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Their journey up Highway 27 had to be diverted, if but a bit, owing to a concentration of dead people on the road. Luckily, Church Street ran almost exactly parallel to both 27 and the train tracks leading into Carrollton, and was significantly less populated by rotting, shambling, former humans.

At least, for the moment.

Caesar's eyes were open before Meg's nudge made connection. As an older man with a lifetime of conflict resolution experience behind him, he knew the value of getting rest at every opportunity. Likewise, he knew the value of getting that rest very lightly. Within a second, he had appraised himself of the situation and sprung to immediate action.

An only slightly suicidal plan forming, he slid open the back window and tossed his weapons into the truck bed, following close behind. "Get ahead of the herd! Cover me if you can. I'll be right back." He kicked open the tailgate and moved out with pure physicality which defied his advancing age.

The two survivors were tired. Hurt. They were barely moving faster than the Walkers pursuing them, and sweet, merciful Bacon it was a LOT of them. They'd be outmaneuvered by pure numbers and, sometime the next day, be excreted as so many useless lumps of zombie shit unless someone intervened. This was the precise recitation of Caesar's job description, down to the asterix-marked footnotes. It was time to intervene.

Caesar hit the ground, rolling once before springing back up, trademark machete in hand. He hauled much ass.

Now, ordinarily, when a man who looks very much like the indomitable El Jefe runs dead at you with a long blade, it's best to run the other direction as fast as humanly possible. There were extenuating circumstances to this situation, granted. Nonetheless, as Caesar neared, he lowered his weapon and extended his free hand.

"YOU! Give her to me, and get in the truck. MOVE."

---

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Before speaking to his new companions, Ashton retrieved and holstered his sidearm. "Name's Ash. Engineering."

He accepted Kristina's hand, shook it once, and pressed a little harder on the accelerator. He wanted to put some distance between himself and the Dead; with luck the thunderstorm would cause them enough confusion as to make them forget about their Meals On Wheels. Ash didn't give any response to their polite intonations of gratitude. For all he knew, he just postponed their horrible, tearing death by an hour or two. That, and he would need their help coming up here in a bit.

Shaking his head, Ash mused that he'd feel a lot better when they were done with this run and back to the relative safety of Newnan. Much more work to be done. The upside to this meeting: The newcomers were friends and family with someone he trusted not to immediately shoot him in the back, Maria. With that, the likelihood that the survivors would try to rob and/or kill them lessened, he could breathe a little easier. In that realization, he was very glad that their newest member volunteered to come with him.

"I think I can help you out with the drinks," he began, regarding Lorna, "if you don't mind homemade, that is. But that'll have to wait, we're actually out this way on task. Can use some help, if you're up for it."

"Hey, do either of you need food or water? Medical? Oh yeah, mind my M4, if you would please. Just set it to the side."

---

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Wow, that had to be the quickest set of rolls and randomization's that we have come across so far when it comes to seeing if anyone gets injured, anyone dies or really anything else for that matter. Lady Luck has decided to be a Lady so far this morning and well, things seem to be swinging your way for the moment. Savor it because as we learned yesterday no one is safe - not even the beloved. Maybe that is why the storm set in when it did, it just knew. I wish it would have warned us! Anywho.... Enough of the world rambles.

The rain in your area seems to be letting up and even though I tried to stack the deck against you Lady Luck was a Lady and decided to let the rain lessen for the time. Now, does that mean tornado later or that it will actually stop raining? Who knows, my magic eight ball isn't telling me anything but "try again later" - So, we have rain and you manage to get away scott free and leave the Walkers in the dust. Enjoy this round of relief and soak in the family reunion.

You four are now in your little moving family reunion vehicle and besides a little bruising on one of you are doing fine. So move it.

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I don't know what it is with Lady Luck today but honestly I think she is being too nice. Maybe that's just because I am still ticked about yesterday and want to see you all suffer. Nah, I'm not like that, honestly. ~hides her horns beneath her halo~ Anywho, another round of things going well. No one dies, no one is injured, hand off went smooth, the car is ahead of the walkers now. I can't get over it! So get in that car and haul butt!

Oh wait, not everything is going smoothly. Nothing huge but where the storm let up a bit for group two, it is getting a little worse for you. Nothing huge but you may not want to stick around. Hell, there is still a hoard of walkers you might want to get away from. So get out of there while Lady Luck is being nice. She may not keep this up long.

---

Jaime ran and ran and ran, then he ran some more. That vehicle was his only salvation and... Oh my god, the woman popping her head out was the most gorgeous thing Jaime had ever seen on the face of this earth! That skin, that hair, that can do badass attitude he could see in her eyes! Damn that was so caliente! The woman fired a bullet passed Jaime, which whizzed uncomfortably close to Dick before braining a walker. She nearly shot Dick, and he could feel himself falling in love on the spot.

And then she died. Wait, what? NO! Jaime's guardian angel had come from the heavens to protect and rescue him! She can't just be... Just be gone! Just like that?! The horrific sight affected his pace. He slowed down just enough that Dick ran right passed him and into the vehicle. Jaime's mind was swimming with terror and fear. He just couldn't understand. His hot latina goddess gone before he even knew her... Jaime forced his mind back into the present, the now. Survival. Survival above all else.

He rushed toward the vehicle, picking up the pace once he had seen that Dick pulled out his gun, and what's more that the driver was black. Oh shit. Jaime had been around Dick long enough to know that that probably wasn't going to go well, so he kicked into full on sprint and dove into the open vehicle, as much for the driver's protection as his own. He spared a single glance back at Dexter making his own way.

"You've got this, amigo! Vomonos!"

---

Tired, worn and beaten, Jonas had almost given up. Looking back at the horde behind him and the presence of more walkers imminent, he was damn exhausted. Sure he wasn't going to lie down and die for Victoria's sake but he couldn't care less about himself by this point. So when a truck came barreling down Church Street and a threatening, buff Mexican with one hell of a moustache came down and charged at them with a machete, he was prepared run the fuck outta there. Instead, the stranger held out a hand to help them. He had never been so relieved to see a handlebar moustache in his life. Seeing as though he had very few options, he carefully handed his partner to Caesar.

"Ya better take good care of her mate, her ankle's broken. I'd say thanks but I want to haul my arse outta here before these walkers bite me arse off." Slapping his arm lightly, he pushed the Mexican ahead of him and ran behind the pair, making sure no walker got close enough to hurt his girl. Or Caesar, I guess. He swung his rifle around and set it on his shoulder, strap swinging from the metal contraption. He shot the two zombies closest to the car behind the car before the clip ran empty. Grimacing, he couldn't stop running to reload so he just hoped that Lady Luck kept up the Lady act for another minute or two. He let this new stranger to get up into the truck before jumping in himself, slapping the truck with a small smile on his face.

