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It had been years since the world collapsed. Darkness ensued, and death overwhelmed. Survivors took to the countryside, moving down south in hopes of finding a state clear of disease. Unfortunately, the virus had spread worldwide and there was nothing stopping it. In the first couple of years Robert moved through Georgia in hopes of finding his wife. He traveled from military base to military expecting to discover records of her existence. Sadly, he was not blessed with the information he was searching for. Instead, he was put in the path of other survivors seeking aid. He helped those he could, giving them food, supplies and wisdom – advice on how to survive the new world and remain faithful. He understood that his approach was not optimal in the eyes of others, but his faith was not affected by the circumstances present. Rather, it grew stronger as the days passed and his connection with God appeared unbreakable.

In present day, Robert continues his journey find to Laiyla Weldon. Yet he is not concerned for her safety as he is sure God will take care of her and bring them together when it was time. Now, Robert finds himself walking the empty rubble road in the swamps of Southern Georgia. He is heading to a United States Air Force base north of Bemmiss. Surrounding him are trees covered in pollen, shaving away under the beaming sun. A large body of water lays to his right, about a quarter mile ahead and a seemingly unspoiled building to his left. He walks at a steady pace, holding his insulated container on his right hand and his backpack’s strap on the other. Slowly making his way forward, moans erupted from the mucky waters. As he gained ground he could see the tattered bodies of unfortunates attempting to make it to dry land. Their movements appeared slow, possibly the lack of balance on muddy terrain.

Upon having the walkers directly to his right wing, he stopped and observed. Bowing his head in respect, he gave a small prayer for the dead – hoping their souls were now at rest. He undid the lid to his canister and took a sip of his natural water. At exactly that moment his reflexes spikes when he heard a faint noise coming from the building that faced the waters. His eyes took form when he spotted the figure of a large man start moving towards the road he was on. Robert squinted and hurried his step, quickly closing his water container and moving towards the man. “Excuse me!” he called out, unsure what reaction he would face and the kind of man the shielded warrior was.

With hands raised – a universal symbol of surrender/peace – he moved a bit closer and into ‘inside voice’ proximity. “My name is Robert, I don’t want any trouble now, I just want to ask you a few question. I hope that’s okay?” Slowly Robert put down his backpack and water canister on the ground. He wanted to ease into this conversation with passiveness and tranquility. Hopefully the man did not have any objections. "I'm simply looking for my wife, her name is Laiyla Weldon, she's 5'6, weighs maybe 140 pounds, but don't tell her I said that. She's black, just like me. She wears a cross, ummm..... one of the normal ones, the ones in fashion you know? Gold one. Gold chain and all. Have you seen her? Your group maybe?"

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Sleep. Ash could really use some sleep. As much as he wanted to and as much as his damaged psyche needed it, he was pretty damned sure that he couldn't. That nap he had gotten in the distressed recliner was going to have to be enough. The occasional glimpse into his rearview mirrors made him quietly wonder if he was paranoid, or could he actually see the shambling movement of a wall of the Dead, ever out of clear view but always back there, waiting to catch up? The Hordebuster was as secure as any vehicle could be; if swarmed all they would have to do was turn everything off and wait them out. It was a tactic that he had used many times over, back before the Newnan Safe Zone was established. But if the Dead surrounded the Hordebuster and forced them to stop until morning, then Moreland might be lost. Ash did not hold much hope that Newnan's wreckage would divert them all.

Speaking of Newnan, circumstance forced Ash to head directly toward it. This was not ideal. Getting boxed in against a split in the earth that contained the charred corpses of most of the people he knew up until that morning was not the manner in which he wanted to die. Ash listened closely as Tiffany rattled off a series of directions which matched up with his own memory of the area; a area he would likely never see again after this night. "Alright... Witcher Station is right up here. And there's the turnaround. We look clear." He wasn't sure if he was speaking aloud to reassure the passengers in the 'Buster, or himself.

The next landmark in the painfully optimistic set of directions was a grocery that they had long cleared out. It was damn near a full backtrack to Arnco Mills, but it still looked clear enough to navagate. Giving it thought, Ash really wished he didn't have to drive at night. Too many things could go wrong, and there was absolutely no one that he could turn to for help if the situation turned ugly. But he did have people in the general vicinity. Miles out, but friendlies nonetheless. "Jack. Jack! Come on guy, we need you. Get on the horn, see if you can raise our safehouse in Moreland. Hell, either of them. They need to know what's going on." He risked a glance back to his Second, "We're going to get her. It'll be okay. I didn't feel like waiting anyway."

Ash wasn't sure how much be believed the optimism coming from himself, but he fully intended to follow up on it. In the distance, he could see the next landmark, just a bit further southwest. "Okay, coming up on the Chapel. Where to from there?" He did wish for honest rest, but he wanted to get his people together a lot more.

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Oh, the expression about the Kid in the Candy Store most certainly came to mind. This is what she was looking for. It they could find and hold their Armory, the rest of the place would go down like a drunken prom date. Worst case, they could hold up with this area to their backs and make those fuckers pay until they ran out of ammo. Thalia still had two full mags in her weapons, and didn't really need to re-up immediately. Between the two of them, that was thirty-four 9mm NATO rounds at her disposal. She quickly sheathed her machete and gave the room a cursory examination. She kind of wished she hadn't.

