[IC] The Walking Dead - Hell on Earth

[Belle]

It was a typical Florida day. Hot, humid and devoid of life.
The latter was the new typical. There were "people" wandering about here and there, but they were not what was considered alive anymore.
It had been nearly a year since the dead had started attacking. Anyone who died, for any reason, came back as a monster who had only the most basic instinct : the need to feed. Their danger came from their tendency to attack in large numbers, overwhelming their victims. They weren't smart and couldn't communicate, but they had excellent senses of hearing and smell and were not easily deterred from the chase.
----------------------

Jessalyn - clothing store - alone

The world sucked, but she had it better than others. Jessalyn knew that. She at least had a roof over her head, in the form of a wrecked school bus have buried in a crumbling building. She had food, in the form of the cans with missing labels she found here and there. It was a surprise every meal. Would it be peaches? Would it be spagettios? Would it be expired? You never knew.
She had some security, with her knife and gun. Of course the knife was getting dull and the gun was out of bullets but it was something.
And she was squatting in a ruined shopping district that had plenty of places to scavenge. Even with the panicked mass buying people had done and the mass looting afterwards things had gone to hell too fast for everything to be taken. And drifters only took what they could carry easily.

The seats from the bus had been taken out and propped up in various places fanning out from the entrance of the bus, to make it harder to reach quickly. The inside had a sleeping bag on the floor, various boxes of supplies. You never knew what you could use. Such as the hose she had taped to an empty soda bottle that ran up to a tarp on the roof of the bus that collected rain water. She had mastered the 30 sec shower.

Jessalyn was currently looking through a clothing store a few blocks from her shelter. She picked through the clothing meticulously, trying to find things that would even semi fit her. She currently had no way to really wash clothes well so she frequently had to scavenge.

-------------------------------

Katie - railroad tracks - running

The little body wove in and out of the various abandoned rail cars. A man was chasing her, his swears getting nastier.
"Little bitch! I'll cut your fingers off for stealing from me!"
Katie slid under a car and out the other side, sliding down a hill and into a drainage pipe before the man got close. Her pursuer tried to follow but gave up quickly since he was so big he would have to crawl an inch at a time, plus he would have to leave his gun behind. Instead he went back up the hill and over to the other side, intending to wait for her to appear at other end of the pipe.
It took him nearly five minutes to realize she had doubled back and had climbed back out the way she entered and was long gone.

Katie ran in the brush alongside the tracks, holding to her chest what all the fuss had been about : a bag containing two cans of corn and a box of bandaids. She had used the crying ruse to get the man to stop and try to help her. Once she was at his camp she helped herself to the cans while he had gotten bandaids for her skinned knees. She had snagged the box before she took off running.

Crying always worked. Adults always thought she needed rescuing. They never even considered that she was playing them like a flute. They also thought she was helpless. At least the man who had tried to hurt her had thought that. She had led him right into a walker herd and she wasn't sorry.

She finally stopped once she felt she was far enough away. Thankfully the cans had pull tops on them. She ate the corn greedily with her hands, even drinking the juice from it. She remembered hearing her mom talk about nutrition and how things like bread and corn turned into sugar in your body and it wasn't healthy to eat too much. But she was sure her mom wouldn't mind her eating a whole can of corn now.

The other can she was saving for later. It was in her school bag along with the box of bandaids, a cracked coffee cup, a nearly empty box of animal crackers, her pencil box that had a ruler and a few pencils and pens that were out of ink, a box of matches, a compact mirror and a comb with the handle broken off.
Most of the things she had she had stolen from people. Her parents and teachers had always taught her that stealing was bad and the police would take her away if she stole. But she hadn't seen any police in a long time. There were a few times when she wished the police had come to get her when she stole. Even if they put her in jail, at least it was somewhere safe. And policemen always had guns.

[Norschtalen]

Ayla - Bike Store - Alone

How long has it been since Ayla has seen someone? A real person, not one of the walking dead? Even Ayla doesn't remember. Her life has been measured day-by-day since the event she calls the Cataclysm. That's the only way she could explain it. How else could the world go from perfectly fine one moment, and than hell on hear a second later? Right now Ayla was looking for an bike shop. She had seen an old advertisement in a looted out bar for bike repairs nearby and hoped she could snag one herself. Beast walking. And trying to use a vehicle in these conditions was nearly suicidal; the horde would hear you easily, they didn't care if you ran into them, and usable fuel would be a hot commodity. Not to mention traffic was terrible. But a lot of things people took for granted would quickly become rare. Clean water, electricity, gasoline, and most of all sanity.

Eventually Ayla would find the shop, but unsurprisingly it has also been looted. A lot of the bikes were gone, a lot of the protective clothing and helmets were gone, even the tools used to fix them were gone. All that was left were a few children sized bikes and even those were broken or simply too small for Ayla to use. Suddenly, she heard some movement in the back. Ayla was fast on her feet and went to hide behind the counter, picking up a small metal bolt and loading it into her sling. She waited there silently, waiting to see what the noise was. She hoped it god it was just one of them: she could kill a lone walker. Maybe two if they don't get her at the same time. But if it was three or more, she'd have to get out fast.

[Red7VII]

Location: Mall Parking Lot | Interactions: None

"Hold," Rex whispered, squatting down beside an abandoned car, his body leaning against the passenger-side front wheel while his eyes peered over the hood down yonder, gazing at a mass of people who seem to have assembled in the middle of the parking lot of the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall. Rex's partner acknowledged the command with a small, subtle huff. The people... they moved funny. They seemed as though they could never truly attain perfect balance and their joints appeared rigid, their extremities piloted with a total lack of precision. Rex immediately knew why. These weren't people at all. These were what people became after.

