He jumped down from the car, deciding if the girl would continue she would only bring it down on her self if they managed to get out of the way fast enough. He started to scan the trees for any walkers, as his head was on a swivel, almost jogging sideways. As they grew closer to the group, he noted ahead two more people that the group was meeting up with. He slowed down as they drew near, not wanting to get too close, They were kids yes, but he lost one of his friends to a group of desperate 'kids'.

Nikki scanned the area for walkers as she drew nearer the group. She could see Ethan and Walter up ahead. "Come on. We're almost there." Nikki jumped nearly straight up in the air and came down boot in head on a walker that halfway fell out of the bushes at her. "Wow, my reflexes are better than I thought." The walker's brain was crushed under her boot which was now covered in gray matter/slime. "Ahh Yuck!" She griped quietly. She headed towards the group. As she got closer she told Walter who was eyeing Jason suspiciously. "He is cool and he is staying with us for a while. Walter, this is...." Nikki stopped and looked at Jason. "What is your name?"

Jason looked at the walker that managed to get so close and growled.... it was only going to get worse when they got closer to the next town. He could make it easily, with his training in infiltrating and silent recon he never had a real problem with making his location known to the walkers. He looked at the group as she started talking to a guy named Walter. She then asked what his name was, " Im Lieutenant Jason Hunter, Navy Seal." He then motioned with his chin to the house and said, "We should really move inside before talking more."

Sure enough, Walter's suggestion of going back to assist Ethan and the remainder of the group was unnecessary; they were coming into view shortly after their short discussion on the next course of action, and the man sighed in relief upon seeing that they were okay. He was a little uncomfortable from how tightly Alex had held on to his shirt in disagreement, but he held his contempt of the action.

It was a reasonable response from the man, and it was simply Walter concerned over their group, especially after what had happened to their home in the mess of things. It was almost difficult to maintain the degree of collectedness that he normally demonstrated throughout the times, and the loud shots that rang out in the distance had only made it harder. Fortunately, his worries dissolved quick, and he stiffened a smile.

He nodded to Ethan, looking past him to see the others and quietly perform a head count to himself. "Yeah," Walter replied, pointing a thumb behind him towards the boarded house. "It's occupied, like it looks. Alex said there's a woman with a baby in there."

With the newcomer arriving alongside Nikki, Walter was short of interest, blinking in slight suspicion during his introduction. He had heard that the military was still operating in small pockets, as scattered as they were. "Fancy," he joked, having always respected the military, even if the apocalypse was ongoing and order was nonexistent. People like themselves would work to reestablishing it, after all. "Good idea. Let's..."

Walter caught his tongue on the last few words, tilting his head in curiosity as yet another unfamiliar face was approaching. "Another one?" he raised a hand to rub his forehead. As if Alex telling him about the woman with the baby was not surprising enough, the nearing woman was flanked by a dog.

Looking between the group members momentarily, Walter took a deep breath and decided to assess the situation himself, his fingers arched along the knife at his belt. "You lost?" he stood some feet away from her.

@josephb @Aerandir @Acromantula

BRIAN LOVE
entrance of San Clemente High School
Brian would be walking down the Entrance driveway,Rifle swung around hugging his body.
He'd continue to move,Brian would look cautiously Toward the building.
Brian would pull back the slide and putting a round into the barrel.
Brian would Eye the area to the front incase of fire he was looking for Cover.
Brian would continue walking toward the School.
Brian would talk to himself "this place could be crawling what am I doing here"It does not Disturb his train of thought.
He'd continue down the road. Unsure of what he would find Inside the schools perimeter.

It didn't take much to understand that at least one person in the group wasn't happy with her sudden presence. If they wanted her to go, supposing they didn't have enough space for her or something along those lines, she'd go. No need for inconveniencing people, especially if she'd be relatively fine on her own. She probably looked insane too, with a dusty red Yankees baseball cap, black military boots, camo pants and a gray sweater that had 'Let it Gogh' printed on it in painfully large letters. The bloody pipe she had against her shoulder didn't help either, she was sure. Nor did the hair pulled into a messy ponytail or the smear of mud along her cheek. But Rowena didn't make assumptions about their situation yet and knew better than to assume she'd be judged solely on her appearance, stopping a few feet in front of the man who'd addressed her and smiling in response to the question. "Oh no, mister. Just taking the dog for a walk, you see. Looking for something that isn't soup to eat, someone that doesn't want to eat me to talk to," Rowena said, her Scottish accent sharp. She eyed the man over before glancing at the rest of the people, then to the house they were by. Much more comfortable than the sewers, but not necessarily safer. "Is that where everyone's going to stay? That'd make us neighbors," she said happily. Human company would be nice. "Anything I can help with?" Rowena felt it'd be rude of her to just barge into this little group and demand a place in it, but offering help wouldn't hurt, she was sure. In this mess not accepting a little help wouldn't be smart the woman thought as she shifted her weight, keeping a hand at the dog's neck.

