Chris looked at his sister with a smile. He was growing on her. That was definitely one of his three options, the second choice actually but still. He turned to Jack and nodded as he ran over and jumped into the bed of the truck in a swift motion. He looked back at Jack as he leaned against the cabin of the truck. "By the way Jack, I believe I forgot to tell you one thing that's extremely important about Claire and I..." His look turned slightly cold and he let the statement hang in the air for a nice long moment for Jack to think about. Then he just grinned. "Our last name is Alberez. Forgot to mention that when we were still being cautious about you." He chuckled a couple of times before checking the revolver one last time before holstering it.

Claire giggled as she got in next to Jack. Her brother never could resist jokes at others expense. Making them worry over nothing, or just embarrassing them. It was nice to see, considering it could usually lighten the mood, but at the same time, if you were with him one on one, he could be one of the most gentle souls. Deep down he truly cared about everyone and wanted to help them, he just never got the chance to help out nearly as much as he wanted to. Claire put her seat belt on instinctively and then giggled a little more in excitement as they were finally ready to head out.

“That I am. I was careless for a moment whilst scavenging and they seized the opportunity to rob me.” James slowly lifted his t-shirt revealing the already gruesome looking bruising the baseball bat had given him. “They left me alive, which is something I guess, but by taking everything I had on me they may as well have just killed me anyway... The elder man took the magazine from my rifle but for some reason the dumb bastard didn't have me clear the chamber. I was lucky, and I'm reasonably skilled with my weapons, but I can't take down three armed people with one bullet. I need your help. Please, help me and I'll give you a couple of cans of food and a bottle of water from the supplies they stole from me. All I wish is the remainder of my stuff, whatever else they have is yours. For your trouble I make the fight even, three on three. If we're quiet they shouldn't pose too big a challenge, though the gunshots may bring walkers or more aggressors so we'll have to be quick about it. Are you in, or should I resume my ill fate?”

Jack closed his eyes and slightly shook his head, before giving a laugh and a smile. The kid had gotten him pretty worried there, making him think something was wrong. The first thing Jack thought was that one of them was hiding a walker bite. However.. Everything seemed to be alright. With Claire in the passenger seat, Chris in the truck-bed, and his loaded Remington sitting comfortably in his lap, Jack put his foot on the brakes, and put the old Toyota in reverse. He wasn't sure what awaited them - be it comfort or war - but for the first time in a long time he wasn't going in alone, and that reassured him.

Jack started along the road, keeping the pillar of smoke in his line of sight until the forest began to obstruct it. About three quarters of the way, or as near as he could judge, he slowed the truck to a halt, and, turning, leaned out of the window to speak to Chris.
"The camp will be just up ahead, if you follow the road. It looks like the ground elevates a bit left of the road, that might be your best bet if you want the high ground," he advised, before changing his tone.
"Good luck, Chris." With that, he continued down the road toward the camp. The old truck bumped along to the uneven curves in the dirt path, and Jack took it reasonably slow as he advanced. Soon, he could see the campsite, occupied by a couple of tents, the fire-pit, and three survivors - two men and a woman. Jack had gone slow enough for Chris to have beaten him there going a more direct route, and he hoped that the boy was now in position. The road kept straight until reaching the camp site, where it took a left turn around the small hill he had pointed out to Chris. The site was just to the right of the road, and flanked by another hill that Jack had not anticipated. He pulled the truck in toward the campsite, slowing the closer he got and making sure that his side of the truck was exposed, not Claire's. Then, with a deep breath, he exited the truck shotgun in hand.
"We're friendly, don't shoot!" He called from the road about six yards away. He was going out on a limb here, hoping they weren't hostile, but his shotgun was ready just the same. "We happened to be staying here and saw your fire."

By the time both trucks pulled to a stop in front of the cabins, the drizzle of rain had turned into a torrent. Combined with the fact that it was now nightfall, visibility had seriously deteriorated. Everything that hadn't been highlighted by the pair of headlights were now nearly impossible to see. The rain had a nasty habit of turning outlines into fuzzy images at best.

Clover pulled out a flashlight, turned it on and aimed it at the sign just outside her window.

