---

---

---

---

Please remember to update your locations in your header with roads and such. (I will update general maps when you all are done and off your current one. Let me know when you are at the edge! If you do not tag me in chat I will not bother giving you a new updated map >.>) *Once your map is updated, make sure your header includes Graph Location as well as streets or other markers please.

---

---

---

Spinning around Thana barely registered what had just happened but after a minute it dawned on her that the older gentleman had just saved her ass. Once this was all said and done, she was going to give that man one hell of a thank you but for now she hoped he would be okay with a grateful look on her face and an appreciative nod. They didn't exactly have time for thanks you and you're welcomes right then. this was a war zone after all and if anyone could understand that, she figured Alexander could. Out of everyone in their little group she was pretty sure he was the only one that had been a full out actual war at this point. The rest of them were just too young. Sure some might have seen conflicts here and there but nothing the likes that the had seen before the new millennium. Times were different back then, more like they were now that everything had fallen apart. Less technology, more gut instinct.

Had Gavin known what was going on though, it would have been a different story. He would have hefted the man up on his shoulders and gave a great big ol' hoot and holler for the man that just saved Strawberry Wines life, twice. That was the type of shit you bought a man not a round of drinks but the whole damn bar for. At least that was what Gavin would have done if he had known, sure as shit that was what he was going to do when he found out. But for now, he had to keep his wits about him. There were two very able women in a tank he was hiding behind right now doing their thing.

"Fuck, worlds just full of Yanks isn't it?" Lola laughed. Lola's thing right then was waiting for Beatrice to hit the little "red" button. When the girl did, Lola let out a hoot and holler that way too sadistic. She was cackling as she looked through the opening and watched the left back end of the building go big badda boom. Pieces of wall, and plants, and tress went everywhere. Several bodies went flying, one landing right on top of the tank. It was one hell of a show. "AVON CALLING!" she yelled.

Thana ducked as she heard the boom and glanced over towards Alexander. "Yeah, I think you can place that call now." The dust was billowing up from the building and while they didn't have a direct line of sight going on, it was obvious that the other half of their group had just blown the shit out shit. Ducking down she followed Thalia and kept moving. Seemed that it was time and they could make a break for it. "Maybe we should just bee line it there now. They aren't going to know what just hit them." Her voice was calm as she spoke but she had a point. If they were going to make a move into the building, it was time they made a break for it.

Gavin heard the thud and quickly stood up, a body half blow apart was looking down at him empty eyed and bleeding. Seemed they had arrived. Grabbing the body he pulled it off the tank and climbed up, taking a seat in the dust covered recliner that Lola had on the top of her tank and got comfortable before taking aim. Now he could start picking them off one by one as they ran out, if they did. Lola had put the tank back in gear and was pressing forward. Seemed the Kiwi wasn't going to get out and walk up to the door just yet, for all he knew she was going to drive right on in.

---

---

---

---

---

Alexander was an experienced...HAD been an experienced soldier, and hadn't expected a whole parade of congratulations on what he had just achived. There wasn't time for that back then, you just knew that there were fewer enemies to worry about and get on with the mission right away. So he felt a sense of pride, however short it lasted, when both T's accknowledged his work, both in their respective ways. To Thana he gave a responding nod, and to Thalia he gave a look of confusion, even if she had sort-of thanked him. "Jar...jar-ing?" he questioned with a whisper, still catching his breath as he looked back to Blue T.

He crouched down too at the explosion, surely coming from the TANK. Finally he got the signal he had waited for, and pulled up his radio with a smile on his face. He was glad to finally get contact with the TANK, and that the TANK was blowing up charlie for them. "Kiwi, Kiwi, this is Mugs. Come in, Kiwi, over." Alexander began his transmission, mentally going through the route Thalia suggested they follow before she herself began to move. Alexander stayed behind a few more moments. "We are O K. We are taking the long way 'round to the main objective's back, east-bound. Watch your fire on enemy's rear in a few Mikes. Do you copy, over?" Alexander continued his transmission, starting to follow Thana's path while crouched down, which was far from comfortable. He came closer to them and heard something be said, although he wasn't sure what. All he figured was they were moving away from main building to get around in a favourable insertion point. He himself wasn't sure, and didn't want to interrupt waiting for the TANK's response.

---

---

---

---

In the end Ray was the one who had taken care of the walker, but Amelia let Sam be the one to help him up. Amelia wasn't sure if she'd have the strength to stand up herself if she was t o fall down, let alone help him up. While Sam was doing that, Amelia took a look around.” I think there should be cars we can use around...” Amelia suddenly said in profound realization as she remembered this small really crucial detail she had forgotten about until now.” I just remembered, people were talking that there were cars scattered around that should be in working order, stationed just in case.” She suddenly said to Ray and Sam.

Since Sam had pulled Ray up, she also joined the search for a car. Amelia moved slowly around, almost shuffling her legs around, just wanting to sit somewhere. The black haired woman returned having found nothing, but luck was on Amelia's side this time around.

“I found one.” She said in joy, noticing the car. It was reasonably small, but it was going to be their salvation. Pulling gathering willpower and last vestiges of physical power she moved to the car and search for the key.

---

---

Tiffany took it easy on the road. With the amount of snow and ice that could be around (considering the number of times both of them fell on their butts), it would not do them well to traverse the road speedily. They had transportation, which was not seen usually anymore, and that was a blessing. Hopefully, they could get to where they needed to faster now. And if all else failed, they could find a place to rest up and worry about it in the morning.