"Don't know about the rest of y'all but I wanna get the heck outta here!"

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If Meg was terrified, she sure as hell wasn't showing it. Instead, Meg slammed on the breaks, the truck screeching to a halt as Caesar leapt out of the back of the truck like Jackie fucking Chan. Or the Mexican incarnation of of him anyway. The truck stopped in front of two wandering walkers, both stumbling their way towards Meg as she hastily grabbed her bow with somewhat shaky hands, sliding out towards the truck bed to provide any long-range support she could to Caesar and the two struggling survivors. Aiming at the two in front of the truck, the first arrow hit the eye socket, a disgusting gurgling sound escaping the dead's lips before falling - and bringing his partner down with him.

The second zombie, while fallen, still attempted to get closer to the truck. Seeing an opportunity to shoot again, Meg aimed for the eye-socket again. It was simple: an arrow to the eye kept the walker away... or that's how it went in Meg's world. By the time Meg turned back around to check on Caesar, she found him interacting with the two survivors, taking the girl in his hands and letting the other male escape towards the truck.

It was getting harder for Meg to see, with how the weather was suddenly worsening with every minute. Though she sent a prayer of thanks up to Lady Luck - Meg could handle a bit of rain if it meant that the expedition would be successful. Clambering back inside the truck and sitting down on the driver's seat, she waited for Caesar to climb on with the girl before slamming her foot on the pedal, pealing away from the horde behind them. "Fuck fuckity fuck! Dammit Caesar! You could've gotten yourself killed with your Jackie Chan bullshit!" Meg shakily turned to look at Caesar. If Caesar got hurt, she knew that Alicia would kill her before she could even blink, and Meg definitely did not want to be killed by a friend.

---

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Sidd was lucky. Not only was he not shot but the resident doctor was not dead. At least, not yet. Though, to be quite honest, Sidd was sure Vivian was more likely to bring someone down before she bites the dust. Still on his knees, he stared at the trespasser with wide, terrified eyes.

Sidd was not brave. That was Meg's area of expertise. He wasn't strong, nor did he have any medical knowledge. He wasn't useful to the group, so what was he doing still alive? It should have been him taking the bullet, not Viv.

"Sid, run," A chill ran up Sidd's spine at Viv's demented look, and he knew shit was about to hit the fan. Sidd slipped a hand into his jean pocket, praying that he had something in there to help him, but only found a pen without it's cap sitting inside.

Well... shit. He wondered if it was even remotely possible to shove a pen in a man's foot, but he wasn't ready to try. He instead went over to Vivian, still looking over at the stranger to help Vivian with her injury. "Fuc- Are you oka-- of course you're not-- shit--" a slew of panicked words escaped Sidd's lips.

Sidd may not be brave, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Viv handle the bastard alone. Screw Lady Luck. He'd rather be killed than face Viv's wrath later.

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Ceasar tossed his machete into the truck bed as he came close, followed immediately by a somewhat more gentle depositing of his human cargo onto the tailgate. A gurgled snarl, barely audible over the white noise of rain and the pounding of blood in his ears, alerted him to danger immediately to his back. He turned, hurling his inertia into a devastating left cross at the rictus corpse, catching and half-removing its mandible in a grisly parody of a broken marionette.

Rapt in his moment of personal carnage, he hopped up onto the open tailgate next to his living carry-on and planted both of his snakeskin boots into the ribcage of the semi-jawed walker, simultaneously knocking it to the ground and propelling the elder man farther into the vehicle. Caesar took a second to close up the back, just in time to hear Meghna chastise him:

"Fuck fuckity fuck! Dammit Caesar! You could've gotten yourself killed with your Jackie Chan bullshit!"

El Jefe looked to his traveling partner and replied with a low, casual tone as she pulled the truck back on course, "Jackie Chan is my bitch, Meg. Time to go."

---

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Kristina looked towards Ashton as he offered both of them something to drink or eat or if they needed any medical attention, she shook her head. "I'm good thank you Ash." Kristina said softly as noticed that the rain was starting to let up a bit she then grabbed the two M4's that were near them along with Maria's bow, she was glad her sister still had it and set it into the very back of the SUV so that it wasn't in their way. She quickly remembered her sister's necklace and quickly dug it into her pockets until she found it. "I believe this belongs to you sis." Kristina said, she remembered the day that Dickface lied to them that her sister died and Lorna managed to take it from his hands.

Maria turned to face her sister once again seeing the necklace her father had given her when she graduated from high school and was about to start her first college semester. She smiled softly at her sister and gently took it, she looked down at it which was slightly dirty but it was her necklace just how she remembered it and pulled Kris into another loving hug.

Maria smiled at Lorna's comment, though Lorna and Kris both looked like dirty mangy dogs. "You two look like wet dogs, once we get back home you two can take showers." Kristina smiled as she just leaned on Lorna, she had been on her feet for so long and it was nice to just sit down for once in a safe moving car. "We are on a supply run right now looking for medical supplies so if you two are up for it like Ashton said the help would be great." Maria said, Kristina nodded she was more then willing to help the two out.

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"Name's Ash. Engineering. I think I can help you out with the drinks if you don't mind homemade, that is. But that'll have to wait, we're actually out this way on task. Can use some help, if you're up for it."

Lorna tilted her head to rest on her right shoulder as she listened to Ash talk about what she assumed was moonshine. ”It’s most definitely a pleasure to meet you, Ash. Might just take you up on that offer. God fucking knows I need a drink. As for the help, I’m always on board. Especially to help a friend or two.” She smiled a little at Maria and gave a nod of approval towards Ash. She didn’t know him, obviously, but she got the feeling that he was a good guy and one she would probably end up having ample respect for.

"Hey, do either of you need food or water? Medical? Oh yeah, mind my M4, if you would please. Just set it to the side."

“Nah, I think I’m too tuckered out to eat or drink right now. Maybe in a while. Although if you’ve got any painkillers, I wouldn’t say no.” A wince crossed her face and she shifted herself in her seat to try and get a little more comfortable, if that was even possible. She shifted the M4 Carbine from partially being smothered by her leg and sat it to the side of her as he’d requested. She missed having a rifle in her hands. She gave a small smile and let out a light, but happy, sigh. It was amazing to be in a moving vehicle again, it almost made her feel comfortable enough to catch some shut eye.

"I believe this belongs to you sis."

