[IC] Beyond the End of the World

[Whimsical Cloud]

The world as everyone knew it had gone to hell in a hand basket, or so they said. Just days ago, the news had come on saying that some sort of weird virus had been released in multiple places across the continent turning the infected into creatures much like those featured in all the zombie movies. Hours later a lab exploded, releasing who the heck knows what into the atmosphere and shortly after people began to discover odd abilities, the affected area seeming to grow from around the area that lab had been in. Just a few days and the civilized world had reverted to more animalistic ways, especially once the powergrids began to fail. Amist this chaos, the remaining people began to form small groups just trying to survive. This is where our tale begins, in a small town close to where that lab had exploded.

A young woman with fiery red hair that was pulled back into a neat ponytail, meandered out from her hiding place seeming to be in no hurry even as the five zombie like creatures on that street took notice of her. Whipping her sturdy metal baton out, she made quick work of breaking two of the zombies' knees, those two now significantly slower. She then proceeded to taunt the remaining three, drawing them away from the door of a shop, as a another pair of people slipped into the door unnoticed. About five minutes later they slid out of the store, joining the woman whom had dislocated one zombie's right leg, smashed another zombie's head in, and simply tied the last one up. Watching the zombies curiously, she seemed to be taking mental notes, prehaps on the best way of killing and disabling them. Once the others laden with the loot from the store joined her, the trio slipped into an alleyway making their way along confidently.

[Dio]

Micah and Nev met the day the outbreak began. They were both on their way out of town at the bus station when a horde of mutated, zombie-like people invaded the building bringing death as they rummaged through. As zombies ravaged through the building, Nev had made his way to the second floor and found an office and began barricading himself within. To his dismay though, others flocked to his door and began piling into his hideout, away from the zombies. Soon enough though he had about a dozen or so strangers within the room with him, Micah being one of them. They piled chairs, tipped over bookshelves and even moved the desk to the door, throwing as much weight behind the door as possible.

Screams filled the building, but those within the office were safe for the moment. It went on for a few hours before the screams stopped and the panic subsided. Nev, Micah, and the others in the room knew that the room was just a solution for the now and that it wasn't going to keep them safe forever, so they had one plan of action left to do, which was go get out of the building unharmed and unnoticed by whatever that was killing everyone. The group had one window in the office and were able to see what was happening outside, but that sight did not sit well with most of them as they saw the rampage and horror of what was happening in the building happening outside too.

Without a word though, Nev pushed the chairs, bookshelves, and desk aside before unlocking the door and rushing out of the room. He was brash and without hesitation he darted away down the stairs. Micah followed suit, thinking that if he just stuck around the man who had saved him, maybe he would be able to live a little longer to see his family once again. They didn't see the others who survived the bus station wave with them again, but Micah hoped they all were okay.

---

"We should be careful, Nev." Micah muttered as they darted from car to car. "I'm pretty sure the bandits are more dangerous than the zombies in this town."

The older man looked back at him with a silent, cold face, before turning his sight to an alleyway that looked safe. The two had been running for a few hours away from the local bandits as they were caught scavenging some of the same food that the bandits were from one of the run-down stores. The bandits labeled them as thieves as they claimed the food was theirs, but Nev being Nev, a man of little words, took the food and bolted out of there, with Micah chasing behind him.

"Through there we should be safe." Nev finally said, pointing to the alleyway. "Don't fall behind." The tanned man sprinted to the alleyway with Micah behind him looking like a lost puppy before they heard some muffled shouts. The pair rounded the corner and as they turned into the alleyway they came up face-to-face with three others. In an instant Nev raised the pistol in his hand and pointed it towards the group, brows furrowed and sweat dripping down. Micah did the only logical thing too as he gripped his own weapon tighter too. His was less dangerous, but still effective enough in protecting himself, as the grip on his steel pole tightened.

The young man bit his lips, hoping and praying that the group before them were not part of the bandits who were chasing them and he knew that Nev wasn't going to make any time to find out, but the group looked as desperate as the pair did. "Nev, wait, maybe they're friendly." Micah lowered his weapon and took a few steps in front of his tall, brooding friend. "We don't want any trouble, we're just trying to find someplace to hide."

Nev's concentration never left the sight of the red-headed woman in the group, she had the aura of the most threatening as his firearm was targeted at her. "They're coming behind us, kid. We don't have much time to be talking."

