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The Esteemed Mr. James Mandingo Grady sat alone in his perch, high above Newnan proper. His time on watch passed by with a stillness that was contrary to the events earlier in the day. He surveyed the grounds around him, periodically checking in with Zoie at the gate and Ash as he moved about the scene, always returning to his vehicle, now immobile in the street near the motor pool. The vast majority of his conversations consisted of him checking in, receiving an all clear, and responding in kind. This work was necessary, but dull.

Though James took the responsibility of scanning the full circumference of the walls seriously, he had to admit a draw to the southern end of the settlement. It was so much more interesting in that direction. Firstly, he got to see Ash milling around, mumbling to himself when he wasn't giving the occasional terse order. He was moving from the Courthouse to the Hordebuster, to the motor pool, back to the Hordebuster, in a meandering path.

Secondly, there was a cow, seriously injured, caught in the lower branches of a tree near Agriculture. The beast was occasionally rousing conscious for brief moments, shaking and causing all manner of noise, and lapsing back into a near-coma. More and more of the Dead took note of this, crowding under he tree and reaching upward in an attempt at fresher meat than themselves, each one falling far short of their prize. One very curious Walker in the group seemed to have been, in life, a Caucasian male of middle age and average height. He had hair that may remind one of sports announcer Harry Caray after tonguing a lightbulb socket, and a filthy yellow t-shirt depicting pop icon Britney Spears. James wondered if the man was equally as creepy when he was alive.

Thirdly, in the same general vicinity as the line of smoke from earlier, there appeared to be a group of extras from The Lord of the Rings approaching the wall, though he wasn't certain that Arwen rode an imported motorcycle. James maxed out the scope on his rifle, trying to take in more detail. Ok, not LotR, but something told him that if he ever needed a coastal village raided, he'd know with whom to speak. On the one hand, they could be trouble. On the other hand ... Damn. The second James moved to alert the group below, Zoie's particularly accented voice came over the walkie.

"Boss, ya think that whole mess we done gone through been that Ragnarok shit they be talkin' about on the history channel? Cause, we got's Vikings at the gate...."

Vikings. Yeah. Just when the Apocalypse couldn't get any weirder, Newnan was being beset by an all-female Viking war party. "Ya know what, y'all?" James spoke into the walkie, "I'll just cover from here. Moment we're in the clear, one a y'all's sending me up a replacement. We cool?"

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The Hordebuster was down. Non-operational, and Ash had zero idea why. I mean, it was a diesel frigging engine, modified just enough to accept alcohol as an alternative. The problem should be a simple matter of servicing or replacing a part. Hell, more often than not, all Ash had to do was clean a connection or drain a hose. But this problem... It was troublesome.

On the one hand, the Captain's plan involved getting this massively protected vehicle out between the Newnan walls and leading the Dead away. It could be accomplished with other vehicles, true, but the 'Buster represented the best chance they had of doing so with expedience and safety. On the other hand, he couldn't squander all of his time glued to his Truck of Insurmountable Badassery when more immediate concerns were in play.

He was their leader now, whether we wanted the job or not. It was time to act like one.

Ash had long since removed the full riot armor, stashing it in his truck. It was useful in a firefight; not so much when probing about under a hood or running mundane errands. He had recovered his weapons and most of his personal belongings (minus his jacket, of course), restocked from Newnan's supplies, and set about the confines of the Inner Wall making sure that his people were fed, armed, and vigilant.

His path crossed with the two helpers from the infirmary, some several times. They were still gathering blood samples for typing. Ever the realist, Ash considered the possibilities as to why they were still out there, looking for donors. They obviously didn't have someone matching Maria's blood type in the Newnan so far. It was possible that they were double checking names on the list, hoping to find someone they had missed earlier. It was also possible that they were pissing against the tide of the inevitable; Maria was not long for this world unless a proper donor could be found - apparently, that donor would have to come from outside of Newnan's walls.

Of course, what were the chances of something like that happening?

Ash made an appearance in the Courthouse. It was the central hub from which the community now operated, now that everyone had retreated inside the inner wall. If the Newnanites weren't busily engaged in a project, patrol, or manning a post, chances are they'd be found here. He inquired into the status of the building and its present inhabitants, the prisoner, etc. Even poked his head into the Infirmary, if just to risk a glance. The new Doctor was nowhere to be found, but there was a guard on the prisoner. Maria was pale. Kris was beside herself. Ash nodded patiently at her, and wordlessly exited the room.

Yeah, Maria was dying. If she slipped away in the next couple of hours, it would be tragic for her sister. If she pulled through, she would have to answer for ignoring orders. Her outcome was uncertain. However, his duty was not. Until any sentence is passed, she was part of Newnan. Captain Holloway had an obligation to her, and the rest of the community. If a way presented itself, he was going to jump on it.

Ash walked back out to the Hordebuster, pondering his lack of options on the matter. He opened the driver's side door, pulled out a bottle of water, and took a long drink. Debating his next move, his radio sounded. It was Zoie's voice. And he was pretty sure she had been in the sun for too long. "Boss, ya think that whole mess we done gone through been that Ragnarok shit they be talkin' about on the history channel? Cause, we got's Vikings at the gate...."

Before he could reply, Ash heard James's retort, "I'll just cover from here. Moment we're in the clear, one a y'all's sending me up a replacement. We cool?"

Mild irritation flashed across Ashton's face, both at the new wrinkle in their day and James taking liberties with his speech. Still, he made a point. James was the best shot they had left, after Alicia. Best man to be in that tower, but he was due for relief. Vikings at the gate. That was a new one. It was a potentially dangerous novelty that had to be addressed. Ash spoke into his walkie in clear, decisive tones, "Yeah James, 'we cool'. I'll be at the gate presently."

Ash stood atop the gate post, next to Zoie, looking down at the women assembled below. Before he spoke, Ash looked to Zoie. He scanned the lady's face for any glimmer of recognition of these new people. Seeing blank confusion, he came to the deduction that the women below them were likely not from Eden. Earlier description had Edenites as fanatics, serving under a charismatic and sadistic leader that, like many cult leaders of the past, demanded conformity. To look at them, Ash figured that if someone told these women to conform, they'd respond with rude gestures and rectal trauma.

He had heard frantic screaming on the way up. Something about medicine. By the time Ash had ascended the rampart, all had gone quiet, like they were waiting on something to happen. Ash's guess: they were waiting on him.

"Who speaks for your group?"

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Bridgette supposed that if she'd lost a hand and had the stump burned shut, she'd scream like it was Buy One, Get One Free Day at Crazy Edd's Dark Chocolate and Pelvic Massage Emporium (now with espresso bar), too. The fact that she didn't pass out after both stages of the roadside operation was nothing short of impressive. Now that they were all fit to travel and the Biters were distracted, it was time to hoof it. Literally.

Cadence seemed to know what was about to happen, instinctively taking deep breaths and flaring his nostrils. This buzz of emotion and urgency in the air meant that the noble horse was about to make a charge, whether toward an enemy or away notwithstanding. The horse's intuition proved correct.

"Brig, take point!"

"On it, Sis." she responded flatly. It was time to go to work.

Bridgette reigned her horse back up the road and took off at a gallop. It was open road, mostly, except for a couple of stragglers a little ways up. The purpose of running point, in the manner they often did, was so that the swifter rider could reasonably assure a path for their wagon. In this instance, it made certain that zero dead people were around to slow the progress of their belongings nor their new guests. She took this job seriously. Sometimes though, just sometimes, she really enjoyed it.

The charging warrior maiden brought her spear close in and slid it into a cavalry spear carrier attached to her animal's tack. Ordinarily a difficult maneuver while riding, practice had taught Bridgette that all she needed do was bring the shaft of her weapon along her forearm and point her elbow down. Gravity handled the rest. She still had a readily available spear, but more importantly, a free hand. She used her free hand to draw out her axe, making herself available to perform sweeping attacks without having to break stride.

It was then that she heard the mechanical growl of a motorcycle engine pull up alongside her. The horse didn't seem to mind the extra noise or the company. Batgirl (as that was the name she chose, due to a lack of formal introduction) had apparently decided to take point with her. New experience, but what the hell? It was time to clear the road.

Bridgette spotted a lone Biter in the road just ahead. She looked to her vanguard buddy with eyes twinkling, a look of nigh sadistic glee splitting her face with a cheshire grin. She urged Cadence faster. Now, an attack at this speed with a spear ran the risk of snagging a bone and damaging the weapon, or more likely, wrenching it from her grasp. It was a calculated risk usually taken by one with more than a single spear at their disposal. The axe, though... sacrificing vastly superior range, it was far less likely to lose itself at higher speeds. Leaning from the horse just a bit, Bridgette cleanly removed the top of the corpse's skull as she passed by, its dark cerebral ichors splatting across the blacktop even as its skullcap spun upon the road like a gruesome top. This was the stuff she lived for.

Bridgette paused three or four times to make sure that Astrid and the wagon were still rolling forward. Not a true pause, mind you, more of a substantial lessening of equine velocity to give Astrid & Co. an opportunity to close some of the distance. One of those pauses, the last one, had Bridgette catching sight of the walls.

These were different from the walls they had spotted all that time ago. Farther out, different construction - and damaged. A sigh escaped her lips. Had they come this way for nothing? Was this opportunity for safety more bullshit in a broken world? Hell, if they did set foot inside the damaged walls and the horde caught up with them, would those walls just box them in? No, this was a massive risk. Too massive to just play it on faith.

Then another thought came to her: That truck had to come from somewhere. And it had to go to somewhere. The recent storm may very well have damaged those walls just recently - if there was a viable community still inside, they would have a Plan B. They might have time to restore the downed section, maybe something basic with cars propping it up until the horde could be dealt with. The people inside Newnan, if indeed there were any, would have to be warned. Especially with down walls. They needed to know just as much as Bridgette and the others needed to be inside.

Ok, decision made. They check it out. If there aren't people there, they move on to their own Plan B and return to Fairburn, dig up their supplies, and hole up. It wasn't ideal, obviously.

Bridgette rummaged through her pack and brought out a plain white t-shirt. She tied it to the head of her spear, just above the wings and below the blade proper, and hefted it to flap in the breeze. Parley flag. Lovely word, no matter what the Pirates of the Caribbean had to say about it. She took a few moments to wait for the wagon to catch up fully, and the group entered the Newnan Settlement by means of the downed wall to the south.

Fast forward through the next few awkward moments, the sudden outburst of the redhead in the wagon and the whimpering of the recently hand-depreciated lady. Desperation sounded in the redhead's voice. In Bridgette's opinion, desperation was not the best way to start off a negotiation. This looked like it was going to be exactly that, negotiation. Damnit.

