[IC] The Walking Dead - Last Life

[True Self]

Last Life - Chapter 1: Kill or Turn

A bedroom door cracked open and two silhouetted shadows slipped inside a vacant room. There was a long window with white, transparent drapes and boards nailed all the way up the wall to prevent anything from getting in. Candles lined up on an antique dresser against the window were the only light source that existed inside. There was a bed with an old handmade quilt with three stitched pillow cases with feather pillows inside them.From the look of it, a teenage boy sat down on the bed and looked up at another man who did not sit. There was a long pause of silence before the man in his mid-twenties spoke up, "What is it, J?"

"Remember how things were before mom and dad and Laina turned?" The "boy" spoke, but his voice was slightly off. It became silent again and the mid-twenty year old walked over to sit on the bed. The light the man had been blocking made the teen on the bed more visible, and it revealed that the boy on the bed was in actuality a girl. The jacket and ripped shorts she wore were far from feminine however. She wore no make-up, and the wounded expression she had on her face was similar to that a guy would make when troubled. Her eyebrows furrowed and she just sat there gazing off into the darkest part of the room - waiting on the man to respond.

The handsome man in his mid-twenties just nodded his head. "Yeah, I do." He half whispered in the dark. His well fit, muscular build underneath his t-shirt was apparent in the candle light. The flames of the candles reflected in his deep brown eyes as he placed them upon the tomboy. He could tell that something was wrong and that something was bothering her badly. He had a feeling that reminiscing on good times wasn't truly what she wanted to talk about. He assured her, "It's always best to be present. Looking back will only make things worse."

"What if I can't stop remembering?" The girl called J asked.

"You have to try or else the good memories will haunt you almost as bad as the sad ones. The world is not the same. Remembering how the world was before and imagining how our lives would be if the outbreak hadn't started will only depress you." The man was beginning to jump to conclusions, because his curiosity of what she wanted to tell him was getting the best of him.

"Yeah, but it's way worse now." J said with a pissed off tone. "I use to be fine, but now I'm fucked up." Her fists were clenched tight, and she bit the inside of her cheek in order to distract her mind from the inner pain that was tormenting her. The dark concealed the tears that tried to swell in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them spill. She'd be damned if she let them fall.

"We're all affected by what happened. You're not alone Joan." The man called her by her real name now.

"Nah, you don't fucking get it Josef. There's more to it." J said jumping up from the bed with an angry voice. "Yeah we all feel it, but I'm going through much worse." She looked around the room quickly as if she was looking for something to break.

"What is bothering you? I'm not going to keep sitting here while you beat around the bush. Tell me what I don't get?" The man now known as Josef asked. Josef could see that she was clearly upset now, and he wasn't sure what the hell was going on.

J dropped her head and stuffed both fists into her pocket. The room grew completely quiet, before she finally spoke, "Laina wasn't bitten." J bit the inside of her cheek even harder until she could taste the blood before she continued, "I killed her."

[Vgirl]

Over the last several days a lot of things had happened, but Chloe had been involved in none of it. The only reason she knew anything had happened was because she had a constant ear open and had barely gotten any sleep. She hadn’t even thought of turning on the radio, though it probably only would have given her bad news. She was very wary to leave her stolen motel room, now more than ever. The first time someone had tried to knock on her door, it had been the manager who had threatened to get the police involved if she didn’t come out. She wasn’t sure what happened to him since he never came back to bug her after that.

Then came the sirens. They were loud and it felt as though every time she was about to fall asleep, another emergency vehicle would blare its sirens and cause her to jump to her feet. Mostly they were just passing by, but sometimes they would stick around for an insane amount of time. After a while they stopped coming, though Chloe wasn’t sure why, leaving people crying out for help that would not come. The gurgles and growls once again haunted her, often silenced with a gunshot. However, sometimes those who they found weren’t so lucky and their screams of pain became silenced before they joined in with the chorus of growls.

The second time someone knocked on her door they were screaming for help, begging her to open the door and let them in. Chloe did nothing and only covered her ears, pretending that she wasn’t there. Once again the growls began to get louder and the screaming got louder until a sickening gnawing and ripping replaced it. For a while afterwards a few stuck around and slammed against her door but her slamming ceased once a loud gunshot went off, causing them to wander off or die, she wasn't sure which.

It was quiet for a day after that. The military rolled in, and began blaring it’s warning on the loud speaker for everyone to stay inside and no one objected to it. Knowing what was out there no one wanted to go outside but the peace didn’t last long as people began to try and venture out for food. One day someone started screaming again but the military quickly found him. At first it was all “Thank god.” But then the shooting started up again and the thankful civilian was silenced. In retrospect, Chloe was very lucky that the military hadn’t tried to get into her motel room, she wasn’t sure what would have happened to her if they had.

Her stomach growled loudly, causing her to flinch and grab at it as if that would silence it. In all these days she hadn’t eaten anything and it had taken a toll on her but she had been to scared and guilty to do anything about it. However, today was when her survival instinct kicked in. She had to go get food or else she would die.

