[IC] 🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

[ONL]

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Alexander Polawski Location: Outside Administration Skills: N/A

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Alexander returned the nods of agreement to Aeron, watching him pull out a knife and a pipe, making the General look just like of his own namesakes way back in the day in true MacArthur-style. Yes, Aeron the General was a good man, perhaps even a great man. That much even Alexander could attest to, even amidst everything horrible engulfing him both then and now. Try, try. "Try, we all try our best these days. Everyone's told me to try and try again, what a wonderful phrase. I suppose it's only the Army that told me to do, not try. Right, Aeron?"

The solemn words of Aeron made Alexander fold his hands and look out onto the water too, deep in thought. Aeron was right, this both so much like the wars of old and so different. Alexander nodded in silence, looking back and forth between Aeron and the water, trying not to extinguish the candle of light that had been lit ever since he met two girls on a TANK. As Aeron though gave him a smile along the shift of wind, Alexander pulled the side of his mouth into a smile himself, looking up at the blue sky with dotted clouds. "The new normal…normal is having hope, even if it's foolish. Call me a fool or a Catholic, but I still find hope in the small things, if that means something. Seeing Thana again for example…"

Alexander fought the urge to tear up, blinking a few times to catch the tears before they escaped and looking back on Aeron with his pipe. "Oh no no, please do. Michael, that is the doctor, isn't it? I've not gotten the hang of all these names yet, I'm afraid." Alexander said, gesturing for Aeron to continue with the pipe. He had to laugh at the mention of tea-and-crumpets-cravings, giving a good chuckle and a slap on his good knee. "Makes you look like an English Lord then, or a butler in the least." The old veteran quiped on, finishing the chuckle as Aeron offered him the pipe. Alexander sat quiet for a moment, taking in the offer, before nodding. "Like two tribes offering peace and burying the hatches of war, yes I'd like to partake. Might help with my sore ass, so wouldn't mind. Haven't smoked since Judith made my quit in '81, so go easy on me, Aeron."

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Whatever the conversation was going on about in the corridor behind him, Nigel wasn't hearing anything. His entire world right then and there revolved around the office he sat in with the Professor and their own verbal exchanges. As he had given his first answer on quilting, Nigel wasn't thinking about the other activities he had actually discussed throughout that day. Something tugged in the back of his mind to relieve his lapse of judgement, to bring forth the true reason he had been taken here by Thana. Curse be to the imprisoned thought that could not escape his foolishnes!

Nigel nodded silently to the Professors further comments, her opinion and suggestion for what the neo-Roman teacher himself would have meaning there. The more the word "quilting" reverbiated in his conscious, like the battering ram against a Hispanian wooden gate, the more two of the Professor's certain phrases came pummeling down at his shielded mind. Nigel sat silently listening to her speak further on, until her last stare at him with narrowed eyes finally broke barrier. He could not explain why he had suggested quilting as his first choice, though at a later time and place he might blame the Floridian sun for his less than preferable mental state.

Perhaps the simple answer was that the many months, years of social isolation still hadn't completely washed off a man with interests most people wouldn't see as fit those more…normal.

Nigel finally breathed out for what felt like a month-long siege, blinking his eyes as if to catch his composure as the Professor waited for his answer. Himself feeling awkward, Nigel scratched the back of his head as he finally answered her. "Yes…yes, auditioning for a class sounds like something I'd be more fitting for, rather than quilting…If that could be arranged, I'd be more than happy to oblige and serve the school." Nigel replied with what felt like a hoarse throat, clearing his throat in-between the puzzle of words he had cooked up together. After a moment of silence though, the neo-Roman teacher fought the urge to look down at the desk, instead re-focusing his gaze at the Professor.

Strength, courage and the support of Thana still standing behind him. Or so he hoped.

"Actually, there is one reason. Id quod plerumque accidit, or it may not come as a surprise of what I am asking about. I know I am but a newcomer to Camp Mexico Beach and what restrictions are lain upon us. However, may I ask of what I can and must do in order to sign up for, how should I put it, combat training? Sparring, fencing, et cetera. I hope I am not to bold in asking, but the art of the melee is important to me, as it must be for others here at the camp."

[Lady Absinthia]

☠ 𝚃𝚆𝙳: 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝟻 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟺 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Location: Camp Mexico Beach Weather Forecast: Dawn at 5:57 A.M. - Dusk at 7:41 P.M. - High: 87F, Low: 72F - Winds SW at 4mph - Gusting to 10mph - No rain - Cloud Cover: 26% - Visibility: 9miles. Notes: Dinner is under way - Same menu as lunch - Tuna: Salad, Casserole, Sushi. Oranges and a clear broth are available. This will stay the same through dinner unless a roll denotes something runs out. Right now everything is going well and there are no issues to report. Heat is still a factor but it is cooling down a little bit, not enough to really make a difference at this point but still better than it getting hotter.

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Camp Mexico Beach (General Streets): Out in the streets things are starting to get busy as people are more and more heading towards dinner. Amelia will be able to, once she finishes up with the armory to hit the last place she has a cart for - Enlisted Housing. It is a simple drop where she just sets the cart inside the door and off to the side. Nothing to worry about there. Nikki will finish her rounds and be able to get back to the Supply building this round. Amelia will miss Nikki when she picks up her cart.

Administration (A): Aeron chuckled. "Even there we had to try but yes. I like to think we try our best these days but if I have seen anything in this world now is that there are still some that the most effort they put into anything is trying to put in no effort at all." The man sighed. He had seen it a lot in the beginning. Entitlement had killed just as many as the Walkers had. It was sad. These days it wasn't as much as a problem but there were still hiccups. Those determined to refuse to let go of the past and move forward. "Today the only thing we can do is move forward because if we look back we're never going to get anywhere," he seemed to say out of the air.

Smiling slightly he nodded in understanding. "Yes, seeing her again brought up similar to me." He hadn't had a chance to exactly process seeing his granddaughter again when she was first rushed in but it hit him later. Much later. After she left the hospital. When he knew she would live, that's when he felt the weight of seeing her again. "Yes, Michael and do not worry. You will get it in time. One of the reasons we use handles for people working a lot of the time. It started with a lady, Rose. She had dementia. She started calling people by names of things she associated with them. It helped her remember better. So call signs became the new normal for us. It helps."

"Ha! Well Welsh, English, same island," he said with a wink. "At least you didn't call me Scottish," he added with a chuckle. "Then smoke slow. The strain is much stronger lately, I believe Michael upped my dose. If it can help my pain I am sure you will feel right as rain shortly. Once we finish, we should eat. Then we can go to education. I have stored there much of what I was going through to find the picture I showed you."

Hospital/Medical (B): There are a decent amount of people heading out of the hospital about this time of the day. There are also more coming in. It doesn't look like they are sick, the ones coming in. More like the hospital is using this time as a shift change. Those coming in look like they were coming from the Mess Hall and some are talking about maybe they shouldn't have served more Tuna Casserole considering how hot it was today. Everything in the hospital goes smooth enough and nothing else holds them up. They will be able to get over to the mess hall without issue.

Mess Hall (C): Outside people are entering and leaving. More are going in than are leaving currently. Inside the place the tables are mostly empty, people are scattered about eating, kids are finishing up. The menu for dinner is the same as it was for lunch. Tuna - Salad, Sushi, Casserole. Oranges are available as some clear broth. Most of the people that are in the Mess Hall are in a line. It a bit more busy as people don't have a specific time to help keep things from bottlenecking. There is a line but it is moving quickly, so shouldn't take long for anyone to get through it.

Education Center (M): "We can always use another academic, we have a growing number of children here and we do tutor other safe zones when we can spare the personnel," she said as she pulled out a note pad and started jotting some things down. "The class schedule it out front still, if you see one you wish to audit simply show up and hand this to whomever is instructing," she said signing off on the paper before handing it to him. It was simple enough - his name, stating he was auditing the class, her signature. Much like a hallpass in school.

At his other mention she stopped. "Yes we have classes," she said. She didn't seem as enthused about this. Standing up she walked over to a filing cabinet she yanked it open. "D Roster is the entry level."

Armory (S): Panama took the sheet and started going over what was on it and what was in the cart. Double checking that everything was there. Most places Amelia just dropped things off or if a signing was needed it was quick. Panama seemed to be taking a lot longer to get this drop off done than any other place so far. Then again this place was housing the weapons and ammunition, and explosives. It was probably prudent for this area to be more thorough than the others. At her question, Panama went "huh?" It didn't register she was asking something at first and as he looked at her he took a moment longer to figure out what she said.

"Oh yeah, its locked up," he said as he went back to looking at the sheet.

"You named it?" Bass asked. "Oh now that's a sign it means somethang," he said as he sat down on the edge of the counter.

Signing off on the sheet. "Then have her tell ya about it later, Auntie will ream her ass if she doesn't finish on time," Panama said as he signed off and handed the sheet back over.

"True, see ya later," Bass said as Panama walked over to the door and unlocked it. He held the door open for Amelia until she stepped through, afterwhich he pulled it closed and locked the door once again.

Inside Jail (AA): Sitting there the guy listened to Ash and Hunter. He didn't seem to interested in what was being said. Sounded like just another this is what I did before and how it started for me tale. He'd heard hundreds of them now. "Shit hit the fan and we all got hit." Ted laughed a bit.

Following up, Ted got a bit more droll. "Naw, he's just havin' a time lately," he said before taking a long pull off his cigarette. "Cage is alright. Plays a hell of a game of baseball. He's just..." There was a long pause as Ted looked up at the ceiling. "Dealing." There seemed to be a lot Ted wasn't saying but he had reason to keep his mouth shut. Breathing out he looked over at Hunter and shrugged. "Though maybe you shouldn't judge considering yer up on court marshall charges on day one pal. I punched Panama on my first day and I didn't get tossed in here."

Looking over to Ash, Ted took another puff off his cigarette. "I part of the Col.'s grand army." He grinned a bit as he held the cigarette between his lips. "I was a fry bitch at KFC's Big Chicken, god I could go for some extra crispy right about now." Looking down at his watch he checked the time, then he looked up as if he was calculating something, before shrugging. "Shit, I'd just kill for a coke."

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Thana Martin Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Thana leaned back against the wall. Her brow went up a bit to hear about the D Roster. She hadn't been expecting that but then again she hadn't really spent a lot of time within the gates learning how the place was run. Her time had been spent in a hospital bed or trying to recover only to high tail it right back out the gate as soon as she was able. There was still a lot about Camp Mexico Beach that she had to learn but she wasn't worried. She wasn't in a position of power here. She wasn't a lead. She was just a worker bee and she could handle that. Maybe if Ash hadn't come back she would have pushed for more but right now she wanted to do her job and only her job. Her mind and heart and body still needed time to recover.

Knowing that Ash and her group was safe was what she needed to be able to let her guard down some and do just that. She intended to focus on that for the foreseeable future. Getting up, working, going home, just sitting with someone you cared about, and doing nothing else might have gotten boring for some but not her, not now. Being able to have that as close as the suburban life as this world allowed for now was the ultimate end game for her and she intended to soak it up. Sure, one of the group had left but she wasn't going to. She was in it for the long haul. She knew at one point Thalia was going to move on but she wondered if the girl would stick it out now, especially since her brother was there. Then again she was wanting to train. Could be just to get used to not having a hand. Though Thalia was a stubborn one. She might not stop until she either found out what happened to all her family or died herself.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Should have seen me ballin' when I saw Ash. Would have thought I lost my balls," Thana said with a chuckle trying to blow over seeing Thalia starting to emote. She had cried when she saw Ash. She lost control of her knees and Ash had to catch her before she hit the ground. Another chuckle left her lips. "Yeah fuck She-Ra. Sparrow and Angel. Granted with our luck we'd end up as blow up dolls in this worlds version of Spencers," Thana added while she was laughing under her breath and trying not to get too loud. "Walk in on some ass 'playing' with our dolls."

Hearing the Professor, Thana quickly stopped laughing and looked at Thalia. "Go, now," she said gesturing towards the door. It was as good a time as any to crash the party.

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Nikola Warren Location: Main Electric (E) -> General Supply (R) Skills: N/A

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Nikki was glad the sun was starting to set. The heat was something she never thought she would really get used to no matter how much time she spent out in it. She had heard people tell her she would in time but as far as she could tell she still hated it as much now as she did five years ago. With as much as she sweated some days she was pretty sure it would be dehydration that would end up killing her before any walker got to take a bite out of her ass, or any other part of her. She figured this was why she enjoyed skateboarding and swimming so much. Both helped to keep her cooler when she was outside.

The day she no longer had air conditioning at night was the day she knew she would stab someone just for looking at her. Heat made her crazy stupid, or maybe she was just crazy. No, the doctors had tested her - she was sane. Well as sane as anyone could be these days she figured. She was definitely more sane than a lot of people she had met over the years. Hell half the time she swore she was more sane than Maddog, or maybe she just didn't get pissed off as easily as he did. Okay maybe not more sane than Maddog but DEFINITELY more sane than that new guy Wayne. She was sure that guy was bat shit fucking nuts. She swore she heard him talking to someone that wasn't there, multiple times.

