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The interview process is a fairly short affair, individually. Each of the newcomers are asked their names and led to a room outside of the main area that served as a church office at one point in time. Instead of sitting in front of a desk, speaking with an established company man with suit and tie, the interviewees are given the option of where they wish to sit first and are eased into discussion with a few disarming queries as put forward by a strained military man in worn class Bs and a certified backwoods blackneck in overalls and cowboy hat. Much of this initial discussion dances around what they did before the outbreak. What their lives were like before the world imploded.

It is apparent that some of the questions were scripted, understandably basic questions; ones reminiscent of job interviews from days past. Others are a bit more telling, leading the individual down a path of potential occupation inside the confines of Newnan. Still more questions take on the expectation of narrative, as the two of them (Ash mostly) ask that the new people tell them a story, interrupted only by the occasional follow-up question or interjecting comment. The goal was not so much to find the truth to their statements, so much as judge attitude of the story in general and, perhaps more importantly, find out what they weren't saying. What a person doesn't want to talk about oftentimes was as important as what they did.

There were occasions where Ash began to overreach in the conversation. The somewhat older, more easygoing James stepped in to lead the discussion in a mildly different tangent. At first, Ash assumed a look of annoyance when this would happen, but gradually settled into the fact that this was the exact reason he asked the man along in the first place. A times, the Captain steepled his fingers in front of him and leaned back slightly, letting the agriculturalist take over questioning. He was novice, but much more personable.

Ash made observations, took mental notes, and did his best to appear reserved.

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"I'd like to thank you for cooperating with us. A point of good news: Sally will be giving you room assignments. They are spartan, but they are as safe as Newnan can provide. I would ask that you stay within the inner wall for the time being - your safety as well as ours - and to not wander around without escort. In case of an emergency, you know where the Infirmary is. If you want to leave in the morning, you are welcome to do so. Otherwise, I will let you know my decision then."

"In the meantime, it's been a rough day. If anyone needs me or you three have any questions, I'll be in the back of the heavily modified dump truck out that way. Can't miss it." Ashton gestured to the members of the security detail still present, waving them off. Leaving the newcomers, they would take position elsewhere in the settlement proper or simply drop off of shift to pursue personal endeavors. James smiled and, as a counterpoint to Ash's impersonal demeanor, offered a casual "Evenin', ladies. Don't be strangers." With that, Ash and James left the Mess Hall, crossed the street, and climbed up the loading ramp leading into the body of the Hordebuster.

Ash lit a hurricane lantern, its shaky, white-orange illumination spilling out the back of the vehicle. He noted the box of liquors set inside, and made comment to James. "I should have been more specific about the booze, huh? Don't think I can run through a whole case."

"Shit, I'll help!" quipped James, finding a comfortable place to settle on one of the couches nearby.

Ash cracked a rare smile. "I'm sure you will."

It had become a tradition of sorts - after a particularly taxing day, be it of good outcome or, like today, monumentally and arbitrarily tragic, Ash would climb into the back of his secondary home and crack open a bottle of something flammable and of decent quality. Either a celebration or a wake. Today was a wake, obviously. An optimist would mention that a wake was a type of celebration, but James was the only optimist in sight and he knew better than to say anything just yet.

Ash poured a small amount of his family's handiwork into two jelly jars and passed one to James. James took it gladly, offering a toast. "Absent friends?" It seemed to be the standard toast with which these things were kicked off, not to mention a simple toast of great military antiquity.

"Absent friends." He wondered who would be showing up to this installment of "Inside The Hordebuster", as if it were a post-apocalyptic talk show centered around survivors and their personal idiosyncrasies while they discussed current affairs. "Well, let's get new business out of the way before unannounced guests arrive. Good?"

"Cool." responded James, holding out his recently emptied jelly jar.

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Newnan & Franklin - And so the people that were being interviewed in Newnan were released to go about some sort of business - Getting room assignments and getting settled in. Miss Sally would direct them to the same building the Niesha was living in, just different rooms of course and the new comers were given the option of living alone or bunking up either with each other or with a member of Newnan (NPC) that they felt more comfortable with. Nothing was etched in stone at that point because the morning would bring final decisions and such.

With Niesha and Kris being in the Holding Cells with Sophia's body (or the infirmary with Tatiana and the rest - was a little unclear so leaving it open) - Miss Sally gives the all clear for the evening; meaning that everyone is free for the rest of the night now that is not on duty. People of Newnan are positioned on the gate and around the town just to be safe as usual so if anyone would need directions or information they could easily ask. Tatiana gets the all clear from Froggy to go ahead and turn in for the evening, he will be staying with Ray and Ciel for the night. He asks her to come back in come morning to relief him for a while, not knowing if Niesha is going to feel up to helping out. He asks Tatiana and Jack as they are leaving to have Miss Sally send someone over with dinner for himself before he goes back to tending to Ciel and Ray. (Taking the nebulizer away now that the treatment is over and getting him comfortable before making sure Ray's leg is holding well now that surgery is over.)

Over in Franklin the girls are free to craft what they can with what is there. Mike has not come back as of yet but the sun is still pouring light in through the windows so it isn't too late and looking out of said windows it is easy to spot him digging the grave. Sana is out there with Lyon in his face and apparently yelling at the very large man as if she was ten feet taller than he was even though she was a goof foot and a half shorter. It is obvious she is distraught even though no one can hear anything within the building. Whether it is the glass and walls keeping the sound out or her voice has simply refuse to let any loud sound out is anyone guess at this distance. Lyon just takes it and Mike tries not to be noticed, just keep shoveling, just keep shoveling.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: There is a chance that Sigil and Myself will not post again until the time jump while we work out the details. From here on out the RP is on "float" - which means post when you can (if you can) and just have fun getting to know each other in the posts. There is no "day counter" as of right now - so enjoy the small break before we make the time leap. (Which will be a big one! So get with your fellow Rpers and figure out how each of you would look at the other once given a chance to get to know each other. The time jump will take us until Valentine's Day the following year, Year 4. That is roughly a 7/8 month time jump. It will be winter when we pick back up! I will give more details soon but for now, enjoy the down time. )

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Once the interviews had concluded, and Miss Sally directed them into their temporary accommodations, she let her composure drop. With a closed door between her and any other people, Chloe sat on the ground, her back against it. Half of her clothing, she realized with dismay as she picked at the fabric, had been issued to her in prison. They provided decent protection against the elements, but she couldn't help but feel like they were chains, dragging her down.

She remembered her first day in prison. She had been shaking like a leaf, seeing all of the other inmates with wide eyes. Part of it had been from fear. The other had been from her first, and certainly not last, forced detox. She had misheard them when they asked for her day, instead giving them the date--Tuesday. The nickname stuck, and soon enough, it had consumed her. Sitting on the floor in Newnan, Chloe shut her eyes tightly, hoping to push away the memories, but they only came bubbling back to the surface.

All of those things, all of the acts she had committed, the laws she had broken--she remembered them all. The shame weighed down on her, having finally made it to what seemed to be paradise, and afraid that she would be turned away. It would have been easier for Chloe to write off her past as the actions of someone else--but she had made all of those choices. She had avoided the help of her old friends, clinging to the comfort a needle could bring.

Chloe let out a shuddering breath. She forced herself to open her eyes, and made her face contort itself into a smile. There was only one benefit to being alone in Newnan, Chloe realized. No one would know of her past, she figured. Her sister had been the famous one--and while Chloe's multiple arrests did attract some media attention, it was all about Riley in the end.

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Riley managed to finally finish setting up the grave markers, finding enough materials she made one for Mike's father as well as Riley looked around she managed to find a portable blow torch. Riley borrowed a knife from someone, she turned the torch on and started to heat it up until it was hot enough. Riley then slowly started to etch the names of Marx and Rodger's names onto the wood, she looked down at it setting the knife aside for now. "These look good to me." Riley said with a soft smile as she stood up and helped Amelia up to her feet as well. "I'll take them over." Riley said to Amelia as Riley started to make her way out of the room and started making her way towards the back of the school.

Riley watched as Sana was still ripping into Lyon, she couldn't imagine losing a sibling though Riley felt bad as she remembered abandoning Chloe in the early days of the outbreak while she was going through detox which was her deepest regret in doing to her. Riley had a feeling though that Chloe was still alive out there somewhere, she started to approach them and looked over at Sana giving her a sad smile as Riley presented Sana Marx's grave marker. "I'm really sorry for your loss.." Riley said sadly as she went over and started to put them down into the ground.

Riley looked at Mike and gave him another sad smile before grabbing a nearby shovel and started helping him dig the grave as well. Once it was all finished Riley went to help them put the bodies of Rodger and Marx into their respected graves. Riley spent the next hour or so helping burry the bodies, and once that was done Riley gave Sana and Mike a quick hug and pat on the shoulder. She started to feel very exhausted as Riley turned and made her way back into the school, finding her bed there where Amelia and Mike would be sleeping. Riley laid her supplies down next to her and looked up at the ceiling taking in a deep breath and sigh. Tomorrow would be another day, hopefully she could go to Newnan and see if Chloe would be there or not.

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Nearly a year has passed and in this time we lost so many, so let us take a moment to remember those that touched us deeply and brought us together in the first place. Each of them were unique. Each of them were special. They all did something that brought us together and made us stronger. Even though they are gone they are still with us, in our thoughts, and in our hearts. So, please bow your heads and have a moment of silence for these brave souls who now are our guardian angels. May they forever rest in peace, watching over us from afar, and waiting on our arrival to the life beyond for we all know our days are numbered.

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Lt. Col Leann McCormick was probably the toughest woman ever spawned. She was our original leader, she brought Newnan together, and over saw everything that was done to make the town amazing. She was hard as nails and ruled with an iron fist but she was fair and beneath that cool exterior she was kind. She loved all the people of Newnan and gave her life to ensure that we could continue. A memorial to her resides in the Courthouse in the center of Newnan and it is one of the first things people see when they enter the main building.

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Dr. Vivian Ormerod, the original doctor. She was sick and she was twisted yet she kept us alive and in the end she gave her life to ensure that Sid and others hearts would keep beating. She kept a watchful eye on all that came into Newnan and with a single glance she could tell who needed to stay and who needed to be slaughtered. A skilled surgeon, there were few that could best her with a blade. Ruthless and cut-throat she worried many of the people of Newnan but she was one of a kind and even she was mourned.

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Sister to Kris, best friend to Meg and James... She was the queen with a bow and helped our crops grow. She was stubborn but she was loyal. Her loss was felt through out the town and her mark has been left. We try to remember her as best we can and her sister will probably never get over the loss. Maria was the sister we all lost and every Walker her bow still takes down is a remembrance of the love and devotion she gave to this community. We will ever remember the lesson she taught us - Never kiss a corpse.

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The Marine. Though she never became an official member of Newnan her presence is still felt to this day. Those that knew her and loved her are still here today with us and it is thanks to her that they are. She gave her life during the first attack from Eden to keep those she cared for safe. She was a hero until the end and even since then. (And she took Ash's jacket with her when she went.)

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She was built for this world. Tough, strong, quick to crack a joke, and hard to forget. Alicia was our first true loss to Newnan and she gave her life to ensure that Richard and James were safe. The love of Ash, the first to die who was close to him, and from there it snowballed and it hasn't stopped since. As if the world is trying to tell us something. Alicia was as fierce as she was caring. She loved life, even during the end times. Nothing brought this bitch down. It took a hoard of over a hundred to take her away and even then she still returned home. That final bullet can still be felt echoing over the fields.

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Papi.... Father of Alicia and the father of Newnan. He was everything one looked for in a dad. He was protective, driven, intimidating. God was he intimidating. But beneath that sand paper skin and rough exterior beat the heart of a man who lived for all those around him. He died protecting those he loved and those he didn't even know. Zoie carried his blades with her until her death, proudly so. He was the one that secured her place in the community and it was because of him that she earned Ash's trust. RIP Papi... Enjoy your peace with your Miha...

