[IC] Will YOU Survive?

[Alina13]

@Aintitfun1997@Remipa Awesome
"So you'll come with me? What about Hunter? Could we leave our stuff with him at his camp and come back later?
Justine looked at her phone. 6:30. No wonder it was starting to get dark outside so fast.She wondered if they could make it all the way back to that shopping center and back before it got too late. After all this, she was sure everyone needed sleep. Even Buddy looked tired. She was almost ready to give up looking for her friend. If she didn't find her this time, she was on her own unless she texted her. But by then, who knows? They could be far away by then.
Justine looked at Hunter for a response.

[Shoe Thief]

Hunter sucked at making decisions, in fact he hated to do it at times. Always worried about making the right one. "Look, before we do anything I need to get the truck back to the camp, I am low on fuel, I need to get more water, and before I do anything I am getting more ammo. Only brought enough for a simple run." He started to pace, keeping his hand on the .22 slung on his back. "Look you guys, it's getting late. We got out now in this piece of shit truck we're going to get screwed from the noise alone. I do think it's a good thing you're willing to go look for your friend, but dying being stupid won't help anyone! So if you want to go back now well it's getting dark, go ahead, I wont stop you. But I won't be able to help either. You can even take those guns you found that have been sitting in the debris for who knows how long!"

Hunter's heart was racing, he rarely raised his voice but he felt certain if the they all left tonight they would die. "Your next option, get some rest, clean the guns you do have, figure out what you're doing before you're forced into a situation where one wrong move will kill you." He was breathing heavy now, a bit panicked as well to be honest. Once he calmed his breathing he closed the hood of the old truck. He wished it was in better condition but it would still drive. "It's already later then it is when I am back to my camp, and that is still a 20 minute drive from here. I want to get moving so I can get settled in before it gets much later then it already is. If you want to come and think out your plans go ahead, if you want to go back now there's an old ford Focus down the road. It's in pretty bad condition too but it'll drive you into town. Not sure about out but in it will. Keys should be under the passenger seat." He opened the driver door and sat down, just sitting and breathing.

[Aintitfun1997]

Krystyn stares after him she looks at Justine,"We should wait. Hunter is right we'd die out t'ere an' as much as I know you want ta look for yer friend we can't risk yer an' our lives at it," She says before looking over at her worn out dog and the boy in the truck. Krystyn sighs and walks towards the truck.
"Calm down boy," She says getting to his side of the truck," One thang ya gotta learn is that ya can't yell," She said pointing towards a walker who was coming out from the side of the rode," Ya didn't need ta panic an' do ya need a more silent weapon? Cause if t'ere 're more of 'em assholes that catch ya. Ya'd kill yerself wit' that boom sticks right t'ere," She said nodding toward the guns.

Buddy watched for everyone spotting weird dead humans here and there but they weren't to close. At least for now, his brown eyes focused on behind them his floppy ears pricked and listening as multiple groans caught his attention. A single sniff and Buddy didn't even have to guessing he started growling fiercely at the direction they came. It was low he wasn't stupid but it was loud enough for the others to hear. He hoped

@Alina13@Remipa Awesome

[Alina13]

@Remipa Awesome@Aintitfun1997
Justine knew they were probably right. She did need to get her thoughts together and decide what was best to do before she made any rash decisions. Everyone was tired and stressed. maybe they should get back to Hunter's camp and rest for a while.
She heard Buddy's growling and turned around to pet him. "What is it boy? What's wrong?" She whispered. She felt the hair on his back raise and all his muscles tense up. She looked up and saw a single walker wandering around in circles on the side of the road. She hadn't had the fun of killing one yet. Maybe she could take out her frustrations on it. She walked quickly but quietly over to Krystyn who was comforting Hunter and asked her in a low whisper pointing at the walker, "Can I use your bow and arrow to kill that thing? I haven't had any fun yet." She let a small smirk spread across her face to give the impression that she wasn't panicking. She didn't want to freak Hunter out more than he already was. Maybe this kid had anxiety or something. She knew that feeling all too well.
Buddy looked as if he was getting a little scared as the walker got closer. Justine wasn't worried because they weren't making any noise so it would have no idea they were even there.

