It’s been over a year since the world went to shit. It came fast, it hit hard. No one saw it coming. The day the dead started getting back up. Many lives were lost, families torn apart, civilisation imploding in upon itself. Yet, as ever, humans are resilient. They adapted, they survived, however, they felt needed. There is no cure in sight, the government, military and any sense of formal authority have crumbled. For some, hope has been lost. Those are the ones who fail to survive. It is only those who persevere, those who adapt, who make it to tomorrow.

Winter is heavily upon you, though is on its way to easing. A soft blanket of snow covers the ground most days even in the thickly wooded forest that surrounds the cabin. The thick, condensed trees mostly bare of their leaves these days, save for a few pines and the evergreens. The hunting game has grown scarce, though the river nearby the cabin you have all inhabited for the last few months is still fresh with fish, though even their numbers are fewer than in the spring and summer months. Food, water and supplies are not in a dire situation right now, most days you’re all comfortably fed so long as you keep up semi-constant trips out for food.

The lake, a little further down the river from where your usual fishing traps are has mostly frozen over. Trips across it are possible, though the ice is thin and it can be an unnecessarily risky trip on warmer days (for those who are knowledgeable about frozen lakes). Walkers are certainly present, but mostly your caution and knowledge of how the dead behave by now have given you the tools to mostly keep the place defended and off their radar. There are fences around the cabin and sound traps set up at set locations to draw their attention away. Every now and then trips are required to lure them in a different direction.

This is one such day, and not an entirely unpleasant one at that, being close to unseasonably warm for this time of year. The walker presence is strangely thin today and those you do find all seem to be heading in the same direction before they take notice of your presence. Following them would take you to the mostly frozen lake nearby.

It was just another day in the neighborhood. There was snow on the ground, the weather was warming up, and those damned walkers were still on the loose. Not as many as usual though - that could be good or it could be bad. Good in the sense that his holy work was paying off, bad in the sense that maybe they were just somewhere else causing even more trouble than before. Conrad and his presumably Australian acquaintance Jorel were going to lure them in a different direction, but the ex-cop noticed something that was giving him ideas; they all seemed to be going in the same direction.

“Hey Jorel, I’m just thinking out loud here,” Conrad said in a tone that wasn’t actually loud at all, “but all of these zombies are in about the same spot. Maybe before and or while we redirect them away from our site, we kill a few of them? Kill two birds with one stone. Or two zombies with the Explorer, whatever.”

The Ford Explorer formerly belonging to the Charleston, WV police was beat up from similar ideas Conrad had executed in the past, but it still ran. “I mean, we could just shoot em’, I guess. God’ll be happy either way,” the former officer added before asking “what do you think?”

Jorel was fiddling with his chin when Conrad spoke. He sat in the shotgun seat of the Explorer, his hand dangling out of the window. He looked around and noted the same thing as Conrad. "Yeah, dunno what's goin' on with that. But it's probs not a good idea to go shooting 'em if we're trying to draw them away. Yeah, just run 'em down." He shrugged and held his knife up. "We could go silent too, but your choice."

Lately things were getting slightly tedious and repetitive, though Jorel couldn't complain. The constant threat of walkers which they could now easily handle was becoming less of a risk and more of a chore. Not like over half a year ago, when Conrad and Jorel had first met. 'Shit, he's off his nut, 'ey, mate,' he questioned himself when he first saw Conrad's walker killing passion up front. It was as if he had some mission to do, but in the end, Conrad was a friend, be it a little odd. "Ready when you are, mate."

Dashing through the forest, her breath turning to a light fog grey eyes darted around as the small girl stumbled through the woods, her feet falling silently in the light snow. With their quarry now on the move the zombies that had been turning their attention towards now fleeing figure. She managed to run a fairly long way, far enough that it felt safe to stop and take a rest. Shivering and gasping for breath the young girl sank into the snow. Her usually fair skin now alarmingly pale, her lips practically blue and her entire body shivering as she tried to regain her breath and warm herself up.

The large, oversized waxed jacket she wore was soaked, even as waterproof as it usually was. And then she heard the car. Her breath caught as the definite sounds of a moving vehicle began getting louder. It was moving towards her. Glancing around, her vision going momentarily blurry as it was, she caught sight of a couple of dead still shambling through the woods either side of her. Her limbs felt heavy as stones as she managed to force herself to her feet, her backpack felt like it weighed a ton as she began to stumble her way slowly through the trees.

