Zach put both he and James's things back in the car as he wrapped his dreads in a pony tail and grabbed a shovel from Matt's hands. Then he went with him as they took a large cart and started loading walkers in it, taking them for a burial in the back of the school. Some of those dead bastards were really big and heavy. Thank God Zach was a pretty well built guy himself so he could lift them without any help. He grabbed the water bottle that Matt tossed him and as he was talking about his sister he opened it, took a sip from it as he laughed at Matt's remarks.

"You can cook huh? Well that's quite a coincidence because my cousin happends to be a very good hunter. And if he ever has the chance to shoot something you could put those cooking skills of yours to good use. Regarding your sister, I think she and my cousin will get along very well. He likes tough girls. Me, I like them a little more humble. No particular reason." He said smiling as he took another sip of water.





James got in the back of the car and payed attention to what Nikki told to the other guy that came with them as she drove them away from the high school. She stopped at the industrial area that he just passed through minutes ago as she stopped at a Walmart distribution center. James grinned after Nikki said that she hopes he and the other guy brought some crowbars or tire irons. "If you're talking about weapons I've got something a lot better then that." He said as he slapped the sheath of his kukri. "Just let them come." He continued. After Nikki removed the sign, throwing it in the bush, James grabbed the list she gave him. A lot of baby stuff in it.

After he got inside he quickly grabbed a cart and started looking for diapers as he thought those would probably be the main concern. He ended up somewhere in the back as he finally found what he was looking for. As he was loading his cart with diaper packs and baby clothes. James took a look at Nikki who was fighting off walkers with martial arts and her katana. "Jesus Christ! You're a bad one." He said smiling and shaking his head as he went to some canned foods and put them inside his cart. Then he heard Nikki calling them out, telling them to hurry up as more walkers were approaching. Not long after that, the other guy threw some baseballs at them and told James to do the same thing with some softballs that he pointed out.

"What? That's insane! Come on, we have stuff to gather. We don't have time for zombie baseball!" Said James as he ran back to his cart and started looking for some more baby stuff, putting a box of teething toys that he found.

@Wick @Demonic Angel

Nikki was fighting off walkers at a decent rate. They were staggering over at a steady speed but the line never seemed to get shorter. Suddenly something hit her in the leg and distracted her and she nearly got bitten. She glanced down as she felt the head go flying. There were balls rolling all over the ground. WTF? Nikki thought, as another one caused one of the walkers to fall into her landing on her stomach. Luckily her jacket stopped his teeth from connecting with her skin. Jumping back she put her boot spike through it's head then jerked it back out. Now that the back of her boot was slick with blood she had to readjust her stance as her foot slipped a little. The walkers had not increased speed but because of Vincent Nikki was off by more than a little bit.

"James! We are going! Take what you got and go out to the car! I'll be right behind you!" Nikki Turned and ran to the door and shut it behind her. She waited for Vincent to come through the door. She grabbed the door and hit the lock button as she slammed it shut. Faster than he could blink Nikki had Vincent pinned up against the door with her sword at his neck.

"What the fuck were you doing asshole! You nearly got us all killed while you were playing dodgeball with the natives. Next time you do something like that I'll feed you to them for dinner! Useless Asshole!" Nikki stormed off to the car and got in and started the engine. As soon as Vincent was in she headed towards the next destination she had in mind.

@lpfan@Demonic angel

Felix beamed. Glad that his proposal was accepted, he began mapping out a recipe for her to follow. Of course, he'd need to know her limits first, but that would be for later. Right now, they had an errand to run. Oh, it seemed that Nikki had gone out with the other groups leader. He frowned.

That family that arrived here was suspicious. Okay, suspicious is the wrong word. Unsteady, was the better word. They were dangerous, but not to them, not yet anyway. He hoped he wouldn't be forced to deal with them; their male leader he could deal with, but fighting girls always left a bad taste in his mouth. Anyway, they were offering to come with them, and if they wanted to help, he didn't mind, so for now he let his suspicions rest.

Returning to Jenna, he gave a thumbs up. "Ready when you are. We'll talk more about teaching you later, probably when we're done here, so we don't waste any time."

Following her to the next floors, Felix broke open a few more desks. Money, confiscated items, some knives, surprisingly, a few pain-killers, etc, etc. It was a so-so haul. Nothing stood out from the loot, though he wasn't surprised. It was highly unlikely that a school would have anything especially noteworthy for situations like these.

"So," he began, while tossing asides more junk, "where do you guys come from?" He didn't really know anything about them. He figured it wouldn't hurt to know more. That way, he could at least be certain whether or not he could trust them.

@Wick-@Demonic Angel

Tina bored opened a few of the larger 10x30s and was happy to find that one was the storage of someone who must work in the concrete business because of their supplies and equipment including gas powered saws an drills as well as pneumatic.

Her next find that tickled her inventor's fancy was obviously one belonging to a plumber and meant she could build another fuel plant and maybe even a still. She knew the fuel would be useful but in a survival barter culture liquor was a powerful commodity.

The next belonged to a youth sports group because it held football and baseball gear. Then jackpot!

They'd been selling energy bars to raise money and they had six flavors and nearly a full pallet.

