[centre]

Niesha

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Niesha was silent, and it almost seemed like she was a turtle withdrawing into its shell, and she closed her eyes. There didn't seem to be any point anymore. Three years...it was barely a fraction of the time her brother had been missing and she had held that hope, but this was different. The end of the world wasn't something you could just cope with. The community she had tried to raise haunted her still. The little boy she had saved after he'd been bitten, the girl her knowledge had saved when fever struck, the first baby she had ever delivered, the bone she had set when one of the farm men had fallen, she had had no idea what she was doing and yet she had done it. She'd done it because they needed her.

What was the point of continuing when no one needed her? Someone did need her.

It seemed she didn't hear a word Astrid said. She didn't care what the other woman had to say. Niesha had a right not to be drugged, and tied up she had had only one weapon. As far as she was concerned it was self defense. Just because the doctor was one of a few left, did not mean the man had to be like he was. All she wanted to do was help, to help Sophie. She looked away, and free of the gag, whispered "you're just going to do more damage. The body isn't designed to be like this, and it won't be long before I lose circulation. And it's just another step to the limbs being useless, because of nerve damage: thirty minutes tops. Probably less. " Niesha actually had no idea if that would happen, it seemed logical given the bodies pysiology, the position of blood vessels and nerves. She was banking on Astrid not knowing that much about the make up of the body, or at least that it made sense to get her hands at least free of the restraints.

She was well aware that she could be gagged again, but she was also hoping Astrid had sense to see that deliberately damaging someone because she wanted permission instead of thinking for herself wasn't a logical move. "I'm okay now. I'm not going to do anything but I'd rather not be crippled because of a ridiculous restraint method. BDSM was never my thing. Please, It already tingles. You can change the position. Typical restraint that win cause injury is tying the hands in the front, and doing a figure of eight tie on the feet/legs" Niesha hated that she knew that, and she buried her face into the surface she was on.

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Astrid nodded towards Richard before he left to find food and water for the girl. He was right in her mind. One of the biggest problems she had run into in life were people who did not listen. Running one's mouth during a life and death emergency when someone was better capable of taking care of things only made the seconds tick by and be wasted, time lost that could have been better spent on helping someone than creating a pissing contest. It only stacked the deck against the person who was dying.

Looking over towards Neisha as she began to let her mouth over run her common sense once again cause her to roll her eyes and simply cross her arms over her chest. Astrid had training in first aid from the doctor that took care of the Ren Faire people, had been tied up and prisoner before. The girls only real danger was struggling and causing herself more damage right then. The restraints were not tight enough to cut off circulation, like being cuffed by a cop. She was fine. She was just mouthy.

The way the woman spoke made her glad that Neisha wasn't the doctor here, she was the last person she'd ever want being the medical professional over her. Too mouthy and self absorbed to even listen. How many patients over the years had died because their doctors didn't know how to listen? Open ears, shut mouth; words to live by. One didn't learn by talking, they learned by listening.

Kneeling down Astrid looked at Neisha and shook her head. "You're not in charge. You don't give orders. So once again, open ears, shut mouth. And try please once in a while. Get you further than diarrhea of the mouth," she said before standing up and stepping over to the wall, leaning back against it.

Looking over towards Richard she shrugged a bit. "Seems like there is an epidemic of people pissing off the wrong person right now," she added as she looked down at the gag rag she tucked into her belt, pondering if she should just go ahead and regag the woman.

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He noticed the fear wash over her face, and mentally kicked himself. Not everyone felt all too comfortable with the men and women in blue, even now, when law and order had essentially crumbled done to nothing. Chicago was one of the more interesting places to be a cop, and where he had spent the majority of his time.

"I, uh, I was in vice--helpin' women who weahe huahtin'," Jack explained again. "I'm not goin' to huaht you."

He smiled, hoping that his lovable features would put Tatiana at ease. The scraping of her chair against the floor alerted him to the fact that she was considering running--and he kept his hands in visible sight, fingers splayed out on the table. Jack didn't know her, but he knew that if she ran, her chances to avoiding the walkers would go down. The apocalypse wasn't something easy to go solo in.

Catching a glimpse of a small smile, Jack relaxed a bit. However, he continued to notice her slight fidgeting, indicating more anxiety. Back in the force, his next step would be to show that he wasn't armed, and to guarantee protection. Unfortunately, handing over his weapon wasn't the best idea in this messed up world, and no one could guarantee protection, no matter how skilled. Death was inevitable. It was all just a matter of when.

Nodding, Jack began to recognize the signs of training and practicing for dance on her. She was incredibly nimble, and if he closed his eyes, he could see her dancing--shyly and softly, of course--on a lonely stage. "You do Swan Lake and the Nutcrackeah?" he asked, naming the only two things he hoped had to do with ballet. Once of his older sisters, as far as he was aware, had been into ballet. But from the divorce, he never went to see her in a recital, and instead stayed at home with his mom. He could hardly remember what his older siblings looked like.

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Ash walked the shortish distance to his personal quarters. It had been since dawn, a handful of hours only, but it seemed like days and days since he'd been back. He stood in front of the building in silence for a long moment. In this time, he debated whether he should actually enter, whether he deserved the comforts of personal space that wasn't on wheels. In the end, he did as he always did: Precisely what was needed, regardless of his emotions on the matter.

The voice from before - part of him but speaking separately - returned to prod him inside of his own head. "Why are you waiting? It's not going to get any better if you stare at it. Left foot, right foot, Captain." The Soldier was getting really annoying. Fact was though, the voice was right. It had better be; it was part of him. Ash was damned grateful he could still tell that it was all in his own mind, if nothing else. At least, for now. Sanity was a fragile thing sometimes. It was amazing what the human mind would do to stay functional.

"Yeah, I hear you." said Ash aloud. He entered the Wynn House and defiantly walked upstairs, to his quarters.

Memories, palpable as walking outdoors into suffocating humidity, smacked him. His Alicia had made the decision to move in with him some long while ago; they had made this place into a home. Thinking back, Ash didn't remember whose idea it was for them to live together. He hadn't objected, certainly, but it seemed like she had just shown up one day with most of her stuff and decided not to leave. Maybe he had been blinded by her rugged charms. Maybe every time he struggled to bring it up, Alicia would ambush him with extremely proficient and compelling sex. Then again, Ash was never the timid sort. If he didn't want her there, a more robust defense would have been mounted. No, he had loved her. And now she was gone.

Her belongings weren't, though. While the good Captain was a tidy man, his lost love sure as hell wasn't. Her clothes from the previous day were still deposited unceremoniously upon the floor and over the footboard of their bed (which was not made, he noted with sorrowful irritation). The overall order in which he kept his rooms was punctuated very effectively by the swath of things that were out of place, indicating the general direction Alicia had taken to get ready that morning.

Ash shook his head and began straightening things up. It was a space of two minutes, maybe less, until he understood that it would be the last time he did this. A task that rankled him, that had led to numerous arguments, now was an act of love and grief. Toward the end of his efforts, he made his way to the unmade bed and began to straighten the sheets. He kicked Alicia's jeans from yesterday over to the rest of her clothes, intent on getting to them afterwards.

Then a wave of sentimentality hit him. It didn't seem right, him manhandling her clothes about like that. He'd done it a hundred times, probably, but this time be berated himself for not treating her things better. He should be gingerly, lovingly taking to the chore. Experiencing every moment of it. Feeling the tough but comfortable denim of her jeans and committing it to memory; a thing to hold on to, to dream about later. The last thing he would ever do for her that was purely his to have and to do. The last bit of care. He was handling it like it was a bother, a thing to hurry and be done with. Feelings of guilt warmed his face. Ash felt unworthy of her, even in her death.

Ash forced himself to feel these things, now that he was alone. No one to try to "help" him, no one to show him sympathy. No one to take it as a sign of weakness or question his fitness to command. If he didn't get it out now, he wouldn't ever. Worse, it would come out when he couldn't control it. Ash concentrated on his feelings, holding them tight to himself, probing them. He tried hard to let them happen on their own, but a mere release of control simply wasn't enough. Ash was a man who prided himself on his ability to rein in his emotions and act rationally. He had gotten so good at keeping it in for so long, he now lacked the ability to release them. Sadness, anger, remorse, grief, fear; it all clustered just below the surface. Once fighting hard to burst from him, instead now they rested like an army camped along the border of a nation they threatened to invade, neither moving forward nor backing down.

He sighed heavily and sat down on the bed behind him. Slowly, like a tree beginning its descent to the forest floor, he slumped to the side, head landing heavily upon the mattress. Maybe if he slept, things would be better in the morning. His subconscious would take over, work all of his shit out. Sleep. Only he couldn't.

The pillow still smelled like her.

As much as he wanted to lose himself in the scent of her sweat and hair conditioner, he knew he would never be able to leave if he allowed it. But he had to give himself a moment. Images of her flashed in his mind: The day they met in Tennessee. The first time they kissed, after watch while sampling some of his distilled handiwork. The arguments. The laughs. The times fighting side by side for survival. The last time that spoke, early that morning. And finally, the last time he saw her. She was already dead, part of the horde that threatened to surround them and destroy all they had worked so hard for. It took two tries, but he finally gave her the peace of a true death. Her body fell, not too far from the Newnan Outer Wall. Ash could give her a respectful burial.

Then it happened. The first tears welled up in his eyes, fat and heavy. They fell, followed by another, and another, and another. The floodgate of his physical emotions opened, pouring out the brunt of his pain and frustrations. Not just of today, but so much more over the past three years. All the loss, all the suffering. Every piece that he kept hidden was lain open, all at once. Ash wept a sweeping, ugly catharsis, alone in the dark.

When twilight was upon Newnan, Ash made his way back out of his house. He couldn't stay there, at least not that night and maybe not the next. Too many ghosts, too many memories. He had just been able to reassert self control, and had no intention of letting anyone else see him like that. Ever. His eyes were still red and swollen, though, and for the moment his voice was still a bit shaky. And he really could use a drink. He carried with him a large bottle from his private stash, one of the remaining handles of his father's batches.

Ash's stride was significantly more steady than his mind as he rounded the corner, making a beeline for the Hordebuster. He waved away the two or three people who approached him; if it were important, they would let him know. His orders had been given, everyone had been seen to, they were not under immediate attack. The one insistent person was Miss Sally, who pushed a bundle of what he assumed was food into his free hand. When she noticed the bottle, she gave him a stern look that quickly faded when she saw his eyes. Sally excused herself and left to tend to others.

He passed the Valkyries, or at least the one that was still outside. True to orders, they had been set up on the grassy knoll near the courthouse, directly across the street from the Hordebuster. While the tall, loud one was setting up camp, she turned to Ash and called out to him, "Hey, Wa... um, Ash!" she began, stopping herself from being, well, herself. She motioned around, pointing to the walls, their campsite, bundles of food, and said in a voice that sound just a little forced, "Thank. uh.. You. Thank you. Ash."

That must have been hard. Ash nodded to her and waved a quick "Don't Mention It" with his bottle, and proceeded to the back of his truck. He lowered the back end of the dump body and climbed inside. There were two huge, fixed storage boxes and a couple of couches set up, like a rustic, redneck living room. The storage space was still massive, but those little homey touches went far to make this beast Ash's home away from home. From inside, the forlorn Captain retracted the rubberized tarp and fired up a hurricane lantern. After fixing it to a mount on one of the interior ladders, he poured a dram for himself and settled in.

Ash stared at the drink for a while before nursing it. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, not drink himself into oblivion.

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After having gotten the go ahead from Ash, James turned his truck around and headed back to the Gate. He called out into the crowd milling about in front of the courthouse, "Hey hey, y'all! Needs me two volunteers, don't mind gettin' dirty an' know their way 'round a trailer hitch! C'mon, now!"

The people of Newnan were tired, depressed, and just wanted to get some rest before the massive and gradual projects of rebuilding took place. But they knew James, and James wouldn't ask them to do something if it wasn't worthwhile. He got his volunteers in short order and cruised down to Jim, the Gatekeeper. Jim performed his duties with speed and ease, cracking the gate open just enough to allow James' Silverado to exit, and bringing it closed the second he got through.

Wasting no time, James & Co. hauled ass down to the Livestock area. A quick circle around the spot let him know that the fences held solid throughout the emergency, despite the cow that was carried away by the tornado. Most of the animals were locked away; procedures set in place by management in case of difficulties such as wall breaches, invasions, Walker incursions, massively inclement weather, or any combination of the above. Or all of the above, hammering down at once. Satisfied, he returned to the task at hand: Treebound Bessie.

The poor animal was still alive, if horribly damaged. Unconscious, almost bled out, but alive. Though it was a cause of some unsettling feelings, James had to put down the animal manually. The use of firearms were right out; he had no silencer and zero wish to draw the Dead back to their location. Now, what he did have was an woodaxe and a knife. The skull of a cow is thick and hard, right on the top, in front of its brain. His axe might not penetrate enough to give an instant kill. The only other option was to open its throat up, let it bleed out the rest of the way.

A healthy, active animal would kick and thrash. This one was on death's door. The single powerful swipe of James' knife was sufficient to end Bessie, and with the assistance of the other two Newnanites, they gave her body a controlled drop the few feet into his truck bed. Poor old girl. Poor, tasty old girl.

Five minutes later, the three of them had hitched up a massive drum smoker to the Silverado, and re-approached the Gate.

Fifteen more minutes later, James and Co. had the animal skinned and gutted. James kindled a fire with good, green wood and kick started it with some of Ash's utility alcohol. A huge, boozy blaze quickly fell into a slow, sustained charring, suitable for impromptu but effective low-temperature long cook. Bessie herself, or the remains thereof, weren't disarticulated with an amazing amount of professional skill. Fully cutting a side of beef, or two in this instance, would have taken much more time than they could spare before night fully came down on the City of Newnan. For crafting or decoration purposes, though, he made sure to retain the long bones, skull, and hooves.

After he was set up for a good, slow session of smoking (on the sidewalk across from the Courthouse, no less), he dismissed his two associates with an abundance of gratitude and set to maintaining his meaty project for the people of Newnan. So they were down one dairy cow. It would be a blow to their resources, true. But they'd get at least one really good meal out of it. Maybe tomorrow morning, long before the smoking process was complete, he'd ask Ash for access to some of the seasonings to really turn this Cow into Wow.

Speaking of Ash, he meant to see how Cappy was doing. Hell of a day and all. While business was slowing down outside, he did still expect Ash to be floating around here somewhere directing traffic, so to speak. His absence seemed unusual. That's when he noticed a strange light filtering from the back of the Hordebuster. Soft, flamey light, illuminating surfaces around the dump bed in the early nighttime hour. No one would be suicidal enough to go poking around in that particular truck, at least no one that knew him. But there were a number of new people about that might have ill intentions or just didn't know better. He topped off the burn chamber and added a touch of the 'shine to keep it going for another couple of hours, noted the temperature, and walked around to the open back of the iconic truck.

Poking his head inside, he saw his friend and commanding officer relaxing on a couch with a handle of liquor bearing his name on the label, swirling around a glass of the aromatic, potent liquid. "Hey there, Bossman. You ah, you ok there? I got some time, if'n you wanna talk, sir."

Ash looked over to the veteran Hogger, smiled weakly at his odd, comical style of dress, and waved him in. Cowboy hat and overalls, shirt optional. James was certainly a character. Ash responded in a low, soft voice, "C'mon in, James." His Virginian accent was especially pronounced that evening. "Nuff of that Bossman shit for today, James. Ash will suffice. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of cups, but you're welcome to the bottle. We've got plenty to talk about."

"Well then, Mr. Ash, you'll be callin' me Black James(!). Gimmie a pull offa that, an' let's talk."

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Bridgette had been on top of her wagon for quite some time. In that time, absolutely no one had tried to murder her, take her belongings, or harass her. She had been given food and for the most part been left alone, despite her best efforts to sling as much vulgar language as came to mind, given situations presented. Aside from the little girl who touched her fucking horse, there really wasn't anything that had transpired that she objected to. Even the horse incident could probably be chalked up to cultural differences.

And it wasn't like they were showing all sunshine and lollipops, either, trying to "Heaven's Gate" them into submission before giving them the poisoned fruit juice. Bridgette had heard arguments, even threats. Their leader looked like he was wrapped up tighter than a rubberband ball, and made no attempt to hide the fact that her shit annoyed him. Bree had made the decision that this place was legitimate. Imperfect, definitely not the ideal suburban dream designed for her to settle down with a husband, 2.3 kids and an dog, but legit. These people were for real, and just wanted an opportunity to thrive.

She would have to speak with Astrid, but she wanted them to give Newnan a try.

A while after Ash disappeared down the street a ways, someone else from the Newnan Welcoming Committee showed up, directing her to follow him over to the other side of the street. There was a grassy knoll that was semi-upkept, suitable for both camping and grazing. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would do for a couple of nights. Bridgette drove the wagon over to the new spot, leading Cadence with her off hand.

They had set up a fire barrel and some scrap wood up for Camp Valkyrie, and promised to return with a makeshift trough for their horses. The only explanation given for this came as a flat, "Ash gave orders. Let us know if you need anything." She felt a kind of slow shock creep over her. Not as sudden as surprise, but a realization that maybe she didn't have to keep up a constant defense here. Not that she was going to slack off immediately, just that she may have to open herself to the possibility that they were what they claimed to be: An actual community. "Yeah. Can you get some fucker to find Astrid, tell her what's up? Shiny nickel it it for ya!"

Shaking off any feelings that may be misconstrued as fuzzy, Bridgette tethered the horses and began setting up camp.

When she was just about done, Bridgette noticed a figure walking down the road from the north. It was Ash, and he looked like hell. She had to say something. "Hey, Wa... um, Ash!" she began, stopping herself from being, well, herself. She motioned around, pointing to the walls, their campsite, bundles of food, and said in a voice that sound just a little forced, "Thank. uh.. You. Thank you. Ash."

The man waved a bottle of some kind of clear alcohol at her, name brand from the look of it, though she didn't quite catch the name on the label. He then disappeared into the back of his Diesel-booze Dumptrain. Was that an invitation? Even if it was, she wasn't about to go anywhere until Astrid got done with whatever she was doing and joined her back at the wagon.

All the same, she really could go for a drink of something with an actual label.

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Kristina remained fairly quiet as Ashton drilled into her, it wasn't like she cared she didn't want to open her mouth in case Ashton got even madder towards her Kris would occasionally look into his eyes then he told her to head to the armory and hand in her weapons and she was strictly a civilian now. "Yes sir." Kristina said quietly as she looked towards Zoie and smiled sadly towards her, once both of them left Kristina headed towards the armory just as she was ordered. Kris didn't want to piss off anyone else today as she headed for the armory. Once she was inside Kristina reluctantly handed all of her weapons towards Tom. She still remained quiet once all of her weapons were handed over Kristina left the armory and went to find where Sally was. She found her handing out food to everyone, just as she turned around to see Kristina approaching her.