Conrad figured Jorel might be more partial to the idea that didn’t involve driving a big car in a forest, but hey, he wasn’t complaining. “Well then, let’s...hold on.” The man suddenly noticed something about the lake; there was a girl in the middle of it! Conrad had to squint to see what was going on, but he could definitely see her scrambling out of the water and getting away from the zombies.

Most of the walkers, anyway. There were still a few left, and that wasn’t good. Conrad wasn’t going to leave someone to die if he could help it.

“New plan, Jorel!” the ex-cop said, flooring the accelerator and driving in the direction of the few zombies walking toward the girl. Yeah, she was weaving through trees, but Conrad knew that the walkers would be faster than someone who had taken a polar bear plunge. Fortunately, the zombies didn’t realize what was going to happen until it was too late; with a loud THUNK each walker became roadkill under the Explorer’s front bumper. When the car was as close to the girl as it was going to get, Conrad stopped it. “Get out,” he told the Australian, “and get her to the cabin. I think I can finish things up here.”

Once Jorel did so, Conrad drove away, eager to continue his God-given task of running over zombies with a car.

“Oh no, it’s fine, I’ll deal with the fish. The kale patch is growing along nicely and the pots are moved, you know I get bored without something to do...”

Crack.

“Smooth fucking move, Sam.”

Crack.

“And I swear to God, if I lose my other fingers to frostbite-”

Crack.

“Well... at least it’d be more bait for the fish.”

Crack.

“Heh. Finger food.”

One last crack sounded out, though muffled rather than echoing. The curse that spilled from Sam’s lips was more prominent as she pulled her jacket away from the frozen river surface, tossing the large stick she was using to the side. For a moment she ignored the ice at her feet her to check her jacket, humming thoughtfully. A little damp, but not bad considering what she was using it for.

Before the blonde lay the river her little group of survivors frequented, especially throughout the winter months. That was no surprise of course, considering that Sam’s various potted plants she had brought along in her Mustang months back weren’t going to feed them all. Even if the kale patch she had transplanted to the ground for the winter months was thriving for the most part.

Sam hated kale anyway, those were by far her least favorite children.

So here she was, checking the traps weighted down to the bottom of the river for fish. It was all fine and dandy, except the ice had frozen over. Again. So that led to getting Brooklyn to bring her the biggest stick she could find, then Sam shed her jacket to place over the ice to muffle the sound of repeated strikes and breaking ice. It was tiring work, but finally the last trap was free and Sam could pull it out-

“Oh you’ve got to be fuckin’ me.” The blonde stated flatly, lifting up a flapping little fish with her three-fingered hand, the thing barely bigger than her middle finger. “All that effort for this little fucker. I have bigger fish on my arm.” Another curse before Sam shoved the trap back in the water, letting it sink to the bottom. One last strike, once more muffled – though this time it was by flesh and scale rather than her jacket.

Tossing the now unmoving and slightly bloody fish into the partially filled bucket beside her Sam finally rose. Pulling the dark grey jacket on once more a shiver wracked through her body but she didn’t make comment about it before hefting up the bucket of fish and turning to her ‘lookout’.

“Alright, let’s head back. Carry this. I don’t want to.”

A pause.

“... Please.”

If it had been different circumstances Brooklyn would have been snuggled in a plush robe, her darling child would be in her arms. A cheesy Lifetime movie would be playing in the background and the snow would be falling from the sky above, delicately. Instead, their cabin had a view from the kitchen window of where the group had together beheaded and buried her dead baby girl; Harris.

Her fists clenched, as her grey eyes shot towards Sam, taken from her daydream. "Huh?" came out of her mouth before the question of grabbing a stick fully traveled through her brain. "Yeah, I'll get it." she agreed, stepping around the shore of the river looking for a heavy duty stick. After finding a sturdy enough bramble, Brooklyn returned handing it over to Sam as she wrapped her arms back around her body.

She watched the woman from the sidelines, as she proceeded to mumble and make jokes. Brooklyn cracked a smile, though Sam was a newer member to the group the two had found a bit of friendship among one another, or so truly thought Brooklyn. The traps had proven themselves to be very helpful, along with a few herbs, plants and the produced breast milk- the group was not starving. Food was always top concern though, because once that was gone, things were going to escalate dramatically.

Thankfully that wasn't the case.