His eyes were covered in the shadow of his black hat's brim as he squinted to try and see just what was motivating this small horde to gather. These morbid shells of flesh always seemed to have a singular motive; hunger. No doubt they found something or someone to sate their appetites, but the crowd was too dense to see passed. It was hard to confirm what the prize was. Regardless, he and King didn't hear any screams. The worst part was already over. Now all that was left was the grotesque consumption of their victim.

Rex let out a disappointed grunt. In times that he could help the living, he would. It seemed as though he was too late to be of any service here, though. No point in wasting energy or ammo on these biters. They were distracted and would continue to be until every last morsel of their victim was gone. Rex looked to King and the German Shepherd immediately met the gaze awaiting further instruction. Rex brought up an index finger and touched right between his eyebrows before bringing that same finger down like an ax, pointing toward the western end of the parking lot, which was populated by even more abandoned cars, but with far less undead. King took the silent order and complied, making himself small as he crawled, moving quickly each time he was exposed and slowing down again when his presence was hidden by one of the vehicles. Rex followed suit, hunched over holding his bow and quiver in place on his back so that they wouldn't rustle or make any unnecessary noise as he moved.

It didn't take long before the duo was far enough away to be out of earshot of the ghouls. Rex's muscles relaxed a bit more and King's demeanor did as well, the dog's mood ever the reflection of his owner's. A rumble then sounded out into the air, causing King to look sideways at Rex's stomach. The cowboy exhaled out of his nose in a sort of laugh. The zombies weren't the only ones that were hungry. It had been a while since their last meal. Rex had come to the outlet mall to try and scavenge any morsels he could get his hands on. Since the main entrance was occupied, he would have to go at it from the side.

He glanced at the western entrance and luckily saw no impediments. Looking at King again, he performed the same gesture as before, only this time it ended with his index finger pointing toward the way inside. King immediately obeyed, moving a few yards ahead to scout the area while Rex slowly followed behind, ready to grab his bow from it's sling at a moment's notice.

With only a few more yards to go before they were officially in the courtyard, something made the duo immediately freeze in their tracks. There was a scream, shrill and blood curdling, followed by two loud gunshots. King's ears went straight up as he froze in place while Rex's eyes grew to a nearly unnatural size. The commotion wasn't far and seemed to be coming from the right. Biters don't use guns, though. Rex and King refused to move, trying to decide if it was worth their attention... trying to gather what the hell the situation could even possibly be down there. Then they heard something else that sent a chill down Rex's spine, causing goosebumps to appear on his arm. On the opposite side, coming from the left was the raspy moans and shuffling footsteps of the dead who also appeared to be interested in the gunshots. Rex and King found themselves in the middle of a disastrous sandwich. He looked to his dog and managed to utter only one word: "Fuck."

[Weeping Raven]

Molly - road - walking

The heat bore down on Molly like an oven, her feet ached from walking and sweat soaked her back from where the rucksack prevented it from letting air circulate. Turning to look behind her, far back down the road a lone figure stumbling and shambling on. The heat distorted the figure but she could tell it was one of them. The occasional lazy breeze brought the smell of rotting flesh with it.

"Damn thing has been following me for miles" she said aloud. Talking to herself was a habit that had stopped worrying her a long time ago. Molly dropped to a crouch and swung the bag off her back, opened it up and grabbed the last water bottle inside. "Half full, dammit" she muttered, rummaging through the bag to check everything else was still there. 13 bullets, a tin of sardines, a couple trail bars and her notebook.

She needed to find more water, the last road sign had said the next town was 8 miles up, which meant more walking.

With a sigh and a glance behind her at the ever persistent follower, Molly started up again putting one aching foot in front of the other. Cursing under her breath as she went "8 more miles, 8 more miles...

[wolverbells]

Nathalie Soltero – Gift Shop – Open to Interaction

“This shit is never ending!” Nathalie practically hissed as she pulled hairs off her own face. The humidity was as suffocating as always, causing Nat’s ever-growing hair to stick to her face and neck. It was one of her biggest pet peeves at the moment, as trivial as it might seem. She had contemplated cutting it, but constantly reminded herself of how much her sisters loved her long hair because it was fun to braid. With a sigh, Nat pulled her hair up and threw it into a messy, half assed ponytail. It was too hot for her to care and she didn’t have the energy after walking for the majority of the morning.

Fortunately, Nathalie had found shelter in a gift shop. The shade had helped the temperature drop a couple of degrees, but the humidity hadn’t budged. She had been sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, letting her heart rate lower. She had taken off her jean jacket in order to get more ventilation but that didn’t seem to help at all. “I miss my AC.” Half a sob came out of her mouth as she let herself fall to the ground; her jacket being used as a pillow. Her eyes stayed glued to the door that she had blocked with a bookshelf. She wished that she could at least keep the doors and windows open to let a breeze come in, but there were too many dangers; both human and dead. She had come across more living than dead at this point and from what she had come to find out was that the majority of them meant more harm than good.

It hadn’t been long, or at least Nathalie thought it hadn’t, when she suddenly heard gunshots. Her eyes shot wide open, giving her little time to realize that she had dozed off. A following scream had the young woman scrambling to her feet, grabbing all of her belongings as fast as she possibly could. ’I swear to god it never stops,’ she thought to herself as she crept over to the nearest window to peek out of.

[Juniper]

Finn Loughty - Gift Shop - Nathalie Soltero

“Look, we’re here, Nicole. This was the mall that I was talking about.” Finn promptly turned the ignition off to save as much gas as possible and put the truck on brake.

Gently nudging his sister who managed to fall asleep in the ten minute drive there, he had taken the time to observe their surroundings for any sign of walkers. Parking beneath some trees, Finn practically camouflaged his evergreen truck in the midst of the woods. He didn’t know who would be out there and he didn’t want to show it off just in case someone decided to steal it - which, unfortunately, was a popular course of action around these parts.

