Clouds completely covered the sky, with smoke still clearly visible from the north of a group who were running the opposite way. They’d reached the coast pretty quickly and gone east following the coast line. The survivors had not stopped running since the walkers had swarmed their home and destroyed everything they’d been building over the past year. There was only eleven people who managed to get out of the town together and they had no clue if anyone else had gotten out of there.

They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since the first five minutes of escaping. Ethan, one of the survivors, thought to himself that it was best not to say anything. Letting everyone come to terms with what had just happened as they continued to move down the coast.

—————————————————————————————————————————

An hour later, they still hadn’t stopped moving, still following the coast with the smoke slowly fading into the distance. Their speed had started to get slower and slower and you could hear everyone breathing getting heavier as well. “Stop…” Ethan said in an out of breath tone. “We need to take a minute to catch our breathes... One of us is going to pass out in a minute.” Ethan slowed down to a walk then stopped completely putting his hands on his head breathing in as much as he could.

The highway road that they’d been going down was covered in cars that had slowly started to rust over the past year. Everyone had decided to agree with Ethan and started to lean against the cars or sit on the floor. Ethan took off his rucksack and chucked it on top of a car bonnet and grabbed his map and the bottle of water out and taking a sip and passing it towards Walter. A pretty quiet guy but Ethan was really fond of him. He’d been on a few scavenging trips with Walter and they’d all gone well, Ethan trusted him. He was also glad to see Alex, sometimes it was hard to talk to him because of the slight language barrier, but he knew quite a bit on medicine and in these times it was one of the best traits somebody could have.

Ethan laid out the map on the bonnet, looking it over to see where there next stop could be. “We’ll keep moving down the coast until the sun starts to go down.” Ethan said out loud thinking to himself. “Then find a house to stay for the night…” There was houses all the way down the highway and as far as he could see. "The walkers will probably linger about in Dana Point for a while so we should have time to sleep. Anybody think we should do anything different?” Ethan looked around to see if anyone wanted to do something else. He knew everyone was clearly thinking about what had just occurred but he knew this wasn’t the time or the place to actually start talking about it.

Camyllia's heart pounded in her chest as she ran down the street away from her home tears running down her face. She refuses to turn her head to see if she was followed or not due to her panic state of mind. She dodges under the arms of a walker letting it fall and kept running. It wasnt' long that she came to a stop by an abandoned apartment building. Camyllia puts her hands behind her head and allowed air into her constricting lungs.

"Oh man," She whispers putting her hands down and looking around. Camyllia had ran all the way to the beach she played at with her uncle. Letting out a smile she makes her way down the road to where some colorful houses going for the smaller but brighter blue one. Coming to a stop at the sidewalk watching a half walker groan on the lawn reaching out for her. Slowly making her way forward Camyllia saw who the walker was, Jannette, her uncles ex.

"Sorry," She says pulling out her softball bat,"Can't have you aroun' Jan," Camyllia said her country twang coming out a bit. The walker reachedoutmore for her making the girl sigh before she swung with all her might caving the womans head in. Camyllia eye's began to water and she backed away her stomach churned and she held onto it gagging. Get ahold of your self Cammy! You're on your own! No wussy crap

Coming over to the walker she rips her softball out of her head and goes to the still feeling sick to her stomach over what she had just done.

The small white house was off to the side of the main road. From the outside it looked abandoned : boarded up windows, overgrown yard, cobwebs everywhere... But inside there were two souls that called the little sanctuary home.

Kat gently rocked the baby girl. She had been fed and given a bath, now it was nap time. But, being stubborn like her mother, the baby was refusing to go down without a fight.
"Come on Gracey..." her mother cooed gently. "You're going to make me do it aren't you?"
The baby girl's replied with a whine and reached for her mother's face.
Kat sighed. "Alright then," she agreed and began to sing.

"You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine,
You make me happy when skies are grey,
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you,
Please don't take my sunshine away...