She took a moment to calm herself down before she began stretching her legs. The worst thing that could happen to her when she was out there was getting a sudden, incapacitating cramp or sprain. It only took a minute or two and she quickly stuck her head out of the door to see if anyone or anything was around. Content that she was alone she exited the room and took off running towards what she assumed was the shopping district. She didn’t have anything like a backpack with her. She had foolishly left that in the car when she had ditched it. For now she figured that she could be able to carry a can or two of food back to her safe motel.

All of the shops on the street appeared to have been ransacked already. Each and every window along the street was broken and the contents of shelves lay strewn across the ground. This wouldn’t be as easy as she had initially hoped. She stepped over a broken window, axe in hand as she scanned her aisles for anything that was moving. As she began to find edibles, she stuffed them in her small pockets, her eyes never ceasing to look around for anything that moved. In her mind she had killed, and if anything tried to get her she felt like she was able to kill again.

[Espatier]

Pepsi Center near Downtown was buzzing like a beehive for the military just two days ago before all hell broke loose. To contain the undead or the crazies as some put it. The military when being over run started to shoot anything that moved. I didn't matter what you were wearing now. Everything moving was a target that was living or not.

Dr. Johnson left with a small group of survivors as they were escourted out of the are but got stopped by a larger force of undead on the roadways. It was chaotic as everyone started to rout and simple act like they had lost thier minds. Soldiers pushing or knock over others just to get away was sickening, but in the end it saved him and a few others.

Almost 6-7 hours later when the sun rose up and the doctor could see the carnage that was left for miles around him was worse that he had seen in third world countries. The downtown center looked like a warzone.

Doctor johnson found several vehicles that had goods but still some of the dead still lingered. He didn't want to deal with the dead nor the living for right now so it was the time to make choices if he really wanted to live or not. But what for?..

Looking around him was burning cars, trucks and bodies, let alone the things that still moved about and seemed indestructible to kill. How can you kill something that was already dead?.

Dr. Johnson started the process to live by gather what he felt that he could carry by scavenging off the dead. Weapons like rifles, pistols and other things were abundant but if fired would usually attract these monster to the location. But still a weapon was needed against the living, those that would relieve you of your items for their own. Shelter was need and soon the Dr had a plan to try with the hopes that it would keep him safe. He choose an APC that was being used as part of a roadblock on the highway near the pepsi center. For the Doctor this was a good place where he could find shelter if need protection as well as a base where he could scavenge the surrounding area with hopeful ease.

Minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days and things were not getting any better, especially with the conditions of the privy. The doctor choose a well light, open area to preform his constitutional duties for the day. He was not thankful for having MRE and not needing to void but every other two -three days. Water was plentiful from mostly any military vehicles as well as MREs but other needs were not. This is where it became a waiting game of cat and mouse unit the Doctor got the idea of listening to the radio. Maybe he could listen or even transmit a call for help?.

[True Self]

"What?" Josef said, feeling like he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him by surprise. Joan looked up at him from beneath her brows as if she expected him to beat her to a pulp. Afterall, she was only Joseph's adopted sister and Laina was his real BLOOD sister. She had lived with Josef's family for all of her life, but that didn't change the fact that they weren't biologically related."Was it an accident?" He asked quickly as the rush of emotions began to roll in. He watched as she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head as if to say 'I dunno'. "How can you NOT know?" Josef was beginning to lose his cool and he expected Joan to give him an answer fast.

"I don't KNOW." Joan replied loudly. She didn't care that the conversation was suppose to be private at this point. Her anger towards herself was so extreme that she didn't care if anyone else heard. She gripped her fists so tightly that she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms. "Laina and I never really knew each other. She never would spend time to get to know me or even acknowledge me. She wasn't ever around when I grew up and she always felt like a stranger to me. During the time that it happened I was so pissed at her for putting a bullet in Mom. Her mom that I cared for as if she was my OWN mother. After that, during the time when I killed her, it WAS an accident, but I can't lie and say I didn't care if she died at the time. Not because I wished death upon her, I don't think, but because she made me so mad." She paused after thinking over what she just said and then spoke again, "I pulled the trigger so easily, and it makes me feel like I wanted to kill her." Joan stopped talking after that and waited for Josef's response. Josef just sat there and it was clearly evident that he was remaining calm after all that she had said. "Are you going to say or do anything? I MURDERED your sister!" She shouted, but not loudly enough for the whole house to hear. It was as if she was actually provoking him to beat her up or even kill her.

Josef put his hand up as if to quiet her and said quickly "Keep your voice down. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you, but Nathan might." He shook his head to try and shake away the mixed feelings he was experiencing, but he kept his composure. It had already been a good month since Laina died, so the hard part of the grieving was mostly out of the way. "Laina shot Mom on accident, because she thought she was a random walker. She didn't even know it was her until after she did it. Laina loved our mom just as much as you and I. The walkers took mom's life, not Laina." His voice choked as he said this and he couldn't help but let a few tears slip. "The ease of you shooting her could've been your instinctual reaction of desperation and the fear you were experiencing when it happened." He stated and then continued, "You being mad at Laina around the time that you accidentally killed her has nothing to do with you being a killer, unless your anger towards her was the REASON that you killed her."