Stuck among the 9mm pistols was a damn near carbon copy of her old company's basic sidearm. Not so special, considering that it was the most popular handgun of its type for law enforcement and security personnel worldwide; one of the more popular handguns period. Even in the Apocalypse she had a good shot at finding ammunition for it. What got her was the holster setup. It was exactly the same as hers. Exactly. Down to the occupied pouch for an additional magazine, cordura webbing material, and optional open muzzle. Possibilities ran through her head - either this was pulled from the corpse of a fellow Security Agent, looted from one of their caches (maybe taken from those who did, being fair), or former MSS people were with Eden. She dared not think about it too long. There were enough convoluted emotions going around, far too much to make things even more complicated.

Thalia snatched up the gun and holster like she was taking something away from a tantruming three year old, looking very cross at its presence among these other ill-gotten weapons and clipped it onto her tac belt. Of course it fit perfectly. They were designed to. The mag was full, and it looked in good repair at a glance. Oh, she had business with this room. Business indeed. But it would have to wait. From back in the previous area, she heard a gunshot ring out. This party had gatecrashers. Thalia took to Thana's lead, admiring her pragmatic approach to the shooting deaths which were to occur shortly.

"That suppressor theah also would have been great outside. Dunno what you got planned for that rope, but I got yah back." She drew her original sidearm, once again going Guns Akimbo. "And dibs on those SpaghettiOs, Navy. Let's clean house."

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Sweat dripped from the tips of Preslee's blonde hair. She struggled to put her own hair up, seeing as how it was currently growing out and in a terribly awkward phase where it was too long to keep out of her face yet too short to keep in an up-do. She had already taken off as much as possible, while her and her new found companion took a few minutes to get their minds and thoughts together, and tied her jacket around her waist. Preslee looked at Erica while she looked around her backpack, pulling out a water bottle. It only took her a couple seconds before she reach over and took it from the woman, thanking her ever so quietly before taking a few sips, wishing she would have stocked up on as much as she could back when she could. The sounds that resonated from the woods and the swamps kept Preslee on constant alert, even as she closed her eyes to enjoy her water, she could hear the slow moans of the nearby dead as they wandered aimlessly through the trees.

"Here you go," she approached Erica slowly, still not all too confident on how the stranger would act if Preslee made any sudden movements. She knew little to nothing about her, except that she was good at walking long distances and keeping quiet, as their short journey had proven. As she listened to the older of the two speak, Preslee began to adjust herself for yet another trek into the swamps. She knew that staying off the road was for the best if they wanted to remain unseen, but the fear of running into the dead was a bit less than running into the living. She at least knew what the dead wanted, but it would be a bit more difficult to know what the living would do. "I think that would be for the best, it would be nice to just be able to sit and look at a map of the area, if they have any." Pulling the straps of her backpack up, Preslee made sure that her machete was set and easy to get to in the case of an emergency. With a sigh, Preslee waited for Erica to begin moving in the direction of the camp, since she had actually never been to it before.

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Beatrice stopped in her tracks for a moment, hearing the shout from Alexander that they had company. She had been expecting that they'd run into more Edenites, but it hadn't occurred to her that she should expect them as coming from behind. Of course, if they were behind them and most likely in front of them as well, they'd be entirely surrounded. No matter how much firepower they had, they wouldn't win a fight like that. She glanced in the direction that Thana and Thalia had gone, stepping over there quietly to hear them arming up with more firepower.

She then paused for a moment, as her leg wound felt like it flared up, as if screaming a reminder to her that it was still there. Gritting her teeth, she stayed at the corner she was, leaning up against the wall and glancing on the other side, waiting to see what came down the hallway. It was better for her to remain somewhat stationary, anyways. Sure, walking more was a comfort since it meant the damage couldn't have been too bad, but she knew that Edenites might come down that hallway. Her weapon was ready and loaded.

"I'll stay here, make sure no one gets you two from behind," she told Thana and Thalia quietly.

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Jack snapped out of it and he nodded. He didn't know if he had a map on him - he imagined that there was one in the bug out bag, but he hadn't had a chance to check it thoroughly. It would have been just their luck for them to come up empty and find the bag void of the map. However, Ash quickly reassigned him to a different task - radioing the others to say what had happened. His thoughts were on Tatiana as he went through the motions almost mechanically, taking out his radio and seeing who could be reached.

"Hey there, this be Arnco Mills," Jack introduced, surprising himself a little with that choice of syntax, but he had mostly been focusing on making sure the R in Arnco came through loud and clear. "We ran into some trouble, walkahs to our no'th east. Headin' to Moreland now," Jack explained. He was hoping that Tatiana was out there and as he said the words, he figured he could have used to be a little more cryptic, just in case people were listening....but even then, he couldn't come up with a way to correct his own behavior. He just wanted to see Tatiana and he was willing to sacrifice everything in order to make that happen.

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Things were going okay, Manny wasn't hurt, which made him the only one of this band that wasn't, so that was good. Though he was a bit malnourished. And tired from all the fighting that had gone on that day. Though it had to be winding down now, at the very least the place would have to be cleared soon. It seemed Manny and Alexander were the ones who got to take on the rear guard while the other two cleared out the rest of the floor. This was fine by Manny, he at least knew Alex had little to no intention on shooting him in the back. He honestly seemed like someone Manny wouldn't mind playing chess with someday if they ever got the chance. Though that hand wound would have to be looked at to make sure that it doesn't get infected.

Then the first shot went off and Manny jumped to cover out of instinct fearing he may get shot himself. Though a quick inspection he realized he wasn't bleeding. SO he was most likely fine for now in terms of physical condition, though the situation may prove otherwise. Manny looked up to see Alexander unloading his pistol into the fitness center near to him, Manny taking a look saw several things. He noticed that there was a small army of hostiles crossing the fitness center with intent to cause harm to Manny and his new group. The next thing he noticed was the two dead bodies on the ground. Manny almost stopped to compliment the old man on his shooting, though he thought better of it. He needed to start shooting himself or he may not live to see another day.

