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Tatiana looked over to Ray and looked at him confused. "That sounds really odd," she admitted and chuckled a bit. The image of that cat carrying a leg through the streets was quite the mental picture and while she was this prim ballerina she had seen her fair share of odd things during the war when she was younger and even odder since the out break. "Do you think it was real or just your minds way of dealing with everything that is going on?" she asked as she sat there. She doubted it was real, the weight alone would keep a cat, even one as good at surviving as that one was, from carrying it. That plus if it had been real she figured the kids out front would have been screaming their heads off by now.

Hearing her radio go off and Jack's voice made her smile a little and she held up her finger to Ray. "Just a minute," she said, excusing herself to him for the interruption. The shakiness in Jack's voice worried her a bit but she wasn't going to ask him over the radio and hoped it could wait until they were alone. "Of course it is my husband, no one else have your voice. I at home, feet up, I ate. Ray is keeping me company," she explained, figuring she might as well fill him in on a few things to keep him from asking her.

Froggy looked over to Ravi and sighed. "Other than just what the Captiane makes here, we really do not have anything for that but if you want, we can go just north of town and see what the funeral home has. It was stocked last time we went. Not exactly what people need to stay alive," he said with a sigh. "Chloe, you know the one, we went about a month ago," he said. "With Benny and Peaches," he said with a sad chuckle. They hadn't meant to go out but Froggy had gone for a stroll and ran across Benny about to go out to look for something for Sana. A small gift to try to cheer her up. They had just made it a quick run but Peaches had run off after that damn orange cat and right into the funeral home through a broken window.

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"You been hitting the gin and juice without me?" Gavin laughed before looking back at the crates and pulling a tarp off one of them. He nearly jumped out of his skin and did in fact jump out of the boat as he saw the face of the man he had killed the day before looking up at him smiling. "Jesus fuckin' Christ," he said s he found his footing and pushed his manly curls out of his face. Rubbing his mustache he stepped back over to the boat and looked back in it. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Yeah... let's be gettin' the fuck out of here," he said quickly. "Irish, puts a fire under dat ass and move it."

Ryan rounded the corner as he flicked his cigarette off onto the parking lot concert. "I'm comin', I'm comin ya fucking hick," Ryan muttered as he walked over to the rest. Looking around he cocked a brow. "Okay, just what in the hell are you punks babbling about," he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Niesha soon had nothing left to put away, and she stood there a little bit... out of sorts. She would give anything, anything, just for another moment with Sophia, but... she couldn't keep on living in the past. She couldn't wish for things that would never be. It had been hard, to get through it, and Niesha liked to think that she had come out of it stronger and a better person. Maybe it had just made her more fragile, instead of stronger. If she was hearing her voice...

She closed her eyes tightly. Maybe she needed to talk to someone. Tatiana? But... she didn't want to burden her, after everything, Tati deserved a bit of easiness, and god knows, Niesha wasn't easy. Kristina? Kris worried too much about her as it was, she didn't want to add more to that. Victor? Maybe... he was always willing to listen... but it had been a hard day for him, for them all...

She sighed, and opened her eyes. "If only... if only things could have been different" She whispered softly to herself, not sure if it was to herself, or Sophia's voice, presence. She sighed again, before heading out the supply room, back to Surgery, to see if there was anything else that she could do.

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Riley didn't see anyone in the waiting room of the infirmary, and she wasn't going to barge into the exam room either as she took a step inside and moved over to sit down on one of the chairs. She thought about getting out her radio and calling for Froggy to see where her sister was, but wasn't sure if they were still busy tending to Miss Sally. Riley leaned forward letting out a slight sigh as she ran a hand through her hair.

She hated waiting around and not doing anything really, which made her get bored rather quickly she started to pick along at her nails she was tempted to get up and go and see how her girlfriend Amelia was doing. She wanted to first see what her sister was doing and how she was holding up as well she looked around for a moment and started to hum to herself and leaned back in the seat.

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Raymond looked towards Tiffany seeing the odd look that she had given him, yep it did sound really crazy a full grown cat couldn't really carry around a fifteen or so pound human leg, and it was about half the cats size the cat would have been literally struggling to drag the thing along. "It's crazy I know, but no I don't think that was real. The kids playing outside didn't notice." Raymond said as he leaned back in the seat, he was trying to think logically on what he saw the only thing that came to mind was simply just the stress of today.

"But yeah I do think that it was simply just the stress of what had happened this morning." Ray said, and as far as he knew there werent any mental disorders or anything like that to have make him see what he had seen. Raymond then heard Tatiana's radio going off, he could hear the shakiness of his friend's voice on the other end he wasn't sure what happened but he wasn't going to pry at the moment it was probably between the two of them.

Raymond nodded as he let Tatiana go and answer the radio as he scratched the back of his head, as far as he knew it was mostly just stress he would probably go and talk to Tiffany about it later today when he met up with her again.

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Kristina looked over towards Amelia as she went to work and started to break down into the dirt as well, she was pretty used to digging now as she worked breaking through the hard dirt. Kris listened to Amelia as she spoke she noticed her starting to tear up, she knew that they had lost six people today, three dead and the rest were gone from Newnan probably for good for all she knew. Kristina took a moment her eyes wondering over towards her sister's grave.

Every day before she got started for work she would go and visit her sister, she was glad that Richard was finally gone, she still blamed him for leaving her sister to die and finding out she was still alive and then a few hours later after being reunited seeing her die again. Kristina turned her attention back towards Amelia as she gently rested a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her a soft smile as she tried to cheer her friend up. "At least he's not here anymore." Kristina said referring to Richard, she wouldn't have to bump into him anymore or even have to work with him for whatecer reason.

Kristina then looked over towards Meghna and Tiffany as the two of them spoke, she decided to not get in on their conversation she thought it would be best for the two of them to speak one on one with each other. "At least their in a better place now right?" Kris said looking towards her friend, she wasn't really religious anymore but she just hoped that all their friends, family and loved ones were all in a much better place now.

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Meghna continued to shovel away at the dirt and occasionally switching out to the hoe to break through the hardened dirt from the cold, then she stopped for a moment tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as her attention went back towards Tiffany. Truth was she wasn't really fine, she was shaken up when she heard LeAnne's voice she bit her bottom lip for a moment looking over towards Amelia and Kristina for a moment, then her attention went back to Tiffany.

"I don't know, honestly it's just probably the stress of what happened today." Meg said as she put the head of the shovel down into the ground and leaned herself up against it. Her gaze meeting Tiffany's even though she was best friends with Tatiana, Meg didn't want to bother her with her own personal problems she and Jack were suppose to be on their little honeymoon for the next few days.

"I have no clue if i'm going crazy or not.. but when we were finishing up cleaning up the workshop I could have sworn I heard LeAnne's voice, she was the previous leader before Ash was. We were close, friends she sort of took me under her wing." Meghna finally explained, she didn't really speak much about her but Meg missed her.

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As soon as the truck was inside of the warehouse, James hopped out and moved toward the loading doors, intent on doing what he promised he would just as soon as he pulled his big truck indoors. It was just starting to warm up, meaning that the Dead would be more active. He didn't want to take any chances, even this early into the season. Of course, the question now became: Deal with the dead out there, or deal with the dead in here? This new wrinkle that might or might not be him actually losing his mind was, at minimum, noteworthy. It seemed that there might be something else he had in common with Ash.

The sense of cautious alarm that was slowly filling James since the three-second appearance of his (sort of) mentor took a sudden halt. The reason for this particular derailing of his emotional train was due to none other than the young lady he had ushered into Newnan, once upon a time. The twinge of panic ceased, abruptly replaced by a sudden chortle that took him by surprise.

The chortle turned into a good natured laugh. "Aight there, Miss Beatrice. You gots yo'self a deal. If I decide to do some killin' on the quick, I promise, you'll go last." Even though the crack was at his expense, it was still pretty funny. He needed a good laugh. Or whatever this was. The moment Ryan stepped back inside within conversational distance, James pulled the loading door back down and slid the locking bar across.

