Temperature: 83F (28C)
Humidity: High (Around 73%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 12 MPH (19 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: Overcast

*And now interviews are over and a new can of worms has been opened. Play it true to character because I will be watching.

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Three interviews today, three people until this was all finished. Today they would get some more information on just what CMB was about. Interviews had to be finished first and then reviewed. The General might have been in charge but he wasn't in there constantly with these people, he didn't interview all of them. Notes had to be compared, talks had to be had. If the General had learned anything over his long life it was that one should listen to those that he trusted and knew well. Some more than others. Some just had a knack for being able to read people. Those opinions he took very seriously. Yes, he wanted to help anyone that came asking for it but he had hundreds to watch over. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.

Panama did the escorting today, as he always did. Major was back in the room, Wolverine heading out now that she was back at her post. Checkbook however remained. Thumbing through records and chewing her gum, popping a bubble every so often. When Ash came back, her jaw went slightly slack. "Who the fuck made him a punching bag?" she asked in passing as it seemed he wasn't answering any questions, not to anyone directly it seemed until her eyes went to Major. Major just shrugged, not moving. Major rarely reacted to anything, save one event and her eyes went to Tatiana for a minute. Major looked at Tatiana from time to time but less so since the interview than before but she still watched. She just didn't seem to single Tatiana out more than others anymore. That was shifted to another. That was the Frenchman.

The door opened and a man who stood over six feet in height stepped into the room. He looked to be of middle eastern decent. Darker skin with short cut black hair, sprinkled with a few grays, and green brown eyes. He was probably in his late thirties to early forties. A muscular cut build could be seen on his arms as his black t-shirt sleeves stopped. His forearms wore fresh bandages and he had a lime green bracelet on his wrist. A new person for Quarantine it seemed. Thing was, he came in with a new pack. That was different. Maybe he had been taken care of with that before coming in but where was his escort? "Franken," Major said with a nod.

"Major," he said with a nod in a thick Israeli accent. He knew people there? Holding open the door he waited. Maybe his escort was coming in after him? A feminine figure who stood about five foot seven feet tall in combat boots and Navy canvas shorts, a belt around her waist and para ordinance pistol was holstered on her hip came in. His escort? She limped slightly as she walked and there was a large fresh bandage that covered a large portion of her right thigh. She wore a gray t-shirt and a set of dog tags rested around her neck. A lime green band was also on her wrist. No, she was in Quarantine as well. So this made two new comers but the woman was packing. Dark damp hair was tucked back under a cap that wore a silver oak leaf cluster on it. Depending on the branch of service she was either a Lieutenant Colonel, or a full Commander. Considering she was wearing Navy and Gray, chances were she was Navy. Granted only those that had served would know that.

One couldn't see her face at first, that was until she lifted her head. Looking towards the man that Major had addressed as Franken, one could only see the right side of her face. It was horribly scarred. Chin and up beneath the cap, ear to nose, and the right eye was slightly milky. She carried herself every bit the officer right then as she stopped and slowly turned her head, the other side of her face was unmarred and so very familiar. The other eye was clear and blue, the eyes of a Martin. Pulling her cap off she tucked it under her arm and surveyed the room. "Sparrow!" Nikki yelled and dashed towards her.

Franken took a step forward and held a hand out, causing Checkbook to slide on her feet to come to a stop just before she pummeled into him. He didn't say anything but the look in his eyes said to be careful, motioning towards the woman's leg. Slowly, a hand came up and gripped Frankens arm, pushing it down as she stepped forward, a slight limp as she did. He nodded and stepped back. Soon as he did the girl rushed over and hugged the Commander. Wrapping an arm around Nikki, she gave her a small hug before looking at the group. Her eyes drifted to Ash and she nodded slowly to him before looking towards the four she had traveled with for such a long time. She actually knew them more than Ash in a lot of ways. "Hey y'all," she said as she released Checkbook and took a step forward. Standing there and bracing herself for whatever came her way.

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Tatiana sat there on the couch and ran her fingers through her hair. She was okay. The interview the day before had taken a lot out of her but considering it was such a long interview she actually felt okay. Not good or fine but okay. Personally she was good but looking back on what the questions where and what she had said she wondered, if others would be. Especially after what altercation and what she could only assume was a test had happened during the interview. Having Major interview her had been a surprise but as soon as the woman opened her mouth she understood why Major was the one interviewing her. These people had their acts together. Far better than Newnan had had.

Resting the back of her head on the palm of her head she glanced around the room and wondered, how many problems in Newnan wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been so quick to let people in. Granted it wasn't like they were just open gate. People were interviewed, kept under guard, even locked up in a jail cell right off the bat. Hell one had been cuffed in the operating room for running her mouth. So while Newnan had been more lenient in some respects, they were far more harsh in others. The fact this place was still standing and had so many people, they were doing more things right than wrong in her book.

Only three people were left today for their interviews. Two she really wasn't concerned about but the third, Ash, she did worry about. Especially after everything so far and the constant reminders that were being hammered into his psyche. When he left she watched him leave. Her eyes going to the door anytime it opened again. The kid who had berated her on day one came over and started talking. Her eyes going over to him sharply but she didn't move and she listened. Kid was trying but watching him she wondered, was it for her or for him. Could have been either, could have been both. He had signs of both. Sitting there she thought for a moment before speaking. "Ve're good. Do it again, ve von't be," was all she said.

When Ash came back into the room, Tatiana's attention was taken from Hunter and even Jamie. She slowly stood. The man had what was looking like the start of a black eye. Then there was blood. Blood was common out there but in here? During an interview? She looked at Jack slowly and then back at Ash. Watching his movement and more than that, his expression. Walking over to her brother she knelt down and looked closer. Had he snapped? Lost his marbles? Tilting her head to the side she seemed to study him for a minute before looking confused. "You're good, you're actually alright." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He hadn't answered anyone so far and from the look on his face he wasn't going to, not even to her. Whatever the hell had happened. Why the hell he had a black eye or blood on him didn't seem to matter. He was actually good right then. This was not a side of him she had ever seen. As long as she, or anyone else for that matter in Newnan had known him, Ash had never been good. Yet, right now he was.

Tatiana wasn't going to press it. She left Ash alone, tugging on Jack's arm and motioning for him to give Ash some room and some time. As far as she could tell he was fine. It was odd but he was. Backing off she went and sat back down and kept an eye on Jamie, trading off with Jack to go catch him if he ran off. Between glancing towards Ash from time to time and keeping an eye on Jamie, Tatiana didn't take note of most others things occurring in the room. That was until she heard Major speak, greeting someone and she looked over. The man looked like he had seen some action and he the band on his wrist. Then another came in and she slowly stood up. Those scars were bad. Not as bad as her own but on the woman's face. At least Tatiana could hide hers. This woman couldn't.

And the fact he was carrying a weapon made her sit up. What was different about her that allowed her to be with a weapon while in Quarantine? Watching the woman, she seemed familiar and once her face turned so she could see the unscarred side she knew why. Her jaw went tight as her eyes shot to Ash. That explained it. Not the blood, not the black eye, but his change in demeanor. The woman had dog tags on. Looking closely to Ash she noted he was only wearing one set now. Tatiana started laughing, it was just a chuckle at first but then she started cracking up. It was bubbly and bright like she used to laugh as she fell back on the couch. "Ty zadnitsa," she said through the laughter, calling her brother an ass but it was obvious she wasn't mad. She was happy for him. He had got them that was for sure. No wonder he was good. Thana was here.

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Wayne liked the idea that Hank had given a couple of days back. He was still thinking on it now as others went to their interviews. Each time one came back Wayne watched them. Amelia seemed fine but he could smell the cigarette smoke on her even from where he sat. Only other person that had had that smell on them so far was the Preacher. Sure, Maddoc smelled of smoke but there was a big difference between the smell of a cigar and a cigarette. He smirked a bit and shrugged. "Shit I could do with a smoke to so shut up," he said to the air. It was so common when Wayne spoke to no one, it probably wasn't even getting attention anymore.

The mans eyes went to Hunter as he started to approach Lil' Momma as he called her. Wayne looked like he was about to barrel into the man. He was carrying a coffee cup and for all he knew he would try to do something. Wayne half figured the kid was more off his rocker than he was personally and that was saying something. Especially after the way the kid came back the day before from his interview. Some people were obviously having more intense interviews than he had had and much longer. Then the kid spoke and Tatiana replied. It seemed like nothing was going to happen for now and he relaxed a bit but his eyes stayed trained on the kid, just in case.

When Ash came back, Wayne turned his head and quirked a brow. Looking over at Hank and snickering. "Either got his ass kicked or got laid, I can't decide. Maybe it was a BDSM session gone fucking right," Wayne laughed as he leaned forward and watched the man. Wayne just watched the man, this was something new. It had his attention. He wasn't going to ask, others had and been given nothing. Like hell the man would say something to him, unless of course he pushed the right buttons. Granted right then he wasn't trying to push buttons, he was just fucking around and speaking to Hank. And then something in the air. "Bondage you numbnuts," he explained to the air. "You know, handcuffs and whips." Whatever his little invisible buddy said or reacted with caused Wayne to fall out laughing.

Time passed and Wayne was still snickering from time to time over the thoughts that passed through his head. Then two more entered with wrist bands and one was packing heat. Wayne looked over towards Hank. This was something else new. He studied the man and then his eyes went to the woman as he stood back up. The gears in the mans old addled brain started turning. The video, the slap from Tatiana, his voman, the blood, the black eye, the look of relief on the mans face. She was scarred but there was no doubt in his mind that this was the same woman. A slow grin grew on his face until it was a broad bright smile and he chuckled with a snort. "You dog! You did get laid!" he exclaimed through the snickering. Shit, if the man got laid, maybe he would stop brooding around here and Lil' Momma wouldn't have to deck Ash again. Granted after his comments, Lil' Momma might deck him but he was braced for it if she got off couch.

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Amelia was really up for trying to talk and have a nice time with Victor, but he didn't seem to be in quite the talking mood right now, so she just backed off and went back to the place where she was sitting with Riley just a lil ago. People went for their interviews The Thalia woman and also Ash. When Ash returned, he was in a really weird condition, which caused Amelia to be sort of confused as of what had transpired with him. He had a blue eye, nicely blue. He looked like he had lost a fight with Tati again, but this time she kneed him in the face instead. There there was the blood... What the hell were the guards doing for him to end like this? Did he get in a fight with someone? Maybe? Sort of? He wasn't talking, but he sure had a grin on his face. Why was he so... satisfied looking? In the end she just threw a concerned look at Riley who headed off to her own Interview. Luckily her lover returned some time later, in about 45 minutes. With that Amelia let a breath of relief.

