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"I don't care what you say, that woman's gravy should be a food group. I'm telling you, you could put that shit on anything and I'd eat it."

A roll of smoke came up from a half burned out cigar and there was no respond from the steely eyed man who sat in the helicopter seat next to the portly pilot sitting next to him. Yet from the back, resting an arm on the large weapon welded to the frame and another holding a straw made cowboy hat to his head, a middle aged man let out a broad smile and laughed. "Fuck you'd eat anything anyways. With or without her gravy. Shit I've seen you do it. Anyone else remember the wiper blade?" he asked through crooked grin.

"I was drunk and it was a dare!" the pilot retorted, turning slightly in his chair to look back at the man on the gun. He felt a large hand on his cheek and he was snapped back looking forward. His lips tightened and he nodded slightly to the physical correction.

"And the jelly fish?"

"Oh suck my dick Panama!"

"Have to find it first Shamu!"

"Enough you two," the elder of the group finally said in a calm but firm voice.

"Sorry Double O," came in unison.

The two men went silent and stopped their poking at one another but Panama kept a cheeky grin on his face as he went back to looking out over the trees that covered the ground. A woman looked over the rim of her purple tinted glasses and chuckled a bit. "Y'all keep it up and that cigar of his is gonna wind up in your ass," she said with a smirk.

"Wouldn't waste the cigar," the man finally said and smirked. Leaning out of the open door slightly, the woman held tight and took a glance around. "What is it?"

"Twelve O'Clock, we got one," she said and pointed down the road.

"You sure that ain't a Rambler?" Panama asked as he leaned over and looked.

"Bitch please, who has the eyes here?" she snapped.

"Hey, I ain't the one with glasses," he quickly snapped back and then grinned and slipped back to his position as she gave him the look.

"Alright, bring us down Dusty. High alert everyone, you know the drill," the man in charge said as he leaned back in his seat. The helicopter came over heard and swooped around, taking a long and leisurely circle around the small area before it started to set down at the corner of 22 and 71 (D7). The winds the blades caused kicking up everything around it. The blades slowed as the man in the cowboy hat pointed the large gun at the kid in the street.

The passenger side door and the more elderly of men among the group climbed out, armed and with a cigar clenched between his teeth. "Nice dog," he said as he struck a match and relit the dead ember at the end of the thick cigar. "Gotta name?"

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Their little outfit of a survivor family was sorting out their day pretty well. Manny still had his fears, but otherwise things were looking up. He thoughts it was cute, Beatrice's and Thalia's relationship whatever that ended up being. No matter what it was or wasn't he was happy for them. But before Manny could really get his mind around his thoughts for the day, Alexander started talking about a Huey? And all that came to Manny was "What the hell is a Huey? Is it what's making all that racket outside?" Was it some kind of Vehicle? Or was it a term for walkers that Manny hasn't heard of yet? He knew the people he was traveling with pretty well, but overall things still came up that confused him about his newest group. Lucky for Manny Thalia cleared it up with the term 'Helicopter', Manny knew that one. Now that he thought about it, Alexander did say something about a chopper. Thalia soon made her way outside with her pistol drawn. Manny moved to follow, but looking out the window breifly he noticed what everyone had been talking about. Outside, slowly getting closer to land, was a military helicopter. He hadn't seen one of those since... a long time.

Manny figured the best thing to do now would be to follow Thalia and be ready to help however he could. "Come on people, we're about to get some answers." Manny wanted to help, but he also realized he was the only person here without combat training of some kind making it so the others may be better options to help out if things went south. Grabbing his shotgun, and making sure both tubes were loaded, he followed the Thalia ready for action. Though Manny didn't move as tactically as Thalia did, he still tried to keep low and stay close to the buildings. Once he got closer to Thalia he did a partial crouch with the shotgun barrel pointed to the ground. "Do you know what the hell a Helicopter is doing out here? Didn't the military fall years ago? So what the hell is it doing here?!" It might have been something taken from a group of survivors, but how many pilots were left in the world? Probably less then doctors now that Manny thought about it.

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The noise what getting louder now, looking around Hunter also noticed he was being surrounded. To the west he saw someone exiting the bank near him. Maybe there were was food in there? Izibell noticed them too. "Stay calm girl. They don't notice us yet." He was pretty sure he saw a firearm, but Hunter had his M4, and he was good with it, so he felt he could hold out in a bad situation. Then he saw the Helicopter. "well go ahead and fuck me in the ass..." He said as he started walking to it. There was no outrunning it, he had already been spotted. He couldn't run or hide from it, and his M4 couldn't really do much against military grade anything. Probably his biggest complain of the M4 rifle was its lacking of power behind each bullet. Once he was in ear shot he stood sideways with his rifle partially aimed but with the barrel pointed to the ground. If he was going to fight he was going to make himself a hard target ready to shoot back. But again, his rifle would do little to stop the chopper.

That's when the thing had properly landed. "no turning back now..." He got a little closer using his sideways strut, keeping his body narrow, and making his center mass his backpack. The man who approached him was old, very old. Before Hunter got a chance to make a comment or ask a question the man spoke, asking about Izibell. "Her Name's Izibell. My Name is Monroe. Can I help you? Are you lost? If so I don't know the area particularly well. I should also mention that I don't taste particularly well. Someone tried, decided to make the comment." That part wasn't true, but why not tell a little tale? "You got a name? Or is this a trap and you don't really care for my name? I can make either work but I want to be sure before choices get made." He kept eyeing the chopper. Seemed to have a full crew, though Hunter was mostly impressed with the fact that they had a pilot. Not many of those left in the world. "Nice piece of hardware, I imagine you have the means to keep it well tuned and armed. Otherwise you wouldn't waste it just looking around. You want to tell me what you're doing out here with enough fire power to level this little town?" He contemplated an escape plan. He figured he could get the old guy first, then if he was fast the pilot. Even if the windshield was ballistic glass the stuff had a shelf life and he figured the 5.56 NATO cartridge had a decent chance, but he wouldn't know for sure. If that worked out though then he would have to avoid the gunner. No way he could push his luck with a third target, but maybe he could get into a blind spot once the pilot was out.

But he wouldn't do this yet. Just having a backup plan in case these people seemed hostile was the important part. But what about the rest of the crew? If they got out could he take them? Not on his own no, but chances are there were corpses near by who would gladly provide a needed distraction. Then he considered Izibell. She would get into a panicked fit if they were in an enclosed building with a lot of corpses. There's no way she could make it through it. As if she could read his mind though, she gave him a look of pity from his left side. She smiled, but it was almost as if she had fear in her eyes, worried for her human. No, enclosed building wont do. If things go wrong, he'd find another option. "You seem military enough. Last I knew all federal military got stretched thin and wiped out. State forces collapsed soon afterwards once they realized they were on their own. So what does that make you?" He's not sure what he was expecting for an answer past 'Nobody'. He hated that answer, at least give a nic name or something.

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Jack stood next to his wife, looking on at his son with sympathy. His mother had told him about how hard it was to raise a child on her own, and that had been with modern technology and conveniences and friends that could babysit without a worry of walkers coming in through the door. He couldn't imagine how Tatiana had gotten through the apocalypse with Jamie, even now it was a struggle and they were in a large group. He wasn't going to press her about what she had done to survive. When she was ready to share, she'd share and not before.

He glanced upwards, hearing a thumping noise. Despite his police background, Jack couldn't fathom what it was. "What the?" he muttered, worried for his family and also worried it would upset Jamie more. Loud noises and getting snot suctioned out of his nose? It didn't sound like fun for the little guy. He then heard Amelia and he shook his head. "No idea...Doubt it's anythin' good," he admitted.

Then came Ash's booming voice and Jack winced a bit. He had to resist his urge to shout back Jamie ain't feelin' well! Quiet down! but he knew Ash was right. They needed to get a move on. They had rescued Tatiana - or really, Tatiana had rescued herself - and they were almost to the meet up point with Ash's love, Thana. Then there was the word that caused Jack's eyes to widen - huey? He could have pinched himself. Someone had a working helicopter out here?? He grabbed his own pack and then picked up Jamie's bag, ready to give it to Tatiana once she got up. He gave her a slight smile, and once the pack was taken care of, Jack followed Ash's orders for the two by two cover and emerged outside, following after his commander and ready to rumble.

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They had made it to Wewahitchka last night and although Beatrice hadn't voiced it to anyone, she couldn't help but wonder whether heading to Mexico Beach was futile or not. Thana was gone - dead or deserted. She was the only one remaining in their group that had a connection to Newnan and the people she cared for from that settlement were gone. It was a bit like pinning all of your hopes and dreams on a high school that you transferred to for just a semester, when all of your friends from the school had been killed in overdoses and driving accidents.

The house they were holed up in for now reminded her of a phrase she had heard in college: maximizing minimalism. It still seemed a bit like a contradiction, but still, she had to admit it fit. The house was striped bare. As Thalia shook her awake, Beatrice blinked her eyes open and looked at her friend. "What happens in three months? Do we unlock a secret level of the apocalypse?" she asked with a thin smile. She knew the goal was Mexico Beach - and it may very well take them three months to get there. She was just having private doubts that the goal was worthwhile or that they'd find anything helpful there, anything that would make the journey worth it. Getting up, Beatrice quickly got herself prepared for the day.

She nodded at Manny's suggestion, searching the store for supplies. More medical supplies was always a good idea with this group. With two amputees and someone getting up there in age, Beatrice felt a bit of pressure to make sure they were ready for just about anything. She wasn't just a part of this group of people anymore - she felt responsible for them. The peg leg for Alex had helped and Thalia had an arm substitution as well, but neither of them were perfect. "Agreed - we need to move. The last thing we want is to add back pain from sleeping on the floor in this house to our list of problems to solve," Beatrice quipped slightly.

