them breaking or just getting bored with them, but the well-sharpened fire axe he'd taken to keeping under his pillow had yet to disappoint.

The shirtless man began spinning the weapon around with obvious irreverence for its sharpness, testing the weight and feel of it and discovering that it was, in fact, exactly the same as when he'd put it down last night. His stance shifted and he began to swing the weapon, spinning it in wide arcs and doing battle with a host of imaginary undead. Boredom. It'd been two days since his last zombie kill, and even that hadn't been a good one - just one single swing right to the neck as it sprinted at him. The body hadn't even skidded very far! Nick was getting antsy - he needed something to get his blood pumping again.

Resting the weapon on his shoulder, Nick padded off to where Anastasia was sitting with Lara. "Morning," he said, giving the girls a broad smile. "Hope everybody slept well, sweet dreams and everything. You got anything out there for me?" The man yawned and gestured casually to the woods with his axe.

"Dorsen, house 2,3,6,8 are all taken care of. "Good now for 11", Johnny got a shock to the system. His home. His wife. He creeped through the bushes, leading to his garden and made a sprint to the door getting bullets fired at him. His wife beat him with a frying pan, when he went into the kitchen "I-It was an accident!" Johnny knew they had to act fast and at that moment the doors were kicked down. Johnny ran to one side of the room his wife the other Johnny could see they were gonna pincer his wife. It struck him like a ton of bricks......"Self preservation" he quietly muttered and crawled through the window.

Johnny woke up feeling horrible he had a tickly throat no thanks to that dog, soon he started sneezing "Fucking dog" he muttered as the medic walked by. Johnny didn't get up he just lay in bed writing down what just happened. "Outrage, why keep that when it offers nothing", Johnny spoke to himself not understanding that they loved the dog. In a way, Johnny Fiasco is just broken...

He got out of his bed fixed his cuffs and tie and made way to what seemed to be the only ones up."Good morning hope you slept well so, Where, are we going? Because we could use food with the amount in this group." Johnny looked to the dog, not seeing him as a food source but not apart of the group.

Some people may not take kindly to Johnny but he was alive because he thought of himself and only himself......

Alone for a long while, the young woman watched the empty road and the flat ground across from it, wondering how long it would be until Marcus would be back and how far they would go before they found a neat place to settle. Hopefully it would be long before winter, as the early summer heat was beginning to sink in, and the open sun was a tough place for them to be and the threat of a drought was as realistic as can be. She was worried about the survival of the group as a whole, as realistically, they could survive with two or three less members though she knew that death would bring hopelessness upon those who survived the attack and ultimately bring about the end of the rest of them. It was in fact an irritating thought, that so many of those with them could be swayed by such emotional events in a way that they may not wish to continue living; it was reasonable, but illogical in the young woman's mind. Soft grey eyes passed over the horizon, watching patiently for either the return of Marcus, or the arrival of another being, living or dead, though with the long silence drawn out of the time spent sitting alone and alert. Instead of pondering the logistics of their time, she turned her attention to the volume in her hands, leafing through the pages of agricultural knowledge until she reached the page she had last read the day before on their journey. It had been Marcus' request for her to learn as much as she can about farming while they drove north, looking for sanctuary and a place they can settle for the winter. Staying out in the open in the cold would be more dangerous then staying in an old house for the winter, and she'd been keeping an eye out for landmarks when they came back through here later. No one was sick, pregnant or injured, but she would love to take time to search through a library or university for things they could use.

If there was any chance of getting into a hospital then she would be grateful, as their medical supply store was pitiful, barely more than a first aid kit. Anastasia and Lara couldn't take care of everyone like that, not if Anastasia couldn't find any of the natural remedies her and James had used after their parents death. The volume closed as she heard the door to the RV open and two emerge from it. Panting, sniffing and faster padding into the grass told her that it was Lara and Lazlo leaving the RV and walking toward her. The nurse had made it a habit to make sure she was alright every morning, with her crippled leg she was the weakest member of the group - aside from Johnny. She knew the nurse was worried about their medicine running short too, even though neither would express such worry in front of the rest of the group. Anastasia planned to bring it up to the small council to look at their possibilities. "Fine. It's going to rain later though." She mentioned, feeling the changes in air pressure that caused her leg to ache dully. "We should get everyone fed. Marcus will be back soon."