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Our southern belle, Daisy Dukes. She came in like a tornado on crack. Riding high on life and doing what she did best: slaughtering Walkers as if she was born for it. Her thick accent and turn of phrase could make anyone stop and stare. Bright eyes and a brighter smile. It was no wonder that Zoie quickly became second in Newnan and loved by pretty much everyone. She could see the best in everyone, even the worst of us. She brought out our best, even Richard "The Dick". Newnan has not been the same since she was taken from us and some may never recover.

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The one handed engineer. She built walls around us but not around her heart. Even with a single hand she still left a mark on all of us. She was creative and smart. Found ways to reinforce the walls and our morale to keep us going. She never stopped fighting for us and died trying to save the lives of all of Newnan when the armory caught fire. She might have been a little OCD but that didn't matter, she made us all better people and helped to bring us together in the end.

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What can we say about Bridgette that she didn't already say about herself and in a more colorful way than any of us could have ever dreamed of. The woman was a walking curse dictionary but beyond that she was a loyal friend and sister in arms. She stood a head above the rest, both literally and figuratively. She died in the heat of battle and there is no doubt that she now resides in Valhalla, making even Loki blush by her come ons, mischievousness, and cursing.

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Our Shield Maiden. Astrid was born in the wrong time but that didn't matter. She stepped to the beat of her own drum. A true Valkyrie until the end, she was bitten and walked away from Newnan to die on her own terms. Astrid was quiet and never said much but she didn't need to, everything she needed to say was written on her features when she looked at you. There is no doubt she is sitting in the halls of Valhalla beside her sister Bridgette smirking as she waits to pick up her shield and fight once again. We continue to fight for her. Her shield is now ours to bear.

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Though never a member of Newnan, he did come to Franklin and boy did he ever leave a mark. Granted we are still not sure if that is a good or bad thing. He wasn't exactly easy to get along with. In fact he seemed to go out of his way to get killed - which he did eventually. The cabbage though will never be forgotten and we still wonder to this day just what Froggy would have done with this one....

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He wasn't with us long but in a short time he left his mark. The knife throwing circus performer, his presence can still be felt thanks to his little orange companion that still walks the streets of Newnan. The Russian from Not Russia, he found a home that would have welcomed him for years to come had he only survived but as we know, not all of us do. The world is less colorful now that he is gone but he is watching over us from that Big Top in the sky.

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These names above are not the only ones which we lost. There were so many more. Some we never got were able to get close to, some that were quiet members of our town who did their jobs and kept us together without us even knowing it. There were even those we only knew a brief second of time and then they were gone. Those like Marx, Tryke, and Tom.

Yet no matter the life, they all were cut short by this world around us but we are still breathing. So each step we take, every day that crawls by we must continue to live. Not only for ourselves but in their memory. We keep moving forward so their deaths were not in vain, so they can continue to live on in our hearts and our minds. We will see them again; but not yet. Not yet. Today is a new day and with it dawns so many possibilities.

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The day drew to a close and the people of Newnan were left in shock. There was nothing we could do to bring back those we had lost but never the less we felt the emptiness for months to come. Even today we still do and yet the world keeps turning and each day the sun rises again after the dark night. A little bit of hope grows between the tears of grief as people settle into the routine of day to day life. Survival is not enough, we had to learn to live again. Some of us have, some of us haven't.

Over the months so many things changed. With the attacks of Newnan it was revealed we needed more people to defend the city, walls were no longer enough. Our greatest danger was not the Walkers but the people who crept in without us knowing and ripped our hearts out as they caused others to stop beating. The people of Franklin joined our ranks about a month after that devastating day. Taking refuge in buildings outside of our walls. A way to keep people close but still keep them away from the actual sanctuary we had behind the steel.

Yet we knew this was not good enough but we couldn't leave the defenses vulnerable to another attack on from the outside Clock Tower. So a third wall was constructed around a six block radius at the north side of town and that is where the people of Franklin now live their lives. They spend much of their time within the outer wall and the inner wall. Mingling with the rest of the folk but come the end of the day they sleep still beyond the center of Newnan.

We have seem to have found a peace over the last eight months that we had not known in some time. There was another attack from Eden but once they caught wind that Zoie was dead they seemed to have backed off. Granted they are not gone. There is still traces of their presence in the area, something that Ryan has helped us defend against and look out for but still, they are not gone. Should we have attacked them and just ended it? Perhaps but peace is a rare thing and we take what we can get.

Newnan has known no deaths in eight months and that makes some of us worried. The longer we go without death the worse the feeling gets. Every time we have gone through a lull we get back handed so hard by fate. We can only hope that we are safe for now. Could we really stand another set of losses like the ones we have survived? Even if we did, would we lose ourselves so completely we would forget what we were fighting for and become the very monsters we feared?

Only time will tell but for now we have an unsteady peace. We have been able to get to know each others and some relationships have blossomed, some have fallen apart. Keep moving, keep moving forward. And so we have. Summer ended and fall began. The harvest was not as much as we would have liked. The tornado that tore through Newnan ruined so many of the crops and we lost a cow or two. It made for a lean harvest but it was a peaceful time.

Fall fell away and winter set in. Mild at first, like so many winters in Georgia but over the last month the cold has turned bitter and now over the last weeks the snow has fallen. Snow that rarely falls in Georgia came down in sheets for close to two weeks and buried a city unprepared. Two feet in some areas of the city, over three in other parts. The winds kicking up and pushing it around. The city has done what it can to clear as much as possible but it has been slow going.

On top of that it has slowed the preparations of the upcoming wedding yet Miss Sally said, "to hell with the lot of you, we are getting this wedding done. We need this as much as they do." No one was going to argue with the old maid. She is the elder and mentor of Newnan and while not in charge every listens to her. A tough old bat to survive any life this long, even tougher to survive this world as it is with unwavering determination. And so the day is here and we begin...

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The sun had risen and the sky was clear that day, the first bright sunny day in weeks. Tatiana could feel the warm sun rays on her face, shinning in through the window. Opening her eyes she smiled to herself as she felt her beloved curled up behind her and holding her close. The snow was still deep around their house, coming up a few inches above the windowsill but that didn't matter. Warm sun rises were always welcome. Then it dawned on her what day this was... This was her wedding day.

"Ack! Get out, get out! You vere supposed to leave last night. You cannot see me on our vedding day! Is bad luck!" she yelled as she tumbled out of bed and scrambled to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and hiding behind the old wooden door. The click of the lock could be heard as she made sure Jack wouldn't try to get a last minute kiss before he left.

"Are you moving yet? Go on, get out! Meg be here soon, she get you out! Go, get out! And don't forget to get your tux from Miss Sally, she said yesterday she had finished with the alterations last night. Love you, now get out!" Tatiana yelled from the other side of the door before turning and starting the shower up. She was glad she had at least remembered to let the pipes drip the night before. The last thing she needed was frozen pipes that morning.

Her dress hung in the bathroom, covered with a large sheet to keep it clean. It had a been hard to find but in the end Meg had come through. A run into Villa Rica north of Newnan had paid off. Granted they weren't supposed to go out "dress hunting" and Ash was none to happy when they returned covered in blood but they had managed to find a perfect dress for the day. It meant several days shoveling out the pig sty but Tatiana hadn't cared. She had a wedding dress. Miss Sally had spent a week sewing it here and there to make it fit the little dove but the old woman seemed glad for the work.



In fact many of the people of Newnan (and those from Franklin that had joined them) seemed excited about the wedding. People were running around, making decorations for the wedding, planning out a reception, and more. Everyone had seemed to come together to help with every little task. Even Sana helped out by getting Tatiana used to riding side saddle in a lead horse for the beginning of the ceremony. Granted Richard was no help but at least he hadn't sabotaged the wedding, yet.

During the Winter, the people of the Medical Garden had put in for a greenhouse and even Ryan was helping. Finding tulip bulbs during a run and bringing them back. He had cleared out three shelves in the green house to grow flowers just for the wedding. The green house was in the grassy knoll where the viking ladies had made camp their first weeks in Newnan. It was a good place near the center of town and got a lot of good light. A space heater had to be brought into the green house over the last month but the flowers were holding strong, even if they were threatening on dying. They just had to get through today.

Ryan had already been up for an hour by the time that Tatiana had rose and was out in said Greenhouse right now. "Come on little babies, you know you want to hold on just a few more hours," he said as he tended to them. He was usually restricted from entering the green house or medical garden without someone else but over the last week he had been granted a little bit of leeway to keep an eye on the flowers for the wedding. Ash kept a close eye on him but he wasn't stupid enough to steal anything right now even if he did keep telling Ash and Tatiana that they should just let him take some of the Mary Jane from the garden and keep Dick high as a kite until he leveled out.

Whistling to himself he pruned and trimmed the flowers: Tulips, wild flowers, babies breath, and so forth. "God damn we need someone who knows how to arrange these fuckers. Wonder if Meg has any ribbon left over from the decorations. Bubbles needs to at least have some way to carry these down the isle," he muttered to himself as he pulled out a tooth pick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

Chewing it for a moment he pulled his jacket up tight and started out of the green house, locking it up tight before trudging through the snow towards the Mess Hall. The streets were not clear fully yet but there were people out and about already shoveling snow to try to clear everything enough and salt the ground enough so people at least wouldn't slip during the wedding. It was supposed to be outside but it had been too cold. Plans had shifted to move it inside but Ryan took a good look around. The sun was out and it was warming quickly. "Fucking Georgia weather, we'll be in shorts tomorrow, god damn swinter has arrived," he chuckled as he loosened his coat. It might actually be warm enough to have the wedding outside.

Decorations were supposed to start getting set up in the next hour or two but people were holding off until they got the final word from Meg, since she was leading this little thing, on whether or not to set up outside or in. Be a hell of a thing. Three feet of snow and still being able to have an outdoor wedding. Oh well, Ryan thought to himself - reception would be inside either way but a ceremony outside wouldn't be bad. Looking at the ground as he kicked at the snow he noticed something green trying to break through. Leaning down his fingers ran over the soft leaves before plucking a four leaf clover. "Well damn, my lucky day."



Sana had fallen asleep the night before in the horse stables. Edgar had become her personal favorite since she moved into Newnan and with the cold lately she had been keeping an especially close eye on the horses. Feeling a cold nose push against her she rolled onto her back and grumbled under her breath. Pushing the snout of the large beast away from her and sitting up with a long yawn. Straw was stuck in her hair and dirt was on her cheek. Another nudge and she rolled over to stumble up onto her feet.

"I'm up, I'm up!" she snapped at Edgar, her joints popping as she rolled her shoulders back. Shaking her head she got to work on feeding the horses and making sure the space heaters had worked enough the night before to keep their water from freezing. Everything seemed alight so she snatched up her cap from the hay stack and slipped out of the stables. Pulling it tight on her head and shielding her eyes from the sun as she trudged back towards hers and Bryn's house.

Opening the back door, it closed hard behind her. Tossing her jacket on the back of the kitchen chair she didn't even notice she was tracking in a trail of mud with each step she took. Her boots caked in the stuff as she went sleepy eyed towards the coffee maker. Pouring a cup she took a long sip and then spat the stuff out into the sink.

"TEA???? BRYN!!! Why the fuck is there tea in the coffee maker!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.



Jim rubbed his hands together and then blew into them as Mike stood next to him on top of the outer wall. They had come onto shift about an hour before and were very happy to see the sun had risen without a cloud in the sky but it was still damn cold up on that wall near the gate. The roads outside of the wall still had not been cleared more than just enough to be able to keep the gates functioning. There were tracks from the horses in the snow but other than that it still looked freshly fallen.

"Well, as much as I hate all this snow, at least it has made guard duty a bit easier. The dead seem too frozen to be able to be much of a bother," Mike chuckled as he adjusted his rifle that rested on his shoulder.

"Ain't that the damn truth. Hell, no one wants to bother with this shit," Jim added as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just glad the walls are hol...." Jim tried to continue before he stopped mid-sentence as the sound of an engine cut through the morning air. "Dick already in the shop this morning?" he asked cocking a brow and looking back towards the city.

"Naw man, that ain't coming from inside the wall," Mike quipped at he pointed down the main road leading up to the gate and small trail of smoke could be see in the tree line.