So today was the last day more or less. They should get their results soon and see who would leave, who wouldn't and what would happen overall. Amelia would lie if she said that she wasn't worried about this, but she was hoping for the best right now. Still some time passed and new people arrived. They didn't seem in the same get up as the group was when they were accepted, but they were carrying bands that identified them as quarantine folks. Amelia had not paid much attention at first until she spotted a really nasty scar on the woman. She couldn't see the rest of her face, but the scar was something... bad... grotesque... horrible? She wasn't sure if there was a word to properly describe something like this. She just looked down for a moment as she was thinking about it, and then she started hearing people exclaim about something and she looked back to see what the fuss was about.

Then she saw it and she was left in a state of confusion for a moment while her brain was trying to process the information. She blinked, then blinked again. Then registered what was being told, then what she had seen and finally the voice coming from the woman. It took a few moments more for her to actually manage to recall the voice and presto, suddenly her brain had finished calculating through the confusion and shock as she realized who the woman was and Amelia was left with her mouth slightly agape as she threw a look at Ash and then at the woman. Then she finally realized why he was in seemingly good mood earlier. Then she finally looked at Riley to see if she was as surprised.

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Well, Ash did expect comments. It would be kind of hard not to when you leave looking forlorn but mostly intact, then return hours later smiling but leaving the distinct impression that you were dragged from the back of a truck. He gave Tatiana only the slightest of nods when she made comment about his emotional status, but still said nothing. It was by design. Simple observance led him to believe that there were a couple of people, Tati included, that were decent at looking a man over. His own group, such as it was, wasn't too bad at putting two and two together. Saying anything out loud might have allowed a detail to slip that would make him involuntarily break his promise to keep a lid on certain things; things that have occurred already and certain things that were yet to come, depending on vantage. Likewise, there were probably things that he was not made privy to. Any such spillage might very well color the remainder of their time and lead to unneeded expectations. Being quiet was best.

Time passed in relative quiet, the occasional whispers aside that he could only assume was aimed at him mixing with the general conversation of the room. Ash didn't mind too much, he was processing a lot of stuff at the moment. Much of it was hopeful. Some of it provoked concern. He spent his time in a review of sorts, going over the past year and a half. For once, he wasn't scrutinizing mistakes he had made, but rather looking at what he had learned over their ordeal. It was a dark time for them all. It was also pointless unless he could take the lessons of it all and apply them going forward.

It was another couple of hours later - just less than his own interview took - that things came to light. The pair of them entering the Conference Room in Quarantine did not look like it came as a surprise to Ash, who stood immediately upon their arrival. He briefly toyed with the idea of calling the room to attention, a playful action at best considering the lack of former military personnel within their groups, made even more dubious by the fact that the lady in question was in the Navy, not the Army. Why, it would simply be inappropriate!

Giving several nanoseconds of consideration, Ash decided to go for it anyway. He was beginning t0 feel a little like his old self, and damnit, this was a cause for celebration. He opened his mouth to speak, when he was cut off by Tatiana, endearingly calling him an ass in Russian. He just shrugged, a smirk forming across his face that, while he fought valiantly to suppress, showed itself anyway. It was followed in rapid succession by Wayne proclaiming (loudly) to have his suspicions of Ash's success in exhaustive, mid-coital pursuits.

Well, to hell with it. "In for a penny", as the saying went. Attention was already directed, and it was a matter of two seconds or less until the initial shock of her presence wore off enough to allow for a reaction from the others. In the tradition of Thana's naval courtesies, Ash stood at Parade Rest and issued a confident, "Officer on deck."

Simultaneously, Ash extended his middle finger skyward, facing in the general direction of Wayne. The look on his face was smug and shameless, peering at the man in a way that screamed, "Yes, yes I did. Huzzah." Refocusing on Thana, Ash thought he knew what she was trying to convey with the look and the nod in the direction of the remainder of what used to be Team Eden. They needed their own moment. Ash was not going to interrupt.

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The thing about Thalia was, despite the tendency to keep others at arms' length, once someone got inside they found a woman of channeled loyalty. Surely enough that it could handle a few days of distance, even if that distance was from someone sitting in the same room. Things had been tense with everyone lately, and it was fully expected that situations may change once the four of them weren't clinging to each other for survival. This was that time.

"Yeah, you are a bitch," said Thalia flatly. She gave a small, holdout smile and continued, "It's why I like ya. We're good, girl." Thalia knew that neither of them were the touchy-feely type, so she left it with a statement: "I gaht reasons to be here for a while. I hope you stick around, too. Figure the other stuff out later, 'k?" With an only slightly sarcastic whisper, she added, "If you want to hug, we'll do it away from people." Nodding slowly, failed to hide a growing smile. Of course Beatrice was a bitch. Luckily, so was Thalia. It was intrinsic to their collective charm, sort of.

The day came to a new, sweeping crescendo when the doors opened again to admit two more people into Quarantine. One was a big, dark-skinned guy who obviously bought into the old "Got Milk" commercials. The other was hiding behind him. Female. Military garb, more or less. When she finally stepped out and said a word or two, Thalia's train of thought jumped its tracks and plowed into an orphanage.

Thalia took a step or two in the direction of Thana, slightly dazed, waiting for the last pieces of the puzzle to click in her conscious thought. She waited until the blonde called "Checkbook" stepped away from the lady and made her move. Approaching cautiously at first, Thalia took in as much detail about her as possible. There was still a lingering bit of disbelief. After all, she had been missing for a long time. Thalia honestly thought that she was dead. It was the only reason she could think of that Thana wouldn't have returned to them. Confusion and negativity flashed through her for a second, but that quickly changed into pity and relief, looking at her full-on. Ok, she wasn't dead. It looked like she'd been through some shit, though. The kind of shit that would explain a four month delay.

When Thalia got to her, she didn't ask any questions. She just wrapped her in a surprisingly strong embrace and said through joyous tears, "It's so good to see you, Navy. You look like shit." before backing off a little. She wanted to get a good look at her, if only to prove again that this was really her, and alive.

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In contrast to a lot of the people in the room, Hank had no real emotions invested in everything tha was going down right then. The Captain guy made a pretty good showing of not making a showing, as it were, essentially shutting down any means of meaningful communication. Not so much as a verbal smoke signal as to what happened during his interview. There were a lot of emotions running high and so much discussion, and for once Hank was happy that he wasn't in the middle of this. It didn't stop him from making observations about these people, though. Part of any survival plan with other people had to include their interpersonal relationships and what they thought of each other. Really know where you stood.

For his benefit, Hand would rather stand next to a steak and a beer while the emotions flapped around him. But back to business, Hank stayed uncharacteristically subdued after Ash came back, feeling a sense of foreboding like something was about to happen. It certainly seemed like it might, like the air around them was tensing for some other shoe to drop. For now, observe. Whatever it was would reveal itself in its own time.

When it finally did, Hank couldn't help but give a good-natured chuckle. Wayne was right, it appeared. His ability to "detect" from back in his cop days was coming in handy, and finally even he realized that this woman coming in the Quarantine (armed, he might add) was the daughter of the guy who interviewed him. Ah, the joys of simple, social mathematics. But if she was in here... Well, it was just more questions that would be revealed in time.

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Victor was in his own mind, so much so that he didn't even register when young Amelia walked over his way and began to speak to him. She knew she had spoken to him, in English was all he was able to make of it, and was trying to be nice and strike up a conversation but he just could not escape his mind at that moment. He'd been absently staring at the door, ever since the fiesty femme with the fancy fingers had left earlier for her interview. He knew that he should probably respond to Amelia, it was something that was polite and expected but he just couldn't. After a short time of his inconsiderate silence, Amelia stopped her attempts and went back to sit with Riley. Inside his mind, he scolded himself for not making an effort with the poor girl. She didn't deserve to be ignored for no reason. But then another voice slipped inside and scoffed, telling him that she didn't matter in the long run - she was just another person he could lose and did he really want to get attached to more people and run the risk of losing them? Of being separated from them? Was anyone worth letting inside again?

When the door opened and the young woman returned, his eyes drifted around the room once more without taking too much in until he heard Ashton being called for his interview. He wasn't worried about Ash, he knew he could handle himself despite the pain he was going through. What Victor's mind drifted to was, that even though he kept his skill set hidden from their jailers, he hadn't asked those who knew him to do the same. He could almost feel the pressure closing around his throat as the realisation hit him square in his chest. He breathed in, and out. In, then out. It would come, and he'd face it when it did but until then...

Closing his eyes, Victor allowed himself a moment. A moment to remind himself that - despite everything - he had it really freakin' good. Things could be so much worse. He reminded himself for the fiftieth time since his interview, that as much as he felt like it, they were not prisoners and he was under no obligation to be honest to strangers, even if they were providing for them. He would pay them back in a way that was indentured servitude. It was a good job that Victor's eyes were closed at this point, he heard the young brooding man who played far too much pool speaking up but paid it no attention. He had no idea who he was apologising to and frankly, he didn't care to know. That was until he heard Tatiana respond.

Victor's eyes snapped open and narrowed to a slit as he watched Hunter standing by his little bird. He almost even stood from his perch but when the door to the conference room opened, Victor's eyes shifted in it's direction instead and he took in the sight of Ashton re-entering the room. It was clear that he was holding himself differently, anyone with eyes could see that, but Victor tried to determine if he could find more from his movements, his posture... but it seemed he had lost his touch. Isolation had stripped him of so much it seemed.

His eyes took in the black eye that was forming, the blood on his pants leg and the ... school boy look upon his face? What was going on? What had happened? Victor of old would have been up like a shot, over to Ashton and checking him over, making sure there were no fractures in his cheek bone or breakage of his eye socket - something he had had to do many times in the past, namely for one Dick one more than one occasion. He'd have tried to find the source of the bleeding and stop it, ensuring Ash was okay. But instead, Victor sat on his chair and narrowed his eyes as Ashton walked in and planted himself in a seat, looking like the cat that had got the cream and was silently relishing in it's taste. It was like a unicorn - plain as day - sitting right in front of them and it really threw Victor.

The lump remained firmly in his throat as his eyes darted around the room as he saw Riley leaving for her interview. His hand found it's way to his right ear, his fingers rubbing along his lobe as he stared at the door once more, or rather through it. He found himself reaching idly for his glasses - long since absent from his face - and a scowl formed on his face more prominently than before. He clasped his hands to stop them from roaming around his face and spun his thumbs around one another as he waited for what came next.