@Solace

Going over a truck's hood Camyllia heard a soft sad whine,something you would hear from a sad puppy. Camyllia looks at the dark sky and sighs," Find the pup then get to a car an' hide," She slowly stalks towards the whines. Coming to a stop she saw a young Rottweiler next to a bitten man. This made Camyllia's heart drop and quickly looks around listening for hungry growls.

"Hey," A weak voice whispers making Camyllia look over at the man who laughed weakly. His dog turned its head towards her and lets out a warning growl," Now, Blitz , that is no way to treat a little girl," The man says before coughing. Camyllia felt bad for the man and slowly made her way closer to him.

"Sir?"

"Ah, relax sunshine," The man say shifting his eyes to hers,"I'm not dead yet Cant leave my girl here by herself," He said raising his hand and putting it on Blitz neck.

"W-well what do ya want me ta do?" Camyllia asked getting closer watching the dog.

"Take her?" The man asked his voice getting weaker," I don't want..her to be alone..please sunshine?"

Camyllia eyes watered and she looks at the whinning dog then at the dying man,"W-well I'm not sure if-"

"She's trained. Jus-" He wheezed,"Just say attack, sit, stay, stalk and well," He laughs,"I'm sure y-you'll figure out the rest," he says he grabs a revolver and puts it on his thigh. Camyllia wanted to cry because she knew what he was going to do and what was a bout to happen.

"A-are y-ya sure?" She stutters out.

"Yes..n-now," He looks at Blitz who comes over to him and licks his cheek,"Take care of yourself a-and t-this little girl," The man said to her befor epushing her softly towards Camyllia. Weakly he takes out a backpack and tries to push it towards Camyllia," T-take this and,"he smiles at Camyllia," Good luck kid."

Camyllia sighs and mutters a soft good by and taking the back pack in hand she dragged it behind her Blitz following behind her. Camyllia didn't stop moving not even when the sound of a gun going off could be heard. Blitz whines sittng down Camyllia turns to her and lets out a sigh walking over to the depressed dog. She kneels down and slowly rubs the dogs head.

"Don't worry you're not the only one who lost someone one like that," She whispers before standing up,"C'mon." Camyllia walked away Blitz following behind her.

It did not take too long to catch the smell of the sewers to enter Walter's nostrils as the man cleared his throat to mask the obvious distaste, scratching his cheek. It was all too incredibly bad, though; these days, it was commonplace to smell and look grimy, as he and the others were likely the exact same. The stench of decomposing corpses and walkers did a good job of being worse, anyway.

Walter raised an eye when the newcomer declared a request to help their group with anything. It wasn't every day that living people walked up to you and asked for your company; frankly, it was quite the opposite, what with the walking dead asking for your flesh between their teeth. "Well, neighbor, I can't say no myself, he took a few steps towards the woman, his vision buzzing about to keep an eye out for any potential walkers that could have followed her. "Let's talk inside with the others, and decide from there. You go on first."

@Acromantula

Not fazed by the man clearing his throat and his tone, Rowena relaxed her stance and flashed another grin. "Wonderful. I'll head on in then. Don't touch the dog though, yeah? He's a good boy but he's been rather tense lately. Don't want him taking a bit out of your hand now, do you?" Rowena chuckled, looping two fingers under the dog's thick collar just in case. In the time she'd spent with her dog since the outbreak, she hadn't ever been around living people. Just walkers. So this would be interesting and it would be testing just how much of herself she'd lost, how much of her personality had been altered by the outbreak. Keeping her guard up she made her way to the house, shoulders back and pipe still against her shoulder with her fingers tight around it if she needed to swing.
Upon entering the house, Rowena looked around, taking in the environment. The interior of the house was definitely nicer than the sewers and despite the boarded-up windows, there was still a hint of charm to the whole place. It was only then that she registered that there were in fact other people inside the house. She opted for addressing them warmly but not for relinquishing her hold on either her weapon or her partner in crime. "Hello there. I come in pieces," she said, lowering her voice by a few octaves and raising a hand, splitting four fingers into two in a classic peace symbol.

@Solace @josephb @Belle

Jason Remained silent as another person came towards them, with a dog. A woman with a a heavy Scottish accent, something before the outbreak he would have found Attractive, maybe now, but the hint of sewer smell killed it for him instantly. Most likely she found shelter in the sewers. He waited for the others to move into the house. Upon closer look, he noted two others in the group around his age, despite the woman with the dog.