Being told to carry the bucket of disgusting fish was not picturesque, but Brooklyn didn't mind. Sam had done all the real work, the least she could do is was carry them back to home. "Maybe we can make a soup or a gumbo!" Brooklyn suggested in a happy tone, lifting the bucket and turning back. She looked over at Sam, "Would you like that? I'll try to make it, my mama had taught me long ago." she commented once more, a little bit of her southern accent coming out as she envisioned a bowl of hot delicious food in front of her. Hopefully they had a little bit of extra things tonight so they didn't have to eat plain fish again.

Jorel scratched the back of his head as the Exploror rolled off. He had of course agreed, but once again Conrad wanted to mow down zombies. "Alright, mate..." Suddenly Jorel realised he needed to attend to that girl. He looked around again, and spotted her in the distance. He slung his rifle over the other shoulder so it wouldn't fall off, and began to do some kind of jogging-hopping thing through the snow.

The girl was being tailed by a walker. Jorel pulled his hunting knife and tried to get to the girl faster, resorting to leaping between tree roots in order to not sink into the snow. He was making a bit of a ruckus, and the girl clearly had spotted him. She was in slight shock, and when Jorel was close enough he pounced at her, managing to stab the walker leaning behind her. He grabbed the girl and pulled her away from the falling corpse, instinctively dropping his knife.

Jorel looked into the girl's eyes, then scanned her body for wounds of any kind. He was still aware of more walkers approaching, so he firmly nodded at her, then whispered, "Come," before swiping up his knife and slotting it into his sheath, and picking the girl up bridal style.

Jorel wasn't as strong as Conrad, so the girl was a little heavy at first, but he quickly got used to her weight and trudged through the snow. He was slower than normal of course, but the walkers had to face the snow, too, so he continued through. It wasn't long before he reached the dirt track.

Off in the distance, Jorel could hear the slight revving of the Explorer. He shook his head and insisted to himself that Conrad would be fine, then jogged back to the cabin with the girl in hand. It was a longer journey than usual, but he made it. He let the girl down, still holding her hand, and walked up the steps to the front door. The girl slipped out of his hand, to which he shurgged and continued to the door. I wonder where the others are at...

This question was answered when he heard the rustle of leaves and snow beside the cabin, where he found Brooklyn and Sam heading back. Jorel looked back and smiled. "It's alright, they're friends."

Only moments after saying those words, she dropped, and Jorel rushed to her side.

Two. There were two of them. For a moment she weighed up her options as one turned towards her. For a moment even considering taking her chances with the dead. You at least knew where you stood with the dead. Then she considered if she could potentially take them, even armed as the one approaching her was. And then he leapt at her. Instantly backing away a step Ash reached for her knife at her side. He wasn't big, exactly, but he was bigger than her and he was coming at her with a blade of his own. Only to have him pass her and stab at the dead that had gotten far too close for comfort and silently Ash cursed herself. She had been too distracted to even notice it.

"Come."

The look he received in reply was cautious but there was at least a flicker of understanding there and the girl gave him the slightest of nods before he suddenly scooped her up and began carrying her. In his arms he'd feel her shivering violently and there were moments during the trip... wherever they were going, that her eyes slid completely closed and she lost consciousness for a few seconds. She couldn't really tell how much time passed while the man carried her, but eventually the jolting eased and they arrived at what looked like a relatively large log cabin. Settling onto her unsteady feet Ash glanced up at the man as he took her hand, a slightly curious look crossing her own before she slipped it out of his grip.

He had saved her, true. But she had no clue who these people were. The sounds of rustling leaves caused Ash to retreat a few steps, even as her companion advanced and then smiled back at her.

"It's alright, they're friends."

His friends maybe. Her arms wrapped around herself Ash moved to speak before another dizzy spell came over her, staggering slightly where she stood but shaking her head firmly before everything went entirely dark and the girl collapsed to the ground. Totally unconscious.

”Sounds fine. Never had gumbo much though, the only place that specialized in it near my hometown was garbage.” As if to emphasis her point Sam stuck her tongue out and theatrically shuddered. A lazy smile graced her lips and she tossed her hair back as she glanced over to her walking companion. ”There was one place though, The Gumbo Pot, I’d go there every time I visited L.A. to catch some waves.”

The snow beneath Sam’s boots crunched with each step, but even with recent snowfall the rough path between the cabin and river was traversed enough that they wouldn’t get lost. It helped that they had marked the route off as well should they fall off the path anyway. For now their footprints leading out was enough to follow home on the packed snow. It’s not like the corpses could decipher what they were.