"What the fuck is that?" Jim asked as he squinted his eyes trying to make it out.

"You're guess is as good as mine, might want to call it in," Mike answered as he pulled the Walkie from his belt and handed it over to Jim.

"Right." Jim took the walkie and turned the radio frequency to Ash's main channel that he kept on. "Boss, we got engine sounds at the south gate."

Looking over at Mike and then back towards where the sound was coming from the sound grew louder and louder. "What the fuck is that." Jim lowered the walkie as he looked again. Suddenly from the curve in where the road should be something came speeding out from the south headed towards them. It was a four wheeler, well it wasn't and it was.

It was a Four Wheeler, in a pontoon boat??????? And the snow was being pushed left, right and behind it as it cut over the top most of the piled snow towards the gate. On it was a figure, a scarf billowing in the wind behind them and a long thick coat over them. Hair was shaggy and dark under cap and their face was mostly covered by the scarf. Seemed the area around the eyes was the only skin that could be seen.

"Boss... we have a .. guest?"

The vehicle, if you could call it that, came to a slow stop about forty feet back from the main gate as Mike took aim, looking through the scope. Gloved hands rose up into the air as if they were surrendering after they turned off the engine. Standing up with their legs on either side of the four wheeler in the pontoon boat, they waved and kept their hands in the air.

"Identify yourself," Mike called out.

Pulling the scarf down with one hand they kept their other hand up in the air. "Dr. Thana Martin, Lt. Commander U.S. Navy," she said in a thick Georgia accent. "Though since there be no U.S. anymore, guess you be callin' me retired," she said with a chuckle.

Jim just stood there looking at the woman as she pulled the scarf back up, the color leaving his face as he pulled the radio back up to his face. "Boss... you need to get up here... Now."

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The sunlight that so rudely streamed in through the window caused Richard’s face to screw up in an even more unpleasant manner than it normally sat. He blinked rapidly as his eyes scrunched up to keep the brightness out of his vision. “Stupid mother fuckin’ sunlight… ain’t it supposed to be fuckin’ winter or some shit…” He grumbled under his breath as he yanked the quilt over his head to hide from it and stretched his muscles out all at once, his back arching like his best pal Schrodinger’s did.

After five minutes of pretending that the daylight didn’t exist, Richard growled quietly as he threw the blankets from himself and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet thumping onto the floor. He rubbed his face, his knuckles digging into his sockets as he forced the dried sleep from their corners and he let out a satisfying yawn as he sat there, willing himself to get up for another day that meant nothing to him.

He looked around his room and his jaw tightened, this house always had him waking up with a bad taste in his mouth. Zoie had lived here and Dick still hadn’t gotten over her death. Yeah, he’d only known her a short time but she had slipped into his life in a way that he never thought was possible for anyone to do. She made him feel something for someone other than himself. He slapped the left temple of his head with the heel of his hand, as if it would make the memories and feelings go away, but as usual it did nothing. He took a deep breath and calmed the shaking that began to take over his hands as he sat there. A combination of his sadness, anger and the cold that was seeping into him as he sat half naked on the bed.

Richard pulled himself up and onto his feet and quickly went about getting himself dressed in his usual mess of clothing – slate grey denim jeans, stained white t-shirt, navy blue plaid shirt with long sleeves, black hoodie, leather vest with his biker patches on it, thick grey boot socks, black studded biker boots. He then grabbed the black fleece material jacket that had been assigned to him for working in the repair shop in the colder weather that had unfortunately slipped in. He didn’t much care for trying to get a shower with the weather being what it was – besides he was just going to get covered in grease and oil today anyway.

He left his room and walked downstairs, making a b-line for the front door. He was feeling a little on edge today, he could really do with a smoke and a drink but Lord “Captain” of Newnan had made sure that he was on a strict ban from the distillery much to Richard’s dismay. “Fuckin’ asshole…” He grumbled the insult to himself, mostly to make himself feel better, before opening the door and heading out into the mess of snow and ice. He carefully made his way down Lagrange Street and made his way towards his duties in the town as were dictated by his “best friend” Ash-hole. God he’d love to smack that guy in the face… This thought was what Dick used to keep himself warm on the walk to the shop.

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Peace and quiet, exactly what Bryn loved. It was a good start to a cold morning and Bryn was feeling relaxed for a change. It had been a long time since she had arrived in Newnan and, although she had lost so many close friends since she had arrived her, Bryn was in a relatively good place these days. Sure, she still loved to keep herself to herself for the most part but she had formed new friendships and found good people to trust. She tried to focus on the positives, like Froggy had told her to do, and kept the negativity at bay as much as she could when she was within the walls of Newnan.

It was short lived when she heard the screaming voice of Sana bellowed up from downstairs in the kitchen. She snorted and a small smile crept across her features as she looked to the desk in her room. It was covered in tea bags, puddles of tea, scissors, pens, a glue stick, pieces of paper and a black piece of card. The black piece of card was folded like a greeting card would be and was laid open on the desk, inside of the card pressed against the surface of the desk. There was a small square of what looked to be golden brown paper on one side in a central position.

Bryn walked quickly towards the desk and grabbed the card, admiring her handiwork. She didn’t really know Tatiana and Jack all that well but they were both pleasant people and the town was in a happier place thanks to their big day. Well, for the most part anyway. She scowled as she thought of Dick and rolled her eyes before bringing herself back to her comfortable place. She admired her artwork and looked at the message inside; “May your luck and happiness grow. – Bryn.” For her, this was a massive thing, she never really spoke to either of them but as it was their day she wanted to do something nice for them. In her own way.

Running downstairs, Bryn saw Sana in the kitchen looking like she’d slept in the stables again and she smirked. “I needed teabags for this.” She held the card up and shrugged her shoulders whilst keeping the amused expression on her face. “Besides, I thought you liked tea, what’s the problem?” She knew full well what the problem was, she made tea in the coffee maker last night and hadn’t cleaned it out.

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It had been an early morning for Victor as one of the younger girls, Anna, had been brought into the infirmary with a particularly violent cough. She’d had a pretty bad cold and it seemed to have developed into a sinus infection. He did what he could to help the young girl by ensuring she had the right antibiotics to clear the infection and had also given her something to ease the pain in her throat from all the coughing. She was sleeping now, the odd cough escaping her as she rested but Victor wanted to keep an eye on her so was going to keep her in the infirmary for a day or so to make sure it wasn’t anything else.

He grabbed one of the young men that helped to pass messages around the town for him to head over to Neisha’s place and let her know of their new patient’s arrival prior to her coming into the infirmary that morning. He didn’t want Neisha to worry unduly, she knew how protective she was of the younger members of Newnan when it came to their health. Neisha would also be able to do something better than he would at creating a non-medicinal way to ease the pain in young Anna’s throat. Satisfied that things would be in hand, Victor made his way to the shower rooms in Building 1.

Today was a big day and Victor was more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve at 11:59pm. He wanted to try and look his best when watching two of his dearest friends tie the knot. Hell, they were pretty much like his children and he couldn’t be prouder of them making this commitment to each other in this world such as it was. He moved as quickly as his aging bones would allow, washing and scrubbing everywhere. He even shaved! Not something he did very often as he didn’t want to waste the luxury resources that some others would enjoy more than himself but today was different – today he would watch Jack and Tatiana become a single unit together. They deserved him looking his best.

When he was done he made his way back to his quarters and sat by his desk. He looked at the wrapped present that was covered in the metallic silver wrapping paper that he had requested from Bryn on one of her last runs. Granted he had only asked for simple wrapping paper, no preference on what it looked like so long as it was clean enough, but Bryn had surprised him with the perfect wrapping paper for the wedding gift he wanted to bestow upon his children. For Tatiana, a book of Rorschach art that was missing a few pages but was overall in good condition and for Jack, a book on American History even though he was sure the young man knew it all but Victor liked to think he’ll learn something new. He had written an inscription to each of them on the inside covers and signed it in his own hand – legible too, not like his doctor notes he scribbles down.

He smiled to himself, both happily and sadly, as he thought about the last eight months. Things had changed, mostly for the better, but he still felt the loss of those that were no longer here. He did his best not to dwell on it, but sometimes he just needed these quiet little moments to pay his respects and keep his memories of his lost friends alive. It was all that was left of them in this world after all, people’s memories of them.

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Ciel wasn't in the habit of sleeping late. Actually, to be perfectly frank, he didn't sleep much at all these days. He'd been up for a few hours now, pacing around the room he'd been assigned. As usual, he wasn't exactly dressed for the weather: dark blue golf shirt and grey jeans, with only an unzipped black windbreaker to keep out the late Winter chill. His platinum blonde hair was a bit of a mess and clearly hadn't been cut properly in a while. His parents would have had an aneurysm just looking at what had become of their son, but nowadays nobody really cared about such things.

Despite his unusual sleep patterns, Ciel felt a lot better than he had in a long time. Looking at his reflection on the window glass, he noted that he looked a lot less like a corpse than he had last summer. That said, he didn't seem to have grown much, or at least not as much as he'd have liked to. This was a bit disappointing, seeing as he was now 12 years old and only 6 years away from being a legal adult. Not that it meant much these days.

Like he'd hoped, he'd gotten a job a few months ago soon after he left the infirmary. Thinking he should probably check in with the Domestic lead to see what he had to do with these next 16 hours or so, he left the building, careful to close the door as soundlessly as possible even though he was fairly certain that Jim and Guy had already left. It was just a habit at this point.

He walked briskly up Lagrange street, his hands deep in his pockets as they were already starting to turn numb from cold. February was not Ciel's favorite month. It was late enough in Winter that he was already sick of the season, but still a long way off from Spring. He quickened his pace, hoping that Meghna would be awake by the time he showed up. He really didn't want to get on her nerves, lest he be laid off the only job he'd ever had in his whole life. He had some respect for Meg, but at the same time he found her endless sympathy a little patronizing. Now that he was out of the infirmary, that had dulled somewhat, but some degree of tension remained.

He passed by Richard along the way. Ciel waved shyly, but said nothing. He always thought it best to stay out of Richard's way. A lot had happened last year, and Richard was still reeling from it, it seemed. Ciel was no counselor, and really had nothing to say to him. He continued down the long street towards the north end of their little settlement, slowing down a bit so as not to be a wheezing wreck by the time he arrived at Meg's place. They'd been running low on the medication they needed to keep his asthma under control, so he'd been doing his best to keep medical emergencies to a minimum. It was all he could do to not be a major pain in the ass around here.

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Tiffany woke up. It may not seem like much, but she was alive to see another day. A year had passed since she joined Newnan. A lot has happened in that time. She made new friends, maybe some enemies. She had a job. She was part of a community. She also fell in love. How ironic that she realized that today, on Valentine's Day.

She remembered never being too into Valentine's Day before. She wasn't like most other girls who expected their significant others to shower them in gifts or take them to restaurants or to the movies. She would be just happy with a simple kiss and a warm welcome. Life wasn't like that anymore. Not really. No expensive dates anymore and gifts could be given if you managed to find them while scavenging.

She walked around her home, getting ready for the day. Today was Tatiana and Jack's wedding. While she didn't know Tatiana well enough, she didn't think ill of her. By all accounts, she seemed like a nice enough person. Jack was a good friend, though. The fact he found love and was willing to marry her in the conditions they were in spoke volumes. She wondered what the events would be like. Would it be like weddings of the past? Would there be decorations? Flowers? Cake? Dear God, she hoped there would be cake. A simple break in the routine of daily life here in Newnan was called for.

She let Ray get some sleep. He looked so cute when he was sleeping. He really impressed her. Not only did he manage to heal nicely from his injury, but every day he was getting better at walking around. Plus, he was able to ride a horse like no one's business. He really stepped up. She kissed him on the cheek as she finished getting ready.

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She exited her home and walked down the street. She had to report to Victor, but she wondered if she had some time to kill before then. Surely the man would be busy with the wedding later. She wondered if today would be a slow work day. Granted, her job was fairly easy. As the only one capable of making arrows, she felt responsible to make sure they were well armed. Ammo for guns were a precious commodity and saving them was important. Respect for the bow and arrow grew and she was happy to play a part in that. She often stopped at the range to practice her skills. She noticed a few others doing the same.