"I dunno if it had anything to do with it or not." Joan said now choking up as well. She would've guessed her hands were bleeding by now as hard as she was squeezing them now. She never showed her emotions in front of others and it made her uncomfortable that she was allowing Josef to hear the hurt in her voice. "I feel like a Psychopath or some shit." Josef caught a glimpse of a dark red mark on the sides of Joan's wrists and stood up to lift her sleeve. At least a dozen of red, horizontal scars ran up her arm and she jerked her arm away to hide them again. She just glared down at her feet and felt so confused as to why he wouldn't strike her.

"I don't want to know how or why you had to do what you did. All I know is that it's in the past, and you are hurting now because of it. That tells me that you CARE." Josef stated. "I FORGIVE you Joan.. but you have to forgive yourself. Stop letting your emotions confuse you." He said lastly. He put his arm around her and led her out of the room to join the others downstairs.

---

Interaction post

On the way downstairs, all Josef could think about were the scars on the sides of Joan's arms. He had to keep a close eye on her from now on, because of her self harm and she could even be suicidal. He wasn't sure if she genuinely wanted to end her own life or if the cuts were just a reminder that she was mad at herself. He couldn't imagine what Joan was going through and he imagined he might be dealing with it the same way if he would've killed someone. Especially if it was someone who he cared about or if it affected those that he cared about. There is one thing he knew, and that is he'd have a talk with her about it later. He didn't want to hold the others up from eating breakfast or else one of them would've came up to check on them and could've accidentally heard something they shouldn't have. Just as they got downstairs, Isabella, her mother - Gabrielle, the twins, and Nathan were at the kitchen table eating fluffy, yellow eggs and fresh tomato slices. The eggs came from the chickens that Gabrielle raised in the chicken coop out back that they cooked on a camp stove, and the tomatoes were from their garden. All of the animals didn't seem to be affected by the outbreak, but a lot of the domesticated ones were eaten off by the walkers whenever they couldn't find a human close by. Josef waited for Joan to sit down before he would sit down himself, and he was surprised how well she concealed the hurt expression that she wore whenever they had their private conversation. He himself could not hide his slightly swollen eyes from where he had been crying earlier, and he felt vulnerable whenever Nathan eyed him when he finally sat down.

"Nice to see you two are still kicking." Nathan joked and ate a tomato slice with his bare hands. Isabella let out a cute laugh just as she always did after Nathan said something it seemed, even it wasn't the funniest thing at all. Josef could tell she liked Nathan by the way she couldn't help but giggle like a little school girl every time he spoke. Isabella was in her late twenties and she had long black hair that she usually kept in a long pony tail, tied with a red ribbon. She corrected one of her twin brothers by showing him how to pick up the eggs that he couldn't quite get on his fork and then smiled back at Nathan who didn't seem to notice. The twins were seven years old; both with dark hair, black eyes, and a small pinpoint mole that was on the surface on the side of each of their noses. The only way you could tell them apart was that the mole was on opposite sides of their noses -- other then that they looked exactly the same. The one having fork problems was Anton and his brother who was playing with his eggs was Emilio. "Gabrielle fixed you both a plate. The eggs are pretty damn good." Nathan said, completely oblivious that he had cussed so carelessly. Gabrielle didn't seem to mind and she smiled warmly at Joan and Josef, but didn't say anything because for one she didn't know english. Any time the older fifty year old lady wanted to say something, her daughter Isabella would translate the message to everyone. Gabrielle's hair had grey streaks, but her hair was surprisingly youthful just like her face mostly was. "So, who's joining me on a raid this morning?" Nathan asked with a crooked smile. He downed a jar of apple cider that Gabrielle had kept frozen in their natural freezer near the mountains.

"J and I will go out this time while you stay and watch the family. She had to stay last time." Josef said. He mainly wanted Joan with him, so that he could watch her at all times.

"Then me and J can go." Nathan said a bit annoyed. He hated to baby sit, and he didn't plan to today.

"NO." Josef with a bit of anger in his voice. His tone caused Isabella and Gabrielle to shift in their seats a bit uneasily. Josef reclaimed his composure and continued, "I know a place where I'm for certain we can stock up on weapons. I'm the only one who knows where it's at and I'd rather go there myself." It was the only thing he could think of to say.

Nathan could tell even more now that something was up with Josef. He decided to let Josef do what he wanted, because he knew something had to be troubling him. "Alright, but don't take forever then. Get me a few packs of cigarettes on the way back."

....

