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Manny was enjoying this party. It reminded him of the casual conversations he would have with his patients (As he told them their gums were bleeding because they didn't floss enough). He enjoyed the little spectacle between Alexander and Shears as they talked about dying the old vet's hair all sorts of crazy colors. What he also liked to hear, Shears was open to helping Manny out to make him seem like his best self, in exchange for a decent cleaning. Though he would need to get his hands on some gear again, though for cleanings that wouldn't require too much. "Got it, thanks for pointing me in the right Direction." He said to Shears. Manny honestly would love the chance to get back into his field. Sure, education seemed fun, but he had also devoted most of his life to his work. He probably wouldn't need to have anything on the scale of what he had years ago, years ago he was prepared to see thousands of people through the year. Now? 300 people, twice or three times a year? He could do that in a small back room, and a small space to sort out papers at. In all likelihood, wouldn't even need someone to help with paperwork, appointments, or someone to handle cleanings in case he was busy on something that needed more special attention.

So maybe both could work? Dental work wouldn't take up too many days in the week. He could probably hit his weekly quota for people to see in a day if they were all back to back. "I'll go and talk to her tomorrow about that. Tonight it's time to relax a little." Though dental work for him was relaxing, he understood that others would not see it that way. He took note of two of the girls from Quarantine leaving to go dance to a nice slow song that was playing. He thought it was really sweet, and it made him happy to see people feel so comfortable and relaxed here. "Maybe she's just shy? She might just need some time to adjust. Some people adjust to their environment quicker then others." Though many people here probably got that idea. Most people who had been apart of an organized group have seen how some struggle to get used to things being semi normal again.

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Hunter returning from dropping off Izibel in their new home had taken a moment to think about what Nikki had said to him about the used bags of shit. "I mean I see the logic, but damn. We are literally talking used bags of shit. I get it... But damn." It wasn't the end of the world, there were worse things to be concerned about. When she added the comment about how lonely his ideal setup for settling down seemed, he thought about it a bit more. "Yeah, guess it is lonely." He didn't pay too much mind to it. If the last few years showed him anything, it was that most people in his life had either left him, used him, or stabbed him in the back. He figured that is why he didn't see other people as apart of his ideal settling down plan. Sure, there were always exceptions, but figuring them out was another thing. "Not sure if this is what I would call ideal for settling down. Sure, it's not bad by any means. But it's... drastically different then what I grew up with. And so..." He didn't have a good word for it. Not one Nikki would like anyways. "Whatever I guess. Times change. It's not a bad place though." Despite these words, he still had trouble seeing that. He had seen places before that seemed perfect and nice, even by his old life standards. Only to turn out to be all some trick.

Arriving at the beach was something very different for the Soldier Boy. It was a wide open space, that seemed to peak into the entire world. The large sunset lit ocean was something that Hunter couldn't even Imagine though any of his adventures. It was huge, and went on forever. Thinking to his old home that seemed big enough to get lost in, this was big enough to see everything. At first, he was in awe looking onto the sight. He got nervous looking around, it was wide open... he could be seen from everywhere... he was exposed.... but he kept looking at it... everything was. This was more or less what regular life was before wasn't it? He had barely noticed Nikki trailing ahead of him. He had stopped completely when he entered the beach. He got something about music and swimming, but in his moment of taking in the beach he had sadly missed a lot of it and felt a bit bad about that. "That sounds fun." He said with a totally strait face catching up to Nikki.

At the mention of a drink Hunter was game for whatever. Once the Chaos of the early days was over drinking became a common thing among the survivors of his unit. Some to drown the pain, others to celebrate making it this far. But there was more then enough alcohol to go around. Hunter saw Nikki ask for something, but his ability to pay attention was hindered by the view. "Can I have..." He had to stop and think. Was this something under the ration currency rules too? Could he afford it? Damn. He wasn't sure. But fuck it, party time right?"Something strong, but nothing to make me pass out." He wanted to keep some of his wit about him. Even though he was relaxing more, he wanted to always be ready for anything.

Though, a little relaxing and intoxication never hurt anyone? So why should it cause any problems for the Soldier Boy?

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Alexander could see this thing working out between them. Him, Manny and Shears playing cards and dominos before in their common room before it was time to hit the hay - Moralez he still didn't know about, but time would surely tell. Perhaps it was the sense of calm and normality that made the old veteran think like a retiree? Maybe he was just too old and tired for this shit? Yeah, probably that last one. After fighting for your very life every step you've taken, anything could seem like an attractive option.

Ol' Mugsy couldn't help but turn his head slowly towards Manny as he suggested a new shade of pink for Alexander. Smiling smugly at him, Alexander threw a clearly well-meant "Fuck you, Manny. Don't rat me out just now." Alexander gave a good laugh afterwards, allowing Manny and Shears to continue their conversation while he gave the two girls a parting nod. They had talked about dancing.

Dancing, that sounded nice.

As they walked away, Alexander got lost in the memory of dancing. Him and Judith, dancing to her favourite tunes that felt worlds away both back then and now. It was she that taught Alexander to dance, suffering many a stepped on toe, but eventually he made it. They both did. That was many years ago, before all of this happened. What he wouldn't have given to have one last dance with her…

Alexander snapped back to it when Shears talked back to him. Psychologist? Oh right, barber chairs, that made sense. Alexander nodded knowingly to the Camp's resident hairdresser, following what he told him about the other activities that had in Camp Mexico Beach. He liked the sound of most of them, but one made him raise a brow as Manny took over the latter part of the conversation. It took a little while before Alexander looked back up at Shears with a puzzled look. "Dungeon dragons? Wait, isn't that some sort of devil-worshipping or huge nerd thing? Or am I missing something here?"

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Nigel looked at Thalia for a moment as she accepted his apology, or what he thought would have been one instead of her matter-of-factly statement about the fire. She wasn't listening to him, but to the fire? He blinked a few times taking in what she had just said, trying to decode some form of deeper meaning or hidden ancient wisdom she was throwing at him. At first the thought occured to him that she was commenting on his Roman-esque nature, wondering what on Earth she could be referring to. It took him perhaps a moment too long to realize she was just telling the truth; she was busy with the fire.

"Oh…Good, glad I didn't get in the way of you and the fire…" Nigel said back to Thalia, feeling an awkward silence fall over him aftwards. Erica's arrival would have alleviated the tension, except when she said that she was turning in for the night. Nigel gave a slight smile and a wave back to her as she left, watching her leave while Adelaide handed him his beer almost unnoticed. He didn't see her wink at him, fumbling for the beer while he mumbled to himself. "Second one…sure." For a brief, but intense moment, Nigel felt something he hadn't done for a very long time - Lonely.

It took Nikki, the girl who had seemingly grown attached to Hunter over the past few days, and Hunter arriving at the bar to make Nigel pay attention again. The small crowd around the bar were in a good mood, including Hunter which was a nice change. Turning around to lean his elbows on the counter, he nodded to Adelaide. "If I can swap out that second beer for a glass of wine, I'd kneel and pray to Dionysus, though what Hunter's taking is good too." He asked of her, turning to the newcomers and nodded to them as well as to introduce himself in silence. Lastly he looked up at Hunter, his unexpected fellow pool-player. "Hey kid, how's your dog? She okay?"

Temperature: 76F
Humidity: High (Around 81%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 14 MPH
Cloud Coverage: Clearing

Note: The Sun has set and the temperature is dropping, we are officially in the 70's.

Drinks are as follows:

• Heavy: Moonshine (Clear)
• Moderate: Whiskey (Brown)
• Light: Beer (Pale Ales)
• Sweet Tea (Brown)
• Water (Clear)

Seriously, if you want to get drinks mixed up, go for it LOL

The music continues, the band seems to be sticking to classics at this point: Simple Man, Sweet Home Alabama & Free Bird by Skynyrd are the next three songs they go through. While people are out on the dance floor, the music at this point seems to be more for background to the rest of the party. People are making the rounds, getting drinks, plates of food. Some are sitting by the fire pits, others are going down to the waters edge, sitting on logs that are set out like benches, just standing about. Small groups of what looks like old friends.

Adelaide looked over towards Lisa and smirked. "You're just looking for fresh meat, though can't blame ya, been a while since we had new faces," she said before taking a sip of her drink. The woman let her eyes wander over the new arrivals as well as the old standards. She spotted Nikki heading over. "Well seems either she wasn't doing anything we would do, that or he is a quick finish," she said before snort laughing into her beer and having to choke it down.

Riley was very happy just to have the dance with Amelia. Song changing over and she was in no hurry to move along or let go of Amelia. She let her know, giving a squeeze here and there, or a small kiss; as long as Amelia was comfortable being out and about she would be and would follow her from the dance floor to the bar to get food, walk down the beach, whatever worked. It was their first real evening together in some form of real safety since Newnan. Last group thing since Tati and Jack's wedding. (Jack and Tati had made a quick appearance but went back to their place early with little Jamie. Tati wasn't doing well around so many at once.)

Younger kids are running around and rushing over to Tesla who had a back pocket full of old sparklers, a lighter in one hand and a pail of water in the other. Pulling them out waved the kids to follow him. "Alright you know the drill," he said as he lead them further down the beach and started lighting sparklers. Handing them over one at a time and letting the kids run around with them but keeping an eye out like a protective older brother. Away from the main fires, the kids seemed to have fun drawing and writing their names in the air with the sparklers.

Adelaide looked over towards Nikki as she came over and smirked. "Oh my, here I am the bar tender and you asking for a drink. Are you 21 yet? Got a drivers license? Show me your id. Oh wait, aren't you on parole for breaking and entering, theft of two liters of Whiskey?" Adelaide said with a smirk on her lips. Her eyes glanced towards Thalia but she didn't say anything about the ball comment.

Shears nodded. "Everything takes time, we can't all be as awesome and good looking at me. Makes it harder to fit in when your not," he chuckled as he patted his hair. "Shit, nah. I mean thought it was but nah, funny as hell. Should give it a go," he told Alexander. Looking at the kid running around down the beach he grinned. "Oh to have the knees to do that," he pondered as he started walking, heading over to the bar. Adelaide saw him coming and already pulled out a small bottle of brown liquid. Uncapping it she held it out. Shears took it with a grin. "Thank ya Cheers," he said as he kept walking, raising it a bit in cheer before taking a swig and smacking his lips. Seemed the man was going to waddle down to where the kids were playing and see about getting himself a sparkler.

Looking over at Hunter, Adelaide rose a brow. "Hard to know since I ain't ever seen you drink before, but let's start simple," she said popping open a beer and sliding it over. She still hadn't served Nikki anything and smirked as she slipped the beer over to Hunter. After about a half second more she finally opened another beer and slid it over to Nikki. "Should really make you get Maddogs permission, if only to piss you off," she added with a smirk.

Nigel got Adelaide to turn her attention. "Actually, don't have any wine down here. Maybe next time. No one ever asks for it so I didn't even bother to bring down a bottle or two," she admitted. "But hey, you want wine, talk to Padre, maybe he can give you communion."