She continued softly, humming when not singing the words to the classic lullaby. It was the only thing that could make Grace sleep.
Eventually the baby girl yawned and laid her head against her mommy's chest, closing her eyes. Kat gently and carefully laid her in the makeshift plan pen she had crafted from safety gates and twine. She made sure Grace had her little pink blanket that she wouldn't sleep without.
Still humming, Kat picked up the shotgun, which now had no ammo but was still an effective intimidation tool, and went to the window to keep watch. A swarm of walkers had passed by during the night, which meant if any survivors were left in their wake they might be headed her way.
If they thought a single mother with a baby would be an easy scavenging target, they had another thing coming...

Just outside of San Clemente High School in a sniper's den which is well concealed by large rocks and some foliage, Alex is holding the Hunting rifle looking down the scope and checking the fence. Pretty clear. The clean-up crew this month was doing very well. Maybe whoever got chosen this month would choose the same people. Alex didn't care where he got put as long as there was some solitude involved.

As he was about ready to pack up and head back to the gate his walkie squawked to life, "Hey Alex. Meetings about to happen soon. Did you remember to put your vote in this month." Alex detached his walkie from his belt and pulled it up in front of himself to respond, "Nah. You know it don't matter to me. I always vote for you anyway, Ollie." Alex always voted for Ollie. Why wouldn't he. Ollie knew how to lead a group of people, he was trustworthy, he was fun to laugh at, and last but not least he was his older brother.

"You know I'm getting tired of that excuse. A couple of the others are too. They think you don't take the system seriously." With that Alex grabbed the rifle, his backpack, and the binoculars and left the small perch, "Don't worry about it. Hey tell Dave that I'm approaching the gate. He's way to jumpy. I don't wanna risk getting shot." Alex turned his walkie off and walked the rest of the way down the hill and picked up a slight jog when he got close to the gate, "Hey. It's me. Guard Tower A Cycle 3 reporting back. _{Under his breath} I seriously hope I'm not under Jefferson again." The gate swings open in front of Alex and he rushes to the supply room and drops off the binoculars and rifle, then makes his way to the cafeteria for the meeting. By the time he arrived they had already started counting the votes for the month. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Erin, wait or was it Clara, whatever. Either way he decided he might as well congratulate her for the good work she did this month. He always hated running into stragglers on his way back from the perch. He walked over and sat beside her, "Hey good work this month. Hopefully whoever is in charge of clean-up chooses you for their crew. I heard you got the most kills this month."

Clara Jekyll Moon

Clara pulled the hood up from her sleeveless vest. One knife was hooked to the old belt making it shifted with every step against her faded jeans. Her green eye saw a rather sickening sight as she entered the cafeteria. Different groups were gathered in isolated areas inside the room. Laughing and excited voices filled the air as if nothing wasn't wrong just outside. Now this ridiculous meeting was adding to their problems. They had even dragged the always trusting Erin to the blender. A call for last minute votes caught the teen’s attention. She still had to do that for the better half. Clara walked up to the table and quickly wrote down a name, which should make Alex Hill very happy.

The darker part walked away keeping her eye to the ground. She didn't like the stares that were given. Erin should be the one awake now but the girl had stayed awake for days studying who would be the best leader. This had caused a very Clara to take control of their body. Now the lighter side was sleeping and she was forced to be here. The girl didn't hear the door open let alone the footsteps coming her way. Her eye darted to the sliding chair.

“ Hmm… One shouldn't believe all they are told Alex. Anyone of these people can kill walkers. The real question is how far they are willing to go to protect each other. So thanks isn't really needed but I'll take it. I do hope that happens because Erin is becoming a lazy bum. Though I do hope her vote for your brother helps.”

Who knew that one of the first things that Walter Pierce would find himself doing in the midst of an apocalyptic crisis and the decay of society would be taking a stroll along the coastline.

