[IC] The Dead and the Dying

[Always]

Alyssa Chase

The girl quickly climbed down the ladder. The bangs against the door began to disburst and were replaced with screams and gunshots. She still was a bit shocked from the scene. When she was almost at the bottom she half jumped to make the ladder reach the small difference. She failed to do so, and instead she ended up falling from the foot it was onto her back. The wind was knocked out of her as she mumbled "fuck."
She quickly got back up to her feet. She looked back at the house. Toward the sides she could see those creepy figures inching closer, trying to reach through the fence, as the force of military was conquered over. The gun shots almost completely seized. More and more reached out from the fence.
She was curiose on whether or not they could actually take over the fence. At the same time she didn't have anywhere near the courage to wait and find out. She took a quick glance around before she began to run away into the other backyards, she assumed this was the safest desiscion, considering they were roaming all over the streets. She made sure she was heading away from society, to an old farm that wasn't far from the city but she didn't know if she would make it there on time.

[Sol Grim]

Johnny

"Thanks," Johnny said with a smile. He combed his hair back as he looked at himself in one of the many mirrors. He almost couldn't recognize himself with someone elses blood all over his face. "I don't know, maybe it's some kind of weapon. Maybe the north koreans figured out a new virus?" He didn't actually believe what he just said either, but he wasn't one for much logical thinking. "Yeah, what if they don't let us in?"

Johnny took another swig of Jameson whiskey as he found a bar towel to wipe off his face. Before he could even think, he heard the kid screaming. He saw the crippled goul reaching out at the boy, and his instinct took him over. Johnny ran and shoved the kid out of the way, probably harder than he had intended. Then he began to stomp on the undead's head repeatedly until he cracked the skull. It fell face first in a puddle of brain matter and blood.

"Okay, how many times do we have to keep killing these mother fuckers?" Johnny shouted, then turned over and helped the kid up. "Sorry, language. Listen, I don't know if they're dead or not, but they seem to stop once you kill the brain. That's my guess anyway."

Johnny grabbed a pool stick and snapped it in half over his knee, then tossed one side to the kid.

"Start stabbing all these bastards in their heads, we can't have any more surprises," Johnny ordered. He walked over to the nearest dead guy on the floor and stuck the sharp end of his pool stick deep into its eye socket. He then reached down and picked up the gun the kid had mentioned from the other infected guy. It was a glock 45, standard issue. He took the dead man's belt and holster and wrapped it around himself.

Ethan

Still no reception. The television wasn't working either, but the radio he saw in one of the garages might. He came back to the others with a backpack he found full of water and the radio. He plugged it in to the nearest socket and fiddled around with it. Ashley was calmed down a bit more now, lying on the couch. She was probably in shock.

"Thank you," Ethan told the man that brought them in. He could still hear the runners pressing against the door they came in. He knew they couldn't stay here for long. "We'd probably be dead right now. I'm Ethan by the way, she's a student of mine. Her names Ashley. We were on a bus heading to the university when he got in a bad accident. Then...people started attacking other people...tearing them apart, you know? Something horrible is happening."

After a few moments, the radio kicked on.

"...are blocked off. Stay in your homes and barricade everything. The military is working on...."

"Oh yeah, this'll be some clean up," Ethan said. "The military's going to have their hands full for a pretty long time. They might as well just...bomb the city."

He realized as he said it, how true that could come to happen. He tried to put it away from his mind, at least for the time being.

Dallen

The judicial building was on lockdown. No one to enter and no one to leave. Panic was errupting in the main lobby area, where a bunch of civilians, mostly just average joes that came in for jury duty, were screaming and yelling at the few officers trying to keep things under control. Dallen watched the chaos unfold from the second floor, though he knew this wasn't nearly as bad as it was outside.

"I have a family to get to!" one lady yelled.

"You can't keep us here!"

"We have rights!"

An officer pulled out a megaphone and spoke to them: "Please, calm down. This is for your own good. If you go outside, you will be attacked. We have to stay here until this blows over."

"When's that!?"

"How long!!"

"Let us out!!"