He waited outside for a minute waiting for the others to go in before he did, his eyes scanning the road and trees for any signs of walkers. He even walked around the house to make sure every entry point on ground level was secure before walking back to the front and entering, shutting the door behind him, and leaning his back against it, his eyes scanned the room immediately for any threats, but noted most of them were just huddled in the front room, semi relieved being inside rather than outside.

He then noticed yet ANOTHER woman with a child no less... He hung his head, oooooh boy... babies were great and all, but he knew moving with a child in the group would put them at a much greater risk. He was surprised, and admired the fact this woman survived for so long in this house with a child of that age.

He didn't say a word, he rather would have listened to what the group was saying at first to get their 'mental' state and perhaps see who was the leader here. So he simply leaned against the door his hand on the grip of his FN SCAR, finger flat against the side of the gun after switching it from single shot to safety.

@Acromantula@Solace@Belle@Wick@Tex@josephb[@everyoneinthehouse]

There was a whimsical nature plaguing this highway to hell. An idiotic brat who held little concern for the danger that walker hordes dragged with them, A woman barely scraping by with her baby in tow, and a curious canine enthusiast with a dog large enough to topple professional wrestlers, all in one day? What rotten luck. It was bad enough that Alex had to struggle past his accent to communicate with his american and english allies on a constant basis. Now he'd surely need to go through the painstaking trial of hearing the phrases 'I'm sorry?' and 'Excuse me' and 'Could you repeat that?' from these newcomers at least a thousand times. It made his stomach turn.

While in the house, Alex kept to himself, nodding politely with a subtle smile at anyone who shot him a friendly glance. His eyebrow began to twitch nervously as the living room filled with survivors. He glanced at Jason for a moment, thoroughly annoyed as the soldier looked at Grace with a distasteful gesture. It's true that children and infants were a handicap with Walkers sprinting towards whines and wails like starved hyenas, but whenever people showed it, through gesture or speech, it irritated Alex to no end. He didn't like Jason at all.

Katherine cradled Grace comfortably, keeping her distance from the rest of them, as he'd expected her to. Why would she act any differently? They were still strangers to her, after all. Alex glanced at Grace and smiled, but his line of sight was cut off by a torrential downpour of fur and slobber. "Oho, hello puppy," Alex murmured to himself softly as Rowena's dog glanced at him curiously. He looked up at his owner flashing a peace sign. Star trek? Well, it didn't quite tickle Alex's interests, but the girl's oddly social behavior was relieving to behold. It'd been months since he'd seen anyone outside his group acting so... Willing to mingle. Well, not since that blasted bandit tried to take him and his brother for everything they had. Alex was Naive back then, and from the initial look of it, so was this woman. He didn't trust that excuse for more than a second, though. Something had to be on this little beast-tamer's mind. Alex glanced down at Themistocles as the pooch stared at him blankly with his tongue hanging out. He disregarded Rowena's earlier warning, and pulled his right hand forward, for the dog to sniff his palm.

Nikki moved through the group hugging and checking on everyone. Of course Derrick's sister was in a state of shock. Nikki went upstairs and brought the shaking girl a blanket and covered her up well. She glanced at Walter and nodded her head towards the girl. Nikki was glad she had not been there when her family had been taken from her. It was already hard enough seeing it happen to people she barely knew. She glanced at the baby and smiled and worried at the same time. Nikki smiled at Kat when she caught her eye. She hoped that Kat would be friendly and become part of the family. At the same time babies could also be the downfall of a group. They would have to be extra cautious.

Nikki walked over to Jason. "You hanging in there? Come on in we aren't that scary." Nikki began pointing everyone out and what she knew about them as far as skills.

@Aerandir@Belle@Solace

"A woman and a baby?" Ethan repeated straight away what Walter had just informed him in sheer disbelief. He just couldn't quite believe a woman with a baby had survived on her own all this time. The house that Walter had pointed to was right behind them and all boarded up. Luckily no one bad had come down this highway or it wouldn't have really ended well for both of them. "This should do for the night. Hopefully we can convince the woman to come with us tomorrow." Ethan told Walter as he started to head towards the front door. Ethan gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder as he walked passed.

"Come on people we're staying here for the night." Ethan informed everyone who was behind him as he knocked on the front door before he slowly opened it and peered his head in simply saying, "Hello." As he waited for the woman to appear.

Kat heard the door open and steeled herself for what was to come. She hadn't been a fan of company even before the world had gone to hell. The guy from before had promised they wouldn't try anything funny, but she was still weary. She should have asked how big the group was.
Several of them called out and she picked up Grace, settling her on her hip before leaving the kitchen to enter the living room.

Then one of the voices sent a shock wave through her. The accent...
Denial flooded her once again. It just couldn't be. The odds were astronomical.
She should have remembered that God had a sense of humor that often bit people in the ass.