She was thankful she had Jack there with her. She couldn't imagine doing this whole thing alone. She still missed Ray, but she missed everyone. She grew accustomed to the daily life she had in Newnan and it was all taken away just as easily as it came. And now she had nothing but the basics on her. But she had someone with her. Someone she could rely on.

If they were going to make it through this, they needed each other.

---

---

---

---

---

The ice and snow had less of a hold on the road for this stretch of the journey. It was a thing which gave Ash some measure of relief. While he could see sections of accumulation a little farther up, he'd take what relief Mother Nature allowed them. He'd already resolved to engage Riley in conversation. It felt like a good time to continue. But first...

"Ready for a bump?" he inquired, though it was less of a question and more of an imperative. The second that he spoke his sentence, a dull thud resounded from the great plowing wedge along the front of the Hordebuster. It was the re-deading of a formerly living individual, one that didn't seem to pay much mind to the approaching vehicle. There were more a little was up. They could move it or lose it, as far as he was concerned. "I grew up in a rural town outside of Charlottesville and my family made booze for living." he began, very matter-of-factly. "Getting hammered and kicking up trouble was just something that happened." Ash's voice had settled into a sort of wistful, stoic calm, a slight rasp creeping up in a way that reinforced his trip down memory lane. "Town's small enough that everyone knew who everyone was. If you were stupid enough to egg a house, your dad would be on the front porch waiting on you with a switch. We did plenty, though."

There really wasn't much of a need for the military to straighten out the good Captain. In many ways, it served to fuel his more troublemaking impulses. Just that back then, the Army gave him an automatic rifle and a squad or more of trained, motivated men with which to make trouble. Well, for the bad guys, whomever they were that month.

Ash veered to the right slightly, giving this next walking worm-buffet a little latitude. It wasn't quite enough; the Hordebuster clipped the poor, undead bastard, spinning it around two or three times before it hit the ground. "Oops." he intoned, still near deadpan. It was a if part of his personality had been subdued temporarily, but was struggling to push its way back out. He kept his eyes on the road but casually asked Riley, "Do you miss performing?"

---

---

From her little copse of trees, Thalia weighed out her options. The groundskeeper had spent many a season away from his duties, apparently, as did a presentable maintenance crew, the end result being enough patchy bits of growth to use as irregular soft cover, coupled with the fences around the pool area being down. Most of it, anyway. Provided the way stays clear, it might be a feasible option to cut across the cracked cement section between the pool and tennis court, making tracks for the trees just across.

Of course, there was another uninvited guest out there with them; a Zed that hadn't quite taken notice of her just yet, but surely would if she ran across the pool area. As she briefly contemplated her options, she glanced back to see Thana's approach. Her insistence that they should make a run for it served to reinforce Thalia's earlier thought on the matter, but she still held doubts. A lack of on-the-ground intelligence made her wary, even though those kinds of logistics were difficult to come by these days. Also, while Thalia was damned competent at being a stealthy, roguish individual, Thana and Alexander were both military personnel, or were back in the day. They weren't breaking in nor scouting for information. This was a full out, small squad strike. Okay, across the tennis court it was, and onward to Eden.

Thalia figured that if they had any surprises for them in the way of munitions or explosives, they'd have heard it being used against the main, massive threat, the TANK knocking on their back door. "Yeah." she said quietly, switching out her machete for the Beretta in her dominant hand. "But as soon as we're done I'm eating the hell out of your peanut butter." With that bit of cryptic banter out in the open air, Thalia hopped a segment of downed fence and took off at a run, cautious about her surroundings but leaning more toward getting from Point A to Point B.

---

---

---

---

Raymond was grateful when Sam came over and helped him back onto his foot again, letting out a slight sigh as he reached down to pick up his walking stick once more. "Thank you." Raymond said towards Sam as they walked a little bit further, his thoughts went back to his life in Newnan. He was really used to the life and schedule that they had going on, it truly did remind him of his life before, which Raymond did enjoy the order. They continued to walk down along MLK Jr. Dr, for a little bit longer when Amelia finally spoke up, Ray turned his head and looked over at her.

He did remember that they did set up a few cars down the street, and purposefully made them look rundown and beatup, if they haven't been already to make them look like that they were abandoned. "Thank god." Ray said to himself as he followed alongside Sam and Amelia until they got to the car. Ray remained alert as he looked around for any Walkers which he hadn't seen except for the few that were all down the road. "I'll keep watch, Sam you go ahead and start searching." Ray told her while looking over at Amelia and gave her a slight nod.

---

---

---

---

Riley looked towards Ashton, when he said that just as she heard the thud of a walker as it was ran over by the hulking machine she looked out the window for a moment to watch the body flying several feet behind them. Then she turned her attention back towards Ashton when he started to continue more about his past. "My hometown was fairly small as well, I was the one who usually caused a lot of mischief back then." Riley said smirking slightly to herself remembering egging a few kids houses that she really and truly did hate.

Then Ashton asked her a question on if she missed performing, she was silent for a few seconds and then nodded. "I truly do, it was always something I truly enjoyed going out touring around the world performing in front of crowds was what always made my career so worth it." Riley said letting out a slight sigh. "Last night brought up a lot of memories when I performed for everyone in what felt like years." Riley answered, though she lacked a guitar yesterday she still always did have a blast regardless.