What came next was not what Victor could have ever predicted. A newcomer had arrived, same wristband as them all, but he had a different kind of pack than everyone else was provided. He knew Major. That worried Victor, for reasons he wasn't quite sure, but then a small sense of relief softened his face as he realised that their own people had to go through this procedure as well. He sat back in his chair some and let the breath he had been holding out. That was until a second figure came in, a slight limp from a bandaged injury on her thigh. Her hair was damp, as was Ashton's... Victor's eyes narrowed as he looked between the two figures unable to piece things together. When she lifted her face, the scarring was clear as a star in the night sky. She had clearly been in a major accident and Victor felt his old self peeking through, wondering what had happened and trying to figure out how the scars had happened but not making much headway before she removed her hat and Victor audibly gasped at the woman standing before them all, hands covering his mouth in complete and utter shock.

Two ghosts had returned in the space of a week to Camp Mexico Beach - was it a good or bad omen? Victor hardly knew Thana, but to see that face once more, his heart ached. Not for Thana, but for his lost friend. Thana's twin sister who had died before Victor had ever met Thana. Tatiana's laughter pulled him back to the here and now, his eyes wandering to her, wondering why she was laughing and he blinked. He'd shifted in his seat without realising and was sitting forward now, right on the edge of his chair. Was he planning on getting up? He looked down at his feet, a confused look on his face before looking back up to Tati, then to Ash and then to Thana again. The viking armed woman from earlier walked up and hugged Thana, tears in her eyes. Victor tried swallowing that lump that was blocking his throat up, stopping him from saying anything but it didn't budge. He slipped himself back into his chair and blinked, making sure that the ghost before him didn't disappear before his eyes.

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Hunter had faced many challenges in his lifetime. His first deployment, he was stationed to assist with the evacuations in his state. Every step of the way was a lose. HE had dealt with countless people who would hurt others to make their lives easier. He has fought hunger, dehydration, the stress from being alone, and this chat with Tatiana ranked fairly high on that list. Without a list in front of him, he would guess like 8th hardest thing he has done in recent years. Though the solution for making things end well wasn't the same as the next 7. After Hunter waited for her response, she spoke a very simple reply. In her heavy Russian accent, she said they were good. The terms were simple, the response was simple. He... wasn't ready for that. Though, he wasn't really sure what to expect. Did he expect to get tackled again? Honestly yes. He was ready for those that cared about her to put him back in his place in the corner of the room with a coffee cup in hand and wait him out until he got confirmation that he would be kicked out. He almost expected a punch from Tatiana. A good one to misaligned his jaw. This... He wasn't prepared for.

Struggling to pull words again he took a sip of his coffee. He was clearly trying to speak, but nothing was able to come out. "I uh.. I..." This all felt off for him. Most people he had met had either tried to kill him, or he shoved them away because he didn't know how to handle things peacefully. "Uh... thank you..." He spoke, still struggling for words. But he was glad to be able to do speak that. "Sorry again..." He took another sip of his coffee. His cup was almost empty at this point. He figured he had spoken enough at this point, no reason to push things and make it worse. So he stepped away.

Once away from the awkward conversation that he made awkward he made his way back to the pool table. After looking at it for maybe 10 seconds, he decided he had enough pool for the year and needed to find something else to do. Taking time to look about the room, he saw that the Captain had returned, and he looked like shit. But he was smiling so Hunter shrugged it off. Sparring gone wrong maybe? Or... Sparring gone right? He didn't spar much so he didn't know how it was supposed to go.

What Hunter did notice were the two people who just walked into the room, also wearing the same bands as the rest of them. The uniform was easy enough to recognize as not Army and Not Marines. He wasn't completely sure what Air Force Field uniforms looked like, but Navy blue was recognizable as... Well Blue. Though for all he knew, Air Force. Or Coast Guard... Now he wished he payed better attention to the other branches. The other guy was a bigger well built man. Someone Hunter did not want to spar with. The woman, had clearly seen better days. So have they all, but her face clearly showed it. What also got his attention, is that unlike all the others in quarantine, she was armed. The only one outside of the guards who were armed. A pistol, a holstered one at that, but a pistol none the less.

The fact that she had the gun on her said a lot about her, more then the hell that had clearly come across her face. Who the hell was she? Did she know someone who trusted her with it? And if so, why did she need it in here? That made Hunter uneasy. He remembered what Maddoc told him in the interview, and tried to suppress his thoughts about what would happen. But it was hard none the less. He did take note, that many people in here knew her it seemed. He found that odd that so many people that knew each other all landed up here. Was this town some rally point for another larger group? Did all these people know each other before shit hit the fan? It was confusing. He had no reason to approach her, so he stayed put by the pool table trying not to stare at her sidearm. But who was she?

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Still worried about Ash Manny was trying to find the best way to approach the situation. The hardest part was that he was smiling, what the hell happened to lead to that? Manny walked his way over to Alexander hoping that the old Vet maybe had a better guess then Manny. Was it some kind of military joining ritual? He had known many people who were in the military, his second partner was in the military, and he never heard anything like this happening? "You have any idea what could have happened?" Ash didn't seem to be keen on sharing what happened personally based on what others were doing.

Though the new people walking into the room didn't answer, Wayne's comments to Ash gave him a few ideas. Though he had to take everything the man said with a good spoon of salt. Though the taller man he didn't ring any bells for Manny, the woman got his attention. Her scars were harsh, her leg was wrapped up, and she wore some kind of military uniform that Manny couldn't place. Or maybe it was a strange hunting garb? But taking another look, that didn't matter. "Thana?" He couldn't believe his eyes at first. He knew he was getting up there in age, but... He didn't think he was delusional yet? Watching Thalia go over and hug the woman confirmed his thoughts. There was a large mix of emotions that passed through his mind, but the main was, was joy and relief.

He walked his way over to their former leader, still in partial disbelief. "You... You're... You're alive." He spoke, his confused tone drifting to almost solid joy by the end of the sentence. He wouldn't hug her unless she prompted it. Despite Manny's social nature, he wasn't much of a hugger. He was debating between trying to improvised a solute or something else? Deciding that he didn't want to make a fool of himself he held off on a solute, it seemed easy but he would probably miss details that were easy for actual military personal. "I'm... I'm glad to see you're alright. Can I get you anything? This place has... Everything. We have a lot of things here in quarantine and..." He struggled to speak, what would he say here?

He knew what he wanted to say, Where have you been? But now wasn't the time. He wondered of the new scaring had something to do with it? Most likely yes. That looked... Less then great. He wondered what had caused it. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but they had doctors here, so that felt redundant. So he just smiled, and tried to keep his thoughts in line as this almost unreal event took place. "I'm glad you made it."

Temperature: 83F (28C)
Humidity: High (Around 73%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 12 MPH (19 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: Overcast

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Checkbook took a step and smiled up at Thana, she looked giddy that the woman she called Sparrow was back. Mizrahi motioned for the girl to come over to him and they walked off. Mizrahi eying the others as he walked over to a chair and dropped his gear before sitting down and smoothing out the legs of his pants. Checkbook went and flopped back down, this time in a chair next to Mizrahi. Major let the door shut and kept her post, watching what was going on. Things, while seeming like emotions were running high, were running in happy for the time, so Major was alright just letting them have their moment.

Plus, she knew Thana, especially after everything that had happened some months ago. The woman was armed and could handle herself. How the rest of the group took Thana returning was still up for debate but for now, those that had approached her seemed happy to see her. Major had to wonder though, what would this mean for the overall group once final reviews were finished tonight. She knew Thana being here wasn't going to make things easier for any to get in, in fact, it might have just made things a lot harder.

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Thana glanced over at Ash and rolled her eyes a bit but shedidn't say anything. A brow quirked at what Wayne was saying but as Ash gave the man a one fingers salute she figured it wasn't anything she needed to worry about. The fact the woman she had met the day of the wedding was laughing and saying something in Russian made her feel a little more at ease. That was until she saw Thalia coming over to her. She wasn't sure what to expect from her. Though there was relief in her face as she got closer. She was glad Thalia had pulled through. Thalia had been her best friend on the road and she had only left to try to get supplies to try to ensure her survival. Not only as a commander but as her friend. Now she had an arm, so it was a step up from the last time she had seen her.

A look of surprise came over her features as Thalia pulled her in for a a hell of a hug. Smiling softly she wrapped an arm around Thalia and returned it, chuckling some what as Thalia said she looked like shit."Yeah, well at least I ain't part Terminator," she said flatly. It was a hard jab at the woman's arm loss and the fact now she was part metal but Thana didn't think Thalia would take it the wrong way. They were both snarky towards each other and tended to poke at each other. It was kind of how they showed they cared. "But damn it's good to see ya too Angel," she added with a laugh. It was good to see her. "Should've known yous were too damn stubborn to die."

Turning her head she looked over to Manny and nodded. "Yeah, I am now," she said, emphasizing the word now when Manny stated she was alive. "Wouldn't be without Doc and a lot of others," she added before changing the topic. It wasn't exactly something she was going to talk about now. Especially in front of people she didn't know. As he asked if he could get her anything she shook her head. "No, I'm good. I'm glad y'all made it." Taking a breath her smile faded, stepping over to him and Thana did something she didn't normally to, especially to a civilian. She saluted the man. "You're a hell of a medic Manny," she said as she dropped her hand. It was a hell of a sign of respect. The man might have been a dentist but he had now proven himself on more than one occasion that they couldn't have had a better medical man with them during their trudge through the wilderness.

There were two more she needed to speak directly to now, turning her head she looked over towards Alexander and Beatrice, still waiting to see how they were going to take this. For all she knew either of them could react badly. Not upset she was alive but for other reasons, though from Alexander she wasn't bracing herself as much as she was Beatrice.

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Tatiana just kept laughing, having to wipe the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. Knowing Ash was fine now lifted a lot of weight of her shoulders and it showed. She had been worried about him for a long time now. Her mind was turning and she wondered just how the hell this had happened and why they had been told one thing. Then the more she thought about it the more it made sense to her. Especially when she remembered exactly what Gunny had said. No one had ever used the word dead. Tatiana had never been military but she did know how to read people and how to con them. And now a lot of her interview also made a lot more sense.