Seeing the man the voice belonged to made her stop cold. Her heart froze in her chest as she stared into blue eyes that were familiar. They were the same blue eyes she looked into every day in her daughter. There, standing before her, was the man Grace had gotten those blue eyes from.

Her father.

"Ethan?" she murmured, her mind still wanting to deny the man in front of her. Did he even remember who she was? A one night stand in Vegas where she had skipped out in the morning before he even woke up?
And here she stood, holding the result of that one night. And that gorgeous result was currently staring at the newcomers with those large blue eyes and the golden hair she had also gotten from her father. Anyone who didn't see the resemblance was either stupid or blind.

It couldn't be her could it? Ethan thought looking at the woman in front of him with a baby in hand. The girl from Las Vegas who he'd spent a night with and she'd disappeared before he'd even woke up in the morning. Her face was still as beautiful as ever Ethan remembered. But she was one of the last people he expected to see, especially so far away from Vegas.

"Kat?" He finally managed to reply in the form of a question after what felt like a few hours but probably was only a few seconds. He still couldn't comprehend that it was her, Ethan stood there with his mouth slightly open. All the places they could have gone, they ended up at her door. Straight after it hit him, he looked at the baby in her hands, the face was slightly covered up in blankets and Ethan couldn't make out the face but he started to work out the math of when he slept with her. Seeing if it could actually be his child. His heart started to beat rapidly and he tried to say something to her, but no words escaped his lips. Ethan just looked at her with his mouth open, with what could be his child in her hands.

People were speaking to her but it was all buzzing to her. Everything was blurry and far away except for the man before her. He said her name and she knew he remembered her.
Swallowing heavily, her face was white as a sheet. What could one say in this kind of moment?
Thankfully Grace started fussing to be let down. Kat snapped out of her stupor and went to the makeshift plan pen she had built and placed Grace inside were she could play with her blocks. They were the only toys Kat could find other than a beat up stuffed dog that Grace called "Bug". Or at least that was what it sounded like.

What the hell was she supposed to do now? How could she possibly face him?

Ethan was still stood there with a blank expression as Kat walked off from him. People had started to walk into the house and introduce themselves to him but he just didn't care at this moment in time. Somebody was stood next to him, but he had no idea who it was. He simply said to them, "I think I have a kid."

Glancing around at all the new faces, Rowena took them all in. Three men and two women, from what she could tell. One of them was a little more distanced from the group, holding something close to her chest. After a minute or so Rowena was able to safely identify whatever it was as a baby, the realization causing her smile to dim. There was a baby here. That put this group at an instant disadvantage. While the wrath of a mother protecting her child was all but wondrous, the child itself put them in a bad situation. Babies were by nature incredibly egotistical and loud, which would be fine if there weren't walkers eager to devour anything that caught their attention. Rowena was about to ask something about the baby when she saw a man reach out towards Themistocles. Her jaw clenched as she watched the hand extend without a word, fingers tightening their hold on the collar. But the dog didn't seem to mind the new thing that presented itself in front of his nose, carefully sniffing the hand. After having done so, the dog decided this human was alright and yawned, licking its chops before happily looking back up to his owner. Rowena relaxed, rubbing behind the dog's ears before glancing at the man then back to the other people in the room. She didn't say anything because technically the man hadn't touched the dog. Allowing Themistocles to familiarize himself with these people would be good, in case they were lost and needed to found, or just so the dog wouldn't be too tense.
Rowena watched as a man with light hair and light eyes seemed to have some kind of interaction with the mother. She heard him says something about him having a child and clicked her tongue in distaste, her first gesture of the day that indicated she wasn't always all smiles and playful jokes. "Do you now, love? Daddy-dearest only finding out now?" She murmured the words under her breath, finding there was a silent dislike building for the man now. Rowena was a little biased though, her own parents conceiving her in an unplanned moment, just like she now guessed this man and the woman had. She could be wrong though, so she didn't say anything horrid. Rather, she leaned back against a wall, Themistocles sitting at her feet.

@josephb @Tex

"Thanks." Alex was going to say more but Jefferson stood up in front of the crowd and said, "Alright everyone. The votes have been counted and the council for this month will be Charles, Sandra, Dominic, Oliver, and myself. We will now discuss among ourselves who is in charge of what." Alex looked to Ollie who gave him a thumbs up as he walked into the old principal's office. "Finally. Hopefully Ollie gets scavenging. I want to go farther than the perch. What about you? What do you hope they have you do for this month?"

Clara nodded when she noticed Jefferson open his mouth. She honestly didn't like the guy due to all his protocols. Like they needed more restrictions to live by. The only cool ones were Charles and Ollie on the counsel though Sandra was in between. Dominic seemed as if he was walking on eggshell to Erin and Clara. As they had when the two arrived. Once Alex spoke again she looked his way."I wouldn't mind Ollie running scavenging. We need to start going further out. I'm hoping scavenging, but if I do that Haru has to come as well."