Josef and Joan arrived on the outskirts of Denver after leaving the small lake house. They had walked fourty five minutes by foot, because taking the families scratched up Cadillac all the way wouldn't have been very stealthy. Something was different tho when they observed the city. Last time there were dozens of military jeeps and even tanks patrolling the streets, but now there were only a few jeeps and some soldiers walking about. The soldiers were dragging dead bodies to a pile on the side of the street and pouring gasoline upon the pile to burn them. One of the soldiers walked up with a flamethrower and torched the big pile of bodies. There was even screams of agony and death coming from the pile - someone must've been trapped underneath a fallen body or pretended to be dead in order to hide and now they were burning alive. Josef just winced and closed his eyes. It was too late to help them. Josef lead the way as they crouched behind the bushes and kept his eye on a convenience shop just diagonal of them. It was off by itself, and as far as he could tell, there weren't any soldiers near there. The window was broken out, so it'd be easier to slip inside fast with minimal chance of being spotted. That's if no one was inside. Joan looked to Josef and nodded her head, signaling that she was ready to move. Josef half crouched half ran to the store's window with Joan on his heels. Joan kept her eyes out for any soldiers, but she couldn't see any around and the soldier who had burned the bodies had already driven off. When they entered, the store was trashed, but the aisles were mostly still standing. Joan quickly ran down each aisle to see if there was anything that they could use and Josef sprinted to the behind the counter to find that the knives and pocket knives had already been taken. Even all of the cigarettes and chewing tobacco had been raided. Joan snatched a little bag of snowballs that had been pushed to the back of one shelf and spun on her heels to the next aisle. Before she could stop herself, she ran into someone who was carrying an axe and she fell back on her ass with a cautious expression. "Shit!" Joan yelled out which alerted Josef who was surprised to find a radio in the break room.

[Vgirl]

Just as Chloe had glanced down at the ground to determine whether she should pick it up or not something hit her, causing her to tumble over. The first thing that went through her mind was panic and a voice yelling at herself for taking her eyes off of the area. Quickly she stood up, axe swung back and ready to swing but upon closer inspection she quickly stopped herself, though still held her axe at the ready. The girl was young, not old enough to be a threat though she kept that thought to herself and instead spoke of something else, though she did so softly. “Well you haven’t bit me yet and you don’t look like military so I think it would be best for both of us if you kept quiet.” It wasn’t a threat more of a suggestion.

“Unless….you want to kill me, but I’m not sure that you do.” With that she put her axe down, though still gripped it tightly. Chloe looked down at the bag of Snowballs in the girl’s hand and her stomach growled once again, causing her to flinch. “All I want is some food.” She said finally and went back to grabbing what she could and stuffing it into her pockets, though she still kept an eye on the girl. She was lucky that she had been able to calm herself down or she wasn’t sure what would have happened to her.

Social protocol told her to introduce herself, but now that was probably a bad idea. It seemed, from what she had heard, that humans were no longer much of a social animal. She went down the aisle before groaning softly in annoyance. There wasn’t much left and what had been left wasn’t enough to keep her energy up. She turned her body back towards the girl, and walked towards her, though still kept a safe distance as something had just dawned on her. “You wouldn’t happen to be alone, would you?”

[True Self]

"She isn't." Josef said from behind the girl with his old high school baseball bat in hand that he had carried along. When he saw that the new girl didn't attack Joan, he lowered his weapon and looked her over. The young woman was Asian and looked to be in her early twenties. "Are YOU alone?" Josef asked, as Joan got back up to her feet and stuffed the snow balls in her pocket. Josef hadn't been this up close and personal with a new, free survivor in forever, and he was curious to know if there were more.

"My name's Joan. Thanks for not killing me." She said to the girl with a smirk. She mostly said it to introduce herself and to be friendly, but apart of her actually kinda wished the unknown girl would have dropped the axe and taken her out of this shitty world. Just then, loud static could be heard from the break room and Joan looked to Josef who looked like he knew exactly what it was. Joan ran to the other room while Josef kept his eye on the new chick. When she arrived inside the break room, she found a communications radio that was on a back folding table near a useless microwave. She wasn't sure how to use the radio, so she pressed every button visible and spoke clearly, "Anyone there?" The radio static was most likely a random interference, but it still hadn't dawned on her or either Josef why the radio had been left on. Regardless, someone out there could potentially hear what she was saying if they were looking for help or listening.

[Espatier]

Doctor Johnson was trying the radio once again

"If anyone can here hear me, please respond on this channel, over"

He waited 20-30 seconds before repeating this message over and over again.

"If anyone can here hear me, please respond on this channel, over"

The doctor tried short wave, Ham and other spectrum of the radio,

** This is so wierd, I'm not getting anything but I can see military craft fly or driving in the distance **

The doctor used flares, shot off round for the heavy machine gun in the air but stopped that after it started to attract those things again. He figure that he had wasted four hours after shooting off that loud weapon system.

Once again

"If anyone can here hear me, please respond on this channel, over"

He waited 20-30 seconds before repeating this message over and over again.

"If anyone can here hear me, please respond on this channel, over"

"Anyone there?" was his reply about 20 minutes later...

" Yes, Yes... Dear God, yes.. okay, Okay, hello?. I mean I can hear you, Over "
The doctor babbles for a bit and waits to hopefully hear another reply

[Vgirl]

When a voice spoke to her from behind her she quickly spun around, axe held at the ready once again but she let it fall to her side rather quickly. Her head hadn’t been caved in yet and he was lowering his own weapon so it was safe to say that these people were probably ‘friendly’, though she wasn’t sure what that meant anymore. She turned back once again to look at the girl and smiled softly when she introduced herself. Just as she was about to do the same, there was a sudden burst of static, which caused her to look around in a panic but it seemed as though Joan was on it, and ran to the back to find out what it was.

