Kat frowned as he spoke, he sure did look a lot like her Granddad. If only he was wearing big round glasses he would be just the same. "People PLAN for this? I guess they must be pretty clever." Kat said, shuffling a little closer to get a closer look at what lay beyond the door on the ground. Kat couldn't help but grin slightly at the old man as he smiled at her. However Kat still shuffled awkwardly at his questioning, James had always warned her that no one could be trusted, and she should always be extra careful with other survivors who might try and rob her. "Um, well actually I'm travelling with my 6 brothers from the Army. They are just busy right now but they will be here soon." She said calmly, her lack of parenting over the last 2 years had made it surprisingly easy to make the lie seem normal.

Kat felt hot tears prickling behind her eyes, the stress of the day and her situation building up rapidly. She blinked them away before they split over onto her cheeks, and puffed out her shoulders and chest even more, trying to look bigger and braver than she was. In reality all that could be seen was a scrawny, skinny little person, with short dirty hair, and the constant, determined grimace that survivors seemed to carry. Although it looked almost comical on her childish face, Kat was determined she would survive. And she would find James.

After spending a good thirty minutes sitting on the edge of the road, wallowing in sefl-pity and cursing like a sailor while picking the little stones out of the wounds on her hands and then, pulling out the first-aid-kit to rub them with ointment- they were still bleeding some so washing them out would be wrong and a waste of water-, and proceeded to bandage them thinly, not wanting to waste too many of the supplies she was sure she'd need someday, most likely soon and then, with painful grunts and burning in her eyes, put on a pair of latex-gloves overneath. As she had noticed earlier you never knew when some creature would splatter you with something disgusting and obviously infectous. With yet another sigh she got up, glancing at her watch to evaluate how much time she ahd left until it got dark and she'd had to be somewhere safe, and then went back to tracking down the road in direction of the suburbs.

---

When the first few houses got into sight in the distance, Takiko stopped and stepped into the forest again. Walking around out in the open was a bad idea and though she had no way of knowing anything exact she was pretty sure the creatures would increase with the former population density. Meaning that the suburbs would still be alright but the city she imagined to be full of them. A scene from 'The Walking Dead' entered her head, the main character getting chased, on horseback, through the streets of Atlanta by a horde of zombies. The zombies looked really friendly compared to the real deal now. Maybe she should get herself a horse.

Forcing herself back to attention, she slowly walked through the woods, trying to avoid stepping on too many dry leaves or twigs as much as possible as she grabbed her gun, just in case and not too intent on using it since it was already hurting her wounds just holding onto it, shooting would be much worse. It was silent, the eerie kind that made you sweat in dreadful anticipation and your heart beat so loud you had to force yourself to calm down to hear anything else besides it. The latter part had taken her some time to learn. She walked past the first house, its windows and doors gaping open, chaos inside, from what she could see. Not safe. She went on.

About an hour into her search, she was getting farther into the suburbs. More houses were around, more of them looking fine, but there were more creatures around as well and she wasn't about to go pick a fight over a house when she could just go on some more and fight another place. Preferably on her side of hte street, so that she wouldn't have to run through an open area. She'd had plenty of action today, her throbbing hands didn't let her forget that and she was growing tired, her back and neck still aching from the night she had spent rolled up in the backseat of a car, not properly resting at all.

Two houses down and she stopped, staying in the bushes for some minutes, listening and watching out for creatures around, but nothing seemed to be close. The house had a wide veranda out back, door closed, windows all intact with the shutters closed. There was nothing dead lying around as far as Takiko could see. She slowly left the forest, creeping up the steps and to the door, frantically crinching at ever thought she made. She tried the handle and, to her relieve it opened. She was pretty much unable to pick locks, a skill that had become necessary now, but it seemed she just didn't have the skills for it.

Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her, which fell shut properly. It was a little weird that it was working so well and she almost expected some survivor to show every time she peeked into a room. But the house was empty, it seemed. Barely any light made it through the shutters into the rooms, which were bare. No pictures on the walls, barely any furniture. It seemed the reason this house was in such good condition was thanks to it not having been inhabitated when the infection had spread. No poeple, no creatures. It made sense. It also meant she wouldn't find anything here, but her backpack was still packed full, so she wouldn't let herself worry about that now.