James hadn't witnessed Gavin's outburst, having driven the truck inside of the warehouse when it took place. He continued with their plan to assess, stockpile, and share information, helped along with a generous serving of hope that he just had a minor, stress related incident with that whole "hallucinating the scariest man to ever walk the earth" thing. "Ok, y'all. Plan was for us to get here (which we did), take an inventory of the truck an' that there boat, get us good and equipped to meet the world, then have a sit down 'bout what happens next." He looked around at the people present. After that talk, maybe the other two would be happier heading back to the relative safety of Newnan.

"I'll start with my truck."

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To say that Lola was a trying woman was an understatement. She was obnoxious. She was loud. She had zero qualms with announcing her plans to vent horrid air from her rectum, comprised mainly of digestion gasses present after the breakdown of desiccated semi-permanent foodstuffs that were more preservative than actual food. Despite this, she was an honest and dedicated friend to have. Even if she was ...a bit... unrefined. Thalia had known many like that. Not quite as unique as the distinguished Kiwi of the Armored Cavalry division, of that she was dead certain.

And speaking of dead, if her belch were any indication, Thalia would be wise to sleep on top of the tank tonight. Or under it. Whatever she would come to decide then, she needed to do something about the problem upon her now. Reaching above, Thalia unlocked the turret's hatch and raised it to a quarter open position - enough so that she could raise her seat and effectively take in the air outside, even look around a bit, but not so much as to give access.

Thalia groaned with mild irritation. She didn't actually believe that Lola would intentionally make sure to launch an attack on her expressly forbidden by the Geneva Protocol. She did believe that, probably without malice, Lola would crop dust her in the night purely without thinking. It wouldn't have been the first time. This occasion would be fueled by the presently joyous to behold combination of "Chili, and Mac & Cheese... together". La Madrina have mercy on them all. Leaning way down to collect her pack again, she managed to grunt out, "...let one fly while your mouth is open next time." before she managed to hook a strap and bring it back up to her seat.

It looked like an anachronism at face value. Thalia had found the specific object of her search that morning, and pulled a new looking satellite phone from her pack. It was a kind of ritual that she did regularly, trying to contact the numbers saved in her phone. But it wasn't insanity nor stupidity that guided her. As long as the communication satellites flew in space above, as long as the phones were intact and had power, as long as the hardwired memory had the number stored, and as long as the phone was on, it was still fully possible to use them as a communication network. They might have a good number years left for the satellites, but the other factors would likely be the determining ones. Point of fact, since the world turned upside down, she had no success whatsoever except to use the device to play a few games saved to it or consult an outdated map. Things of that nature.

Perhaps they is why the hardened woman, one unaccustomed to shock and awe, announced in a truly amazed voice, "Lolz! Holy shit, Lolz - it's ringing."

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Thinking back on it, Ash had been distracted. He generally wasn't the type to leap before thinking things through, as Thana had put it. But that's precisely what he had been doing all day. Attempted discussion of civil matters sandwiched between pieces of tragedy had been throwing him off, making him glean certainty from possibility. "You're right. I've been jumping the gun today." The most obvious one that struck him was he directly told Thana that he would announce her as Agricultural Lead during the evening meal, then did so within the hour without consulting her. "Goddamnit, I owe you an apology. I've become too accustomed to telling folks the way things are, when I'm not avoiding them."

Ash removed his personal sidearm, a Detonics MXT .45 pistol, and ejected the magazine. He checked the chamber, and satisfied that it was clear, slipped the clip into the webbing of his holster, which he immediately detached from his belt. He looked at his gun for a moment, nodded, and inserted the weapon into said holster. His eyes looked back into Thana's eyes as he placed it into her outstretched hand. "I'm sorry, Thana."

Reaching out a bit more, Thana took the side arm from Ash, nodding slightly as she did. "I know," she said in an understanding voice. Taking her coat from around her waist she placed it into the folds of the fabric to conceal it and set it down for now. She didn't want to leave the medical garden carrying the leaders side arm. It would raise enough questions to why he wasn't wearing one. Having her be the one to carry it, even more.

Now that that was taken care of she let down her defenses a bit. She didn't like to be on duty when they were alone but she had had to be. If he was going crazy, he could be a danger to himself, to others. She had meant what she said, she didn't want to have to put a bullet into his skull. He was the last person on this earth that she would want to do that to but she would if it came down to it, no matter her personal feelings. Reaching out she cupped his cheeks and let out a slow breath as she pulled him closer. Her eyes gazing into his own, there was a gentle understanding in them. "Now, who do we need you to stay close to until you can get a grip on things?" she asked softly as she rested her brow against his.

Ashton had become unused to physical affection. The warm glow he felt from Thana's touch instantaneously lifted his mood, doubly so when she settled her head against his. He closed his eyes and let himself drift, barely catching the scent of her hair in the stiller air inside of the Medical Garden. For a stark second, Ash wondered if this was some rift in his armor; if this was a method that could be used to manipulate him. The idea of it, certainly, but the possibility of it now was laughable. Ludicrous. Even if it was, right then he didn't care. He had his Thana, and just the knowledge of it was an act of merciful healing. "You, Thana. I need you with me. If it happens that I need to be put down, you have an excellent sidearm there to get it done with."

Thana's lips pursed slightly as her fingers curled into his skin. "I'll stay with you but don't joke about that," she said in a firm voice. If she had to she would but it wasn't something she wanted to be made light of, dead should never be a light subject.

He felt his face warm, turning a shade of red otherwise reserved for embarrassment, but present here out of pure, pupil dilating want. It was probably not the most appropriate response at the moment, but it was honest, despite the absolute unpleasantness of the day. "Let's go home."

Leaning back slightly she couldn't help but smirk as her eyes drifted open. "As much as I would like to go home and break in a few rooms, thanks to you I have work to do," she reminded him. Sighing in a playful manner she gave him a quick teasing kiss, nipping at his bottom lip in the process. "Next time keep your mouth shut when it comes to giving out jobs ahead of time. It messes with your down time." Chuckling she popped her cap back on her head and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Or in this case, your up time."

True, it was highly inconvenient. But so much as Ash wanted her company right then, he could not deny the necessity of her getting her starting duties out of the way. Perhaps he would have her company still, just in a highly different manner than he had initially suggested. More outdoorsy. Significantly more attired. Additionally, if he kept seeing things that obviously weren't there, Ash could casually inquire or give it a moment to see if she would react.

"Fair enough. In that case, it looks like I'm with you. What is the business at hand?"

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Tiffany listened to Meg speak. She heard bits and pieces about Leanne. From what she gathered, she was a good leader. She wished she got to meet her. Ash seemed like a good leader to her, so she left the community in good hands. "I imagine it's the stress. Our mind finds unique ways to cope with different trauma we deal with. With how the world is now, it's no surprise you would hear the voices of the dead. Hell, I think there was a time back when I was traveling I heard my ex-fiance speak to me."

Tiffany only ever talked about him with Ray and that was when she was feeling kind of guilty (and partially tipsy). She hadn't told much about him to the others. "Or, maybe she is speaking to you. That's a good thing though. She may still be looking out for you, even while she's in a better place. So long as she doesn't start telling you to kill and kill again, I think you'll be fine." Jokes aside, she could imagine how scary it would be to hear a long lost friend speak up again. They were dealt a major blow recently and would surely be hit again sooner rather than later. It was only natural.

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Thana nodded slightly towards Ash, glad he was at least willing to tag along without her having to insist on it. She had work to do and she had also promised to stay by him. If he had decided to go back to his house anyways, it could have caused a bit of an issue and right then she didn't want any problems. There had been enough excitement for the day. Letting out a breath she started to walk around the medical garden, kneeling down and checking on the plants but more than that, the soil.

Plunging her finger into dirt which held plant after plant she seemed to be doing something important but it did look odd to see her just sticking a finger into the dirt of every plant there. "Please tell me that hick left some sort of notes about this place," she said as she dusted her hands off.