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Letting out a short breath, Thana leaned back and looked up at Ash. Her fingers trailing lightly over the back of his neck as she gazed into his eyes. This was nice and while there were plenty of people about, hundreds in fact, but right then it felt to her that it was just them. It was nice. Sure not as private as she would have perhaps liked right then but it was enough. This was needed as much as being alone together was. Thinking back to their first real conversation after they met she remembered telling Ash he needed to put himself out there, build bridges with his people instead of locking himself away. It would have been rather hypocritical of her to steal him away and not be around people herself. Then again, she had earned the right to be a bit selfish when it came to Ash as she figured it.

At this words she smirked. Seemed he didn't want her away anymore than she wanted to be away from him. She did promise but it could wait, maybe after the band took its first semi-break during the evening she could slip up there, get it over with and get back to her man. "How 'bout if I go you just stay close. That or I could drag you on stage with me," she teased halfheartedly. "Maybe make you sing instead of me. Bet you'd do the Army proud," she teased a bit more. Granted she didn't know if Ash could sing or not. Then again, she didn't care. Hearing his Virginian drawl was enough for her.

Thana giggled a bit as she pulled herself closer, a thought crossing her mind. "Last time there was dancing and singing we ran away with food in hand," she said remembering the night of the reception. "Granted we never really ate it that night either." Sighing she rested her brow against his chin and closed her eyes as they danced together. "Hopefully tomorrow's tomorrow will be better than that nights tomorrow..." she whispered as her brow slipped to the side and she rested her head on his shoulder. She really didn't think she could stand another year plus apart from him if history repeated itself, she didn't know if she had the strength to go through it again.

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Nikki rolled her eyes and blew an overly large bubble with her gum as Adelaide rattled off her list of demands and then brought up the theft. The bubble burst with a loud pop, it sagging below her lips and caught on her nose. Reaching up she pulled it off and stuck her tongue out at Adelaide. Yeah and if I knew you'd bring it up every time I saw you I would have stole a lot fucking more," she said rather brazenly as she folded her gum over itself and stuck it back into her mouth, chomping it with a grin. She would have as well. If she knew Ada would keep bringing it up she would have drank till she threw up and then stashed some elsewhere for later.

Adelaide might not have said anything but Nikki did. "No, you need a tiara first," she said before looking back at Adelaide again. "Come on Cheers, I've been a good girl." Her jaw went slack as Adelaide served one person after another and still hadn't served her. "Hey, cute girl here, pouty lips, wanting a drink, dying of thirst, come on Cheers..." she said and nearly about started begging when Adelaide finally handed one over. Though her words about asking Maddog got Nikki to narrow her eyes. "You like being a bitch?" she asked as she took the beer and slipped back quickly.

"I'm going over there," she said informing Hunter before skipping off. She stopped just long to stick her tongue out at Adelaide. She headed over to the large kettles and had a seat, figuring she could drink and get something to eat before it was all gone or grew cold.

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„What, you mean that you aren't?” Lisa asked back with a chuckle.” Mmm.... what a missed opportunity if you ask me. Not many would have noticed it if she appeared later tonight.” She replied to Ada about Nikki and studied the girl and the boy. Hopefully it wasn't the second thing, that would be not too fun for his future partners. She couldn't hold her laughter when Ada was basically messing up with the skater girl for the beer.

Lisa looked at Thalia as to her greeting she received a brief sound that was probably acknowledgement... probably. This was funny, then the miss cyborg continued to speak. Lisa couldn't help it as she started to laugh.” Holy hell, I like her.” Lisa said to Ada with a huge grin. Yeah this one was fun, didn't seem to be too friendly right now, but eh who cared. They'd either have to be friends in the future or keep ignoring each other. For now though Lisa found her fun.

Her eyes then focused on the Soldier boyo who had arrived like a good puppy after Nikki. Well, well... not too bad, Lisa was wondering if this was Nikki's type. He wasn't bad, question was up to what was inside that skull of his and if he was going to get along nicely with her, but they seemd to be hitting it off well if they arrived in a pair like that. She highly doubted Nikki would have moved about with him without good reason otherwise.

“The little bundle of energy.” Lisa grinned as she watched Nikki bail away as soon as she got her booze." I will have to remind her to call me along next time she's stealing booze. Seems like fun in that old story from the prohabition kind of way."

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Amelia really wanted this moment to continue even longer, but as the people about her were moving about, it was obvious that dancing was no longer the focus anymore. She enjoyed it till the end of the song, but finally stopped dancing and pulled an arm's length away from Riley to look at her. The moment was perfect while it lasted, it would remain in her memory for a long time.” Let's go grab something to dri...” She started to say as they walked away from the dance floor, only to freeze in place at the appearance of the bar with a certain dog person there.

She took a breath, tried to calm down. Yes calm down, dog was NOT going to be present... the beast of hell wouldn't be able to get close to her. Still wary and feeling her mood dropping rapidly she took Riley's hand tightly in hers. Putting on her game focused face on. She wasn't letting some dog rabid owner wreck the whole night for her! No! BLOODY! WAY!” Let's get something to drink and then take a stroll by the water line.” She steeled herself and said, resuming her walking in the direction of the bar. Nikki had bailed away from the bar for some reason. Walk along the waterline would be nice. She wanted to get her bare feet into the water even just a tiny bit!

As they got to it, people sure were starting to gather there, including some of the ones from the Quarantine and also the Lisa woman from the mess hall. Keeping Riley between herself and a certain dog owner, she felt better.” Excuse me, can I get a beer?” She asked, seeing that beers were indeed present. Likely there was stronger alcohol, but she didn't want to dull herself too much.

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As the songs continued to roll out and night fell upon the seaside beach party, Ash remained with Thana. Sure, the dancing that they did wasn't exactly in full harmony with most of the music being played, but Ash would have been extremely hard pressed to give a rat's hindparts about the opinions of the rest of the Camp. From a logical standpoint, this should have been the time that he made his rounds and was seen by the locals as much as possible, away from whatever duties he would be assigned so that they might get to know one another on a personal level, but again the whole "rat's hindparts" issue came into play. He was just fine where he was, and with the company he was keeping, period.

Thana's suggestion about keeping close versus singing on stage caught him a little off-guard. "Oh, I think staying close is more humane to your family, rather than havin' me sing. I'm good with cadence, ah, and get me liquored up I think I can sing "Paint it, Black", but I really can't." Ash smiled a little, now fully realizing that she was kidding (and damn grateful for it), "I'm pretty sure the Army would've revoked my commission, to be honest." And yes, as the first hints of grain alcohol settled into his corpuscles, his Old Dominion Virginian peeked out with a touch more color, like one might expect an old Confederate officer to sound like, with full enunciation. In more ways than one, it was a dying accent.

When she began to talk about the last party they attended, Ash's face straightened a little. It was the best night of his life, very likely; a day when he was reminded that it was okay to live for himself as well as others, but mostly because of her. It was funny how life's unexpected changes could be so beneficial, so positive. Of course, change often heralds more change, related or not. It was also the last night that Newnan stood. Thana's voicing of that memory as well had an impact on Ash. For many, the destruction of Newnan happened almost a year and a half ago. That was a long time in this new world. For Ash, the days following it, and up until about a week ago, were all part of the mission that started the day that their home got swallowed up by the earth, and most of their people died. For Ash, this just ended. And he was glad that it did.

Ash felt Thana dance closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her a little bit more and kept dancing with her, bending his neck down so that he could kiss the side of her head through her soft, brown hair. She did have lovely hair. Even post-apocalypse - like it was a gift somehow. Her words resonated with him, and he understood that kind of worry, be it a tangible, rational danger or not. He didn't think that he would be strong enough to survive something like that again, either, whether it was surviving out in the open world for that long or just being without her. Still dancing, he declared, "Thawna..." before realizing that his accent just warbled her name for the first time ever. "...the hell was that..?" he mused, then got back on topic, "Tomorrow we're going to wake up next to each other, and the rest will just be a memory. We had our trials, survived, and found each other. Now we get to be together." Admittedly, her trials sounded rougher than his. Ash held her close, insomuch as he was able without putting discomfort to Thana, before relaxing the embrace. A little. Their dancing might have resembled a prolonged hug to a third party.

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The bar seemed to be where the action was. In her experience, it tended to be. Why she decided to go over that way in the first place was a little baffling, until she remembered that she was trying to be a little sociable. And there was beer. If anything was going to get her to open up some, it would have to be alcohol. Thalia was not a big drinker. Not remotely as much as others in her family, anyway. And living outside of walls presented fewer times when it was smart to imbibe. This was a rare thing. Likewise was a rare thing that she felt a slight, self-conscience twinge about some notes of her sarcasm. Thalia was a naturally guarded individual, even a little insular. She wasn't necessarily rude nor cynical. Antisocial, sure. Which was probably why her reaction to attention from strangers was met by an encompassing smartassed comment. They were being polite, and trying to include her. It itched a little bit. As did the sudden awareness of the number of people in Camp Mexico Beach, made evident by the now greatly increased number of people standing on the beach. This was not within her comfort zone.

Still, her situational awareness checklist kept ticking off, like the training she got once upon a time might have prompted. Hunter approaching, asking for booze. Probably the only person less socially comfortable than her for miles around. The barber comes up for a drink. Harmless enough, still not the type to piss off unless you want to cut your own hair indefinitely. He did a great job on her. Conversation between Hadrian and the bartender continues. Preacher has wine. That makes sense. Food being served. That and so many other details about what was going on and Thalia started to feel like she should find someplace to put her back to and just observe from a dark corner, preferably with a means of escape handy. Again she caught herself absently feeling for a knife that she didn't have anymore, before she caught herself. This was not what she came here for. She was not in the woods, these people were not potential threats.

Taking a steadying breath, Thalia leaned on the bar where she was standing and took an impressively long pull from her beer. Three, four, five, six gulps or so until she stopped. It was right about then that she realized that someone was saying something to her. Blonde girl with Hunter. "Naht the tiara type, girly girl," she mused, though by that time Nikki was going to find her fun elsewhere. Quite the social butterfly. Well, once, long ago, Thalia was the established urbanite herself. Still a little antisocial, but it was better tempered by circumstances. She could hang out and talk to people, and goddamn it, she was going to. At first, Thalia leaned over in the direction of Lisa and Adelaide, after getting such a glowing if brief assessment from the local girl (even if Lisa didn't address her directly), flatly stating, "Thanks. You all seem nice. I don't do the "people thing" much. Get to know me and I'm a real peach." It was said in such a way that made it difficult to tell if she was being serious.

Others came and went, including the two girls who were obviously a couple, down to matching hairstyles. Kind of. But they looked to have other plans involving a walk along the water. Quiet walks were nice. But suddenly, another thought went through Thalia's mind. Looking to Nigel, she gave a quick, "Hey!" to get his attention, followed by an observation, "You're a Espada y Escudo, um, 'Sword & Board' fighter, right?" and then a quick suggestion, "We should see about getting some sparring time in, yah?"