Only, instead of the smell of the Pacific Ocean on an average day, it was the familiar stench of the rotting dead that seemingly littered every turning corner, and the perpetual smoke that cut into his lungs. Even with the sudden invasion of the horde and the destruction of their long-lived sanctuary, Walter continued to quietly coexist within the pocket of survivors that remained.

The man's entire body beaded of sweat, much like the companions that flanked him; such a condition had never bothered Walter until this point, and as tiring as the escape was, he graciously accepted Ethan's charity. He leaned against one of the many run-down cars near the group's point of respite, keeping a lookout among the horizon while listening.

"No problem with that," Walter spoke up first in response, his eyes remaining along the highway as his hand fiddled with the knife at his side. "I can take first watch."

Stagnant gasoline stung the back of Alex's nostrils as his party made their way down the dead highway. They were forced from their home after it'd been overcome by walkers, and the whole situation had left lasting emotional scars throughout the group. The Portuguese pseudo doctor was less affected, but from his perspective, if they didn't find some form of lasting shelter soon, the tension would prey upon what little hope his allies had been able to cling to. Sanity was such a delicate trait. Alex was lucky to have his in tact. It's surprising how much a year could harden somebody like him. The once meek and aloof student was no longer affected by the dangerous attitudes of those around him, much less did he care about the negative traits that he'd developed in order to survive. Alex caught himself glancing at a collection of thinning clouds as Ethan finally broke the unhealthy silence. It was rather close to sun-down now, wasn't it?

"I go forward," Alex stated in a thick European accent, "Is faster, no?" Before anyone could interject, Alex already had his back turned to the group, and wasn't interested in any objections they might have had. Of course, he had no intention of going too far on his own. The idea of getting lost wasn't very appealing, to say the least.

The girl woke to the sound of feet, moans and startled yelps from animals nearby. In the back of her truck she had laid down, leaving the windows cracked a hair to let fresh air in over the night so she wouldn't get too hot and catch a fever. Eyes snapped open, grey irises searching for anything inside of the truck: finding nothing she grabbed her Bowie knife from the space beside her. Fingers wrapped comfortably around the handle, divots in the leather from the years of use. Looking out the back window she saw several zombies, shuffling toward the truck, though after several silent moments she realized that it didn't know she was there. It was joined by more, the congregation turning into a horde. It split around the truck, not one noticing that there was anyone inside of the vehicle. Without making a sound the female crouched, waiting for the horde to pass, barely daring to breath too loudly. She could feel the heavy pulse of her heart in her ears, fingers dancing with adrenaline, pupils dilating as the rush washed over her. Time slowed, it seemed an eternity passed before the horde was finally gone. They were headed south, away from the cold of the approaching winter. Toward the heat, and wherever any surviving humans holed up. They must have rushed through Dana Point and San Clemente before making it to her.

Finally gone, she turned and tossed a box of crackers into the front of the truck, followed by the knife and finally the girl herself crawled into the cab through the small window. Dressed in torn jean shorts, sneakers and a plaid flannel shirt, she pulled her hair back in a lazy braid before opening the side door and stepping out onto the abandoned highway. There were cars littering the road, some almost completely torn apart and others seeming as if they were brand new aside from a thick layer of dust on them. Rolling up the sleeves of her shirt she ate a couple of crackers before slipping her bow onto her back and the knife on her waist. Not a walker in sight. Closing the door, she reached her arms above her head in a long, much needed stretch. She glanced around: still nothing. Without a word the young woman walked over to an overturned jeep, wondering if anything usable remained of it. Even if there was just a blanket or a couple bullets, a good part. Hell, she'd really appreciate a working radio. Maybe there was an old CD or casset player.