Chloe turned back to the man, “I’m alone.” She said, responding to his question. There was a moment of silence as she wondered how much she should share with this man, though for now, it was enough to get him to trust her. “I locked myself up in a motel nearby. Since it seemed like it was quiet I came out to get some food.” She pulled out a granola bar from her pocket and tried to wave it casually, though truthfully she wanted to devour it right now.

She looked him up and down. He was well built, probably could have easily taken her out with that bat if he wanted to. “Thank you for not caving my head in.” She said, motioning towards the baseball bat in his hand. She kept her speech very controlled and calm. “Shouldn’t you be going after her? There may be other people here that neither of us know of… or I could be lying.” She wasn’t lying of course and it was too cheeky in her opinion, but the sooner he stopped watching her, the sooner she could finish up and go back to the motel.

[True Self]

"Yes, Yes... Dear God, yes.. okay, Okay, hello?. I mean I can hear you, Over.

"Holy shit." Joan said to herself when she heard a man's voice coming from the radio. She didn't think that she would reach anyone through all the static mess. Quickly pressing all the buttons once again, she repeated the words, "Hello, whoever you are."

"You're right, I should be going after her." Josef replied to the new girl with the axe. "And you should come with us if you know what's good for you." Josef said leaving the girl to decide on her own. He could care less if she was lying about the motel or not, because he had more important things on his mind now. He ran into the break room to find that Joan was talking into the radio. His eyes grew wide and he walked over to press the correct button and speak for himself, "Hello? My name is Josef, where is your location, over." He waited for the reply. Joan rolled her eyes, because she had the situation under control on her own. It annoyed her when Josef always tried to take over. Then it hit him, "Wait a sec..." Josef realized that it could be a set up by the military. "We have to GO."

Joan looked to Josef with a confused expression, "What?" She could tell by his frantic tone that it was time to leave.

[Espatier]

True Self said
Joan said to herself when she heard a man's voice coming from the radio. She didn't think that she would reach anyone through all the static mess. Quickly pressing all the buttons once again, she repeated the words, Josef replied to the new girl with the axe. Josef said leaving the girl to decide on her own. He could care less if she was lying about the motel or not, because he had more important things on his mind now. He ran into the break room to find that Joan was talking into the radio. His eyes grew wide and he walked over to press the correct button and speak for himself, He waited for the reply. Joan rolled her eyes, because she had the situation under control on her own. It annoyed her when Josef always tried to take over. Then it hit him, "Wait a sec..." Josef realized that it could be a set up by the military. Joan looked to Josef with a confused expression, She could tell by his frantic tone that it was time to leave.

"Yes, Yes... Dear God, yes.. okay, Okay, hello?. I mean I can hear you, Over."
then gave a pause for a bit then continued "Hello, whoever you are."

The Doctor was very excited as it came over in his voice.

"Hello, Yes... This is Dr. Johnson with 270th Brigade Support Battalion, 3nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 188th Infantry Division, can you hear me?. Oh dear me, yes... umm... "

but then he thought that he was hearing a different voice

"Hello? My name is Josef, where is your location, over."

" Hello, Yes... This is Dr. Johnson with 270th Brigade Support Battalion, 3nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 188th Infantry Division. I'm currently in a tracked vehicle for my own safety near the pepsi center , near downtown, use caution, I say again use caution, many unfriendlies in AO (area of operations), over"

" I'm stuck in a track mortar carrier right next to the walkway that leads to amusement park, I'm ready to evacuee now, over".

[Vgirl]

Chloe froze when he suggested that she join them, though his offer came off as more of a threat. Even after he left to go check on his companion she stood there, mostly pondering over what to do. He had given her the chance to leave right now, go back to her motel, and hide out until…. Well she wasn’t sure what the end goal was. If she left now, she wouldn’t have to worry about running into people for another few days, until she had to come out for more food, but maybe if she stuck with them, she had a better chance of survival overall.

If she left now, she may never see these strangers again and may never have a chance to be with people again before she died, and if she left with them now, she could leave anytime she wanted right? The choice seemed obvious. Although she didn’t like to admit it, she had missed being around people, well civilized people. The act of talking and being around people felt foreign to her now but she hadn’t realized that she had craved it, especially since that night. She quickly shook her head, trying to clear that memory from her mind. More than anything she wanted to forget that.

Axe held down at her side she made her way to the back and leaned against the doorframe on the other side of where Joan and ‘Josef’, if she had heard correctly, were talking to something. It was a bit hard to hear but there were some parts that she could make out from what the man on the radio said. She glanced over at the entrance to the store before staring back ahead. She thought about her words for a moment, hoping that they didn’t sound stupid when they came out. “So…are we gonna go get him?”