---

---

---

---

Please remember to update your locations in your header with roads and such. (I will update general maps when you all are done and off your current one. Let me know when you are at the edge! If you do not tag me in chat I will not bother giving you a new updated map >.>) *Once your map is updated, make sure your header includes Graph Location as well as streets or other markers please. @FantasyChic & @Morose - You have two posts each to get to the end of your map.

---

---

---

Lola was day dreaming as she drove the tank slowly towards the main building of Eden. You see Lola had a very active imagination and right now she was in her own Post Outbreak Version of Risk. Yet this wasn't trying to invade Asia. No one ever got into a land war in Asia. (Hitler never played Risk as a child and we saw what happened there, the Kiwi was far more learned in the world of games than the former scrubstache was.) In Lola's day dream she wasn't the player, moving pieces. She was the piece, one of them. Above her was this really demented woman rolling dice and cackling every time some massive shit went totally wonky. Lola was only a pawn for her to move and use as a meat shield towards her ultimate goal. (Which Lola had no idea what it was. Anytime it ever even though about what this Onipresents dice tossing chippy was up to the words NO SPOILERS! flashed in her mind.)

Apparently Lola wasn't the only one off in dream land even as shit was being blown up around him and guns were being fired towards him. Yet Gavin wasn't in a game of Risk, he was at the fair. (And people die at the fair!) Gavin was picturing himself in the old west. He had just had a great clipping at the Coiffeur Mustachery, he was sporting a rather fine hat, his sheep Bridgette was on the top of the court house (Bridgette was "special") and now he and Strawberry were at the shooting gallery and he was about to win her a bright yellow duck. Every shot he popped off from his gun he took another Edenite out and there was that wonderful ~ding~ going off in his head.

In fact, Thana was probably the only one having rational thoughts. You know, how to enter Eden, how to finish this. Shit you should have been thinking about in this type of situation. That was until she kind of looked off into the distance and... "This is really some messed up shit isn't it? Cowboy is in the old west, Lola is playing Risk and here I am talking to you as filler because the fucking birthday girl, AKA your Gm ain't slept for shit this week so she is using us as her personal puppets to break the forth wall. What this bitch will do to entertain herself and make her minimal post length is just... I don't even have the words for it." - Thana was speaking, but in her mind, not to the two others next to her. Yet you just heard her in that voice in your head. (That voice if you watched the video in chat that is.)

Back to Lola. Lola was still in the middle of Risk and had driven the tank up some more but she didn't drive it right into the place. That would be rude. She stopped, parked, as well as one could park in the grass, and went to grab some weapons. That was until the radio went off. Not waiting for Beatrice, she grabbed it and radioed back. "Gooood Mooooorning Eden! This is your local Kiwi and we are fine and fucking aces mate. Will be watching the six, you do as well. Cowboy is picking them off one at a time. Meet ya at the juice bar for a run by fruiting!" she radioed back before tossing the thing to Beatrice and grabbing her shit. It was time to get personal.

Gavin was indeed outside still picking them off. He had won at least a stuffed ducky by now. There was no Eden, this was the Wild Wild West and he was in Comfort circa 1887, that or some fucking moon in the 'Verse. Either way, it didn't matter. He was having one hell of a time before he stopped in his ~vision~ and.... "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, this be more twisted than den of snakes durin' matin' season. Howdy there! Think ya can do mes a fav? Tries to get this Lady here typing to win me strawberry. I means come on. You knows the dice ain't gonna let Thana and Ash evers gets together. Strawberry gots close to him, so shes gotta die now cause of his damn curse. So, damn the dice, save a life - Strawberry and Cowboy!" - Seemed Gavin decided to have a 4th wall break inside a day dream, is that a 2nd wall break squared or the square root of the 4th wall break?

Thana didn't give a shit either way. What Thalia had said was coming into her mind right then. "That sounds like the start of a bad porno," she said rather matter of factly as she stood there and started to straighten herself as the dust was starting to die down on the back side. Pulling her pistol out she checked it and made sure everything was in order. They were about to make a break for it towards the main building, last she needed was the safety to be on at this time. Especially since from what Lola was radioing in, they were about to do the same from the other end.

---

---

---

---

---

Beatrice chuckled a bit. She couldn't help but wonder at what point it was pointless to label someone as a Yank, given that at least half of the population - on a purely geographic estimate - would meet that description. Though she supposed that it wasn't that much different than gender then, as from what she knew, the division was roughly 50-50. She didn't know much about the gender spectrum and things along those lines. She glanced upwards as she heard a body hit the tank, imagining for a moment the body just slowly falling off from the force of gravity as they pushed onwards.

"So much for radio silence," Beatrice mused. The radio went off when she had been in the middle of loading the next shell. She didn't know if they'd be firing off anymore shots with the tank, but she wanted to be prepared. It seemed silly to leave it all for the last minute and then have to scramble to get off another shot. As she listened to the message, she felt a bit irritated. They knew that she had been the one manning the radio, and yet, they messaged Lola. She had half a mind to take a passive aggressive action regarding it accordingly later, when Lola grabbed the radio from her. She listened to Lola's response, catching the radio as she tossed it back.

"Do you want me to gear up as well? Or continue manning the gun?" Beatrice asked her.

---

---

---

---

---

Jack kept his eyes on the road, falling into the role of backseat driver. He was glad that they weren't taking Duncan Street - there had been too many walkers on it for comfort. They had already put a good bit of distance between them and the Church, with Jack finally letting out a bit of tension he hadn't realized had been building in his shoulders. Sure, they were still in danger - but they weren't in the mortal peril that they had been in before. The danger of being overrun by a hoard or going without shelter, in his mind at least, had diminished greatly.

