6pm Day 10


Jenna went with Jon to the kitchen. "Go bring them in, I didn't forget about you guys out there. I put your meal back." Jenna was also concerned about the cooler temperatures with winter going to be coming. She had heard Nikki and Matt discussing it the other day. They had been searching for winter clothing and more blankets as well but this was also taking them into private homes on some of the trips out scavenging. Even SoCal got snow in many areas. "There has been a lot of clothing brought in. Would you like to find something more comfortable and normal to wear?"

Jenna looked at Jon a moment. "Nikki was talking to Matt about just this subject yesterday. He was going to take a look at the furnace and see if it could handle it. Regardless they are talking about closing off and shutting down the heat to the classroom section of the school and just keeping the library hallway to the front on heat. Also I can keep the kitchen and cafeteria doors open to the inside of the cafeteria so it will use that heat more efficiently. The less the furnace has to work, the longer it should stay viable theoretically of course."

"What we really need is for the power company to stay running. If the lines go down between here and there THAT is the real issue. If we get ice on the lines they can break easily."

@kurai assassin@thehangedman

"Thank you Lady Connor, i will bring my men into the cafeteria soon. As for your comments on the power companies continuing to run, we cant rely on them. If they havent been over run with zombies yet then they will be likely targets for Raiders and Looters. If my calculations are correct then they will go offline within the next month. I suggest we find mobile generator and only have essential things supplied with electricity. We should also work on getting some gas canisters for cooking as the Gas companies will likely fall not long after electricity." He took a seat on one of the tables and held his hand up at the offer of more clothes. "The clothes i am wearing now shall be sufficient. The fur coat should serve me well during winter." He motioned with his hand for Jenna to sit for a minute "May i tell you something Jenna. When the outbreak started i was at comic con with my girlfriend. we managed to get away with the others that escaped the carnage on the convention centre floor. We travelled north of the convention centre for a while before we decided we needed a more permanent place to stay. Before we had been staying in whatever houses we could find but eventually we found a warehouse that we fortified for a while. The night my group turned up at your doorstep my watchmen and i had just returned from collecting food. As we entered our home we found that one of our group, Ray and his group of Assailants had taken my girlfriend and family members of the other Watchmen hostage in the meeting room. He told us that we were to drop our weapons and food and just walk away and a day later the hostages would be released. Like normal people we tried to negotiate our way out of the situation. By this time the rest of the group had arrived. They must have realised at this point that they werent getting away with this. They slit their throats. The killed them like dogs. Like lambs to slaughter. My blade tasted blood that night. Seven people and Ray started the attack. four of them including Ray were left alive. I left him with a reminder that should he fuck with the watch again i wouldnt be as merciful. He wears the brand of a coward. His ring finger was cut from his hand and thrown far away." He looked at Jenna as a single tear ran down his face. "I should have killed him, It may have given me some sort of closure but im no killer Jenna, im a protector of the weak and fighter for the innocent but im not a murderer. I promise you, while i still live and bleed i will not let any harm come to you or anyone else inside these walls or the gods shall have my head."

Jenna wished she had ever had someone to care that much for her. She had lived in a superficial world and now that all superficiality was gone she realized that she had nothing left. She wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed it off as silly sentimentality. She smiled and said "Excuse me." Jenna walked back to her room and she lay on her bed and cried. She felt hopeless in this new and deadly world. If she hadn't been loved before how would she ever find that now.

@Kurai assassin

Levi

A zombie-ish groan escaped into the endless empty hallway, echoing off forgotten lockers full of redundant text books and clutter.
The scuffle of shambling soon followed. Feet dragging across the floor as the following body bumped and clambered its way out of the nurses office into the hallway.

"Hellooo? Adah? Anyone?

" Levi softly whispered.
His wounds now properly healing he had overcome his fever and slept off his fatigue. His memory a bit of a blur, he wasn't sure where he was or who's company he was in.

He cautiously and silently sneaks down the hallway, following the sound of distant noise.

Jon knew something was wrong when Jenna shed a tear, he was a very good judge of character and that seemed to be out of her usual happy self. So with that in mind he followed her, back to her room where he heard her cry and sob. He knocked on her door. "My Lady, I did not mean to upset you. If there is anything i can do to help you please tell me and it shall happen" He said standing in the doorway. He heard a door creek near by as many of his watchmen entered the building. Jon stepped inside the room and closed the door, He did not think it was wise for more people to come and pry, asking questions as to why Jenna was sobbing.