[True Self]

"He seems genuine, but something still doesn't feel right. It's best if we leave." Josef said aloud after he heard what the voice inside the radio said. He had the strangest feeling in his gut that something was wrong.

"He's a doctor right?... he could be useful to us." Joan replied and turned her head to look at the new girl when she stood in the doorway. "Yea, I say we go and get this guy." Joan said to her. "We can check out the scene first and see if the coast is clear. I should go talk to him just in case he tries anything, cuz I have this." Joan said, lifting up her shirt to reveal a bullet proof vest.

"Where'd you get that?" Josef said with a confused face. He didn't understand how a girl who cuts herself would worry about the safety against bullets. He just dismissed the thought and waited for her reply. He didn't even notice that she looked thicker with the vest underneath her shirt.

"Thiago was a policeman before he turned." Joan answered, referring to Gabrielle's husband. "I found this thing in a box under the bed. It actually fits ok... I think it may have been from when he was younger." She said with a grin.

"I didn't know- Nevermind that. You're not going to talk to him. What's going to protect you when you get shot in the brain?" Josef said poking her in the temple before heading toward the break room door. The girl with the axe was standing in the doorway and he was actually relieved to see a new face. A living face.

"I'm not a fucking cautious-less idiot. I can jump, duck, roll, do whatever the hell I gotta do if a gun barrel comes near my face." the irritation was evident in Joan's voice. She wasn't one to be fucked with if you rubbed her the wrong way. "I can do it. I've done riskier things and you know it." Joan had a point. There were several times when Josef and herself had barely escaped the brain eater's spontaneous attacks, yet still survived on their own separately. She was a very self aware person and Josef didn't even have to think about it to know it, because she had been that way ever since she was a little kid.

"Fine, I'll cover you, but you aren't going to move if I get there and decide it's not a good idea." Josef sighed and then turned to the new girl, "I could use your help to cover her, but first we better find some guns. You know of a place that hasn't been touched?" Joan looked at him with a "I knew it" expression and Josef smiled when he could tell that she discovered that he had lied to Nathan before leaving the house, but for good reason.

[Vgirl]

For most of their personal talk, Chloe had no idea what they were talking about but still she felt inclined to listen, even as they began to bicker. A small smile crossed her face and she chuckled softly. It somehow reminded her of better times. Even though they fought she could tell that they cared about each other and that was relieving after these past few days. He stomach rumbled softly and she sighed, taking one of the bars in her pocket and biting into it. If they were going to do any of this she would need some energy; adrenaline could only get her so far.

She was in the middle of eating when the man spoke to her and she stared at him like a deer in headlights for a moment before she quickly finished eating. She felt like a pig and her face felt hot. “I..I’ll do what I can.” She said, stuffing the wrapper in her pocket. When the question finally registered in her brain she shook her head. “I just rolled into town a few days ago.” She responded, “The best I can offer you is the motel I was staying at. Other than the military rolling through and those things knocking on doors there hasn’t been a lot of activity.”

She began walking out of the store, when something hit her. “Wait. I did pass a weapon shop on the way here… not sure how ‘untouched’ it is though… I was just looking for food.” As they got to an intersection she pointed in the direction that she had come. “I came from that way.” She was silent for a moment and didn’t move, only thinking. “Are you sure we want to get guns? I’ve noticed those things move when they hear something like that…”

[Espatier]

Like a trapped rat, the doctor would scurry from one military vehicle to another or a civilian vehicle if possible. It was a few hours that past and he used the radio again to hear a human voice.

" Last calling station, hello, hello?" He tried several times and even changed then battery after a half hour.. but then realized that it was running on the vehicle battery. When the dead wold come he would throw things or try to break a hit from afar. It was morning when we would run the vehicle for a bit then shut it off, then scurry, left piles of things that he wanted to get later because those things were everywhere. Like cat and mouse... but he was the mouse. The doctor must have gotten sloppy because coming around a vehicle he ran into a woman that he thought was alive at first and spoke to it. As the creature turned, the doctor dropped his stolen goods and lifted his crowbar as he beat it. With every hit he was crying and yelling " I'm sorry".

That was a bad night... he didn't leave, eat or drink anything till the next morning.

[True Self]

Josef looked to the axe girl and replied, "I can almost assure you that a weapons shop will be picked clean. And yes, we need guns in case of emergency. They'll be more of a threatening factor rather than for firing - unless absolutely necessary." Josef and Joan hadn't been on this part of town and they made it a priority to explore different parts of Denver each time they went out on a raid. He and Joan weren't exactly familiar with Colorado at all, because this is wasn't their home - it was their sister, Laina's after all. He crouched down to hide behind a near broken down, silver slug bug convertible that had been abandoned. "We have to stay out of the open-." He said, but Joan was already there peeking around the bug to see if any soldiers or walkers were around. Joan turned her face to look at both the asian girl and her brother and she nodded her head that it was clear. "We'd have better luck finding something at that hotel you say you stay at. Maybe there's more people there? Or weapons that were left behind or lost?" Josef suggested and then continued, "Lead the way." He kept a firm grip on his high school baseball bat and waited for her to lead them there.