Tina giggled with glee as she sat in a folding chair munching on a Blueberry smash energy bar. She'd at least have food even if it were just energy bars. Add to this the vitamins from the health supplement store and she could keep going for perhaps a year.

~Well things are looking up if you can call this looking up~ she thought as she made a wish list of things she'd love to find in the storage units.

Then it was while dreaming of treasure surrounding her that she remembered something she'd seen through the camera if the drone; a motocross shop. If she could get in there she could get a suit or two of full body armor and add a full helmet with heavy gloves and she could move openly without fear of encountering the dead as long as they couldn't crowd her.

Her reverie was broken by the warning beep of her drone letting her know it was about to return. So she headed over to the landing zone an flicked on the remote's screen so she could make sure the re entry was done without observation.

Camyllia jogs the whole way home but stopped when she saw her uncles 'friends' cars. Blitz lets out a low growl before Camyllia shushed her and slowly pushed the stroller closer to the house coming to a stop at the bloodied truckthat belonged to her uncles most violent friend and the one that scared her the most. Tomas, swallowing she pushed the stroller quickly through the front yard and towards the door.

Coming to a stop she goes around to Oppal who had fallen asleep," Poor thang," She whispers picking him up with a grunt and making her way up the steps muffled laughter could be heard.

"He honestly thought he could take us! Haha!" Tomas's deep voice says.

Camyllia's panic level went up but then calmed down at the baritone voice that belonged to her uncle,"Tomas that man..he wasn't sane man."

"Tryin' to take us on he wasn't! The fucker fuckin' got a good bite outta me though!"

Camyllia decided to let her presence be known and enter the house putting her backpack down,"I'm home!" She whispers.

"Camyllia!"

"Tom! Shut up I got a kid 'ere he's sleepin'!" Camyllia snaps Blitz letting out a low growl.

Her uncle was a big burly man just like her daddy but slightly taller. When you first see him you'd expect him to be the "Hard-ass that cares for no one but himself". Well he is a hard ass but he's a huge teddy bear at least to children and his neice but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his moments. He treats Camyllia more like a son than a neice..thought it does make the girl tougher for it.

"Lia, who's the lil' tyke?" He asked crouching to her height.

"He's Oppal. Uncle Denny, his mommy ate his daddy-"

"Ya to Cammyllia!" Tomas exclaims.

"Shut the hell up Tom before a sock ya in the fucking jaw!" Den growls before looking at the little girl again,"Take 'im to yer room and make sure he is secured I don' wan' 'im fallin' got it?" He say.

Camyllia nods with a smile," Yes sir!" She says before walking down the hall," C'mon blitz," She calls for her dog who obidently follows.

Adah moved to knock on the door of the editor's office, the sobbing stifled as she shifted her weight towards the door. Whatever was on the other side had heard her movement just outside the office. Adah raised a hand to tap on the glass and just before she could touch the door was greeted with--

"D-don't come in... please." An effeminate voice pleaded.

Who was Adah to ignore a person's request? Her arm fell limply to her side in the darkened hallway. "Okay."

"Ummm...."

Adah stood in the hallway.

"I didn't hear you walk away... are you still there?"

Adah giggled, "No shit, dude."

Whoever was behind the door seemed to flinch at this, "Umm...." she stuttered, "Could you go?"

"I totally could..." Adah began with a smile, "But see, I figure you crying has something to do with all the shit going on outside. Maybe a loss or something, I don't know." Adah shrugged, "But what I do know is that-- honestly, just holing yourself up somewhere and crying is something I've been thinking about a hella long time, kinda thinking of joining you and just bawling right now. Course I don't have much to cry for the loss of is my problem."

Adah paused, taking the woman's silence as permission to continue, "Anyway-- I got to congratulate you on finding a place where no one, living or dead, was actually going to look-- but, and maybe this is just my half-finished anthropology degree talking, but I think all people long for contact. I think whatever drove you in here wants you to be alone-- but I think you... I think something in you must have fluttered when you heard someone out here." Her body slid down the wall, sitting against a wall opposite the door, "Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass though."

The woman behind the door sniffled.

"Besides," Adah's grin turned devilish, "You've got a cute voice," Adah leaned nearer to the door, "I'd really like to know the face behind it."

She immediately became flustered, "Wha--? I-- Well I'm not--! I don't like--!"

"Pffftt," Adah leaned back, "I don't like this, I don't like thaa~t!" She mocked the woman, "All I know is, guy or girl, a tongue is a tongue-- if there's a difference, my tongue will make you forget it."

The woman was silent for a while, but then, unmistakably, Adah could hear a soft laughter coming from behind the glass.

"Funny and a charmer..." The woman laughed, "Is there a girlfriend I should be looking out for?"

"If only..." Adah replied, allowing the laughter to die down before continuing, "So tell me, Miss...?"

"Fowler..." She said, stuttering as it came out, "Ummm, Alexandria, umm... Ria Fowler. J-just call me Ria." Ria moved over, Adah could tell she was pressing her weight against the door-- leaning against it as she sat.

"Okay, Ria. That's pretty, people usually go with Alex or something." Adah got to the point as Ria gave a nervous chuckle, "Ria, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the world is ending outside-- what are you doing here?"