All this thinking about heat and sanity had kept Nikki's mind so busy that she didn't realize she just autopiloted the rest of her deliveries. It was amazing how much faster time moved when one was inside their own head and not paying attention to what was really going on around them past making sure they didn't trip over their own two feet. Pulling the door open to the General Supply building she took in the cool air. Now she didn't have to worry about going nuts because of the heat now. Walking over to the carts she spotted only two left. That meant Amelia was on her last delivery. This was good. They were almost done. Now if only they were able to get done and out before Auntie spotted her.

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Armory(S)(K5) - > Supply → Enlisted Housing Skills: N/A

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“Mmm...” Amelia made a sound as she heard a confirmation her precious bat was indeed secured at this place. Hey at least it wasn’t lost somewhere or tossed randomly to just rot away. Being among the other weapons, at least meant this place was secure enough to not lose it and they cared for the inventory enough to maintain said inventory in working order. Maybe one day she’d be able to recover it for good after she earns her keep for long enough.

“Yeah… I did.” She confirmed Bass’s question. It was HER bat. The thing carried her all the way from Newnan and she had just picked it from a backyard of an abandoned house… If it wasn’t her pulling her own mythical weapon out of a stone, she didn’t know what else this could be akin to. She nodded.” Maybe I will later. Thank you.” She said to Panama as she took the signed document.” Until later.” She replied as she was showed the way out and the door was even held! She skipped outside with a quick wave and then without even waiting for the door to close she bolted back to Supply.

Afterwards she made a fast trek to her workplace where she picked up her last cart. This one was for the Enlisted Housing, so ideally it should be even quicker and easier. She didn’t spot Nikki around, but had not the time to wait. She needed to finish fast, so she hurriedly headed over to the Enlisted Housing. It was easy, this one was one of the simple drop offs. She just had to leave it inside the building to the side. As she did so, she took a deep breath, wiping sweat from her forehead.’ Rushing around in the heat with carts is tiring. Maybe I should learn to pace myself better.’ Amelia thought, taking a bit of time to catch her breath and steady her breathing. She reassured herself that she was almost done and that tomorrow she’d do better job.

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Lisa Mason Location: Medical(B)→Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“Mmmm, I agree, responsibility for people’s health is a grave thing. Very important and scary. Luckily for me I’m mostly outside of that direct can of worms, not for too long though. New duties are tied with the medicine production, so I will have to pull my A game from now on and make sure everything goes well and learn even faster. So I guess we kinda shifted position? You got cleaning while I got important duties.” She looked at him with a smile as she started heading off to the cleaning supplies storage.

“Sadly nah, don’t have room of those. Believe me I’d love one, but it’s kind of pain to deal with. Can’t risk damaging the room any and if by chance such a thing goes off, it might be a mess to clean after. As such I save those for special occasions when I might arrange one.” She replied to Manny with a smile while he dropped of his part of the cleaning supplies. So once his was dropped and hers were dropped off also, she closed up the storage and started leading the way back out of Medical.

“Mmm I like reading too.” She replied to him.” One of the more favorite ways to pass the time. Allows you to just transport yourself to another world. Also like reading comics and try out new clothing. For the most part I don’t think I’m too different from most people.” She grinned.” Well pretty sure it is, at least for a bit?” She supposed, thinking about it, she wasn’t quite certain for sure about the exact time schedules since she’d usually grab herself something during the day in the lunch break or just during free days.

With that said she made a turn for the Mess Hall, which was luckily not far. She was positively ravenous actually. The day was long and with lots of things happening, she was working and as such opened herself quite the appetite tonight. She checked the menu as they arrived.” So pretty much the same as noon. That’s good. I’m thinking Salad and Sushi, what about you? ” She asked Manny.” And an orange would be lovely afterwards."

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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The truth was, Ash didn't care if the man was "dealing" or not. He had dealt with a lot in his time, and maintained the same effectiveness of his position throughout the worst of it. Granted, he had a staff of people he trusted to handle their areas of expertise and keep the established rolling, and he did have a lot or personal brooding time when he wasn't directly handling affairs in the settlement. But his work didn't suffer. Not seeing to your responsibilities because you were dealing was, in Ash's opinion, close to sinful. None of this he voiced. He wasn't the head guy here, and he sure as hell didn't know the full length and breadth of the story. All he had was knowledge of the situation he was in personally and the word of a man he had just met a half hour ago. And all of this was being colored by his annoyance.

Ted did mention one thing that got Ash's attention, and raptly so. But not before a moment of confusion on his part. "Colonel's Army ..?" until he explained a little bit more, and the realization of it dawned on him. "Hold up, the KFC's Big Chicken? The Big Chicken on Cobb Parkway an' Roswell Rd?" He let out a chuckle before continuing, "Just before all this, I was stationed out of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Marietta. We used to order from there all the damn time. That's a historic landmark, Ted. Hell, I want to shake your hand, sir!" He was being just a hair sarcastic, but it was genuine mirth nonetheless. It was the little things you missed after a while, and something like a bucket of KFC after dealing with Mess Hall chow was nothing to turn away. Ash pushed off of the wall he was leaning on and extended his hand to the man, a little smile reminiscent of the man he might have been once decorating his visage. "You are a national treasure, Ted. They shouldn't have a man like you mopping brains off the floor."

Of course, this meant that they might have even been neighbors, once upon a time. Or might have seen one another at some point, owing to that one restaurant they were in regularly; Ted because it was his job and Ash because he was an occasional patron thereof. But the tiniest amount of suspicion crossed his mind, which he began to address with a question, "So, who were you with after everything went belly-up? Before Mexico Beach, I mean. I heard about groups of survivors around metro ATL. Met a couple, too."

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education (M) Skills: N/A

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Thana was talking like she was to try to cheer her up. It seemed obvious. To her credit, it did elicit a bashful smile from Thalia. Empathizing with the news that she got emotional a few days ago when she saw Ash was a nice touch, but she had to wave it off. "Yah, I call bullshit, Navy," she replied, scrubbing the last bit of moisture away from her eyes. "Girls like us ahren't supposed to cry. Even if you did, no one's gonna believe you. We don't cry. We'ah the bitches that get stuff handled." They were supposed to be, anyway. Lord knew the world needed strong women, and despite the obvious kicking that life had given them both, the fight hadn't left them yet.

It was all tough talk in the first place, about crying. The day they met, Thalia had learned about the death of a handful of people she was close to, friends and family, both. Then her bestie died, whose gravesite she had just left. Thalia had helped storm a goddamn fortress with tears streaking the ash and soot she used to paint her face into a greyscale skull. Thalia sure as hell wept when she lost her arm, too. Before and after. She cried with relief upon seeing Thana alive again. And she damn near got misty-eyed upon seeing clam chowder for the first time in years. She was not made of iron. That thought made her look back down at her prosthetic arm, the beginnings of a wry smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. Okay, most of her wasn't made of iron.

Then Thana had to mention blow-up dolls. Granted, it wouldn't have surprised Thalia in the least if someone had re-invented the inflatable sex toys before tackling only marginally important things like sustainable food sourcing or penicillin. And wouldn't the fetishists just love her? Biracial amputee with a thing for fire. But when it came down to it, she wasn't the one who came up with that particular thought first, nor might she have vocalized it if she did. "You'ah a strange one, Navy. I'm glad you're you." She shook her head. "Seriously? Blow-up dolls?" It was said with in a joking manner with faux incredulity.

Still, being referred to along with Thana's callsign was interesting. Sparrow and Angel. She had never really referred to Thana as Sparrow. It seemed like a different lifetime. And this felt like the first time Thana had called her Angel. The origin of her nickname was rooted in Gonzalez and Carmichael family histories, but it was something that only family had called her until very recently. Thalia might have said something about that to her, owing that she was pretty much as close as any of her family, but the sudden cessation of chuckling followed by Thana's insistence that she seize the opportunity on the immediate prodded Thalia into action.

She strode purposefully into the room. Able to distinguish one of the people she spent time with in Quarantine from someone she hadn't met yet, she turned to La Profesora Coño, speaking clearly and directly. It was very much like her corpsec voice from years past, "Mr. Martin sent me. I'm supposed to be on 'D Rostah', military training. He says you'ah the lady that makes that happen." Then she remembered that she wanted something and quickly added, "Ma'am." She even gave a quick tilt of her head in Nigel's direction, acknowledging his presence with a minimum of cordiality.

[Shoe Thief]

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Hospital/Medical (B) -- > Mess Hall Skills: N/A

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Lisa had mentioned her new duties came with a bit of grand responsibility. He did give a soft chuckle when Lisa mentioned then the two of them had more or less traded the positions they were working in. "My goodness I think you're right. Is this retirement then? Does that mean I have finally hit the grand age of Old?" He said it with a bit of a joking grin. But a bit more laid back work would be nice, though he wouldn't mind getting back into his practice, being a trauma surgeon was a less then pleasant experience. But a needed one. Should he be asked to go back into that kind of work he would do it without hesitation, but he wouldn't miss it. But he also wouldn't mind the old days of cleaning teeth, treating cavities, and setting up small opportunities for others trying to improve their lives.

He was a bit saddened to hear that Lisa was unable to do one of her more favored hobbies. Even if on a small scale in her room. "Let's see what we can do. Maybe someday we can find you a work space or something to set up in." He knew it was a long shot, but little hopes were what helped keep the world moving. And many times they could lead to rather amazing developments, and Lisa seemed like one of those people who could turn small hopes into big things. The love of books was nice too, even if comics were included in that. Manny found Comic books as a strange form of media, and more as a transitional then a stand alone. But Lisa seemed rather smart, and it didn't seem fair to group her with people he saw as lazy for reading easier forms on media to avoid reading books. Made him think again for a moment, not only was he getting old physically but he was also starting to judge things that younger generations did. He figured it was only a matter of time before he started yelling "Get off my lawn you damn kids!" He decided he should maybe go easier on people who read comics. In his age he held a lot of stereotypes in his mind. He found that Ironic as he could be thrown into a couple stereotypes pretty easily. "Ill go check out the library later and see about what the hours are. Then I can let you know." Though maybe after work wasn't the best time to go. Just with it being his first day, he was excited to do as much as he could.

Finishing up cleaning Manny helped put away his share of the cleaning supplies. The job was done and looking good, and now it was time for a good dinner. Seemed the night shift was also coming in right as Manny and Lisa were leaving. Manny remembered those days from early in his career, and was glad to be back tot he day shift. Though he remembered meeting a lot of people on the night shift who preferred it over the day shift. He found those people odd too, but if they wanted the job they were welcome to it. Outside was still hot as hell, he grew up and spent his entire life in the heat but it was never pleasant and it was never something anyone really got used too.

Once in the mess hall it was a bit of a mess, lots of people coming and going, and clearly less organized then lunch. "Think I am going with the Tuna salad and an orange." Replying to Lisa about her question. After getting his food he would find a table that wasn't too packed yet and sit to enjoy his dinner. Now that it wasn't the heavily timed lunch schedule he could enjoy his food at a rather calm pace.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Cell B Skills:N/A

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Hunter listened to what Ash had to say about his deployment. Though it was rather different then what Hunter's had been like, it still held the same idea. Every man for themselves, with a slight illusion of teamwork. What Ashton explained to Hunter sounded a lot like his time after his unit had finally collapsed. A lot of smaller factions either vying for control, or for what supplies were left in the world. Hunter didn't find himself with any of these groups until winter had passed. And looking bad, he should have stayed out then too. "Yet here we are." Those words fit rather well for the situation. "I think our command structure held out longer then most. We were still able to rally up a lot of soldiers on the retreat to Buffalo. Most were even from our regiment. Many weren't, and had no idea where the rest of their unit was. But we had officers, coherent units, and an officer who I don't think was National Guard, but was a ranking officer none the less. But we didn't have other units to squabble over who was in charge at least. Pretty sure every asset that could be pulled was pulled to THE big city. I mean it makes sense, more then half the state's population was there, they had bases, airports, and a super island seems pretty dependable from the dead. They couldn't even spare Air Guard for us with how many assets got sent there though so fuck them. But hey, we got a few par timers, raw recruits, and guard members who left the reserve but were on the inactive reserve list. So... something at least I guess." He chuckled at that. "Kinda funny really? They had the bulk majority of the state's assets, but got hit so bad anyways it didn't matter. Tried to go to New York City after everything else fell through, and the hordes were so bad I couldn't get within fifty miles." He figured it was pretty bad, to have probably some of the strongest might of the United States military to handle the city, and it still wasn't enough. He shrugged it off, those people were dead, his unit was dead, and those they were supposed to protect were dead. But hey, he made it so what did it matter now?

Moving onto a slightly less depressing conversation, the talk of Cage came up. "I think I hold a lot of room to judge since his negligence effects me quite a lot right now. Plus, he hasn't given a single shit about my well being other then what times to throw food at me. Why should I give a shit about his?" Hunter walked in circles a bit as he had his thoughts run through his head. "Look, if whatever shit he is going through effects his work that badly, someone else should be doing the fucking job." By his tone it sounded almost sympathetic, with a mix of frustration. Hunter understood bad days easy enough, but all his interactions with Cage right now have consisted of him being an asshole. And it seemed rather deliberate at that.