Micah bit his lips before continuing. "There are men chasing us and if they catch us with you guys I'm pretty sure they're going to kill all of us. We gotta hide." The man tried as best as he could to sound convincing enough for these people. It was the truth, there were men after them, and they might all just get killed if they didn't hide from them. Sometimes Micah realized that in this new world, the zombies were only the secondary danger to other people who had become the primary danger to all.

[Whimsical Cloud]

Zoe carefully positioned herself in front of the younger girl in their group and raised her hands, palms facing out in a soothing and seemingly harmless manner even as Chase’s hand dropped to his gun. The redhead had a gun of her own visible on her hip, though she made no move for it, nor the baton in the pouch next to it. Zoe didn’t trust them exactly, certainly not with the barrel of a gun pointed at her though she did understand where they were coming from. Strangers in this broken world were dangerous, and were often unpredictable.

“How many people are after you?” Zoe asked, shooting a quick glare at Chase, who’s hand left his gun. “We haven’t been in this area long, though there are some places we’ve run across that would be good for evading assailants.”

“Miss Zoe, are you sure? That one looks kind of scary…” Elibelle spoke in a soft voice, clearly afraid.

“It’s alright Elibelle. If they were just looking to kill us, they would have done so already.” Chase spoke bluntly, clearly taking Zoe’s lead.

“Let’s move before they catch up then. We’ve got the best chance if we stick together. Chase, you take the lead, Elibelle and um… kid?” She pointed to Micah and then gestured to Chase. “Follow him and stay close. Nev, is it? You’re with me bringing up the rear end. You a good shot with that thing?” Zoe gestured to the gun as Chase and Elibelle began to move.

“If it makes you two feel better, Zoe was a cop and my brother was a medic in the army.” Elibelle was trying to be friendly twards Micah, whom she thought seemed just as scared as she was, as she began to follow her brother.

“Well Nev, it’s clear to me we’re going to need to slow the enemy down. You’ve obviously deemed me the most dangerous of my bunch, and I can’t say I particularly want to let you out of my sight either.” Zoe admitted, extending her hand as an olive branch of sorts.

Zoe and Chase worked well together, and had an established trust built up over the years. In fact, they both considered themselves lucky that they were having lunch with Chase’s little half-sister, whom he had just met about two weeks before the apocalypse started. The three had been dining outside, and had only been able to escape because of Zoe’s quick thinking and a ladder that led to the building’s roof. They saved as many people as they could, however the initial rush had been too much for even them. They had been on the move ever since then, just trying to figure out what to do next, which had led them to where they were now.

[Dio]

Nev gave Micah a glare, with the younger man knowing full well what was running through the brooding man's mind. In his mind Nev was probably murdering Micah as he usually brought on more troubles than ease with his actions, and Micah understood that, but they didn't need to fight or anger any other group at the moment. Going with the plan, Micah followed in suit behind the only man of the group, Chase, beside a younger girl who looked to be about Micah's own age. "That does make me feel better. I'm Micah by the way." Gesturing towards the intimidating, tanned man Micah went on, "That's Nev. He isn't as scary as he looks, to be honest he's a big ol'softie."

Taking Zoe's hand, Nev shook it firmly. He didn't have much choice now either as Micah had already integrated himself into the plans of the red head. So he had to go along with it, for the sake of the kid. Nev had found himself bonding with the annoying manchild, feeling as if he had become some sort of guardian to him. Traveling for a few weeks together, Nev somehow got too attached, which was an oddity to his nature as he wasn't a man to keep anyone to close to him. Maybe it was because the world was going to shit that he was becoming more human instead of a cold robot, always keeping to himself.

Nev nodded, agreeing with his new comrade with her statement. Releasing her hand he returned it back to his pistol, looking back at the way they had came. "There's a dozen or so after us." Nev said. "If anything we just need to find a place to hide until it's dark out. After that, Micah and I will be out of your hair."

[Whimsical Cloud]

“I’m Elibelle. It’s nice to meet you.” The young woman spoke in a friendly manner to Micah as she followed her brother. “Don’t worry about them too much, Miss Zoe is very good at what she does. She blew the last group that tried to attack us up with a Zombie. It was kinda terrifying honestly. I’m glad she’s on our side.” Elibelle admitted as Chase peeked around a corner before taking them around it and making a couple of other turns, avoiding the zombies along the way.