If she were being honest, Bridgette's own skills on the negotiating table weren't much better. Dropping any pretense of meaningful discourse with civilized people worried about offending one another, she untied the t-shirt from her spear and tucked it away. At that moment, another head appeared from behind the wall, next to the lady with the impressive southern drawl. He looked a lot like that guy from the first Terminator movie, she mentally noted, the whiny protagonist.

"Who speaks for your group?" he asked. His tone was direct and no-nonsense.

"Look duder, you got a bigass problem here." started Bridgette. She supposed she was speaking for the group, at least for the moment. "Some big diesel Dumptrain managed to piss off more Biters than I've seen together, ever, and they're coming up the road right fucking now. Girly-girl here got bit and had to have a lumberjack handectomy. We're all about to have a real bad day."

There was a glimmer of recognition in the man's face when Bridgette said Big Diesel Dumptrain, followed by what looked like annoyance. Yeah, that truck came from here. "We've already had a 'real bad day', Miss. Lot worse then than losing a hand and having to run." The man's voice had a tinge of anger and sorrow, mostly the latter. These people had lost something today, and were remarkably high strung for all their efforts to seem sarcastic and nonchalant. "I'll be real open with you. We've already dealing with one horde today. Had to repel an attack by the living too, so your arrival right now is suspect. I've got no reason to trust you and a couple says it'd be smart not to. You need to convince me otherwise."

Rising anger took Bridgette. "Goddamnit, aren't you listening? Lemme "Army of Darkness" this for you: THE DEADITES ARE COMING! They were a half hour behind us. We set a house on fire to distract them, but we're not sure how long they're going to give a fuck. Look, you have enemies, and you have losses. You need people like us to survive, and we need walls if we're going to make it through the fucking hour."

The man seemed unimpressed. His gaze rose to the horizon, at the line of smoke in the distance. "Well, that explains that." he quietly intoned, and looked back at the women below. He said nothing else for a moment, regarding the situation. Mulling it over. It seemed a little less likely that they were affiliated with those who had done them harm earlier. If their story was true, as supported by the smoke in the distance, that would put them far away from the fighting when all hell broke loose. His outer visage didn't give the impression of thought, though. From people who didn't know the man, it looked more like he was stonefaced waiting for the next thing to happen, without intent of adding anything new to the conversation.

Bridgette wasn't having it. "Fuck this. We don't have time for this bullshit, and I'm sure as hell not sticking around for Walldick up there to make up his mind and tell us we're not welcome. I hope the Biters eat him cockfirst and complain it's a small fucking meal." She reared her horse around, intent on leaving the potential deathtrap before the horde rounded the bend and noticed them. "Come on, girls. There's another place we can try. Fuck these guys."

"Blood." he monotoned. It was enough to halt the shieldmaiden. She turned her head to show that she was listening. He continued, "That's the cost of entry. You all will submit to blood typing, and make yourselves available to donate if called upon. That's condition one."

Bridgette turned her horse around. Unexpected, but okay. "What's condition two?"

"Two, you lose any firearms you have with you. Put them in the wagon, submit to a search. You will be at the end of a scope at all times, and guarded besides, until I feel I can trust you. Good so far?"

Bridgette nodded. There was some defiance in the motion, but it was an act of acquiescence. Fury mixed with resignation, if you will. They needed those walls.

"I will speak to my people. If they convince me that further precautions should be imposed, they will be imposed. If it's too much for you to cope with, you are free to leave." He looked the women again, pausing to lock eyes with each one of them.

"My name is Ash. Captain Ashton Holloway, formerly of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. If you can agree to the conditions set, we will receive you. Welcome to Newnan."

Bridgette turned Cadence around and began a slow ride toward the gate. She paused just long enough to toss her packs and shotgun into the back of the wagon Astrid was leading and meet her gaze. She was wary. This guy Ash didn't trust them, and that road ran both ways. But so far the conditions weren't unbearable. The wall of corpses coming at them limited their time and options in that time. This was their best choice, given the circumstances, but they each had to make up their own minds about it.

"Hell, I'm in if you are, Astrid." Bridgette said quitely. She nudged her destrier forward.

Welcome to Newnan.

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Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Electric word life; it means forever and that's a might long time but I'm here to tell you there's something else, the after world. A world of never ending happiness. You can always see the sun day or night.

-Prince

Let us hope that there is such a place beyond the walls of Newnan and high in the clouds. Where there are no Walkers, no wars between folk for supplies and security. Where all is well. We have lost many and today as the sun is setting in the west as the clouds are clearing from the storm, streams of orange and red streaking the terrain, we will lay another to rest as doves flocks from the trees and fly through the humid air.

The blood loss was too much, there was hope but that hope is gone. The body just cannot survive as Maria passes this world to the next. Hang your heads low and take a moment but breath a sigh of relief for she is in no more pain and is welcomed by all the others that have passed before her.

On a better note, the infection was stopped for Sophia. She will not turn but she still needs medical attention. Let us hope that they get into the walls before the hoard hits and let us pray to whatever twisted deity that may be above that Newnan's walls hold. Yeah, remember the hoard? It's twenty minutes out now and the first bits of it can be seen far off to the south.

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"Now yous be taking a deep breath Red, I ain't opening no door to no strangers after the shit storm we just went through just because yous be askin'. Gotta wait for Boss, to hold yer horses two clicks. Don't be makin' me tell him y'all ain't friendlies," Zoie quipped as she yelled down at new arrivals. Much as she would like to help because people need people in this world but this wasn't her call. She looked them over and they didn't seem like Eden folk, which was a step up in her book but still it wasn't her call and she'd be damned if she made some hasty decision that got her, Froggy and Honky Tonk get kicked out on their rear ends. She liked hot showers.

Waiting for Ash to get there she lowered her weapon slowly but kept it at the ready; she was no sharp shooter like Alicia had been but the girl was a damn good shot and five out in the open like this would have been easy pickings. Listening to the exchange Zoie leaned over and spoke into Ash's ear.

"Boss, hand to hand weapons as well. Them Viking chics don't be lookin' like they are guns and ammo sort if ya catch me drift," she said quietly before righting herself and looking back through her scope off into the distance to see if she could see any glimpse of the hoard the foul mouthed one was yelling about. After a moment she handed the rifle out to Ash. "We gots a problem," she said with a nudge of her head towards the south. Picking up the walkie she radioed up to James. "Mr. James sir, could yous be taking a gander to the south down the main road. What you be seeing?" she asked as she stood there. The hoard was coming and it was coming in towards them, hundreds of them from what Zoie could estimate.

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Astrid sat there on her horse, leaning forward slightly with the reins in her hands. Simply watching and listening. She seemed calm, real damn calm. As if she didn't have a care in the world. Like one of those people in the back seat of a car of Driving Miss Daisy, waiting to say something if it needed to be said. People yelled, they spoke and the girl in her wagon really should have passed out by now.

She listened to the terms and looked over to Bridgette, letting out a long breath before leaning over and speaking into the womans ear. "What firearms?" she whispered before righting herself on her horse again. Astrid didn't use firearms, never had. She trusted her axe, her sword, and her shield more than any modern weapon. It had taken care of her so far over the last three years. Taking a deep breath she looked back towards Ash, the one speaking for those inside the wall, the one she figured that the country girl was referring to as Boss.

"I speak for these people and we have no problem with your conditions. Now, can we get a move on? Sun is setting and those Eaters are on our ass. I'd rather not enter Valhalla today."

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They had to wait? With a hoard at their backs, they had to wait? They didn't have time to wait! these people would kill them, if they waited her much longer. Sophie would die if she didn't get the medical attention she needed. And Niesha wouldn't allow that to happen. She looked to Sophie, and said softly to her "You don't need to be strong, your body needs rests, let yourself slip into dunconsciousness. I won't let anything happen. I'll get you to safety"

Looking back up to the people that controlled their lives, for better or worse in the next few moments, she jumped out the wagon, grabbing her back, her bow and arrows, unstringing the bow even though it could mean their deaths if they had to fight, she dropped it in the wagon, and removing her hand gun, she removed the bullets from it, dropping it on the pack as well.

"Thats everything I have, everything that i need to survive, to defend myself and my friend. Please...I'll agree to anything, just get her the care she needs. If you don't have IV antibiotics, it will take me only moments to make some up, crude as they might be, out of what I have. Don't let her wake up to an unfamiliar face, let me be with her please. " Niesha would stay with Sophie, until she was sure they were safe. She would submit to anything even if it involved being strip searched and treated like a prisoner. Right then, it didn't matter to her, but Sophie's life did.

"Your walls seem strong. Thats good. There's stuff you can do to make this place safer too. I was going to do it with my own colony, but...nature intervened before I could. Thank you. If you can risk it, you should send a small group out, in another direction from the walkers, they should find a car with a half empty gas tank, make a fuse out of anything, clothes or whatnot, drop an end in tne tank and light it up, then run like hell back here. The noise from the car exploading will attract the horde, as well the accompanying fire. It will give you time to gather yourselves, if you've already had a horde attack. I'm sorry. Tactics and ideas are kind of my thing." she apologised sheepishly, as if realising it wasn't her place right then to give ideas.

Looking away, she looked back to Sophie, hoping she would be alright.

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The entire situation was a mess. He'd been stationed at the entrance with Kris, to allow in the Newnan folks that were injured due to the invasion or the damn zombnado that rolled around town not long ago. Sidd kept his eyes peeled for each face that passed by, nodding as he recognised most of them even if he didn't know them persay.

He pointed at the door, the crowd following the direction into the infirmary before all hell broke loose. Maria - Kris' sister - was being guided back inside with the help of Zoie with a bleeding arm bound with a belt. He could only guess that something went wrong and she had been bitten while outside. He followed behind Kris, hestitantly shutting the door and just praying that no one else would need the infirmary or to enter while they were gone.

Sidd didn't know Maria as well as Meg knew her. He was the recluse, the hermit while she was the one that made friends and could spend hours talking about anything and everything. He shut the door behind them as they entered the infirmary once more only to have Maria barking at the redneck biker guy. He was of no help; again and he was glad that Froggy had sent him back out to keep guard. If Kris couldn't do it, at least he could be of some use to Newnan. He scurried back out, just as silently and winced as the muffled cries of agony filled the court room. He grabbed the baseball bat that was lying against the wall of the room, picking it up in case some of the unwanted idiots decided to try entering the court.

He swung the bat and hit a straggler walker that had somehow managed to crawl into the courthouse during their disappearance. His upperbody strength wasn't high, certainly, but adrenaline was such a strange and useful hormone in situations like these. Part of him couldn't believe such mayham lasted only a day. Not even that; just that morning everyone was safe and alive. Vivian, Alicia, Leann - so many losses, and countless more he didn't even know about. Today was a day of great loss, and he wondered that if Newnan didn't have helpful newbies like Zoie or the doctor inside - Froggy? - would they have even lasted this long? He'd stood by Ms Sally, later approached by Zoie soon enough.