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It wasn't hard to take notice of the kids flocking around Tesla with the sound of their excitement for some simple sparklers. It was another sound that for some reason brought back a sense of normality to ol' Alexander, who let his gaze leave Shears and Manny for a moment to follow them. Alexander watched them as Telsa led them down the beach and they had the time of their lives with those sparklers. A smile formed on the old man's lips, feeling something gently pull the back of his brain. A memory, or many?

Clearly Shears had taken notice of the kids as well after giving Alexander a less-than elaborative answer, only telling him to try it out himself. "Funny? I'll see what happens, perhaps sometime later." Alexander said back to Shears, watching him waddle away as the pulling continued. Something about those kids running around, laughing, and the music being played on-stage…Something was luring ol' Mugsy back to the past. Which past it was Alexander couldn't tell, only that it took over his vision…



Alexander came back to his senses standing at the beach, staring out at the black emptiness in front of him. The ocean. He had no idea how much time had passed and what he had done in the meantime, but clearly he had wandered towards the smell of the sea. He was torn between two very different emotions at that moment; was he supposed to feel afraid that he had blacked out again and just walked away, or embrace the comfort of the big passion he standing in front of?

The weather was still fine, a comfortable 70 degrees or something still keeping the humid air warm. Before the outbreak this would have been as comfortable as old Alexander could get. No, he would try. He had to try. Alexander turned his head to see the kids still playing with the sparklers, while the rest of the adults were doing their own things. He let out a long and heavy sigh, reeling in his sense of the present and trying to remain in the real world. His world, the new world with a fresh start.

He would try to once again become a simple man. Like he had used to be. Like Judith wished him to be.

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Nigel "Hadrian" had not expected the bar to be as busy as it was, something he really shouldn't have been surprised over. There was a party tonight, a massive one that out-classed anything in all of Florida quite possibly. In quick succession there was a steady stream of known and unknown faces through the bar; the aforementioned Hunter and Nikki or Checkbook, followed by the barber who'd taken all of Nigel's hair earlier that week. Right, he had nearly forgotten about that whole event with him turning bald as a Greek statue. As he joined the legion of drinkers, Nigel raised his beer at him as a greeting. "Shears. Thansk for the haircut again, Tonsor." Nigel "Hadrian" attempted at conversation with the man he'd barely spoken with, before he waddled away to do what only the gods could know.

What caught Nigel's attention more than anything else, besides him feeling like a fish out of water in the present company, was the verbal skirmishing between Adelaide and Nikki. He'd seen this type of jabbering before, all to common in high schools he thought, though he couldn't pinpoint who was the the insticating force of the two. Sarcasm and pointed insults put aside, Nigel was more surprised that Adelaide actually handed her a beer. The woman called Lisa put it quite fittingly; "Bundle of energy indeed, not the type to sit patiently in class." He commented on the ordeal, before looking up at Adelaide answering his plea for wine. "Oh, really? I mean I don't want to make a big deal out of it or anything, but that would be…great, next time. Not sure a communion is right for me now. But thanks."

Before Nigel "Hadrian" could question Adelaide about the origins of these mystical wine of Greek legends, he was talked to again. This time it was the one-armed Amazon of Thalia, speaking at first in what he could only presume was Spanish. He raised his brows at her following observation in English. Nigel "Hadrian" nodded, he was indeed a man proficient in the ways of fighting with a sword and shield, something few people could those days. "Sparring? Yeah sure, why not? If they'll allow me to hammer out some practice swords or something, I'm game, Cum gladiis et fustibus." Nigel replied to Thalia, raising his beer to her and drinking a good sip of it. It went down, though not without a good cough from him. The taste and bubbles was something he hadn't tasted for years, so it was more a surprise than unpleasent. Eventually he drank another sip and put the bottle on the counter, adressing Thalia first "Any experience with a sword before?" and then Adelaide "How come you've got wine here? Stored up after all these years?"

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The camp fire talk was something special. Shears was a good conversationalist, Alexander seemed happier then Manny had seen him since knowing him, and Manny didn't have to walk around with his shotgun over his shoulder or in his hands to feel comfortable. Though he would love to have access to it in case of an emergency, or to pick up target shooting again, he understood the reasoning why he didn't have it now though. Manny did let out a bit of a laugh to Alexander's reply to the hair change recommendation. "I'm not ratting you out. Just think of it like... Setting you up for a great story for later. Or an explanation." As he spoke his idea, his hand moved in a circle fashion as if he was thinking of a good way to give out his joke. Before too long Shears left to go get a drink at the bar. Manny had no plans on drinking tonight, he was getting old and old age was already catching up to him in uncomfortable ways. Last thing he needed was to have a few drinks to trick him into thinking he was a lot younger then he actually was.

When Dungeon and Dragons was brought up, Manny was about as useless as a brain dead goldfish. "Can't say I can help you clarify." He spoke to the old Vet. "I knew people that used to play, they didn't seem like the Devil Worshiping kind of people. Nerds. Yes. Absolute nerds." He left out the part where he picked on those kids from time to time, though it didn't really get popular until he had grown past that phase of his life. Though even as an adult he found it a silly game. He did wonder about the ways he could keep busy in his free time. Though they did have a library here. He took a moment to see all the kids running around on the beach with their sparklers. God what it would be like to do that again. Then it occurred to him, those would probably be the kids he would be teaching from time to time. He was also able to take note of Alexander who had found himself focused out onto the ocean side. "Hey, how are you doing?" He didn't show concern when asking. It was meant as a simple, informative question. He didn't want to make Alexander feel like he had to share more then he wanted to.

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The bar seemed to be a very active place. At this moment, there seemed to be more people at the bar then there had been with any group he had been with since his unit fell apart. It was.... uncomfortable to say the least for the soldier boy. God... there were so many people here... For the longest bit he had trouble keeping track of who was coming and going. This would take a lot of getting used to. He almost didn't notice when Nigel started talking to him. But thankfully Hunter had at least some trust for the man, so he dedicated some attention to him. "Izibel? She's doing good. Probably annoyed that I had to drop her off in our room. But otherwise good." She probably would have liked the scrap yard. Nice, open, other dogs. An overall nice place. Adelaide brought up the point right about then about not knowing what he could handle. But he accepted the beer with a smile and a simple "Thank you." He took a few sips from it as if he was drinking a soda, a few big gulps and then set it down. Hunter in his mind thought he could drink a decent amount and stay functional. In the early days? Maybe. He was still at a starved weight though. Drinking would be an adventure here. "Adelaide? After this mind if I get something a bit stronger?" He tried his best to be polite. He was new here, and offered booze. Plus, you never wanted to piss off the person making your drinks. But he did laugh a little at Adelaide teased Nikki about her drink. Hunter found all sorts of things funny.

He turned his attention back to Nigel. "How are things going on your end? Anything crazy or interesting?" He liked Nigel. Figured he was someone that would be good to be friends with, apparently he knew his way with a sword too, meaning if things broke down inside the walls, he could probably hold his own in an unarmed fight. Not a bad place to be in. He caught Nikki going off to get some food he guessed. "I'll catch up with you in a bit." "This is a lot and I need to distract myself from the stress" he almost added. He almost added that this place still stressed him out, being unarmed was stressful, and so many people were stressful. She didn't like hearing much negative about this place. He didn't blame her, but that didn't change his mindset on it. So, liquid courage! "Adelaide, if possible make it a double." Booze helped. He did take note of more locals coming and going. Some stayed, some left. He also noticed the one armed girl who now had a hand that seemed like it came out of an Iron Man comic. Iron Pirate? He was pretty sure her name was Thalia. "Mind if I ask what happened to the arm?" He had met many people who had lost limbs. But most died of infection, being unable to adapt physically, or being unable to adapt mentally. Granted, he wasn't sure it was something he could do either if it came up. Maybe she was born without the arm? Also possible.

He didn't realize he had gone through his drink until he went to take another sip and it was gone. He looked at his empty drinking container with a look of sadness. "Damn..." Not the worst problem in the world though, he figured that the worst problem would be running out of bullets. Then he thought about it, he had no bullets now. And no booze. Though he didn't let that concern as much as he did the lack of booze alone. Letting his attention wonder back over to Nikki, he would make his way over and try to figure things out more with her after a few more drinks.

Temperature: 72F
Humidity: High (Around 74%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 16 MPH
Cloud Coverage: Clear

Note: It is officially night now. The moon is up, the sky is clear, stars can be seen. The temperature has dropped as had the humidity some. (Granted the humidity is still high enough to feel that is for sure.) The wind has picked up a little. The weather will hold about at this pattern with a few gusts here and there for the rest of the evening.

Drinks are as follows:

• Heavy: Moonshine (Clear)
• Moderate: Whiskey (Brown)
• Light: Beer (Pale Ales)
• Sweet Tea (Brown)
• Water (Clear)

Seriously, if you want to get drinks mixed up, go for it LOL

Adelaide looked over to Lisa and laughed. "Shit, I have to keep tabs on that one. If I don't who knows what booze will go missing next," she said with an eye roll before taking another sip of her drink.

"That was years ago Adelaide," Dusty said as he waddled by with a large plate of crab and shrimp. "Let the girl be, not every one can have a stirring stick up their butt 24-7," he said waiving a shrimp at her face. Adelaide smirked, snatching it out of his hand and popping it in her mouth. "My scrimp! THIEF!"

"Eat me Dusty," Adelaide said chomping her newly acquired treat.

"Can I?"

"Eww! Get, go!" she said before shoving the beer she knew he wanted towards him. Dusty grinned and waddle off, pulling up his pants that threatened to slip down. Looking back at Lisa, Adelaide smirked. "Don't go encouraging the girl, I already got my hands full," she said before taking another pull from her beer. Looking at Hunter she nodded. "Yeah, if you are still standing," she said looking the guy over, he was really on the thin side. With his weight three beers were most likely to put him on his ass.

Sheers grinned at Alexander and nodded before paying more attention to where he was going. Grabbing a plate of food from Cook as he passed the kettles. As he got over to the kids and Tesla he offered Tesla some and then just stood there watching the kids play while he ate. Tesla and him talking a bit laughing at the kids as they ran around.

There was a bit of a nod from Adelaide towards Nigel. "You're welcome," she said before taking another drink. Adelaide was just lowering her beer when she finally noticed Amelia standing there with Riley and asking for a beer. "Oh sure," she said. Stopping midgrab she looked at Riley. "You want one too?" she asked.

"Yeah, please," Riley answered, staying close to Amelia and noticing that her girl friend looked a little tense. She was pretty sure she knew why. Hunter had a dog and Amelia was scared to death of them. Wrapping an arm around her waist she whispered against Amelia's ear. "And a walk sounds perfect," she said quietly. A walk did sound nice but it would also get Amelia away from Hunter.