However, he knew that there was still a threat they faced - though this one was more emotional than anything else. "Tiff, uh...I know I'm no Tati when it comes to these things, but maybe it'd be good if we talked 'bout eve'ything that just happened..." Jack said, staring straight at the road ahead of them. "The hallucinations and...Well, I know it's something we both should get off of ouh chests..." He of course didn't know that it had been an environmental effect - to Jack, it just seemed like they both had snapped and lost their minds. He felt that if they didn't get a handle on it now, it'd just keep on happening.

"Like uh...I saw Sutton," Jack said, his voice cracking a bit. "She died a long time ago but...it was so real, Tiff."

---

---

---

---

---

For once Alexander was glad to hear the (half?)crazed voice of Lola the Kiwi answer him on the radio. Okay, perhaps more than once, but being in the middle of what in all fairness was a good ol' combat situation, the veteran wasn't keeping track. That wasn't his job, he wasn't a pencil-pusher of logistics wiz after all. He listened to what the TANK-lady responded back, sadly keeping his attention away from the mile-long stare of Thana as he pressed the transmitter once again. "Confirmed Kiwi, see you at the counter. Give them Hell! Mugs over and out." Alexander said before releasing his thumb from his beloved radio and putting it back into its rightful spot.

Then the thought hit him, on what Lola had opened with. Robin Williams, "Good Morning Vietnam", 1988. Okay movie, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she referenced it, which meant she knew; about him, where he was and what he possibly could have done...did she? No. The vet pushed the nagging thoughts aside, now that they had made their way south to just east of what had to be Eden's main complex, just in time to hear Thana say something about about a bad porno. Alexander, no stranger to random talk of...those things in the heat of battle, chose to ignore it. He was in no position to blame her, even if it was odd indeed...

Like the two T's, he too pulled out one of his pistols - this time the 1911 Colt and checked it. He did like the axe, but for what they were about to do, a pistol was better. The best would surely have been a Winchester 1912, M16 and a hand-grenade, or ever better; a flamethrower. But for now, he felt most comfortable with the Colt in his hand. He didn't say anything, just watched the battlefield in front of him and waited for the order to move.

---

---

Tiffany took in Jack's words. She'll admit, she had been thinking about that too. They didn't have time to stop and consider why they were seeing things that were not there, but now that they had some semblance of sanctuary, it was all coming to a head. She felt comforted knowing Jack went through the same thing she did, but it was still worrying.

"It did. I know exactly what you mean. I saw Ray running around with two legs. My logic knows that isn't possible for a variety of reasons, but my mind and heart wanted it to be true. Same thing when I heard Zach's voice. My ex-fiance. I heard him guilt tripping me and I know he would never do that. I know he'd want me to be happy and to move on and I am with Ray. But I couldn't stop it and he kept making it worse."

"The only things I have right now is what remains of my sanity and you and the first is slowly slipping. I'm scared of what happened but if I continue thinking about it I'll probably go mad and I am not going to go nuts without seeing Ray and giving him a fucking hug. Tatiana too. And Ash. And Beatrice. And the others. We'll get to them. We have to."

---

---

---

---

They were indeed lucky to find this car. SHe knew it will have some supplies and it should be in working condition just for cases such as their current one. Now only the key was left to be found so she started searching. There were just so many places you can hide a key. Admittedly they were many places, but what the hell. They were placed so you can easily find them in case of need and people who find the car without knowing the key was near wouldn't search for the key anyhow. After a little she located the key ducktaped to the underside of a slightly out of place stone nearby." Good..." She said tiredly as she walked back to the car and quickly unlocked the driver's door and then the others." Sam, please take teh wheel... I can't feel my legs and hands anymore." She explained and it was obvious Ray was not a good choice to drive either.

"Ray, you take the backseats, you can stretch a little." She added, opening the door for him and then opening her own frn passenger door. Waiting for him to get inside, as soon as he was, she closed it and entered her own, sitting heavily in the car seat which felt so incredibly comfortable right about now. She closed her door, put on the seatbelt and asked Sam to get going South on Dodson st. They had to get as far as they can and find a place to rest." Hopefully the walkers would have concentrated on the ruins of Newnan so hopefully we will have less of them down South in the area."

---

---

---

---

---

Ash thought yet again that this was probably the first actual conversation he had with Riley. Due to their massive differences of upbringing and social status, it was unlikely to the extreme that they would have ever had a personal talk of this nature back Before. Let it never be said that an apocalypse did not make for strange bedfellows. Even so, the fact that he was so wrapped up in his own brooding and turmoil for so long was poor excuse not to get to know the people who counted on him for leadership and counsel. Not just that, but as per usual James was right with his own homespun, backwoods form of wisdom, when he said that Ash needed people to keep him in touch with his humanity. Character flaw or trauma of the sudden change in the world, he could grow dark. Maybe if he opened himself up to others, as his recently deceased friend had suggested on numerous occasions, he might have fixed some of the horror that went on inside of his head. With Newnan collapsing and the death toll massive, including those close to him, perhaps it was time to follow his late friend's advice and throw himself into making human connections.

But first, he was about to make a different sort of connection with those two corpses shambling in the middle of the road in front of him. They were dispatched in the manner that many others were that hour; destined to be shuffled away by the cowcatcher style plowhead on the front of the damn nigh trademarkable vehicle/second home that was the Hordebuster. The massively altered truck that was designed to save lives, sadly now could only haul three away from a crater that used to be home. But it felt somewhat satisfying to obliterate a couple more of the Dead on the way out.

