"If you wouldn't mind I would like to stay."Emma said, "I haven't found people in a long time and even though I don't fully trust you two I don't want to just walk away from this. " She listened to Tim's suggestion, fiddling with her braid. She didn't really have a particular place. Sure, she had a few places she came back to once in awhile but she was mostly nomadic. She hauled her bag over in front of her and took out a can or two of food. She pushed it toward Tim. "I heard you say you were hungry before. I have about six or seven I believe right now, and some crackers."

Emma then turned to Dean. "I promise I won't be any trouble and I'll help with supplies as much as you need me to. "

Takiko just sighed as she noticed James trying to get up anyway, not paying any attention to her words and waited until he found out for himself that getting wasn't an option for him at the moment. She had no idea how long it would take for him to recover, she could just hope they'd be able to move him somewhere else soon. They'd already been in this place for too long. The chance of the creature finding them was growing more and more likely by the minute. They weren't loud and couldn't be noticed easily from outside, but Takiko was sure that those creatures had their ways to make them out anyway.

She heard silent footsteps behind her and turned to look at Ryan as he stepped up next to her, keeping his voice low in order to not alarm James. "When did he wake up and how is he now?" the younger guy asked and she was just about to answer when she glanced at James and noticed that Ryans appearance had alarmed him plenty. His eyes were fixed on Ryan and even though it was audibly hard for him to do so, he forced some words out. "Who the hell are you?.. And why the fuck do you have a sword?" he breathed.

Takiko blinked. Her eyes wandering to the sword. How the hell had she not noticed that sooner? She shook her head to herself, keeping herself from thinking too much about that, since it wasn't important at the moment. She reached out for James again, lightly placing a hand on his chest. She made sure to catch his eyes and look at him as she answered him with a calm voice. "This is Ryan. He helped me get you up here." Takiko wasn't sure what more to say, since, really, she didn't actually know anything about the guy standing behind her. Also she did not really trust him that much. Suddenly, something came to mind. SHe turned around to Ryan. "Did you find something? Some painkillers, maybe? Or,.. well, anything?"

Ryan didn't get an answer from Takiko, but he did get the recently-awaken man's hostile remarks, referring to his long katana sitting on his belt, without an actual sheath. He didn't understand why he would suddenly attack him verbally when he just noticed him, but he knew that being knocked out for a good while and then waking up somewhere else is not the best experience one could have. He was just about to reply when Takiko took the lead and introduced him briefly.

"Yep, I'm Ryan. Sorry if I disturbed you too much, I didn't mean to. I don't have a real expertise with guns, that's why I prefer to fight with swords." he told him, answering the man's vulgar question calmly. He knew from a long time that fighting fire with fire leads nowhere. Suddenly, Takiko turned to him and asked if he had found anything interesting. She was mostly interested in medical items, most probably for the still unknown man. He really wanted to get to know his name by now, but it wasn't the most pressing matter at that time...and the guy himself didn't look too cooperative either. Instead, he quickly answered:

"Unfortunately, I didn't find anything we could use - except for an old computer in the neighbouring house. It looks functional, but we can't use for much without electricity right now. As for painkillers, I've brought some with myself from my old home. Just a sec." he put his backpack down, opened it and after a minute or so of searching, he finally found the medicine. "There, that's all I've got." he said and gave what he found to her. He thought for a second if giving all the painkillers he has got away, but he trusted his abilities of staying relatively uninjured. The most possible injury that could happen in the current conditions was the bite of a creature. And once you get bitten, painkillers won't really help.

Ryan looked outside. It was getting darker and darker. He knew that once night hits, it's a suicide to move even one step out of safety. But their house wasn't the best place of surviving either - no fortifications, only a fence and an average wooden door stood between them and those terrible creatures. Being able to sleep in these conditions was not likely, but he was getting very tired...

Willie took the empty canteen, and was glad to see Carlee had finished it. She needed it. Her remark about his rifle was actually a good idea, initially he didn't mind using it earlier because he was constantly moving, but if he fired the rifle now just before they entered shelter, they would most likely wake to a crowd of unwanted visitors. "Good call, hadn't even thought'uh bout that." Willie strapped his rifle to his backpack, removing the combat knife from the end of the barrel and pulling a hatchet out from the bag. He put his backpack on and walked across the street towards the bar, gripping his blade in one hand and the hatchet in the other.