“We’re here,” Nicole announced, half-asleep. She saw the abandoned, disgusting buildings and frowned a bit. “Doesn’t look like much. Pretty sure it got looted by now. Let’s just go look for something else.”

“Look, there's not another mall for miles,” he sighed. “Let’s just try, ok?” Finn said patiently, getting out of the car. He slipped his pack on, swinging with his machete and gun and a little bit of water. “Stay close.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Nicole padded after him quietly out into the open. They were hungry. Back at the building that Finn had built in the trees, they had run out of food and bullets. This made it hard for them to hunt and they had looted all the remaining things left in the gas stations closest to them. It was ferociously hot today. She had opted for just a black tank top, shorts and her one pair of boots which was held together by the sheer power of duct tape.

They walked on for a bit and then Finn began to sense something was off. Mind alert and eyes sharp, he shuffled to the side of one the buildings closest to them. He lowered himself and gave Nicole a silent signal to stay quiet. Their eyes met and he knew she sensed something. As if on cue, a horrific scream shrieked out into the quiet and two haunting gunshots followed. Nicole gasped as she covered her mouth.

“Shit.” Finn whispered, flexing his jaw. What were they going to do now? He needed a plan. Those two gunshots were going to call every walker to this place from all directions. They were leaning on the wall of a store, near a window. He glanced at it. Maybe he could pry it open and get in, praying that there were no walkers in there.

The window opened with ease and he went in first, machete in hand. Quiet. No walker signs or sounds. Maybe it was alright. He put his hand out for Nicole to take and she followed in after him. The different knickknacks and pretty things caught her attention as she whispered to her older brother, “Hey, I think this is a gift shop.”

“Great.” He murmured. “Nothing here for us, then.” He added, walking about the store to make sure they were safe. He was almost at the other side of the store when he saw a figure near a window. At first, he thought it was a walker and was about to throw his machete right at its head. But it’s movements were much more gentle and less abrupt and it’s clothes were actually decent compared to those dead things. It was a human being. He hadn't seen one of those besides his sister in a long time.

“Who are you?” He demanded, not realizing how rough his voice was sounding when it came out.

[Belle]

Katie - mall parking lot - Rex and King

Katie had made a mistake. She hadn't run far enough.
"There you are you little cunt!"

She jerked her head up to see the man she had stolen from bearing down on her. When he aimed his gun she threw the empty can of corn at him and took off running.

"You're not getting away from me!" he snarled, racing after her. She screamed, loud and shrill. Either she would attract monsters or other people. Either way it would provide a distraction for her to get away.
A shot pinged on the ground near her and she heard the man swearing. Bullets were not good things to waste. But he was stupid for drawing more noise to himself. Katie was only 7 and even she knew that if they did run into the monsters, they would be more likely to go after him over her because he was bigger.

Katie broke from the brush and ran into a large parking lot. There were a lot of abandoned cars and Katie slid underneath one just as the man chasing her caught up.
"Come back here! I'll break every bone in your damn body!" He yelled, reaching under the car to grab at her.
Katie crawled out on the other side and spotted a man and a dog. But the pause of her looking at them was just long enough for bearded man to grab her roughly.
He lifted her into the air, shaking her. "Little rat bitch think you can steal from me?!" he shouted, pining her against the car. Katie screamed, trying to attract the attention of the man, the dog or the monsters. She didn't care which at this point.

[QT]

Casey Guidry - Road - Interactions: Molly(@Weeping Raven)

- Before -
The shrieks of men echoed through the prison chambers as guards and escapees rushed towards the exit gates. Casey was locked inside his cell, pounding on the bars for someone to release him. His cellmate sat on the lower bunk behind him, praying to a false God that had yet to head his requests. Fires raged around them, bodies moving unnaturally through ember - as though unscathed by the burning blaze. Casey extended his arm through the bars, grasping at the passing bodies in hopes of getting someones attention. Reaching, he managed to get his hands on a gray jumpsuit, pulling the collar closer to the cell doors and locking both arms around the individual's neck. "Get me out of here now!" he demanded from the choking man who clawed at Casey's forearms.

"--I--cant--" slipped through his twisting thyroid, trying to tug his body away from the neck crank.

"Over there! Get me that key!" Casey cried out, squeezing the man's neck even tighter as he signaled to the fallen guard nearby. There was no guarantee that upon letting him go the inmate would head his commands, but how else would he manage to escape? Trusting, he let the man go but to no avail. As soon as he eased his grasp the prisoner pushed off and rushed away with the crowd. "Fuck! What the hell is going on!" he started, losing his sense of patience to the brewing fear that ensued inside him. Was he going to die in prison after everything he'd gone through? He only had a couple of weeks left after all. It was during his internal crisis that the lock behind him opened. Casey turned around swiftly and noticed a guard gesturing him to make haste and exit the cell. "Cmon!"

The second Casey stepped out of his cell the guard was tackled by an inmate. Casey turned to help, but noticed the prisoner had started chomping on the guard's neck - blood squirting in all directions and puddling underneath him. Casey's ability to act willingly froze. He found himself backpedaling frantically, unable to rationalize what his eyes were allowing him to witness. Moving backwards he tripped, falling on his ass over the seizing body of another fallen guard. The guard shook on the floor, neck glitching as his body seemed to reanimate from a long sleep. The man's guts were spilling from his stomach, a large open laceration one could not survive from - but this guard did. Casey rushed back to his feet, reaching forward carefully to strip the guard from his pistol. He continued to backpedal towards the exit with everyone else - eyes still locked on the guard who sat himself back up from an impossible injury. The guard forced himself back to his feet through sheer will it seemed. He had trouble balancing, swaying left and right like a pendulum as he walked. His steps dragged, but his crumbled fingers articulated wildly. Before he managed to escape the prison Casey witnessed the guard attack an inmate face first, bitting the shoulder of the prisoner and taking him to the ground.