After a thourough search of the rooms, she was pretty sure the house was empty. Only one room was left. She didn't like going down into the basement, never had ever since she was a child. She wasn't comfortable with the dark, the cold temperature and the knowledge of being underground in such a small room. Now that feeling had only grown worse, but if she wanted to stay for at least one night, she would have to check. With resignation, she searche for her torchlight and, after a slight hesitation, opened the door, illuminating the stairs and as much of the room as possible from her angle. Nothing rushed at her to kill her, so she took some careful, silent steps inside, freezing at the sight of a huge lump on the basements right side. She heard a low moaning, and upon listening closer, she also heard what seemed to be shallow breathing. Immediatly making her think of the noisily breathing creature from before. But nothing was moving. And the loudest thing around was probably her heart trying to break out of her ribcage.

After glancing behind her out of pure paranoia, she held up both the gun and the torch, on top of each other, the way she'd seen it done on TV, slowly stepping closer, not ready to give up on her safe house so easily. Maybe it was already dead and she'd just have to ignore it lying there. Another moan, deep and pained reached her ears, a sound she knew from the weeks she had to do an internship at a hospital, back when she had still studied medicine.

Upon closer inspection she realizedit wasn't only one creature, it seemed to be two of them, on top of each other. But how would they ever end up like that? One of their heads moved ever so slightly and Takiko turned the spot of light at it, scowling at how human the thind was looking. Especially compared to the gray-skinned other one lyng on top. A moan followed. Was it still alive? She put the gun back in her waistband, reaching for her knife, determined to end it's sorrow and have the place to herself. She kneeled down beside them, carefully poking the one on top, ready to strike should it move. Which it didn't. She shook it. Nothing but a moan from underneath and her eyes glanced at the other ones face. It was a mans face, completly human, but smeared with dirt and blood and sweat. She scowled. Had he been bitten? She'd have to take a look.

It was hard to roll the big, bulky creature off of him, literally dead weight. Ans she was not exactly a weakling. In the end she had to full out shove it away with all her weight and even that only did the trick. Huffing from the exertion, she turned to the human-looking one, poking it as well to see whether it would attack, now that it was free.

Thanks to his map and compass, Ryan made good progress towards the nearest city. He wasn't the best at orientation, but that didn't hinder him this time, fortunately. He had a plan in mind. He knew the city and its surroundings have quite a few fortified buildings, where fellow survivors could reside. He was surely longing for some company, he never was the "lone wolf" type. And anyways, two's chances of survival are higher than one's.
As he was walking down the road, he suddenly heard shooting from the nearby forest, but it quickly passed. His curiousity was once again bigger than his fear, so he decided to check out what happened. At the presumed place of the shooting he found three dead bodies - none of them human, fortunately.

Hmm...there was definitely someone here, if not more! It's actually pretty hard to take down a mutant like that, but three! Impressive." he thought. He quickly looked through the area, but much to his dismay, he only found some garbage lying around. However, the seeds of hope were already planted in him. Someone has to be nearby...Someone who's a good fighter.

His thinking was cut short by an unmistakable growl.
"Oh god, what did I get myself into..." he murmured to himself. He drew his katana and slowly started walking in small circles, so his enemy couldn't surprise him from behind. The growl became louder and louder each second...And finally, the monster showed itself and immediately jumped on Ryan. Despite his precautions, it caught the boy by surprise and he had to quickly tumble away to avoid takedown. As he stood up, he assessed what he is up against. A terrible mutant, bearing two heads and three legs, which is probably why it was able to jump on him so quickly. In addition, two smaller and seemingly more fragile imps followed the big one. Maybe it used to be a father once? No time to think. Ryan got into his fighting position, quickly putting his earphones in his ears, turning up his battle music and with a ferocious battle cry, finally charging at the monster.

James body contorted in pain as the great weight was lifted from his chest. "This must be what if feels like to die" he thought.. His eyes fluttered open, glancing at the face of a beautiful angel peering over his body. She must be his guardian angel. "Oh, Hello Gorgeous.." he breathed, his raspy voice just above a whisper.

Slowly, as the cold pain continued pulsing through his body, James realised he wasn't going anywhere. He was alive, barely, and the figure above him was a person, not his guardian angel. "Wh- Who are you?" he rasped, James slowly sat up onto his elbows. His torso ached, but no searing pains informed him he was mostly fine. He blinked up towards the figure, suddenly he realised she was pointing a gun right at him. Scrambling backwards, James fist which had loosely been clutching a switchblade tightened, and he raised up the blade, pointing it towards her head. Almost immediately afterwards he yelled in pain, his head throbbing, and a warm, wet stickiness began running down his neck. Dropping the switchblade, and reaching backwards to his head he felt a bare, sticky wet gash where his hair and skin had previously been.