Anastasia had never been the most friendly in the group, but she was never openly hostile either with any of them, since she knew none would take her seriously if she allowed emotions to control her. She was the youngest of them, and crippled. All she had to offer them was the extensive collection of knowledge she kept stored in her mind. The girl slid over on the rock, allowing Lara a place to sit comfortably, though as she did so she slid further than she had meant to, nearly falling off of the rock. She barely managed to catch herself on her crutch, digging the end into the dirt to stop it from moving as she settled again. The dull ache in her leg flared, and she knew she'd pulled it the wrong way, but showed no sign of pain other than biting her bottom lip, which could easily have been a nervous tick of hers. Even after a year she was aware no one here would be able to understand her and she wanted it like that. If they didn't ask she wouldn't have to lie to them.

With the arrival of the clearly bored male, she looked up at him, grey eyes watching him smile at them though she rarely returned such a gesture to anyone. "It's too quiet." Even she was aware of how long it had been since they had seen anything moving apart from themselves and the occasional bit of wildlife, it was throwing off Marcus and herself. Apprehension was high, and the air tense when anyone spoke of the quiet. They could be massing another horde here in Montana like they had in Atlanta, but they were coming from the north of them. The closer to winter the most often they saw groups of them. Glancing about the empty field, her gaze lingered in the direction that the military man had gone on the motorcycle, before she scanned everything else around them.She couldn't claim the best sight in the group, but she could claim the sharpest mind. "Nothing since three this morning." She said, aware of the time because of the watch she kept in her pouch. The battery would last months, and the last time she had replaced it she had counted the seconds and minutes she'd lost to put it back on proper timing.

It was sometime over a year now that Charlie had found himself with the group. By sheer luck he found Marcus and was offered a group of people he could call his friends. There was not any place they could call home, but together as a whole it felt doable. He woke up each day with a smile and an attitude to fit, thinking that life could have been worse if he was dead and gone with his family. A yawn escaped his lips as he noticed a group forming around the trailer of Anastasia. The woken survivors were Lara and her dog Lazlo, Nick, and Johnny. Taking note he peered off into the distance, for a few minutes, staring off into the space, expecting to see or hear any sign for the arrival of Marcus.

"He should be back any second now," his mind whispered. "Any second..."

Charlie was always worried about the others, there wasn't a second his mind was on anything else other than the group. The safety of the group meant everything to him. He had lost too many people already and he was not going to lose anymore people in the group that had found him. The panic, worry, and concern was not just for him though, it wasn't that he didn't want to lose anybody else, it was also for the better of the group as a whole. They each individually had lost people in their lives and having to lose more people around them wasn't something Charlie was wanting for anyone. They had gone through enough, so surviving and living was all he wanted to help the group with.

Making his way over he gave the group a friendly and warm good morning. "Hope you all slept good. Marcus should be coming back soon. Everyone should grab a snack because once he's here we'll be going over a few things."

He might have left camp to pick some herbs he saw, and he might have freaked out about a possible zombie squirrel....maybe. He's not admitting to anything, but he might have maybe done those things. OK, maybe it's not a maybe that those things happened. There's a chance he was picking some wild thyme when he heard a rustle, and squealed like a pig in fright. But whatever. He's a grown man, he can squeal if he wants to.

Signing, Skye rubbed his face, why was he trying to convince himself? Walking back towards camp he mulled over his luck though, he'd gone for a quick early morning walk, and found some fresh wild thyme. Which was great, because Lara was worrying about us getting sick a little while ago, and now we have some Vitamin C to fight against it. Best early morning walk EVER! Wait until he tells Anastasia, she'll be happy, and maybe smile.