He stood quietly, listening but fiddling with the bat in his hand. What could he have said in a conversation he was not a part of anyway? His mind wandered back to Meg again. Was she safe? Was she even still alive? Sidd had seen her in passing before she'd gone for the mission with Caesar, and then again with Ash. Both times she refused to talk, second time she didn't even know he was around. Was that how things were going to be? If she was dead, was the last time they talked going to be his last memory of her?

Speaking of Meg, Ash was finally inside the courthouse - so Newnan still had their leader for now. Ash's mention of Meg to Zoie was what calmed the twin a little. His confirmation that Meg was still alive and kicking. Seeing people act a lot calmer, Siddharth could only guess that Hell was finally over and Newnan was (partially) safe again. Or safe enough for him to look for her.

After looking throughout the death ridden town, Sidd eventually found his twin leaning against the wall in an alley, her head in her hands pushed between her knees. Sidd noted how she was curling in on herself, as if to hide herself from everyone else and to pretend she never existed. It was a form he recognised all too well. Saying nothing (really, it seemed like that was all he was good for), Sidd crouched beside her, his arm pressed against her so she could know exactly who it was.

It was a strange feeling, being a twin. He could simply sit beside her quietly and she'd just know it was him. It wouldn't take a word, not even a touch for Meg to know it was family right beside her.

"I watched him get bit." Came her muffled voice. Sidd looked over his shoulder at her dark hair without any words, just letting her talk it out. "Caesar. He helped me and got bit because of it. I saw Leann go down too. Shot. Right in front of me."

"It's not your fault, you couldn't do anything-"

"Really? Maybe not for Leann, but I could've helped Lorna or Caesar. I- I could've been more vigilant o-or less useless."

"You did all you could."

"I really haven't. I was out of my depth. I was supposed to be a driver, it was a simple task - but some asshat decided to shoot the tyres and force us to walk to the armoury. We lost so many because of him. And then Zoie decided to use herself as a distraction-- who would do that for people you don't know?" Meg looked up, running her shaky hand over her tangled, dirty hair and pulling the strands away from her face.

"It's over now, Noni. They were able to drive out the walkers and kill the intruders. We have one of them held hostage so we can find out whose idea it was to come here." Siddharth assured his sister, who didn't look very assured.

"Noni? Wow, I haven't heard that in a while." Meg let out an unimpressed snort, Sidd letting out a laugh in response.

"Well, you're still Noni to me."

Meghna's face fell again, and she looked away in the direction of a pebble not too far off from the two of them. "Why do you keep trying?" She asked. "Dad stopped trying, hell he didn't try in the first place, so why're you still trying to keep a relationship with me?"

"You're my sister," was the immediate response. Siddharth didn't think nor hesitate. "My twin. I won't give up on you. We're blood, Noni, and that's all we have in this godforsaken world."

There was a pause from both sides, before Siddharth cleared his throat and said the words that melted the hatred surrounding Meghna's heart.

"I'm here for you, Meghna, I always have been and I always will be."

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Crossing his arms across his chest, Victor stared down Richard as he in turn glowered at Victor. There was nothing but agitation in Richard's eyes but Victor did not flinch. "You know that it is true, Dick. I 'ave seen 'ow you are with 'er." Victor's voice was far softer than the look on his face and his natural accent rolled far clearer than it had earlier that day. "You are not as 'ard as you claim to be, monsieur. Come with me, save 'er life. Be the bigger man." He was practically begging at this point.

What Richard didn't know was that Victor already knew that Maria was dying. There was nothing he could do for her and wanted to give young Kris a chance to be alone with Maria when the time came. It was all he could do for the poor girl. His chest used to ache at points like this but in this world? He was lucky to feel a pang if anything.

Richard rubbed his nose with the flat of his thumb and scratched underneath his chin, his fingers pulling through his beard as he rolled his eyes and slowly sat forward. His elbows rested on his knees and he looked up to Victor with his brow touching the bridge of his nose he was frowning so hard. "Listen Doc, ya've done me a solid and that's cool but ya ain't makin' me do shit for that little cock hatin' slag in there, ya here me?"

Taking a deep breath and throwing his hands up in the air, Victor walked forward and moved his face to within an inch of Richard's. Richard flinched backwards and glared at Victor. "The fuck ya doin', Frog Legs?"

"I am wondering 'ow someone that 'olds the interest of Miss Zoie could have such teeny tiny balls." A tiny smirk quirked at corners of Victor's mouth and he stood back up and raised an eyebrow at Richard.

"Jus' what the fuck are ya tryin' to say, eh?" If Richard wasn't so beaten up he'd have stood upright and grabbed the front of the smarmy fucking doctors shirt and been so far in his face that they'd be smelling each others breath for weeks.

"I am saying that Miss Zoie 'olds me in 'igh regard. She listens to me. You think she'll stay interested in you if I don't like you? I saved 'er life. Think about it." Victor then turned on his heel and began to walk out of the shower room.

Richard clenched his hands into fist and tapped his right foot on the floor rapidly in succession before groaning loudly and grunting his way up onto his feet. He was still in agony but he could just barely stand under his own steam. "Fuckin' wait ya snail suckin' bastard. Take me downstairs."

Victor beamed and walked forward and grabbed the packs off of Richard's wheelchair before slinging them on the back of it, letting them hang from the handlebars. "Thank you, you won't regret this. I swear." Richard snorted and sat himself into the chair that was presented to him. "Too late, big guy, I already do."

Unsure how to respond to this latest exclamation, Victor wheeled Richard down to the infirmary again and quietly entered the room only to see that Maria had grown much worse, much quicker than he had anticipated. He may have known that it was too late but he didn't realise that the plasma was not going to be of any use to her at all. He thought it might, on a good day, buy them some time but no such luck. Typical.

Kris was still with Maria when the two men reached the infirmary and Victor wheeled Richard inside and set him to the side of the door before standing in front of him, blocking him from view. Richard rolled his eyes and hid his smile behind his hand as he saw how bad Maria now was. If he laughed at her dying then no one in this damn town would want him to stick around. He only had so much likeability to him before people would discover how much of an asshole he really was. If he lost his cool now and laughed? He'd need to find another way to have the town keep him around.

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Bryn raised an eyebrow and watched as the red head lost her shit once they reached the gates. She clearly had no concept of this world if she thought a bunch of strangers would let you inside their safety bubble if you rant and rave like a fucking lunatic. Bryn just kept quiet through the whole ordeal, she new what was on their backs but she figured she could out run it on her bike if needed. She wasn't really tied to this group if she wasn't going inside the walls with them so it was still a valid option.

Bridgette then began to talk for the group. Fair enough. Bryn was sure that it was the broad on the wagon that was the leader out of the two Valkyrjur. Bryn would just try to be more vigilant next time. Granted it was fun listening to this Bridgette telling these new strangers how it was. She even smiled a little bit and a small snort of laughter snuck out but not loud enough for anyone to really hear.

As soon as Bryn heard the broken soldier say that they had to hand over their weapons she froze in place and tensed up. She watched as the others spoke and moved forward as a group and began to give up their weapons. Bryn did not follow suit. For the first time since she had met any of the others in the group besides Bridgette, Bryn spoke. "Ya think I'm 'bout to jus' give my weapons up to a bunch o' strangers just 'cause ya got some walls? How do we know ya ain't gonna jus' smack us o'er the head when we get in there and take all our blood from us since ya bein' all creepy like and asking us for blood samples. Ya a bunch of vampires or what?" She was firm in her words, her Macon accent coming out as she spoke. She certainly wasn't happy about giving up her weapons and she didn't need to go inside the walls exactly... it would just make her life a whole lot easier but she was no push over either.

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Kristina stood there trying her best to stop the bleeding just as Victor instructed her to hold the bandages as tightly as she could, she would see Ashton poking his head into the room every now and then. She turned her attention back to Maria, she started to see her sister's breathing getting slower and slower with each breath until finally Maria took her last breath. Kristina quickly laid her head on Maria's chest she couldn't hear a heart beat or anything that would show that she was still alive. "No please Maria don't leave!" Kristina said as she tried to shake her sister's now dead body, she didn't get any response as tears streamed down her face she now lost her sister for a second time. Just hours after her and Lorna were reunited together within the same day, she lost Lorna as well, leaving her completely alone Kristina her hands slowly started to shake as she took out her knife she didn't want to see Maria turn into one of them.

"I'm so, so sorry Mar.." Kristina said as she tilted Maria's head to the side, she would let out another cry as she thrusted her knife into the back of Maria's head. She never would have thought to do that to her own sister, Kris slowly pulled the knife out and would let it fall down onto the floor. Kristina slowly slumped down onto the floor bringing her hands to her face and started to weep she was the last member of her family now, her sister was the only person she trusted along with Lorna.

Kristina slowly stood up again staring down at Maria's body she slowly ran a hand through Maria's hair she knew that her sister wouldn't be suffering anymore. And if she survived she would have been in a lot of pain and she wouldn't be able to carry her bow or survive long enough with one arm. She reached for Maria's necklace and then slowly started searching Maria's pockets until she finally pulled out an old faded picture. "She's gone Doc.." Kristina said as walked past the door and saw and glared at Richard. "I hope your fucking happy now.." Kristina said bitterly. She headed out of the courthouse Kristina couldn't be in there anymore she looked up seeing the sun starting to set as the people of Newnan were still scrambling around doing various jobs.

Kristina headed around the building to find a place where she could be alone, she found an alley and sat down on the floor, she looked around and could see Meghna and Sidd they looked like they were related. Kristina felt jealous seeing the two of them together Maria and Lorna were now dead and now she was alone Kristina slowly took out the picture, Maria's necklace and Lorna's dogtags and stared at them she. "I should have convinced you to not even run out like that you could still be alive now.." Kristina said to herself, then a girl around Maria's age saw Kristina sitting there carrying a bottle of water and some food and offered it to her. "Here miss." She said, only to have them be smacked out of her hands. "Leave me alone!" Kristina wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and just glared at the girl as she went to pick it up setting it close to Kristina figuring that she needed sometime to herself.

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Sophia was barely hearing any of the conversation between her newly formed group and the people on the walls, she slowly started to lose consciousness now just starting to feel the affects of the shock of losing her left hand. Sophia's hand slowly slipped out of Neisha's hand just as she left the wagon to remove her weapons. Sophia still had on her person her machete AR15, hunting knife, as well as her glock handgun she was losing her strength to stay awake now. Sophia could barely see the walkers in the distance as she finally closed her eyes and body going limp.

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Cresting the horizon, from James's point of view, was a solid metric fuck-ton of The Dead. Not U.S. Customary fuck-tons, mind you, but the massive, divisible by ten standard of fuck-tonnage that really brings things into full, terror inducing perspective. That was a lot of dead people, and they were coming right at them. He stared at them for a second or three longer than he really should have, captivated as he was by the moving fractal of former human decay.