Grunting, James tried to pull himself into a standing position, but his head felt light. And he stumbled to his knees in front of the girl.

James swallowed, his mouth tasted like iron and rust, he breathed deeply, "Where am I?" his voice still barely above a croaky whisper.

It was a man of average height, maybe a little smaller, but that was hard to evaluate with him lying on the floor. He was well-trained, a broad back, packed with thick muscles, his hair cut military-style. She shuffled forward and reached out, intending to wipe his face a little with her sleeve when his eyes suddenly flutteres open and he started mumbling something in a breathy rasp.

He's alive! she realized with surprise and sat back staring at him. He might have been bitten somewhere, but she didn't know how fast the change took place and... she stopped herself from musing instead, trying to evaluate his injuries, to make sure he wouldn't run on her. "W-Who are you?" she heard him rasp and her eyes snapped back to his face as he sat up on his elbows. She wanted to reach out and push him back down, tell him stay still while she had a look but the next second he scrambled backwards, away from her and raised a bade to her head. She froze. He cried out in pain, dropping the blade and stumbling to his knees in front of her upon trying to get into a standing position with a grunt. "Where am I?" he croaked and his voice startled her out of her state.

Making sure he could see it she threw the gun to the side, letting it loudly slide over the rough floor to a distance where she couldn't simply grab for it again. Then her hands reached out for him, not touching yet. "Stay down. You're injured. I won't do anything, sorry to have startled you. So please, lie back down." she talked to him in a calm, low voice, her eyes flicking from his to his hand that had come up bloody from the back of his head.

She pulled off her backpack, and jacket, throwing the latter on the floor beside her to roll back her sleeves. Her latex-glove clad hands opened her backpack, pulling out the medical supplies she had just used on herself some hours ago. All the while she kept a slow pace, not wanting to cause him to startle again and get even worse. He righted her glasses, pushing them a little upwards, not thinking much about the habitual gesture. "My name is Takiko," she told him as she put on a pair of clean gloves overneath her own. "We're in a basement of a house in the outer suburbs of Chicago." Her brain was working hard, trying to recall what she had been told about head-injuries but she had to see it first to do something and, as hurt as he was, she could not be sure he wouldn't have another one of those outbursts of energy if she touched him.

That the creature was though was unsurprising to Ryan, but its great regeneration capabalities were shocking. No matter how many strikes he could land with a razor-sharp katana, it would always heal it up in a matter of seconds. Its companions became increasingly frustrating for him as well. He started to wonder if he had chosen the wrong battle, but he quickly shoved the bad thoughts away. He needed to change his plans, so he shifted his target prioritization to the small mutants. Fortunately, they weren't nearly as though as their "father" - Ryan easily sliced through the first one and in that momentum, through one of the big one's legs as well. Expecting it to regenerate like it did before, he was shocked to see that most of the wound didn't disappear. He quickly put the pieces together: The father's powers lie in the children. While the creature let out a bone-shaking scream because of the cut, Ryan used this time to rush and kill the second "child". Now that the big monster was weakened, he pulled out his pistol from the belt on his waist and carefully aimed at the head or rather, heads. His ammo count was running low, so he didn't want to waste a single bullet. Although he did miss the first shot, the following two connected beautifully and they were enough to bring down the giant.

Ryan felt a massive sense of accomplishment. This monster was the largest and toughest he ever took on and managed to defeat. At that moment he felt invincible, even though this fight took out most of his energy and he was very exhausted. The day was winding down slowly as well. He needed to find a shelter of some sort. He looked at his map, but it only marked the city he was originally heading towards. He brought up his smartphone and initiated the GPS, but unfortunately, to no avail. However, it marked him closer to the city than he thought.

"I may just be able to make it before the night...Let's go.

"Can you believe it? College! We've been dreaming about this since we were like, ten years old, and look at us. In a dorm, rooming together, i've got butterflies in my stomach man!" Jacob couldn't help but laugh after giving his little speech. "I don't understand how you guys could be so tired and relaxed right now!" Dean lay on his bed, tossing a baseball in the air and catching it with his glove as it fell back down. "I'm not really looking forward to doing your homework every week only to watch you fail your exams," he remarked sarcastically with a grin on his face. "Yeah dude, we've been on the road for like 8 hours y'know," Isaac said, sitting at a desk playing World of Warcraft. "Let us relax for a bit, we have to get up anyways, orientation starts at like 9 tomorrow." Jacob balled up one of his t-shirts and threw it at Isaac as he sat at the desk. before he then plopped down onto his bed. "If I had known 10 years ago you guys were gonna be such buzz-kills I would've gone to Brown or something," Jacob said, jokingly. "Like you could get into brown," Isaac remarked.