As she was rooting through one of the less damaged vehicles she heard voices coming from north of her, a group by the sounds of it. 10K dropped, crouching behind one of the cars, listening to them slow and stop. Several dropping to the ground in exhaustion, others leaning against cars. She peered through a crack in the door of the car she was ducked behind, watching what seemed to be the leader toss a rucksack and then lay a map down on the hood of the car she had just gone through. There wasn't anything left that was useful to her, and she'd siphoned all of the gas in the tank out just before they had gotten there. Half a liter at most, but something was better than nothing. Getting gas for the truck had been the hardest part of getting down here from Montana in the last few months, but luckily for her there wasn't anyone left around to need it other than her and her brother. And now that her brother was dead, this group may well have been the first living people she's seen in years.

She moved her gaze slightly to a man walking away from the rest of them, passing by a man leaning back against a truck. Not just any truck: her truck. It wasn't like she was going to get anywhere near her truck without them noticing she was there, even she wasn't so skilled as to avoid notice out in the open by a group facing all sorts of directions. Waiting until the leader had his back turned to her, she slipped her bow off of her back and notched an arrow on the string. A hunting arrow, barbed and blood stained, fletched with swan feathers. Slipping just to the edge of the damaged suburban, visible but not yet noticed, she pushed off of the tire and leaped onto the hood of the vehicle, using surprise to her advantage she jumped over to the car that which the leader and his map was sitting on. Aiming the arrow tip at the man leaning against her truck she watched him for a moment, letting the initial chaos die down. "Get your ass off my truck."

Nikki Hyatt

Nikki had taken the outter position closest to the woods in case of walkers. She'd had a lot of experience in the last year in killing walkers and some of the residents had not.

She was devastated that they had lost their refuge. They had almost been able to live normally, to a point. They had developed routine's. People were growing gardens and baking and doing normal things. There were rotations on guard duty. Nikki was usually on top of the school's three story roof. From there she could see far off in nearly every direction. She had sounded the fire alarm when she saw the hoards approaching. The deafening alarms reached across several blocks and were loud enough to warn people that trouble was on the way. She had seen people pop out of their houses and back inside to pack up stuff.

Nikki's mind played the scene over and over. She had gotten up from her bed and gotten her gear and left her house. She was the only survivor in her family. As usual, she picked up the family picture and kissed her family and stuck it in her bag. Next she had gone to the school and up to the roof. She liked it up there. She had a pair of binoculars that she could see nearly everything. There was a clear view to the highway except where the tall buildings were in the way. This is why they did not get enough notice to get prepared sooner. She had radioed Ethan and told him the size of the hoard as soon as she could get some kind of number. The shock of how large it was spurred Nikki to run faster than she ever had before.

Nikki had run up the streets yelling at kids to get to their parents. Many of the houses had glass doors on the front of the houses. Some had been broken and replaced with solid doors and some weren't. Nikki screamed til her voice was hoarse. Could they really fight this many at once and win? She tried to get people to the school where it was safer. The heavy doors could easily keep the walkers out and there was a lot of room.

Nikki stepped off to the side and killed a walker by swinging her sword and watching it's head roll down the slight decline off of the road as it's body fell over. She looked up and behind them then she hurried to keep up and paid more attention. She was glad to hear Ethan yell stop and that they were taking a short break. Her body was tired and she knew she had a long time before they were going to be able to stop for more than a few minutes. @Josephb

Ethan was still looking down at the map as people started to give shout out their opinions, Walter agreed with him and was nice enough to take the first watch. Nikki had just joined the group again, physically tired like the rest of the group. Before anyone could manage to give their opinions and catch their breaths Alex chirped up in his thick Portuguese accent saying “I go forward… Is faster no?” and continued to walked off down the highway. Alex might not have worded it correctly but Elliot knew what he meant. Alex didn’t want to stop and wanted to put as much distance between himself and the Walkers as possible. People needed to rest though, they couldn’t keep going at this speed.

Ethan was about to push himself up off the car he was leaning on and tell Alex to stop so he wouldn’t go too far on his own, but before he could say anything a random girl jumped up onto a car with an arrow pointing right at Ethan. After a few seconds she shouted directly at Ethan saying, “Get your ass off my truck.”