“In here. We’ll wait for them here.” Chase spoke softly as he disabled a trap and pried open the doors to a dark and dusty looking cellar, gesturing for the two of them to enter. Elibelle did so without a second thought, descending into the darkness and flicking on a lantern that was inside a moment later. It appeared that someone had been there recently, a heavy looking backpack leaned up against the wall, and a medium sized wagon with a cooler set in it was parked next to the entrance.

“That’s quite a few. When we first arrived in this city two days ago we had a similar problem. For now, we just need to give the others time to get back. You look pretty fit, so we shouldn’t have a problem with keeping up with one another once we slow this other bunch down. “ She was looking around, seeming to access the situation before grabbing a small metal trash can, moving to the end of the alleyway where the others had disappeared. She sat the can just out of view of the mouth of the alley. Then she pulled a string of fire crackers out of a pouch on her hip along with a lighter. “Be prepared to run. This will startle them, but it’s unlikely to stop them for long.” She waited until she could hear footsteps before she lit the firecrackers, dropped them in the can, and put the lid on it. She then drew a pistol from under her shirt, where it had been hidden in a shoulder holster and shot twice in rapid succession into the alleyway targeted at the bulk of their group as the first firecracker went off, before sprinting off in the opposite direction of where Chase had led the other two, not stopping to see if Nev had followed her. The 9 millimeter she currently held sported a silencer and was a compact model, an odd combination to say to say the least.

[Dio]

Micah was surprised to see that the group had established a hideout of some kind within the city. He and Nev had only recently gotten there that morning and ran into trouble right away, which was something that wasn't uncommon anymore. He followed Elibelle as she lit a lantern and led the way as Chase was holding up the rear. His grip on his steel pole tightened as they entered. "This town isn't the safest, how long have you guys been here?"

---

The man watched Zoe in action as she had come up with a plan to slow their pursuers. It was a simple, junkyard plan but it worked as the firecrackers she used startled the group of men, them thinking it was multiple shots being fired at them. Nev chased after Zoe as she bolted away after the firecrackers went off. But with all the noise and commotion the two had drawn out another group of unwanted attention.

Zoe was a few feet in front of him when he noticed three zombies to their left, shooting two with his own gun. The gunshots rang throughout the air, with Nev knowing full well that the noise wasn't good. "Zoe!" Nev shouted. He turned to his right, which was a run-down shop of some kind, taking notice that it was two stories. He jangled the doorknob but had no luck, but like a reflex when something didn't open with a handle these days Nev just kicked it open. Raising his leg he struck the door with a forceful spartan kick, opening it. "Come on!"

He noticed more zombies were coming their way thanks to his loud gun, sighing at how careless he had become since befriending Micah. He waved at his new friend and signaled to the stairs within the building. "Upstairs, we need to get to the roof!"

[Whimsical Cloud]

“We’ve been here for two days now. We stopped to resupply a bit before we move on.” Elibelle answered while Chase reset the trap and then closed the doors behind them, following the others in. “We’ll probably leave shortly after Miss Zoe and Nev get back. We haven’t been sticking around in one spot very long.”

“Where are you two headed?” Chase asked as he emptied his pack into their supplies, then held his hand out for Elibelle’s. The young woman surrendered it unquestioningly and plopped down on the floor, clearly deciding a rest was in order.

Zoe jumped at the gun shots, raising her gun and taking out the third zombie easily. Her eyes were wide, and she was wondering when she had gotten so careless. Being cocky out here could get one killed easily, and it very well almost got her right then. Quickly, she back tracked to Nev, zipping up the stairs without question, keeping her gun at the ready. “Right.” She fully intended to thank him later, though for right now, she focused on getting out of this with their lives. “Over there!” Noticing a dormer with a window that led onto the sloped roof, she simply kicked the window frame out seeing as how Nev wouldn’t have been able to get out the open window with how small it was. Slipping out onto the shingled roof, she quickly surveyed their options. To the left there was a building that they could probably jump across to the roof of, and on the right the gap was too large to consider. Behind the shop, there was a rickety looking shed that they could walk along and get past the wooden fence that enclosed the back area where the employees had once parked, judging from the sign.

“Which way do you think we should go?” Zoe asked quickly, walking to the edge of the roof to see how much attention they had drawn. There were sixteen zombies she could see from her vantage point all headed towards the front of their building.