"Here ya go, I'm Adelaide," Adelaide said as she slid two beers over for them. She gave half a glance towards Thalia but the one handed girl seemed to be already trying to pick a fight with someone, even if it was only for training. Girl had some spunk, but then again she figured she had to, to survive loosing a limb.

"Riley, and thanks," Riley said taking the beer and waiting for Amelia to be ready to go for their walk.

Looking back at Hunter Adelaide poured him a whiskey in a small glass and slid it over to him. "That single and then let's see how well you are talking in ten minutes," she said eying the guy. Like hell she was going to risk him hurling over everything if she could prevent it. Granted she wasn't on clean up duty but no one liked that duty.

The band seemed to be winding down another song. "Gonna switch things up a bit, give us a few," Atticus said into the mic before bending over and picking up his drink to take a sip. It was brown so it was hard to tell if it was whiskey or tea.

Bass hopped off the stage and wandered through the crowd, walking over and tapping Thana on the shoulder. "Miss Thana? Hey, you's about ready?" he asked as the rest of the band was taking a few minutes to change out a few things and wet their whistles.

Adelaide looked back towards Nigel. "I don't make it, but we've ran across a lot of stores and such. Since it isn't used for fuel or to sterilize anything, it mostly gets kept for Communion."

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Hearing Ash sing Paint It Black might well been something she would have paid to see but the way he put it, it was probably better if she didn't. Not that there was really anything she had to trade even if she was willing. Not to mention she already had a large debt with the community she would be spending a far amount of overtime work doing to pay off. As she danced there, in Ash's arms though, looking around here and there and seeing the rest of the new people starting to relax and have a good time, she knew it was worth it. Even if they hadn't made it here, it would have been well worth it: to at least try was the only thing one could do anymore. Try and hope for the best but always be prepared for the worst.

Pushing the more depressing thoughts out of her mind though, Thana had a little idea trickle through her mind and it made her smile. She would wait though, right then, just dance. Thankfully leaning against Ash as they danced was as much pragmatic as it was enjoyable; keeping as much weight as she could off her leg that was still healing. Everything stopped as she heard Ash say her name oddly. Her head snapped up and she leaned back some, bracing her hands against his shoulders as she stood there wide eyed. "Beats the hell outta me," she said quickly. She had never heard her name said that way and it took her by surprise.

Seemed he was back to talking normally again and she liked what he had to say. "I like the sound of that," she said as she leaned back in. Brushing her lips against his before resting her head on his shoulder once again. Letting out a slow breath she went back to just swaying with him. She couldn't remember ever dancing this long before without at least going and grabbing a drink but she didn't care. This was nice and she was going to enjoy it. Pulling herself a tad closer. "Ya know, I think I like the way you said my name," she said softly. It wasn't something to be used every day but the way he said it was rather becoming to her, set it apart from how others said her name or addressed her.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she finally realized that the music had stopped. She was still wrapped up in the moment. Swallowing slightly she lifted her head and looked over. "Oh yeah, just a second," she said before looking back to Ash. "Stay close?" she asked as she slipped her arms from around his shoulders, trailing them down until her fingers laced with his. "Could use a hand to get up the steps," she added in case he needed an excuse, but then again she doubted he cared about an excuse to stay close.

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Nikki skipped over to the area where the kettles were. The General and Gunny were walking away with a plate to go have a seat around the edge of the dance floor. The two seemed to be keeping a close eye on Thana. Nikki couldn't blame them, she had been keeping a bit of an eye on the woman herself since she returned. Taking a plate from Mizrahi, Nikki flopped down in the sand and shoved her beer into the ground next to her. Yanking off a leg from one of the crabs on her plate she snapped it in half, twisting it and revealing plump steaming white meat. Shoving it into her mouth she giggled and chewed, bopping up and down as she sat there. Eating and licking her fingers.

Then Nikki stopped and spotted Alexander staring out over the water. Seemed Manny was with him but there was something about the way the man just stood there that reminded her of another person she had watched just standing in that spot, thinking on things. A lot of people did that. She wondered why. Sitting there, Nikki sat watching Alexander but thinking back to a previous time....

The sun began to rise, Thana wrapped her arms around herself. The woman had been running for a while and Nikki found it hard to keep up and not be seen. It was probably a good thing Thana was still recovering, otherwise she might not have been able to keep up. Ducking behind one of the piers pillars she stood there and watched the woman. Nikki liked watching people, always had, and Thana was someone new in town. First new person in a while and the first months had been spent in the hospital. This was the first real chance she had had to spy on her.

Resting her hands on her hips Thana took a deep breath. "How long are you going to follow me and think I don't know you're there?" she asked with the slightest bit of Georgia drawl in her voice. There was the most minor of smirks on her lips as she glanced back over her shoulder.

"You fucking knew?" Nikki asked as she came out. Tucking her hair behind her ear and shrugging as she walked over towards Thana. Thana nodded and looked back out over the water. "What the fuck are you doing?" she asked.

"Remindin' myself why I chose to do the things I do," Thana said in a military voice.

"Riiight, of course. Makes perfect sense," Nikki said with a roll of her eyes and a voice laced with sarcasm. Blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it loud. Thana took a parade rest and turned to look at the girl, giving her the once over. "What? I got something on my face?"

Thana gave a quiet chuckle. "Why are you here?" she asked as a brow rose over her left eye.

"Watching you, duh."

"Why?"

"Something to do." The girl shrugged and blew another bubble. Thana shook her head. "What?"

"There are plenty of things to do, watchin' me means more than just somethin' to do." Looking back over the water for a moment before she looked down at her feet now deeper in the sand. "You're curious. Dead woman walkin'."

Nikki's eyes widened a bit but she nodded. "How'd the fuck you know that? What, you some kind of psychic?" Thana laughed at that one.

"No, I just take in information and come to a logical conclusion. I didn't exactly inherit the family people trait," she said as she stood there and took a few steps forward. The water coming up to her calves now and washing against her skin. "You saw a battered body come in out of the sky, people rushing to save a person you had never seen before. No pulse, no breath. Surely dead and gone, only thing left to do was to put a blade into the base of my skull. Yet, time goes by and I walk out of the hospital and am running down the beach. I would be curious as well, you have a similar mind to mine and a penchant of getting in trouble I hear. Col. Martin was right when he said you were like me."

Nikki laughed and shook her head. "Right, Miss Rod up her ass. Probably never got in trouble for even having an unmade bed growing up," she taunted.

"No, you're right. I never did get in trouble for not making my bed. I made her it was made each and every morning. I did however nearly get thrown in prison for Grand Theft Auto when I was 18," Thana said in a flat tone.

Nikki's gum spat out of her mouth in disbelief as Thana looked over to her and gave her a small smile. "No shit?"

"No shit," Thana said and waved the girl over closer. Nikki and her talked for hours and many times after that.

Chuckling a bit to herself, Nikki still found it hard to believe a lot of what Thana had told her over the weeks before she left. Then again, turning and looking over at the woman with Ash, maybe it wasn't so far fetched. The woman was human after all. Shrugging her eyes landed on Bass who was talking with Thana. She stuck her tongue out at him before going back to her food and beer.

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„Pff please, as if she's in the need of any encouragement.” Lisa was the one to do a heavy eyeroll this time as she looked at Ada again, watching the exchange between her and Dusty.” Lovebirds, go get a room first. We single dogs want to drink in peace.” She decided to play along with their antics.

Lisa smiled as she was just taking a sip from her beer when she heard Thalia speaking. Throwing a happy look at the cyborg woman, she nodded and grinned again.” No worries, 'people thing' is optional, the important thing is to have fun! The rest is the icing on the cake.” She chuckled and raised her beer to the woman in a toast like fashion.” Hope you have fun here. It can get boring at times, but it's not too bad.”

Then Thalia and big roman dude started to arrange a duel. Good, duels were nice, maybe they could sell popcorn and make a spectacle out of it. A veritable modern post apocalyptic gladiatorial arena minus evil beasts and killing. They haven't fallen that far down after the apocalypse. Give it a few generations first. Hunter boy made his presence known once again by asking for stronger stuff later.” Ada, don't keep him too dry. Give him some liquid bravery! He's going to need it!” Lisa stated to the bartender and pointed out Hunter who was looking out in Nikki's direction.” Help the poor guy out, look at him!”

Finally a pleasant surprise in the face of Amelia and Riley arrived. They too have been summoned by the sweet intoxication of booze.” Hey.” She greeted them.” Having fun?” The two women seemed like good folk, Amelia looked a bit too shy, but otherwise she seemed good. The looks she was giving Hunter were amusing though.

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Amelia smiled as she received the beer. She took it carefully, noting the fact that Riley was keeping herself between her and the Hunter dude. She was very glad that the blasted dog creature was not present. Otherwise this very pleasant night would have been a nightmare. As far as she was concerned all dogs were very dangerous things that deserved to be enchained and possibly barred and preferrably behind a sturdy wall from her. Keeping the corner of the eye on him, she felt safer.

As as the woman introduced herself and Riley returned the gesture, Amelia realized that she too hadn't done so.” Nice to meet you, Adelaide. I'm Amelia.” She said with a small smile, holding her beer securely. She then looked at Lisa who was chilling at the bar.” Hi, Lisa.” She greeted.” Yes, very much so.” She smiled and nodded in reply as she hooked hands with Riley and headed towards the waterline.” Let's go!” She smiled, starting to walk towards the water.

Amelia stopped right before they reached the water and after a brief pondering, she decided to take off her shoes and took a step so her feet get splashed by the water. It was cool, maybe even cold, but she couldn't help but smile. This was a very simple thing, yet brought her joy. It was proof of the possible stability this place could offer. Still she pulled away form the water, better not earn herself a sickness by getting her feet in the cold water for a long time. Walking barefeet for a bit on the sand would do as well.

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As was a little self-conscious by the sudden jolt of his rural, high-elevation, Virginian heritage, particularly as it reared when speaking Thana's name. His accent was always very slight, mostly by means of his training it down amid schooling, only to emerge under cover of alcohol or extreme relaxation. Or both. The fact that it did arise despite the small amount of moonshine consumed, if only for a moment, was further sign that Ash was setting aside the person of extreme responsibility. If we truly ever was, Ash was not a Captain right then. He was some guy dancing with his sweetheart on the beach, and that was more than enough for a lifetime.

Ash had a moment of relief when Thana kissed him again and told him that she liked the way he inflected her name. "Just my Virginian acting up again," he explained. His family had been rooted in that area for many generations, no matter where the individual branches may have stretched. Though he whisper add a heartfelt, "Thawna," with a captivated smile, like he was musing over the novelty of it. Maybe he couldn't address her that way all the time, but now that he knew that she liked it, perhaps he wouldn't try to suppress his accent when it came about naturally.