"You shouldn't have to worry about that. Ollie knows who works best together and wouldn't let you two be separated. Where is he anyway?" Before she could get the chance to answer Sadie and Micky ran up to Alex, "There you are Alex. Hey Clarin. Is that nickname okay?"

Before Clara could answer Sadie and Micky another person had let out a grunt. She didn't had to turn around to know who it was. Still the girl humored the young man just to be greeted with a gentle kiss on the cheek. Haru then had a crooked grin upon his face, making her heart skip a beat along with a light blush. "Hello Alex. Trying to steal my girl again? I'm sorry to say that it's just a matter of time before she's mine." the teenager said in a jealous voice.

"Don't embarrass yourself Haru. You've been starting to flirt with every girl here. Besides you should have been here an hour ago. I know Ollie won't but there isn't many people I trust unlike Erin. Besides you two still have to prove yourselves to Haru as well. As for the nickname it's perfect. How are Sadie and Micky today?" the girl asked gently to them.

"Heh. No offense to you Clara, but Haru you don't have to worry. She ain't my type. I don't even think I got a type." When Clara spoke to Sadie and Micky, Micky started to ramble on about how he and the other kids found a dodge ball and used it to play kickball. Sadie turned to Alex and said, "Hey, since Ollie is a council member now do you think I could go out passed the walls with one of you?" As usual the answer was "No." Neither Alex nor Ollie were ever gonna let Sadie or Micky go out if they could help it. Them being the oldest they were doing everything they could to keep them safe. "We talked about this. It ain't safe out there. Your to young and can't even use a weapon properly."

Before anyone could say anything else though, this months council came out of the office in what seemed to be record time. Jefferson walked out in front of everyone to give the announcement. "Alright, we have made our decisions. I will be running Inner Management." A few people moaned at that because they knew it meant an earlier curfew and an even earlier rising time, "Settle down. I'll continue now. Sandra will be in charge of supplies, Charles will run Security, Dominic will handle Walker and Foreign Control, and Oliver will be over Scavenging." Jefferson turned to go sit back down while Ollie walked up to tell everyone who he was choosing for his captains, "Alright, first off I'd like to thank you all for picking me. I'll do my best to get the supplies we need to the community and scout the area further. Alright, the team captains I'm choosing will be Roberto, Megan, and Alex. I'd like to meet with you three over to the side right now."

"Alright. Finally. Look's like we both get our wishes."

"I wish Clara would carry a gun with her instead of her knives. Hasn't happened yet. So good luck Alex."

"Sounds like fun Micky. Sadie I understand you want to go outside but it's just too dangerous right now. Once it's safer and your brothers agree I will take you to the school roof for fresh air. Okay? I do hope you know what you're doing Alex."

Alex walked over to the side of the room along with the other team captains. "Alright. I picked each of you for different reasons. Roberto, You are good at organization and a great potential leader. Your job will take the most people. I want you heading out east and do a grid style scavenge system. Try not to miss anything but be careful. Megan, I want you to go south and keep an eye on Camp Pendleton and the wall at Oceanside. We need to find a way to clear those Walkers and get what we can before whoever is on the other side of that wall decides to take it themselves. You will mostly be securing watch posts in the area. Make them safe and secure so we can use them more often. Alex I need you going north. If our intel is correct then that group at Dana Point was hit by a horde some time within the last 24 hours. We've always avoided that group but you may run into stragglers. I can trust you to determine if we can trust them. All right you three once the meeting is over pick your team members and meet me in the parking lot. Make sure to grab some gear before you come."

Alex was happy. Finally someone was doing something. He quickly jogged back over to his little group and said, "Yeah. This should be a good team. Haru, Clara. Once the meeting is over grab some gear and meet me at the parking lot if ya wanna join me and head north. Turning to Sadie and Micky, "Hey you two. So seeing as I'm gonna be a scavenger and Ollie is on the council we won't be able to watch yal as much. Sadie that means you're in charge whenever I'm not around. Don't bother Ollie unless it's really important. Micky was obviously upset that Sadie was in charge of him but didn't say anything and pouted. Sadie however said, "Okay. I can handle it. Just be safe." Despite how much Sadie wanted to join Ollie and Alex on going outside she still got scared when they went out. One time Sadie and Micky sat for a whole hour looking out one of the windows in the direction where Alex was when in the perch. "Don't worry squirt. I will."

After the meeting finished, Alex quickly gathered some things he could use outside. His katana for sure, a change of clothes in case, two canteens, some extra food, a Swiss army knife, and duct tape. Duct tape is always the smart choice. He went to the supply room where Sandra and her assistant Rosemary, an older friend of Sandra's, were already busy a work restocking and reorganizing when he got there. "Hi Sandra." She quickly looked to the young adult and said, "No. You will call me Ms. Winslow young man."