[Dio]

"We've just got into town this morning," Micah said. He hesitated a moment thinking if it was okay or not to answer Chase's question. He knew Nev would have gave him his death eyes if he heard him just spilling the beans so nonchalantly and being so trusting of these strangers. But the young man couldn't help it. He saw light in the dark reality and wanted to hold that part for as long as he could. "We're just trying to survive. We were thinking of heading to the east coast, checking out the major cities in search of any survivors." He imagined going down south and trying to look for his parents, but he knew it wouldn't have mattered much. If his parents were alive, they wouldn't care, they'd be drinking away their problems like they usually did.

"Have you guys heard of any news from there?"

---

"Jump," Nev said. He looked at Zoe's face as it scanned the distance from their roof to the next and then back at the shed in the back of the shop. The shed looked like the wind could knock it down and it was probably in more need of repair than anything. Their best chances was to probably just jump across to the other building and hope the zombies don't notice and have the common sense to check the building beside the shop. The burly man took two steps back before lunging across the roof to the building next door.

He tumbled and rolled as his landing was less than graceful, but as that was how he could best describe himself it made sense. He wasn't the most elegant of men, but he was sturdy and dependable, and that worked. Thankfully the roof was flat and it had a door that lead back to the inside. He turned around, noticing zombie heads through the window they had come out of on the opposing window. If they were to jump across, would they make it too?

Nev didn't want to stay and find out though. Running to the door he tugged it open and waved to Zoe yet again. "You take the lead, I'll cover you." It made more sense in his head if she were to lead them into the house. She was lighter and would cause less noise as they creaked around, hopefully with no zombies or people in the house, things would be smooth sailing from here until they could meet up with the others again.

[Whimsical Cloud]

"From the information we were able to gather, it's like this all over now. Anywhere there were large populations before the apocalypse hit is swarmed by those things. There have been rumors of a group of scientists that were trying to reverse this zombie virus, but we haven't heard anymore about it. Who knows, maybe they'll succeed." Elibelle offered up the information freely, being open with Micah.

"Major cities are dangerous, and not just from the infected. It's the survivors that are the true danger. Desperation brings out some of the worst in some and the best in others. People will do whatever they need to in order to survive, even if it means murdering others. I honestly can't say my group is much different. We don't go out with the intention of killing people, but if it's us or them they won't get far." Chase added, speaking to both of them but watching Micah. "You and your friend have nothing to fear from us so long as you two don't threaten us."

"Chase... Isn't that a little rough?" Elibelle asked hesitantly giving Micah an apologetic look.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zoe let him go first with a sharp nod and proceeded to leap across once she had enough room. She hit the other roof and rolled once, ass over head, before popping to her feet quickly. Efficient, and practical with few wasted movements just like she had been trained for.

"Got it." Her response was short and to the point, her voice quiet. There was no point in making any more noise than absolutely necessary right at the moment until they got to somewhere safer. Moving through the house with her gun out, she checked around every corner quickly, pleased to find everything was silent as they moved through the house. Finding a side door with a window next to it, she grinned as she checked finding an empty alley on the other side.

Quickly, she checked the door, finding it conveniently unlocked. The muzzle of her gun flicked first right then left as she checked to ensure the alley was empty. Once she was satisfied, she turned right once more and moved swiftly along the alley, stopping at the end to look and see what was going on in this direction before making a split second decision.

"This way." She whispered to Nev before dashing across the street and into another Alley. "We're reach the others shortly."

[Dio]

Nev followed without words, darting after Zoe as she went from one alleyway to the next, trying to be as conspicuous as possible. Soon enough the two made their way to a door which looked like it lead to a cellar underground. But that's when a gunshot broke the silence that the two daylight ninjas were trying to avoid. Roars and murmurs began echoing through the alleyways as Nev could tell from the distance that a horde of zombies were very close by. Panic rushed in as he turned to Zoe, "We need to get the other's and move out now."

---

The sound of a gunshot rang through the cellar, which surprised Micah, causing him to jump up and grip his metal pole, ready for action. "That sounded really close." He turned to his two new friends, with a crooked smile. "It's probably Nev and Zoe... right?" But the kid knew better than that. Micah knew that Nev wouldn't just fire for the hell of it, there was always an intention behind making all that noise, at least that's what he observed from being with the brooding man for so long. Micah was the one who made noise for unnecessary reasons, causing him to grief, but Nev was the opposite.