There was the slightest amount of annoyance that flashed across his face when the extended togetherness between he and Thana that wore the excuse of a dance was interrupted by someone tapping on her shoulder and inquiring if she was ready for something. Ready? About ready for what? It hit Ash that this was something brought up earlier. Damnit. For the time being they would have to not be attached to one another. It was as depressing a thought as any. The good news was that Thana still wanted him to stay close. Ash nodded solemnly, responding with a clear, "Of course," like it wasn't even a question that needed to be asked. Ash transferred their handhold over to his left hand, then slipped his right around her waist. It served the twofold purpose of keeping her even closer than she would have been otherwise and giving her more support if necessary. He was ever the gentleman, of a sort, even if he got a sense of greater fulfillment providing this for Thana, specifically. "Let's get you up there," he said, moving along at precisely the pace she set for herself.

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It seemed that even while picking up the pieces of a world shattering apocalypse, scrimp thievery was still a pervasive and reaching issue, like it was hardwired into the human psyche to steal otherwise unassuming scrimps from law-abiding citizens. Thalia wondered quietly when such horrors would be removed from them as a species, and more than that, if she wasn't a nobody then she would have to do something about this injustice. Naturally, all of this was internal and very, very sarcastic, as the level of fuck-giving involving an appetizer that wasn't hers was at a heretofore unseen low. And the matter seemed to solve itself.

More than that, Thalia's eye wandered to the happy couple in the dance area, as it had been off and on since they went out that way. They seemed truly happy just to be with each other. It made her feel a little jealous - not of Thana specifically, though they had a good friendship based off of an initial bout of silent rage and blood. It was a good way to start such things. She knew that this was a real thing between the two of them, even if she didn't know the Army guy at all. She knew Thana. Better than he did, possibly. And she had never seen her like that before, until he came back. Thalia was jealous of that type of connection, because it was the greater possibility that she would never have something like that for herself. People died. People left. Most of the time it wasn't their choice, yet sometimes, she found, it most definitely was. That stung a bit.

Lisa... took on an image of the welcoming crew. Speaking about having fun. Yeah, that was the most important thing. Fun. Maybe she was jaded. Check that. She was definitely jaded. But she kept her thoughts on it to herself. Yeah, she could use some fun right about then, though the definition of that was probably different than what she had in mind. Still, she raised her drink with her good hand in the same manner that Lisa did and presented an uncertain smile before taking a small sip and returning to the conversation she had at hand with Nigel.

"Sword." It was a flat statement. But it was almost like shop talk, so she went with it. "Yah, kindah. I'm good with a short blade. One handed; knives and especially up to the longer machetes, punch blades, too." She thought for a moment. While not formally instructed in many things, the specific way in which her family taught her to stab people lent itself to difficulty in explaining it in exact terms. "Improvised cutters, things like that. Wait, spear!" It was almost an exclamation. "Formal training with short and long speahs, while back." Spear and shield was getting to be her thing for a while, and a long poled stabber was a godsend to her while surviving on her own for the longer period that she did.

Then Hunter weighs in with inquiry. Fair enough, if a little stretching into her own personal business. But here she was with a metal limb from the forearm and down. Fine. She looked at the guy for a couple of seconds, trying to work out what his angle was. The man left a bad starting impression with her, but listening to him, they had some marginal similarities so far as how they stayed alive so far. Maybe this was just his way of being sociable, be it blunt and ham-fisted. Okay, benefit of the doubt. Thalia pointed to Thana, and then to Manny out in the gathering of people. With very direct and no-nonsense tones, she explained, "Bit. A Zed took a piece of my arm. Those two cut it off with a jury-rigged power saw a while north of here." That was one of the differences between she and the man to whom she was speaking. She could survive on her own for a long, long while. But being with people, if only temporarily or on an intermittent basis, helped keep them all alive. "Still adjusting. Matter of time."

Still adjusting. It was one of the reasons Thalia pushed herself so hard - ballet, physical training with the Army guy in Quarantine, seeking out the Marines for more serious training, even seeking out Nigel to spar with. Thalia was a weapon whose edge needed honing. Still dangerous, but she could be so much better. But even those thoughts got pushed away for the time being. Food was being given out near the fire. She tensed and straightened up, a predatory look coming over her, like she was about to pounce on an unsuspecting animal with the intent to dismember and consume bloody. "Scrimp." she rasped, sounding very much like her deceased uncle even while poking fun at Dusty from just earlier. "Nnn..." came the lingering growl. It seemed she had a target.

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Alexander's eyes rose up to take in the Moon in all its glory, basked in a white glow before a dark canvas of black fabric and glowing stars. It was a familiar sight for him, though the setting in which he could stand and watch changed everything. It was no longer just ambience in which to listen carefully for Walkers, but something - Something Alexander couldn't quite explain. When he was a young boy home in Chicago, probably about three of four, his father told him something his own father had told him; "You see those stars up there, shining and blinking up in the sky? Those are holes. God is walking on the other side of that darkness, somewhere down a bright beach up in Heaven. He's carrying a staff, and every time he put the staff down, another hole he made. That's what we're seeing, those stars. Signs of God."

Tonight those words gave comfort to the old veteran. A comfort told from his grandfather to his father, and then onto him. God was everywhere, one just had to look. Were William, Maria and Judith looking down at him from up there?

Alexander Turned over to Manny as his friend came up to him, asking him how he was holding up. It was a simple enough question, though Alexander knew that Manny really meant it. He gave Manny a nod and a smile, before looking out at sea again. "I'm holding up, just been a long week couped up inside. The sea is real beautiful to look at, don't you think?" Alexander said to Manny, sighing as he looked out into the distance. "Thinking a lot these days, haven't had time for that for long now. Thinking about all those not with us here, you know? Beatrice, couple of people we lost at Eden…my wife."

He felt a lump begin forcing itself up his throat, but he swallowed it down as hard as he could. It was not often he spoke about these things, even with Manny who he trusted with his life. It was a slow process, but perhaps this place would help him open up, if only just a smidge? Alexander looked again at Manny at his side as a single tear forced itself out and down his cheek, giving him a heavy smile. "Got to keep moving on though, don't we? Come on, looks like food's being served."

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It was a nice change of pace to see Hunter up about the way he was, not looking over his shoulder every passing second like a frightened Roman in the middle of Visigoth territory. Clearly the safety of sturdy walls, armed guards and the presence of Nikki was having a desired effect upon the young soldier, at least some of them were. It probably helped that he had gotten to see his canine companion once again. "Good to hear that, she probably misses you. Can you keep her out in the open, or does she have to stay indoors?" Nigel asked him, taking another swig of his beer that he was slow to learn how to enjoy. Hunter continued to ask him how he was doing, to which he began his reply with a brief hiccup clearly caused by him drinking a tad too quickly on a half-empty stomach. "Sorry about that, long time since my last beer…but yeah, things are not too bad. Nothing crazy, just that Erica went to get some rest…" Nigel answered with a sense of sadness, feeling relatively alone with that beer in his hand and without his only close friend.

Nigel turned over to Adelaide explaining how they got hold of the wine, nodding in agreement as to why they didn't produce it themselves. "Makes sense, I can see why. People around here get their rations of alcohol in easier made liquids. Too bad there aren't any Roman wine traders here, though. Did you know that the Romans reveered wine so much that they celebrated it not just once, but twice a year?" Nigel began to explain back to Adelaide, falling into his role of the enthusiastic teacher who was perhaps a tiny bit too into his subject? Nigel smiled and lit up as he recalled the importance of wine in Roman society, though he dimmed down once he thought people probably - as most people in this world - wasn't overly interested.

It helped that Thalia was keeping up with their conversation about sword and sparring, though something about her words made Nigel raise his brows in thought. It was one thing to hear of her expertise in various blades and spears, but another thing to know that it was her "formal" training. Nigel raised his beer to take another swig of it, giving Thalia a brief look in silence before breaking what could have become an awkward silence with "That's…good to know, got quite enough experience then. You didn't happen to do some reenacting, from the sound of it?" He asked her, paying attention to her story of her losing her arm. Cut off with a power saw? Nigel had to give it to her people, they had been through some deep shit. Though he wouldn't ask about it himself, getting up from his seat and making his way over to where the food was served. He hoped he wouldn't have to eat all by himself.

Temperature: 72F
Humidity: High (Around 74%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 16 MPH
Cloud Coverage: Clear

Note: The night is going on, people are milling about, food is being handed out at the kettles. Day will close in a few rounds.

Drinks are as follows:

• Heavy: Moonshine (Clear)
• Moderate: Whiskey (Brown)
• Light: Beer (Pale Ales)
• Sweet Tea (Brown)
• Water (Clear)

Seriously, if you want to get drinks mixed up, go for it LOL

Bass gave Thana a nod. "Sure thang Miss T," he said before turning and heading off, not back to the stage, but looking like he was heading towards the kettles. It was made more than clear that if the Commander needed a hand that the man that she had been dancing with the last half an hour or more would tend to her. He wasn't about to get in the middle of that.

Adelaide looked at Lisa like she had lost her damn mind. Her hand coming over to cover her own lips as she looked like she was gagging. "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little," she gasped before grabbing her beer and taking several long gulps. The thought of Dusty and her was obviously enough to make her skin crawl. Watching as Bass walked passed the bar and over towards Nikki her eyes went back to Lisa and she chuckled. Sighing she looked at Hunter. "Need another?"

Riley smiled and nodded towards Lisa before heading with Amelia down to the beach. "Good idea," she said as she slipped her shoes and socks off. Tucking the socks into her shoes before letting the water rush over her toes. "Oh this is nice," she said as she slipped a hand around Amelia's waist. "It's no Newnan but hey, this could be a good home. Wonder if we can swim? Not now but like tomorrow?" she said as she looked over to Amelia.

Adelaide looked at Nigel and smirked. "In vino veritas," she said as the smirk held on her lips. Leaning over the bar some the smirk grew. "I am Italian, so yes, I know what I celebrate," she added before chuckling.

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Thana laughed. She had no idea why she liked the sound of Ash saying her name like that. Maybe it was because it was a novelty. Something different. Very different. Sure Gavin had a hell of an accent but his was a Texan accent. Virginian was very different from that. Maybe it was because it was said in a way that perhaps there was no other living soul on the planet could say without pretending anymore. Last of a dying dialect. Or maybe it was just because it was Ash saying it and if his accent was coming out it meant he was relaxing some, relaxing a lot. Like he wasn't the Captain or leader of Newnan right then; he was just Ash, her man. On thinking about it, Thana was pretty sure it was that made it sound so sweet to her ears. (That and it was something she could poke fun at him about later.)

Taking Ash's hand, Thana let him help her over to the stage. Panama held a hand out and helped with the transition from dance floor to stage so she had leverage in front of her in case she lost her balance. "Thanks Eric," she said before looking down at Ash as she turned around. "Stick close," she added with a smile before Panama helped Thana over to bar stool that was set up behind one of the microphones on stage. The band was only a few left on stage for this song. Spots was over on the keyboard and Atticus had his fiddle but other than those two and Panama the others were taking five as it were.