Jenna wiped her eyes and looked at Jon. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to ruin your dinner. I guess the stress is finally getting to me. This whole world ending survivalist thing has just shown me how empty my life was and how little I actually had. I didn't have any family and no friends out side of work and let me just say, models are very catty around each other. How terrible is it that I have more here in this school than I've had since I was a kid?"

Jenna had this horrified look on her face as she stated, "I'm not happy about the walking dead but the change in my life has been drastic and for the better. Does that make me a bad person?"

@Kurai Assassin

Nikki laughed and looked up at Eric as he sat down. "So think you'll stay a while?"

@Garth

Eric took just a minute to look around the cafeteria. "I would love to stay, if you'll have me. I really have no where else to go. My parents are in Maine... That is if they... Never mind. Maine is a long ways away. I've just been driving. Not really sure where to. But I guess I know now. I was driving to here. I was getting lonely. Nobody to talk to. So many living people to talk to. A fun work out buddy." Who is cute and sexy looking. "I would love to stay. Maybe I can be helpful here too."

Not enough. The overall strength of Nikki's group -- he really should ask her to come up with a name. It was so dull, to resort to calling it that -- was lacking. If she was to build a kingdom, they had to get stronger. They needed supplies, training, weapons; and that didn't just apply for the long-term. Short-term, they needed strength fast. The other colonies were quickly amassing strength, especially the ones that disregarded civil and humane methods. They were gaining strength the most rapidly. Eventually, they would set their sights here, and while Felix was sure he could take on their armies single-handedly, he wasn't sure if he could do so while protecting those important to him.

That being the case, he needed guardians, different from soldiers -- which they would invariably acquire, at some point -- and specialized in keeping certain people alive, rather than being able to execute missions.

He had people in mind for those roles, but they would need a bit more polishing.

Speaking of polishing, he hasn't had the chance to really stretch his limbs, has he? Well, perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone. The newest addition to their group; the cosplayer, or, as Felix liked to call him, "the character", because that was he was right now. He turned himself into a character, whether because he was mentally damaged or it was his coping mechanism, he wasn't sure. It didn't take long to find him, all it took was a few questions. He stood out after all, and was near impossible to miss, though he was surprised; the small crowd that had gathered in front of Jenna's room was disturbing.

He knocked on the door thrice and entered, before narrowing his eyes. Jenna had been crying, though from the way they looked, it seemed like it wasn't his fault -- or at least she didn't consider him at fault for her tears. However, it also seemed like everything had been resolved. Oh, and she asked him out for a movie. Now where would they get that?

"Hey, Jon was it? I need a sparring partner," he said, for the sake of her dignity, he avoiding bringing up Jenna's crying, "I'm getting antsy, and Nikki's too busy. Hope you don't mind Jenna, you can have him when I'm done," he said with his usual grin. This was also a way for him to gauge his skills.

@Kurai Assassin-@Wick

Jon walked over and sat beside Jenna on her bed. He placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to console her. "No my lady it does not make you a bad person. It makes you a strong one." He paused for a moment allowing his point to sink in. "Many people are dwelling on the negatives on the situation we are in, but you have taken this in your strive. You have used this event to better yourself and make the most of what you have and to push yourself to help others. While you continue to act as you do now then you will good by the standards of the new world. Your no raider or looter so by moral standards you are good." He took his handkercheif from the inside pocket of his coat and dried her tears. "In all truthfullness i have never met anyone stronger, My lady".

Jenna didn't know quite what to say. She had never met anyone like him. "I don't think I'm all that strong. Nikki is by far stronger. She lost her fiance in this mess and has managed to do everything and then some. She saved me and taught me how to kill them. She can do everything but one thing. Apparently she can't cook and that is one thing I can do. The few things she doesn't seem proficient at she figured out who is and has them doing what we need as a group. She is a good leader."

Jenna looked up at Jon and wondered how he was really doing on guard duty. "Are you guys switching shifts often enough out there? Is there anything I can do to make it easier on you out there? Are there weaknesses in the fence that we need to fix and support. We can always put cars up against them to help with the support. "

Jon passed the handkercheif on to Jenna. She would obviously need it more than he would. "Nikki is a good leader but you cannot compare yourself to others that are drastically different to yourself in terms of personality and traits. She may have lost a loved one. We all have, we all move passed it. But you are much stronger than any woman i have met and that is because you have had to change your life so much to be able to survive. Nikki was strong before day zero. You have had to change so much. You have made yourself stronger, You have a kind and forgiving personality. You have helped people on an emotional and a personal level while Nikki gives them guidance. You are both strong there is not measure of how strong a person is." He stood up and took her hand giving her the option to stand.