Whatever, leaning his lead pipe up against his shoulder, Skye trudged into camp. "Anastasia, guess what I found? I found wild citrus acid!" laughing Skye approached the others, gathered near the rv. "I also found a possible zombie squirrel. Maybe. Further research might be required. Grinning cheekly, and winking, he sat near Anastasia and nudged her good leg with his foot. Smiling, he looked at her, the question asking how she was doing shined in his eyes.

Nick's face curled up in disapointment as Anastasia gave him the news: all quiet. "Dammit," he muttered. "Where'd all the bastards go? Couldn't throw a rock without hitting one of them in Atlanta. Heheh, good times." The man smiled at the memory of the great horde he'd witnessed in Georgia.

The shirtless man turned as more of the camp woke up. "Hey, Johnny. Still grouchy and allergic?" Nick furrowed his brow as the man brought up the issue of food. "Yeah, actually, he's got a point. Give it a few more days and there'll be a rumbly in ole' Nick's tummy." The man shrugged again. They'd deal with it - they always had so far. That kind of issue was better left to Charlie, or Lara, or all the grim-and-serious 'survival' types. When they needed Nick to set something on fire or beat a zombie to death with a tire iron, they'd call him, which was an arrangement that suited him just fine.

Charlie had approached, and was saying something about a meeting once Marcus came back. "Snacks and talking about stuff? Why, those are some of my favorite things, Charlie!" Nick trudged back to the RV to grab a granola bar, trying to conceal his annoyance at the mention of Marcus's mission. Nick had no problems with the guy, personally - he seemed just as nice as anyone else, knew how to handle himself, did his share of the work. The problem was that Nick had wanted to go on this little scouting mission with the man, to serve as backup. The group had deemed it too risky, and so Nick was left doing pushups in camp, bored out of his mind, while Marcus got to have all the fun.

Nick sauntered back to the group, still twirling his axe idly. He raised the weapon in a friendly salue when Skye entered the camp, replying with a mouthful of granola. "Zombie squirrel! Man, that'd be so the shit, zombie animals. Hey, Charlie, if we find a zombie bear, can I fight it? Please say yes."

Lara nodded to the girl. "Just let me know if the pain gets to be too much. I will give you some pain killers. I'm sorry I can't do anything for you really right now. If we could make it to a hospital I could stalk up on some better medical supplies. This rudimentary first-aid kit of nothing but items that can be bought over the counter is almost no help." At this point she began muttering to herself, listing out things she needed such as stronger pain medication, more gloves, allergy medication, Epipens, several roles of gauze medical wrap and medical tape, an ass ton of vitamins since the canned food wasn't the best source of such things. Hell if she could take the whole damn hospital she would. But there wasn't enough room in their vehicles to store it all.

As Lara muttered to herself more and more members of the group started gathering around them. First was Nick. The male had always slightly unnerved her. His love for zombie killing was too great and she was afraid he was a borderline psychopath. Then was Johnny, who, if she was being frank, she wanted to strangle half the time. His whole aura just screamed, coward, only cowards used words to try to weasel their way into things. He pissed her off, he was always so distant as rude with his self preservation crap and if he decided he was going to try to use her or another member to save himself he had another thing coming to him. The next to show up was Charlie. It seemed as though he was the acting leader of the group but then again they all had a fairly equal share in the decision making. And finally Skye. They all seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, about food and supplies and whatnot. For the most part she ignored it. The part about the zombie squirrel intrigued her slightly but she remained silent as she pet Lazlo.