It was inevitable in Dallen's mind what was about to happen next. The only thing he could do right now was stay back and let it happen.

[CloseEnough]

Reena

Its only been a few hours and things have been getting crazy, the farms are all on lock down, stables closing their gates and some of the people who appointed themselves on watch were checking every single car that dared come through. The honking of horns blared through in traffic as people tried to find a way out to their families on the main road.

"Least not a whole lot are coming here, everyone is trying to get to those shelters on the news." The red head nodded, beneath her, Epona, her paint mare calmly stood. They needed a mount that could get messages across to the families in her area that won't spook from chaos, knowledge that she had a ex riot horse was common though and so she was put to work.
"Yeah, I'm just hoping those who are still alive will be able to hold up. You can hear the screams all the way from the city." Standing on the road she watched as a few cars made their way through, the guard explaining how they had to have family here in order to take anyone in. "Sorry, its not safe here, some doctor told us that they wanted us to house some animals they were doing testing on, sorry but you might get hurt."

Mouth hanging open at the words Reena turned to the guard as he had them pass. "What is wrong with you!?" Yet all he done was hold out a cigarette, the smoke whispering through in trendails like grabbing hands. "If we let them know their safe than this place will be overrun and turned into the city in no time."

Her chest heavy she turned Epona around, "if you see James you better let him in or so help me god I'm gutting you like a kill." Kicking the horse in her sides they took off, avoiding the roads they took to the woods, needing to make sure everyone is okay.

The Kid

Seeing Johnny kill that thing caused James to forget to breath, eyes wide he sat in a heap of stools and bottles, forgetting to take his hand for a moment but grateful for the help. All he could do was nod, trying to comprehend what was going on at the moment he began to swallow down the bile in his throat.

"Yeah, right, the head just like the movies...." Taking the pool cue he held it close about to get to work only to head the phone buzz in his pocket. Franticly he grabbed the life line, flipping it open to show another text. "The cattle ranchers are lying to people to keep them away, when you get to the check point don't believe anything they say and ask for me."

"Holy shit, there keeping people away from each other....I..I guess its becoming a every man for himself..."

Moving to one of the bodies he found his hands shaking slightly. Hit them in the head..right, just, in the head. Rising the point above his head he slammed it down with all his strength, it was surprisingly easy, not to bring it down but it went through the man like he was made of jelly.
"Oh my god..." He felt like he was going to be sick, yet he still pulled out the weapon, stumbling slightly in the process.

[Sol Grim]

Raven

The white van she was driving now had red smears all over the front. Raven pressed on the pedal hard as she ran over another undead person, struggling with the wheel to keep it in control. Sitting next to her in the passenger seat was a complete stranger, and so were the other two elderly woman buckled in behind them. She didn't even know any of their names yet, but she saved them. For whatever reason, she was helping anyone she could along the way. Maybe it would bite her in the ass down the line, but for right now, it felt like the human thing to do. They all needed each other.

"Watch out!!" the man sitting next to her yelled as she toppled over another infected.

"Sorry!" Raven said, wincing as she did so.

"We have to get off the main roads!" one of the woman behind her said.

"Working on it!" Raven shot back.

[AccursedBiscuit]

Frank

Frank nodded solemnly at Johnny's conclusion and began crushing heads with his bat. It was brutal work, but the group knew what was at stake. As he was clearing the booths, he heard James talking to his mystery friend. Frank hefted the bat on his shoulder and turned to the kid.

"Holy shit, there keeping people away from each other....I..I guess its becoming a every man for himself..." James told them.

"Well shit. It sounds like it's gonna get real hard to get out of the city real soon. They'll likely try to quarantine the area. Assuming the whole world isn't like this..." Frank trailed off, a sinking feeling in his gut.

Once the area was cleared, and their pockets filled with anything useful they could find, they departed.

Once they got outside, Frank was stunned for a moment. The carnage was incredible, like nothing he'd ever imagined. The sound of Johnny's bike quickly brought Frank back into focus, and he mounted his bike. Once James was on, he set off with Johnny, out of one nightmare and into another...