"Alright. Sorry Ms. Winslow. Hey, umm I'm heading out in a bit. Can I get a hunting rifle suppressed, binoculars, and a Bowie knife?"

"You can have the hunting rifle with a scope and a Drop Point knife. We don't have that many binoculars and someone just grabbed the last Bowie knife. To low on the suppressors as well. We are trying to keep them at home base for the time being." She said as Rosemary grabbed the equipment. "Alright. Thank you." Alex took the gun and knife then headed to the parking lot where Ollie, Megan, Roberto, and their teams were already waiting. "What took you so long?"

Clara stretched as she walked through the cafeteria doors. Unfortunately Jefferson had laid down more house rules making the girl's already tight leash even tighter. The main reason the girl couldn't stand the man. Even if it was to keep everyone safe. The darker half walked towards the science room, which had became the teenagers home. The young girl leaned against the wall knowing that her side kick had locked it that morning. After what seemed like an hour Haru finally decided to show with key in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

"What took you so long Haru? Asking another girl out or was it the girl from last week? Never mind I don't want to know."

"Cool it Clara. I get that you're jealous but what I do on my spare time is my business. Besides I was asking for my guns back and guess what I got them. All I need is to get our ammo from the closet. Now before we walk in you're gonna tell me what that was for."

"Nothing. Can you please open the door? We have to hurry if we're going to caught up with Alex."

Haru didn't say another word. Both sides seemed to like to keep their feeling to themselves. Though he knew the answer the moment she had blushed during the meeting. If only the stubborn woman would ask him how he felt about her. This would make everything simpler. The opening door cause the girl to mumble something in response." Dammit Clara. I love you so will you go out with me already? I'm serious because you are on my mind or actually all the time. Its driving me insane."

The young girl stood there with her mouth opened. She was mumbling what they needed and he blurted out this. If it was any other guy she would have slugged him but it was Haru, making her unable to think at the moment. The girl cleared her throat hoping it would help. She looked up only to be greeted with his Brown eyes and what seemed like a puppy dog look on his face."Yes, I like you. Yes, I will go out with you. Yes, you can move back inside the room. Yes, I think about you all the time as well; but we really have to hurry up before Alex comes looking for us."

The girl didn't have to look back as she gathered another outfit for both of them. The darker side may have kicked the guy out but he kept his clothes inside the desk draw above hers. The young man was cheeky that way. Clara could feel Haru's grin on her as she tried to focus but in the end she had humored him once more by turning to face him. The boy seemed bond to get them in trouble as if she didn't already do that herself."Focus on the mission first then you can play the boyfriend afterwards."

"Hey, I can do both. Your other knife is on your other belt and my homemade gun holder are both inside the closet. I'm just wondering where those candy bars that we found are. That and why you look so tired. Where is Erin anyway?"

"Inside the other closet. Along with my pencils and notebooks. Our dear Erin fell asleep either this morning or yesterday. She hasn't really slept soundly which caused me to take over. I'm getting really worried."

Haru just nodded in response not sure of what to say. They had finally gathered all of their things inside Erin's backpack. The two left hand in hand as they walked towards the meeting place arriving a second after Alex had. "Any heart felt advice before we leave Ollie. Other then behave yourself Haru and Clara." the darker side said jokingly towards the older man.

"All there really is to say is stay safe. All of you. Don't bunch up. Don't make stupid mistakes. If you run into someone be careful. Ask 'em the questions, and determine then and there what to do regarding to their answers. Just don't get yourselves killed. Watch each others backs and trust the others to have yours. Alright." He then turned directly to Alex and tossed him some keys, "That's your ride for now. Get going and come back safe."

Alex turned to Clara and Haru then pressed the button on the keys for a 2015 Toyota Sienna to light up. "Alright then. Let's head out."

Walter nodded, standing aside as the woman made her way into the house. When the man figured that the coast was clear, he eased himself up and kicked a foot against the ground, turning to enter their temporary refuge. By the time he came inside, all of the group members were introducing themselves amongst the strangers, all in their own fashions ranging from casual to strange.

Hanging to the side but stepping into view of the survivors, Walter folded his arms against his chest and watching quietly. For him, there would be time for his own introduction at a later time; he wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion that soured up his mood, or the loss of their home to the walkers. What was certain to him, was that they had lost too many of their own people in the course of a single day, and reality was a bitch.

When the supposed resident of the building came to meet their group, Walter drew a large sigh out of sheer amazement; Alex had been telling the truth, after all. The infant, curled along the woman's arms affectionately, staring at them with all the innocence that the world should have murdered long ago.