For whatever reason the dog had decided to stick with her. She hadn't done anything special just done what she could to keep his original owner alive the best she could. She personally thought the dog should have held some sort of ill will toward her. After all she couldn't save the little boy, but no. Here he was, happy as can be, with a group of complete strangers. It baffled her. She shrugged at her own thoughts and stood up, brushing herself off. "I think before we move out we should make a list of things we need. This way we can get in and out of the next city quickly. Sorry Nick but I'm not like you, the less we have to deal with the undead the happier I am." She said walking to her stuff to pull out her binder full of everyone's records. Well the ones she managed to pull together. Mostly just of allergies and injuries, if anybody took prescription meds those would be in her files as well. The binder was full of empty sheets of paper though. Perfect for writing lists. She liked to keep organized. She pulled the pen out of its pocket and clicked it repeatedly, beginning to scribble down some of the things she needed.

Sleeping on top of the RV had not been one of Alexander's best moves. His shoulder ached, causing him to shut his eyes tight and bite down on his lower lip to keep from moaning. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, even if the strain on his arm was killer from climbing up there. Even after all this time, it bothered him. The memories, the images, the restless nights that plagued him in this new world he found himself in. It was harder and if he was honest with himself, it was worrisome.

Sighing and shifting to sit up, a low sigh escaped his dry cracked lips, a drink and some food if there was any left to cook would do them all some good. He wasn't even sure if they had the supplies left to even make something for everyone to eat, or if it was going to be dried granola bars all round. He was a food snob, but for the past year, he kept his head down and his lack of food stuff to cook with to a bare minimum. Looking around the encampment, and stretching to get the kinks out of his back, Alexander trudged forward his face blank.

He must have missed them talking about something important, Lara was reading her binder again. Probably making a mental list of everything they needed. He was going to say if they were doing a supply run, maybe to grab food items, but instead stood off to the side. Someone would bring it up and he could interject on wanting to actually cook something again to raise everyone's spirits.

Even thinking that he knew, they wouldn't find much in fresh produce. The canned goods, even with a handful of spices he managed to grab, did little to change the texture and taste. Plus, he could recall reading something about canned food being less nutritious then a home cooked meal.

Yup, Alexander thought to himself. Hunger is going to set in and that, is never a good combination with our situation. Ever.

"Mornin'," Alexander called to the group. He walked on towards Lara, peaking over her shoulder to see what page she was on. He would never admit it, but it amused him when her nose was stuck in there. Reminded him of his little sister when she was caught in a good book or stuck with homework. Looking away from said lady, Alexander called over his shoulder, "So what's the plan for today? We moving forward again soon or staying still?"

It was as if Charlie had known exactly what Anastasia had been thinking about Marcus, her worry for him mirrored in his eyes and she reached over to him, passing him a small page of notes. It was a small list of things they would need in the place they wanted to stay, some suggestions and the promise of another list to come of what they're stores lacked. She couldn't do much in the way of hunting or defending, because of how bad her leg was some days, but she could organize things like it would be the end of everything if something was miscounted. She remembered running into him when she'd gotten separated from Marcus and Skye, not long after she had first left the library in Atlanta. He had saved her life on more than one occasion and she had learned to speak again from the time they had spent together in the library. He was a favourite of hers, and her confident when something was bothering her.

She looked over at him and laughed quietly as he spoke of what he'd found in the forest. "Sounds hilarious. We'll have to look into it further." She said, letting on that she was capable of humor, though she preferred not to smile in front of the adults. They treated them like kids and wouldn't listen to them if they acted like kids, even though they're what used to be considered legally adults. She judged him in the side with her elbow as well, silently telling him to stop worrying about her so much. She was fine, if her leg was little bit stiff.

The young woman passed off the attention to someone else, disliking the amount of people around her that were watching or talking to her. Skye and Nick were fine, since the two of them treated her as if she was just like the rest of them, without the damaged leg. "It won't be too quiet for long Nick. They'll find us."

