[IC] ☠ The Edge Of Extinction ☣

[BilboTheGreat]

Josh Mansfeild

Josh

The sun was just below it's peak in the sky, bright rays of heat shining down onto Josh's back as he walked. It was around 14:00 in the afternoon, the sky was clear of clouds and boasting a beautiful colour of light blue. The breeze was just right, enough so that he wasn't sweating in the heat, but not too much so that he would become cold. The boy was walking down a backstreet of the city, the small sidewalk took up a little bit of room but the canal took the rest of it. Boats lined the side of the canal, most if not all of them had already been ransacked for supplies and fuel. Some where floating aimlessly in the middle of the water, waiting for somebody to pull them back in. Josh was kept company only by his footsteps, the rhythmic patting of his feet on the brick below him the only noise in the eerily quiet street. He was dressed in a pair of blue baggy jeans that were easy to climb in and run in, and a red and black flannel button up shirt. Over his shoulder were the straps of his backpack which he carried all his belongings except his weapons in.

After a few more minutes of walking, Josh turned a left corner and stopped in his tracks. "No... No way-" He said to himself. He didn't give himself time to finish before he started jogging towards what he had seen. He had turned into an alley between two sets of houses, and in the middle of the alley, on one side, was an ambulance. An ambulance that from what Josh could see, hadn't been broken into. He jogged up to the back off it, looking around. He put his hand on the doors, pushed gently, and it didn't budge. It wasn't open. He walked around the side, and cautiously peered into the drivers window. Nothing. He walked back around, looked over the doors again and reached for the hands to open it. He grabbed it and pulled gently and when it didn't open he pulled harder, and harder. He was at this, pulling and twisting, for a good couple of minutes. He needed this medicine. He reached to his side, pulled out his small axe and swung. It hit the lock, but didn't break it. He hit it again and this time it looked like the black handle was coming loose. Again, and with a bang it fell off and onto the floor. He reached forward, grabbing the door and pulling.

As soon as he opened the door, a low growl emitted from inside. Not being an idiot, Josh quickly closed the door and threw himself against it just as the infected inside did, the lone predator slamming himself against the doors. Again. And again. "Fuck!" He said to himself. Josh closed his eyes, and after a countdown of ten, he ran to the side and around the truck. He didn't look back to see if the infected had gotten out. He knew it would have. It had slammed its body against the door again and fell straight out. It quickly composed itself and started on its sprint after Josh. The boy ran as fast as he could down the alley until he emerged at a bigger, more full road. He turned right and ran as fast as he could until he saw a hotel a few buildings down on his left. More and more of the infected that had been just wandering were starting to go after him now and so he ran and ran until he got there, and as the infected started gaining on him, he threw himself at the door. Somehow, luckily, the door flew open and he ran inside. He pushed himself against the door, holding it shut as he looked around. To his side was a desk. He grabbed it, pulling it as fast as he could. The door was only half covered when the infected started knocking. He pushed it until the door was completely closed. He stood still for a minute, closing his eyes and catching his breath. "Jesus..."

Zoey Mansfield

Zoey

Zoey's light brown eyes slowly fluttered open as she finally awoke from her deep sleep in the morning. She let out a quiet yawn, slowly reaching her arms up to grab the back of her chair and pull herself up. Surprisingly, sleeping on that had been comfortable and she would have to do it again, it was better than sleeping in some old bed, or on the floor with a blanket. She rubbed her eyes gently as she looked outside the windows that were all around, the sun was beating through and she guessed that it was probably just past midday. That was a lot of sunlight wasted, but she would kick herself for it. She had been up late the night before, she needed to sleep. She stood up, looking out the windows again at the beautiful blue sea that surrounded her tour boat. It was nice and safe in one of these, it had been the most peaceful and comfortable night she had in a while. Not really warm as she was certain if she set a fire in here something would go wrong, but her jacket was just enough. She smiled to herself as she looked around the canals, but the smile soon faded when her thoughts were interrupted. A muffled, helpless voice coming from the other end of the small tour boat. She gave a deep sigh, before she turned on her heels and looked down there.

There was a man, his wrists were cuffed together around the steering wheel. His wrists were also tied with rope, just for security, and the rope was also tied around the steering wheel. As she made eye contact with him, his muffled sounds became louder and it was more apparent he was trying to say something to her. She slowly started to walk over, brushing herself down as she crouched down in front of him. Her head cocked to the side slightly as she looked at him, gently laughing as he looked more and more desperate to speak. Upon further inspection, the man was wearing only trousers. His bare chest was covered in cuts and blood, as was one of his cheeks. She grinned as she looked over him, reaching up to take out the cloth that she had stuck in his mouth to quiet him. She gripped the end of it, but before she took it out she spoke. "You need to promise me that when I take this out, your not going to shout at me, okay?" She was given a quick nod. "Good". She said, tugging on the cloth and pulling it out of his mouth. The man let out a long sigh of relief, looking up at her. "I-I'm really thirsty. Can I please have some water..?" He said, his voice dry and raspy.