Dean chuckled, catching the baseball with his glove for the last time and sat up on the bed. Although he was tired from the trip his entire body radiated with excitement. "I hope they have a baseball club," he thought to himself with a smile. Isaac turned off his computer and got up, walking towards his bed. "Well, gentleman, it's getting late, I think it's about time for me to clock out." He said, half yawning. He laid down on his own bed. "Goodnight," he announced. "Yeah, night" Jacob replied, turning off the lamp next to him, the room was now somewhat dark except for the moonlight shining through the only window in the dorm. Dean fell back onto his pillow, clutching his baseball and glove to his chest. He closed his eyes, his smile from earlier faded as he drifted to sleep.

All three of them awoke in the morning to the fire alarm, blaring in all the hallways of the boys dorm. "First goddamn day and some ignorant asshole has to pull the fire alarm," Jacob exclaimed, you could hear the sleepiness in his voice. Dean and Isaac eventually got up from bed as Jacob refused to move. "C'mon doofus, let's get this over with," Isaac said as he kicked Jacobs bed, who retaliated by swatting his leg with his arm. Suddenly screaming could be heard from the hallway, followed by odd grunting sounds. All of them were wide awake now, and looked to the door with terror as something began to bang on the walls. The fire alarm suddenly ceased as the screams continued throughout the hallway. The banging on the walls made it's way to their door. It grew louder, and louder, until eventually an indescribable creature broke down the door and charged at the group screaming.

Dean woke up from his dream, lying on the living room floor.

After hours of searching through the current building, Lex managed to come out with a few useful materials. Luckily, one of these things included a new shirt for Jim; although it wasn’t exactly new with its strong stench of stale cloth. Right before slipping back out the entrance door, the familiar growling of a creature echoed from not too far outside the building. By the sounds of it, the creature seemed to be after something. Lex didn’t move to see what it was hunting. Instead, she waited, hoping that whatever it was after was headed in the other direction. Rather than the fading howl of the creature, five gun shots seemed to go off, clearly getting its target considering a thump followed soon after. Lex took this time to peak through the crack of the door and saw a man appearing a little younger than Jim fiddling with his gun. Lex quickly jerked back and continued to wait. A few minutes later, she checked back again and this time the man was gone. Ducking through the door, Lex hurriedly made her way back home, making sure to keep out of plain site and any other creatures.

---

Jim scratched his once large but now shrinking belly, “Clever, indeed,” he said with a nod. Jim’s friendly expression quickly changed into that of one confused, “So your brothers just left you here? By yourself? That doesn’t seem right to me...” He said.

Noticing the little girl’s watering eyes, Jim slowly lifted himself from the hole, leaving the open door to rest on the ground. “Well, I shall wait with you until they return. I need some fresh air anyways; I’ve been cooped up in that hole for a couple days!” Jim took a deep breath and then plopped himself onto the ground, leaning his back against the side of the building.

“So what’s your name, sunshine?”

---

Lex had been walking for a good twenty minutes now and would probably reach her destination within ten more. She didn’t hum any tune nor did she think any thoughts, she just focused on her footsteps, scanning all around her every minute. Right after the fourth scan, a loud clatter could be heard from a distance. Lex immediately stopped in her tracks, her eyes searching the direction the sound had come from. Even at a couple blocks down Lex could tell what was coming, and how many. It was as if it were a pack of them: One leading the other, desperate and starving. Lex whipped her head back the way she was going, quickly checking to make sure none were coming that way, as well. To her luck, there were none, and so she immediately took off into a sprint to Jeb and the safe room. It would hopefully be safe there until the creatures pass. There was no way two people could take on the ten of those creatures.

Kat stared at the old man as he climbed out of the hole, he seemed friendly enough, and Kat was glad to see another person after the past few days of loneliness. "Oh.. Well I'm Kat! And really its only one brother that is coming... But he might take a long long time." she scratched her head, causing her short ruffled hair to stick up on one side. Kat looked at the old mans face again, it was wrinkly like how Poppa's had been, only Poppa didn't have a big santa beard. "How come you look like Santa?" she blurted, "And what's your name?" Kat pulled the pocket knife out of her pocket and went back to carving her name into the side of the door calmly.

