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

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Distillation (L) - > Jail(AA) Skills: N/A

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“Alright, thank you.” Amelia replied when she was told that she shouldn’t be worried about being later today. Hell there was a valid point made that apparently today was just that hectic of a day to begin with anyhow. She had to agree that with the graveyard visit she did miss a lot of work time that could have been used to start delivering those carts earlier, but hell for tomorrow she’d at least remember the destinations better and how to get there, so they’d be able to make better time then! She smiled when the green light was given that they were good to go.” See you later, Cheers. Have a good evening.” Amelia said with a smile, taking the signed document.

Now that the job was out of the way, her mind snapped to Nikki saying the forbidden word. Even just mentioning it, caused Amelia to wince in discomfort.” What’s this being mentioned about the slammer and a dog anyways? Something happened while we were out? Why a... Dog” She asked, really now concerned why Nikki had a dog to talk about with Lisa. Just mentioning the canine kind caused her to feel uncomfortable dammit. In any case she hurried to follow after the girl heading for their final destination. Now that she thought about it, considering the jail a final destination was kinda weird.

“So this is the place.” She mumbled when they arrived outside the building that served as the jail of this place. It was ordinary yet it was the place most further out from the places they had to visit today to deliver these carts, given the amount they had to go round about to reach her, she supposed it made sense in a way. It was a jail after all, didn’t want it to have easy access to the rest of the camp. There was a man smoking outside in a golf cart, a man apparently named Ted. Weirdly normal name actually. Unless it wasn’t and that was a nickname or an alias.” Hello.” She greeted the man with a polite smile and quiet voice.

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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Lisa let the doctors have their proper doctory dentist talk for a little while and in the meantime she mused on stuff. Namely doggo they got. What she heard on the topic of how they got a doggo, made her raise an eyebrow though.” Just wow…” She sighed, at this point you couldn’t even feel sorry for dog boy. He literally dug himself a a massive fuck off pit, lined it with spikes and then climbed up to the top before tossing himself head first back inside. She’d understand minor transgressions too, but that was just wow.

“Well what can we do.” She sighed and shrugged.” Yeah, haven’t heard from her today, but then again I was pretty busy myself as well, so it’s understandable. In any case, we can only hope it doesn’t end up in something that breaks the mood overall, but on the plus side our room got a doggo companion. As long as it’s not a badly behaving dog, I’m fine with it, best part Nikki’s the bundle of energy personified, so she can deal with the needs of a dog, namely walkies.” She chuckled in amused manner. She certainly could look after the thing, she had the work ethic to do so, but since this appeared to be perfectly up Nikki's alley, she'd leave it to the girl to deal with. Though Lisa was going to provide help whenever needed. Even a bundle of energy like Nikki would need rest once in a while after all.

The commotion in the Mess Hall wasn’t too different than usual with people chatting about and tableware clanking sounds, but she caught sight of General in the waiting line. She smiled in their direction, but there wasn’t really a point in calling out from this distance in a rather filled Mess Hall with all the noise. She did gave a smile in their direction. She’d go greet the old General proper once she finishes her food.

“As long as she’s a good girl we won’t have a problem. Dogs MUST be big, why would I want a lil mouse of a canine? Big dogs are better and more cuddlier. Once her fur grows back properly, she'd be so soft to the touch and huggable.” Lisa stated with a shrug, not understanding the value of smaller dogs. A dog was a faithful companion and a loyal guardian, granted it’s owner was locked up tight, so she wondered how that would go in the long run.

[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. Make sure to get with your fellow Rpers so we can have things in order for time jumps. Any story arcs or ideas you have message me privately about either in PM or in Discord Direct Message to discuss how to make it happen or how to play it out.

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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.

Mess Hall (C): DoLittle nodded. "Yeah, there are other settlements but they don't have the resources we do. And definitely don't have the people. We do monthly check ups with them, go out, provide medical care, do what we can. Someone gets bad enough we bring them in here under guard and keep them in the hospital until they are good to go, then take them back to their camps," she said between bites. "Anyone with medical experience with clearance is on rotation. I mean I'm a vet but mammals are mammals," she chuckled before shrugging and taking another bite of food.

"If you can handle Nikki, you can handle the dog. The dog is more laid back than she is," DoLittle laughed.

Aeron smiled and took a bite of his food. After a nice chew and swallow he nodded. "I suspect he would. Seems a colorful fellow and have yet to receive any complaints on him. I look forward to seeing who he is. Along with many others that are new here. You can read a thousand reports but in the end they never truly show you a person. That takes face to face interactions," he said motioning between himself and Alexander. He knew he needed to speak more directly to others but right now he was getting to know Alexander a bit more and it seemed to be going well. Then again it was easier to talk to someone that remembered the same presidents as you did.

"Oh that you would need to talk to Tesla about. He's the one who has been gathering parts and getting them working again. Some of the equipment is older. Most of it is older, which is what he has been after. Less working parts and easier to fabricate if we need to," Aeron added. "I'm sure he could better tell you than I."

Education (M): As the new students as they were left, the Professor gave half a glance but went back to her paperwork and making sure things were filed away. She would drop off the signed papers when she went to dinner in a bit but she had some papers to grade first and she preferred to stay on top of that.

Out in the main room, wadded ball of paper ended up smacking against Mr. Sawing Logs head. He just snorted in, not even half stirring before settling back down and sliding down a bit more in his chair. The others groaned and started gathering up their stuff. "Fuck this, I'm getting dinner," one mumbled. The others seemed to agree as they put their things up. Another purposefully and heavily dropping a thick text book on the ground.

"So! Where we were?" the sleeping one yelped as he sat up and tried to act like he wasn't sleeping.

"We are going to dinner," said the one who dropped the book.

"Sweet, food," he laughed as he folded his stuff up haphazardly. The others just rolled their eyes.

On the board were several classes. Many of them seemed to be full already as the lines for sign up had been filled in fully. There were some that were still open though: Quilting circle, Gin Rummy, Beginners Swimming, Scuba, and one DnD session was still looking for players. There was also a notice: Sheets updated weekly on Monday Morning, must resign up each week. So that was good, even if something filled up you could try again in a week.

Inside Jail (AA): Cage groaned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Kid, you're a damn twig. Eat your fucking dinner," he said before turning around and shaking his head. "Or don't, your choice." Taking a few steps he then stopped and glanced towards Ash. "Yeah, go on." Sighing he glanced back at Hunter once Ash was gone. "That one has a screw loose." Seemed out of left field but it didn't stop Cage from saying it. "I'll be back in an hour to get the tray," he added as he headed towards the stairs. Climbing them quickly he hit the top step and closed the door, locking it up. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath.

Outside Ted propped his foot up on the so called dash board of the golf cart waiting. He quirked a brow as Ash came out. "Shit, I'm going to mechanics to drop this off and then hitting the mess. You can walk that right?" he asked with a chuckle. "Or your date gonna pitch a fit?" he added with a grin.

Turning his head he looked over to spot Nikki and some new girl coming over. "Hey," he said to the new girl before looking back at Nikki. "No, had to clean up Dimshits remains," he said motioning to the cleaning supplies and the bag marked hazardous waste. "And frankly it's good Cage is on duty, I ain't got his patience," he added as he pulled his leg off the dash board and put it down. Sitting up a bit straighter in the process.

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Thana Martin Location: Education Center (M) -> Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Thana glanced over to Thalia and then stopped walking. She was thinking. Where was the Major on the wall right now? Her thoughts were quickly derailed as she watched the guy get hit in the head and barely move. Her brow quirked. Then she tried to go back to the topic at hand. "Um, I think she's.." she started but that got cut off when the book hit the floor and Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. She felt kind of bad for the others. That one seemed like the one asshole in every group project that never did anything. Shaking her head she looked back over to Thalia and finally was able to complete a thought. "Anyways, I think she has Western Gate duty today but she should be off the wall around 1900 hours to get dinner when the Wall shifts change for overnight," she said before heading out the door.

The heat hit but it wasn't as bad as it had been thankfully. It was still unpleasant but nothing like it had been earlier. The biggest issue was the fact she had just come from an air conditioned building out into the heat. That would take some adjusting but then again she didn't plan on staying out in the heat long enough to get adjusted. The Mess Hall wasn't too terribly far off. Chances were by the time she got there she'd be sweating but not adjusting. It was just par for the course right now. Some days she missed not having air conditioning. That was until night fell. She always hated trying to sleep when it was hot. It was miserable.

"Oh careful, the needle might be mightier than the sword," Thana chuckled as she walked past Nigel. She gave him half a wave to both Thalia and Nigel. "See ya later, gotta run," she added before she started jogging. She paused just long enough to check the road before she continued across it. The Mess Hall was just across the street. Checking the time she grunted, Ash was probably already half way through his dinner she figured as she stepped into the Mess Hall.

Taking a step to the side she got in line but her eyes were scanning the room. She couldn't find Ash anywhere. She was probably just missing him. It was busy and people were milling about, she couldn't see the whole room from the line. Maybe he would spot her while she was in line. Either way, she kept looking as she waited her turn, slowly stepping forward as the line progress. Her brows furrowed some. Where the hell was he?

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Nikola Warren Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Nikki looked over at Amelia and shrugged. Don't know much. Just know I got the dog that Hunter came in with I have to watch now. Heard he was taken to the jail. And something about a Court Martial. Hoping I can find out when we drop this off," she admitted. Nikki liked to know what was going on and she knew that they would do a full release to the camp once everything was in order but Nikki was impatient and she wanted to know now. No use hiding it she figured. Maybe Cage would be in a good mood and let her into the jail to see what the hell was going on with Hunter. He sure has pissed her off this morning, more than that had made a fool of himself the night before but she had never seen someone go to jail so quickly in town. Not even Ted had.

Speaking of Ted. Nikki quirked a brow. Her eyes went to Ash for a second and waved before going back to Ted. Wow.. okay, next time I won't ask," she said before glancing at Amelia. "Hey I'm gonna try to get the dish on this. Why don't you hitch a ride with Ted back? It's cool, right Ted?" she asked. She knew Ted would be fine with. He was as he motioned to the back. "See? Told ya. I'll see ya later," she said before pushing the cart forward. Stopping at the steps she ran up the stairs and knocked. "Come on, be in a good mood Cage," she muttered under her breath before popping another bubble with her gum. Maybe Violet would have been a better nickname for her considering how often she chewed the same piece of gum.

[Shoe Thief]

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

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Manny found himself learning a lot about the other communities, or at least the interactions with them. Manny wondered if he would ever find himself in that rotation as well, or if he would end up being more of a reserve doctor who only filled in when medical was filled. The comment about Mammals being Mammals Manny felt he should say something about it. But then he stopped himself. He was literally someone who cleaned teeth for a living, who eventually got transferred into a professional limb remover. "I suppose you're right. Especially in this day and age." Had someone said something like that to him ten years ago, he figured he would be petitioning to have their medical license looked into and questioned. Now? It was someone who knew how to patch someone up, and knew how to well at that. He found it funny how social norms have changed over the years. Had someone told him years ago that now he would be cleaning boats on an ocean side military base he would have probably shrugged off the comment. Had someone told him he would be carrying around a target shooting gun on a daily basis for self defense he may have laughed in their face. He thought of the times where he did have to use a gun like that before the end of the world. Never fired, but he did have to show at least one group of extremists that he was armed, and that his home was a bad target to go after. Though even then he had a tendency to get sick after they would leave, suddenly losing what composure he held.

Then there was the first time he fired a gun at what he presumed was a person. Even with what he knows now, it still sent chills down his spine. But here he was in a world where anyone who left their homes were armed. Though now home was concrete walls. Five years, five long and life changing years. Manny found himself nodding off a bit, but it seemed like the conversation mostly stuck with the new dog that Lisa was now going to be living with. Lisa made a comment about the dogs behavior, though Manny had low hopes in that area with what little he had seen of the boy. Who knows though, maybe it was the dog keeping the leash on the boy instead of the other way around. "Big dog kind of person are you?" He didn't get the appeal of having a dog around as much. Though he didn't peg Lisa as a big dog person, sure showed what he knew about reading dog people. Though she did bring up good points, who doesn't want a huggable friend around them at all times? Manny did let out a bit of a chuckle as DoLittle compared the dog and Nikki. "Is she really that much?" Manny asked with a smile. The overall conversation reminded him of his days of his old dentistry. The simple friendly banter with a mix of professionalism in it. It was a good time.