Lots of dead folks.

A nanosecond before he raised a general alarm, his radio crackled to life. It was Zoie, on the wall. "Mr. James sir, could yous be taking a gander to the south down the main road. What you be seeing?"

"Yes'm, Miss Zoie. I'm seein' it, too. I don't wanna, but I'm seein' it. You and Ash get them girls inside these walls, y'hear? Get them inside an' sort out whatever you gotta sort after." The nigh-legendary hog hunter leaned down to address anyone in the Courthouse's large central room. "We got us a Horde a'comin'! They maybe fifteen, twenty minutes out of the outer wall, and they ain't stoppin'!"

James wasn't sure how much good he'd be in the sniper's post just then, but if anything went down, he was pretty sure he'd need a LOT more bullets.

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Ash listened to Zoie's words on the matter of confiscating the melee weapons of the women petitioning for entry below. Perhaps petitioning was the wrong way to think of it; one was pleading, most remained silent, and one referred to him as "Walldick". He came close to facepalming. This exchange had to be the absolute worst example of first meeting negotiation he had ever been party to. This included a particularly ill-planned bartering session in Afghanistan involving water purification equipment, spare vehicle parts, and camel butter. He still wasn't sure how the camel butter got onto the trading table, nor what happened to it after.

He considered Zoie's opinion for a moment as she looked outward through her rifle's scope. Yes, they could be very dangerous, even without guns. Likely, especially without guns. The taller one with the exceptionally creative profanity gave up hers; a short-barreled shotgun. At least three of the ladies seemed to hold their formidable looking close-arms a little tighter. The lady driving the wagon too the opportunity to speed the process along - announced that she was the group's spokeswoman and agreed to conditions set.

That was when the one on the motorcycle chose to speak up. "Ya think I'm 'bout to jus' give my weapons up to a bunch o' strangers just 'cause ya got some walls? How do we know ya ain't gonna jus' smack us o'er the head when we get in there and take all our blood from us since ya bein' all creepy like and asking us for blood samples. Ya a bunch of vampires or what?"

Zoie handed over the rifle and motioned for Ash to take a look for himself. He held up a tentative finger, requesting a bit of time to examine Zoie's findings in the distance. The women below were being honest about the horde, no doubt about it. They seemed to be on the up-and-up. But he still had his community to think about. An unknown element - brash, emotional, and strong, desiring entry immediately following an attack. Yes, they needed help. No, he wasn't entirely stupid.

His companion's rich southern drawl spoke into the walkie. Such was the depth of his gaze outward, he didn't quite get what she said. He came around with rapt attention when he heard James's voice broadcast, "Yes'm, Miss Zoie. I'm seein' it, too. I don't wanna, but I'm seein' it. You and Ash get them girls inside these walls, y'hear? Get them inside an' sort out whatever you gotta sort after."

Ash handed the rifle back to Zoie, and addressed the gathering below as a whole in a direct manner. "It's obvious that we're not going to trust each other off the bat, so here's what's going to happen: Your weapons, all of them, go into your wagon. You two, dismount and lead your horses in. You with the bike: idle it inside. You don't have a whole lot of time, and I don't want to see anyone else torn to pieces by the Dead today."

He looked directly at the lady with the impressive ballbat, "We're looking for a specific blood type, one we're low on. Can't exactly ask the Red Cross anymore. And I have to see to the safety of the people within these walls. All of the people, including yourselves, if you choose to enter. Otherwise, you need to run."

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Niesha looked to the other girl who fate had slammed her together with and said, "Are you dementated? They need to make sure we don't have any diseases that would require us to be quarintined, and in these days, having a good supply of blood might mean the difference between life and death. We got to Sohpie quick and prevent significant blood loss, but others might not be so lucky. Its a small tube of blood, what are you afraid of blood? They'd want O neg blood, cause you can give that to everyone without fear of it causing rejection" Niesha said, shaking her nead, finding nerself annoyed with this girl, who was stalling Sophie's safety.

As if realising she hadn't got Sophie's weapons out, Niesha swung back up into the wagon, and hesitated for the breifest of seconds, realising she mighg nave go potentially grope Sohpie to get her weapons. "I promise I'm just trying to get your weapons, Sophie, merely to cover all our bases" she said, even though she figured Sophie was out of it by now. She took a moment to retreive the weapons, placing them with her own. There was a moment of regret as she climbed out of the wagon again, that she might never see or use her bow again. She sighed softly.

She wondered, briefly, if she nad overstepped her bounds, with her spiel on tactics. She should have kept her mouth shut, she didn't know these people, but she had been use to leading a group of people, of thinking about their safety, and for one bright moment, it had been like being back there, planning the security of the colony. And she hadn't been able to help herself.

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Zoie wanted to give a couple of them a good talking too about being stupid in the middle of the end of the world but it was quickly pushed aside an idea came to her mind. Patting Ash on the shoulder very quickly a couple of times she whispered against his ear. "Boss, I's gots me another one of them iders. I'sa gonna need Mr. James and that chick, with her bike," she said pointing down to the new arrivals before she pulled back from his ear and grinned; the same grin she got earlier in the day when she wanted to create a distraction. The walls were good and would keep them safe but to clear out that many walkers would take time and ruin god only knows how much of what was left after the tornado hit.

"Trust me boss, O'l Zoie Mama gots this," she grinned before talking into the radio. "Mr. James, thinks you could hollar down to the group in the courthouse? I'ma gonna needs me two shovels or hoes, some bungee cords; if we ain't got that, tell them women I need their bras. Have them meets me at the armory," she called into the radio before looking at Ash.

"Time for some backwoods workin' boss. I get ol' Red down there to ride me on that bike of hers to the far side of the wall quickly. Wes climb up to a post, set up a good old fashion sling shot and start firing some of Zoie's distractions out into the distance. Get that hoard to ver' off that way. Maybe if we moves fast enough, we can keep them from fillin' up the space between the outer wall and the inner wall? It be working, we drive off further north, keep it up until we get thems past Newnan before we heads back?" The woman was nuts it seemed but there was method to the madness and it worked before, might as well up it on the grand scale of things and see if their luck can hold out a little bit longer, at least what little luck they had.

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Stepping back from the door to allow Kris to pass, Victor gave a sombre nod of the head and made his way quietly over to Maria's body. He had to make sure that her brain had been penetrated fully and despite the fact that Kris had clearly made efforts to do as much, Victor was not taking any chances. He took his hunting knife and pierced it in and upwards from the base of the skull and made sure that the feeling of the blade was consistent before pulling it back out. Richard glanced around Victor and saw Maria's body, his face wasn't concerned but neither was it laughing like he had imagined it would. Not like it had the day he had left her behind for dead. This time it didn't amuse Richard and that caused him to frown in concern. Victor watched Richard as Kris growled some words at him. He couldn't tell why Richard was frowning though.

Becoming lost in self reflection for only a split second before he heard Kris spitting venom at him as she left the infirmary, Richard rolled his eyes and called out after her, tact be damned. "I'm just fuckin' peachy keen dolly, but don't ya forget that I'm not the one tha' made her go out and kiss a fuckin' corpse!" He called out after her as she stormed out of the building, Richard watched her depart and he groaned to himself. Stupid little bitch, she was fucking blaming him for her death? He hadn't even been there! He was laid up in a fucking infirmary gurney from the ass kicking that her and her now dead, fucked up little family had given him earlier today!

"Don't look at me like that Doc. She started that shit. I didn't kill her fuckin' sister." Richard leaned back in his wheelchair and rested his head on the back of it as he stared up at the ceiling. Victor left a dish under the table where Maria's blood was dripping off and wrapped her head until the blood congealed. Save more of a clean up than there already was. Victor wiped his hands on the front of his shirt on the odd area that wasn't already coated in blood and walked over to Richard. He crouched down in front of him and gave Richard a firm pat on his knees with his hands.

"The poor girl just lost the last of 'er family. If 'aving you to blame 'elps 'er get through it, maybe it wouldn't 'urt to let 'er take 'er anger out on you? Well, without us letting 'er get physical on you again that is." Smirking a little, Victor pulled himself upwards by putting his hands on his knees and pushing against himself. He looked down to Richard, who in turn looked over to him with a look of utter exasperation on his face. "Don't see why I gotta be the villian..."

Quirking an eyebrow and laughing aloud, Victor shook his head at Richard. "You already are 'er villian, Richard. No changin' that now." Victor moved away from Richard and took his bloodied shirt off revealing a white vest beneath it. He then grabbed something from his jacket pocket and grabbd a table and chair over to Richard, setting the table down between them both as he sat down. He placed his hand on the table and set something there before withdrawing it. Richard snorted and shook his head as he saw the deck of cards. Victor sat there, awkward looking as ever, and looked at Richard. "Best six out of eleven?"

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Before Captain Ash could answer Bryn's question, the red head with the bad haircut decided to have a go at Bryn. Bryn simply stared at the woman with a dead pan expression and slowly blinked as she screamed at her. Girl needed to get laid and fast. The last time Bryn had seen a woman wound so tight that she ended up accepting an invitation to a bukkake party because she was told that it would, and Bryn used to quote this line often, "loosen her up and help her skin from getting wrinkled by all that stress she was under". Safe to say the after effects of this endeavour were clearly not what the woman expected. Bryn opted to ignore this broad that was trying to make Bryn care about a total stranger that was none of her concern. She simply kept her bored expression and stared at her until she moved her attention elsewhere.

Sucking on her teeth, Bryn glared at this Ash fella and then spat on the ground at the side of her bike. She really didn't want to give up her Whacker but with this horde and the fact that this group had shown her this place of possible safety... Bryn began to weigh the pros and cons of giving up all her weapons and submitting to being used as a portable blood bank. She wasn't happy about it but... "Ja ja, fine. I stay with the wagon though as I idle in. Ain't lettin' ma darlin' outta ma sight. Also I'm AB-, rare but not as rare as the precious O-. I'll let ya test t'confirm."

Bryn rubbed off the top of her bat with her jacket sleeve and then gave it a gentle kiss before throwing it into the back of the wagon along with her crossbow, two berettas and her knife. She froze for a second as she thought about her throwing knives that were currently hidden beneath her clothing but she decided that honesty was the best policy here to prevent these fuckers from finding an excuse to string her up for body parts. Lifting her shirt up, Bryn unstrapped her sheet of throwing knives and threw them into the back of the wagon as well. She then set Grace into idle and moved her forward with the rest of the wagon and the others as they all made to enter into this new hole in the apocalypse. At least the people seemed more decent than others she had happened upon in her time alone.