Manny leveled the barrel of the shotgun while staying crouched for improved aim, then he fired shot after shot into the passing group of Edenites. The last of the fire group of them dropped pretty fast as buckshot tore him apart. Due to the many pellets and shells flying through the air Manny saw the rest duck for cover and even some blood. He hit at least one more but he wasn't sure who he hit, and he honestly didn't care. Manny quickly put himself back into cover keeping himself low so that he could avoid getting shot. While on the ground he started reloading his shotgun with the spare shells he had. "Got a plan old timer?" He asked Alexander. Manny believed he was a good enough shot, and that Alexander was skilled enough they could hold a choke point for some time. But Manny had less then ten total shots now. He had no idea what Alexander had, or if he could even fight close quarters if it came to that. Manny wondered if he could himself? He wasn't in the best of physical condition, and he had been active for a while now really pushing himself. Sure he could hold his own every now and again but a fight hand to hand against middle aged fighters? That is less likely without some major advantage.

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Tiffany kept an eye on the map and glancing up every so often, trying to make sure she tracked their movements. She still had a good idea of where they were and she knew they were not heading in the right direction. This route would take them back to Newnan and that was not where they needed to be if they wanted to hole up as the horde moved forward. However, she knew that this was still the best course of action also as they could turn soon and, hopefully, beat the horde.

She heard Jack on the radio, hopefully allowing the others to be made aware of the oncoming horde and possibly helping them, she noted the chapel. "You're gonna want to start going East now, as soon as your able to." Tiffany wasn't sure how Riley and Niesha were holding up in the back, but so far they were not in danger, so she would have to trust the girls are ok.

She could almost feel the tension from everyone. Not too long ago they were settled and sleeping, and now they were running for their lives. Again. Hopefully, they would find shelter, but she knew it would be a long time before they found "home".

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For Amelia staying awake had turned a lot easier now that she had gotten some sleep under her belt for the night. Naturally it wasn't quite completely enough given her degree of fatigue that she had accumulated during the day, but it was enough for her to stay awake and on guard right now. She had focused on it since it was truly an important duty to have aka be the standing guard while the others slept and rested.

Luckily right now there didn't seem to be too much going on outside. It appeared very calm all things considering and she was starting to look about the place. For all it was as a save house, this place was not the most interesting thing to look at or search for things to do. Amelia well understood that she had to occupy the time until the next change of guards whenever that was, so she firmly decided to think on something to do.

Finally she saw a pile of things, but didn't quite feel like going through them quite yet. She was going to leave them for later. Then she threw a look at the radio, wondering if someone might try to contact them again soon. Finally for the moment she started to throw looks outside again, trying to check if something was there. Hopefully not, but you can never be too safe given the recent happenings. You never knew when something might happen.

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Thana heard the gun shots and glanced down at her weapons. They had a choice to make. Back track or keep moving forward. Little did she know was that the powers that be were making it basically impossible for them to go back. There was a large shaking that ripped through the place. Funny thing is, when people do bad things, bad things don't always come back on them. At least not without a little bit of help. (In the way of 2 perfect nat 20 rolls in your favor... Fucking LLA loves old men.)

So how much help did everyone did just get? Well Thana didn't know, she had already decided she wasn't looking back, she was moving forward. Behind her though the work of a now dead Kiwi compounded with worn out wood floors that had been soaked with blood for years, compounded with a a straw that broke the camels back - or actually a MRE bomb on the floor finally compounded into one big Oh fuck yeah as the floor gave out - marked on the map. It took out the rest of those that were coming up behind them.

Looks like that rope is going to come in handy after all. Thana glanced back over her shoulder. She didn't know if Thalia was going to follow her or not. Beatrice was keeping watch for the old guys. Thana still wanted to make sure they could find out what they didn't know - if there was anyone else ahead. They had supplies now. She would find out about the floor eventually. Good thing she had that rope.

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"Not in the slightest, Manny." The old veteran said back to other 'old timer', hoping that a proper Army-brass quality plan wasn't needed to get out of the combat zone alive. It would certainly have improved their odds if they had had the minds and resources like they did back in 'Nam - if one looks past the fact that they lost - to win that battle, but Alexander had always been a grunt; he was told what to do, not what others to do. So for now Alexander had just one plan for the two elders to follow. "Just keep shooting!"

That's when it came crashing down on them. Rocking like a hurricane, making them shake all over! Alexander heard it before he saw it, the rumbling and crumbling that was, but as he turned his head away from the door and to his right he saw it; the lack of a floor. A large ass hole swallowed up a large portion of the building, possibly taking with it anything and anyone in its wake. How the Hell hadn't it taken Alexander and Manny with it in the process? One answer for him lay in the rosary around his wrist, which the old vet fiddled with in his hand again, silently thanking God that they were alive.

"New plan, Medic. Regroup with the others and assess the situation. That hole might get bigger." Alexander pressed himself from the wall and began making his way past Manny. Even for miracle of a big ass hole, it was best to not let their guard down just yet. Alexander went up into the other hallway and called out to the ladies. "Mugsy and Baby-Boomer coming in, watch your fire!" Turning the corner to see Beatrice leaning up against the wall, injured but alive, he let out a sigh of relief. "A big ass hole just swallowed the Edenwipes behind us, but we're okay. Where's Thana and Thalia?"