[Shoe Thief]

Hunter wanted to make the case about the guns. He wasn't that strong, and getting them with a blade was hard as hell to do with out getting attacked back with the infected. But she was right about them, but he was rarely in one place long enough to be worried about that. Justine asked for a bow to kill the lone corpse. Hunter knew they were dead, but it still made him uneasy attacking them. He still thinks about each walker he has shot. Especially the ones where he just reacted instead of thinking about it. "Look, just hurry with what ever you guys decide to do, personally I am not worried about the one lone walker at the moment. I have a lot of work I have to get done tonight before night falls. So what ever you do, hurry." Hunter looked for his keys and he started the truck, again taking a few tries to get going. But starting with a painful sounding grind.

[Aintitfun1997]

Buddy growl became more feral and Krystyn took note of this a took a sniff looking where the one lone walker was. It was stronger smell for just one walker and Krystyn didn't feel like sticking around to find out what had Buddy so riled up. She looks at Justine," Get ta the back o' the truck," She lets out a smirk," An' I'll teach ya how ta use a bow on a movin' vehicle but fer right now I don' wanna risk anythang," She says hopping into the back grabbing her dog and bringing him closer to her. Muttering calming words to the distressed pup.

[Alina13]

@Remipa Awesome@Aintitfun1997
Justine was excited for Krystyn to teach her about the bow. She had always been interested in archery but never had the opportunity to learn. She supposed Krystyn was right. If the walker made any sort of noise when it was shot, it would attract more and that was the last thing they wanted. She was sure she would get the chance eventually.
She wished Hunter would calm down. Him being so stressed out would affect everyone else and that was another thing they didn't want. Stress lead to tension, tension leads to yelling, yelling leads to attracting walkers and attracting walkers lead to fighting and possibly death. Maybe she could have a talk with him later.
She climbed in the very small backseat of the truck and scooted closer to Buddy and stroked his soft fur. He had started calming down from the shock of seeing the walker and looked at her with innocence in his big brown eyes. She laid her head on his back and tried to tune everything out and sleep for the 20 minutes she could before they got to Hunter's camp. She needed rest.

[Shoe Thief]

Hunter drove the beaten up truck for what was supposed to be 20 minutes, but soon turned into 34 minutes. Which isn't too long, just gave him less time to prepare for the night. Near the end of the drive he pulled onto a small dirt road, the bumps jerking the truck on every turn. But at the end of the dirt road was a pond with a small clearing around it. And on the entrance side of it was an improvised camp, with a really small camper set up, a home made fire pit, and a table, with one chair and a bench made from a fallen tree.

Hunter pulled the truck to a stop with in the site. "Alright! Few rules that I need to go over. And don't complain about them because so far they have worked great. First, if you need a place to go, the camper does not have a rest room, I normally went in the field but that's not going to work now. So you guys will be forced to go in the woods, just watch out for the traps. Most of which are set up at least 15 feet inside the tree line. SO up to that point you should be safe." He stood out of the truck and grabbed the shotgun, placing it on the table. "There are also only two beds, one of which I have a ton of equipment on. I can clean it up but someone has to sleep on the floor." Hunter thought about it for a moment. "Actually, I'll take the floor, you guys can have the beds. Just let me clean it off first." He then took the rifle off his back. "I want the guns on the table, for two reasons. One, I do not know you guys well enough to have you guys with the guns in the same room I sleep in. Two, I want to take inventory of what we actually have. Once morning comes you can have them back, then you can do what ever you have to do, I can even give you a ride as I go in for my next run."