"Ashton said to come to you for living arrangements." Kristina said softly as Sally, the older woman smiled towards her and nodded as she started to lead Kristina towards the housing area, there she gave Kristina a room and offered anything to her. Kris shook her head as Kristina walked inside and looked around her new accommodations. She went over and laid down on the bed looking up at the ceiling, today was the worse day for her loosing the two people in her life.

Kristina took out the picture once more and ran her fingers over each person, and wiped away a few tears. Kristina took off her shoes as she tried to get herself comfortable she truly felt very lost and alone, and didn't know who she could turn to and talk with. She just wished that this was all just one crazy nightmare that just wouldn't ever end.

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Tatiana looked at Jack and perked a brow. Granted he had named the two most common and probably well known ballets ever created but at least he knew those two; if only by name. She had no idea if he actually knew the story or just the name because it was one of those things that seemed to be referenced in pop cultural a lot. Either way though, it didn't matter to her. It put her at ease a little bit and made her nod in his direction.

Biting her bottom lip she reached into one of the ballet slippers and pulled out a folded up and worn magazine page she kept shoved into them. Unfolding it carefully she handed it out to him. It was from a local magazine in Vegas that had done on article on her before the opening of her last show, right before everything went to hell. Image, after image, after image showed anything but someone who was shy. She looked poised, confidant, and strong. Such a difference from the timid little bird that was sitting in front of him right then.

"Dance vas everything," she said quietly as let out a longing breath, remembering how she used to feel on stage. Smiling slightly at the thought she looked down and shrugged a bit. "Silly to keep I knov." Picking at the piece of squirrel meat he had given her she chewed it quietly, she was still so nervous and she was worried; her eyes darting to the windows and back door from time to time, hoping that Davi would show up at any minute. He didn't seem like a bad guy but she missed her friend and she didn't know the man.

She contemplated asking him to leave but didn't. The sun was starting to set and he had saved her life. She felt she at least owed him enough not to send him out there alone right before nightfall. It was all but a death sentence these days. The house was big enough, she could lock herself away in an bedroom upstairs to be safe when she went to bed and demand that he stayed down stairs on the couch. Granted it wasn't like she could make him stay there and no do anything, she wasn't exactly the fighting type but she hoped with how he was acting and from what little he had told her of himself that he wouldn't try anything. She didn't think he would and she had gotten pretty good at reading people over the years, but there were some out there that were good at covering what type of monsters they really were underneath it all.

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He sheepishly smiled at her gaze, wondering whether or not those were actually ballets. Had he not been purposefully keeping his hands on the table, he would have ashamedly reached up and rubbed the back of his head. Seeing her nod, he let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't looked like a total idiot, then...not yet, at least. He watched her pull out the glossy and folded up pieces of paper, handing it over to him. Taking it gingerly, he looked at each of the photos on the page, his eyes widening with amazement.

"Doesn't that, uh, doesn't that huaht?" Jack asked, his voice filled with astonishment. The human body didn't look like it should bend in those ways, but the pictures were proof that it was possible. He whistled slightly, before glancing back up at her.

"I don't think it's silly," he said softly, grinning at her. "What's the point in survivin' if you aren't livin'?"

Jack noticed her eyes darting towards the windows, and following them, he could see the tinge of darkness creeping in. As much as he'd love to stay and help another human being, he also recognized that he might not be welcome. The end of the world did make for strange bedfellows, but that didn't mean it'd make for new friends.

"I can be on my way, if you'd be comfohtable that way," Jack offered, his ears reddening slightly. Despite not caring too much about what was manly and what wasn't, he hardly wanted to get into a long conversation about his feelings and about being alone for a year. If Tatiana wanted him to stick around, he'd stay. If not, he'd leave and try to find somewhere else to take shelter that night. He knew the odds were slim, being able to find someplace else to stay once darkness had set in. He knew he'd likely die if he left.

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Zoie got caught up with everything that had gone down in the OR thanks to Froggy. Grabbing the prisoner she escorted him over to the lock up and tossed him in a cell before locking up and setting a guard on post. Then she made the rounds. She wasn't one that was used to being in charge but she seemed to take to it like a duck to water. Getting with Miss Sally she made sure everyone was fed and had room assignments, slowly ushering people to get settled in for the evening before making her way back to where Richard and Astrid were with Neisha.

Grabbing Richard and having Astrid keep an eye on her for a little bit longer she had Richard fill her in on what had happened as well. Leaning down she kissed his cheek as she rolled him out of the courthouse and to where her room assignment was. She wanted to get him settled in before she went and reported to Ash about things fully. Helping him get situated she tapped his nose playfully. "Yousa get yerself some rest and Isa be back to curl up and watch over ya in no time flat. Figures yous crash here until yous can walks withouts a problem," she added before brushing his hair back out of his face and telling him goodnight.

Heading back to the room with Neisha and Astrid she sighed and undid the girl. "Yous girl be outside, go aheads and settle ins for the night," Zoie said. Astrid simply nodded and walked out, making her way outside and over to Bridgette. Zoie rubbed her face some as she sat down in a chair and looked over towards Neisha.

"Seems like you got off on the wrongs foot here. So let's me just get this out. Town been through hell today. Froggy be the final say in the OR right now, and he don't be wanting ya in there. I'll arranged fer yous to see yer friend tomorrow. She is asleep and resting as comfortably as possible. Don't be worried none, he takes good care of her. I be Zoie, I'm second in commands here. You have problem, come to me. Ash be Boss man. Nows, since I figures yous not wantin' to be too fars from your girl, yous can stay back heres. Ms. Sally be out front tonights, so if yas needs anything asks her. Scrubs be there," she said pointing over to the shelf. "Takes a shower, cleans ups yer wounds, gets some sleep," Zoie said before leaning over and hugging the girl for a moment.

Turning she left her alone to take care of her personal things and made her way out into the street to find Ash. Looking around she heard talking over by the Buster. She waved at Viking girls before skipping over and climbing up the ladder and peaking in. "Well there yas be!" Climbing over she jumped into the back of the truck and found a place to flop down on, making herself at home and grinning a bit.

"Towns locked downs for the evening boss. Deadies be moved and ready fer burnin' come morning. Those we could get that be fallen, we have them restin' until we can dos a burial proper for them. Town is turnin', rooms assigned, peoples fed. Medical stuff all calm as it cans be. Everythang been taken care of," she said before stretching her arms over her head and yawning a bit.

"Mind pouring a lady a drink gents? Could really use something to stiffen me upper lip abouts now if ya knows what I mean."

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[color=fff200]"it wasn't an order, it was a observation, merely a request. My friend is already hurt, I'd rather be whole to help her" [color] Niesha's voice had grown cold, as she contemplated just breaking a thumb to get out of the restraints. If she nad been conscious at the time they had been put on, she would have been able to give herself some wriggle room. Fortunately she didn't have long to contemplate that as the woman from the gate appeared and untied her. Niesha swiveled around automatically, ignoring the discomfort. That was something you had to learn to do, in this day and age.

Her eyes scanned the room, contemplating escaping the room and going to Sophie, but that would not benefit Sophie. Zoie seemed reasonable enough, but tnat didn't mean anything. Niesha went to say something, before Zoie hugged her. She stiffened, not sure what to do. Simple human gestures had always flustered her. Now they just seemed alien.

She sat there a moment after Zoie had gone, staring at her hands, her wrists. Pain was a curiois sensation. She gave a soft sigh. She didn't want to wait til tomorrow to she Sophie. What if she woke up? Niesha wanted to be there. She knew this Ms Sally wouldn't let her go out. Frustrated, Niesha clenched her hands, fingernails digging into her skin. "you have a problem, come to me" yeah, my problem is your doctor is an ass. My problem is I want to be with Sophie, but you've made it clear that it isn't going to happen today Niesha thought to herself, closing her eyes tightly.

She eventually gave a sigh, and rose. Such simple human actions, showering, dressing. Right then tney seemed completely abnormal to Niesha. She sat and cleaned the raw wounds on her wrists, and bandaged them as best she could. And then she sat, eyes staring unseeingly at the wall, as if she could stare right through it, right to Sophie.

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Ash and James sat quietly in the back of the Hordebuster, sipping slowly on the potent, aromatic liquid the distraught Captain had brought with him. They were silent at first. Eyes met on occasion, as if wanting to speak on matters of great importance or significance, only to be averted before any meaningful discourse could begin. Mostly, they looked into their drinking vessels, watching the pure, flickering firelight of the hurricane lamp dance with warm, liquidy notes in their alcohol.

The note of silence was interrupted by a shock of dirty blonde hair peeking over the side of the dump body. A very familiar and particularly flourished South Georgia accent announced the arrival of their new Second, Zoie. She hopped down, footwear slamming hard on the floor of the dump body. Immediately, Ash was briefed on the status of the town and its inhabitants, plus the new destination of the army of dead people that were previously outside of their gates. People were secure, fed, ready to end this pus-hemorrhager of a day. Ash concurred with the general assessment of the populace in this regard.

Zoie requested a drink of something worthy of stiffening her upper lip. That he could do. "Thank you, Zoie. I'm afraid you'll have to content yourself with a pull from the bottle, 'less you brought your own cup." He passed over the handle, and accepted it back when she was through. James reached out for it, intent on keeping the circle moving. Instead of taking a drink immediately, he paused, considering the wide glass bottle in his hands. Reading the label out loud, James enunciated each syllable slowly. "Holloway & Sons - Homestyle Appalachian Sippin' Whiskey. This you, innit there, Ash?"

"Yes it is, Mr. Black James, sir." responded Ash, his slight Virginian accent bolstered by weariness and drink. He took the bottle from his friend, and looked hard at it. Refilling his glass, he responded, "That's my label alright. I'm somewhere in the "& Sons" part." His face darkened as he handed the bottle back. "Dad and my brothers have passed, so I guess I'm the Holloway part of that label now. Don't have any sons. Would have liked to, though. Had a girl picked out I wanted to ask, eventually."

The sudden flush of emotion was quickly stifled back with a sip of strong liquor. "Yeah. My label." He quickly changed the subject, "You cooking something out there? Smells amazing."

"Yuh-huh, gots me that cow outta the tree. Treebound Bessie was dyin' slow and hard. Now we got enough meat for what's left of us to eat our fill tomorrow, an' then some to smoke away for later. Oh! Reminds me - you mind if I get into the dry spices tomorrow? 'Tween that and some o' your hooch, we have a damn tasty cow on our hands."

Ash sighed, giving it a quick ponder. "Hell, go ahead. We need a morale boost. Don't overdo it, huh?"

"Hey, you know me. When'm I ever overdoin' it?"

The look Ashton gave James was priceless. James held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. Ya got me. Don't overdo."

Another sip or two, another stretch of silence. The tiny popping and cracking sounds of the lamp could be heard clearly. This time, it was Ash that broke the quiet. "You know, I'm glad you two are here. Seeing as my Quiet Reflective Time is shot, let's look ahead. These new people - I'm going to have to interview all of them anyway, give them a couple days to adjust, but they're going to need jobs here. Anybody stand out?"

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Ok, first Ash waves her over the the back of Die Uberdumptruck with a giant bottle of hooch, then the Big Black Cowboy pauses cooking an entire cow to climb in with him. Then the redneck lady climbs up the side and bounds in with a bang, after waving to her and Astrid. No one had come out yet. The curiosity it inflicted was maddening. "What the fuck is so goddamned interesting about a dump truck?" she whispered quietly.

Astrid had returned earlier, greeted by Miss Sally's wrapped bundle of semi-perishable foodstuffs that Bridgette tucked away for her. They were settling in nicely; horses tended, camp pitched, food in their bellies. The louder of the Valkyries had decided to clear a spot in the wagon and sleep there for the evening. The spring night was rather pleasant, and inclement weather could be staved away with the proper application of a tarp.

Her battle-sister looked tired. Hell, Bridgette felt tired, herself. Still, curiosity urged her onward. "Hey girl." she started at Astrid, "I'm going to see what the deal is with the Frankentruck."

The mission was not a stealthy one. No, the slightly taller Valkyrie simply jogged up to the back of the Hordebuster and climbed in. To her credit, she did not more forward until she made herself known to everyone inside. "Holy crap, Walldick! You have a fucking treehouse back here! Hey, are girls allowed? (Sorry, Zoie.) I'm here for that drink you offered. Pour a girl a glass?"

Her expression read that she was impressed, if it came out slathered in sarcasm. Ash, now ever so slightly tipsy, didn't feel quite like listening to the brunt of her colorful speech, at least not without retort. "Alright, Bitchhilde. You want a glass? How about you look in the cab, near the sleeper. I just remembered I have a couple mason jars or solo cups up that way." This was certainly NOT the alone time for which Ash had hoped. But it might be something better for him.

Shocked by this supposedly straitlaced Captain insulting her quite skillfully yet still willing to pour a drink, Bridgette smiled broadly, nodded her head, and responded with an enthusiastic "Hell, yes!"

"Mess with anything, anything, and I'll shoot you myself." and a little softer, "Invite your friend over, too. Might as well start the Getting To Know You over drinks."

The mood seemed to lighten in the back of the Hordebuster. A single toast was made to the fallen; just one. They all had lost people. The hurt of it never really goes away. But for the first time that day, a sense of quiet hope crept up from the damaged settlement. They had new friends and allies. Tomorrow would dawn, they would rebuild. They would go on runs, they would restock. Their new enemies would be busy with the Dead for long enough to give Newnan breathing space, and they could plan what to do next. Tonight they were safe. Tonight, they could just be.

Another drink later, Bridgette was surprised again when the buzzed Commanding Officer posed her a solid, open question. "We're here to grow a community, which means that we need things from all of you. But tell me first - What do you need from us, Bridgette?"

She took a sip, for once in a great while speechless. In this new world, no one really ever asks that. After a short but expectant pause, Bridgette responded with an almost sedate, "I'll have to think about that, Ash. Really will."

A quiet night settled around the abbreviated City of Newnan, Georgia, punctuated by the song of many tiny crickets and the reassuring conversations of a group of steadfast survivors of this new world of calamity, defiantly present and spirited in the face of jagged adversity.

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The last month has been one filled with many emotions for the people of Newnan. After the attack on Newnan by the Edenites there was much rebuilding to do. Not only the walls and the supplies but the people themselves. So many had been through so much and had lost even more. It would take time and not even a month can heal some wounds. Some people have settled in and take up roles they never thought they could handle, others are drowning no sure what they should be doing. Friendships have formed and others have fallen apart. Tension is still running high in the little town but people keep moving on because there isn't much else you can you. The day after the attack the first matter of business was to bury the dead, to put them to rest so others can put their minds to rest.

Leann McCormick was the first to have a ceremony held in honor of her life and dedication to the city of Newnan. She was their leader and while firm she was fair and kept the city running until her death. Without Leann Newnan may have never rose to what it is today and the city should be forever grateful.

Vivian Ormerod was next. The woman was not liked by but a handful and feared by many. She was harsh, calculating, and twisted but she got the job done and helped to keep the town alive with her medical knowledge. She made sure the infirmary was ready for as much as was possible in this day and age.

Caesar and Alicia Gonzalez were laid to rest next to each other. The Father and Daughter pair of the city they ensured that the city was safe and always put the safety of their community above the safety of themselves. They kept the walls secured and brought in new people. They were an interesting pair but they are mourned and are missed.

Maria Smith And Lorna Dunn were also laid to rest together for the sake of Kris. Two women that were part of a trio before any of them entered the city of Newnan. Newnan was able to thrive because of Maria and Lorna died protecting it. Both were gone far too soon but at least now they can look over Kris together.

After those that were lost on that fateful day were put to rest, those listed above and others, it was time to get back to business in the city. Ash had assumed control over the city, he was Leann's second in command so it was agreed on before anything even happened. He chose to have a new comer be his second, Zoie. The two worked together over the next week to interview the new comers and get the city back in order. Jobs were assigned and people were given places to live. It was the first step of many to return some sense of normalcy and order to the hard hit town.

• Leader (Engineering Lead / Distillery) - Ashton Holloway - (Former Cpt U.S. Army)
• Second (Security Lead / Trainer) - Zoie Crawford - (Former Housewife)
• Agriculture Lead / Recruiter - James Grady - (Former Backwoods Legend)
• Medical Lead / Distillery - Victor Bonheur - (Former Heart Surgeon)
• Medical Garden / Teacher - Siddharth Kumar - (Former Student)
• Domestic Lead / Teacher - Meghna Kumar - (Former Student)
• Mechanic / Engineering - Richard Johnson - (Former Street Thug)
• Livestock / Crops - Kristina Smith - (Former Student)
• Engineering / Domestic - Sophia Harris - (Former Construction Foreman)
• Metalwork / Trainer - Bridgette Vinters - (Former Blacksmith)
• Medical / Trainer - Astrid Hansen - (Former Viking Reenactor)
• Metalwork / Recruiter - Agnes Johannsson - (Former Sculptor)
• Medical Garden / Engineering - Niesha Burkstien - (Former Pharmacist)

Somethings have been added and such.



And people now know where to go and where their home is.



The first week was general getting shit back in order and finding a place for the Valks to live instead of on the Grassy Knoll across the street from the Main Building. Before the end of the week a Run was made with Zoie, Jim, and various other NPC's to Whitesburg for supplies. Week two a run was made to the Ga Ren Faire location to get the rest of the buried supplies as well as anything else they could get together such as dried meds from the apothecary and a hearth for the metal workers. By the end of week three the walls were rebuilt and new entrances had been added. The new entrances to the inner wall are constantly manned by NPC's and are only wide enough for a single vehicle of standard size to get through.

Inside the Outer Wall, crops are growing and the Trio of Valk like woman have claimed a home there near the Blacksmith area. Newnan is working on clearing out more areas for planting, getting the live stock to breed, and just generally living. There are plans for another large run out to a Vineyard east of Newnan to see if perhaps some fruit trees can be brought back for a long term harvest.

But that is where the City of Newnan is. Over in Eden, things are in chaos. The hoard that lead there tore the place apart and nearly half of the people there died. Adamm is not happy but has yet to do anything about it. They know someone lead the hoard to them, a scout spotting the truck, but they aren't sure where it came from even though they have their suspicions. Yet, they are too busy trying to survive currently and get their shit back together with dwindled numbers to have attacked again but it doesn't mean they won't. Adamm does not forgive and he does not forget. He waits.

Outside the walls there are people. Tatiana, while nervous, asked Jack to stay in the home she had been sharing with Davi for the evening; feeling two was better than one to survive this world. Yet she ended up blockading herself upstairs behind furniture and locked doors - making him take the couch.

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The sun was just rising and the light that came through the window caused Astrid to yawn slightly before she sat up and got ready for work. Today was her day in the infirmary to help the doctor. She spent most of her time there these days, trying to learn as much as she could. She enjoyed the work but she never really showed it. Astrid wasn't one to show emotions. Days she was not in the infirmary she worked with Zoie as well as some others to teach the people of Newnan how to fight. Astrid didn't know firearms but she was trying to learn. It just felt foreign to her. But being able to teach others how to use a shield, a sword, and more was something she was excelling at.