Speaking of which, they weren’t as active today. Jorel and Conrad, for their faults – many, many faults in the latter’s case – must be having an outstanding patrol. Really no surprise considering the man’s fanaticism.

Crazy.

The half hour walk went by uneventfully. Quiet, some light chatter but nothing substantial. Sam was honest enough to admit she may have rambled a bit about her plants. She was worried the potted tomatoes weren’t getting enough sunlight but what could you do in a fucking log cabin? Ugh.

Speaking of which, they were finally coming up on their ‘home’. And the crunching of snow that wasn’t Brook’s or her own.

A slight sound of metal was the only indication that Sam had withdrawn her switchblade, flicking it open with practised ease that betrayed her relaxed posture. In all honesty it was probably just Leo patrolling around the cabin, but better safe than sorry-

...

Well, it wasn’t Leo.

”The fuck?” Was the ever eloquent response from Sam. Her blue gaze stayed affixed to the little girl standing slightly apart from Jorel, her own head tilting to the side curiously as blonde bangs spilled in front of her eyes. Would it be inappropriate to make a joke about how she had already got them food? ... Probably. No one appreciated her cannibalism jokes.

Oh. The little girl toppled over. Well alright then.

”Seriously man, you went to go clear out the corpses and you bring back a stray?” Was the slow and drawling comment Sam finally offered as she stepped up, kneeling beside the girl. Ech, she was completely soaked and starting to get covered in frost. ”And no offence, but unless you wanted another corpse-walker on our doorstep, you probably should’ve brought the soaking wet girl inside. Hey, no judging if you did! Come on, help me pick her up and we’ll get her in by the fire. Tie her up just in case.”

Fucking strays.

Shaking her head, Brooklyn huffed playfully, "Well, if I get the chance, I'll show ya." she nodded. Something Brooklyn always enjoyed is when their group spoke about their past enjoyments. There was something in a person's eyes that lit up when they talk about their loved ones and the things they were passionate about. Things as simple as enjoying their favorite meal now seemed like a dream holiday that perhaps would remain just a dream.

Brooklyn didn't have much worry about the trek back to the cabin, there had not been too many zombies as of late and one or two was nothing the two women couldn't handle. "Your plants are resilient little shits, it'll be just fine." Brooklyn assured Sam, their conversation and quips about plants keeping them busy as they arrived back at home.

Sam's abrupt stop caused Brooklyn to cease her talking mid sentence.

A young girl stared back at them before falling with a sickening thud.

Jorel and Sam spoke back and forth before Jorel looked to his side as Sam went to her knees, offering a hand. "Yeah I didn't have time to check for bites or nothin', so I was gonna tie her up, then she just dropped. I'll take this side." He lifted the girl's head and back, then slotted his arms underneath hers, holding her upper body up. Sam did the same, as they lifted the body up and off the cold snowy ground.

Rushing in front of them, and in front of the door entrance to the cabin. Brooklyn put out her arms, her eyes wide. "Check her outside first, I don't want her inside, do NOT bring her inside yet." her voice wavering in speed. Her central nervous system was collapsing within itself in panic. When Brooklyn had first spotted the girl, she couldn't help but think of her deceased baby daughter all grown up.

Harris however was in the cold hard winter ground, her infant skull detached from her lifeless body. This girl was very much alive, or so Brooklyn hoped so. She quickly lifted the clothing and began to search the young girl's body for bites, scratches, anything that could be an infection. She prayed she was pure.

She needed to be pure.

As far as Brooklyn could tell the young traveler had nothing suspicious. She had a few scars, cuts and bruises; but everyone did. They were trophies of hard work or in this girl's case - survival. "Okay." Brooklyn huffed, looking from Sam to Jorel before opening the cabin door for them to enter in with the girl.

As Jorel and Sam began to carry her to the door, Brooklyn instant transmissioned inbetween them out of nowhere, her arms spread. She started babbling about checking for bites right now, causing Jorel to relax from the sudden jump scare. "Jesus fuckin' Christ, would you calm the fuck down, mate, scared me half to death," he said in the most obliterate Aussie accent humanly possible.

