Someone calling a name? Mackenzie relaxed. Lewis didn't look too concerned about it, so it must have either been far away or relatively innocuous-sounding. He went to fiddle with some papers. She thought about going over to see what he was doing, but prudence demanded that she check the street for intruders. She couldn't guarantee that the shout hadn't been nearby or hostile, and anyone who let bandits get the drop on them after such an obvious signal probably would deserve whatever grisly death they'd catch. And after all, if she was going to share turf with the good detective, she would have to prove that she was an asset rather than a liability; defending their territory would be a convenient way to do that.

Mackenzie had only turned halfway around when she was struck by a sudden realization: Our territory? She'd barely known the man for half an hour, for all the wealth of knowledge thirty minutes of ineffectual rubbery thuds and requests for more nails could bring. How could she assume she'd be staying here? Or that it would even be wise to try?

But she could puzzle over it and make that decision after checking the street, which was still an objectively good idea regardless of how long she decided to stick around. As she approached the open fence gate, a flash of movement danced momentarily in her peripheral vision, followed by a loud THUNK.

Aha! There were only a few large pieces of debris in the vicinity of the flash, the nearest one about the size of a refrigerator lying on its side. Between glances at the area where the movement had disappeared, she scanned the rest of the street, suspecting some kind of trap. But when one step, then two, out the gate and onto the sidewalk failed to produce any reaction, she stalked out onto the street, trying (but not really succeeding) to move quietly. "Goddamn sons-a-bitch boots," she muttered, eyes flickering among the rubble heaps as she circled the flank of where she knew the sneaky bastard must be hiding, spear held tight and at the ready.

Aw, what the hell, this sneaky business is for hacks. "Come on out boyo, I ain't got all day," she called out, jumping on top of the fridge-shaped lump, which turned out to be the wrong guess. "Ain't gonna hurtcha, neither," she added, sincerely. Bandits would often leave defended territory alone and move along to easier targets; there was no real need for anyone to die today, unless somebody got insistent about it.

"Now, I don't suppose you'll be wanting some sort of reward for help-"
Lewis never finished checking things off. Luckily, he really had all the time in the world. In fact, with the new string of visitors he was about to receive, he would have had to redone the math anyways.
When he heard the THUNK he put his hand on his gun. He had initially assumed it was Mackinzie dropping something or something like that. It didn't take long to realize the sound had come from outside the fence. He unholsters his weapon and follows Mackenzie out. He says "I think you're just going to scare him off, Mackenzie." Beat. "Maybe it was just an animal." Then again, many animals were just as dangerous as zombies. In retrospective, perhaps cloning entelodonts and Unenlagia during the zombie apocalypse was a bad idea.

Gillian had been following the man and noticed a church up ahead. Churches made a great place for a sanctuary. It's large, heavy doors were great to keeping things out and protecting what was inside. At least that was what she had seen through her travels in different towns. It also held a lot of room for many people. As he continued to walk, she followed closely behind, Gillian thought it would be a good idea to make herself known. Opening her mouth and appearing from behind one of the trees she was about to speak when she saw him dive into a trash heap. Her eyebrow quirked up in confusion but than noticed a woman's voice. Hiding behind the tree once more she realized that he man she was following didn't live in the church and now she was lost and probably in the middle of something she didn't want to be in.

"Come on out boyo, I ain't got all day, Ain't gonna hurtcha, neither."

Gillian tilted her head to look at the woman and noticed how she was older than her. She didn't seem like a threat to Gillian and examining the female Gillian can come to the conclusion she was peaceful.

"I think you're just going to scare him off, Mackenzie. Maybe it was just an animal."

A man came into view and Gillian stayed still, realizing he had a weapon in his hand. A gun. And that really didn't sit well with the Irish female. She didn't want to get shot, she still had to travel up north to be with her daughter...Lifting her hands to her chest, her fingers curled around the golden locket. If she didn't find a place to sleep tonight she was going to get attacked more than likely. So she needed a place to stay. She needed water and food. So Gillian took the risk of getting shot.