Even then, something resonated within the man as he observed the child. Walter knew exactly what kind of trouble a child was in the midst of this crisis, but it was a double-edged sword. If somehow, just maybe, they united the small pockets of humanity like they had done so with Dana Point before, perhaps the child was a ray of hope? A reason to persist, other than the native human instinct to survive?

Nonetheless, the coincidences continued to pile up, and Walter was not short of reactions as Ethan seemingly recognized the woman, even speaking her name in response. He raised an eye, looking at his friend in confusion. "Ethan?" he said in an inquisitive manner, the corner of his eye seeing the woman walk away as the baby began to whine.

With the sudden revelation seemingly coming to Ethan in an announcement, Walter awkwardly lifted a hand to scratch the side of his head. "You don't mean..." he drew out the last syllable, a short laugh in disbelief. "That one?"

Jason's eyes scanned the room, his eyes paused on a man closer if not older than him. He seemed to be giving him a glare for no apparent reason. Raising an eyebrow he continued to scan the room, his focus being returned to the woman with the baby and a blonde haired man. Apparently he thought the kid was his, so perhaps he and the girl were old 'friends' from before. And just meeting up here, as it looked like this woman had been living here for a while, with the makeshift playpen being one of the two obvious facts, the other is that he didn't see her with the group as he ran into them.

He glanced over to Nikki as she walked over to him, "You hanging in there? Come on in we aren't that scary."

What did she expect him to do? Simply walk in and act like they were the best of friends? The only one he's really spoken too was her...and that wasn't much. But before he could say anything she gave him the rundown on EVERYONE. This girl must have been totally trustworthy just giving him the information like that. And yet she was the only one who really came up to talk to him. He found it odd that this group was not more resistant to having a total stranger join them in their safe house... They must have not been on the street for so long...perhaps a small group that managed to hold up somewhere, not really having to deal with strangers often.

He didn't move from his spot though, he preferred having his back to a wall. "I think Ill just stay here for now." He said as he hit the mag release on his FN SCAR, pulled the clip out and reached into his side pocket of his backpack pulling out the few odd bullets that wouldn't fit into his magazines, replacing the ones he just fired so he would be fully loaded again, remembering he had one in the chamber still. He left it for a moment, he would take it out later if need be.

"Where were you guys running to?" He asked as he glanced back to Nikki

The atmosphere was stifling, Rowena feeling like she'd get her first headache since the outbreak. One of those headaches the pounded away at the back and sides of a person's skull until they just couldn't take it anymore and wanted to smash their head open with a sledgehammer. She felt like no one was actually interested in teamwork, no one was actually interested in getting things done. It got under her skin and seriously dampened her mood. So the woman straightened herself, Themistocles doing the same but remaining at her side. "I'm sorry," she said loudly, addressing the group. The mother and the man who seemed to know one another, a young woman with a katana, the man who'd approached Themistocles, the soldier and the man she'd spoken to first. "Is there a reason everyone seems to be overly cautious and on edge? I highly doubt anyone is planning on murdering anyone, so there's no reason to be..." She trailed off, adjusting the baseball cap with a sigh, feeling a little too awkward for the situation. "Either way, I was told that there would be a discussion regarding me helping this group out. I would love to know who I'm supposed to talk to about this and their name," she said patiently, looking around the room for the group's leader to say something, assuming there was a leader that is.

[@everyoneinthehouse]

Ethan was still stood there in the middle of the room still trying to process what had just happened. A voice popped up to the side of him, which Ethan knew was Walters. Asking him if he was on about the baby that was in the same house with them. “Yeah.” Ethan finally said quietly, slowly nodding his head. “I met her in Vegas… Before the outbreak.” That was all Ethan could manage to say about the situation, he couldn’t even look to Walter.

Everyone was starting to get settled in, when an unfamiliar voice popped up. It was a Scottish accent and Ethan never thought he’d actually hear another British accent again, but there was one in the same room as him now. "I'm sorry… Is there a reason everyone seems to be overly cautious and on edge? I highly doubt anyone is planning on murdering anyone, so there's no reason to be...Either way, I was told that there would be a discussion regarding me helping this group out. I would love to know who I'm supposed to talk to about this and their name,” The woman said to them in a very irritated voice.

All at once, everything that happened to Ethan in the past day had become too much, “And who are you?” His Northern English accent getting thicker as he asked her. “Have you been ignoring what’s been happening over the past year? Of course we’re cautious. How do we know what you want? You could just be waiting for us to all fall asleep and steal everything we have. We don’t know you?” He stared at her wondering why someone would try and come into a group she’d never met before and act like there was nothing wrong. Ethan then snapped taking his pain out on her, “You won’t help out this group until we trust you. You’re lucky that we’re even letting you stay with us!” Before anyone could say anything back to him, Ethan stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him. He walked up the path a few meters not straying too far away from the house and slumped down against the wall trying to keep the tears in.