Slipping into a soft cotton dress that was still very fitting of her life before Newnan she sat down in front of the mirror and tidied up several of her braids. Sure she could have switched to more modern clothing, especially in the infirmary, she chose not to. She enjoyed how she dressed; it felt natural to her. Why change that? Standing up she grabbed her small bag filled with medical books she had been lent and headed out the door. Wandering through the hallway she banned on her roommates two doors and yelled out to them. "Time to get up you two," she said with a small smirk on her lips. She had no idea when they were supposed to report to work today or what they were going to be up to but the sun was up and as far as she was concerned, if the sun was up so should everyone else.

Moving quickly down the stairs she grabbed two summer peaches from the kitchen before heading outside and closing the door behind her. A run a couple of days ago to an orchard had yielded nearly a hundred pounds of peaches. They wouldn't keep, so some were handed out to everyone and the rest were being canned and jarred currently over in the Mess Hall. Astrid found herself cracking a small smile as she bit into the juicy fruit, it was a nice change to have actual fresh fruit instead of something that had been preserved for the last ten years.

Going through the small gate that was near her home, she waved to the look out before hurrying over to the Main building to the Infirmary as she eat her breakfast. Once she was down to the pit she pocketed it, having been told to keep them so that Agriculture might plant them later on. It would take years before any tree grown from a seed produced fruit but the fact that they were planning that far ahead gave Astrid a little bit of hope. Hope was in short supply these days.

Stepping into the infirmary she looked around and set her pack down before making her way over to Sophia's bed and pulling up a stool. "I was told by a little bird that you get to leave this room today," she said gently to Sophia as she held out the remaining peach she had taken from her kitchen to the girl. "Excited to be sleeping in a real bed this evening?" she asked as she started to go through the morning check list that Froggy had drilled into her head over the last month.

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Zoie sat up slowly as her alarm clock went off and looked around. The last month had been a lot to deal with. The night she, Ash, James, and some others climbed into the back of the Buster for a bit of a drink had been interesting. People talked and went silent but it was a bonding moment of such. It set the tone for her for the next month. She was second in charge now. Not something she was used to. She was a housewife from South Ga, she had never been in a position of authority before; she had simply survived. Now she was responsible not only for herself and Froggy, but the entire town. It was something that surprisingly she took to readily and with an ease she hadn't expected. It let her get to know people and be there for them. She felt like a mother hen half the time but she didn't mind. The place had turned into a home.

Granted, to her it was still a broken home. Richard and her... The thought of that man made her look over to the open spot in her bed and sigh deeply. It had been weeks since the two had said a word to the other. Well, he spoke, she remained silent. That night still hurt. What he did, what he said. It still caused her chest to tighten up. Her and Astrid had worked through what happened that night and come to an understanding. It still made Zoie a little bit off with the woman but she didn't hold anything against her; she hadn't known. Richard on the other hand had.

Shaking off the though she slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a white tank top before throwing a thin plaid shirt on over it and shoving her feet into her boots. Looking at herself in the mirror she went through the morning routine; teeth, face, hair. Once finished she grabbed a quick breakfast as she listened to the birds singing in the trees near her home before heading out. She had her pistols on her hips as always and a folding knife in her pocket. The only people allowed to carry arms within the Inner wall were Leads, so she was expected to carry one at all times. They didn't mean the people were unarmed, those that were not leads had knives; those were a required must since the attack.

Carrying her clipboard she glanced around the town. People were getting up and moving, Zoie smiling over to them as they passed and giving her morning greetings with a wave. "Mornin', heya, y'all doin' okay," and more came out her lips as she headed to the center of town. Part of her job now was to handle a morning meeting between the people of Newnan. Not everyone attended every morning but Ash and her went over the days work and what was supposed to happen the next day before they turned in at night. Once that was done, tags were left outside each persons home that was to attend that next morning. It was a rather efficient way of getting the word out considering they didn't have cell phones or emails anymore.

"Mornin' Folk, Momma checkin' in for points. Report," Zoie said into her radio. Each person on the wall had one while on look out. Each lead had one with them at all times. Each shop had one in the main area. It helped keep people in the loop if something happened.

"Good here Momma," Jim chirped in from the look out on the Outer Gate. More and more chimed in as people did their morning hello's before the changing of the guards.

"We're ready for breakfast here," Miss Sally added from over at the Mess Hall. She had been up for hours getting the food together to be dished out to everyone.

"Infirmary is good," Astrid said before going back to work.

"Armory is secure," Tome piped in.

Zoie nodded to herself as she checked off each person as they checked in. Climbing up onto the small brick wall that lined the sidewalk of the main building Zoie looked around as people started making their way in for the morning meeting. Once everyone arrived Zoie started.

"Mornin' y'all. We gots a mess of thangs to take care of today. Today Sophia finally be movin' out of that infirmary and into a real place. Bless her heart, been there this whole month. If she be needin' anythang yous be there to helps her. We haves a couple of trucks that be needin' a tune up before we head out for the Vineyard, so someone tell Richard," she said and there were a couple of choked back okays from the crowd. She never let Richard know anything these days, it was always word of mouth. Looking up the place quieted down before she went back to her announcements.

"Filters be needing changing in the water supply, we's have some broken welds on the east side of the outer wall. Trainin' sessions for hand to hand with me be after lunch. High Schoolers have class after breakfast today to change thangs up, younger ones be this after noon. Posts on walls change in thirty minutes, so y'all takin' over get on down there soon as we done here. Any questions?" she asked before ending the meeting. Everyone seemed over with what was going on and shook their heads.

"Alrighty, head on outs then. Have a good day and remember, stay alert and stay safe," she said before dismissing them. Hoping down from her place she tucked her clipboard under her arm and started to head south on the main street. She wanted to make sure that everything was okay there before she did anything else that day. As she did her radio went off telling her that there were a couple of new arrivals in the city. Moving quickly she made her way to the Main Inner Wall Gate and climbed up to the lookout post.

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Tatiana pushed her hair back out of her face and threw up the crimson locks into a quick ponytail. The days were hot and having a thick head of hair was not helping in the slightest. If she didn't think she would look absolutely ridiculous bald she would have shaved her head by now. The last week had been interesting to say the least and rather depressing as well. Each day that ticked by Tatiana became more worried that she would never see Davi again. Each day that ticked by she got a little more used to Jack being around; the man had barely left her side since they basically stumbled over each other in the DMV that day. At first she was worried but over the last week he had been kind and helped her scour the area each day for supplies and for her friend; not to mention he hadn't laid a hand on her. It took a few days but she finally stopped trembling anytime he offered her food or drew his weapon.

Looking over towards him she smiled at bit as she adjusted her pack and hefted it up a bit higher on her back as they wandered the streets of Carrollton. They had been avoiding any large building such as the schools, the university, and the prison; for obvious reasons. There were plenty of homes in the downtown area and small places of business they could hit. Places she figured Davi might go if she needed to hunker down. Places similar to ones they had hit over the years. Pointing over as they came to the Square in the Historical District of the town she picked out what was an old news stand near a place called Millers Downtown. She didn't hold out any hope that there was in food left in the Creole Restaurant but maybe next store they would get lucky.

Jack followed Tatiana's gaze, nodding as the hot Georgia sun beat down on his back. He wiped away a bit of sweat from his forehead, glancing around to continue to get his bearings. His blue tarp had been folded up and tied up into a makeshift backpack, and he couldn't help but hope if there wasn't any food left, there'd be something better for carrying his belongings in. The resourcefulness of the blue tarp was starting to get old.

"I don't see any walkahs," Jack said quietly, glancing around the streets one last time. His paranoia only increased the longer the pair of them went without an incident. Every brief bit of calm caused him to tense up even more, as much as he laughed it off. "Should be safe, in and out."

Tati nodded slightly as she gripped the hunting dagger in her hand and tapped it roughly a few times against the door of the News Stand. Hopefully if anything was in there it would come to them instead of them stumbling over it once they got inside. Glancing over towards Jack she gave him her usual forced thin lipped smile that she always seemed to when she got nervous, her back to the glass. A loud smack caused her to jump and spin around, stepping back quickly to see a Walker trying to get through the door at them. Biting her bottom lip she took a deep breath, she had been half expecting one to be in there but it didn't help to calm her nerves any.

Reaching over towards the door she wrapped her trembling fingers around the handle and looked towards Jack, waiting for his okay to open the door before she did anything else. Once he gave her a signal she pressed down on the handle and pulled the door open quickly, stepping behind it and letting the walker stumble out into the street as it fell to its hands and knees and tried to grab a hold of Jack as it shuffled along the ground. Tati's grip on her knife tightening but she didn't step forward yet. She wanted to wait and make sure if she did she didn't end up stabbing Jack instead of the walker.

Jack winked at Tatiana, which caused Tati to blush slightly, his adrenaline rising. It took all his will to not madly kick at the walker and create a scene. It was one of his major flaws that he'd worked on back in the force, but only recently had he been able to get some success with it. Glancing towards the walker and back at Tatiana, Jack jumped back, in an almost comical fashion. Tatiana's path to kill the walker was clear, and Jack threw a quick glance over his shoulder, praying to whatever gods existed that there wouldn't be another one back there. Just in case, however, he drew his own knife, prepared for anything.

Letting out a short huff of a breath from between her lips Tati let go of the door and stepped forward as the Walker went after Jack. Lunging down slightly as she drove the blade of her knife into the back of the Eaters skull, the sound of brain matter hitting metal ringing out slightly against soft bone before she yanked it out. Standing up she glanced around, it was still clear around them and she was very grateful for the small favor right then. Wiping off her knife on the shirt of the walker before sheathing it she nodded towards Jack, still giving him that nervous smile that she did.

"You silly vhen nervous," she said quietly with a soft giggle, referring to the way he had jumped back. Turning she grabbed the door and swung it open, motioning with a bit of silly flair for him to go ahead and enter.

"Thank you," Jack grinned, for the comment and killing the walker. He put away his own knife, figuring that any other walkers inside would have come running by that point. Making a point to hop into the store as absurdly as possible, he clapped his feet together in the air, a dorky smile plastered on his face. He hardly managed to land on his feet, nearly tripping and falling against the doorway. Tati had to cover her mouth with the cup of her hand to keep from laughing at the entire scene.

"I, erm, meant to do that," Jack said, laughing at himself quietly. He bowed neatly at Tatiana, before glancing around the tiny store once more. His eyes scanned all of the corners, waiting for something else to jump out. As soon as he determined it was truly safe, letting his paranoia vanish momentarily, he'd wave to Tatiana to come inside. Tati gave a quick bob her head as she dropped her hand from her mouth and rolled her lips in to bite them, still trying not to laugh as she stepped inside and shut the door behind them.

"Graceful as baby cow," she whispered as she passed him. "Damn straight," Jack replied. "I'm the best baby cow you'll evah meet." His process then switched from searching for walkers to searching for food -- and a backpack. The tarp-sack was really starting to suck. The place was well enough in tact minus what appeared to be various things knocked over from the Walker that had been shambling in the place for god only knew how long. A lot of papers and maps and books in the place. Dried coffee packs, creamer and sugars near the coffee bar set up, even some chocolate covered espresso beans. The place was set up more like a mom and pops Starbucks than anything. Candy bars, bags of chips and nuts were in boxes, as well as packs of gum.

Pushing the door open to the office she grinned a bit as she reached in and snatched up something she thought would be of interest for Jack. Turning she held it up as if she was Vanna White. "Think you could use?" she asked as she held it out to him, a back pack. Granted it wasn't exactly the manly kind, looking more like something out of the mind of Lisa Frank but hey, it was better than a tarp in her mind. His eyes widened spotting it in her hands, just like a child on Christmas morning. "I've nevah seen somethin' so beautiful in my life," Jack whispered, gratefully taking it from Tatiana. She was not expecting that reaction but at least he wasn't pitching a fit that it was so "girly."

He quickly transferred his belongings inside of the colorful bag, and tugging on the straps, he got them to be as long as possible. It didn't matter to him that it was designed for a four year old kid--it held things, and he knew that it'd make Tatiana laugh. "It's very macho, yeah?" Tatiana couldn't hold back the laughter, giggling as she held her stomach with one hand and the other gripped the edge of the counter. It was the first time since she had met Jack that she truly laughed, a bright smile on her face as her cheeks reddened. It felt good to laugh and she gasped for breath slightly as she wiped the tears away from the corner of her eyes.

"Rainbow Brite vould be proud," she sighed happily as she went back to bagging up as much as she could for the two of them to carry back to the house they were staying at. Lining up the bags on the counter filled with food and bottles of water she let out a happy sigh. It had been a successful run for them for the day. It was time to head back and get some rest for night. "Go home nov?" she asked as she looked back over to him, the smile that had faded coming back as she spotted the back pack again.

Jack followed her gaze, and he smirked a bit. "You'ah jealous, hmm?" he teased, before nodding. "Very," she chuckled a bit. He grabbed a few of the bags from the counter, his gun ready at his side. He really didn't want to die because he had his hands full with groceries--somehow, it was far worse than any sort of rainbow colored backpack. Though, to be fair, the brightly colored bag had quickly grown on him. He'd have to ask her about Rainbow Brite later, though. As far as he was aware, Rainbow Brite could have been from Hello Kitty.

Peering outside the door, Jack checked to see if the street was clear of any unwanted surprises. He grinned at Tatiana and opened the door slowly with his back, taking another peek around as he did so. While Jack realized that he was probably a bit excessive in his checking for walkers, he hardly cared. Rainbow Brite, he was certain, would understand. Tatiana grabbed what was left and glanced around before following Jack's lead and heading out.



Another week had passed by and there was still no sign of Davi anywhere. Each day they went out, scavenging what they could as Tati continued to search for her friend. They had had a couple of close calls because of walkers. Some stumbles, some falls, a lot of banged up bodies trying to keep from getting bit. Tati has racked up her fair share of bumps, bruises, and scratches over the last week. She was starting to get a little reckless and panicked the more time that passed. They had managed to be able to stock pile a little bit of food and water and it was suggested that perhaps today they just needed to take it easy and relax a bit. Relax was not in Tatiana's vocabulary when it came to worry.

Sighing though she agreed, not wanting to put Jack in anymore danger than she already had. He had turned out to be a really sweet guy and she felt lucky that they had stumbled across each other when they did. She was starting to lean on him a little more each day and he made her smile; which was a rare thing even before the out break. Today had been spent mostly just sitting and reading and exchanging small talk. That was until later in the day when Tatiana started getting restless. Looking around the room some she then glanced over to Jack and nudged him slightly with the heel of her foot. "Move," she said before hoping off the couch.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her, putting down the extremely outdated copy of People magazine that he had found in the house. A quick glance around confirmed that there wasn't anything dangerous in sight--so perhaps, he figured, Tatiana wanted the entire couch to herself. Chuckling a bit, Jack got to his feet. "Youah wish is my command, princess," he quipped.

"That is Prima to you," she teased as she rested her hands against the arm of the couch.

"Anythin' else you need?" He winked at her, stretching his arms a bit as he did so, his shoulders coming up in an almost cat-like fashion.

"Da, help me move this strong man," she said as she waived with a point of her finger to the far end of the living room where she wanted to shove the couch. Resting her hand back down against the cushion she started to push the couch over the hard wood floor. Most of the rest of the furniture had already been moved over the last couple of weeks. It wasn't uncommon for her to want to dance when she got fidgety, so the couch was the only thing that really got moved back when she was done.

"We makin' a fort?" Jack chuckled, but he put his hands on the couch nonetheless. He pushed on it with Tatiana, listening to it as it scratched against the floor slightly. As far as he was concerned, the homeowners wouldn't mind. They were likely dead, after all. Continuing to shove, with her help, they got it clear across the room, positioning it in the far end as requested. The living room was clear, now a wide expansive space.

Tatiana gave him a sideways smile at his little quip and tossed the blanket off the back of the couch towards him. "Go play hide and seek vith yourself," she said in a soft playful voice. "That sounds dirtay, don't you think?" Jack chuckled, winking at her as he caught the blanket.

Shaking her head a bit and giving him a bit of an eye roll she stepped over to the center of the room and let out a long breath as she took first position. There was something that came over Tatiana when she danced. Normally she was timid, shy, and afraid. Yet when she came to pointe another side of her showed. She was confidant and unwavering. The way her shoulders would square off, the arch of her back, how she held her head high. All the fear that was constantly surrounding the little bird flew away as the music played in her head as she went from arabesque to fifth position to devéloppé. Tour de Promenade as she held attitude en dehors. She was in a world with no problems, no death, no starvation. Just beauty.

Jack smiled, watching her as she began to dance. An idea formed as he grinned mischievously, tying the blanket around his waist like a skirt. He took off his shoes, setting them down neatly next to the couch, and wiggled his toes a bit. From what he knew of ballet, it involved a lot of spinning on one's toes. Standing up as quietly as he could, Jack put his hands in the air, his fingertips touching just over his head. Picking up his left food, he placed it against his right knee, wobbling a bit as he struggled to maintain his balance. And then, he attempted to spin.

Tatiana came off pointe and turned her head before she was about to plié, her eyes falling on Jack and her eyes widened as her brows rose in surprise. "Vhat in the vorld..." she chortled. Her finger tips coming to her lips as she choked back a laugh, which caused her to snort a bit; her lips rolling in as she bit them. It was completely ridiculous and totally adorable at the same time. Waving her hands in front of her wildly as she shook her head she moved to the side to make sure he didn't end up kicking her. "Like this Baryshnikov," she said as she demonstrated a fouetté slowly for him.

"Man, I've been doin' it wrong this entire time?" Jack said, faking a pout. He watched Tatiana carefully, the spins and the jump making hardly any sense to him. He held up a hand, and taking in a deep breath, practically flung his leg up, and unable to control the momentum properly, spun around. "Not..." Remembering that there was supposed to be a leap in there, Jack foolishly threw himself up into the air, the world slightly out of focus from dizziness, and he crashed to the ground without a single ounce of grace. "Like that," Tatiana gasped as her hands came up to her mouth in surprise. "Does...Baahshinikove mean really talented? Because I think I just earned a perfect ten."

Moving quickly across the room she knelt down next to him, resting on one foot as she drew her other knee to her chest, a playful pity look coming over her features as she reached over and ran her fingers lightly through his hair as if to put them back into place. "Oh yes, I can say never seen anything like that. One of kind," she laughed lightly as she looked him over. That silly blanket tied around his waist, him sprawled out on the floor; it was too endearing.

A boyish blush appeared on his face, with her fingers in his hair. He chuckled a bit at her comment, and experimentally moved his feet. Luckily for him, his ankles seemed to have survived his foolishness. Back in school, Jack was the kid at prom who would move his feet forward and backward, and call it dancing. Anything else resulted in him doing something outrageous, like pretending that he was the world breakdancing champion, and not some clueless pisser. "You bettah watch out, I might just be bettah than you at this," Jack teased. "Though no joke, you'ahe wicked good, Tati."