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

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And like that, Hunter found himself alone again. This time though he had a lot going through his mind, and a lot of information he was left to process. Ash had replied in a way that Hunter wasn't ready for. What he was ready for, was getting his ass reamed out for being an idiot, for causing trouble, and being an asshole. What he got? Thank you. Unsure how to react, he simply listened to what Ash had to say, some advice to try and make his own life better, and improve relations with the people around him. His recommended started point? Cage. He had no idea where to begin with Cage, as like most people here he Cage was someone confusing to Hunter. And at his mention he found himself confused. But he simply nodded as Ash left. Replying a simple"See ya." Ash had left Hunter with a lot to think about.

Then there was Cage. His reply to Hunter's comments? His weight, or lack there of. It was a simple comment, but it made it's own point. It also answered his questions in a sort of backwards way. It explained the why, the most important bit. But he left it at that as he prepped to leave. Overall, he wasn't sure how to take the encounter. Especially when Cage made his comment about a screw being lose. It seemed to conflict with what he was saying so far, or if he had forgotten that Hunter was still in earshot. He wondered if this is how people felt when he talked to or around them. Finally before Hunter got to be alone with all of this new information, Hunter would reply to Cage's comment about returning. "Thanks." He tried to be sincere with it, but was clearly at a dead halt for words other then that. Hunter did find himself unsure how to react to Cage's comment about his mental state. Most people he could ignore with it, or he would jump up to rather aggressively verbally retaliate. Right now? He had no words for it, not even a joke to follow it up with.

After the door closed he examined the tray again. Larger rations then any other meal he had gotten since he had been there. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. Positive that someone was looking out for him, or upsetting that someone decided he needed it. He relented leaning towards positive. He did find it weird coming from Cage. Then looked at the cell next to him where the last prisoner used to be, and what it must have been like dying alone in there. Finally taking the, he made his way back to the bed and found himself just staring at the meal as if unsure what he was supposed to do with it. In the mean time, he found himself just shifting the food around, sometimes taking a bite, but for the most part just moving it around. "Tuna casserole, fruits, and juice. Cool. Cool cool cool." He ate some of the fruit and drank the juice but finding himself stopping quite a few times along the way only making a dent in the fruit. "Fuck nuggets..." He found himself struggling to stomach much. In a cycle of take a few bites, lose his appetite, stop, then his body realizing he's still hungry. Jail was going to be a long one, but sooner or later he would find himself getting through it. One way or another, this would be over eventually. He just needed to make sure the last thing he saw in the process wasn't a muzzle flash.

[Sigil]

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

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Ash observed the conversation from the passenger's seat of the golf cart. The nonchalant discussion of the remains of the former Mr. Dimshit reminded him that the lived in a period of time where life was simultaneously very precious and very cheap. Considering that he didn't know the man whose partial remains had decorated the jail floor, Ash had little problem disconnecting from the task at hand. That, and living as he had for the last chunk of time made one numb to the brutal things one did to survive. But Ted lived and worked with this person. His level of disconnect was curious, unless sarcasm was the method of choice for psychological defense mechanisms here. If so, Ash could relate.

So far as Nikki's curiosity was concerned, it was noted that while Ash and Ted knew a little more than she did, neither of them were letting on. This was a thing with which Ash agreed. Loose lips, need-to-know, and all that. If Cage felt like sharing, that was on him. It was not Ash's responsibility to communicate these things and he had no right to, in the name of whatever was left of military jurisprudence. And he didn't know a hell of a lot more, anyway. He did speak up about one thing before getting back to Ted concerning their next stop, however. With the mildest of annoyance, Ash noted that a woman he had spent the better part of a year and a half with in a dump truck had arrived following Nikki and hadn't so much as glanced in his direction. Maybe he told too many Army stories during all that time. He had a habit of relaying information of a historical or practical nature as it applied to the work at hand which some people found offputting, like he was still training grunt sappers. Yeah, that must be it. So with a twinge of good-natured sarcasm of his own, Ash bid Amelia a good day with his own, preemptive greeting. "Good evening to you too, Amelia. Glad to see that you're surviving the sea air and regular meals here. Real trooper." He followed it up with a smile, an act he wasn't well known for among former Newnanites.

The question that Ted posed him was still in the air. "It's a long walk from Mechanics to the Mess but I'll make due," he said with a faux eager nod. "Besides, if she's pissed I'm just going to blame you, Ted." The sarcasm wasn't fully used up on Amelia, apparently. Seriousness was re-asserted with a sincere, "But I'm sorry, I should help you unload, anyway." It was an oversight on his part to request a dropoff when the work wasn't technically done. "Ready whenever you are."

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Education (M) -> Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Contrary to Thalia's previous disposition toward the sleeping student, wherein he didn't hold her interest and could spend the rest of his life growing dirt for all she cared, the impulse to grab the kid and shake the ever-living shit out of him suddenly took hold of her. She figured that it was because of the comment that he made about grabbing food (not like she couldn't use some more of that sushi herself), labeling the kid's priorities which didn't involve helping out his classmates. Thalia remembered college. She remembered the wastes of space to hung on the underbelly of project groups and got their easy grade for doing the least amount possible. It irritated her. Thalia held a tiny daydream whereupon she dusted off her Familia's talent for motivation, pulled a knife and begin screaming at him unintelligibly in Spanish until he either agreed to shoulder his part of the workload or pissed himself; either way was good with her. Then she might use his urine-soaked undergarments as a gag, thumping his kidneys with her heavy, steel prosthetic every so often if he didn't write down something insightful at least once a half hour. Ah, but who had the time anymore? Thalia would be back. This wasn't done.

Okay it was, but assigning it some mote of extra importance felt good for a moment. Done now, moving on.

Anyway, Western Gate Duty. That's where she would find the Major, and begin dealing with Part Two of the epic two-parter that involved Thana getting herself into proper training. Then again, armed with the knowledge of where she would be and around what time was a better, less exhaustive, and more probable option to get in touch with her. Something like an ambush. Or just catching her during her off time. Tactically, it made sense. And one couldn't forget that it was where they kept the food. It was a sushi day. It felt like a sushi night, too.

The midst of her thought process, or more accurately, the moment that she put the fore of her thoughts back in the present, revealed to her that Thana had gone ahead. Nigel had also gone ahead. And the students... well, it was time to go. Thalia paced away, intent on getting to the Mess Hall but not feeling the need to run. Oddly, she had the idea to keep a steady look at her surroundings, checking this way and that with her eyes only as if searching for something that she had either forgotten about or only half expected. Something did catch her eye, though it wasn't anything really that she needed. Just one distraction among many, though this time she bit. It was the signup sheet. "...DnD..." she mused aloud. Thalia took a minute or two before giving in. "Hell with it." She had her assigned job, hopefully her training after a lengthy psych evaluation, but this one - schedule permitting with everything else - was just for her. In truth, it was a pretty big step for Thalia, volunteering for something social that didn't involve direct violence somehow. Maybe it was the scene from the study area that put her in the frame of mind to be open to it, but the whole thing reminded her of her own college days at Boston's picturesque Suffolk University. Go Rams. If it proved to be too big of a step, schedule was not permitting, or if something seemed off about it, she could ghost it completely and not think twice. Her only misgiving was that, based upon her stunted manual dexterity, whomever saw her signature might think that a four year old had a hankering to roll for initiative.

After not too long, Thalia had made her way into the Mess Hall. Oh, she knew what she wanted. More of that yummy raw fish and rice. Chopsticks ...weren't a thing. They waved bye-bye to her the moment she lost her hand. But it didn't matter at lunch and it wasn't going to matter now. That sushi was going down. Waiting in line was becoming irksome, though. Not the fact that she had to wait, though that was not her favorite part of it either; but that Thalia was stuck between people, one of which was standing right behind her. Whether he was or not, if felt like this guy was leering at her, murmuring unwholesome things and mouth-breathing all the while, possibly considering an act of assault. It was her hesitance to be in crowds talking, she knew that. It was also the cause of her staring at the knob on the back of skull of the man in front of her, wondering how much force she would have to use with her metal hand to bonk the guy unconscious if she needed a human shield against the imaginary antics of the slackjaw behind her, and others.

Again, Thalia did not like crowds of people. This was coupled with a habit of trying to plot escape routes in any given situation as a survival measure. Eyes on the prize, though. It was sushi time.

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Jail(AA) Skills: N/A

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Seeing Ash here, made Amelia smile as she gave him a small wave of greeting. She also greeted Ted before returning to Ash.” Hey. It’s fine, I like it here.” Having a truly trusted person around certain made her mood soar even more. The news of the Hunter fellow fucking up badly was rather weird. Sure she didn’t like the dog, but she never really wanted him to just be court martialed by the sound of it! It was such a scary sounding thing! Would they give him the firing line!? Walk the plank off the settlement walls into a sea of walkers underneath!? Alright, Amelia calmed her rampaging horrifying thoughts probably fueled by some parania aside and nodded at Nikki.” Just keep the dog away if you ever have her out… I REALLY don't like dogs...” She pleaded with quiet voice and begging eyes.

“Mmm, ohh alright. Thank you, Nikki. I will save you some desert if I can.” Amelia said to the girl who suggested her an easier way out of the area and back to the more main part of the camp. She also turned to Ted.” Thank you too, Ted.” She told with a shy quiet voice as she skipped over to the back of the camp internal transport vehicle… One of the legendary golf carts! Truly the greatest invention of all time if you didn’t count Math… and books. Also baseball, whomever invented the bats was a saint.

She got on board quickly, not wanting to waste their time anymore further.” I’m ready and secure.” She smiled, making herself comfortable as she could and secure as she could. Being secure was even more important than being comfortable, given her past experiences with vehicles weren’t always the best ones and she tended to remember the bad ones.

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“Heh, can’t argue with that, that’s for certain.” Lisa chuckled in amusement.” Well she’s a hyper energetic young woman, what else can we expect? I guess we should be grateful that there isn’t much sugar these days, imagine Nikki on a sugar rush. Now THAT would be glorious sight to behold, though not sure the camp would survive it.” She mentioned, finding fun in even imagining Nikki as even more so of an energetic daredevil. Would be quite the experience for sure." Nikki on a sugar rush, hehe, we could hook some dynamos on her and produce some NIkkilear energy." She stated with a wide, wide grin.

While on the topic of laid back people, she spotted someone who wasn’t all that laid back, but was a good person still. It was Thana who had just arrived and was on the waiting line. She waved a distant greeting to her as she returned to her food. She was actually planning to finish her meal fast and go grab a shower, after the dirt one, she really needed a regular one.

“Well I wouldn’t call myself a dog person per say, but I do prefer big dogs to small ones. The big ones tend to be more pleasant company and well, are useful, man’s best friend and all that.” She shrugged. Dogs weren’t her most favorite thing in the world, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t have preferrences right? She laughed when Manny questioned the descriptions of Nikki.” Well I’m calling her bundle of energy for a reason. She’s a good girl though and probably the best roomie I could have asked for, like seriously."

[ONL]

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

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The Tuna Casserole went down easy for ol' Mugsy, enjoying every spoonful of it as his calm conversation with Aeron continued to unfold. Tuna Casserole, he'd never in his life think he would enjoy such a grand meal after the world had ended. He had always liked fish, but those days finding an onspoiled can of tuna would have made him feel like the Sha of Iran. And yet now he was enjoying a Tuna Casserole like it wasn't a big deal, like he had just bought a hotdog from a stand before the big game. And now Alexander wondered if they served hotdogs in CMB.

Alexander had swallowed another spoonful while Aeron spoke his usual thoughtful phrases, this time about people being more than mere reports. That's one of the many reasons he had been so well-liked when they were both younger, he took the time to meet you even if you were just a small cog in the massive machinery that was the United States Army. Alexander nodded in agreement. "I'd toast to that, Aeron, if I been a drinking man. I can't remember how many guys in our platoon got chewed out by the top-brass at your level, guys who were nothing like the reports. That Nigel guy sure sems like a good fella, colourful, but if he can swing a sword like he says, I'm impressed." Alexander mused about the Roman odd-ball, though who was he to judge? He was Mugsy after all.