[Sol Grim]

Dallen

Even with the dead rising and killing people, it wasn't the sole problem the city was facing. Rioting broke out all along the streets. People were looting stores and destroying anything they could, those lucky enough to not be near the undead anyway. The civilians inside the judicial court building realized this soon enough, and for the most part they calmed down and began listening to the officers. Some of the other lawyers and judges locked themselves away in their offices on higher level floors, hoping it would all come to an end soon. The military had set up barricades around the grid of the city, closing it off as best they could. By mid day they realized that they had lost control, and the order to shoot everyone, including the uninfected people, was given. One of the officers kept the group Dallen was in informed, as he had outside connections with the military. The few of them were on the second floor overlooking the mass of people still inside, all sitting around and waiting for this to end.

"There's no help coming, is there?" a middle aged blonde woman asked, she was a city lawyer.

The officer she spoke to shook his head. "I lost contact thirty minutes ago. Last I heard, they couldn't keep it under wraps. Then..."

"Then what?" Dallen asked.

"Look, it was my brother contacting me and now I don't even know if he's alive," the cop spoke. "He told me...get out. There gonna napalm the city and set up refugee camps at Fort Wallington and other places. If that doesn't contain this thing, then who knows."

"How long do we have?" Dallen asked, as the others around him seemed to start losing their cool.

"Sometime soon, probably nightfall. I don't really know, but I assume as quickly as possible. If this thing gets out..."

"They can't just bomb us?" the lady started. "We're people! Doesn't the president have to order that!?"

The officers silence answered her question for her.

"So what?" one of the judges asked, a large man with a balding head. "We just, wait here to die? We can't go out there!"

"We have to," Dallen told him.

"What do we tell all these people?" the judge asked.

"Open the doors, every man for himself," answered the cop. "Goodluck."

"What, wait! You can't abandon us, we don't know how to fight!" another person said, one of the secretaries. "We need you to protect us."

"You're on your own," was the last thing the cop said as he ran off. He grabbed the megaphone and went through the crowd to the front doors. "Everybody listen up. We're opening the doors. We can't stay here any longer."

The crowd roared in confusion. The same people screaming to get out were now doing the opposite. It didn't matter, as they didn't have a chance to get the glass doors opened. A black suv suddenly rammed through, crushing the officer in an instant and creating a large opening. After a few moments of shock, the curious few in the front of the crowd slowly stepped forward. It was to late, a large horde of the dead had taken notice. The infected came swarming in as panic erupted.

"Is there a back way out?" Dallen asked the judge, who snapped out of his shock to say that there was. Lets go."

[CloseEnough]

The Kid

Climbing on the back of the bike James tried his best not to stare too long. The city was in ruins, screams escaping through the streets, humans that should have never been so mutilated, organs outside their bodies and yet they stumbled across the carnage, arms slightly raised as though they were grabbing the air itself to keep standing.
it was their jaws that made him uneasy, smacking with no noise in a silent scream. Yet what caused him to look away was the corpses that began to run, the absolute stuff of nightmares.

"Take a left up on 21st street" looking around at what still sparked normal memories of getting to work caused a strange ping his chest. He would be so board seeing the same thing over and over again but now he wanted nothing more than to see that same tagged wall and broken window that he would look through each morning.
Going over the bridge though he saw why Reena told them to take the back roads. Stand still traffic lined below them for miles, the honking of horns sounded through the sirens even as he watched in horror eaten bodies clawing at the cars and attacking any that had the misfortune of not being sealed. "There not letting anyone out of here..." That only meant that they had to be under some kind of quarantine, they had to get out, they had to.

[TK421]

THOMAS

Ethan

Still no reception. The television wasn't working either, but the radio he saw in one of the garages might. He came back to the others with a backpack he found full of water and the radio. He plugged it in to the nearest socket and fiddled around with it. Ashley was calmed down a bit more now, lying on the couch. She was probably in shock.

"Thank you," Ethan told the man that brought them in. He could still hear the runners pressing against the door they came in. He knew they couldn't stay here for long. "We'd probably be dead right now. I'm Ethan by the way, she's a student of mine. Her names Ashley. We were on a bus heading to the university when he got in a bad accident. Then...people started attacking other people...tearing them apart, you know? Something horrible is happening."