Righting herself she looked over towards the Major, oh that woman was good. She could learn from her. And if she got in, she was going to make a point to spend as much time as possible around her. Tatiana was good at what she did but the Major made her look like a novice. Though looking away Tatiana rubbed her hands together, wondering to herself just what else was going to come out of the wood work. If Thana was here. Her eyes widened a bit. Oh thank god she had laid shit out when she was in interview. Thana might not have been at Newnan long but she knew the essential personnel. Tatiana and Jack had met her at the wedding. She was introduced to Froggy. Thana had been given a lead position and had obviously gotten very close to Ash. She didn't know what Ash and Thana had talked about but it could have been anything. Thana could have known a lot about Newnan. Especially after spending time on the road with Beatrice. Thana's family ran this place. If she was going to tell anyone anything about Newnan, Thana would have told them.

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Wayne chuckled as he got the finger from Ash. "Lucky bastard!" he laughed as he sat back down. This was a hell of a show. Who needed TV right then. They had their own personal drama unfolding and Wayne was loving it. This was better than the fucking Love Boat. And he had to give props to Ash for not saying anything. If he had just gotten his pole polished you could have bet he would have announced it over a PA system if he could have found one. Sure, Thana was scarred now but she still had half a face that was hot and fuck, those scars just meant she had been through some shit and was strong enough to get through it. In this day and age, that was a hell of a selling point.

Leaning back he swatted the air and shoved something back under his ass. Rocking back and forth in his recliner. God he hoped he got into this place. This shit was fun as far as he was concerned. Okay, maybe not as fun as wacking walkers with a weed wacker but just as entertaining. In a different way with a lot less clean up. Seeing that Lil' Momma was laughing made him smile. He had to admit he liked the little Ballerina and the one handed wonder as well. They were both in better spirits. Wayne was a father, a life time ago. And while these girls were older than his daughter would have been now, he kinda of liked feeling like the weird funny uncle around them. And they didn't seem to mind his constantly talking to himself or his big mouth. Plus he had Hank and perhaps a fishing buddy. Yeah this place could work.

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It don't mean nothin'.

It was a phrase Alexander had heard many a time over. At first it was just something he heard one of the younger, yet experienced troopers say when the young Alexander first arrived in Vietnam. It was just a phrase amongst many others; Charlie in the trees, Birds in the sky, Get your shit together, the list went on for longer than Alexander could imagine. It wasn't until after his first serious encounter with the enemy that the phrase really struck him. It don't mean nothin'. It really didn't. He was sure he wasn't getting out of that gunfight alive, prayed like a madman in his head while he fired back at Charlie and radio'ed in for air-support. But when he came out alive, the phrase still stuck. He was just glad to have come out in one piece.

I don't mean nothin'.

Alexander looked up at Manny as the baby-boomers were reunited, Manny asking him what he thought. He looked back at Ash for a moment, imagining himself with that satisfied look on his own face, then looked back up at Manny. "I don't know." Alexander told his friend, though it was a half lie. He didn't know exactly what had happened to Ash, but… "It could anything, really. But if you ask me, Manny, whatever it was, it looks like it was worth it." the old veteran continued, the feeling in his gut being all too familiar once again.

He wasn't paying attention to the conversation Beatrice and Thalia were having, that was none of his business after all. Just like he shouldn't, and wouldn't pry his nose into the deal with Ash, hence his half answer. And not much happened afterwards that Alexander took note of, only continuing his friendly conversation with Manny, like two ol' retirees meeting up in Miami on a hot summer day. It wasn't until some time afterwards when two new people entered the room. One a big, Middle-Eastern guy, called "Franken" by the Major. Another a woman, limping on one foot and to Alexander perhaps she was Navy…wait, Navy?

Alexander instictively rose to his one foot and prosthetic leg, eyes locked onto the woman like a Charlie sharpshooter in the jungle, mouth opened wide in equal disbelief and joy at wha the was seeing. WHO he was seeing. He didn't hear or care what came out of Wayne's mouth, nor was he in a position to follow Ash's order for attention. Alexander crossed himself, giving one quick look up in the sky and mouthing something akin to a "Thank you, Lord.", before he looked back at the attention of the whole room.

Having someone come crawling back from the jungle wasn't unknown to the old veteran. He vividly recalled how one member of his squad, lost two days ago in a fight and presumed KIA, crawled his ass back to their FOB. The mere sight of the man alive, thought dead, dropped a few jaws at first, followed by a roaring applause from those less stunned. He had been one tough grunt, Lawrence his name was. If there had been anyone who could make it out of hell with only an Army issue combat knife, it had been him.

Now Alexander could add Thana to that list.

Now on his feet and no longer praying to God, Alexander slowly stepped forward after Manny, his eyes never parting from Thana. Checkbook or Nikki had already hugged her, followed swiftly by Thalia who added on her appearance. Yeah, she looked like shit. Like she'd been through Hell and back over a weekend, but she was here and alive. And that was what mattered. It was no longer the difference between MIA and KIA. She was present and accounted for. As usual Manny did most of the talking, but Alexander had few words to say. No tears to shed, he couldn't, not with everyone around. Not even when Thalia cried. He wouldn't ask about the scar, where she'd been or anything.

Alexander stood beside Manny and looked straight at Thana, the side of his mouth pulled into a smile as he attempted a salute for their previous leader. "Welcome back, Navy…It's… it's good to see you."

I don't mean nothin'. Thana was back.

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Nigel had turned back to his book for a moment when Erica came over to tap him on the shoulder. Still holding onto the book, Nigel looked up from his litterature to see who it was, giving Erica a smile once he was it was indeed her. He wouldn't normally have been so keen to put away a good book he was reading, but for a selected few he'd make an exception. Erica was one of those people. "Besides Hank not getting an answer from Ashton?" Nigel asked back at Erica, briefly giving Hank a look more in jest than spite, before looking back at her. "Not much, just reading."

There were several conversations going on around the Conference Room, none of which Nigel had anything to do with. But it wasn't easy to ignore all the banter going on around him; People asking what happened to Ash and his bruised face, Hunter apologizing to Tatiana for what he'd done their first they there, two of the smaller groups chatting about something, and the two parents caring for their child. After a few days in Quarantine, nothing stuck out to him, except Ash's obvious damage and Hunter acting like a decent person. And then there were him and Erica, whom he thought he could indulge his perhaps eccentric interests with.

"It's a book on the collapse of Rome. Perhaps not surprising to you anymore, is it?" Nigel said jokingly to Erica, showing her the cover of the book. "It's something to read in the very least, until we get out of this place. I mean, I like reading and all, but these walls are getting to me." He had to admit, going outside into the sun, however hot or humid it might be, was better than staying cooped up inside like some underfunded retirement home. "What about you? How's the two girls doing?"

After the interviews had been conducted and Nigel expected no more people to enter the door, he was proven obviously wrong with the entrence of two newcomers. Nigel looked away from his conversation with Erica and over at the two entering after another, giving them a good look over. He hadn't seen either of them before. "Do you know them?" he quietly asked Erica, listening to Major calling one out by name, either their real one or codename. The other one, the lady, Checkbook clearly gave a more emotional response to, charging at her, only for her to be stopped and then let through once more.

"No way…" Nigel said out quietly at the sight. He remembered that woman, even with her military clothes and badly scarred face. This was Thana, the woman everyone had spoken off and had some connection with. Even he had, he found the pictures of her and her family after all. And here she was, alive and in the flesh. Nigel had to smile as he watched some of the survivors make their way towards her, either embracing her or simply talking to her like long lost friends. "Amor vincit omnia, it would seem." Even Hank had joined in on the fun, though Nigel could only shake his head at the man's imprudence, though he still smiled. "Gaudeamus igitur. Therefore, let us rejoice."

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Riley walked over towards Amelia as she looked over towards Ashton for a moment noticing that he was a bit beaten, which she wondered why that had happened during his interview. Which started to worry her a little bit, as she was tempted to go and ask him about it, but she stopped for a moment when the doors opened again. Seeing a man with a green bracelet coming into the room, who seemed to be allowed to keep his gear. Riley assumed that the guy was apart of the community and was just away on a very long trip or something by the sounds of it, otherwise he probably wouldn't be in the quarantine.

Then the next person came into the room, and Riley paused as she looked at the horribly scared woman who came into the room with the same green bracelet that the man was wearing. And then Checkbook making her way over towards her, and upon second look at the woman Riley started to recognize her as Thana. She was really surprised that she was there and alive in the first place, she hadn't seen the woman since Jack and Tati's wedding. But Riley didn't know her that well aside from the wedding and spoken briefly but she was happy to see a familiar face at least. Riley looked over towards Ashton for a moment she was really happy that he had his woman back and gave him a smile and nod towards his.

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Erica looked down at Nigel and smirked towards him. "Of course you are reading something about Rome." Erica said teasingly as she nudged him a little bit, and then she shrugged slightly. "They are doing alright." Erica answered him as she moved over and found a seat next to Nigel. Erica then shook her head slightly as she leaned back in the chair as the interviewees were coming back one by one now, the one named Ashton seemed to have a few bruises now by the looks of it. And then a few seconds later a door opened seeing two new faces a man and then a scared woman as well, and by the looks of it they were already members of the community here as well.

She wondered why they were in Quarantine in the first place anyway as well, if they were already people who had been in the community as some of the others in the room who seemed to actually know the woman. Erica looked at them, and as she looked at the woman a bit closer she did have some similarities to the man in charge, and she started to put two and two together that she was the woman Thana. Though she didn't know the woman at all the people seemed to be happy which was good.

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Amelia had finally gotten over the initial shock proper as she took a deep breath, having noted that Riley also had taken note of the unfolding situation. With a smile, she leaned on Riley as she threw a look at Ash and smiled. The whole situation earlier when they first arrived, had left Amelia with just a little bit of a bad aftertaste. For one Jack ahd gotten back togetehr with Tati and then there was her and Riley who were together since they left Newnan. Only Ash had gotten the worst news when they had arrived.

This was a huge reason why she had felt somewhat bad about it despite it being out of her control. There was of course the other thing, the crisis of conscsiousness when htey had arrived, when she realized how her mind was starting to turn in direction she didn't like. Still she suddenly made a pondering expression as her eyebrows creased for a moment, her throwing a look at Ash, then at Thana and the rest. Amelia suddenly had a thought, why did they deliver the news that Thana wasn't around back then in a misleading fashion? Actually... she starting to think about it even more. Actually... Gunny had never specifically said that she was dead... only that she wasn't here. Was it all a huge misunderstanding on their part or was it intentionally delivered that way.