---

James whimpered softly as he looked at the thick dark red blood that stained his fingers. Warily, he watched the girl throw her gun across the room, stupid thing to do with the safety off he mused. She took of her jacket and backpack, and watched James carefully as she slipped on latex gloves. "Are you a doctor?" he rasped, his throat still dry and painful.

Slumping into a sitting position, James began to try and piece together what had happened. His memory kept pulling up blanks, he could not remember what he was doing here, or how he got so badly hurt. The last thing he did remember was leaving the army to return home to his family after hearing about a strange disease. Gently probing the back of his head, he felt a huge and shallow scrap alone his skull, which ended suddenly at the most painful part of his skull. He quickly stopped touching as his head exploded with pain. "Chi-Chicago?" he began to panic, Chicago was at least a 6 hour car ride from his parents house, how on earth did he get here? "Who are you? Is this a training exercise?!" he flustered briefly, and then stopped as he head began to throb. Stay calm, sort yourself out first, then ask questions. He told himself, and began to breath slower, trying to lower his heart rate. James closed his eyes and went silent for a few minutes, the girl introduced herself as Takiko, and she continued to move quietly as he focused on remembering his medical training. Slowly James opened his eyes and looked at her, "I am James, I think I have a type 3 concussion, and a mild avulsion of the skin on my scalp. Are you medically trained? I need stitches.." he said, his voice still sounded awful, like he'd be drinking gravel, but at least he was calm now. A thick layer of James's skin on his scalp hung loosely by a thin band of flesh, thankfully his head was already closely shaved at the army. James focused on breathing, the throbbing pain had subsided to a dull ache as long as he didn't move too much. "Takiko, I can't remember how I got here."

Takiko stopped sorting through her medical supplies when he turned his eyes on her again. He introduced himself and surprised her with evaluating his own injury so confidently. She tried not to give anything away when he inquired again, whether she had Medical training. She was hesitant to tell him that most of what she knew was theoretical, there was noone else her who could take care of that wound, which she had yet to see for herself, and she wasn't about to tell him that her experience with stitches was limited to having been taught a little on a banana, during her internship at the hospital. And she was still sure the guy had only wanted to get her into bed with him.

"Takiko, I can't remember how I got here." James stated and she scowled, a concussion could mess with the memory, but she was sure not to that degree. "Here as in Chicago or here as in this basement?" she asked, unsure what she sould do if it was amnesia. She got up and walked around him to get a look at the wound. She swallowed, grabbing the torchlight to get a better look. As expected of a headwound, there was plenty of blood around. The wound was a large, but swallow scrap along his skull, part of his sking barely hanging on from a thin band of flesh. Good that she wasn't squeamish when it came to that sort of thing. She cleared her throat. "You should lie down. I don't have any painkillers and I'll have to thuroughly clean the wound first to avoid inflammation. Together with the stitches... I think sooner or later it will knock you out, to be honest." she told him, hoping he wasn't the kind of proud I-can-endure-anything type. She stepped back around him, balling her jacket and holding it out to him. "You can use it was a pillow." she suggested.

Then she proceeded to disinfect the needle she usually used to patch up her clothes and, lacking in anything better, did the same to the yarn she had as well. She would do it again after having cleaned the wound, just to be sure. It would have to do. She just hoped they could avoid inflammation. Getting medicine wasn't that easy anymore. Takiko glanced at James and something came to mind. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked him, her eyes searching for traces of a bite-wound on his body.

While he was still tired because of the fight, Ryan kept going on unyieldingly, as time was running short. Staying out in the open at night was a death sentence and he knew that. On the road, he started thinking about the disease. When it arrived, there were numerous theories about where it came from and also, how it came to the Earth. A day later, he got to know it came from the sky and not as a result of some sort of bizzare experiment. He was almost sure it came on a meteorite. And because the cause of the infection was a living organism, at least he thought, this means that it managed to survive all the extremeties of space and entering the atmosphere as well. Although he loved conspiracy theories, he'd rather not think about where it came from.

"Well, those who sent it must have a cure too, huh?" he asked the question from himself. Or maybe it's not even a "product" of intelligent life. There were so many uncertainities, it was impossible to build a reasonable theory that answers most of these questions. However, this didn't keep Ryan from continuing his thought process: How did it manage to infect the people? He didn't even know exactly where the meteorite landed, but he knew that it didn't affect everyone instantly, only people with a specific illness. However, the identity of the illness was unknown. His best guess was something related to the respiratory system, as inhalating the virus was probably the way the poor people got infected. It came from the sky, how else it could happen?