"Thunderbird..." Even as she read the name, it still took time to process the fact that this is where they had decided to stay. As she panned the light across the clearing, she illuminated the empty cabins. There were five in total spread out across the narrow dirt road and each stamped with a number. The dark stained wood, vines crawling up the walls and weeds crowding around the edge of the dirt paths made each cabin seem as bleak as the last. From outside and with the lighting and the rain and the surrounding trees, they all seemed empty, abandoned... lonely. It wasn't exactly her first pick for a shelter but then again she no longer had the luxury to choose. Everyday was about taking what you could get and here in this forest they'd found a roof for their heads and walls to sleep behind. It was more than what most would find for the night so she didn't complain. For the time being the campground whispered safety... everything except the ranger truck parked neatly under the overhang of one of the cabins.

"Those are fresh..." She spoke up again, her flashlight trained on the tire tracks leading up to the number three cabin. "Someone's in there..."

Carter had noticed as well. The tracks were indeed fresh, preserved almost perfectly in the mud. In fact the ranger truck hadn't been stopped for more than a dozen or so minutes. There was in fact someone inside.

"Alright, we're going to have to clear these cabins before we get comfortable." Carter released the button on the radio as he stared into the dark at the cabin, pressing it again when he'd made up his mind. "Clover and I will take number 3." When he finished, he could see the three men in Niko's truck climb out and being to gear up. They grabbed whatever weapons they had and threw on what protective wear they carried as they prepared themselves for whatever was behind each door. He figured they'd be fine. They seemed capable.

"And you two..." He was referring to Katrina in the seat next to him and Mark in the back. "If you don't think you can handle clearing a cabin on your own then you can stick with us." Although he was addressing the both of them, he was more concerned about the woman. She'd been a little skittish earlier and he wasn't sure how she'd handle walkers coming out of the wood works. "Just keep close and keep calm."

Carter opened the car door and stepped out in the storm. This time however, he and Clover weren't alone.

Mark nodded. "its fine. I can clear one by myself." He frowned. Carter was looking at the woman in the front as though she couldnt do much. Mark spoke up, sctracting the back of his head. "Well... Little missy here can help me clear a cabin, that way we wont be alone, and we are bound to get more done in shorter amount of time. He left his backpack in the car, taking his shotgun slung over his shoulder, and baseball bat with him. He rested the bat on his shoulder and put one hand on the truck. He was now talking to the woman. "You can help me, or go with them, doesnt bother me much." He turned on the spot and made for cabin 2. He walked at a speed which the woamn could follow him at should she choose to come with him. He put a hand on the door handle and opened it quickly before taking a step back readying his bat. Nothing. He relaxed waited for a moment before standing in the doorway and turning. "You coming girl?" He was talking to Katrina.

Niko got out of his truck, grabbing his skinning knife and rifle. He slung gun around his shoulder and held his knife in a back hand style. Niko approached cabin four, and made sure he was alone. Niko didnt trust sleeping with the group yet.

Niko slowly opened the door and stood there. He couldn't see anything but he listened. Nothing. Not a sound came from the cabin. He pulled out his zippo and with a few clicks it lit. The cabin seemed fairly organized, like no one had slept in it in awhile. The sheets were clean as year old sheets would been. Untouched by the mess.

He looked around making sure there were no walkers. Niko foubd a kerosene lit lantern with a little kersene left in it. Probably enough to get him through a few nights. He lit the lanteren and sat on the bed. He pulled out a cleaning kit a screwdriver and unslung his rifle. He began dismantling it. Cleaning blood and gun powder off the rifle. He oiled and lubed the moving parts and set it back up. Niko planned to hunt tomorrow.

Niko then pulled out a whetstone and began to sharpen his knife. Niko softly hummed a tune to himself.

Ryan had watched as the scenery passed him by, seeing one or two walkers on the way by that were much too slow to be a worry to him in a vehicle. He had dozed off slightly, not noticing the stopping cars, nor the confrontation where others joined the group. As they pulled up to the camp, he woke from his nap, looking around at the darkness surrounding him. He looked at where the flashlight was aimed, reading the words as best he could from where he was. Alright, guess we're setting up camp in here, then. He got out of the truck, readying his crowbar as he looked around. "Anyone okay with staying in the same cabin? It's boring sitting there without even the option to talk to someone..."

Henry, as the man was called, raised his hand to show that he would go with Ryan. "I'll go. No point in sitting around twiddling my thumbs while there's things to do." He puts his morning star in hand, and walks over towards Ryan, while he walks over he puts it on his shoulder, and when he gets there he waits, and would follow Ryan when he went. "Name's Henry, by the way. Was military, when there was one." He holds out his arm, offering a handshake.