Today was a different day. She could feel it. Was it due to the wedding or something else? She would have to wait and see.

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As Tatiana practically dashed out of bed, Jack rolled over in an attempt to catch her. His fingertips barely missed her as she barricaded herself in the bathroom, and Jack pouted ever so slightly. He had almost entirely forgotten about the superstition, and as he realized with dismay, he was supposed to go sleep over at one of the guys' place the night before. But with a goofy grin, he couldn't entirely blame himself. Tatiana's company was just too distracting.

"My bad!" Jack called out sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "No last minute kiss?" He waited for a moment, but Tatiana was quite clear. He grinned a little more and rolled out of bed, stretching his neck as he did so. Meg would be over in a few minutes, and Jack hurried to get dressed. After all of the trouble she and Tati had gone to for that wedding dress, he didn't want to stand in the way of Tati getting ready.

"I'll be the good lookin' one in the tux," Jack called out, winking even though Tatiana couldn't see him. "Just so you don't mahry Ryan or someone by accident." He chuckled a bit, but figuring his teasing was likely enough, called out to Tatiana that he loved her as well. He then left their house, heading quickly over to Miss Sally's apartment. He figured that she'd still be there, and if she wasn't, she'd be in the Mess Hall. Neither destination was too far away.

He grinned a bit as he saw the sun in the sky, feeling the winter chill start to recede slightly. It was going to be a damn fine day. He was getting married to the love of his life. His expression fell for a moment, however, as a morose thought ran through his mind. If only Bazhooli could have been here.

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As Beatrice got ready for the day, she chuckled slightly at the abundance of snow outside. She had started heading south ages back in order to escape the perils of winter, and from what she could tell, Georgia decided to have other ideas. The snow truthfully wasn't all too bad--it had the added benefit of slowing down the dead. It also eliminated one of Beatrice's intense dislikes--broken air conditioning units. With the winter chill, there was no need for them.

She finished getting dressed, taking her bandana and tying it around the hole in her jeans to get a bit of added warmth. She generally used it to pull back her hair, but having her hair down helped to keep her ears a little warmer. It worked out overall, but Beatrice wasn't fond of the snow either. She grew up on the hot streets of Justice, after all. Snow was practically foreign to her. Once she grabbed the things she needed for the day, Beatrice remembered with a grimace the main event. A wedding. While everyone in Newnan was excited for it, Beatrice felt mostly passive. Romance wasn't her thing.

Leaving her apartment, she headed over to Riley's, housed in the same building. She doubted that James would have them go hunting that day, and while she figured that the Lead Trainer wouldn't have much for it, she felt obligated to check in either way. Knocking twice firmly on Riley's door, Beatrice then proceeded to wait for the rockstar to emerge.

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As the first rays of light crept in through the window, Chloe reflected for a moment on her old sleeping habits. Growing up, she would wake up before the sun, in order to review her notes before heading off to school. She lived in a constant state of sleep deprivation back then. But once she finished with college, it became more common for Chloe to sleep until well into the afternoon, only to wake with a drug induced hangover. She had lived her life at extremes, and as she heard the front door close, Chloe smiled softly.

She had heard her other roommate leave an hour ago. And as much as she resented the fact that she had been placed in reject housing, she couldn't help but grin a little more. She had the house to herself. "Fuck yes." Throwing off the covers, she peered out the window, seeing that the day already looked like it'd be getting warmer. The clothing issued to gen pop in the Metropolitan Detention Center wasn't designed with snow in mind. Slipping into her pants, boots, and t-shirt, Chloe hugged herself slightly as she put the flannel shirt on top. Rubbing her hands together, Chloe then crept downstairs, just in case Dick or Ryan had decided to return.

Nope. She had the entire place to herself. As if to demonstrate the peace she found, Chloe spun in a circle, her arms out. The wedding was today, and she was slightly worried that Ryan would try to make a move, yet again, at the reception. Her happy bubble burst at that, and she let out a sigh, reaching for a smoke in her pocket out of habit, only to find nothing.

"Fuck me," Chloe groaned. As much as Ryan joked about getting some pot for Dick, Chloe couldn't help but feel she'd appreciate the drug more. It had been ages since she'd gotten a proper high, and while she had been clean for years, the urge was still there, like an itch she wanted to scratch. Squeezing her hand into a fist, her fingernails cut into her skin slightly, as a subtle reminder to not give Ashton or Froggy validation behind their lack of trust in her.

The high wouldn't be worth it. She had worked too hard to get clean, and the last detox nearly killed her. Grumbling a bit to herself, she pulled her clothing around her a little more, and then headed out of the house. Froggy didn't allow her to be in the infirmary unsupervised, so she generally waited outside until he showed up to get to work. It was a pain in the ass and made her question why she was assigned to medical in the first place, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

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The cold white-grey of another morning had dawned upon Newnan. Today held promise, though - for the hardships they had to face over the past year, today was a cause for celebration. For the first time since the world turned itself inside out, Ash was to bear sanctioned witness to a wedding. They hadn't a proper Chaplain, so the task of officiating the ceremony was the Commanding Officer of the base, such as it was. Naturally, that meant the task fell to Cap'n Ash.

On the one hand, he was looking forward to performing an official function that had nothing to do with sending out scavenging teams, keeping work groups on task, or ordering the death of others by combat or misadventure. While they had been scraping out a living far better than they would have out on the road, they were still a people struggling. This onset of nasty weather was not good for their collective morale, either. In short, Newnan needed this wedding. Probably just as much as those two needed each other.

On the other hand, their stores has run out of coffee almost two months ago, and Ash was not happy about it.

Ash rolled out of his bed and hit the floor knuckles first. He fired off a fluid series of straining pushups and immediately turned over into an equally daunting set of crunches. When his muscles felt like they were burning, he turned back over and resumed pushups, approximately half of his original set. The point was exercise, not draining the tank completely. It was likely to be a long day. With no coffee to start said day with, as well.

He couldn't stress that point enough. Damned apocalypse.

The next twenty minutes saw his morning rituals completed. Ash clung to his background of military discipline now more than ever, and part of that was zipping through morning constitutionals and dressing in a manner that normal men and women thought impossible without the aid of powerful pharmaceuticals or superpowers. A light breakfast of leftover cornbread and roasted peanuts was followed by a pint of a thick, brown fermentation that, while not the greatest tasting beverage ever, was filling and nutritious. Plus, if he couldn't start his morning with coffee, beer was the next best thing.

Ash dressed smartly in grey ACU Class B's with black, tactical undershirt. It was the same style he generally wore, including an ever-present patrol cap bearing his old insignia of rank. The weather was still inclement enough to warrant something heavier than his standard jacket. With some hesitation, he removed a coat from the standing coatrack next to his front door. It was a much older styled, rich brown leather flight jacket, trimmed with tan fleece. Age had mottled the color slightly; some might say it had character. He had some reservations in putting it on, but it was, without doubt, the best option he had for the freezing weather outside. It belonged to a WWII pilot named McCormick, once upon a time. Ash pushed his hand inside the top breast pocket, feeling the cold but comforting surface of smooth metal. He removed the pieces from his pocket and stared into his hand. They were the silver oak leaves of the original commanding officer of the Newnan Safe Zone, Lieutenant Colonel Leann McCormick.

So many had died. His ascension to running this place happened in much the same way he was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain: People died, and they were left with no better option. Maybe, deep down, Ash was still just a Lieutenant. He preferred field work to administration, preferred beating a direct path to solve problems over bureaucracy. A few people in Newnan urged him to affix Leann's oak leaves to his cap and lapel as soon as he took over, but he didn't feel quite right doing it then. It seemed insulting to her memory somehow. He earned Lieutenant. Had the responsibility of Captain thrust upon him - but it was done through channels. It was his opinion that, unless granted to him by a higher authority, he was no Colonel.

But he was in charge here. These people were his responsibility, like it or not. And until someone he could trust who was better qualified than himself came along, he would continue to push down his crazy and get the job done.

First things first. Ash intended to continue his morning calisthenics by running a circuit around the secondary wall, getting in his cardio while simultaneously eyeballing the physical status of the physical reason Newnan still stood. He buckled on his utility belt containing radio and personal weapons, tightened the laces on his boots and stepped outside, feeling the buffeting wind of the season drive into his exposed face. Considering the weather, he reached back inside and grabbed a pair of black, wraparound sunglasses, locked his door, and jogged out into the snow. He could smell aromatic woods being burned in addition to the aroma of animal fat vaporizing, indicating that Black James had indeed beat him out of the door that morning. Well, good on him.

Ash had gotten about five good steps away from his front door before being stopped by his radio. "Boss... you need to get up here... Now." Jim always did bring him the most interesting news. Might as well take his jog south. "Heard. In route." The Captain checked his sidearm, slung his machete across his back, and made for Jim's Tower on the Wall.

When he reached the main gate and ascended the stairs, Jim leaned in to Ash, whispering something with no small amount of urgency. Ash lost the stern, granite look he commonly assumed when dealing with new people. Just for a moment, a look of pure, confounding shock crossed his features. He didn't bother asking questions - two very important facts could be ascertained by this new arrival: She had to get inside, and he and James needed to see this, immediately.

"Jim, admit this lady at once." He pitched his voice a bit louder so that their guest could hear, "My name is Captain Ashton Jameson Holloway, formerly of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Please come inside, and leave all weapons inside of your... ...vehicle. We are painfully out of coffee in the meantime, but you can find shelter here. And I have a lot of questions."

Ash spoke into his radio, trying to keep his voice casual. "James? James, I'm going to need your assistance with something. Please meet us at the Gate asap."

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James had been awake before dawn. He knew what today was special, and he had so many more to prepare for than he ordinarily would have a few months ago. Time would be growing short soon enough.

The bombastic southern Hogger cracked his door open just enough to get a keen and painful view of the weather, prompting a direct utterance of "Naw, that's a whole boot full of Fuck and That." James wasn't a big fan of cold weather, one of the reasons he rarely ventured too far north unless he absolutely had to. No, James shut the door smartly, tore into his cold weather clothes, and layered on a thick pair of tan Carhartt coveralls. He drew the hood up over his head and pulled the strings on either side until the front only showed his eyes and most of his nose, and shoved his cowboy hat down on top of the whole awkward setup. Like hell he was going to freeze his nuts off in the small hours of a frozen February predawn morning. He might look goofy, but that was one man who was keeping the frost off of himself.

He spent the first bit of his waking hours gathering what he needed to get his part of one hell of a wedding feast together, and in hindsight was exceptionally glad that he convinced Ash to run Newnan on slightly reduced rations in preparation for this day. They would have a feast, all right. James just hoped that these everyone liked sausage and grits, whole roast hog, and fried yam dumplings. Basically, the same ingredients they had to work with before, but in elevated amounts and prepared in different ways. Work with what you had, keep everyone fed. Sometimes, you even get to make people happy.

James had to peel back two of the three pair of gloves he sandwiched over his wide fingers to better light and manipulate his extra large smoker, but he got it done - bitching about the bitter weather all the while. It wasn't until he got a really good stock of heat going that he felt comfortable enough removing his gloves entirely and bringing down his hood. With his stetson now comfortably perched atop his head, the open and jolly blackneck began to hum a little tune, eventually breaking into song while dealing with the pork and deer forcemeats over his low but hot fire. "Oooh baby... gonna work my sausagey magic with you... like nobody knooooooooow. Yeah, yeah, yeah... Gonna get my meeeat a'burnin', oh baby. (That means two things!) Aw, baby you know, you got ta got-ta got-ta got-ta.."

His inexpert and oft painful singing was cut off by Ash's voice over the radio, urging him to come to the gate. Funny, he must have missed the gruff man pass by earlier, else he was off finding scraps of fragrant woods and/or booze at the time (for cooking purposes, mind you) and wasn't precisely at his smoker. "James? James, I'm going to need your assistance with something. Please meet us at the Gate asap."

"It's 'cause I'm black, isn't it?" James sarcastically responded, also trying to keep a casual voice despite the ever widening grin on his face.