"There is nothing that the watch need for now my lady. We choose to stay on guard at all times. We watch as partners and take watch at allotted hours. The only time we come off duty is to get the delightful food you cook. There is one thing you could help with though my lady, I could use some company on my watch, i usually watch alone due to the nature of what ive seen but i believe now is the time to share my watch. I can teach you how to fire a bow correctly so that you dont waste arrows. I can teach you use a blade efficiently. Will you join me on the watch Jenna?"

Jenna stood and squeezed his hand and replied, "I would be delighted to. I also want to look for the best place to plant a vegetable garden. Nikki brought back seeds the last time she went out. That would be a huge help. There are plenty of jars and canning supplies to help us prepare for the times when there isn't as much available. Maybe, you can help me with that."

"I was thinking that we can make things a little more social inside here too. I was thinking that movie night in the library would be a great thing. If there were more kids in here I could think of a lot of things we could do but right now all we have is sweet little Grace."

"We should see if anyone knows how to sew and see if they taught home ec in this school because if they did they will have a sewing machine which s a big help when we need something that we can't find easily."

Jenna smiled at Jon thoughtfully. "You know, you are a really wonderful person. I'm sorry you lost your girlfriend. I'm certain she was a lucky young lady because she had you in her life. I think you are very kind and loving." Jenna reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

Jon blushed as the ex-supermodel kissed his cheek. He reached behind his neck and took off a small silver chain which held a miniature steel sword with a small amethyst gem in its hilt. "Here, i want you to have this. It was my Girlfriends, it seems only right to pass it on to someone much like her."

Jenna thought about his words. This was something very important to him and she didn't think it right to take it from him. "I am thrilled that you think we are alike in some ways but this is very important to you and I think you should keep it as a reminder of her." She held the necklace in his hand and smiled.

"Shall we go watch a movie?"

"Well I am glad to hear that. I'm sure you will be a big help and like I said Matt is a good tackling dummy but sometimes I need more challenge than he does. Tomorrow, I think we need to go work on getting some more gas and look for some generators and see if the Hardware stores have been completely destroyed yet. Can I count you in? We are going to need to figure out how to handle the days ahead when the power goes out. And what do we do if there is a day when we can no longer stay at the school?"

"I was talking to Felix and he made me think of a few things I would have gladly not thought of." Nikki looked a little more tired than she would have been without the stresses of keeping everyone safe. "I do think we need to start teaching everyone how to fight with at least the basics and teach them how to shoot and defend themselves because right now the living are more dangerous than the dead are. It's survival of the fittest out there and there are a lot of people here who don't know how to do anything to defend themselves."

"Can you keep up with me?" She grinned a little but she was dead serious. "Because if you can't I'll run you over." She said as she winked at him grinning. Matt had come back in without the baby.

"Matt I'll be in my room if you need me." "Okay" he said as Nikki walked out of the cafeteria. Matt sat next to Eric. "You should wait five minutes and go look in her room, if she isn't in there try the gym. She was a dancer and she is excellent." Matt looked up and took off after James. They were working on maintenance stuff.

Nikki had gone to the gym. She put the music on and then a blindfold. When the warm ups were over she started out with some ballet dancing and she changed styles with the music. As the music became angrier so were her dance moves. When it was light and airy you could almost see her fly. Nikki was so focused on what she was doing that she did not notice anyone else in the room with her.

She decided to try something new. She looked at the basketball hoop and backed up. Gauging how much height she needed she ran and jumped up and caught the hoop with both hands. She hoped that it would hold her and not send her crashing to the ground. She pulled her body through the hoop and did a handstand on the hoop. Her need to push the limits made her hold the position and let go with one hand. So now she was doing a one handed handstand on the basketball hoop. Then she heard a baby voice.

Nikki looked down and saw Matt and Grace on the side. "Oh shit!" Nikki's hand was losing grip and she caught the hoop with her other hand and then she fell. Nikki felt the motion of flying...for just a moment.

@Garth

@Wick@TheHangedMan

"As much as i would love to relax My lady, duty calls. I promised to keep the group safe and if it i means that i must give up some relaxation time then thats the price i must pay. if you'll excuse me i must go to help Felix so that we may be better prepared to defend the walls." He turned to Felix "So lets go train Felix" he said following the man out the room, as he noticed his group of watchmen outside the door pushed them out the way telling them to mind their own business and gets some food down their necks

Felix winked at Jenna playfully. "Don't worry, I'll send your Knight back to you in one piece, and you will get to watch a movie, got that," he sent a look at Jon, the implication that he relax with her some time or else, made obvious.