Lorna watched the loving exchange between Kris and Maria, her smile widening a little when she saw Kris handing Maria her necklace. “We couldn’t exactly let Richie keep it, could we? Especially when we didn’t believe his bullshit. What a fucking shitbrick…” Her hands clenched into fists when she thought about it all. She sucked her teeth and her lips pouted outwards as her sentence trailed off. She would not let that retarded sack of balls upset this happy moment. She shook her head and rolled her eyes to get rid of her ever resting bitch face which she knew was bound to be even bitchier after the violent thoughts that had just crossed her mind.

"You two look like wet dogs, once we get back home you two can take showers."

The mention of showers soon perked Lorna back up, she was not going to sleep now. ”Holy fucking shit! You guys have showers? Are they hot?!” She sat forward suddenly and quickly regretted her decision as her back muscles spasmed in protest. ”Ow! Hell mind me for getting fucking excited over something…” She grumbled to herself and tried to knead out the knots in her muscles but to no avail. Bruises were a bitch. ”About that offer of help... I’ll only help if you get me those painkillers first. Mama needs her fixin’.” She grinned and wrinkled her nose, showing that she was kidding.

”Actually, how long until we get to where you’re planning on searching? I could probably do with a power nap before then…” She wanted to be as close to her peak as possible if she was going to be doing a run.

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The highway was fairly straight and uninhabited, by the living or the dead. Ash took a few moments to study their two new companions, diverting his attention briefly to the rearview mirror as the road was level and clear. The sisters were acting like, well sisters, and Lorna was obviously tired, but bearing both it and recent muscle pain like a trooper.

Lorna had let drop several clues that she might be military, not including the color with which she fluidly extolled the less ladylike parts of the English language. The clincher came when she lay her head on her shoulder - exposing the graceful curve of her neck, and the USMC tattoo just behind her ear.

"Ma'am?" Ash began, glancing to Lorna, "Couple points of bad news: We're almost at where we're headed, that being Franklin. Need all of us on the clock. Best I can offer is freezedried MRE coffee. Also, can't help you with the painkillers, least not yet."

"The good news: We're scouting for supplies, medical being part of that. Franklin's a small town, low population, off the beaten. There might still be things worth having. Now, I promise, the first four Naproxen we find are all you."

He did feel like an ass, denying rest to people who very plainly had a crappy day. While he did have to maintain the mission, there might be some wiggle room for biological necessities, things like sleep.

"We're five minutes out of town. Another five to get to the downtown. Unless it's crawling, that's where we're setting up base camp. Three of the spots we're hitting are right around there, so it's a good place to start. I'll brief everyone on site, soo... you've got ten to close your eyes. Wish I could do you better."

Ash wanted to give the Smiths some time to catch up. Apparently, it had been a while. Lord knows if his brothers were still alive, he'd want a few minutes without his CO's attention. For this reason, he had kept his speech directed toward Lorna. Before she drifted off into the blissful but short world of catnappery, the stoic engineer passed his extra 5.56 clips behind him.

"Hey, Marine," he began with lowered voice, "hang on to that carbine 'till we're home, ok? I hope we can avoid using it, but if we have to leave fast and loud, I want someone screaming OORAH carrying the damn thing."

---

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Newnan, poor Newnan. Of course when all the cats are away the mice will play. Well, in this case it is more like when all of the Yankees are away the Cubs decide its time to win the World Series. Your walls have been breached and things are not looking so well, no sunny skies for you. In fact things seem to be getting much darker in the heavens above even though the rain is letting up. Now, I could tell you what is about to happen but before I do that, we need to go through some more groups - so keep reading. Things are about to get interesting....

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Group two, you can stop holding your breath, Lady Luck was kind and you all survive this round. You're good, in fact real good. You manage to get the hell out of dodge and away from the RV without issue. The rest of the road to Franklin really doesn't give you any issue. So, that happy family reunion stays as tasty as if it were just ordered off column C on your Chinese take out menu. MMmmmmm, Chinese food.... Yeah, I gotta make an order for lunch, that sounds good. ~runs off~

~flops back down with a plat of pot stickers~ Okay, lucky for you the only thing getting nomnomed right now is this delicious plate of Chinese goodness. As you arrive to Franklin things see quiet, there are a few Zombies wandering about but that is about it. Don't let your guard down though. You are in a town now, one you don't know and that hasn't been cleared in the past. Lord only knows who or what you are going to run into.

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Congrats, you all are in the car and are out of there. Just in time too. Whitesburg is not looking good. The rain is coming down and bits of hail started to fall. They are only tiny and lessen as you drive north towards Carrollton. Good thing to since you can't double back around to come back the way you came.

You are left with a couple of options right now, set that leg and head to Carrollton or find another route back to Newnan and get Vivian to help with that leg before heading back out tomorrow morning. That is if Viv is still breathing but hey, you don't know shit so right now she sounds like your best option. Other than the fact that looking out the back it seems like that storm is much worse back towards home. Now, is it a good thing that all that noise the storm is creating is grabbing the attention of the Walkers and most of them are now heading south?

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Vivian just eyed Sid for a moment as the rain kept beating down on them. She had one hand pressed against her chest where the bullet had torn through. Why hadn't he run? Seriously, the kid was useless in a fight. Not that Vivian was much better but she at least had one thing he really didn't seem to have - guts and a total lack of fucks given right then. Even as the rain let up but began to be replaced by hail she didn't flinch as her top became more and more stained with blood at each wound sites.

"Should have done what the little woman said," the an said with a snarl as he flipped the gun over in his hand and went to bludgeon one of them; who know one knew or would ever know as Vivian suddenly moved. Her right arm went out; if the storm had not been there the tell tale sound of a blade clicking out could have been heard. There was a shine of blade before it was driven back into the mans thigh. Twisting it before she ripped it out, gouging the mans flesh and chipping bone that was nestled deep within the leg muscle.

Turning her wrist as the man fell to his knees there was nothing to stop her from thrusting the blood drenched blade right through his throat. He toppled over as the blood gushed from the wound, Vivian coughed up blood as she looked over towards Sid. "Get me inside the infirmary," she said as blood clung to her lips; still gripping the knife in her free hand. She couldn't believe she was counting on this bag of bones to get her to safety but right now Doc really had no other choice.

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Leann slammed her shoulder against the door frame of the armory as she slid through the mud, blood, hail and rain that was beginning to fill the streets. The Newnan folk were fighting back, doing what they were trained to do but still it was a train wreck and shit was only getting worse with the growing rumble sound around the city. Picking up the two way radio set from its base she turned it the appropriate channel.

"We're under attack, wall down, multiple dead," Leann quickly said into the hand held set. Each car had long been equipped with these but their range was at best thirty miles. Granted she doubted anyone was beyond that range but right then there was a lot of interference; there was the storm, there were buildings and trees. God only knew if anyone would hear her clear. (Though thankfully the dice have said that you'll at least be able to make out broken words.)