@Acromantula@Solace

Listening to the man talk, Rowena's jaw clenched again. He was just confirming her thoughts. On edge, not actually working anything out but just snapping at Rowena for no good reason. As if she wasn't aware of what was going on. He said it himself, he knew nothing about her. What did he know? She could've seen tens of thousands of deaths more than he had, unimaginable horrors. Yet all he did was make assumptions whereas she just read the room as she saw it and asked for direction. When the man had left the house, slamming the door, she shook her head and turned back to the house with a light tone and a small smile. "Seeing as he isn't interested in hearing my reply, I'll tell you all instead. Of course, it's up to you if you want to acknowledge it or not. My name is Rowena Leigh, I've been on my own since the outbreak. My only blood relative was bitten and then killed by her partner. This is my dog, Themistocles and he's friendly, but do please let him familiarize himself with your scent first before you touch him. I understand that you are cautious but I have absolutely no reason to threaten you. Even if I tried, you would clearly overpower me. Honest to god, the only thing I wanted in return for any help was a shower. I'm running low on water. I don't need your supplies because I can scavenge on my own and I'm not a cruel person. Those still exist, even in this situation, believe it or not. I'm not asking to stay necessarily, but I was just offering my help. If you don't need my skills, an extra set of hands and eyes, that's fine. I'll move on and I'll look for survivors elsewhere," the woman concluded, pushing hair from her face and looking around the room. She licked her lips and shifted her weight, feeling a little strange, seeing as this was the most she'd spoken in the past year. "This is your home, from what I gather. It is understandable that you are protective of it and the people in it, especially when there's a little one. I was just thinking that if you were to be a little more at ease with each other, everything could function a little smoother." Rowena said softly, her eyes flickering to the room where the child had been taken to fondly. She's let them think it over, let them ask her question if they had any. She'd be more than happy to answer them, human conversation being something she obviously hadn't had any of in the past year or so.

@josephb [@everyoneinthehouse]

And there it was. Somebody finally had the nerve to shatter the indifference that plagued this little gathering. Alex has his reasons to reserve himself, even if they were somewhat immature, but nobody had addressed the presence of the two (four if you counted Katherine and Grace) Newcomers. Alex huffed uncomfortably as Rowena confronted Ethan to his surprise, taking a seat in one of the shredded chairs nearby as quietly as he could. He couldn't help the hardwood floor's audible creaking. The earlier revelation hadn't done much for the situation either, aside from rouse unnecessary Drama within the group, which Alex, and a few others, seemed very unconcerned with. The Portuguese man leaned back for a moment, until he felt a splinter of wood jab him in the back.

Ethan snapped, for some reason or another, at the woman's inquiries. To be fair, they'd just escaped a near-death catastrophe at Dana point. A few were still shook up, no doubt, but Ethan? Alex expected him to maintain his composure in the face of much more than the musings of a stranger. Ethan was right about one thing, there was no reason to trust this newcomer. Even Alex had been rather cautious, but there'd been no real judgement, or consensus on how Jason and Rowena should be treated. Before he could interject, Ethan stampeded out of the room, and Rowena began explaining herself, for everyone to hear. Alex grit his teeth before speaking up with a tinge of impatience in his voice.

"Lady, this group es not ehm, in highest spirits. Our home, it- Eh, went up in flames, as it is said, not very long ago. Many of our friends died," Alex said, motioning his hands around to emulate fire as he did so, "It is fresh trauma, and not to be ehm, prodded at, yes?"

Slightly worried about the man outside all on his own in a bad state of mind, Rowena was thinking of sending Themistocles in after him, but realized she'd rather not be separated from her dog and so she just kept him close, rubbing her fingers along the edged of his pointed ears. She looked in the direction of the man speaking, realizing the it was the man that had reached for her dog. If he agreed with Ethan's views that'd be rather strange of him then, to reach for a dog that could've been violent or untrustworthy. It just made her smile a sad smile internally as she listened. Ah, so there had been a reason as to why everyone was so broody and on edge. Walkers and death was nothing new to her anymore, nothing to grieve over because she didn't have anything to lose. But these people might've been in a different situation and they might've not only gained traumatic experiences but lost people they loved. The woman hadn't had any experience with that sort of thing since she'd discovered her mother's corpse but she most definitely remembered her grief and anger, along with the weeks that followed. The weeks of coping that finally subsided as she finalized her survival plan and moved into the sewers. So she understood to some degree what they might have been going through and sighed, taking the baseball cap off for a minute and running her fingers through her hair. " I see. Well if that's the case, I do apologize. I was obviously oblivious," she said but not taking back her words. She still did mean what she'd said, though now she understood why the group were as they were. " I just want to help," she said, glancing around the room, her dog completely and utterly uninterested in the exchange of words.