Ryan nodded to Henry. Wait... when did he join the group? He looked around at the new faces that everyone else seemed completely okay with. I guess that nap of mine was a bit more eventful than I knew... Guess it was just so peaceful sitting there... Ryan glanced at the man's hand before moving his crowbar to his less-dominant hand, then shaking the other man's hand, "Ryan. Guess I was asleep for when you joined." He started walking towards the fifth cabin as he glanced back towards Henry to be sure he was coming along. "We should save the talking for when we're actually in there though, otherwise it'll be just as boring as not having anyone to talk to in the first place." He moved the crowbar back to his dominant hand as he walked towards the cabin, prepared to kill anything moving inside.

It was dark and cold. Rain had blanketed the ground, turning dirt into mud. Every step that Aaron took left a print behind him. The only things trying to find him these days were walkers however, so he was not all too worried about being tracked. When the rain began to fall, and night arrived, Aaron put his wool coat on. His hands were kept warm by the gloves as they wrapped around his sidearm. The black ski mask was pulled down and the bottom was tucked into his collar. For the most part, he was warm. While Aaron had been resting in the van, he came to the conclusion that waiting on the highway was a bad idea. Any number of things could ruin his day, two things namely. A group of marauders or a herd. Highways and freeways were the easiest options for travel, so the two would likely be on them. Hanging around on a highway for too long meant that Aaron would eventually run into some trouble, or at least that is how he saw it. For now, the long road ahead was a one surrounded by trees.

After another grueling hour and a half, Aaron came across something new. At some point in his journey, he had stumbled onto something that he had not come across in a very long time. Other people. Though he was a distance away, the rain could not drown out the noise coming from the engines, or the car doors shutting. Hell, he could even make out a faint voice. There were many ways for Aaron to approach the situation, but he figured that not approaching was his best option. With the rain and darkness obstructing his view, Aaron would definitely have trouble determining the approximate number of people in the area. There could have been two or twenty, he just simply did not know. After thinking about it for a few minutes, Aaron came to the conclusion that he would wait until morning had arrived, gather some information on the group, and then go from there. For now, he would rest. Aaron moved from where he was crouched over, to a fallen tree. It was propped up against another fallen tree which was being semi-held by a third tree. The leaves and trunks offered some shelter from the rain, but Aaron moved his backpack to cover his face. Within a few minutes he had fallen asleep.

Henry was, indeed following, and nodded in agreement. When they get to the cabin door, he waits a little to see if he hears anything, and when he doesn't he creaks open the door. "Well, let's make sure nothing is hiding in here then. I don't want to wake up to a walker nibbling my head." He goes in, a small hallway being there before it opens into the actual cabin main room, which had a few beds and shelves from what he could see. "Nothing so far, but let's not be so sure."

Carter moved up to the cabin behind Clover. It was an odd setup and one they still needed to get used to. Ever since he'd nearly broken his left leg, he'd found himself a lot less useful than he once was. Getting around on his own was hazardous not to mention he moved at a snails pace, something Clover constantly berated him about. Hunting had been left almost exclusively in Clover's hands. After Skylar had passed not too long ago, she'd taken it upon herself to commit to memory everything Skylar had taught her about using the rifle. All she needed was a little supervision and within a week she was comfortable enough to hunt on her own. Carter since then had been left with skinning and gutting duties.

Even now he felt like dead weight. As they pushed through the mud and the rain toward the porch, he found himself gradually falling behind the young girl. His cane would stick to the mud and every step was followed by a tug with his left hand as he tried to pull the thing out of the dirt. By the time she reached the wall, it'd taken him a dozen or seconds to finally catch up. By then he wasn't even concerned if anyone was following behind the two, he was only hoping the wall of rain had covered his feeble attempts to hide his handicap. He didn't need others doubting his ability to survive.

Despite everything, he still had his own set of skills that no broken limbs could take from him. He crept toward the window and peeked inside, trying to see past the curtains that had been drawn. There was no lights coming from within. and from what he could tell, no movement.

"Clo."

Clover turned to see Carter peaking through the window.

"Oooh heeey... there you are. I thought I'd lost you ba-"

"Just give me the flashlight." Carter said, holding out his hand. Clover chuckled silently as she fetched the light and passed it to him.

A second later and light flooded part of the cabin, half of the room light up while the other half and whatever was behind the curtain remained dark. However even with the added assistance he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

After some silence and much contemplation, he gave Clover the nod she'd been waiting for. Readying her pistol, she took a step away from the door and with a quick and fluid motion, slammed her foot into it. Her weathered rubber soles collided with resilient wood creating a very loud "thump" that would no doubt echo through the empty house... or so they hoped. On their side it was hard to tell. The heavy rain drowned out what little noise Clover had made and after a minute of waiting, nothing happened.