"...damnit... Yes Mr. Grady, it's because you're black." quipped back Ash with equal amounts of sarcasm and impatience. Nevertheless, he tried to keep his voice even. "Please move your ass."

"Aw, shit. Breaking out the Mr. Grady on me. Aight, sorry boss. Be there in a minute."

By the time he actually got there, James was speechless.

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Sana wiped her chin from the liquid and grabbed a rag to clean up the spit that was now covering the refrigerator. Turning she finally noticed the trail of mud she was tracking behind her with every step. "God fucking damn it...." she muttered under her breath before tossing the rag back into the sick and kicking off her boots, leaving them in a single place as she started looking around for the mop and bucket in her socking feet.

Hearing Bryn her head spanned around and she rolled her eyes slightly. "Yeah I do and I hate coffee but when you see black in the pot you think for a moment that you may actually get a good jolt for the morning. It was a shock to the system. Like getting a banana shake when you ordered Vanilla. Sure, banana isn't bad but it is a rude awakening when it isn't what you thought," she said before slamming the bucket int the sink and turning the water on full blast. It hitting the bottom of the bucket and splashing up right down her chest.

"Mother fucker!" she screamed as her head fell back and she stared at the ceiling. Taking a moment she counted to ten and then started laughing, a little too forced and it sounded a little crazed but it was better than the yelling. "Ugh..." she added before shaking her head and looking back over to Bryn, stepping over to see what she was showing off finally. Looking at the card she gave half a nod, which was about as high a praise as Sana got these days.

"Nice, think they'll go on honeymoon so we don't have to look at their bubbling faces for a week or two?" she said with a smirk on her lips. It wasn't that she had anything against Jack but it was no secret that Sana did NOT like Tatiana and that she felt the woman was too damn happy all the time. Shaking off the comment with a wave of her hands she got to work on cleaning up her mess before hurling the bucket out the back door and into the snow. Just leaving it there she snatched up her boots and tossed them on the back porch before saying she was going to the showers. The last sound was her slamming the bathroom door.

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Tatiana giggled to herself as she heard Jack. "Yes, I do like bad boys. Nov get out!" she teased back before hopping into the shower. She took her time, letting her muscles relax under the hot water. The day before she had spent extra time on her dances during her private time, wanting to get in as much of a work out as she possibly could since she knew she wouldn't get to today. Granted she knew she would get to dance at the reception but if Jack stepped on her toes she might not be able to dance for weeks.

Climbing out of the shower she wrapped a towel around her body and then one around her hair as she heard a scratching on the bathroom door. "Jack, that better not be you," she said giggling before cracking the door slowly. The resident mascot for Newnan meowed at her. Laughing she leaned down and scooped him up, nuzzling him softly as she carried him into the kitchen, digging out a can of tuna she had hoarded away for the guy. Opening it up she set the can on the counter and set the feline down to eat. "Eat up, need strength in cold veather," she said to the cat before heading into the bedroom to get her hair combed out. She had no idea how to wear it. Hopefully Meg would be able to help with that.

Over in another building Miss Sally was already up, sipping on a cup of tea between working on a cross stitch pattern she had been toiling over for months. Hearing a knock at her door the elder of Newnan rose from her place and walked over, opening the door and smiling brightly as she saw Jack. She was standing there in a long thick ruby shaded house coat and bunny slippers. (They had once belonged to another member of Newnan but after his passing she claimed them. No one argued with her.) "Jack, good morning you sweet boy. Are you ready to get married? Oh, how rude, come in, come in. Have some tea with me," she said as she skuttled back over to the table and threw a rag over her cross stitching. "You can't see yet."

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Ryan caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye and change direction right quickly. Seeing Ceil he cocked a brow and shrugged his own coat off. Tossing it over the kids shoulders he grinned with the toothpick in his teeth. "Boy you need more meat on your bones if you are going to walk around like that," he commented before continuing on his way. Ryan was odd to most in Newnan and right now he was acting weirder than usual. He wasn't exactly a friend of the kids and often voiced how he wondered how in the hell the kid had survived this long but today he was being nice. Like actually nice. What the fuck was up with that?

Hurrying over towards the repair shop he hit a slick piece of ice and started to slid but he was an Irishman from New York so ice wasn't exactly new to him. Adjusting his torso he just went with the slide and moved over the ice grinning like a dumbass as he slid right into the repair shop and glanced around. Spotting Dick his grin widened. "Mornin' Sunshine," he said before stepping fully over to the man.

Pulling the tooth pick out of his mouth he leaned against one of the vehicles in the repair shop and crossed his arms over his chest. Under the coat he was only wearing a thin thermal but again he was from New York, this was pleasant weather compared to Winters up there. "Word is they are breaking out the booze for the reception." He knew Dick was constantly trying to get his hands on some of the stuff, maybe if he actually did the man would pass out before he caused a scene. Granted maybe he would cause a scene before he passed out. Either way it would be entertaining to Ryan. "So, you see Chloe this morning?"

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Jim nodded to confirm the order and motioned for them to open the gate. Thana lowered her hands slowly, pulling out her side arm, holding it up to see before tossing it into the pontoon boat. She followed that by pulling out her dagger and showing it before it followed suit and letting it land next to the service arm. Trudging through the snow towards the gate as it creaked open she spotted Jim coming down the stairs, still white as a sheet. The other man, Mike, stayed up on the top of the wall and kept an eye out.

Standing there in the snow she followed Jim over to a platform just off above the snow. Waiting for Ash to join them she glanced around and then called over to the man that introduced himself as Ash. Standing at attention she gave him a proper salute before pulling out her dog tags that hung around her neck and showed them to him. "As I done told your gate man here, I am Dr. Thana Martin. Lt. Commander U.S. Navy," she said in a typical tone fitting of introductions by those who had had a career in the military but the thickness of her accent couldn't be hidden under any formality.

"And if it be getting me by a fire, I gots some coffee. Be willin' to share," she added, her voice brightening a bit as she spoke. The thought of a warm spot sat very well with her right then.

"Um, ma'am, mind lowering that scarf of yours?" Jim asked her.

"Well, I done forgot me manners, sorry 'bout that," she added before adjusting her pack a bit and then reaching up and pulling the scarf down some and smiling warmly at the men. Jim elbowed Ash in the side a bit and pointed to her.

"See, told ya."

"What? I gots somethang on my face? You be looking at me like i just got mauled by a hog," Thana said confused. Turning as she heard the crunch of snow behind her. Her eyes fallin' on James her jaw went slack a bit. "Dog my cats...."

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Ciel froze up as Ryan threw his coat over his bony shoulders. He stuttered incoherently for a few seconds, at a complete loss for words as he struggled to remember how one could politely refuse an offer. "D-don't you need this?" He stammered out, only to find that Ryan was long since out of earshot. He had nothing to do but reluctantly accept the act of kindness. Or possibly pity. Just thinking about what could have motivated Ryan to do this made Ciel nauseous.

He quietly continued down the street, trying not to think about when exactly he was supposed to return Ryan's coat, or worry about all the things that could happen to it. If he lost it, Ryan was the last person he'd want to have a reason to fear.

By the time he reached the Kumars' residence, Ciel was completely flustered and barely remembered why he'd come. He hesitantly reached up and knocked on the door, once again extremely worried that Meg wouldn't be awake and would be annoyed that he'd showed up. Even though nothing bad had happened yet, Ciel was already deeply regretting leaving the house. At this rate, he felt like the whole settlement would be pissed at him within the hour. That said, skipping work would only make things worse, so he stayed on Meg's doorstep and prayed to no one in particular that she'd have something for him to do.

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Riley slowly opened her eyes letting out a slight groan as she could hear some knocking on the door, she really was never a morning person as she slowly got out of her bed. "Give me five damn minutes!" Riley called out as she pulled herself out of her bed, when she was younger in high school she always stayed up really late and she always ended up falling asleep in class. Which was probably one of the main reasons why her grades failed, it was surprising even to her that she barely managed to graduate from high school and barely getting by after being kicked out of her parent's house after coming out.

Since coming to Newnan Riley was so relived to see her sister again, remembering the moment she saw Chloe she hugged her twin sister tightly. She still regretted leaving Chloe behind all those years ago during the early days of the outbreak, Riley did leave her sister a note where she was headed and enough supplies to keep her going for a few days. However the group she was with slowly started falling apart after that, either they got sick or they killed each other or just left in the middle of the night stealing supplies.

Riley lazily moved over towards one of the dressers she searched through the drawers managing to find a hoodie, looking out she could see the sun shining through the snow covering the streets still. She truly hated the cold weather, and preferred always the warmer weather over anything else she'd rather deal with desert heat of California then anything else really. Riley usually preferred sleeping in just her underwear as she found a pair of pants, along with some socks. About five minutes later Riley finally finished getting dressed fully she slowly started making her way towards the door rubbing away the tiredness out of her eyes. Then she remembered that it was Jack and Tatiana's wedding, Riley remembered that Tati wanted to speak to her about something and made a mental note to swing over and see what she wanted to see her about.

Riley unlocked the door and opened it, seeing Beatrice standing outside she gave her a slight smile she and her were tense at best just the way she looked felt like the woman was judging her. Which she never liked at all, having dealing with that all of her life, whether it was from her parents, or people who never liked her music. "Whats up Bea?" Riley finally asked as she opened the door a bit more letting the woman into her room. But they had to work together now so far nothing has happened since she became the lead trainer, once Beatrice was inside Riley closed the door and moved over and sat down on the chair she had near the bed.

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Kristina felt the sun hitting her face as she got out of the bed, it had been a long few months since the armory incident she moved in with Niesha. She wanted to keep an eye on her friend and make sure that she was alright Kris moved over into Niesha's room and opened up the curtains looking over at her and gave her a smile and gently nudged her to wake up. It was going to be a good day for once seeing Jack and Tatiana getting married. But then Kris remembered that Niesha wanted to propose to Sophia at some point. "I'll be over to tend to the animals if you need me." Kristina told her as Kris went back into her room and started to get changed into a warmer set of clothes, finding a black winter jacket that was given to her when the cold weather started to happen.

Kristina quickly put on her pair of shoes looking at Niesha for a moment and gave her friend a soft smile knowing that Niesha was still most likely feeling the loss. She was always going to be there for her friend, as Kristina started to make her way out onto Lagrange Street and towards the main gate. Once the gate was opened for her Kris started making her way over towards the stables where the animals had been moved to.

She didn't like the cold weather much, but she was also used to it Pennsylvania's winters were pretty hard and it always snowed pretty hard some days. Kristina moved over towards where they kept the feed, and started to pour it over onto the troughs and then moved towards their pens. Kristina grabbed a nearby shovel and started to shovel up the animal manure from their pen floors dumping them into a pile she sighed slightly as she just continued to clean up the mess that was there. It kept her mind busy most days as Kris remembered the friends and family she had lost over the last four years which was tough on her as she thought of everyone, she needed to keep herself busy. And the wedding she was really looking forward to seeing her two friends getting married Jack was like an older brother and Tatiana was like an older sister to her, Kristina enjoyed those dancing lessons from Tatiana some of the things she looked forward to when they weren't busy with their own duties.

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Meghna had spent most of last night with Tatiana discussing the final plans for the wedding, which she was really looking forward to seeing and was really happy that she could help out with it. Meghna ended up crashing last night after she had gotten home, and woke up to hearing someone knocking on the door. Meg looked outside for a moment and realized that Tatiana was probably still waiting to talk more on where to have the wedding set up. Meghna had made preparations to have it set up outside, of course it could be changed to have it in the Mess Hall if Tatiana asked for it. "I'm on my way!" Meghna called out as she moved to get changed putting on a pair of jeans as well as a thick sweatshirt and a winter jacket.

By the time Meg was fully dress she opened the door looking down she saw Ciel there, she gave him a soft smile. Meghna realized she was overbearing towards him when they first met, and did her best to not do that much when she was around him. "Good morning Ciel." Meg said with a smile as she closed the door, Sid had left an hour or so ago to the medical garden to tend to things there. "Was heading over to Tati and Jack's place to discuss somethings." Meg said as she waved for him to follow her.