Walking over to the heaters she started to move them. Turning a few off but keeping others on and adjusting where the warm air was flowing towards. Moving the heaters that were not still needed over towards the door. "We need to put these over in the greenhouse. I will also need half a dozen bricks, some wood, a metal bucket, and water," she added as she looked back over towards Ash. "We need to see if we can kick start your crops. They are in halfway decent shape but right now they won't produce until later in the season unless we do something about it."

"Yeah, just be stayin' on task. Keeps workin' keeps talkin', don't ya be frettin' none abouts whats goin's ons. Sures he may be goin's crazies but he do be havin' the cutest ass." Thana's head turned sharply as she head the voice in her head and found herself blushing a bit at the thought of the Captains bare bottom. It wasn't exactly a thought she should be having while trying to work.

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The Kiwi could only keep laughing at Thalia spoke. She loved messing with the woman, she was such an easy target to get all riled up. It wasn't that Lola did or said certain things to be mean or cruel, it was just how she was and in all truth she meant everything she said to Thalia in the most loving way possible... in the most ass way possible. (Literally and figuratively.) Lola wasn't refined, that was an understatement, but there probably wasn't a more loyal friend left on the planet. At least not living. She had done anything for Thalia, save acting like an adult when she could have fun. That was just beyond her.

Yet when Thalia spoke up about the phone actually ringing Lola's jaw dropped. She had watched the woman day after day try that thing. She had told her a thousand times to not even bother but had given up even that much over the last months. It was part of her daily ritual, like Lola singing at anytime of the day or putting on her make up. Some things just weren't going to change. Now, how Lola managed to make the tank stop as if it was a race car instead of a tank was a mystery in and of itself but stopped dead in its tracks the tank did. Well not dead in its tracks, it took a bit to slow down but there was a hell of a jerk forward that came with the sudden speed shift.

Getting out of her seat she moved quickly and over to Thalia. "Well fucking aces Jet! Anyone actually answering? If not there better be one hells of a voice mail. Like you know, Sorry we aren't in right now, killing a bunch of munchers, we will return your call as soon as we are sure we aren't on tonights dinner menu," she laughed, excited about the possibility. She still doubted anyone would answer but still. It was something. Something different.

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If it wasn't the sound of their surprised voices coming from the hatch of the tank, the noticable stop of movement did what Alexander could only thank the powers that might have been; to give him something more important to think about than his own misery. At first he didn't notice the scenery passing slower, even for the Stuart's initial jerk, but when he swore he hadn't seen the ruins of a particularly ugly house move an inch for ten seconds, he felt something was going on.

The question though was whether he was allowed to question what had caused the Kiwi to stop driving. Yes, Lola hadn't given him the figuartive cold scoulding like Thalia, but they were both down there, much more attached to each other than he would ever be. So the threat of dismissal was there, sure enough.

No, he took his chance. With the tank standing still, he climbed up to the hatch and sat down beside it so that he could speak with them. But he made sure not to actually get any visual contact with them, perhaps hoping that he wouldn't be intruding as much. "What's the trouble, Sergeant, if you don't mind me nosing around?"

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Jack felt relieved to hear Tatiana's voice. Nothing seemed out of place on her end, at the very least. Forcing himself to smile, despite it coming out more as a grimace, Jack replied quickly. "I'm on route," he said, the Boston accent coming through slightly. Clipping his radio on his belt, Jack made his way towards his house as quickly as he could. It was a brisk jaunt through the parking lot by building E, followed by going south on Jefferson Street. With each step that took him closer to Tatiana, Jack felt more relieved and more nervous. He wasn't sure how to have this conversation with her.

On the bright side, Dick's voice seemed to be remaining quiet. Maybe it had been his imagination that he hallucinated it? Could you imagine that you saw something that wasn't there? Was that possible? He paused for a moment in the middle of the road, not certain anymore about what to do. If it was nothing, should he worry Tatiana? Should he mention it to her? Or should he just brush it off, pretend it was fine, and get Ash's appointment scheduled for him as requested?

He stood still for another thirty seconds, before deciding it was safer that Tatiana knew. Forcing himself to walk forward, Jack entered his home, knocking a bit on the door to announce his presence. He wasn't sure if Tatiana and Ray were in the middle of a session or something.

"Solovey? Need to talk to ya," Jack called out, looking around the house for his wife. He wasn't sure if his descent into insanity was something Ray wanted to know about. It felt like something best kept between Tatiana and himself.

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Beatrice couldn't help but hear Gavin's exclamation. From the way he was talking, she expected either a walker was in there with them or someone had insulted the state of Texas. His accent spoke volumes, almost as much as his actual words did, about him. But given that James had just seen a ghost and she had seen Bryn, Beatrice couldn't help but imagine that Gavin had seen something similarly shocking. It would also explain why Ryan had gone off on his own for a moment.

But for such a rapid collapse in sanity for four people that all happened around the same time? That seemed suspicious as hell. The only conclusion Beatrice could come up with is that they had all been drugged. She thought about it and determined that it likely came from the food at the wedding the night before. And if that was the case, they would be hallucination free in the next day or so. She wasn't an expert on biology or chemistry--she just doubted the effects of any drug would last much longer than a day. Otherwise, drug dealers would've gone out of business long ago. People would need less hits.

In light of that, Beatrice decided to keep her theory to herself. If she was right, it'd be a pleasant surprise that they weren't all going insane. And if she was wrong, then she wouldn't have gotten anyone's hopes up in the first place. "Thanks. You're a real friend, James," Beatrice replied. James seemed to be doing better already, already going on about inventory and the likes. Maybe they all had been drugged after all and it was a temporary effect. Or James could be trying to appear more normal before he slaughtered them all.

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Ravi nodded. It was rare for anyone to be able to make much of anything these days. He used to know someone who was especially talented at synthesis--give her a formula and she'd be able to figure out how to make it within a day or so. He hadn't seen her for over a year before the outbreak and he couldn't remember any pieces of wisdom she had mentioned. At this point, he'd need to have a procedure written up in front of him, go over it for an hour, before he could try to make anything. A run would be best. He glanced up as Chloe came down the stairs, the ginger girl turning to look towards Froggy as her name was mentioned.

"Yeah, they had a shit ton of stuff," Chloe mentioned with a shrug. Her own chemistry skills had long since left her memory. Once she made it through Organic Chemistry, that was it for the Pre-Med track. All of the pointless memorization had faded over the years until there was nothing left. The only chemicals she had good knowledge of were recreational drugs--those weren't generally the sort of thing used in embalming.

"Fucking cat almost got us killed," Chloe added with a slight chuckle.

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Amelia stopped swinging as Kristina's hand found her way on her shoulder. Amelia looked at her friend, trying to keep her tears from appearing with a rather questionable success. She wiped them away with her sleeve as she nodded.” I guess... I don't want to even think of … him anymore.” Amelia mumbled, clenching a fist.” Couldn't he have been the one to bite it first... then they wouldn't have had to die.. or leave.” She bit her lip.

“We could hope so... right?” Amelia quietly replied.” At the very least... they won't have to suffer this world anymore.” She added grimly, bringing her hands firmly onto the hoe once more, waiting for Kristina to pull away before she swung once more with nearly all of her strength, causing her hands to feel the shock from the hoe hitting the hard earth.” This place made me forget... the death around the corner.” She finally said with sad voice.” I made the mistake to allow myself to think that maybe it was going to be all alright. It's not going to be... life is short...” She mumbled, making a mental decision. She was going to be happy with Riley. As much as reality hurt. If she was to die, she didn't want to die without leaving a love and blissful memories behind.

"It didn't use to hurt like this... when I didn't have friends." She quietly said." But... I cannot bring myself to live that empty life again."