She sniffled again, "I... I-I... I saw... I go--" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, deathly silent, "Can we... not talk about it?"

"Okay." Adah sighed, opening up her purse, "Hey... you mind if I smoke a little?"

---

Darius blew out a plume of smoke as his 5th cigarette burned to the butt. He didn't usually smoke this much, but he wasn't going to go to town on himself for it all things considered. He didn't usually have to live through shit like this, either. The adrenaline of driving away from the hell that was LA was wearing off-- the shots fired from the looters, the men who wanted him dead just to do what they wanted with Adah-- seeing his ride flung off a pier into the ocean.

He and Adah had dealt with a lot in the last few hours, that was for sure-- and this was the first real time they'd spent apart since shit had hit the fan. Darius noted how he felt at that. He wasn't worried she wasn't going to come back-- she was better at avoiding the shamblers than he ever could be, and when shit got tough, she was better at taking out the living. She'd killed at least 20 gang bangers and looters to get them out of LA in one piece. He'd needed to ram through one, and shoot some kid gunning for her back-- she'd killed 10 times the living people he had, bloody and violent and she was still somehow fine...

That was what he was worried about. The come down. She'd catch her breath away from him and Levi... and...

Darius opted to put a pin in that line of thinking and light up another cigarette. He set aside the pack and glanced over at the still sleeping Levi. He'd need the rest way more than me...

---

"Adah?" Ria broke a silence in the air.

"Yeah?"

"How long has it been now?"

"How long has what been?"

"Okay..." Ria gave a weak laugh and asked again, "How long have we been... here, I suppose? Talking, smartass?"

"I dunno..."

"An approximation?"

Adah glanced at the time on her phone, "At least two hours."

Ria gave a ragged sigh, "Yeah..." She coughed, "I can feel every second..." Ria paused to breath, "Now's as good a time as any."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, It's okay--!" She gasped for air, "This is how I beat it!"

"Okay." Despite being on opposite side's of the door, they both knew to stand at the same time. Ria leaned against the glass of the fogged editor's office, her silhouette became illuminated by the light coming from the light of her phone. "You know..." She said, "I'm kind of... giddy? A-and nervous of course."

"Yeah."

She gave a happy sigh, "What should I be thinking of?"

Adah was silent for a minute, before saying the first thing she could think of, "Something you love."

"My Parents!" She shot out brightly, "It wasn't them that bit me! I know that now... and I'll get to be with them soon..."

Adah only half-listened, it was all she could do to maintain her composure, she mindless said another "Yeah?" As she loaded her gun.

"You wouldn't know it, but I liked this place too."

"You were a reporter?"

Ria laughed, "No way!" She sighed, "Just an intern with dreams..." She gave another dry chuckle that ended in a coughing fit, "I wanted to be the editor! So... In a way this is all kind of fitting." Adah went silent.

"Adah?"

"Hmm?"

"You stay strong too!" Ria was crying-- but they were the type of tears one cries when they're on the precipice of something they've been waiting for, "The world needs people like you! You gave this dying girl hope, at least!"

Adah scowled, and the two were like that for a while. Two bodies on the opposite sides of a door, one with a gun raised toward the silhouette of the other.

Then, Adah pulled the trigger.

The explosion of the bullet in the enclosed place was loud enough to give Adah a brief white out. When she could hear and see again, there was a smoking bullet hole where the work 'in' used to be on the door, in 'Editor-in-chief'. Ria's body was slumped against the door. Unmoving. That was what happened when you hit the brain, they just died like normal. That was how you "Beat it" according to Ria.

Adah sniffed. "Yeah."

Adah left the scene without opening the door, she wasn't one to disturb resting places-- whatever Gods there may be probably weren't fans of that. She pulled out the map of town, and with the weak light of her phone, began to guide her way to the her way to the 7/11. She needed some weed. Leaving The Sentinel, she put her earbuds back in.

Henri decided he'd seen enough and that it was time to see to his water problem as well. So he b climbed down from the cell tower and noticed he had company. About six of the shambling dead surrounded the fence making Henri's egress a problem.

His solution was simple in execution because his foe was as intelligent as an earthworm. He drew his Blade and rattled it against the fence where two already stood close. He smiled when the others responded by moving in the direction of the sound and the two already there pressed closely against the fence as if they could walk through it.

It took five minutes to get them all on one side before Henri sheathed his weapon an ran to the farthest side and scaled the fence with practiced ease. Of course his new fan club followed the sound and began heading his way making Henri's big urge to run away but the big french man thought about it and moved towards the front runner in his biggest fan contest.

He'd seen the horrors dropped with blows to the head and thought here was a chance for experimentation.

Henri was a pacifist at heart but he was also not nonviolent merely preferring to avoid conflict if at all possible which was why he'd attended. Savate studio when he was in collage and had risen quickly to the rank of Initiateur (instructor)

He approached the closest of the horrors and performed a reverse fouetté (reverse roundhouse kick ) that struck with all the force he could throw into it. Due to his stature and weight the blow struck with the force of a sledge hammer breaking the horror's neck as well as shattering it's skull.