Zoey didn't say anything for a moment. She looked down at him, contemplating what to say in her head. After a few seconds of terrifying silence, she giggled. She laughed and smiled at him, standing up again. "You want my water? After you called me all those nasty names yesterday? No". The man shook his head quickly. "I am so, so sorry about what I said! Please!" Zoey shrugged. She walked over to her pack and took out one of her water bottles. Sitting down in front of the man, she untwisted the cap and took a sip. Then another, and then she drunk more and more until there was only half left. She was laughing the whole way as she watched the man struggle to break free. She closed the water, put it down and looked at him. "You don't like being with me?" She asked him, mocking an upset look. "That's okay, I can leave. I'll just go". She said, walking away from him and too her pack. "No, no please don't go!" He said, breaking down into sobbing now. "I don't want to die here! Please!". Zoey ignored his pleas. She picked up her water, her jacket and packed it all into a bag. She sobbed and begged more and more as she packed up, swinging her backpack over her shoulders and walking past him.

Turning around, she smirked down at him and walked over again. "Sorry, my bad. My bad. I really am very, very sorry". She said. She leant over him and started to untie the rope. She pulled it away and stuffed it back into her bag. "I didn't want to leave you like that. I told you, I am a nice girl". She smiled. "Yes, yes, very nice!" He said quickly. "The handcuffs?" He asked afterwards. Zoey looked down at him and sighed. "So very needy. You know that? 'Can I have some water? Can I eat some food? Stop hitting me, stop cutting me, it hurts too much, take my cuffs off'. You are a very, very needy man". She said, calmly but annoyed. She pulled the key for his hand cuffs out of her pocket and looked at her. "Watch. Otherwise you will never know where they are! I'm only showing you once!" She said. He nodded, and his eyes watched her hand, the key, intently. Without a second of thought, she opened the window and threw the key into the water of the canal. "Now you know where it is!" She smiled. She didn't turn to him again before she climbed out of the door and onto side of the road, pushing the boat as hard as she could to send it slowly drifting away. His shouts slowly got quieter and quieter as she smiled and walked away. "You psychotic bitch! Murderer! I'm going to fucking kill you!"

[smarty0114]

---

---

Tessa was running. She'd been on a routine morning scavenging run when she had ran into one of the god damned bandits that stalked the streets. The bastard had chased after her and now she was sprinting through the streets trying to lose him. She ducked into a side alley and pushed herself up against the wall, trying to steady her breathing, listening as the man's footsteps got closer. She gripped her baseball bat tightly, readying herself for a fight.

The moment the man turned the corner the baseball bat swung and hit him in the face, sending him to the ground. Tessa smirked as she looked at the man's unconscious body. She knelt down and began searching the bandit, coming up with a bottle of water, some bandages, and a lighter. She stood back up and slowly crept out of the alley, scanning the area for any danger.

Between Tessa and Charlie, Tessa had always been the scavenger. Charlie was a great guardsman, and was always up to hold down the fort. Tessa was quick, and always ready for a fight. Tessa had always liked the arrangement. As much as she loved her friend, she enjoyed the time alone, searching through the abandoned city. She kept making her way down the street, searching for any signs of useful materials.

[Jinxer]

Henry Charlton

"Read, read, never want to read, ah, here we go."

The library was dark but seemed empty of infected to Henry, or any other living being, for which he was grateful. It was hard to remain sane when spending such a long time by oneself, avoiding both the living and the dead for fear of a slow and painful death, or undeath, and so he had sunk himself into his favourite retreat: literature. Specifically the non-fiction kind. Part of him chastised himself for not even trying to approach any of the living few he had seen in his travels across the city but then the other part would immediately remind him of the brutality he had also seen enacted by his fellow human beings. Definitely safest to stay alone until he was sure he wasn't teaming up with an axe murderer or something.

"Why are we here? Looks like the place has already been tossed."

Voices down the stairwell had Henry reaching for his sabre, a replica of a Napoleonic-era cavalry blade he had 'borrowed' from the museum for lack of anything better at the time. He crawled to the edge of the stairwell to hear better and sure enough there was what sounded like two people coming up; it was difficult to tell with their footfalls echoing in the otherwise silent city.

"Never know when someone's missed something, 'specially as a place like this might have infected in so others'll stay away."

They were definitely coming up to his floor, the one which had all the staff areas, and Henry made a split second choice to grab his few belongings and creep as quietly as he could towards a fire exit at the far end of the floor. He paused at the door, hearing the noises on the stairwell stop, and a voice question something. Then there were warning shouts and a gun went off.

Great, bring more of them running why don't you?

He shoved the door open and started running, all attempts at secrecy thrown to the wind as he tried to get as far away as possible from the hotspot the morons downstairs had created.

[Aewin]

---

"Beans, plums-- canned tomato soup? Score!"

A mop of red hair appeared from between two counters, a large grin plastered on the pale face as Maxine peered down at the still untouched soup can in her hand. After months of barely finding anything, this house was a dream. It had everything, surprisingly. Some spare clothing - albeit it was too large for her thin frame, but she wasn't one to complain - and now some delicious food.

Pulling her leather backpack from off her shoulder, she set it down onto the counter before filling up her bag with the food she had found. She didn't even leave the expired products, at least she could use some of those to lure some animals later for hunting. Once the contents of the kitchen cabinets were stripped bare, Maxine zipped up her bag and left the kitchen, headed towards the joint drawing room.