"I think I'm the opposite of you, Riley." remarked Ash, "You loved your job and so did I. We're pretty much the same there. But you are a performer. I'm a U.S. Army Engineer. Or was. You can't do a job that you love so much anymore. I can't stop doing my job. Walls, fortifications, motor pool... Clean water, renewable fuels, organization, leadership. Training soldiers. Manning the line. Making the hard choices with resources. I don't make friends really, but I kept as many people as I could alive for as long as I was able. I loved my job, and I can't stop doing it, ever."

For a moment, he looked haggard. Older than his 32 years because of his expression alone. It was the look of a man who had seen too much and knew it would only end when he did. "I'm tired, Riley. So goddamned tired." Ash began drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he continued down Roscoe Rd. He was anxious to get where they were going.

---

---

Their hope at a clear path to the door had evaporated the moment that Thalia laid her hazel eyes upon the scene. At least three between them and the door, and a couple off to the left. Over open ground as well. She might be able to nail one or two of them with her pistol before charging forward, but at best that would give away their position and kill any chance at getting in undetected. Not to mention that they were approaching from lower ground. Over the rise of earth, there was no telling if there were other sentries on standby, and how many there might be. These things did not add up to a successful end to the day.

There was one saving grace to the situation, however. What appeared to once be topiary was left to grow mostly unchecked. It did not constitute a fully safe path with obstructed cover, but it did make for a halfway decent approach from the side. Running up on superior numbers, even with the element of surprise, could end in total disaster. No, to Thalia's thinking, they needed to get closer before opening fire, use the bad guys' own men for cover. If she timed this right, she could even do it at a run, so long as they were focused elsewhere. But first...

Thalia reversed her grip on her new Beretta, James's old sidearm, just long enough to give Thana a more accurate view of her middle finger. The barest hint of smile pierced through the ashen skull painted over her face, and she said with her Boston accent peeking out a bit, "Sorry Navy. You're not my type. I might feel different latah, but right now I need you to covah me. We have to hit the front doah loud. Run in along those bushes, we can get into pistol range before they know we're theah." Being as this was about to be a gunfight, Thalia slung Astrid's shield across her back and readied her machete in her now free hand opposite the firearm. That kind of shield would be of little help against bullets. She looked a little too comfortable as she kept low and darted across the road in a nigh-suicidal advance against superior numbers. They had made it to the building. It was about to get loud anyway. Might as well get that first, hopefully unbalancing hit in as soon as possible.

---

---

---

---

Raymond remained alert when he turned his attention towards Amelia when she managed to find the key to the car, he was eager to try and lay down and rest his good leg for a little bit. "You sure you don't want the back seat?" Ray asked, when she opened the door for him, and watched Amelia heading into he front passenger seat. He then shrugged slightly and started to pull himself into the back seat, struggling slightly to take a seat he closed the door.

Now that they had a mode of transportation they were able to get some more distance now more then anything, taking the time now as Sam started to the car it took a few seconds before the engine finally started and they were now finally on their way. Raymond then decided to finally take the time to check out what was in the bugout bags, and ended up finding the bugout plan and quickly handed it over to Amelia. "Found this in there, marked with three locations where do you think we should go?" Ray asked looking at Amelia.

---

---

---

---

Riley turned her head to look over at Ashton for a moment, feeling the flight bump when the hordebuster ran over yet another pack of walkers. They were certainly two different people, he was more disciplined and she was one who hated to be bossed around, looking out of the window once more. "Correction, was a performer. I don't have time to write music anymore, with you know surviving every day and job assignments." Riley said with a slight sigh, she did enjoy the jobs that she was given back in Newnan and did her best doing whatever it took to train and keep the people happy.

"I'm tired to, I watched Chloe kill herself right in front of me and I was helpless to stop it from even happening.." Riley finally said, holding back a few tears and looked away from the window. Riley then turned to look over at Ashton seeing how tired he was by the expression on his face. "Shit happens, doesn't mean we can pick up and rebuild as well." Riley said with a slight shrug.

---

---

---

---

We have had a small time skip to get everyone to their destinations. Eden has not, they are still moving forward for now. We will time skip them once this is over.

---

---

---

Chuckling a bit, Lola looked over towards Beatrice and motioned for her to join her. "Bitch please, let's have some fun!" she cackled before pulling out her knife and climbing up the ladder and out to the top of the Tank. Gavin was doing a fine job of picking off the Edenites as he made his way towards the rather large hole in the wall that Lola and Beatrice had created as an entry way. The cloud of dust was still heavy and it gave decent cover as he moved into the building itself. Lola was quick to follow him.

"Ready to roll Downunders?" Gavin asked as he stepped over several dropped bodies that were mangled beyond repair thanks to the large shell that had been fired into the building.

"Aces mate, girl has to stretch her legs a bit," she said as she climbed over and broke off and away from Gavin once they were inside. The place didn't have a lot of power. There was some but thanks to the blast, most of the lights that were still in tact were flickering. With the sun going down it was going to be hard to see if they went out fully but for now they were holding at least enough. Yet causing a bit of a strobe effect could cause some issues.

Outside Thana didn't say anything but she smirked a bit and nodded. She didn't wait, quickly moving to the edge of the bushes and then making a break for it. She didn't run but she moved swiftly as she walked, taking aim and popping off several shots as she went. One got close enough and Thana put her military training to good use. Subduing the man and snapping his neck before letting him drop.