Carlee's question had Willie taken aback for a moment. The last time he and his brother spoke was on a payphone months ago, but he actually hadn't seen Franklin in a year. He wasn't entirely sure he would find Franklin at the garage, but there really wasn't anywhere else to look, and family was waiting in Europe. "Bout'a month ago I recall, said he'was still in Chicago."

As they approached the entrance to the bar, Willie handed Carlee a flashlight, and then turned on one that had been attached to a pocket on his jacket. "I don't expect it ta'be too bright in there. Stay close, if there's anything in there it'll be easier for them to pick us off if we're separated." The sun was beginning to set. It was now or never. Willie began counting down from three with the hand that gripped the hatchet. The moment he reached one, he kicked in the door and moved quickly into the bar. It was easier if they announced their presence so none of the damn things stayed in hiding and got the jump on them, assuming they weren't smart enough to stay hidden. His hunch was correct, and the place was pitch black except for the light the flashlights produced and the slim amount of daylight coming from outside. As far as Willie could see the place wasn't too messed up, apart from a couple of chairs on the floor and a few bottles here and there. It just looked like game 7 was being broadcasted yesterday and someone was too lazy to clean up the mess.

Willie stopped in place, and put his hand up, gesturing Carlee to stay still as well. The first half of the bar was clear, but as he approached the other side, his flashlight lit up a puddle of blood on the floor. Unfortunately it seemed to be fresh as it was a bright red. Not only that, but an arm lay in the puddle. He followed the arm with his flashlight, leading up to the rest of the body. It was a man, wearing a suit, on top of him crouched one of the creatures, gnawing away at his chest. As the light hit the creatures face, Willie could make out it's features. It's entire body was skinny to a skeletal point, as it crouched on top of the body it's legs and arms pointed outwards like a spider. As the thing stood up straight, it was unbelievably tall, it's head a few inches from the ceiling. Willie and the creature locked eyes for a moment before it screamed horridly at the two, and dropped to it's arms, it was crawling towards them!

The moment the thing came within striking distance of Willie he practically punted the creatures face, causing it to stand back up and reel backwards for a second. Willie impaled its right knee with his hatchet causing it to drop to one knee. It retaliated by grabbing Willie's shoulders with it's lengthy arms, and attempted to pull him closer so it could most likely bite into his neck. Ironically the creature was much stronger than it looked, considering how skinny the thing is. Willie grabbed it's arms and placed his foot on the things chest as to give him leverage so the thing couldn't pull him in. In the distance, another scream could be heard. A second creature slammed through the back door, with all the same features as the first, and began crawling towards the two.

---

Dean was somewhat glad to hear Emma wanted to stay. It had been a while since he had encountered people, and even longer since he had decided to stick together with them. There was no harm in sticking together, except for having to share food, but he wasn't greedy, and so far getting food wasn't a problem to him. Timothy's proposal sounded simple enough. And to his luck, Dean was in fact planning on moving east. "I actually was planning on moving east after I like, finished up here. I don't mind your idea, but I, uh. I think it would take longer than a day to scavenge the area around here. It's a big neighborhood, like we don't really want to miss anything y'know. I've found some interesting stuff in houses and stuff. There's also some grocery stores in town we could check out. I guess I get that you want to hurry up with your project, but it would be safe to take things slow. We don't want to rush anything, or move around too much. I'm not trying to argue with you, this is just my opinion, I guess." Dean trailed off.

It was weird to hear Emma say she won't be any trouble. She was acting a lot less clever than before. Maybe she really didn't like being alone. "Okay" He said simply.