Clearing her throat Thana rested a hand over the mic. "Well, um, yeah. It's been a while since I did this, so sorry for being rusty. Just gonna do a small duet, so if you wanna grab a partner might as well. It's a slow one," she said into the mic. There was a little motion of her hand to Spots and she began playing. Letting out a slow breath, Thana began to sing. "I set out on a narrow way many years ago hoping I would find true love along the broken road, but I got lost a time or two. Wiped my brow and kept pushing through, I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you."

It was about then Panama joined in singing with her as Atticus pulled his bow across his fiddle. The four of them did a slow cover of Bless The Broken Road: Spots and Atticus providing the backdrop for Panama and Sparrow's voices. It wasn't anything grand but it had soul. Every so often Thana's eyes would go to Ash. The song seemed so fitting considering everything so many of them had been through.

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Nikki pulled her knees up and balanced her plate between her thighs and her lap. Picking at the crab and shrimp on her plate. Picking up a small cut piece of corn and nibbling on the nibblets on the cob one at a time. Taking far too much time to eat a row of corn but not giving a damn how long it took. Each little bit she bit off she bounced and bobbed. Nikki just enjoyed the food she was eating and watching the fire lap up under the kettle. It was a nice little sight. Sure it was probably still a little too hot out to enjoy the fire for its warmth but it was nice enough to enjoy for the colors. That and it made a great place to take an empty bit of shell and toss it into the fire.

Popping one of the legs off the crab she bent it,twisted and snapped the shell into two. Pulling it apart she revealed the white meat in it and popped one half into her mouth, sucking on the shell to get the meat out. Her lips puckered around the shell when she heard a clearing of the throat. Turning she looked up with bright eyes to see Bass standing there. "Evenin' Nikola," he said as he slipped his hat off his head.

Pulling the empty shell out of her mouth she swallowed. "Yo Ray, you gotten in on this?" she asked as she picked up a shrimp from her plate and offered it up to him.

"Not yet but thanks," he said as he reached down and took the shrimp. Pulling the shell off he popped it into his mouth.

"What ya doing over here? Aren't ya supposed to be with the band?" she asked as she picked up a small potato and chewed on it.

"Miss T is about to sing, her song don't need me. Was wondering if ya do me the honor of a dance?" he asked, hat in hand. Nikki grinned and shook her head. "Um.. alright," he said before he started to turn away.

"Hey, I meant not now you goof," Nikki said as she reached out and grabbed his hand. She gave it a silly shake before letting go and going back to eating. "I just wanna finish my plate," she added as she looked up from where she sat on the ground. Sticking her tongue out at him before popping another shrimp into her mouth. Hearing Thana's voice come over the mic Nikki stood up and dusted her butt free of sand. Plate in one hand, corn cob in the other she watched the scarred up woman singing with Panama.

"Catch ya next break?" Bass asked and Nikki nodded. Setting his hat back on his head, Bass started to head back towards the stage area.

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It was nice to see that Alexander was doing okay. It seemed that even though the change was overall good, it was still a lot to take in at once. "It sure is one hell of a view. Didn't think I would see one like it again before coming here." The Vet had been thinking, and had opened up a bit to the retired dentist. About those they lost, those that left, those who were gone before all of this went down. "Almost seems unfair at times. That we're the ones who get to make it this far." He stopped for a moment. Unsure how to continue. This was odd for Manny, normally he could always think of something to say. The ability to speak made things a lot easier to think, a lot easier to cope, a lot easier to figure things out. "I'm sure that those who aren't here now though would be glad to know we made it though. I would be if the roles were reverse, and those that I cared for made it. Even if I didn't... It... it helps to think that they would have wanted us to make it this far... and to make the most out of what we have now." Being twice widowed, once before the world fell, and once after, he wanted to believe that they both would have wanted him to make it this far. Even though if given the chance, he would gladly take their places so that they could be here.

Alexander was right though. "Yeah just... got to keep moving." Manny despite being an overall calm and collective person, who could try and see the good in almost any situation, struggled now. Things for the first time in years finally felt normal, giving a chance to realize how fucked up the last few years have been. Just how many people didn't make it so far. His composure was starting to struggle, seeing Alexander open up a bit more helped down that road as well. "Yeah um... food... food sounds good..." He wasn't actually hungry. But anything to help work past this would help right now.

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Hunter believed that for his age, he had many skills. He could handle a large array of firearms with relative ease, he could make things burn and explode for the hell of it, and he knew how to survive all 3 different kinds of bear encounters. Though some are prettier then others. As a tip, Polar bears will fucking kill you, no questions asked, they know no peace. But as they were in Florida, he had little reason to worry about Polar Bears. What he did have to worry about was one of his more lacking skill sets. Human interactions. It didn't help things that he showed himself to be an anti social asshole on his first day here, way to go Hunter. And it didn't help that the booze were the main thing giving him confidence and motivation to tough through this. Sure, the beach was pretty, sure there were some nice people, but this was a lot for someone who hadn't even seen another human being for months prior to a week ago. And those people were kinda sucky at best.

To get things going, the first girl he had tried to be nice with seemed to hate him for some reason. Amelia he was pretty sure her name was. He couldn't get why she hated him though. Did she know him from some of the darker parts of his past? He wasn't a fan of the dirty looks she had towards him, but couldn't blame her that much there. Poor start to things and all. But that thought could be let go, as the girl she spent a lot of time with came over and walked her away without much for words. He wondered what their relationship was. Siblings? Close friends? Fellow survivors? He made a mental note to figure out how to read people in social situations better. Checking for weapons or tricks? He has done that sure. But social standards? To hell with them, he probably burned the book. Then the other girl, Lisa, talked to Thalia a bit, and to his surprise helped convince Ada to give him some more drinks. "Thank you." He said calmly to Ada. "Thank you." He repeated to Lisa. He decided that maybe she was decent too, Though he didn't like her pointing out the reasoning. Hunter hated seeming weak to others.

Then came IronMan Woman. Seeming slow to answer his response at first. Probably was a bit too personal of him to ask, but she seemed like one of the more interesting people here. She pointed to one of the very old guys, and to Thana, the woman who seems connected to everything here. "A fucking... power saw?" He had heard a lot of crazy things over the years. Seen a lot of Crazy things. Has done a lot of Crazy Things. But that definitely made the list of at least top 15. He could decide later where at. He wondered what he could do in that situation. Would he be able to cut his own arm off with his axe? No... probably no. He would need to find another way, and it may not be quick enough. Pros and cons to having people travel with you he guessed. Right when he was thinking he started understanding this woman, she started going feral. Sounded like something over shrimp. "I mean.... not a huge fan myself... but go right at it." He didn't mind the dead fish things much, but there were definitely others he preferred.

Nigel was a bit more of a grounded person so talking to him was a bit easier. Even though that is kind of a hypocritical want from Hunter. "She'll for the most part be inside except if she is with me. And even then... Restricted like hell." He understood the reasoning, it didn't mean he had to like it. Granted if it was his choice, he would set up some kind of scrap yard dog park outside the walls and live an open life. Try and fake the old days and all that. He seemed upset about the other Monroe leaving for bed rest. Beer should help with that though. "Just keep drinking. It helps when they leave." Not specifying who They were. Finishing his current drink though he did nod as Ada offered another drink. "If you're offering then yeah..." Booze helped forget those who had died, and those who had left.

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Lisa grinned widely at Ada's reaction, very pleased with herself. It was amusing.” Hey not my fault you guys are acting confusing.” She whistled innocently to the side and dark the rest of her beer.” Don't know about him, but I could use something stronger this time around. Get me some moonshine. Might as well go all out tonight.” She smiled, she probably wouldn't be drinking more after this one. A beer and a moonshine should be enough to ensure good sleep tonight. Even if she wasn't going to end with company tonight. Ohh well... A good night's rest!

Her attention was brought over to Thalia who explained how she lost her arm. Well that was not what she was expecting to hear tonight, but never the less it was a rather impressive story there. Sounded like something straight out of a movie or a gritty comic book. Then again, their everyday life now was akin to a book or a movie. Ones with very fickle writers who cause mayhem among the characters as they see fit.

As Ada started speaking in foreign languages, Lisa threw a look at her with a chuckle. Someone seemed proud tonight. Not a bad thing, considering she had done a good job with the booze indeed. Her eyes then briefly followed the two lovebirds that were moving towards the water. They were adorable and it made Lisa just lean on the Bar, waiting her drink. She wasn't one for fluff usually, but it was a nice change of pace. Also made her sad...” Made the moonshine double.”

Suddenly she perked up when she heard Thana's voice over the mic. This was now something she was looking forward to. Lisa's never really had the chance to hear her sing before at least not life. They met while the woman was in recovery after her injuries after all. They would talk about all other manners of fancy stuff like stabbing things and the like. Still Lisa did indeed want to hear her sing even once. She was curious.

'Okey that's indeed quite nice.' She concluded as the song started and she heard Thana's voice singing the lyrics. All in all the quartet was performing quite nicely. It was a mood fitting song. She turned her eyes over to the bar to confirm the status of her drink.

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Amelia found the water splashing on her feet very refreshing and like a dream. It seemed like that was the trend right now, a lot of things seemed like a dream to her. Probably because she never thought she'd ever get to experience any of it again. A normality like this... As Riley's hand wrapped around her waist, Amelia looked at her lovingly. Yes, she never thought they'd have the chance to do anything like this. Not after Newnan.

That catastrophe left a deep impact on her, hard to believe anything could ever be normal after witnessing something like that. Even within the apocalypse. Still they were here now! This was happening!” Mm... I don't know if it will be allowed. At least not freely?” Amelia eventually said.” Didn't they say something about how access to the water itself was? Can't quite remember.” She wasn't quite sure honestly. They had went through a lot of information in the time leading to tonight, especially today during the day. It would take a bit to remember all of it by heart.” Anyways, if it's allowed it might be nice. Nothing too deep... better not risk it.”

Another reason why Amelia was a bit of adverse to going to swim too much was because well she wasn't sure how safe it would be. Anyways chances were that there would be ways to swim around here. It was a good way to keep fit after all and swimming could be useful thing to know, especially around water. Then there was the matter of swimsuits... hell where would they even find those? Would the camp have swimsuits to distribute? This made her ponder the issue almost to a comically serious degree, before she heard Thana's voice as the woman was preparing to sing.

Hearing the song, Amelia also wrapped an arm around Riley. She felt emotional, alright. Now that they were slightly away from all the people in the beach, she naturally felt more confident.” Let's go ask about it tomorrow after we deal with whatever tasks we will be given not sure where we will get swimsuits, but ehh... also we should collect a seashell or two... they make for nice decoration.” She changed the topic right after she brought up swimsuits. Honestly this issue was still bugging her unreasonably so.