"Tesla? Oh yeah, the Korean fella who fixed Thalia and me up. Good guy, I might just ask him when I get the chance. Oldie is goldie, some youngsters once told me. Wore glasses too big to be practical, too thin a moustache and dressed like a fancy hippie. Even carried around a typewriter with him! I think he was what people called a 'hipster'…" Alexander rambled on, leaving the Tuna Casserole for the moment as he talked like he hadn't talked in a long time. It was the old Alexander, he who had a good life, if only for two thirds of the day. Alexander gave Aeron a smile stirring the casserole while he lowered his shoulders again. "You know what, Aeron? Life isn't so bad, not too bad all things considered…" The smile wore off however, leaving a long, thoughtful look on Alexander's face as he looked away. "…I'd only wish my wife could have seen it…"

Alexander eventually would turn back to Aeron, his face drawn out as he asked the question he'd thought of ever since he first heard of CMB. "You wouldn't happened to know of a settlement east of Florida, somewhere off the coast? That was where I was when this whole thing started."

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

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While Nigel would have gotten a good laugh out of the sight of the students and their Greek comedy play out, he was far too preoccupied by searching for the board. It was not too difficult to find, considering Thana had pretty easily pointed it out to him just ten, fifteen minutes earlier. While he had expected to find the list for classes he could attend and teach in himself, as he had understood the Professor, what he found was more…leisurely, so to speak.

"So I am to make a Greek of myself then…very well, as you wish, Euphrosyne." Nigel whispered to himself, inspecting the listed classes that were still open. Quilting had, for some odd maddening reason conjured up by the Sirens of the sea, been his own suggestion earlier. He shuddered at the thought, embarrassed at the sight of himself quilting instead of smithing. No, he would toil with something else, something better for himself, and so he kept going down the list.

Nigel was so concentrated on the board that he almost didn't notice Thana walking past him, warning him of the pen over the sword, giving him a good chuckle back. "Calamus gladio fortior, indeed Athena. Have a good one!" Nigel shouted back at her, his new unexpected friend and fellow gardener of the New Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They would have to work on a new and better name later. Thalia on the other hand he managed to miss, only catching her musing aloud the letters "D N D", before running off. Nigel tilted his head to the side, looking back at the board for what she had meant.

"DnD session…tossing the die, or dice." Nigel mused to himself, having first heard of the tabletop roleplaying game in his university years. But Nigel had felt more drawn to the act of swinging real swords, leaving the rolling of dice to Roman Caesars and other politicans. No, reading the board again his eyes fell on one line that echoed something Thana suggested. "Swimming…Scuba…" Shivers ran down his spine, unnaturally cold in the scorching Florida steam, though he steeled himself. Thana had told him Maddoc would run said classes, pointing out it would help him helping her in the underwater garden. He wished he could be enthusiastic about it, but the fear held him back. A fear that had followed him since childhood and a certain…well, well.

Nigel shook himself loose from the stoning gaze of Medusa, puffing his chest out and doing something he might regret very much later on; he signed his name on the list. And as soon as he had done that, he quickly retreated and made his way to the Mess Hall, as if to distance himself before he changed his mind.

Nothing had changed since lunch earlier that day, not even the smell. Fish, more fish for food as was expected. Nigel got in line like most others, further behind Thana and Thalia up front, himself looking for more people he knew. The two old men, Alexander and the General were seated alone at a table, while he recognized at least the girl called Lisa sitting with a larger crowd. Who would he sit with and use his Roman diplomatic skills with, meaning acting awkward and defensive? Only time and dinner would tell.

[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. Make sure to get with your fellow Rpers so we can have things in order for time jumps. Any story arcs or ideas you have message me privately about either in PM or in Discord Direct Message to discuss how to make it happen or how to play it out.

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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.

~Picking up from the Jail Below~ Ted waited for everyone to pile in and let things settle before turning on the golf cart. "Sure thing," he said to Amelia before pulling out and back. It was a pretty uneventful drive back through the area. Between the main road of camp and the jail the area was pretty much not in use. It was maintained if they needed more housing or to expand but for now everything between the Distillery and the Jail was empty and for the most part off limits unless you were on your way to one or the other specifically on a job.

Ted looked out for the kids playing as he pulled onto the main road and then detoured across the street to the Mechanics shop. Pulling up he turned the cart off. "Alright, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here," he said as he exited. "Who am I kidding, do what you want, I'm getting lunch. Well dinner, your dinner, my lunch, fuck it, food," he said as he gestured across the street before turning around and jogging over.

Mess Hall (C): DoLittle chuckled a bit and nodded her head. "She's like a box of dynamite tied to a run away cat." Sighing slightly she continued. "Don't get me wrong, Nikki's a great kid. She's just a bundle of energy and very nosy. But she's a straight shooter. Can't stand lies, even bending of the truth grates on her nerves. She just doesn't have a filter yet or figured out how to pace herself. It can be a lot to handle. Probably why in supply they assign her to my office so much, she has the same energy as a new puppy. Helps wear her out sometimes," Dolittle admitted.

By the door Joaquin and Atticus came strolling in. Both were looking around. Tapping Joaquin on the shoulder, Atticus pointed to Thalia when he spotted her. Joaquin gave a crooked grin as the two of them moved up into the line itself and waited to get their trays. Thana was ahead of Thalia in line, she hadn't decided what to get yet but it was her turn. Once she made a choice she was given her tray and the next person was served. The same went for Thalia who was several people behind Thana. As Thalia came up to the main area where the food was being served she was given the options for the evening and then handed a tray of what she asked for. It was still early enough in the day to have full choice so that wasn't an issue.

Heading into the Messhall, Ted glanced around and got in line. Once he was through it he took a seat over with some other people around his age, they had recently been in the Education building. Some working, one of them asleep. Ted took a seat and started eating, he was beyond hungry and he did have to get back to work as soon as he was done. He still had another four to five hours to work today before he could call it quits for the day.

DoLittle started laughing. "Oh god, if we could some how find a way to harness that girls energy we could power every settlement from here to the Bayou," she chuckled before taking another bite. "And I bet she is. I don't know if I could handle her energy levels but imagine she's pretty good about keeping things in order. Especially after she started shadowing that Thana woman when she got out of the hospital," she added motioning towards Thana standing in line. "Anyways, so what was this I was hearing about from the party last night, something about a fuck hunt? What the hell was that about?" she asked eying both Lisa and then Manny. She hadn't been able to really spend any real time at the party but the rumor mill was flying today. "Did Nikki actually hook up with Bass?"

While the rest was happening Aeron sat happy, and stoned out of his mind, listening to Alexander. This was nice. The man was not asking about his health, wasn't pestering him about reports. Two guys just talking. "Ah, yes, my granddaughter says old school is where it's at, whatever that means," he chuckled before taking another bite of his food. "Hipster? Is that like a hippy who stubbed their toe? Sounds positively horrid," he added with a smile. He hadn't a clue what a hipster was but it seemed that Alexander was more in the know of pop culture than he was. As Alexander mentioned his wife, Aeron gave the man his full attention. He thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, there were but I am not sure we know of any active. We seem to be the third most eastern settlement along the panhandle that we know of, that is alive and running these days. There are remains of others, some of which we have had to go to for supplies. We can go check the maps tomorrow if you would like," Aeron offered. It was the least he could do for a new friend.

It wasn't long after Nigel entered the room that the Professor and Rosie entered and took their place in line behind him. The line was starting to thin out by now but it wasn't moving any faster. The initial rush was over so the workers could breath a little more, refill the hot areas, reice the cold ones. "What will you have?" each person was asked. Behind Nigel, the two women were conversing with themselves. "I am telling you a Minotaur Bard would be a perfect addition," Rosie said surely.

The Professor looked at her and rolled her eyes, "I am going to regret asking but why should I allow that in the campaign?"

In her best impersonation of Christopher Walken... "Because if anyone gets a fever we have the cure: more cowbell! Eh? Eh!" Rosie laughed at her own joke. The Professor palmed her face in her hands, Rosie elbowing her as if she had just made the joke of all jokes.

"Someone kill me now..." Edna groaned.

Jail (AA): Cage looked oddly at Hunter when he said thanks to him. He wasn't sure what to think about it so he didn't say anything. Upstairs once he locked up he put the keys back on his belt loop and rubbed his face. He was tired and understandably so. It had been a long day, a long set of days. He knew though the extra long shift would be over soon. He was supposed to have the night off, Roy would be sending someone over to cover. It was an easy shift. One just had to monitor the area. Basically one just had to stay awake and make sure something didn't happen. No meals to make sure, no needing to check on the cells come night unless something happened. Cage would still be in the building, he lived upstairs. So he was technically still going to be around but it let some of the mental weight come away for a few hours so he could sleep. It was something he really needed right then.

Outside Ted chuckled. "Shit, don't be putting your lateness on me. Be glad we had the cart, walking would have just put us further behind," Ted said with a chuckle. "And no worries. I ain't got a date. I'll deal with Auntie after dinner, this is just a dump, dash, and dine, it'll hold. My shift isn't over for another four hours. I'm mid shift," he explained. Teds day was only half over. He would work late into the evening, which could suck, but it also meant that he got to sleep in and didn't get up until much later than the rest of the place. This he was fine with. He hated mornings.

Remembering that there had been a knock at the door, Cage checked his watch. "What the hell now," he muttered to himself before heading to the door. Opening it he snapped, "What the fuck..." he started before stopping himself as he spotted that it was Nikki. "Oh, right," he said as he walked outside and down to the supplies to start the check. It wasn't a lot and he was done rather fast. Signing off on it he handed her the paper and took the cart. "See ya kid."

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Thana Martin Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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It seemed it didn't matter how many times Thana looked around she still couldn't find Ash. Sighing she moved up some more in line. She hadn't put a lot of thought into what she was going to eat this evening, more concerned to see how Ash's first day went. That got pushed to the back of her mind for a moment as it became her turn in line. "The pasta salad," she said. She was still overheated a bit from being outside. The sushi was good but she wanted something else right then, that or at least she really hadn't thought about the sushi much. Her eyes fell on the casserole and then the pasta salad. She wanted something cold. Pasta salad it was. As she moved forward after getting her tray she half wished she would have gotten the sushi but too late now and it wasn't something to be overly concerned with. It wasn't a tin of dog food, she was good. Then again she had once thought dog food wasn't so bad. Hunger can be a hell of a spice.

Taking her tray she glanced around. She spotted some people she knew, turning around she saw who was in line. Still no Ash. Sighing she turned around and went around to try to find a place to eat. There seemed to be plenty of places but none that were standing out to her. Instead she walked over to the far side away from the line, the Mess Hall had a small stage. The building itself had once been an old school and they were in the lunch room that doubled as theater for the kids plays. There was nothing but boxes on the stage pushed against the wall. There Thana took a seat on the floor. It gave her a decent vantage point to see and be seen from the doors. Maybe she could spot Ash when he came in.

The stage usually had a wall up in front of it, one of those ones used in conference centers to divide up huge rooms into smaller ones. Today the wall was down and it was open, Thana hadn't been told not to use it and there were no signs. This place was good about warnings, so if there wasn't one she was sure she was in the clear. If not, someone could tell her move. Sitting on the edge of the stage, Thana crossed her legs: criss cross applesauce and set her tray in her lap. Sighing she took a bite of her food and kept an eye out on the door.

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Nikola Warren Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Nikki looked over at Amelia and quirked a brow. The woman apparently didn't like dogs. That was something she really couldn't understand, not liking dogs. Dogs were awesome. Their owners not so much half the time but dogs were cool. Then again Nikki fucking hated bears. Even a bear skin rug would cause her to break out in a sweat. So she didn't judge Amelia for not liking dogs. Everyone had their own hangups these days, more so than ever. Fear wasn't always a bad thing. It did make her curious to why she would hate dogs. Was there a story behind that? That was something she would have to ask on later because right now she had something she was far more curious about: What the hell happened with Hunter to get him tossed into the stockade. Dogs could wait.

"Alright, no doggo around you and yeah, if there's dessert have them save me some," she said giving a small wave before turning her attention back to the door and waited as the others left. It was a few minutes before she heard someone coming towards the door. Okay, this was her chance. As Cage opened the door she took half a step back. She wasn't afraid but she hadn't expected him to yell. Startled was more like it. Well there went the hope he was in a good mood.

Sighing she jogged down the stairs and followed him. How to put it, how to put it. How to ask? This kept going through her mind. She figured it wouldn't take time long to check everything but she didn't think it would be that fast. Rushing forward she jogged next to him mas he pushed the cart. "I need to talk to Hunter," she blurted out. Well, so much for the gentle approach, or feeling things out more. Hell she didn't even ask. Said she needed to talk to him. It was the truth, she did. She needed to talk to him. She needed to find out. Curiosity killed the cat and if that was true she had better have nine lives because as soon as the words left her mouth she was pretty sure they could be her last.