- Now -

Driving through the isolation that was once the sunshine state, Casey found himself competent in this new world. It took him years to learn and understand the rules on the inside and in the last three weeks he's realized those rules now applied on the outside. People were no longer people, they were the remnants of what humanity once was - comparable to the loss of hope inmates experienced on a daily basis. Carcasses roamed the streets, possessing only the ability to see, hear, move and eat. They lacked thought and understanding, similar to a lot of the scumbags that filled the walls of the state prison. The ones that remained - those that were still 'human' - were ruined, living only to survive as though imprisoned by their own fear. The world inside mirrored the world outside now and Casey had all the necessary skills to survive. It was disheartening to know life ended the moment he was sentenced and his dreams of freedom where now obsolete.

Now miles from the state prison, Casey managed to change his attire to something more comfortable and presentable - despite the lack of real interaction in the past few days. He hadn't been able to reach home just yet - his current destination - but found an empty store with enough clothes to satisfy. He wore a black t-shirt covered by a denim jacket, some dark jeans and brown work boots - exemplifying normality and ditching the gray overalls bearing his inmate number. Trailing down the two lane road, green flashed through the windows on each side. It was nice to see the trees were still green - probably even greener and full of life than ever before. Casey squinted at the sight of a lone walker up ahead on the roadside. He gently released the accelerator, slowing down as he swerved the Taurus around the wild thing. It's arm was hanging on by dear life, skin stretched out just enough to keep it on. It's face resembled that of the old man from Star Wars, the ugly evil one. However, it was always the eyes that were distinct from anything before. It was those cloudy, soulless eyes that tore into your flesh even before physical contact. It was a fearful sight to behold.

The car drew its attention, but was out of range by the time it reacted and reached. Casey watched it through his rear view as he increased speeds again and left the beast in his tracks. Returning his gaze back ahead he could see another figure down the road. With his left hand on the steering wheel, he reached for the Glock on his dash with the other - removing the safety as the car approached. He started to decelerate one hundred meters out when the figure became clear and imminent. Casey looked to each side of the forestry that surrounded, seeing if this might be a trap of some kind. A lone person in the middle of the road in broad daylight? Didn't seem logical, so he stopped and waited, flashing his lights to see the - now clearly a girl - girl's reaction. "What's your play?" he thought to himself, flashing his lights again to get a reaction.

[Red7VII]

Location: Mall Parking Lot | Interactions: @Belle

The moans became harmonious. A symphony of disgusting anguish getting ever louder with each shuffled footstep. Rex began to see them, the massive herd of undead, a mobile shadow of unholy mass that grew exponentially with each passing second. He looked in the opposite direction toward the scream and gunfire. Even if there were two separate gunners, he had King. It was a fair fight. The other option, however... He would need way more arrows than what he housed in his quiver to get passed that horde.

The problem became mathematical and therefore much simpler. There really was no more question. He looked toward the alley that had echoed out gunshots and gave King the signal, communicating his intentions. The two of them moved quickly, hugging the walls of each building they passed, trying to minimize their presence.

"Come back here! I'll break every bone in your damn body!" The holler was gruff. Rex and King followed it to it's source, spotting a bearded man who seemed frantic in his pursuit. It took Rex an extra second to realize what it was he was after and, by the time he did, the stranger already had her, throwing the little girl against one of the vehicles, pressing his weight against her with a look in his eye that shouted ill intent. "Little rat bitch think you can steal from me?!" Rex's vision tunneled. This was not a fair fight. In this life, he dealt with the undead everyday but today, in this moment, he was sure he was staring at a monster.

King's growl broke Rex's trance. The hairs on the dog's back stood on end, making him appear bigger than he actually was. Saliva seeped out between his teeth and trailed down his jowls before hitting the hot asphalt below. King was hungry. Rex looked to his partner and, after a moment's hesitation, his partner looked back up at him. The cowboy swung his bow in front toward his own torso with one hand and retrieved a whittled bolt with another, never breaking eye contact. The man drew his bow back, bending the brim of his black hat as the reinforced string moved passed his face, passed his ear and settled adjacently to the back of his head, the bolt betwixt his fingers, aimed precisely toward the warm blooded predator. Rex's eyes then moved from King and toward the trajectory of his target. There were three sounds after that. One was a harsh twang, the other a sharp whistle and finally a single utterance: "Balls."

As if launched from a compound bow himself, King sprung to action, closing the distance between him and the little girl's assailant in what seemed like no time. Despite the German Shepherd's best efforts, the bolt beat him to the scene, landing in the bearded man's shoulder. A second later, King got a mouthful of what he was after, bringing the guy down to the ground, his gun inadvertently discarded on the asphalt. Ol' Beardy did not go down quietly. The dog's clenched teeth writhed back and forth with an intent to mangle. With the man occupied, albeit noisily so, Rex casually made his approach and looked at the young girl, his eyes squinting before he spoke. "This ain't the type a place a youngin' ought to be wandering around alone," he said, his voice deep and gravely, marked with an accent that gave away the fact that he wasn't from around here. After a beat, he continued, "We best git. This squealer's bound to bring all sorts of attention. Do you gotta place ya need to be?"