Hunter did find the talks of KFC interesting. Though had little to add to it. Seemed Ted had worked there once, and Ashton was a huge KFC-aholic. Made sense, fried chicken was some pretty damn good stuff. Hunter had no idea how to make the stuff though so he was also starting to wonder what it would be like to have some again. He figured it wouldn't be too hard to set up some kind of chicken farm, most chickens aren't too hard to domesticate especially if you start them at a young age. Then? Eggs and chicken forever. Though that would still require a lot of things that Hunter simply lacked, including not being locked in a basement.

[ONL]

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Alexander Polawski Location: Outside Administration Skills: N/A

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Alexander sighed in agreement, knowing all too well how such absurd concepts as entitlement had gotten people into deep trouble over the years, or worse killed. He'd seen it himself in so many around him, not the least in himself. "It's a shame really, so many good folks out there that didn't see past their noses until it was too late." Alexander said back to Aeron, letting out a deep breath before going on. "Keep going forward, no matter what. A hard thing to do for some of us, but we must. Stick to the plan, but know it never survives first contact with the enemy."

The old veteran of a lower rank finished his musings of military theory and battle-hardened memories to himself, turning his eyes away from the watery canal and back towards the interiour of CMB. Inside those protective walls, behind the buildings and around the crossing streets, Alexander imagined the people he'd gotten to know briefly, the few he knew by name and ever fewer he cared deeply for. Hope, that's what they stood for. Thankfully Aeron had felt the same, Alexander thought. A smile returned to his face while the issue of callsigns was explained to him. "Ah, makes sense. I hope I don't have to do the same, but callsigns did help back in the war too. I guess some things don't change, you certainly haven't Aeron. Always seeing the individual in the ranks, I remember…"

Alexander let the words ebb out for a moment, accepting the pipe and chuckling back at Aeron. "Oh I could give you a long list of the guys who called you either Scottish or Irish! Was always an interesting topic to discuss, where you came from and why." Alexander elaborated, holding up the pipe to his mouth and taking a pat of it. He had never really smoked a pipe, cigarettes were simpler and better by default, but the smokey sensation hadn't changed. Alexander of course gave a cough, giving his chest a good beat before settling in with the sense of relief down in his amputated leg. It felt good, the sort of good…Alexander couldn't explain it, just a wave of memories that got reawakened.

"Sounds like a plan then. I think Gunny, your son yes, anticipated seeing me there. But Aeron, may I ask why you're in pain?" Alexander asked, taking out the pipe from his mouth and holding it to Aeron, giving him a concerned look.

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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They were always in need of a fellow educator. That was good news, good news indeed. Nigel nodded affirmatively to the Professor's statement, hoping that his competence as a teacher would be appriciated by the school and the community as a whole. He wanted to help, or more wanted to prove to them that he was of use in more than one way. Don't get him wrong, he had enjoyed helping Thana out at in the Second Hanging Gardens of Babylon, being the strongman and all. But the suggestion that he could be useful there sounded good to him, and he smiled, if awkwardly.

Taking the piece of signed paper from her and giving it a quick read, Nigel mentally memorized what she had told him to do; check the class list outside, show up at a class he wanted to teach and hand in the piece of paper. Yes, he could do that. Without verbally confirming what the Professor had just told him, he did not except her answer about fight training. "Eh…excuse me Professor, but what?" Nigel said back to the fellow educator, trying to process what she had just told him as someone else seemingly entered the room, though he took a moment to register that as well.

Nigel hadn't been denied the privilige of exercising his feats with a blade, not directly at least. They had classes, and he needed to sign up for a so-called D roster? Should he sign up there by himself, was she pulling out the neccecary paperwork from the cabinet, or had Thalia come to knock him over the head with a great Amazon club for asking such frivelous questions?

Thalia?

Nigel looked up at Thalia entering the room with a slight look of confusion, though attempting to mask it in the presence of his fellow social class and occupation. To Thalia he gave a similar quick tilt or a nod, telling her he saw her and wouldn't cause any trouble. It would seem he was not the only newcomer to the Florida walled city that wished to train their sword arm. Nigel remembered the night before and their brief exchange of words at the bar, how Thalia was good with a spear out of all things pointy and deadly. Turning back to the Professor, Nigel gave a respectful look at her over at the filing cabinets, folding the piece of paper and putting it somewhere safe on his person. "What she, Miss Thalia said…" Nigel followed up after Thalia, slowly getting up from the chair and standing beside Thalia and giving a quick glance out the door after Thana. "Miss Martin sent me here, so seems we are two then, Professor."

[Lady Absinthia]

☠ 𝚃𝚆𝙳: 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝟻 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟺 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Location: Camp Mexico Beach Weather Forecast: Dawn at 5:57 A.M. - Dusk at 7:41 P.M. - High: 87F, Low: 72F - Winds SW at 4mph - Gusting to 10mph - No rain - Cloud Cover: 26% - Visibility: 9miles. Notes: Repeat from last round: Dinner is under way - Same menu as lunch - Tuna: Salad, Casserole, Sushi. Oranges and a clear broth are available. This will stay the same through dinner unless a roll denotes something runs out. Right now everything is going well and there are no issues to report. Heat is still a factor but it is cooling down a little bit, not enough to really make a difference at this point but still better than it getting hotter.

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Camp Mexico Beach (General Streets): Out on the streets of Camp Mexico Beach things are going smoothly. Now that many of the few children that are part of the community are done with dinner they are out and about. What vehicles were driving around have stopped and people are walking now. Main shops like Fabrication and Mechanics are shutting down and those that work in them are closing up before heading to dinner. Volts and Tesla are heading out but Mizrahi is just hanging out at the picnic table by the building as he is reading. Dusty is chugging along trying to hurry up to the Mess Hall. Chase has her nose in her notes as she takes a seat in the grass and is filling out paper work. Shears and Spots have files as they head into Administration. All in all it seems to be a typical evening for the place and calm enough several kids are playing stick ball on the main road.

Amelia will have no problem just dropping off and getting back to the General Supply building this round where Nikki will be waiting and dealing with what is going on there.

Administration (A): The general was enjoying the conversation with Alexander. He had conversations with others but not just laid back like this. Not even with his own sons these days. Everything was about keeping the community going, making sure that the rules were followed, keeping other communities taken care of or at bay. Right then he was just a retired man talking to another retired man who could remember the same presidents as he did, someone who had seen the same battles the same war he had. It was refreshing and something he needed. The younger folks had each other and even though there were plenty around his age they saw him as the General, not Aeron. Or as a father or a grand father. Right now he was just talking man to man and it made the load on his shoulders feel a little less daunting.

That was until he asked why he was in pain. Sighing he took the pipe and another pull from it. "The big C." He said it dryly and without much emotion. He held the hit in before letting it out slowly and the cloud of smoke billowed up around him until the wind took it away. "We all have our time, this just makes mine a little more tolerable." Standing up he leaned against his cane and snuffed out the pipe before slipping it back into his pocket. "Please don't say anything, only my sons and Doc know yet. I haven't found a way to tell the town or my granddaughter yet." Breathing out he smiled as he started to walk around the table. "I am ravenous, let's eat," he added before motioning at the little path that lead around the back of the Administration building. "We can avoid Rolodex, she is too feisty for me right now," he laughed as he walked.

Mess Hall (C): "Listen I don't give a damn what the rations are, the fucker is a twig." One could hear a man yelling in the back before he stepped into the doorway that lead to the kitchen proper. "Put it down as an expense."

"Cage, chill man, I got ya," Morales said as he squeezed by carrying a half pan of casserole.

"Fucking bullshit. Rations are fine when someone has some meat on them but that kids clothes weigh more than he does," Case snapped as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Easy hombre, I feel ya, don't worry. Breath man," Morales added as he grabbed a tray and started filling it up while the general staff was taking care of those in line. "Hey Lisa, havin' a good day?" he said with a wink. Turning around he handed it over. "There ya go man, even added in some fruit."

"Yeah, well good, and make sure the kid has some protein at breakfast," Cage said snatching the tray and marching out the door. Cook came out from the back and glanced at Morales.

"He's doing better," Morales said with a smile.

"After yesterday I'm surprised he is handling things as well as he is," Cook said before looking at Manny. "Evenin'."

"Wasn't nothing he could do...'" Morales said with a sigh before heading to the back again.

Coming up behind Lisa and Manny in line, DoLittle picks up a tray and waits her turn. Glancing at Lisa she grins slightly. "Did Nikki get a chance to talk to you?" she asks as she stands there before looking at Manny. "Hey. DoLittle, vet around here."

Education Center (M): Edna set the file down and flipped it open. Licking her finger as she thumbed through it slowly. Her brow rose as Thalia came in out of no where. "A second one?" she asked more to the air than to either of them standing there. She glanced over Thalia's shoulder to see about Thana, whom she had seen earlier. "How many more from this group you figure are going to show up?"

After Thana answered she grumbled a bit. "Fine," she said before flipping the page again. "Nigel Cooper and Thalia Carmichael, no therapy required for either of you and no medical issues." Glancing at Thalia she noted. "Nothing that can't be gotten around," she added before writing down some more. Flipping the page she seemed to write more before turning each sheet around on her desk. "You both will need to read over and sign these. They state that you are volunteering for D Roster. That you will follow the lead and directions of your instructors, return all weapons at the end of each training session, that you acknowledge this is a fire arms free training that will consist of edged weapons, shields, and hand to hand training. And that should you fail to complete the courses both physical and written that you are omitted from moving up to C Roster."

Inside Jail (AA): Ted looked over to Ash and laughed. "Damn right I am! Probably the last person on Earth that knows them 11 secret herbs and spices," Ted chuckled with the cigarette between his lips as he bowed up slightly and struck a pose. Laughing he ashed his cigarette in an empty can before relaxing again. Pulling his knees to his chest and draping his arms over them. "Several groups, but none lasted. Wouldn't even call them groups. More like a few people huddling together. Was out there alone in Bama for a long time before Beta team came across me in a sink hole. Had broke my leg and couldn't climb out. Figured I'd die there. Was about to eat a bullet when Shakespeare and Bass showed up and hauled me out." Pulling up his pants leg and then pushing his sock down he showed a jagged scar near his ankle. "Doc fixed me up."

Dropping his pants leg he shook it out. Sitting there his head rolled to the side slightly as Hunter started up again. "Ladies and gentlemen, let me present you the NOID," Ted said as he motioned towards Hunter. "Remember children we avoid the Noid. What is a Noid you ask? Notice of Intent to Deny. A person who shuffles everything from their own shoulder to the blame of others even while claiming they are owning up to it. How is our current specimen a Noid? Let us review this. He is in jail, a prisoner. He claims that the Warden is derelict in his duty. This is false. The prisoner is clean, has a place to sleep that is clean, he is in a room that is air conditioned, the Warden has not neglected or withheld anything that would be classified as negligent. In fact, just the opposite. The Warden is on his forth shift in a row thanks to a funeral detail needing to be placed together using some of his people. The Warden secured the building before leaving to fetch the prisoner his meal. Now, the meal is normally delivered but because of the funeral detail it cannot be delivered on time today. It would not be delivered until well past 2200 hours tonight. So the Warden is walking to the Mess Hall to fetch a tray and walk it back to ensure that said prisoner is fed on time. This is what a Noid is people, a person who causes issues where there are none."

Rolling his eyes he looked up at the ceiling. "I told you about the damn meal like ten minutes ago.... In other words he is doing his fucking job and making sure you are taken care of Noid. So what if he isn't nice. You're a prisoner being brought up on court martial and I can see why now." Shaking his head he finished his cigarette and snuffed it out as he stood up. Dusting his ass off he headed to the stairs. "Thank you for attending my Ted Talk." Taking a seat half way up the stairs he checked his watch, he hoped Cage would be back soon because he already wanted to gut this guy.

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Thana Martin Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Thana glanced over to Thalia and chuckled a bit. Yeah bitches like them got the job done. They had in Eden. Herself, Thalia, Lola, Beatrice. They had gotten shit done. Not that the guys along with them hadn't but Manny was found there, Alexander was on him, Gavin... Gavin... He got shit done even if it did him in. Looking down at the floor she sighed. She wouldn't have gotten out of Eden if Gavin hadn't played cowboy that day. She was going to kick that mans ass soon as she got to heaven. "Hello God, just a moment," she thought to herself before punching the shit out of Gavin for pulling that stunt and then thanking him. He'd understand, God would have to deal. "Yeah we get shit done." Her voice was distant.

A sly grin came to her features when Thalia said she was a strange one. "You have no idea," she taunted slightly. Thing was she wasn't really joking. Thana knew she had a strange sense of humor that kicked in at the worst times usually. It had gotten her in trouble more than once. She could remember being in boot. She was late to the line. Her Drill Instructor was tearing her a new one, asking why the hell she was late. "Sorry sir, saw a nice piece of ass. All the blood rushed to my dick and I couldn't remember the way here." She had said it with a straight face. The DI had to walk off before the company saw him laughing his ass off.

Turning as Thalia went into the room, Thana leaned back against the door and nodded some towards the Professor. "Doubt these two will be your last," was all that Thana said to the question. This wasn't her place. She had gone through her training and clearance. She wouldn't be surprised if many others showed up, she hoped that Ash wouldn't. At least for a while. If he added this to his schedule they might not see much of each other. Right then she just wanted to wrap up and go find him. It was one thing to miss him and not know where he was or if he was alive. Knowing he was in town and alive made every minute a bit tougher to get through in a weird way. Glancing at her watch she checked the time.