She had finished her little search, and once satisfied, opened the door and let them in. Jorel barely looked at his surroundings; he had lived her long enough to call it home. Sam and Jorel set her down on the floor, and Jorel immediately went round to one of the rooms full of gear, grabbed a huge length of rope, and came back to the girl. He grabbed his knife and cut the rope in half, tossing it to Sam. "Do the legs, I'll do the arms. We'l find cloth after to gag her." He leaned closer to the girl and lowered his voice, talking indirectly to her while she was out. "Sorry we have to do this, it's just a precaution."

The weather was something that Leo revelled in, brought up in the wonderfully wet and cold British Isles. While snow was a bit more of a rarity in Britain, he thoroughly preferred the winter cold to the summer heat. He scoured the area around him repeatedly with each footstep, keeping an eye out for any shambling undead that may be roaming too close too their cabin. He rarely ventured much further than ten minutes walk away from the cabin doing his rounds, only going further for supply runs.

It had been a fairly uneventful couple of months since arriving at the cabin, barring the occassional lone biter that avoided the traps, there was nothing of note that really required any particular skill from himself. That was a good thing, he kept reminding himself that the less he had to do, the safer it meant the group was. He didn't have an itchy trigger finger by any means, but with the way the world was now, there was something about the peace that made him very uncomfortable.

The peace was soon broken though as Brooklyn's voice echoed through the trees. He couldn't hear what she was saying but she was shouting loud enough that it travelled to him. 'Shit...' Leo muttered to himself. He turned back up hill and broke into a quick sprint, keeping his HK416 close to his chest. He had kept in good shape throughout the downfall, he had needed to to survive. It made getting up the hill, even with the snow, quite easy.

As he reached the cabin the door was shut and he could hear voices inside. He quickly looked at the surrounding area and couldn't see much other than the footprints of his fellow survivors. Leo slung his weapon over his shoulder, instead putting a hand on the pistol in his holster. He cautiously opened the door to see the group scattered around the room.

"Hey...what's goi..." before he finished his sentence, his thick Welsh accent faded away. His eyes caught sight of a young girl on the floor. At one end of her was Jorel binding her hands, the other end was Sam, she was crouched down at the girls feet. "Jesus Christ!" The sincere anger in Leo's voice transcended the look of horror on his face. He leapt across the room barging the pair away from the girl, his hand still firmly placed on his sidearm. "What the hell are you doing? She's a fucking child!"

He knew what the agreed procedure was, check for bites and then keep them bound up until the group can be sure that they are alright. This time the rule sat very uncomfortably in Leo's stomach. She was a child, small enough that a firm kick would send her half way across the room. If she did turn, she'd be little to no trouble to deal with. There was no way he was letting her be tied up. Pre-empting their protests he spoke, "She can go in my room and use my bed. I'll lock the door from the outside and keep watch until she wakes up. If she isn't going to turn, do you really want her waking up bound and gagged? The poor girl will be scared shitless." Still standing somewhat aggressively, he offered an alternative. "If that's not good enough for you...then we have a problem..."

Conrad knew Jorel would get the girl back to “base” safely. Not like he needed a driver’s ed instructor to teach him what to do anyway. This was practically Parking 101 at this point. Driving by the lake, the ex-cop saw the zombies that hadn’t drowned all in about the same area. Flooring the accelerator pedal once more, Conrad drove straight into the zombie mass, killing four of them at once.

“Just like bowling! Ah dammit, missed one,” he said nonchalantly as he noticed a smaller one on his windshield. Conrad grabbed his pistol, lowered the driver’s side window, then shot the walker a few times to finish what he started. Then, as if it were just a bug, he rolled that window back up and turned on his windshield wipers. All better.

By this point, a few zombies that were further away noticed Conrad’s mission and started heading towards his ride. This was as planned; can’t draw away all the zombies if none of them are left. As much as it pained him to do it, Conrad drove away from the walkers (and the cabin) this time, making sure to do so slowly enough that they could follow him but not so slow that he was zombie food.

After a reasonable enough amount of time spent doing this, the former policeman accelerated away from the confused zombie mass and headed back home. It would have been an uneventful drive, except while looking behind him for zombies Conrad heard another loud THUNK in front of him. He was worried he had been followed for a second, but it was just a baby deer. Winner winner, doe for dinner?

Whatever. Conrad wrapped the dead baby deer in a tarp and tied it up with some rope, then put it in the trunk of the Explorer. Following this, he drove back to the cabin and was about to walk in when he overheard someone speak.