These thoughts and even more were running through his mind until he finally arrived to the city. Well, at least to its outskirts, the suburbs. where people's biggest concerns were the quality of their lawns. The houses mostly looked alike, with red roofs and yellow walls, so they had to make a difference somehow, he thought. A small growl coming from his stomach reminded him of his original goals - to find food. He carefully started to check the former homes, one by one, not going too far inside one and only looking at shelves and potential other places for still eatable food. He also checked which one of them would be the most suitable for him to take a shelter, as the number of creatures outside started to grow. Sneaking from one house to another, he finally found one that would meet all his needs - a sweet little home with enough space. Unfortunately, he didn't find any supplies there, but he already collected enough for at least two days.

He suddenly realized he missed something - the basement. Although he didn't fancy going down there at the dark, he didn't want to take the risk of getting eaten alive by creatures hiding there, waiting for him to go to sleep. He flipped on his flashlight in his right hand and his katana in the left and slowly got down the basement. To his outmost surprise, he found two people there, He saw what it looked like a girl bending at an older man, who was lying on the ground. He stayed calm and resisted the urge of immediately showing himself. What if the girl killed the man...? He decided to spectate just a little longer to see what's really the case.

First Post:
Theos gazed emotionless through his goggles towards the streets of the Chicago suburbs. The scar over his right eye always stood out more when he held this blank expression. Good memories of this place were few, but swiftly fading into nightmares. Before his mind could allow any state of daydream, like a slap to the face his mentality was ripped back into reality. His backpack upon his back looked heavy, though after about a year of lugging it around the bags weight was starting to be second nature. Theos was sitting on A roof of A porch to one of the houses in the suburb. His access to the rooftop was by A window overlooking it.

The window behind him was closed and the door behind it was closed as well. The house he was at had been the one he was staying at temporarily. Theos often found himself migrating between living spaces, while many could hardly be called that. Knowing the distance of the drop it could be done with feint chance of injury. Which was the only reason he was positioned on this roof. It had been several months since Theos had even seen signs of other people, non-monstrous people. Instinctively his hand went over his stomach due to sheer hunger. It was getting to the point that pain could start to occur, if it wasn't for his insensitivity to pain, he probably would of felt it by now.

Theos had his bow over his shoulder among his backpack and makeshift quiver. His knuckle-knife was in sheath not to far from hands reach as he continued to examine the area. The highlight of this week would be searching for a new spot to perch. Hopefully in between searching he can cross paths with some sort of food source, whether it be an animal or who knows. Silently as possible Theos moved back to the window and opened it with his knife. Then proceeded to trek through the house and reach the front door he was located above.

Standing outside of the house he walks towards the street and looks down each way. Despite not seeing any direct threats, he was still trying to conceal his position with being against some hedges. Like always his hood was up and goggles+face mask was on, aiding in concealing his looks. Left, right, forward, left and then right again; his head shifts back and forth slowly as he scans his path options. "Where to go, where to go?" Were the only thoughts his mind could muster. Going straight would cross the street to another home that he would have to search if traveled to. Left would be going back the direction he came. Behind him led to yards and fences, more opportunities to unknowingly bound into A threat. This meant only one pathway remained, to his right. Although despite making his decision, he simply waited and watched. Not wanting to get to carried away and not be to cautious of his surroundings. That was how he got his scar over his eye, lack of caution and to much trust.

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Third Post:

Theos' gaze locked on the small form as soon as it was in sight. His eyes looked for the source of the heavy panting before he actually found the girl sprinting towards his direction. Then proceeded to hear A male voice shout something at the girl he was pursuing. Part of him wondered if this was A trap, the rest of his mentallity wondered how much that stumble on the sidewalk hurt for the girl when she slipped and fell. Theos sighed as he stood to his feet and swiftly drew his bow, notching an arrow into it. His aim was steady and on the man chasing the girl. They were getting closer and closer, until eventually he let out a light whistle that he knew was loud enough for them both to hear. He just didn't whistle as loud as he wanted or could have, due to not wanting to further attract anything in the nearby area.

The only words able to be heard from the goggled and masked figure, wearing an oddly high amount of white in his attire. Although by now his attire had many spots of dried blood on it along with dirt, so one could say his attire has hardly pure white anymore. "Both of you stop. Make one more move and I'll remove you both from this hell." He was talking to both of them, however his bow was directly aimed on the man's chest. He considered the man wielding a weapon more dangerous then the girl. However the girl was still clean in his sites.