Ethan put his hands up slowly looking to the girl, from the looks of her she wasn’t older than twenty, but Ethan did not want to mess with her especially the bow and arrow that she had. “Wow.” He said in a bit of a shock at the surprise of the young girl, but still acted in a calm manner slowly backing up from the car. “It’s alright... We’re just taking a break. We’ll be gone when we’ve caught our breaths…” He smiled and continued. "I’m Ethan by the way.”

The yelling outside had Kat on edge. She hadn't looked, trying to keep them from seeing her in case they looked towards the house. She swore under her breath multiple times, the kind of swearing that would make a sailor blush. If those idiots didn't quiet down they would-

A scream tore through the house, echoing through the empty rooms and could be clearly heard from those outside.
"SHIT!" Kat shouted herself and raced into the kitchen area and scooped up Grace. Kat always tried to time it so that she was in the room with Grace when she awoke because if the baby woke up alone she got scared and screamed bloody murder until her mother appeared.
As she comforted the sobbing baby Kat knew there was no way the morons outside hadn't heard it. Holding her baby in one hand, she held up her shotgun with the other and went to the door. She could shoot, but she could slam the butt of the shot gun into anyone who tried to come through the door.

Grace was blubbering but had stopped screaming, large tears rolling down her plump cheeks.
"You assholes woke my baby," Kat snarled loud enough for anyone close to the door to hear. "I should shoot you for that alone. Keep moving or I'll change my mind and do just that!"

Kat was beyond pissed. When you were a mother NO ONE woke your baby.

Camyllia gets to her door and see it was slightly ajar she looked around panicked. Was someone there? She turns her head and listens for any noise alive or dead but it was silent. Taking a deep breath she shoves her backpack further up her shoulders and cracks the door open little by little before peaking into the familiar empty living room. She sighs silently before stalking forward her bat at the ready creeping towards the kitchen that was connected to the living room. Nothing

Kitchen clear

She turns to the darkened hallway and makes around to each room.

Uncle Denny's room clear

Bathroom clear

my room..

Camyllia froze at the sound of a familiar groan her heart started to pound she cracks the door just enough to peek inside and saw a man eating another survivor that was mauled to a point of unrecognition. She panics when the walker turns and slams the door shut backing away. She jumps a bit when it started slamming gainst the door trying to get to her. Camyllia wanted to cry the churning in her stomach returned she grips it going to her uncles room. Maybe its better if she stays away from her room. Entering her uncles NASCAR themed room camyllia lets out a sigh jumping when she heard a loud bang from her room.

"Freakin' walkers scar in' the cheap outta me," Camyllia says sitting on her uncles bed,"what do I do now?"

The man sighed as Alex continued onward without stopping to consider the rest of the group's input, shaking his head as the European trotted off. Sure, Walter was thankful for the man's experience in medical practices, and even helping him mentally through these times during their time at Dana Point, but that did not justify a nature trip. They needed a moment to catch their breath, as well as discuss where they would exactly be going to find a refuge for the night.

As Nikki rejoined their ranks, Walter nodded to the woman, having a delayed reaction to the commotion occurring beside him. When the girl suddenly appeared with a bow aimed at Ethan, he had to hold himself back from saving his fellow survivor from the potential danger, keeping his fingers wrapped around the sheath of his knife.

Walter remained vigilant, wheeling around completely and kicking himself away from the car he leaned against. He took a few steps towards the remainder of the group, watching the girl's hands carefully.