Suddenly out of no where there was a loud thud against the door of the armory. Slowly lowering the device Leann took aim towards the door and carefully inched her way towards the door. Pushing the door open with the nose of her rifle she looked outside. "Mother puss bucket..." she muttered to herself as her eyes widened.

---

---

Running out the door she started yelling commands up and down the streets for everyone to take cover. What was happening was out of some deranged fairy tale gone horribly wrong. It was as if two people had been driving down the road together, just talking and one of them had an awful idea that the other one took to heart. Yeah, that was it... In fact that was exactly it.

You see, when any idea gets chucked towards your Gm's head she actually catches it and rolls it around in that sick head of hers. This event is actually brought to you by your Co-Gm.... He has watched way too much Sharknado and merged Walking Dead and Sharknado into one glorious event.... Zomnado.... Your Gm put it in the randomizer with a .01% chance of popping up for grins and giggles. It seems that Lady Luck has a twisted sense of humor so guess what popped up today for you Newnan folk?

"IT'S RAINING DEAD, HALLELUJAH!"

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James looked in horror as his friend and confidant was pulled from her sniper perch in the window. One shot fired before she dropped her rifle on the roof and died, screams cut off by her own blood. James had tried to grab her, successful only in striking the toe of her boot with outstretched fingers. Then she was gone.

He snatched up his pistol, attempting to give her a clean death. Sadly, he was denied this. The horde massed around her, tearing, eating, preventing him a direct line of sight. At least she expired quickly. A few short pumps exiting her jugular she she lost consciousness, adrenaline and shock taking the largest portion of her pain away until Alicia's eyes closed to a world that did not deserve her. James sunk into his chair, heartbroken.

Alicia Gonzalez, a badass from a line of badassery, sniper, close combat specialist, friend. She was loved by more people than she realized. She would be missed.

Dear God, this meant James had to tell everyone.

He looked back at the man who jumped into the Hordebuster first. If there was any good that would come out of Alicia's death, it was that she gave her life for this man. James prayed that he was important in some way; prayed that his continued existence had meaning. It had better.

The intervening seconds between the first man entering and the last seemed impossibly slow. An eternity in a moment. Everything seemed to quiet in one detached space of indeterminate time. James's logical mind stayed sharp, covering the survivors' path to the 'Buster. His emotional mind betrayed him, fighting to express itself in blurry, myopic drops he had to blink away. Had to stay hard. He was surrounded by the Dead, backup just got eaten, and now taking on total strangers by himself. Stay hard.

The last horse crossed the finish line, and James wasted no time pulling the suicide door cable to slam it shut. Not that he actually believed that reanimated corpses had mastered Truck Door Opening skills, but he nailed the manual locks out of sheer determined habit. Immediately, he remembered Alicia's rifle and retrieved it, half standing in his seat by reaching his arm out and blindly groping on the roof. Luck had the barrel in his hand after two fast passes. He lay it the front passenger seat with the rest of Alicia's personal effects, using the action to disguise wiping his face with his sleeve.

James wasn't sure what he should say to these people. Ordinarily, there would be a witty comment, followed by a couple light questions to find out what kind of people they were. Then, he'd assess what he found out (or at least suspected), and either cut his ties to them or invite the lot back to Newnan. He was the official Recruiter, after all. It's what he did.

But this situation was all fucked up.

The question as to what he should say came to him in a flash of incredulous rage, following a weight pressing against his seat and a highly insensitive question hurled at him by one of the Ralls Rd. survivors:

" For the love of God, do you have a cigarette? "

James couldn't believe it. Really couldn't. Perhaps he should have thanked the guy, the sudden rush of anger snapped him out of his more immediate sorrow, bringing him back to the here and now. He yelled with no small amount Southern Accented Belligerence,

"Are you serious? Did you not just see what happened? Unless you wanna walk, you gonna shut up about CIGARETTE and sit the fuck down!"

For half a second, James debated putting a bullet in the man's hip joint. But that would be counterproductive, and it was very possible that events were putting him in a dark place again. Yes, counterproductive. Instead, he pulled the Hordebuster around, circling the roundabout in the driveway and getting himself reoriented to the main road.

The long driveway sloped up at a gentle angle to the street, and it was covered with the Dead. Ordinarily, this would mean the end. On the other hand, ordinarily he wouldn't be in the belly of Captain Ash's Custom Road Monster. Alicia convincing him to "borrow" the machine saved his life, and the lives of those they just rescued. Pity it did not save her as well.

Black James stepped on the accelerator, easing the powerful beast forward slowly at first. On he pressed, picking up speed. At first, he was merely pushing the walking corpses out of the way, but by the time he was fully a third of the way up the drive, a chorus of bone pinged off of the steel of the Buster's great, reinforced cowcatcher as putrid bodies were thrown and scattered like so many undead bowling pins. James sat, steering the Dump Truck of Death through a field of rotting meat, mowing them down like grass and flinging them about in a way that would have been comical, were one to not see the pain and rage decorating his face.

If he were very lucky, he would have rolled over Alicia's corpse and destroyed her brain. But luck didn't seem to be on his side today.

Back on the road, he hauled ass to get ahead of the horde.

The moment he thought they were home free, his radio crackled. "We'r un tack, all dow, mu pl dead,"

"Come again? Didn't readja, what was that about a tack?"

A tack... a tack... attack. Shit. He turned back to the people in the truck behind them, still keeping his gun in hand.

"Aight, look. Ain't supposed to go down this way, ok? I'm a recruiter. This ain't the plan. I think home's gettin' hit, so I gotta cut this run short. If ya'll want to help, fine, follow my lead. If you don't, I'll let you folks out somewhere on the way. Someplace quiet. But I'm turning this bitch around and goin' aggro on some muthafuckas when I get there. Your call."

---

---

"Ma'am? Couple points of bad news: We're almost at where we're headed, that being Franklin. Need all of us on the clock. Best I can offer is freezedried MRE coffee. Also, can't help you with the painkillers, least not yet."

A groan and small gag escaped Lorna at the mention of coffee. ”Uuugh, coffee… No thanks. Yeuck.” She shuddered a little at the mere thought of it and shook her head to get herself back in the game. Of all the things to get disgusted by in this world… Her face fell a little bit further when she heard they didn’t have any painkillers but she had put up with worse pain than this so it wasn’t too big of a deal.

"The good news: We're scouting for supplies, medical being part of that. Franklin's a small town, low population, off the beaten. There might still be things worth having. Now, I promise, the first four Naproxen we find are all you."