"She can go in my room and use my bed. I'll lock the door from the outside and keep watch until she wakes up. If she isn't going to turn, do you really want her waking up bound and gagged? The poor girl will be scared shitless. If that's not good enough for you...then we have a problem..."

Foolish. They had saved the girl’s life and he gets hung up over agreed-on procedure that could save their lives? Crazy.

Carrying the doe-in-a-tarp, Conrad opened the door and walked inside. “Hey guys,” he casually said, “oh good. Leo, since you seem to have some energy, can you cook this?” Conrad then tossed him the aforementioned tarped doe before Sullivan could respond and continued on, “oh, and maybe try to save the fur? Might be good for a blanket or something.”

Conrad took a glance at the girl and added “good job following procedure, everyone. It would really suck if a zombie bit one of us.” This last and what was going to come out of his mouth next, he said while looking at Leo. “I think if she can handle nearly freezing to death and being chased by zombies, she can handle being tied up for a few minutes.”

At first it was nice, everything was going to plan. Jorel had obeyed her order to help get the girl inside, and Sam had grabbed onto the girl to help do so after pocketing her switchblade once more. Of course they barely got five steps before that nice little plan was interrupted but a slightly wild-eyed Brooklyn cutting them off, insistent on checking the girl over. Outside. Surrounded by snow.

”Y’know this would’ve been easier on everyone to do inside, right?” The tattoo artist drawled, holding the mysterious girl’s soaking legs awkwardly as the other woman checked her over. It didn’t seem that Brooklyn was paying any attention to Sam whatsoever. Rude.

It took a few minutes of shuffling before Brook’ deemed the girl fit for the inside of their home, and oh so politely held the door open for them. Sam helped put the girl down on the floor before pulling her now wet gloves off with a disgusted noise emerging from the back of her throat.

”And I was joking about losing my other fingers to frostbite!” Even with the quip though the blonde accepted the tossed rope, only to quirk what was once upon a time a perfectly groomed eyebrow at Jorel. ”Eh, Brook did just check her, only the arms should be – oh, wait, never mind, I’ve always wanted to do this to someone!”

Dropping the rope at her side Sam reached out and undid the girl’s hiking boots, starting to tie the laces together.

Of course she couldn’t even finish before being interrupted. Again. This time it was much more harsh as Mr. Sullivan all but body checked her and Jorel away from the girl, ending up with Sam on her ass staring up at him. She did not like this position.

”Dude, relax,” Once more that familiar lazy, relaxed drawl emerged from Sam’s mouth, though her sharp eyes were focused on Leo’s broad hand resting on his pistol. The weight of her own suddenly seemed heavier where it was resting, hidden, inside the waistband of her pants. At the moment she didn’t like her chances, but...

...

Haha, that crazy bastard Conrad was always good for a laugh. Snorting out loud Sam gave the son of a bitch a thumbs up as she finally felt safe enough to stand, hooking a thumb into her jeans – close to her own pistol. It would be so easy.

Ah, but that was crazy talk. Sam wasn’t crazy. Just cold. Actually, that reminded her...

”Alright boys, play nice,” She finally commented, giving a slight shrug. ”The way I see it, if we don’t do something about the girl’s wet clothes then if she’s bit or not won’t be a problem either way. Leo, if you feel that strongly over it – duct tape over the mouth? At least while me and Brook’ change her clothes. That way she ain’t bound and won’t panic but we don’t gotta worry about being caught off guard. All it takes is once accident before everyone is in danger.”

Seriously, what was it with people named Leo causing problems in her life?

Jorel was interrupted as seemingly usual with this company, with Leo rushing up to them all angry like. Jorel stood up and stepped back to avide being pushed by Leo, though Sam dropped to her ass. It was clear Leo was upset and angry about what would be considered standard procedure. Jorel's eyes floated down to the man's sidearm, and back up to Leo, his eyes slowly widening.

Jorel raised his palms up slowly, stepping back to gain more distance. "Leo..." He spoke in a calm, questioning voice, similar to a teacher calling out a troublesome kid. That's when he heard the Explorer, and moments later Conrad barged in and dumped a deer at Leo's feet. Jorel smirked, feeling the tension slightly dissipate.

Jorel lowered his hands and bent down to the girl, pulling the loose rope from her unbound hands. "If you want her in your room, I'll be all g with that, mate. But you know if you fall asleep you could be the next dead guy." He picked up a survival knife from her thigh and inspected it slightly. "The standard procedure isn't just to make sure they're not a walking bag of death to-be, but also to make sure they aren't dicks with happy trigger fingers," he said, side-eyeing Leo's hand on his side arm. "And children are the worst, because half the time they're confused and they'll straight up attack."