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Hadn't it been for it being months since Nigel had been around people not out to kill him, he would have taken the voice calling out for him easier. Nigel fought the instinctive urge to jump at the voice, and instead quickly turned around with the gladius pointed at whoever called for him. And when he lay eyes on the man in front of him, it dawned on him what the man had actually said; it wasn't the usual barbaric "Hey!" or "You there, you little shit!". Instead he excused himself like a civilized man. That was new.

"Keep your voice down! You want the undead to hear us?" Nigel answered the man initally, closing up the distance between them as he looked from him and to the walkers he could see. But when they didn't seem interested in them, Nigel turned back to Robert and what he was saying. "Your wife? Can't remember anyone by that description I'm afraid." He continued to shorten the distance between them, looking back and forth between him and their surroundings in case something was afoot. It was then he heard it; a distant sound of a truck, somewhere south of them. Truck equalled people. That was a start.

"You hear that? We can talk while we walk. Follow me." Nigel told Robert, almost ordering him like a centurian would a subordinate. He turned around and began moving down the road, hopefully stealthy enough for the Walkers to be occupied with the truck noise, and hopefully not too fast for Robert. "Robert you said? Call me Hadrian. Haven't been with a group for a while, so haven't seen anyone who could be your wife, like I said. Perhaps the truckers are civil enough to give you a clue perhaps?"

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Ash lamented the lack of radio contact. It wasn't really anybody's fault; most likely the people at the safehouses powered everything down to save on cell life. Batteries were finite in nature anymore, soon to be a depleted resource in the world as it was. What he wouldn't give to get his hands on an operable solar system... but again, that was a dream for a day when he could settle his people behind walls again with a stable food supply. Hell, maybe the next time out he'd do the Robin Hood thing and establish a treehouse village.

Ok, so he wasn't thinking straight. That was a mental diversion to keep his thoughts away from the mindblowing manner in which they were (and would continue to be) screwed right then. Much as a series of treehouses, interconnected with a series of rope bridges and rough hewn walkways with rope-and-pulley elevators, preferably with solar backup and engineered water systems sounded damn near idyllic, especially with a mighty oak serving as the support for a mighty Distillery, the goal at hand was to move himself and his people to safety. Specifically, away from the massive horde of gnawing, drooling Dead that seemed to stretch across the entire county. He wished he could tell these people that they were coming and why, that they might be ready to move with a bit more notice than he and his Hordebuster crew had, but wishes didn't mean a whole lot anymore. All that mattered was that he put as much space between his people and the Dead as he could.

In that regard, he fell upon a stroke of luck. Heading south from Smith Chapel, things seemed quiet. Quieter than the last few minutes, anyway. The situation was still a raving shit show; it was merely a less soggy one at that point. Ash strained every so often to catch a glimpse of the roads behind them, to be met occasionally with the telltale shuffling movement of a wall of rot, unerringly moving in their general direction. The bit of luck that finally struck them - Welcome Road. It was a wide circumvention of their old home, but likely necessary. They may even be able to use the terrain to their advantage; the chasm that was Newnan and the lakes to the immediate south of the settlement should provide a break against the massive uprising of the Dead. In any case, Welcome Road was smooth, even, and clear. Not quite rural and not quite suburban, it provided some cover with good visibility to their immediate surroundings.

"Okay, we'e going to go west for a little bit and cut a hard turn south. Get some space between us and Hell back there." Ash jerked a thumb back behind them, indicating the dying grounds that used to be their home territory. "Kill the radio, Jack. Save the batteries. We'll just have to drop in unannounced." It was a horrifying moment for Ash to realize that he had the barest of smiles on his face. Maybe it was the touch of sarcasm he just slipped into the conversation. Or just maybe, someplace in his psyche, he took an element of joy in overcoming mortal obstacles. Surviving and thumbing his nose at Death. Hell, maybe he was just grateful that he was able to save people that night. He was tired, sore, emotionally drained and worried as hell about people he cared about (one in particular) and others he had just met, but he was living.

A few minutes on Welcome Road had Ash gunning the Hordebuster, pushing through the straightaways with haste fueled by the fact that they were being followed by corpses. After those minutes, he slowed to turn onto the next part of their Great Escape: Providence Church Road. Scattered trees and more rural residences greeted them in the gloom of the evening, illuminated by the forward lamps of the Hordebuster. "Coming up on Providence Baptist. Keep feeding me those directions."

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There was maybe a second's worth of hesitation as Thalia struggled to decide whether to withdraw and lend her gunpoint assistance to the part of their group behind her, or continue to push forward as she had intended to in the first place. She wanted to be the kind of person who worked well with a group, team player and all that, but experience really only gave her two "teams" she had ever operated with that wasn't out to screw her over when things got heavy. One was her uncle's people. Maybe not everyone in his company, but the core people in her Familia from Mexico. The other... She carried a shield on her back to remember them. Yeah, screw that. Most of them had earned her respect in varying degrees, but she came to this place for her own reasons.

Thalia had already made the decision to follow Thana. If for no other reason, Navy Chick's arm was perforated and she was going forward alone. She needed help more than those behind her. She began jogging as softly as she could to bring up Thana's six, eyes brightly observant and guns at the ready. None of this "sneaking out of the side rooms" bullshit anymore, not if she could help it. A tiny piece of good news came in the form of a huge crashing sound, then the indistinct sound of Alexander's voice from behind her. No screaming, no begging for backup, and most importantly no more gunshots. That was good enough for her. "Cubriendo tus seis."₁ she spoke, coming up behind Thana.

When all this was over, it was going to be a round of stitches, followed by name-brand canned pasta and peanut butter straight from the jar. First, there was at least one more asshat who needed the back of their skull removed with a 9mm NATO round.