It was Tatiana's turn to blush lightly at his compliment. She knew she was good, she had worked her whole life to be so, but it was one thing to know it in your heart and another to hear it from someone that was starting to mean something to you in this War of Survival as she called it. "Thank you," was all she could muster to say as her nerves began to kick back in. Taking a breath she held out her hands to him. "Come on, off floor, I teach you something easier."

Complying by taking her hands in his, Jack raised himself from the floor. He couldn't imagine any ballet moves that he'd be able to do, but it was worth it, the way it was making Tatiana smile. Her blush didn't escape his notice, and either there were butterflies in his stomach, or the squirrel meat had finally gone bad. "I think I can handle somethin' a little advanced, don't you think?" Jack grinned. He took a few steps back, mentally preparing himself for his next fall to the floor. It wasn't a question of if he'd fall--it was a matter of when. "Show me what you got, teachah."

"Oh yes, very advanced," she chuckled as she reached over and took the ridiculous blanket from around his waist and tossed it aside. Stepping next to him she glanced over and grinned at him with a bit of a mischievous look on her features. "Now, follow me, hardest dance ever," she warned before she started humming out the Chicken Dance and busting a move with all the mirth she could muster without doubling over in laughter.

Without even hesitating, Jack sprang into action. This was a dance that he knew--it was practically illegal to not know how it went. Folding up his arms into mock wings, Jack flapped them, and on each turn, he did the clap and shook his tail, beaming the entire time. His favorite part, of course, was the more whimsical one--where he spread his arms out like an airplane and pretended to fly. "I feel so cultuahed," Jack laughed. "Nevah knew ballet was this easy!"

It took everything in Tatiana not to fall out on the floor rolling in laughter as she danced along with him, shaking her rear end like a fool and then following suit as she to spread her arms and flew around the room. Not paying attention to where she was going, a few tears of joy from holding back the chortles and giggles slipping from her eyes she nearly ran right into Jack and had to stop herself. Coughing a few times to clear her throat as she tried to serious things up. "Oh yes, so cultuahed," she said trying to imitate his accent through her own thick Russian speech. "The trick is to never say an ahr...It goes Q-Ah-S, you know?" Jack chuckled, enjoying the imitation. It had given him plenty of odd looks in Chicago, but he never tried to turn his accent down.

"Vell, seems I have partner no'v. Try together?" she asked as she held her hands out to him and perked a brow as she gestured with her chin to him to take them. "Togethah," Jack agreed, taking her hands. He grinned, a bit nervous, but enjoying himself nonetheless. Hopefully, Tatiana would have them do something simple, like the YMCA dance. That, the chicken dance, and the macarena were his areas of expertise.

Taking his hand, she rested her palm in one and lifted it even with her shoulder as she lead his other hand to rest in the curve of her waist. Smiling slightly at him she placed her arm over his and rested her fingers against his shoulder as she shook her head quickly to make her hair fall back over her shoulders and out of her way as she struck basic frame. "Like this. Shoulders back, like soldier you copper," she teased lightly. "Got it?"

Jack straightened up, not even realizing that he had been slouching a bit. He moved his shoulders back, awkwardly holding his hand on her waist. Smiling weakly at her, he couldn't help but notice how her hair caught the light. "Ma'am yes ma'am!" Jack joked, playing along with the soldier charade. "This the paaht where we start countin' 1-2-3 1-2-3?" he asked, as nervous as a boy at prom. This was definitely not the YMCA dance. As far as he was concerned, he'd be lucky to not step on her feet.

Tatiana smirked a bit, she felt at ease when it came to dance and decided to take a little bit of advantage of it. How many chances would she get in the future to dance with anyone? Much less an actual man? There wasn't ever exactly a lot of men willing to dance, she wondered if there were any outside of Jack left on the planet right then. Stepping closer she turned her head, glancing towards him out of the corner of her eyes. "No Valtz, you advanced student. We Tango," she taunted him with a playful coyness to her voice.

"Tango it is," Jack gulped, chuckling a bit. "I'll, uh, I'll go easy on you." All hew knew about the tango was that it involved a lot of steps and shaking hips. There would also be roses that one of them would have to hold in their teeth. However, he wasn't going to be terrified by some dance. He'd faced far more terrifying things than a woman wanting to dance before--and he found that laughing at himself was quite the enjoyable experience.

"Just take easy on feet," she giggled slightly before clearing her throat and trying to be serious, but around him that was tough. Taking a breath she began to try to move him and show him where to step slowly, granted that was hard since he was supposed to be leading her and she didn't exactly want to teach him how to take the female steps; it would be even more awkward if she was the one trying to lift him at one point eventually.

Jack nodded, moving his feet cautiously to where Tatiana indicated. With each movement he made, he'd glance up at her, as if checking to make sure he hadn't messed up too dangerously. "Like this?" Jack asked, repeating the movement once more, and hoping that he'd done it correctly. He really didn't want to hurt Tatiana with his clumsiness. For a moment, he considered trying to whistle a tune, in order to perform it correctly...But as it always is, the only song he could think of in that moment was the Chicken Dance, and that would hardly work for a tango, he felt.

Tatiana nodded slightly as they moved, it was obvious he was trying and he hadn't stepped on her foot, yet. Granted that didn't last long because before she knew it, she felt heel pressing into her instep and jumped back as she grabbed a hold of her foot with one hand and tried to keep her balance as she gripped his shoulder with her other. "Yolkipaiki!" she gasped out as she leaned against him, basically cursing in the cutest way possible in Russian. She had all but basically just yelped out fiddlesticks in Russian.

Jack's eyes widened. "Shit, shit, shit!" he muttered, picking up Tatiana in his arms; Tati gasping slightly as he picked her up, she hadn't expected that. He walked over to the couch and set her down, glancing around the room. Rest, ice, compression, elevation ran through his mind over and over again like a mantra. While he knew that it would be a tiny bruise and a scrape at best, he couldn't help but feel like he'd broken her ankle. If it wasn't so hot, he would have held a water bottle up against her ankle, but then he figured there might have been some gum among their supplies from the same place he got his bag. "I'm gonna get you something to distahct you from the pain, yeah?" Jack said sheepishly.

Pulling her foot up to her chest she rubbed it a little bit and shook her head. "It okay, just glad ve not try Rivardance," she said with a small lipped grin as she tried to lighten the mood. Reaching out she took his hand and pulled him over to her and down to her level. "Be back on toe in no time," she said, trying to reassure him that she was okay, squeezing his hand gently as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Promise."

Jack nodded, sitting down on the couch next to her. He continued eyeing her toe, waiting to see if anything else developed. Of course, he could feel the lingering traces of where Tatiana had kissed him on his cheek. Not wanting to lose all of his manliness, he avoided reaching up to touch it, and instead smiled at Tatiana. "We'll have a dance off once it's bettah," Jack promised. "Don't hold back on me when we do."

"Vell, I'll try keep up," she said in a kittenish fashion as she wagged her finger towards him before leaning back a bit and getting more comfortable. It had been an interesting evening to say the least but she had enjoyed it even with the little bit of a foot stomp she had received from him. It was nice to laugh, something she had never been used to in her life, he definitely was an interesting character.



Another week of wandering and searching, another week of no sign of Davi. The first day after their little dance off her foot was a bit sore, so they took it slow, but after that she was fine. Rummaging through an upstairs closet Tatiana perked a brow as she found a box of what looked like a board game of some sorts. It wasn't one she knew, she had never had any games as a child like this, but she figured it was something they could perhaps do now that they were in for the day. Something to take her mind off Davi, who with each day that passed she lost a little more hope and got a little more desperate.

Bounding down the stairs two at a time she held the box in front of her. "Jack, found something," she said as she wandered over to the couch and climbed over the back of it to sit down and half lean against him as she handed the box over. "Ma..nop...o..ly?" she said as she read the title in big letters on the worn out cardboard box. "You knov this?"

Jack nodded, looking the box over. He remembered playing it with his mom and a few friends when he was younger, watching as it destroyed entire relationships. It had been the last time he saw his friend Tom, when Jack managed to steal Park Place away from him, and then build as many hotels as possible on it. "This game, this game was made to destaoy lives." He paused, opening up the box. "I can nevah remebah the rules but...As long as we don't kill each othah, it's pretty fun."

Fishing inside the box for the pieces, he tried to locate the dog before Tatiana could. It was perhaps a little unfair, but he always played as the dog. He was relieved to find it wasn't one of the silly so-called "modern" editions, where credit cards were used and the money was kept digitally. The old paper version was the best--perfection couldn't be improved upon.

Tatiana perked a brow at his words, a bit of concern coming over her features. "Lives already destroyed," she said before giving a slight shrug. Looking over as he fished out the dog she rummaged through the rest of the pieces, picking up the top hat and placing it on the tip of her finger. Bending the knuckle slightly as she bobbed it around and smiled softly. "Okay, time you teach me," she said as she put the piece down and and poked him in the side with her elbow.

Moving to the floor, Jack spread out the board, and placed his piece down at GO. He motioned for Tatiana to do the same, struggling to remember how much money to start off with. Tatiana slipped off the couch and sat down on the floor, tucking her feet beneath her. Shrugging, he figured that giving five of each type of bill was fair enough, and dished out money to both Tatiana and himself. "So, the goal of the game is to be the richest person, own all of the propeahty." Gathering up the little location cards, Jack put them all on the rotating contraption, setting it down in between Tatiana and himself.

"We use the money to buy propeahty," Jack added, grabbing the dice. "But first, we gotta roll to see who goes first." He handed the dice over to her, winking at her. "Aftah you." Smiling she nodded as she set down the little top hat down next to his on the board before palming the dice and giving them a quick shake. Turning her hand over she let the dice spill out onto the board, rolling snake eyes and shrugging a bit. "Vell, no worse than that," she chuckled.

"Get that three times and you go to jail," Jack chuckled, scooping up the dice. He shook them, blowing on them a bit, as if it would bring him luck. Letting them fall to the ground, he rolled a three and a two. Though it wasn't too surprising to him that he'd be going first, he couldn't help but be irritated at the low roll. "Right, we start at go. Roll, move the numbah of spaces you got. You land on propeahty? You can buy it. There's chance and stuff, but I'll explain it latah."

Jack rolled again, this time faring much better. With a five and a four, he moved forward nine spaces, landing on Connecticut Avenue. He traded in $120 for the property, removing it from the small spinning cart. Grinning at Tatiana, he handed the dice over to her. "Youah turn."

Tatiana took her queue from Jack and rolled, moving up the board and buying the property. Back and forth they went, Tati asking questions and listening as Jack explained things to her. After a while, as she was handing the dice back over to him she tilted her head to the side. "You play as child right? Good childhood?" she asked, wanting to know more about him now that she felt more at ease around him.

Jack hesitated for a moment, taking his turn as he pondered how to answer the question. He loved his childhood, but he knew it wasn't exactly a traditional one. It never really bothered him, not knowing his father or his siblings. All he really knew about them were their names and a dim idea of what they looked like. "Yeah, played with my mom all the time," Jack smiled. "It was just the two of us. She was a tour guide, with the Freedom Trail Reenactors? Dunno if you've evah heahd of it. Put herself through school, got a mastahs in history. Not a day goes by that I don't miss heah."

"Never heard of," she admitted as he told her a little bit about his life. Him mentioning missing his mother she nodded in understanding. "Sound like good voman, raised good son," she said as she tossed the dice and moved her piece again along the board before handing them back over to him; smiling softly as she did.

"Thanks," Jack replied, taking his turn. More memories of his mother washed over him. He remembered how she would take his hand and guide him through the streets of Boston, giving him a personal tour. He'd never seen her happier than when she was in that cotton dress, the sun beating down on her. "She was the best. But uh...she passed three yeaahs back."

Reaching out Tatiana rested her hand over his lightly, letting her fingers lace over his own as she gave him a gentle squeeze. She knew it wasn't easy to lose someone that you cared for. "I'm sorry," she said as she watched him, her free hand fiddling with the dice. Dropping them on the board without really bothering to roll them she leaned over and gave him a firm hug. She knew first hand how hard memories could be, bad or good ones. Jack hugged her back slightly, a single tear cascading down his face. He rubbed her back a bit with his right hand, hearing the dice hit the floor. Pulling himself together, he whispered in her ear.

"I just got free paahking."

Leaning back a bit she perked a brow and then glanced over at the board. Smiling slightly she turned and sat down next to him, leaning against him lightly as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I lost parents to but long time ago," she said solemnly. It wasn't something that was easy for her to speak about, never had been but she felt comfortable around Jack. He quickly abandoned the game for the most part, putting an arm around her shoulder tentatively, as if he wasn't certain whether or not it was acceptable.

"You want to talk 'bout it?" Jack inquired, rubbing her shoulder lightly with his thumb, tracing little circles as he went. It was the most she'd opened up to him so far, and while he didn't want to pressure her into talking before she was ready, he also wanted to learn more about her. There was more to her than zombies and ballet--she had a past, just like everyone else.

Tatiana didn't mind Jack putting his arm around her shoulder, in fact she found solace in the kind gesture. Curling slightly more against him she didn't know what to say at first. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to speak about her parents before, it was just it was hard. Swallowing lightly she nodded a bit. "End of Cold Var, U.S.S.R. vas torn, ve refugees. Valk town to town, trying to avoid the fights. Parents... taken prisoner. I hide under body. I see... killed. Vas nine," she said quietly, her voice shaking and her body trembling like a little hummingbird. Her fingers fiddling the fabric of his shirt as she found herself clinging to him, remembering watching the blood of her parents spill out onto the ground. "Dark came slowly, finally cravl out. Had to leave, run. Left them there, been alone since."

At first, he didn't know what to say. The end of the Cold War was, understandably, a big deal--an event that he remembered very dimly, with the constant broadcasts. He never really heard about what happened to the refugees, instead hearing the same cries of what it meant for American freedom, over and over again. His arm still wrapped around Tatiana, he held her a little tighter, continuing to rub her shoulder gently. "I'm soahy you had to go through that," Jack apologized, seeing the haunted expression on her face. "I can't imagine livin' through that."

"Yes, you can," Tatiana said quietly as she tilted her head back and looked up at him, a grim glassing over in her eyes as she spoke. "Just like no'v. You valk, you try survive. Everyday. I vas refugee, no'v vhole vorld refugee," she added as she sighed deeply. Looking down she shook her head a bit, thinking of how much living in the world now reminded her daily of living as a child wandering in the former U.S.S.R. and yet, how now something was different. Glancing back up she gave him that all to familiar thin lipped smile. "Least, not alone anymore."

He smiled a bit, even though the comparison sent a chill through him. Living like this...it wasn't something any person should have to do twice. Any ordinary person should have been crushed by it all. "True, and I won't let any of these sons of bitches huaht you." He rubbed her shoulder again, feeling oddly at peace with himself. Perhaps it was that he had someone to live for.



Talking about her family with Jack that night had been therapeutic for Tatiana on some level, but it also made her worry more about Davi. Thinking how her friend of the last few years could be out there alone, going through everything without someone. Each day since Tatiana had become more and more determined to find her. The pair was out and about in Carrollton once again, trying to find more supplies while searching for the Russian counterpart. Still no luck and it was growing late in the day.

The hot Georgia sun was unforgiving and the humidity made the air sickeningly sticky to breath in. At this point Tatiana just wanted to get back to the house that her and Jack had called home for the last month. Adjusting her back pack a little she looked over to Jack and couldn't help but smile; him and that silly rainbow pack made her want to giggle every time she saw him sporting it. Granted, these days Tatiana was smiling a bit more just because of Jack in general. He always seemed how to make her feel better. Whether it was just him being silly, or wrapping an arm around her.

"Tonight, dance off," she said brightly as they walked down the street, they only had about half a mile to get back to the house thankfully.

"I've been practicing, don't say I didn't wahn you," Jack chuckled, adjusting his backpack slightly on his shoulders. The last month had been one of his happiest--ever since he lost Sutton, he hadn't had a sense of focus, a sense of direction. Now, however, he had a mission: to take care of Tatiana and help her find her friend. He knew that the odds they would find Davina were against them, but he didn't stop trying for her sake. "I've mastahed dancin'." Of course, by mastered, he meant that he had finally figured out how to not step on someone's toes.

"Can't vait to see your moves," Tatiana chuckled as she poked him in the side with her finger playfully. Even with the heat and humidity, and not finding Davi yet today, it had still been a good day. Sighing happily she looked ahead of them and grumbled under her breath as she spotted a walker stumbling out from the side of a house and towards them in the distance. At least it was only one of them right then, shouldn't be much a problem to take care of she thought as she pulled her knife out of its place on her hip. That was until she got closer and froze in her place. "Davi...?"

Jack frowned, pulling his own knife as well. He hadn't the faintest idea what Tatiana's friend looked like, and couldn't have been certain whether or not the walker was truly her. He did, however, have some experience with seeing loved ones turned into the undead. Glancing over at Tatiana, Jack gave her a moment to take care of the walker herself. She was frozen, acting like she had seen a ghost. Jack swore under his breath, striding forward towards the walker.

"Hey, fugly!" Jack taunted, moving away from Tatiana, clapping his hands together a bit to get the walker's attention. He didn't want her to have to deal with this--as far as he was able to tell, she was paralyzed in place. "I'm talkin' to you, you son of a bitch!"

Tatiana stood there, trembling in place as she looked at the woman. She was dressed like Davi dressed, same hair color, same bone structure. If it wasn't Davi the woman could have been her sister. Hearing Jack's voice she blinked and took a step forward, she had to get closer, she had to know. She could never forgive herself if she was left unsure for the rest of her life. The Walker looked over to Jack but turned her attention back to Tatiana as she stepped closer, nearly within arms reach at that point.

"Davi?" she whispered as the walker grabbed her and she dropped her hunting knife, yelping out as the two stumbled and Tatiana landed on her back; trying to push it away, to keep it from biting her but all the while still trying to tell if it was her friend or not.

Jack held in his sigh of frustration, his heart pounding as Tatiana fell to the ground. He wasn't going to lose someone else--not today. Cursing under his breath, he rushed the walker from behind, grabbed the top of its head with one hand, and stabbing it cleanly with the other. He let out a sigh of relief once it stopped moving, allowing it to fall to the ground beside Tatiana. He didn't need to ask her if that was Davi. From the way she reacted, he was pretty sure it was. He stood there in silence.

Tati sat up quickly as the Walker fell to her side, coming up on her knees as she finally was able to look at the woman clearly. She stayed there in silence for a minute before she started to break down, crying as she fell back onto her rear end and rolled slightly. "Not her... Vasn't Davi," she said between the sobs and the tears as she started to hyperventilate. Closing her eyes tightly as she rocked back and forth, her fingers scrapping across the pavement of the street as she balled her hands into fists unable to stop from weeping.