Maxine walked past a fireplace, cobwebs filling each corner of the room with a thick layer of dust over each surface, indicating no life - whether living or dead - had passed through these walls for at least a few years. She glanced at the pictures on the mantle, eyes gentle as she took in each face within those frames carefully; an old woman sitting on the arm chair alongside two younger faces, who were both standing behind the woman with goofy grins.

She was still surprised how stocked the house was. She could only imagine that the occupants had gone off on a holiday before the borders had been shut, refusing them access to their own homes. It was sad, but Maxine didn't want to imagine anything else. She just wanted to hope that the old occupants of the household had found somewhere safe to hide, still alive and kicking after all these years.

It was naive, but a hope nonetheless.

Bang!

Maxine jolted, eyes widening and heart pounding against her chest as she leaned her arm against the wall to keep herself balanced. The sound came from upstairs, she was sure of it. Terrified, Maxine slipped her hand under her shirt, tugging her hunting knife loose from its binding to grip onto the handle tightly. Rather than engaging whatever the fuck was up there, Maxine decided it was best to leave, quietly through the closest exit, which in this case was the front door.

Creeping out of the room, she peered around the corner of the doorway, making sure the coast was clear before stepping carefully towards the door. Each step against the wooden flooring caused the girl to wince, the anticipation of the old wood creaking and alerting the creature upstairs making Maxine almost sweat with nervousness. Reaching the door, she reached out for the handle before another crash was heard, this time closer towards the wooden staircase. Deciding not to stay at the house for a second longer, Maxine ripped the door open, bolting away from the house.

[GingerBoi123]

Darren

Ugh, there's always nothing...

Darren had been spending the morning scavenging the local area, like most survivors. The building he was in had no power and very little sunlight, so he resorted to using his flashlight. To him, using his tool (which was strapped with duct tape to his shoulder) seemed like a distasteful waste of resource. He had to make the batteries last, but the other places were picked dry, like a rotting corpse. The building around him, seemed only half constructed, but scaffolding was left behind. That might prove an invaluable escape route if things get hairy. With both of his weapons holstered as he trifled through ruined desks and rubble.

Result... at last.

Darren just got his hand on an unwrapped cereal bar. Perfect start to the morning. Not much sense in using his other food now, so Darren quite simply stuffed it in his pocket. Victory, as always in this place, was short lived. The sounds of the walking dead began to fill the building, and it didn't take a genius to work out that they were beginning to enter the bottom floor. They definitely caught the scent of something, and if it was Darren... well, either way it was time to take his leave. Darren bolted up the nearby flight of stairs to the third floor, the part which seemed to be under construction. Darren skidded and slipped around the supporting pillars. The scaffolding was easily accessible, as there was only an empty window frame within the wall that separated him. Darren vaulted through the window, placing his hands on the frame for stability, and catching himself on the scaffolding bars. Darren's eyes darted around behind his ski goggles, scanning for an escape. Darren mentally plotted a path, and he wouldn't have to get past any zombies that he knew off.

Darren hopped over, twisting his body so that he was cat hanging on the pole. Darren sighted the poles below him, and dropped down systematically, catching himself on each one. When Darren touched the floor, he sprinted right of the building as fast as he could. Darren was very fortunate. He was small, young and nimble, equipped with some pretty killer weapons. After five minutes, Darren slipped into an alleyway and stopped. With a resounding sigh, Darren slid down the wall till he was sitting and began to pull down the shemagh wrapped around the lower half of his face. Dusting off the cereal bar, Darren unwrapped it and bit down, enjoying his morning meal.

[Sven the Silent]

The city tends to get scary at night, if not for the light of the moon, the entire city would be nothing but darkness. We are fortunate enough to have the summer provide us with long days and bright nights, but when winter comes around things will be a lot different. The infected are attracted to bright lights as much as they are to sound, they swarm anything out of the ordinary. I have no alarm clock so getting up early is difficult, especially if you spend the day before hauling ass all over the city. Yet I see no alternative, starting bright and early so you have the time to scavenge is key. You don't want to be caught out in the open at night, that's when you start getting paranoid. Because what if one of those infected is more clever then you think, what if he stalks you and waits for the right moment to jump you. Two days ago one of those things was just looking at me from a distance, I could have sworn he gave me a grin before sprinting at me. I don't know, some days i'm more calm then others. I am starting to realise that those creatures aren't always as dumb as they appear. Alex left it at that and closed the journal he had been writing in, for some reason writing down your thoughts helped to process things.

Six years ago, when the military was still a large and attempting to control the outbreak of the infection. Several headquarters were set up all over the city in an attempt to better coordinate with the local police force and the civilian population. During the time that they were operationable, a quick and efficient way to supply the headquarters, was to send a plane overhead to drop caches to each individual base throughout the city. Occasionally one of these crates would miss their intended designation, sometimes by a little other times by a lot. Usually these caches would be quickly recovered and secured. One specific crate however, missed it's target by mere inches and got entangled with the office building next to the one it was supposed to land on. The building it got stuck on happened to be filled with infected, making a trip up the several floors it contained rather dangerous. At the time, these supplies, for the military force was little to nothing. Another cache could and was send to replace the one deemed unobtainable. Now, six years later the crate still hung, hooked to the building by its parachute, half of it smashed through one of the many windows. A permanent eye sore for any survivors still within the city.