The second he destroyed with a marteau (hammer) kick just before two attempted to crowd him forcing him to use chassé (front piston kick) to back him up so he could perform a fouetté on his partner..

Minutes after he'd begun Henri stood alone in the field by the tower his six foes dispatched in quick order. This left Henri with a bit of a task of cleanup to preform.

He drug the six to a ditch about 100 meters away. And briefly considered cremation by piling dry wood atop them but the condition of the local grass forced him to reconsider

He had to jog back to his camp to retrieve a few things before he set of for the large pond he'd observed. Then he ran about 800 meters to a pond of brackish water many would have passed on but not he for Henri had the world's best wilderness filtration system available.

While he waited for the filter to work he carefully explored around himself and found a small traffic jam that had forced 10 cars to be abandoned due to unknown reasons. He peeked in each vehicle and found three wonderful things a grocery bag that had a 2 pound bag of dried pinto beans, 1 pound of dry rice, a half pounds box of salt and a 2 pound bag of flour.. The second thing was an adult size wooden baseball bat which was helpful securing the third item as it was guarded by a large female horror. It was a folding solar panel for charging a laptop but could be used to recharge his camera, binoculars, laptop and LED lantern; he couldn't use the other computer because it was password locked.

Nikki pulled up to the next stop it was a pharmacy that was closed 3 days a week. It was more for specialty stuff, compounding meds and so their stock was a little different. Nikki had worked here one summer. "Stay here. I'll be right back." Nikki went inside and saw the owner, Mr. Martin. He was shuffling back and forth and came towards her to bite her. She stuck a knife into his ear and said. "I'm sorry sir." She laid him down and closed his eyes.

She walked into the back and grabbed one of the handheld shopping baskets. She grabbed all the pills he had and shoved them into the bag. She also looked to see what he had been making and scooped those up too. Three baskets plus another one of OTC stuff and baby oragel. She took all of the oragel he had in the store. She usually carried some on her. It was good for ant bites and bee stings too.

After she got all of that she was certain that the library or the internet could help them figure out what that stuff did. She checked one other place and grabbed the boxes of epi pens. Nikki took her loot out to the car and put it in the back of the car and got in. She sighed and sat there for a minute. She looked at James in the seat next to her and said. "It's different when you knew them."

She exhaled and turned the car on. They headed back to the school. The guys at the gate let them in and Nikki pulled up close to the doors and all of the stuff was brought into the main hall. All of the baby stuff was taken to Kat's room and that included the case of oragel. She figured that should make Grace a bit happier. Food went to the kitchen and the meds went to the nurse's office and Nikki locked it up. The OTC stuff was left out so people could get to it.

Finally Nikki went to her designated room and took her folded it over to make a pillow. Her sword stayed right next to her as did her gun. She laid down on the mat and closed her eyes. Her ears however listened to every sound. Her mind was too tired to think. She had closed her door. She had smiled when she saw that Jenna had gotten hold of one of the larger label makers and made a name sticker and stuck it on her door. Nikki rolled over and fell into a light sleep.

@Belle@Demonic Angel@thehangedman@lpfan

As was expected, Nikki didn't take the other guy's stunt lightly and as James was loading in the trunk of the car what he picked up from the warehouse, Nikki shoved the guy against the door placing her sword against his neck. After James finished loading he got on the passenger seat and Nikki drove to another place, a pharmacy where she got inside by herself to take medicine. James saw her killing someone but in a much more mild manner then before. As Nikki was inside grabbing pills and stuff, James turned around to the other guy. "You know? I understand you had the right intentions but you should've just let her do her thing. I'm pretty sure that if she wanted help she would've asked for it." Said James as he turned around.

Not long after that Nikki came back in the car with a bag full of medicine of all kinds. She took one dissapointed look at James and told him that killing these walkers is different when you knew them. After driving back to the high school, James went to check on his car and saw both he and Zach's stuff inside on the front seats. Probably Zach has left it there. After Nikki took all the scavenged stuff to their respective places he saw Nikki going to her room and decided that this was the perfect time to have a chat with her. He went to her door and without knocking he opened it and got inside only to see her lying down on a mat and sleeping.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry, I didn't realize you put yourself to sleep. I should've knocked. I'll come back later." Said James as he turned around and headed to the door.

Deleted!

Deleted!

Erin and Raven stayed in the back, glaring at each like sister did, before walking into one of the rooms. The lighter half had taken the closet while the twin had taken the desk.” Any clue how to open it?”" Nope.” this caused some tension into the air around them.” Are you going to allow Vincent to take care of you? Are are you going to act like a typical teenager?”” I trust the letter that dad wrote. I'm not helpless and I can look after myself so back off. Never was a typical teenager so the answer is no.” something slamming in the desk caused it to click open. She fliched at the noise causing something inside to stir then calm down all mast as fast as it stirred.” Our brother isn't going to like that.”” He’ll either deal with it or leave. Both ways work for me.” a sigh with part shifting showed the end of the conversation. In a way the young woman was glad that the other woman stopped talking.