[Weeping Raven]

A happier time, Broken memories

A family picnic, laughing and making fun as families do. Molly used to be able to remember the day clearly but now there was only darkness, screams and blood when she tried to think about the time before all this. Probably some kind of PTSD but nowadays there were no counsellors, maybe that was why she'd started smoking. Ha, mom would hate me for it Molly thought to herself, a momentary smile fleeting across her tired face. She had no idea where Mom or Dad were but still she held onto hope they were still alive and most of all she wished her little brother was safe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Molly - road - Casey @QT

The noise of a car engine a ways behind her drew Mollys attention.

"Shit shit shit" She swore and paused for a second as thoughts raced through her head. It had been a bad idea to walk up the road Molly told herself, why had she gotten so used to not expecting other people to be around? Too late now it, he, Molly corrected herself was less than a hundred metres away and.. flashing the car lights at her? That's a good sign, the stranger could easily have shot me or run me over.

Raising a hand and full of trepidation, she waved hello.

[Norschtalen]

Ayla - Road - Alone

Ayla sat there silently as the shuffling noise got louder and louder. From the back room two little girls came out, both walkers. Dried blood around their wrists. In the distance, Ayla heard gunshots and screams. All of these things together combined into a horrific flashback of that day. Ayla wished she didn’t remember. A little girl named Amy was bit, and Ayla gave her a bandaid. When she started getting feverish Ayla gave her medicine, called her parents, and let her sleep in a quiet room. She let one of Amy’s friend inside to keep her company. When Ayla hears the screaming, that’s when it was already too late.

And just like that Ayla dropped the metal nut in her sling. The small ping caused the walkers to look at her and Ayla snapped back to reality. They went right to her and Ayla slashes through the face of one of the walkers with her machete. The other she kicked right in the face, her boots protecting her from the little zombie’s teeth. Killing these two walkers were easy on account of them being children. Physically easy, but emotionally exhausting.

The bike shop was a bust. Ayla knew she wasn’t going to find anything here so she simply picked up a length of bike chain and left. She could at least try and use the chain as a weapon, maybe wrap it around a pipe or bat to give it extra weight. But now she needed to keep moving. Maybe if she’s lucky she’ll find survivors, but considering the screaming earlier, maybe survivors were the last thing Ayla should find.

[wolverbells]

Nathalie Soltero – Gift Shop – Finn Loughty

After the piercing scream and gunshots, it had gone eerily quiet again. Nathalia kept her eyes locked on the outside of the shop, focusing fully on the direction where the scream had come from. Her mind was so completely engulfed with the possibilities of what might be happening beyond the walls of her shelter, that she had hardly heard the sounds of movement inside those ‘protective walls’. She had pushed them aside, not taking them in as a priority since she had already cleared the shop; if it were one of the dead, they were to have made more noise along with their disgusting groaning.

The young woman had moved a bit to get a better angle to look in different directions when she heard something like a voice. This caused her to stand up straight from her semi crouch. Part of her wanted to investigate, but there were other times where she had heard voices as well and there was nothing. Just her mind tricking her into thinking that there were others, fooling her into getting her hopes up.

”Who are you?”

Nathalie spun around, gasping slightly as a booming voice back from behind her. She had her machete in hand but when her eyes landed on the man questioning her, she was able to tell that she had no chance. The man stood at least a whole foot taller than her, if not more, and judging by the sound of movement behind him, there was at least another person there.

“I… I’m Nathalie. Who are you?” Unfortunately, Nathalie’s voice did not come out as full of authority as the man before her. She wanted to show that she would stand her ground too, but she had been taken by surprise, causing her to not only lose her focus but her thoughts. Not to mention that she had just woken up a few minutes ago. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just stopped by here to get some rest.” Her eyes slowly looked around, making sure there was no one else that was going to take her by surprise from another angle. Sweat started forming on her forehead again as she began to stress out on how she’d get out of there since she had barricaded the door. ’The door. I closed it off with a book shelf…’ “How did you get in here? I blocked off the door with a book shelf and it’s locked from the inside….” Her blue eyes made their way back to the man, her voice was slowly regaining composure as she asked her questions, although she still didn’t feel as confident as the man probably did.

@Juniper

[josephb]

Ethan - A Road - Ayla @Norschtalen

Petrol splashed into the empty gas cannister as Ethan stood next to an abandoned car that was pulled up on a long deserted road. He spat out the little bit of petrol that had got into his mouth. One of the people who he'd gotten friendly with in the town he'd been staying in had shown him how to syphon oil. It was the only way to actually get any petrol now with all of the stations going empty a long time ago. The sun was beating down on him as he slouched against the car waiting for it to fill up, he put his hand in front of his face to cover the sun from his eyes and looked up to the sky, he never had to deal with this type of heat and humidity back in England, his clothes constantly felt damp and were stuck to him.

After there was no more petrol left he slowly walked back to his own car, tightening the lid of the cannister. He chucked it into his car boot next to the rest of his belongings. The tank was full but it was always better safe than sorry. As he shut the boot, Ethan let out a massive yawn not realising how tired he actually was. He hadn't slept properly in around two days since fleeing from the town, he just drove not knowing where to go. Tears started to run down his face when he took a quick second to think what had happened but he wiped them away in a hurry. He jumped back into the black convertible that he'd rented when he was in Maine which felt like a lifetime ago to him now. When he sat down in the car, he took a swig of some of the water he had left and then set off driving down the road again. The car had started to look a bit rundown on the outside, but the engine was still in great shape.

Every time Ethan passed a sign he slowed down, trying to see if any of them were still readable because he remembered passing a mall somewhere close to where he was. He had driven passed it when he was driving down to Miami with his girlfriend before all of this happened. Ethan was just hoping people might have started to live there or there was a community where he could stay with them. He'd given up hope on ever seeing his family back in England again, he didn't even know whether this was happening in any other part of the world. That was one of the hardest things Ethan had to deal with.