Meghna started to cut through towards Lagrange Street, she made sure she kept her hands inside of her pockets as Meg looked around she could see some people shoveling some snow out of the streets, and some of the kids were playing out in the snow having a blast like they always did. Meg walked all the way to Jefferson Street until they were finally at Tatiana's house, she gave a few hard knocks on the door then she quickly went to put her hand back into her pockets to keep them warm. She was never used to the snow this far south which was weird and she hated it quiet a bit but she couldn't control the weather sadly.

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Raymond smiled slightly when he felt a kiss on his cheek as he opened his eyes slightly seeing Tiffany as she started to leave the bedroom, he never thought he would have actually fallen for someone but he did and he felt truly happy. Losing his leg was probably the best worse thing that had happened to him, Ray laid in their bed for awhile longer as he thought about the last few months. It was Jack and Tatiana's wedding today, the thought had slipped his mind a few times with Tiffany. But he wasn't sure if she wanted to or not, they haven't talked about it that much. Ray was however content for now, he was alive still as he got out of the bed slowly he reached over to his set of crutches that was pretty much how he moved around at least shorter distances. If he wanted to get around Newnan more he would take Cadence around where he needed to quicker. He would take him out for a run around the walls later on in the day just to give the horse some exercise.

It was always hard for him to get out from the bed looking down at the stump which had healed nicely now as Raymond groaned slightly as he pulled himself out of bed. Ray moved over towards the drawers and started to get changed for the day putting on a pair of warm clothes as well as a jacket. He knew that Tiffany had already left to go and do her duties most likely as Ray moved slowly out of the house, he closed the door behind him and moved up along Lagrange Street. Raymond would smile and give a few friendly nods and smiles as he walked by some of the people who were in Franklin.

Ray moved through the gate and started to make his way he wanted to stop by and see Jack, he went over to ask someone from Newnan where he was. They pointed out towards the South Apartments where Ms. Sally lived, he gave them a friendly smile and a quick thank you as Ray walked over until he was there and gave a knock on Sally's door. Ray leaned slightly against the wall to wait for someone to open the door. He wanted to check in on Jack and see how he was doing before the wedding and just to chat for little bit.

Niesha had risen early, so that when Kristina came into wake her. Over the...was it really four years? Four long, demanding, hard and tiring years, since the outbreak, Niesha had gotten use to sleep a handful of hours at a time. She no longer slept a night through, despite the relative safety of Newman, she hadn't let herself slip into sleeping long hours at night, haunted by Sophia's death, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that maybe they weren't safe here. So many had died...both inside the walls and out, that despite nothing having happened for the last several months, she couldn't at times help but wonder if maybe it was safer out there. Unable to find her comb, Niesha spent several moments running her fingers through her hair, wanting to make it appear nice, before braiding it. Over the months, she hadn't cut it, instead letting it grow long, so that now it was almost resting on the middle of her back, instead of its usual shoulder length style. The change wasn't something she could ever remember thinking about, but rather...she just didn't want to cut it. So much was out of her control, that it was reassuring to be able to control something. She knew that she could have borrowed Kristina’s comb, but didn’t want to bother her friend.

She knew that Kristina was doing what she did to make sure that Niesha was alright, and she was grateful for that.

She went about the rest of her morning routine, heading to the medical gardens, she checked on the growing plants, making a mental note of which ones needed to be looked at, or could be harvested soon, making sure that nothing had changed, badly, since the day before. It was oddly calming doing this, and Niesha soon found herself in a fairy stable mood, as she grabbed a little bit of ginger, boiling it in some water and mixing it, she went to seek out Ciel. While she didn’t recall the articles on ginger, she knew it had properties that were good for preventing Asthma. She had quite regularly been dropping by, after speaking about it with Victor, to give Ceil the concoction. On Cold days, she sought him out early, wanting to get to him before he got outside. Today however, it seemed that she had just missed him, and she hurried on down the street, her hair whipping about behind her, as she caught up with him at Meg’s place. She shoved the cup into his hands ”Drink it” She said, waving to Meg as the other woman opened the door, before rushing off again, nearly crashing into the messenger as she headed back home to clean up a bit, and dress warmer.

As the messenger rattled off the message, Niesha changed directions, wanting to head in and make sure everything was alright, although the Doctor was so rarely wrong. Niesha had expected weather related illnesses, yet she thought everyone might just have the small fear, often not noticing it themselves, of wondering if this was going to be another outbreak to end them all. So, when Victor called her in, Niesha went, simply to ease her own fears, but also because she could do something, and that was all she wanted these days. Reaching the infirmary, she washed her hands before seeking out the child, seeing that she was already well cared for. ”Are you here, Doc?” She called softly, not wanting to wake the girl, and Knowing he wouldn’t leave a patient alone, Niesha had to figure that he was close by, as she quickly sought to see what he had done. She frowned though, colds didn’t usually turn into a sinus infection, although they were breeding grounds for them, making people more susceptible to the infection. Sure that Victor would have thought of that, and chalking it to the cold, Niesha stepped back, again not wanting to wake the child, she sought out Victor.

Knocking on the door to his living quarters, she said just loudly enough to be heard, ”It’s Niesha” She knew she should be getting ready for the day’s event, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t at least make sure the kid was alright.

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Ciel waved silently as Meg opened the door. "I hope I didn't wake you up or anything..." He faltered, looking up over her shoulder instead of directly at her. Even though he had Ryan's huge coat thrown over his shoulders, he was shivering. He seemed to calm down slightly when Meghna didn't comment on the coat which obviously did not belong to Ciel. She announced that she'd be going over to settle some things with Jack and Tatiana, and seemed to want him to come along. Though Ciel doubted he had anything to do with this wedding that was supposedly happening today, he wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to see Jack. Jack was like a father to him, more so than his actual father had been.

Just then, Neisha ran up and thrust her usual cup of ginger solution at him. He was very much caught by surprise, narrowly avoiding dropping the cup. "Yikes! ... Oh, sorry. Thank you." He coughed out, forcing a smile. Neisha was gone just as soon as she'd come. Probably had a lot of work to do in the infirmary, no doubt.

Ciel followed Meghna, walking a bit stiffly and glancing around, seemingly unable to look at anything for more than a split second. He swallowed down some of Neisha's concoction, grimacing at the strange taste. However, he knew it was better to just accept it. No gain in being stubborn and costing Newnan even more valuable medical resources.

They passed by some of Newnan's other younger residents. Ciel never interacted with them, as a general rule. There were several reasons for this. One, he felt on some level that he was superior to them, as he had a job and all. Two, he had never in his whole life had a chance to interact with anyone his own age, and was fairly certain that he'd do something wrong. And Three, he had no time for idle games and no particular longing to participate in them. He barely looked at them as he walked by, following Meg closely.

He had taken quite the grand tour of Newnan by this point, and was suddenly quite thankful that Neisha had caught up with him. Even with the drink, he was still rather out of breath by the time they showed up at Jack and Tatiana's place. Still not quite sure what he'd been brought along for, he stepped back to let Meg do the talking.

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Keeping focus on the ground made Richard nearly miss Ciel as the young boy waved at him as if Richard might bite his head off. Granted, if he was an adult, Richard probably would have but despite being dubbed “The Dick” of Newnan, he wasn’t a fucking animal to children. He gave him a quick, firm nod of acknowledgement before returning his gaze to the frozen ground. Last thing he wanted was to land ass first in the snow, fuck that shit.

He nearly stumbled a few times but for the most part he was close enough to snow to stop himself from landing face first on the ground, at least for now. He got to the shop and made his way inside. He couldn’t see Beni about, one of the few people in this godforsaken place that Richard didn’t want to stab or hit. The dude was in a dark place, same as Richard was, and so they generally worked in disgruntled silence which was exactly what Richard liked about the man. He moved around the workshop and looked to see what was on the list of tasks for the day.

Then he heard the door opening along with his least favourite voice in the fucking world. Without even turning to acknowledge him, Richard kept about his search as he felt Ryan stepping right up beside him. If it didn’t mean he’d get ejected from Newnan, Richard would happily clock Ryan right in the face at every given opportunity. The only thing that made Richard scowl in Ryan’s direction at all this morning was the word booze.

“Is that fuckin’ so? Not like I’ll see any o’ it since our glorious leader says I ain’t allowed shit.” He turned and leaned his rear against the edge of the desk and folded his arms across his chest as he glowered at Ryan when he asked about Chloe. “Yeah, saw her this morn when she crawled outta my bed in nothin’ but her panties same as every fuckin’ day…” He rolled his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands before folding them again and staring at Ryan blankly. “Nah, ain’t seen her. Why?” He cast his eyes over Ryan’s face and frowned deeper than before. He didn’t much like how Ryan was with Chloe but it wasn’t exactly his place to say shit. Doesn’t mean he can’t judge it like fuck though.

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Bryn had to stop herself from smirking more as she listened to Sana’s mini-not-quite-a-rant-but-a-rant and simply nodded in agreement with her words. Her brow knitted slightly in the middle and the corners of her mouth kept threatening to turn upwards again as she forced on a serious face as if the matter was of the utmost importance. When Sana blasted herself with water though, Bryn let out the most unladylike snort of laughter before biting down on her bottom lip, not wanting to poke the wildcat that was her friend.

She appreciated Sana looking at the card and giving it her approval, she knew that Tatiana wasn’t her favourite person in the world. Bryn’s face cracked into an understanding grimace as she shrugged at Sana’s question. “I think the best we’ll get is a week of peace from the rainbows and butterflies while they destroy each other behind closed doors.” Bryn didn’t have anything against either of them, but sometimes they were just a lot to handle. Like too much sugar in coffee, it’s not bad it’s just too much to cope with it every day.

When Sana threw her boots out onto the porch, Bryn knew the conversation was over and she waved her hand idly as Sana mentioned the showers. Bryn was due for checking in with Jim to see if there was any work needing done on the walls. She knew he’d report it but no harm in checking if he needed or even wanted anything done/made for the walls while she had the time. There wasn’t much hunting to be done when the snow was so thick and the temperatures so low, maybe later but today wasn’t a day for it, especially not with the wedding.

Jogging back up the stairs and into her room, Bryn pulled her sleeping clothes off and braced herself against the chill in the room. She quite liked the cold, it was refreshing but she liked it even more so when she knew she could escape it. She pulled on her outfit of choice; Black vest top, black woollen jumper/sweater, black combat trousers, black knee high lace up boots, black leather gloves (missing the fingertips) and a black leather jacket. She knew she’d be warm in this but her fingertips would be cursing her, good job she had pockets for them to live in while she was walking about outside. She still kind of felt naked without her bat in her hands, it was getting a little less weird each day but that thought scared her more than not having her bat.

Reaching under her pillow she grabbed out Bridgette’s seax and strapped it to her belt. She smiled as she looked at it and then she glanced up to the shield that she had propped against the wall on top of a chest of drawers, Astrid’s shield. She still missed her Valkyries but she knew they had died the way they lived and were watching her from Valhalla watching her as she fumbled over her life each day. Sighing quietly to herself she left her room and yelled out to Sana and bid her goodbye before heading out into the snow. She made her way down towards the main gates where Jim was usually stationed and if he wasn’t there she’d find someone that knew where he was. She quite looked forward to the chance to build something with her two hands, she missed it.

Her hands flicked the collar of her jacket up to protect her neck and she dug her hands into her pockets and buried her face into her collar as she walked carefully through the snow. She’d need to see if she could get a scarf from Ms. Sally today – the wind was unforgiving this morning. She slipped in through the small entrance by her and Sana’s place and walked down towards Gilbert Street. She took in the amazing smells that were wafting up from down the road. James, the only one that could make Bryn’s face contort in complete joy – no, not like that – and her mouth began to water like crazy. She’d need to visit her buddy and see if she could steal a preview bite of the food for the impending festivities before everyone else. She continued smelling the air like a dog as she turned the corner onto Gilbert and headed for Lagrange.