The sound of laughter, even something as small of a chuckle served to remind Niesha that there was still light in the world, even if she didn't think she would ever feel like laughing again. They'd gone months without something as drastic as today happening, and she was beginning to think that there was a god out there, only he was sadistic, sitting up there probably bored every so often and deciding to make their lives a little bit of hell for a few days, and then giving them months of relative safety. "I'm pretty sure that that's any cats game plan. To kill us, even before the outbreak" Niesha said softly, not trying to make a joke, just... wanting to say something.

As if her own voice would banish Sophia's, still echoing in her mind.

She wrapped her arms around herself in a hug, looking at them all, not sure what to do, but not wanting to leave, to go back to the empty apartment, where she might just dwell on her apparently diminish sanity until she fell off that precarious ledge into insanity. While that might be fun, it wasn't something she wanted. She liked who she was... she'd worked hard to get where she was, and she was happy with it, even if it came with the grief of loss, the pain and suffering... because it came with some much more. It came with the happiness of having people she could confide in, the happiness of being apart of something that was going strong, in a world that wanted to break it down.

She didn't want to lose that.

"I'm going to stay here a while... I don't want to be alone. Is there anything else I can do?"

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Tatiana nodded slightly as she sat there. "Dat good. Even if you seeing things, that you knov it isn't real makes it easier. If you see anything else, let me knov right avay," she said as she watched Ray. She didn't like hearing that he was seeing things but considering everything that happened it wasn't an uncommon reaction. Surrounded by death constantly, fear, the world the way it was, she was actually surprised that more people weren't seeing things from time to time. Loss could easily cause this type of hallucination, at least it seemed that way from the amount of reading that Victor had had her do over the last eight months. Sure she was new at this but the crash course he had given her gave her at least some self confidence. Now if Ray started seeing more, then she would start to worry but for now, a single incident that he was sure wasn't really there told her he was at least still working in his right mind and could go ahead and work with others. It would probably do him good as well to be able to talk to others about how they were feeling.

Hearing the knock she cocked a brow and looked over her shoulder. Hearing Jack's voice made her smile a bit. He was there, he was safe. "Right here Jack," she said from the couch in the living room. Her smile growing a bit more as he stepped through the door and she got to actually see him in the flesh. Sitting up she turned a bit so she could keep her eyes on him instead of having to crane her neck to look behind her. "Vhat need to talk about?" she asked, not even considering asking Ray to leave right then. If it was personal she was sure that Jack would ask for a word alone, if not Ray was part of her team and she felt at ease talking about things in front of him.

Over in the infirmary part of the main building Froggy took a seat. Looking over as Niesha came back into the room. He understood her not wanting to be alone. "Why don't you three go over to the funeral home just north of the Franklin Wall? Get what we need for Miss Sally. Ravi knows what we need, Chloe I know can handle herself, and Niesha be good for you to get some fresh air plus another set of hands couldn't hurt. Should be safe enough. Only two blocks up if that. Stop by armory, get weapons. Doubt will give you a gun," Froggy said as his attention turned to Ravi. "But these girls know their stuff," he added as he leaned back in his seat. "Go on, fresh air, purpose, good for soul. I stay here with Miss Sally. Start cleaning up body." He wasn't looking forward to the last part but it was something he wanted to do for her.

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Ryan climbed into the back of James truck and sat down, he really didn't look like he wanted to talk about anything. In truth Gavin wanted to talk about seeing a talking head but he shook that feeling off right quick. Ain't no damn ghosts he told himself. Pushing his curls out of his face he looked over towards James and shrugged. "Hey, b'fores we get too long into everythangs. Mights as well tells them whats yous and I gots up our sleeves. Ya knows before we get too comfortables. They mights wants to go back," Gavin said. He half wanted to tell them before he left but he wasn't about to let Strawberry Wine know what he was up to. She might have tried to talk him out of it, or worse, come with him.

Whatever Gavin was babbling about got Ryans' attention. Why the hell would they be up to that would make him want to go back? Sure Chloe was there but he had left for a reason and that was to have James back. It sure as hell wasn't to have the cowboys back, he owed that man nothing. Yet whatever Gavin was going on about, James seemed to have already agreed to. Or at least it sounded that way. "What the fuck you talking about? What are you two up to?" Ryan asked. He was about to say more when he heard a ringing. Sticking his finger in his ear he shook it around a bit. Then he hear it again, and shook his finger in his ear again. "Okay I am going mad, hearing a fucking phone ringing..." he muttered to himself. After what he just saw he was sure this had to be his mind fucking with him. Phones didn't ring anymore.

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It was a mild mental stutter, hearing Thana refer to James as "that hick". Perhaps there was something he missed in conversation earlier; it wouldn't have been the first time. Hell, it wouldn't have been the first time today. As it turned out, Ash did have some of James's notes, tucked into the back of his belt, but he meant to peruse them before handing them over. "He did. At least I think he did." He reached behind him and produced the two notebooks from behind himself. "He handed these to me as he was leaving. Wanted to make sure Newnan knew where it had come from, agriculturally speaking, and hopefully where he lay his plans for its future. I had hoped to give them a once-over, but I see no reason we can't look at them together."

Ash listened closely to what Thana was saying, mostly because he was interested in what she had to say about their present situation with the Garden, but partly just because he liked the sound of her voice. It was enrapturing, but still very professional. "Absolutely, we have those things on hand, Thana. Some can be found around here, but mostly we're going to want to hit Agricultural Storage, just to the side of our crop area. Probably get a wheelbarrow there, too. We can head that way now, if you're inclined, or you can make a list and have your new staff bring them to you."

Their new Agriculture Lead was certainly getting into things quickly. The very least Ash could do was lend his support, and besides, there was no way that a key was getting copied until after the machine shop was cleaned up and someone reported in. That might be a ways of, and he could think of no better company to keep in the meantime.

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...tonight's feature presentation...

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Is anyone answering? That was a hell of a question. Thalia lowered her seat out of the turret proper and leaned over to Lola instinctively so that she might share in what was one of the more momentous occasions of the season, even moreso than when they ran across that abandoned but virtually untouched Stop n' Shop a couple of months back. In a quiet voice, she responded, "Ha fucking ha. No, no one's answered. You'll know the second I say "Hello", okay Lola?" There was irritation in her voice, mostly because she didn't want to miss the first few words in a conversation that hadn't happened yet because of (understandably) anxious questions.

Lola leaned in a bit. She felt like a teenager again, almost like making a prank call and not wanting people to hear them. Then came the words from above the tank. Oh yeah, they had a passenger. "Nunya," she laughed as she looked up and then back over towards Thalia. Half of her wanted to shout out that they were making a phone call but this was Thalia's thing and she wasn't about to go spilling the beans. "Fine, fine, fine," she said as she tried to press her ear to the side of the phone with her mate. God, three way calling would have made this a hell of a lot easier.

At the warehouse, things were a little more chaotic. James had brought down the tailgate and was climbing up into the bed of his Silverado, determined to put his little "ghost" incident behind him. It was just stress. Stress was natural after you have to put down two of your friends before they turned into snarling undead and ate more people, then get exiled from the only place you'd called home in years for cold murdering the man you felt was responsible for their deaths in the first place. These things happen. If he had to admit it to himself, he might mention that his starry, homespun optimism had taken a bit of a beating. But damnit, James was going to see this through. If by some miracle they all survived the day, this particular blackneck was going to hold his friends close to him, keep them safe and fed to the best of his proven ability. Part of that involved getting his plan underway, the first section of that being taking stock of their supplies, both in his truck and in that houseboat, both.

The plan got shuffled as Gavin, good natured though he was, jumped the gun on James's plan just a little bit by insisting they discuss their plans sooner than he would have preferred. This provoked an understandable response from Ryan that James was about to address until he spoke his next words, mentioning a phone. James halted, his own ears picking something not quite usual coming from the back of his truck. "Naw, you ain't crazy..." he said with some wonder. "Alicia!" Not that he thought it was her, but the last time he heard that noise, it was when he was with her. It came from her... "Sat phone!" he called. James scrambled to find the unexpected device before the sound went away, carelessly sliding things hither and yon until he came upon the source of the repeating tones, a simple, black cased satellite phone with a nearly full charge, indeed receiving a call from a contact labeled "Ángel - Prima". James's hands shook slightly as he lifted the phone to his ear, pushing the Answer button.