((Read posts by number))
Post two
Suddenly, from the right, a small form dashed around a corner, slipping on some trash and causing it to fall to the sidewalk. From the panting that could be heard by Theos, it sounded like the form had been running for a long time already. The form quickly got to its feet and started running again. As it got closer, he'd see it was a girl, not appearing to be infected in any way. She was wearing a white and pink t-shirt, split in the middle, and white jeans cut off just below the knees.

The reason she was running became clear when a large man stepped around the corner, carrying a what looked like a makeshift bo staff. "Oi! Ge' back 'ere, girl! You canno' run forever!" He was built like a brick, most likely a weight lifter before the infection began.

---

Post Four
The girl's head shot upright at the whistle, being closer she heard it better. But this also caused her to stumble over a chunk of wood to land on her hands and knees near the new person, before recoiling backwards and into the street a bit. The big man following her slowed down and took a defensive stance twenty yards away when he saw the bow. He was big, but it seemed not all his brain power was devoted to that. "This is none'yer concern, boy. Git goin' an' I won' bea' ye' up and take all 'yer supplies." The man kept a firm gaze on this new threat. Despite his words, he wasn't really in any position to carry them out.

The girl glanced between her pursuer and the newcomer, her face contorted in fear and confusion. She didn't have anything to offer in terms of talking, it seemed. But something sparked an emotion in Theos. Was it her tattered and battered appearance? Her expression? Was it the way the man avoided telling him anything about why he was chasing the girl? Whatever it was he'd feel confused over being sympathetic for this young girl, a total stranger.

Fifth Post:

Theos' gaze was still on the man holding the makeshift weapon. "Wrong answer boy-o. Despite the fact your mentality couldn't fathom my concerns..." As he spoke his head tilted towards the left revealing more of his right eye. Little did the man standing before Theos know, this was another way for him to get a better aim at a target. His breathing patters were slow, subtle, and tranquil despite having two possible foes standing before him. "I suggest your next moves are chosen wisely big-boy. One wrong move could mean your end." A smirk etched into his expression as he waited for the man to make his move. However this may have been slightly difficult to see due to his face-mask and goggles.

(Moved)

Jim was sad to see that the girl had originally been scared of him. I mean, anyone who randomly pops out of a hole in the ground should be someone to watch. But nowadays the circumstances were different. Humans couldn’t even trust other humans anymore, and what would the surviving children grow up to be? Being raised in this cruel environment with so much violence, so few friends and family (if any), and never knowing whether they’ll still be alive the next day. Jim still continues to pretend as if nothing has happened, talking casually and trying to make the best of the situation. Now with the new company of a child, he’d hope the girl and her brothers would team up with Lex and him, and hopefully slowly bring back some joy to the world.

“Kat, eh?” He said. “Would that be y’er full name?” Jim asked her, a little glad that it turns out there was only one brother. At least if Kat’s brother didn’t take well to other humans there would only be one of them.

Jim laughed at the girl’s blunt question. “Maybe I am Santa!” He smiled, ruffling his beard as the young girl did her hair. “The name’s Jim, nice to meet ya. May I ask where y’er brother’s off too? Ima curious old man,” Before the girl would get a chance to answer, a whispering shout came from the other end of the alley.

“JIM! What are you doing out? I told you not to leave!”

Jim smiled at Lex as she ran down the pavement as if something was chasing her. “Al’! Meet my new friend Kat,” Jim spread his arm welcomingly towards Kat.

---

It only took 3 minutes for Lex to get back to the familiar alley, but that didn’t make her even safer. As she began the final run towards the wooden door, a figure slumped across the wall came to view. Ugh, Jim... She thought inwardly, annoyed that he hadn’t listened. After asking what he’d been doing out there, Jim extended his arm towards another figure that Lex hadn’t noticed. “A child?” She said, abruptly stopping a few steps away from them. “Doesn’t matter, we have to get in the cave. There was a whole bunch of them- 12 I think, and they’re heading this way.” Lex opened the wooden door and impatiently motioned for them to get in.

James lay down, face towards the floor as she'd instructed him to do. Her jacket was balled up, his arms encircling it and his forehead resting on it. Takiko observed for a second, then decided against climbing onto hi back to get better access to his headwound and knelt down in front of him. She put everything she'd need in order around her, ready to be used and disinfected thrice. She took a deep breath, but tried to be silent about it. She still thought it would be better to not tell him exactly how much experience she had with this kind of wound. Or with stitches. Or any kind of attending to any kind of wounds. She she swallowed as she started dabbing the wounds with the iodine ointment she had found in the cars first aid kit. She noticed James twitch but he wasn't moaning. Yet. She bit her lower lip, chewing on it as she proceeded to dab and wipe and clean until she was satisfied. At least he had stopped bleeding so much. There was absolutely nothing she could do if he lost too much blood, she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to find proper mediaction against inflammation around here. And she'd have to at least look for it. Because no matter how much she desinfected and no matter how much ointment she used, she was still stitching him back together in a basement, one they were shearing with a dead creature, and with a sewing-needle at that. Not to mention the thread she was using.