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The familiar and gentle knock on his door followed by Neisha’s voice brought Victor out of his memories and he smiled a little. It was strange to think that when Neisha had first entered this community that Victor would gladly have seen her sent back out into the vicious world without a second thought. Nowadays he considered the young woman his friend, something he never imagined possible. If only Zoie could see them now, she’d be pleased that he hadn’t been his usual critical self and accepted the help of someone whom he wanted to avoid so badly. He was pleased with not only his own growth, but the growth of Neisha, who had learned to ask without the assumption that the person she was asking was automatically going to be incorrect. In fact, Victor had grown to appreciate Neisha’s questioning as it kept his mind sharp – he wasn’t a spry young chicken anymore.

Standing up from his seat, Victor made his way to the door and opened it, smiling at Neisha as he did so. “Ah, good morning Neisha. Did you receive my message? Our young patient is okay for now but I am worried that a sinus infection has developed from her simple cold. It’s not common at all. Would you be so kind as to help with observation over the next day or so?” He exited his room and motioned for Neisha to follow him, locking the door to his quarters behind him, he led her to the infirmary around the corner and quietly opened the door to head inside. He made his way close by to the bottom of Anna’s bed but not close enough to wake her with his hushed voice as he spoke to Neisha.

“I am slightly worried that this may be a more aggressive viral infection that I am unfamiliar with and not simple sinusitis. I am not a paediatrician so am not 100% certain on how this would affect a young child. She has minor swelling of the area around her eyes, her cough seems to be constant as if something is forever irritating her throat and when she speaks you can hear the blockage in her nasal cavities. A second opinion would be appreciated once young Anna awakens.” He glanced over to the young girl as she let out another cough in her sleep. His face softened in worry and he let out a slight sigh. “Do you think you could make something to help her throat at the very least? Poor child is so tired…” Victor glanced to Neisha again and then focused his concern on her for a moment.

”Speaking of tired, how are you feeling? Still not getting a full night’s sleep yourself?” He didn’t want to force Neisha to speak to him on a psychological level but he wasn’t going to stop sowing the seeds into her mind when he could. He not only needed Neisha at 100% but he wanted her to be well too. If she was not comfortable speaking to him, he could perhaps suggest she speak to Tati. The loss of Sophia had hit Neisha hard and Victor just wanted to make sure she was alright.

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As Ms. Sally came to the door, her bright grin was matched by one of Jack's. She was something of a grandmother to him, and he rubbed the back of his head as she asked him whether or not he was ready. Truthfully, he wanted to marry Tatiana every minute he was with her, but at the same time, he was nervous as hell. Tatiana deserved the world--and he'd try his best to give it to her. "I think so, bettah hope I am by now," he chuckled as he entered Ms. Sally's apartment.

"If it's bittah, yeah," Jack replied, when Ms. Sally asked him if he wanted tea. He wasn't a huge fan of sugary foods, and black coffee tended to be his favorite drink. With the lack of coffee in Newnan, bitter tea became his new favorite. Sometimes, he'd joke to himself that while the walkers were bad and all, the lack of coffee was the last straw, and the real thing to be concerned about.

As Ms. Sally threw a rag over the mystery object, Jack chuckled a bit. He held his hand up in the old boy scout salut, and said to her, "Didn't see anythin'. Scouts honor." For a moment, he almost forgot what Tatiana had sent him over to collect--his tuxedo. However, just as he was about to ask Ms. Sally how it was coming, there was a knock on the door. "You sit down, I got it," Jack said, not wanting Ms. Sally to have to get up and head over to the door already. He then headed over, and opened it up, smiling when he saw Ray.

"Hey man, what's up?"

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Beatrice heard the rockstar's voice come from inside of the apartment, asking for five minutes. And while Riley was incredibly punctual and indeed did take only five minutes, Beatrice couldn't help but regret slightly that she hadn't just gone for a run. There was very little chance that Riley would have anything for her to do, but she felt obligated to check just in case. By the time Riley opened the door, Beatrice forced a smile to attempt to look friendly, but only succeeded in looking like she was holding back a grimace.

"I'm stopping by to see if there was anything you needed me to take care of today," Beatrice explained, as she entered Riley's apartment. Her eyes wandered around the place for a moment, taking in the little details and differences. It was a habit if anything, from years of moving from place to place, and then the reinforcement from the apocalypse, as walkers could be hidden away in almost any room. The relative safety of Newnan hadn't caused that habit to change just yet.

"I found it prudent to check, though with the lovebirds tying the knot today, I doubted there would be anything," Beatrice explained, before waiting for Riley to answer. If her lead had nothing for her, Beatrice would then bid a polite nod of farewell to Riley, and then take off for a brisk jog around Newnan. The exercise was always beneficial, and in this era, it would only help her chances of survival. Beatrice knew very well that Newnan would not last forever. One day, she would be back to fending for herself--it was just a question of when.

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As Chloe waited outside of the infirmary, she listened to see if Froggy had come in yet. The infirmary appeared to be quiet, and she leaned against the wall, remembering her first internship in a hospital. Stanford had a program where pre-medical students would be placed in nearby hospitals if desired, and back when her drive still pushed her towards the dream of becoming a surgeon, Chloe had been eager to participate in them. Her mentor at the hospital had been tough and firm--in many ways, similar to Froggy. The major difference, of course, was that the lack of trust was not from her drug addiction, but from her lack of experience.

Once she saw Niesha enter the infirmary, however, her thoughts went away from her past. Even though Niesha was in the infirmary, she knew that she'd still need to wait for Froggy. Chloe bet that her fellow ginger would likely get the doctor within a few moments, and then, she could enter as well. Beyond the slight rise in winter colds, things in the infirmary had been relatively calm.

Waiting a few moments, Chloe figured that Froggy and Niesha must have already been inside. She stopped leaning against the wall, and walked over to the door to the infirmary, and knocked quietly a few times, just in case any patients had been brought in during the night and lulled to sleep. "Froggy, you good for me to come in?" Chloe said softly, trying to keep her voice down.

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Tiffany walked the streets up to the infirmary. She remembered it took her some time to get a feel for the place. She had to admit, she was really impressed with how everything was here. They really made a home for themselves. They had lots of things she couldn't even imagine back at her old school shelter. That stirred up some memories. Both good and bad. It made her into the person she was today, for better or worse.

As she walked, she bid greeting to few that she passed. She neared the infirmary and noticed Ciel with Ryan and Dick. As much as she wanted to check on him to make sure he was ok, she didn't really want to talk to the other two guys. As far as she was concerned, the less they dealt with each other, the better. She made a mental note to check on Ciel later, though.

As if fate was against her, Chloe stood outside of the infirmary. She didn't really hate Chloe. It was hard to put into words her feelings. On the one hand, she was thankful for her help during their trip here. Without it, she is sure Ciel and Ray would not have been as good as they were when they came. On the other hand, Chloe rubbed her the wrong way. She was loud and annoying. It may be funny to others, but it just got on her nerves. Not to mention her past Yes, she shouldn't judge someone's past, but the past shapes who you are to this day. What's to say she wouldn't go back?

She walked up with a casual nod to Chloe. It would be better to remain cordial with each other. Chloe wasn't a terrible person and, if she had to choose, she'd rather talk to her than Dick or Ryan. "Good morning, Chloe. Here to see the Doctor, as well?"

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Captain Holloway was already braced for what he was about to see, waiting for the second their new arrival brought her scarf down. The fact that Jim elbowed his ribs barely registered, and he could tell that his stoic visage cracked, if only a little. After long seconds, Ash remembered his own manners and returned the salute.

Meanwhile, James had gone as frozen as the ground beneath his feet, eyes wide and mouth agape as his brain struggled to form connections coherent enough to allow his body anything but the absolute basics of survival. That and not falling over, but if a really strong wind picked up, all bets were off.

"Yes, there is something with your face, ma'am." began Ash, breaking the silence, "It belongs to someone else."

"Glad I'm not the only one seeing this, thought I was losing my mind..." Jim muttered under his breath.

Thana stood there motionless, not responding to the comment about her face as she stared at James. "You gonna say something or just stand there like I bitch slapped yer hog?" she asked rather matter-of-factly.

Ash opened his mouth to continue the thought, but was situationally waylaid by James, who upon regaining the ability to speak, opted instead to let out a single, wordless exclamation of profound joy somewhat like a "HAAAAAA!!!!" and sprint at their new arrival with wide arms, intent on sweeping her up into a monstrous helicopter spin of an embrace.

"Aww hell..." Dr. Martin squeaked out as a leg slid back and her knees bent reflexively. She was bracing for impact from the six foot tall chestnut man barreling towards her. She knew there was nothing short of a nuclear strike that was going to stop the man once he set his eyes on a target. Right then the only thing she could be grateful of was that he wasn't pointing a bow in her direction.

Like a rampaging Taurean behemoth granted a shot of fast-acting energy beverage syrup, James intercepted their guest and began an embrace that swung her legs out in a wide circle, the likes of which can only be described as Scary Happy. "Shit bricks, put me down ya over sized horn-swallow!" Thana gasped as she was unceremoniously lifted into the air and twirled like a top.

After two or three revolutions, he set her down and stepped back to take a full look at her, almost falling to the ground in the recently compressed snow. "Well hot damn, mama... We all forgettin' our manners! Lemme get you inside someplace warm! Hey, Ash! Why you got her outside in this mess? C'mon, let's go.. ah, sorry, Cap'n. Um, can we do introductions back thataway, Boss, where it's more hospitable?"

Steadying herself, she rested one hand on James shoulder and caught her breath before her other hand came up, giving the man a solid smack on the shoulder. "Don't ya be 'mama'ing me boy, yous got better manners than that," she half scolded him but there was a crack of a smile on her features.

James was certainly taking a lot of liberties with his speech today. Than again, he usually did; James was not military and really could not be held to exactly the same standards. So long as he was respectful, Ash gave him the lion's share of latitude. That just about summed up the look that he shot the excitable man. "Agreed, James. We should get out of the open. Infirmary first, let's get you checked out. And, um... wait. No - My quarters. No one has reason nor excuse to be there. We need to ease into this. Dr. Martin? If you would please replace your scarf for now?"

Raising a brow, Thana turned her attention to Ash. Her head tilting to the side in the process as a look of confusion came over her features. "I know I ain't be gottin' no make-up on and look like I just slept inside a Tonton but ain't be no reason to coverin' up. I can't be lookin' THAT bad now cans I?"

James looked at the woman with just a touch of apprehension in his eyes, shaking his head in an attempt to dissuade Thana her train of thought. Words didn't quite make it out of his mouth, but he tried to put on a reassuring face. Again, Ash took the lead with the actual speaking parts of the discussion. "No, ma'am. We will explain everything in a little bit; you are owed that much. For right now, please accept our hospitality. Right this way."

Furrowing her brows, Thana's eyes darted towards James and then back to Ash. This was most unusual, even for a world in chaos such as it was. After a moment of contemplation she finally responded. "Yes sir, request permission to bring my vehicle within the walls personally? It's rigged personally, I wouldn't be trusting any folk to drive it without gettin' themselves hurt. Sir."

"Absolutely. If you would please, set your weapons on the dash so my security team can see them, and leave them when you exit the vehicle. Hell of an engineering job on that. We'll have to talk shop later, if you're up for it, ma'am."

"Absolutely sir." Thana nodded slightly as she pulled her scarf back up to cover her features, leaving only her eyes exposed once again. Turning she headed down the stairs and trudged through the snow back to her redneck snowmobile. Climbing into the boat part she picked up her weapons and looked about. There wasn't exactly a dash board on a 4 wheeler in a pontoon boat. Reaching into her bag she pulled out some rope and laced the trigger through it and then added the belt loop of her knife sheath. Tying the rope off on the side of the boat she let it dangle so it was in clear view before putting her pack back on.

Time to move, starting up the engine the snow kicked out behind her before she hit the gas and plowed forward and through the gate, coming to a stop inside and off to the right so not to block the main entrance. Turning it off she hopped down and tucked the keys in her pocket. Wasn't a bad set up for make shift. The pontoon boat had sections of the bottom cut out of it where the wheels of the 4-wheeler were laid through and chains were threaded over the front and back of each side to create treads. The whole thing was welded together, quickly one could tell but effectively.