Alex had seen the military supply crate many times, some nights he simply stared up at the sky, attempting to move the crate mentally, through sheer power of will. So far, he had proven unsuccesful. Over the years several plans were made. Attempting to force a way up through the building, past all the infected to secure the crate. Extremly dangerous and a guaranteed death, hence abandoned. Finding a working helicopter to secure the crate, perhaps in his dreams. Engineering a complicated device to launch heavy objects at the crate to destabilize it in an attempt to lodge it free so it would float down to the ground where it could be recovered, unlikely. Lack of engineering skills quickly put an end to those thoughts regardless. Finding a high caliber military grade sniper rifle and repeatedly shooting one of the straps connecting the crate to the parachute after which it would snap and tilt the crate, forcing it out of the window and down to a speedy decent, high chance of succes. Alex has been searching for a rifle ever since he came up with the latest plan. A cache full of high grade military weaponry, if he was fortunate, would be like winning the lottery.

[GodOfChaos]

A man shot up from the hard wood floor of a small house. A rifle was already in his hands and the safety was clicked off. The man had it raised, the stock stuck to his shoulder and his cheek was resting on it. Both eyes were wide open and he looked around, shifting his body when he had to look behind him. The man slowly got to a crouching position before slowly standing up. He turned the safety on and he lowered his rifle, letting it drop to his side as the sling caught it. The man had already let his guard down, shrugging it off as part of the dream. The man grabbed his dog tags and seemed to compare it to his comrades. "Viktor Anatolievich Kovshevnikov" was etched on the dog tags hanging around his neck. He wiped the beads of sweat that dropped off of his face. Last night, Viktor had the best sleep since boot camp, well, aside from the nightmare that he experienced.

Viktor slipped on the mask, that he was given before leaving HQ, and put his hood up. He wandered through the house he had slept in that night, the house that looked completely okay on the outside. The inside looks like it had just been through a tornado simulator and there were holes in the walls. Some were so small that Viktor believed them to be bullets. A few of the larger holes seemed to have taken a shotgun blast. He stopped in a somewhat narrow hallway. Down by his feet was a picture, it looked like a seen from the movies, the glass that the picture frame had held was shattered. He lifted the picture to examine it. Two children, a miserable teen, and smiling parents were in the picture. Viktor smiled slightly from under the mask at the picture, hoping that they had made it to a safe haven before this place became infested.

THUMP

Viktor dropped the picture and let it flutter to the ground. He quickly reached down and whipped out his knife. He slowly backed his way from the hall, believing the sound was just around the corner. But a light and quick growling noise showed that the creature was sitting at the top of the stairs. Viktor stopped in his tracks and turned his head very slowly. There it was, a man, probably the same size and facial features, well what was left of his face, as the man in the picture. Immediately, Viktor realized that he had slept in a house with the possibility the whole family was still here. The man-creature began walking down the steps of staircase, acting as if Viktor had not a single place to run. Viktor was frozen, he didn't move. The ugly beast had stopped in the middle of the steps and Viktor slowly crouched and placed his knife back where it belonged. They were playing a staring game and Viktor knew he was about to lose.

In a quick motion, Viktor ran towards the door, throwing a table down behind him and swinging the door open. He didn't bother closing it and he started to run as fast as he could through the street. The abomination went to chase after him, missing a step and tumbling all the way to the foot of the stares. Unfortunately, it had gotten up, and tripped over the table before hauling ass out of the door after Viktor. Viktor didn't look back, he slid over hoods and jumped onto cars as needed, trying to put as many obstacles and as much space in between him and the flesh eating monster. Viktor used a rear view mirror to look behind him as he was running. The thing wasn't in his sight, so he took a sharp right, almost falling from not slowing down enough. Viktor took off through an ally and took another sharp right. Viktor slowed down to avoid running into water. He quickly observed his surroundings and went off into his left, completely missing the girl that had been walking towards him from his right. He brought his pace to a light jog, his boots softly clicking as his feet hit the ground.

[BilboTheGreat]

Josh Mansfeild

Josh

The sounds of the infected throwing themselves against the door was getting louder and louder, but thankfully the desk just in front of the door was holding them at bay for more. They seemed to be quite smart most of the time, and he knew that soon they would start to find other ways in. They would start to separate and break windows to get to him, or climb up the fire escapes on the rear side of the building. Or if he was lucky, some idiot would fire a gun or drive a car and distract them almost straight away. That was a weakness as well as a strength for them, they were attracted to sound. Josh turned, pushed the desk more firmly against the door and made sure it was still in place before he turned around to walk away from it. He was in a lobby, there was a restaurant to his right and a hallway to his left. Maybe the restaurant would have food? And surely an exit.