[Shoe Thief]

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

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Traffic had really started to pick up inside the mess hall. Though for the most part it was probably just the fact that Manny was starting to recognize the faces that were starting to come in. "Thankfully. Sugar production has been nearly impossible for most people now. Especially the heavily processed stuff from the old world. Unfortunately much of the old world food that is still good today is laced with enough sugar that we should probably have a nuclear contingency in case Nikki gets her hands on it." He said it with a bit of a laugh, but it was a rather large concern in his old community that other then canned and dried food which was susceptible to a lot of issues, a lot of foods that held a long shelf life had high traces of sugar. Led to a lot of people who had been forced to survive off the stuff to have blood sugar issues for months.

As the conversation progressed, He took note of Thalia who had entered and had gotten her food. He took note of how she sat more isolated from everyone else. She seemed rather contempt with her situation, so for now he wouldn't say anything. But he worried about some of her more anti social habits in this community. But she was strong, and she could adapt. He would keep an eye on her, but for now he could assume she was fine. He would try to give her a simple wave of acknowledgement, but from across the hall it may be hard for her to notice it. Alexander still seemed to be having a grand time with the man in charge, but he couldn't tell what was going on from where he was seating. But it seemed good. It was nice to see his friend branching out and meeting people, being social. He also took note of Thana who had made her way up to the stage to eat her food. He would try to get her attention too, giving her a wave of acknowledgement as well. If either of them wanted to sit with them he would be open for it, but he has found that if he pushed too hard while on the road, they would tend to back off more socially then.

Manny brought himself back to the conversation at hand. The cat comparison Dolittle made was a rather extreme one, but he understood the comparison. Seemed the girl was at the height of her youth ready to see everything the world had to offer. Lisa had made some comments about the dog again. "Well, you have fun with the dog. I think I am getting a bit too old to take care of a creature that big now. And with that much more energy then myself." Then it went to the party last night. "If I am being honest, I didn't pay too much attention about the fuck hunt. As for Nikki, I couldn't be sure. Saw her with the boy from quarantine at one point. But seeing as he is locked up now, guessing it didn't work out. Can't say for sure when it comes to Bass." It was hard to miss the drunk ramblings of Hunter from the night before, even if most of it was a bit incoherent. Didn't help that Manny had more or less tried to ignore the boy who clearly had a rather weak tolerance.

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

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Hunter took a couple more bites of food before setting down the tray on his bed. He stood up taking a break. He'd try some more later he told himself. Going over towards the bars of his cell a few thoughts went through his mind. First, he had a trial coming up, and he knew nothing about being a lawyer. As well, he had little trust in any that may be assigned to him. Though that was under the assumption that he had a right to a lawyer. As well, he didn't own a suit. He laughed at that thought. Last time he wore one was years ago when he debated if it was worth traveling with one only to decide against it. It was small pointless thoughts but they helped distract him from darker thoughts as he waited. The next thought that came to mind was the cell he now sat in. Though he had no intention on acting with the thoughts in his head, he had a few ideas in his head how he might be able to break out should things come to that. He had a few theoretical ideas on the bars themselves, but nothing for the door at the moment as he hadn't really gotten a good look at it. He also lost his chance for a weapon once they cleaned up his cell mate. Something else might come along, but thinking about it he was still not likely to act on it.

He found himself thinking a lot about what he talked about with Ashton. He actually had a lot of things to say about his situation, and himself. It was odd for Hunter to process. What he knew for sure was that he had his own issues to figure out. But the question was how at this point. He contemplated what day to day life would be like assuming things things went well here. Ignoring the fact he would be the center of everyone's conversation for who knows how long. No, that wasn't a thought he cared for much. Shrugging it off for now he paced his cell with his food barely touched.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Mechanics (K) -> Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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It took Ash a little bit to realize what Ted was saying, overall. It wasn't actually until the man came out and said outright that he wasn't done with his shift that Ash understood what he was getting at. Ted had to come back to this cart for work, and it would be highly counterproductive if he had to run back into the building to grab his stuff. Point made. This meant that Ash got to shave a few minutes off of his expected time to get to Mess and meet up with Thana, even it did feel somehow against his sense of work ethic. But he made a point. "Alright, alright," relented Ash, "No blaming The Ted." He said it flatly, nodding, but the barest hint of humor might have been glimpsed if one listened hard enough. "Good working with you," he did finally say as the man started to walk off.

Ted looked like he wanted some space, so Ash gave it a five count before moving out, himself. He looked to their hitchhiker, Amelia, and voiced the event of the hour as if it were a question, "Dinnertime?" motioning his head in the direction of the Mess Hall. "Come on, I have a feeling it's fish." He shrugged, and started on his way. The walk was short, as were most things in a semi-urban setting wherein one already had sight of the building they were going for. And on the off chance that he might have forgotten where the meals were being served, Ash had only to look at the focus point for the camp at that hour; it was the one place that everyone seemed to be going to or coming from. It was like that when he was with the military, proper. Everyone on base could tell where the food was kept during three blocks of time each day, guaranteed. Even if you were new to the base. Even if you were new to the Army. Period. Ash gave a glance to see if Amelia was following, but ultimately that was her business. As he said, be it in a mildly joking manner, he had a date.

Ash just hoped that she wouldn't be pissed that he was late.

Entering the Mess was everything the he imagined it might be from lunch, except he wasn't still damp from having to hose off from a mess so epic it might have been a cautionary tale. His emotions, while internal as a rule, still clung to the coloration they took on from the memorial service earlier. Simultaneously, he felt that this new chapter in his life might be the point where he could turn things around for himself and those he cared about. And speaking of those he cared about, Ash was surprised (and a little nervous) to see that Thana had taken a perch on high ground, amid the swirl of CMB locals shuffling to and fro. He cracked a more honest smile and diverted his course over to her, stopping every so often to allow others in line or moving toward the line to pass without interruption, as he would hope others might when he made his move for the foodstuffs.

"Hey! I missed you. Sorry I'm late," he started, shaking his head apologetically. "Last job was cleaning out the stockade. Got locked in for a while." He leaned in a little, feeling out the situation before actually making a full move to steal a kiss. "Off Duty. You?" It was best to make sure, lest he commit a grievous error in judgement.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Did Thalia mention that she didn't like crowds? Because she didn't. Mouth-breather behind her was standing too close for her likes, and knob-head in front was taking too long. But it was okay. It was all good. These people weren't enemies. They weren't even adversaries, nor rivals. They were survivors just like her, operating in their capacity as useful members of a society and blah, blah, blah... And no they weren't just like her. They had two complete arms and probably never had to dig for earthworms or strip off pine bark for calories after climbing down from a tree they tied themselves to for a secure night's sleep, or what amounted to a secure night's sleep considering the on-and-off misting of rain. They probably never had to outrun a bear or a gang of lovesick former accountants (for the same reasons, no doubt), nor had they ever had to nail someone to a wall with a fire-hardened stick to defend a single, precious, unopened bag of cheese flavored snack crackers. Or hell, maybe they had. For all Thalia knew, they could secretly fly. Either way, the Angel didn't feel particularly angelic right then, and as soon as she got her food she was going to find someplace in a corner, or at least away from the bulk of the people present to eat her supper. Past that, she had no idea what she was going to do with the rest of her evening.

Thalia tried to scan the room, looking for people she knew that would make suppertime more tolerable. Maybe if she had looked behind her, she might have seen Atticus and Joaquin getting into the line, which might have made for an acceptable pair or dining companions. But no, her eyes were out to the tables. Then it was that she spotted Thana, disengaging from the line ahead of her and moving to... the stage! Perfect. Out of the way, good vantage point, and with someone she considered a rare friend. Good. Plan intact, Thalia kept her shit together as best she could without offering Mouth-Breather an elbow to his trachea, quietly requested the sushi plate, then grabbed an orange and something to drink. She turned and made for the stage, and Thana.

Unfortunately, that meddling bastard Captain America found his way over to her first. The urge to gahd dammit rose, but she tamped it back down as best she could. It only eeked out in the form of a burning gaze and slight snarl, like a pissed-off rottweiler who ordered itself to heel before it was too late to pull its teeth out of someone's left asscheek. Did she mention that she didn't like crowds?

No problem. This could be gotten around with tact, dignity, and grace. Possessing none of these traits, however, Thalia had to improvise. She strode right up to where Thana was sitting and rested her tray to the side, then immediately turned her back to the stage and hopped up to sit right beside her, legs dangling below. Thalia snaked her metal arm around Thana's shoulders into a one-armed hug and looked down at Ash, her other hand picking up the orange from her tray. She bit into it like it was an apple (because she'd re-learn that peeling thing another day) and began chewing it up, flesh and rind, both. Through a mouthful of citrus, Thalia tersely and directly stated, "Claimed."

[ONL]

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

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Ah yes, a hippy that had thrusted his toe into a solid piece of wood, steel or concrete harder than a runaway 80's fridge sliding down a set of stairs. Good one, one very much to Alexander's liking. It was nice, just plain and simple nice conversating unfolding between two old geezers at a dinner table. Alexander would have given his fellow veteran a sly smile and a laugh at his proposed meaning, however his forlorn look persevered as Aeron continued telling him what he knew.

A rock fell heavily on his shoulders, a lump in his throat blocked any word and flashing images blinded Alexander, accompanied by the echoing words of Aeron. "Yes, there were…"

Alexander should have expected the answer really. It hadn't been probable that their little island settlement had survived as long as Alexander had done. Then again, for a traumatized one-legged Mugsy he had been lucky. Still, the thought of them all gone had blocked out everything else Aeron had said, until they slowly filtered in through the fog of troubles. Alexander began to nod in silence, still holding a spoonful of TUNA CASSEROLE in his hand just a few inches before his eating hole. Eventually however he turned to Aeron again and forced out an answer to his friend.

"Yes…that would be…helpful, Aeron. Thank you. I had some good people out there, before…" Alexander began to utter an explaination, though the words failed him as he spoke. His tounge tied itself up, refusing to elaborate on just what his heart wanted to tell Aeron. His mind was drawn back to their very first day in CMB, the questionaire and his answer to one specific question. "…before it all went to Hell in a handbasket. Not too special a tale, I suppose. But it would ease my soul to know at least."

Alexander sighed heavily and attempted to eat the now spoonful of cool TUNA, though he only managed to chew on the fishy soup. The lump persisted, a protective dam holding steady. But what? His tuna from going in, or his truths from getting out? Through a mouthful of overly-chewed TUNA, Alexander tried to divert his troubled mind over to another topic, though the past remained. "It's a long shot, but did you hear from anyone else from the battalion? I hate to say it, but I guess it is safe to assume none of them have been around these days?"

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

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The great thinkers of the great civilizations of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia and many more would have been fine allies to have in that decisive moment our neo-Roman teacher found himself in. Surrounded by people in front and behind him, all moving up the line awaiting a much-awaited destiny, Nigel wished he had put more thought into his mental abilities that day after a long day of hard Herculean labour. Stepping ever closer to this aforementioned Destiny, capital D, he hoped the long-gone Platon, Socrates, Cicero and other great minds of their time woulds shine their words of wisdom down upon his mortal being.

What to eat for dinner?

Nigel, stepping forward in a line he knew few people and stood far apart from those few he did know, had to think fast it seemed. The choices threw themselves with great force at his mental city walls; salad, casserole or sushi? Like the Hastati lined up in formation, the first in line and watching Gaulish barbarians charge towards their flank for brutal combat, Nigel was unsure of what to choose. He was deep in this Battle of Allia, only now noticing that the Professor had stepped in behind him alongside another lady he did not recognize, when he was thrust into battle, ready or not; it was his turn.

"Erm…I…a salad, please?" Nigel blurted out as his turn came and went, now standing with a plate of tuna salad in his hands. The battle had ended just as quickly as it began, though who won the mettle of steel he could not tell. His confusion was only confounded by the words coming from behind him, making him turn and look perplexed at Rosie as he got out of line.

Minotaur…bard…what?

He had heard of bards before, having attended more than his fair share of medieval/renaissance fairs in his lifetime, possibly in passing around those DnD-games, but one of the minotaur origin? Nigel would have scratched his head, had it not been for his hands being occupied by the tuna salad plate. He did however patiently wait for the Professor and Rosie to get their food before he posed the question of a century…well, a question. "I'm sorry, but I could not help but overhear you mention the Cretan minotaur. A bard, a minotaur bard? I don't know much about, well, the game of DnD if that is what you are talking off, but…just, how?"