"Um... Hello?" It felt weird speaking into a phone again.

Lola nearly jumped out of her skin as her ear pressed to part of the phone so she could hear. At the sound of James voice she leaped up and banged her head against the top of the tank. Rubbing it but laughing manically, "Holy fuck, who the fuck, did you hear that fuck? How the fuck? Fuckingly fuck fuck!"

On the other side of Newnan, to the north, Thalia was just as nervous as James. Maybe more. Someone actually picked up. But on top of that, what surprised the absolute hell out of her was the fact that, though she had called Alicia's number, the person who answered sounded nothing like her. A couple of seconds ticked by before she could answer with firm voice. But it was a very firm voice. "Thalia Carmichael, MSS Boston office. To whom am I speaking?" It sounded quite businesslike. Thalia had half expected her cousin to answer, or at least someone formerly attached to the company. She looked expectantly to Lola, motioning to her friend and the phone, curious as to whether she wanted to be introduced.

Slipping back down to Thalia, Lola half grabbed the phone and her companions hand, pulling the thing close to her mouth. "And me, and me! Sgt. Lola Rebekah Holler, New Zealand Army, Kiwi extraordinaire!" she bellowed into the phone laughing as she gave a salute. Like he could see the salute but she didn't care, she saluted nonetheless.

"I'm James, ma'am. And, um... ma'am." he answered with some confusion apparent, though his voice began to raise with his trademark optimism. "That's James Mandingo Grady, ma'am-and-ma'am! Veteran Hog Hunter and backwoods Folk Legend! Yes, the one and only Black James (on the tout and suite of thangs) formerly outta Lee County, Georgia and parts beyond! Hells yeah, is it good to hear from somebody! Whoo!" Either he was really going crazy now and was just running with it, or this might be a stroke of good luck.

Lola's eyes moved over to Thalia. That was one hell of an introduction but it really didn't seem to answer Thalia's question in Lola's mind. It was odd, what was this person babbling about. "What the fuck is a Black James? Is that like that fucking Spotted Dick them Brits eat?" she asked half confused, half serious.

Over in the tank, Thalia looked from Lola to her phone, and her phone back to Lola. The next few seconds were spent wondering precisely what the hell was wrong with everyone she's come across since leaving Fairburn. "Um, yeah." The lack of rat's asses to give was apparent in her voice. Then a very negative thought struck, and the stern Security Specialist in her came to the forefront. "Are you with the company, James? Or are you some asshole who pried useful electronics out of the wrong person's hands?" Thalia had long suspected that her family might be deceased. Simple question of odds and numbers; the per capita number of jackasses and Zeds vastly outnumbered decent folk anymore. Thalia covered the receiver and whispered to Lola, "If this is just some fuckwit that got in a lucky shot and killed Prima for her shit, there will be hell to pay. I need to see his eyes when he tells me."

The kiwi nodded and rolled onto her back side as she sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest. Rocking back and forth like some demented crazy that was in a straitjacket the others just couldn't see. "Well, I do have a tank." This was a common line from Lola, it essentially meant that she could run over people if needed. She had no qualms running over some spotted dick for Jet.

The change in the tone of the conversation was most definitely noted by James. His voice came down from its more euphoric high to something more sobering. "Naw, sweetness. I ain't with yo Company. This here phone belonged to one o' the best friends I had in my life, an' you can believe that." The voice on the other end of the line answered with the tiniest hint of emotion, presumably because of his use of wordage in the past tense. "No, Mr. Grady. I really can't believe that, or anything else you're saying right now. I don't know you. Fuck happened to my Prima, James?"

Back in the tank, tears were welling in Thalia's eyes. "Jet... what's wrong?" Lola asked quickly as she leaned forward. Tears were not exactly an action she was used to Thalia executing.

This man - this stranger - was about to tell her something she long believed was an overwhelming possibility. For a second, she clung onto the hope that he was going to mention someone other than her cousin, that someone else happened upon the phone stashed someplace, and her family was still alright. A tiny, misplaced hope that a young girl might tell herself, not the pragmatic and hardened woman she was now. She was already shoving it back down when he heard the odd twang of his Georgia rural accent rolling gently through the speaker, "Sorry girl. I don't know no Prima. Lady this belonged to, name was Alicia."

The next few seconds saw Thalia slumped in her chair, soundless tears running from her eyes. Lola leaned in more, resting her hand on Thalia's shoulder and looking over her friend with concern in her eyes as her lips thinned. Her face was otherwise emotionless. The phone issued a single-word question masquerading as a salutation. "Hello?"

Looking down at the phone Lola took it away and put it to her ear as her eye narrowed. "Alright ya spotted dick, what the fuck did ya just say to send my mate into shock?" she hissed into the phone.

It hadn't immediately occurred to James, but hindsight was smacking him for his lack of consideration. If someone was calling the phone in his hand, especially if their name was already programmed in as a contact, they had to know each other from Before. There was momentary doubt about that name, seeing that it showed as "Angel Prima" and the woman introduced herself as "Thalia". Must be a handle or a nickname, he reasoned. James knew he was moving into uncomfortable territory. He addressed Lola with this in mind. "Aw shit, Sergeant... This lookin' all kinds o' personal."

"...I'm fine, Lola..." Thalia's words were low and quiet. She had been bracing for this for quite some time, but actually hearing words describing her familia like they were gone, casually. If this man truly knew Alicia and they were friends, it must have been some time since she was referred to in the present.

Back on the phone, James was trying to find a way to tell the foul-mouthed Kiwi and the equally foul-mouthed Bostonian that someone probably very close to them was dead. The thought crossed his mind that they probably didn't know that her father was dead, too. This was not going to be easy. "Look, hon... This ain't a talk for over the phone. Maybe we ought meet up, if'n we're not too far out. Talk in person." The problem being, they were on satellite phones. For all James knew, the two of them were in Australia, trucking down the highway in search of wallabies to eat. "Where you at?"

"He wants to know where the fuck we are..." Lola said in a hushed voice as she covered the receiver of the phone. Oh she wasn't havin' none of that shit. If this man was already causing her best mate to produce tears, something until that moment Lola wasn't even sure that Thalia had been capable of. Fuck she wondered half the time if Thalia even had tear ducts. Now he wanted to know where they were? Oh, he could come. She's bowl his Black ass right on over. "Some shit town of 85 S called Newnan. Where the fuck you be. Be more than happy to meet up with ya mate and get all this straightened out." Lola meant what she said but straightened out to her meant two things. Either find out exactly what happened or steam roll his ass over until he was flatter than a pancake on the asphalt.

"Newnan? You in Newnan? You can't be in Newnan!" James obviously lacked diversity in his thought process at the moment. "We just come from Newnan! Now, if y'all're nearabouts Newnan, I can give you some directions in. Just one thing, little lady: Trust gotta come both ways. Answer me now; What name come up on my caller ID? It wasn't Lola an' it sure as hell ain't Thalia."

"How da fuck I be knowing what name came up on the caller ID on the phone you are holding? What am I, Miss Cleo?" Lola quipped giving Thalia a look.

Thalia had recovered her composure, but she was undoubtedly crestfallen. She gave Lola a questioning look and reached out her hand for the phone. Lola shrugged a bit before speaking again. "If you would hold a moment, a representative will be right with you," she said and handed the phone over to Thalia. With a dead tone, Thalia announced her presence on the phone by stating, "Representative."

"The hell, lady?" questioned James, thoroughly confused at this time. He shook his head, and repeated himself, "What name come up on my caller ID, huh? If you two're tight with my Alicia, one of you is gonna know what she called you."

Thalia sighed. "Angel. It probably said Angel. Everyone in my family has calls me that. Called me that."