After gathering inside the room they both started walking to caught up with the others. Once they did each went to go help one of the others. Erin was near Felix and Raven was by Jenna, scavenging through students desks for items."So," the man’s voice began with papers shuffling."where do you guys come from?"” Depends if you want the birthplace or afterwards? If you want both then it’s okay with me. My brother and I was born in Dublin Ireland. When he joined the Army and became a ranger like our father, my mother and I moved to San Francisco California, I was off work when all this happened. Funniest thing was that Vincent was on the same plane. He had gotten an honorable discharge from the Army to work out our father’s will.” The oldest stated with a shrug.” We should stay quiet and keep moving. I want to get this done as fast as we can.” the girl said while dodging the question completely before going to the next room.
@TheHangedMan@Wick

The baby supplies were a godsend. "Thank you," she made sure to tell Nikki as the large box was dropped off. Kat began to tear through it like a child on Christmas morning.
Diapers, some clothes, bottles, pacifiers, a few toys including teething ones... it was a treasure trove. Thankfully the Oragel wasn't needed yet, but soon it would be and they had a great supply. "You're set baby girl," Kat told the squirming Grace, who was laying on the bed that had been set up for them. Kat sorted the items before grabbing some fresh clothes, a blanket, a diaper and baby shampoo. "Come on stinky girl. Time for us both to get clean."

Heading into the gym and found the girls showers. After undressing both of them, she turned on the water, which thankfully still worked for now, and stepped under the warm spray. Grace always loved water, making splashes was her special skill. Loud giggles echoed as she started kicking the water everywhere, swatting at the spray. Her laugh got louder as she enjoyed herself. Kat didn't mind. It was good for her to have fun, distract her from the hell that the world was turning into. And if anyone had a problem with the laughter of a baby, they were cold bastards and needed help.

The gentle smell of the baby shampoo, no tears formula thank you Nikki, was soothing. Kat had gotten used to using the baby shampoo on herself as well as Grace. Less expensive than buying regular shampoo and baby shampoo.
Kat laughed, a rare sound from her, and lifted Grace up to blow raspberries into her tummy which had the baby laughing more.
Once they were both clean Kat turned off the water. In the main locker room, she used the towels stored in the lockers there to dry off herself and Grace. Pulling a long shirt over her head that reached her knees, she laid a towel on the the benches for Grace to lay on while she applied baby powder and strapped her into a fresh diaper.
"Yeah that feels good doesn't it baby girl?" Kat asked, rubbing the baby's tummy.

The sound of a door opening made her alert, her smile instantly vanishing. Then came the voices.
Male voices...
Grabbing Grace, Kat looked around for a weapon but there was nothing but a can of baby powder and clothes. Grabbing the can, she jumped into a locker and pulled the door to. She held Grace securely against her chest, praying she would be quiet.

"I told you I heard a baby," one male voice said as the footsteps came into the locker room.
"There's steam too. Looks like someone was taking a shower," another voice said in a lecherous tone.
"And babies can't shower by themselves," a third voice spoke. "So that means momma is in here too. Or maybe big sister."
"Either way, if there are people here that means there are supplies here," the first voice said. "Each of you, take a different aisle. Holler when you find something."
Kat closed her eyes and strained to hear. A set of heavy footsteps came down the the aisle she was hiding in. "There's clothes here!" the second man shouted.
"Keep looking! Check the lockers too!" the first man called from two aisles away.
The sound of locker doors opening and slamming shut had Grace whimpering. Kat stiffened when the slamming stopped, the footsteps the slowly coming towards their locker. A short barrel chested man opened the door with a grin. "Got you Mommy-" he started to say but was cut off by white powder being thrown into his face. He howled and stumbled back, coughing and hacking as the powder got into his lungs. His buddies shouted and ran towards them only to see a flash and hear a baby cry as Kat raced out of the room.
Leaving their buddy hacking on the floor, the other two took off after the figure. Grace's ear-splitting shriek echoed loudly through the gym and down the halls.
"Matt! Nikki" Kat screamed as she ran, the footsteps thumping behind her. She had to get to get to a weapon. She had to get Grace to safety.

Turning down one hall she spotted one of the men, James, stumbling back out of a room. Kat's hair was still dripping as she skidded to a halt by him. "We've got intruders!" she shouted as her pursuers turned the corner and stopped short.
They paused for only a moment before realizing it was just one guy. Then they smirked.
"Afraid we startled the little lady here in the shower," the leader said, raising an eyebrow at the glaring Kat. "Folks who have the luxery of a running water and have a baby on board surely have supplies to spare," he said in a tone that showed he wasn't asking. Their friend, his face still covered in baby powder, came pounding around the corner.
"Bitch tried to poison me with this shit!" he snarled. "I'm gonna make it so you can't walk anymore!"
"Try it lard ass!" Kat hissed back.

Grace screamed and cried. All of the noise and angry people scared her. She buried her face into her mommy's neck but her cries could still be heard echoing down the halls. They wouldn't need an alarm system as long as Grace was in the vicinity.

Nikki had heard James and had started to move when she heard him pulling the door shut. Nikki was on her feet the instant she heard Kat screaming. She barreled out the door of her room wearing jeans, a tank top and no shoes. To the average person she wasn't all that threatening looking. Standing at 5'6 she was pretty average and petite for her height. She looked at the three men, one was covered in baby powder. One was carrying a crowbar and the other just had a pipe of some sort.