She sighed and looked at Riley. Well it wasn't as if it was a bad thing either way. She herself came on the plus thing even with this elaborate ruse. She had realized that she was turning into something she didn't want to. That realization had been important one to her, so she wasn't going to hold it against Gunny for being all misleading. Well maybe it was also a form of a test of some kind, who knew. Some stuff was better left unmentioned in the end." Now we can only wait." She quietly said to Riley. Soon the results were going to be shown, who stays and who leaves. Amelia didn't even want to think what to do should they have to leave... or one of them has to leave. That thought alone made her feel really stressed out.

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The proverbial cat was now out of its equally proverbial burlap enclosure, and Ash was feeling very confident about the future of his Newnan refugees. Of course, the second he officially accepted citizenship within Camp Mexico Beach (contingent upon its offer, of course), he waived what authority he had to call them his Newnan refugees in anything but an informal, friendly basis. It was an odd feeling, knowing that he was going to be signing away personal responsibility for the lives of these people. He had gotten that feeling before, years ago, whenever an assignment was coming to an end. And naturally, part of that final moment had to contain the knowledge that he was leaving that which he was responsible for in capable hands. Otherwise, he would have done them a disservice.

Ash had seen a little of how this place operated. And he knew much about the reputation of the man in charge of this community, having read much about him in textbooks and serving alongside men who had been under his command. Actually meeting the guy showed greater nuance to his personality. There was the smallest lingering piece of doubt, though it was not about the Camp nor the intent of its inhabitants. Ash wondered how many of these people had to struggle to survive in the world, as it was today. Did they have to repel invaders? Had many of them been forced to make hard choices to ensure survival of their group as a whole? True, they had much, arguably more than Newnan had at their disposal at its best, but could they continue after the bones of the previous civilization, the one they had been born into, had been picked clean? In that instance, or any other sweeping paradigm shift, Camp Mexico Beach might just need people like his: New blood that wasn't afraid of hard work and had to survive in the badlands that the rest of the world had become. So long as they weren't doing something stupid or painting themselves as potential enemies.

He could even be wrong about that assumption. There was much he yet needed to know. But his mind was already made up; warts or no, Ash was putting his name on the dotted line. If he could stay here with Thana, contributing to the safety and well-being of this community, he was going to go exactly that. Especially seeing that those he came in with likewise had the opportunity to become part of the Camp.

His attention was still mostly on Thana during this time. Considering the nature of their meeting earlier, this appeared highly subdued. Ash cracked a little smile at the thought. He had his own concerns about everyone else seeing her for the first time in months; emotions may be high and definitely mixed. Snatches of conversation he has picked up gave this reunion a possibility of uncertainty. He was pleased to see that the feel of the room thusfar was gratitude and elation. And though she could obviously handle herself, he yet felt the need to keep a subtle eye on the situation.

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Part Terminator? That dirty, underhanded bitch. How Thalia had missed her. Granted, the arm wasn't ideal but it beat the hell out of having no arm at all. And to be fair, she really didn't have the time yet to get fully used to it. It was a wonderful piece of equipment, though. And from the looks of things, Thana had a bit of reconstructive work done herself. "Oh, you whore!" she exclaimed, mock aghast. "It's fine, but it's really hard to play with myself with this thing. Frigging Zeds, right?" She said it like it was way back Before and she was forced to go with her second choice of automobile from a rental company. Yeah, it sucked, but she was alive and she had a metal fist with which to beat the living daylights out of people who pissed her off.

As for Thana's following comment, Thalia shook her head. "It's not 'cause I'm stubborn, girl." Her voice was deadpan serious, though her eyes showed deliberate intensity, "So much more left to do. Gotta keep moving forward." Okay, maybe it was because she was stubborn. Of all the negative traits that she had, Thalia wasn't going to let herself be defined by "stubborn". Not when there were other, more provocative options to choose from.

Thalia had more to say to the woman. It would have to wait until others got their chance with her. They had another day in Quarantine, she was sure that she could wiggle in some time between now and then. She did give a listen and agree with Thana as she gave Manny her own personal seal of approval. She didn't feel right giving him a salute like her friend did; Thana was actual military. The most that Thalia could claim was independent contractor or company girl. There were similarities in structure and duties, but traditions of the military were such that she didn't feel comfortable emulating them. Though truth be told, she did find out that she would have made a passable Norse shieldmaiden, racial differences notwithstanding. But she had to train hard for that. That mental foray into history aside, Thalia had to agree with Thana. And out loud, too.

"I never said it out loud, Manny, for a couple reasons... if it wasn't for you I'd be dead. Thank yah." She gave a halfhearted laugh, "We're not going to hug about it, either. You stay over there. But you are one hell of a medic in a pinch."

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Hank grabbed up an unattended deck of cards and started thumbing through them. With everything going on that was highly emotionally charged, he felt even more like an outsider than he did a few days ago. Sure, he was a lot more comfortable with the surroundings of Quarantine, but his emotional investment in the people around them all was limited.

Getting to know a lot of these people over the past week was kind of a double edge sword. Hank had a knack for sizing people up, yet his own gruff, steely demeanor kept a lot of people at a distance. Maybe it was influence from his hetero lifemate, a man who was able to push others away with unrivaled skill. But it might be more accurate to say of the people around him that they had formed into different groups of mutual support. Now that they were put into a position where they no longer had to rely on each other for mere survival, they were reorienting themselves based upon less immediate factors. And predictably, if Hank wasn't needed, then he wasn't particularly wanted.

In the end, it usually wound up coming back to he and Wayne anyway. Like Yule Brenner was fond of saying in The Ten Commandments movie (the original '56 version, not that animated crap with the guy from Top Gun; not that Hank didn't find Top Gun to be one hell of a movie too (even if it was about navy pilots which he could take or leave) but it was no Ten Commandments was all he was saying, though by now he had horribly mentally digressed at this point in time) ...ahem... Like Yule Brenner/Ramses II was fond of saying, "So let it be written, so let it be done." From the look of how things were progressing in Quarantine, the people they seemed to be getting along with best were from CMB anyway. Panama was an asshole but so were they, and Gunny revealed as much about himself as Hank did through some manner of mysterious asshole telepathy, which was hard to explain but fun to describe. Maybe the Captain. Jury was still out about that guy, even though he could launch a solid brood like it was an Olympic sport.

But speaking of the perpetually smacked around Army guy - Hank settled back down into the recliner next to Wayne's just as he was calling the guy a lucky bastard, still shuffling about the deck of cards. "Aw hell, Maldonado. At least someone's getting some action, and for crap's sake that guy looked like he needed it." A thought gave him reason for a quick subject change, "Hey, d'ya think we could ask these guys to live on a fishing boat?" He shrugged, considering the possibilities.

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She gagged slightly, as if the notion of hugging was equivalent to the experience of having a pineapple shoved up her ass. "What sort of monster do you take me for?" Beatrice whispered back. "A Care Bear?" she then added softly. Beatrice glanced over as some newcomers entered the room, a bit confused to see that one of them was armed. As far as she knew, this operation didn't let any newcomer carry weapons - not even those that had been in the military since otherwise, Ash would have been armed. However, as the woman opened her mouth and Beatrice caught her face, it all made sense. Her interview that had been more or less an opinion session on Thana Martin? That was because she wasn't dead. She just sort of stared at the woman, not outwardly reacting - that wasn't her style. A part of her was frustrated that these people here had let them believe Thana was truly dead - that it had all been a lie. Sure, they weren't owed the truth but that had been cruel.

The exchanges relating to Ash and his success in terms of bedding Thana were more or less expected - some of these people were really crude, so Beatrice elected to ignore it. She was still just staring at the woman. A part of her was angry that this had been kept from them - that they had been made to play this charade. Another portion of her wanted to know if Thana had abandoned them to go join up with her family in Mexico Beach. This wasn't the time for an inquisition though. She could ask Thana later what had happened - but the past was in the past.

She moved over towards Thana, waiting for the others to more or less have their moment with her, before Beatrice just wordlessly extended her hand and nodded slightly at her.

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Jack was still pretty certain that something serious had gone down with Ash and that he was in some sort of crisis, but he wasn't stupid enough to argue with his wife over it, given Tatiana's background in counseling and psychology. He let her tug his arm and lead him away from Ash to give the man his space, hoping that it was the right call. The downside to the current sleeping arrangements was that if Ash needed someone to talk to at night, he only had one option for it - Jack couldn't help but imagined Ash being paired up with Tatiana could have helped him some during the night. Of course, he wasn't sure how he himself would have felt about that hypothetical situation. However, a few moments later and he understood why Tatiana had been certain that Ash was okay.

The stranger that came in armed, seemingly a breach in the rules they had followed so far? She was Thana. Jack barely knew the woman, having just seen her briefly at his wedding and then all hell broke loose. Despite Thana being a lead in Newnan, she hadn't been around very long - just briefly. In his mind, she had more or less just passed on through, though the mark she had left on Ash's heart was palpable. He smiled slightly, glad that his best friend had the love of his life back. He hadn't expected Thana to turn up, especially after their experiences here but - maybe miracles still happened. Ash looked almost proud of himself as well and Jack rolled his eyes slightly as Ash announced that there was an officer on deck - it was cheesy. (Oh god, was that how he sounded around Tatiana? Was he just as cheesy?) The middle finger was a nice touch.

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Emptiness was all that Victor felt right now. He could figure out what was to come next and it wasn't likely to be favourable for him. He had lied before he knew that those he cared for were here, but he had kept up the lie when given the chance to give more forgiving information during his interview. He had not thought to ask the others to help him in his attempts to start fresh, but would he have? If he did think of it? He shook his head to himself, knowing the answer to the question. No. He'd have never asked anyone to compromise themselves for him. His eyes drifted away from Thana's face and down to his hands. He examined them and felt along the cuticles of his thumbs and his nail bed with his forefinger. His eyes were entranced by the motion and he began to mutter very quietly to himself in his native tongue as his mind slipped completely out of focus. "Je ne sais pas quoi faire. Devrais-je partir? Est-ce que cela sauverait tout le monde des conséquences? Aucun d'entre eux n'aurait menti, et s'ils avaient été confrontés, ils n'auraient jamais suivi. Pourquoi le feraient-ils? Je sais que je n'aurais pas dû mentir mais je devais me protéger ... ils comprendront sûrement?"