---

As the young woman was speaking the roll of a motorcycle engine roared, closing in on their location. The man sitting in the seat of the vehicle leaned slightly, turning the corner to the side of the road and stopped not far from the group. He stood, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops as he walked over. He didn't empty his saddle bags of what he had found yet, since it was meant to be something for Anastasia to look over and remember. Walking over the brown haired man waved to the others, catching their attention before he spoke. "Mostly clear down to Sheridan. We can head that way once we're all packed up." Since their meeting, Charlie and Marcus had acted as two sides of the same coin, working together but sometimes stepping on one anothers feet while leading the group though Marcus often did a good job of picking directions to do.

He grinned, winking at Anastasia - whom rolled her eyes in response - and stopped not too far from the group. He wore jeans, like any other day, with grass stained knees and steel toed boots on his feet. A plain white shirt covered his torso, clean and seemingly fresh. He hadn't been able to grab something for everyone before coming back to see them all awake, but the small place was next to empty and he didn't know anyone elses sized. Besides, he was covered in blood from hacking his way inside in the first place. "The town itself has some walkers about, but nothing we can't handle."

AND NATHAN AWOKE! Though all of his companions were already interacting with each other and going about their daily tasks, he had spent his morning sleeping in a camping chair just outside the RV, having kept watch during the night and falling asleep at around five in the morning. In his left hand was his shotgun, which was lying down on his lap, the barrel pointing to his right. Strangely, the apocalypse hadn't affected his mental state too bad, no no, 'Nam had already done that... Was he in the Vietnam War? See, this is what schizophrenia does.

Oh well. With a sigh, he stood up from the chair, putting his shotgun down in it, and walked into the RV. He took a half empty plastic bottle of water, labeled 'Nate', and drank from it, before grabbing a sandwich that was covered in a paper wrapping that also said 'Nate'. He unwrapped it, put the water back, then shut the fridge door and walked back outside with his sandwich. 'What a lovely way to wake up,' he thought to himself, 'in the middle of a zombie apocalypse with a bunch of kids who probably wouldn't even know the difference between a Glock and an M9 if it wasn't for me...'
He took a bite from his sandwich.
Holy fuck it's good.

---

Leaning forward he waited to see how this went, however before Anastasia had a chance to say or do anything, Nick returned, his mouth full of granola. "Zombie squirrel! Man, that'd be so the shit, zombie animals. Hey, Charlie, if we find a zombie bear, can I fight it? Please say yes."

Chukling Skye shot back towards Nick "A zombie bear? If you can beat a zombie bear up, I'll eat my jacket!" tugging on his jacket for emphasis.

Turning back to Anastasia when she replied by laughing quietly and saying "Sounds hilarious. We'll have to look into it further."

But she continued on, regarding Nick with some dreadful news. "It won't be too quiet for long Nick. They'll find us."

Before Skye could say anything in response to THAT announcement, the roll of a motorcycle engine came through. Marcus. Good seems like we're all here.

Getting off of the motorcycle Marcus stood, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops and walked over. Waving to everyone and catching their attention he said. "Mostly clear down to Sheridan. We can head that way once we're all packed up."

He was dressed in a clean t-shirt, but the same grass stained jeans and steel toed boots. Opening his mouth he continued "The town itself has some Walkers about, but nothing we can't handle."

Frowning Skye rocked on his heels. "Are we fighting our way through for a reason? Did the place have a decent scavenging location or something? Or what? I thought we were avoiding towns unless we had to go through them?"

Normally he'd wait to talk this kind of thing out with just Anastasia, but there didn't seem to be time, and he was honestly curious why they were heading to a town, or at least why the whole group was.

Lara looked up at Nick from her list. He had mentioned wrestling a zombie bear. "Absolutely not." She stated blankly. "I am not going to patch you up after you wrestle a zombie bear." In truth, she would patch him up no matter what he did. She knew he knew that and she gave him a little smile. She looked back at her list. It was only a list of the essentials that she needed. Vitamins, gloves, some allergy medicine, mostly for Johnny since he was allergic to Lazlo. As much as he annoyed her, she wasn't going to leave him all watery eyed and sniffily.