After a few moments, the radio kicked on.

"...are blocked off. Stay in your homes and barricade everything. The military is working on...."

"Oh yeah, this'll be some clean up," Ethan said. "The military's going to have their hands full for a pretty long time. They might as well just...bomb the city."

He realized as he said it, how true that could come to happen. He tried to put it away from his mind, at least for the time being.

@Sol Grim

Wait. What did Ethan just say?

Bomb the city!? Oh hell no. They can't do that! Or can they? Thomas thought to himself.

"Ethan, this is no time for pleasantries. I'm Thomas. That's Luis," he said nodding to the Latino male, "and that worthless blob over there," he claimed with no regard towards his boss, "is John Russell."

If the military would even consider bombing the city, they'd better go now. And even if they weren't, Ashley, the poor girl, needed proper medical attention, stat. "Ethan, we're going to help you," he said calmly as he grabbed a bottle of water and washed the wound, "but I need you to focus. So, ignore the radio."

"Citizens are advised to remain calm, and to please stay inside..." continued the radio announcer. Gun shots and thunderous booms could be heard in the background.

"Over against the back wall, behind bay two, that's the one on the far side from us are two buttons," Thomas was trying to keep the terror of total obliteration via bombing out of his mind. "Hit the red one marked 'DOWN,' that'll lower the car, which we'll need to take Ashley out of here." The images of F-22s flying over head dropping multiple high explosive bombs upon a sea of frightened people and crazed what-ever-they-weres flashed before his eyes. "The keys are in the ignition. You'll drive. Luis and I will take care of Ashley."

Sitting atop the lift in Bay 2 was a 2016 LandRover LR4.

Some rich prick had brought it in the day before, demanding the vehicle be checked out immediately. 'There's something going on with the rear axle. It's humming or something.' The man obviously had no clue what was wrong, so Thomas and Luis were going to give it the 'once over' and then do nothing but give it an oil change, which is was well past due for. Once the prick returned to pay the bill, they were gonna tell him to bring it to their private shop on the outskirts of the city, to get a good deal on repairs. And then they could really hit him up for the big money. They had been doing this for the last couple months out of Luis' run down shack of a place just five miles south of York Junction. Why should John Russell reap all the benefits of their hard labor? So, they had set out to make a name for themselves. They had already wooed away some of FastLane's regulars -- sure these regulars came in for the customary oil change and brake job, but any major repairs went out to the shop near the Junction. They were going to make a name for themselves ...

Just then a loud THUD, wrestled the FastLane crew from their current reality.

BANG! Echoed another large thud from one of the bay doors. Followed by a cacophony of mangled cries and garbled words.

Through the small rectangular glass window of the Entrance door a distorted face was pressed against the glass. Blood streaked its face; trying to distinguish whether it was male or female was nigh impossible. Its mouth gaped open wider than humanly possible, barring blood stained teeth, and a near black tongue.

More bangs and rattles shook Bay One and Two's doors.

Whatever was out there, was now trying to get in.

"Ethan, go!" Thomas cried.

"Luis," was all Thomas had to say to spur his co-worker into action.

John Russell stood there unmoving. A wet spot showing on his pants, growing larger by the second.

[Sol Grim]

Ethan

Ethan checked the last text message he received as he got into the vehicle with the others. It was from his wife, and read: "Go to where we brought the boys horse riding that one time, find us there!"

Hope struck him as he smiled with joy. 'They're still alive!' he thought. Putting the landrover in gear, he got ready to go.

"Is he coming with us?" Ethan asked of the fat man pissing his pants. He would only wait a few moments longer, as the infected began to crack the doors glass.

Johnny

Not to long after, the rural areas of the farmlands came into view. It went on for miles, which meant it was a good place to hide. The only problem was everyone and their mother probably was thinking the same. Johnny pulled his motorcycle parallel to Frank's and spoke to them as they continued to ride.