His hands began to rub against one another, slowly and carefully, his fingertips feeling every bump, scratch, scrape and nick on his skin. He began to pick at anything that felt loose; stray cuticles, over grown nail beds and dried scabs that were almost done healing, didn't matter what it was his fingers found them. He stared at his work as he picked, and picked, and picked. He was sitting forward in his chair once more, elbows on his knees, head down and eyes fixated on his own actions but he was unaware of his movement forward, it was perhaps a little more abrupt than he'd normally have been but likely not too noticeable to those not looking in his direction. His eyes were glazed over as he continued to mutter to himself some more, as quiet as before. "Ce qui va se passer maintenant? Vont-ils me jeter dehors? Cela affectera-t-il les chances de tous les autres? Taré avec le même pinceau, comme on dit? Pourquoi devaient-ils être ici? Je voulais les trouver, oui, mais je n'ai jamais osé espérer ... Je ne suis pas l'homme que j'étais. Je suis cassé. Je ne vaux rien, pourquoi suis-je toujours là? Tant de plus dignes ne sont pas et pourtant je ... je ne peux rien donner à cet endroit. Pour ces personnes. Je devrais ... devrais ... mais ... Peut-être que je te rejoindrais plus tôt que prévu, mon ange." His fingers found his beard, running through the strands and catching in the small clumps that formed day to day.

His left hand began to find some hairs, pulling a few loose as his right hand drifted to his ear once more, rubbing and scratching as his muttering continued but became even more subdued and internal, the odd word only slipping out slightly louder here or there still in his native tongue, such as menteur, protéger and pardonner. Filling the emptiness within him was now resignation. He would be prepared when the time came. He knew what he had to do.

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Manny stood in what felt like shock when Thana saluted him. He... He wasn't sure how to react in this case. He wasn't military, so his best guess was this was a sign of respect that normally someone outside of the military wouldn't receive. He did his best to salute back, but it was clear it wasn't something he did often. Or ever really. "I uh... Thank you." He spoke taken back by this. He stopped his simple salute and let Thana get her greetings from everyone else. Manny had never done the things he did for praise. He didn't become a doctor in his early life to make money, though there were some selfish reasons in the mix, he did it mostly to do better by a world that he otherwise didn't give two shits about until that point. Even in his aging years, he never worked to be rich, he had plans to work until he physically couldn't anymore. Then maybe retire.

Thalia spoke next. Also thanking Manny for what he did all those months ago. Looking back on it, he wasn't sure she did say anything out loud prior to now, but he was never looking for it. "You may be surprised to know this, but I am not a hugger. I haven't really hugged someone since I was last married, so you're fine." He said with a chuckle. "But don't downplay what you did for me. If you and the rest of Team Eden didn't come when you did..." He stopped. Looking back, he was one of the lucky ones. He had only been there a couple days. He had seen others who have been there longer, and had the unfortunate fate of still being alive. "There's no telling what could have happened to me." He lied. He knew, he saw what would happen to him. "The rest of you too. Thana, Alexander, Beatrice. And... Everyone else who didn't make it. I would not be here if it wasn't for all of you. Even if I didn't get caught by those..." He didn't dare call them people. "By them. I am no skilled fighter, or survivor. I spent most the recent years inside walls and walls, and rarely stepped outside them. Like so many others in the early days, I would not have made it without help from people who knew what they were doing. So... Thank you. All of you." He decided to end his talk here, he knew for a fact that there were a few people in his small group that thought of him as a bit of an over talker sometimes.

They were probably right, going back to the fact that Manny was not an adjusted survivor. He was simply an old doctor who talked much, and said hello to everyone. His only real survivor skill was his experience with a shotgun, anything else was from many years ago from before he decided to change his lifestyle.

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Everyone seemed to be getting very emotional. He understood emotional, but there was clearly something going on here he didn't understand. So many people who should have been random strangers seemed to know each other, but it seemed everyone that was here knew each other in some way shape or form. That made Hunter uncomfortable. Everyone... Except him. He decided maybe he shouldn't think about it too much, there was probably something not related to his maybe to be soon death to explain it all. Someday he'd prob around and try to figure it out, unless he got shot or kicked out. Then he would lose all interest in the matter. The woman carrying the gun seemed to know a lot of people here too, that seemed odd but maybe she came in right before everyone by a few hours or a day or two. That seemed probable. Something struck him as odd about the woman though, something other then the gun on her hip that Hunter kept eyeing despite his attempts to not look at it. She seemed... Familiar.

The first thing that came to Hunter's mind, was that he needed to stop over thinking things. He was just convincing himself that he knew her because everyone seemed to know someone here. Then it clicked, she was the girl in the home video! Or at least someone closely related. It was hard to tell because of the scars on her face. But that changed all of his ideas on this place and everyone knowing each other. He was sure he was over thinking it, maybe this was some kind of rally point and these people all had reason to be here. He went to take a sip of coffee to help clear his head, only to realize he was still out of coffee. Forgetting at first he finished it trying to gain the courage to apologize to Tatiana. "... fuck." He spoke looking into the coffee cup. His concerns for the people, the extra gun in play, and if he could stay were sidetracked that his happy calming drink was all gone. After day one, they were all put on one cup a day ration. After the amount of coffee they went through the first day, it made sense, but still. Coffee.

Looking around the room, it was clear that everyone was going through there moments right now. In some ways, that was sweet, in other ways, it meant that trying to be social was a bad idea right now. He tried for a while, even made some good progress this week, sure he would struggle and would rarely start anything socially, but he went along with it, and other then the first day he figured he did okay. He looked back at the pool table. The fucking pool table. If he stayed, he would make an effort to add more things to do here. Anything, even if it was work, fucking something. He actually liked pool when he first came into this room. He realized his thoughts were wondering again, he was stressed, they were going to learn soon if they were going to stay or not. He knew his chances were not great, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to stay. But his options were running out.

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There was a glance from Thana at Thalia's words and she smirked a bit. "Yeah, they like to cause problems," she said in passing. She wasn't touching the playing with herself comment with a ten foot pole. At least not in front of a bunch of people she didn't know. She might later though if Thalia and her weren't around so many. That was one of things that made them get along, they were a tad more private about some things, or at least said them under their breath. Granted right then Thana was finding it hard to be a snarky and sarcastic. Her eyes going over to Ash for the briefest of moments. She was happy right then and it was hard to be a hard ass when most of your will power was spent on trying not to smile like a damned fool.

Thankfully Manny was doing that for her. He meant well but between him trying to salute her and his words he was stumbling a bit in her opinion but he was a decent guy and had saved two people's lives over the course of the trip that she knew of, so she respected the man. Turning her head she smiled at Alexander. Returning the salute and nodding. "Good to see ya Mugsy," she said, referring to him by his callsign. Or at least the one she met him with. Then came Beatrice. Looking at the woman, she nodded and shook her hand but she wasn't leaving it at that. She pulled her in tight and whispered. "I left you in charge for a reason, because I knew you had it in you. I'm proud of you," she said in a hushed voice. Leaning back she let go of Beatrice's hand and reached into her duffle bag. Pulling out a can and handing it over to Beatrice. "Saw this, thought of you," she said as she tossed it over to her. It was a can, a can of something special, it was a can of those oh so special O's.

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Tatiana kept laughing. She was finding the whole thing hilarious as hell. She was seeing a side to her brother she hadn't seen before. He was more relaxed, she was happy, he was being funny. Looking over at Jack she grinned brightly. "Didn't knov Ash could be as goofy as you," she chuckled. It was true. No one alive really had ever seen Ash like this. She had heard rumor of it, that he was a laid back kind of guy. Fun to be around, especially when he was off duty and relaxing. She had chalked all that up to the something along the lines of an urban legend. Maybe once based on truth but had fallen away to something that just wasn't true at all anymore. Thinking on it, she wished James was there. It would have done him good to see Ash like this. Who knew, maybe he was somewhere watching them and knew. Something in her told her that he was, some how.

Looking back at Thana as she was talking to the other people she smiled a bit softer. She had gotten to know Thalia a little bit since they all came together and it was good to see her knew friend a bit happier. She still didn't understand the term Zed but didn't matter. She figured it had to do with the dead, at least she hoped it was. Zed, dead, made enough sense in her mind. Her head turned slightly and she caught a glimpse of Victor. Something was up but she wasn't sure what. She wasn't going to go over there right now. Maybe she would talk to him later and see what was up. Seemed with Ash feeling better, she had one less so called patient. Then again, she wasn't a counselor anymore. She didn't have the same compassion she once had.

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"Yeah, half picturing his ass getting shot tonight trying to sneak into her room," Wayne chuckled over towards Hank. Hell he would have. Sure the woman was scarred up to hell and back on her face but she was still pretty enough and from the way Ash was looking at the woman he didn't seem to give two shits what had happened to her face, that man had just gotten his jollies. Oh shit, she was Navy? He had just gotten his Jolly Rogers off, diving deep into her locker. Oh yeah, under the sea, under the sea, darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me. Wayne was humming the song and snickering his ass off at the thought. Well if the song was telling truth, Ash was much better off in the sea. ALL ABOARD! TOOT FUCKING TOOT!

By the time Hank had mentioned a fishing boat, Wayne was rolling around about thanks to his own internal monologue. It took him a moment to even process what was said to him. "Fuck yeah man." He liked that idea. Granted he was on a Little Mermaid kick right then and started singing to himself. Okay, not to himself. Just singing the chef's song from the movie and being really damned animated about it. He didn't care. Wayne zero fucks given Maldonado was just enjoying himself. The man was bat shit crazy, sure enough. Acting like he was chopping and gutting fish as he sung. What the rest of the world didn't, or maybe they did know, he had his little buck toothed friend in his hand pretending to do the same. Not that he would ever really hurt Ol Happy but it was fun. Hey? Nothing else to do.


Temperature: 83F (28C)
Humidity: High (Around 73%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 12 MPH (19 KPH)
Cloud Coverage: Overcast

Major kept watching them, just in case emotions got to high but from the way things were handled around there, or at least seemed to be handled, even if it did get bad they would stay out of it for a while. Nothing had happened so far that they had stepped into the middle of. Nearly at one point but stood back none the less. Checkbook was over by Mizrahi and tapped his wrist band. "Hey, how long?" she asked.

"Bloodwork," he said and she nodded.

"Oh so like tomorrow? Cool," she added before popping a bubble. "Anything happen?" she asked. He shrugged. Her brow raised and she leaned forward. "Anything happen?" she repeated. Mizrahi looked slowly over towards Thana, his eyes staying on her for a bit before looking away and not responding. "You're no fun," she said in a huff before standing up and looking around. She needed to do something and skateboarding right then wasn't an option. Shew as still on duty as it were but duty was more spread out now. Sure Mizrahi wasn't armed but he was part of the community. Thana was armed, so she was obviously part of the guards now. Yeah, she was quarantined now but that side arm meant she was on duty. So there were 4, well kind of. Enough for this group she figured. "Hey you, wanna play pool?" she asked Hunter as she walked by him and started racking the balls. If he did great, if he didn't, then she would just play by herself.