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Manny attempted to reload the spare shells for the shotgun. He still didn't know how many shells the gun held but it excepted all the spares he had on him. So he had at least 4, most likely 6-8. He could work with that. Right as he was getting ready to take another shot into the advancing groups there was a violent moan that surrounded him and Alexander. "What the fuck is that?" BY the time Manny had finished his sentence parts of the building had dropped all over the place, then soon everything seemed to have collapsed from where they came from back. Manny was quiet at first, still trying to process what had just happened. After he had a moment to think, he spoke. "I have seen all sorts of crazy things in my years, and all sorts of random lucky events. But I think this takes the cake Alexander." Alexander came up with a basic plan of regrouping and figuring out the situation. Also, the hole might get bigger so that was also a good reason to move the hell on.

Manny would follow his fellow old man deeper into the complex, they couldn't stay there forever. Staying meant best case scenario they would be in a destroyed structure when the dead arrived. It was scary to think about, Manny didn't really have a lot left in him before he would need to rest a bit. Eventually the two caught up to one of the younger girls. Alexander explained the situation in short to her, and then they would be ready to move on. "I hope he find what we need soon, I don't like the idea of staying here longer then I have too. This building gives me the creeps."

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Riley stood up and awkwardly walked over towards the back of the bed and looked out behind them as she could continue to see the massive herd of walkers right behind them. It certainly wasn't good at all, she also partly wondered if the walkers were all lured by the loud sounds of Newnan falling earlier in the day. Riley then decided to turn back and sat down in the back of the bed again as she leaned back and sat as comfortably as she could. The day was filled with a lot of shit she certainly wouldn't say anything else, Riley did think about going back to take another quick nap. But that would probably end up being a bad choice on her part, Riley needed to stay awake and alert, and she didn't want to end up waking up to a wreck either.

So far the drive was going well at least in her eyes as well Ashton's driving wasn't crazy or erratic like it was earlier before they made it to Arnco Mills. Riley would look over at Niesha who was very quiet still which she wasn't really even sure what to think of on that, still probably in shock from the events of earlier in the day. Riley just hoped that the driving would be very calm and they wouldn't end up running into anymore crazy obstacles or the Buster getting wrecked somehow either.

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Raymond slowly stirred himself awake, as Ray opened his eyes on his own he slowly started to pull himself back up from where he was laying and stretched slightly. Raymond felt a little bit more rested now than he was earlier, he spotted Amelia nearby as he grabbed his walking stick and pulled himself up before starting to approach her. Raymond gently laying a hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight smile. "Cant really get any more sleep, might as well get some more rest i'll take over for you." Raymond said, he figured she could get more sleep now anyway.

Raymond pulled himself a seat and sat down, his eyes wondering over towards the window as he watched everyone else continue to sleep Raymond kept the radio on just in case. His attention turned towards the windows as Ray looked outside seeing the occasional walker moving past their little safehouse. Raymond rubbed the back of his neck slightly and yawned a little bit, he sat there rather quietly as his eyes continued to wonder on the outside wondering if Tiffany was still doing alright as well. He leaned back in the seat as he also would occasionally look over at the others.

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Erica looked over at Preslee when she handed her back her water bottle and gave her a slight smile before taking in a few more gulps before putting it back into her pack. "No problem at all." Erica answered before continuing to move forward whipping away a little bit more sweat off of her forehead. She could still hear the sounds of walkers nearby, it didn't concern her right now they seemed to be more focused on walking mindlessly or stuck in the thick mud that was in the swamp. She looked back towards her partner for a moment, from running away from large herds of walkers and just trying to survive the last three days she didn't really know her all that well either aside from her name.

Erica didn't trust to many people, but she was a little bit bored and tired of walking in silence before finally starting up a conversation. "So what did you do before?" Erica asked, as she continued to get closer towards the camp Erica was really hoping that they would be able to find some supplies. Or even some fishing supplies, she didn't know how to fish but it seemed fairly easy enough to her at least. Erica then started to hear some dogs, most likely they were rabid and they would certainly be a threat as well as Erica took out her shotgun just in case.

"I hear some dogs, most likely rabid or feral stay alert." Erica said as she caught a slight glimpse of them, but they seemed to be distracted for now. Erica could hear some sound in the distance, but she wasn't even sure what it was Erica assumed that it was the sound of some more walkers further out.

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The soldier’s initial reaction was hostile; the raised sword pointed directly at Robert’s chest didn’t scream ‘welcome’. However the encounter quickly turned serene and humane as the man approached with a shielded sword. Robert lowered his hands as the man approached with a calm demeanor. “I’m sorry, but I don’t fear them anymore. I’m more frightened of not being me,” Robert said truthfully, addressing his order to be silent in the presence of the dead. He no longer felt the threat of walkers as he did in the beginning - it was his faith in God that shaped his confidence and did away with the fear.

The man proceeded to answer Robert’s question - he had not seen Laiyla. The news however did not falter Robert’s confidence to find her, but his reaction was not flux with surprise. He knew she was still out there, felt her presence in the world everyday. Unfortunately this man would not be his ticket to her, so Robert thanked him, recovered his belongings and was prepared to continue his journey, until...

The clear sound of a boisterous vehicle came from the road ahead. Robert swore he could smell the carbon monoxide it released into the air, but that may have been his imagination. The noise clearly turned the soldier anxious. His overall body language changed and he appeared drastically cautious. The two men then took to the sound - see if it could lead them to Laiyla.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Hadrian,” Robert expressed, being thankful for the man’s willingness to lend a hand - even if it was just until they found the vehicle emitting the loud sound.