The One with the crowbar laughed at Nikki and started making lewd comments. "Hey little girl I can show you a really good time."

Nikki smiled and said, "I don't think so. I don't think you are man enough." Nikki grinned at his anger and when he lifted the crowbar to hit her with it. She kicked his elbow causing him to lose his grip and it fell to the ground. That was when he pulled out a gun. Nikki shoved her palm into his nose and kicked the gun towards Kat and pulled the crowbar up off of the floor just in time to hit him in the head so hard that it broke his neck. He fell on the ground limply.

The second and third guys attacked her and she went into a spinning back kick and she cartwheeled grabbing the pipe he dropped and this time she hit the guy in the ribs. She heard the crack of his bones and he begged her not to kill him while his powdered friend was screaming because she blinded him with a defensive shot to the eyes. About that time the dead guy started to come back and Nikki planted the pipe in his head hard. She could hear the creeped out utterings of those around her. She picked up the walkie that Kat had had to reach Matt with. "Matt? You better get in here. I've got a body for you and two others that need to be shown the door."

Nikki hugged Kat and gave Gracie a big kiss and a hug. She slid her out of her mom's arms a moment. The guy with the cracked ribs thought that while she was holding the baby would be a good time to get her while she was distracted. Nikki was holding Grace on her left hip and she raised her right foot kicking him in the neck. "crowbar". Someone handed her the crowbar and she cooed to Grace so she would watch her face and not the man as she slammed it into his head. "Matt, bring Zach."

She looked at James and asked him. "Can you watch this guy for a minute. Matt will be here in a sec. Thanks."

@Belle@lpfan@demonic angel@dark light@darcs And everyone else!

After what had happened with the job Vincent decided to duck mainly for the fact was it would be best. He was on his way to the second floor nearly getting trampled by Erin going down the stairs. Oh how wrong the man was." Move out of my way before I kill you!"" Vincent someone screamed. Next thing I noticed was Erin or Clara running. We're going to need help!" Clara shouted before Raven spoke. Both woman were rushing causing him to follow. The guy's sisters passed into the guy before a larger man come out. The older brother sized his opponent up before placing his hands up, waiting for the first move." Long time no see Vince. How's my favorite mob brother?"" I don't know Vinyl. How's the stupidest mobster on Earth?" Vincent countered back still waiting." You know you could join my guys right? I mean we are part of the same past."" Yeah. But I wasn't the one who walked out of the family." With that said Vinyl threw the first punch.

It wasn't rocket science. The man was as big as a body builder, with muscles to match, yet the guy was slowish. Clearly the guy wasn't trying though it would most likely change with time. Vincent ducked down and an uppercut. Now he knew what it was like to hit a steel wall which adding insult to injury the other fighter laughed." That tickled Vince. Let me guess. Your time being a ranger has made you soft. Too bad. I would have liked taken on our Money Shark."" I always did like doing my own dirty work. You would just be another dead man added to my wall." the man smiled making the other frustrated. A swing to the right and another duck. The older brother'a leg smacked into the enemy's pelvic area, causing the man to fall to his knees." You always did like cheating. What else's is the Mafia for other than to teach you dirty tricks."" Get out. Get out and never come back. If you do I will hunt you down and kill you."

Vinyl sighed before getting back up and throwing another hit. This one made contact. Vincent felt his body getting picked up, giving him time to strangle the guy in a sleeper hold, before the guy slammed the ex-ranger's body down. The man managed to wrap a leg around in order to help dislocating his shoulder." Ahhh!" Another slam to the floor." Would you stop! Ow!" the guy screamed while wrapping his arms around the other fighter's leg. One kick to the face hitting the cheek instead. Then another hitting the nose killing Vinyl instantly ending with them falling to the floor." Haru! I need a knife! I would rather not find out if this guy comes back!" the guy called as the teenager stabbed the body in the head. After than the older brother opened the door and rushed inside to help with whatever he could.

The girl walked out of the room and turn toward the stairs. She walked down one flight and once down she peered through a window. The teenager saw the car pull up and the people come out one by one also noting Vincent's depressed walk toward the door. Something must have gone wrong for a up tight guy to look so sad. A sudden scream ran chills up her back as the events of what happened to her cousin came back in a flash. The blue eye closed, holding tightly shut, as the other burst open." Erin are you okay?" off the darker half went not noticing the other twin following behind." Move out of my way before I kill you!"" Vincent someone screamed. Next thing I noticed was Erin or Clara running. We're going to need help!"Clara shouted nearly running the man over before Raven spoke. The darker half didn't care about the stitches due to wanting to get there in time.