Come to think of it, was there ever a time he had fought in front of anyone in the camp? Jogging his memory, he couldn't recall one instance of ever displaying his skills in combat. In that case . . .

"Actually, why don't you come watch as well? As your temporary instructor, this'll be educational."

He went to an empty space in the back of the school. The gym was a good place to exercise, but in his opinion, this was the best place to spar. It was wide enough to fight in, but cramped enough so that it would be difficult to run.

"So, how do you wanna do this? If you prefer, you could use a weapon. I know you're comfortable with that sword of yours, and there're a few suitable substitutes for that here," he said gesturing to the steel poles discarded on the ground, "I'll be using my fists, if you don't mind. First-blood or until one of us surrenders?"

This was sparring for him. The closer it emulated a true fight, the more exhilarating it was. He wrapped his hands for protection -- and to prevent him needlessly injuring Jon -- and rolled his shoulders, relaxed and ready.

@Wick-@Kurai Assassin

"Might as well make it a fair fight."He said unbuckling his cloak and placing it on one of the benches in the gym. "First to yield. Ill go easy on you" He joked a sly grin began to make its way across his face. He stretched his arms out wide then cracked his knuckles one by one. This fight would obviously not be won by sheer strength alone. He would have to beat him on a psychological level to be able to make him yield. "When your ready"

Felix laughed. Well, he knew how to play the game before the fight, at least. Now, let's see how well he did in actual combat . . .

He bounced on his toes a little, just for show. He shifted his weight, taking a stance that would have made impossible to kick with both legs-

"Hah!"

-before jumping above head level and chambering a kick towards Jon's chest. It was an extremely flashy opening move, but not as foolish as it looked. Felix could turn his body midair if it called for it, so the chances of taking advantage of his openings was actually quite slim - but not many people knew that, as it was more than just difficult to do; it was bordering on superhuman. More importantly, he put force behind this kick.This was no distraction or feint. Felix never used feints; those who knew him well always assumed that every strike was meant to end the fight in that one blow.

@Kurai Assassin

@TheHangedMan

Jon stepped to the side slightly enough so that Felix's opening move would miss resulting in him landing on the floor. "Flashy shit gets you killed my friend" He laughed grabbing the mans shoulders and standing him upright before throwing his own punch to the mans stomach in an attempt to stun him which would make his next move much easier.

Good, common sense. Side stepping was the best way to avoid that; anything else would've resulted in Felix kicking him somewhere else. Felix took the punch easily, just by curving his body a little; a body blow was nothing if it didn't hit in the right place, like the solar plexus or the liver. Aiming for the stomach did nothing, especially if the he curled back. With Jon's arm so close, grabbing it was easy.

Twisted the arm, before kicking the back of Jon's knee hard. Long term, that did little damage, but it would force him to kneel.

Afterwards, he simply skipped back a few steps, looking relaxed. "Being flashy is the prerogative of the strong! You only get killed doing it if you're weak, after all," he said with a grin.

@Kurai Assassin

"Tomorrow, I think we need to go work on getting some more gas and look for some generators and see if the Hardware stores have been completely destroyed yet. Can I count you in? We are going to need to figure out how to handle the days ahead when the power goes out. And what do we do if there is a day when we can no longer stay at the school?"

"I've gotten pretty good at raiding gas stations. I can open the under ground tanks and I have a little hand pump to get the gas out. It's slow, but should get us enough gas for a generator. We can check out the hardware stores. If they are good we can get a lot of good tools from the hardware stores. We will need gardening tools to make the football field a farm next year.
"How spread out over the school are we? Can we locate everybody in the same wing or area of the school. Then maybe we can figure out how to heat or part of the school and not the whole building."

"I was talking to Felix and he made me think of a few things I would have gladly not thought of." Nikki looked a little more tired than she would have been without the stresses of keeping everyone safe. "I do think we need to start teaching everyone how to fight with at least the basics and teach them how to shoot and defend themselves because right now the living are more dangerous than the dead are. It's survival of the fittest out there and there are a lot of people here who don't know how to do anything to defend themselves."