Tim got to thinking for a little bit. Maybe he should finally raid one of his old bud's houses. Thinking about it a little bit and mulling over what Emma and Dean had said to him. "If we stay longer than a few days then we are going to need proper defenses" thought Tim. "Food is of one concern, but for the most part I am worried about defense. The project of mine probably will only take a day or three at the most and then we can be on our way." pondered Tim. Sitting silently Tim reached over and grabbed the crackers and nodded in thanks to Emma. Staring out the window to the north end of the block. How long would it take him to reach the old house? Maybe an hour or so at the most if he moved quietly enough so no one could hear him and also stay out of sight. An hour to wrap up everything that would be left and maybe an hour and a half back to cover his steps back to the house. He had to plan accordingly and make sure everything went alright so as not to attract attention. A slight smile touched his lips for once as the anxiety lifted and the tension had been somewhat lifted from the room. For the first time in roughly 6 months Tim had people not shooting him or trying to kill him. This was bliss and truthfully worth every single second enjoyment. Taking a quick swig from his camel pack to wet his mouth he came to a decision right there, these are going to be the people he is willing to put life on the line for and willing travel companions. "Alright I'll stay and continue the search of the surrounding area. But first you two should barricade the house we are at now. Make it as defensible as possible as you can. I know of a place nearby that has some supplies worth taking. I will try to be back in roughly in three to fours hours from now. Trust me we are going to need what I am about to bring." said Tim as he was finishing the last of the crackers.

Tim ducked out of the house and made a bee line to an alleyway moving quietly and as stealthily as possible. Keeping close to the shadows and making sure not to make too much noise he silently went north and west as possible. After a half hour or so he heard a car coming and ducked behind an old dumpster as he saw a 95 Honda Civic come blazing by. Waiting till he could barely hear the car's exhaust he continued on towards his mission. He finally arrived to an old house that definitely had seen some better days. The house had been a bar in the early 1900's but it was converted over to a house in the mid 1920's to a three story house. The house belonged to an old friend of his Augustus DeWitt who owned and operated the warehouse he has been living in. The guy was definitely a genius when it came to metalworking and machining. But by the looks of the house it looks like that the poor old thing had been broken into several times. Walking inside the furniture was thrown about with blood stains and ammo casings everywhere. He saw bodies everywhere he went and riddled with bullet holes. Following the trail it led to the kitchen where his buddy was sitting there smiling with an old stogie hanging from his mouth and a grin spread wide from his face. Whatever gun he was using was gone but from all the ammo sitting there it should have been his Ak-47 and a AR-15. "At least you had your fun going out bud." Tim said in a quiet voice.

Going back to the stairs he had passed in the entry way he went into the old broom closet. Standing inside he put on his head lamp and switch the thing on. The one thing he knew that those raiding shmucks didn't was this house was used as a speakeasy during the mid 20's to the late 40's which meant that was secret just waiting to happen. Taking an old rod hanging off the side wall he found the old peak hole and pushed it through and turned 90 degree's left 45 degrees right and then 15 degrees left. An audible click went as a door swung open to reveal steps leading down into the basement. DeWitt was a gun collector and loved anything used in the World Wars in general. Tim knew what he wanted and how much there should be. Walking down the steps he entered a massive room complete worth a gun working bench, a reloading table, a lathe, and every kind of material ever needed to work and manufacturer firearms. Moving towards a second door to his left Tim opened it to find the exact things he needed. 1 Mosin Nagant with a PU 91/30 scope and strap, 800 rounds of 7.62x54R ammo for it, One Taruas Raging bull chambered in .454 Casull with about 60 rounds of ammo for it and holster, and finally an Colt M1911 chambered in .45 and around 105 rounds of ammo and three spare magazines for the gun plus another holster. This was what Tim had left here two years ago for his buddy to take care in case of anything happening to him out west. Tim Bagged his weapons and grabbed the two cases of ammo and stuffed the rest in his Alice pack and went out the way he came in.

While doing the exact same thing he had done to get here except with about another 60lbs added into it he sneaks back to the base of operation aka Deans place Tim knocks on the door and waits for somebody to answer it. He had roughly been gone for around 3 hours and 45 minutes. But on Tim stood waiting for someone to open the door with a big shit eating grin on his face.

James stared at the couple as they talked. He couldn't be bothered focusing on what they were saying, but he checked them out quietly, sizing them up in his head. The boy didn't seem much of a threat, though he already seemed to have taken a disliking to James for some reason. Maybe he's the jealous type... James mused, glancing at Takikos face. She was probably more of a threat then the other guy, she seemed to be smart, and her reactions were quick and flawless. James was surprised to notice he was feeling slightly disappointed Takiko and the other boy were together., its not like he wanted to date her. He hardly knew her!