"Uh huh. And what does "Prima" mean?"

"It means "cousin", Mr. Grady. First cousin."

There was more silence. James considered the implications of what she had said. The least he could do was give it a chance, let this woman know what happened before he ran off and probably got himself killed. "I'm real sorry, hon. There's more you need know. Tell you what, how 'bout you folk come our way? We about a mile outside Newnan proper; lemme know where you guys're at and stay on the line, I'll lead you right in. We good?" He quickly added, "Any shady business though, we gonna have us a different kinda meetin'. Feel me?"

Her mournful nature aside, Thalia had to suppress a smile. If they meant anything shady, Mr. James would have his different kind of meeting with the business end of a modified Stuart tank. Her more commanding presence was returning, as evident by her strength of tone, "Yeah. Feel you."

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Riley started to get bored out of her mind as she just leaned back in her seat looking up at the ceiling quietly humming to herself for a few moments before standing up and walked over towards the infirmary as Riley slowly pushed open the door she could hear the four of them speaking. Riley gave a few knocks on the door she wasn't sure if she was allowed to enter or not, but she was still curious what had been going on now and see if her sister was alright or not.

"Hey was wondering how Ms Sally was doing?" Riley asked as she looked over to see that her sister was alright and gave her a slight smile, she wasn't sure what exactly they were all talking about. It sounded like that they were going to go on some kind of run as Riley leaned up against the side of the door. Then her eyes scanned the room she noticed that there was a body laid on the table covered up in the white blanket. Biting her bottom lip and sighed ever so slightly then there was another death in town now that she had seen the body and assumed that it was Ms. Sally under there.

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Raymond gave Tatiana a slight smile and nodded towards her. "Don't worry you will be the first person to know if I start seeing anything else or if I need to go into a padded room or some crazy pills." Raymond said joking slightly on the second part, he read just about every book and learned everything that Froggy had given him during the last few months. Ray turned his head as he heard the door opening and saw Jack there making his way into his house. Raymond looked between Tatiana and him when Jack asked if he could speak with her, he wasn't sure if it was something private or not it was good to see his friend again as he leaned forward.

"Do you two want leave the room for a bit?" Raymond asked, he got the feeling that it was something private between the two but Ray wanted to make sure that it was alright to go for now. And they were married after all, so he thought that it would be a good thing for the two to just talk amongst themselves if it was something personal.

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Kristina looked towards Amelia seeing the look on her face gave her a sad smile as she gently patted her friend on the shoulder she knew how she felt. "It's not James fault it was pretty much Richard's fault for everything that had happened today." She said trying to reassure her friend letting out a soft sigh as she gave her a slight nod that their friends were all in a better place now then the world that they lived in now. "I still think about all my friends and family before it all happened, I miss them every single day my sister especially." She always did bring up her sister as much as she could, it was one of the things that made her feel happy still.

She then decided to change the subject to something else. "So I spoke with Thana earlier, i'm the second for agriculture and the livestock lead now as well." She looked at Amelia and gave her a slight smile as she shoveled some of the dirt making a pile as she mentioned her new promotion. Kristina would occasionally look over to see Tiffany and Meghna as the two of them spoke picking up small bits of their conversation as well. "So what else do you want to talk about anyway?"

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Meghna shoveled some more getting deeper into the hole as she looked up at Tiffany for a moment and gave her a slight shrug sure it was good to hear from her again. But it was also really disturbing to her at least, so long as she didn't hallucinate again and the voice telling her to kill or hurt anyone else that she cared for in Newnan it wouldn't be an issue. "I mean its alright to hear from her again, it just honestly creeps the hell out of me. I mean why her, and why now all of a sudden?" Meghna asked and then gave a slight shrug.

She was going to probably go and talk to Tatiana after she finished up her job digging the graves looking towards the body letting out a slight sigh. Meg hadn't really heard Tiffany talk about her ex before Ray she ran a hand through her hair and gave Tiffany a slight smile. "Thank you by the way, i'll probably give Tatiana a visit later today or if this happens again." She just didn't really want to think that she was going crazy either.

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Alexander didn't need to see Lola and Thalia to get that look of confusion that was filling his face right then. Lola's words did that job just fine alright. 'Nunya', really? Alexander wasn't a big fan of using slang, but he had heard that one. So the confusion question was what was actually going on that he was told not to poke his nose in? Not that he would poke said nose further, for obvious reasons...

Not that he got a whole lot more time to think, as the sound of conversation continued from inside the tank. At first it seemed like it was just the same ol' couple of unwilling hosts talking amongst each other, but slowly his ears were starting to pick up what was talked about; other people. Survivors, on a satelite phone. That was plenty of reason for the earlier excitemnet...but it didn't stop there.

Alexander sat in complete silence, listening in awe to the conversation unfolding inside the tank. The sat-phone had belonged to someone Thalia knew, now in the hands of some James-fellow; Thalia had gone quiet for a moment, made what Alexander could only guess was Lola being concerned; and now they wanted to meet up of all things. To him it sounded like an ambush; it was too perfect, too good an oppertunity and coincedence that all of this matched up with the phone and all.

Then again, his own encounter with Thalia and Lola was far from normal, so who was he to judge. And besides, he was only a guest. A very temporary guest who didn't have a word in what was to be done. The old man scratched his beard as he thought about all of that, muttering something like "Well...Jesus Christ, that's heavy..."

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Tiffany was glad she was of some help. "That's probably a good idea. Tatiana would be a good person to talk to about this. You aren't going crazy though. Again, this would only be dangerous if the voice starts telling you things that Leanne wouldn't have told you to do, because by that point it isn't Leanne anymore."

"Then again, I haven't been trained in psychology, but lawyers need to use some methods to get what they want. I've dealt with a few, shall we say, mentally ill patients. I think you'll be fine, but definitely, talk to someone more trained in this field."

She continued to work, hoping to get this done soon. She wanted some words of her own with a few people.

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Jack forced a smile as he saw Tatiana, though it wasn't too hard. She always made him smile. His eyes then moved to Ray, wondering for a moment if he should ask him to leave. He was one of Newnan's counselors and Jack supposed that Ray would find out about this eventually. It might even be helpful to get a second opinion on how long he had before he went completely batshit. Taking a bit of a deep breath, Jack shook his head as Ray asked if he wanted a moment alone.

"You should probably know this too," Jack explained, but he turned to face Tatiana. He adored just looking at her sometimes, seeing the way she brought light into darkness. "I...I heard Richard. His voice. Like he was still alive, still kickin'...I know this is bad, Tati. So...if you need to lock me up and put me in isolation, I get it. I won't put up a fight."

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A plan? Beatrice raised an eyebrow. She had assumed the general plan was to live for as long as possible, and potentially even avoid killing each other in an insanity fueled rage. Now, if it was an additional plan that Gavin and James had come up with, she doubted it was a good idea. It was likely something that would get them killed, something entirely insane. Otherwise, Beatrice figured the cowboy would have brought his pal with him. She shot a glance over at Ryan, knowing that he was just as in the dark as she was. "It's a suicide mission, isn't it?" Beatrice asked, though her tone made it clear it wasn't a question. She would've appreciated being told before they left Newnan, but she knew that whatever it was, it likely wouldn't have changed her mind.

Death would happen eventually anyways.

And then, something even more random happened: a phone rang. From what Beatrice gathered from the one sided conversation, James didn't understand any Spanish (disappointing, but not surprising) and that he was willing to trust people who knew his dead best friend, even willing to give away their location without discussing it with anyone else. James might have trusted the people on the other end of the line, but that didn't mean the rest of them did.

"If this happens again, don't give away our location without consulting the rest of us," Beatrice said firmly. She understood why James had done it, but this wasn't going to be a group led by James and Gavin. She didn't want any part of that. "No one person should make decisions for everyone. So tell us the plan now or I walk."