"...Helicopter?" Beatrice's mind went back to the tank for a moment. Where were people finding these vehicles anyways? Was there some sort of apocalypse store that was giving them out with a loan? "Everyone, come on, we're moving," Beatrice said. She went over and offered Manny a hand if he needed it to get himself ready. She didn't like the idea of chasing after the helicopter and leaving anyone behind. Once that was done, Beatrice then stepped outside with Thalia, holding her crossbow at the ready.

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Wayne had no fucking clue what that noise was or even if it was real. Shit it could be real, could just be a pounding in his head or Happy pretending to be a horse and about to start singing. It was a coin toss really. People were talking, he wasn't paying a lick of attention. This wasn't abnormal for the man, he tended to suffer from selective deafness. He was once married, it was a super skill most men got as soon as they said "I Do." Just like a mother get "the look" downloaded into her skill set the moment she becomes a mother. Some things are just programed into our DNA and get triggered at certain moments. Like the worst set of super powers in history. Being Wayne's age he had two. Selective Deafness and Weather Prediction Joints.

Scrambling to his feet he swung his overly long scarf around it and started making snorting noises before a large wad of phlegm came out of his mouth and landed on the floor by his boot. Thank god the man didn't have any chewing tobacco. "Keep it up fucko and I will spit that shit in your mouth next time." Apparently Wayne wasn't talking to anyone that could be seen in the room. Granted, again, this wasn't new.

Looking out the window he caught sight of what was making all the fucking racket. "I spy with my little eye.... Holy fuck balls." His mouth was agape for a brief moment before he suddenly sounded like a really bad impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Get to da choppa!" he laughed and went out the door right behind Hank.

Did Wayne hug the wall? Fuck no. He walked right to the middle of the road, stopped and turned slowly. His head leading the turn as he looked as if he was in the middle of the O-K coral at high noon. Just for a moment before he reached up and laughed and pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes. One foot moved in front of the over as he started moving with swagger towards the group. "Oh baby you are the most beautiful thing I have seen in years. Look at those curves, oh I bet you're a ton of fun!"

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There was a pause in the muttering as Amelia said something. Tatiana standing up slowly and moving towards the window of the house. She hadn't heard anything to start, a crying baby next to your heard made hearing most things difficult. Placing Jamie against her chest she patted his back to calm him as she looked around and spotted the helicopter making the long circle around the town. "Da Blyad'," (the fuck) she said in shock. This was something she never thought she would see again but there it was and she wasn't the only one seeing it so she was sure it wasn't a hallucination.

Turning her head she glanced over towards Riley. "Metal bird. Hov you say?" she asked as she pointed out the window. She might have been fluent in English but the word Helicopter escaped her. It just wasn't one of those words that got used a lot in general conversation, much less in this day and age due to the fact there was never any around. Sure she could cuss like a sailor and by now knew every turn of phrase from Boston but helicopter was beyond her capability to translate.

It seemed that she would get her answer, even if it was from a sleepy Ash. Torn from his slumber he was talking gibberish to her. Then he said something was inbound. "Huey," she repeated to herself. Not that she knew a Huey was a type of helicopter, to her now Huey meant helicopter. Orders came with that and normally she would question if this was a good idea. Both from a psychological aspect and a paranoid one but she had a sick child and when it came to things like this, Tatiana knew she was out of her depth. Ash knew best.

Grabbing the carrier she slipped Jamie into it and strapped it to her chest. She had the baby, well toddler now, and Jack had the bags. She nodded to him when he smiled and rushed behind them. At the rate people were moving this would place her behind Ash and Jack if something went down and Amelia and Riley behind her. Sure, it was a shit move to put herself in the center where the chances of them taking a bullet aimed at her was highest but she didn't care. Jamie was her biggest concern and she had made it well known she would sacrifice the lot of them to keep the kid alive.

Moving carefully she stayed down and hoped that Jamie would stay quiet. She shoved a pacifier in his mouth right then and figured that was the best she could do right then. Sure she could have stayed inside, waited to see how things played out but there was a chance for something more and Tatiana, if she had learned anything from an old friend of hers she had lost a long time ago, was how to smooth talk a situation if she needed.


Temperature: 89F (32C)
Humidity: Fucking High (Around 99%) - Raining off and on all day
Wind Speed: 7 MPH (11 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: About 66% covered with thick dark clouds

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"Jesus H Fucking Christ, the boy has more of a mouth than me," the man in the cowboy hat chuckled as he stood there, draping an arm over the large mounted weapon. The pilot started snickering and covering his lips as he scooted over just enough to lean in the passenger seat a little so he could get a look at the kid.

"He either has balls or he's stupid," the woman commented as she climbed out of the helicopter and eyed the kid over the top of her purple tinted glasses like some hippy librarian. "I vote both."

A smirk formed on the old man's lip. "Panama, Spots, Dusty," the older man said as he pulled the cigar from his mouth before pointing them out in order. Panama (the man in the cowboy hat) grinned a cheeky grin, Spots (the woman) nodded slightly, and Dusty (the pilot) waves and smiled like a dork. Then he rubbed his chin with his thumb. "I'm Maddog and no, I already ate."

Dusty licked his lips. "Awww, that gravy man!"

A look of nearly giving up game over Panama's face. "Fucking god man, do you ever not think of food?"

"Only when I'm getting laid." There was a smart-assed tone to the pilots voice.

"So, all the time then," Spots chimed in and Panama doubled over and let out a blaring HA! "Double O, got another." There was a motion behind her. Turning Maddog looked and quirked a brow and took a few steps back away from the helicopter so he could get a straight line of sight from all directions, save his six. Spots was watching. He didn't look concerned.

"Like fucking cockroaches." Panama's finger pointed back down the street behind the mouth. There was a chew on the cigar that was back in Maddog's mouth as he rested a hand on his weapon. Ash had been the first to be seen, followed by Hank and then Wayne.

"Rev it up double O?" Dusty yelled as he sat back up in his seats. It seemed like a good choice. People coming out of the wood work, more than that had come with the chopper but Maddog shook his head, only once but it was enough. Then again only one was speaking to them right now.

"Excuse me!" Spots fingers balled up as her lips thinned as she eyed Wayne who was walking right at them.

"I think he's talking about," Dusty quipped as he patted the helicopter.

"Friends of yours?" Maddog asked Monroe. He didn't wait for an answer. His eyes moved from Wayne and Hank. "Name, Rank, Serial Number." The voice boomed with a heavy amount of authority but it was clear as day Maddog was speaking to Ash as his head turned, his eyes were boring a hole through the man as he moved. He was sure as shit that Ash was a soldier even though he had only watched the man take a few steps by this time. (Nat 20 roll)

Spots climbed through the Huey and came out the other side so she was facing Ash and his group now. Her eyes seemed to go right passed Ash and Jack. The woman behind them with the red hair and carrier attached to her chest seemed to have her attention. "Oh girl. That is not a person you can hide. That is a conspicuous person designed to stick out," she said as she motioned towards Tatiana's carrier. "How old?"

"Double O, we got more," Panama yelled out but the man was waiting for an answer from people it seemed before he just stood there, looking all too relaxed to have so many unknowns come out of their respective areas. He just stood there taking a puff of the cigar between his teeth from time to time.

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Oh Alexander was just as eager as the rest to go check out what a fuctioning Huey was doing around those parts, but he hadn't expected them to up and leave as quick as they did. Not that he didn't want to himself, but having a redneck-pegleg didn't exactly make you an Edwin Moses or anything. "...and of course the grunt's left to fend for himself..." Grabbing the rest of his belongings as quick as he could, he walked/jogged/limped out into the open, towards their possible rescue. His whole body told him that it was Evac, it was what his mind had been thouroughly trained to do when hearing that sound. That wasn't the sound of being deployed into battle, that was the sound of getting the hell out of dodge!

The excercising old Mugsy had done the past two days with the leg payed off, allowing him to move relatively steadily out of the house and onto the road leading south-east. Down it some way he saw the three others in his squad...His army brain was kicking in once again. That's perhaps how he thought he could hear that the Huey wasn't even fully loaded, by the sound of the propeller and rotor. Once you heard that enough, it stuck to you. Alexander made his way to Thalia, Manny and Beatrice, holding his head down and eyes pointed down the road. "Keep your heads down and spread out. We don't want them to get us that easy." Alexander told them, the irony not going past him. He was only armed with a hammer, and not a really good one either. Against the heavy ordinance a Huey packed, they stood little chance. "Anyone seen anything so far?"

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For once it hadn't been Wayne going out before a plan had been made, but Hank who decided to take the mantle and investigate first the source of the noise. Nigel "Hadrian" looked back at Erica with her look at him, giving a look of honest ignorance as to what the ruckus was all about, before looking back at Hank who asked if any of them were coming. Before Nigel could either confirm nor disprove of anything, Hank had strolled out of the building and out onto the street. And Wayne followed him after the ususal talking-to-himself routine, that much was nothing new. Nigel got up on his feet and slung the various parts of his kit over his shoulder like Erica had done. "Follow me, and stay close. Watch my back, Erica."

"Hadrian" moved out of the building more slowly than he felt Hank and Wayne had, looking both directions as he exited. But as he turned to his left, it hit him just what Wayne had blurted out in his usual "Delphian" state. "...Did he say 'Choppa'? Like Arnold 'Choppa'?" "Hadrian" moved slowly up the street, hugging the wall as he went and making sure he was in front of Erica if she followed. Wayne was over himself with joy it seemed, and it wasn't difficult to guess why. "Stay behind me, this might be too good to believe." Nigel said behind him, but kept moving forward to the unreal scene before them. He stopped a good distance behind Wayne, holding his hands down and in a non-violent manner, but ready to jump to the side if things got hairy. "And here I though the old world had died, and now...Civilization."