It wasn't long until she was inside and caught up in a fight with another Edenite as someone further back in the building popped off a few rounds. Thana got the man she was fighting in an arm lock and used him as a human meat shield. Better his ass taking the bullets than her as far as she was concerned. Especially after getting the first glimpse to the main entry. This place was no paradise, it was hell.

From the ceiling were bodies, hanging there from chains. It looked like they had died there and come back. Walkers above from the ceiling snapping their jaws. Some had been there a while it seemed, others had not. There were others that looked like they either just died or were passed out far too weak to survive at this point and death would have been welcome.

Thana dropped the body of the man she was using as a shield and took aim, popping off another round and sending the man firing at her behind the corner. "Fucking hell, it's the bitches ghost," he said into his walkie. Thana knew exactly who he was talking about and she found a tinge of anger in the pit of her stomach.

"And y'all about to meet Jesus," she said, letting the twang that she had worked so hard to lose over the years come forward.

Gavin stopped and looked around. Skins of those they had killed were lining the wall across from him and it was enough to make a person sick. "This is as fucked up as hog tying a fish," he muttered.

Lola's eyes widened as she looked around. "These fuckers need gutting..." she added as two came running into the corridor. Gavin took one and Lola took the other. Lola gutted the man alright, shoving her knife into his groin and dragging it up to his chin before pulling back. His entrails coming out the large gaping wound as he fell to the floor. Gavin wasn't as kind. He brawled with the man, taunting him by letting him get some hits in. It seemed Gavin wanted the pain but in the middle of it he managed to pick up a shotgun from the ground near the body of someone that had got blown to hell by Beatrices shot and shoved it into the mans mouth. Pushing him against the wall. "Sucks have somethang shoved in ya thats ya didn't want don't it?" he growled before pulling the trigger.

---

---

---

---

---

The plan Angel put fourth seemed reasonable enough, taking into account the larger number of Edenites in their way. She even got out her Bostonian twang for the occation. Alexander would have followed through said plan, remaining in the bushes before the road, hadn't it been for Thana Blue going on the offensive. And with 'offensive', he meant an all out assault with napalm and heavy artillery! Alexander could partly not believe what happening before his very eyes, but on the other hand, felt impressed by her military efficiency as she took out several charlies by herself.

Of course Thalia wouldn't like they they were a bit more straight-forward than her cautitous approach, and he couldn't blame her. But with Thana inside, there was the prospect of exposing her flanks and rear, and Alexander was having none of it. Not after saving her butt earlier. "So much for the element of surprise, Blue. Time to go fuck ourselves..." Alexander said to himself, once again doing what them grunts had been told a million times: Charge!

Alexander sprinted for his life across the road and towards some sense of cover near the wall of the main building. To his left he were two Edenites out on the road, exposed but a certain threat if they got to Thana. Alexander, still sprinting, through himself down to the dirt onto his stomach, doing what he had trained before: Get in cover, then return fire! Holding the Colt with both hands, he fired in quick succession a couple of rounds at the Edenites. Either he was lucky, he was using a good piece of American hardware, or he still hadn't lost his touch: the rounds connected, and the Edenites dropped either dead or dying on the asphalt. He, however, got back up on his feet and continued running. "...I'm gettin' too ol' for this...shit.."

It didn't take long for Alexander to find the entrance, and Thana with it. He, unlike her, didn't want to stay exposed out in the open, and took cover to her right. It was then that he saw it. The 7th level of Hell's carnage that decorated the building. It was disgusting, but for better or worse, Alexander had seen things very much like that, and didn't feel the urge to throw up. Not now at least. "Yuh asswipes are lucky to meet Him, for yuh ain't gonna like me!" He threw into the 'casual' conversation, feeling his former soldier-self come back. Young, rash and angry, for better or worse.

---

---

---

---

All three of them were beaten up and still tired as hell. Amelia just wanted to get out of the car and sleep on something flat without moving. Bed was preferred, but frankly even the ground was okey with her as long as she wasn't freezing to death and could sleep. She couldn't even believe when she saw the two people exit the location they had arrived at. She looked shocked and surprised at them. Guy and Medic!

“Same here... I had almost given up hope we will find anyone.” Amelia said quietly as she left the car. The ride had allowed her to rest a little, but an hour of not really sleep was not enough. If nothing else it had allowed for the fatigue to settle in real good.” We haven't see anyone from Newnan since we got out.” She said with pained voice, recalling how they lost a person before they even tried to escape, but then let herself focus a little on the fatigue which demanded immediate solution. “This is Sam, she helped us when we were in a pinch.” She explained, opening Ray's door.” Can you help Ray out? We... need to rest and bandage up.” She added, looking at the brick building. Now that was a safe location if she ever saw one. Bricks weren't exactly easy to take down, especially for human bodies without tools.

She now looked at Medic and Guy, she never believed how happy she was to see familiar faces. She only wished she could see Riley soon.” Sam's quite scrached up, slipped on ice, I cleaned and bandaged her up, but it needs redoing probably.” Amelia added, heading towards the door. She wanted to lay down and sleep so badly.