More screaming and the baby crying helped fuel Clara's strides, nearly causing the stitches to break under the stress, as she turned the corner toward the gym." Keep going forward and turn a left Clara. I take a right and check the gym."" Whatever. I'm not going to let another kid die and upset Erin." they said while splitting up." Not again. I can't let this happen again. Come on! Give me a sign I'm getting close!" the girl thought to herself."Hey little girl I can show you a really good time." an answer to the prayer. Clara didn't go inside after hearing a pained groan.[i][color=lightgreen]" Looks like I missed all the fun. Oh well."[/i][/color]" You got to be kidding me. Those were the toughest and that girl was able to take them down? Like dominos." This caught the demon's attention as she grabbed a board nearby." I'm out of here. I need more men."" I don't think so." the girl said as she kept beating his head over and over until there was no way to tell if he was a walker or not originally.
@Belle@Wick

Tina continued opening storage units and as expected found mostly household goods but it was in the ones she found other things that got her excited. Six motocross motorcycles including riding gear, tools and repair stands, 2 Jet skis and their trailer , a near completion Willy's jeep with bantam trailer both from the mid to late 40s and even a Towable light plane that appeared nearly new.

~Too bad I don't know how to fly~ she thought as she walked around the odd machine.

It was a pusher type prop, seats two, obviously amphibious and it had a retractable tricycle landing gear. What a neat big boy toy, hell if she could fly she'd be able to scout far ahead finding the best routes.

Tina was so curious about the plane she failed to notice a man till his shadow broke the light darkening the back of the unit were she was standing.

"Hello, may I help you?" she says as sweetly as she can manage while she feels an uncomfortable sensation from the man's smile.

"Well that depends on you. he says with a cold laugh

Then he turned and shouted
"Hey Dog come see what I found!"

The wing folded wings an tail piece coupled with the man blocking the light vast Tina in deep shadow an helped conceal her hand over the but of her 1911.

Another grubbier but larger man came up beside the first and growled
"Need me a new old lady since I had ta crack tha others skull for trying ta bit me"

The first complained
"Dog that ain't fair I saw her first"

The bigger man just chuckled saying
"Don't worry bro I don't mind sharing if you don't mind sloppy seconds

The first man pouted but didn't argue. Then they both started to move towards her grinning.

"Leave me alone! snapped Tina which seemed to only make the big man more eager as he laughed and rushed at her.

BOOM! BOOM! Barked the .45 sending one slug through the big man's forehead and the next into the chest of the other.

The hyped up on adrenaline Tina heard others outside shouting and getting closer. She didn't have much more warning than that when a third man armed with a single shot 20 gage stepped into the door and tried to drop the muzzle on her causing Tina to throw her self flat on top of Dog's body and squeeze of a desperate shot.

The slug missed his vital organs technically striking him a grazing shot between his thighs causing him to fall back on his ass squealing as he fired of his only shot into the roof. The angry southern girl showed no mercy firing a second shot into the prone man's head.

"We got you surrounded!

Throw out your gun!" shouted a nervous voice from outside.

[b]"Yeah we got you an easy or hard your choice"[b] says a second nervous male voice.

"I chose the Lion!" shouts Tina throwing herself out of the unit and tumbling once over to land prone behind the crotch shot corpse.

The others only have what sounds like a .32 Caliber revolver that snaps three times as the one holding it fires wildly. His weapon has only a two inch barrel and he fires like he's never held a gun so Tina judges he can only hit by sheer accident an takes the trouble to aim her weapon barking with the authority of a proven battle field weapon removing the top of the man's skull. His frightened companion practically goes fetal begging her not to shoot.

There is blood spatter on her when she stands and stalks towards the begging man who without a word she shoots at point-blank. She doesn't remain there long as she sprints for the two story storage building and her hidden cache of weapons. She climbs the stairs three at a time and to a unit who's door she rigged to appear locked and picks up her Browning leaving the door open so she can see two mirrors she preset to allow her to see either direction.

Only then does Tina allow herself to breath knowing should anyone remain of the raiding party and try her that should she need to escape she can drop the the floor below into an empty unit run through four other units cross a hall and lock the unit there who's outside wall she's weakened so that three to five sledgehammer blows can drop.

~Todd would be so proud to know I actually remembered his paranoid lessons~ she thinks while giggling over the irony

Nikki was cuddling Grace and making her laugh when Matt arrived. He was filthy and sweaty. "What happened?"Matt said giving Grace a big smile. "Did Auntie Ninja protect you and mommy?" "Kat can tell you the details but I killed two of them and the third is blinded. The one that is alive can tell you where they came in at so we can fix it. Let me know when you find out." She sighed, "I'll do another check on all the doors. There are no outside windows anywhere except the second story stairwells and in the Dean's office by my room. I think with that car that James may have some skills mechanically so he might be able to fix whatever they broke getting in." Handing Kat her daughter back she pulled her boots on and took her pocket knife.

Nikki was exhausted and started at the front and walked the school checking every door to the outside. Her first concern was that the back doors all needed to be chained just to make sure no one opened them. "She picked up the walkie, "Matt? can you get the chains out of maintenance and have James chain the back doors on the farthest wall on the class side? There are 2 doors and the locks should be with them." "yeah, ok" he said. She knew he was tired. "Thanks big bro!" She smiled at his chuckle.

Matt went into the maintenance closet nearest to him and grabbed the chains and locks. Then he went to find James. He ran into him quickly and gave him the chains and locks and told him what locations Nikki wanted chained. Matt slapped him on the back good naturedly and collected the bodies. He was walking down the hallway and ended up stopping at the stairwell where Vincent was.