Thana had head the deal before. She was told the same. A lot of paper work but it was pretty basic understanding. D Roster was for the new folks or those just starting out in training wanting to do more than just general training for survival. Leaning against the door jam she crossed her arms over her chest. "Just wait until you meet your instructors," Thana said before that same coy smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

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Nikola Warren Location: General Supply (R) Skills: N/A

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Checking the clock that hung on the wall Nikki figured that Amelia should be back any minutes. At least she hoped she would be. She wasn't hearing anything in the back so for all she knew Auntie was out getting her own dinner right then. Or in her office working on paper work. Nikki wasn't about to go back there and check. If Auntie was back there the last thing she wanted to do was to draw attention to herself. Things were quiet right then and she wanted to keep them that way. She had to stop herself from popping another bubble with the piece of gum she had been chewing on for the better part of the day. Finally, at around the third time she nearly popped a bubble out of sheer habit she swallowed the gum. If it took seven years to get out of her system so be it. Better than alerting Auntie The Hun that she was in there.

Nikki looked at the clock again before going back to the carts. She made sure for a third time that everything was there for the distillery and the jail. She did not want to have to come back tonight. As long as these were dropped off without issue her and Amelia would be done. So yes, no chance of coming back she hoped. Grabbing one of the carts she moved it over a bit before moving the second one. Everything was in order and ready to go. Heading to the door, Nikki pushed it open quietly and peeked outside. She hoped she would spot Amelia and could get going.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Hunter's story sounded much like many of the other stories coming from military men who had made it past the first six months. Ash supposed that his own wasn't too different. Specific of circumstance, certainly. Told from the point of view of one of the people making a decision or two rather than merely following orders, yes. But not too different than the multitude of others. It was almost comforting being reminded that he wasn't particularly special in this regard. Still, the point of view from Infantry's side of things was slightly different than that of Sappers. It was interesting to note. Ash listened intently, nodding knowingly every so often as a familiar concept came up. Like the hordes around New York. "Massive infection rates in high population densities. Hordes form. Cities diffuse slowly, but they don't usually go too far..." He could really only speak to his experience. City runs were nigh-suicidal sometimes, especially on foot.

The impromptu camaraderie with Ted, Soldier in the Army of Colonel Harland Sanders and Keeper of the Eleven Herbs & Spices, was a bit of stress relief for Ash. It had been a while since he had gotten to know a detail about someone new that didn't have something to do with the screaming necessities of life, such as ammo counts or securing a perimeter, or briefing on new surroundings. Or catching up, though that last part was precious to him. This was just shooting the breeze with another human being in the context of getting to know someone, even in passing. And being that they unknowingly shared some real estate a while ago, back when the world made more sense, it was cause for minor celebration.

Of course, that cracked a little bit when the discussion went to Cage. Specifically, what he was out there doing and what he had already had to do so far this shift. In addition to the last three shifts as well, apparently. Ash felt a little foolish. Based upon what Ted had told him, he had assumed that Cage was leaving them in there until he took his own trip to the Mess Hall to take a break, grab some dinner, then get back around to letting them out when he felt like it. His trademark stoicism helped him out there, keeping his internal voice internal and prompting him to change the subject. The fact that he was thinking it, though, gave Ash an attack of creeping guilt. He was still an asshole as far as Ash could tell, but he was demonstrating diligence to his job.

It was also a kind of relief that this man, Ted, didn't seem to know about Newnan or Eden directly. Or Franklin, for that matter. Or Fairburn's Castle Town. So Ash settled back against the wall for the time being, mulling over their predicament and the use of NOID, a thing he hadn't heard in years. "So he'll be along soon enough. Takes away some worry." Ash even permitted himself a chuckle, and asked (partly in hopes of avoiding a continuing, strained conversation), "So what did you do to get stuck down here overnight, Ted? If'n you don't mind my asking." There had to be more to the story than banging on a door.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education (M) Skills: N/A

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Of course, it had to be written. This was going to be her big hurdle, Thalia could tell. A place with paper meant a place with paperwork, especially if it was being run by the military. Or a reasonable facsimile thereof, anyway. Of course, the problem with that was that, of all the things she was beginning to really get the hang of with her non-dominant hand, writing was not one of them. She remembered having to fill in her entrance questionnaire while in quarantine. It looked like a toddler with some kind of palsy tried to write it. Thalia was honestly surprised they didn't throw her out for smuggling alcohol inside somehow and getting blotto before the big test. But they did see the lack of hand she was sporting. It was hard to miss. This was probably a good indicator that she used to be right handed, too. But back to the present: Writing. It sucked. It sucked pretty hard, but she should have seen this coming. Moving on.

Accepting the papers from Profesora Coño, Thalia gave them a brief glance before looking back to Thana. She was right. Thinking about it, considering the number of hardasses in their combined groups, ex-military, and cutthroat survivors, she would be surprised as hell if she and Nigel were the only ones. They were probably just the first. She gave a passing expression of agreement to Thana and held it until her face oscillated back to the Professor, terminating with a shrug and nod that supported their shared suspicion; more would be coming. It was just a matter of time. Then she got back to the papers, awkwardly holding them with her flesh and steel hands, maneuvering to turn the page as necessary. "Blah, blah... party of the first part bullshit, la la la..." she mumbled to herself, seemingly unaware that (while quiet) it was out loud. "Jaysus, this is corpsec basic all over again..." Again, spoken with discretion. She listened to the rundown given about the content of the paperwork, but didn't give it a ton of serious thought until she saw it in print in front of her. Sharps, shield, hand to hand training. "Well shit, that's almost why I'm here," said Thalia, a little more openly than her earlier mumbling. She looked over to Nigel for a second before going back to the papers. She wanted to spar with him, being a fellow weapon and board guy. She needed to adapt to soldiery from these people. Learn another way, compensate for her abbreviated dexterity. Broaden her warrior's horizons and whatnot. But if this was Step One, fine. Thalia would get there in time. They were just making her take other steps first.

"Oh, I'm moving up to C Rostah," vowed Thalia, this time speaking openly. She had reached the bits that required her signature and sighed. She'd have to try another approach to using a writing utensil. Acquiring one, she placed it in an underhanded grip in her metal hand, securing it in place by articulating her fingers one at at time to tenuously grasp without letting it slide. It was a little harder then it looked. Secured like she might use it to impale someone, Thalia began the mildly infuriating task of signing her name, one blocky letter at a time. "I hope cursive isn't required."

Thalia did have to pause in the middle of her own personal hell to look up at Thana, quirking a brow quizzically when she foreshadowed something about their instructors.

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Enlisted Housing → General supply Skills: N/A

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Amelia took a bit of a breather before starting to head back to General Supply. Rushing around in the heat got to her, but with the temperatures slowly dropping off with the approaching of the night, it was more bearable. After about a minute she finally took the first step and started walking back to her workplace. Once more the very idea of workplace in this world was odd, but brought a smile on her face. She had changed from the past, at least somewhat, but still enjoyed stability and maybe routines to a degree.

Nearing her destination, she couldn’t help but notice the people that were heading towards the mess hall. Dinner appeared to have started and others were already there. Well soon she’d go there also. Then she’d get the chance to reunite and have dinner with Riley. First real day of their new lives. It wasn’t over yet, but so far it was good. Just a bit more to go.

She was about to enter the building when a head popped out of the door that had opened form the inside. It was Nikki.” Hey, sorry… I had to rest for a minute or two. Rushed too much in the heat.” Amelia apologized as she saw her colleague.” So, what’s left? Let’s do it quickly so we can go grab dinner. Everybody seems to be gathering there already, good things might be all taken if we take too long.”

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“Good choice, salads are always nice, so are fruits! In fact fruits even more so!” She stated with a smile and headed to grab a tray and line up on the food line. She heard the commotion and rose an eyebrow before finally turning to Morales.” Hey not too bad. Got onto the path of promotion and then got to play around in the dirt. Fun stuff!” Lisa chuckled in reply as she was getting some of the tuna, a bit of sushi and an orange. Food was important to keep the spirit and the body in good condition!” See ya later, Morales.” Lisa waved a good bye.

“Ohh hey, DoLittle. How have you been in this heat? Everything been alright at work?” She greeted the woman as she lined after them on the line. Lisa rose an eyebrow before her eyes narrowed in suspecting some mischief manner. She gave the woman a testing glance for a bit.” Nikki? I can’t say we’ve had the chance to day. WHY?” She asked in voice filled with suspicion.” Have you given her a pet of some kind or has she finally caught that rat at Supply? What’s the mischief that’s happening behind my back? And why haven’t I been invited on it from the get go?” She tossed a line of important questions at the woman who's smile made her suspect something was going on and she wasn't aware of it yet.

She would have loved to stay and give the interrogation glare for a bit while longer but food was food and food was with priority.” Well… I will get it out of her when she arrives for dinner in a little while. Can't be too bad I suppose. Otherwise half the camp would have heard about it by now.“ Lisa sighed and took her tray, looking around for a good empty enough spot and heading there.

[ONL]

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Alexander Polawski Location: Outside Administration Skills: N/A

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The big C, the sickness that had taken some of his own friends to God prematurely, the slow grasp of death as one grew thin and weak. Alexander looked blankly at Aeron for a moment, processing what he had just been told, as if it was hard to believe. Those days in a world filled with so many things out to kill you, terminal illnesses wasn't something Alexander had thought of. Then he thought back to the first informal meeting he'd had with Aeron and what he had told him back then. All with the same comforting smile then as ever, as now.

They'd saved more lives than they had lost, most to old age. What would be Aeron's fate then, and what about himself? How would God welcome his lost lamb back home?

Alexander sat quietly as Aeron told him to not mention the secret curse he bore, feeling himself holding his breath as if even a small breeze would take his new-old friend away from him. Though when Aeron once again smiled at him, Alexander took in a fresh breath of air and nodded. "Your secret is safe with me, Aeron. Maybe one day you'll carry one for me as well." Alexander answered, standing up as well and returning the smile. Yes, he could keep their conversation in the dark for the others, something he was good at already. Some secrets he carried out of convinience, others out of shame and fear.

"Now that's an order I can follow without question! What's on the meny for today, more sea food? I promised a certain Roman fella earlier I would try the tuna casserole. Caught him with Rolodex in the reception just before I came to see your son…wait…feisty?" Alexander muttered under his breath those last words, walking alongside Aeron down the path. Something finally ticked off on a checklist somewhere far back in the old veteran's brain. Something about the way Sandra had treated him…

"Oh…ooooh…She's something…"

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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While the office of the Professor was starting to get crowded, it wasn't dampening the mood of Nigel who had just been told that he would be in fact allowed to sign up for the combat training. Both he and Thalia had been evaluated to be able to sign the neccecary paperwork to be on the now infamous D Roster. Nigel, standing beside Thalia and hearing Thana just behind them in the door, was relieved it would be this 'easy'. "Read and sign, that I can do, Professor." Nigel said back to her, giving Thalia a look back as he accepted the papers and starting to read.

It was the more suo of how he'd done paperwork back in his old life. Contracts of professional confidentiality at highschool, excursions and responsibility for injuries due to meetings with sharpened steel swords. Reading over the papers he would sign, he saw it all there, but more importantly he saw the opportunity to show himself as useful. And with that look from Thalia as he himself began signing it, he would get the chance to sparr with the one-armed Amazon. Perhaps she was more accessable while fighting than drinking, probably.

"Agreed, I intend to prove I'm worth my salt. Cum gladio et sale." Nigel quiped back in good faith, signing in a rusty cursive that honestly wasn't much better than Thalia's hampered writing. The world of Hades didn't require a lot of writing, unsuprisingly. But now writing meant more than all the promises made verbally in a thousand years of troubles. Verba volant, scripta manent. Two classes he would attend and prove his worth: Teaching and fighting. Wisdom and war. The world was becoming more like the old one day by day.

Nigel, having signed most of the papers at this point, followed Thalia's suit and looked up at Thana's words of caution. A look of grinding cogs and mechanical gears, then one of comprehension. "If you mean who I think you mean…"

[Shoe Thief]

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/A

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Dinner had been going well so far. Even if a man Manny had never met had started to raise his voice a bit. He heard bits and pieces of what the man was saying but overall Manny figured it wasn't his business. It was something about rations but as Far as Manny knew food wasn't allowed to leave the mess hall. Maybe it was for someone who was working a position through dinner that they couldn't leave from. A guard maybe? A doctor on a busy night? Who knew, it was his first day and he was still getting the hang of things. "Good Evening, everything going alright? Things seemed a bit tense?" He knew it wasn't his issue to worry about, but if he was going to live here he wanted to know what he could. And if things were too personal, Manny would understand if the question was brushed off or if he was told he was pushing too much. And honestly, he mostly wanted to make sure that everything was alright. Once that was taken care of he would thank the cooking crew for his food, with a polite "Thank you very much." And a nod of acknowledgement. He has had a rougher day then he would like to admit and lost his normal calm and collective self. He would need to make it up to Bass later, and he also needed to make sure in many ways that people knew that wasn't his regular behavior and that it was an unusual anomaly.