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Amelia smiled up when Riley came closer. The woman's very presence was enough for Amelia to brighten up. That said what her love had pointed out was pretty darn important. This sound was going to wake up all the walkers in the area and draw them in. In fact she was pretty amazed there weren't any walkers visible around as it was. It was almost like something had drawn them away previously, but she had no way of confirming that theory of hers. It was also entirely possible that until now the walkers were just all hanging somewhere shady themselves, who could say. If they started to see some from no one, it would show.

“We sh... Ahhh..!” Amelia nearly jumped when she heard Ash's booming loud voice as he barked orders at them. She had her bag with her at all times cause she now knew that keeping your bag close was a virtue. Especially after everything they went through the last weeks and months. She had grabbed it within the moment and was on Ash's tail the next. Well by on his tail it was more like couple of meters away from him, but close enough. She in hurry took out the defensive formation that he had barked out and was ready for a fight or to flee at the moment's notice as they walked out the bank and towards the noise. He had said a huey... 'What the hell is a huey anyways?' She thought to herself.

She followed outside and onto the street until she saw more people... and something she couldn't quiet believe she was seeing standing there some distance away.” Am I seeing things?” She let out a whisper when she could see people and a heli out there. Some of htem were even speaking to their group it seemed they spotted them and spoke out to hteir merry group. Amelia was shocked.

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Riley looked towards Amelia and gave her a soft smile, as she looked out towards the window once more, and then started to get a better look, it was indeed a helicopter which she hadn't even seen since the start of the outbreak. How there was an actual working one out here and maintained in flying condition she didn't even know. "Well i'll be damned.." Riley said, as she jumped slightly hearing Ashton barking out orders to everyone, to get everything and then move out. Riley certainly didn't like the idea of running towards the chopper, it was a major unknown since whoever was in the helicopter could be hostile towards them.

But they had a sick toddler with them, and if this group had a functioning helicopter then they were apart of some kind of group that was very well off. Riley simply nodded, towards Ashton and drew out her revolver just in case things went south rather quickly and followed out shortly after Amelia did. Riley made sure that she was running against any cover there was possible like Ashton had said, while making sure that there weren't any walkers that would jump out at them.

Riley started to notice more people coming out of the wood work as well, which started to worry her a little bit, as she caught up with the rest of the group. When one of them, in the glasses spoke up mentioning Jamie, and then the other man asking Ashton for his name, rank and serial number. Riley just remained rather still having her gun out, but pointed at the ground she didn't want to open fire unless it happened first. Riley would occasionally look over at Ashton wondering if he had any orders for them at all, or if they should actually introduce themselves.

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Erica listened a little bit longer, and instantly picked up that it was a helicopter, what kind it was whether it was a civilian or military helicopter Erica wasn't really sure at all. Then Hank decided to get up and go and check it out as well, she rolled her eyes a little bit towards him. "I really wished you'd stop calling me Barbie." Erica said sighing a little bit, and then a few seconds later Wayne woke up, talking to himself for a second and then after hearing the sound he ran out of their little place they called home for the evening. "I got your back Nigel." Erica said towards Nigel as she drew out her shotgun and started to follow shortly behind him once she was outside Erica got a good look at the helicopter now it was a Huey which she hadn't seen in a long time except for in some old war movies.

Erica made sure that she looked behind them, and around each other in case of any walkers or any other unknowns came out at them, once they were near the chopper and Wayne acting like well Wayne Erica took a few steps forward. Seeing one of the people in the chopper getting a bit offended at Wayne's words. Only for the pilot to motion towards the helicopter itself she took the moment to step forward.

"I'm really and truly sorry, Wayne here sort of has a few screws loose, he's just admiring your guys helicopter." Erica said, while looking over towards Hank for a moment, motioning for him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. "I'm Erica, this is Hank, and Hadrian." Erica said, hopefully Wayne wouldn't have any weird or sudden outbursts that would make the new group hostile, as she started to notice others coming out of the woodwork as well.

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Approaching the scene was, for Ash, equal parts tactical and leap of faith. Reason had him considering the possibility that a lone chopper wouldn't just set down in the middle of an unknown area without good cause. It would have to be secured first. So, this was a secure area that they just wandered into absently, meaning that the helicopter was sent to investigate them specifically, or this was a matter of unique happenstance. With what he had witnessed over the last few years, it could very well swing either way. Of course, if this was a very recently secured area, that might mean that there were people hiding out in the periphery at that moment, and this chopper contained merely the token advance.

Small tactic experience reminded him that, with a showcard like a working helicopter in play, unknown persons might be drawn closer to it while their perimeter troops (if applicable) would tighten the noose around their position. It was a no-win scenario without shooting their way out, and anyone left behind might be captured or killed for it. Of course, he could have directed his people to make a quiet exit to the flank, possibly evading the perimeter. THAT is where tactic gave way to leap of faith. This close to Mexico Beach, anyone there would have time to get tipped off by a patrol and send the welcoming committee. Air support could be there in plenty of time. Ergo, there was an excellent chance that these people were from Mexico Beach.

Leap of Faith. They sucked sometimes.

It especially sucked when, upon scanning the area around them, he didn't see a damned thing that would be considered accompaniment for that Huey. They weren't there at all, or they were hiding really, really well, or Ash was having some sort of episode. Thoughts to the looming possibility of ambush were cut very short by the sudden shift of attention - that of the man who was apparently in charge of the helicopter squad - from the people in front of him around to Ash himself. Name, Rank, Number. The man was military, which further supported the Mexico Beach theory. Time for that leap. Ash straightened and raised his hand to issue a silent command of Halt to his people behind him. He then lowered his rifle to a "patrol ready" carry and cleared his throat, intent on response.

Before he could answer the cigar-chewing soldier, another voice sounded from their group. This one was softer, and aimed, he assumed, at Tatiana. Ash risked a glance back to the petite (but tough as nails) woman carrying her baby boy. With narrowing eyes, he turned his head back around to stare at the man who still required answer. Ash made unequivocally certain that his words came across with volume and clarity enough to be perfectly heard and understood by anyone in the area, particularly anyone who might or might not have a rifle trained on them at that moment. As it happened, his native Virginian accent chose that moment to add color.

"Holloway, Ashton J. - Captain - 231-84-6806. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Combat and Civil Works Divisions. We are en route to Mexico Beach by invitation of Lieutenant Commander Thana Martin. I need..." He stopped for a half second, trying hard not to add any unnecessary emotion to the introduction. This wasn't just about him. "I am to rendezvous with her on site. If she is not present, I am to ask for a Master Gunnery Sergeant FC Macsen Martin." There it was, for the good or bad of it all. "Same Zone?"₁

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Oh the bitch was funny. Real funny, that Beatrice. While not a huge video game player back in the day, Thalia did have the odd occasion to vent a little tension kicking the crap out of digital people, mostly in strategy games. Maybe it lent itself to the occupation she took with her uncle's company. Of course, the fact that her uncle owned a company helped a lot, too. But getting back to her original thought, the idea of a "Secret Level of the Apocalypse" was funny as hell to her for some reason.

Perhaps this was why she chose to narrowly avoid a suspect puddle of something in her way, dashing as she was toward the relative cover of the buildings in front of her, and landed her foot directly onto something that couldn't have been better designed to screw over her plans of stealth or surprise if a team of engineers were paid handsomely to do so:

It was a duck. A yellow rubber duck, wrapped in duct tape, sticky side out. Now, Thalia had no idea how it got there, nor why the tape retained its supernatural adhesive properties. It just didn't make sense. But sense or not, the One Winged Angel now had it attached to the bottom of her shoe, and she couldn't just stop on a dime to remove the damned thing. To make matters horribly, horribly worse, the insufferable duck was very adept at making noise. Lots and lots of noise. Enough noise that could never actually occur in a natural setting as to draw attention from anything not utterly stone deaf in the immediate vicinity. Yes, the woman known to mere mortals as Thalia Angelica Carmichael, Familia Gonzalez, truly a monster of silence and dexterity, was just laid low by a childrens' toy that pressed out an awkward mmkwack-squeakee, mmkwack-squeakee sound every single time her foot hit the ground. In her effort to stop the godawful, position revealing noise (mmkwack-squeakee, mmkwack-squeakee, remember?), she slammed her shoe upon the blacktop some two times before giving up that tactic. It just grew louder.

Mmkwack-squeakee! Mmkwack-squeakee!

"Shiiiiiit!" she whispered with urgency, though the reason as to why she bothered whispering was beyond her. Even trying to remove the damned thing brought about more mmkwacks and squeakees, far more than to which the was comfortable. "God. Damn. Ducks." The moment they came into season, she was going to eat the fuck out of one, just for revenge. "I live through this and it's duck sushi, asshole..."

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Hank wanted to feel out the situation with the trained eye of a legitimate professional. He was trained by the best law enforcement agency that New Hampshire had to offer to read subtle clues coming off of people. It made him better at his job. More than ever, knowing about people and drawing accurate conclusions about them quickly was important to survival. Even if Wayne sometimes made it difficult. Wayne was a good man anyway, just that sometimes his specific challenges were more challenging than at other times. It was why Hank was around. Wayne made his presence valuable in other ways.

Perhaps that was why the former Sheriff was shocked to hear what he blurted out as soon as he caught up to the man. As if in total unrelenting agreement with Wayne, Hank clasped his hand down on his friend's shoulder and announced, "Oh my dear and unshaven God, Maldonado, but I'm with you on this one! A guy my age gets one, maybe two boners a week he can do something constructive with, and I'll be damned if I'm going to waste good stiffage on anything but that glorious piece of flying machine. Holy hell, but I'm a-getting to that choppa!"