By the time that Ethan was confronted by a haphazardous bow-woman, Alex was far out of ear-shot, already scanning the run-down housing complexes along the opposite side of the road. There were several that looked suitable at a first glance, but they couldn't find refuge in a house that sported massive gaps in the walls, or a series of structural fatalities. The last thing anyone needed was to wake up with a support beam lodged deep into their gut, or a party of walkers feasting on their flesh. Not to mention, with more than ten people in their group, it would be wise to pick out one of the larger houses. Fortunately, a relatively roomy white house caught Alex's attention, standing out among all the others with boarded up windows. Somebody must have of lived in there at some point, which meant it was structurally sound, at the very least. Alex crept his way through the overgrown yard, avoiding the cobwebs to the best of his ability, and making his way towards the door as quickly as he could. Before reaching the front door though, a noise echoed past the confines of the houses's walls, seeping through the cracks as nothing more than a high pitched chatter. Crying? Was there a baby in there? Alex crept slower now, shifting his eyes from the ground, to the cobwebs, to the front door, weary of spiders and centipedes, more so than being held at gunpoint. His rationale finally kicked in though. Alex pulled his pistol from his jacket's inner pocket, and held it firmly with both hands, aimed at the door. But a woman's voice spoke up, just loud enough for him to hear. He loosened his grip and the muscles in his face tensed up.

Alex was subject to an angry threat. He stopped in his tracks for a moment, snapping a small twig near the set of three steps that lead up to the door. Part of him was eager to interlope, despite the danger that might have followed, but what chances were that that this woman would actually shoot him? Who knew, it was too early to discern anything. If only he had a little more to go off of. "I ehm- uh, I'm sorry," He croaked, holding his weapon aimed directly at the door. If this woman intended to shoot him, he wasn't about to sit there and take it like a fool. Perhaps he should've just left the woman to stew in her anger. That would've been the smart thing to do, but with a baby involved, the situation may have been too much for Alex to simply walk away from. Without him and his group, this woman would sure die, along with her child.

Nikki saw the young girl pop up and jump onto the truck pointing a bow and arrow at Ethan. She heard her threaten Ethan's life and that was it. Something in her snapped. She couldn't lose anyone else that she cared about right now. Nikki went into stealth mode, cautiously and quietly to the outside of the group and took the safety off of her 45. She ducked into the forest and came out right behind the girl. She pointed the 45 at the middle of her back and said. "Put it down NOW!" Nikki's expression was dead serious.

She was in a state of mind that kept her and a few of the others alive. At this time and this moment she was at her deadliest. She cocked the gun and waited. She could see Walter's movements out of the corner of her eye.

All Nikki could see was red. Blood. There was so much of it the zombies had come in so fast and so many people weren't able to get away from the hoards quick enough. Nikki had been covered in so much blood from killing walkers and the dying or desperate people that she knew that like Walter and several of the others she was covered in it. "What is one more at this point. Put it down or you are dead! One..." Nikki said. "Two..."

@Solace@josephb@ViolentViolet

@tex

A twig snap on the other side of the door had her on alert. She would have given her left hand at that moment for some ammo. She said her left because she shot better with her right. Well, she couldn't shoot that well no matter what hand she used so it really didn't matter. Holding her baby in one arm she couldn't shoot the shot gun anyway, ammo or no ammo.
But the trespassers outside her door didn't have to know that.

Grace continued to whimper, just loud enough to break the heart of any person nearby unless they were pure evil. For her sake Kat could not let this escalate.

"We've got nothing for you to take. Just move along. Leave us alone," she said, her voice firm but laced with anxiety. Anyone with a keen ear would be able to hear her fear, not for herself but for her baby. She could only pray that however many there were of them that they would decide a lone woman and a crying baby were not worth their time.
And she was telling the truth. She was running low on supplies. She would have gone scavenging earlier but she wanted to give the walker horde plenty of time to move away before leaving the house. All she had were a few small jars of baby food and her bag with a few hygienic supplies plus a few clothes for her and Grace. Nothing a group of men, or anyone without a baby, could use. She supposed her matches and soap were valuable, but that was really it.