He opened the door into the stairwell and looked at Vincent and sighed. "Come on, let's get him onto the flatbed here with the others. Nikki is checking the building for how these creeps got in." Matt picked up the Walkie, "Nik? Vincent just killed another one in the stairwell on the southwest corner. No idea how many there are. I'm going to start searching from this end and I'll meet you in the middle."

Matt saw Zach, "Hey can you get these guys outside? We have to check the building and figure out how these guys got in."

Nikki was a little shocked that Vincent killed a man but hey everyone could kill if the situation was right. She was not surprised to hear that there might be more of them. It was frustrating though. She walked the entire school, gym included and she found the entrance that they got in. "Hey Matt? I found the entrance. It was one of the door on the back of the gym. Can you send James to me in the gym?" Nikki went into the workshop she had previously locked and grabbed some tools that James would likely need. Once back in the gym she waited by the door with the compromised lock. "yeah" Matt said.

Jenna was looking around trying to figure out what she could do to help. She found the walkies that Nikki had been using, there were a few more of them so she took one back to Kat. One to Zach since he was still on outside duty and one for Vincent. She kept the last one so she could help Nikki whenever possible. She wasn't sure where Vincent was so she asked Matt. "Matt? Have you seen Vincent?" "Yeah, he is here with me. Why?" "Okay well I was going to take him a walkie but if he is with you..." "I think he is going to head back to his sisters. He should be back by you in a minute or two." "Okay, thanks."

Jenna waited at the end of the hall for Vincent. "Didn't Nikki say you had guys watching the school from the outside? You might want to see if your guys are still alive and if they are why they didn't see them breaking in." She noticed he was rather ruffled and there was blood on him. "You ok?"

@Belle@Demonic Angel@thehangedman@Dark light@Darcs@rumikoohara

Grace still sobbed and hiccupped as the loud nasty men were dealt with. Kat took her back from Nikki. "You need to get some sleep," she said in a firm but concerned voice. "If you don't, I am not above tying you to the bed to ensure you get sleep."

Grace reached for Daddy but he left to check around. She started crying again when he walked away without her permission.
"Baby girl he's coming back," Kat reassured her, but it didn't have that much of an effect. "Thanks for the help," she told the schizoid girl in front of her, not using names because she wasn't sure which personality she was talking to. To be honest it gave her the creeps and she didn't allow Grace to be around the girl alone. She knew the girl couldn't help it, but there was being sympathetic and being safe.

Going back to their room, she slipped on a pair of shorts before grabbing a box of toys and heading for the gym. They were in the process of securing it so she felt safe going there with Grace. Setting the box on the floor, she set Grace down and watched her. It was one of the problem solving situations she put the baby in to help her mind grow.
True to her smart nature, Grace crawled over to the box and used the edge of it to pull herself up to her feet and look inside. She squealed at her discovery of toys and started pulling them out.
Soon she was on the floor of the gym throwing and chasing the toys around and laughing. Kat joined her in playing, smiling warmly. Every time the door opened the baby looked up, probably looking for Daddy.

@Wick

Tina waited an hour before she activated the second drone which she'd planted on top of the caretaker's residence. The nimble machine flew straight up then did a slow lazy circle of the storage complex grounds as she swung the camera back and forth looking for any people wandering the grounds and saw only one person walking around and it was the staggering corpse of the man she'd shot in the chest.

She cursed herself for not making sure he stayed down an seeing him as the only movement decided it was relatively safe she headed out to clean up the mess. She stalked the walking corpse with the drone so she'd have no surprises.

Then just before she confronted her main concern set the drone on hover and the control on neutral before setting it down.

She stepped around the corner and crept up silently on her tormentor. She held a softball bat that she'd loaded with plaster to add about 30 onces to it's heft multiplying it's mass and striking power. The thing seemed to sense her about 10 feet away and turned.

[color=ff66ff]"Be a good boy and try to stay dead this time!"[growled the form Cherokee county Homecoming queen as she swung the bat with all her strength .

The impact was devastating an caved in the horrible man 's just before sending him down like the sack if shot he was.

She ran back and snatched up the drone control and made another search pattern noticing she had another problem; there were about 12 dead heads moving around just outside the fence.

Sighing she went and fetched her Dragon Slayer's an cranked the Beast then tapped into the PTO air compressor an filled their bottles. Once that was done she walked the fence perimeter stopping where she found the sad figures an sent an air propelled slug into their brains. The Dragon Slayers were not as modern a technology as many believed based as they were on the Girardoni air rifle used in 1779 to about 1805 which were the first repeating Rifles ever made; it was only the difficulty in materials and production that eventually saw them fall out of service. Tina's two Rifles were the modern expression of the failed but advanced pneumatic weapons.

Twice she had to return to fill the air bottles before her grisly task was done. She then used the golf cart to mover the Raiders corpses. It was hard work alone but she was determined to not have the fools bodies to stink up the place throwing them on a flat utility trailer which she hooked up to the Beast.

She just drove out of the gate using the security clicker she found in the office then circled the fence collecting the others till not a body was left to expose her presence or spread disease.

She drove them to the construction site north of her new base and with little ceremony dumped them off to dry on the sandy barren soil.