"What was your name again, kid?" he asked. "You did good back there, but now you're up again. These people know you, lead us in. Frank, whatever happens, we watch out for each other. That's the only way we're going to get through this."

[CloseEnough]

James

Seeing the familiar roads and sights James began to relax, yet the sound that he was used to, borderline boring of nothing but the calls of cows and humm of tractor was overrun by the roar of honking horns as car by car was turned away. "Don't listen to anything they say...." Recalling the text he pulled his phone out again only for it to show nothing new. "Shit.."

He recognized some of the faces, showing up to make deals with Reena he seemed to be slightly okay, looking over his shoulder he took in a shaky breath. "James, its James, just wait, I'll be back." Swinging his leg off the back he jogged to the check point only for a chill to run down his spine when he realized what they were holding. Each one heavily armed as though they were going to hunt down some grand beast from lore.
"Hey, I work for Misty Meadow..Its owned by Miss Reena, listen I'm just trying to get past here shes been trying to get me to her barn so we can tie everything down."

Eyes cold they looked as though they were being told a joke as they shook their head through the awaiting silence. "Yeah we know you kid, and no your not getting in. I like Reena, shes smart a damn good hunter and would help out. But you? Oh no not you, your just a punk who went running, don't need ya."

He felt his hands begin to ball up in fists, "Let me in! Look I'll show you, shes been testing me telling me I need to come in so let me in dammit!"
Taking out his phone he was about to show them only for the farmer to take it and throw it out. "Get out, don't need kids like you fucking things up."

He felt like he wanted to throw up as he was pushed aside, the road still closed as he walked back he was forced to look at the two who helped him through here. The image of the corpses walking through the streets burning in his mind he pulled at his hair to try and push it away as he shook.
"Come on, I know the way on foot and shes bound to be riding near." Looking to the woods that were looming next to them he pointed further down. "Theres a trail a little ways down that people took dirt bikes on." There was no way he would just give up on a safe spot, one had to work for it. And honestly, after that humiliating set back he would be more than happy to see the looks on their faces when they realized that they just walked through with others. "Those ass hole's aren’t letting anyone in, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. I doubt she even knows how bad this is."

[Always]

Sorry, I was being lazy the past few days xd))

Alyssa Chase

The blonde haired girl continued on running despite how tired she was. She pushed her self further not nothing to look back at her surrounding. 'What if they were following her?' She wondered. She knew she couldn't keep on running for ever, could she? No it was out of the question, her pace was already slowing down and she couldn't push much more. She gasped for breath as she ran, but only a little came to her.
How long had she been running? A minute an hour? A day? She knew it couldn't be a day. There was no possible way. It felt like it though. Everything hurt. Her feet burned, her legs were numb, and her throut felt like a pile of bricks piling up. It was all a blur. She had no clue what was around hr or anything, she just knew she couldn't stop.
A fallen branch came onto her path as she ran. She didn't know that it was there, and bam. She fell onto the ground using her hands to block her fall, though it did her no good. She ended up landing one her stomack her knees and her elbows helping brace the impact.
'Get up! Get up!' She thought to herself. Instead she just layed there like a dead battery. She had little energy left, if any at all. 'This is now going to be your death bed' She thought. She quitely moaned slightly as she rolled onto her back so that at the very least she would be able to breath without having to force her head upwards. She continued to breath heavily as she layed there motionless watching the cloads float above her.
She had to admit the cloads were very calming, and managed to take her mind off the current situation for a few minutes. She saw a variety of cloads. One of them looked like a cute bunny eating a carrot. There was another that one that looked like a horse galloping through the sky over the grassy medows.
She didn't know how exactly it happened but soon she was dragged back into reality. She still didn't want to move but at least know she somewhat calmed her breathing down. She suddenly realised that there were multiple tree branches that hung into her sight. 'Wait do she make it out of the city?' She wondered. There were barely any trees in the city she had to be out of it.

[Sol Grim]

Dallen

"It's only a few blocks, we can make it," Dallen told the small group. "Stay together and keep up."