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Jail(AA)->Mechanics (K) -> Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Journey via golf car from the jail to Mechanics was actually kinda serene. If she was captain obvious, legendary superhero of great renown, she might have commented how calm the streets were, but honestly it was a given at that point and she didn’t want Captn Obvious jokes. Still she couldn’t help, but think about the fact. For all the horrors of this current world they lived in, for all the changes, the dangers, the death and the pain, some things weren’t horrible when the danger and death were taken out of the picture. Such was the case with this camp, as she watched the car move on and the kids playing in the background. So calm this was, relaxing, maybe ALMOST enough to forget the walkers that could be clawing at their ankles at one single wrong move.

Still if she had to comment about camp life after a single day, she’d say it nice. In a way she just recalled a rather curious and scary thought as they were arriving at their driving destination. Amelia tried to recall life before the apocalypse and for a good long moment drew blank. This single fact shocked her in both positive and scary ways. Sure she could vaguely recall, but memories were growing fainter, replaced with the new reality and experiences. For a brief moment, while watching kids play in the street, she caught a glimpse of her doing something similar as a child, but it was blurry. And then there was the most scary thing of all… she was starting to forget faces from before the end. Friends and family… she recalled them, but now that her mind wandered to that topic, she could no longer picture them completely in her head. This caused her to shudder as the golf cart came to a halt.

The generally good mood of today frosted over for a bit as she initially lost track of what was being said before finally snapping out of her thoughts.” Ohh… yeah fish. Well fish is abundant.” Amelia replied to Ash, making a logical leap he was talking about fish for dinner. She shook her head silently to shake off the depressing thoughts. It was probably better this way after all. Memories caused pain, there was no need for that to linger on. Better find a new life in this new scary world, though she certainly wished for a loving hug right about now.

Inside the Mess Hall it was about as hectic as it was at noon if not more. Honestly it was a bit overwhelming for a moment as she couldn’t spot out people out from the crowd from the get go, but as she lined up on the line for getting food and started looking around she started to locate some familiar faces across the hall. She immediately refocused on searching for her lover in the crowds around. If not she needed to decide where to set her table and while she was on the table thought, she looked at what was for deserts, to confirm there was enough to safe a portion for Nikki. By the looks of it it was oranges, well fruit was good! She wondered if they would allow her to grab two, one for herself and one for Nikki. She was going to ask when it was her turn to grab her food!

Then suddenly she heard something that caught her attention as her head snapped in the direction of minotaur bards being mentioned! Her little Nerd heart jumped in joy of something familar she enjoyed after all those years - D&D!

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“Figured you’d like that one. Had it stuck in my head for a lil while now. Not sure by getting a planter on my head might have helped to come up with it.” She grinned, seeing the expression that DoLittle had at her pun. Yes Lisa wasn’t a what was the word again… ehh punster? Works. She wasn’t a punster really, but even she could appreciate a good pun now and then, and she herself felt this one. Maybe an inspiration fairy had visited her while she had a planter on her head, tricksy bastards those were.

She had to stifle a laugh when Manny himself made a nuclear comparison about Nikki’s energy level and she was forced to suffer in her attempts to not correct him in the proper use of her pun that was so obviously in need of using in his statement just now. Her sides kinda hurt from holding it in, but after a bit she calmed down and resumed consuming her food with extreme prejudice, as one really should!” I agree, Thana’s been a very good influence on her. At this rate she’d be mini Thana in a manner of month or two, which I completely approve of. Good role models and all that.”

“The fuck hunt?” Lisa asked in a completely straight serious manner, eyeing her conversation partner as if she had asked about what color the sky was.” Nothing special, we were just discussing the potential prey… and possibilities and stuff. Very serious business, fucks are serious danger!” She shrugged.” I ended up withdrawing from it though, decided to just rest properly last night. Turned out after what happened today, I made a good choice.”

“Well she got him in the ‘hunt’, but I’m not going to say they hooked up unless Nikki declares it or something. I think she was looking for an enjoyable night, not the heavy commitment stuff.” Lisa replied, thinking about it and looked at Manny who mentioned Doggo boy.” Sorry, Manny, but ‘it didn’t work out’ is an understatement after last night. Her pretty much shot himself in the foot a bunch of times in his attempts to do the whole ‘social’ thing and talk to Nikki. Him being drunk didn’t help I suppose. Not sure if they will make up after that, but given we’ve got his dog, they will probably have to talk if he survives tomorrow.” Lisa sighed and as she looked at the line she spotted someone very easy to distinguish in the crowds. It was Amelia! Lisa started waving at her, to grab her attention. Since Amelia was here, they could expect Nikki to appear eventually.

[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: It seems that things are going well. We now have the whole dinner thing fully underway. Going to play it by ear. I will only be updating the areas now with active PC's in. If you are going to have your character head to different areas and want to know what will be up, let me know so I can put it in an update or message you back with some details if you are unsure how to go about it. Overall most main buildings are closed up for the evening: Mechanics and Fabrication, the Distillery, Supply, etc. Other will be open overnight but limited: Armory, Electrical, Education (a library is inside). Sun is still up but cresting along the horizon at this point. It will not get completely dark for some time as it is Summer in Florida: around 8:30 at night.

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Mess Hall (C): DoLittle looked over to Manny and chuckled. "Well we might be in more trouble than I though then," she said in a lofty voice before taking another bite of her food. She chewed it quickly, pocketing part of the bite in her cheek as she covered her mouth and kept talking. "Sugar was a huge in Louisiana and there's a settlement out that way that's been working on getting it and the mills back up and running," she added before swallowing what was in her mouth. Most smaller settlements tried to be self sufficient. Small farms if they could, hunting wasn't a big pay off these days thanks to the ways the walkers took out anything in their path, like blood thirsty locusts. However, some larger ones tried to have some sort of specialty these days. Something they could do that was rare these days, something they could trade for. CMB had small things they could trade, booze and fuel here and there, fish from time to time, but their specialty was medicine.

"Oh come on, pets keep us young. Or so I'm told. Find the older the person the more patience they tend to have with pets." DoLittle shrugged a bit before looking over at Lisa. "And kids," she laughed. "Maybe we should put Nikki with Manny if she gets to be too much," she teased.

Aeron took a deep breath. He didn't need his youngest sons ability to read people to tell there was something weighing on his new friends heart. It was out there, raw and open. Anyone could see it. He had to admit it pained him. Aeron never liked to see anyone suffering. It just wasn't in him, even enemies out on the battle field had been treated well by him when taken prisoner. Seeing someone that Aeron was starting to consider a friend in pain hit a lot harder. Then the question came. "I wish I knew but we have man here and far more have come and gone."

The General did know everyone in the camp one way or another. He tried to make sure to talk to everyone at least from time to time and he reviewed all the files but there were so many. Singling out one location or one person was hard. Not to say it was impossible though. Camp Mexico Beach had several things going for it, the least of them being paper work. Paper work was a good thing though, it meant records. It meant things could be looked up and cross referenced. It meant if there was or had been it could be found with the right amount of digging, as long as people were truthful. Even with everything they did to try to keep people on the up and up some lies still got through. Some they knew about and ignored because it wasn't a big deal. Others, more dangerous ones though had been a problem in the past. "I will have Rolo look into it," he said quietly to Alexander. It perhaps wasn't an immediate search but it was something.

Edna's head snapped around so quickly one might think it was about to snap as Nigel spoke up. "Don't encourage her!"

"Ha! See! I told you people would be interested," Rosie laughed as the two women took their trays. Edna had gotten the salad as well while Rosie was loaded up with Sushi.

"Fine, you two have fun, I'm out of this conversation," Edna quipped before walking off all hoity.

Meanwhile, while Amelia was up for her turn, Cook shook her head. "Nah, one tray but don't worry I'll make sure to set something aside for her so she doesn't miss out," Cook assured Amelia.

Rosie didn't care about Edna walking off, she had someone new to talk to, she was excited. "Come on, let's have a seat," she said motioning over to an open table. As she turned she caught the look on Amelia's face. "Oh you wanna head it? Come on, I can regale two for the price of one," she laughed before she continued walking. "I'm talking viking like. Sailor type, sea worthy. Staff with a bell on the end," she started. "Metal Urn of with Ashes of a hero for a trinket. Ya know, last surviving party of a ship wrecked vessel, every so often his dead ship mates come to him in a dream to go finish things they had left undone in this world? Whether it's really them or not I don't care. He could be mad for all I care. I just want a staff weilding Cow running around dinging his cow bell and inspiring those around him with his baritone voice of gravel while he chews cud," she said as she took a seat. She seemed to be really into this idea.

Now back to the Fuck Hunt. You see this was what DoLittle really wanted to hear about. It had gotten around the camp, people were funding it funny and there were even some bets being laid. DoLittle started laughing. "Why does the good shit always happen when I am on shift," she chuckled. "Okay, well fuck hunt sounds like a bag and tag operation. Though yeah, I'd imagine Bass was looking for more than a one night stand with Nikki, you see the way the guy watches her and such. He's totally smitten. Kind of feel bad for him, no, wait I don't. Everyone knows Nikki ain't the settling down type," she said before glancing over at Thana sitting up on the stage and Ash bee lining it for her. "Then again, if she does start taking more after that one she might. Oh this is some Days of Our Lives shit," she said with a smirk as she looked back over to Lisa.

Stopping for a second DoLittle started looking around. She spotted Amelia. "Hold the phone..." she said before looking between Lisa and Manny. "Wasn't Nikki working with Amelia today? So where is the little fire cracker?" she asked as she perked a brow. Oh it seemed the games had just begun.

Jail (AA): To help the scene flow better I am combining both Cage and Nikki below in her header. Figured it would be easier that way instead of only being able to get one back and forth per round. Thinking it will help move things along. (And since there are no longer other characters around those two right now I can treat it as a collab. Will break it back up later on.)

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Thana Martin Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Other coming in and out of the Mess Hall didn't really have Thana's attention. She kept tabs on a few people. Those she had spent time in the trenches with to be exact. Manny seemed to be settling in fine. He was sitting with Lisa and DoLittle. Thana hadn't really gotten to know either of them too well. She knew Lisa better than DoLittle tough. Lisa worked in Medical, so they had crossed paths. Plus she was Nikki's roommate. She seemed alright. Thana imaged she would be the type of person she wouldn't mind being outside the walls with. Someone that could handle themselves. DoLittle she wasn't so sure about. There was something about the woman she just didn't like.

Alexander seemed to have found a new friend with her grandfather and that did make her smile. Her grandfather was personable but he didn't exactly sit down and shoot the shit with people. Seeing the two of them talking and the occasional laugh put her a little more at ease. Thalia was still in line but at least now the woman could get some training. Thana figured this was a good thing. Otherwise Thalia might just gut someone. Not to be mean but so she didn't get rusty as it were.

All Thana's trains of thoughts quickly derailed when the door opened and she spotted Ash come in. She couldn't help but smile as her eyes fell on him. Thana was so used to be emotionally detached through everything it was odd. She really had no practice keeping her emotions in check now that they were out there. It was like once the dam broke how did one keep the waters back. She swore she had a better hold on her emotions when she was a teen than she did right then. So as Ash came over to her that smile only grew. Sliding her tray off her lap she set it down next to her.

"Missed you," Thana admitted. She had. In fact she had been rather disappointed that Ash hadn't been in the Mess Hall when she showed up. She was sure she was the one that was going to be late. She had figured she was going to be the one apologizing to them over it. Turned out the scene was flipped, so while disappointed she wasn't mad. There was nothing to forgive, especially when she learned where he had been. It made sense. Hunter had been arrested and someone had killed themselves the night before from what she knew. Cage wasn't exactly pleasant. He wasn't bad but he was trying to deal with. If Ash was only a little late getting to dinner Thana figured they both had gotten out lucky.

At his question if she was off duty she nodded and started to lean in for a kiss. God she wanted a kiss. Even if it was only a quick one before he went to get his tray. Though it seemed that would have to wait because before she knew it Thalia was there. Thana straightened up and cocked a brow. Just what in the hell was the woman up to? For a moment Thana figured Thalia was finally cornering her so they could talk. That was fine. She could handle that. Ash and her had all night together. Okay, kiss can wait, a kiss can wait. Then she felt an arm around her shoulder and her eyes widened. Slowly her head turned to look at Thalia as if to ask, _{"What in the actual fuck?"} This is where Thana had two options. Roll with it or start a brawl. Either would work, one would take longer. Turning her head she looked over to Ash sheepishly and shrugged. "Well we did spend a lot of time alone out in the woods together..."