Light laughter rang out and Lorna gave a grin towards Ash. ”I’ll be holding you to that promise, Cap.” Her eyes shifted over to watch Maria and Kris for a moment. She was glad that Maria wasn’t dead but she knew how much Kris had missed her sister and to find out that she wasn’t dead after months of uncertainty? Lorna wasn’t about to interrupt their reunion just yet.

"We're five minutes out of town. Another five to get to the downtown. Unless it's crawling, that's where we're setting up base camp. Three of the spots we're hitting are right around there, so it's a good place to start. I'll brief everyone on site, soo... you've got ten to close your eyes. Wish I could do you better."

Nodding while Ash spoke, Lorna listened intently despite her weariness and her smile seemed to split her face in two when she realised what Ash was saying. ”You’re my new favourite person, Ash. No offence girls.” She winked at Maria and ruffled Kris’s hair a little before settling herself down into her seat more, getting comfortable to grab her power nap. She adjusted her cap and rested it over her eyes to keep out the slowly rising sun.

"Hey, Marine,"

Lorna lifted her cap with a couple of gentle fingers and peeked out from underneath it at Ash. She noticed the ammo and stretched her left hand out, taking them from him.

"hang on to that carbine 'till we're home, ok? I hope we can avoid using it, but if we have to leave fast and loud, I want someone screaming OORAH carrying the damn thing."

Maria definitely had good taste in friends and Lorna silently thanked the powers that be for keeping Maria safe with good people like this. She had thought Maria, if she’d been alive, had been suffering worse than she and Kris had but apparently it was the other way around. Her mind quickly snapped back to the present. A nod of the head and her cap falling back down over her eyes was all the answer she could muster but a small whisper left her lips as she began to pass out in the back seat of the car. ”Ooh-fucking-Rah.”

---

Time flew by quicker than Lorna would have liked but she could hear the tell-tale noises of the engine slowing as they approached their destination. Lorna stretched her body out as best she could in the confines of the SUV and fixed her cap back on her head, tucking her hair up into it to keep it all out of her way while they did what they had to do. ”Alright Cap, thanks for the cat nap. I’m ready and rarin’. What’s the first stop?” Just as she asked the question and began getting her gear in order, the M4 being slung over her shoulder she could hear the familiar crackle of a radio and raised an eyebrow at what came out of it.

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"So what happened exactly with Dickface at the run?" Kristina finally asked, she was really curious what had happened she needed to know exactly what had went down. Maria was looking down at her necklace and sighed softly remembering the first day she got it and it was the last present she got from her father, she quickly shook the thought out of her mind remembering what happened with their father three years ago. Maria turned to look at Ashton and Lorna as the two of them got to know one another. "Well we were inside of a restaurant that we thought had food in it, he started flirting with me and as you know I don't role that way." Maria said softly looking out towards the window then looking back at her sister she needed to know what had happened.

"Well he tried to fight me, our fight started to attract walkers and then they started coming closer and closer towards the kitchen. He took his gun and aimed it at me which we fought over, he fired but the shot grazed my leg and then he ran." Maria said looking down at her leg for a second she still had the scar before continuing. "Once he left the building, there was a rear fire exit and I ran towards it and found a dumpster that was opened and climbed inside. I stayed in there for a day because there were a lot of walkers until things finally settled down and pulled myself out and stitched my leg as best I could before heading back to our camp, but you two had moved on and I tried finding you guys for awhile."

Maria sighed and ran a hand through her hair then looked towards Ashton and then her sister and Lorna who looked like she was asleep now. "Then a guy named James Grady found me and took me back to Newnan, and the rest is history." Maria said as she finished her story as she finally put on her necklace.

Kristina clenched her fists and bit her lower lip when she heard what Dick had done to her sister, she wanted to shoot him then and there after he gave her and Lorna the news what happened but instead they exiled him and since then they were on their own for the last three months. "If I see him again I want to shoot him." Kristina said angrily, she was still truly happy that her sister was back and wanted to give her a more proper hug once they were out of the car.

Then the radio crackled over the SUV's radio that all the vehicles in Newnan were outfitted with in case something happened back home or if someone needed something while out on a run. "We'r un tack, all dow, mu pl dead," Maria looked at the radio hearing the crackled voice of Leann the only word that she could hear was 'Dead' Maria looked over at Ashton.

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Good lead, this town. They could spend days in Franklin, looting and foraging for supplies. It had a clustered downtown with solid, brick buildings, close enough together that it could be walled off without remotely the effort it took to handle Newnan. Rip up the park in the center and there was good, clear ground for planting. A construction site, complete with raw materials. This could be a home. Hell, this place could be a fallback point, if the shit really hit the fan, though manpower would have to be diverted to make that happen. All in good time.

First order of business: Base camp. There was a nice looking two-story affair with an external steel staircase that looked adequate for their needs. Excellent amount of daylight left. Time to get to it.

Until the radio crackled out a garbled message he barely recognized as Leann's voice. "...we'r un tack, all dow, mu pl dead..."

So much for the first order of business.

"Sorry, ladies. We're cutting the field trip short. I don't know exactly what she said, but Leann isn't about to use the radio unless shit and fan have made solid connection. Home's in trouble."

Ash shot a look at their newest friends, Kristina and Lorna. "You two, um... This doesn't directly involve you. If you want to stay here, hole up for a while, I will come back for you. Otherwise, hop back in and be ready to fight in a half hour."

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"Jackie Chan is my bitch," Meg muttered under her breath, incredulously. This guy was either high, or a testosterone fuelled monster. Probably the second one, Meg assumed. Seeing as the testosterone bank was busy fixing up their newest guest, Meg tried driving as slowly as she possibly could - without running the risk of getting caught by the walkers still stumbling behind them.

The weather was still shitty as ever; hail and rain was pouring down in buckets making it harder for Meg to drive carefully. Should've bought an SUV, she thought, cursing herself. Well, she couldn't blame the weather lady for this, unless Lady Luck wanted to take credit for the shitty weather. "We'r un tack, all dow, mu pl dead," The sudden cracking from the radio pulled her out of her misery. She furrowed her eyebrows, mentally repeating the words to make some sort of sense out of the broken words. Well, the last word was certainly discernible out of the mumbo jumbo, the very word that chilled Meg to the core.

"Caesar!" She called from the inside, her fingers curling around the steering wheel tightly- to the point where her knuckles turned white from the strain. "I think something bad's going down in Newnan! We gotta turn back around!"

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You know how people claim that they see their last moments in slow motion? Well, bull-fucking-shit. The crazy suit guy was coming, and boy was he coming in fast. The older twin was paralysed beside the Doc, watching as he--

The man's scream was the only thing Sidd could hear through the blood pounding past his ears. It was as if some sort of miracle that Viv was able to tear out the crazy lunatic's muscle and bring him down. It was at this moment he thanked whatever deity above was watching over him for sending him one of the most cut-throat bitches in what was supposed to be his final moments.