The sound of infant whimpers struck a chord with Alex, but it didn't dissuade him from prying further. This woman was clearly terrified, and he threats rang utterly hollow. She carried a baby, was bound by anxiety, and was in no position to kill Alex. This couldn't be a trap, either. Nobody lured him here, he'd made his way toward this house on his lonesome. Alex lowered his gun and inched closer towards the door, reaching for the handle and turning it half-way. "I'm not here to steal, is ok- Please move away from door," He urged, turning the doorknob even further. These two were alone, that much was certain. Unless, unbeknownst to Alex, they were part of a larger group concocting an elaborate ruse to rob him blind. Why would they waste the time or push him away if there were the case, though? "I'm here with friends, we are not bandits, they good people- We just need a place to sleep for the night.."

Ethan stood there in silence, the situation had turned into a stand off after Nikki had managed to get to the side of the girl and pulled a gun out. She was screaming at the top of her voice to put the bow down now but the young girl was still persisting. Ethan's breath had started to get louder and faster as he knew that his life could be over in a matter of moments. Nikki was slowly counting to three threatening to shoot. People around them were shouting at Nikki telling her to fire. Others were a little more quiet not knowing how to deal with the situation and Alex had still not come back but Ethan didn't want to take his eye contact away from ginger girl. His hands were still up in the air clenched in a fist, he put one of his fingers up hoping that Nikki would see it and wait a minute, thinking of a way he could calm the situation down, before Nikki or the girl did anything brash. Ethan knew if Nikki shot the girl, the arrow could easily release and hit him.

All of a sudden a scream came from behind Ethan, the girl looked away for a quick moment but Ethan took the distraction to dive behind a car getting out of the way of the arrow. They must have heard the commotion, Ethan thought. He looked behind to see Darren, a quiet sixteen year holding his neck, crying. Blood pouring out of his neck and a walker on the floor with a knife lodged in his eye. Lauren his older sister was consoling him until another walker wondered out of the woods heading towards them. More and more kept pouring out of the woods heading to everyone, they started to devour Darren and moved to everyone else. Ethan without thinking pulled out his hatchet and sprinted to Lauren and buried the hatchet into a walkers head who was trying to bite her. Blood splattered all over his face as he looked around to see walkers pouring out of the tree line.

Nikki saw the walkers when the kid screamed. Everything happened so fast after that. The girl on the car who'd been threatening them looked at the kid and Nikki took the opportunity to knock her off of the truck on her way to help Ethan. Sword drawn, she started taking the walkers out with the others who were closest. "RUN" Nikki yelled to the more defenseless people in the group as she continued hacking on the walkers. Her skills really were excellent but no matter how skilled she was, without the adrenaline rush she would have been useless, Nikkie was getting tired. Nikki looked around and most of the others were doing fine. Darren's screams had stopped and all Nikki could think of was that poor kid's sister. She hadn't been able to help him.

Nikki looked around and saw a building up ahead and motioned to Walter to check on it since he was closest. The group had really come together and Nikki got a second or two before she lopped off another head. She lost sight of the girl for the moment but she wasn't going to let her guard down. She looked over and saw that Ethan was fine too.

@josephb@violentviolet

@tex
Kat stepped back as the doorknob turned, tensing and raising the butt of the shot gun up preparing to strike if need be.
"There are no good people anymore," she said, her voice hollow with way too much experience for someone as young as she was. "Only survivors. And survivors do whatever they can to take care of themselves."

Grace had quieted to whimpers. Once the man entered he would see the large tears that bubbled in her blue eyes. He would also see the arms of her mother quivering. Kat was exhausted, not just from having been up nearly all night keeping Grace quiet to keep the walkers from finding them, but she was exhausted from having been on her own with a baby for so long. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was starting to lose hope for them. Running low on supplies and not able to safely scavenge meant their days were numbered.

In this state of utter hopelessness and fighting the growing desperation, Kat lowered the useless shotgun and stared the man down. "Give me some supplies and your group can stay the night. I need food and some other things. I'm not unreasonable. I'll only take what you can spare. As a moving group you can always scavenge more along the way. And no one touches my baby," she added, her voice laced with venom. "Those are my terms."