Jorel grabbed the kid's bag and brought it with him as he sat down on the couch with a deep sigh. "In this world, doesn't matter who the fuck you are, you're a survivor. One year in and this 'scared shitless' girl happens to be alive? She's a survivor, Leo. Look at the shit she's got." As if to emphasise his words, he pulled out a bunch of pitons, rope and some harnesses, along with a photo. "I want her to be legit, man, I always welcome people. But the procedure is there for a reason, and shit I've seen kids back in Aus who fuck up others more than the average lad. Tell you what though, you can keep watch on her and if you need to sleep or anything I'll swap with ya."

Jorel investigated the photo in his hands. It was old and weathered, presenting two people, one of which was the girl. The other seemed like her mother, or perhaps older sister. Jorel muttered under his breath. "She's got a story to tell, like the rest of us."

"If that's not good enough for you...then we have a problem..."

“I think if she can handle nearly freezing to death and being chased by zombies, she can handle being tied up for a few minutes.”

”Alright boys, play nice,”

"But you know if you fall asleep you could be the next dead guy."

Slowly Ash's eyes started to open and the world began to come into focus. The voices sounded far away and we're fading in and out with her vision but slowly things were starting to come back from the darkness. Above her stood a really pissed of looking guy, his hand on a gun though it wasn't pointed at her necessarily it was still right by her. Slowly, instinctually, her hand went for the sheath at her side, only to find the blade missing. Everything was still cold, everything was still wet and her head felt like it had been hit by a truck. Looking around as she slowly shifted away from the angry armed man, her foot suddenly jolting as her shoe laces came taught, luckily she hadn't tried getting up, rather just slowly scooting away.

No sudden movement.

Her eyes began shifting around the room now, the two girls from before were there. The two new men. And the one who had brought here here in the first place. With her backpack. Up until this point Ash had been quiet, there had been a few whimpers and gasps of pain but no words had left her mouth. But that scared look that had dominated her face up until now flashed with a momentary anger at the sight of him holding her things.

"Hey! Th-that's mine!" Her words weren't exactly the intimidating sort, her voice was rather soft and gentle, even with the angry tone. Her eyes darted around at the faces in the room defiantly, a slight glare to them before she fell back on the young, dark-haired man with the accent.
"You can't have it." She was in no position to be making threats or demands. Unarmed in a room full of very capable looking adults. But she needed that backpack. She wouldn't survive long back out there without it. Another violent shiver ran through her body, reminding her she was still cold. But she could deal with that later.

As the group discussed what to do with the wild child, the smell of dead fish and deer carcass filled Brooklyn nose and made her feel nauseous. She didn't say much during the discussion, thoughts and ideas running through her head a mile a minute. "Sam and I can thoroughly check her, just in case. She doesn't really need to be captive while shes out, but we can't trust her just yet. Even the smallest can be deceiving." her mouth pursed, as she thought about everything that was weighed. She valued the opinion of everyone in her group, though her own thoughts sometimes plagued even the most reasonable decision.

Quickly the room was filled with the voice of the young girl.

Her voice was soft and sweet. Just like Brooklyn had imagined it. Her daughter should have and would have had a songstress voice like her mother. During her entire pregnancy she sang to Harris, old songs, new songs, songs that she would make up along the way. As the girl scooted away, panicked and angry that their group had unarmed and started to undress her. "HEY!" Brooklyn spoke loud and stern, looking directly at the girl.

Their gray eyes locked.

"We're not trying to hurt you. We want to help you. But we can't screw ourselves either." she placed her hand gently on the girl's head, before her hand reached down sharply and grabbed the girl's chin, hard. She turned her head to the left and right as she watched the young one's pupils. They didn't seem mutated, very responsive.

She was lovely.

"What do you guys think?" Brooklyn asked, looking hopeful towards her companions.

Leo sidestepped and watched as the deer dropped next to him, the thud echoing throughout the cabin. The words that left Conrad's mouth were ignored bluntly. "Seems you've dropped something cunt." The anger in his eyes hadn't subsided and it wasnt going to. Around the room others decided to pipe up but it was all white noise, that was until her heard a voice.

"Hey! Th-that's mine!"