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Tatiana slowly opened her eyes and glanced around, things seem quiet enough; which was a welcome relief. Her and Ivana had found an old boarded up house in some town known as Carrollton in West Georgia the day before. It seemed like they hadn't had been able to get a decent nights sleep in months, so when they found this place they decided to hunker down. The place looked to have been raided before but there were still a few cans of peaches they found hidden under a mattress on the second floor. After filtering out the water in the tank of one of the toilets they had sat down for peaches and water; it was a feast compared to most nights. It wasn't long under the doors were barricaded and they had crashed out upstairs in one of the bedrooms.

Tatiana groaned a little bit and rubbed her eyes as she rolled out of the bed and peaked out the window. It was mid-morning already. They would need to scavenge today and try to replenish some supplies. Things were getting low and they really needed some more gas for Davina's Chevy. "Davina, vstavay. Come on Davi, vstavay," Tati said as she kicked the mattress of the bed a few times.

"V minutu," there was a groan as the lump over the bed turned to it's side to swat away at whoever was kicking the mattress. There was no point anyway, Davina was already awake and the day was already bad. The dead were still walking, of course it was still bad.

But at least Lady Luck had been kind enough to give the girls a somewhat calm night in. After barricading the door, there was nothing that bothered them inside the ransacked home going by how well Davina slept for the first time in what felt like ever. Davina loved her car, but it wasn't the best for her or Tati's back. "I'm up," she grumbled as she stood up to walk off her grogginess. "Any bastards vaiting for us outside?" She asked Tati.

Tati shook her head a bit as she stood there. "Nyet, streets look pretty clear right now," she said as she picked up her pack and flopped down on the bed next to Davi and pulled out a couple of water bottles and another can of peaches from the raid of the house the night before. Setting a bottle down next to Davi she pulled out her knife and started to pick at the can until she was able to get it open. Stabbing one of the slices with the tip of her blade she pulled it out and shoved it into her mouth before handing the can over to Davi.

"MmmWEnomnomNEEDnomnomTOnomnomGOnomnomSCAVAGINGnomnomnom," Tati said with a giggle as she tried to talk with her mouth full of peach. Wasn't everyday they got to wake up in a bed much less actually have a little something to eat in the morning. The fact they both this morning had put Tati in a much better mood than she had been over the last few weeks.

Well at least someone was happy, going by how Tati was giggling while shoving the canned peaches into her mouth. Davina took a couple of the peaches from the offered can, copying Tatiana by using her own blade to slice open the peach to devour the fruit before taking a small gulp of water down her parched throat.

It took a moment for Davi to decipher Tati's words, "I saw--a trail--on our vay-- to this pla--ce." she responded in the midst of her own chewing, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket before standing up and taking another gulp from her bottle.

"Vanna see where that leads?" For all they knew, it could lead to a goldmine. Downing some more of the water and finishing chewing the peach in her mouth Tati swallowed and packed up her gear. "Da, sounds good to me," she said as she hefted the pack onto her back. "Let's grab the gas can out of the back of the truck before we head out. Least we know we can fall back here if shit gets bad."

Turning she headed down the stairs, climbing over the couch they had used to block any deadies from getting upstairs of they managed to get in while they were sleeping. As she reached the door she slow slid the table to one side and pulled out her hunting knife, waiting for Davi to take point like she normally did. Time to get to work.

"I agree. Best place I've been to since the damn apocalypse started." And there was no exaggeration in her tired voice, instead Davi followed behind Tati cautiously, climbing over the collapsed barricade of a couch towards the front door. She pulled her weapon out of her jeans waistband, clicking off the safety switch before looking over at Tati to make sure she was ready.

Carefully, Davina unlocked the door and slowly opened it, peeking her head out ever so slightly while holding her breath as she scanned the front lawn for any dead surprises. Tati stepped out the door slowly and pulled it shut as she looked around, slowly moving a chair in front of the door to barricade it; more for show than anything. It would be simple enough to move if shit hit the fan and they had to book it back here.

"Davay poshli." Davina muttered under her breath as she saw nothing outside. It was only a matter of time, and it was quite possible that the fuckers were just hiding around. Tati's fingers flexed over the handle of her knife as she started to move from the porch and out into the street. Things seemed pretty quiet out there but that didn't mean that it would stay that way.

"There vas that repair shop by the tracks. Maybe ve start there and see if ve can siphon some gas?" she asked as she glanced towards Davi.

"Maybe, let's just try and get into ze car vithout losing an arm first." Davi peered around, her hand gripping tightly on her gun with her finger ready on the trigger as they headed towards the car. Looking over to the left, she noticed a couple crawlers heading their way towards them with enough distance between the two to not warrant as much worry. Still.

"Look out, ve might have some trouble."

Tati looked over towards the Crawlers coming their way and nodded slightly as she tightened her grip on her hunting knife. "You get car started, I got them. No gun, don't vant to attract more," Tati said as she started walking towards the Crawlers, circling around to one side as she hunched down. One at a time, that was the plan.

"Ve don't need to attack. Don't risk it unnecessarily." As long as the walkers didn't get too close, there was no need to attack and risk getting hurt. Last thing Davi wanted was to haul Tati's injured ass around after such a good night's sleep. Davi tiptoed towards the car, her eye keeping track of the upcoming walkers while she unlocked her car. Tati glanced over to her and nodded, she was right. It wasn't worth the effort right then. Slowly stepping away she started to make make her way slowly towards the car.

She slid inside, and winced as the engine let out a loud splutter as the car kickstarted back to life. "Shit. Come on Tati, we don't hav' time." Tati's eyes darted towards the car and then back over towards the walkers, three more coming out of the bushes.

"Der'mo!" she grunted quietly before she sprinted to the car and jumped in; pulling the door shut quickly. "Let's get out of here," she grumbled as the walkers started to come more and more out of the wood work as it were towards them, the sound of the engine drawing their attention.

Davi didn't need to be told twice. She changed the gears and slammed on the pedal, the car lurching forwards as they peeled out of the driveway and onto the road. The sound attracted the walkers and some extra crawlers; their dead moans still slipping through the closed windows and into Davina's ears. Tati reaching up and grabbing what was lovingly referred to as the Oh Shit bar and held on as they drove off from the on coming crawlers.

"Blyad', that vas a close one." Davi tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. Taking a deep breath she sheathed her hunting knife and reached over to Davi, placing her hand on her thigh and giving a gentle squeeze.

"We're good, breath Davi," she said in a reassuring voice as she patted her leg and then pulled back, pushing her hair out her face as she looked out the back window as the crawlers got further and further away. "Vell, I'm awake now."

"Vhy do I think that things are about to become shittier?" It was a rhethorical question, but it was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach ever since Davina slid into her car. Maybe she was right and things were about to become worse, or maybe she was just paranoid.

Who knows in this godforsaken world?

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The moment was sweet while it lasted, but Meghna knew that there was still work to be done. Things were still needing to be cleared out, people to help. Ash still most likely needed support, or Vivian in the infirmary - she was sure that people were possibly crowding the poor lady for medical attention.

"Come on, before we're kicked out of Newnan for being lazy it's best if we go find Ash or Viv." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sidd stiffen at the mention of Vivian's name. She looked over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"She's dead. She was shot during the invasion." Meg saw the guilt in his eyes, and she shut her eyes for a moment to send a prayer up (or down) to wherever the woman was. Not only Leanne and Caesar, but now they lost their medical expert? Newnan had no hope-

"There's someone else. He came with the new crowd you lot brought in on your expedition. He's dealing with the injured." Well, that was certainly a relief. But was he really to be trusted? What if he was stealing what little resources they had left? Meghna made a face, motioning Sidd to follow her as she made her way to the infirmary to provide any help she could. Hell, even if she and Sidd weren't welcome in the infirmary, there could be someone that the twins could be useful to.

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Kristina rested her head up against the brick wall letting out a rather low sigh as she wiped away some of her tears out of her face as well as her nose with her arm. She looked back at Meg and Sid as they comforted one another, she wished to have someone there for her she slowly reached over towards the bottle of water that she had smacked out of the woman who tried to give it to her earlier. She twisted the lid and took a drink of it before closing the cap shut. She still was trying to cope with everything that had happened, Kristina knew that Lorna and Maria were both in a better place now Kristina felt abandoned by the people she cared for they were all dead now.

Kristina looked down at the picture once more slowly running her fingers along the faces of her father, mother, Maria and her twin sister remembering the last time they were all together was years ago during a family gathering. Kristina folded up the picture she needed to get up and do something, she stuffed the jerky that was given to her into her pocket as well as the picture. Kristina watched Meg and Sid getting up as well she got up shortly after they did.

Kristina decided to find Ashton, and tell him what had happened to Maria Kristina quietly walked past the entrance to the courthouse and made her way towards the front gates. Kristina walked past some of the other Newnans, she froze for a moment as Kris watched some of them moving Lorna's body she felt some more tears sliding down her face she didn't want to see her friend like that. Kristina continued walking until she climbed up to the gate post Kristina over heard Zoie talking about some supplies. "I can help.." Kristina said looking between Zoie and Ashton, she needed to do something to try and keep her mind off of the recent events.

as she looked towards the entrance and saw five women, two of them cosplaying as Vikings while another was on a motorcycle while two others were in the wagon one looked like she was injured but couldn't see exactly what it was. "So who are the cosplaying Vikings?"

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Sophia quickly woke up gasping loudly as she sat up from her bed, looking out the window she could see Colorado Springs in the distance she looked towards her left hand and lifted it out of the covers seeing that it was still actually attached to her hand she moved her fingers and wiggled them around. "That's was a fucking weird nightmare.." Sophia said as she flopped back down onto the bed feeling the nice warm morning sun shining down on her face. Her husband Anthony opened his eyes looking towards his wife and smiled at her running a hand along Sophia's arm, Sophia jolted at the sudden touch and turned to look at the man she thought was dead.

"Did you have another nightmare?" He asked Sophia still with a confused look nodded slowly as she ran her left hand through her hair, she thought that it was real the past few nights have been all but nightmares for her. "How about I get you some breakfast sound good?" Sophia smiled softly and gave Anthony a nod. "Sounds good to me thank you Tony." Sophia said as she watched him get up and head into the kitchen to make some breakfast for her.

Sophia turned to look out the window slowly getting up out of her bed, and quickly covered her mouth watching as the city was on fire watching as helicopters flew overhead towards the city. Then Sophia felt a hand on her shoulder and turned quickly to see that it was her husband bloodied as he tried to grab onto her.

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Weary amusement splashed across Ashton's face momentarily. For a person who hadn't decided yet whether to take his offer to help him run the community, Zoie was certainly comfortable giving orders to his people and seemed to be planning for the community's continued safety. His mild annoyance at the liberties taken in this instance was somewhat lessened, he noted. Looking at the situation objectively, Zoie's plan made sense. The continued use of munitions and/or explosives bothered him; he would have been much happier simply using the Hordebuster to divert the stampede of rot. The fact of the matter was that his prized truck wasn't operational at the moment, and if Ash wanted the horde to change direction, no one had a better plan on deck than Zoie.