---

---

---

---

---

Ash had absolutely no idea where the bump in the road came from, nor why Riley would do something that would cause the door to fling itself open. Whether the damnedable thing did not close fully the first time around or no, the fact remained that the former music icon got unceremoniously hurled from her seat (Shameless plug for seatbelts here, even in the midst of the Apocalypse, boys and girls!) and very almost impaled upon a mailbox post. This was highly counterproductive to survival. Ash had lost enough people to stupid mistakes and chunks of unforgiving misadventure in addition to the standard ways of checking out these days - disease, bullets, and the teeth of the Dead. Hell, they were just opening up to each other in the midst of all this chaos, and were very close to settling into a safe, dry spot to crash for the evening.

It was enough to snap Ash into a state of readiness. Before he fully knew what was happening, he already had his seatbelt off, gun drawn, and had crawled across the seats to see about Riley's safety. She was moving, breathing, and quite alive. He pulled himself out of the Hordebuster from the passenger side and stood over the prone woman, scanning the area for any signs of walking corpses that might make life difficult before giving her a hand up.

What happened next made Ash smile. Genuinely smile. Not at first, mind you. First, a strange car was pulling up to their location, prompting the first adrenaline spike of a fight-or-flight response. His .45 began a rise toward the vehicle, stopping when he got a glimpse behind the windshield. Then the near face-splitting grin took hold. "Hot damn, Riley. We just got reinforced." Someone else survived. It was just the two of them, but someone else survived. Ash was cautious, but temporarily happy. They weren't alone. "Jack, Tiffany!" he risked raising his voice a little, "Let's make sure this place is secure and gather what resources we've got." His words commanded, but his voice was full of relief. "Talk after. More might be coming." Ash put away his pistol, and went back into the truck for his pack and bow. Might as well get started.

---

---

It was a rare thing when someone facepalms in the middle of a pitched battle. This was one of those times. If there was a person who would be recording the events of this day for future, she really, really hoped that this bit of it didn't make the final cut for the movie. First Thana rushes past, screaming like some redneck berserker on a murderous rampage. She might even respect that, owing to her many training sessions and supply runs with a certain spearwielding angry blacksmith who used profanity like oxygen. But this time? Vastly outnumbered and with a working plan in place? It was a good thing that she didn't die in the first three seconds of the exchange. It might deprive Thalia of the privilege of handling it personally.

But when the flow of combat took a turn, you either went with it or got smashed into the rocks. Alexander had come to this conclusion just before her, apparently, screaming "Charge" and running past her with his gun a'blazing. "Gahd. Fucking. Damnit." she breathed, her hand moving to cover her face as best as possible, considering it was gripping a machete soiled in the blood of their enemies. She stood up from her crouch and breathed out a massive sigh. "Fine. Let's do this." At least the way in was clear.

The idea of being quiet had still not left her altogether. She heard the shots fired inside, followed by the banter common to situations like this. She knew about banter. It came with the territory of belonging to her family. Usually, the back and forth was more gruesome in nature, though. Ah well. It would have to do. Whatever got her blood pumping and blade singing, she was all for.

Thalia entered the main building to see the bodies of the dead, dying, and undead strung above her. Her people honored and revered the dead. This was a horrible mockery. Dama Muerte would consider this place an abomination, one that deserved to be burned to the ground along with anyone who was sick enough to participate in its upkeep. Starting with that asshat who was hiding behind the pillar. She could see his shirt and the toe of one shoe poking out from the hard cover. But as of yet, Asshat had not seen her.

Let the others fire away. Let them talk. She preferred to walk a different path just then. Thalia looked to Thana and cracked a potentially unsettling smile beneath the skull painted over her features, and edged to the side a little way. Then she sprinted. Direct line and her machete trailing behind her, Thalia ran with soft steps toward the other side of the pillar the Edenite was taking cover behind. As he was more interested with the supposedly dead lady who was shooting at him, it was just a matter of placing the blade in the right spot before he could swivel his gun around.

As the man soon realized, it was awfully difficult to do that when you were partially decapitated. Thalia had stepped sideways around the squared pillar, pausing just long enough to give the confused man a wink before the sweet spot of her blade entered the side of his neck, fountaining his life's blood and tacking him to the wooden pillar even as his legs kicked and bucked, dancing a little jig of death. Thalia laid a hand upon his gun arm to prevent any last twitches from discharging his firearm anyplace dangerous, then recovered her machete, allowing his body to slump to the floor.

The last thing the Edenite glimpsed before the darkness took him was Thalia recovering his walkie and holding it up to her lips. She depressed the talk button and issued a low, wordless growl into it. The factor of intimidation was chief among the reasons why, but also, anyone else with an active radio in hearing distance would have their position compromised. She ducked back behind the pillar and nodded to Thana and Alexander. They were in the middle of it now. No sense in going gentle.

---

---

Tiffany drove in silence. She said her peace. If she took the time to think about it, thins would spiral more out of control than they already had. She wasn't sure what Jack was thinking, but she hoped he was doing ok. They were safe (for the most part) and making decent time. Walkers weren't giving them too much trouble and she drove fast enough they weren't able to latch on to the car. Soon, they were pulling up to Arnco Mills.

Just in the nick of time too. As Tiffany pulled up slowly, she saw a familiar sight. It wasn't as if every group had a giant ass truck in their encampment. The Hordebuster was pulling forward. That meant there were people in there and, hopefully, they were theirs. Sure enough, a bump that even Tiffany was able to register flung one of the inhabitants out of the truck. She recognized the blonde hair. It was Riley! Tiffany tried not to let out a scream, but she was happy to see someone she knew that was safe. She looked at Jack to see if he recognized her too. She quickly got out of the car as someone else came forward. And it was Ash! He even called out to them, Walkers be damned!