A little further on down the road he slowed down as he passed a bike shop, the place looked like it had been ransacked so he didn't bother stopping but he did notice a woman walking down the road. It brought a sad smile to Ethan's face as this was the first person he'd seen in a few days. "Are you okay?" Ethan asked as he pulled up at the side of her.

[datadogie]

Ashley - Mall Parking Lot - Rex / Katie

@RedVII@Belle

"Identification of suspects does not pertain just to their appearance at the scene, nor their driving licenses or their passports. It also pertains to their actions, what they're doing before, during and after the scene. Grandma can be more suspicious than Steve if grandma has a loaded rifle."

The words of Ashley's instructor were meant for policing duties, for a civilised line of work, but they still held true in the apocalypse. Not everyone was who they appeared to be, and anyone could backstab her. Ashley found it hard not to trust people, but she knew how desperate things could be. She knew she had to be prepared for anything to happen. But knowing she had to be prepared was different from actually being prepared. She never knew where trouble could come from. That, too, was true while she had been policing the street. But this time, she had no partner, no backup to call upon. She had her belt, which helped with storage, and she still had her badge, for what little it did. But there was little point in calling herself a police officer. Handcuffing a walker was only fun to imagine, not do, and she certainly wasn't wasting her only good pair of cuffs on one for a gag.

Policing and handcuffs were great for control. The apocalypse was better. It controlled fate. The world was far past handcuffs.

The mall was the best bet for supplies. Even if the mall had been looted, there was always something special tucked away for the taking that someone had missed in their scramble for supplies. And even then, the buildings near the mall were a great place to look. Everyone went straight to the mall, leaving other places less searched. She had found a few prize pieces of food hidden away at the back of the highest cabinets. And even if she found something, someone else would come by and find something else she didn't find. Such was the nature of multiple people searching the same place.

A scream and pair of gunshots broke the quiet air of the parking lot. Ashley flinched, moving behind a car to hide and assess the situation. The dead that were the main display in the mall's parking lot began to shamble toward the source, and Ashley thought she saw other movement within parking lot, but wasn't sure. She figured she would wait for the walkers to pass before continuing on her way, so she remained in place, peeking out from behind her cover and hiding place every so often to check if the coast is clear.

It was then that Ashley heard the yelling of a man, obviously chasing after someone. She peeked out of cover again to observe the situation; a girl, being assaulted by a much older man. She knew who the threat was here, and grasped her pistol in her hand, ready to help... Only for someone else to beat her to it. She remained in cover, observing as a bolt whizzed into the man's shoulder and a dog, a German Shepherd, went for something she was grateful not to have. As the man sang his tune, a man made his way to the to the girl and spoke to her.

Despite the man being the girl's saviour, Ashley still had worries. It was always a possibility that the girl was just ending up switching from one man's treasure to the other's. Ashley kept her eyes above the hood of the car, silently watching the pair, her sidearm at the ready in case things went south for the girl once more.

---

Jasper - School Bus - Nobody (Jessalyn - a few blocks away)

@Belle

Jasper knew that any kind of shelter that he could search might have something inside that was worth entering, even if that was just shelter from the outside world and a roof over his head, which usually turned out to be the case. He was just too young to have any use for larger things, and had to focus on the necessities; food, water, and anything that could be a tool that he could use. He still hadn't found any rounds for his gun, but that was unsurprising. Nobody was going to leave bullets around, not when they could use them.

Despite this, he still had the pistol in his hand when he was entering a store or any other dangerous place. He knew that if he came across anyone that was human, anyone that was not dead and presented a threat to him, he could try and convince them that the gun was loaded. There was a magazine in the weapon, it just had no rounds to go with it. With luck, a potential threat wouldn't call his bluff and instead retreat.

A building that seemed to be damaged by the impact of a school bus presented itself as a good place to search for something. Such an event occurring meant that the building most likely didn't have any undead inside of it, as they probably would have cleared out by now. He makes his way into the building, holding his harmless weapon at the ready. He kicks over a bit of debris to make a little noise, and after hearing no response, assumes that that the building was clear of any walkers. Taking a moment to check what his options were, he decided to look in the bus first, figuring that it was the safer bet; the seats being out of the bus meant that there was probably not a walker inside - and whoever was living there was probably dead, just like everywhere else.

He made his way through the chairs, pushing one or two over, mumbling to himself quietly before he peeked into the bus. It didn't seem like there was anybody inside. A smile met his face as he realised his luck. A sleeping bag, boxes of various supplies, and some cans that obviously held food, he had hit the jackpot. He took off his bag, sitting down and starting to pick through the supplies, putting some cans in the bag while examining other bits and bobs to see if they would be worth taking.

[Juniper]

Finn Loughty - Gift Shop - Nathalie Soltero @wolverbells

Nicole’s ears pricked at the sound of her brother’s voice talking to someone else. Wait - someone else was here? She followed the sound of their voices and her heart pounding, not knowing what to expect. Upon reaching her destination, her eyes widened at the sight of a young woman, closer to Finn’s age than to hers. She looked like she had just woken up and was nervous to have two strangers show up unexpectedly. Nicole tilted her head and her eyes filled with compassion and could not imagine being in her shoes and going through this alone.

Finn knew he had startled her. His eyes went down to the machete in her hands and knew she wasn’t strong enough to take him on. He had no intention of hurting her unless she posed a threat to their safety. “I’m Finn. Finn Loughty,” he said, a little more relaxed this time around.
She was around his sister’s height. The gift shop was still kind of dark despite the light coming through the windows but as he looked at the contours of her face, he noticed she was pretty. Her long hair reminded him of his girlfriend from a lifetime ago. Finn dared not even think about it anymore, for the thought was too painful to bear. She was gone now.