Luckily, he kept his shotgun to his side the entire time, but he just couldn't keep himself away from potential smartassery for some unknown reason. Some unknown, horrifying reason. "Yeah! The lady's right." As if to back up her introduction, he pointed at the various members of his party o' four, intoning, "Wayne, Erica, I'm Hank, and this highly intelligent and talented man over here goes by the code name of 'Sportacus'. Don't let him be modest, either. He's really earned it, from the first moment I met him. Salt of the earth, that Sportacus. Say it with me?" he paused with a faux expectant look on his face, as if waiting for others to ready themselves, "Sportacus!" Repetition was a key point in memorization and association, and from this first impression Hank hoped that the seed would grow into a happy Romanesque tree. He had zero opportunities to do this over the last few months, and Hank was a guy who took to the little joys when he could.

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If there was something Manny has always had problems with it was holding his tongue. Normally this was an issue in his youth when he would get into fights with neighborhood kids. Or it was an issue with people who ran hate groups and as Manny would put it, he was 'Giving them a reason to [Insert action(s) here]'. Where he would promptly be reminded how that isn't a good thing. But in this case it was pure lack of self control over the last working rubber duck on the planet. Despite Manny's professional demeanor he couldn't help but blurt out a brief laugh at Thalia's struggles against the tape covered squeaking duck. For a moment the old dentist thought his heart would stop just trying to contain his laughter. Despite not blurting out again the amusement still seemed to struggle to be contained. He would work to keep it in though as Thalia could probably find where he sleeps at night. He stopped pretty fast at that thought. "Sorry. That was... Very unprofessional and not normally like me. Wont happen again." He promised knowing he had no idea if it would or not.

Now, Manny moved up shotgun in hands. Though the more he thought about it the more he wondered if the people in the helicopter were hostile. What would their rag tag group do against someone with a helicopter and most likely firepower to protect it? Could they do much other then brief suppression fire? He questioned if they could do that though either. What if they had to run? How far could they go with the gear they had? Or the wounded they had despite their amazing efforts in recovery? How far could they get if Manny's stamina ran out while running? Would the others risk their lives for him? Or once he knew he couldn't keep up could he slip into the shadows and try to buy some time?

Another thing to consider was, what if these people were friendly? What if these people were able to help them? What if they had a decent medical setup and supplies to make a colony work? What if... just if... they had real beds to sleep on. Manny told himself it was for the chance to help another community, but a real bed to sleep on was a great motivator too. He picked up speed now, staying as hidden as he could but the group was struggling and at their rate it was only a matter of time before someone else died. This needed to happen now. Then he saw it. The helicopter. And he stopped in his tracks. He saw... people. He couldn't tell how many, but there were a lot. At first glance maybe more then the four the group he was in had. He was tempted to wave, but he was scared of being shot at. So he just stood there in the middle of the road, in fear, unable to react to what he was seeing.

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Hunter saw the gunner talking. He didn't get a word of what he said though, mostly looking at the gun on the side and thinking how cool it would be to use some of Uncle Sam's hardware again. He also thought that if things got sour he should probably shoot the gunner first. Though when the old man spoke again Hunter got names. Even though Hunter got the names, took note of them, and started making a mental catalog of these new people, he was hearing about food. God what he would do for something edible right now. Though he looked at the dog wrapped on his leg understanding that Hunter was tense. She was hungry too. She probably needed at least as much food as Hunter did, and they both have been without for days.

When Hunter snapped back to reality he pieced some of this weird puzzle together. Then Hunter was asked about the MANY new people showing up. "Can't say I know them. I figured the ones I saw before were with you? If that's not the case I hope their friendly. Or you actually have bullets in that turret." He had seen people threaten with empty guns before. He found it sad. But whatever, natural selection and all that shit. "You never know about new people. I've seen all sorts of tricks used. Once I saw someone use kittens. Too bad they were stupid." Hunter vaguely remembers removing a head that day with a hatchet.

Hunter was still hesitant to trust anyone military. Though he still carried an old uniform he wasn't wearing it now. But Maddog made it clear he was military by the way he asked for one of the new people's name and rank. Almost out of instinct Hunter responded, stopping himself before he could say anything. They had a last name, they didn't need more then that. But the soldier called out had a lot to say. Army as well. Hunter wondered if he could make an ally of him. Or if he would be like his old unit near the start of this mess. Then Hunter would need a way to dispose of him too. Granted, he had bullets and he had guns. He also had Izibell who despite being the cutest dog ever could 100% eat someone's testicles off. Though now it looked like instead of a potential 4 to 1, it could be as many as 30 to 1 if things kept going the way they were going. He would need to trust someone otherwise he wouldn't survive a fight with anyone. The helicopter people had a chance to gun him down, but didn't. Maybe they wanted more information from him incase he was apart of a group with lootable supplies. Oh well, too late now to run.

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Hearing someone directly mention Jamie, since his kid was spotted, it was as if the furnace to hell had been opened inside of Jack. They hadn't done anything yet that was directly hostile, but he didn't trust people as easily as he had before the Outbreak. He trusted his friends, not strangers. And with someone pointing out Jamie, asking how old he was... If Jack was Spider-Man, his spidey senses would be tingling like mad. He had to consciously keep himself from glaring, ever fiber of his being screaming at him to go and be the overprotective husband and father to Tatiana and Jamie respectively.

Seeing Ash's hand signal, Jack didn't move forward but he was tensed and ready to go if needed. Maybe he would have been more relaxed if Tatiana and Jamie weren't exposed, but things changed when you had a wife and little kid. Ash then rattled off a speech filled with military jargon and Jack more or less understood Ash's approach. As a cop, they had their own style of jargon - sure, he didn't really know what Same Zone meant but that introduction, it seemed like... Well, it seemed to Jack that Ash was hopeful that these people weren't their enemies.

"Stay calm," Jack whispered. Perhaps it was to Tatiana and the girls or perhaps it was to himself. He was following Ash's orders and all he could do was wait to see what the outcome was going to be.

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Beatrice wasn't sure how fond she was of the idea of spreading out. Alex was barely mobile with his peg-leg and Thalia was still a badass, but she was down a limb. She'd prefer to have them all stick together as a unit, especially since Manny was on the older side. She was the one in the best physical condition and with Thana either dead or merely dead to Beatrice, she felt the pressure to lead the group. It was a different skillset, helping people other than herself survive.

Case in point, Thalia was currently having a fight with a rubbery ducky. Beatrice raised an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth rising slightly and she couldn't help it. She started to laugh quietly at her friend. After all of the shit they had gone through, Thalia was defeated by a rubber duck. Manny was laughed a bit as well and Beatrice had to bite the inside of her cheeks to keep the smile down. "Looks like you've got a new friend, Thalia," Beatrice said softly. Unlike Manny, she didn't apologize for losing her professional demeanor.

"Do you need help?" she then asked Thalia. Balancing on one foot while removing a duck wasn't always easy - and she wasn't sure how much losing a limb had thrown off her sense of balance. Besides, Thalia had gone this far without removing it, indicating to Beatrice that she might need a hand.

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Wayne didn't move far, only a few more steps towards the helicopter. There was a man in the street before him so it wasn't like he could just push the man aside. Oh who are we kidding. That is exactly what Wayne would do and nearly did. Until his keen sense of detective skills kicked in and he heard something. It was high pitched and he wasn't sure where it was coming from as of yet but turning his head to the left some he spotted something down the street. Now he wasn't sure what it was but his brows rose comically as he tilted his head to the side with a perplexed looked on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Did I just hear a fucking duck quack?" he asked. (19 on a Perception Check) He honestly wasn't sure if he was hearing things or if it was real but he was obviously bringing attention to what he thought he heard. Granted not everyone would hear it. The chopper might have been powering down and all so it was quieter than it had been but then again, it was still noisy as fuck and people were talking and where the noise he thought he heard had come from a ways down the street. So there was a good chance whatever he heard was in his head. Not that Wayne ever heard or saw things that weren't there, right?

The words of the man in front of him got his attention though and he laughed out loud at them. "Or your ass could be making shit up and you were the one that used the cat. Fucking sicko," he chuckled as he stood there and shrugged a bit. Looking over at Erica he laughed. "Shit, my screws are just fine, it's the bolts that give me issues. So what do you think Sportacus? Think this fucker did shit with cats?" he asked before a orange tabby ran through the scene and between Wayne's legs before bolting off towards Ash and the rest. "See, fucking cat knows to stay away from you."

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"I see it too," Tatiana said to Amelia's question. It was a valid one. From what she knew many had seen and heard a lot of things when Newnan fell that wasn't there. It wasn't out of the question that after all this time being alone that someone might hallucinate something but if that were the case, then they all were falling for it and she didn't think that was the case. Mass visions was not exactly something that was ever common, granted five years ago, the dead walking and trying to eat you wasn't common either.

Tatiana looked over at the woman as she climbed through the chopper. She didn't hear the duck go off and couldn't see the people on the other side of the helicopter but it seemed that this woman was pointing her out to others. Her eyes twitched as she spotted the older man in front of the helicopter, he was in the direct line of sight so he wasn't hard to miss. She felt herself swallow slightly as her lips thinned. "Ten... ten months," she said in a thick heavy Russian accent.

Looking down at her baby she held him closer and closed her eyes for a minute before he sneezed. Her hand coming up and wiping away the snot with the back of her sleeve. Looking back up like a weak and wounded little bird she bit her bottom lip. "He sick, please... help," she pleaded in a meek voice. Glancing over towards Jack she heard him and nodded but kept talking after Ash introduced himself. "Da, friends of Thana. Navy girl, um.. please....help." Her voice was even meeker than before.