"How did they make it this far without fighting? But I can show them how to use a knife. I don't know if we have enough guns for everybody. We might need to look for more firearms. I was thinking we could maybe make spears. Spears are easy to use and you don't have to get too close to the infected to use them. Maybe we can get some shovels or something at the hardware store to make the spears. Spears are a lot easier to use than swords or axes. They will be good for defending the school."

Eric smiled his thanks to Matt. "Thanks, Bro." He asked Matt about his past and learned he was a Marine.

Eric waited his five minutes and then went searching for Nikki. He didn't find her in her room, so he headed to the gym. He was sitting in the bleachers long enough to watch Nikki dance to pull off her handstand on the hoop. He was very impressed but worried too. She didn't have spotter under her. He jumped down from the bleachers and started running towards her. She shouldn't be doing that without some pads or a spotter under her.

He saw she was about fall. He ran even faster and was able to help break her fall. He caught her... mostly. He kept her from hitting her head and both Eric and Nikki fell into a pile under the hoop. oth of them felt it, but at least Nikki didn't hit her head and her fall was soften some.

Nikki landed on top of Eric. She landed on him in such a position that her head landed on his thigh and her foot may have kicked him in the shoulder or the face she wasn't sure. She moved her arms and legs and everything seemed to work. She sat up and found herself straddling him.

"Eric? What the hell are you doing down here?... besides breaking my fall." Her eyes were aglow. "Are you hurt? "She looked him over but did not change her position atop him. She moved slightly and smirked at what she noticed.

Matt grabbed up his daughter and quietly disappeared while chuckling to himself.

Nikki grabbed each of Eric's hands and pinned them down next to his head and leaned down and kissed him quite thoroughly. While doing this she stretched her body out and rolled sideways off of him. "Thank you. Were you watching me dance? I was blindfolded so I didn't see you. I did however hear you as I was flying through the air. I must admit that would have been a hard landing."

@Garth

Eric rubbed his jaw. "Nah, I'm not hurt. Nothing major." He did like how she looked above him. He had to work hard on keeping his eyes on her face and not letting them wonder too much. But she did look cute sitting on him and it's been a long time... He felt her move and he blushed when she find his secret and smirked at him.

He returned her kiss hungrily. As she rolled off of him, Eric kepy her rolling and rolled on top of her. He stopped kissing long enough to look down at her. "I was watching you. You're a lot of fun to watch." He then whispered something to her.

Nikki smiled and said. "Good, I'll look forward to it." She grinned and slid out from underneath him.

Putting her shoes on she had a brother to find and yell at. Matt was in the room with Grace. Grace was crawling. Nikki stared at the baby in awe. "Gracie come to Aunt Nikki. Is that why Daddy thought it would be a good idea to kill his sister by bringing you in there while she is doing an acrobatics move?"

"Nik you know I wouldn't have otherwise. How was I supposed to know you were going to be doing a stupid stunt like that?" Nikki looked a little irritated at him. "HELLO? Do you not know me?"

Matt grinned. "Ok ok I should have known."

"Well I'll let you off the hook because you distracted me but at least you told Eric so at least I didn't get killed."

"Yeah," Matt gave her a knowing smirk."What's going on there? I could swear I know that look on you."

"At that question Nikki's entire mood was ruined." Matt had screwed up and he knew it. "Nik, don't...It's ok."

Nikki left the room and went down the hall to the glass doorways that led upstairs. She ran up the stairs three at a time until she got to the third floor. She flipped up the ventilation lid and crawled out onto the roof. She used to skip school up here and that was the only reason she knew about it. She knew she would have to lock it down so others wouldn't come in this way. She was pacing back and forth. Her heart was pounding hard and she really needed to blow off some steam. She was trying to keep the tears back but it wasn't working very well. She watched the dead outside of the fences. She sat down and after about half an hour she went back down into the school and locked that ventilation door from the inside. She put a key lock on it as well.

Nikki walked down the stairs and went to her room and grabbed the keys to the Monster. She was on her way to the front doors. Matt caught up to her. "Nikki! Don't do this right now. It's dark and it puts you at a disadvantage. I'll go with you." Nikki turned around and looked at her brother. Her voice was raw with emotion and she was angry.

Nikki's thoughts went to places it hadn't been able to even consider since this all began. Matt just had to bring up Nolan. Why doesn't he just stab her in the chest. It would feel better than teasing her about having a future with someone, maybe Eric right now. Why should she feel guilty Nolan was dead and MATT was the one to put him down before he turned.

Her brain and heart got stuck on rage and she was a deadly weapon to anyone in her way even her brother at the moment. Her knuckles were white as she held her fists by her side.

@Garth