She leaned back, blinking and shaking her head. She had no use for doubt now, there was noone else here to take care of this man. And with humanity being eradicated at this rate, they should try to keep each other alive as much as possible. Or at least that was her own mindset. She took another deep breath. "I'll start stitching you back together now." she announced to her patient, but not receiveing an answer. Her breath caught and for a second she stared at him, noticing he'd slightly slumped together. She reached out, feeling for his pulse, having to fight her own rapid heartbeat to be able to feel or hear his. She waited, eyes staring at nothing, only concentrating on her fingers against his throat. There. She sighed in relieve. There was a pulse. She sat back up, looking at him. "Probably better that way." she told him, trying to convince herself as well. WIth head injuries it was never good to lose consciousness.

But better do it now, before he woke up. If he wakes up. a voice whispered in the back of her mind but she shut it out and slid a little forward so that she had a better view and angle at the wound. The light was anything but satisfying. She grabbed the flashlight, placing it on his broad muscled back, it's light hitting the wound. Not ideal, but better. She reached out, fingers carefully putting his flesh back into place. It was amazing her hands weren't shaking like mad. Maybe she should have become a surgeon after all.

(OOC: Ducky, check out OOC, I'll do a quick post for Kat now, but if you get a little bored waiting for me to get my laptop back feel free to take control of her.)

Kat heard the running footsteps of another person and she quickly turned towards them, flicking out the blade of her pocket knife. A pretty girl came running up towards them, the first girl Kat had seen since she'd said goodnight to her mother the night before everything had gone bad. The old man called her "Al", Kat thought a pretty girl should have a nicer name, like Ariel or Jasmine or something. The girl jogged up to Jim, and then turned in surprise to Kat, "A child?" Al questioned.

Kat puffed out her chest furiously, "I am not a child!" she said, quietly but firmly.

Al began to talk to the old man about mutants, Kat scrambled behind the old man and down the steep stairs of the door on the ground, her heart pounding. The last thing Kat wanted was a confrontation with a mutant, she had never done it without James there. Without James protecting her. And she knew her best bet was to trust Jim, and hope he could protect her. After all, he was a grownup.

Ryan has been watching for quite a while now. For too long, to be honest. He was almost sure that the girl meant no harm and that she tried to heal the man somehow. He watched through the entire operation, which he quickly regretted. He couldn't stand the sight of blood, even in these days. However, the "doctor" acted very professionally, at least as far as Ryan knew. She even talked to the poor patient, who was seemingly unconscious. She also had a complete medical kit, which looked very useful. He only had a few painkillers and patches with him and even they looked very bad when compared to hers. In the end, Ryan started to cheer for the girl silently, hoping that she manages to cure whatever injury that man may have had.

Unfortunately, it looks like she failed, at least partly. He could still hear the man's breathing, but he was still unconscious when she seemingly gave up. That was the time when Ryan finally decided to show himself. The girl would find him eventually anyways and that would be a lot more awkward for both of them. He wanted to look as calm and collected as possible. He didn't want to surprise her too much. He slowly stepped out of his hiding place and quietly said:

"Umm...hello."

It was a good thing Takiko hadn't started stitching yet. Needle in hand she had been about to start when she heard a shuffling sound, followed by a quiet voice. "Umm...hello." a male voice said, making her jolt. She let go of the needle instantly and was up on her feet and turned, knife pulled out of her boot and in her hand, in a series of fast, fluent movements. Her heartbeat sped up, thumping into her throat as she stared at the guy that stood by the steps. She noticed she had already made several steps towards him as well, purely out of instinct. When she noticed he was positively human, she lowered the knife she had been pointing at his head. She didn't put it away though, still suspicious.

"How long have you been here?" she asked him, eyes narrowed to slits. She hoped he was not one of those survivors that stole from others. She really couldn't use that kind of distraction right now, James was lying behind her, she had unconsciously shielded him from view. She had to hurry and stitch his wound back together. Who knew how long he'd been lying in this cold, wet basement before she'd found him? Takiko would have to get him somewhere war and dry, somehow.