James let his gaze wander around the desolate room. What it lacked in furniture it made up for in dust and grime. The room was big, and from what James could see it was fairly empty as well. There were large bald patches in the wall where wallpaper had been ripped off mercilessly, mold was starting to eat away at a shabby pair of curtains that framed a sagging windowframe. James suddenly had a strong feeling he'd seen those curtains before. Where they similar to the ones at his house? Maybe he'd seen then in a magazine or something...

James brushed it off, instead looking past the curtains out into the growing darkness. A large hunched figure was moving around outside, aimlessly circling what appeared to be a very overgrown backyard. James swallowed trying to clear his throat, "Do you guys know that guy?"

Takiko felt a little crestfallen at hearing that the surrounding houses had nothing they could use and though she was grateful for Ryan to give her the painkillers he had brought with him, she felt a little hesitant to take them. They had no relation at all and she couldn't expected him to give away what he might need himself somedy, to complete strangers. It was nice enough that he had helped her get James up here and then even searched the surrounding houses for the three of them. She noticed him looking outside and wondered whether he was going to stay with them or leave before it was too late.

Then her eyes fell onto James who was gazing around the room then he something seemed to catch his eye. "Do you guys know that guy?" he asked, his voice still raspy. Takiko whirled around, staring out of the window. There really was someone outside. She scowled and got up, her hand reaching for the gun in the back of her jeans as she moved forward, positioning herself at the side of the window to get a look outside without being seen. "Never seen him... Do you know him Ryan?" she asked, stepping away from the window and looking at the other guy.

This could be a huge propblem for them. Even if the guy didn't notice them and wouldn't make use of their kind of desperate situation by attacking and robbing them, if he were to attract the creatures attention, they'd be in serious trouble. While he'd just run and leave, they were pretty much stuck here. For a second she looked at James, lying helpless on the bed, barely able to turn his head. She didn't know why she was so determined about it, but she wouldn't leave him here. Maybe she'd been away from other people for too long and was now seeking some company or she felt protective of her, first and probably only, patient. She didn't know, but she wasn't going to leave without him, no matter what.

Takikos eyes swung towards Ryan. He'd been nothing but nice and helpful, but while she somehow trusted James, probably because he wasn't that much of a threat at the moment, she wasn't so sure about the other guy. And she couldn't expect him to risk his life just like that. "It would be fine if you want to leave. It's getting dark and this is not exactly the safest place. I'm thankful for your help, really, but you have no reason to risk yourself like this." she told him earnestly.

Ryan was still looking out of the window when he heard the man asking about some unknown individual who was apparently outside. And really, there was a dark figure moving around just a few meters from them. First he thought it's just another creature, but after watching more closely, it had a completely human form. Who would go out like that at night? he thought. His mind was racing and he quickly concluded that whoever it may be, he or she must be dangerous and probably armed as well. That would explain how the person dares to just walk around like that, not afraid of the horrible creatures.

Takiko asked him if he knew who was out there:
"No, not at all...But he looks dangerous, that's for damn sure." he replied. Even though it seemed he didn't notice them yet, he was way too close. They were in a bleak situation nonetheless and having a seemingly hostile stranger right next to them just made the matters a lot worse. They had a wounded man with them as well, who can't go anywhere on his own, which meant that they were pretty much pinned down in the house. And even if the person won't notice them at all, he's very likely to attract some of these creatures, who are even more fearful, especially in groups. And once they get a scent of them...it's over.

"Oh, for Christ's sake..." he let out a sigh, turning away from the window. Suddenly, the girl turned to him and told him that if he wanted to leave, he was free to go. This statement surprised him a bit, but he knew it wasn't because Takiko was ungrateful or anything, but because she cared for him. However, Ryan has already made a decision. Just like at the basement, he knew that she and the man as well, need his help. And he needs theirs as well.
"I could...but I won't. You have no reason to risk your life either. Nobody here does. We'll stand and fight together, if it's needed." he finally answered as he drew his pistol from its sheath. He felt heroic, but he didn't want to sacrifice himself or anything. It was do or die time and he definitely wanted to do. "What's the plan?"