He looked around the camp. "I am going to need to get more firewood, I have enough for tonight as long as we don't go too crazy, you shouldn't have to worry about the infected as much out here. The only ones from the houses int he area are already dead or were gone before I got here. As long as we are not screaming or blastin' shotguns we'll be fine. If need be we can use the .22 with out having to worry too much." Hunter was attempting to take charge to keep his little corner of the world safe, but it didn't take much to tell that he was having a panic attack on the inside just talking, let alone giving out rules. That he had no way to enforce.

Camper

[Aintitfun1997]

Krystyn shakes her head dumping her bow and quiver on the table along with her hunting rifle,20 gauge shot gun, and all her hand made weapons on the table," I'm keepin' my machete an' baseball bat. Yer not the only one wit' trust issue bud an' as o' right now I rather sleep outside then be weaponless," Krystyn says calmly as she dumps her backpack on the table," but 'ere's everythang I have besides Buddy," She says motioning to her tired looking pup.

Buddy yawned loudly letting out a whine. Krystyn chuckled heading towards the pup and picking him up from the back and taking him to the beds,"C'mon Buddy," She says tired herself

[Alina13]

@Remipa Awesome@Aintitfun1997
Justine suddenly realized that she was freezing. Maybe she should ask hunter to get that fire going sooner than later. She would help of course. She couldn't see Hunter and she hadn't seen where he had gone to so she decided to wait on the bench until he returned.
She couldn't help but think of Lexi. If she was hurt, dead, or even worse, a walker, she didn't know what she would do. She didn't want to think about it but that was the only thing on her mind. She had no idea what had happened to her grandparents. As much as it hurt her to think about it, they were probably dead. As far as her real mother, she was most definitely dead. That idiot couldn't survive on her own in her own house, not to mention the zombie apocalypse. What saddened her the most was not her mother being dead, but her little brother most likely was as well. He was only nine years old.
But the only thing that gave her hope was that even he was smarter than her mother. He had probably ran to a nearby building to try and find help. But since everyone in town had been infected, he probably didn't make it far without being infected himself.
Hopefully they could be safe out here for a little while. She was very grateful to hunter for giving her and Krystyn a place to stay.

[Shoe Thief]

Gathering wood wasn't too hard, Hunter spent days up here before he left to start scavenging. Though he wasn't the ideal outdoors man he was smart enough too get his head in the game. Many of those days were spent trying to make his camp more livable. He set up a table, he set up simple traps and ditches, he even spent a lot of time swinging an axe and cutting down trees. And after several failed attempts he not only had some firewood, but he also was able to keep all his limps! But because of those first few days, he was able to avoid most the insanity of the infected, and even prepare a small stockpile of firewood. SO he was back before long starting up a fire.

Hunter struck several matches before the fire actually started. He looked over at Justine who looked like she was freezing out here. SO he tried to make things a little more normal. "This may sound crazy, but I think I was more prepared for this kind of world then our old world. I mean I have no real skills to get me into the work force, I have trouble finding tasks that I feel are a necessity, and I wasn't all that smart. What I could do though was explain like 10 different ways to filter water." He threw in some firewood into the pit surrounded by rocks and sat down on the log. "My head was filled with what was at one time useless facts. Now I can easily put most those facts into use. One fact I want to test out is which houses have guns in them. Ammo runs out and the guns I do have are all... low tier would be a good word."

Hunter stood up long enough to grab a few cans from a storage box and walk back to the fire, where he proceed to open them making various cans of pasta on one batch.

[Alina13]

@Remipa Awesome
Justine chuckled. That was indeed the American school system in a nutshell. Teaching everyone things that would never apply in life ever again other than on the upcoming test and then you forget about it for the rest of your life. Almost nothing learned in school would ever apply to anyone's life. This was a subject she was very sensitive about so she decided to speak up a little.
"Yeah I totally get you. Don't get me wrong, I'm smart in school and my grades are good but in all reality, I will never use anything I learned probably ever again. And they don't even teach you things that you will need to know to function in the real world like buying a car or a house, how to pay your taxes, how to balance a checkbook, how to manage a bank account. . . The list just goes on and on. To be honest, you are of more use to anyone wandering out in this wilderness than I am because I have no survival skills whatsoever. I am a strictly inside person. I hate being outside. SO not redneck over here!"
As hunter started the fire up, the smell of the smoke reached her nose and made her happy. She had always loved the smell of campfire smoke. The one thing she liked about being outside was when someone had a fire lit. If she could just tune everything else out and focus on the fire and her conversation with Hunter, she would be fine. At least for the time being.