Quickly glancing around to make sure the area was safe, Jack crouched down next to Tatiana. He gently put his hand on her head, stroking her hair. "It wasn't heah," Jack whispered soothingly. "She's out theahe, somewheahe." He set his knife down next to the walker, now using both hands to hold Tatiana, rubbing her back and keeping her close to him. It'd probably be best for her to let it all out, he figured.

Tatiana couldn't stop from breaking down completely. Davi had been next to her since nearly day one of the out break, they had never been apart this long. Seeing that walker, it looking so close to what Davi looked like made it feel as if she had lost her. Putting thoughts into her mind that the reason she hadn't come back to the house in the last month was because she was one of those things. Leaning over she practically crawled into Jack's lap, clinging to him like a bird with a broken wing as she buried her face against his chest sniveling through the tears.

Jack held her tightly, smoothing her hair as she cried. "She's still out theahe, Tati," Jack offered, whispering gently. "She wouldn't want you to stop livin'," Jack continued, planting a soft kiss on her head. He hardly noticed the beating rays of the sun, slowly rocking Tatiana back and forth. "She'd want you to be happy--just like you'd want heah to be."

Tatiana slowly looked up at Jack, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, the tears streaking and staining her pale freckled cheeks as she looked at him. She looked so sad, so desperately broken right then. She didn't know what to say, even if she did she couldn't bring herself to utter a word between the heaving sobs; gasping for air between each one. Slowly clamoring to her feet she just kind of started shuffling towards the house, her feet barely moving over the pavement. From behind she looked as if she was one of the very walkers they killed to stay alive.

Jack picked up his knife, quickly wiping it on the walker, before putting his arm around Tatiana once again. They weren't too far away from their home, and he held her tightly, ensuring that she wouldn't fall or trip. It broke his heart to see her like this, so utterly defeated. There wasn't much he could say or do. He recalled perfectly how his mother looked--no, the walker that used to be his mother. The image continued to give him nightmares, a horror that he could never forget. Briefly, Jack considered carrying her, but decided against it. Whatever Tatiana was able to do, he figured, could only help her.

Tatiana kept walking, she was in a near catatonic state at this point. Feeling Jack's arm wrap around her she leaned against him, her hand coming up and clutching to his shirt. She was shaking, trembling against him as they made their way to the house. Once they were inside she just stood there in the middle of room, she didn't know where to go or even what to do. She looked so lost, barely evening blinking as the tears clung to her cheeks and dripped from the line of her jaw onto her chest.

Jack paused for a moment, before guiding her over to the couch. He gently sat her down, and took his place next to her. With his hands, he delicately wiped the tears from her face, drying her jaw with his sleeve. The rest he felt would step over a boundary to dry. Having done that, he grabbed the tattered blanket from earlier, and tucked her in. From there, he resumed his earlier activity, stroking her hair, and attempting his very best to soothe her. There were no words to express the pain he was sure she was feeling, nothing to be done than to let it all out.

"Maybe she left Cahhollton," Jack suggested softly.

Tatiana just sat there, unmoving for the longest time. Maybe he was right, maybe Davi had left the city. It was possible, unlikely and improbable but possible. Granted she didn't know which thought was worse, that Davi was still out there and just left her to be alone in the world without a second thought or for her to be dead and out of the misery that was this life now. Neither were a pleasant thought.

Finally she moved some, but only just enough so she could crawl like a lost kitten into his lap. Curling up against him as she rested her head on his shoulder and clung to his shirt with her fingers. A shaky breath falling from her lips as she tucked her head under his chin. Maybe it wasn't a proper thing to do but right then she didn't care about proprieties sake. Being around him made her feel better, he made her smile; right then she was desperate for comfort and as far as she knew Jack was the only person in the world still breathing that she cared for.

Jack continued holding her, allowing his chin to rest on her head. She was so small and so heartbroken, Jack couldn't help but want to wave a magic wand and take all of the pain away. Placing another kiss on her forehead, Jack began to talk. He told stories his mother had shared with him as a child, recounted the first time he had ever dealt with cicadas. When those stories exhausted themselves, Jack retold the plots of movies--in a rather cheesy fashion, admittedly. He filled the silence with his voice, hoping that some part of it Tatiana could find solace in.

Tatiana lay there in his arms, still clinging to him, but the tears eventually ran dry as he spoke. She sat there against him, curled up in his lap, and listened to every story he told, every movie plot he filled her in on. She didn't know if it was the stories, or just the simple sound of his voice, but it kept her from thinking about Davi. She'd tilt her head back from time to time to look up at him before resting her head back down. She felt drained, completely wiped from the ordeal and still was unable to speak. The only sound that came from her lips once the sobbing stopped was a yawn that she stifled as she buried her head against his chest.

He grinned, hearing her yawn. It was one of the most adorable things he ever heard. Lowering his voice as he continued on with his stories, he watched her, hoping that it would lull her into sleep. Jack didn't dare try to sing a lullaby--knowing him, his voice would crack and startle her, sounding like the dying screams of a pig. His memory of movies had since waned, and he went into the books he'd been forced to read in high school, detailing the events of the Help, despite only remembering one of the characters was named Skeeter. Eventually, he ceased talking, closing his own eyes, and hoping that Tatiana had long since fallen asleep.



Tatiana stirred lightly as the sun started coming into the room, another soft yawn leaving her lips as she nuzzled into a warm strong frame. Slowly she started to wake fully, her eyes opening as she realized that whatever she was curled up against was definitely not the pillow in the bed she had been sleeping in and the fabric clutched in her fingers was not the sheets. Watching the rise and fall of the shirt her head tilted back slowly until her eyes fell on Jack's face. Widening slightly as she turned her head back down, thinking back to the night before. Letting out a long breath as she remembered what happened and realizing they both must have fallen asleep on the couch the night before while he was trying to calm her down.

Jack had already been awake for an hour or so. He had kept his eyes closed for the most part, not daring to move. After yesterday, Tatiana needed her rest, and an escape from reality. Dreams were able to fulfill both of those options. Feeling her raise her head, Jack opened his own eyes, smiling goofily. "Mornin' princess," he greeted. "Sleep well?" He still remained still, despite his arms being a little stiff from remaining in one place so long, and his back in desperate need of a stretch. He didn't want to disturb her.

Tatiana nodded slowly as she sat up finally and looked over to him. "Um, yes, morning," she said timidly, she felt a little silly for the way she had acted yesterday and bashful for having fallen asleep in his arms like that. Granted she was not complaining, she had slept well despite everything. Swallowing slightly she slipped to the side and sat down on the edge of the couch next to him. She wasn't exactly sure what to say right then, which caused her to bit down on her bottom lip lightly unable to look over to him right then.

"It's okay, I know I'm God's gift to women," Jack said playfully. He stretched his arms out, yawning slightly, and enjoying the feeling of letting all of the tension out. After that, he reached over and brushed a piece of hair out of Tatiana's eyes, before placing his hands on his knees. Her discomfort, or perhaps embarrassment?, was rather obvious to him. It wasn't as if he minded her falling asleep on him--he couldn't deny that there was something about her that made his world a little less bleak.

Tatiana couldn't help but let out a bit of a nervous chuckle at his words. "Oh yes, everything a girl dreams of," she said in a quiet but teasing voice, her eyes still looking away from him and instead staring at the floor. Feeling him reach out an brush the hair out of her face she smiled slightly, her eyes finally looking over to him. She didn't know what she would have done without him over this last month, especially after yesterday. She probably would have ended up being that Walkers dinner if it hadn't been for him with the way she reacted.

"Dank you," she said quietly as she looked at him. She wanted to say more but she wasn't sure how to express her gratitude for all he had done for her. For making her smile when she felt down, for just letting her cry and get everything out, for calming her when she turned into an emotional wreck. Even right then he was still just being sweet to her even though she was acting like a timid little bird once again. She figured that maybe there weren't any words. Letting out a shaky sigh as she felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach she leaned over and gave him a rather sudden but soft kiss as she pressed her lips to his. They lingered there for a moment before she pulled away and she let out a nervous breath. "For everything."

Jack nodded, a blush spreading across his face. While he did want earnestly to kiss her again, he held back, waiting for her to be ready. It wouldn't do anyone any favors to rush into things, to create tension and distrust among the pair of them. For the last month, it had just been the two of them--he wasn't going to risk jeopardizing that. So he resolved to take it slow, to let Tatiana set the pace, and he would follow her lead. Just like a dance. "No need to thank me," Jack replied, grinning at her. "I should be thankin' you."

Inwardly Tatiana let out a sigh of relief, he didn't seem angry or taken aback because she kissed him. In fact he blushed in a manner in which she thought she would have if he had kissed her; though she doubted she would have complained if he did. His words though sent all thoughts of him kissing her out of her mind. Thanking her? It confused her utterly. In her mind it made no sense. She had nearly gotten herself killed yesterday. Looking at him as the confusion washed over her features. "Thank me? For vhat?"

"For a yeaah, I was alone," Jack explained. "But now, I've got you." The sentiment was short and simple, and he recognized that it belonged in the romance movies he avoided like the plague growing up. However, it had to be said. He could feel himself falling for Tatiana a little more as each moment passed.

Tatiana froze for a minute, his words bringing a red to come to her freckled cheeks. "Oh," she exclaimed, rather surprised but in a wonderful way. She finally managed to nod a bit as she let slip a shy smile. Reaching out she rested her hand on his lightly. "Ve have each other," she said softly as her slender fingers laced through his.

Jack gripped her hand tightly, grinning widely at her smile. As dorky and cheesy as the moment was, he didn't care. He could use something a little cheesy, a little romantic, after the hell the world had turned into. Right now, all he wanted to do was keep Tatiana safe. Hearing her say those four little words brightened his world, as if the entire world had turned off the lights, only to flick them on in unison. "Yes, yes we do."

Tatiana couldn't help but smile at him holding her hand the way he was; she was rather caught up in the moment. It was completely and utterly sappy but she didn't mind. She actually sat there half expecting him to lean in and kiss her or for her to just give in and kiss him again. It seemed like the right time to. That was until her stomach decided to be a prima donna and growl rather loudly at her. Her eyes widened in shock, horror, and total embarrassment. Neither of them had managed to eat the night before because of her little melt down and now her belly was sounding like the death thralls of bull elephant. It wasn't pretty.

Jack snickered, poking her belly playfully, as he got up from the couch. "Sounds like breakfast is in ordeah," Jack commented, walking over to their tiny and dwindling amount of supplies. He didn't dare say it, but he was beginning to suspect that Carrollton was picked over. They'd almost exhausted all of the resources, and soon enough, they'd have to move on. They'd have to find somewhere else--whenever Tatiana was ready for it, of course. "Let's see heahe...Wateah and a protein baah?" Jack offered, plucking the items from their stash. The bar was some off-brand, likely an attempt for whoever ran that Dunkin' Donuts wannabe to make some extra cash.

Standing up Tatiana finally stretched a little, running her fingers through her hair to comb it out a bit and trying to smooth out her clothing. She was suddenly very conscientious about the way she looked. Nodding a bit as she stepped over to him she took what was offered and sighed a bit as she spotted how little was left. They had managed to get up a decent supply of gas canned up in the back of the truck but food was becoming harder and harder to come by each day. There was probably still some in the larger areas of town but with it just being the two of them they dared not try to hit any place where they could likely be over run. Taking the bar she tapped the package against her fingers a few times before sighing. "Ve should leave...." she whispered, sounding nearly defeated when she did.

"We'll leave a map for Davi," Jack said quickly, thinking on his feet. It wouldn't be easy to leave a trail of breadcrumbs--but perhaps, they could leave one of paper. They had two maps. If they picked a location to head towards, they could circle it and leave the map behind at the house. Whenever they reached that destination, they'd figure out a way to indicate where they were headed next. Jack pulled his map out of the Rainbow Brite bag, spreading it out on the floor. "We circle on one of the maps wheahe we'ahe going," Jack explained, looking around for something to make a mark with. "Then Davi can find us when she comes back."

Tatiana didn't like the idea of leaving without finding Davi but they had to. Thankfully Jack was as reassuring as ever with an idea to help Davi find them if she did ever come back. It made the knot in her stomach loosen up a bit. Nodding she pulled out the other map from her bag and the red sharpie marker she kept with it. Taking a breath she looked over the map and sighed. She wasn't sure where they should go. Looking over at Jack she reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Vhere to?" she asked in timidly. She didn't want to pick, last place she had picked was where she and Davi had been separated.

He covered his eyes with one hand, and with the other, he twirled his index finger in a circle, before coming down on the map. It was the way he had picked his elective courses in middle school and high school. It was how he made decisions when he had no idea what to do. He left it up to fate. Opening his eyes, he saw his finger had landed on a town called Newnan. As far as towns went, it wasn't too far of a drive. "Newnan?" Jack asked, glancing at Tatiana. He wasn't too certain if she'd be quite pleased with his gambling like method of making a decision. But of course, it wasn't like he knew anything about Georgia beyond what the map told him.

Tatiana didn't mind how he chose, it was rather comical and exactly something that didn't surprise her. A goofy easy to pick where they went, he was always goofy and it made her smile. "Nevnan it is," she said agreeing with him and giving a curt nod of her head. Looking around a bit she signed inwardly. They had only been there a month but the place had grown on her. They had dance, laughed, lived there. She knew they had to go, but that didn't make it any easier.

Holding his hand out for the sharpie, he circled Newnan on Tatiana's map once he received it. He noticed her glance around the room, but first he took the map and dashed off to the bedroom, laying it out on the bed. As far as he was aware, Davi might need to take a snooze at some point. Smoothing it out slightly, he returned to Tatiana, marker still in hand. He recognized the wistful look in her eye, and an idea sprang into his head. "Wanna write ouah initials on the wall?" Jack offered. "Heaaht and everythin'."

Tatiana stood there looking around the place as Jack ran upstairs with map. As he came back down and mentioned putting their initials on the walls she cocked her head to the side. Stepping closer to him she perked a brow. "Vhat do you mean?" she asked a bit confused at what he was getting at or meaning. Jack grinned a bit, stepping over to the wall, sharpie in hand. In big looping motions, he scrawled a J and a T next to each other on the wall.

"Heaaht oah no heaaht?" he asked.

Tatiana stepped over to him, watching him draw on the wall. She still seemed a bit confused. "Vhat does this mean? Not knowing vhat you are saying," she admitted. She felt kind of silly not being able to figure it out.

Jack nodded, taking a moment to compose himself. Slowly, very deliberately, he focused on actually pronouncing the neglected letter. "Heart or no heart?" Jack managed to say, squeezing his eyes like a child who tasted something sour. "I can draw it around ouah initials," he explained. "Put our...mark...on the place," he continued, stressing the r as much as he could. Years of simply neglecting every r he encountered, he realized, were hard to overcome.

Tatiana still did not understand. She heard what he was saying but she was finding it hard to put into words what she was asking outside of just saying it in Russian, the word she was looking for was at the tip of her tongue. "No, vhat it mean?" she said as she pointed to their initials on the walls. "Heart and letters," she added before the word she couldn't get out came to her mind and she snapped her fingers next to her head. "Vhat it symbolize?"

"Oh!" Jack exclaimed, relieving that it wasn't an issue of dropped r's. He assumed that the error was just a difference in cultures. Mentally kicking himself for not realizing that sooner, he thought through how to explain it to her. "It, uh, it's what people do when they...when they like each othah. J is me, T is you. It's, uh, it's a statement...That we existed...That we...we had somethin' special. A mahk on the wohld."

Tatiana listened closely, taking in what he was saying and processing it. A smile came to her lips, though it was a shy and nervous one. Biting her bottom lip she stepped closer to him. "Heart mean ve together? Like, couple?" she asked timidly as fidgeted with the hem line of her shirt.

Jack nodded. "Yeah," he said plainly, still holding the sharpie. Through his work as a cop, he'd seen too many women pushed into things. He wasn't going to do that. Instead, he looked back at Tatiana, allowing her to make the choice. "Heaaht?" he asked.

Tatiana smiled slightly as she nodded. "Heart." She felt a little giddy inside and a lot nervous. With her life; years spent as a refugee, years studying ballet, then this world unfolding Tati had never really given herself a chance to get close to anyone, much less close enough to be with someone. It was scary, but exciting as well.

With the grace of a five year old with a crayon, Jack drew a heart around their initials. He capped the sharpie and gave it back to Tatiana, taking a moment to step back and admire his work. Now, no matter what happened, some bit of them would be remembered. It didn't matter to him if no one ever saw the crude drawing on the wall--just to have something permanent, something that would exist after they were gone, that was enough for him. "We should get goin'," Jack said after a pause.

Looking at the wall after Jack gave her back the marker she giggled softly. It was cute and fun, reminding her of Jack. Turning she grabbed her pack and placed the marker back inside. "Vait, one minute," she said before looking around and grabbing the monopoly game as well as the blanket he had used as a tutu. Wrapping the board game box up in it before slipping over to him. "Happy things important. Ve go no'v."

He grinned, taking the game and the blanket from her. There wasn't much room in his bag for it, but he could carry it with him, and set it down by his feet in the car. Hesitating slightly, Jack placed a light kiss on Tatiana's cheek, and handed the map over for her to navigate. His knife was in his free hand, ready in case any walkers attempted to interrupt their getaway. Walking over towards the back door, he shoved the furniture blocking it out of the way, and looked up again at Tatiana. "Ready?"

Tatiana reached up and touched the place on her cheek where he had kissed her, smiling softly as she bounced slightly on the balls of her feet. Taking a deep breath she slipped the map into her back pocket and unsheathed her hunting knife as she stepped over to him. "Ready," she said with a sure bob of her head.

With a nod, Jack opened the back door. The truck wasn't parked too far away, and despite not seeing anything dangerous, he couldn't help but run over. He opened up the truck, putting the game and the blanket in the backseat, along with his Rainbow Brite bag. While he couldn't dance to save his life, driving was one thing he was capable of. He waited there for Tatiana, certain that she likely laughed at his nervous sprint.

Moving out the door Tatiana looked around quickly before making her way to the passenger side of the truck and climbing in. Setting her bag next to Jack's she put her seat belt on and pulled out the map. Folding it to make it easier to keep a hold of while navigating. Leaning back she looked over to Jack and rested her hand on the open part of the seat between them. "Okay, let's go."

Placing his right hand on hers, Jack used his left to put the key in the ignition, causing the truck to come to life. He then took off the parking break, shifting the gear into drive, and contemplated putting the headlights on. Deciding that it shouldn't be too much of an issue, he turned the lights on, and began to drive from out behind the house, and onto the main road. He glanced over towards Tatiana, waiting for more specific directions as he headed in the general direction of Newnan.

Turning her hand over she laced her fingers with his and sighed softly. It was nice to have human contact, to feel affection. Looking down at the map she studied it for a minute before figuring out a route for them to take, granted it might do no good depending on how the roads were. "Ve go here, try get to 27 and drive south," she said suggesting which route they should take to start out.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Jack grinned, driving the truck in that direction. He dearly hoped that there wouldn't be anything blocking the road off. It was the only advantage to not having a car--there wasn't a need to worry if the road was blocked. You could simply climb over any obstacle. But with a truck, given that it wasn't designed for driving over large objects, that could prove a little trickier. Following her guidance, Jack made every turn he could onto a road that'd feed into 27, and whenever a blockage happened, he simply tried to find a way to go south. They were like birds, he realized with a smile, heading south for the winter--or in their case, the hellish nightmare that was reality.