"I don't know..." Clover began a little skeptical of her work. "Maybe it wasn't loud enough?"

Carter remained motionless against the wooden walls outside the cabin, his mind going through every scenario. As he his brain went to work, he couldn't help but notice the calming nature of the noise around him. The howling of the wind as it kicked through the air, the sound of croaking wood and whistling grass, trees as they were tossed around in the night. There was his heartbeat and the sounds of his ragged breathing and even those of Clovers but one thing stood out. Every now and again a stray raindrop would land on something metal. The resulting drum like beat made him turn and his eyes fell once again on the Park Ranger vehicle resting nearby.

...No response... no response to the noise... tracks lead here...park ranger...

It was then that the memory of the vehicle passing them on the highway resurfaced. As the glare of the headlights had passed him and the vehicle pulled ahead, his headlights had caught the tail end what had looked to be a truck. Not only was it the same truck, but the emblem on the back had been the same as well: A tall tree with a mountain in the backdrop. Earlier he'd let them be, figuring that they wanted no part in the group and Carter was only too happy to oblige. However with him standing on their front porch, it was a different story all together. He wasn't sure who these people were, only that they had a working vehicle and working vehicles usually meant food, clothing, weapons and fuel. If they were bandits, they'd kill to keep their own and until proven otherwise, everyone was a bandit.

...We need to flush them ou-...

Another sound caught his ear, the sound of a bolt locking into place. He turned back around just in time to see Clover's handiwork as she finished picking the lock.

"Looks like it's open."

"No... Clover!"

She was tired of new faces, dealing with strangers and having to wear her trust thin as she passed it out freely. She felt like the last hour of her life was spent dwindling the word down to nothing after she'd worked so hard to build it up, set rules. It frustrated her that these rules meant nothing to other people and no matter how hard she tried, they just kept walking into her life regardless of what she wanted.

...No more... the next face I see is going to eat a bullet...

Ignoring Carter's pleas, she stepped into the dark of the cabin with her pistol raised.

It was that moment when Niko rose from the bed, his knife sharp enough to cut bone like butter. Niko loaded his gun and slung it around him. He slowly walked to the door, twisting the knob. He felt so much weight on him. The weight of humanity and survival. A year in the apocalypse, that does alot to a man. He opened the cabin door as it creeped open. Darkness entering his eyes, rain drops patting on his head.

With bag in head Niko took a step forward to his truck. Giving anyone who looked at him a death stare. His eyes blood red, he walked to his truck and threw his bag inside and locked it. Niko pulled his hoodie over his head and crept into the woods.

....kill....

Niko's heavy steps crushed the leaves under him. The weight of everyone, everything, he knew and done. Everything in life all leading up to this.

....KILL KILL....

Crunch...

His foot steps got heavier. Soaked in pain and misery.

"AAAAAHHHHH"

Niko broke, the stress consummed him whole, the moment and time of opportunity was now. He dashed into the woods. He searched for anything that made a noise.

There it was, a walker. A young boy, the thing looked starved, it saw Niko and it saw one thing, food.

Niko saw it to. He saw it as one thing, and one thing only, blood....

Niko drew his knife, eyes pure red, he lunged at the the boy and forced his knife into its skull. He drew his knife back, the blood shot at him, his knife drenched in it, along with brain matter. Niko entered a frenzy as he repeatedly stabed the walker.

Then Niko rose, soaked in blood, from head to toe just soked in blood. He stared into the darkess. The stress was finally gone. He slowly made his way back to camp.

Nero

Nero was silent as the rain was pounding hard, whoever was outside knew that he was in here and easily had made the connection to the truck that they had him seen him driving earlier. He knew these kid tactics they were using, trying to see where he was, he could hear them talking but the problem was the rain muffled the voice too much so he could not hear them not that it mattered because they had not the slightest clue what they were walking into anyways. When Nero heard the distinct sound of the door creaking through the rain he knew that they had gotten past the lock, as the rain beat down upon Nero's head he slowly made his way up the side of the porch kept as low as he could. From what he could tell the rest of the group was spread out checking the other cabins which meant these two were alone from the looks of it. Nero pulled the newly acquired 357 from his pants as he came to the corner. Peaking around he could see the figure of an tall person standing on the porch in front of the door this was his opportunity to make this work, the rain would conceal his approach and this one would never see it coming. Nero counted to three in his head and then leap from his spot around the corner and came forward, before the figure could react Nero put his upper arm around the figures neck and put the 357 to the figures head.