He turned right and went off into the restaurant, it was big and filled with tables. There was a bar on the left half of the room and behind the bar was a kitchen. The rest of the room was just circle tables and booths, all covered with blood stained white cloth. This once must have been a very nice hotel, maybe for the rich or something like that. Josh carried on walking, he reached to his side and pulled out his axe again, holding it to his side so he was ready for anything. He couldn't imagine somebody would be able to sneak up to him in here, infected or not. The room was huge, and open. The walls on the right side opposite the bar and directly in front of him were made of glass and looked out upon the streets. He looked over them, looking for some kind of exit. He saw a fire exit and muttered a yes! Under his breath.

Josh ran towards the fire exit and just as he got there, he heard a loud smash. They had gotten through the door. Before any infected could sniff him out, he quickly pushed the door open and sprinted away, along the sidewalk and down an alley on his left. He didn't stop running until he was sure he wasn't being chased, when he stopped and leant against the wall in the middle of the alley. So far, today had been very unsuccessful.

Zoey Mansfield

Zoey

Zoey had been just walking down the side of the road when somebody came running out of the alley ahead of her. She stopped for a moment, oddly calm as she reached for her machete. She gripped the handle and then pulled it out, holding it too her side before she looked over her shoulder at the boat that was floating away in the opposite direction. If that man didn't die of starvation, he would be killed by the infected. He was making enough noise, anyway. She looked back ahead of her as the man slowed to a jog. He looked to be in an army uniform and he had a gun. This didn't put her off much, though. She had a gun, and if necessary she could use it. Although she didn't like to use it, because the infected were drawn to the sounds of gunshots like flies to shit. She tightened her grip on her machete, made sure her pack was over her shoulders properly and then she started jogging herself.

It took 30 seconds for her to get too a reasonably close distance. She was about 30 metres behind him when she shouted out too him, "Hello Army man!" She hoped that would get his attention. She stopped jogging and stood still, in hope that he would do the same and turn to her to speak. "Lovely day, isn't it?" She smiled as she looked at him, her thick British accent still strong in her speech.

[GodOfChaos]

It was roughly quiet, aside from the muffled screams of a boat gaining distance on him. After enjoying the architecture this place had to offer, and listening to nothing but his boots, Viktor began to slow down. He thought he heard footsteps. Viktor couldn't seem to ignore the sound.

A louder noise came from behind him, and then another. Realizing it was an actual human, Viktor spun around, his rifle aimed straight at the person who had snuck up on him. He looked towards the buildings, setting in a quick analysis of the area around him. He concluded that this individual was a lone wolf. He wasn't sure what language she spoke, so he spoke his native language. It was roughly quiet, aside from the muffled screams of a boat gaining distance on him. After enjoying the architecture this place had to offer, and listening to nothing but his boots, Viktor began to slow down. He thought he heard footsteps. Viktor couldn't seem to ignore the sound.

A louder noise came from behind him, and then another. Realizing it was an actual human, Viktor spun around, his rifle aimed straight at the person who had snuck up on him. He looked towards the buildings, setting in a quick analysis of the area around him. He concluded that this individual was a lone wolf. He wasn't sure what language she spoke, so he spoke his native language. "Ты кто? Ты следила за мной?" His voice was slightly muffled from the mask. He studied the woman. A machete was in her hand and she may have been the person to kick that boat out. This was going to go one of two ways. They would either join eachother in a fight for survival, or they one person was walking away with extra supplies. Either way, Viktor was ready.

[GingerBoi123]

@BilboTheGreat

---

Darren

Darren quickly wolfed down his cereal bar. It sounded like more zombies were coming. Bummer. Darren drew his katana, expecting a fight. Darren considered himself very lucky to actually find the weapons he did. People truly do drop everything and run in the face of danger. However, Darren's ears perked at the sound of footsteps, increasingly closer. Darren pulled his shemagh up, keeping to his rule of staying anonymous. In actual fight, a human adult slipped into the same alleyway, not noticing Darren at all, as he himself decided to sit down. Usually, Darren would try and slip away unnoticed, but this guy looked like he needed some help. Or he was attracting something very nasty. Darren kept his distance but pointed his sword at the guy. "You a bandit?" He asked.

[Jinxer]

I think I lost them.

Leaning against the wall, his muscles all screaming for him to rest, Henry gasped as he tried to force air into his exhausted lungs. There had been no signs he was being chased, by human or infected, but he had been in this city too long now to be careless. Few had survived the initial outbreak and the survivors had been whittled down in number by themselves and the infected. Those remaining were either cautious or ruthless and, of course, incredibly lucky.

Finally getting his breath back, the former teacher opened his small rucksack and took out his small canteen and a pack of cereal bars he'd plundered in the early days of the outbreak. Henry tried to travel as light as possible but there was no telling how long he might have to stay low in one place, the infected often hanging around before moving on and so preventing him from finding new resources. The first time that happened he had nearly starved to death and so had taken precautions for the future, just in case.

"Hello Army man!"

He was on his feet straight away, looking desperately for the source of the voice. English, with a British accent! He began to run towards the source before slowing for a moment, caution taking over. The voice didn't have a Welsh lilt to it so it can't have been hers. Now on higher alert, and suspicious, Henry drew his sabre and approached more cautiously. There was another voice now, speaking in a different language; sounded like Russian but he wasn't sure. His understanding of most languages beyond English was rudimentary at best; there hadn't been many people to converse with lately.