A few more minutes passed and the door swung open. It was Panama. Looking at the paper in his hand he gave a glance towards the group in general as he flicked his hat up. "A'right, let's see. Um, Polawski, Newman, Decker, Carmichael, Holloway and," he read off the paper before looking over towards Thana. "Sparrow. Come on, Gunny wants to ya," he said as he motioned with his finger. He waited for them before leading them out of Conference and down the hallway. A bit down was another room marked Briefing. Holding the door open he stepped inside and flicked the lights on. It was a medium sized room with chairs set up in a semi-circle. A table at the front with two chairs behind it. Other than that there was nothing else. Leaning back against the wall by the door he relaxed a bit. "A'right, have a seat. Gunny be in shortly."

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Alexander stiffled the desire to shed a tear and stopped himself from calling Thana "Ma'am" when Thana saluted him back. He felt something, something he hadn't felt in years, thanks to that simple salute. For a moment he didn't know what it was, and he half expected whatever feeling it was to be just as bad as any connection to the military had been these past decades. But it didn't. Alexander thought it was…pride, perhaps? Yes, it could be that. Pride in that someone had saluted him back, not because of his uniform or etiquette, but perhaps he deserved it?

The old veteran didn't say anything else as the others continued on their parts of the reunion, Thalia and Manny doing the heavy-lifting of the talking, one more than the other. There really wasn't much else to say, really. Alexander wasn't going to start briefing her about their past time without her, how they got on without a hand and leg, or their plans for now. That could be saved for later. Besides, Alexander and Thana hadn't left on the best of terms, and Alexander didn't know what to say. But the old veteran, Mugsy as Thana called him just like before, kept on smiling and standing in the small group, still getting used to his new leg. But Alexander didn't put his hand on Manny's shoulder as he stopped talking, giving him a good pat. Thalia was right. Even if Manny had a fighter jet's engine for a mouth, he was damn good.

The opening of the door a few minutes later was enough to pull Alexander's attention out of the conversation they had, watching Panama enter the room and calling up from a of names. Their names. Alexander's surname was there at the very top it seemed, Polawski. Like he was called forth for inspection of trousers or about to be told to call down some heavy ordinance on a suspicious-looking bush. Alexander gave a look at his friends, confusion coming from his face. Why did Gunny want to see them, and them in particular? Alexander wasn't about to argue against a direct order, and followed Panama to what ended up being marked as "Briefing". Still not used to his new leg, Alexander decided to take a seat and rest his stump now that he could as they were waiting on Gunny. For what, he still had no idea. Alexander only sat in the chair, looking at the others and fiddling with his Catholic rosary still wrapped around his wrist.

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Nigel turned his head from looking at the heart-warming reunion in the middle of the room and looked back at Erica, giving her a wide grin at her teasing and nudge. "Hey, if you don't want an answer you won't be surprised of, don't ask questions you already know the answer to." Nige said teasingly back to her, chuckling at their banter as he looked back around the room. His shoulders were lowered, not raised like they had been for years after the Undead rose and he had to fight for his life every moment. Things were calm inside Quarantine, and like Erica said about the two girls, they were doing all right. "Good, they were in bad shape earlier this week. We all were, but now…I think all of us might be all right."

Sitting now beside Erica in their own corner of the room, Nigel put away his book on Rome entirely, closing it with a bookmark at his last read page about the Battle of Adrianople and placing it beside him. He would focus entirely on Erica and what else might happen in the room, reading with all the noise was no fun after all. "Erica? What are the odds that someone we knew starts walking into the camp as well? Is there anyone you're hoping for? Fate's already lead two of their friends here. Ducunt volentem fata, fate leads the willing…" Nigel asked Erica, a hopeful seriousness in his voice ending in another chuckle from earlier, prompting him to give Erica an amused look. "No wait, you were right about earlier. Of course I was reading about Rome."

Nigel looked up from his and Erica's seated talk when Panama returned to the room, announcing that some of them were to follow him. What, more interviews? And all of them together? The list was six people in total, so what were they going to do? Why not Wayne or Hunter, since they had made a show of themselves so to speak? Nigel "Hadrian" looked back at Erica, giving her a questioning look as if she could answer him.

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As Amelia was worrying slightly over the possibility of the acceptances into the camp turning badly for them, she suddenly sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She reminded herself that what had already happened couldn't be changed. Instead she choose to focus her mind on the now and here. For right now htey still were in the Quarantine and for all important purposes there wasn't any reason to deny them. There was nothign that could be done until the truth of who was accepted was revealed and only they should hse start worrying about the future in the bad possibilities.

She threw a look at Riley and let her mind relax as she smiled. It had to work out after all. Had to! Feeling a lot calmer and more focused now, she observed as Panama showed up with a list. She rose an eyebrow as she started to ponder what was up. What turned to be happening was him listning a number of people that needed to be brought to see Gunny for some reason. Now this was curious, mostly as of WHY this was happening. The people called out were another point of curiosity. Seems these people liked to demand stuff to happen with not much explanations given. She pondered a few bad possibilities, but as paranoid as she could be, it didn't seem like anything bad was happening. There were many a chances for them to be disposed of and it would be a really weird choice to do so after a week of takign care of them and using up resources. 'What are they up to this time?' She wondered, her eyebrows creased a little as she watched Panama starting to lead people from the room.

Her eyes again wandered off to Victor. Earlier he didn't react to her, she was a little concerned about him specifically. He wasn't acting as he did back in Newnan... THen again all of them had changed over the long time past that nightmare. She wondered if she should try again to talk with him. Back in Newnan they got along really well after all. She pondered it a little bit more and decided to try again. She queitly stood up and walked closer to the man until she was standing by him." Hey..." She started, unsure what to do. Sometimes she wished she had Tati's skill with people." Mind if I stay with you a little?" Amelia finally brought herself to add. If the man didn't want to talk, she could just silently keep him company... right? She hoped so, it was the only thing she figured she could in theory do, after all Tati had pulled a similar thing a while back. When in Rome do as the Romans do... or in other words imitate someone who knew what they are doing!

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Riley looked between Thana and Beatrice for a moment while the two interacted with one another, and a few seconds later Thana threw Beatrice a can of Spaghetti O's. She really wasn't sure what that was about as she looked over towards Amelia and nodded slightly towards her girlfriend and leaned to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. She really did hope that they would all be able to stay in the community as well. "Hopefully we get to stay together.." Riley said towards Amelia as she watched her girlfriend making her way over towards Victor wondering what they would talk about, and figured that she wanted to have some time with him.

Riley then decided to make her way over towards the pool table as well looking at Checkbook for a moment and then over towards Hunter as well. "Mind if I join in on a round of pool?" Riley asked, since she didn't really have anything else to do right now she watched as Panama came in and calling in for a few people namely Ashton, Beatrice, Alexander, Thalia and Thana as well as Manny raising an eyebrow slightly wondering what they were all going to be talking about.

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Erica walked over and sat down on the couch looking over towards Nigel for a moment and smirked a little bit and shook her head a little bit, of course he was reading something about Rome. She leaned back in her seat as she watched the Thana woman for a moment as she talked to one of the people who were there. "At least they are alive which is a good thing." Erica said turning her attention back towards Nigel for a moment as he asked her another question. She looked down for a moment, she really did miss her family and knew that pretty much everyone that she knew now was long dead.

"I don't think so." Erica said with a slight shrug as she ran a hand through her hair as she watched Panama coming in and asking Ashton, Beatrice, Alexander, Thalia and Thana as well as Manny. which was something that caught her interest she wasn't really sure what they would be going into another room to talk about. "Of course, i'm always right you always talk about Rome." Erica said towards Nigel and laughed a little bit. "So I wonder what they are going to be briefed about." Erica asked looking at Nigel.

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People were talking. That was to be expected. People were talking about him, specifically. Much of it was sarcasm, which was fine with Ash. He had broad shoulders and thick skin, and moreover spoke fluent Sarcasm. It was a rarity anymore that he dipped into his knowledge of the sarcastic arts, but it was in there, buried. Whatever. The people in that room had every right to some small talk about the utter shake-up in their Quarantine guests. Far be it for him to say anything to the contrary. Ash merely maintained his stance, though he couldn't help but gaze in Thana's direction with a look of contentment on his face. She was reuniting with her people from the road, the former Team Eden. Looking at them, Ash wasn't sure that it was an appropriate descriptor for them anymore. Sure, it was a label to hang on them collectively and people would know what he meant by it, but the assault on Eden was just the origin of these people's association. They had come from such different backgrounds and had only met the day that they left together. Ash almost envied what they had, a closeness that few people outside of a military unit at time of war would ever understand. He hoped that they could hold onto it now that they were in the relative safety of a community.

But the wheels of bureaucracy continued to turn, as they ever would with any organized group of people. Even in an apocalypse. The touching reconnection with her team was nearing a conclusion, and Ash had taken a step or two in Thana's direction again when another member of CMB entered the Conference Room. It was Panama, and he had a list. This was interesting. Considering the names on the list, Ash was a bit confused. It took him a moment to realize that the last names spoken belonged exclusively to what remained of the Eden group, plus himself, and Thana's callsign here. That didn't seem to altogether make sense. They had little in common except for Thana and that they were outsiders here. Whatever questions he might have would probably be answered shortly, so Ash kept quiet and followed the man down he hallway with the others.

Briefing. The sight of the word on the door gave Ash the slightest feeling of mirth. Briefing, or the reciprocal Debriefing had come to also mean something else for him, though nothing that he should get into here. This was serious. For purposes of entering this unknown situation, Ash quickly righted himself and got into a more "On The Clock" demeanor; his eyes becoming hard and observant and his posture retaking something more soldierly. Whatever the purpose of their presence in this room, Ash was meeting it as a professional. Upon direction to the seats, Ash took a center one in the semi-circle and sat patiently at attention. They were calling in the settlement's Executive Officer. This was important, whatever it was.

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Thalia could hear herself being swept away by a range of emotions that she hadn't wanted to really share with anyone yet. Seeing Thana had let her guard down some, though the particular way in which the chose she her words to Thalia put the marginally younger woman right back on it. Not only that, but no matter how much they had to discuss or shoot the shit about in private, Thana had more people she had to speak with individually. Every so often she would sneak a peek in Ash's direction (because she wasn't stupid) but for the most part she just enjoyed being in the presence of her dear friend while they all shared the moment. Even if she was more guarded and self aware at that point.