Temperature: 89F (32C)
Humidity: Fucking High (Around 99%) - Raining off and on all day
Wind Speed: 7 MPH (11 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: About 66% covered with thick dark clouds

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Spots quirked a brow at the girls answer and plea before Ash introduced himself. She didn't act like she heard anything else, her eyes staying fixed on the group in front of her. "Young. Don't even want to know how you survived this long," Spots said before glancing over her shoulder towards Maddog who was looking straight at Ash as he introduced himself.

The man pulled his cigar from between his lips. "Same zone," was all he said before looking over at Wayne and Hunter. "Man has a point," he added before shoving the cigar back into his mouth and keeping it there as he gripped it with his teeth. "Dusty, radio. Alpha Team."

"Rodger that," Dusty said as he righted himself in his seat. "Hummingbird to M.C., Hummingbird to M.C.," he said into the mic that was on his headset. "Orders from Double O, reroute Alpha south to second. Yes sir. Yes sir, awaiting," Dusty said before giving Maddog a thumbs up from his seat.

"Alright, anymore cockroaches that need to come out of the woodwork do so now," Panama bellowed and his voice carried easily as he leaned out of the chopper. Repeating the message in various directions before hunkering back down on the gun he seemed to be in charge of.

Dusty looked over towards Maddog and held up both hands, showing ten fingers. The elder man nodded but didn't move from his spot. "Listen up, we have inbound. Now whether this is back up or transport is up to you. I am Col. Maddoc Martin, Operations Officer. You may call me Double O or Maddog," he said as he looked over towards Ash before continuing. "You will hand over all supplies, weapons, ammunition, and the like. You will board the truck when it arrives. If you do this without issue you will be taken to Camp Mexico Beach and be given food and lodging under quarantine. You will have a thorough medical and skills evaluation. If the General deems you fit, you will be given the chance to remain in safety behind our walls. If not, you will be given your things and sent on your way. Understood?

"We have a doctor, we can get the little one taken care of," Spots said in the direction of the group but it was clear that she was speaking to Tatiana.

"Time to nutt up or shut up folks," Panama chimed in with a grin.

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So far they hadn't been getting shot at by any clever VC waiting for the imperialist Americans to walk into their trap, so that meant so far so good. Alexander still hoped that his gut was on his side on this one, that this wasn't any well-laid trap at all but a genuine rescue. Had been plenty of oppertunities where he had been wrong, really fucked up the situation FUBAR for others and himself. So as he limped forward like the crippled Vet he was on his pegleg, he quickly said a few words to God.

The duck was too good an oppertunity to not enjoy though, and coming up beside Thalia while she struggled with little plastic toy stuck harder than a Chicago winter in December, he slowed down and couldn't help but shoot her a satisfied smile. "Shut the duck up; we got bigger birds to rib!" It was all in good jest though, and beside he wasn't alone in the fun with Manny and Bea laughing too. The helicopter was still slowing down, and possibly loud enough to drown the duck out. Fucking duck.

Alexander stopped for a moment to take a quick good look around while they still were in the clear. Probably. He didn't see anything, but in the distance the old vet could hear someone talking. No, not talking; shouting. If Sergeant Jackson had been alive and well, he wouldn't put it past him to be the one behind the commotion...and he really wouldn't have wanted to see if it was true then. Two voices, shouting something like...This felt like Army or something. "Sounds like there might have been others flocking to the Huey already. Those guys aren't joking around, are they? If they're the real deal, I haven't been so glad to see the Army my whole life."

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Nigel "Hadrian" kept advancing with Erika, shooting her a thankful smile as she noted she got his back. Of the three survivors he were with, she was the one he felt the safest with; mostly verbally, Hank and Wayne could keep his back safe physically, but were no strangers to using their pathos in more creative ways as each day passed. "Hadrian" kept silent at first as Erika introduced their group to the helicopter people. It went well actually, to a surprise. Not that that lasted any long.

Before he could open his own mouth, Hank had managed to steal the stage in front of him and once again hammer through his 'beloved' nickname. "Sportacus". Soon Wayne had joined the bandwagon, the two friends of questionable sanity indulging themselves in the verbal gladiatorial combat that had become his life with them. Nigel "Hadrian" just gave the two of them a look of annoyance, breathing in heavily and trying his best not to scould them like the over-confident teenage students they were. Like Jesus Christ of Nazaret said himself, "Turn the other cheek." "...praebe alteram maxillam..."

He wondered how many cheeks he had grown since he first met them.

As he looked at the soldier standing between them and the chopper, he listened to the words the chopper people shouted out. Kittens? This world really had gone to Hell and beyond. Nigel "Hadrian" listened to the order - yes, an order, like he was in the Army or something. Which he sort of had, just a replication of an ancient one. Handing over their supplies and weapons, go with them and possibly get within a safe zone? It could have been a trick, a clever Greek play to fool them into an ambush. But as he thought about it, really cranked the words of the man called "Maddog", he couldn't help but feel that his words were true. It wasn't a threat, but an genuine offer.

"And afterwards, what then, Maddog? Will our belongings be returned to us if we are deemed fit and we wish to stay? Sir." "Hadrian" shouted back as a question, visibly patting the sheathed sword by his side as he stood with Erika and Hank. He did want safety, but he preferred to keep his own sword and other gear if he could. He had made it all himself after all, and in more cases than not a sword and shield was better than any gun. And while he was at it, he gave another annoyed look at Hank.

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Riley made sure that Amelia remained very close to her, as she eyed the man named Maddog as she looked at Ashton nodding ever so slightly towards him. She decided to but her revolver back into the holster she had on her, as she listened to Ashton as he spouted off some military lingo that she didn't really know or understand. Riley still couldn't help but be suspicious but if this group had been really well stocked and then they would be safe behind walls once more. She eyed Jamie seeing the little baby sneeze feeling bad for the little guy taking care of him from time to time as well was tough.

Then the pilot on the orders of the man spoke over the radio which she didn't really understand the military sounding lingo either before Maddog spoke again. She raised an eyebrow and looked over towards Ashton, they were to turn in all their weapons and supplies to them and go to a supposed safe zone. "Are you sure about this Ashton?" Riley whispered towards him, she wasn't fond of letting go of any of her things, but she would follow Ashton regardless she wasn't questioning him Riley just wasn't sure what to think of this group of if they were another Eden again.

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Erica just face palmed herself, at both Wayne and Hank and shook her head slightly as much as she trusted Hank more than Wayne both of them weren't really making things better. As Erica looked at Nigel for a moment as she shouldered her shotgun over her shoulder, and ran a hand through her hair. She started to think just going their separate ways once they got out of the swamp was preferable as Erica looked at Wayne mentioning a duck. "It was probably all in your head." Erica said as she looked at the group before her, and noticed the orange tabby cat running between Wayne's legs and scampered off to the other group.

Hadrian did have a good question as well. "If we are accepted into your group, what would you expect from us?" Erica asked, the last group she had been apart of ended up dying rather quickly due to another group and a storm also made sure it was pretty much destroyed as well shortly after. Erica wasn't sure what both Hank and Wayne would do, maybe Wayne would actually get sober if he was allowed in the group as well.

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A lot seemed to occur all at once. The first thing that Ash noticed was a remarkable piece of survivor skill use flowing from Tatiana; the sudden change in demeanor and shift to meek, helpless tones from moments before when she was calm and borderline dangerous. He had to hand it to the woman, she was good at this. And scratch borderline, she was someone to watch out for. The barest element of pride flickered in the back of Ash's mind as he considered that she was on their side. Come to think of it, everyone he was with had proven themselves time and time again. As much as he wished that others were still alive and with him, kicking serious ass as only his people could, he knew that these people, his people, were a force of nature given intelligent purpose. He was genuinely proud of these fellow survivors.

The erstwhile Captain turned his head to address his fellow Newnanites (if such a term was even applicable anymore), stating flatly and with clear voice, "This was the objective. One year, four months - couple of days. Find each other, find Mexico Beach. I know it's pure faith right now and it goes against your instincts, but this is where we are. What they're asking of us isn't so different from what we asked other people to do." Ash took two steps forward and set down his pack. His rifle and machete followed. Though he felt a little exposed out in the world without the means to defend himself, Ash understood the necessity of leading by example in this instance. "If it doesn't work out here, we thank them and be on our merry way. There's plenty of Florida to go around. Right, Colonel?" He looked in the direction of the man, hoping for some sort of validation to his statement.

The second that the statement left his lips, Ash was greeted by a sight that was more surreal than anything else. It was a fuzzy orange tomcat, seemingly none the worse for wear, making a beeline for him from behind the chopper. Confusion hit him for a second before he recognized the markings on the animal. "Noooo..." he said in pure disbelief. Kneeling, he allowed the cat to run right up to him and jump into his arms, purring loudly enough to be noticed over the helicopter. Ash let out a genuine laugh, followed by, "Schrody? Holy shit, is that you, Schrödinger?" Obviously, he didn't expect the little guy to answer. He did give a sort of response in the form of an excited sounding, "Meow!", though the interpretation from Cat to English might be met with a barrier. The cat, having re-introduced himself, stepped away from Ash and walked over to Tatiana, perfectly satisfied to rub against her legs.

"I really hope they allow pets." remarked Ash, with the first signs of mirth he'd demonstrated in a long time.

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God damn duck. Yes, it was stuck to her foot, and yes, it was making noise that she found so personally irritating right then that she was giving consideration to voluntarily losing another limb just to rid herself of it. The comments didn't help too much, either. Sure, they meant nothing by it. But it just wasn't in their social dynamic to forgive and move along without some sort of clap back. "Oh, ha fucking ha guys. Real laugh riot. You do know I spit in your mouthes while you're asleep, right?" She raised her eyebrows and nodded twice to emphasize, "Right?" Holstering her weapon, Thalia reached down and ripped the tape-covered bath toy from her shoe. She stamped down on the ground hard, glad to note that it didn't quack. Not once. "And no, I don't need your help disarming a rubber duck, thanks." This last bit was to Bea.