They were hunched behind a dumpster behind the court building. The plan was to head east until they got to the subway entrance, then take that all the way outside of the city. Dallen gave one last brief look over the dumpster, then nodded to them. They started at a light jog, but when the walkers came into view the pace picked up, even the judge was moving quickly.

"We're not going to make it!" Cindy, the secretary yelled.

"We will, keep moving," Dallen assured her.

The police in the area were firing their weapons near the front of the judicial building, giving them a distraction from the horde to escape. They made it down two blocks with relative ease, using the many vehicles parked along the curbside as cover.

"We're almost there," he told them.

Suddenly, down one of the side streets, they saw a large tank crumble over some wreckage. It was moving slow and came to a stop in a small park field, set directly in the center of numerous large buildings. Moments later, a few military trucks rolled in beside it, with soldiers all set inside. It looked as if they were about to have a quick moment to plan out whatever came next.

"The military!" the judge shouted with excitement. "We're saved!"

Without warning, he and the rest ran after them, ignoring whatever plan Dallen had set for them. Dallen winced and stayed back, not completely trusting anyone or anything at this point. He was right to believe so, as the military noticed the group running toward them.

"Help! Help us!" Cindy shouted.

The soldiers raised their weapons at the group. They paused in confusion, waving their hands in surrender.

"We're not infected! I'm a judge!" the man pleaded.

They opened fire.

Dallen waited a few moments longer, and the military moved off to another location. He reached the tunnel entrance to the subway and went inside, lighting up a cigarette as he went down the steps. He paused to catch his breath briefly, then continued on alone.

[CloseEnough]

Reena

"Aright, just got to get to the Peterson's and see if they got everything tacked up." Her mare beneath her she held her seat, the sound of breaths from the animal and leather rubbing was sounding like gun shots in the woods. She was a few miles from her barn, not too far from the small town that everyone used. So why was it so quiet?

"This is getting insane" clicking her tongue to get Epona moving, the thumps of hooves entering the noise, every twig that snapped caused her to look up. The usual trails that they had gone through so many times her mare refused to cross. "Aright, Aright, we'll go a different way okay."
She knew the rules, never force your animal one way when in the wilderness, there was something out there. She couldn't figure out what it was, she hadn't see the dead walking, all she knew was that something was beyond wrong, the cross bow that thumped on her back was a reminder of the nagging in the back of her head.

Looking around she pulled the reins back, her breath caught in her throat when she saw a girl in the dirt. "Hey, hey come on wake up." A smooth motion she dismounted, boots crunching through the dried leaves as she made her way to the blond. Laying on her back she looked to be in a Daze, Reena knelt down beside her. "Hey, don't move too fast, anything hurt?"
Looking over her shoulder she only saw Epona, the mare's head still up, ears perked yet she didn't seem to be at a stand to run at a moment's notice. "Come on, I can give you a ride back to your house, its not safe out here."

[Always]

@CloseEnough

Alyssa Chase

The girl heard someone's voice. She waited a moment trying to figure out who it was but it definitely wasn't some one she knew. The only thing she was able to deduce was that the girl was a girl, which was confirmed when the girl had bent down. She looked at the girl as she slowly sat up.
She didn't want to admit how much pain she was in from running that far. Her through and her feet hurt the most, but there wasn't anything the girl would be able to do with that, well some water might be helpful. She was hesitant before she answered, " Can I have some water?"Each word sh spoke feeling like knifes in her throat.
"And I'm fine!" She forced herself to say. Instead she asked, " What are they? What are those things?" She wanted to know. She was scared and worried.
Her eyes glanced around the area she was in. She definitely made it and there was no question about it. She thought it must be some what safer here than staying in the city with all that chaos going on. She lifted her arm and pushed a piece of her hair out of her face.
" A ride?" She asked curiously. "Where?" She felt as though sh was asking a lot of questions so she decided to make that the last one. The girl was there to help her, she didn't need to make up ten thousand questions for her.

((Sorry I'm slow))

[CloseEnough]

@Always (Its fine)

Standing up Reen moved back to her horse, working with the saddle she unclasped the leather strap to pull out a steel bottle. "So, did the idiots turn you away or something? I been looking for my stable hand, shorter kid, blond hair, brown eyes, kinda stutters at times." Speaking as she walked over she offered the bottle. "Don't drink too fast, you look exhausted."