James must have had similar mixed feelings, judging from the two second delay on his end of the Walkie. Ash took the moment to alleviate his concerns, "I approve, Mr. Grady. Don't go collecting bras just yet, though. I have several lengths of bungee in the toolcase in the back of the 'Buster. Helps keep the soft cover on. You're welcome to them."

He turned to Zoie, "The fate of Newnan is now up to you juryrigging a water balloon slingshot? Bravo. Have at it." Moving his glance back down to the women assembled below, particularly addressing the one on the bike. "If you're willing, you'll probably want your weapons back. Plan sounds solid."

An unexpected guest appeared in the form of Kristina. He wasn't sure why she was climbing the watchpost, but it would save him the trip to recover his cap from the junior Smith. "So who are the cosplaying Vikings?"

"They're guests, Kris. Hopefully more, if they're inclined." Ash spoke into his radio again, "James, grab one of the riflemen from the rooftop to relieve you. If you're going to make this happen, it needs to be underway in about three minutes. Take a run. I'll be here minding our new arrivals."

Ash suddenly cut a wicked grin, uncharacteristic to the situation. "If you possibly can, Zoie, without any more risk to yourself, ...heh... try to send them to Peachtree City."

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James went through a myriad of microemotions over the course of a radio conversation he really wasn't a part of. The idea sounded really good. Kind of risky, but it sounded like Crazy was the new Standard. He was excited at being part of it. For that matter, he was excited to be exiting the sniper's nest in the clocktower. The idea of collecting bras from all of the women below was rather titillating (no pun intended), Still, he couldn't leave post until he got an OK from the guy in charge. Today at least, that was the Captain.

Relief and no small amount of Happy cascaded over his psyche when he got the go ahead from Ash. "Hells yeah, Bossman! I'mma get on that tout muthafuckin' suite." With much gusto, James clambered down from his post and ran into the street. He slung his rifle across his back and made for the 'Buster, still sitting coolly in the middle of the street. Glancing upward, the indomitable blackneck caught sight of one of Ash's Virginia Riflemen, and yelled up to him.

"Guy! Hey there, Guy! Hey! Ash needs you to getcho ass up to the Clocktower! I gots orders to fill! 'Preciate there, Guy."

A quick run into the dump body of the Hordebuster immediately netted him the object of his search - Bungee cords, terminating in coiled steel formed into hooks. Damn if that Ash didn't keep this road beast in proper order. After grabbing a few that looked up to the task, James made a sprint to the armory. Most of the gardening equipment, hand tools and the like, were stored in the Agricultural sections outside of the inner wall. The esteemed Mr. Grady had a better idea, anyway. Already at the armory, too. When he finally made it inside, he nodded at the Armory Keeper, Tom, and mumbled something about "Them hoes ain't worth nothin', nohow... but these..." he spoke with clearer tone, hefting two winged spears about seven feet tall each, "These my bitches, here."

The spears seemed a better choice than rough gardening tools. Better construction, good height, and the counterweight was perfect for jamming into the earth for a more stable slingshot brace. Now all he had to do was wait for the party to come to him. James remembered when they located these weapons, several months ago. It was at a walled up Renaissance Fair not too horribly far from Newnan. Tucked out of the way in a mid sized town called Fairburn, it had been too large to reliably guard with the people at their disposal at the time. Would have made an excellent fallback position though, if they needed it. What struck him as odd about the Fair was a lack of supplies. They found some good stuff, no doubt, as if they had been placed there intentionally. But there was room for lots more. Scavengers would have cleaned the place out entirely.

In the end, the decision was made to take what they felt they could use, reseal the gates, and return to the location at a later time. Priorities shifted, as they tend to with time, and they never returned. James recalled this, thinking that they might have enough people now to secure the area, but there was little point. Newnan was good to them. Still, James marveled over the construction of the spears in his hands, wondering about how their life would be different were they to have settled there.

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Bridgette stifled a laugh after hearing Astrid's quiet query of "What firearms?" She never liked modern weapons. Never seemed to need them, either. Well, good for Astrid. Bridgette was a little more pragmatic about the world today, and despite her formidable melee training, the metalworking Shield Maiden preferred to keep her shotgun at the ready, just in case the situation called for it. Admittedly, she hadn't actually needed it very often in the past three years, mostly because the two women were careful, picked their battles, and weren't afraid to stage a valiant withdrawal when needed. Not having a solid home for the past long while meant that there weren't many places they felt the need to defend.

Astrid made a note that she indeed spoke for the group. It seemed a hair presumptuous, seeing as the two of them were always partners and the rest of them had just met up that day, but if that's what needed to be said to get them to safety, Bridgette was willing to go along.

The Captain of the Wall, after a whisper from the Southern Belle, revised his condition to include all weapons. Of course he would. Walldick. So long as she could stay nearby, until she felt more comfortable around these people, she might be able to deal with it. The moment Bridgette began to relieve herself of her choicer weapons, Belle had an idea as to how one might distract the horde. Bridgette reined Cadence around, parallel to the wall, and addressed the woman above.

"That's a three person job, lady. Two holding poles, one on the slingshot. Gotta move fast, gotta move quiet. Let the others in the fucking gate, and Jeg vil være den tredje mannen." She continued in a more subdued tone, "I really hope you saw that movie..."

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"Don't you be worryin' none about me Boss, I'sa come back. If's not, then you takes good care of Froggy and Honky Tonk for me. I be trustin' them lives in yer hands," she said before looking over to Krista and reaching over, wrapping an arm around her and giving her a quick squeeze. She didn't know that her sister was gone but she did know what condition she had been in when she ushered Richard out of the room. If she was up there she figured it was one of two things. Keeping busy while her sister slept, or keeping busy because her sister was taking the final sleep. Either way she figured the girl could use a hug.

Steeping back she heard one of the viking girls say they needed three and shook her head. "Boss, rather it be another you trust than two we dun know ya know? No offense to Thor's daughter but I's like to stack the odds in me favor. I might be quick but two of them and one of us don't exactly sit right. Not till we've had a drink together at least," she said quickly in her thick southern drawl not really caring at that point who heard her.

"But Yer call boss. I'sa goin' to get what's I need and be rights back to the gate," she said before turning and heading down the ladder and running off at full sprint towards the armory. Running in she smiled over to Tim and James as she darted over and started grabbing what she needed to make her little Zoie Distractions.

Evenin' gents," she said as she started duct taping things together and shoving them in a back pack as she went before stepping over to James and grinning at the things he had gotten together for her. "Nice work Mr. James. Thanks a bunch fer gettin' these together fer me. Really a big help. Um, minds if I ask you a question?" she said s she stood there, biting her bottom lip slightly.

Keeping her voice quiet so Tim wouldn't hear she waited for a nod or an okay from him before she asked. "Listen, I knows we don'ts like knows each other anymores buts yous the best I gots to gauge this place. That Mexican tolds me before he um, hads me makes sure he gots a clean death that I needed to take care of the place and thats this a family. And Boss man, wells he's asked me to stick around as well his second here. I knows you an upstandin' man Mr. James. I respect that, respects yous. Has since I was young. Yous tell me my peoples will be good here, I'll take thats and be happy to stay but I trusts that if you thinks we need to dart out youda tell me. So yeah, askin' ifs theres somethin' I needs to know before I say okay? Yah know?"

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Astrid hadn't wanted to say she was speaking for the group because she wasn't but the guy was obviously looking for some sort of leader of the group. If she went down she figured it was best she take the leadership tag, then she could also take the fault tag. Bridgette was the only person she gave a damn about and while the two butted heads, they kept each other alive and in her mind might as well be sisters.

Pulling off weapons she tossed them into the back of the wagon but kept the shield. He had said weapons, not defensive items. Not her fault she knew how to fight with one. Perking a brow as Bridgette offered herself up as the third party she wondered why the woman would want to possibly take on a hoard but then again Bridgette never had a problem with getting her hands dirty.

As the southern Belle spoke up it caught her attention. The woman might have a crazy as hell idea fitting of Loki but she obviously wasn't stupid. This was going to get interesting because she doubted that Bridgette would take it well, then again, maybe her sister in arms might just say fuck it and enjoy time inside a wall instead of running from the rotters. Either way they needed to get a move on, no matter what was decided.

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"Because it alvays does," Tati said as she glanced out the back window at the growing group in the distance as they pulled away.

Shaking her head she reached onto the dash and pulled down the map of Carrollton they had grabbed when they were scavenging the day before; trying to figure out where they should try next and what places might be safer than others. There were several places that she figured it would be a good idea to stay away from. Any schools were out of the question with only two of them. Those places were usually the first to be turned into refugee centers, first to get over run, and first to get raided by larger groups. That was out. Same with the jail and the prison. No way, not as a duo.

"Here," she said chewing on her bottom lip. "County DMV," she said. Was a little off the main road, a place most wouldn't think to try, probably had snack machines, and with any luck maybe a car or two left in the parking lot they could siphon for gas. They had hit several DMV's over the years and had had decent luck with them, as well as minimal crawlers. It was a good a place as any and better than most that were popping into her mind right then.

Leaning back in her seat she started dishing out the directions as best she could between the map and the blocked roads. Hopefully they would get there sooner than later. Would be no more than a couple of minutes if there hadn't of been apocalypse traffic but with end of the world traffic jams, it could take all day.

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Niesha decided to stay silent for now, watching the interactions between the people in the settlement. Was there something else going on here? She hadn't been on this side of a settlement before, of having to wait to be accepted. She found she didn't like it. But if they helped Sophie, then she couldn't complain.

Looking at Sophie again, Niesha hoped she would be okay. She wasn't going to leave her until she knew. It wasn't that there was no trust, but rather that Niesha didn't want to risk being swallowed up, never to know what became of her friend. And there was the fact that Sophie had saved her life, but that wasn't the only reason.

She would wait to be told what to do, but Niesha wasn't about to be pushed around. They could have her weapons. She expected them back, in anycase. Why waste fighters these days? Especially when it seemed they had a problem with other humans as well as the dead. Although she wished she had a weapon as a defense, just in case, she understood the need to have all weapons gathered by new comers.

She wanted to say that Sophie needed care now, or it would be that much worse to keep her stable. But she didn't want to risk anything right then. She hesitated, before finally saying to who was there"if you tell me where it is, can I take my friend to the infirmary?"

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Kristina looked towards Zoie for a moment, she didn't mind the hug even if she didn't know the woman all that well she was grateful for what she had done for her sister earlier after she had been bit. But it didn't help much in the end, Maria was gone now her hand absentmindedly went for her sister's necklace that was still in her pocket. She sighed softly as she watched Zoie going off to start her crazy plan to get rid of the invading walkers. Kristina needed to tell Ashton what had happened to her sister, she looked towards the people still outside of the gates before turning her attention back towards Ashton.