"Ready when you are sir," she said from beneath her scarf as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder.

A sudden gust of wind kicked up, tossing the sheep-lined collar of Ash's flight jacket and very near blowing the hat from James's head. The ebon hogger slapped his hand to his head, regretful that he hadn't threaded the grommets in his stetson with a cord of some kind, considering the unseasonable weather lately. Georgia was fun that way. The climate was a craps shoot. For once, James spoke up first. "Yes'm! This way!" he remarked, waving her forward.

"That's correct, ma'am. Short walk up this road to the Inner Wall, then we're cutting around to a back gate. I aim to get us to my quarters for briefing on the extreme quiet. Ten minute hike, tops." Ash glared in Jim's direction for a second, regarding the man. "Jim, I can't stress this enough. Until things get resolved, you tell no one. Got me?" Jim nodded, still half in shock.

Ash accepted this as a response and began crunching in the snow back to the north. Somewhat absently, Ash gestured a circle in the air, and then to his eyes. It was the standard signal for all security personnel to pay attention, just in case. Ash was wiling to give the benefit of the doubt to this person, but he had not completely lost his senses.

"Don't be lettin' anyone touch my baby, it's rigged to go boom," Thana said quickly to Jim, a stern tone to that seemed to get a nearly automatic response from Jim with a quick bob of his head.

"Yes ma'am," Jim said. He quickly called over two men to set up as a guard for the redneck mobile. Something told him he didn't want to piss this woman off.

Thana gave a curt nod and followed along side the men as she was escorted further into the wall, hearing the main gate close behind her with a squeak and a thunk. There was not turning back now, she was inside and she was without weapon. Granted she wasn't exactly helpless but a bullet from someone on the wall would end her if she tried anything. The Lt. Commander just hoped that no one would do anything to make her go on the defensive.

Following the men around the outside of the inner gate she kept looking around. The people on the wall kept an eye out but there were a handful of others on the ground. Thana just kept moving, not really acknowledging anyone, just wanting to get out of the cold right then. "So, gots anywhere I can brew up a cup o' Joe?" she asked as she placed one foot in front of the other and headed within the inner sanctum.

Ash could practically taste that coffee. Sweet, black nectar. But he couldn't seem too eager, no. "Few places, actually. We're headed for one now."

And speaking of sweet, black nectar, James piped up, "Yuh huh, but don't go sayin' that word too loud. We been without for a while, an' it might kick off a riot, k?"

"Good to know," Thana said as she kept walking, her eyes darting this way and that as she surveyed the area. Too many years in the military and far too many since then on the road kept her eyes moving even when she wanted to just focus on what was head of her. Seeing Kris out in the livestock area, Thana didn't glance in her direction; merely keeping her scarf over her features. Her dark hair barely creeping out from below her cover giving no indication of her ethnicity. Her clothing was loose and she walked in a military style, even those that spotted her would be unable to tell her gender at this point.

The group of three cut across he northernmost section of Livestock, almost parallel to the wall. A scant minute of two had them hugging the exterior of the Inner Wall northward on Perry Street. "And if you look to the right," Ash began in his best Sarcastic Tour Guide voice, "You will be treated to the sight of the Newnan Community Distillery, origin of things fun and flammable. Ok, up this way and left..." Non-mortal stress had the curious effect of bringing out Ash's sardonic sense of (what other people may refer to as) humor. Funny, that particular muscle hadn't had a workout in a very long time.

"Please tell me it is better than that bathtub gin my fellow sailors used to brew up. I swear, I swilled more Gin than Hawkeye ever did. Granted I could hold it better than those airmen could, something about flying high and booze never mixed well," Thana quipped with a slight smirk on her lips and gave a visible shudder thinking back to some of the paint thinner she had drank in the past.

Ash waved them into the Inner Wall's central northern gate, nodding briskly at the gatekeeper present. It was good having enough people to comfortably man available security positions, though it did make their act of semi-secrecy a touch more difficult. "Second house on the right, right behind that big building." In a quieter voice, "We'll explain everything behind closed doors, I promise."

"I'll be holding you to that promise Captain," she muttered as she adjusted her scarf to keep it over the top of her nose. It was uncomfortable like this and it was warming up, it wasn't exactly needed right then. Least she didn't think so but they both obvious had other thoughts on the matter. Moving quickly she headed towards the house in question and slipped up to the right of the door, awaiting permission to enter.

The curiously hasty Captain Holloway unlocked his front door and ushered the lady inside. From there, it was a series of urgent movements pulling curtains and checking doors, making more sure of the visual security of his domicile than that one incident when the musical stylings of The Rolling Stones began to move him in a most unflattering manner, post-shower and yet pre-clothing.

"Hey, Cap'n..." said James in a low and serious tone, "I gotta get back - got meat on. Little Lady, you come an' find me after, huh? Just follow the smell of that good barbecue; won't steer you wrong. Ash is good people." He added that last part as more of a reassurance.

"He better be or I'll be dreamin' of you bleedin like a stuck pig," Thana said as she stood there, glad she had taken the time to knock the snow off her boots before she had entered the house.

"Aight, I'm out." The enigmatic blackneck made his way out of the front door. His big, heavy boots could be heard crunching south, back down the road. Said door was swiftly locked behind him.

"Ok, coffeemaker... Over here. Unless you'd like something stronger. I've got ale and spirits. Grab a couch, get settled in. We have a lot to talk about."

"Nah, coffee be just fine this early in the mornin' though considerin' just how cloak and dagger you are bein' I might need somethin' stronger later. Permission to finally take this damned scarf off, wool be rubbin' my nose raw and I really don't want to walk around looking like Rudolph," Thana said as she stood there looking like she was about to rob a bank in her current get up.

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"Come on Marx," Sana called out on the hillside, sitting a top a pale golden stallion as the winds kicked up around her. She had a bright smile on her face that always seemed permanently etched there, as if she was born with the ability to frown. Marx road up beside her on his ebony steed and rolled his eyes at her.

"You cheated," he said flatly.

"I did not! It's not my fault you didn't hear me say go," she laughed and tried to look offended.

"Right, mouthing it with your lips while you are facing away from me doesn't count."

"Who says?" Shaking his head he reached over and tried to snatch her reins from her but it was useless, Sana was a more accomplished rider than he was. "Nope," she laughed as she spun her horse around and backed up a few paces. "Now, what did you want to show me?"

"This way," he smirked before ebbing his horse on. They put in a steady trot as they headed down the hill and into the forest. There was a little worn path, looking like it has been ore recently cleared. Sana looked around and took in the cool air. It was fall in Ontario, early fall and the snow had yet to come. The leaves were still changing and bright reds and oranges danced through the tops of the trees. Marx had surprised Sana with a visit, coming up from University to visit her. They hadn't had a lot of time together recently so she was glad to have him around. They had always been close, so the distance apart made it difficult. Granted they weren't identical twins but they were twins.

The forest opened up a little and there was a babbling brook winding its way through the forest. Sana hopped down and tied off her horse Marx following closely as he pointed up the bank some. A worn out old mill. It was broken down and probably hadn't been used in over a century but it was still stunning. Sana's eyes lit up and Marx took her hand, leading her up quickly through a path he obviously had been on before.

"How did you find this?" she asked but he didn't answer at first. Making sure they kept their footing as they continued on their way. Climbing up and finally finding a way into the building.

"I got lucky but doesn't matter. Found it. Sad thing is, they are demolishing it tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"New road going through this area, bridge will be built here. Wanted you to see it before it was gone. Reminds me of home, of that old windmill on the estate."

"Yeah it does," Sana said as she looked around, slightly saddened by the fact that this old building wouldn't be around much longer. She had always found the solitude of ruins something she was drawn too, Marx knew this. Marx smiled as he watched her jut standing there looking around. Sun coming in from a hole in the roof shinned down on her and the sadness left her eyes as she watched a bird land on an old beam and let out a little song. It might be the last one until Spring last year. Marx pulled out his Camera, about to take a picture of her when he noticed something.

The world seemed to move in slow motion then. There was the sound of an alarm that went off in the distance, it barely registered. Their world was turned up side down. An explosion went off, the demolition had begun. It was a day early wasn't it? Had he gotten the dates wrong? He must have. The old wood was like kindling and everything caught fire as Sana's hands come up and she ducked down. Spinning to try to find Marx, he reached out, coming at her in a full sprint but it felt like he was caught in drying concrete. The beam hit her shoulder, setting her clothing on fire, Marx crashing into her and knocking her out of the way. Pulling her coat off she threw it away from her, the burning in her shoulder not even registering yet, Shock had taken over.

"MARX!!!" she screamed but he was pinned. The wood burning his flesh before his elbow, so hot Sana couldn't kick it or get her hands around it to move it out of the way. Grabbing Marx she pulled but it was no use. She wasn't strong enough. "HELP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.....

Looking down at the picture of her and Marx, her fingers ran over it before she sighed and placed it back on her mirror in her room. Her hair clinging to her skin as she clung to her towel. She would have been crushed that day if Marx hadn't shoved her out of the way. She still carried the scars from that day, she always would. He had lost his arm that day. He never complained about it, saying it was a small price to pay to still have her with him. She'd cut off her own arm right then to have him still with her.

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Tatiana slipped her robe on, tying it closed as she started what she needed to do to get ready for the day ahead. The robe was worn but she didn't care, it was one of those things that reminded her of days before the outbreak. One of those simple things people took for granted that meant so much these days. Hearing a knock at the door she smiled to herself and ran out into the living room, the towel on the top of her head threatening to fall off.

Peaking out the window she spotted Meg and Ceil standing there, not that she normally checked but she wasn't going to let Jack sneak back in. Going over to the door she swung it open and ushered them in quickly. "Ahh!!" Tatiana squealed as she gave Meg a quick hug, it was obvious that the ballerina was beyond excited. Giggling as she released her best friend and smiling over at Ceil. "Morning, come in come in. Fire going in fire place, go varm up," Tatiana told Ceil as she closed the door.

"Jack bad boy this morning, didn't go to Rays last night. Voke up here! Nearly sav me, had to run, vhosh, like mouse trying to get vay from that silly cat," Tatia explained rather grandly but she was a performer, so it was just how she was.

"Silly man knov better." Tatiana shook her head but smiled, it was obvious she wasn't mad at him. "Anyvho, vhat you need? I need to do anything? Besides get ready? Oh, outside or inside? Veather be okay? Or too vet?" she rattled off, nearly forgetting to breathe as she asked question after question.

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"Never know man, it is a rare thing to be having a wedding. Maybe you could slip a drink or two, or twenty," Ryan said with a smirk as he rolled the stem of the four leaf clover between his index finger and thumb. At the mention of Chloe crawling out of Dicks bed made Ryan feel a flame of rage but he wasn't one to lash out. He knew better. Not because he didn't think he could take the Dick, but because he didn't want to get kicked out of Newnan, at least not yet.

"Oh no reason," he answered, lying through his teeth. He wanted to see her was why he was asking. He knew she liked the ladies and had no attraction to him sexually but he didn't care. Well he did care, he cared for her. A lot. Heart couldn't help who it was attracted to, that much was for sure. Hell, the fact that Zoie had fallen in love with Richard was testament to that.

The door opened and the yappy sound of Peaches barking could be heard as the dog barreled in as if it was a great dane and headed right for Dick wagging her tail off. Beni was right behind her and shook his head. "Peaches, git yer ass over here," Beni barked back at the little pooch. Peaches didn't listen, she spent a good amount of her time in the Repair shop with Dick and Beni and as far as she was concerned, Dick was daddy number two.

Ryan just shook his head and headed out of the shop without a word. catching a small glimpse of Bryn as she headed out the inner gate and south. Down a ways, where Ryan couldn't see Jim headed back up to the top of the wall, shaking his head slightly. Mike cocked a brow a little bit at the orders but nodded in understanding before heading off back towards the town. Mikes shift was over and he would need to be meeting Miss Sally shortly to get the cooking underway. A lot was done but something had to wait until right before the wedding to finish up.