Yet something was off with what she said. "What do you mean? What is what?" Standing up she began to look around once more, her mare lowing it's head finally. "Well whatever you're worried about, Epona doesn’t seem to notice it, and trust me she'll tell ya if your in danger or not, can tell whats commin way before we see it."
Her voice having a vary light hint of an accent she knelt down by the girl, looking at her eyes to make sure she wasn't concussed. "Do you live around here? I'm offering you a ride back home I was on my way to the Peteron's anyway."

[Sol Grim]

Johnny

Johnny walked his motorcycle through the brushes and covered it in a ditch.

"We go on foot from here," Johnny told them. "If we can't reach your girl's place by nightfall, we need to set up a camp. How far is it?"

He pulled out a short bottle of whiskey and took a swig of it, then offered it over to the kid.

Ethan

Once they were set, they were just as soon off. He took the back ways out of the city that only the locals knew, and for the most part it worked. Whenever they would reach a dead end due to traffic being piled up, it was on to the next street. There was always another way out of this city, at least until they reached the barricade zones.

Ethan pulled the vehicle under a large bridge that was to head out of the city, but the bridge was raised and blocked off by military forces. He could see them in the distance, the military keeping watch.

"Well, looks like we're off roading," Ethan told them.

As they hit the dunes leading out of the city, Ashley got worse. She began foaming at the mouth and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Within moments, she seemed to pass on.

"Ashley?" there was nothing any of them could do at this point, and Ethan knew that. He just kept driving, unknowing that the girl was beginning to turn into one of those things this very moment.

Raven

The young hairstylist now had a full suv with strangers in it, all looking to get out of the city. As the sun began to lower down the sky, they could see the city behind them in all its horror. Smoke rose up to the clouds and the gunfire continued. It was the end of the world.

"Lookout!" the passenger yelled.

Raven swerved back to reality. Another vehicle, a 2016 LandRover LR4, jumped out onto the dirt road before them. They were coming across the dunes, and we're driving recklessly in front of them.

"What the hell's wrong with these people?" the passenger asked.

Raven let the brake loosen as she followed carefully behind them.

"I don't know, maybe they need help?" she wondered.

Dallen

Pitch black. The man lit his zippo on to see a few feet in front of him. Against the side of the tunnel, he found a steel pipe that he picked up and held firmly onto. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he put his lighter away and continued on. He had taken the subway on numerous occasions and had gone to many different places, so he knew it led out of the city. The only problem was, it was almost impossible to tell if he was going the right way or not.

He walked for hours until he came upon one of the subway trains, parked and unmoving. Blood smeared the windows as he approached, and then the faint sound of crunching and lips smacking together could be heard. He pushed open the doors and saw the carnage within. Mutilated corpses lie everywhere, and in the darkness he could see shadowy figures hunched over the bodies, feasting on their flesh. They stopped and quickly turned their attention to the lawyer.

"Shit," he said.

The first one ran at him, but Dallen's swing of his pipe was perfectly placed. It smacked the creature hard in the temple and its brain exploded upon impact against the train wall. The next one came slower, but it moved unpredictably. It would shuffle to the left, then back up a few steps, then move to the right. As it got a few feet away from him, he kicked a severed head that the first creature was eating into its path. The infected tripped over the head, giving Dallen just enough time to bring his pipe down with force. He gave the undead a few more bashes to the skull until he was satisfied, then it was on to the final infected monster at the back of the train, but this one was different.

Dallen lit his zippo to get a better look at it. It's jaws were widespread, and it was longer and lengthier than the others. It looked as if the skin had been completely ripped off of it. The monster tilted its head back and began to scoff something up from its throat. Dallen raised an eyebrow as the thing spat a toxic subtance toward him. He quickly dodged out of the way by ducking under one of the seats. The substance struck the area around him, burning the steel as if it were some kind of acid.