Nicole offered a small smile, sticking out her hand, despite her brother’s distrusting face. "My name is Nicole. It's nice to meet ya.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just stopped her to rest.”

Finn somehow believed her. “Not getting much rest now, huh?” He was referring to the gunshots and the bloodcurdling scream that probably reached every walker in the surrounding area.
His gaze went back to her as she asked how they got in. He pointed behind him, towards the back of the shop. “Through the window. We came in here as soon as we heard the commotion outside. This whole mall is going to be crawling with walkers in a few minutes.” he said with frustration.

They had come here for food and now they were stuck in a gift shop until the whole thing blew over. But they couldn’t stay in here. He opened his pack and grabbed the little water they had and sipped a little bit of it. His whole mouth was parched. But despite his craving for more, he bit his tongue and stopped drinking. He handed it to Nicole, to which she shook her head. Nicole wanted to offer it to Nathalie but she knew her brother wouldn’t do it. She knew it took him a little while to trust people.

"Are you here alone?" he said, his eyes traveling back to Nathalie. "Do you have any friends with you? Family?" Nicole eyed her brother. Finn sure had a habit of asking a lot of questions.

Finn knew despite the fact they needed to stay inside, the same urgency for food and essentials cried out. He knew they couldn't stay here very long. He needed to come up with plan, and quick. They hadn't eaten in a day and half and their energy was beginning to burn out. His head was beginning to feel dizzy and he needed to find a place to rest. But, outwardly, he didn't reveal it at all, not daring to appear weak.

[Belle]

Katie - parking lot - Rex, King (possibly Ashley?)
@RedVII@datadogie

Her tactic had paid off. The man with the dog attacked the bearded man, getting her free. Her first instinct was to run, but if this man had a dog that meant he needed extra supplies to feed the dog as well as himself.
She didn't reply to his comment about her being alone. A list of various lies she had used swirled in her head as she tried to pick the best one for this situation. He spoke funny, which meant he wasn't from around here. He was right though. The man yelling in pain would draw monsters.

Katie kept out of reach but turned on the cute, helpless look. "I have my mom. We have a hide out inside there," she said, pointing at the deserted mall. "Its easy to hide stuff in there. You can come if you want," she said.

In reality she had only been in the mall a couple of times and didn't have anything hidden in there. But if she got him into one of the stores it would be easier to distract him in case she had to run. And maybe she could see what he had with him.
She held out her hand to the man, ready to lead him inside.

"Don't listen to her," the man on the ground wheezed in pain. "She's all alone. Little bitch is a liar and a thief."

Katie wasn't too worried about the man telling on her. In her experience adults didn't want to believe kids were smart enough to trick them. Let them think she was stupid. It meant they never suspected her until she was long gone with their stuff.
To be fair Katie had never stolen a significant amount from anyone. Usually just some food and occasionally maybe one or two other things. The less you took, the less was noticed. That was what had happened at the camp she had gone to that had a guy named Bruce in charge. He was a bad man, very mean. But because she was a kid and a girl he didn't think much of her. She wondered sometimes if he had even noticed the food and pocketknife she had stolen from him before running away.
Women were even easier to steal from because they treated Katie like a baby. They trusted her completely and would leave her alone with their supplies, thinking she was just playing, not realizing she was pocketing things until she was already gone.

So when the bearded man called her a liar and thief she just backed away looking scared of him. "Let's go," she urged the man with the dog.
-----------

Jessalyn - school bus - Jasper
@datadogie

Jess had filled her shoulder bag with a few shirts, shorts and even a pair of socks. Score! She made her way back to the bus and froze. The seats had been moved. Someone had been there. Or still was there...
Slowly, she set the bag down and pulled out her gun. It was out of bullets but whoever was looting her home didn't know that. Sometimes the sight and threat of a gun was enough to scare looters off.
She made her way towards the door, careful to make as little noise as possible.

A small body with dirty blonde hair was currently squatted over one of her supply boxes, stuffing her things into a bag at his side. Jessalyn couldn't help but scoff inwardly. She was being robbed by a kid?
She put the gun back into her waistband, where it was still visible, and placed her hands on her hips, looking like a mother who had caught their kid in the cookie jar.

"It's wrong to steal, short stuff," she said.

[Norschtalen]

Ayla - Road - Ethan @josephb

There wasn't many other places Ayla knew where to look. As far as her survival situation goes, she was lucky to have found a few boxes of raisins and a bottle of water to fill her up for today, but she didn't have any food beyond that. She's more or less just been sleeping anywhere taller than a walker. She didn't even know where else to scavenge; this city was pretty much cleared out or walker invested. In the distance she could hear a car and she looked for cover. But much to her displeasure, this part of the road didn't even have a window she could dive through. She just slowly walked, listening carefully for the car and hoping it would quietly go away. It didn't. The person inside pulled up and Ayla gripped her machete as the person inside spoke to her and asked her if she was okay. Another man. Ayla has not had any good experiences with men ever since this whole disaster started.

"Is anyone okay these days?" Ayla would scoff. She glanced at him. Seemed young, same age as her at least. No immediately obvious weapons but he could have something small hidden on him. Ayla was tempted to talk to him more because of his car, but she remembers why she hasn't commandeered a vehicle for herself either. She didn't want to take her chances trusting a stranger. "Look I don't have anything to give you, and no, I'm not interested in sleeping with you to survive either." Ayla said bluntly with a hard stare. "And frankly I don't trust you either. So please... Let's just go our separate ways so we both don't have to regret meeting each other."