"Ashton.. my sister, she's gone.." Kristina finally said trying her best to not break down in front of him, her hands were trembling as she held it back. Kris noticed the fields outside of the inner wall and what was left of the outer wall. Kristina could see the fields out in the distance and knew that Maria had something to do with that. "If you want, whatever her duties were I could take over. I have experience working on a farm like my sister. That's if you want me to that is.." Kristina said softly.

Her attention towards the girl in the wagon asking if she could be pointed out on where to go to the infirmary. "I could lead the girls over to the infirmary and get whoever is down there treated if you open the gates. Or if you want I could help Zoie, whatever you want me to do." Kristina said she wanted to keep her mind as far away from what happened to Maria as much as possible and keep herself busy.

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"So, will you tell me what happened out here once you left with Ash?" Siddharth asked, curiously. It was probably a bad time, Meg still looked a bit shaken but not as ashen as she was before. It was probably best for her to talk about it, to get it out of her chest. He caught up with her stride till they were evenly paced, walking shoulder-to-shoulder (if you ignored the huge height difference) in the direction of the courthouse.

"What is there to know? Leann was shot down in front of me, Ash decided to try and get a group and make it to the armoury. Of course that fucked up; we lost three of them. Two new ones - a Marine and a scared guy who just... offed himself with a hammer... and Caesar." There was a pause from both parties; shock from Siddharth and a strange mix of guilt and grief from Meghna. "They were going to chow down on me, Caesar came like a hero. Killed them all only to end up being surrounded. He was bit but he still was able to lead the crew back to the armoury before..."

The rest was left in the air.

Sidd pulled an arm around his sister, taking in a shaky breath. This was a tough day on everyone - he couldn't imagine what it would be like in Ash's shoes now. Did he even want to? With that much pressure and responsibility to keep Newnan safe after such a tragedy, on top of his own grief for losing Alicia and Caesar, surely it was too much on the military man. It was both sad and admirable that Ash was still keeping his feelings in check, that he was still working for the better of Newnan than crumbling from the pressure and grief.

Sidd guided his sister into the courthouse, carefully guiding her through the hallways till they eventually stood outside the infirmary doors. They'd avoided the carnage outside, but the infirmary was probably even worse than it was outside. The twins took a breath to prepare themselves, before taking a step inside.

"Is there anything we can do?"

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A DMV? It was worth a shot. They were already so low on gas, they probably had only half hours worth of gas left, not long before the Russian duo would be ideal targets for raiders and the dead.

Davina nodded, looking once more in the direction of the map. Not too far from their current position, good enough for Davi. "How much vater left?" They needed to hit a good place - somewhere with enough food and water for them to last. Unfortunately each time they did find a good place (and it was usually always with another group), the joy would never last long. The camp would get raided, members killed or supplies used up straight away because of terrible planning and/or even worse rationing.

The car slowed as they reached the destination, the engine eventually cutting out to dead silence. Once again, the area looked safe from raiders, and possibly from walkers. But for how long? Davina checked out of the window, peering everywhere before leaving the car.

Best get to work quick.

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The two men were sombre as they played some cards. Victor knew he had a lot of work to do but he had already dealt with so much in such a short space of time that he needed a moment to destress his brain before he had an aneurysm. Richard threw his cards on the table that was between them and turned his head away from Victor. "Yeah, yeah, Legs. You've won again. Congratu-fuckin'-lations." His voice trailed off into incoherent muttering as Victor smiled and gathered the messy cards together into a neat pile again. "It is not my fault that you are bad at cards."

He chuckled as he slipped the deck of cards into his back pocket before turning to look at the work that lay ahead of him. He wished that Richard was not so incapacited or he'd have requested his help to move the bodies, that way it could be done quicker. Sighing gently, Victor moved towards Maria's body and checked the wound at the back of her neck. It had congealed and was no longer running. The collected blood pooled on the gurney and into the towels that Victor had grabbed to stem the flow.

Finding a plastic basin with some brushes and what looked like gardening gloves inside, Victor placed it on a clear surface and slipped the gloves on. They were a little short on his fingers but they would serve the purpose of keeping his hands clean of the infected blood. He then moved over to Maria's bedside and began to place the bloodied towels into the basin, which he then emptied into the trash can that was labelled for biological materials. He assumed these would simply be burned to stave off any infection within. Cleaning out the basin, he ensured there was no blood left within or on it and made to fill it with some disinfectant and bleach poured in as well. Carefully measured amounts to ensure nothing was wasted wantonly.

Richard watched Victor basically dancing around the infirmary as if he'd been here all his life. The man had only been in it, what, five or six hours? Hell no, it must be closer to seven hours now, Richard wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep but he didn't think it was much longer than an hour. How did this man look so comfortable here? He didn't look like a stranger as he pulled out so many things from places that Richard had no idea were even there. "Doc, ya sure ya haven't been here before?"

Victor stopped his cleaning up of Maria and looked over to Maria, his glasses sitting on the tip of his nose as they had slid down while he was leaning over Maria's body. "Oh? Very. I arrived 'ere same time as you did. You stretched across my lap and all. Do you not remember? Quickly, tell me where we are." He moved over to Richard and peered his face in close to his. Richard strained his neck backwards and cocked an eyebrow at Victor. "Oi, mind yer space Doc! We're in the infirmary..."

"What were you doing before you were in this infirmary?"

"Uhhh... which time?"

"The first."

"Gettin' my ass kicked by two dead broads and a kid." Richard scowled and grumbled as he answered.

"Can you say the months of the year in reverse order, s'il vous plait?"

"Doc I ain't a fuckin' retard but that's like askin' me to say the alphabet back t'front. It ain't gonna fuckin' happen, too much effort." He folded his arms across his chest and gave a challenging stare at Victor.

"...very well. If you begin to feel sleepy, call for me." Victor then moved and made his way into the infirmary and began the process of cleaning up the mess and Vivian's body.

Richard just shook his head and raised a hand up to scratch the back of his neck as he did. "What drugs is that man on..?" He sighed and got comfortable in his chair as he watched one of the Newnan locals guarding the prisoner that was still tied up at the far side of the infirmary. Richard decided he was going to wheel himself over, but not before he reached back into his pack on the back of his chair. He grabbed his shotgun and lay it in his lap as he wheeled himself forward to the prisoner.

"Ya can head back on out, I'll watch this mother fucker doesn't go anywhere. Might be beaten up but that don't affect my aim. Go on and git." Richard spoke to the Newnanite young man that had been standing guard, stammering over his words and nodding to Richard he handed the knife he was holding over to Richard and made to dart out of the room but before he could make it there, Victor's head peered out from the operating room doors. "You there! I need 'elp moving this body. Do you mind?"

The young man stopped in his tracks and nodded towards Victor before running into the operating room to help Victor move Vivian's body onto a sheet that Victor planned to wrap her body up in for modesty sake. Then he heard the infirmary doors swinging open and a familiar voice calling out.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Victor had wrapped Vivian in the blankets and left the young man to fasten the sheets closed as he walked back into the Infirmary. He was still covered in blood but his hands were crisp as clean as he waved to Sidd and the young woman beside him that bore a striking resemblance to him. "Ah, in fact, yes. Par ici, par ici." He beckoned the twins over to Maria's body and then rolled out the sheets that were to cover her body in as much respect as the apocalypse allowed. He turned to the twins and gave a sombre smile. "I know this young woman may 'ave been a friend to you, but we need to move 'er body for burial. I 'ave already cleaned 'er but she needs wrapped up. Do you mind?"

Richard perked an eyebrow from across the room as he watched the twins. He recognised the guy, but who was the chick? Fucking place seemed to be crawling with ethnics...

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Fixing her shirt as she idled inside the walls, Bryn glanced up as she heard the leader of this settlement addressing her again.

"If you're willing, you'll probably want your weapons back. Plan sounds solid."

Looking between the Gatekeeper and the Southern Loopy Lou, Bryn rolled her eyes and shook her head before setting Grace in park and hefting her leg over the body and then making her way casually to the back of the wagon to retrieve her weapons. She flat out just took her jacket, sweater and shirt off at this point and began to strap her knives back onto herself before yanking her shirt and sweater back over her head. She grabbed her jacket and slid her arms into the sleeves before grabbing the rest of her weapons. When her hands found her Whacker again, her face lit up and a small smile cracked the corners of her mouth as she practically hugged the deadly weapon close to her body.

"Ég saknaði þín." Her tone was gushing as she spoke in her native tongue.

She returned her attention once she was done checking that her weapons were not missing anything - clearly she didn't trust the two women in the back of the wagon - and hopped back onto Grace and made her way towards the Gatekeeper and Loopy Lou. Sitting at the bottom of the watchpost, she watched as a young, dark haired girl appeared and started talking to the two that needed Bryn in that moment. "So who are the cosplaying Vikings?" Well that was rude to just butt in. Oh well. She waited her turn and then turned her head as she saw the Valkyrie from earlier pipe up towards Lou-Lou.

"That's a three person job, lady. Two holding poles, one on the slingshot. Gotta move fast, gotta move quiet. Let the others in the fucking gate, and Jeg vil være den tredje mannen."

Bryn raised her eyebrows when she heard the Norwegien being spoken. She didn't know exactly what she had said but she recognised one word, third. Bryn only recognised the language from her regular visit to Iceland with her family when she was young. There were a lot of people from the other Slavik countries that lived there. You had to talk super slowly to understand one another and even then it was a challenge, it was generally better to just speak in English if all parties could. She was quickly brought out of her memories when she heard Lou-Lou speak again.

"Boss, rather it be another you trust than two we dun know ya know? No offense to Thor's daughter but I's like to stack the odds in me favor. I might be quick but two of them and one of us don't exactly sit right. Not till we've had a drink together at least,"

That was fair and Bryn couldn't argue with her. She wasn't concerned one way or the other who came with them or if they even needed another person at this point. After putting that out there, Lou-Lou took off at a full pelt away from the gates. Bryn chuckled a little at her energy. She'd need to ask her how she did it.

Bryn was only doing this to keep her weapons in her possession and she'd make that clear to the Gatekeeper. The other Valkyrie hadn't said anything yet, but that wasn't surprising so far. In the whole thirty or whatever minutes they'd been travelling together, she'd been pretty quiet when not actively engaging the dead. Then there were absolutely no surprises when the loud mouthed red head decided to pipe up yet again, although not quite as brashly as before.

"If you tell me where it is, can I take my friend to the infirmary?"

Fair. She wanted her amputee buddy to get some medical attention, couldn't fault her for that. At least this time she spoke and asked rather than kicked and screamed like some toddler that was told that they couldn't sleep in mummy and daddys bed. Maybe she wasn't as shrill as Bryn first thought, but she'd either soon see or she wouldn't. Then the dark haired chick began to tell the Gatekeeper about someone being gone. Dead most likely. She looked real cut up about it. Shame for her. Bryn felt nothing, that was life now. Loss, grief and despair. There was no escaping it.