The roads, once out even on a less traveled high way were a pain. Before long they had to turn around, back track, try a different route, and then turn around, take a side road and try again. Tatiana would grumble under her breath from time to time as she marked each blocked place on the map as close as she could. They were headed towards Newnan but definitely taking their elbow to get to their ass considering they were on Oak Grove Church Rd headed towards Roopville right now. Leaning back in the seat she rubbed her temples a bit as another road block came into view. If it weren't for the deep ditches on either side they could probably have gotten around. Shaking her head she leaned up and sighed. "Maybe ve should try move car. Roll off road," she suggested since there was only a couple of cars in the way this time.

Jack grimaced a bit. Moving furniture around in their house, that was one thing. The odds of a walker jumping out of the closet was pretty minimal. But with the cars? He couldn't help but envision one leaping out at Tatiana, and while he was shouldering another vehicle, her being bitten. To be truthful, Jack was more tempted to try his luck driving into the ditch, even with the tendency for a car to flip. However, he also knew that the situation was getting dire--there weren't that many roads left for them to try. "Alright, let's do that," Jack said, bringing the car to a stop.

Tatiana didn't like the idea anymore than Jack did but she knew it was what had to be done. Nodding slightly she moved her things aside and set them up on the dash board before pulling out her knife. Taking a deep breath she placed her hand on the handle and opened the door slowly, peaking around quietly before she stepped out of the truck and stood up fully. It seemed quiet, for now. Moving quickly she ran over to Jack and stood next to him, her free hand clinging somewhat to his arm as she looked around. "Stay together?"

Jack nodded, having shoved the keys in his coat pocket, and holding his knife in his right hand. If they were lucky, none of the cars would have their parking break on--but if they did, all they'd have to do would be to smash the window, reach inside, and disengage it. Still, he couldn't help but already imagine a hoard coming out towards them, manifesting themselves in a perfect circle, until there was no escape. "'Course," Jack smiled, glad to not see anything -- yet. "If we, uh, move that red one....and that grey one...I think I can pull the caah through the gap." It'd be tight, of course. He'd much prefer to scrape up the sides of the truck than to have to move extra cars, and put Tatiana in danger any longer than he absolutely had to.

Tatiana looked over at the cars he was talking about and swallowed slightly. She was nervous but she knew they needed to get it done and get it done quickly. Stepping over to the rear end of the red one she placed her hands on the trunk of the car and waited for Jack to join her. It felt like it was going to move without much of an issue but she was hardly strong enough to give it the shove it needed to roll down into the ditch alone. Taking a deep breath she gave it a hard shove once Jack joined her and nearly slammed her face into the back of the car as her foot slipped on some wet pavement. "Ugh..."

Looking down she jumped back a little as a Walker reached out from under the car and tried to grab her ankles. It looked like it had been run over and held pinned down under the back tire beneath the car all this time. The rolling of the wheel finally dislodged it and now it was crawling after her with its innards being torn from its hips with each crawl it made towards her. Tatiana's hands were still on the back of the car, it rolling on its down now and she couldn't get her balance to stand up fully, slowly leaning forward more and more as she bridge out over the Walker trying to keep it from biting her; her feet slipping in the blood on the concrete. "Jack!"

Quickly abandoning his grip on the car, he jumped a bit, hearing Tatiana's startled cry. She was arched over the walker, with the grubby thing desperately trying to get her. His eyes narrowed with rage as he took up his knife, and did a near perfect lunge under Tatiana, driving his knife through the walker's miserable head. His knees popped from the unexpected motion, and had his heart not been racing, he would have laughed at himself a tad. Rising to his feet, he offered an arm to Tatiana, assisting her in getting her balance back. "I'll, uh, I'll check undahneath the caah on the next one we move first, yeah?"

Tatiana reached out quickly and took Jack's arm, twisting her body before she could get a good grip and pull herself up. She stumbled a little on the blood still and clung to Jack as she finally regained her footing. Seemed slick blood and guts on concrete was as dangerous as water on a stage for her. Sighing she nodded as she leaned against him and looked around, hoping that her scream hadn't gotten the attention of any other walkers. It had, there were several moving their way now but they were still a good distance off. "Ve need hurry," she said quietly, not wanting to get their attention anymore than she already had.

His heart plummeted, glancing at the oncoming storm. Making a quiet resolution to himself to get Tatiana out of there, even at the cost of his own life, Jack put his hands back on the red car. It had already started rolling from their efforts, and he doubted that there would be any other walkers coming out from underneath it. Heaving all of his strength against it, Jack gave the car a good shove with Tatiana's assistance, sending it nearer to the ditch. Jogging over to it with one eye on Tatiana and the other on the walkers, he shoved again, this time sending it over. "Grey one, yeah?" he asked, wiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead. It was from some mixture of exertion or adrenaline.

"Da," she said quickly, moving over to it and looking under the car to make sure there wasn't another walker waiting to pop out and try to take a bite out of her ankles as he tried to reenact the Black Knight. Flesh wounds actually killed people these days. "Clear," she whispered as she looked over at Jack and tried to give the car a good shove but it wasn't moving. Tatiana glanced over her shoulder, the walkers were getting close and the car wasn't budging. Granted she had no idea why it wouldn't, she didn't know how to drive so she had no clue about parking breaks.

Jack bit down on his lip, before tossing the keys to Tatiana, who reached up and caught them with a confused look on her face. "Staht the caah. I'll move this one, and then jump in while you rev it. You put the key in the slot, turn till the engine roars, and then slam the gas like a walkah is right behind you," Jack instructed. Tati nodded quickly and ran for the truck, jumping in the driver seat.

Switching his knife over to his left, he ran up to the window of the grey car, shook his right hand slightly, and then punched with all of his might. Stifling his screams of pain as best as he could, with the blood running down his hand, Jack reached inside the car, careful not to cut himself more on the glass, and disengaged the parking break. Hoping desperately that Tatiana had their car running, adrenaline fueled Jack's actions, as he ran to the back of the car and pushed as hard as he could, convinced that the walkers were right on his heels. For all he knew, they very well could have been.

Tatiana started the truck, throwing it into gear like she had seen him do. Reaching over she threw open the passenger door as she hit the gas and the truck lunged forward. "Jack!" she yelled, worried he wasn't going to get in. Her hands trying to keep the truck going forward but she saw the blood as he ran towards her, worry growing in her eyes as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Comin', princess!" Jack shouted, managing to get the car halfway into the ditch. A decent tap from their own truck, he figured, would send it over and out of the way. Their lives were far more important than keeping their front bumper in decent shape. With the walkers just a few feet away, Jack heard the engine roaring. His hand continued to bleed profusely, and he made a few creative spins and twirls around the front side of the car, hoping to disorient and confuse the walkers. He clamored into the truck, letting out a slight sigh of relief.

Once Jack was in the truck she hit the gas, nudging the car out of the way before driving off down the street as fast as she could handle. She drove with all the grace of a five year old let loose with a golf cart but she stayed on the road mostly. She drove in silence until she put a good distance between them and the walkers. Out of sight but not out of mind. Slamming on the breaks, she brought the truck to an abrupt halt. "You're hurt," she said as she looked over to him, tears welling up in her eyes.

Jack glanced down at his hand, having gripped it in his shirt during the short drive. He'd been too busy making sure Tatiana didn't drive them into a tree than tending to it. "Nah, this is...this is a flesh wound," Jack joked, grinning. "I've had worse--this is nothin'," Jack continued, a bit more earnest this time. The glass hadn't cut into anything too important, and mostly, it had just ripped up his skin. It'd heal. A few tight bandages and he'd be good to go. "Really, it's nothin'."

Tatiana reached in the back seat and grabbed her bag as she moved closer to Jack. "You're hurt, I fix," she said quickly. Her words trembling as they left her lips. Pulling out her first aide kit and resting it in her lap. Opening it up she held out her hands to him. "Come come, give hand," she said as she looked at him, waiting for him to hold out his hand to her before she did anything.

He held his hand out to her, only wincing slightly at moving it. Rather than focusing on the searing pain, he focused on Tatiana, looking over every inch of her, checking for any sign that she had been hurt. Smiling softly, he flinched when she touched it, with several small shards of glass still clinging to his hand. "Caaheful, don't huaht youahself now," Jack cautioned. He really didn't want to end up being Blood Brothers with Tatiana.

"I von't," she said quietly as she grabbed the tweezers and carefully removed the remaining shards of glass. Sighing deeply she cleaned the wounds as gently as she could. She had a very delicate touch as she worked to clean the wound and bandage it up. Pulling his hand up once she was done she kissed the bandage lightly before reaching out to him and cupping his cheek in her palm. "You be careful, can't lose you too."

Jack nodded, kissing her lips lightly. "I promise," Jack whispered softly. After a moment, he pulled away, ready to switch spots with Tatiana in the car. He suspected that she'd have enough driving for one lifetime. "Want me to drive the caah?" Jack offered, willing, however, to let her continue to drive the car like a kid playing Mario Kart.

Tatiana's lips pulsed gingerly against Jack's, a small smile coming to her face. Looking down bashfully she closed up the first aide kit and shoved it back into her pack before tossing it into the rear seat. Looking back over to him she shook her head. "You hurt, I need learn. Teach me."

He grinned a bit. He'd never taught anyone how to drive before, and while his hand didn't hurt that much, it could be a fun experience. Mentally searching for what his driver's ed instructors had told him, Jack came up with nothing. Trial by fire it would be, then. "Alright, then. Just...Well, just do what you weahe doin' before. Drive forward, m'lady."

Tatiana giggled slightly and nodded. She really hadn't ever wanted to learn to drive but he was hurt and if something else came up she wanted to make sure she could get him to safety no matter what. He meant too much to her to not do everything she could to keep him safe and be there for him. "Seat belt," she said as she put hers on. If she crashed, she didn't want him getting hurt. Taking a deep breath she waited before putting the truck into gear and the truck lunging backwards before she slammed on the breaks.

Chuckling a bit, Jack shook his head. "Easy, tigeah. Press the gas pedal softly, and try to go smoothly..." He did, of course, realize that the advice he gave was subpar at best. Had he known any ballet terms, he would have tried to explain it along those lines. Was there a word for a light press and slow releases? As far as he knew, all ballet terms were actually curses in disguise--none of it made any sense to him. At least they didn't have to worry about hitting cars with people on them--he hadn't seen another living soul beyond Tatiana in ages.

"Vhoops, sorry," she said embarrassed as her cheeks went red. Shifting the truck from reverse into drive she tried again. Touching the gas pedal softer this time and driving forward. The acceleration was smoother but she was weaving around like a drunken grandmother on a Sunday drive.

"There, you got it," Jack praised. He couldn't care less about Tatiana driving in a straight line. He certainly wouldn't ticket her for winding about as she went. Every so often, he would gently tug on the steering wheel a bit, keeping her from heading off of the road. For the most part, he figured, she'd learn the best by simply figuring everything out. "Try and, uh, go straight...If you can," Jack said, relaxing a bit more as each minute went on. Had his hand not been cut up, he might have been clenching the seat a tad bit.

Tatiana nodded, trying her best to drive straight but she kept over correcting. It wasn't going to bad but it probably was a good thing that neither of them had a lot on their stomachs. Especially when out of no where a deer came bounding out of the woods and Tatiana hit the poor thing full force with the front end of the truck before she slammed on the breaks. "Bambi!!" she screamed as she looked horror at the dead mammal on the hood of their vehicle.

Jack, however, broke into a wide grin. "Dineah!" he cried, almost comically. Checking to see that the coast was clear, he sprang out of the truck, and grabbed the deer carcass with his good arm. The other hand he held up in the air, above his heart, in an effort to keep the slight throbbing pain down. Tossing the carcass into the bed of the trunk, he considered tying it down, but figured that the point was moot. Rejoining Tatiana in the cab, he was grinning like a madman. "Bambi'll last us a good while."

Tatiana watched wide eyed as Jack hopped out and tossed the dear in the back of the truck. As he climbed back in she finally unglued her white knuckled fingers from the steering wheel. Scooting over she climbed over Jack and motioned towards the drivers seat. "Please drive, too nervous," she said in a shaky voice as she pulled her knees up to her chest, it was obvious she was a bit shook up; so much she hadn't even noticed the blood trickling from her temple or that her head had hit the steering wheel to cause the gash.

Nodding, Jack climbed over into the driver's seat. It was a bit cramped, but somehow, he managed to make it work. He wasn't the most flexible person, that was for sure. He kissed her forehead lightly, avoiding the gash. "You've got a scahtch," Jack said softly, panicking on the inside, and attempting to stay calm for her. Reaching for her first aid kit, he rummaged through for a bandage, focusing on his breathing. He didn't want to freak out and cause her to freak out. "Stay still..." he murmured, finally finding one, and tightly bandaging up the wound. "Beautiful."

Tatiana reached up and touched the spot, pulling her hand away and staring at the blood as she pressed her fingers together. Letting Jack fix her up before looking up at him and smiling slightly. "Dank you lyublyu," she said softly. He perked an eyebrow at the last comment. "Huh?" He chuckled a bit, before sending the car flying forward once more, heading towards their ever elusive destination: Newnan. Hopefully, the roads would get clearer the closer they got--rather than the other way around.

Tatiana found herself blushing a bit as he questioned what she had meant. Pulling her knees up as he drove towards Newnan she rested her feet on the dash board, picking at the fabric of her jeans nervously. "Sweetheart term in Russia. Mean love," she explained as she bit her bottom lip lightly.

"Ah," Jack nodded. "I, uh, lyablue you too," he chuckled, grinning widely. He could see her anxiousness, and it only made her more adorable. Accelerating the car to move even faster, he kept his eyes on the road, though every so often, he would glance over at her, smiling wider and wider each time he saw her. "Maybe I should leahn Russian..."

Tatiana giggled sweetly at his trying to copy what she said. It was too adorable and endearing. Looking over to him she smiled softly. "Then first lesson. Ya lyublyu tebya..ya lu-BLUE teeb-YA," she said slowly as she enunciated it clearly for him and thanked God there were no R's in it. "Mean I love you."

Nodding a bit, Jack repeated it to himself in his head once. Repeating it again, he grew more uncertain about whether or not he remembered it correctly. His eyes on the road, he strummed his one good hand on the steering wheel, and cautiously butchered the Russian phrase. "Yah looblue teebyah?" Jack tried, glancing over at Tatiana. He figured that her amused face would let him know how far off he was.

Tatiana giggled softly as she brought the back of her hand to her mouth. It wasn't exactly right and his accent made it sound even more off but to her it was the sweetest thing she had ever heard. "Close enough," she chortled as she reached out and squeezed his shoulder gently. "Try this..solovey..sal-o-v."

He rolled his eyes a bit, figuring that she was now going to put him through his paces. Of course, he also noticed the lack of r's present--was his accent really that bad, he wondered? Steering the car around a flipped minivan, he continued on, his foot practically flattening the gas pedal as they rushed forward. Newnan, he hoped, wouldn't be more than about ten minutes away. "Saleohvee," Jack repeated, distrusting his sense of time. The entire fiasco with the walkers had thrown him off. Maybe it was twenty minutes away?

It wasn't that Tatiana was purposefully avoiding R's, though R's in Russian were usually rolled and it made it hard for a lot of people to get right, it was just she was teaching him some little things that she thought he might enjoy. Hearing his attempt at I love you in her mother tongue was sweet to her ears. Hearing him say a nickname that she had been given years ago and hadn't heard in so long was nearly as sweet. She smiled at him and nodded. "You do very vell. Solovey is my.." she said trying to find the word she looking for in English. "Nickname?" Was that the word, she thought it was but she wasn't sure. She was fluent in English but her and Davi had spent a lot of time speaking in Russian, so her English had gotten a little more rusty thant she would have liked. "It mean Nightingale."

"Solovey...," Jack said again, a soft grin playing on his lips. "It suits you." Sifting through years of memories, he couldn't find a nickname he'd gone by that could compare. Though, to be fair, "Jack" was a nickname. His actual name was Charles Jack Hudson, one of the most atrocious names to ever grace a human soul. Nightingale was just gorgeous, in both languages as well, and it seemed to mirror everything Tatiana was. "I can't say I've got a good nickname. Jack's my middle name. So I guess that counts, huh?"

Tatiana smiled over to him, she was glad he liked the nickname; she always had. Perking a brow she nodded slightly. "I like Jack. But vhat real name?" she asked slightly confused. Jack sounded like a normal American name, one she had heard before. Why would Jack be a nickname?

"Charles," Jack said, hardly touching the r. The way he said it, it was more like Chah-ules, but to be fair, it could have been much worse. The name never really suited him--Jack was a lot simpler, and to be fair, far easier for his friends growing up in Boston to pronounce. Even with the Charles River nearby, they still would drop the r with a vengeance. "Neveah really liked it," Jack shrugged, swerving around yet another downed vehicle. "How faah away are we?"

Tatiana made a face and pretended to gag a bit. She really didn't like the name either, at least not for him. It was so stuffy and uptight to her, or at least it sounded like it would be. He wasn't any of those things. "I like Jack better," she said smiling before glancing down at the map and then looking for some sort of road marker so she could figure out where they were. "A few more miles, not far," she said as they came around from the south end of the city and started heading back north on the main road. They had had to take the long way around but at least they hadn't had anymore problems since the cars blocking the road a ways back.

"Yeah, Jack is a bettah name," he agreed. "No idea what possessed my mom to slap Charles on me," he chuckled, slowing the car ever so slightly to just under 45 mph. You never knew what you'd find as you got closer to the cities, and so, it called for a slightly more cautious approach. For all he knew, there could be a group of walkers just a mile down the road, holding hands and singing kumbaya as Tatiana and Jack headed straight towards them. Or maybe there'd be a nice old wall for him to crash the car into.

"Maybe she thought you vould be serious person," she said before sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes a bit. Giggling at her own silliness before turning her attention back to the road as she leaned against Jack somewhat. Checking the map as the road went around a bend and more buildings were starting to show. Seemed they were getting closer and closer as each minute ticked by. She hoped there was something there, they needed supplies right then. Granted they had enough gas to last a while, so if there wasn't anything there, at least they could keep moving come tomorrow.

He snorted. "If so, she must have been disappointed," he commented, turning the wheel gradually to navigate the bend. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the buildings appear, keeping an eye out for any sign of life. Humans could be just as bad as the walkers, if not worse. "There was probably some old dead guy named Charles, I figuhe," he said idly, with a bit of a chuckle. "She loved, uh, the so-called regulah dead people. Histohy buff."