The owners of the two voices were mere feet away from him around a corner and he had to decide how to approach them. People understandably reacted badly if they realised someone was trying to hide from them while on the other hand walking out in plain sight would put himself at risk. Deciding on a half way approach, Henry drew his sabre and walked slowly around the corner into full view, making himself plainly visible but remaining at a safe distance.

"Nice to hear someone from back home for a change."

[BilboTheGreat]

Josh Mansfeild

Josh

Josh had just slipped down the wall when he heard an unfamiliar voice calling out to him. He panicked, jumped up and pulled out his gun. He raised it infront of him, before he realised that was not where the voice had come from. He turned to his side and pointed it straight at the guy who's face couldn't be seen. He didn't look very hostile, certainly not infected, and he didn't have a gun. His voice was more concerned than aggressive and so Josh gulped and lowered his weapon a little, but not all the way, in an attempt to seem like less of an asshole. "No, no. I'm not. Are you?" He asked, looking the guy over. His sword was sharp and he had no doubt it would cut through him if it came to that, so he hoped it wouldn't. "I really don't want to fight today, okay?" He said again, before the boy could answer him. "I really don't".

Zoey Mansfield

Zoey

Zoey was expecting and definately wanted him too turn around and speak too her. That was why she spoke, so she could get his attention and make some new freinds, or not. Either way she would be better off in the world. She could either befreind him and gain a useful ally, an army man. Or, she could kill him and take his supplies. Either way she would have a better chance of survival in the city, and a better chance of finding her brother. When he did turn around, she wasnt expecting such an aggressive reaction. She had only been polite. The army man raised his weapon at her, a rifle, and said something in what might as well have been an alien language to her. She sometimes forgot that she wasnt at home. She stopped walking and gripped her machete a little tighter, a frown appearing on her beautiful face. Her light brown eyes scanned over him for anything else, any more weapons as she shrugged calmly. "Sorry mate, I dont speak that. English, please?" She shouted so he could hear her, but not loud enough to attract the infected. She then smiled at him almost as an act of freindliness. If she wanted to kill him she could have taken out her hunting rifle and shot him in the back, and that would have been easy enough. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the sound of another boy came from behind her.

She quickly turned on her heels towards the new voice, looking at the boy who was half in half out from behind a corner. He looked her age, if not a year or two older. He looked cautious but not dangerous, and he hadnt got a gun out too her. Also, he was from Britain, which was always a welcome positive. "Amazing, amazing! I havent met anybody from home in a few... years". She said the last part quite oddly, sad but with a hint of sarcasm. She turned to the army man and then pointed to the other boy. "Look, this man has manners! He isnt pointing-" She stopped herself here, as she was about to say weapon. "A... gun, at me! She stood back a few paces towards the canal so that she could see both of them without having to turn. The canal boat was getting dangerously close now, and the shouting from inside becoming audible again. God, she should of just killed him. Or stuffed his mouth again, either would have worked.

[GodOfChaos]

After examining the woman a little closer, he came to the conclusion that this was a purposal to become allies, or friends. He noticed the rifle on her back. He noticed that she was gripping her machete tighter, for he could tail the difference in skin tone where her knuckles and the rest of her hand were. Another man topped it off. "Sorry mate, I don't speak that. English, please?" He automatically assumed that the woman was from Britain. Right when he was about to lower his firearm another individual came out, a man, with another sharp object gripped in his hand. He immediately swung his firearm between the two. He thought that this was gonna get messy.

Two Brits and a Russian, what could go wrong? After they exchanged a few words, he let the rifle drop to his side, letting the sling catch it so it wouldn't hit the ground. He made a slow walk towards the group. He took his mask off and let it hang from his jacket. Viktor wanted to put on a more friendly face, but to show that he was obviously still cautious and he didn't quite trust them just yet, he let his hand rest on his pistol grip, so if things did get hairy, he could put an end to it. "I am sorry for the hostile action." His accent was thick, yet understandable. "I hope this wasn't a bad first impression." Viktor didn't care about these people just yet, and he knew the same was for him. There were now three options to go along with this, he could walk away with one comrade, two comrades, or himself. Viktor's only fear is a repeat of what happened last time he was with survivors. It was either him, or them. This case was a little different, for now.

[Sven the Silent]

Encountering another Human being had become... risky, nerve racking even. This was not a normal world anymore, nothing like what it was six years ago. You never knew who you could trust, some people seemed nice, but were they really? I mean, why put in hard work, dangerous hard work I might add, to scavenge and run around the city looking for supplies, when you can just take them from another person. People are not like they were in the past. Nice people, kind people, generous people even. They were weak, and the weak don't survive anymore, only the strong survive in this world. Sometimes questionable actions are... unavoidable. It's a learning curve really. They say the first time you kill a person, it feels terrible. The second times, it's bad but nothing like the first time. By the third time you've pulled that trigger, well, you won't be feeling much anymore.