"This is a 357 magnum if you even move in the wrong direction the only thing left of your head will be what splatters the ground, now move.."

Nero strong armed the figure and pushed him forward as they both walked into the Cabin together, as soon as both Nero and the figure cleared the door it was slammed shut from behind by Shawn who had been waiting in the corner. The sound no doubt alerted the second figure who was now in front of Nero and Shawn, even in the dark Nero could see the shape of a gun, keeping his own pressed again the figures head he was holding he spoke harshly.

"If I were you I would drop your weapon, this is a 357 and if I pull this trigger there won't be nothing left. The only reason your not dead already is because of the fact that I am not a murdering monster nor is my young ward who is now targeting you. You lost this time, so put your gun on the ground and kick it away or your friend here dies, that is as simple as it gets. If you cooperate then perhaps we can resolve this without blood shed, but I am not giving you any other options."

Nero tightened his grip around the figures neck in front of him as the person would no doubt gag from having their windpipe restricted so tightly.

Shawn

Shawn held the Colt 45 tightly as he had it trained the best he could on the black figure in front of him, this was no time to fail for if this went wrong then they could both possibly end up dead. Nero had said that much not to long ago.

20 Minutes Earlier...

"Listen very closely to me Shawn, those people we saw on the highway I am almost positive they will be here soon. They are not following us I am sure of that, however this camp ground is well known and I am almost positive they will come here too. As much as I would have liked to keep going the fact that the windshield is busted has me left with no other option. This storm is too dangerous as it is, so if they do come here we need to be ready, so listen carefully and when the time comes just follow my lead."

Now...

Nero had told Shawn this would most likely happen and it was hard to deny he had been right, and his plan had worked perfectly for the most part, he had said they would be more concerned about looking in the Cabin then looking outside of it. Shawn kept the gun raised on the figure whom of which had made no movement to drop the gun yet, Shawn spoke forcefully towards the figure.

"Just drop the gun we don't want to hurt you, but if you leave us no other choice....... then we will."

Shawn did not want to hurt anyone else today, he was still reeling from the fact he had to shoot the man from before on the road. But he was not going to let himself crumble now, he had to be strong and to keep strong so that he could survive. So even if he didn't want to then he would do it anyways if the moment called for that. He just hoped that they would listen and he would not have to make that decision.

Clover held her gun steady, her eyes boring into the figure in the corner. She couldn't make out much more than a silhouette but the glint in it's eyes were unmistakable. There was this uneasy intent to kill, but intent nonetheless. However even in the fog of her own anger, both from the events of the day and for walking into a trap, she was able to asses the situation she'd found herself in. Judging by the tone of the voice and the way it'd been barking commands, she quickly figured the man holding Carter to be the leader of the two, if there were only two. The one in the corner was crouched and was masked almost entirely in darkness save for the eyes and the gun. A sliver of ambient light from outside was cast across it's metallic slide. The weapon itself stood adamant pointed directly at her as opposed to the gaze of the man holding it. Every now and again the pupils would dart over to the other behind Carter and then back to her. She still hadn't mastered reading other people but she'd definitely improved since her time on the East Coast. It was very subtle but she could pick up the hesitation. It was slight hidden well behind determination but it was there.

...But it's not enough...

Whoever it was that was unsure about gunning her down was going to do it. She might get lucky and pull off a shot just before him but someone was going to die and if it was Carter, it was going to be her fault. Another tally mark on a long list of people she lost because of her mistakes. She knew walking in here blind wasn't the way to go but at the time, she'd given up on reason and didn't care. Her evening was spent with people who didn't seem to understand the logic of survival of the fittest and for a second she'd started breaking her own rules along with them. Trust, ignorance, impatience. Her emotions had lead them both to this and she'd be damned if she let her emotions take the last thing on this God forsaken Earth she called family.

Her resolve quickly dwindling away, she finally decided it was best to let this fight go and drop her weapon. Thankfully, between the two, Carter had a knack for thinking ahead.

"Clo-" Carter choked as the arm around his neck squeezed a little tighter, cutting off his air and cutting his sentence short. Clover turned to him, her gun dangling from her pinkie finger as she prepared to place the pistol on the ground. She watched as he shook his head and slowly moved his finger away from his waist. The resulting beep from the radio signalling the end of a transmission echoed through the dark room. All four of them simply stared at each other as a new hand was dealt. The radio had been transmitting since Carter was captured and he could only hope someone from Niko's truck had brought it with them. However as far as the other two were concerned, everyone in their group were on their way to the cabin.