There was a moment that drew her back out of it. Thalia thought at first that she might have been seeing things, a second of wishful thinking that had gotten away from her combined with a piece of personal history that stretched back to the first day of their unity as a group, just a mere trick of the light reflecting off of the can to make it look like something it wasn't... But it was. Someone found The Os.

Shifting into a predatory gaze, Thalia slowly began to change her position, moving with quiet determination ever toward Beatrice and her gifted can of machine rolled pasta. Her face was calm, expressionless except for an unobtrusive smile that could easily be taken for happiness in seeing her friend again, but the eyes - she had the ruthless glare of a cat sizing up an unsuspecting grasshopper, readying for the proper moment to pounce and devour merely for the crime of being noticed on a tall blade of grass. She stalked over to Beatrice, thinking back to the last time that Dem Os were up for grabs. It was the day she lost her arm. Oh, but that didn't count. It didn't change anything. Sympathy Os were not part of a playbook that brought any lasting resolution to the situation, though she had to admit that she consumed them readily enough when offered. And here they were again. Tempting. Mocking. O-ing. She was going to plant her face in those Os one way or another.

While moving somewhere behind Beatrice, Thalia heard her last name called among a list of others. Aware that attention may be placed in her general vicinity, she had to abandon her present course of action. Inwardly she cursed the timing, but her face showed nothing except for a casual surprise at mention of "Carmichael". She beamed a gentle smile toward her friend, the act in defiance of the inward but unspoken thought of, "This isn't over yet." Indeed, the O Wars continued.

Thalia tore herself away and filed in line with the group headed toward Briefing. She selected a chair to one side and slid into it, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning back. She waiting with a determined gaze, curiosity mixing with guarded caution.

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Hank's more jovial attitude as of late, while yet considered uncharacteristic of the man, did take a backseat for a moment. He was carefully studying the reactions that a lot of the people were having, seeing as some of them were beginning to understand the implications behind their separate interviews. Considering Hank's own, he believed that it was possible the nature of each one was different, and if the people of Mexico Beach counted themselves as organized in the least then they had to have been sharing notes, probably both before and after the interviews took place. Perhaps that was why he found himself looking to the older French gentleman who a lot of the people there knew. He was having some sort of fit or another, and Hank appeared to be hanging on every word he was mumbling, though he said nothing about it himself, taking a page from the Army Captain's playbook about keeping things quiet, lest too much information be spilled unnecessarily. My, but that was interesting, for whomever else might have picked up on it.

What did could not quite get was the Little Mermaid reference. Hey, whatever worked for his buddy Wayne. He wasn't hurting anybody and Disney was Disney, after all. Hank did feel a twinge that was birthed of memory, though. He had a little girl, once upon a time, that did like The Little Mermaid. It was a bittersweet recollection but did not stop Hank from joining in when the song selection in the jukebox of Wayne's brain selected "Les Poissons" as the featured act. Yeah, that was funny stuff. Hank was going to hyuck it up while he could.

After the room cleared out a bit, from the six names called for some group session elsewhere, Hank looked over to Wayne and casually mentioned, "I think I'm going to catch me a nap there, Maldonado. Let me know if the Pope shows up. He has some explaining to to." Reaching a hand down, Hank levered the footrest of the recliner in which he was ...reclining... and leaned back into it. Within a short span of time, he was already grumbling and snoring lightly, visions of French chefs and poor, unfortunate fishies meeting their end for his amusement.

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At Manny's slight monologue about his past, Beatrice gave him a curt nod. It was more or less her way of saying I respect you, good job, I get what you're saying to him. She wasn't a person for public displays of affection of any sort, with a handshake being about the most physical contact she had initiated or participated in since arriving here at Mexico Beach. It was funny, though, that Manny mentioned he wasn't much of a hugger - that seemed to hold true for most of the people in what had been their little group. Case in point, as Thana pulled her in tight after the handshake, Beatrice was a bit flustered and her eyes widened slightly. At Thana's words, she smirked slightly. "Thanks, Mom," she whispered back.

However, she then caught the can of O's - her mind briefly flickering towards wondering if Thalia could catch a can tossed at her with only one real hand - and she laughed slightly. The O Wars hadn't been on her mind since they got here. Beatrice tapped the lid of the can slightly. It wasn't too much later that Panama came in, reading off a list of names that needed to go see Gunny. She noticed a certain theme to them - it was the Eden squad and Thana's boyfriend. Given that Thana had been referred to only as Sparrow here, she guessed that was her assigned codename. It'd be weird if Alex didn't get Mugsy as his name, but she doubted that that would be taken into account if he was allowed to stay. She figured that they all had been called out to discuss something relating to Thana, since she was the common connection. She had a grip on the can of O's nonetheless as she sat down, shooting the occasional glance over at Thalia.

Beatrice was half tempted to casually let go of the O's in the middle of this briefing, just to see if Thalia would jump over the table or something to get at them.

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"I know, right? Guess I gotta think somethin' up, defend my title as King of the Goofs," Jack told his wife with a chuckle. He was pretty damn happy for Ash and he couldn't remember ever seeing Ash like this before, and he considered himself pretty close friends with him. It seemed to him that Ash and Thana proved that love at first sight really was possible. But even if Thana and Ash weren't meant to be and this was just an extreme case of puppy love, it didn't matter. Ash deserved some joy in his life after all of the pain and suffering. Taking a seat back down on the couch, Jack hoped that Jamie wouldn't tear off for at least another few minutes, give him and Tatiana a proper chance to talk.

When Panama came and called people in, Jack started to move for a second before he realized that Panama had said NewMan and not NewNan. "...That isn't confusin' at all," he said quietly with a bit of a grin. Of course, he was curious as to why that group was being called in to talk to Gunny. Were those the ones that were being offered admission more or less to Mexico Beach? Or was it all just a coincidence and they were being asked to talk since, from what he could tell, they all had a personal connection to Thana? Or were those all of the people that were not being asked to join the community? He took a slight breath before smiling at his wife. "Any idea what that's all about solovey?" he asked her.

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Manny had realized soon after his little speech that he had done it again. He had spoken more in a couple minutes then the rest of his little team did in a single day. Sure, he wasn't a hugger, but damn was he a talker. It helped in his medical days to help people he worked with stay comfortable and to distract them from him yanking a tooth from their mouth. But in cases of well adapted survivors, he was a a shining light when it was dark and everyone needed a good night sleep. He had said several times he would work on it, so far, he has made little progress. If he did get the job where he thought he was going to, he would have to work on that anyways. Though he did wonder, how would their little team hold up once they were integrated into Camp Mexico Beach? It was clear that they were not all fits with each other, and many were put together by situational events. They had a bond that couldn't be broken now, but it didn't change the fact that they were not likely to interact nearly as much anymore once things got going.

Manny did let out a chuckle seeing the can of Spaghetti-O's. "Oh my God..." He said with a smile on his face. He had completely forgotten about this noodle war until just now. Manny never really understood the feud that was going on, but he didn't care. It was something simple and nice that kept moral pretty damn high among their group. Manny backed off for a bit letting everyone else get some time to catch up with Thana. Soon enough, Panama came in and started listing off names. Pretty quickly Manny noticed that for the most part it was members of Team Eden, plus Ash, the Captain. He wondered what this was about, but his best guess was something to do with Thana, as to his understanding everyone here knew her a decent amount.

The group was escorted down the hall towards a room that said briefing. Manny found that strange and was wondering even more what all of this could be about? Did this mean they were staying? Was there something that they were all pulled in to cross reference? The room resembled something like he would expect from a guidance counselor office, a desk set up with a small group of chairs facing it. What Gunny had in mind for them? Who knows, but Manny felt as ready as he could for it. Though the look of confusion was definitely clear on his face.

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Hunter got pulled out of his trance when one of the guards walked towards the pool table he had learned to call home. His first though, Oh shit what did I do this time?! But, she came alone, and didn't have a gun drawn. So before Hunter said anything out loud, he stopped to think about what was happening here. Another thing he took note of, she was young. Probably younger then he was, surprisingly, not many people in that descriptor nowadays. And she... wanted to play pool? Hunter every day was more confused by these people. They were extremely strict in many areas, but very... relaxed in others. "Sure..." He agreed to pool, he was tired of it, but maybe a new player would help. Plus, maybe this was a test, or something worse. For now, he would go along until he had an idea what was going on. But he would be mindful. She reminded him of someone he knew a few years ago, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He decided he would work on not over thinking it and let things play out for now.

She started, and Hunter would follow suit. His pool abilities have gotten better over recent days so he didn't suck nearly as much as he did a couple days ago. He did take note of a decent amount of the people in here being called out. He didn't really know anyone's name yet. He didn't spend any time with anyone outside of a couple people. He took note of the old man he shared a room with, the girl who seems like would make a better pirate then he would, the Captain, the girl who came in with the extra gun in play, and the girl who pinned him and threatened to break his arm. He knew some of their names, but not all. He made a mental note to learn more names. Once they left Hunter turned his attention back on the girl he was playing pool with. "Kinda surprised that anyone from here is willing to interact with me. Figured word got around pretty fast that I am the problem child of the group." He mentioned this for a few reasons. The main one, to try and understand her more as a guard, and as a person. Another being, he was legitimately confused why anyone from Camp Mexico Beach would want to interact or be near him. Though he passed off the comment with a smile, as if it were a joke. "Name's Hunter. What's yours?" His joke smile was gone at this point, he just kept a focused look towards the pool table as he played. Though his focus would be on her reaction.

What Hunter wasn't expecting was another person to ask to join in. His first thought was "What the fuck is with this pool table?!" So far, it has done more for his reputation here then he has himself. "I mean, I don't mind. Though I should warn you, I've done nothing but pool for a few days now. I'm a bit of a pro." He lied with a joking smile. Sure he had gotten better, but that wasn't a high bar to beat. His skills were limited. Hunter did recognize the girl as friends with the red head girl he tried talking to on day 1. Though they seemed closer then friends, Hunter made another mental note to figure that out more. Family maybe? Group family? That happened sometimes when the world ended. He didn't offer a name to her though, he made his introduction known to all members of quarantine on day 1, and knew he lost that first chance. He would continue to try and play pool without seeming like a paranoid asshole looking for ways to fight off the whole room. Though that was a habit that wouldn't leave, he would work to be less obvious about it.