Catching up with Lisa was nice as well, despite first glances and the unusual paring, the two had seemed to really kick it off as good acquaintances. It was still his first day so he was hesitant to go past that. He had learned that many people nowadays if pushed too much would push bad, even if intentions were good. But Lisa had really made his first day and helped Manny get over a lot of his initial worries about cleaning detail. "Fruits are a great choice, but they can be extremely acidic so make sure to brush them, and keep them clean otherwise by the time you are my age they will rot out." He said it with a bit of a joking tone, but he found people responded better to dentists if they could keep a positive tone about situations. Eventually another woman came over to talk to Lisa. Something to do with Nikki, the girl who helped with guard duty while the survivors were in quarantine. While they talked he learned that the woman's name was Dolittle. Strange name, but everyone here had names like that it seemed. He let them talk and would only respond after he was addressed. "Manny, Former dentist. Hoping to get back into the trade someday." He held out his hand to shake hers with a gentle smile on his face while balancing his food with his other hand.

Seemed Lisa wasn't too worried about whatever Nikki had to tell her. And with some pretty decent reasoning behind it, word hadn't spread by that point. He wondered if some of that though was because Lisa and Himself had been pretty isolated while getting work done today? If that was the case he wondered if there were other things he missed. For all he knew, there could be a new group of people within quarantine already?

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Hunter Monroe Location: Jail (AA) Cell B Skills:N/A

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Prison had found itself to be more entertaining then he thought it would be, though sadly not in a way Hunter would normally like. Ted got a chance to talk about the amazing secretes of chicken that Hunter pretended to follow and understand, and Ashton had listened to what Hunter had to say. Looking at it, he wished the military had more officers like him in charge when shit hit the fan. Maybe then What pockets of soldiers that survived the first two weeks would have stood a chance to save more people. Instead, refugee camps with light garrisons were forced to hold out with no word or orders from high command as the world decided to keep adding more and more nails to their coffins. Though the constant running and fighting and fear all together with little to no sleep was also a factor. Had they held the numbers to be able to rotate troops that might have helped. So many mights', so little results. Looking back, the more good officers may not have been enough. Lieutenant Anderson was decent, even if he struggled in areas. But there was only so much he could do with splintered units, low ration stockpiles, and so many refugees that there was fear the count was off by the population of a small town or two.

Ted, had less then pleasant things to say about Hunter. He wasn't sure at what point he had made his way to the edge of the cell, but soon enough into what Ted had to say he found both his hands gripped on the bars eyes locked on Ted. "My concern isn't about the damn food. Or even Cage leaving. My concern is being trapped down here with the only person who can let us out on the other side of the camp." In Hunter's mind it seemed better to miss the meal then take the chance to get trapped with no way to be let out should something go wrong. "Good for him keeping a schedule, and working all the shitty shifts. They suck, that I get. Those back to back sleepless shifts are god awful messes." Hunter did feel bad for Cage in a way working those back to back days and nights while in the military himself. But it wouldn't go far. Cage had made his impression like Hunter had made his own. And like how Hunter had people looking negatively on himself, he wouldn't be able to look far past the impression Cage left on him. Even if some of it was bias due to familiarity with people Hunter had known in the past. Letting go of the bars he clenched his hand and opened it up a few times, rubbing the scar on his arm as he did so.

Hunter would avoid talking about the NOID stuff, he knew there was nothing he could say that would make that situation better. It did leave him thinking, how little he got along with the people here. He thought back a few days about, talking to Maddoc about how he planned to leave once quarantine was up. And only stayed, because they refused to let him leave with his dog. But now, if he stayed he had lost his dog again. And debated if it was worth staying without her, or with the idea that she would be used as a check to keep him in line. His first thought went to more of a hostage situation, but as those thoughts crossed, he figured that was the wrong word for it. Still, it made him think about how a life here could be salvaged with the reputation he had formed. The fact that someone else took his dog from him and was holding it over his head, and how he clearly didn't get along with the people here. Then, he thought about what Ashton had told him, the points he brought up. "I'm sure one way or another I wont be a problem for your people by the end of the week." Ash had made some good points to keep in mind, but the place had good fortifications against the dead, and it seemed they had enough fighters to fend off humans should a conflict like that start. To add to it, he wasn't sure he was willing to kill for these people. Due to a lack of other viable skills, and the reputation he had made for himself so far, he saw little he would be doing other then restroom duty, and god forbid the sewers. He didn't think that is how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

[Lady Absinthia]

☠ 𝚃𝚆𝙳: 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝟻 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟺 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Location: Camp Mexico Beach Weather Forecast: Dawn at 5:57 A.M. - Dusk at 7:41 P.M. - High: 87F, Low: 72F - Winds SW at 4mph - Gusting to 10mph - No rain - Cloud Cover: 26% - Visibility: 9miles. Notes: Dinner is under way - Same menu as lunch - Tuna: Salad, Casserole, Sushi. Oranges and a clear broth are available. This will stay the same through dinner unless a roll denotes something runs out. Right now everything is going well and there are no issues to report. Heat is still a factor but it is cooling down a little bit, not enough to really make a difference at this point but still better than it getting hotter. No rolls this during this update for World - Pushing forward. Make sure to read carefully so all times in your posts end up on the same page as it were. Remember to be talking to each other about character relation development for the next time skip and thinking about how and where and why you want your character to progress. After this day is over we will be pulling some single scene days where people are paired off and we colab a bit to get some in depth development going but fast tracking it so we can get everyone settled before the next story arc.

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Camp Mexico Beach (General Streets): Things are as they were: calm, hot, kids playing in the streets. The majority of traffic is heading into the Mess Hall at this time, seems this is peak time for the dinner meal. Nikki and Amelia will have no problem getting to Distillation this round.

Aeron stepped around the building and headed towards the Mess Hall. "Thank you Alexander, very much. I don't want to worry some right now. Everyone needs a bit of happiness to get through these days," he said as he leaned on his cane a little less. It seemed that the pipe helped with the pain and made him lean less. Thankfully he didn't look plastered but he felt it. The stuff they had was pretty good but that was to be expected as they had several people in camp that knew what they were doing when it came to drugs and growing plants.

"The menu should be the same as lunch. We try to use everything up before moving to a new menu. So we may have the same lunch and dinner for several days as we used the fish. Breakfast is the only menu that changes daily, helps to start out the day better if people are not stuck with the same thing at the start of every morning," he said with a smile. He was older so he still lived by the old adage that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Granted these days every meal was the most important.

The General started laughing and had to stop before they entered the mess hall. "Feisty? Why yes she is that. A cougar I believe is what some call her. She is sweet though, just a bit brazen," he said blowing out the laughter. Shaking his head. "There are stories, that may or may not make you blush, all from her of course," he added before starting to walk again. Holding open the door to the Mess Hall he waited for Alexander. "After you."

Mess Hall (C): DoLittle chuckled a bit. "No, well yes. We had a problem with that new kid that came in with the dog. He's been hauled off to jail and there's a court-martial coming up. I got enough in the office right now and needed someone to watch the dog. Nikki did well with her during the guys quarantine so put her with Nikki, she said she would talk to you soon as she could. Guess she hasn't had a chance yet," DoLittle said in passing as she took her tray and had it filled up with her dinner for the evening. She chuckled a bit. "And no, she hasn't caught the mouse yet. You know if she does she's gonna keep it. I think she likes that little rodent," she laughed.

Cook shook her head as DoLittle talked to Lisa. "Nothing that hasn't been calmed by now. Just a long day. Sorry, funeral details always put us a bit stretched thin is all," she said before making sure the line kept moving. It was rush hour for them.

DoLittle looked over to Manny and chuckled. "Dentist? Nice, I mean we had one kid here that was fresh out of school but best he could do was pulling a tooth. I mean could have been worse but be nice to have a real dentist and not the medical and me trying to piece meal it together from text books," she said before turning. "You two wanna join me?" she asked motioning to an open spot at a table by the far wall

Distillation/Fuel (L): Standing outside, Cheers had her cover alls rolled down to her waist, a tank top clung to her skin drenched in sweat as she took a long drink from a bottle of water before checking her watch. "They better get here soon," she mumbled to herself. She was hot, tired, and all this traipsing around for a funeral detail meant she had to put double time in on fuel today to replace the used portion. She was done. She just wanted to get her paper work turned in and get something to eat.

"What the hell you waiting on?" Cage asked as he passed by.

"Supply, what are you doing carrying food?" Cheers asked as she motioned towards the tray.

"I'm fuckin' meals on wheels baby," he said with a chuckle.

"You're deranged," she followed up with. Cage shrugged and kept heading back towards the Jail. Shaking her head, Cheers watched Cage until he was out of sight before glancing back at the other end of the road and checking her watch again. "Nikki better not be surfing again..."

Education Center (M): The professor glanced at Thalia and laced her fingers together. "No it isn't required." She paused for a moment as her eyes drifted down to Thalia's prosthetic. A brow raised as she leaned in a bit more and put her glasses on. "Though you can be taught to with that hand," she pointed out as she pulled her glasses back off and let them fall to her chest as they were secured on a chain that hung around her neck loosely.

"I am interested to see you prove yourself academically but this will do for now," the professor said to Nigel as he took to signing as well. Once all the papers were signed she collected them and signed them herself before dating them. "Sparrow, witness please," she said as she held out a pen loosely towards the scared woman.

General Supply (R): After Amelia came in, Auntie peaked her head out of her office hearing voices. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she walked out front. "You two ain't done yet? Get yer asses movin'! Don't want to see ya again till mornin'! Git!" Auntie snapped as she waved a handful of silverware at them that she had been cataloging.

Inside Jail (AA): "Nothing that didn't deserve being stuck down here," he said as he propped one foot on a step and the other on a lower one. Sliding down he sat on the stairs out of sight but within ear shot. Leaning back against the cold concrete that lined the walls he sighed. "Was supposed to clean down here. Said I was. Cage checked. Didn't like the job I did, told me to fix it. I gave it all of five more minutes. He let me get away with it one more time. Third time I tried to storm out. He wouldn't let me go until I did it. I refused. Was being a little shit who thought scrubbing was beneath me. So he locked me in down here. Said he'd let me out either in the morning or when it was clean, which ever came last. You can bet this place was spotless by the time dawn rolled around." It had been a hell of a day that day, Ted could still remember it. Didn't matter the job that came after that, he did it, did it right, and never had to sit overnight in cell again. Hard lesson but lesson learned.

Hearing Hunters bold faced about face caused Ted to chuckle a bit and shake his head. "Yeah, keep tellin' yerself that kid. Maybe you'll start believing it. I can smell the bullshit from a mile away," he said not believing what Hunter was saying. It wasn't that he could read Hunter but because Hunter had said things before knowing Cage had left. Because of his attitude from the start. It was very telling. Maybe cooling his heels in a cage would get him to see straight. Maybe not. It wasn't his problem or his job. His job was simple. Clean up the mess, which was done. And file a report on everything said while he was down here. "First you bitch he isn't doing his job. Soon as you find out he is you switch your complaints Noid. I can't decide if you are a drama king or a liar but seriously, shut the hell up. Your attitude stinks worse than Rosie's Bathroom." Rubbing his hands along the back of his knees.

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Thana Martin Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Thana stood there silently and just watched as things were gotten together. This really didn't concern her but she was there for more or less moral support at this point. In case Nigel needed anything, or Thalia at this point. She figured it would just be an in and out thing. It was turning out a bit longer than that but it was okay. She just hoped that Ash wasn't sitting in the mess hall done with his dinner and waiting for her to show up. She'd get to dinner as soon as she could but she wasn't about to leave the two of them high and dry, not until she was sure that they were both signed up. She was kind of surprised that her Uncle was already accepting Thalia for D Roster but she wasn't going to say anything. She knew Thalia could fight, she just needed some rehab.

Nigel she didn't know about but he was fit and with all his limbs so him signing up she didn't think would be a problem. Thana smirked as she looked over towards Nigel. "And just who do you think I mean?" she asked. She wasn't about to tell them both straight out. If either guessed she might nod but for now this could be a little more fun. If anything it was a way to pass the time as she waited for things to get finished up around here before she could head out. She really wanted to head out. Thana was a patient woman but she was finding these days she wasn't as patient as she wished she was, or as she had been in the past. Then again, she had a good reason these days.

Thana's brow quirked as the Professor called her out specifically. She hadn't thought she would be needed and was two seconds from saying see ya and rushing off. It seemed however that it was a good thing that she had held her ground and stuck around as long as she had. She got to play witness to these two signing papers. It made sense but then again to her it was a waste of time. If they got hurt or died, who the hell was going to sue? Shit like that wasn't something they needed to worry about anymore. Yet this was how things were done here, she wasn't in charge, and it didn't hurt anything so she didn't bother even voicing why she thought it was pointless. Instead she stepped forward and signed, in cursive before grinning and sticking her tongue out at Thalia, on the dotted line.

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Nikola Warren Location: General Supply (R) -> Distillation (L) Skills: N/A

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A bright smile came over Nikki's features when she spotted Amelia coming down the road. She held the door open for her. "No worries, it's just your first day," she said before letting the door close behind them as they both got inside. She remembered her first day on supply runs. She got lose so many times. She took forever and barely made it to the mess for the last bit of left overs in the kitchen late that night. Amelia was still more or less running on time so this was a good start. The place was big and made for a lot of running. She'd get the hang of it and was already off to a better start than Nikki had been.