Carter's eyes once again found Clover's and she quickly realized that it was her turn to speak. Carter was finding it difficult to do anything else at the moment.

"I give it a minute.. a couple at the most." She began, her hand still stretched out with the gun dangling precariously over the hard wood flooring. She'd put herself in a dire situation and was about to make it worse. Making threats with no real way to back them up wasn't the smartest idea but if the man meant what he said, she'd have something to work with. "They'll surround this place... I'd probably torch it..." Realizing how wet it was outside, she quickly saved herself. "...If it wasn't raining. After I put two bullets in your heads I'd butt fuck the both of you. Now before things get out of hand...let's just take a step back and look out how things may turn out." She looked at Carter, his eyes still on hers with the arm of a mysterious man wrapped round his neck and particularly menacing revolver at his head. The figure in the corner had remained where it was but now the eyes were moving around a little more frantically. She needed to hurry up before whatever it was worked up the resolve to shoot before being told to do so. "You can kill that old man..." Carter managed to roll his eyes despite the way he was fighting to breath. "...But I'll splatter that thing shitting in the corner all over the walls. That leaves just you against ten people" A small exaggeration never hurt anyone. "Not to mention you'll be wounded. You have the gun to his head but he does have his knife aimed at your groin." Carter was indeed holding the knife pointed up toward the man's femoral artery. He'd have used it earlier but his bum leg would have gotten in his way. He'd have been off balance, his technique sloppy and he'd eventually find himself missing half his face. This was the best alternative, the arm around his neck playing a supportive role just as much as it was harming him. "You'd have to shoot him first but by then you're friend will have joined him and we'd have a little shoot out me and you. I have to warn you, I'm a small target and pretty quick to boot not to mention my shot's not all that bad. Now if you shoot me first, Carter will kill you, take your gun and kill your friend. He's much better at this stuff than I am. Either way, you're fucked."

She let herself beam inside, it wasn't everyday she took Carter's place and played diplomat. It was usually the other way around and only after she'd been causing problems. Of course Carter figured otherwise. Clover had done her part but he might have said things a little differently. As usual she came off as a prick instead of someone trying to mend a problem.

"Now, why don't we start over... We can all drop our penises and maybe.. share our names?"

Carter wished his life didn't depend on his hand placement, otherwise there would be a palm pressed against his forehead. However, Clover surprised him yet again as he heard her gun drop to the floor.

...Shit...

"The name's Clover..." She turned toward Carter, an apologetic look in her eyes. "And the man you're strangling is Carter... The last family I have left."

The two holding them up understood the situation they were in. The only thing left for Clover to do was prove they didn't mean any harm. The rest would hopefully work itself out.

Ryan entered the building as well, and nodded, "Alright, let's check underneath everything, then we'll make a bit of noise." He crouched down, looking underneath of anything he could from where he was to see if there were any shapes that might begin to move. "Unless you have a better plan?" He glanced towards Henry, ensuring that the other person in the room wasn't against making noise to attract anything in the place out. If we make just a bit of noise, we can be sure nothing makes any in response... Though this rain would make it a bit more difficult.

Nero

Nero cocked his head as he listened to her speak, it was definitely a young female without a doubt and she appeared tough, however her threats were not all that scary to Nero her bluff was misguided and childish at best. He had surveyed the group when they arrived and was not so easily fooled by mere words. But she was right about a couple things, there was a knife pointed towards Nero and Shawn was already hesitating no doubt and it was obvious she could see that much. However when Nero listened to the last words she spoke after the gun dropped to the ground, that was the part that had truly caught his attention out of all the rest. Nero slowly uncocked his head as he let the names role over in his mind, Clover and Carter was it truly possible that there could be others with that same name, no the chances of that were remote an traveling together would be ever more remote then the last. The attitude she had, the words she spoke, Nero was starting to realize that the man he was holding and the girl Shawn was holding up was the very friends he had sought out for almost nine months with dwindling hope. Nero couldn't be sure if it was coincidence or not but he slowly released his grip around Carters neck so he could breath and then spoke.

"Shawn lower your gun, don't argue and don't fight about it just do it."