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The lady said stick close, as if he wasn't going to do exactly that anyway. Ash stayed by the wings of the stage, out of sight of those in front of it but within full line of sight with the performers. It was a good song, and well done for the setup they had. Hell, it was the best performance he'd seen in years, if one really thought about it. Ash's concentration was on Thana's vocals, however; the fact that she was singing and the melodic sound of her voice, so that it took him a moment to fully realize the intent behind the actual words. When he did, it was a touching moment. The words seemingly spoke to him, as if to outline the trials of both of them, coming from different ends of the same road.

He caught sight of her looking in his direction every so often, catching his eye, which confirmed to him his assumption that the song was about them. Written for them, perhaps. Even if it wasn't, damnit, it was now and that was the end of it. There was a sense of contentment in Ash's psyche, while not as complete and full as it might have been a number of year before, was more than enough for him now. The ever-present threat of the rest of the world had instilled a sense of wariness within him now that would never go away. Ash was cursed with the knowledge that everything can be taken away in a moment, and in his case, indeed was a few times. But tonight Ash was behind walls. The air mild and tinged with salt, carried along by a breeze from the ocean, bringing with it the sound of rhythmic waves. And most importantly, he was reunited with his Thana. Check that, "Thawna..." he whispered. She seemed to react to it favorably, and to be honest, he did miss the colorful accent of his upbringing.

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Meanwhile, back at the bar, conversation seemed to fade away into a light buzz in Thalia's background. Having summarily decided, even through the mild paranoia of her more tactical nature, that the people directly around her were not an immediate threat, not to mention that the level of inquiry about her was slowing down, her attention was being diverted elsewhere. More specifically, it was moving back in the direction of where she came. Food. Her habit was to consume what she could while she could, for the acquisition of another meal was no longer a dependable event, at least up until very, very recently. Old habits die hard, and this one was five years in the making. She could feel a sudden jolt of adrenaline course through her blood, the instinct born of surviving like she had and going without the basics for longer than was acceptable.

There was one thing that captured a part of her attention, at least temporarily, was Nigel asking something about reenacting. She turned her head slowly to him, her eyes only leaving her target at the last possible moment. "No." It was a simple enough reply to a yes or no question, though it seemed like he might have been pushing for deeper conversation on the matter. Funny thing was, he wasn't amazingly far from the mark. "Did some stabbing. Needed range. Found good teachers." Dama Muerte knew that if she had that range when she needed it, she might still have both of her arms intact.

Thalia polished off the last of her beer and left the bottle on the bar, then strode over to the kettles and food table with all of the directness and caution of a predatory creature. It oddly reminded her of her first meal in Quarantine. In a scene that belonged in the most brutal adaptation of Oliver Twist imaginable, Thalia made her way to the kettles and held her hands out to the one known as Cook. Her eyes had a restrained look, but she really was trying to fit in.

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Alexander slowly made his way over to kettles where the food was being the served - one of the two centers of attention for tonight's festivities, though he made sure to not stray far from Manny as he was still speaking. It wasn't normal for Alexander to hear the type of conversation the two old men were having, but then again he had never been open about his feelings like he had now. Manny's words struck a chord in Alexander's mind; It felt unfair that they got this far and the others didn't, but that they'd want for them to managed it. Alexander nodded his head slowly, hearing the same sentiment in Judith's voice before was…gone. He had to keep moving, even if it hurt.

The old veteran placed a warm hand on Manny's shoulder then, squizing it gently and giving him a hopeful smile at their exchange. Perhaps Manny understood him, if only just a little? Alexander tried to say something but his tongue failed to bring something meaningful to tell his friend, so he just gave him another nod as they were fast approaching the kettles and their long-awaited meal.

"Thank you." Alexander said in appriciation as he recieved a plate of finely prepared sea-food, much to his delight. It had been far too long since he'd had a good meal from the sea, and even longer since he'd had anything as tasty as this. "Oh that smell. I might have stayed here just for the food." Alexander said to Manny, giving him a cheeky grin as he placed a shrimp in his mouth. Oh God, this was Heaven. It was about then that Thana took her place on the stage. Then she began to sing. Alexander munched the shrimp as he stood in awe of the performance. The night. Everything. "Those tapes from Quarantine weren't lying, she's real good…Looks like our 'keep on moving' payed off finally, my good friend."

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The last pieces of conversation he'd been served by the two ladies at the bar echoed in Nigel's mind as he went to stand in cue at the kettles. First was Adelaide's quite wise words about wine and truth, which put a pleasently surprised smile on Nigel's face that he was not alone with such knowledge. Could it have been meant as a verbal jab at him though? Nigel hoped not, he liked to have that smile even without Erica around him, and so he had smiled back at Adelaide. Perhaps one day he'd have the honour of actually getting a good glass of wine?

The second piece was Thalia's answer on whether she'd taken part of some reenacting before. For some reason - which to Nigel was quite obvious - her answers kept on making Nigel disturbed. From the sound of it Thalia practiced ranged stabbing at a more or less regular basis way back, though the lack of context made Nigel hope she was referring to AFTER the world end. To that Nigel nodded slowly to Thalia and continued his march towards tonights feast of the sea, telling her "Yeah, that's…intersting. Maybe you tell me more when we get our sparring done? I'll be right back." As he got further away from the bar, he gave one last look at Hunter and answered back to him just before he got out of hearing-distance. "Hope it will be only temporary then. Let's hope."

Soon Nigel had made his way to the kettles and found himself once again standing with the one-armed Amazon known as Thalia. Food, it looked like the food was the center of this whole gathering. That and the scarred lady singing on stage right then. Not unlike the video they watched in Quarantine she was a decent singer, and Nigel fond himself enjoy it. He almost forgot to ask for a plate when he once again noticed Thalia holding out her hand to Cook. "Vinum et musica laetificant cor. Music, drinks and food, your people is doing better than beyond my wildest imagination."

Temperature: 70F
Humidity: High (Around 72%) - No Rain
Wind Speed: 18 MPH
Cloud Coverage: Clear

Note: Dancing, singing, booze, sparklers, food - times are good, things are going smooth, people are enjoying the time out. Some people are leaving while new ones are coming in. Looks like a shift change for security.

Drinks are as follows:

• Heavy: Moonshine (Clear)
• Moderate: Whiskey (Brown)
• Light: Beer (Pale Ales)
• Sweet Tea (Brown)
• Water (Clear)

Seriously, if you want to get drinks mixed up, go for it LOL

Roy and Atlas made their way down from the street towards the water, each of them with large flashlights. Passing people Roy would give a nod, Atlas mostly avoided looking at people. As they reached the waters edge, the split off. Atlas heading down towards the west end of the beach, Roy heading towards the pier itself. Seemed they were checking the waves and the water for something.

The members of the band that hadn't been playing were starting to make their way back to the stage as Thana sang. Adelaide poured a shot of whiskey for Hunter and slipped it over. "Don't go to fast, your body probably can't handle it like it used to and you are like skin and bones," she warned. She had seen it countless times with new comers to the town. Empty stomachs, no body fat, whatever tolerance they had had years ago was gone, their bodies were like virgins once again and the morning following the first drink after so long usually all ended the same: Hangover hell from 1 shot. She warned but she still laughed the next day when people over drank. Adelaide had little sympathy.

Gunny and the General were joined for about all of two minutes by Maddog. The three seemed to all be enjoying hearing Thana sing. Maddoc and the General seeming to have a more in-depth conversation and a finger or two being motioned in Ash's direction before Maddoc started to make his way back to the stage as Bass passed him.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Confusing my ass, he's just a pig who would rather have a buttered roll in his hand than a boob, which is fine by me. I don't feel like getting felt up by greasy fingers there," she snarked before taking another drink of her beer.

Riley was enjoying the time with Amelia down at the beach. Giving a slight nod to Roy as he passed them and then looking down at Amelia. "Sounds great. And look, seems they check the water regularly," she said pointing to Roy and then spotting Atlas down the way a bit. "We'll ask tomorrow, for now," she said with a giggle as she took Amelias hand and sat down on the beach just above the waters edge. "I say we sit here and have fun," she said pulling at Amelia's hand to pull her down to sit next to them.

Tesla came waltzing over to Riley and Amelia and held out two lit sparklers towards them. "Hey, here, have some fun. Drop them off in the bucket when they are spent," he said pointing down to where the kids were.

"Thanks," Riley said, taking both for her and Amelia and holding out one to her girlfriend. "I like the idea of seashells. Wonder if we can find any of those sand dollars," she mused as Tesla nodded and headed back down the beach to meet back up with the kids and Shears who was spinning around like a fool swirling a sparkler in the air.

When Thalia came over, Cook smiled. "Oh I have been waiting on ya. Sparrow said I was to give you something," she said as she started looking through one of the carts. Pulling out an envelope she handed it over and then a plate of food to go with it. "There ya go," she said with a smile before looking over at the next person, who was Alexander. "Sure thing, enjoy it. Sea foods pretty much a staple around here," she said with a shrug as she fixed a plate for the next person. "We weren't always but we got good people who want to live, the human spirit is the strongest thing our world has," she said to Nigel as she handed over a plate.

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As the song came to an end, Thana smiled a little. It was nice to be back on stage. She had never made singing anything more than a passing thing she enjoyed doing from time to time. Gavin had really enjoyed singing and the man was damn good when he was alive. Gavin could have been a hell of a country singing star if he had wanted to pursue it. Thing was he had enjoyed being a Texas Ranger and kept singing on the side. Thana remembered him joking about becoming the next Gene Autry and bringing back the singing cowboy. Yet he wasn't there now, he was gone. Dead, buried. She wasn't. She was alive and her man seemed to enjoy her little song. She was glad of it.

Sliding off the stool she was about to climb down when Maddog and Bass hooked her under each armpit and lifted her up as they passed her. Taking her right back to the mic. Thana's brow rose, Maddocs hand went over the mic, and the three of them seemed to get into a hushed but heated conversation. After about a minute it looked like whatever was going on, Thana finally agreed to. Bass smiled, Maddog seemed to chuckle a bit evily, Thana just rolled her eyes and looked down at Ash. "One more," she mouthed quietly as the rest of the band made their way back up onto the stage. The rest of the group was talking, getting set up as Thana waited. Panama pulling the stool Thana had been sitting on out of the way.

After a few minutes Thana leaned against the mic some and huffed her hair out of her face, showing her scars a bit more clearly but it was obvious she didn't care if they were seen or not. "A'right, one more and since Holloway there threatened to sing this one if he got drunk enough gonna save your ears from what I can only imagine would be the Virginian version of a cats death wails," she said in a sarcastic voice. She smirked towards Ash and gave him a little wink. She was joking, she had no idea how he sounded when he sang.

Looking back at the band, Thana gave a little nod before speaking into the microphone again. "Mugsy, this ones fer ya," said with a smile. Wetting her lips, Maddoc started in with a very familiar riff before the rest of the band joined in doing their southern rock cover of a rather well known classic. "I see a red door and I want it painted black," Thana began to sing: it was time for the Stones.