"Get me inside the infirmary," yes ma'am. Carefully taking Vivian's arm, he hung it around his shoulder before slowly standing up. He definitely was no hero, and he proved it by not being strong enough to carry her the fuck out of there. Wrapping his other arm around her waist to keep her steady, he muttered "thank Christ we only had to deal with one guy." And they were lucky that the infirmary was simply the next block.

Well, it was as if Lady Luck had a real sick sense of humour. It was literally raining dead by the time Sid had helped Vivian to the main block/infirmary. "There is absolutely no fucking way this is real." And there was the panic again.

The walking dead, inside Newnan.

Fucking fantastic.

...said no one ever.

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Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to humans is mother nature; her wrath can be as bad as Lady Lucks, even worse. I mean seriously, a Zomnado is a pretty massive thing. You have a tornado that formed just west of town now ripping through the city; a solid f3. Remember that Cow scene in Twister? Yeah, when they said solid f3? Like that. If you haven't seen the movie, I pity you; was a decent watch for the verbal script alone. Cow... Another cow... I think that was the same cow.

Poor Bessy got taken up and there is damage being done but thankfully being located in an older town and setting up their historical district has paid off. Unless this thing gets stronger you should be able to recover; the buildings are holding strong. Thank god for brick. The best thing to come out of this Zomnado is anything but the Walkers that are hitting walls and breaking through windows. Oh that sucks. Look out! Two went through the Infirmary windows on the second floor.

You were under attack remember? Yeah, well they are trying to high tail it out of there but storms keeping them from getting far. Several get sucked up - YAY for Mother Nature! The rest? They are hiding out in various locations within the outer and inner wall but for now they aren't trying to kill anyone, they are just trying to stay alive. What happens when after the storm passes has yet to be seen but you'll see soon enough - Time skip at end of this round - Zomnado breaks up east of town. New down point on the outer wall. Lots of Walkers are dropping and around now. Most are injured so they can't walk but there are a good twenty still mobile. Look out!

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Well that was a hell of a way for everyone to get introduced. But hey, least you saved the rifle. Time to head home. The storm was nice to you. You know that road block that caused James and Alicia to take the long way around? The downed trees and brush? Storm cleared those out. Thing is though, in their place is a car pulled over on the side of the road, kind of. Lot of rain and mud kept them from fully pulling over. Their out of gas. Fun huh?

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Okay, I pulled a GM call here.... You see we have had enough OMG did that just fucking happen moments so far. And we have a lot to do to see if Newnan even survives this trip. When it came up that as you approached Newnan a Zombie got flung into the vehicle and took out Maria I said - Fuck you Lady Luck you can't have her. Sorry, I know I should go with it but damn it. I am tired of people dying right now. So deal with it, I played nice GM and used my GM card. You make it back to town without issue and as you approach the south entrance to the outer wall you see Leann putting a bullet in the leg of one of the ones that ambushed Newnan as he tried to run away. Welcome home.

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Arg, forgive the change up on you but forgot that one person was sick and wasn't posting this round. So here we are. You have one with a broke ankle, you have a hoard behind you, an emergency call coming in from home and the unknown in front of you? What will you do.

Home needs the Federale if they are under attack but what kind of crutch will these new comers be; especially with an injury. Even if you chose to go home you sure as hell can't go back the way you came that's for sure; you'd have to find a new route. Then there is the unknown... could things go smoothly? Yeah, I guess they could but we know how things go, they can always get worse. You'll need to decide and fast, it won't be too long until you're out of radio contact with Newnan. Only thing else is Caesar's Sat phone... the other end? Alicia's bag next to James in the Buster.. Oh crap, Caesar doesn't know yet.

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Vivian grunted slightly but kept hold of her knife as her arm went over Sids shoulder and she was helped to hobble back into the infirmary. Collapsing against a gurney she finally let go of the knife and pointed over towards the cabinets against the wall. Sig might not be a doctor but he should have at least known where everything was kept by now since Vivian was famous for drilling anyone that helped her out medically with locations and names of items. She needed help in the place and while she was the only trained professional having an extra set of hands around ways always good, but only if they knew where shit was.

"As much as I hate to admit it, what you saw was exactly what it was," she started. About to tell him to get her gauze and other supplies she heard the crash through the windows upstairs on the second floor of the old court house where the infirmary was set up and shook her head.

"Great, let's hope whatever crashed through up there isn't still walking. Gauze, suture kit and scalpel, quick. I'm bleeding out," she said through gritted teeth.

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Leann shouldered her riffle as she watched the bullet rip through the mans leg and send him toppling to the ground, face planting into the mud. There was no expression on her face as her hair clung to her features. She was covered in blood and dirt even though she was soaked through to the bone. She made a quick motion towards Group Two as she saw the car come through what was left of the outer wall south gate but did not stop in her stride as she stalked over towards the man. He was rolling around clinging to his leg as he let out a slew of nearly unintelligible curses.

Roughly he sat up, pulling a dagger and lunging awkwardly at Leann. He was weak though already from blood loss and it was easy enough for Leann to disarm him and pin him back down into the mud. "Let go of me you bitch," he growled as her knee pressed into the back of his neck and he spit out the mud that kept washing into his mouth.

"Such high praise," she said coolly as she pressed her trench knife against the side of his throat.

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They had been driving for what seemed like forever ad they were lost. No map, no idea where they were headed. Granted they really didn't have much of a destination other than to just stay alive for another day. The storm had not helped in the matter at all and before they knew it they were out of gas on the side of the road. Zoie sighed heavily as she sat there in the car, the engine sputtering until it died fully.

"Well least the rain has let up," she said, giving Victor a pat on the shoulder before stepping out of the car. There was no reason for them to stay there and hope the gas fairy dropped by. Walking to the back of the car she opened it and began to get their things out. Time to put some more miles on the to the soles of their shoes.

"What is that noise?" she asked as she heard the engine of the Buster off in the distance. Oh great, just what they needed. Granted if the people were friendly maybe they would have a ride for a few miles but people these days usually weren't friendly. Best way to tell in this day and age was to let the female introduce herself. Then judge things from there.

"Doc, hit the woods and stay quiet. Shit hits the fan, run," she said flatly as she shouldered her pack and tossed him his before the truck crested the ridge. Pulling her Beretta from her hip she held it low. She wouldn't take aim just yet but she wasn't about to be caught with her pants around her ankles either.

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From what he could see, part of the wall was down, Leann had a stranger pressed to the ground with a knife at his throat, and it looked like someone had fired dead people out of a cannon randomly.