As the two men continued down the road, the silence between them grew. They didn’t know each other, hardly shared enough to label themselves acquaintances. Therefore Robert decided to do his best to find out more about the stranger - clear the air. “You said you haven’t been with people innsome time? Am I the first person you’ve come across in a while? ” It was clear that Hadrian had experienced some trauma, it was all over his faceial expression. What made him different than many of the people Robert had come across on the road is that whatever occurred did not stop his ability to see some light in the darkness. Some may label that as courage or survival, but that was surely faith - something Robert could relate to.

At a steady pace the two men moved onward - the vehicle’s sound growing louder. The men were either getting closer to it or the vehicle was in motion, it was very difficult to tell. Either way, Robert was certain that they would catch up, one way or another. “Hey Hadrian, are you hungry? I’ve got some chips here in my bag somewhere...”

Robert dig through his bag and pulled out two small bags of chips. “Ranch or Cheese?”

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Beatrice gripped onto the wall, feeling the shaking. She couldn't help but wonder if it was going to cause the place to go down, just like Newnan did. If that was the case, then they hadn't needed to come here in the first place. Mother Nature would have taken care of Eden all on its own. Of course, she didn't know the real reason behind the shaking. She just kept a firm grip on the wall, hoping that she wouldn't die the way Ryan and James did. It wasn't how she had imagined her own death.

She saw the old men come down the hallway but she kept her pistol up, just in case they were followed. "They went on ahead, I was covering their backs," Beatrice explained. She couldn't help but be a bit amused that the shaking had caused the Edenites to die. "Any idea how many went down?" she asked. She wanted to get an estimate of how many more people they'd have to deal with. Hopefully, it was the majority of the assholes that fell through that hole.

"And as for what we need....Well, we're here on a suicide mission to kill every member of Eden. Not turning back until that's done."

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Jack cursed under his breath. Either the radio was busted, out of batteries, somehow the signal was jammed or just no one out there was listening - it made him really wish that they had an engineer there with free hands that could figure out what was going on with it. He nodded, doing as Ash had asked and he shut off the radio, still staring at it slightly as if expecting it to come to life with a screech and for Tatiana's voice to come through. "Yeah, don't think anyone was listenin' to us," he added in agreement.

Again, he couldn't help but be hit with a stroke of jealousy. Riley and Tiffany - they knew exactly where their loved ones were and what had happened to them. He had hope that Tatiana was out there - they had heard what seemed to be her on the radio - but there were still so many unknowns. He tried to keep his mind focus and level, to concentrate on looking forward and to observe the roads they were taking to avoid the hoard - but his mind just kept on going back to Tatiana and his silent vow that he'd never let her leave his sight again.

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Tiffany felt her stomach sink a bit after the many attempts of establishing radio contact. Not only was it vital for their survival, but the others as well. Who knew where this horde was going to hit? It could ravage everyone. They had to get to safety first. Can't tell everyone about danger if you're dead. Tiffany risked a glance outside, seeing the horde and not much of a break between them.

Tiffany read the map again, making sure she knew where they were at at all times. The horde was not making things easier though. She wanted them to go one direction, but they couldn't or risk being overrun. Hordebuster or no, they wouldn't last long with a giant horde overtaking them.

Providence Baptist....Providen...Got it! Ok, we're going the right direction." Tiff laid out what the map said, hoping Ash understood her.

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While the two walked, Preslee had remained quiet for the most part, listening to the unnerving sounds of the dead stumbling through the swamps. The anxiety building up within her was almost visible as her eyes darted from left to right. When Erica spoke up, there was a slight relief, something to take her mind off of everything. "Before..." Presley's forehead seemed to crease as she thought hard about her life prior to the hell they currently lived in. She bit her lip as as fought back the urge to scream in frustration, wanting nothing more to be able to turn back time. "I, um, I was a Zoologist. I was interning to be a conservation scientist as well as getting my applications an papers ready to submit for grad school." A smile had begun to form on Preslee's face as she recalled her time and all of her hard work. She had fought hard and studied even harder to get the recognition that she had. "I had planned to take a quick holiday up to visit my parents, or vacation as Americans say it, we're from Manchester."

Just as quickly as the smile begun to form on the young woman's face, it began to face with the thoughts of her parents whereabouts in their current world. Before dealing too deep in her thoughts, she looked over quickly to Erica to distract herself. "What about you? You seem to handle yourself pretty well out here, so I'm thinking you had some sort of high pressure training." As if on cue, Preslee heard the barking and snarling that Erica pointed out almost immediately. She had never really been too much of a dog person, always taking to felines. Dogs, while cute, had the ability to tear and arm or leg apart in seconds. "If we keep to ourselves and don't make too much noise they won't attack. That's if they see us to begin with." She began to pick up her pace, just by a bit, having fallen behind Erica. She did not know what the camping site would hold for them, but all she knew was that she needed to sit down and think about what the game plan was. If she would choose to stick with Erica or stay at the site and make it a shelter for as long as she could.

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The whole location seemed incredibly quiet right now. Amelia realized so almost in amazement as she was keeping watch and waiting for the next person to stand vigil. She almost couldn't believe it was so quiet and calm, given the situation from just hours earlier when everything was a growing nightmare and they lost so many people... People dying in front of them. She shivered at the mere memory of it.

Finally after a while, she didn't even realize exactly how much time had passed, Ray woke up and came to her.” Ohh...” She made a sound as she noticed him and smiled to him.” Thank you, Ray.” She said to him with a small quiet voice and pulled herself up from sitting on the ground. Amelia made a hurt groan when she did so because her muscles were still screaming at her. The fact Ray wanted to change with her was really good for her and she knew it.