The soft but stern tone of the voice was enough to snap Leo back into the room, it was the little girl. She had woken from her slumber and was determined to get her bag back.

Leo decided to act once more and moved across the room towards Jorel with a clear purpose in his mind. He took a grip on the girls bag and looked Jorel square in the eye with a deep sincerity. Then in a much calmer and muted voice than previously said, "Look, just let me do this...trust me." Jorel took a moment before letting the bag go, leaving Sully to pack everything back in hurriedly. After putting in what was in his line of sight, Leo turned to walk back towards the girl. He was stopped by a hand on his his shoulder.

"Alright, mate, but I was just about to give it back anyway." Jorel had stood up and lightly grabbed Leo's shoulder, holding out the photo. "Those pitons and rope on the floor are hers, too." Leo took the photo from Jorel's hand and looked down at it, staring at it for a few minutes. He looked back up at Jorel giving him a nod of thanks before packing the picture and other few bits on the floor into the bag.

While Sully had gone to reclaim the girls bag, her own attempt to reclaim her belongings had caught Brooklyn's attention and the woman was soon crossing the room towards her. She gently put her hand on the girls head and began to talk to her, it was a very uncomfortable moment for most watching her seemingly trying to mother the girl, especially after what she had been through.

Jorel blinked twice at Brooklyn, who looked around the room hopefully. He had lost words, but after a couple seconds, he spoke. "... What the fuck?"

For a moment Ash blinked in surprise and was still. Not from the stern words of the older girl. No the, admittedly almost motherly, tone she took hardly affected her. It was the shock that she had suddenly tapped her on the head and then grabbed her chin. For another moment she sat there in a kind of stunned stillness. Before she lashed out, jerking her face from the woman's grasp and rocking back before striking out with her feet and kicked her as hard as she was able in the face.

"Don't touch me!" The young girl spat, glaring angrily at the blonde before her.

"Here you go. My name is Leo." Leo squatted next to the girl placing her bag directly next to her. His demeanour had completely changed from the ruckus moments earlier but with the girl being awake changed things. "Everything is in there." The look on his face was one of reassurance and warmth, he needed her to believe what he was saying.

"I know this must be scary for you, even after everything you've been through to survive. You'll be safe with us here, we're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." He turned and glanced to his room before turning back to the girl. "We should probably look at getting you into bed to warm up, we don't want you to get sick. Would it be ok to put you into bed? Sam here can help get you ready." After what just happened with Brooklyn it made sense that only Sam deal with her.

Sully looked around the room at everyone with his next sentence, reiterating what he had said to them all earlier. "I'll stay by the door the entire time and make sure you're safe." Casting his glance back to the girl one last time he asked her, "So would it be ok to put you to bed?"

Why couldn't anything ever be simple?

The stray had woken up, which was a little surprising. Sam had honestly expected her to be out for longer, but then again for all she knew the girl was just passing in and out due to cold. Or hunger. Or anything else that could afflict a person in this fucked up time. As long as it wasn't, you know, death or infection then it didn't matter as much.

Of course Brooklyn was the first to react, shortly followed by Leo. It was probably always going to be a coin toss between those two for a kid - Leo seemed soft for them and Brooklyn had insane mothering instincts. Wasn't she a teacher of some sort? Eh, wasn't important. Sam was content to let them handle the situation and just lean against the wall observing.

Well, up until the little stray kitten showed she had claws. Sam's tattooed arm rose as she pressed the palm of her three-fingered hand to her mouth, choking down the laugh that threatened to bubble up. Probably not a good idea to laugh in this situation. Probably.

Oh Brooklyn, people are just scared dumb animals.

Sam stretched her arms above her head, intertwining her fingers high above to crack her knuckles as she did so. Would it be rude to excuse herself to go check on the plants? With tensions so high she doubted anything she would offer to the situation would be appreciated. People were weird about kids and as the newest member, even if she's been here a few months, Sam wasn't going to rock the boat too hard.

"Eh?" The woman's blue gaze was drawn back to the child and Leo at hearing her name. It took a moment for the words to register but when they did she gave a three-fingered wave and a relaxed grin. "Hey. I'm the Sam." She offered easily before dropping her hand once more.

"I ain't gonna crowd you anymore than you already are. I'll help if you want it though." Sam shrugged slightly. "But if you kick me, not the face alright? I get enough nosebleeds as it is."

That and Sam would be really unhappy about it in general.