They were all over the walls, the Dead, some still stuck to solid brick exteriors like that Coyote from the cartoons, waiting to slide down comically and land in a heap. Most seemed inert, but others... Newnan would have to be cleared, if it was even still viable. Windows were broken, fences shattered. It looked very much like some angry deity took a venomous shart across the settlement of Newnan. Well, Ash did tell them to be ready to fight. Hopefully, they were locked and wary.

Ashton's eyes took on a hard aspect. If he had not switched to "Business Mode" before, he definitely did so now. Ash approached the scene and drew his sidearm, chambering a bullet in clear view of the man on the ground. He bent down and pressed the barrel to the intruder's head, just to let him know where the business end was pointed, and stepped on his neck. "If you move," he whispered, "if you twitch in a way I object to, if you speak out of turn, I will paralyze you and let you drown in the rainwater." As if to overly emphasize his point, Ash slid his machete from its sheath and held it at the ready.

He quickly stood, gun pointed down and foot still in place, and addressed Leann. "Ma'am, we found two survivors before your distress came through: Kristina Smith and Lorna Dunn; Lorna of the United States Marine Corps. They're good people, Maria can vouch for them. They had enough trust to get my M4 willingly.

He glanced at the two newcomers, "Ma'am, and ma'am - This is Lt. Colonel Leann McCormick, USAF, Commanding Officer of the Newnan Safe Zone, such as it is presently."

"Colonel, what's our status?"

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Caesar shook his head from the truck bed, and shouted into the open rear window, "Can't go back through this. Can't stay here. Get ahead of the herd, maybe head south and come back another way."

He looked over to his newest responsibility, the young lady with the broken ankle. If they were driving back into a warzone, bringing someone injured that needed protection would be a liability. On the other hand, he couldn't drop them back off in the world. It would be as good as killing them. The infirmary was usually a defended location; if they could get her there, they stood a good chance all around.

Still, getting back was going to be a problem. At least, getting back quickly.

"I'll call up M'hija, see if she got that message clearer." Thank God for satellite phones. As long as he could charge the battery, it would be useful for years to come, with a clear signal everywhere, every time.

He thumbed the number into his device, trying hard to keep the errant splatter of rain from its screen.

...ring... ...ring... ...ring... ...ring... ...ring... ...ring... ...ring...

"M'hija, where you at? You get that mes... Why the fuck do you have the phone?" He was growling now. "What do you mean, "she's gone", huh? Was, what... no. NO YOU FUCKER! ... ... Bring them back."

This was his biggest fear realized. Caesar's chest was tight. He couldn't breathe. His heart thundered in his chest; if it hit any harder it would burst from his ribcage and lay upon the bed of the truck. It certainly wouldn't have hurt any worse then the pain he felt now. His skin seemed on fire. There was such a weight on him, such a weight. It was as if his soul became a tangible thing, just long enough to be maimed and burned, and shoved back in place incorrectly. The phone slipped from Caesar's hand, clattering clumsily on the truck bed.

He couldn't speak, at least not out loud. Instead, a repeating whisper issued from the man's lips.

"...no, m'hija, no baby girl, por favor..."

For the first time, possibly ever, Caesar Hannibal Gonzalez truly looked old.

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The Hordebuster was full. His new arrivals were jumbled into the sleeper cabin, and into the foldaway seat located nearby. Now, the passenger seat still had no one in it, but it contained the rifle and bag that made up Alicia's personal effects. He had to shuffle some things around to accommodate the newcomers, which meant his effects and his own rifle were stacked (almost) neatly along with hers.

Moving his Barrett was the most difficult part. James had to drive, but, being out of sorts and surrounded by people he didn't know, he refused to put away his handgun. Between those details the large dimensions of the weapon, it took a bit of doing to wrangle the piece into position. Yet he did.

James began to settle in, even relax ever so slightly, when a very unexpected noise issued from the passenger seat. It was a curious beeping sound. Not quite an alarm, not quite a bell. It didn't seem like any kind of warning the truck would give before something dropped off or blew up. So for a few seconds, he just listened.

Then it struck him: this was a phone! This was Alicia's phone! The only other one he saw that even worked anymore was... crap. It belonged to El Jefe himself. he was calling his daughter, probably about the message from home they all got. Well, sorry gramps, we didn't know any more than anyone else, but that wasn't the problem. He couldn't avoid it any longer.

Tentatively, James reached into Alicia's bag, and answered the phone.

"Hello? We heard the radio, but... I, I can't she, um... She's gone, sir. We hit a horde, Jefe. You don't even know how many. Found survivors. Alicia covered, saved one. The Dead took her. They just... Yes, sir. Yes I will. Count on it, Boss."

James allowed himself one shuddering sob. Telling someone, he felt better. Not fully, just a crack. But it was enough to let him reclaim part of his personality. He was given a job to do by the old man, Alicia's father. And it didn't seem like Caesar wanted to murder him. Ok, shit must be gotten together, who knows what he was going to walk into when they arrived back in Newnan.

The drive continued. Curiously, the way was clearer, more direct. They could make it back in twenty minutes, easy. He couldn't say the same for the lady on the side of the road.

He pulled up alongside her immobile vehicle, allowing enough space so tat he could clearly see her from his perch, and she him. James hit the side window, and spoke.

"Um, Miss? That is a lovely 9mm you've got there, but it looks like you could use some help?"

Oh, I'm sorry. My name is James. It's been a very emotional day, so I'mma give you the Reader's Digest version, mmkay? If you need someplace to go, I can help. But you gotta give me some assurance you ain't gonna to shoot me and take all my shit in the meantime. Now, if'n you're interested, I got plenty of room in the storage body in back. Or you can hang off of that ladder on the side. (Like a garbageman!) Or you can stay here. Whatever you wanna do, just do it fast. I got recalled PDfuckinQ."

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Maria was about to try and convince her sister to stay in Franklin where it would be safer, but they both were reunited after three long months of being separated from one another and it would be a hard time for Kris to say no. The drive back to Newnan was rather uneventful though as they got closer Maria could see the damage to the wall as well as walkers littering the roads near the gates some were still moving. Once Ashton stopped the car Kristina grabbed her rifle that she had been using and followed closely behind her sister and Lorna. Kristina watched as Leann pinned down one of the people who attacked Newnan she assumed anyway.

Maria looked towards Ashton as he introduced their two new comers, which Maria knew way before joining Newnan. "Ashton is right I knew them before joining Newnan." Maria said gesturing towards her sister. "She is also my sister, I may have mentioned her a few times. But I vouch for both of them they will be assets to Newnan." Maria said looking down at the man Leann and Ashton were pinning him down to the ground.