"Two carts left. Distillation and the Jail. Their the furthest out but if we go together we can knock it out quickly and hopefully be done even faster. It's a bit of a trek to the jail. It's on the back side of the place, north side, other side of the water way. Why I left it until last," she explained as she pointed to the two carts. They were full of supplies and covered with clip boards hanging off them, much like the one for the armory had been. This meant a check and signature was required. Grabbing one Nikki jerked her head towards the other. "I got this one, you get the other, then we can get the hell out of here before Auntie says anything."

It seemed that Nikki spoke too soon. Auntie yelling made her cringe but the words made her smile. "Don't have to tell me twice!" she said before pushing her cart around and quickly backing up into the door. Pushing it open with her rear end and pulling the cart out. She held it with her foot for Amelia until she had the door herself and started to head down the road. Nikki waited for Amelia before pushing it down the street and towards the Eastern Gate.

"Just let me know if you need me to slow down," Nikki said with a wink. Amelia had mentioned needing a breather, so she didn't want to push too hard but she also wanted to get this over and done with. At a decent pace she made her way down to the road near the Enlisted Housing, making sure to stay on the sidewalk and out of the way of the kids playing stick ball before turning.

"It's just up the street, Distillation," Nikki mentioned as she pointed past the trees ahead. She'd keep her pace unless Amelia needed her to slow down. Nikki had the cart for the Jail, leaving Distillation's cart for Amelia. She hoped that Cheers was still there, last thing she wanted to do was track down the woman to get a signature. She let out a sigh of relief when she spotted Cheers standing there outside having a break. "Hey, sorry, were backed up today. Thanks for waiting around," Nikki said, trying to be sweet. Cheers already ragged her enough, she didn't want to make it worse.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Rosie's bathroom. The invocation of the name of that place struck Ash with a sort of internal revulsion. He was the new guy, and already subjected to one of the more ...interesting... aspects of CMB that might be related over drinks at a fire at a later date. But more to the point, it was being used as a comparison of Hunter's attitude. "Hmm, wow. Too soon, Ted. Too soon." He had recently gotten away from that place, and during that time was kicking himself for getting the tuna casserole before going back to it. Fate had placed his work elsewhere, but the very thought of the near miss there was close to a gag-worthy event. Still, Ash was interested to note that his sense of sarcasm was developing back into his casual conversation. It was oddly comforting.

The abrupt change in topic had almost blotted out the answer that Ted had given him from his memory. But as the issue calmed a little in the foremost portions of his brain, Ash processed what he had been told. Ted went an got himself in a heap of trouble when he first got here. Oddly, he seemed a little bit like a cautionary tale, if such a thing existed anymore aside from the usual rule of law outside of walls, summed up as "Be paranoid at all times, or you will likely die". Such was life.

Mulling everything around in his head, Ash finally spoke up, "Well, this room isn't permanent for us. Guy in charge'll be along. Place is clean." Looking to Hunter, "This room isn't permanent for you, either. One way or another, you still have options." Again, unless the Powers That Be have moved more than a fair sight away from the Uniform Code of Military Justice. For all Ash knew, he stepped into Napoleonic Code a few stops back and they were waiting with a cigarette and a firing squad. It would definitely be an ending to an odd day. Ashton shook his head and redoubled his efforts to nonchalantly lean against the wall.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education (M) Skills: N/A

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The nonchalant manner in which La Profesora addressed Thalia's potential ability to write in cursive as met with an arch of her eyebrow. Much as most things were a cause for annoyance to her, she really couldn't help but feel a little annoyed by the exchange. "Good to know," she said carefully. In truth, it really was good to know. Such things weren't on her "To Do" List right at the moment and really weren't up there on her list of priorities overall. Thalia was on a mission, and this was just part one of two. Now that it was coming to a close, Thalia was anxious to move on to the next step.

The question of Nigel proving himself academically took her by surprise. For a moment, Thalia thought that the Professor was talking to her until she looked up and saw for herself who was being spoken to. Of course she was talking to Nigel. Books weren't her thing anymore. Then again, the thought of being in a position where she would eventually be able to concentrate on more academic pursuits did have a sort of appeal, so long as it didn't make her weak. Or dependent upon others. Or worse yet, others dependent upon her. This whole "living in civilization" thing was going to take some getting used to again, especially the social aspect of it. In a passing effort in that regard, she looked to Nigel, a guy that she really only knew as the other weapon and shield person from quarantine, and surmised, "Guess we'ah officially the first, then." As mentioned earlier, there would probably be more that signed up after a while.

But that wasn't what Thana had commented about. She had made leading comments about their instructors in the finer arts of inserting and removing steel into living and undead flesh. And she recalled part of the conversations from lunch, before she disappeared under the table and booked it for parts elsewhere. Thalia's eyes narrowed, and she quoted one of the few literary passages she remembered from college, "Cry 'havok!', and let slip the dahgs of war...?" If anyone in that place knew how to handle a short blade, or a long blade for that matter, it would be Shakespeare.

In regards to the line of pure bitchery perpetrated by Thana, signing in cursive just to spite her (which in truth she didn't regard as such until the tongue-sticking-out incident), Thalia leaned her head back a little as if to size her up. Her expression was summed up efficiently enough by the words she chose to mark the occasion: "Yah. Go eat a dick, Navy."

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:General supply-> Distillation (L) Skills: N/A

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“Well you seem to have left me with easy to find locations near here, so I’ve had an easier time. Thank you.” Amelia replied with gratitude as she started listening to the girl’s explanation of where to go next, Distillation and Jail. She did wonder what’s to be delivered, but more importantly thought of the location. Well she’d follow Nikki’s lead on this one!” Got it.” She nodded firmly as she reached to grab the other cart.

Suddenly her eyes snapped at the direction of Auntie’s voice. Amelia smiled a bit and nodded.” Yes, Auntie.” She replied, noting the woman wasn’t actually saying anything bad despite her play at it. It wasn’t a bad place, it really wasn’t a bad place. People here were kind of loud at times, but kind from what she saw. Of course she knew that if they had to, they’d be firm in punishments. She didn’t think it’d be possible to survive in this world otherwise, but all in all. It was a good place with good folk. Still wouldn’t mind having her exc… bat with her. Yes.

“Thanks.” She added when Nikki held the door for her and she hurried to pass through, then with a fast pace she started following after the other girl who clearly knew the way and by the looks of it those destinations weren’t at this street. Luckily she wasn’t alone on these ones.” I’m fine. I already took a quick rest at Enlisted Housing. I just hurried a bit too much until then.” She reassured and looked at the kids playing in the street. This bothered her, but not in a bad way. It was just the dissonance with the world outside. She never thought she’d see children playing like this again. It was a nice thing.

Following the street up to their first destination, Amelia noted Cheers outside too. Seeing how apologetic Nikki was, she too decided to do so.” I am sorry for the wait too. I’m still getting the feel for the place, so I couldn’t be faster.” She apologized too as she pushed the cart over, holding out the document to be signed.” I will try to do better tomorrow.” She gave a small hopeful shy smile.

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“True, true.” Lisa nodded to Manny’s statement about brushing your teeth.” And to think there would be a time when I need to worry about my teeth! Ohh well, camp world problems.” She chuckled. Considering the life on the road was rather devout of security, before arriving at the camp even baths were a very hard fought for victories and not without danger. After all, you never really could ensure a random walker wouldn’t burst from the least expected place while you are naked and you will have to flee, losing most or if not all you own.

“Doggo boy?” Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow as she eyed DoLittle.” What… wow… I’m pretty sure that’s a record? Like they got let out yesterday afternoon and today he’s already in the brig pending judgment. Not that I can’t see why, Doggo Boy was about as social as a brig with legs from my observations, but still.” She sighed and shrugged. Well, not her problem honestly. Maybe he’d not get axed." What did he do anyways?"

“Did you now? Guess we got a doggy.” Lisa nodded in a somewhat of a pleased manner.” Really should talk with Nikki about telling me these things sooner. I imagine it would have been quite the surprise if I had managed to get home earlier today and was met with surprise dog out of nowhere.” She chuckled.” Ehh, worry not, DoLittle. The canine is fine by me, have no problems with our bundle of energy keeping him. Hell I might even enjoy taking him on walks myself too. Besides, it’d be nice to have some relaxing company.”

“Of course she does.” She nodded with a smile at the mention of the mouse. Lisa wouldn’t mind keeping it, though it’d be caged of course. Professional pride wouldn’t allow her to have a rodent wandering about freely at their place. She’d have to pull the broom if it does and duke it out with the lil rodent the old school way.” Oh, sure. Lead the way.” She agreed and followed after DoLittle to take a seat. More the merrier!

[Shoe Thief]

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/A

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Hearing about problems among the new people was a bit upsetting. The place had a lot to offer and to hear things like that was a shame. The kid with the dog. Manny remembered him a bit, though had little interactions with him so far. From his best guess, the kid had some of his own issues that he couldn't get over. Though it did make him think if it was something that developed post or pre collapse. Lisa had gotten to the question first, but he was interested too. What was considered too much for these people, and what was their line to not cross. Though he wondered what court martial would be like. Sometimes he forgot that this was a military based camp. It was a harsh reminder, and even though things had been okay on his end so far it was still an unsettling feeling.

He was intrigued to hear that there was already someone as acting dentist in this place. Though fresh out of school with limited understanding of the field. "Don't underestimate a good tooth pull. Easier then some jobs sure, but by no means easy on it's own." The idea of it was strait forward enough, but it was nice to know they had most of the equipment already setup in some way. Or even enough to do a tooth pull. Though the idea of people not in the field having to figure out more extreme things using books and other medical experience did give Manny a noticeable cringe. He had little room to do so, as he had been forced to do the same thing over the last 5 years. Maybe that is how other doctors saw him, someone in the wrong field trying to do things way out of his league, and being lucky that it has worked as often as it has. With that thought, he figured he must have seemed like one pretty big hypocrite. "I'm glad you've been able to make it work so far. Though I have to ask, you said... Had? Does he not do that anymore or..." Even after all of this, it was hard to mention the other end of the word Or.

Manny followed as Lisa and Dolittle made their way to seats. It was an interesting dinner so far, and they hadn't even gotten tot he food yet. "Have you been in the camp long DoLittle?" He found the codenames things a little strange still. Not sure it was something he could get used to himself, but he had no reason not to call someone by whatever name they wanted to be called by. He did wonder if he would end up with a code name before long, though the name he went by currently was already kind of a nickname. Out of all the conundrums to figure out, this one seemed like one that wouldn't end with any harm no matter the way it went. He found it rather fun in a way too.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Jail (AA) Cell B Skills:N/A

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Ted had a lot of his own stuff to say. Hunter listened to some of it, some of it he didn't after a bit. Like the conversation with Maddoc, some information had been added to the mix, but not a single concern had been addressed yet. It was a stalemate of communication, Hunter refused to listen to whatever Ted or anyone else from here had to say, and the locals held little care for what he said. "Just go fuck off mate." Hunter made his way to the bed and would find a nice spot to lay down on it. Ash had been a voice that helped Hunter keep a level head. "Options are one word for it Ash. Best guess they're debating on that threats to shoot me from a week ago. If so fuck 'em too." He rested staring at the ceiling. He figured with how quickly they went to that option last time, it was even more likely that they would want him shot this time.

Hunter unsure how to kill the time laid down facing the wall of his cell and would try to nod off a bit. He contemplated talking with Ashton a bit. There were things he wanted to say to the man, but he didn't want to chat that much in front of Ted. He felt he still needed to apologize to him for how he treated him during cleaning. He was also one of the few people he had met who actually had an idea of what Hunter had gone through. Even if events played out differently, he held an idea. Looking back, the only other person in his life who really had that idea would be Pete. Though Pete had been there, and had faced the chopping block first hand long before Hunter did. And even after they had met, he didn't last long. Ash at this point had. He survived, he knew what things were, and had a real Understanding of what things were like in the military in those early days. The chaos, the senseless death and destruction, the brotherhoods ended with the barrel of a rifle. He wondered if Ashton had things he regretted doing those days. He figured he did, but he was better about not letting it get to him maybe. Or maybe he had a better way of getting through things then Hunter did.

[ONL]

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Alexander Polawski Location: Outside Administration -> Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Happiness. Yes, that was someting to get you through ones day, especially the shitty ones. For the longest time in his life Alexander hadn't really known how it felt to be happy. He sure as hell thought he did, all with his pranskering friends, days of drinking and smoking and what not he did in his Army days. It was only with his wife he had felt truly happy with life. Now it was gone, dead, buried in the ground on a not too distant shore. Months ago it had dared to peak its grey head out from cover, and just recently it had taken to stand in the sun, only to flee with the rain clouds.

He could be happy, and thought he was. Just not as much as before.

Rolodex was from the sound of it certainly one taking the joys by force, if it could be taken for happiness. Alexander gave Aeron an awkward laugh in return, having walked with him down the street, passing kids enjoying their spare time like kids should, before reaching the Mess Hall. "A cougar…so that's what they were called. I'll be careful from now on then, I do not look good blushing, especially not in this heat." Alexander said back to Aeron, deep in thought as the front door was opened for him by his older friend. Having women who almost crawled over you like he realized she had, wasn't something he could remember having experienced before. In honest, the old veteran had a habit of being a fool around the fairer sex for most of his life, just ask Thalia.