On the way, they stayed low to the ground and hidden behind every bush, broken down car, or random debris that they came across. They even had to risk a few open runs in order to get to their next hiding places. The group even managed to slip passed a jeep full of soldiers who were patrolling down the street nearby. The soldiers were being especially loud and obnoxious as if they were completely oblivious that the world had been overrun by flesh eating monsters. Surprisingly there wasn't a single walker to be seen on the streets. They must've done a swell job at cleaning up the streets from the majority of the vile decaying creatures. Josef had notice over the few months that the outbreak started that the military learned that loud sounds attract them. The troops used blunt weapons, machetes, axes, and swords mainly. They did use the butt ends of their powerful guns too and for intimidating civilians into doing what they wanted. Josef crouched next to the axe girl and waited for her next move, the motel that she spoke of was in clear sight only a single open run to get inside. The parking lot was fairly wide so it was a risky run out into the open with an active military jeep just across the road. The early morning air felt chill against Josef's cheek as they hid behind a line of bushes, and it wasn't quite completely bright outside. Joan was behind them both and reached into her pocket to retrieve the snowballs in her pocket. Her stomach was burning from hunger and she couldn't wait til she returned to the ranch house to eat. She ripped open the plastic like an animal, but then cursed when one of the cakes fell onto the ground, "shit" She said, as her eyes followed the cake as it rolled to the bottom of the bush. "FUCK!" Joan half shouted as a blood stained, rotting hand reached up to grab her shorts. The brain eater had scraggly grey hair and who was unrecognizably an old lady who had her throat bitten out. She lay mostly concealed under the very bottom of the bushes that the group was hiding behind. The old bloody biter was gnashing her teeth at Joan's bare legs and growling as if gurgling on her own fluids. All of the noise was drawing the attention of the troops that were riding inside the jeep across the street and everything was happening so fast that Josef couldn't even tell if Joan had been bitten or not -

"What the fuck is that? You hear that? I think I hear it over there." Voices could be heard from in the direction of the soldiers.

[Vgirl]

Chloe bit her lip softly at his response before nodding and peeking around the car before she made her move. For the most part Chloe kept close to the ground but when they had to run for to next piece of cover she booked it. It seemed as though she had been lucky earlier to make it to town without being spotted by the military. They were everywhere by the looks of it, patrolling up and down the street, trying to make sure that nothing slipped by them, and she wasn’t sure if it was luck of skill, but somehow they had been able to make their way past each one.

The motel parking lot only had a few car left and most of them looked battered, and although it appeared as though people had also salvaged what they could from them, they weren’t completely devoid of parts. In front of the drive in to the parking lot was a small building that used to house the reception desk. All the doors were painted red against a beige wall almost as if they were all coated in blood. Here and there were blood splatters from the people who had been killed there. If they were lucky, there would be things that people hadn’t taken in there, maybe even survivors but the think in their way at the moment, was the military

Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Joan yell and she spun around quickly to see what was going on. The sight almost made her want to vomit but she kept her composure and swung her axe down on the arm that was holding Joan. Although decayed it’s arm still held tight so she brought it down once more. “We need to go now.” She said, kicking at the thing to try and keep it away, at least for long enough for Joan to get away.

[True Self]

"I believe there's some civilians over that way! Yeah I see somethin!" The soldier's voices grew louder.

The jeep began to turn around toward the direction of Joan and the group. Josef jerked Joan away from the gargling walker, after the axe girl had chopped it's arm off, and he smashed the biter's face in with his steel toe boot. All that remained was what looked like a disgusting, smashed watermelon that was black and dark red with brown rotted brains. The stench of the crushed decaying skull stung Joan's nose as Josef dragged her away. Her legs were bloody and she wasn't saying anything at this point. Josef looked around quickly with adrenaline shooting painfully through his veins and he could feel the arteries in his neck pulsing. There was no where close enough to hide. They had to run. Josef picked up Joan into his arms and looked to the axe girl and whispered "RUN."

Josef bolted from behind the bushes into the open parking lot and toward the motel entrance! The soldiers were already getting out of the jeep when Josef started to run, they weren't too close, but close enough to shoot. "Hold your fire! You'll bring the biters. Go get them!" It wasn't clear who commanded the other troops, because Josef was focused on getting inside the motel safely with his sister in his arms. He had no time to think about if the axe girl would make it too. He spun intensely and used his back to smash open the motel doors and held it open just long enough for the axe girl to sprint through. He let the doors fall shut, but there was no time to lock them. Two soldiers were already on their heels - one held a double edged axe and the other a short sword with deep blood stain near the bottom of the blade, close to the handle. Josef bolted behind the receptionist desk and into the back room for employees only. He yanked the axe girl through the door and slammed it shut to lock it. The handle started to twist back and forth violently and the soldiers wasted no time hacking down the door. Josef's heart felt like it was going to stop if it beat any faster and he turned to see a back glass, door that lead to the other side of the motel where more rooms were available outside. Josef jerked his head to look at the girl with her axe and he looked back at the door that was easy to break if the soldiers discovered it.