“Look, wake me if something happens or you need help or company, okey?” She called out to Ray with a smile as she pulled herself to the sleeping bag and moved back into it, turning to the side. She didn't feel as tired anymore, but felt herself drift to the land of the dreams once more. Only when she was laying in the sleeping bad did her sore body felt somewhat relaxed, though not entirely without soreness." You will wake me if something happens right?" She tiredly pleaded as she was slowly drifting off.

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Thana nodded slightly as Thalia came up behind her. ₁"De acuerdo, seguir adelante." Had the two revealed that they both spoke Spanish? She couldn't remember but it didn't matter. She understood the woman as she was informed that she had her six covered and responded accordingly. Whatever had happened back there hadn't caused Beatrice to call out to them to come back, so they would keep pushing forward. She wanted this to end, to be over with, and to get back on the road.

Apparently, her wish was going to be granted because as she moved forward an older man stepped out from around the corner. Thana didn't fire but she did lift her gun more and take aim. She had nearly pulled the trigger but he spoke. ₂"Nun, bist du nicht ein schönes kleines Ding. Spuckbild von meiner lieben Zoie." She didn't know what he was saying but she could pick out a single word. Zoie. She could feel her breath shallow and deepen at the same time. Whoever this man was, he knew her sister.

"Drop your weapon," she finally managed to get out from gritted teeth. He didn't. A Lugar pistol was held in the right hand, a shot gun in the left. Neither had been lifted to take aim but he hadn't lowered either of them from their midway position.

"Now, why would I do that? We should talk. My lord, aren't you the mirror image of your sister. She and I were very close." The way the man spoke sent a crawl of just plain ick down her back. It wasn't what he said but how he said it. She still hadn't pulled the trigger but she had a feeling she needed to.

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How many had been swept away by the collapse was a good question from Beatrice, one he wasn't sure if he could answer with absolute certainty. But Alexander ran the images and memories of Edenwipes and bullets fired through his mind, turning around to face the way they just came before he answered her. "Don't know...maybe half a dozen or more? Got one Edenwipe myself, another one was shot by his own guys. Did you get any of those bastards, Manny?" Alexander turned to ask Manny while moving past Beatrice, then turning to the fact that the two T's had gone up ahead.

Alexander moved down to the new area where he presumed Thana and Thalia had gone through, feeling safer with Beatrice and Manny still behind him. And that's when he saw the same treasure trove the others had seen earlier; The stash. While it was far from the depots they had in various military bases in 'Nam, it was more than the veteran had expected to find in piece of Eden-Hell they had just fought through. Quickly searching through it, Alexander pulled out and showed three boxes of 45. bullets into the bug-out bag, as well as a rifle.

It looked almost just like the M16 his hands had grasped many a time before, though it felt different. Quickly looking it over, pushing the ejector and checking the magazine, it became apparent it was an AR-15. Semi-automatic and not the same as a M16, but it would work. Alexander stepped back from the stash, now wielding the AR-15 rifle and turned to Beatrice and Manny again. "Every last one of them. After that big ass hole, there can't be too many more of them crawling around. Then we can deal with our prisoner."

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"You could say that." Nigel "Hadrian" answered Robert, keeping his answer as cryptic as he preferred for the moment as the duo of strangers continued down that Florida dirt road. Who knew if this guy was trustworthy or not? So far Robert hadn't done anything except speak calmly with him, even if he didn't mind the Undead, which Nigel didn't like. But so far, so good. "Haven't been or come across any living who haven't tried to rob or kill me. You're the first on both accounts."

Keeping up their pace around the turn and down the road, Nigel saw the large group of Undead to their right. Just like the other group that had followed him through the swamp, they had gotten stuck in the water and had great difficulty getting any gnawing and mangling done, which suited the Roman soldier just fine. Though he continued to move and speak as quietly as he could without going all quiet on Robert. The one further up ahead was alone, and too was of little threat if handled properly in Roman militaristic style.

"Wait wait?" Nigel had looked up ahead, seeing and hearing the truck move down the road and behind the treeline. Though he couldn't see any people or distinctive marks that could give away the drivers of said truck, perhaps partially due to what he felt was Robert's odd proposal. Ranch or cheese. "Look Robert, I know you're trying to make me trust you and all, but we're in the middle of what can turn out a tight squeeze. Neither you nor I need to eat chips right now. We got Cartheginians to chase, okay?" Nigel said with his usual stern demeanour to Robert, a man who could certainly be a friend later, but not right then. The chips could wait, the car they couldn't.

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Tiffany's directions were right, Ash knew it. It had been a while since he had been out scavenging for supplied this way, but the more she gave directions the more it matched up with what he thought he remembered about the roads out this way. Just a little farther south and they could circumvent Newnan and the hellish issues of geology that had very recently destroyed it. Ash was a moderately religious man. He was raised that way, it even made sense to him. But concepts like Faith took a massive hit; some several over the course of the past handful of years. Were the world as it was Before, this little mishap that claimed so many lives would have been labeled an "Act Of God", rendering most insurance companies without liability to pay out on their policies.

But none of that mattered now. It was what it was, there were survivors, and people were going to meet back up. It would be tearful, it would be joyous, and then the reality of their situation would swing back to crush their spirits. One thing at a time, though. One thing at a time. Ash had to get what was left of his people before the horde did. Maybe Newnan's corpse would buy them some time.