Nero watched as the gun was lowered in the dark, the young boy silently got up and walked beside him showing himself a bit better. This was a risk but if this was truly Clover and Carter... no it was them it had to be. Nero then let off a deep laugh that would sound a bit scary unless you truly knew him, an knew that Nero expressed joy with hearty laughs. After a couple seconds of laughing Nero spoke again.

"Clover you are still as hot headed as you have always been, I thought that after these nine months that would have changed, but it appears that Carter here is still trying to keep up with you. The way you barged in here, I can see now that it must be you, your fearlessness and your attitude, it is commendable. This isn't exactly how I figured we would meet up again, however it does seem eerily similar except this time around you dropped your gun first."

Nero released his grip on Carter completely to let him go, feeling the knife leave his groin was a relief in most cases, but compared to how he felt now it didn't matter that much to him anymore.

"I apologize my old friend I was not aware that the man I was holding was you, if I had perhaps a hug would have been better instead of nearly choking you to death."

Shawn

To simply say Shawn was dumbfound in the least was putting it lightly, they had literally just gone from kill you to laughing and calling these two friends. He had no idea what the hell was going on or what was happening anymore. Shawn slowly walked up to Nero as he tugged at his shirt to get his attention when he had it he spoke confused about the recent events.

"Nero what exactly is going on here? I mean I am relieved we did not have to shoot them but hell I am confused as to what is happening right now."

As he saw Nero looked down at him he could see the smile curved on his face, a smile he had not witnessed yet while knowing him before he spoke.

"I am sorry Shawn I should have realized that you were out of the loop on this one, these two are the ones I mentioned from before the group I was with before we were split up by a large group of Walkers. The same ones I have not seen or heard from in nine months."

Shawn simply nodded his head as he peered through the dark at the both of them, if Nero was saying they were friends then there was no reason that he could not be friendly as well with them.

"Well if Nero says your both okay then I am glad to meet you both even if it was bit rocky at first my name is Shawn."

Niko walked out of the woods and made his way back to his truck, he grabbed a towel and cleaned the blood off him. He felt realived, alpt of stress was bottled up in him.

He walked back to cabin and sat on the bed. He stared into the sky outside his window. Niko thought about his life. His wife and son. He wondered if they made out of this mess.

Niko felt a bit hungry and grabbed some jerky he made from out of his bag. His water souce was low reminding him he needed to get more.

"Nero?" Clover's surprised voice was a mixed bag of emotions at best. Not only was she shocked to see an old face still alive, but she was still pissed that he'd been choking Carter. She wanted to punch and hug... Her face scrunched up. Hug wasn't the exact word she'd use but she was happy to see him nonetheless.

"You're alive?." She took a few precarious steps toward him, still not entirely sure it was him. The light slipping past the curtains splayed across his face, the shadows of raindrops on the window dancing on his skin. They accentuated the rough features of his face and the solemn look in his eyes that never seemed to disappear, even while he was smiling.

"Oh ya... that's definitely Nero's ugly ass face I'm looking at. How the hell did you make it out of that herd? I swear it over took you."

Carter slowly rose to his feet from the knee he fell into, his chest still heaving and his lungs grasping mouthfuls of air. His body had become somewhat numb, his neck already so and he found it difficult to move his limbs. However he could still hear everything that was being said. When he could finally manage, he turned to look at Nero only to confirm what he'd said.

"You son of a bitch... You're alive." He said as he sheathed the knife in his hand. "I nearly cut your dick off."

Clover covered her mouth in mock surprise. "Holy shit.. you mean this entire time he had a dick?" She finished with a smile on her face, the first genuine smile on her lips in months. She hadn't the need for them since Skylar passed. Looking past him, her eyes fell on the figure that'd been sitting in the corner. Now that he was standing in the light, she could finally better make out his features and put a face on the man pointing a gun at her. Of course she quickly realized he wasn't nearly a man yet but more a kid a few years her senior. Watching his habitual motions, she'd realized he was a little more skittish than she'd expected.

"Shawn..." She gave him a quizzical stare as she tried to figure him out. The way he was acting was characteristic of someone who'd been sheltered from the realities of the world as it currently was. She was familiar with them because she'd acted the same way once upon a time. He had a lot of work to do and plenty to learn but she knew he'd do fine. He was at that very moment surrounded by the best. However, that didn't excuse the gun in her face... even if they were being cautious. "...I don't like people pointing guns at me." She squinted her eyes, giving him a hard stare. "Don't let it happen again."