Kristina looked over into Newnan for a bit seeing the bodies of walkers some still moving while others were actually dead she wasn't sure how many survivors there were, and how many of the attackers were there but looks like the weather was clearing up somewhat. "Looks like the sky shitted out a ton of walkers." Kristina said sarcastically before being nudged by her sister Kristina looked towards Leann and gave her a quick nod. "Sorry." Kristina said quietly.

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Victor was at his wits end but a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as Zoie patted his shoulder. They were lost, got caught in a freak storm and now they were completely out of gas. A heavy sigh escaped Victor and he slammed the car door shut as he stepped out after Zoie. He made his way to the back with her and waited for his pack to be passed his way. A low and loud rumble sounded in the distance and he raised a quizzical eyebrow. Engines always meant people which usually meant trouble. “Oui. Just be careful… I don’t want to lose a friend if we can help it.” His accent was still pretty dominant even after all these years in America. He caught his pack and threw it on his back. He ran towards her, gave her arm a quick squeeze and then darted off into the woods as fast as his legs would carry him.

Slightly out of breath, Victor hid behind a cluster of trees, his machete drawn in case of any approaching Walkers. He kicked the dirt around the base of the tree and looked up into the branches, making sure there were no surprises waiting to pounce on him. He couldn’t see anything but that didn’t mean that nothing was there… hopefully his eyesight was good enough that he didn’t miss anything important. Victor watched through a space between the trees and saw a giant, modified looking vehicle pull up beside their wasted car and Zoie. He kept silent and watched from his perch. He couldn’t hear much that was being said from the blood pounding in his ears but at least he could hear the happenings going on around and behind him.

He could make out a darker skinned figure in the driver’s seat but there was no way that there was only one person in that car. Victor waited and watched but the thought of just leaving Zoie behind did cross his mind but, then again, if these people were good people? It might be worth it to go with another group as being alone and in a pair was marginally more difficult in comparison.

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Richard had to do all that he could to stop himself from laughing once Dexter got into the back of the car. It was generally a cold day in hell when Richard felt like the least insensitive asshat in the room and today was apparently freezing. Richard crammed his fist into his mouth to stifle the laughter, knowing that it would upset their new driver considering he just lost a friend. Usually Richard wouldn’t give a fuck but he wasn’t fucking dumb. He knew when to hold his tongue in this world… most of the time at least. He was also a little pissed off that Jaime had actually made it to the car. At least he’d still have some decent cooking coming his way.

The radio sounding caused Richard to scowl at the noise and he screwed up his face, giving his best ‘what the fuck’ look. ”You think we wanna get left the fuck out here while you guys appear to having working radios and shit? Hell no. Keep drivin’, chocolate thunder. We’re coming with you.” Richard spoke for the other two without even thinking about it. They’d soon pipe in if they didn’t want to go with them. Richard began to imagine a wonderful place full of tits, ass and poon for the ages. Maybe they even had good enough food that he wouldn’t need to deal with Dirty Sanchez anymore! Although they probably had more fucking ethnics there… Richard began to grumble to himself under his breath and curled his left hand into a fist while his right continued to caress his Ruger.

A weird beeping noise disrupted Richard’s brooding and he looked around the cab until he glared expectantly at James, waiting for him to deal with whatever the damn noise was. Before Richard could get a word out though, James answered what appeared to be a phone. What the fuck?! THEY HAD FUCKING PHONES TOO?! That cinched it, Richard was definitely making his way to whatever fucking place this was. He’d need to watch his mouth for a bit probably but he could handle it. Although being decent to Jaime was going to test his patience that much was for certain. He kind of regretted his previous chocolate thunder quip, but he could easily play that off as a “playful” nickname… probably.

They began to slow down and Richard tried to see what was going on without opening his window. Fuck being left open to a random bullet or Deadbrain. James stopped the car and began talking out his side window. Richard dared a look out his window and saw a damn fine piece of ass with a Beretta in hand. He couldn’t help but grin and leaned out his window, eyeing her up and down. James did a spiel about helping her and asking her if she wanted to come with and when he was done, Richard decided to quip in.

”Run outta gas or somethin’? This fella here just saved our asses from a herd of Deadbrains. He’s a stand-up guy who’s got shit to do and hates to leave anyone behind if he thinks he can help. You all alone out here?” The bullshit, it was a flowin’ like the Mississippi river. Richard began to look around the surrounding area, watching for anything out of place. There had to be someone else with her because lone wanderers didn’t last long in this world anymore.

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Lorna loaded the M4 that Ash had provided her and got it ready for a fight. ”Ooh-rah, Cap. Lead the way.” There was no chance in hell she’d leave people in need if she could help it. There was no other option but to go back to Maria’s new home with her and Ash. They weren’t losing Mar again and Lorna liked the cut of Ash’s jib.

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When they arrived at Newnan, Lorna began to get small flashbacks to her time out on Parris Island. She froze for a second, her mind somewhere else as she sat in the back of the car. She shook herself out of it, rolling her eyes to get her bitch face off, before she stepped out. Her hands gripped the M4 and she began to survey the area. So many Walkers everywhere. ”Holy fucking shit, did someone shove these bastards into mortar shells and blast them into this place, or what?” She kept the gun ready, waiting for something or someone to leap out from a random building or corner.

As they stepped further forward, Lorna saw a particularly stern looking woman. Definitely military and definitely taking no shit today. She was pressing her knee into the back of his neck and had a knife to his throat. Ash stepped forward then, in total hard-ass mode Lorna noted, and pressed his newly loaded handgun to the guy’s head. She didn’t know if this was a local or an intruder. If it were a local, things didn’t look as promising as she may have thought but if it were an intruder, things still didn’t look as promising as she had thought. Damn. Ash’s next words made Lorna grin though, it was nice to see a man showing some testosterone once in a while.

When Ash began his introductions Lorna gave a salute towards Leann, by show of respect, when he noted her background in military. ”Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Thank you for keeping Mar safe all this time. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” Lorna gave a wide smile towards Maria when she piped in and began to vouch for her too. She knew that Kris was going to be safe getting in, but Lorna did have a moment of worry for herself. ”And thank you for sending these two out when you did. If you hadn’t, who knows if we’d have made it out there…”

She gripped the gun a little tighter and glanced over her shoulders. She had the feeling that they weren’t actually out of the woods yet. Sure there were Walkers around but it didn’t seem like that was all that had happened. Lorna motioned towards the guy beneath Leann’s boot. ”Intruder, I presume? How many did you count?” Lorna began to survey the surrounding area again. She didn’t trust this. Silence after a storm only lasted so long…

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