[wolverbells]

Nathalia Soltero – Gift Stop – Finn & Nicole

Nat’s eyes stayed glued to the man before her, refusing to break eye contact and show any more fear that she probably already did. It wasn’t until a shadow of a figure appeared behind him and a young woman peered over, her eyes seeming welcoming. The sight of her nearly broke Nathalia as she seemed to be the age of one of her younger sisters. She gave herself a brief moment to feel her emotions before turning back to the man and forcing herself to stand her ground.

”I’m Finn, Finn Loughty”

The sound of his voice softening gave Nathalie a sense of relief. They couldn’t be there to hurt her, could they? Especially not when there seemed to be a teenager involved. Only a monster would do that. “I….” before she could say anything else, the young woman stuck her hand out in a gesture that Nathalie had not seen in what seemed to be decades. “Nicole. That’s a pretty name, you can call me Nat.” The woman’s voice was must softer and trusting than before as she took a couple of steps to reach over and shake Nicole’s hands. She turned her attention to the man again and nodded after he spoke, “I came here to try and get some time to myself. I haven’t eaten in several days and I just wanted to sleep. Can’t catch a break though.” She gave him a half smile before returning to the window where she had initially stood.

As Finn spoke, Nathalie took the time to study him and his companion. If they had meant any ill will they would have already tried something. Both seemed like they had gentle souls, at least for the time being. It was almost comforting to have others around her. She was tired of always having her guard up, but even then, she couldn’t afford to give herself that false sense of security, especially when she hardly knew the couple. When he spoke about the mall soon being filled with the dead, she sighed and took a look out of the window, agreeing silently with him.

“I don’t have any family here. I am originally from Cali, I don’t know how to get back. Before all of this happened, my parents had told me how horrible things were getting over there, worse than here, so I think going back is a mistake all on its own.” She looked back at them for a second before crouching down and packing any items that might have been messily poking out. She noticed she had two cans of chili which she had been saving for a rainy day. She was tired of chili, it was all she had eating for days on end and was hoping she could find something else in the mall. She planned on eating half a can later that night if her adventure was not successful. Although she didn’t fully trust the two that had broken into the shop, she wanted to both show that she meant no harm and that she was grateful that they didn’t rob or kill her.

“Um,” she cleared her throat, “Here. I have two of these if y’all would like them.” After fixing her backpack, she stood back up with the two cans in either hand. She tossed one at Finn and the other at Nicole. “Take it as a token of my appreciation for not jumping me and running off with my stuff.” She let out a soft laugh before wrapping her jean jacket around her waist and placing the backpack on her back. “Finn is right though; the mall will be crawling with the dead if we do not move.” She walked slowly back to the barricaded door and sighed, not knowing exactly where she would go to next.

@Juniper

[datadogie]

Jasper - School Bus - Jessalyn

@Belle

The gentle racket of Jasper's looting was enough to shroud any audible sign of the woman's approach, even as she entered the bus. He was delighted that he had managed to find such a stash, and he was determined to stuff as much of the food he could into his bag to help feed himself, to not have to go hungry at least for a day or two, perhaps a few more if he saved some of it. He couldn't find any ammunition, but he couldn't get that lucky. He would just have to find that somewhere else, if there was any left to find.

He had just slipped something into his backpack when he heard the woman's voice behind him. He almost fell over in surprise as he spun around, his eyes flickering up and down the woman. One of the first things that his eyes came to rest on was her gun in her waistband. That's probably where the ammo was, if this was her place - no, it definitely was her place, she was scolding him for stealing. His hand sort of twitched a little in the direction of his own sidearm, which was tucked into his own waistband a little uncomfortably, and equally as visible. He didn't want to try and grab it, because if she beat him to the draw...

It wasn't as if it mattered. Even if he beat her to the draw, all he could do was try to scare her off. And if she decided, out of bravery or something else, to try and kill him before he 'tried to kill her', it was game over. Worry broke onto his features, there was no way pulling his pocket knife would do anything, either. Still, he had to try something, he had to if he wanted to get away with anything. His hand moved a little closer to his gun, and then a little further away, as he contemplated it in his worried mind.

"I..." Jasper began, stuttering. "I-I'm sorry, I thought nobody lived here."

[Juniper]

Finn Loughty - Gift Shop - Nathalie Soltero @wolverbells

“California?” Finn tilted his head. “That’s a long way from here.” He wondered how she ended up here but didn’t want to ask. “My sister and I are originally from Texas and haven't been back in who knows how long," he said, with a fast glance at Nicole. "We’re all that’s left from our family. They say it got pretty horrific out west but I don’t know if it’s any easier over here.”

Finn watched her dig into her pack, taking a couple of things out. His rough hands caught the can intended for him by surprise. His eyes went back to her as if asking if she was completely sure she wanted to do this. This seemed like her only food. His stomach suddenly growled as if sensing there was finally food nearby and he knew he couldn’t take it anymore. He met her azure eyes softly and said,
“Thank you.” Two simple words but they held a heavy burden of gratitude that he couldn’t fully express.

Borrowing Nicole’s knife, he swiftly cut into one of the cans and handed it over to Nicole to eat half. After she swallowed up her share, he ate the remaining chili. The food went down his throat and began to fill not even half of his stomach. Yet he was grateful for the small token of trust the young woman had offered to them. He took the other can and wanted to give back to her so that she could at least have something stored away to eat. Guessing that she might be offended at them rejecting her sacrificial gift, he made himself a promise that he would give her half of the food he would find.

Finn ran his fingers through his blonde hair, causing a couple of loose strands to fall in front of his face. “You’re right. We better move. We have to find whatever food is left in this mall and get the hell out. I don't like this place. There is too much commotion.” he said, hoisting himself up. Dusting the dirt off his pants, he fixed his focus on Nathalie. “You probably know this place a little better than us, right? Maybe you could lead the way?” His eyebrow raised as he awaited her answer with expectancy.