Alex had spend the night on top of a small clothing store overlooking the canal. He chose this particulair building because it had a small and narrow alleyway, it was historical really. One person could just about walk back and forth, but it couldn't fit two people at once, a real death trap through the eyes of one, but an oppertunity to the eyes of another. With such a narrow space between the walls you could lean your back against one and place your hand and feet against the other. Then slowly but surely you could work your way up and climb on the roof. If getting onto a roof wasn't incredibly time consuming or really difficult, it wouldn't be secure enough to spend the night, atleast not in his eyes. If there was an easy way to get up a building, there was a chance one of the infected might wander up and surprise you in your sleep. If the way up was time consuming or difficult, a Human being might just skip your building and climb up the next one down the road.

Over the years he had learned many tricks to deceive the infected, one of those tricks was bird calls. Strangely enough, birds were always around. They didn't seem to be able to get the disease, even when picking at a rotting corpse, they'd proceed to fly away like nothing happened. Strange, but fortunate. If you were in a tight spot a simple bird call could receive multiple answers, which ment sounds coming from multiple directions. It had become a habit to make a few bird calls from the roof that he stayed on before decending. The infected had a way of pretending they were a corpse, staying silent unless provoked with a noise. A birdcall, a loud one, usually stirred up to ones pretending to be dead. It was better to have all the infected up on their feet then have one clawing at yours when you run past an overturned vehicle or some rubble.

Today was different however, he was about to attract the attention from the birds around him when he noticed some turmoil across the canal. It seemed as though that the infected, atleast those that he could see, were distracted and more tense then usual. Something had happened, someone or something that provoked them, they were hunting, looking for a prey that had disappeared. A minute or so of staring later, he gatched a glimpse of something unusual. A man clad in military clothing, stolen perhaps. Like he stole the gear of a deceased police officer. Ironically, the very green camouflage that was supposed to protect him in the field, was the thing that exposed him. The man had peeked his interest, perhaps the infected would get to him. Surely the man had supplies, a dead man wouldn't have any need for those anymore. Perhaps this day of scouting would turn into a day of waiting for the infected to clear from the man's corpse so his gear could be retrieved. Time would tell, he had not sunk to rob people just yet, though he certainly wouldn't challenge someone with a military grade rifle.

[Aewin]

Interacting with: @GingerBoi123 and @BilboTheGreat

---

Leaning against an alleyway wall, she pressed a palm to her chest, as if trying to calm her racing heart. She didn't know how long she had run, using alleyways to try and avoid both the bandits and the dead. Tugging her bag off her shoulder, she reached down to grab a bottle of water, taking a small sip from the bottle.

Maxine had to learn the hard way that water was a very hard resource to come by. And I don't mean just any water, but fresh and disease-free water. She was only lucky to have found this bottle after ransacking a sleeping survivor's bag a few nights ago, which she still felt guilty over. But, you do what you have to do to survive, right?

"You a bandit?"

Inhaling sharply, Maxine froze up in her spot, exactly like how she had done in the house she escaped. She listened carefully as two men talked in another alley some paces to her right. She didn't know whether she should approach or not. While part of her wanted to think that finding two other survivors was a good thing, she didn't want to end up in a worse situation than she's already facing.

Deciding against meeting the two possible bandits in the other alley, Maxine carefully tried slipping her bottle of water back into her bag. It would've worked, if only she hadn't squeezed the plastic too hard with her shaky hands. The resulting crackling from the bottle almost felt too loud in the alley, the girl cursing her luck.

"Crap."

Seemed like fate wanted to fuck with her even more.

In preparation for any hostile situation, Maxine grabbed her knife, holding onto the blade tightly with a shaking hand, the other trying to keep her bag of scavenged goods away from the possible bandits' vision.

[Jinxer]

Henry Charlton

The three stood in a sort of triangle, eyeing each other with hands never far from weapons. Finally the other man, whom Henry had assumed could not speak English (largely as he had not unto this point), lowered his rifle and spoke to them in heavily accented, but nevertheless fluent, English. To help continue the diffusion of the stand-off, Henry sheathed his own sabre slowly and deliberately. These days it never paid to make quick movements; everyone was understandably quite jumpy when weapons were being waved about.

"Why don't we make up for it by making some introductions?" He asked, in response to the Russian man's question. Henry had found that, in stressful situations like these, his teacher-mannerisms helped diffuse difficult situations; calm and transparent always helped foster what little trust there was to spare.

"My name's Henry. Henry Charlton. I'm... I was a primary school teacher, from England. I've been looking for a trainee I had with me when, y'know, it all happened." He interrupted any comments about the potential success rate of such a venture. "I know, it's a long shot but there isn't much else to keep me going. I'm sure you guys have something similar, or else you wouldn't still be here. Or if you were, you'd be like them." He did not need to elaborate on to who/what he was referring to.

"In any case, I've got a little water, some fuel and a portable stove but not much else worthwhile. I was going to make a trip to the corner shop a bit further up there," he was pointing up the path behind the Russian, "and see if they have any dried meats or heatable meals left. The signs on it are pretty vague so most people leave it alone, I think."