She was about to ask Johnny if he was allergic to any medications. Just to make sure, it wasn't in her records but he could have left it out. However before she could say anything the roar of a motorcycle drew everyone's attention. "If the town is mostly clear then maybe we can make a stop at a pharmacy and or the hospital. I need some more medical stuff. What is left of my first aid kit isn't exactly helpful..." She asked after Marcus finished speaking.

She stood up and stretched. She closed her binder and looked around at the surroundings. She really needed new supplies so she hoped they were going to head into the city. "Oh and maybe we can find a radio or something, were there any 18 wheelers on the way there? If so we might be able to search through the radio station and see if anybody is sending out a signal for a safe area or something." It was a minor hope and a suggestion. She was tired of running all the time. She was sure the whole group...aside from Nick, felt the same way she did.

Charlie smiled as Marcus arrived. He indeed was one of the leading members of the group and also the sole founder, having been kind enough to pick everyone up and create the rag-tag group. "Sounds like a plan then." Charlie agreed, nodding to the rest of the group. "Like I said before we should quickly grab a bite and pack up. We want to get as much miles from here as possible."

As he was about to head off to pack up his belongings, Skye shot up a question about why they were going to go to the town. Before letting Marcus answer, Lara quickly fired out her question too, this one pretty much answering the other's question. "We're low on a lot of supplies as you can see. I know it's a bit dangerous for the whole lot of us to go, but we're also pretty low on ammunition so sparing weapons for the group that's staying back isn't really an option right now. Plus, I'd rather have us all together than apart right now, just a gut feeling."

He hoped his answer would help clarify things. Charlie wanted to make sure everyone was well aware and more importantly okay. "And if we all go together we can grab more things and hopefully everyone can find something they need."

Lex nodded along with Charlie, it made sense for them all to go together and gain more supplies then sending out only a handful of the small group and coming back to nothing but un-dead bodies and the stench of death. It made Lex shiver, just thinking of how most cities had the tange of copper in the air, old musty copper from all the dried blood. It wasn't a pleasant thought at all, he'd have to ask Lara about smelling salts again, speaking of the Medic of the Group.

"Lara," he spoke softly, almost out of the corner of his mouth. "Anything left to help keep panic attacks down?" He hated asking. He was twenty-seven years old, and not even the youngest of the group ask for something like that. His thoughts ran away from him again and he really did not want to go into a panic and get left out of gather supplies.

More loudly to the group he stated as calmly as he could, "Hopefully, we'll find better food supplies, haven't cooked anything in a while. Don't need those skills going down, even if it isn't with fresh produce."

Speaking of food, he still hadn't eaten and he wasn't sure about the rest of the group, "Speaking of food... has anyone even eaten yet? Or should we just snack and come back and eat then?" Lex wasn't a leader, he wasn't a follower either, but he'd leave the decision making to the others. If he really didn't agree. He'd leave... Die horribly probably if he left, but rather keep what was left of his honor that wasn't shredded by what he had to do to his parents.

His eyes shifted around, taking everyone in. This was going to be an interesting debate if they were going to eat before hand. Even afterwards.

Nick clucked his tongue at Lara's reproach. "You're a killjoy, you know that? Suck the fun out of everything." His apocalyptic adventure had gotten a lot less interesting since he'd met Lara, that was certain - suddenly, his day-to-day had become less 'how many zombies can I kill with this chainsaw' and more 'oh no, where are we going to find food and stuff, bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh.' That was unfair, though - he liked the girl well enough, and they'd been through more than a few interesting spots together. The same applied to all of them - good people, if a little boring. He'd stick with them until they got where they were going.

Marcus's words, however, intrigued him considerably more. "I heard walkers! Walkers in the town! I'm in. I am so in." Immediately, the man dashed back to his tent and began tossing his meager possessions into a bag, hurriedly pulling a shirt over his still-bare chest, emerging backpack in hand just as Lex brought up the issue of food. Nick cleared his throat in response and raised his hand. "Um, yeah, I don't think we've really got enough food for a three-course meal, and dining etiquette's kinda gone out the window since our brains got put on the menu. I vote everyone just shovel some grub in them on the way."