But dinner called, and he would answer.

"Don't mind if I do, Aeron. I have a date with the tuna casserole, if I'm not mistaken." And with that, Alexander reentered the lively Mess Hall. Ah yes, a habit in the making. With the scorching heat leaving them in favour of the cool air of the interour, Alexander recongised at least Manny out of the bunch on their way to a seat. Had he not had a planned dinner with the General, Alexander probably would have followed after his fellow Baby Boomer. But perhaps another day. For now Alexander gave Manny a wave. "So tell me about these bigger plans of yours and your boys, Aeron. The bigger operations, what Thalia and I are helping with in the basement. How much further out can old sparky reach? I suppose hosting a radio channel isn't one of those plans?"

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Nigel felt a sense of pride actually with the Professor's confession of preferring him to prove himself academically, glad that his professional side was something of use, not just his sword arm. Like a true Roman, he would show the virtues of the Roman people with both sword and scroll in hand, the reinvention of Alexander and Socrates. Though his response was more humble, he couldn't help but turn and smile at the Professor like a school boy for a moment, before recomposing himself. For Thana asked him a prudent question.

Turning back around to face her, he continued his smile now with a knowing look. He was not sure, but he had a pretty good guess, one that would perhaps come to bite him in the butt later on. Or rather bite his thumb. Nigel turned to Thalia as she stated they were officially the first ones on route to begin their training, giving her a nod of approval. "So it would seem, Thalia the Spearlady. And I believe, or fear your brother will be there to sharpen his own blade against ours." Nigel retorted back, seeing the realisation flow over Thalia as she probably thought the same as him. How much poetry and theatrics would take place during their sparing. Let slip the dogs of war indeed.

Nigel took a step back as the proceedings came to a close, signalled by Thalia's venomous tounge at Thana. Sensing the rivalry, a friendly one he hoped, Nigel took yet another step away from the ladies and out the door whence he came from. "If that is all however, I'd like to take my leave. I must read the lists over classes and…you know what. If you'll have me excused, Professor. Thalia and Athena?" Nigel bid his farwell to the group, the professor's slip of paper in hand and making his escape from the soon-to-be war room. He had a plan, a simple plan but a plan still - list of classes, mess hall and dinner.

[Lady Absinthia]

☠ 𝚃𝚆𝙳: 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝟻 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟺 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Location: Camp Mexico Beach Weather Forecast: Dawn at 5:57 A.M. - Dusk at 7:41 P.M. - High: 87F, Low: 72F - Winds SW at 4mph - Gusting to 10mph - No rain - Cloud Cover: 26% - Visibility: 9miles. Notes: Dinner is under way - Same menu as lunch - Tuna: Salad, Casserole, Sushi. Oranges and a clear broth are available. This will stay the same through dinner unless a roll denotes something runs out. Right now everything is going well and there are no issues to report. Heat is still a factor but it is cooling down a little bit, not enough to really make a difference at this point but still better than it getting hotter. We are continuing from the previous post to move things forward. Pleased remember to be thinking about future character development as well as relation development. Where do you see your character down the road? Where do you want to see them? What do you need to make happen to see these things through? How can it be worked in with your characters personality and skills?

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Camp Mexico Beach (General Streets): As before most are dealing with dinner. There are crews on the walls and people milling about the main area. Past the distillery will be a mostly empty zone save for the people working in said zone. Streets have kids playing. Down at the beach are a few people swimming and body boarding. Others are out at various picnic tables set up talking, playing cards, various board games, etc. This will continue until the day start wrapping up. Amelia and Nikki will make it to the outside of the Jail this round.

Mess Hall (C): DoLittle shrugged a little bit. "Not sure what all he did," she admitted before continuing. "I caught him putting his dog up and not cleaning up after her. It wasn't a big deal. He's new, people forget. I went and reminded him to clean it up. Was just going to let it slide and not report it. Then I got the call that the dog needed to be housed elsewhere and he was being arrested. So I relayed what had happened then," she said as she sat down at a table and put her tray in front of her.

"I guess we'll find out when the make the charges public," she added as she picked up her fork. That was standard. If someone was brought up on charges a general announcement was made after all paperwork was done and the charges would be placed out on the announcement board for public knowledge. After that anyone wanting to speak for or against the person charged would be heard before the Court Martial took place so everything was open and above board.

"Anyways, after that I took the dog over to Nikki and asked her. She said she would talk to you but seeing as the carts were still in Supply when I stopped by I am figuring she is still out on delivery." There was another shrug as she took a bite of her food.

"Oh, kid ended up being a medical fill in for a long run. They got hit by a hoard. Only three made it back, he wasn't among them," she said finally answering Manny's question about if the kid stopped doing dental work.

"Um, couple of years now. I'm an in the walls person only about a quarter of the time. We don't get a lot of pets but when teams are out they have run across sick animals and one settlement has cattle and horses. So I'm an inbetween. That and well if there are sick animals we nee to run tests to see if it is something that can be passed along. I think most of my work though is just running tests on meat brought in to be sure it is safe," she added before taking another bite of her food. "Ya know, make sure people don't get worms," she followed up as she chewed her bite.

"General," came from a few behind the serving line.

"Evening," he said kindly to them. "Everything good here?"

"Yes sir."

"Wonderful, ah yes, I believe I will have the casserole, that does look tremendous," he added and was served. Alexander was served after him. Looking around he found a table and had a seat, waiting for his new friend to join him. He gave a few nods and hello's as he sat there.

"Actually you are not far off there Alexander. There are other settlements. Communication can be a pain. We are hoping to utilize long dead towers as way points and start a network of communications. But first we need to have something working in town before we can expand. Long term my friend. I want to build something that can last and I feel communication is going to be key in that endevour. We are well set up now for the short term but years? Ahh, that is what I am looking at. Adaptation is one of our greatest assets as humans, we adapt and over come. We have adapted, now it is time to march forward and pave a nedw future. Perhaps not one I will see but many a tree were planted that one never sat beneath."

Distillation/Fuel (L): Cheers shrugged. "It was either that or have you waiting out here until tomorrow morning, as funny as that might have been I did not want to hear Auntie bitching about her not having her paper worked signed and a day behind," Cheers said as she took the board and started going over the cart.

Her eyes cast towards Amelia and she quirked a brow. "Seriously, don't worry about it. Pretty sure that boat coming in didn't help," she said as she went back to checking over things. "Fuck between that and the funeral detail and that one kid getting tossed in the slammer it's been an active day," she added as she moved a few things around on the cart to double check her numbers.

Sighing the paper she handed it over to Amelia and took the cart. "Looks good, see ya later," she added as she pushed the cart into the distillery.

Education Center (M): The professor eyed the three as the papers were signed. "Right," she said as she gathered them up, mostly ignoring what they were saying to each other. She had been a teacher long before the whole world came to an end. She was used to people talking in class and as long as she wasn't teaching they could say or do whatever they wanted. Up until a point. That point was then. "Dismissed class," she said as she turned around and started filing things away.

Outside of her office the same group was still studying. Well mostly. Half were gone, probably off to dinner. Two were asleep in their chairs, one with his legs fully spread out in front of him and snoring. The remaining three were studying. Or trying to. One had her nose in a book, one was glaring at the one snoring, and a third was wadding up a piece of paper. He looked very much as if he was about to bean someone in the head with it.

Inside Jail (AA): Ted didn't think it was too soon. Perhaps it wasn't soon enough. "That's your answer to everything isn't it? Fuck'em. No wonder you're in here," Ted said under his breath. "If that had been the camps attitude towards you, you would still be out on the road. Wouldn't have had medical attention, food, safety of the walls. No, why don't you fuck off mate. You obviously don't want to be here unless you can be a cunt to everyone while being treated with respect you haven't earned you snot nosed entitled little fuck traweler. In this town you get what you give. And now I know exactly what you've given."

Shaking his head he stood up and pushed off the wall as he heard the door above start to unlocked. Cage was back. "Looks like we can get the hell out of here," Ted added as he headed down the stairs to the supplies they had brought down and started gathering them up as Cage came in and shut the door behind him. Coming down the stairs he eyed Ted.

"What? Sounds like you aren't having fun," he said as he carried a tray in one hand and keys in the other.

"Yeah, loads," Ted said as he picked up half the supplies. "Oh look at that, a meal, delivered. Hope he chokes on it," Ted said before he headed for the stairs.

"What the hell Ted, someone piss in your cheerios?" Cage asked looking slightly shocked.

"Something like that. I'll be in the cart waiting Ash," Ted added as he climbed the stairs and headed out. Outside he tossed his things in the golf cart and flopped down into the driver seat, lighting up another cigarette and taking a long pull from it.

Cage turned around and eyed Ash for a moment before looking at Hunter. "Aww, you made a friend," Cage snorted as he walked over to the cell and slipped the tray through the opening midway up the door. He balanced it there before letting go and stepping back. Shaking his head he motioned to Ash. "Alright get out, I got shit to do," he added, waiting for Ash to leave so he could lock things back up.

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Thana Martin Location: Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Thana smirked over to Thalia as she righted herself. "That'll have to wait until after dinner," she said smugly. She had missed this. Messing with Thalia. If one didn't know better they might think that Thana didn't like Thalia half the time but in truth the woman was probably her closest friend before they got separated. The both of them seemed to have an mutual understanding. Thana had an odd sense of humor and it never seemed to phase Thalia. At least it hadn't as far as she could tell. Plus there was something about spilling an enemies blood together that just was far more cementing in a relationship that a mutual love.

Looking over at Nigel, Thana nodded. "You got one of them right," she said as she stood there waiting for all the paper work to be finished up. It seemed that it was done and that the Professor was ready for them to get out of there. Thana had been ready to leave for some time now. She hoped she hadn't kept Ash waiting, but even if she had she figured he would understand once she explained.

"Yeah, I'm ready to eat," she said to Nigel before she turned around and started heading down the hallway. Coming to the main area she quirked a brow at the noise from the one kid snoring. Her eyes widened slightly. That kid could cut some logs. She looked at the other remaining. She didn't know what was more impressive right then. The fact he was snoring that loud or that another one was able to stay asleep in the middle of all that noise. She couldn't exactly blame the one girl looking at him like she might murder him. It was like nails on a chalk board. Shaking her head, Thana headed for the door.

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Nikola Warren Location: Distillation (L) -> Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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"Uh? Slammer? Oh.. right..." Nikki said. She hadn't been really paying that much attention to what all Cheers and Amelia were saying after they arrived. Her mind wandered a lot. The mention of the jail got her attention. It took her a minute to remember that she already knew that Hunter had been thrown in jail. She hadn't gotten any details yet so she wasn't sure what was going on but she wanted to know. She was curious that was for sure.

Then something else crawled into her mind after Cheers took the cart and headed back into the building. "Fuck a duck. I have to talk to Lisa about the dog," she remembered. She was glad she left a note attached to the front door of their apartment just in case she wasn't able to find Lisa before she showed back up. It would at least let her know the dog was there and why. She didn't think Lisa would have a problem. At least she hoped she didn't. She wanted to talk to her already about it but she hadn't seen Lisa all day and hadn't had a break.

"We should move, last stop... The jail." The jail itself was still a couple of blocks away, that is if this part of town was laid out in blocks. It wasn't. The road went up and curved around, they had to walk over a bridge and then head to the last house. If one didn't know it was a jail one wouldn't have known. It looked like any other house on that street. Nikki spotted Ted sitting in a golf cart smoking a cigarette. "Yo Ted, they got you on jail duty?" she asked a bit confused considering he worked in supply like she did.

[Shoe Thief]

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/A

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The conversation was taking some interesting turns. Manny felt like he was learning a lot about the place, while also getting an idea of what people were like in the camp. Even got a little bit of information on the dog boy, though that was limited too. Apparently the relevant information would all be made more or less public knowledge in time as well. Manny was curious to see what was happening in that regard, and it would be interesting to see how legal action takes place here. If it would be closer to how military have been known to handle internal affairs, or if it would be closer to the pre-collapse legal system. He hoped the latter, though even that system had its flaws.

The story about the former kid working in the dentistry was a bit of a sad one, but an all to familiar one now. Hordes have, and probably will be an issue for many years to come. He remembered his last community when forced to face one attempted to face it head on knowing their gates couldn't hold off a mass that big. And he remembered just how many of them had died. Even with the advantage of bullets, and even a passive production going, what they had wasn't enough to hold off the horde forever. "What do you mean by medical fill in. Like, an out-post between the camps? Or something else?" He assumed the first one as with the walls up, the dead shouldn't be able to get in. Even if the gates were weaker then they looked she said some came back. So it had to be somewhere else right? Though if that was the case, it was something that he hoped was still being done. Many settlements he had heard of rarely can get their hands on a proper doctor, or even someone close to one. So a chance to help out other people like that would be pretty close to right up his alley.