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Everyone reacted to death differently and from what Ravi could tell, Niesha was taking it pretty hard. She looked a bit pitiful the way she wrapped her arms around herself and his heart went out to her. He was upset about Miss Sally's passing and he had only known her for a day--less than a day, actually. He knew how hard this had to be for everyone, having occasionally met the families of those victims who he performed autopsies on. It wasn't normal or ideal, but there had been occasions.

"Don't we need Tight Ass to sign off on a run?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow. Froggy wasn't the second anymore and she didn't want to end up shoveling shit because Ash decided to go on a power trip. Besides, she wasn't sure if she wanted to go on a run with an emotionally unstable Niesha and the new guy. Sure, it would be relatively safe, but in her experience, shit always had a way of hitting the fan.

"And no offense, but Niesha...are you emotionally able to go on a run right now?" Chloe added. People tended to fuck up big time when they were emotional. Chloe knew that from experience. Turning her head as she heard some knocks on the door, Chloe saw her twin enter the room. She assumed that Riley would be off doing work at the moment or tracking down Meg and the others to give them a hand. She wasn't sure what to say to Riley, instead letting the silence remain. That was enough of an answer, wasn't it?

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Kristina's words were well meaning, but they hardly were managing to restore the calm to Amelia's distressed heart. After the zombies showed and and everything went to ruins, she shut off her heart. She was a shy person since she was a little girl, but when it all went to hell and she lost everyone she knew and trusted she just never opened to people after being betrayed a lot of times in the hell of a world they lived. Now she opened her heart again, found friends and she lost them, now she felt her heart fractured and pained again.

“Congratulations.” Amelia finally quietly said to Kris after she was explained the new leadership in the jobs.” You are a good person. I know you will do a great job at your new position.” She said, trying to pull herself away from the sadness. This was a good event even given the situation they were in. She was trying to be happy for a friend.

“Do you think... actually no...” She was going to ask something, but stopped herself and shook her head, refusing to continue that train of thought. Amelia realized some things were better not said.” I wonder what will happen at our housing now that Beatrice is gone.” Amelia changed the subject.” Will they reassign another person from elsewhere?” She asked, noting they were slowly progressing through the dig.

Niesha froze for a brief moment. She hadn’t been outside the walls since she arrived, and for a moment, she knew pure terror. She didn’t want to go out there, not again. She’d nearly lost herself there, and she was finally… happy. She gave a small nod, and waited a moment or two to make sure her voice wouldn’t shake, ”Okay, seems easy enough”. She could do it… it was for something important. And she realised that she had to face that particular fear. While she wanted the community to stand forever, she knew that there was a chance that it wouldn’t. And she was going to survive.

She hadn’t come so far to die.

Chloe’s words twisted her stomach, and made her more than a little angry. She turned to the girl, and was silent a moment. ”It’s for Miss Sally. And it’s what Victor wants. I can do it” she said, pleased that her voice remained steady, and strong, as she gathered her resolve, standing as tall as she could. She knew she wasn’t that tall, but that didn’t matter. She was… feisty, and made up for that lack of height by being spunky. Was that the right word? She thought so. ”I’ll be fine.”

She hated being singled out like that, and what’s more, she hated that it was justified. She hated that her first night here still influenced things about her even today. Hadn’t she done enough, proven enough to show she wasn’t that person anymore? She knew it could have been an innocent question on Chloe’s part, and she tried to think of it like that. ”Thank you for the concern, but I’m more than ready for this”

She fell silent as Riley entered, not sure at all how to respond. There didn’t seem to be any cause to, it seemed obvious what had happened, but finally said softly ”She’s gone”. 

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Thana took the notebooks and flipped through them quickly, giving them a cursory once over before shoving them in the back of her pants at the belt. They were something she would look over thoroughly once she had come up with her own way of doing things. It wasn't that she didn't trust what James had done, he obviously had done a decent job thus far considering how many people they were feeding. It was something else. Thana never liked getting input on things or information until she came to her own conclusions. She didn't want to be influenced one way or another about something she had a thought about before she was able to fully form a plan in her head. Then she consulted other information and adjusted as she saw fit. Plus, she needed to make this job her own, not have her just be a continuation.

Looking over at Ash she nodded a bit. "Then if you would be so kind Sir, lead the way." Her voice was clam and even as she spoke. She was pretty sure she knew how to get back to the Agricultural storage on her own. The place was large enough but it wasn't like it was complicated. Yet, she knew there wasn't going to be much for Ash to really do while he tagged along with her other than giving her directions and doing what menfolk were good for - carrying heavy shit so she didn't have to. It wasn't an elitist thing but she knew Ash needed to try to keep his mind moving and if he was left to do nothing, it could make things rougher in the long run. Staying busy was a good way, to a point, to deal with stress. If he was seeing things the last thing she needed was his mind left to fully dwell on it. Stepping over to the door she opened it and stepped out before waiting for Ash to join her so they could lock up and head onto their next destination.

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Lola didn't like the idea of meeting up with this guy who had obviously dropped some really bad news on her only friend left on the planet but she figured that Thalia wasn't going to turn away from getting information on the very people she had been holding out hope of finding for years. And like she could tell her best mate no? Seriously, what kind of person did that? Other than a rationally thinking one that knew this could be nothing more than a trap. Well obviously, Lola wasn't exactly rational when it came to things.

Sighing she stood up and slowly opened the hatch more before popping her head out and eye balling Alexander. Keeping her voice hushed, well hushed for her; which actually more like a drunken person trying to whisper. "Listen pops, we heading out soon. Don't know where, don't know what'll happen. For all I knows this spotted dick is going to try to guts us. So, if your out, jump off now. If your in, climb in and grab a seat," she said rather matter of factly before dropping back into the tank.

Giving Thalia half a glance she sat down and watched the woman. "Come on, let's either gets a move on or tell him to fuck off. Either way, don't want to be sitting here with our asses hanging out," she said quickly. If they were going to meet up, then now was the time. If not, then she wanted to get a move on. Sure they were in a tank but stopping in the middle of the road to have a phone conversation wasn't the smartest thing to do, even she knew that.

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Tatiana shook her head towards Ray. "You are good. This is vhat you here for unless Jack vants you to leave," she said, supporting Ray being there. If Jack wanted him to leave, that was something else but if this was concerning the town and how people were, he needed to hear it as well. Looking over to Jack she cocked a brow as he started speaking. Her face showed some concern but it was only there for a moment before she started giggling lightly and stood up. Carefully, trying to keep the weight off her foot she hobbled over to her husband and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"You so silly, no lock you up. Normal to hear voices after tragedy. You do better than Ray, he sav cat carrying his leg. Think you are A okay, top notch," she said as she leaned back and gave him a bright smile. Running her hands up his shoulders she took his cheeks gently in her palms. "Something to talk about yes but I vould not vorry yet. So, let us sit down and talk," she said as she motioned over to the couch.

Letting go of her husband she smiled over to Ray as she took a seat in the chair across from the couch and let out a slow breath. "Nov ve all talk. You see thing, you hear thing. Both just sav something horrible. Lost friends. It hurts. I am hurt, James like uncle. Vish I could have stopped Sana, I ask myself vhat I miss? Hov could I have saved her? I can't change thing now but vork harder so others don't hurt. You both seem to knov vhat you sav no real. This is good. If you thought real, then I worry. When ve hallucinate we are conjuring up our fears. Tell me, vhat do you think vhat you sav or heard is trying to tell you? Vhat are you truly scared of, deep dovn?" she asked softly as she sat there.

Froggy looked over at Riley and sighed. "Yes, she is gone. No can save her, she is resting now. No more pain of this world," Froggy said sadly before making himself straighten up a bit. He was trying not to look as defeated as he felt inside. They still had work to do, people to take care of, they needed to be there. Sadly for the medical crew there wasn't a lot of down time because even when they didn't have patients right in front of them, there were still things they needed to prepare for.