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Nikola Warren Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Seeing Nikki come up to his side Cage let out a short huff of a breath through his nose and one could feel the glare even as he closed his eyes to prepare for whatever was about to come out of the kids mouth. Thing was when she spoke he hadn't expected that. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes slamming open, and a confused look etched across his face as he stared her down. "What in the hell do you need to see him about?"

Nikki was direct and wasn't one to beat around the bush about things so she answered him rather matter-of-factually."Want to make sure the clown hasn't shot himself in the foot." Chewing her gum she popped a bubble as she stood there.

"That ain't a fucking need kid." It wasn't a good enough excuse for him.

And it could easily be argued that it wasn't exactly a need. Needs these days included food and water. Shelter wasn't a need to some, it was just a want. So going down the line of wants that were considered needs, this didn't even make the top ten. That was unless you were Nikki. "Yeah it is." Cage tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down. He wasn't buying it. "Either you let me in to see for myself or you know what's going to happen," she said with a smile that was a bit too bright and a voice that was a bit too disturbing.

Sadly, Cage did know what would happen. Nikki would be Nikki. Last time Nikki didn't get the information she wanted she spent three days herself in the lock up. Breaking and entering. Though her time in the cell was probably worse than most considering she had drank so much she was dealing with a hell of a hang over and Cook during that time had come across some spices and onions, so every meal was heavy, had a lot of heat, and a strong aroma that made the girls hangover even worse. "Fine... but you have to take his damn tray back to the Mess Hall," he said.

"Deal!"

Shaking his head Cage and Nikki moved the cart inside of the house that was the makeshift jail for the camp. Cage knew he could say no and just wait to bust Nikki before she even got close to picking a lock but this was easier. It wasn't against regulations. Nikki was still on duty, she knew the drill, she had cleaned up in the jail before. She also had passed enough of the safety courses to be allowed to work in Safety from time to time now. Added bonus was now Cage wouldn't have to deal with another tray tonight.

Pushing the cart over to the corner he pulled his keys out and headed to the door. Nikki in tow. Unlocking it, he pulled it open and headed down the stairs. "Wait," he said over his shoulder before coming around the corner and in view of Hunter. "You have a visitor. Try anything and you'll regret it," he warned Hunter before snapping his fingers.

Peaking her head out from around the corner Nikki grinned and then hoped down the last two steps and puffed up. "You have a visitor. Try anything and you'll regret it," Nikki mocked and wagged her finger towards Hunter.

"I'm too old for this shit... 30 minutes," Cage said before storming off.

Nikki turned around and watched him vanish around the corner, hearing his boots on the steps, and then the inevitable door slam and lock. Rolling her eyes she turned back around and walked over to the jail bars and had a seat on the floor. "Izi's with me."

[Shoe Thief]

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

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Manny held a face of near horror at the mention of a sugar production actually being functional again. Sure, it would be more natural, but it appeared that cavities would be back on his to do list soon enough. The conversation about the cavity farms was brief though as it turned into the specializations of larger communities. Then after that, back to Nikki. "Wouldn't hurt to have another Thana around." He found it interesting where the people he had traveled with found themselves now. Some were role models, some were making friends in powerful places, and some where.... He eyes over to Thalia and Thana who had something going on with the army captain. With the talk of Fuck hunts his mind went a couple places but he didn't think Thana and Thalia had that kind of relationship. Not letting the current conversation throw off his thoughts maybe it had something to do with some kind of shared story telling about Thana. She seemed to be the center of attention at the moment.

Bringing his mind back to the fuck hunt at hand. Seemed Lisa was participating, but decided to hold off for the night. The conversation shifted a few times before getting to the boy of the night. "Alcohol does strange things to people. Some handle it better then others. Though the boy's social skills seemed lacking to begin with. The way he acted in quarantine, and everything else. I wonder if he was always someone who struggled socially, or if it was a development caused from.... Well the world ending I guess. First settlement I was in, met a lot of people who had broken to the point where they weren't functional anymore. Though we did what we could for them... Most didn't last long." He wondered if the boy was one of those cases, and had just somehow survived up to this point despite the odds. "If they do end up talking, I hope it isn't too... Awkward I guess. Maybe it'll do some good." While finishing the topic of the boy and the dog, Dolittle brought up how pets work really well with people in their older ages and how they work better with pets. "[color=00aeef][/color]"

The conversation continued with fuck hunts, Nikki and Bass, and a few other things that Manny wasn't sure where he could add too much input on. "Can still feel bad for him even if he should have known. As the old saying goes, God gave man enough blood to run the Brain, and enough blood to run the...." He stopped, realizing there might still be children around and that he didn't want to be too loud as most people probably would find his comments as entertaining. "That, particular appendage. But not enough blood to run them both at the same time. Though who knows, they're both young and people change a lot from being young and who they finally turn out to be. I mean, looking at my own case. I went from a street gang and years later owned my own medical facility. Settled down, and overall my life took a total 180. So who knows." He went back to his food thinking about that. How drastically some people change while they are growing up and figuring out who they want to be and who they are going to be. Dolittle brought up where Nikki would be since her work partner was already in and she wasn't. "Another Fuck Hunter maybe." Manny said it with a shrug as he finished his food.

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

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Hunter had made some progress on his food. But not even enough to finish what would have been considered standard rations. Though he was trying, he just couldn't find himself to eat much. He stood up leaving his food tray on his bed and went to the bars, thinking again about his options should he need to find a way out. He grabbed two bars side by side from one another and shook them a bit. Deciding that wouldn't do much. A part of him wished he grabbed that tooth when he had the chance. But a tooth of a dead man would only go so far on it's own. No... It would require him to go to rather dark places he wasn't sure he was ready to return to yet. Places he needed to go to survive, places he needed to go to so he could protect those closest to him. He stopped at that thought and looked around the cell. "Guess it doesn't matter now huh." Alone he waited in his cell. With everything that had happened up to that point, he was still the only one to make it this far. No, there was Izibell, so far at least. That, is when he heard the basement door open. He braced himself for whatever Cage had to say but decided he wouldn't let it get to him.

What did surprise him, was what Cage actually said. "Huh." Was the only noise that came out of his mouth. Who the hell would visit him now? Ash was just here, and Nikki he had clearly pissed off quite a bit. Maddoc? Maybe. He wondered if there was someone else. Then, she came into view after Cage made a comment about regretting trying something. Hunter almost made a smart ass comment, but he found himself confused to the point where he couldn't get a comment out. Cage left, and in Hunter's moment of shock he barely registered what she said. And he stood there quiet for a moment as he was still taking in the situation. "How's she doing?" He spoke with a simple, collective tone. His thoughts went a couple places, mostly... why did she decide to come here? Was it because he said he had more to say? Did she want to rip him apart for what he said the night before? He wasn't even sure what he said the night before. What he did remember, she was upset. A bit pissed too. He wondered what stupid thing he said while wasted. Or did.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Looking blankly to Thalia and then to Thana, Ash's expression changed somewhat. He wasn't sure what to make of this new wrinkle in his expectations for the evening, or how much of it might be a joke. So much as he trusted Thana, and he might stress vehemently that he did, Ash had made peace with the idea that if, during the year and a half that they were apart and didn't even know if the other was alive, she sought comfort with another. The concept started with Gavin Comfort. He and Thana were in a relationship, once upon a time. He wanted to rekindle things, and the both of them were on the other side of that ravine when the earth split open, scattering them all. He knew that Gavin would do any and everything to keep Thana safe, and took solace in that. Even if he wasn't especially cozy with the situation. His budding jealousy was secondary to her safety, at best. When Ash saw Thana with Mizrahi, and noted the protectiveness with which he looked after her; when he learned of the overland, long range missions they had together, he suspected something had happened between them. Curiously, he was better with it. The chances of his and his people's survival decreased dramatically the longer they were out there, and they were all out there for a long time. He assumed that they had, and almost instantly made peace with that, too. It meant that she was safe. That was all that mattered. They could have a shot at being together, if she was still willing. And if she was not, then Ash had fulfilled his promise to her and got to see her alive again. Even this, he anticipated and processed emotionally. It was okay.

Still, Ash did feel a little relief and even a touch of guilt when he found out that his paper suspicions and peace-with-self anticipations were meaningless. After a long and open talk about things when they finally had some privacy, Ash fully believed that Thana had remained as true to him as he to her.

Never in a million years, then, might he have anticipated that Thana might have had something going on with the Gonzalez chick. But again, he didn't know what Thalia looked like when she was joking. Or if she even ever did, owing to the quietly jagged nature of her family. Still, something told him that this was a heap of bullshit. He just didn't know how big the heap was. It was an amazing tell that Thana's eyes widened and she looked to her friend with an expression that might be described as "incredulous", though the sarcastic comment in his direction did raise questions of its own. No, no... Heap of bullshit. Ash was being messed with. "Uh huh," he started, brow furrowed and mouth slightly agape. Well, he wasn't going to let this get him down. Ash leaned in and gave Thana a soft kiss, lightly cupping the side of her face for just a moment. "I'm ah, I'm going to go get a tray. Save me a seat, Thawna?" Damn. Unbidden, his accent plucked a heavier note in his regular speech. He shook his head, flashed a quick smile, and strode confidently over to take his place in line.

He'd probably be having the fish.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Now it was Thalia's turn to be surprised. Not at Ash, but Thana. Ash's flush of insecurity was so minuscule as to be undetected by anyone who wasn't immediately, intently looking for it. But Thana's response got her questioning some fundamental things about their relationship. Yes, she knew that her friend was joking, and no, she hadn't considered pursuing anything with her. Thana seemed to be spoken for, even if the guy was probably dead (not that she was sad to see that he wasn't, after all). And their relationship was more sisterly than anything else. Oh sure, she'd noticed things about Navy girl. Thalia's recent years of womanly self-discovery and preference for both genders made her acutely aware of things like that now, whether she wished to act on it or not. Theirs was a relationship built on mutual loss, mutual violence, and mutual revenge. The friendship was seeded in blood - theirs and their enemies alike, germinated with the hot crimson spillage of knives and ammunition. They bonded over hate, finding kinship in each other as warriors, be they of very different backgrounds. To actually consider her a potential love interest seemed wrong, somehow. But to have someone who didn't mind playing along if it meant raising a speculative eyebrow, well... that was a new thing for her.

But if Ash hadn't survived, could they have? No, Thalia shook off the thought. This was the happiest that she'd seen Thana, ever. There's no way in hell she'd even entertain the scenario.

It did not escape Thalia's notice that, even though she still had an arm around Thana, Ash went in for his kiss anyway. For just a second, they were in an odd huddle that probably looked highly questionable from more than a few paces away, and they were on a raised stage area in plain view of the whole room in the middle of dinner. This was fairly unlike Thalia. She was not the type to draw attention to herself. Once Ash had walked away to join the line, she leaned in to Thana a little more, half-whispering, "Ah jaysus, I'm sorry, Navy." She risked a surreptitious glance around to see if anyone was paying too much attention to them, and continued, "This is how rumors staht. I'll move ahn when your man gets back, ahright? Give you some you time." Not that she gave a tinker's damn about rumors, herself, but Thana probably didn't need that. And it would do Thalia some good to find a form of stress relief sooner or later, herself. With a low growl, suitable for a mildly irate canine, Thalia tore another bite from her orange and started munching noisily. Peeling was for suckers, anyway.

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Amelia was not really surprised she wasn’t allowed to grab Nikki’s food in advance, but she smiled when it was revealed they would set aside some for her instead.” Thank you, Ma’am.” She added with a nod as she took her tray of food and fruit. She wasn’t actually sure when Nikki will arrive and if it will be before she leaves the Mess Hall, so the revelation food would be set aside was a really good one.

“Ohh, okey. I want to. It’s been a long while since, I last even talked about D&D.” Amelia quietly nodded to Rosie, who invited her to a D&D chat! Indeed, last time it was before the walkers showed up, so it’s been a while… felt like eternity actually. Yet another weird feeling of normalcy that this camp gave and Amelia both liked it and a bit feared it. Normalcy dulled the senses, but calmed the hurting mind. She followed suit after, listening to the descriptions being given and also noting that Nigel was being invited too. She wouldn’t judge, D&D was for everybody!

“It’s a rather specific idea, fun one.” Amelia nodded after imagining a minotaur bard with bells and staff. She was nodding at the image being build, that is what D&D thrived in, imagination, concepts that you wouldn’t always find logical, but those were usually the best ones. Though she did run more tame ones back then, she was shy to stand out too much. ” Well, I do like it, curious why specifically viking sailor though? Any specific reason or just the aestetics?” She let her inner nerd out just a bit.