"Don't shoot. Oi'm a doctor an' oi nade supplies. oi followed this man 'ere in de trash 'opin' ter find food an' water. i'll 'ayle any wounds if necessary as collateral." She said, fist still behind the tree, but as she continued to speak she slowly appeared herself to the man and woman. "Oi'm peaceful. oi mean naw 'arm."

*Dont shoot. I am a doctor and I need supplies. I followed this man here in the trash hoping to find food and water. I'll heal any wounds if necessary as collateral.
**I am peaceful. I mean no harm.

Max cursed himself, he should have been paying more attention. Stupid! Maybe they didn't notice and he would just have to sneak past.

"Come on out boyo, I ain't got all day, Ain't gonna hurtcha, neither, "

So much for that.

It was a woman's voice. She sounded as if she were sincere, but you could never really be sure. People were downright dangerous and Max didn't feel very trusting as of late. Max stayed where he was. It was possible they would mistake him for the local wildlife or something. He'd prefer it if he had a plan that didn't rely on pure hope, but for now, this would have to do. The other person at the church spoke up, Max didn't hear all of what he said, but he got the important part.

"Maybe it was just an animal."

"Please listen to him," He thought to himself. Max waited 5 seconds, six. He thought things were dying down until...

"Don't shoot. Oi'm a doctor an' oi nade supplies. oi followed this man 'ere in de trash 'opin' ter find food an' water. i'll 'ayle any wounds if necessary as collateral. Oi'm peaceful. oi mean naw 'arm."

Apparently Max had been followed. He really needed to work on being more careful. It was becoming an issue. Regardless, he had no choice anymore.

"Alright, I'm getting up. Don't shoot me either!"

He rose up from behind the rock slowly, hands raised above his head, and examined the whole situation. There was a man with gun at the ready but not yet primed to shoot, And a huge woman wielding a spear. Off to the side there was another woman, who Max assumed was his tail. But he only glimpsed at her because he was now focused entirely on the two weapons aimed at his general direction. He wasn't afraid for his life, but if a fight broke out, who knew how much more attention it would gather.

"Uh, Hi. I don't want any trouble."

Mackenzie considered admitting that Lewis was probably right; she was probably just getting jumpy, and she couldn't be sure she'd really seen anything. She was about to hop off the rock to make one last check behind the other debris clusters, when a heavily-accented woman's voice rang out. She pivoted on the spot, eyes easily finding the flaming cloud of red hair (How did I miss that? she asked herself, silently). She only understood about half of what was said, but this young woman seemed to offer no threat, and said something about being a doctor. Mackenzie was still formulating a reply when another voice sounded from behind a rubble chunk a few yards away: "Alright, I'm getting up. Don't shoot me either!" A justifiably uncertain-looking young man arose slowly, hands over his head, taking in the somewhat tense scene.

In comparison to the expectation of a grizzled bandit, this guy looked pretty regular, and he didn't seem to be itching to draw a weapon. If he'd had a gun, he would have pulled it by now, and if he had backup waiting in the wings somewhere he would have called on them already. "Uh, hi. I don't want any trouble," he offered. She lowered the spear, fitting the butt into a dimple in the rock and wrapping her lower arm around the haft, fingers tapping out a soft rhythm.

A corner of Mackenzie's mouth worked its way upward as her aggression evaporated. "Ya won't find any trouble here, least not from me. Sorry about the scare; thought ya were a bandit." After a moment, she jumped down from the rock chunk, careful to move perpendicular to the young man's position as not to startle him. "Quit airin' out y'armpits, wouldja?" she quipped with a grin, nodding to indicate his hands reaching for the sky.

Lewis came out when he saw a person and was about to unholster his weapon, but he decided against it. He said "I don't want any trouble either." He turns to the doctor and says "None of us are injured right now, thank you. But maybe if you want some water, I can give you some."
Then another person jumped out and likewise, claimed not to want trouble. Lewis said "Sir...if you don't want trouble, you shouldn't be sneaking up on us like that." There's no malice in his tone, however. "Now. Why don't you two tell me your name?"