"Clover..." Carter shook his hand at the boy, trying to excuse Clover's show of defiance even as they both knew Nero and Shawn had every right to hold them up. "Sorry Shawn... takes a little while but she'll grow on you...and it's very nice to meet you too." He finally turned toward Nero, now standing upright after his body had recovered. He stared the man in the eyes, his feelings mirroring Clover's earlier sentiment. He wanted to punch him too, a good strike to the jaw, but it wouldn't help his neck feel better and he doubted it would change how he really felt. In truth he was happy to see a familiar face again. "Nero... glad to have you back." He extended his right hand took Nero's in a strong handshake, both men beaming smiles.

"So...I guess that makes us even?" Clover tried to hide her smile.

Nero

Nero kept the smile as the friendly banter was a god send to him, it had been so long since he had any reason to feel any real happiness, it was almost a bit overwhelming for him but none the less he kept his signature composure as he released Carters hand and laughed again. He couldn't help it really it was sorta like a volcano exploding after the pressure built up for a long time, Nero had thought it would be his anger not his happiness that would blow up first, he was glad to be wrong this time. Nero walked forward as he went past Clover and Carter and in a couple seconds a light illuminated the room so that they could see each other. Turning from the electric lantern Nero had found when they arrived he faced Clover and Carter again.

"Its only be a couple moments but it almost feels like old times again, I am almost positive you want to deck me in the face for my dramatic hostage take over Carter, I probably deserve it, but if it helps."

Nero pulled the magnum back up for them to see, with his finger he pushed out the barrel cartridge of the gun to reveal that it was not loaded at all and was still empty from the time he found it.

"Yeah it was a bluff to be sure, the only loaded gun was with Shawn, I didn't have time to load this one seeming you all arrived a bit earlier then I expected, but given this one is more threatening I figured it would do just fine if I could get the jump on you. Although I will be honest I didn't expect a knife to get that close to my groin, and I am glad we avoided that little decapitation without a doubt in my mind, I would rather you just shoot me instead."

Nero looked up as Shawn seemed to be staring at Clover now, that was weird of him, then again perhaps that's the way he always was, hell Nero still didn't know as much about him as he wanted too. Time always seemed to be short now and days. Turning his attention back to Clover and Carter Nero spoke again.

"Truth be told the reason I am so jumpy is the fact that we ran across a rather violent brute on the road, in fact this magnum was his not too long ago, but given where he is now he didn't need it anymore. That's why when I saw your group on the road I thought you might be with him so I went by fast to avoid you, and then again now I thought the same when you came here. Ever since we were split up at the camp nine months ago it has not been an easy one as I am sure it has not been for you two either, in fact besides Shawn here I have not come across anyone I have been able to get to close to or even be friends with at all."

Nero looked over at Shawn again who was still hovering away from them all.

"Well you going to stand there staring or come over boy?"

Shawn

She was beautiful that was the only thing that was on Shawn's mind as he looked at Clover, this was the first time in nearly a year that he had even seen someone else besides his father and uncle, none the less someone who was even anywhere near his age. Shawn was sort of mesmerized for a time before he realized that Nero was saying something, breaking from his small gaze he heard Nero as he silently nodded and walked over beside Nero and resumed looking at Clover although now she could see him so he kept his gaze averted but would sneak peaks if she was not looking in his general direction.

"Everyone take a seat, I am tired and for the first time I feel like and old man so I need a rest."

As nero took a seat Shawn took a seat in the arm chair across from him leaving Clover and Carter to sit on the couch near Nero.

"I am sorry for earlier I was just doing what Nero wanted me to do... I would have rather just left but Nero wanted to fight so... yeah..."

Shawn stole another glance at Clover and quickly looked away as his eye's came into contact with Nero's however Nero's eye's were soft but firm as he gave another smile and turned his attention back to the other two.

"So you wanted to know how I escaped the horde back at the camp its a long story trust me on that, but I have the exact same question for you two, even after the fact I went back but found no trace of either of you. It was almost like you disappeared off the face of the planet. So given I claimed this cabin in the name of Nero before you both failed to claim it from me, why don't you tell me how you escaped first. You were after all my virtual prisoners even though that gun wasn't even loaded, its only polite."

Nero smiled at Shawn with a wink, watching Nero he took out a cigarette from a pack in his inner coat pocket and lite it taking a long drag off of it. Shawn was actually very curious as to this story as well. From the sounds of it all three of them had one hell of a battle nine months ago. An even more so he wanted to know more about Clover, he stole another look before turning his head away again secretly smiling to himself.