[Whimsical Cloud]

When Nev spoke, Zoe was already disarming the trap and yanking the doors open as Chase grabbed their packs and starting dragging the wagon twards the doors they came in through. "No. It wasn't them. Neither one would have shot a normal gun this close to us. We move now." Chase ordered as he grabbed one end and Zoe came darting down to grab the other end with Elibelle as they lifted it out of the cellar, the three of them having a hard time with it with the weight it carried. Zoe rusled for a moment in the bags and pulled out a few things, a pair of grenades and a larger rifle with a large clip.

"For emergencies." Zoe placed a granade in Nev's hand. "Pull the pin and throw it. We should go this way." Zoe then began moving in the opposite direction of the zombie noises, followed by an unprotesting Chase who pulled the wagon assisted by Elibelle, who pushed it. Quickly, Zoe checked each and every alley, making sure it was clear for the others with her baton out, the new gun on her back, and the silenced pistol in her other hand, the small pouch on her side buldging slightly with the added granade in it.

"I guess it was a good thing we raided that army base..." Elibelle spoke softly to Micah, looking at Zoe.

[Dio]

"Yeah, good thing." Micah said following along with the rest of the group. The young man turned to his friend who he felt like it was years since he last saw him, giving him a puppy dog eyed glance.

"I'm fine," Nev replied, inching closer to Micah as he stuck the grenade in his backpack. He patted the young man on the back, nodding with approval. "We're going to stick around with them for awhile, at least until we're clear. The woman Zoe knows what she's doing."

Micah returned with a nod of agreement. He liked the group so far, Chase was a good guy and it helped that Elibelle was around his age and that she was easy to talk to. They hadn't had anyone else but each other for awhile now, so being a part of a bigger group also lifted the mood and the load on trying to survive.

"You don't have a crush on her now do you?" Micah said jokingly.

Nev rose an eyebrow, smirking and shaking his head. "That's the last thing I need in my life, kid."

The young man chuckled, lightening the tension of the serious situation. But he snapped back to reality as he heard the moans and gurgles of the zombies. Micah quickly rushed over to Elibelle and helped her push the car, "If you guys need help with anything just let us know. We're in this too."

Nev was bringing in the rear as he turned his body around, facing the way they had came from. He pointed his gun as he back-peddled along with the group. His concentration was marked to see if any zombies or even if any of the bandits were on their tail, with his peripheral vision helping him steer clear of obstacles in the alleyway.

[Whimsical Cloud]

"Thank you. I'm sure they'll let us know what they want us to do. Zoe is really good about making her thoughts clear." Elibelle responded to Micah. Chase was scanning the rooftops as he pulled the wagon along, thankful for Micah and Elibelle's help.

Zoe was leading them farther and farther from where they heard the zombies moving, changing their course and picking off two zombies with her silenced pistol before they could scream and summon their brethren. As they got farther away, Zoe's route became a little more direct, still staying to the alley ways.

"At least we dodged that." Elibelle sighed in relief as they neared the edge of the city a little bit later.

"It's not over yet. We still haven't seen any more of those assholes that were chasing Nev and Micah. I imagine they're pretty pissed off if they're still alive." Zoe commented. "After all, I doubt they all made it out of that alley unscathed. Heck, the horde almost got us too. By the way, thank you, Nev. You really saved my ass back there."

Elibelle and Chase both looked at Nev with curiosity, Chase with surprise as well.

"That's a surprise." Chase commented in a curious voice.

[Dio]

Nev responded to the thanks with a turn of his head and an emotionless nod. He felt as if helping out others and saving them from harm wasn't worth the thanks and recognition most people gave. It was natural instinct for him to want to make sure others who he interacted with were safe, at least for the time being. Still in the backpedaling motion, maneuvered back around and faced the group, jogging along with them.

"That's one thing Nev is." Micah said, "Full of surprises but doesn't say anything."

For a split second as they were running along the alley Micah thought he heard the faint sound of kids laughing, but didn't see where they could be any chance for it. They were being chased by both a horde of zombies and bad guys out for their asses, why would there be kids playing around? The thought of kids having fun around them while their situation was filled with grim hope, scared the young adult. Maybe, just maybe there was something more to it, but Micah didn't want to find out as he just pushed the wagon along with his new friends.

"Did you hear that, Elibelle?" Micah asked the girl.

A few seconds after Nev inched closer to Micah and Elibelle and said, "Ignore it, it's nothing."

Micah looked back at Nev with a grim smile. It was creepy how he could read his mind and knew what he was thinking, so Micah mumbled under his breath and just pushed along with Elibelle without another word of it.