[Aintitfun1997]

Krystyn sat outside of the camper looking at the others and smiling. Its almost like I'm on a campin' trip she thinkgs to herself before bringing herself to reality no it's not a campin' trip it's us survivin' damnation an' we all know it. Krystyn sighs looking around in the forest for any trouble. Krystyn knows that Hunter had traps everywhere but it doesn't make her feel any better or safer. She looks over at the other,"I'mma take watch! Hunter can I get my Bow?" she asks.

[Shoe Thief]

Hunter laughed at the redneck comment. "I in theory could be classified as one. My hobbies consist of shooting shotguns, fixing things with tape, and keeping my rusty old truck running." Hunter went back to making the canned pasta over the fire trying to not burn it. Krystyn asked to take the bow to keep watch. Hunter hadn't thought about that. When he was on his own he would just sleep with a shotgun next to him and hope nothing would sneak up on him. "Uh ya, go ahead. Not sure where you would keep watch from but you can walk around if you want. Take the .22 if you want, or don't. I don't care. But it's quieter then most guns and accurate still." He pointed to the table where the bow was. "Watch yourself, I am going to finish cooking this up. Should be maybe 5 minutes? maybe more..." Hunter went back to cooking the canned pasta.

Hunter started starring into the fire. "What's interesting is I am not an outdoors person at all, I just know these things because it seemed cool to learn at the time. Despite not actually doing any of the skills I have studied I am in a stable place. I think the real reason though I am doing as good as I am is two main reasons." Hunter looked at the table with the guns on them. "One, those guns. I had a shotgun, my dad had a shotgun, and the .22 rifle. None of the equipment was high quality but it was guns and ammo. Even kits to clean them all. SO once I found a spot to lay low I was fine. Reason two, I am not a social person. So being out here wasn't as hard for me as it would be for other people." He went back to cooking the pasta. "So enough about me. Should I know anything about you?" He asked Justine, mainly because Krystyn was going out to keep watch.

[Alina13]

@Aintitfun1997@Remipa Awesome
Justine saw this as her chance to try and make Hunter trust her a little more. If they were going to be together for a while, there needed to be some sort of trust establishment. She didn't want to reveal everything about herself in one sitting but she would tell him the basics.
"I've never had my real parents in my life. I've lived with my grandma and grandpa basically my entire life and hated it the whole time. I go to school in town and have very few friends. There's really not all that much to say really. Music, cats and cheerleading are my greatest passions and I love reading. I have close to no survival skills other than making a fire. I refuse to kill animals so I would most likely starve before someone found me. I'm vegetarian. I was going to be working on my transfer over to veganism but then. . . This happened so I don't know what I'm going to do now. I just want to find my best friend and make sure she is safe. Or kill her if she has been infected. I couldn't let her live that life. I know she would rather die."
Justine hoped that the innocent girl vibe she gave off would make Hunter a little more likely to trust her. She really wasn't a lethal person. She knew how to fight but she would certainly run or hide before she would fight. She always tried to use her smarts to get herself out of situations she didn't want to be in and most of the time, it worked. She was a 4.0 student when school was still going on and she held the sixth position in the top of her class.
However, she realized that her 4.0 GPA wouldn't get her anywhere useful now. . .