“So you have a running campaign here?” She asked, she was pretty sure she heard something about it at some point, maybe mentioned in passing prior, but since she was out of quarantine only yesterday afternoon more or less, she didn’t really spend too much time exploring all the possibilities. Though she recalled she was invited to play a game with the ladies from Supply. Ohh she had to go check out that later after dinner.

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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Lisa’s eyebrow rose up when DoLittle mentioned the relation between age and pet patience. She chuckled.” Was that a jab for being a roomie with the Bundle of Energy?” She asked amused.” Cause if so, well I’m glad to be the exception to the rule to be patient with pets and kids even at my age, thank you very much,” She whistled, tossing a look at Manny.” Sorry buddy, but not sure if you will survive exposure to the Nikkiliear energy. Things might get ugly, better keep her contained with me for the time being.” She reached to pat him on the shoulder.

“Dunno, must be your luck. Poor you.” She smiled to the other woman who went on complaining about missing the fun. It had to be said, it was a fun night yesterday even if she didn’t participate in the ‘Fuck Hunt’. With the topic movie back to the temporary Romeo for Nikki last night, Lisa shrugged her shoulder in dismissing manner.” Stupidity dies last… or maybe it’s hope, not sure. In any case, maybe it’s a case of blind love? If it turns into a soap opera worthy story, I’m finding the best writer in the camp to write it all down as the next masterpiece for the new era.” She suddenly burst out laughing at Manny’s comment, she nearly choked on her food from her laughing with her mouth full. She had to force herself to swallow the mouthful before resuming laughing.” Alright, I admit it... truer words were never said. I bow down before the wisdom of the wise!” She continued laughing for a while before her attention was grabbed back by DoLittle.

“ Hmmm…?” She followed DoLittle’s gaze to find Thana and Ash.” Not sure, Bass will have to do a whole lot more to deserve THAT and pretty sure he ain’t anywhere close to earning that level of boyfriend points. Especially considering Nikki’s not looking at him as a boyfriend at all.”

“Huh… now that you mentioned it, we do indeed have a wild Amelia here, but no Nikki.” Lisa agreed, actually quite curious herself.” Maybe she’s gone back home to check the dog… or something else… Fastest way would be to directly ask Amelia.” Lisa grinned and looked at her table conversation partners.” So… any of you want to have the honors of asking the shy one over there or should I?” She asked, noticing with amusement Amelia now moving with someone she hadn't till now. Awee she was making friends! Good on her!

[ONL]

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

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If Alexander had expected anything other than a negative response from Aeron, his sliver of hope still took a bad hit upon hearing the General's words echoing back at him. He didn't know - He only wished, and even then a fair share of their Brothers in Arms had come and gone at this point. Alexander breathed heavily, slowly and tiresome in and out, steeling himself for the cold reality that had always surrounded him.

He was alone, and had been quite alone for a long time.

The old veteran rubbed his face, attempting to block a trickle of tears from his eyes, thankfully without any fishy oil or spicy seasoning on his fingers to make bad even worse. What else had he expected? For all of the old gang to magically show up there at CMB, those guys who bid farewell to Alexander back in '72 and never looked back? The fellow veterans that stopped by once in a while for a chat and pat on the back with a "We're in this together, Alex…"? Those young buddies of his buried six feet under? Mason?

No, Alexander shouldn't expected miracles like that.

Alexander got his act together in the end, swallowing hard and looking back at Aeron as he promised to have Rolodex look into it. "Thanks, Aeron. It means a lot to me, even if she finds nothing…or nobody there…" Alexander mustered a feeble show of gratiude, forcefully returning to his tuna casserole for a few silent moments. He didn't know what ran through his mind, perhaps thoughts too powerful for him to comprehend without breaking down again. Alexander must have looked like quite the miserable old bastard, but then again he felt like one. Like in one of those movies, only less good looking and badass. He was no Sylvester Stallone or Chuck Norris, though perhaps he had fitted in as an old mafioso?

Slowly Alexander pulled himself together and looked back at Aeron, putting down his spoon and putting on a smile, albeit a small one. "You're lucky to have your family here, to have them safe and close. Even if your youngest one took great risks to find us…I guess she is kind of my family now too."

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Nigel Cooper Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Clearly Nigel had just entered some quite barbaric territory with his curious conversation, with the Professor turning his attention to him quicker than a projectile from a Roman ballista and her warning not to encourage her. Before he had the chance to heed her warning and make his escape quick, the Professor had left Nigel behind for the proverbial death in the hands of Rosie, her minotaur bard and one of the girls from the other survivor group. Quietly Nigel prayed to the powers that might be or have been, hoping he hadn't just entered back into the kind of strange world of Hank and Wayne again.

At least he was invited to join Rosie at the table, which was something he supposed. Nigel slowly looked around for any saving grace, be it Thana, Erica or anyone else he could excuse himself with. The table with Rosie and Amelia was the only option then. Cursed be him by Hermes the trickster! Nigel sighed, but joined at their table in a confounded silence as he listened to the two ladies discuss this game of D and D.

In-between him nibbling at his plate of salad, a thankfully light meal in contrast to the heavy heat that had followed him all day long, Nigel tried to follow the conversation about the tabletop game with more twists and turns than the Odyssey. At least half of it sounded something coherent, possibly even half-Greek in its origin which prompted nods from Nigel, though the other half make him look with raises brows. Vikings, dead shipmates, urn with ashes on a staff? Not to mention the cow bell Rosie insisted on.

"Yes…I too must question the choice of a Viking cow?" Nigel decided to chip in, having ceased his salad-eating for the moment to bring in his personal expertise on the subject, at least he thought so. "Surely if you want to have a minotaur with the proficiency with the musical prowess of a bell, a better fit would be better suited with a Minoan esthetic, no? Think about it; the Minotaur is Cretan, Greek, with bronze weaponry raiding the shores of Egypt." Nigel said to Rosie, ending on a quick and quiet note as he looked over at Amelia who he had barely spoken with earlier. He felt embarrased all of a sudden, knowing he perhaps had no idea what he was talking about. From what he knew this was a fantasy game, and he knew those kinds of worlds rarely bound themselves to the rules of reality. Don't get him started on the lack of agriculture in the Lord of the Rings, and certainly not the movie "Troy".

Nigel quickly turned back to his salad, idly picking at it as he quietly spoke. "But I suppose I do not know much about the world of DnD. I might have been better suited in such a game set in our own world, in the days of Scipio Africanus and Hannibal…My apoligies."

[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: Alright we basically have two locations right now: The Mess Hall and the Jail. Jail is pretty straight forward. The Mess Hall is a bit of a cluster fuck because we have a lot of mini scenes unfolding at different tables. So let's roll with it. If there is any confusion don't be afraid to ask, should be okay - we've been at this a while now. I am thinking after dinner we can do a quick wrap up for the day. Having said that - That means next day will be a small time jump, probably a day or two. I will roll for it to get the Court Marshall together for Hunter. So make sure if you haven't already to start getting on those possible future relations so they are, if anything at least partly hammered out, before we are done with the Court Marshall.

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Mess Hall (C): DoLittle glanced at Thana. "I'm not so sure. Heard some things, I ain't sure she is as stable as people make her out to be. Heard she was glad her sister was dead," DoLittle said quietly as to not really be heard by anyone but the two she was talking to right then. Shrugging she looked back over to Manny. "Maybe, sure as hell know I wasn't anyone's friend when I came in here. Only could deal with Animals, still prefer to but I try. And yeah, booze makes people do some dumb shit," she added before taking another bite of her food. This was a bad idea because at Manny's next statement she nearly choked on it. "Oh god, ain't that the damn truth," she snorted as she held a napkin to her mouth to keep from spitting her mouthful out all over the table.

Looking over at Lisa, Dolittle laughed. "Well in all fairness not many can handle a Nikkiliear explosion. Thinking it would be more damaging than when they dropped the bomb on Japan. Just be glad she's on our side. Could you imagine how hard she would be to handle if she didn't like us? Or at least you. I am still not sure about me. Think she tolerates me because I am the gate keeper to the kennels," DoLittle admitted with a shrug. Glancing over to where Amelia was and who she was sitting with she shook her head. "Oh fuck no, this is all you Lisa. I ain't getting within ten feet of Rosie the Wide," she said before shoving another forkful into her mouth and grinning broadly with puffy cheeks.

Rosie picked at her food. "Yeah, well Edna runs them. She's got like four going. How she passes the time," she said motioning with her fork towards the Professor. "She's dry as hell usually but when she Dm's the woman is a one person stage act. Voices and all. She's like damn good," she added before lowering her fork when Edna started eyeballing her. She grinned and waved before looking back at Amelia and Nigel. "

Okay, well reason being is the Dragon Lance series. Okay, fuck general 3rd Edition. They're buff there but not what I'm going for. Have to start at like level six to even play one. I wanted something more, fun. Dragon Lance nerfed them. Not totally but enough to play a level one. Ain't smart but they get a +2 to Intimidate, Swim, and rope checks. Seriously. That is a fucking pirate right there, with the strength bonus and negatives to charisma why not a Viking. Yeah, was a Greek thing, on an Island. Island. Yup, sea people is what I am shooting for. Imagine it, big ass bull creature, can only play a bell, swabbing the deck, setting the sails, being the Fezik to the Dread Pirate Roberts! Fuck yeah, this would be a blast!" It was obvious that she was excited.

Aeron nodded. "Of course. I hope we can find something but if anything perhaps we can, well provide you with some closure. Even that can be better than the unknown at times I have found." Turning his head he looked over to his Granddaughter before his eyes drifted to his two sons. "That I am. Losing my wife was hard, and then to find out my other granddaughter, Thana's twin, passed away was hard. The hardest though is not knowing about my grandson, Thana's little brother... We may never know." Sighing he shook his head. Thana wasn't one to talk about her sister and she never mentioned her brother to anyone.

Looking down for a minute Aeron composed himself a bit better before looking back at Alexander and nodding. "Yes, she is your family. You, Mr. Manuel, Thalia, yes, she considers you family. Brothers, or perhaps uncles in arms?" he added with a smile. "She speaks highly of all three of you."

Jail (AA): Pretty much a repeat from last update since it still applies: To help the scene flow better I just posting the scene with Nikki below in her header. Figured it would be easier that way instead of only being able to get one back and forth per round. Thinking it will help move things along. (And since there are no longer other characters around those two right now I can treat it as a collab. Will break it back up later on.)

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Thana Martin Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Thana wasn't exactly sure how Ash was going to react with the situation. It was a joke, through and through. Thalia and her were friends, nothing more. Nothing more than that had ever crossed her mind. Sure, maybe if she had met the woman before she had met Ash she might have but no. By the time they had met, Thana had already pretty much fallen for the guy and that was all that she wrote. Having said that, it didn't mean Thana wasn't going to screw with him. Sure, she had told him nothing had happened with anyone during their time apart but she in truth still didn't know Ash as well as she would like. Part of that meant she didn't know just how much he trusted her word. This could back fire horribly, in epic proportions.

So when he leaned in and gave her a kiss she returned it but let out a small breath she hadn't realized she was holding. He took it for the joke it was. Pulsing her lips against his she nodded. "I will," she affirmed as she patted the stage next to her before watching him walk off.

Thana half snorted out a laugh as soon as he was out of ear shot though. It was funny to her, especially his little huh at the end it. Granted she had an odd sense of humor. At Thalia started in, Thana laughed and waved it off. "Shit, that was funny. And I don't care, people always gonna talk," Thana said before shrugging and adjusting her tray a bit in her lap. Picking up her fork she glanced over at Thalia and chuckled. "I've already heard rumors about. Know what I say when I hear one?" She paused for a second before opening her eyes wide and going in mock shock. "I did? Shit, what the fuck did I do next?" Thana didn't care. She wasn't in charge here, and she had heard a lot of rumors. Many about herself. Nikki was good about running her mouth.

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Nikola Warren Location: Jail (AA) Skills: N/A

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Sitting there, Nikki chewed her gum and popped a bubble. Glancing over her shoulder she looked back towards the stairs before turning her attention back to Hunter. "She's good," she said as she crossed her legs and rested her hands on the end of her knees. "Put her in my room and left a note for my roommate. Hopefully she won't freak out," she added as she picked slightly at where her knee was starting to poke through the fabric of her jeans. Too many days of someone in them had frayed them. Granted it was hard to tell who had done it because the clothing in the camp got handed out randomly mostly. Sizes were matched each week but no one had an actual closet of clothing they called their own. It was a bit much to keep up with considering the size of the camp and wanting to keep things as easy as they could on the people who did the laundry.