"I could lead the girls over to the infirmary and get whoever is down there treated if you open the gates. Or if you want I could help Zoie, whatever you want me to do."

Bryn wasn't keen on having a distraught child helping out with this plan. Now was the time to pipe in with her two cents. "Ahem. As ya can see, m'weapons are back in m'posession. Tell me what I have t'do t'keep it this way." She considered her next words carefully. She couldn't be bothered dealing with a weeping child... "If'n I can add m'thoughts. Yer smá svartþröstur there ain't in the right mind to do a job as big as this, 'specially if she just lost someone. Best we get clear 'eads on this one, yeah?" She looked to the Gatekeeper, Ashton he had said, and waited with a face clear of any emotion or expression.

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Many questions, many suggestions. Ash was usually the one offering sound advice to the ranking officer, formulating a plan; if approved, he was the guy who gathered the troops and acted upon it. The previous Commander of this community always seemed a little aloof in her irritation. The Captain had taken up her mantle scant hours ago, and already he believed he had a greater understanding of the woman. Sadly, he would never be able to tell her of his revelation. Granted, it was not his first time in charge, before. He was a ranked officer in the United States Army, an organization that (by most accounts) was a top-notch Armed Force. He had led men and women into problems with the intent of obliterating them and walking back out with a feeling of accomplishment.

This situation was different. It had been different for just about three years. In that time, Ash had to become something other than a rigid Captain - he had to become more of a fluid leader. Adaptable to circumstances for which there was zero training. Open to the advice of people he had just met, and wary to the bone of people he had known for years. Also, he had to learn to triage situations.

For example: Injured girl in the wagon below, safety of the town as a whole, horde shambling nearer, group of badass looking women of unsure motivation. Compassion and practicality had to strike a balance. He couldn't let these people die, he wasn't a monster. Yet. But he had to see to the people he already had under his protection. It was as good a time as any to lean on the suggestions of others, particularly as they were in accordance with his priorities. He started with Zoie.

"Take care of it. Get James to help you two out, if you'd prefer him to Thorette. That truck of his should come in handy. Just be quick, that horde will be on us soon."

He shifted his attention to Kristina. They had just met that day, but he had known her sister for a couple of months now. She was a decent person. News of her death was just another brick added to the top of his emotional burden for the day. While he wasn't unfeeling, he was just numb enough that his face didn't show the empathy he felt for the younger lady. "I'm sorry to hear that, Kris. Truly am. Don't concern yourself with taking on her duties here tonight. For right now, when our guests get inside, get those that need it to the infirmary. Help where you can and let yourself grieve when you're able." Perhaps later, he would have to take his own advice.

Now for James. He'd better let him know what the plan was, and what role he would play. Ash spoke into the radio. "Mr. Graham, sir." he started, his Virginian accent playing with the first sentence. "Grab your wheels. You, Zoie, and one of our recent arrivals will be following Zoie's lead on this one. See you when you're done."

Ash offered the barest look of condolence below. Bridgette had volunteered for this duty, probably would have been a little quieter than the older man's Silverado. But that would put Zoie at a perceived disadventage. Ash wanted her focused on her task, not worried that the new girls would put a round in her leg and leave her for a distraction. She knew James, James knew her. "Maybe next time, ma'am. Time is on short supply, I know. So is trust. I hope we can fix that after a little while."

Finally, back to the other ill-tempered lady before the gate. She opened the conversation. "Ahem. As ya can see, m'weapons are back in m'posession. Tell me what I have t'do t'keep it this way."

"You have to make us trust you. If you're operating outside the walls, equip yourself as you like. We have rules about that on the inside. I'll go into detail later. Right now, if you want to help, the others will be along presently. You're about to meet our Ambassador, James."

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James had just finished receiving instructions from Ashton when Zoie jogged through the Armory doors. He finished up his radio conversation with a hearty, "Yessir, Cap'n Holloway! I am on it. Feelin' damn good being out and doing somethin', sir."

Paying attention to Zoie's selection of goodies from the walls and tables, he informed her of the good news. "Lookin' like I'll be your shadow on this, Miss Zoie. Let's make it fast, huh?" He was surprised with the frank and real query that followed.

"Listen, I knows we don'ts like knows each other anymores buts yous the best I gots to gauge this place. That Mexican tolds me before he um, hads me makes sure he gots a clean death that I needed to take care of the place and thats this a family. And Boss man, wells he's asked me to stick around as well his second here. I knows you an upstandin' man Mr. James. I respect that, respects yous. Has since I was young. Yous tell me my peoples will be good here, I'll take thats and be happy to stay but I trusts that if you thinks we need to dart out youda tell me. So yeah, askin' ifs theres somethin' I needs to know before I say okay? Yah know?"

"Miss Zoie, you'n'me know each other well nuff for this. Folk here are decent, for the most part. I ain't gonna lie an' say that we all saints here. We ain't. We done some powerful fuck'tup shit to stay safe. Some mighta been mistakes. But this place has a lot of good folk who look out for one 'nother. It's worth helping."

"And that fella Ash? He's a gruff sumbitch, but he cares about people. Just sometimes he needs people 'round him, keep him human. KnowwhatImean? A'ight look, I'mma get my truck pulled around. We gone."

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Seems that Bridgette was holding up the forward momentum of the group, being the only one who was asked to surrender weapons that had not. Batgirl got hers back. Then again, she was also asked to help take part in leading an army of dead people on a wild goose chase. Whatever.

Astrid had acquiesced, dropping all of her sharp, painful goodies into the wagon. The rest of them needed to get inside, and Bridgette's offer to help had been declined. Fine. Ok, fine, let's do this. With mild reluctance, the warrior woman tossed her spear into the wagon, next to her shotgun. It was followed by her axe, a fine piece of forged steel. Finally, she reached around to her lower back and unfastened a blade, still sheathed, from her belt. It was a seax; a particularly large and stylized one. It was wide bladed and single edged, and there could be some debate as to whether this was a large knife or a short sword. Either way, it went into the wagon as well.

"These had fucking better be returned - intact, and in full. A lot of my blood and sweat went into crafting them. They're more mine than you can understand, Captain."

That guy on the wall looked like he might have the faintest idea as to what Bridgette was talking about. He nodded knowingly and motioned behind him. Slowly, one half of the main gate opened, more than enough to allow the wagon access to what lay within. Bridgette nudged her horse, Cadence, on through with the wagon. She leaned over to Astrid, half whispering, "I'm staying with our shit. Look around if you want to, I'm sticking close."

Two major things caught Bridgette's attention as soon as they were inside of the walls. One, that guy Ash was among the crowd, passing out the occasional order, such as, "Make sure two of ours are armed and keep an eye on them." and "Take care of a search the moment you're able." and finally, "Make sure they've got food and water made available for them, if they need it."

Well, he's still a Walldick. But at least he's not a total Wallfuckingasshole.

The second thing that Bridgette noticed was a familiar vehicle parked just up the road. Right in the middle of the road, actually. Yes, that was the truck they saw earlier. The thing which accidentally lured the Undead Black Friday Sale onto them, simultaneously bringing them all together by trying to rip them all to pieces.

"Fucking knew it!"

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"Sounds good to me Mr. James," Zoie said with a smile as he informed her that he would be going along for the drive, or well that he would be driving and she would be along for the ride as it were. As he answered her question she nodded, it was about as good as she could expect. She still needed to talk to Froggy about it and Honky Tonk as well, not that Richard was part of her group but since he was jumped by several girls here already she was not sure if he would even want to stay and she wasn't really happy about the fact that if he did decide to go he would basically be on his own. Didn't seem right, so she wanted to know what his thoughts were on the matter before she decided anything and try to perhaps find out some more about why the hell he had been jumped.

"Thankies kindly Mr. James, I be out there in two ticks," she said as she got back to work on making her little distractions. Gathering up everything she needed she headed out of the armory with her hands full and tossed everything into the back of the truck as James pulled up to the curb. Climbing into the back she looked around for Red and waved her over when she spotted the bat wielding woman.

"Okies, this is the plan, we put these spears here," she said pointing to bungee holes along the rim of the bed of the truck. "We's get a bit ahead of the hoard, then using the bungee cords, wes light these babies and fire them off aways from the town. Littles by littles we get the hoard further and further offs. Boss wants us to get them headed towards Peachtree City is wes can without gettin' ourselves served as Walker Dinner."

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Astrid nodded towards Bridgette as they were finally let into the inner wall. "I'll get the girl inside and be back," she said once they were fully in the gate. Quickening the pace some as they were led over to the court house and instructed on where to go. Why she had no idea, they had an escort. Shaking her head she dismounted Edgar and went to the back of the wagon.

"You don't look like you could carry five pounds, much less an unconscious girl," she said towards the other girl in wagon before hefting up Sophia in her arms and carrying the one handed girl through the door of the court house and following their escort towards the infirmary. Kicking the door open with the toe of her boot she looked around and perked a brow at the fuzzy face holding a gun on the man that was tied up.

"What? He refuse to play nice?" she asked, well more stated than anything. Stepping over to a gurney she laid down Sophia and looked back over to the man and the rest that were in the room. "Who's the doctor? Hand had to be amputated and cauterized after a bite," she added as she adjusted the leather strap across her chest that held her shield long her back.

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Looking over at Davi and then rummaging through what they had in their bags and in the vehicle she pursed her lips slightly before righting herself in her seat and looking back over towards her partner in survival. "About tvo days vorth," she said before glancing back down at the map. They needed to find more, as well as more gas. Hopefully the DMV would pay off. Hearing the engine sputter and die she groaned a bit. Okay, gas was now priority one. Folding up the map she tossed it into the glove box before pulling out her hunting knife and looking around. Seemed quiet enough for now, no crawlers lurking about in eye sight. Looked to be a straight shot to the front door.

"Alright, let's go," she said opening her door slowly and being careful to close it as quietly as possible. Adjusting her pack some on her shoulder she stepped over to the back of the truck and pulled out the gas cans and hose. They had done this before; siphon what gas they could first, then check inside for anything they could use. Simple enough but things that were once simple weren't always that way anymore.

Glancing around Tati motioned to a couple of cars still in the parking lot before making her way over to them. Nearly jumping out of her skin when a crawler slammed his hand against the window; locked inside the car. Taking a deep breath she shook her head and headed to the gas tank, opening it up and getting to work to get as much out as she could. The tank was tapped and she groaned a bit before heading over to the next and the next. The second to last car paid off though, they were able to nearly fill up their gas cans. Nearly a full tank once it was transferred over to their car. Last one, tapped.

Smiling she looked over to Davi before her eyes widened and pointed off into the distance, about half a dozen Walkers were headed their way. "Ve better get inside," she said gathering as much as she should carry and making a break for the front door. Hopefully there wouldn't be many surprises inside.