Dolittle talked a bit about her time in camp, the list of jobs she does. She was a floater for the various groups it seemed. Helped out here, helped out there, and then helped out with the food coming in. Manny could see the connections, but it was not his field of medical, nor a field he had ever had to fill before so couldn't understand the details beyond the simple concepts. As well, she was a newer generation in the medical field compared to him. She had the benefit of being able to learn more advanced techniques and trades. Where a lot of what Manny had learned was done in times where the practices needed to be more robust and reliable with as little as possible. It came in handy on the road where a proper surgical room couldn't be established, but had a noticeably lower success rate compared to the new stuff in proper conditions. And this place, fell much closer towards modern then what Manny had grown up practicing. Both had their pros and cons to it, and in his age he simply hoped he had been able to learn enough to keep up with the times as things got more advanced.

It appeared The General had made his way in, noticeable by the greetings he got as he entered. The man seemed nice enough, though Manny had never had a good chance to interact with the man. Though he did take note of Alexander as he walked in. Manny returned the wave and gave his fellow baby boomer a smile. Seemed his friend was making friends with people in high places. Manny after that simply made himself comfortable in his seat and began to enjoy dinner. It was nice to have a bit more time to do it now then at lunch. He did think back a bit to Lisa and her new roommate. "Good luck with the new dog Lisa, she seemed pretty big when I saw her." It was only a glimpse more then a week ago, but it looked pretty big back then.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Jail (AA) Cell B Skills:N/A	.,

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Ted had more to say, but Hunter stopped caring much what he had to say at this point. Ted clearly had a strong love for the place, and believed in it to the fullest extent. Hunter, simply put did not. He waited until Ted was done talking and responded rather simply. "Bye." He spoke not looking at Ted and kept facing the wall. Cage had returned giving Ted a chance to leave, and once he had Hunter sat up from his bed and took the chance to talk to Ash real fast before he left too. "Before you go, I did want to apologize." He seemed like he struggled for the words of what to say next, but eventually formed the words he wanted too. "Treated you like an ass before, assumed you were like every other officer I had met. Proved me wrong, so... My bad. You seem pretty decent. And better yet, competent. Sorry ya got stuck with me." He stopped to think again. "And sorry for losing my shit on your friend. I apologized to her but I think she just wanted me to leave her alone. I probably would want the same thing in her shoes." He did feel bad for what he did. Having met rather hostile people most of his time post collapse it was hard to not associate anyone he met with those people. "And uh... Thanks for... I don't know. Talkin' I guess. Thanks." He'd wouldn't really have much to add after that. He wanted a chance to speak, but didn't want Ted as an audience as he did so.

After he left he turned his attention to Cage. He set a tray of food on a small opening in the bars with what he assumed was his own dinner. Looking at the tray something seemed a bit off. "I don't get it." Were the first words that came to his mind as he looked at it. The tray had noticeably more food on it then lunch or the dinner the night before. He wasn't sure of what to make of it. He wondered if it was some kind of fucked up joke and eyed Cage with suspicion. "What is this? There some hidden cost I should know about?" It was an odd thing for Hunter. His entire time knowing of the man consisted of him being a rather big ass. So seeing this now, best case scenario it was him or someone else concerned about his weight and or health. If it was Cage, it seemed like a rather big 180 from what he had experienced so far. He wondered if someone had put him up to this. Ordered him to make sure Hunter didn't die before his trial. He still hadn't touched the tray by this point yet, as if the tray of food itself was some sort of trap.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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The continuing back and forth coming from Hunter and Ted was interesting, at the very least. Having gotten over the majority of his annoyance with the situation, Ash started to reflect on what he'd seen from the two men locked in the room with him. He didn't disagree with a word of what Ted was saying, if he looked at it objectively. It all sounded pretty straightforward. True, he reminded Ash of a drill instructor who was trying to call out a single person who was screwing something up in front of the unit, a tactic that was usually successful when it came from a person in a position of authority and in front of peers. Again objectively, he didn't figure that Ted was actually angling that way to instruct or motivate. It was just something that reminded Ash of a detail of another life.

A tiny, barely perceptible sigh of relief came over Ash when the door opened and cage entered the room. A fragment of him still thought that this might be a significantly less ideal situation, but all turned out to be well. This place was still new to him. He hadn't figured out the quirks just yet. As the older man entered bearing what he assumed was Hunter's supper, Ash reflexively found himself straightening his posture. Old habits, he figured. Had to be. Ash patiently waited as the quips flew between his workmate and Cage. It made him think back to Newnan, or an aspect therefrom; it was said that Newnan ran on alcohol. Fuel, heating, medical application, cleaning, incentive, and reward. If that was true, the humble distillations of grain acting as the great social lubricant of the settlement, then surely sarcasm held the same role for Camp Mexico Beach. This place contained more pure, unblemished snark than Ash could hope to demonstrate in a lifetime, and he had plenty of practice in the craft. So he just shook his head and let the moment wash over him until Ted left. He was neither giving nor receiving it this hour.

This stance of non-involvement persisted until such time as Cage gave him an eyeballing, followed by the proclamation of shit to do and a decided preference that he leave. This was just fine by Ash, who was already behind schedule. "Yes sir," he responded promptly, stepping over to the cleaning supplies to grab what Ted had left behind. He hesitated for a half second to initiate eye contact Hunter, if only to let him know that he did hear him and was listening. This did not stop him from getting the supplies together while he spoke.

Ash did not address the apology directly except to make eye contact and nod again. Shit happened, shit was apologized for, so long as a repeat wasn't in the making, that was all that needed to be said to him about it. When all was said, he did finally speak aloud, "Thank you, Hunter. And you're welcome. I'm pretty damn sure I wasn't 'stuck with you', Monroe. I'm thinking we were assigned together for a reason." More and more, his mind drifted to the possibility that it was no toss of a coin, no roll of a die that had them assigned for work detail now and put as roommates in Quarantine initially. Whether it was for a greater good or merely to observe what might happen, he believed there was purposeful decision behind it. "But I appreciate. You acted with humility and respect, and I thank you for it. If I can please offer a suggestion? How you just spoke - try doing that with others, whether you think they deserve it or not. I guarantee it'll be a turning point for you." The last of the supplies gathered, Ash rose fully and cocked his head in Cage's direction, adding, "Start with this guy. He looks like he does deserve it."

Ash looked to Cage, giving him a final, "Sir," before making for the stairs. Before he left, he made sure to give a final, parting, "Be seeing you, Hunter," and exited the lockup.

Making his way to the golf cart outside, he was surprised to note that Nikki was there. Whatever conversation she and Ted were in or about to be in was a big chunk of "not his business", so he merely gave her a polite nod and expressed, "Evening, miss." Ash placed the cleaning supplies in the back neatly, secured the goods, and settled into the passenger's seat. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he was fairly certain that he was late as all hell for his recommended therapy session. There wasn't a reason not to go, and the odd stigma that came with attending sessions like that in some places didn't seem to be present here. In fact, these guys were anxious to make sure you got your head checked out and squared away for the betterment of the community. Plus, getting a fully clean bill of health, mental and otherwise, meant that he could rejoin the ranks of the officers, so to speak. Maybe not immediately, for reasons both personal and of social prudence, but he wanted that option open for when it was time. He did first want, and probably a little selfishly, some time to just be with Thana, laboring as the community saw fit, with some sense of normalcy after so long a period without it, and without her.

Then Ash suddenly felt like a dumbass. So much as he was struggling to get done to attend therapy and then hit the evening meal, even going so far as to tell Thana that he would be late getting to supper because of it, his brain left out the detail that the schedule was posted that day. He signed up that day. He was technically clear until Thursday for his therapy schedule. Shaking his head at his foolishness, Ash looked to Ted, "Thanks for waiting. In case you're going someplace else, could you drop me off at the Mess Hall? I think I have a date." If he didn't have a date persay, he did want to meet up with Thana as soon as he could.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education (M) Skills: N/A

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Thalia let out a short but sputtering laugh at Thana's comeback to her vulgar insistence that she engage in oral copulation. She shook her head a little and, as she was beginning to get in the habit of doing, pinged her metal middle finger into the upright position temporarily and nodded a bit, motioning to it like a game show host showing off the lovely prizes that were up for grabs in the next amazing installment of whateverthehell wheel-spinning, cash snatching, big money big money no whammy no whammy, trivia guessing bullshit was about to come into America's homes at prime time. The mirth gave way to a little jealousy. Not much, just a tiny undercurrent. Thana was someone. Thalia was almost afraid to have someone. She regarded it like seeing the couple in Quarantine - the ballerina and the guy with the same local accent as herself - having the out and out hardcore courage to have a baby in the middle of everything. Courage to continue with life was a highly underrated and oft overlooked form of it these days.

But not to be rude in any sweeping amount with Nigel, Thalia went back to what he was just saying about her brother. Of course, being dismissed from Profesora Coño's presence meant that it had to be addressed in the hall on the way back to the doors as they all walked in that direction. "Sharpen his blade? Yeh... Joaquin's good, no lie. The few times be spahhed back in the day, I had to cheat to beat him. That was when I had both hands." Then again, this was during her younger formative years. He had left to seek his fortune before she matured to a woman and really come into her stabbing, bitchsmacking own. And that did put to focus the fact that a knife fight wasn't the kind of thing you could "cheat" at, not when survival was on the line. Still, she didn't have the manual dexterity she used to. Hell, she didn't have both the manuals she used to. It threw everything off in a permanent way.

The mention of food definitely piqued Thalia's interest. Not so much the snoring kid and the girl who was about to play paper ball free-throws using him as a basket (though that was kind of fun). To put it plainly, she could eat. But a more pressing item was on her To Do list for them moment. Some two things before she sat down to a plate of fish and homegrown edibles: Finding the Major and locating that One Way sign. Thalia supposed that getting herself checked out took priority. "Ah shit... hey Navy, you see where Major was on the wahl? Or you thing she'll make it to dinnah like the rest of us if I wait around theah?"

[ONL]

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Alexander Polawski Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Alexander felt his shoulders rise up towards his ears, his body tense up as he stood in the serving line behind the General. There were many things that ol' Mugsy had yet to grown accustomed to in the civilised society of Camp Mexico Beach, one being the attention of fellow living, breathing human beings. He turned his head towards those who greeted the General, wondering if they were looking at him as well. It didn't frighten him really, just felt uncomfortable being so close to the center of attention. Like people expected something of him as well, like being on trial.

A court martial, one that never came.

The calming sound of Aeron's voice brought Alexander's shoulder down once again though, as both of them were served the fine Tuna Casserole he anticepated great things of. He thanked those serving him, giving a polite smile to those around him and following Aeron to the table. It felt again odd not to sit over with Manny after so many months on the line, and now both were making new friends. Would Manny ditch him for someone more like him? A doctor? Nah, Manny was a dentist. One hell of a dentist, but still a dentist. Alexander chuckled at the thought, knowing they needed each other even on the inside.

Alexander listened intently to Aeron's explaination of their comms-situation, quietly taking spoonfuls of the Tuna Casserole in-between his nodding in agreement, both on a purely technical level and the broader strategic one. "Can't argue with your reasoning, General Aeron. It's like we were taught back during boot camp and training; clear and well-used means of communication can make a real difference in any situation, war or not. What did they use to say, the flag-boys? Pro Patria Vigilans, Watchful for the Country? I guess that Roman teacher fella would know." Alexander replied to Aeron, reminicing back to the days he marched down dusty country paths with a too heavy, too fragile and too weak radio strapped to his back. Hopefully those days were over. "Like I said earlier in the basement, before I slipped and fell, I'll do what I can, same with Thalia. She's a good one, can't be replaced. Just like the old radios in my store, old is gold. What type of equipment are we dealing with? And can we get hold of more, spare-parts and the like?"

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Nigel Cooper Location: Education Center -> Outside of Education Center (M) Skills: N/A

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Class was dismissed. Now that was a phrase he had not heard being used in seriousness for many years. Nigel looked back over to the Professor, now having begun the task of filing paperwork like the world had never ended in the first place. And yet it had, though within the safety of the walls they had just began a long bueraucratic process of attending classes and signing up for combat training. And to top it all off, the thing at the top of the agenda was such a trivial thing of the past that he for the longest time hadn't lived by the very concept.

Dinner.

Nigel followed Thana and Thalia out to the corridor and down towards the entrance, passing the group 'studying' or as Nigel himself knew it from his days teaching, slacking. The one snoring sounded like the war cries of a hundred, no thousand Celtic warriors shouting and beating their shields. Probably worse, because Nigel wasn't frightened by the sound at all, more a mixture of annoyed and amused. Nigel shot the one kid rolling up the papers, giving her a brief nod of approval. He would have to sharpen up his teaching competence, but for now he approved of waking the disturbing Celtic army, saw-mill, snoring kid, call him whatever you liked.

While Thalia began conversing with Thana about a certain Major, Nigel let them talk amongst themselves as he made his way further out. He was looking for the board with the list of classes, the others he could talk with later, however of an mediocre small-talker he was. The heat still poured down on him like boiling oil from the defenders of a castle wall, but it was getting better. Things were quiet in the sense of calm, not alarmed, people wandering the streets and taking it as easy as they could. Nigel took in a deep breath of air as he witnessed the wills of men once again was dictated by more higher ideals, not just the brutal truth of survival. While he had had his doubts when he first got bussed into CMB alongside Erica and the others, he felt as if he was slowly getting into the rythm of it.

When in Rome, do as Romans do. The question was who was the Roman, and was this Rome?