Riley seemed ok (though it was a close call). She wanted to hug them both to death, but Ash was right. They should secure the area and get ready for the night. But once secured, she was going to smother them with hugs.

---

---

---

---

Raymond during the hour long car ride when they found it had found himself taking a quick nap, his bags on the floor of the car while he was stretched out in the back resting his only leg. When he felt the car finally coming to a stop Ray slowly opened his eyes and saw them slowly pulling up in front of a brick building. He noticed the pried off wooden boards, then a few seconds later two people coming out from the building. To his surprise Ray saw that it was both Guy and Medic coming out to greet them, he couldn't help but hold back a huge grin finally seeing two familiar faces.

Ray quickly opened the car door and grabbed his things and managed to help himself up. "I'm good Amelia." Ray said as he smiled at Guy and then Medic once more. "It was just the two of us who made it out." Ray said rubbing the back of his neck looking at the two. "Is it just the two of you here that made it?" He finally asked, he wasn't sure if it was just the two of them. "We lost Meg on our way out." He said softly, he tried to shake that thought of Meg being impaled out of his head.

---

---

---

---

Riley didn't put her seatbelt on, which was probably a really bad mistake on her own part and she assumed that she had closed the door fully shut. But the moment there was the bump in the road Riley suddenly screamed when she was flung out of the beast of a truck and onto the ground, feeling the wind getting knocked out of her. She just stared up into the night sky the sun had gone down just a few minutes ago, she turned her head seeing the rusty looking mailbox pole that was now laying down next to her leg. It could have actually been her on the very pointy sharp end.

"Fucking hell.." Riley said to herself, as she moved her legs to see if she was hurt anywhere else and slowly sat up, looking up at Ashton when he came out of the Buster and accepted his hand. Riley groaned loudly as she pulled herself up, taking a deep breath and leaned forward that was the closest to death that she probably had ever gotten. Then she turned her head when she heard a car coming up reaching for her baretta, when she saw a car pulling up. And it was both Tiffany and Jack, they were alive and well, which she couldn't help but smile.

They probably saw her nearly falling and getting herself killed, she was glad to see two familiar faces coming up and couldn't help but wave towards them. "Sounds like a plane Captain." Riley said as she went over towards the hordebuster to grab her pack as well as her sister's and made her way towards the front door of the house to wait for the others.

---

---

---

---

Alright, some maps have been updated, some have not because they didn't need it. It is dark now. 70 outside. Clear skies. New comer in the Rp, make the fresh meat welcome ~giggles~

---

---

---

Gavin was in that dark place, the same place he found himself in as he killed his first Edenite just the day before when he found out about this place. The girls face still clear in his mind. What she had suffered, what she had told him, her last breath, and what had caused it. It thought of these people as its, they were not human. They had no humanity left as far as he was concerned. There was one side of it that could be argued, that they had no other choice in this day and age. The world had gone to hell so you did what you had to survive. Yet this wasn't surviving, this was an organized effort to cause as much suffering as one could imagine. He had managed to get enough information out of the man at the cabin to get the gist of it and in his mind there was no excuse. It was better to die than to do what these people were doing. They were a plague in this world, a plague that was far worse than the Eaters now roaming around. At least it wasn't anything personal with them, that was survival. This wasn't.

While Gavin might have been in a dark place, Lola was not. Okay, maybe that shit could have been called dark but darkness for Lola was black lights, and glow sticks, and funky hair styles, dancing and having a good old time. This was a party to her and she was intent on having as much fun as she could. A little tune dancing in her head. these guy were just fucking scrubs and she had no time for that but she did have time to sing!



Now of course while Lola was singing she wasn't exactly being useless. The guy that was just to her left and down the hallway a bit was caught off guard. It wasn't every day a woman looking like Lola came waltzing onto the scene singing. Okay it was common place for Lola but not for him. And it was enough for her to grin as she was singing and jump him. She had caught him off guard enough to drive her knife into him. Gutting him without losing a beat. She really did love to sing. Picking up the mans rifle she ran back down the hallway and popped off a round into another room. Singing really did have its advantages.

Gavin decided to take advantage of Lola's singing. The place had great acoustics and the womans voice traveled through the entire first floor. Sure it was less on the other side of the building but Gavin was in the same hallway as she was. And it caused the other man in the hall turned, just in time to see Gavin coming right for him. The cowboy could have just popped off a round of his shotgun but he hadn't. He wanted to make it personal. And so a brawl ensued. Yet Gavin wasn't about to let the man get the better of him. He was in that place and as Gavin came around his backside, he pulled the trigger and sent the mans spine flying out his front side and splattering the walls before he pumped another shell into place.

"Darlin' you sound as fine as an alley cat on red wine," Gavin chuckled a bit.

"Aces mate, thanks!" she said not knowing it was an insult but hey, she wouldn't have cared if she had known. It wsn't like Lola gave two fucks what people thought of her singing.

It was a good thing to because Thana would have told her to hush it but since she couldn't see the woman and only hear her, it wasn't worth the breath. Looking behind her she gave a nod to Alex as he came in and then a smirk towards Thalia as she went by. The woman had her eyes set on someone and Thana took the opportunity to move swiftly to her left, through the door and down the hall into where Lust was. The place made her see red and as she spotted the man there she lept, grabbing him and putting two bulleted into his throat. Dropping him and letting him bleed out. She wasn't going to take time to play games with them, she wanted them dead. Taking a quick glance around she yelled back towards the entry way. "Clear!"