Nick fell silent for a moment, somewhat regretting his words - he didn't know Lex very well, but it was obvious that food was important to him, and his seeming obsession with keeping the group fed may have just been some way of coping with... something. "Hey, chin up. Maybe we'll find a five star restaurant you can pillage for ingredients or something, whip us up a big victory feast."

His conscience mollified, he addressed the rest of the group, swinging his axe wildly to and fro. "I get dibs on the first one we see. No, first three. I'm calling it now. Dibs. If we run into a big group everyone just stay together and remember, you don't have to outrun them, you just have to outrun Johnny." Nick chuckled at his own joke.

Anastasia and Marcus shared a knowing look. Everyone knew that even among the inner circle, with the girls exclusion, Marcus had always shared and discussed everything with Anastasia before bringing the idea to the group. She was the brains, honestly, and none could say she didn't understand what was going on. She was just young and crippled, and no one will follow a girl without real life experience. They had all been together for a year, and Marcus respected each and every one of their opinions and abilities. When it came to truly important decisions, Marcus turned to Anastasia first, then himself and the peace of mind brought by killing zombies, before finding their final solution. Charlie was the leader in name, the one the group followed, but Marcus made decisions for the younger man on where they would need to be going.

"That's exactly the point Lara." Marcus stated, reaching out to take the hat offered to him by Anastasia. He had been military, then a sheriff after his time was done. A legal gun holder and one of the few in the group that was specially trained to kill people. He had learned to fight and handle weaponry, but that wasn't much use here and now when bullets were hard to find and those that tried to kill them now were mindless beasts. "There's a good sized hospital near the southern edge of Sheridan. It spread hard and fast, so there should be something there still. With the early massacre's of entire towns back at the beginning."

Anastasia could remember quite clearly well back when it had first made it to the United States, sweeping across the south states like a rat driven plague. She'd watched news reports as if the governments would be able to withhold the epidemic and save everyone's life. Atlanta had become a safe haven for the surviving and sterile refugees who managed to get out of the frenzy alive. Of course, it hadn't lasted long after one of the guards on duty fell off a roof and died. That was the day that she had been at the library looking for new reading material and ran into Skye. She'd been hoping to find James ever since though she was aware that he was probably dead by now. One year and six months later, she was with a group of people who knew her as a living Encyclopedia. None of them knew the first thing about where she'd come from; except Marcus and Skye.

The young woman lifted her head, looking at the others around them, projecting her voice since she couldn't stand to make herself heard over their speculations. "I've memorized the layout of the area and can transfer copies of the map to each of you in case we get separated. It's imperative that we obtain more medical supplies. As Lara said we aren't prepared for anything major. Odds are if one of us breaks something it'll never set right." She started, looking around at the others. It was a surprise that she got anyone's attention when she spoke, but she was careful to make herself heard. Beside her, her hand was set on the rock, a silent plea for Skye's support as she spoke to the rest of the group. They didn't have any reason to believe her when she spoke; she was eighteen, female and crippled. "It's also looking like we might be able to set up on the University Campus if there isn't already someone there."

She made a good argument, and Marcus was proud of her when she was done, her cheeks flushed as she looked down at her lap in embarrassment. It wasn't often that she made herself known to the others, not outside of Charlie, Skye and himself. Her relationship with Lara was even a little bit strained at times, even though the two women shared a common bond and often banded together against the testosterone. She was just a girl after all, and even before the zompocalypse she'd been forced to grow up. Giving her shoulder a small squeeze he tossed a can to Skype for him to share with Anastasia later - butterscotch pudding. Walking over to Charlie he set a hand on the mans shoulder. "Who's taking the truck?"