As it turned out, so was the following subject change: "This looks like a pickup and we're close to Mexico Beach. I think this is Navy's people. If it's bad, I've got the best shot at leading some of them off and disappearing." On the one hand, Thalia thought enough of Beatrice as their de facto squad leader to let her know directly what she intended. On the other hand, getting a thumbs-up first would have been polite. Equal amounts of uncharacteristic impulsiveness and protective tactic were at play. Beatrice still had full use of all of her limbs, making her more valuable to the others, Alexander had to hobble about on a slab of wood for a leg, and Manny was a guy in the autumn years of his natural life. If the situation was good and shiny, then she'd need to make sure that their ride stuck around long enough for everyone in her group to get there. Thalia seemed the logical choice.

She took off at a run, at least at first. Covering ground was the priority, and maintaining a one way line of sight was another. Thalia kept the sharp end of her homemade prosthesis back behind her, knowing full well that in the event of a stumble, painful things could happen. t didn't occur to her that she still had the duck attached to her hand until she was halfway to her goal, all the while letting loose a torrent of ...mmkwack squeakee... ...mmkwack squeakee.... God Damn Duck, indeed. The concept of stealth pretty much pointless then, Thalia shuffled her shield strap over to her shoulder in case it was needed quickly, and strode forward openly. It bothered her that a piece of rubberized plastic covered with adhesive was the deciding factor in a life or death strategy. As she moved closer, Thalia began to see that there were more people than she could detect from further up the road. About double. Her pace slowed as she came up to the scene. There was no hiding now, running would be difficult. This was not the best idea she ever had.

A sharp voice sounded from one of the groups, in clear, authoritarian voice. "I know you." Thalia's head jerked in the direction of the voice. She saw who it belonged to, and while the guy looked passably familiar, she couldn't place the face. But if one thought about the number of living people still left in the world, that should be enough to promote fight, flight, or friendship. The man didn't seem to be going for any of those options, however. "I know who made that shield, too. She was a friend. How do you have it?" The man's voice sounded familiar, too. Slowly, her mind began to piece things together. A look of clarity hit Thalia, and for a moment, nothing else existed but her and this man's group of people. Not the helicopter, not the group of older men (and one woman), nothing.

"Wait! You'ah Ash Holloway - Navy's Ash?" she exclaimed, pointing with her one whole arm, despite the still present duck. "Those people, they'ah from Newnan? You got them out?" Her Boston was acting up again. It happened.

"You're part of the Eden team?" He sounded hopeful.

Thalia looked behind her and called up the road. "Hey, we're cool!" she exclaimed, waving them down to her. Turning back to Ash, "Yah, we got a lot to talk about." Realizing that they weren't the most influential people on the ground there, she flashed a forced smile in the direction of the helicopter crew and gave them a friendly little wave, duck and all.

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This situation was beginning to look very cozy for everyone but THEM. Yet another group was emerging from the surrounding area, and just lo and behold, they seemed to know each other. Or at least acquainted with each other well enough to start something close to civil conversation. And while Hank couldn't speak for anyone else, he didn't have a single clue who any of these people were. It looked like a safe bet that if there wasn't enough room on this magical truck ride, they would be the ones left behind. Well, not the first time. Probably not the last, either.

Hank walked to keep pace with Wayne. Sink or swim, it would be with this guy. And Wayne probably stood a better chance with someone running blocker for his social interactions. "The good news there, buddy," he began, nodding in the direction of the newly arriving girl with the rubber ducky stuck to her, "...you definitely heard a duck. I don't know if its good eating, though. You'd need to ask the girl with the knife for a hand. I swear, kids these days..."

The remainder of Hank's concern was awash in a blur of questions from his group mixed with hands on weapons that, considering the situation, didn't strike him as being overly cautious. "Hey, you know what guys? I could have sworn I heard something about 'medical evaluation' and 'walls'. Not to mention food, which I did have once and would like to try again. Now, if he wants me to fork over my shovel and mow a few lawns, I'm perfectly fine with that. Sooo... I'm going to listen to the nice man with the helicopter, handheld radio, and gunnery mount full-auto 50 cal, and politely put my stuff in a nice, neat pile for Mr. 20/20 here, which was the only reason my good friend Sportacus had his hand on his weapon, too. Right?"

Strangely, Hank's thoughts crept back to a time not too horribly far after the outbreak, when they were still slowly ambling their way down the various states, trying to get a handle on things. He wasn't sure who came up with the idea of doing what every other cop did at the end of their career and retiring to Florida, but it seemed like an okay enough thing to do. Before that, they pursued odder, albeit possibly viable alternatives that just didn't work out. "This reminds me, Wayne, of that Amish community that kicked us out, up in Pennsylvania. If these people want us to join a prayer circle and get rid of everything that has a zipper, it could be a deal breaker. Still, I kind of hope old Yedidiah Planksander and his cadre of barn raisers pulled through okay. His wife made a mean plate of mashed potatoes."

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Thalia didn't take Manny's humor very well. He found himself funny but the spitting in the mouth comment seemed a bit too much. So he got the idea. Now he wondered if she actually did spit in their mouths while they slept, and if so, why? Just for something shocking to say later? No matter the reason, Manny got the idea. He moved up a little more, staying a bit behind the group not really sure what to think. On one hand, new people and maybe new allies. On the other hand new people and maybe another Eden group that would throw him in chains and lock him in a cage. That didn't appeal to him, but a decent meal and friendly faces did.

Manny kept close to the rest of the group, though was still hesitant to get too close to anyone out of personal fear. Alexander had been speaking about other people. Surely he was talking about the helicopter people right? But if so how many could there be? With how the human population has been drastically decreasing over the last five and a half years, what would that mean for any communities that could form? What if these people weren't from a community? Granted how could a group support a helicopter without a home base of some kind. Or maybe they found it while running away from something, but what? Manny would follow along with whatever the group did. He couldn't risk going alone again, and he trusted the judgment of his team members.

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What followed for Hunter was a series of comments all to familiar with him from the early days of the end of the world. Maddog explained that the choice to walk away had been cut off. He ordered them to turn over weapons, ammo, and other supplies. Reminded Hunter way too much of evacuations he had to help preform in the early days of the chaos. He also remembered that 5 people against 50 all armed was a nearly impossible fight. But five people against 50 with no weapons? Hell, two people could hold on those odds. That is what worried Hunter. Hunter was ready to decline the offer, even if it meant he had to shoot his way out.

But then he heard food. God food sounded so good right now... He hadn't eaten in a while and Izibell also would be struggling with her lack of food as well if she didn't get anything soon. She started getting antsy about something but it wasn't her usual thing, so Hunter brushed it off as she found a squirrel or something. Hunter did what he could to keep her calm, and she listened, still keeping her attention on everything going on. Hunter mostly kept his attention on Maddog. "What reason do we have to trust you? You and your people clearly have firepower. Once we turn over our gear what's to stop you from gunning us all down. Your word? I want to trust you. I really do, but the only thing I have to go off is the fact that you haven't shot us yet. But you could be worried about what so many people could do while they are armed to the teeth." Hunter is open to turning over his gear, he is mostly worried about being stuck on the opposite end of the barrel of a bad situation. If he had a smaller pistol he might consider keeping that hidden. Though explaining away the random .45 caliber ammunition might be hard. Part of him wished he still had a decent knife, but as of right now he lacked one.

Hunter gripped his rifle, he wanted to trust these people, but he had seen what had happened to refugees who have over stayed their welcome. He had helped kick them out. The ones that survived. Was he ready to face what he had done? As he thought about it, he decided he was. This was a chance to put himself through the events he had forced others to go through, and he might face worst case scenario like he had done to so many others. Granted, if things went wrong he wouldn't go out without a fight. "If I go with you, what will happen to Izibell here? Because we're not the types you should separate." He said trying to sound serious. Though he was still a boy compared to many that were around, and it showed. He was scared, he knew what would happen if things went wrong. He was scared what would happen to the only family he had right now.

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Apparently Wayne didn't give two flying fucks about the who's or the why's or the wherefore's. "I don't give a good god damn if they want me to smear plum jam on my body and run into the ocean naked singing the Star Spangled Banner. Food and Lodging, that is what is known as fringe benefits. I'm going. Bastards could have taken us with that gun by now," Wayne laughed as he started pulling off his scarf and coat and anything else on his ass. Shoving shit into his pack as he did so.

Glancing around he seemed to look in the air. "Oh yeah, imagine shitting on a toilet and using something other than leaves and blue unicorns to wipe my ass. Hey, it's possible. A man can dream," he added before looking over towards Hank. "I'm going. And hopefully these fuckers will stop being stupid and delaying things so we can get moving before some face eaters make their way out of the fucking wood work because of all the fucking noise," he added as he picked up his bag and tossed it over towards the helicopter.

Spreading his arms he looked at Maddog, it seemed he was offering the man a chance to pat him down. "Sign me up Double O 7. I don't care if this place turns out to be fucking prison. I'm homeless and shit is constantly trying to kill me out here. I'll take a fucking chance." He turned around slowly and gave a shit eating grin in Hanks direction. Seemed the PB to his mother fucking J was in as well and ready to sign up. It didn't seem like Wayne cared if he got anything back if they were allowed to stay. Small price to pay for food and walls.

As far as what was expected of them if they could stay, Wayne didn't care at all either. He meant when he said he would smear plum jam all over his boy, shit he would roll around in a fire ant hill to sleep without having to trade out watches constantly. These fucker had a god damn heli. They had to be doing something write and didn't look like they would have to do any barn raises either. "Fuck yeah them were go po-ta-toes. Boiled, mashed, put in stews. Fuck yeah."