[GingerBoi123]

@Aewin@BilboTheGreat

---

Darren

Darren squinted behind his goggles. It was very tense for both of them. After a minute, Darren sheathed the katana. "No, I'm not one either." He replied, his voice slightly muffled by the shemagh. Darren extended his hand out. "I'm not going to fight you, I'm Darr-" He began to say, until a sound of crunching plastic emanated very close to the adult and kid. Darren retracted his hand, and gave a shush gesture to Josh. Darren crept to the corner of the alley, hearing very faint and shaking breathing. Darren slowly peered his head round. Was it a bandit who took a wrong step? A zombie? When he finally did see, it was a women, clutching a knife. Darren rolled his eyes in behind his goggles, it was obvious she was more scared than anything. He walked around with his hands up. "Just put the knife away."

[BilboTheGreat]

Zoey Mansfield

Zoey

Zoey stood just in front of the canal edge as she listened to the man who was much closer to her age. It seemed like he was trying to calm everyone down, put a more friendly tone into the atmosphere. She recognized this and in turn she gave them both a nice smile as she put her machete behind her and onto her back, the handle sticking up above her right shoulder so that she could grab it an swing if she needed to quickly She listened to him as he spoke, telling the two strangers who he was, where he worked. He was a primary school teacher before the outbreak. He must be smart, since she was sure you had to go through years of university to become a teacher, even if it was only to teach kids who were under eleven or ten. While he was talking, she noticed the army man had taken off his mask and so she could see his face now. Now she could put a face to the voice. A cautious, but freindly face. She was glad that things were getting freindlier, glad that hopefully nobody would have to end up like the man in the boat even if she did thoruougly enjoy doing it now. Sometimes she wondered why or even how she could be so happy when causing somebody so much fear and pain in an already fucked up world. Her excuse was that they deserved it, atleast in her opinion. But she knew that it was just that, an excuse. But she loved doing it and no matter how many reasons she gave, it all boiled down to that.

Ah, he was looking for somebody too. Maybe she could ask him if he had seen her brother. He would surely understand what it was like to be looking for somebody. She looked around the circle when he was finished and stepped foward a little, looking at each of the men in turn and smiling. "My turn". She said to them, thinking for a moment. "My name is Zoey. I'm from London, born and raised. I... had been out of college for about 4 months before all this happened. I was working as a waitress in a nice bar somewhere, I cant remember the name. I was out here with my little brother when it all went too shit and I'm still looking for him". As she spoke, she purposefully neglected to mention the fact that she was an amazing actor, and that was what she had been studying at college. It could come in handy later.

"Maybe we could all go to the corner shop?" She said, smiling as she looked between the two. "After Army man introduces himself, of course".

Josh Mansfeild

Josh

Josh had relaxed himself a little as he watched the other guy sheath his sword, his big ass, sharp as fuck sword. He lowered his gun even more before eventually putting it on his side and letting it hang from his belt like it usually did when he wasnt using it. He made sure to keep his hand close too it just in case though, as you never know how things would turn out in a world like this. Especially when you havent met a normal person in a couple of years. Just as the boy went to introduce himself, the sound of some plastic scrunching up came from around the corner. "What the..." He said, but stopped as the other guy put his finger to his lips. He nodded, and after pulling his gun and holding it too his side he went behind Darren until they popped around the corner too see a girl who looked more scared than them holding a knife. Darren told her to put the knife away, and so he didnt say anything, he just held his gun at a semi raised position. "Um... yeah. Put the knife down". He hadnt really had much experience with other people since the outbreak.

[GodOfChaos]

A school teacher and a college student. He knew these people were a lot smarter than he was. He had been with the Spetsnaz for years. Unfortunately, he knew what it was like to be looking for someone, but he never got the exhilarating feeling of them being alive when he found them. Everyone had their weapons away, but he wasn't going to take the risk of letting his guard down. "I am no army man Miss, I am Spetsnaz." The military was all the same for these people, but he grew up around it. He lost family and friends to war. This was his life style.

"My name is Viktor. Viktor Kovshevnikov. My story is long, and will prove useless to you both." He kept a blank face. He didn't have emotion to show. While survivors were nice to have, it took quite a bit to build his trust. Two of his comrades, his brothers, his family had betrayed him. He would make quick work of the two if they proved to be extra weight. He already knew the two would get along just fine because they were both from the same place. Viktor took his hand off of his pistol and and placed his mask back on before walking he rested his hand back on the rifle grip. "Shall we?" Viktor began to walk in the direction Henry had pointed to. He kept his ears open, to listen if they would say anything to each other, but he also listened for bandits and monsters.

[Aewin]

Interacting with: @GingerBoi123 and @BilboTheGreat

---

Maxine blinked, an almost incredulous expression forming on her face as both the possible bandits told her to put her weapon down! One had a bloody katana and the other had his gun semi-raised! "Why, so that you and mister Gun-Man over there can kill me?" Maxine quipped, her grip on the knife tightening.

It was probably not the best idea to be commenting to two unknown men, who could both potenially kill her without her being able to defend herself, but there was no way in hell was she letting two people take her down without a fight. Maxine didn't trust easily, it was one of the cruel things one had to learn when the world goes to hell. During the first few months of the apocalypse, she had lost the one group she had stuck around with, cruelly killed by bandits while she had been out on a supply run.

Maxine was ready to go down kicking and screaming any moment, ready to bring her murderers down with her.

At least the damn zombies would be good for something for once.