"No need, just check out at back gate. Leads usually give assignments. Sometimes people just leave for a walk, being cooped up all the time isn't good. Go get a bag, some supplies for the run, weapons for defense. It's only a short ways, in and out. After you all get back, I want you to go one at a time to speak to Tatiana or Ray. Riley, why don't you go with your sister, Niesha, and our newest member Ravi here. Safety in numbers," Froggy suggested.

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Gavin and Ryan listened as James answered the phone. Ryan cocked a brow, okay, he wasn't hearing things. That was good. Maybe he hadn't seen anything earlier either? No, he knew what he saw, what he heard from his brother. Okay, so maybe he was only half crazy. Maybe Bea was going nuts too? Leaning in he gave her an odd look. "Um girl, you hearing things? He didn't tell no one our location..." Ryan said quietly. He was right, James hadn't told the person on the phone where they were. He had only said they had come from Newnan. Sure that might have given an idea but this was Georgia and if you left Newnan, you could go north, south, east, west. There were a lot of directions they could go. He didn't tell the person what direction they had left Newnan, how long ago they had left, what road they were on. Nothing.

Irish did want to know what was up though, granted he really didn't care what they did. He had come along to have James back, whatever the man did. James was the one that was exiled, the rest of them were just tagging along and chose to leave by their own accord. Odd as it was, Ryan felt that didn't give anyone the right to demand a say in what James said or did. He didn't ask them to come with him. Hell he seemed a little put off that others were coming with him at first. Ryan pretty much concluded that he would die out here with James, probably trying to keep the man from offing himself. No one left town the way he did without already figuring their time was up. To think other wise was just downright stupid. They all were already dead, they just didn't know it yet.

"Ain't up to us girl. We left by choice, so up to him what we do. If that is butt fucking a bear, better get ready. Wouldn't be pushing a mans buttons that just axed Dick off," Ryan said chuckling a bit but his voice was serious. He was trying to make a point that maybe trying to put ones foot down with a man that had just killed someone, been exiled, and was now seeing things probably wasn't the smartest thing Bea had done today.

Gavin crinkled his lips a bit before holding his finger to his lips. "Shh y'all. Don't ya be knowing yous don't interrupts someone on the phones? Yer momma not raise you rights?" he said and while he was asking a question it was more than obvious it was meant as an insult to their upbringing more than an actual inquiry. Shaking his head he leaned against the side of the house boat a bit, crossing his arms over his chest and continued to listen in on the one sided conversation that James was having with someone on the other end of the line. It wasn't every day someone had a phone, much less one that worked. It was like a small miracle to him. Hell he wanted to meet up with whoever was on the other side of the line. If they had a phone and could make calls, maybe they would come in handy when he and James went after Eden. Shit, Eden.. They still needed to talk about that.

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Ash smiled, but just a little. He had heaped a lot on Thana in a very short time, and she had proven to be up to the challenge and then some. He looked upon her now, giving himself a second or two to linger over the details of her face. Like himself, this lady seemed capable of separating Work Mode from her personal life. A thing he had discovered was that her personal life, behind closed doors, was a culminating volcano of passion that one simply would not have expected if they just saw her at work. It was a lesson that Ash himself was very near to forgetting. Whatever else happened, he needed to show his appreciation for her solely for that gift. Aside from her more intimate qualities, Thana had already proven to be a valuable asset as a Lead and as his backup; it was still just her first day, officially, and she had his trust.

But speaking to official duties, Thana had requested that Ashton lead her to Agriculture Storage. He was fully aware that she had already been to the area, having announced it near the front gate after his ham-handed proclamation of her position. Ash was fully aware that she probably knew exactly where Storage was located, but like a lovestruck schoolboy who was just asked by his crush to carry her schoolbooks, he joined her just outside of the Medical Garden and, as requested, began to lead the way. "Right away, ma'am. West outside of the Inner Wall, and past our metalworks."

A streak of sorrow hit Ash for just a moment. The metal shop was largely unused due to the untimely deaths of the women who lived and worked there. It stood as a reminder that life was still fleeting, and life was still precious. "Just to the side of Crops, Thana. Can't miss it." He wanted to reach out and loop his arm in hers, as he did when walking to the reception, but forced himself to maintain his stalwart professionalism. Except for his eyes. They may betray him yet.

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It was obvious that the conversation over the phone was stirring more than a little in the way of curiosity and emotions from everyone else in the warehouse. Leaving Newnan aside, they had a pretty good thing going here. Gas in his vehicle, moderate sized houseboat and good amount of supplies, plus whatever they had stashed in the back of his truck in the way of weapons and tools. They could live off of this for a long while. Naturally, bringing unknown persons into the mix was risky. Very risky. Possibly as risky as Gavin's intended goal. But he really wanted to take this risk. If he was right, this was the family of a very dearly departed friend of his. She needed this message, at least, before James went and got himself killed.

James addressed the young lady on the other end of the phone before getting to his people in the warehouse. "Aight, Representative. Hold please." His words to her were lightly sarcastic but delivered softly. he covered the receiver end of the phone and looked out at Gavin, Ryan, Beatrice.

"Naw, you right, Bea. Ain't a one person should make decisions fo' the group. I gotcha. This why, when we done in this here building, any y'all don't wanna be around me only gotta clear a mile an' change back to Newnan. They take you back in, too - I'm the only asshole ain't welcome. We all good?"

He took in a deep breath and blew it out. A headache was forming, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. As much as James would have loved a drink, that was not going to be the wisest idea, if they even had any, right then. Knowing Ash, though, there probably was something potent and potable around here someplace... but not for now. "Listen, some miracle done hit. Y'all never knew Lici and Caesar, right? But they helped get Newnan together. Them an' Ash an' Leann. Lotta folks still alive 'cause of them. You shoulda seen them work. That's some scary shit."

"But they ain't with us no more. I took it hard, kept shovin' it down. They dead, both. But there's this girl right now comin' down from Boston lookin' fo her family, turns out is them. She don't even know. I gotta tell her what happened and why, she deserve to know. Gavin, if'n you would please, we need to hold off that plan 'til we can get this square. You want tell them, go right ahead. Imma be on this here phone fo a while more. But just in case, those wanna leave go ahead. Those wanna stay, I'd appreciate if y'all can take stock o' what we got in the truck and what we got in the boat. Get ready, just in case."

James put his attention back to the phone, "Ok, Representative. We all good. Lemme know where you at, I'll talk you down."

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Maybe she shouldn't have restarted the conversation by going along with Lola's little joke about "representative". The guy on the other end of the line was going along with it a little to readily. While a little annoying, she figured that someone directly wanting to cause her harm would try to be less humorous and more sickly sweet. What's more, she knew that she was going to him to hear bad news. She did not know the extent to it, but it was hands-down negative, no way around it. Her family was dead. She had braced for it, and this guy wasn't saying different. Oddly, it helped with that nagging issue of trust. Not all of it. She just knew that the man wasn't trying to tell her what she wanted to hear.

No matter what, even if everyone she loved that was anywhere near Chattanooga or Atlanta was a corpse, she still had San Antonio to check, and probably more importantly Monterrey, Mexico. The quest could continue, such as it was, just with fewer of the Gonzalez clan than she would have liked. Right now, she had to find out where this person was and see the truth of it (or lack thereof) in his eyes. If someone had to die, she was fine with that, too. Her hands got plenty dirty, even before the Outbreak.

Thalia's heart sped up. This was actually happening. Answers, and/or payback. She looked over to Lola after the Kiwi's quick talk with their passenger, and nodded. Thalia agreed, they had to get moving one direction or another real damn soon. She nodded her head and spoke into her phone.

"Spring and St. Clair, jerky. North auf a few lines auf smoke I'm assuming is Newnan." her Bostonian was flourishing. "If you try to fuck me auva, I guarantee you'll be fertilizing the entire landscape. Now do you feel me?"

A brief exchange over the phone later had Thalia speaking expectantly to her friend, Lola. She seemed a little disconnected. "South. We're going south anyway. Let's go, soon as Mugs makes up his mind."