[Aintitfun1997]

Krystyn came out of the camper humming a soft tune as she heads around the area. A bark came from behind her as Buddy came bounding out and running after her. Krystyn smiles before walking again humming still before bringing out her arrow and loading it into her bow singing softly. Strolling around the perimeter watching the forest looking for movement. She looks at Buddy who was looking pretty relaxed so she can guess there is no danger. Krystyn continues to walk around the tree line watching the area a sound of a squeak Krystyn pulls her bow up and releases her arrow into a squirrel.

"Oh yes," She says walking over and taking out the arrow and grabbing the dead squirrel.
Buddy barks lightly padding along side her as she started to finish he round about to her watch.

[Alina13]

@Aintitfun1997@Remipa Awesome
Justine stood up and looked around her. She could just barely see Krystyn out in the woods with Buddy. It looked like they had caught something to eat. As much as she hated it, if she wanted to survive out here, she would have to eat meat. Disgusting. . . she thought.
She looked over at all the weapons on the table Hunter had placed next to the bench. At least we have protection. We would be fucked if something happened and we didn't have these. She was actually grateful that they had found Hunter. Justine sat down on the bench again facing the woods and watched Krystyn bend down to pet Buddy. She looked decently calm and happy to have her best friend with her.
Suddenly, she saw movement from the rightward side of the tree line. It looked like a dog. . . NO. . . Those aren't dogs. Those are coyotes. What the HELL? Those don't live here! Justine was panicking inside but she had to warn Krystyn and Buddy.
"KRYSTYN! Turn around! Hunter, grab your gun! There's coyotes out there!"

[Shoe Thief]

Coyotes?! Hunter had been in a situation to defend himself from the dead. But they were slow, they didn't think, and they were stupid. He ran over to the table where the guns still lay. The spread on his pump-action was too wide to hit a coyote from here. and his break action held only one shot. But if they were not feral then maybe he could scare them off with a warning shot. Though it was loud as hell. Though no matter what it seemed they would be firing the guns.

Hunter unloaded the pump-action and loaded the other shotgun, putting the spare shells in his pocket. Three spare shells. If things got bad, those would have to last. He grabbed a couple ear plugs and crammed them in his ears, soon taking aim. "Cover 'em!" He fired the shotgun in the general direction of the coyotes, hoping the blast would scare them away. And hoping that just one shot wouldn't bring the dead. Two shots may but one they are just alerted.... he hoped.
@Alina13@Aintitfun1997

[Aintitfun1997]

Hearing Justines call Krystyn turned in time to dodge a attack by a coyote. Grabbing an arrow from her quiver Krystyn quickly loaded and aimed to fire right when the coyote came to attack again. Another one circled her but right before the mutt pounce Buddy jumped it and a vicious battle began between the two.
Looking around she tried to find a leader. Take down the leader these fuckers leave and they live. Likeliness of that working is 100 to 1 but its a risk she will take. Seeing movement about 2 meters ahead Krystyn pulls out another arrow and aims at the grass. But the sound of gun fire stopped the attack long enough for Krystyn to run. Buddy ran along side Krystyn panting his mouth red from the blood of the coyote he chased off.
Krystyn's main concern is getting the hell out of there before walkers come pouring in for a night snack.

[Alina13]

@Aintitfun1997@Remipa Awesome
"Krystyn come on! Justine shouted as Krystyn ran closer back to camp. She franticly looked back at Hunter as he aimed at a patch of grass where he must have thought a coyote was hiding.
This was the moment in which she wished she had a useful weapon. There was the machete Krystyn had given her, but that wouldn't do them any good unless the animals actually got within close quarters. The shotguns had a much too wide grouping to hit effectively. There was pretty much nothing else. She thought she would rather have any sort of weapon than no weapon at all. She ran to the table and grabbed the machete off the table and started running towards Krystyn to try and deter the coyotes chasing her and Buddy. She had a moment of panic when she saw blood coming from Buddy's mouth. She really hoped that was a coyote's blood and not his. She didn't know what she would do if something happened to that dog. She hoped Hunter would not fire his gun and accidently hit her instead of the animals they were up against.