Squinted at Nick. "Yup that's me killjoy McGee. Sorry for wanting to keep everyone alive. It was kind of my job to do so before all the craziness broke out." She said to him in a slightly teasing manor. Nick was the first person, besides the child, she had come across after the zombies swept the nation. If it wasn't for him she would have been dead long ago. And he certainly wouldn't be in the current healthy, at least physically, state he was in now. Nick and Lara had kept each other alive long before the two joined this group. It was Nick and Nick alone who had seen her at her worst point, the point when she had been willing to lose her life. It was Nick who helped pull her out of that state, and for that reason Lara had a trust for Nick that she have for many other people. Sure she was open to trusting others but she didn't trust them with her life. Not even Charlie and Marcus had gained that trust from her. She wouldn't follow them blindly.

Lara had been lost in thought and hadn't tuned back in until Nick's final comment which caused her to have to hold in the laughter that threatened to spill out of her mouth as Marcus and Anastasia began speaking. After she composed herself she listened more closely to what was being said. The fact that Anastasia actually spoke up shocked her, but what the girl said was true. If anything serious happened to any of them, she wouldn't be able to treat them very well. Sure if a bone was broken a self made splint would hold it but it would never set right. Lara listened to the former medical student. She knew her stuff and Lara was willing to teach her all she knew if she would only just ask. Skye seemed to know a lot more about home remedies and such, than she did, and he seemed interested in the medical field himself. She had considered teaching him what she knew as well. In return he could always teach her about his herbal medicines and such.

Lara nodded silently when Anastasia finished speaking. The girl mad perfect sense. Lara had never been one to discriminate against the other girl's age. She found her to be a very intelligent girl. Her disability didn't change Lara's opinion on her either. The girl worked with what she could and was damn good at what she could do. She looked over at Marcus, who seemed to have the look of a proud father on his face, though it seemed he didn't notice. When it seemed the conversation was over and Marcus asked Charlie who was taking the truck she looked over at them. Normally it was Lara who took the truck since she tried very hard to keep Lazlo and Johnny away from one another. She would prefer it to stay that way, though she wouldn't mind if Nick joined her, it would give her more than the dog to talk to. Sometimes she thought she was going crazy when she started talking to Lazlo. It wasn't like he responded, but still she spoke to him.

---

Hearing Charlie's response assuaged Skye's curiosity, he didn't make the plans and he was damn grateful for that turn of luck. He knew how bad he'd be at leadership, it'd be a frightful time indeed if he had been tasked with keeping everyone together.

So he counts his small blessings that he was just a soldier in this war, and not a general.

"I think if we do eat, it should be something small, hit the town, and then have a larger meal afterwards. A full stomach won't be any good if you're dead. And we all know that you move slower on a full stomach. Digesting a real meal plus running pell mell for safety? You're asking to get sick. Save the food for afterwards when we know we have time to digest and relax a little."

Hearing Nick's sudden excitement made Skye want to laugh until he cried. "You know Nick, I am so glad you're on our side. We'll never have to worry about losing to those zombie bastards with you around!" Shaking his head, Skye tuned into the serious conversation going on next to them, and he saw Anastasia reaching to him for comfort, his hand already stretching out to offer it.

He wasn't sure when her being happy and safe became one of the most important parts of Skye's life, but he's glad that it happened. He'll never have as good a friend, as important a person in his life. He feared that he would lose her more than anything else.

Squeezing her hand, he leaned into her. Offering what comforts he could. "And staying on campus offers a lot of amazing resources. Whatever food stuffs that are left of course, but the chemistry labs and electronics? Yeah, those would be a god send to be honest. There might even be additional first aid stuff, and I'm sure you'd appreciate that Lara!" Jumping to show his support of her idea Skye enthused excitedly about the benefits of settling there. At least temporarily.

"If no one else wants to drive, I don't particularly mind driving the truck, who's heading with me in it?" Skye queried.