Looking over at the kid Wayne rolled his eyes so hard they nearly got stuck. "Holy fuck balls, I thought I had a death wish but I doff my cap to you fucko, if I had a hat. Let's get all high and mighty like these fuckers should trust you or me or any of us and slap the man named Maddog across the face by trying to get him to standout here and put all your doubts to rest because you wanna be tucked in at night with your poochy pooch. Man offers you a meal, you don't tell him you want a gluten free vegan diet ice tofu fuck salad with kale. You say thank you. Repeat after me. T h a n k y o u."

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Tatiana listened to the man. Martin, the man's last name was Martin. He was obviously military. He was taking them to the same place they were trying to get to. Even a fool could put together that this man was probably related to Thana in some way. Granted none of that mattered to her right then. She heard the word doctor. Looking at the woman, Tatiana seemed to have a hopeful expression cross her features. "Doctor?" she said in a thick accent.

Nodding she slowly stepped forward and held out her weapon. Dropping it to the ground and kicking it over to Spots. It was only a knife but it was a sign. Jack had grabbed the rest of their stuff so she could carry Jamie unhindered. "Um, this?" she asked in a timid voice. She was patting the carrier she had Jamie in. She didn't know if they would let her keep it or if she would have to hand that over as well and just carry Jamie. She was not about to argue with these people or ask too many questions.

She had been brought into a settlement before. The drill always seemed the same. You found out when you got there. You didn't stay out in the open too long to ask questions. The louder it was the quicker you moved. It was that simple. You didn't stop and ask questions to people when there were other dangers out there. You couldn't talk to the dead even if they were walking. You couldn't plead with them not to kill you and try to eat you. At least with humans, even if they could be crueler, you stood a chance with to change their mind. So for Tatiana, it didn't matter. She take her chances with the devil she didn't know. She was tired of dealing with the ones she did. Sure she had questions, she had tons of questions but she wasn't asking them now. She wanted to get Jamie out from being in the open.

Looking over at Ash she let out a nervous breath as the cat rubbed against her thighs. Looking down she nodded at the orange tabby. That cat had been with her off and on since Newnan fell, it was one of the few reasons she was able to keep going. There was a lot about that cat she loved like her own family. In the weirdest way she swore the thing could understand her on some level. "Good kitty," she said before glancing back over at Spots and waiting to see what happened. Ash was in, so she was in. Shit she was in even if Ash wasn't. Jamie came first and this was a chance, she'd deal with the rest later.


Temperature: 89F (32C)
Humidity: Fucking High (Around 99%) - Raining off and on all day
Wind Speed: 7 MPH (11 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: About 66% covered with thick dark clouds

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The orange tabby meowed as it rubbed up against Tatiana's legs before striding back over, right past Spots and meowed again. Looking around Panama quirked a brow as the cat jumped right into the helicopter and curled up on the seat Spots had been occupying. "Well ain't that some shit." Panama chuckled a bit and shook his head before turning his attention back to Sportacus. "I have a feeling you're a bit of a bitch," he said looking over at Hadrian. "Aren't ya?" There was a long pause. "Sport."

"Now now Panama. People got a right to stand offish. Even stupid on some levels," the elder said as he motioned towards Hadrian patting his weapon as if it was a threat and then the kid. Maddog chewed his cigar a bit before pulling it from his teeth. "We got a lot of people here. Lot of questions. Little time. You will get debriefed on entry to the walls. You want answers, ask the General when we get there," was all he answered.

Spots walked over towards Tatiana slowly and started to check the carrier. "No worries girl, just let me check it, and yes the cat is fine. Will have to go in quarantine as well for a bit but we do have pets. Dusty over there has a hamster," she said with a chuckle as she checked the carrier, running her hands over it. "Hey there little one, ain't seen someone your size in a while," she said with a grin as she looked over the top of her glasses at the baby. "What's the babe's name?" she asked.

"Jamie," Tatiana said quietly as she rubbed the back of her sons head gently to try to keep him calm.

"Carrier is clear," Spots said over her shoulder.

Maddog stood there and nodded. "Good," he said before glancing towards Dusty who held up two fingers. Turning he eyed the kid with a dog. "Nothing I can say will earn trust. Dog goes in quarantine alone until cleared of disease by the doc," he said flatly before addressing the group in general. "Transport is two out. Toss your stuff if you are coming. We load quickly and move," he said before shoving the cigar in his mouth and walking towards Wayne.

"Shit ain't turned over by load up, you're left behind like Jesus said fuck you in the second coming," Panama called out as a follow up.

Maddog eyed Wayne for a minute before giving him a quick pat down. Reaching into the mans pocket he pulled out a baggie of drugs. Wayne just smiled and shrugged. "Got any other problems you wanna tell me about?" the man asked as he ran his fingers over the pills in the bag and took a look at them.

"See a blue flying unicorn snorting a line of coke off your dome right now," Wayne stated frankly.

What Wayne said didn't seem to phase him. He just smirked a bit. "I've seen worse," Maddog said before turning and tossing the bag into the pile of stuff that was building before heading over to Hank. "Cop?" Maddog asked towards Hank. (Perception Check - 20)

There was the sound of a large engine that started to come from north of the group on 71. Slowly a small convoy of vehicles came around the bend and pulled to a halt behind the group formerly known as Newnan. There was a large semi with no trailer in the front, a short school bus on monster wheels behind it, and then a smaller truck with a mounted gun behind that. One couldn't see the drivers in the vehicles. Light made it impossible as did the dirt. There was one person visible at the rear truck on the gun but they were covered from head to toe so you couldn't see their face behind the head wrap and goggles.

The passenger side door swung open on the semi and a rough looking man stepped down, with an assault rifle in his hand. He eyed the group in front of him until Spots spoke up. "Atlas, over there," she said motioning with her head in the direction of Maddog on the other side of the helicopter. He nodded and started walking that way with a long stride. No one else got out of their machines.

(As Panama said, time to nut up or shut up. Alpha team has arrived. If you are turning over things, do it now. If your character decides to keep anything - pm me what and where on their body. This includes ANYTHING not clothing on your back.)

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Jack could have sworn his heart ceased beating, waiting for the judgment on their baby boy. If Jamie couldn't come to the settlement or was threatened in any way, he fully intended to grab his kid and his wife and get out of dodge. He'd rather die with them than live without them. There would be no more separations. Wherever they were, no matter what, would be where Jack would find himself. He then let out a breath and felt his heart restart. They had a doctor there who could help Jamie, make sure that he got better.

Then, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly - the damn cat was alive! "How the hell did he even end up here..." he whispered, the question mostly posed to himself. He doubted that Schrodinger would suddenly have developed the ability to answer it, at any rate. He was going to comply with their requests. His heart ached a bit at the thought of surrendering everything - he had ballet slippers and a copy of Jamie's footprints on him, those things had sentimental value - but he figured that these people would give them back. And as long as Jamie and Tatiana were okay, then he was content.

Jack made sure his safety was on the gun, before he set it down gently, along with his backpack. He then set down Jamie's bag. "Uh, this one...It has the little guy's stuff in it," he explained. He kept his wedding ring on his finger. He stood next to his wife and little one, hoping for the best.

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"Does that make us spit sisters?" Beatrice quipped to Thalia, hearing about her supposed escapades of spitting in their mouths. She then nodded at Thalia's plan. If it was Navy's people, then they could finally get those who needed a more permanent location to shelter. She half wondered if the supposed dead woman would turn up here, having made her way to Mexico Beach on her own. If Thana was alive, Beatrice couldn't blame her for leaving them - they were more of a liability than a help. She could blame her, however, for not having enough inner strength to be honest about it.

She then sighed a bit as Thalia ran off, duck still attached. Apparently Thalia did need help when it came to disarming a rubber duck. "Come on," Beatrice then said, as Thalia shouted that it was safe. She walked with the two men down the road, going at a fast pace but not too quick for Alex to have problems keeping up. Thalia had run ahead and that was fine, but she didn't want one of the guys to get left behind and end up in some sort of tight spot.

Beatrice then recognized Ash whom Thalia had run up to - the leader of the Newnan settlement. Some people had made it out of that disaster alive, then. She had been almost certain that the casualties would have been massive. It seemed she had been wrong - or at least, partially correct. There were some survivors.

"This is our best shot for group survival," Beatrice then told the others. She set down her bow and her pack, surrendering all of her supplies and weapons and whatnot - even the O's. She would get Thalia and the boys to safety. Whether she would stay with them after that... Well, she wasn't too certain.

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Alexander resisted the urge to throw back a witty comment to Thalia, though coming up with a good comeback along the lines of "So that's why I taste like shit/O's ever since we met?". It felt almost like when he was Thalia's age, young and full of life, ready with sharp words and quick action to get something done. Holding his tounge and moving forward, he almost wished himself back to that time. But then again, he didn't. Alexander did however think about what Thalia said just before she made off down the road. "Let's hope it's her fellow Blue Water Navies, would make most sense. Not many that can operate a Huey like that." The old veteran commented on the possibility of it being Thana's people. That would make things so much easier for them all...Could Thana be there?

Mugsy the One-Legged ass-kicker continued to limp forward on his good leg, pegleg and crutch a good distance behind Thalia, when he heard her talking excitedly up ahead with someone...the chopper-people? It didn't register with him at first, but quickly his brain went into overdrive at the exclaimation "Navy's Ash". That rang a bell louder than a Phantom dropping bombs over your sorry meatheads, and even if he couldn't see who she was talking to, Thalia's following All Clear was enough for Alexander to quicken his pace alongside Beatrice. "That's one of your guys, right?" Alexander quietly questioned Beatrice on the move, but grew silent as they came closer to Thalia. Who where they, and why were they here? It was difficult to say, or even make an educated guess about anything at this point. He hadn't gotten enough time to look at any of those people or the Huey itself, so he couldn't make any assumptions about it being Army or Navy.