The spitter began to charge up again, but Dallen moved in. He rushed the thing, and smashed his pipe across its face before it could build up the toxin. The spitter fell to the floor, as the acid like substance burned its own face off. Dallen pulled out his marlboro's and realized he only had one final cigarette left.

"Typical," he said.

[CloseEnough]

James

Watching the bike being covered the kid kept watch, still glaring at the farmers from the foliage before turning his attention back to the others. "Shes not my girl, too old and too nerd.." Yet he was cut off by the offer of the drink. After all the shit that has been going on today that was exactly what he needed.
Taking the bottle with gratitude he took a swig before handing it back. "Thanks, its a little over a mile from here, once we get there I am going to sleep and forget about this."

Walking through the foliage he began to take a trail, following the path ways that seemed to be indented with hooves. "Its actually kinda easy to find once you know her even if you never been there. Just follow the horse shoos" the branches reached for them like hungry hands, yet as he pushed on, the sound of honking horns began to grow quieter and quieter.
Yet the silence was broken by the distant sound of screams and a single gunshot.

"Guess things happen for a reason..."

[Always]

@CloseEnough

Alyssa Chase

The girl eyed at reena confusion set in her face to the first comment. "What? Sent me back?" She asked. " Who?" She watched what she was doing till when she came over with the water bottle. "Thanks." She said and grabbed the bottle. It felt cold in her hand.
"Thanks" She quickly added on. She almost forgot to say that. She twisted the cap open and took a small sip. As it went down her throut, relief began. She waited a moment before she took another swig of the water and swallowed it again.
She eyed the girl as she raised an eyebrow, but shook her head no. "I'm not going back to that!" She said stuburnly but she thought of it as if she had every reason to be. She shook her head as she continued," Didn't you see them? Their faces were half gone! They were attacking everyone! The military were shooting at them, and they managed to conquer them over! " She shivered a little just thinking of it.
She eyed Reena's face as she realised something. She sounded crazy. "You don't believe me do you? You have to believe me! They were there! It happened! T-those who were attacked turned and attacked the others!" She took another sip of water. There was no way Reena was going to belief her. "I ran. And no I don't live around here, I live in the city." She stated.
"And you expect 'that' horse to sence the danger. You must ride that thing hard if you expect it to be reliable!" She said eyeing the horse.

((Hahahaha xd!))

[CloseEnough]

@Always

"Hey, easy, I'm not making you do anything darlin I'm just here to help." She knelt by the blond again, a rather calming tone in her voice that shes been using for years. Yet everything she said had began to sound more and more ridiculous, missing half their face? Were there people caught in an explosion or something?
Yet everything clicked when the girl said she was from the city. That made sense, that place was a war zone last she checked. "Listen I'm heading to the peterson's their an elderly couple so I'm making sure their okay, if you want you can come with me, I own a barn here, its off the main roads, no one is around there."

Raising a brow at the comment though Reena looked to here mare. "Well horses can read the heart rate of other creatures and distinguish threats through their instincts, so yeah, they can tell you if danger is near and are used for therapy because they can lower your own as well." The joke going right over her head she stood up, her crossbow patting on her back as she looked around again. "Listen hun its dangerous out here at night, head east, gotta keep the sun on your left shoulder and you'll hit the town, they have an inn there if you need a place to stay or you can hitch a ride with me, your choice."

[AccursedBiscuit]

Frank

Frank continued on with Johnny and James. They were away from the madness in the city, but he could still hear the screams. Loud and clear.

"So, now that we've got time, what's our long term plan? Will your friend let us stay permanently? She probably doesn't know how bad it is. Before long, it'll be suicide to try to survive out here."

Soon, the adrenaline that had kept Frank going began to subside, and he realized it was getting late, and he hadn't slept in almost 24 hours. He managed to keep pace with the others, but he really hoped they'd find that farm soon. And that they don't run into anymore "surprises".

And almost as if to spite him, a piercing shriek filled the woods, stopping the group in their tracks. They began looking in all different directions, but Frank saw it first. It was in the trees, jumping from branch to branch like a gold winning Olympian on steroids.

...

"What the fuck ARE these things?!" Frank yelled as he readied his bat.