Regular dead people? That made Tatiana perked a brow but she didn't get a chance to say anything as the outer wall of Newnan came into view about a mile down the road as the made it down the straightaway. "Jack...." she whispered, squeezing his arm slightly as she rested her free hand on the map in her lap. A wall could mean people, that was if everything was okay within the wall. Thing was, if there were people what kind of people were they? As excited as Tatiana was to see some sign that people were still living in this day and age, she worried what kind of people could have created a wall like that. It worried her, she didn't do good around normal people much less less than kind folk.

Jack frowned as well, stopping the car. "I know..." he frowned, eyeing the wall. No one would have gone to that sort of trouble for no reason. There had to be people inside of the wall. He couldn't be certain whether they were good or bad, what type of shady things they accomplished to survive. However, there was a chance that there'd be good people there. "We can drive an' take a chance," Jack surmised. "Or....we could turn around and go someplace else." He glanced over at her, mentally allowing her to make the decision. He'd protect her either way.

Tatiana wanted to run, to just turn around and go. They had been fine over the last month the two of them, in fact other than supplies they had be great. They had laughed, had fun, things that didn't actually happen a lot. But supplies were needed and there was something else. What if Davi was in there? Could she ever forgive herself if she turned around and walked away and her friend for so many years was inside? Looking over towards Jack she got that same timid yet determined look that she got as her grip tightened on his arm. "Davi... I have to knov," she said quietly.

He nodded, realizing her point. Davi could very well be inside the wall, having found her way to safety there. Taking his foot off the break, he pressed on the gas, closing the gap between them and the wall. He couldn't deny a bit of him was fearful of what was to come, of the unknown. It reminded him back of his days on the force, when he'd be sent as backup, and enter a home without an idea of what he'd find there. "Okay," Jack said simply, giving her hand a squeeze as the car pulled up to the wall.

Swallowing hard as they headed for the wall Tatiana kept a look out, there didn't seem to be anyone outside the wall and only a few corpses on the ground that had been put out of their misery and hadn't been cleaned up yet. On top of the wall though she spotted someone who spotted them and had a rifle aimed down at the truck as they pulled up to the gate and stopped. Well someone was home but whether or not they would shot them dead in their tracks remained to be seen. Tatiana felt herself getting even more nervous and clinging to Jack as the person yelled out from the tower perched at the top of the wall. "Out of the truck!"

"It's okay," Jack reassured her, opening his door. The training he'd received back in the day kicked in, and he exited the vehicle slowly, hands raised in the air. They'd drilled into him to never give someone a reason to shoot, to comply as best as he could, and then hopefully, he'd make it home safely. That same mantra came back to him as he stepped around the hood of the truck, nodding at Tatiana to come as well. His weapons were at his side, yet he didn't draw them. "They won't shoot unless we give 'em a reason to."

Tatiana nodded and slipped out of the truck, one hand on Jack's arm that was raised in the air; she couldn't stop clinging to him and look on her face showed she was terrified right then if the shaking of her hand didn't. Her other hand raised up like Jacks and she looked around nervously, she didn't like being exposed like this. "Alright, toss all weapons and bag into the back of your truck. When the gate opens, drive to the next check point and exit the vehicle again; wait for instructions. Give us any problems and we will put a bullet through your heads," the man at the top of the gate yelled before giving a signal as the gate started to open slowly and two others at different points on the wall popped up and pointed their guns at the two below. "Miss Zoie, it's Jim at the outter gate. We got two incoming to the Inner Gate for Inspection," he said into the radio.

Jack nodded, slowly lowering his hands. "No, uh, no sudden movements now," Jack advised, slowly grabbing his Rainbow Brite bag and putting it into the back. He chuckled slightly to himself at the deer carcass--in all of the fuss, he'd forgotten that was back there. His hand had mostly stopped aching as well, and he put his weapons down in the truck bed as well. "They'he just as scahed as us," he said again, preemptively trying to calm Tatiana down. Tatiana let out a slow breath to try to calm her nerves but it didn't help. Following Jack's lead she tossed her gun and her knife into the back of the truck before grabbing her bag and doing the same.

Climbing back into the truck she looked around even more nervous than ever as the gate opened just enough for the truck to get through. Sitting she rested her hands on the dashboard and kept looking around, her head turning from side to side as they drove through the gate. The place seemed huge and she could see animals, actual live stock and crops growing. People were walking around working. She bit her bottom lip nervously before looking back over at Jack and reaching out for him, slipping her arms around his and getting close to him.

He grinned a bit, having Tatiana close to his side. As he slowly drove the car forward, he glanced around in amazement at their new surroundings. It almost seemed like heaven to him, with all of the life and the apparent lack of need to live off of snacks. "We won't need Peppahidge faahm now," he said, his smile growing wider. At the next check point, he stopped the car once more, ready to comply with the instructions. Once more getting out of the vehicle, he kept his hands in the air, yet his eyes continued to wander around, soaking up the new sights and sounds.

Tatiana nodded slightly as she looked around. As they stopped she climbed out of the truck the same way as she had before; still clinging to Jack as she looked up and spotted a young woman perched at the top of the wall. She looked down at the two before giving a signal with her hand and those around the wall lowered their guns to the two. "Well I'll be damned. Livin' Folks. Yousa hold yerselves right there and I be down. Don't be trying nothin' and we won't be doin' nothin' to ya got it? Isa be Zoie, welcome to Newnan."

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Kristina groaned slightly as she heard her alarm going off, she slowly opened her eyes as she looked up at the alarm it was very early in the morning and the sun was barely rising she shut it off as she rolled onto her back. She was still slowly adjusting to living behind walls again but she was happy to be behind walls. The first few days of being in Newnan were truly the hardest for her, without her sister or Lorna she felt alone and rarely spoke to anyone, but she slowly started to open up the people here treated her like family which made her happy, she slowly started to get used to working out in the fields like she used to when she was younger. Every evening after work Kris would spend sometime where they buried Maria and Lorna and just pay her respects to the two people that had been taken away from her.

Kristina slowly climbed out of bed and went to get changed into some clothes for the day and slipped on a pair of boots. She quietly walked out of the apartment she had been assigned to, and headed over towards the meeting where everyone was gathering to get assignments for the day and what needed to be done. Kristina would smile softly towards the people and nodded and said hi to them. Kristina stood in the crowd looking up at Zoie, she liked her though their jobs Kris hadn't had an actual bonding moment with her yet.

Once the meeting had been finished Kristina headed towards the Mess Hall to get some breakfast before meeting the rest of the agricultural staff. Once she had finished eating Kristina headed over towards the main gate that led to agriculture as she headed there Kristina stood there and waited for James to give her assignment to do for the day.

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Sophia slowly opened her eyes as she looked towards the window as the sun started to shine through and sighed quietly as she used her right hand to pull herself up into a seated position, being cooped up in the infirmary for the last month wasn't all that fun for her. Sophia looked down at her stump that had healed up. Luckily she didn't lose her right hand instead of her left otherwise everything would have been harder getting used to using a non dominate hand. Froggy had kept her entertained so it wasn't that bad as she enjoyed his company when he wasn't busy and he would try and teach her some French. And of course their card games between Richard and him, which was entertaining to watch Richard lose every time.

Then Sophia had heard the door opening to the infirmary and smiled seeing Astrid coming in, she was really happy to hear the news that she was actually going to be let out today. "Is this little birdy happen to be named Froggy?" Sophia said jokingly as she accepted the peach that Astrid had given her. She took a bite out of the sweet juicy fruit and looked up towards Astrid as she chewed a little bit more before finally swallowing. "I've been waiting forever to leave my cell, and finally sleep in an actual comfortable bed for once." Sophia smiled as she took several more bites out of it and setting the pit on the table next to her, the medical beds weren't known to be completely comfortable to her at least.

Sophia was truly grateful for everything that Froggy and Astrid had done for her. "Hey, also thank you for everything that you;ve done for me.." Sophia said softly she was lucky that a complete stranger had helped her, most people outside of the safety of walls and communities like Newnan they either left you to die or they would have killed you regardless.

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The month passed with Ashton throwing himself into whatever project came along next, displaying his almost trademark stoic professionalism. Luckily for him, there was a lot to do. His responsibilities with Engineering kept him especially busy, having to handle the brunt of the repair and modification. Walls to fix. Gates to install. Wells to dig. His Hordebuster required diagnostics and repair, a thing which could not be put off, owing to the nature of projected supply and salvage runs. Much of this required substantial assistance from Newnan's two resident metalworkers; one of whom spoke very little, the other comparatively much, often with horrible, vulgar descriptors.

When he wasn't giving orders or pushing himself with Newnan's upkeep, Ash could be found in his home, writing with a clean, solid hand in a series of notebooks. Every penstroke was calculated for legibility and sentence structure, designed for easily comprehensible reading. There were several such notebooks carefully set aside in his home, but there seemed to be three that got the majority of his attention these past few weeks, titled "Distillation of Spirits and Utility Products", "The Hordebuster", and "Civil Engineering, Present and Projected".

The first such text detailed the construction and proper operation of a few different types of stills suitable for the production of alcohol, vinegar, and purified, distilled water. The applications within the walls of Newnan were limitless; it could be said that the city ran on booze. Not just the stuff for drinking, though Ash was a man with a talent for making The Good Stuff, but the utility alcohol used for medical purposes, fuel, sterilization, even weaponized. And yes, he made sure to add much in the way of information about his personal techniques and recipes for good, old fashioned, smooth, consumable liquor. Vinegar was an essential item as well, one that promised to get vigorous use once crops started coming in after a few more weeks. Distilled water found its uses with Medical, primarily, though when needed it was the most excellent medium for the production of flammable beverages at their disposal. A touch of family history rounded out this Tome of Potent Liquids, making it the equal of any textbook on the subject.

His second book, "The Hordebuster", told a story of the origin of the 1990 Freightliner FLD Class Severe Duty Tandem Drive Utility Truck; its origin as a hauler in Canada, subsequent modification to conform to United States law concerning freight haulers on interstate highways, and its role in the Holloway family business. The script changed ever so slightly, bolder, more determined, when it discussed the events leading up to the massive alteration Ash had done to it, turning it into the unmistakable road beast known to Ash's people as The Hordebuster. The tale of it aside, it contained all of the technical information required to properly service the machine, and even rebuild it if necessary. Further, written inside were his plans for future upgrades, were the situation to do so availed itself. The information inside would allow a suitably talented individual to fully construct another Hordebuster, given the right vehicle to start with as a base.

"Civil Engineering, Present and Projected" was a potentially dangerous book to let loose. Alternately, it could function as a blueprint for any other such group of survivors in their situation, looking to survive and rebuild in the wake of global catastrophe. The script outlined the structures in Newnan that made their community possible: Wells, cisterns, solar plants, their power grid, the construction of walls and gates, and the myriad of other systems in place. The utilization and augmentation of existing technology was written about at length, and a good half of the script and pictures concerned plans for expansion and further innovation, in hopes of bringing more good people into the community.

There was one final piece of documentation that Ash penned over the course of the month, one that he drafted again and again, meticulously, until he was certain that he had gotten it exactly how he wanted it. It was a short piece of text, in comparison to the others, clearly labeled with the words: "Last Will and Testament - Ashton J. Holloway". The Captain gave this last piece considerable thought, at least daily. He would take it out and read it, sometimes many times. This particular day, it was the first thing he did when he rose in the morning.

Ash outfitted himself for a day inside the walls. Cargo style ACU pants and a close fitting black shirt, polished black combat boots, and his industrial cutsleeves. The last item seemed an oddity, a bit strange looking until one got used to seeing him in them. Still, he insisted on having them on his person. Generally, the Captain insisted on wearing a patrol cap bearing his rank insignia. Today it was folded over and stuck in one of his cargo pockets. He didn't quite feel himself today. Then again, he hadn't quite felt himself for a while. Rather than fully prepare for a battle, he brought with him his .45 and his knife; a big, shaggy thing that was essentially a knuckle duster with broad, slightly curved blade. Just because he knew he would be working, he snapped his canteen upon his utility belt, full of good, clear water.

It had been a month to the day since all hell had broken loose in Newnan, bringing them fully into spring. May 1st was considered a holiday of sorts, among some older cultures; a time of rebirth and green, growing things. While Ash didn't know about all that, it was a time to get things done for the community. One thing that advancing spring did bring with it was the return of prevalent wildlife. One day, and soon, he needed to take a group out and go hunting. Or have James do it. Deer would be coming out soon, and Wild Hogs would be circling back around to this area any day now. Something to talk to their Agriculture Lead about later.

For now, Ash gathered the four items on his study table, smoothed out his shirt, and started toward the door. He stopped for just a moment, regarding the coatstand next to his front door. It had a recently familiar coat hung upon it. Brown, mottled leather, it formerly belonged to Leann McCormick, the previous Commanding Officer. More accurately, it was her grandfather's flight jacket from World War II. Ash's own jacket was utterly destroyed one month ago; he had let the newcomer, Lorna, borrow it to distinguish her from the invaders. She was buried with it. For a brief moment, Ash considered wearing the decades old coat of Leann's, but ultimately decided against it. It was getting warm out, and he would be working today.

Notebooks and papers in hand, Captain Holloway strode out to the sidewalk and turned to go to the Courthouse.

A few minutes later, Ash had his writings under lock and key. He recovered freshly charged batteries for his walkie, and grabbed a few tools from storage that he thought might be useful. With a businesslike demeanor, he strode into the Infirmary. Nodding to Astrid, he paid some attention to the pair of them, she and Sophia. "You're looking well, ma'am. Doc's report from last night says you're about good to go. Domestic should have your quarters squared away whenever you're ready."

Ash looked around the Infirmary proper again. Victor wasn't around, and he was the person Ash had come to see. He must still be in his quarters. Nodding to the two women again, he gave a stern but polite, "Ma'am, and ma'am." before heading out and over to the Doc's designated apartment within the building.

Ash gave a curt knock to his door. A formality, really; him being polite and respecting the Doctor's personal space. "Dr. Bonheur! We have time scheduled at the Distillery. Meghna has a barrel or two of spoiling fruit we need to convert, on the now. I'll meet you there."

Satisfied that the doctor would see to his non-medical responsibilities, Ash exited the building. A part of him actually felt hopeful for the day - his and Froggy's task was the production of peach brandy. Longer than a one day affair, still, the most important part had to be done now. That, and Ash was looking forward to eventually sipping on a jug of sweet, peachy ambrosia.

The little things in life, especially now that life was so brutish and short, were especially important.

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James was awake right at dawn. Perhaps it was survival instinct, or the side effect of being raised entirely in an agricultural setting. Whatever the cause, he was up just before the sun, ready to go. A quick few minutes of getting himself ready and pulling on fresh overalls, he hightailed it over to the Mess to grab a quick something before jumping headlong into his tasks for the day. He didn't figure on needing his bow, nor Vera today; it was a day for digging in dirt and slopping hogs.

The morning meeting went by as things do in an ordered community; fast and easy. When everyone knows what they're doing, and the folks in charge trust the judgement of the people working under them, this is how it's supposed to go. Times past, way past, James had responsibilities like this. Not quite on the scale of keeping a community alive, but he had run a farm before. Not as the big bossman, mind you, but he played his part where he was needed, and as a result came to know a great deal about keeping people fed.

It was a good system, what he had set up. One that he hoped would stay in the care of Maria Smith, before her untimely expiration. But it looked like he had re-inherited the responsibility whether he wanted it or not. Still, he was competent with this kind of management. The system was based on crop and livestock rotation, restoring the soil for the next go around. Two chief crops were produced, chosen for nutritional value and how long they could be preserved: Corn and Peanuts. Another full section of the growing area was dedicated to the various fruits and vegetables that made mealtime more exciting, seasonally. When rotation occurred, everything shifted location to accommodate what the last crop left behind in the soil, changeable in location with Livestock. All in all, a very tidy and sustainable way of keeping Newnan fed, in an manner almost as ancient as the concept of Agriculture itself.

After breakfast and the morning meeting, James went in search of his people to hand out assignments. As the crops were in, all that was really needed today was a little upkeep, maybe some weeding in Crops. Livestock was where the fun was to occur today. No huge, major ordeals to perform, but the basic care for these animals meant adequate access to food and water. Certain elements of their holding pens must be shoveled elsewhere and composted. Horses needed to be exercised.

Perhaps James would speak to the Valkyries about the horses, the pair seemed to have a thing for them. At the least, new blood in the form of Cadence and Edgar, their personal mounts. Fine animals, those, strong. Their "Horsey Essence" would make for satisfactory breeding with their preexisting stock of horseflesh. But that was for another day.

Today, James would find the two people assigned to Livestock and get them started. He could clearly see from the street in front of the courthouse that Kristina was on her way to the gate to Crops. No problem. He moved at a jog to meet his crew at the gate.

"Mornin' there, Little Sister!" he started, looking as cheerful as being awake at this hour allowed, "Naw, we got people pullin' weeds n' such. You, me, and Guy'll be out the south gate. We gots'ta feed the animals and collect eggs. C'mon now."

He looked to Guy, the man who took over the sniper's post from that horrible day one month ago. Then it occurred to him that it had been exactly one month since. "Hey hey! Good news there, Guy! Today's your last day shovellin' pigshit for me, 'less you wanna reassign permanent! Good news, right?" James looked to Kristina and winked. It was no secret that he wasn't especially happy with the assignment, but it beat exile. Or worse. Hell, Guy had gotten off easy, getting to work for him. If only he'd been able to transfer him off of stable-mucking duty regularly, it really wouldn't have been such a bad work detail. But, somebody had to do it.

Black James put just a bit more spring in his step, and began leading his team toward the main gate.

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Bridgette wasn't sure how she wound up sleeping sideways on her bed, over the covers. Or why she was naked except for a goggled aviator cap. Or where in the room-spinning Hell she even found a goggled aviator cap. These things were of little importance. What was primary on her mind, headwear aside, was the fact that there were still good peaches sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table.

She had to repeat that again in her mind: There were peaches, in a bowl, in the kitchen. Holy shit.

Ordinarily, Bridgette had zero appetite early in the morning, preferring to get moving to whatever had to be handled first in the day. Until recently, that had been packing up and getting on the road. But there was fruit within her reach, here. Sweet, delicious, fresh little spheroids of fuzzy orange flesh, loaded with juicy nectar. She hadn't expected to see anything like that again, not for years. Thinking on it, she hadn't expected to sleep somewhere reasonably safe, without her armor, in a frigging bed ever again. So much so that she woke up naked, sideways, with an aviator cap. Here, in an apocalyptic world, that must just be the norm.

But back to the peaches - Bridgette was already up and moving before she realized that she was slightly hung over and had forgotten to put on pants. No matter, keep to priorities. Peaches. Her journey to the kitchen was a little bit shaky but very direct. She grabbed a couple of peaches from the bowl and attacked one immediately. Even if she had never experienced the wonder of this particular fruit before, and no matter that she hadn't in ages, there was a stone certainty in her that this region produced the best peaches in the entire goddamned planet. Period.