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Nikki stood there munching on her corn as she listened to Thana sing. It was sweet, it was cute, it wasn't her style but she had to give the woman props. The fact she could speak was big enough, singing was another matter. Looking around, Nikki took note of the changing of the guard and checked her watch. She wasn't due for a watch tonight but she did like watching people. Which was exactly what she was doing right then. Her eyes scanning as Bass went back to the stage, spotting Maddoc leaving Gunny and the General to follow. Roy and Atlas walking passed her and heading towards the shoreline with flashlights, the couple down there already, the kids down the beach a bit.

The biggest thing that got her attention was the numerous people that mulled about, got food, walked right passed her and didn't nod or glance towards her. She always found it interesting that one could easily hide in plain sight. It was amazing what you could get away with just because people were in their own minds instead of what was going on around them. A few walls up around and more walls came down than people wanted to admit. Spinning the corn over she kept looking around. People coming and getting food, Hunter at the bar getting another drink, her plate empyting as she finished her corn.

Dropping the cob on it she sucked on her fingers one at a time to get the salt and butter and remaining juices from them before dropping the shells and the cob in the compost bin and the plate in the bucket on one of the carts. Rubbing her hands down her jeans she started to walk towards the dance floor as the song changed over. "Sweet," she muttered to herself. This wasn't exactly her type of music either but it was better than the first one was in her book. Okay, she wasn't exactly a Stones fan but she didn't dislike them either. She liked most any music, it was a rare thing to get these days.

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Manny knew that Alexander would be there for him. But it felt good to have his friend here now. His hand on his shoulder was a relief, and it felt like a pressure had been taken off him that he couldn't get rid of before. Manny got the idea behind the old Vets nod. He understood. You don't live to be this old unless you can learn to understand these things. Especially now. Trying to move onto less depressing things, Manny went with Alexander to get some food. Grabbing bits and pieces for himself Manny prepared a simple meal. Though as having the pasta before he didn't need much. He even chuckled a bit when Alexander placed the shrimp in his mouth. He's not too sure why he thought it was funny, maybe it was enjoying life despite what the world outside carried.

Listening to Thana sing was something else entirely. The tapes didn't even begin to show what she could do. "Yeah, it seems it is already paying off." Yes, it was hard to think about those who had been lost. But it was a great to see the world that they helped set up for those who had made it. By helping to make this place, helping those who made it to get here, and to build a sustainable future. "It's moments like these that make life worth living. It helps to think that everything we went through was worth it. Moments like this... Make it worth it." Manny was feeling optimistic, even with all the stuff that team Eden had gone through, it had finally paid off. Though he had to wonder, was everything done and over with? With this new chapter of life were they going to face challenges greater then before? Or a whole new different set of challenges that they would have to get used to. He figured the later, but only time would tell.

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Hunter was overall having a good time. Though as he would have to figure out soon, that despite the many rules in CMB, there didn't seem to be any Dramshop Laws. Or anything of the like. Or if there was one, it was at a much later point then what Hunter was at. Which in this moment, the soldier boy didn't care. It helped forget those who died, those who left. And in his mind that was perfect. "Thanks..." He spoke to Ada with the cup of whiskey. His voice in a slightly lower tone, and the words slower to speak. Hunter got up from his seat swaying a bit with each step as he made his way over to where food was being served. Taking a couple sips of his now fourth drink of the night he stumbled his way over to Nikki, stopping just in time to not let himself fall to the ground. Lots of music was playing at the moment, it was familiar but it sounded off. A cover maybe? Broken speaker? He wasn't sure. He didn't care much either.

Hunter when he finally stopped and balanced himself took a deep breath and began speaking. "You are so... Nice... and pretty..." He said to Nikki struggling getting his words at a steady pace but at least speaking clearly. Enough. "Like... Prolly... The nicest person I have talked to since Lucy. Lucy was nice and pretty too... But she dead now..." He took a sip of his whiskey, not sure if he was trying to remember or forget. "She was like... The closest to loving someone I have ever... been with... You remind me of her..." turned to face her better, but his sense of balance was questionable at best. "She didn't like me back though... She... pretended to... but she didn't like me back... She only pretended... because Don told her too..." He broke eye contact again to take another sip of his drink. "I don't know if Don liked me or not." He haphazardly made eye contact with Nikki again. "You remind me a lot of Lucy... DO you... Only pretend to like me? Because Maddoc said to? or the General Said too?" The question seemed legitimate, and there was clear concern on his face as if the answer held all sorts of emotional weight. "If so that makes sense why they took the weapons... Because who wants the psychopath armed and pissed about being lied and toyed with? I sure wouldn't...." He gaze trailed off again. At this moment he seemed stressed and upset. But in his head, he wasn't sure how he felt. This place felt... "Too perfect..." He spoke, not realizing his thoughts were not in his head.

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Alexander has a smile on his face as he stood beside Manny, the two of them reassuring each other that their past actions hadn't been all in vain. They were alive and well all things considered, even if some of them had lost parts of themselves along the way, both mentally and physically. With the shrimp slowly being digested by the old veteran who hadn't eaten a good shrimp for year, Alexander simply gave Manny another of his knowing looks as he enjoyed the show. Many people there, but no one were bothering either Manny or Alexander as the two old men ate.

Then he heard Thana talking into the microphone after having been refused her evac from the stage, being a bit slow to realize it was Ash she referred to. Alexander gave a good laugh at that, one of the few laughs he hadn't forced in a long while. She wasn't done though, and ol' Mugsy let his jaw drop for a moment as he heard what Thana then said. Before the lovely Navy Blue began to sing a cover of his favourite band, Alexander managed to slip out a meager question to Manny. "Did…did I just hear that?"

Alexander didn't have words for what he felt as he listened with every fiber of his body to Thana's rendition of "Paint it Black". It was both nothing like the version he had been so accustomed to hearing, but simultaneously incapsulated everything Alexander associated with the song. As he continued to listen to lyrics describing the depressive darkness that overcome oneself, Alexander bobbed his head to the rythm of the music and quietly singing with Thana's voice. He was by no means a great singer, never had been and probably never would, but he didn't care. Sometime he leaned over to Manny and explained something to him. "1966, opening track of Aftermath, first record I ever bought. I remember it as clear as day, and tonight I'll remember for the rest of my life as well."

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Nigel couldn't help but give Cook a smile when she spoke just like a Greek philosopher would have done in times of need. It sounded familiar to many a proverb he read and somehow managed to remember throughout his life in both the old and the new world. Nigel nodded in agreement to what Cook said, giving her a grin as he accepted the plate of seafood. "It truly looks like it. Good people who hope can do amazing things, as they say; Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man. Thank you again." Nigel said to Cook, slowly getting the feeling that his mouth simply wouldn't keep shut no matter how hard he tried. Feeling that it was best to take the food and let others come forth, Nigel gave a sheepish smile and stepped aside.

As Nigel stepped aside, he gave Thalia another nod in acknowledging her presence before he moved on. There was something about her, something he couldn't put his finger on but told him that she had not been as normal a person before the Undead arose as other may have been. Then again, was he? After all he was the person who thought to himself Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. as he walked away and began to eat the seafood off his plate. No, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to back down from some good sparring practice if she wanted to. Would Erica still want to spar with him? Oh now the beer was slowly kicking in. Good on him.

The food was nothing to complain about. Really it was better than anything he'd eaten in a long while, fresh yet not prepared like a barbaric Thracian would have eaten it. This was good. The night was good, if a little lonely amongst the crowd. Nigel did however enjoy the music, having to be content with few other knowing how to play anything that sounded like Roman music. After all one couldn't ask for everything. Nigel did however notice Hunter wander over to that girl he was getting social with, though was he…was he drunk? Nigel couldn't tell for sure, but something told him the kid couldn't stand his drink much better than Nigel himself. He would give them their space, and instead Nigel made his way further forward towards the stage to listen to the music dedicated to a "Mugsy", whoever that was. Odd name, wasn't it?

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Amelia gave a nod of greeting as Roy passed by as well, following Riley's and looked a him as he walked away from them. With a very slight thinking expression, she tossed a glance at the woman by her and nodded.” Yeah, good thing.” She confirmed, feeling somewhat reassured. After all they better be! She for sure didn't want to wake up someday to a barnicle or seaweed covered zombie dragging itself from the water to shore. That would be a very bad thing to happen, admittedly, she wasn't even sure if walkers could properly operate underwater. Maybe she should ask the people here if they've confirmed that. Though she did try to push those thoughts aside for the moment. Quite the mood killer those were.

“Mmm, okey.” Amelia replied as she skipped to where Riley was sitting and carefully sat down, after confirming there wouldn't be anything hard that would be uncomfortable to sit on like a rock or the like. Still as trend of not quite believing this is happening continued as once more she never expected she'd chill on the beach at night with someone. After the apocalypse, she had the feeling that beaches wouldn't be a safe location. You were easy to spot and all that. Though admittedly, with recalling that running on sand was hard, she wondered if zombies had hard time moving about on it as well.' No, no, no, no, no! No walker thoughts for tonight anymore! I'm going to forget everything and enjoy it with Riley!' Amelia repeated to herself, steeling her mind and will for this and just in time as she looked with surprise at Tesla who delivered some sparkles for them to have fun with.

“Thank... you!” Amelia said with a bit of excitement in her voice as she looked at the things and took one from Riley. Her eyes were probably big and round at the sight of the sparklers like that of a child. She held on the thing for a moment, watching the sparks and then started moving it in a circle, smiling at the sight. With a chuckle, she looked at Riley who mentioned sand dollars. Amelia spun the sparkler in circles in the air for a bit.” Let's see if we can find something after this thingies burn out. We might be lucky even though it's dark.” She proposed with a slight blush and just leaned softly on Riley's shoulder, still playing with the sparkler.

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She listened to Ada grumble displeased and nodded.” Well, can't fault you there.” She grinned, rocking her empty beer bottle for a moment. Apparently her moonshine request wasn't registered, ohh well maybe later. She noted as the music switched to Paint it Black. Well decent cover there, nice song. They made it sound good, though admittedly with the state of the world they weren't free to choose their performers. Still the current group were doing good job.

People were now moving about, her eyes trailed across the adorable couple that was playing like children with sparklers that Tesla handed over to them, then at Shears and the kids, the crew at the waterline with the flashlights, checking for unexpected visitors, to the people at the food and the ones at the stage. This was living! This wasn't survival, survival and living weren't always the same thing. Survival was what could be taken on the road, live day by day with the bare minimum if you had to. No luxuries, no safety, always vigilent to scrape by. No this here was a proper living, they had food, they had enough freedom, they had entertainment and the right to relax. With this her eyes spotted a certain kiddo that was with her new kiddo friend. Hunter seemed like he was talking with Nikki, this was nice.

“Hmmm...” She made a sound as she rocked her empty beer bottle a bit more with the tip of her finger.” Well I will come back for more drinks after getting something to eat. Hey Ada, want me to bring some for you as well? Or you planning to take a break from the bar at some point?” Lisa asked as she stopped leaning on the bar and tossed a look over to the bartender.