Or maybe a pileup of abandoned cars would prevent them from getting directly to their destination. Yeah. That had to be it. Ash couldn't tell if they just happened there as a matter of happenstance during some emergency or another, or whether they were put there with intent. If they were being herded to some specific destination by persons unknown, he would be very put out. "Damnit." he breathed. Addressing Tiffany and Jack, he said louder, "The 'Buster could probably push through, but it's one hell of a risk at night. Tiff, we need a course around. I'm going to hit that road going west, ah... Handy." He sighed, debating whether of not to voice his concern aloud. After taking a couple of seconds to reorient the Hordebuster on the new path, he decided to be transparent. "I don't know if those cars are there on purpose or just because. Stay sharp."

The next few moments saw Ash really open up the potential of the 'Buster. Level, clear roads helped a lot in this endeavor, and before he knew it he was passing another Providence Baptist Church. "Hmm... that's wierd." he said, nodding to the church. Risking a glance back, Ash spoke frankly with Jack. "We're going to get her back. Promise." He turned eyes back to the road in time to see a horse breeding ranch, or what used to be one. The faded sign labled it as "Jen-Nor Arabians". He rather wished he could have seen it when it was still a working business.

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Just as promised, Thalia fell into a defensive posture behind Thana, trailing her by a few feet. In all fairness, the half-Latina spitfire should have been taking point, being the least injured out of the two of them. She could tell that Thana really needed to press onward, and to hell with the consequences. Thalia understood, in part. If she were capable of fully feeling empathy in that moment, she probably would have expressed something to the effect that the man in charge of this place was likewise responsible for the death of some of her Familia, as well. Indirectly, even her battle sisters from Fairburn, a sort of second family until she could take better care of herself out in the badlands of the former United States.

Of course the problem was that this man wasn't an idiot. Not a total idiot, anyway. He remained away in his little corner of his complex, hidden away from the death and defeat suffered by his people. He might have used his soldiers' sacrifices to make an escape, giving their passing some kind of meaning, however sad and misled it might have been, but his very presence denied them that tiny piece of honor in the afterlife. Nor was he enough of an idiot to approach with empty hands, either. Perhaps he didn't know that Thana came with friends, though how a single woman could have stormed that place successfully was beyond her. Thalia's was not a military mind. She would have preferred to have gathered intelligence and made a surgical strike against a specific target, knifepoint assassination style.

In actuality, she would have preferred to utilize electronic surveillance measures first and scan a blueprint against a satellite overlay of the building, accounting for utility dig points, active security systems, and terrain features beforehand, then stealthed in and extracted the target. His head, anyway. And maybe she would have, but that damned, crazy Apocalypse had a way of ruining everybody's weekend plans. This would have to do.

Moreover, this guy was a cult leader. The world turned to shit, and this guy responded by grouping a bunch of scared, weak willed survivors around himself and through clever use of psychology and negative reinforcement, mads them part of a violence based ego mass. Not that Thalia knew exactly what that meant, it was something she caught on the Lifetime Channel a few years ago. She expected that the man knew how to talk some serious, mind altering shit, and decided that they didn't need to get into a conversation lest a mortal distraction take place. Wouldn't you know it, that was exactly how he started things.

Thana hesitated. She couldn't blame her too much, really. From what she was saying in the truck earlier, this guy did traumatizing things to someone very close to her. And when he brought up Thana's sister, and she still didn't fire, it was time to do what she promised her new Navy friend: Cover her ass. The plan was to sneak around quietly and take him by surprise. Use Thana as visual cover and shock and awe the bastard. Then plug him full of holes and watch the fluids run out of him. It was a good plan. It just didn't go down that way:

Quiet as a church mouse, the skull-faced Angel softshoe ran up behind Thana, raising her guns and preparing to loose a volley of metal traveling at the speed of sound into the disgusting man. Unfortunately, her foot caught behind a randomly placed janitor's bucket full of human eyes in various states of decay, punting it like a soccer ball and flinging the nasty soup of orbs and ichor to splat against a nearby wall. The solid masses of ocular organs, some trailing optic nerves like gruesome, airborne tadpoles, rebounded and sailed between Thalia and Adamm. Her eyes widened with utter disbelief that something like that could happen, let alone just did, but within the quarter second they narrowed, focusing on her intended target.

Adamm knew she was back there. Obviously. If he didn't before, he sure as hell did by then. Both of his guns raised with Thalia in mind, but it was too late. Her own sights lined up, and a single finger twitch actuated the lever necessary to send a bullet from her Machete Security Services issue Glock 17s pistol, heralded by the faintest of muzzle flash, speeding toward its intended target. Slow motion would have seen the ballistic slug spiraling, parting the air in front of it in a dazzling demonstration of the physics of motion. It flew straight, it flew true. Thalia's aim was flawless. An errant eyeball tumbled and spun in front of the bullet just before it reached its destination, parting like a miniature rotten melon. It was the last thing that Adamm experienced before the 9mm NATO round connected with his forehead, millimeters above the bridge of his nose. He didn't even have time to blink before the bullet exited the back of his head, blowing open his skullcap like a trapdoor held on by a fleshy hinge.

When the eyes mostly settled, some two or three still rolling around the floor in the manner of misplaced gumballs (and one spinning around stationary like a toy top), Thalia looked to Thana. "Look, I saw 'The Incredibles'. Monologuing is bad." and then more seriously, "Hey Navy, yah gonna be okay? If you want to unload a clip into his rectum, we got a couple minutes now. Just let me bag the head afters. We cool?"

The truth was, Thalia didn't care much for unnecessary cruelty. The man had to die. She saw an opening. Adamm couldn't hurt anyone anymore, and that was that. But she knew that not everyone thought like her. There was hope that she could be allies with Thana after this, though feelings were running hot right now. Anything could happen.