Her initial guttural desire sated, Bridgette walked over to Bryn's bedroom door, slightly ajar from Astrid's actions earlier, She spoke through the crack in the doorway, "She's a bitch but she's right. We got shit to do. Cap'n says there's a couple cracks in the eastern wall that need fixing; you and me are just the cunts for the job." She glanced down, seemingly just realizing her state of undress. "Huh..." she began in a matter-of-factly voice while adjusting the goggles off of her eyes "That's fucking weird. You get up. I need to find my pants."

After a few minutes, Bridgette found herself dressed in clean clothes, quite ordinary to the century - Loose carpenter's jeans, high brown snake boots, and a black tank top. She tied a pink paisley bandanna around her braids, letting them fall across her back. Her concessions to her occupation as a Professional Battle Bitch came in the form of her riveted steel bracers and greaves. Additional protection in places intended to take a blow, and a little extra oomph if she suddenly felt the need to knuckle a guy. Day being very young, that could be a possibility.

She finished off her second peach and pocketed the seeds. Funny, the concept of preparing for a long-term future both irked and comforted the wiry metalworker. There was no illusion that this place was an invincible bastion of all things good and holy. One bad day could ruin everything. Hell, it almost did the day she arrived. But it was a thing worth fighting for, which was, in this world, almost as good.

As it turned out, Bridgette didn't have an especially busy day lined up. The work on the wall shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. Then she had a class on coordinated melee violence she had to instruct. She had considered keeping to her forge after that, working on farming tools or weapons after that. But her day was open. In truth, she was looking forward to getting back to work. Something about perfectly rounding a red hot horseshoe with a hammer and set of tongs was massively appealing. So was turning scrap metal into masterful weaponry. Unless something compelling occurred, she would definitely be back at the forge later that day.

Come to think of it, Sophia came out of the infirmary today. Oh yeah, she'd need a visit from her "personal trainer". Maybe after supper.

Bridgette walked casually out of her house (an actual house in a historic district!) and walked around to the wide pens for their horses. Another recent addition, it gave them grazing and wandering room but kept them close to their masters. She approached Cadence with a great smile, led him under the awning, and saddled the noble beast. The east wall was a ways off, and she would need tools. That, and she took any opportunity to get in a good, brisk ride. This would do.

A quick stop to their work area, less than a block down the way, scored her the equipment she needed. Simple weld repair wasn't a huge ordeal, though it would be substantially easier with two people. Besides, no one should go anywhere alone these days. Even behind walls. She rode Cadence back up to her house, prompting her friend within to get vertical, if she wasn't already.

"Hey! Get your tits moving, Aggie, or I'm going to tell people you're into brony porn!"

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Astrid just nodded as she went about her business, a small smile playing on her lips as she gathered up things and moved them around to restock some of the shelves. Turning she stopped as Sophia thanked her. "You're welcome," she said about the time Ash came waltzing in through the door. She didn't say anything, just giving a nod of her head from time to time. Astrid might as well been considered mute for all intensive purposes; in fact some people in Newnan thought she was. Only about half had actually heard her speak a word. The other half refused to belief the first half that she actually had vocal cords and a tongue.

Once Ash was gone Astrid wheeled over the wheel chair and hung Sophia's things over the edge. "Let's get to home. Zoie assigned you a room, moving you there," Astrid said as she helped Sophia into the wheel chair and began to make her way out of the infirmary and out into the early morning air. The sun was fully up and it was already starting to get hot; feeling a bit hotter than normal since Newnan was probably one of the few places left on the planet with electricity and air conditioning.

Pushing her outside she crossed the street and headed east to the smaller of the two make shift apartment complexes in Newnan. This one known as Building E. Once inside she pushed her down the hall and stopped, knocking at the door lightly before pushing it open and wheeling Sophia inside. "You're new home," she said quietly.

The place wasn't big but it was enough. It had a general area that had a small living room of sorts; couch and table. Nothing special. A few cheap dresser to put things in. On the right was a door that lead to the bathroom with a toilet, sink, and small shower; nothing fancy but more than most had in this world. Off to the left was a single bedroom; in there would be two twin beds with a night stand between them and a wire hung across the window in front of the curtain to hang things up on.

"Neisha, Sophia is home," she called out as she patted Sophia on the shoulder a bit before looking down at the girl. "Victor says you still need to take it easy a few more weeks. So take it a day at a time, any problems come to the infirmary. Use the wheel chair until you are sure you are steady on your feet."

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Tatiana just nodded slightly as she lowered her one arm and clung closer to Jack as Zoie slipped out of sight, making her way down the staircase from the outlook post to the ground. The gate opened slowly once she was down and the southern belle stepped out towards the two. Zoie kept her pistols holstered on her hips but that did nothing to calm Tatiana down who was trembling like a baby bird against Jack as her fingers fidgeted with the front of his shirt. Zoie cocked a brow seeing how nervous the woman was, she couldn't exactly blame her. If she had come into the town the way she was she would have been nervous as well but she hadn't. She had come into the city in the middle of an attack and didn't have the luxury at the time to get all nervous.

"Breath darlin', ain't nobody gonna be hurtin' ya here. Wes all gets alongs well enough. Long as yous don't be startin' nutin' we won'ts be statin' nutin." Zoie was trying to reassure the ballerina but it wasn't working. Between having guns pointed at their heads from various people standing at posts along the top of the walls and Tatiana only being able to understand half of what Zoie said because of her thick accent and southern turn of phrase there was nothing but Jack that could keep her from basically fainting right then. Tatiana just stood there, looking at Zoie for a split second before her eyes darted downward. Zoie let out a bit of a breath, pitying the woman and wondering how in the world she had survived this long if she was such a nervous Nelly. Looking at Jack she shrugged a bit, he must have been the reason she was still breathing.

"Alright, I guess I shoulds be gettin' this over with. This be Newnan. I be Zoie, second in command. Bossman be a gent by the names of Ash. We haves rules. Yous come in this gate yous be interviewed by us. We figure out where you be goin'. Yous will have jobs, yous will work. Cause no problems, gets no problems. Yous allowed no weapons untils you accepted by ours people. Longs as you cans handle that, yous welcome here," she said as she rested her hands on her hips but to Tatiana it looked like she was about to draw on both of them and she slipped in front of Jack with her back to Zoie as her arms wrapped around his waist.

Zoie tilted her head to the side and pulled her hands back up, showing her palms to demonstrate she wasn't about to shot anything. The girls movements though made a small smile come to her lips. Seemed even though the girl was a jumpy as a rabbit on speed, she was protective of the man she was with. Nodding she looked at Jack and then at the back of Tatiana's head. "So, what be yer names?" she asked but Tatiana didn't answer. "O...kay. What be yer name?" she asked looking over at Jack as she gave the signal for the men along the posts line to lower their weapons. She felt right then the biggest danger was her having to page Froggy to bring smelling salts for the overly timid woman in front of her.

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"See? Guns lowahed," Jack encouraged, smiling at Tatiana. It hardly seemed to work, as she continued to tremble fiercely against him. He kissed the top of her head, hoping to calm her down as best as he could, without concealing his hands. Giving anyone a reason to shoot would only lead to more tragedy and disaster--something he very much wanted to avoid. Tatiana had been through enough. She didn't need snipers to shoot at her.

Jack whispered softly to Tatiana, attempting to soothe her. He kept a tight grip on her, a bit worried that Tatiana might slump to the ground. Reflecting on it though, he realized he shouldn't have been too surprised. The first time he met her, she barricaded herself in the upstairs bedroom, and made him sleep on the couch. It was the first time he'd been sent to the couch before the relationship even started.

"We've uh....We've had a rough time," Jack explained sheepishly, looking towards Zoie. He'd seen bad people before, he'd been at the end of their guns. She didn't seem to be the type to kill and hurt people. As far as he was aware, no one would have been able to build what he saw as a paradise without being a sensible person. He took in her explanation, partially wondering whether or not this was all a dream. There'd been rumors of settlements almost, large groups able to survive and weather the three year long storm. He blinked a bit, just as Tatiana put herself like a shield in front of him.

"It's, uh, it's the guns," Jack explained again. He grinned when Zoie lifted her hands, nodding a bit in thanks. Newnan seemed to be their best bet at survival--and at finding Tatiana's friend. He kissed the top of Tatiana's head again, hoping to coax her out of the shyness and nervousness that had consumed her. Seeing her not respond, he looked back up at Zoie. Had Tatiana not encircled him, he would have reached out to shake her hand.

"I'm Jack, Chicago PD," Jack answered, smiling at Zoie. "And this is Tatiana...Best danceah in the States."

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The last month had not been the best for Niesha. Not being able to see Sophie when she wanted to, having to tiptoe around. Most of the news she heard about Sophie was through Kristina, and she wasn't even too sure how that friendship started. All she wanted was to be there for Sophie, instead she had to steal time with her whenever she could. She hated the scurrying about. But it was more then what she could have. She wanted to be close if something went wrong with Sophie. If something went wrong, nothing could stop her from being there. Fortunately that didn't happen and as the weeks went on, Niesha figured the worst was passed.

Having been assigned to the gardens, Niesha had found it a little challenging at first until she had identified all the plants, what ones bad medicinal purposes and what they did, writing them down and even drawing little sketches, it wasn't long until she had complied a complete, competent list. She didn't particularly care if someone had already done it, she wanted this for herself. James was a good person to work under, but as the days went passed, Niesha grew bored. She could, she knew, create various ointments, salves, even teas that could be used as preventative health care as well as help maintain things like asthma, allergies and other such things that no doubt needed medication that either wasn't available or would soon run out. But she knew she wouldn't be able to do that, unless she could prove it was necessary.

She ignored the sounds she could hear outside the building as she sat on the bed she had claimed, already dressed, wondering if she had to go to the gardens today. But the decision seemed moot as Astrid called out, and Niesha jumped up, darting out the bedroom. Despite the fact that this was clearly an apartment for two, Niesha had been worried Sophie wouldn't be placed with her.

Sparing a glance for Astrid, she gave a smiled to Sophie, "I'm glad you are finally out the infirmary"

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Astrid nodded towards Neisha as she entered the room, letting the two say hello before she looked over to Sophia and and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Now, remember if you need anything just come to the infirmary. Don't push yourself too hard just yet, you are still recovering," she said in a simple and yet firm tone; one Sophia would be rather used to over the month long stent in Newnan's Infirmary. Turning she bid both of the women a good day before making a quiet exit out of the shared apartment; closing the door gently behind her.

Gathering the front of her dress she lifted it just slightly as she made her way out of the buildings and headed back west through the city of Newnan to return to her morning post at the infirmary. Victor was supposed to be spending the morning with Ash in the distillery so it was her job to take care of anything none life threatening until he was done with that and lunch. Glancing up she noted the sky and how brightly the sun was shining, another hot day in the state of Georgia. She wondered to herself if Georgia could even be considered a state anymore. States and countries were areas of lands, borders made by governments. There really was nothing like that these days. Just general masses and places people tried to survive.

Her thoughts were taken from her as she heard a child cry out and turned her head, her hand falling on the hilt of her knife as her eyes darted about. It was Vaughan, one of the younger boys. He couldn't have been more than five and had fallen and skinned his knee up as he was trying to chase a worn soccer ball. Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. Even after a month of being inside walls where they hadn't had a breach since the day she arrived she was still on edge. She partially hoped she always would be, letting your guard down was not a wise idea in this day and age.

Stepping over to him she knelt down and gave the knee a look before pursing her lips towards the boy. "A mighty wound for a valiant boy, we better tend to it so you can get back to work," she said as she scooped him up into her arms. Vaughan giggled a bit.

"You talk funny," he said as he looked up at her with his big brown eyes.

"I must be your jester then if I make you laugh so," she teased as she carried him. Astrid was known for her silence but around the children she played up the part of the Viking woman as much as she could. It seemed to make them smile and it showed a softer side to the stoic woman.

Carrying Vaughan into the infirmary she set him down on a table and grabbed a few supplies. Flushing out the wound and in the end it only needed a small band-aide. "Shall it be the Amazonian Queen with her mighty lasso? Or the Thunder God himself wielding his mighty hammer?" she asked but the boy looked at her as if she was speaking Greek. Astrid gave an amused huff before holdings up two band-aides. "Wonder Woman or Thor?"

"Thor!"

"A fine choice!" she exclaimed as she put it over his wound and helped him off the table. Pulling out a small lollipop from her dress pocket she handed it to him and and ushered him out the door. Another patient truly satisfied with her care.

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"Doubt there be a living soul on this earth that ain't been having a rough time," Zoie said as she stood there and Jack introduced both himself and Tatiana. Tatiana looked up slowly at Jack, a small blush coming to her cheeks thanks to his compliment. Zoie noted it and smiled a bit before taking her radio from her belt and starting to walk around the truck to get a better idea of what they had with them.

"Just hold there, initial inspection and all," she said as she looked into the back and went through it and their bags. Grabbing their bags she left all their weapons in the truck and then handed the packs over to each of them; holding out the brightly colored one to Tatiana.

Tatiana looked over and grabbed both of them, shouldering the worn out drab olive green one and handing over the Lisa Frank nightmare to Jack. Zoie couldn't help but laugh. This pair was something new that was for sure. Holding the radio out she hit the transmit button on the side. "Mr. James, I be needin' ya services at the inner gate. Wesa got some new arrivals and well they be kind enoughs to brin' us a deer, big doe as it were. She need guttin', cleanin', and the like before this sun done her in fer good. Bossman, I be taking the new folk into the Mess fer foods and interviewin'," she said before securing it back to her belt and stepping over to the two.

"Mr. James come get the truck, deer and weapons. You keeps yer packs. Wesa gonna get ya fed and then we's gonna talk. See if this the place fer ya. Now, if you chose to leave, you's get yer stuff and thangs back. If ya stay, it become communal; except fer private stuff of course," Zoie said as she explained what was going on. Tatiana looked around a bit and then stepped back over to the truck and opened the door. Zoie watched her carefully, wondering if she was going to grab the gun she saw on the seat but instead Tatiana pulled out a blanket and a board game, clutching it tightly to her chest as she stepped back over to Jack and leaned her head against his chest.

"Well, that be that then I guess. Y'all follow me," she said as she motioned for them to follow her through the gate. Inside the town was busy. People walking here and there. Kids playing soccer in the street. They would see Vaughan fall and skin his knee and a Viking looking woman scoop him up and carry him off.

"That be Astrid, funny girl but don't ya be worried none. She helps out in our Infirmary," she said as she walked down the street. The soccer ball coming at her as she caught it and shaking her head. "Aim 'bfer ya kick Gene!" she called out before catching the ball with the instep of her boot and launching it back towards the younger kids who were waiting on it.

Up on the posts for the Inner Gate those on duty kept and eye out but didn't bother closing the inner gate, they had heard the message go out to James and knew he would be about sooner than later to move the truck. Zoie glanced over her shoulder to see Tatiana smiling a bit as she kept herself clutching to Jack, watching the kids play. Zoie grinned to herself as she kept leading them down the main street of Newnan and then to the Mess Hall. Tatiana audibly gasped as they walked in and she felt the cool feel of the air conditioning falling over them. "I be done do that same gasp when I felt it too," she said in a happy voice as she strolled in and waved over to Miss Sally, holding up two fingers. The older woman gave a nod and started prepping two trays for the new comers as Zoie motioned for them to have a seat at one of the tables.

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Kristina leaned herself up against the wall until she heard the familiar joyful voice of James she smiled at him, he was one of the people that helped her cheer up after loosing her sister and considered him as a good friend and enjoyed working under him. "Good morning big bro." Kris said with a smile as she followed behind James and looked towards Guy, the two didn't get along the first day but she couldn't really blame him it was her fault after all for getting him on agricultural duty. Kris followed him towards the south gate where all the animals were located. "I'll start gathering the eggs then." Kristina said as she grabbed a small bucket and headed into the chicken coop, it reminded her growing up back home when she was younger as she helped take care of the chickens. Kris started searching through their nests as she started pulling out some of the eggs and gently putting them into the bucket.

Once she had all of the eggs Kristina walked out of the coop setting the bucket of eggs down, she went back inside and checked to see their feed, Kris walked to their trough and saw that they needed some more and walked out again to grab the feed and started to pour it over. She smiled as she watched the chickens and roosters quickly going over to get their meal for the day, and backed away rubbing away a bit of sweat from her forehead. Kristina turned her head as she heard James' radio going off, hearing Zoie's voice crackling through the radio about new comers at the gate. "Want me to come with you? Or I could stay here and continue tending to the animals, totally up to you." Kristina said and looked over towards Guy who was also working.

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Sophia turned her head as she saw Ashton coming in and smiled slightly towards him as he addressed her and Astrid. "Feeling a lot better, thanks ready to work once i'm able." Sophia said with a slight smile and turned towards Astrid as Ashton left to get Froggy for distillery work, she was eager to get out of the infirmary and actually do some work rather then staying in a bed all day doing nothing. Sophia sat up awkwardly once more as Astrid pulled up a wheel chair. She climbed into the seat with Astrid's help and sat there as she was wheeled out of the infirmary for the first time in a month. Sophia covered her eyes with her right hand as the hot morning Georgia sun hit her face, Sophia watched as the people went about their daily duties in Newnan.

She smiled seeing some kids playing out in the streets, as some people waved Sophia smiled slightly and nodded towards the people as she was wheeled east towards one of the makeshift apartments. Once she was back inside she started to wonder who she would be bunking with, and once she was inside Sophia instantly smiled when she heard Astrid say Niesha. And shortly after that Niesha came out from the bedroom she was glad to have a room with her better then with some stranger she didn't know and she enjoyed her company whenever Niesha was allowed to visit.

"I'm glad to be out finally." Sophia said and felt Astrid gently patting her shoulder and looked up at her for a moment and nodded. "Thank you again for everything, and i'll let you know if I do need anything and i'll go to the infirmary. And I wont strain myself to hard either." Sophia said and watched as Astrid left and closed the door behind her, she turned back to look back at Niesha. "So where is my hug?" She was so happy to have different scenery then just the infirmary.

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Niesha was ultimately relieved when Astrid left. While she didn't have anything truly against the girl, Niesha just didn't feel comfortable with her anymore. Her wrists still bore marks of the restraints, although faded, as a reminder of the treatment she had received that first night.

She gave Sophie a smile, and hugged her tightly, and for a moment she never wanted to let go. "I'm so glad you're here" the rooms weren't much, but at least they had a roof over their heads, were in relative safety. Just from looking around the room, it would be clear that Niesha didn't so much as live there as she did sleep, it was barren of homely things, and was probably much the same as it had been when she'd moved in. Her pack, mostly empty, was placed neatly against a wall, out the way. The only thing that would truly indicate that someone lived there was the small collection of photographs, clearly where Niesha had left them the night before.

"this place isn't much"she said softly, sounding apologetic "but it has a roof and beds" she stepped back, feeling self conscious. Niesha wasn't too sure what would happen now, but she would do anything for Sophie. She had gone over that day again and again, and she couldn't help but feel it was her fault Sophie had got bitten.