"I'm bitten. I think it bit my legs." Joan cursed through the tears that leaked unwillingly that were brought on from a sharp pain on her shin.

Josef felt like he was going in shock and his heart beat unimaginably. He busted out of the back door and lost almost all his senses of awareness as he slipped inside a random motel room outside and lay Joan on the bed. He wasn't even sure if the axe girl had followed. He had hoped she did, because from what he could tell, none of the soldiers saw which room he went into.

[Vgirl]

The man didn’t need to tell her twice and as soon as he started running, she took off following behind him. She wasn’t sure how fast they were going, not that it mattered, and they needed to get away. Quickly she slipped into the first motel room. She turned around to see how the other two were doing and gasped slightly. The soldiers were holding things that kind of looked like medieval weaponry to her. On any other day, it probably would have been funny but right now was one of her worst times to laugh.

As they reached the second door she gasped as she was pulled in. Well at the very least he hadn’t slammed it in her face and left her to die. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath but it was quick as the doorknob started to shake, like some kind of horror movie monster was after them. She bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from letting out a shriek as they began to bust down the door. They were just as bad as the things that they had called the bitters, if not worse. She kept her axe gripped in her hand, unsure what to do with it and looking at the man for some sort of guidance.

She noticed him look at her before looking at the door. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, whatever it was it was probably better than the situation they were in. Chloe quickly followed after the man, through the back door and into the motel room before he had shut the door. “Joan, try and stay calm okay?” She said, hurrying to the bathroom. There were towels, soap, shampoo and a wet napkin at least from what she could see initially.

Quickly she brought the things out and dumped them onto the floor next to the bed. When she had done that she let herself sit on the ground. She had to calm herself down, even if it was just for a few moments.

[True Self]

"Ok." Joan replied, and she grit her teeth, more out of anger that the new girl and Josef could see tears in her eyes. So much had happened and the axe girl never really had the time to properly introduce herself. Though, it didn't really matter now... Death was coming for all of them and Joan was for certain now. She let her head fall back down onto the surprisingly soft bed and she just closed her eyes. Josef was already pressing the towels against Joan's bloody legs, but he couldn't exactly find the source of all the blood. He turned the side of her left shin over and there was a dark, blood covered mark in her flesh. He used the wet napkin to attempt to clean it and then he heard the voices - they all heard them.

"Break down every door and make sure this place is empty." A raspy, masculine voice said somewhere not too far away from outside their motel door. The sound of doors busting open and being cracked in-two could be heard from outside their door and Josef just knew that their door would soon be next. They had to fight. Josef lifted the his bat that he still managed to hold onto while he had been carrying Joan. He stood in front of the door and waited for the approaching footsteps.

Walking could be heard outside the door and the door almost burst open with a huge loud CRACK. The door remained shut and then more voices could be heard on the outside. "Forget searching the rooms for now! There's a biter hoard, we have to take care of it!" The footsteps could be heard running away now.

Joan was sitting up now and she was looking down at her shin that Josef had wiped and she breathed heavily in relief to see that after the blood was wiped away, that it was only a reddish, purple bruise that was about six inches in length. Then Josef thought of something "I must've grazed your shin with my boot when I stomped down on that walker. It's ok Joan." He said with a intense feeling of relief that the blood was really the walker's blood who's head he had crushed. He fell down on the bed beside Joan and felt dizzy from all the adrenaline that was now subsiding. "Are you ok?" he managed to ask the axe girl with a heavy breath.

[Vgirl]

While the man attempted to clean the wound on Joan’s leg, Chloe leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She had to make sure that she kept calm or she wasn’t sure what she would do. With enough quiet, she finally let her mind drift off to a more peaceful place and she kept there for a while. Many panicked thoughts and questions came up but she did her best to push them all aside while she was trying to relax. The thought of sleep came up but she knew that she couldn’t, they still weren’t safe.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been in her peaceful place but when she heard the yelling from outside she was brought out of it and she stood up, axe at the ready. It seemed that Josef had thought the same as he headed towards the door. She wasn’t sure what he was expecting to do in that location. Perhaps beat them over the heads as soon as they got in? Chloe glanced over at Joan who was still on the bed in pain. What if the girl was bitten; NO! She couldn’t jump to any conclusions.

As they began to get closer a sickening feeling entered her stomach but she kept at the ready. Finally the man began to relax his bat and Chloe did the same. It seemed as though the men had run off to deal with a bigger problem than a few civilians trying to survive. Joan was now sitting up and once the blood was cleaned off, it seemed as though there was no bite to be found. She let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground once more, leaning her head against the wall.

“I’m fine.” She managed to say, “Just a little spooked but I think we all are.” She closed her eyes once again, thankful that the girl hadn’t been bitten. If she had she would have felt responsible, for not being able to react quick enough. She opened her eyes and looked up at the two of them lying on the bed, “Since I’ll be sticking with you guys I might as well introduce myself. I’m Chloe.” She smiled a bit before shaking her head. It felt nice and normal to introduce herself.