They were told to surrender all their equipment and belongings to the guys in the chopper, much like NVA POWs or suspected VCs were. Alexander knew the drill, and followed Beatrice's lead as he surrendered the stuff he carried; Hammer, the box of nails, the battery, painkiller, the amazing mug saying "You're lucky I only have one food, or I'd be kicking your ass now." The only things he kept was the rosary wrapped around his wrist and the pegleg. What was he going to do without the crutch? Wack them with his redneck-pegleg? "Give me a hand, will ya Manny?"

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What made Hadrian grind his gear the most in that situation? It had to be either A, that they weren't being given any answers as to what would happen to their belongings and more specific about that if and when they made it to whatever and wherever their base was, or B, that both Wayne and Hank had some very solid points to argue for in the face of the odds. The helicopter was more than armed enough to deal with Nigel "Hadrian's" Roman sword, more than he would ever like to admit, and if they had wanted to just rob them that galley could have set sail long ago. Not to mention that sleeping somewhere properly fortified was appealing.

Nigel "Hadrian" gave Hank one last dejected look, before looking forward again at the helicopter, its crew and the others surrounding it, even the duck-girl...This was becoming more of a comedy than a tragedy in Greek fashion. Now the guy known as Panama was going to start calling him Sportacus, wasn't that just one more joy in life? But he couldn't argue against the older man with his weapon, and resumed the usual look he gave students that annoyed him just that tiny amount too little to reprimand them. But he complied.

"As they say; When in Rome..."

Hadrian took a careful and slow few steps forward, making sure not to do anything sudden as he began to unbuckle his greaves and vambraces. Even Vercingetorix knew when to put down his weapons and submit. He didn't like it, but he didn't have to. Wayne and Hank were going it seemed, and it was best to stick together. Even if they hadn't watched anything but the History Channel. Then followed the rest of his belongings; his satchels containing much of his belongings, the binoculars, the shield, and lastly his sheathed sword. The last thing this called for was a parade. Hearing the sound of engines at the other side of the helicopter and people, Nigel "Hadrian" gave a look at the soldier standing between them and the Huey, really hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid. He looked again at Erika and spoke to her, holding his hands out to the sides to allow Maddog to search him as well. "I think we can only expect the unexpected right now. Lets hope for the best."

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"Alright then, if you say so.." Riley said softly as she started to take out her revolver and started to remove all of the bullets inside of it, before slipping the gun back into it's holster. She knelt down and started to put the holster itself inside of her pack, and made sure her Smith & Wesson wasn't loaded either and removed the bullet in the chamber as well. Setting the empty gun back inside of her pack as well. Riley looked up at Amelia as her girlfriend started to do the same thing as well putting her things away and handed them over as well. Riley took a moment and sighed slightly, removing the cross that was on Chloe's body before she died and slipped it into the pack as well, and slid her pack over towards the helicopter as well.

Riley then stopped and stared at the orange cat, who she didn't think would even see again either as the cat ran up to Ashton and Tatiana as well. "Never thought i'd see the cat again." Riley said smiling slightly and watched Shordy bolting off towards the helicopter as the others started to do the same thing as well it seems. Riley stopped and stared at Ashton as he addressed some newcomers as well, raising an eyebrow seeing Thalia there. Riley didn't recognize the woman, nor the other two men either but she did recognize Beatrice she didn't even think she made it out of Newnan alive.

Riley started to hear some engines going off, and quickly turned around seeing three vehicles driving towards them seeing the truck reminded her slightly of the Hordebuster a little bit just no trailer. Looking over her shoulder at Ashton. "Seems like someone knows their way around some vehicles." Riley said as she noticed the short bus with the massive monster truck like wheels, as much as she thought about getting on maybe a bad idea they had walls it seems and they had a safe haven of some kind as well, and started to make her way towards the bus along with Amelia. Looking at the guy named Atlas who came out of the trailerless truck, expecting him to do some kind of pat down before clearing so she extended her arms out to the sides.

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"I've been trying to get Wayne here to get clean the last few weeks since I met him." Erica said towards Maddog as he searched Wayne and pulled out his bag of drugs, which made her roll her eyes slightly. She eyed the man with the dog for a moment, Erica could easily understand his concern about a heavily armed group. But it was a leap of faith, either he would set his gear aside or be left behind it was ultimately his choice after all. Erica turned towards Nigel and shrugged slightly as she took off her backpack, and removed her handgun and took out the clip as well as the bullet in the chamber setting them inside of her backpack.

"It's a leap of faith." Erica said as she took off her shotgun, and removed the shotgun shells as well inside before setting the ammo inside the pack. And then took her knife out and slipped it into her pack as well, and last was her photo of her family looking at the worn out photo, as well as her old detective badge and slipped them inside as well. Erica then stood up and handed in her stuff into the pile as well, seeing the vehicles pulling up on the other side of the road. "That's our ride i'm guessing." Erica said looking at Nigel, before heading forward.

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Was this it? Were they about to be in a new safe zone? Manny loved the idea of being around other people, and letting those who needed it recover in the ways they needed to. And it would give Manny a chance to help people in ways he hasn't been able to in a long time. Though, he was concerned too with this as well. His last community he was apart of had torn itself apart... leaving Manny with a choice to die with them... or leave. And now here he was, ready for another group to join up. Manny had caught up with everyone watching the helicopter and the occupants interact. But... there were so many people. Thalia seemed to know some of them, which was promising. Beatrice seemed to trust these new people enough, and Manny arrived just in time to hear these new terms.

Turn over your gear and supplies, go in a waiting and checkpoint phase, then more will be decided from there. Seemed pretty standard compared to most of the groups he had been apart of. Manny took his bag off and made sure all of his gear was accounted for. It wasn't much, but hopefully that might change, or he might not need it anymore. He pulled the shells out of his shirt pocket and he made sure to pull the shell out of his shotgun. Even though this wasn't His shotgun, it was similar in a lot of ways. Reminded him of his life before the end of the world, and how useful his old gun was when the world first started going to shit. It had failed to save so many others, but Manny it served just fine. One shell at a time. "I agree. This is our best chance." Even if they knew little about these people. He didn't think they were raiders. Seems too costly to just use up a helicopter to take what little a small group of travelers might have.

Who knows, maybe Manny would meet someone he knew before the outbreak. "Do you guys think they are in a big enough group to have a census? To help people find others they once knew? Or do you think it's small enough that we can just talk and find everyone really fast and figure out things like that?" Manny wouldn't mind seeing people he used to know, and explain the better moments of his life in recent years. In theory the chances of something like that happening were slim, but they were still not far from where he used to live. And he had met a lot of people as a dentist, and met almost as many at the shooting range he was apart of. Part of him wondered what the chances of meeting someone he had worked with would be. Alexander had asked if Manny could help him get around until their rides arrived. "I can help you out yeah, what would I do without my fellow baby boomer? Talk about home computers all day? Or about the next new trend? No we're tied at the hip now Alexander." Manny would help Alexander to the trucks when they arrived. Until then, turning over his bag full of gear, and his now unloaded shotgun.

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The balding man that spoke to Hunter seemed to be a very trusting person. He made note that if these people were hostiles that he would use that one as a shield right before whispering something maniacal like Glad I asked for the vegan meal. Chances are he wouldn't, the point of not being shot dead on sight was a bonus, but he didn't take the comments well. Hunter made another note to keep tabs on this one incase he was a problem later. Seemed like he had potential to be a problem. Hunter was tempted to decline the offer, though the idea of starving another day was a huge influence on his choice. The idea of Izibell starving anymore was also a major choice in his decision making. Even if it meant the two would be separated... He hated that idea, and he was worried Izibell wouldn't react well. But she was trained well before Hunter met her, she was a smart girl who could handle herself well. Though he was tempted to be resistant more when the balding man was pushing for Hunter to say thank you in his... Special way. Hunter wondered if the rifle in his hands would be over kill on taking him down, or if he could just get close and dirty with his sawed off shotgun letting the buckshot do it's work. He did a slight laugh at this thought, the first time he has smiled since the groups met. "They'll get a thank you when I know for sure they are what they say they are." His grin stayed, laughing at his own internal thoughts.

In the end, he knew what he had to do, and it wasn't go out guns blazing which poor suckers he would take with him. Hunter took the sawed off shotgun and his box of ammo from his back pack and he set it on the ground. He then put his finger on the release for the pump and started ejecting the shells one at a time into the ammo box until it was empty. Once it was he put the gun back in his bag, then he unloaded the M4 rifle by taking out the magazine and making sure the chamber was cleared, then he put both magazines into the box as well. He did the same to his pistol, and put his hatchet in his bag. "I'm going to regret this..." he said letting his grin turn to a look of concern. Once all his weapons were unloaded and packed into his bag or attached in some way he set them aside, hoping he didn't get gunned down now that he was disarmed.

Though some of his fears were confirmed... He'd be separated from Izibell. She'd be upset, but she would be able to handle it better then Hunter would. So he made his way to Maddog Izibell by his side. "She's going to get anxious when we get separated. I'll follow along with this for now, but understand, if anything happens to her I will not forget it. But I am..." He was hesitant in his words. Not sure if they were the right ones to say. "I'm going to attempt to trust you and your people. We'll go along with it, and Izibell can go in whatever containment you need to do. Just... be careful with her. She's all I have left." He said, trying to sound as less of an asshole as possible. He knew that was hard, he had a very good resting bitch face. "Do you want me to take her in the truck with me? Or are one of your people going to take her now?" He would follow along with either option, though he wouldn't be pleased about it.