Sighing she pulled off a bit of fuzz and let it fall from her fingers, only to catch it with her other hand. "Speaking of which, I ain't got a lot of time. Cage is gonna be back shortly and I gotta walk her before I get to dinner." Biting her bottom lip she looked at Hunter and quirked a brow. It took her a moment to form the words but eventually she did as she let her lip slip from her teeth. "What did ya do? Ain't ever seen anyone get thrown in here this fast. I mean they're gonna release the report probably tomorrow so the whole camp knows what's goin' on but dude... I don't want to wait that long so spill it. Favor for a favor. I got Izi, least ya can do it tell me why."

It was that simple for Nikki. Sure, people said that curiosity killed the cat and all that but at the end of the day Nikki saw no reasons to hide her curiosity or any reason to lie about it. She wanted to know so she just said that. She hated when people beat around the bush or lied, she didn't even like bending the truth. Shit like that had gotten one too many people killed. Sure there were probably times when it was better to lie about something but the guy was already being charge, the town would know anyways, so she didn't see any problem for him to actually tell her now instead of waiting. Looking at the guy she wondered if he even understood why he was in there. He hadn't exactly seemed stable in quarantine. Not off his rocker like that fucker who talked to a unicorn but still.

[Shoe Thief]

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

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One thing about the conversation that was made clear, was maybe Manny wasn't quite ready for a.... Nikkliear explosion. He chuckled at that pun, but maybe they were right. Kids were not a strong suit of his. Even when he tried to help a couple from time to time once his own life was figured out that was something he wasn't equipped for. The only way he knew how to establish authority with kids was the way he and his friends would establish control over others during that period of his life. Didn't work the same when you got to trying to improve lives rather then make others submit to your rules. He did chuckle at when Lisa patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah yeah I get it. Have fun playing with Nikki." It seemed his comment about a particular appendage had been funnier then he realized it would be. "Robin Williams. 2002." He stopped for a moment to think about it. "I can't say for sure where he said it, but I know it was his line. Though his version was more blunt. Though it is very true." As a dentist, a good chuckle here and there was a good thing. Smiling people was really a sight to see.

Around the room people seemed to be having a rather fun time with each other. Thana and Thalia were alone by themselves again, he wasn't sure where the army captain was now though. Maybe he went to get food too. Seemed though both Dolittle and Lisa wanted to know more about he Nikki situation, but seemed to be debating about who should go up and ask. "One moment." He stood up and grabbed his now empty tray and moved towards Amelia. Though he was interested in learning more he rarely cared enough to go out of his way to learn more in those regards, but he remembered the girl from earlier in the day who had seemed pretty shaken up from a dog encounter. He wondered if it was the same dog that they had just been talking about?

Making his way over he got bits and pieces of a conversation about D&D. Not something he knew a ton on, but he had heard people talking about it for years. He stood and listened in for a bit noticing a few other people he knew. He saw Edna who had done his interview, and Nigel as well who he didn't really know that well. But he was in quarantine with the rest of them. The conversation clearly confused Manny as he tried to follow along but he tried his best to hide it. Though not very well. He waited though for a break in conversation to talk to Amelia preferring to wait until everyone was done talking. "How are you doing? Better from the dog situation?"

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

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Hunter was glad to hear Izibell was doing good. Before she came she spent all day every day without a leash able to go more or less wherever she wanted. Now she got a few couple minute breaks outside and spent her days locked up. It was troubling for him but he wanted to say it would be better. It was also the main reason he ended up being late earlier as well, so he had a chance to get her outside more. "Glad to hear it." Nikki got to the point soon enough though. After explaining she had only a short window before she had to leave she got to why she was here. Hunter wasn't sure how he felt about it, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling that he knew for sure. "Ah. So, you just want something to gossip about? You want first dibs on whatever juicy information there might be." He sighed and turned away from her for a moment going back to his tray of food. He considered just stopping the conversation then and there.

Hunter decided that not only was he not a fan of attention he had gained for himself. He also was starting to really hate gossip. "I just... ugh... this place." He let out a frustrated sigh and paced for a little bit. He stopped and turned his attention back to Nikki. "Don't think I got an answer you want. Lots of smaller shit, and people generally having short patience with me. Terrible combination." He didn't feel like sharing more for gossip. If Nikki wanted to find out more, she could wait like everyone else. He went back and sat on his bed grabbing his tray of food. He didn't take anymore bites from it, but he kept his attention on it. He wanted to take the chance to try and properly apologize for the night before. But he found himself too frustrated to speak about it now. Plus, he wasn't sure how to go from "Fuck your wants for gossip" to "Hey sorry for being an asshole last night". He wanted to out right say it but he wasn't sure how to start it now. Plus, Nikki gave him the impression she either didn't care anymore, or she cared more about something to gossip about then it. "If that's all you're here for, feel free to just leave me alone now." He wasn't sure completely what he expected when he saw Nikki come in. A part of him expected Nikki to call him out for being an asshole the night before, maybe for being a rushed messed earlier in the day, or maybe even to tell him how stupid he was to get himself locked up in here. He didn't expect she came here just so he had a chance to apologize. But he was hoping for that chance none the less. He was definitely not prepared for her to just be down here to gain information so she could share it how she wanted.

[Sigil]

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Ash Holloway Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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The pat on the stage and the manner in which it was delivered gave Ash a sort of calm reassurance. Now he had a defined endgame goal for the next few minutes; a Point A to the Point B of the cafeteria line to which he might return. Ash did like having a plan for things, even if it was as simple as getting something to eat. Even in this, he had to note the privilege involved, regular meals being a luxury more than a right, overall. Taking an air of stoic gratitude, Ash hopped in line and moved along with the flow of shuffling foot traffic. It was a piece of familiarity, not unlike his time in the military proper. One wants food, one gets in line. Obligatory commentary about the bootleather quality of the Salisbury Steak that was really leftover hamburger patties from a couple of days ago, rehydrated in canned gravy and served over instant rice. It was a strange form of nostalgia that Ash actually found himself missing that Class C, repurposed, misappropriation of edible calories. It marked simpler times, when one could afford to complain about dinner.

Finally to the front of the line, Ash grabbed his tray and pushed it along, giving a "Thank you," to the persons behind the line who loaded him up. It sounded quite sincere despite the usual granite exterior that formed the neutral rest to Ash's face. Memories of the day's labors; grime and blood, brains and teeth (the most pleasant part being the memorial service, oddly), didn't exactly have him in the mood to eat something particularly warm or heavy, so he opted for the tuna salad. Yes to the broth, yes to a piece of fruit. He just wasn't much of a sushi person if an option was given, and the casserole was the opposite of what he had in mind.

Ash remained friendly to those around him, sparing a nod, small wave, or the odd "Evenin'," for people he had already met formally, "Sir" and "Ma'am" aplenty as the situation dictated. Before too long, he had traversed the Mess Hall and, tray in hand, made his way back to Thana. Those who might be paying attention to his general facial features might note that his solid, stoic expression softened somewhat as he came within polite speaking range. Much in the same manner that he observed Thalia set her plate down and hop up onto the stage next to Thana, Ash ascended and settled down on the other side of her. He smiled, looking to the beauty before him with continued adoration. If anyone had asked him right then, he might have easily responded "...what scars?"

Instead, he gave the casual greeting of, "Hey again," leaning forward as to steal another kiss before getting to his meal and hopefully talking about the day with Thana, but paused briefly, as if something struck his mind. He leaned out to the side, getting Thalia in full view before speaking in a sarcastic, faux-concerned voice, "So... we're going to be making out here for a while, me and Thana. Don't want you feeling jealous, okay Miss?" His Virginian drawl was noticable, but lessened from the great Thawna-ing earlier.

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Thalia Carmichael Location: Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Rumors. Well, her new bestie did seem to take them in stride, and knowing full well that they were floating around about her probably meant that she was in a better position then not knowing. Again, Thalia hadn't much use for the rumormill recently, as her days being a Security Specialist were far behind her. The preferred response to them, as described by Thana, was enough to give her a single amused exhalation of "Hnn," that might have been a laugh, be it a little dry and cynical in nature. "Yah. People ah assholes." She'd heard enough rumors about herself, back in the day. But a good, old-fashioned Undead Uprising and survival with minimal contact with other people did wonders to remove gossip. For a while, at least. "Funny how rebuilding society has to involve people tahlking shit, isn't it?" Thalia shook her head. Then she laughed. Once, loudly, followed by her left hand clasping over her mouth. As if she hadn't considered this before, she looked to Thana and asked, "What do you think they're saying about me?" She could only wonder, given that she had family here, coupled with the circumstances of her initial appearance in town. The partly feral instincts she'd devolved into out in the world. Or the many and various ways she had demonstrated her discomfort with luxuries like clean sheets and air conditioning. At the core of it, Thalia didn't overly care, feelings weren't hurt, etc., but a sense of morbid curiosity took hold of her.

Events passed, as events tend to, and Ash returned, bearing food. After he informed her of his possible intent to get very affectionate with Thana right in front of her, Thalia announced, "Okay... I'm the fuck outta here. Talk at yah later, Navy." As she spoke, she piled what sundries she had onto her plate and slid down, off of the stage. She might be a bitch half the time, but Thalia was going to give those two their space.

Having caught sight of Joaquin, she made a measured beeline over and plopped her tray down at the table across from him. Sitting heavily, Thalia took another noisy bite from her unpeeled orange, chewed thoughtfully for a moment, and sighed. "Hey, Joaquin. More cling that a roll of plastic wrap, both of 'em." She motioned with her metal hand over in the general direction of Ash and Thana. "Had to escape. What're you guys tahlking about?"

[rivaan]

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Amelia Payne Location:Mess Hall (C) Skills: N/A

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Amelia looked at Nigel when he expressed his preference that a minotaur should be honestly more of a Greek aestetic. Well she was thinking along those lines too for the most part, but there was a small fact.” Well… most characters in D&D are best when they are unique in some way.” She mumbled out, recalling her own experiences with the game and the fun she hand her friends had back in the day.” Viking pirate minotaur with a bell is pretty unique.” She nodded.

With this she turned to Rosie.” I will have to ask to confirm if she’s got spots in any of the campaigns… though I’ve been out of the game for a long, long while.” She said quietly, before looking at Rosie once more.” And will he also get an eyepatch or a parrot? Though when you mention it… it would be a pretty harrowing pirate tale… with the mist comes the dread and then you hear the bell ring out within the white veils, signaling the crews that the time for pillaging is here.” She mused, imagining the setting. She was a nerd at heart after all.

“Well I can’t say I’ve played many unique standing out by sheer idea characters. I tend to prefer mine more muted and grounded.” She stated quietly, taking a few bites from her food.” Though I did like my human rogue assassin from the deserts. Story made her a blade dancer, you know, go in to entertain guests and then slit their throats in the middle of the performance. Though it was for the last campaign before the… well world ended with my friends back then. Never got to use her in a game. Prior to that used just a simple humble cleric…”

Her attention was suddenly pulled to the side where Manny was standing, listening and seemingly waiting. She smiled at him when he asked how she was.” Hey, Manny.” She greeted him.” I’m good, thank you. Better when there’s no dog around… Sorry can't help it... I know it's probably illogical, but... they are just too scary.” Though saying that, she tossed careful looks around as if to confirm the dreaded hellbeast hadn’t materialized just by calling it’s name!” And how was your first day?” She asked and gestured an invitation for him to sit down and not stand up there.”Everything fine?”

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Lisa Mason Location: Mess Hall Skills: N/a

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“Well, not sure I’d listen to random chatter, if you are that interested better refrain from opinions until the other side of the story is known. Not that it matters any. I personally like her. I’m still thinking of ways to convince her to join up in a venture to write a walker killing manual.” Lisa stated flatly, but holding a chuckle.” I will cover overly elaborate traps and have her write the stabbing section. We’d make a killing. We can give it a funny title and everything.” It was actually one of her ideas, not the most original one, but it was an entertaining thought to have and think about. A guide how to make overly complicated walker traps that end with a piano or a safe dropping on a walker. It would be a blast!

“Mm if I had a case of erratic hostile Nikkilear lifeform, I’ll pull of my ultimate secret move… I will run in the other direction. But we get along just mighty fine.” She couldn’t contain her laugh this time around. Her laughter did halt when DoLittle pointed out she wasn’t getting close to Amelia cause of Rosie.” Why though…? She ain’t bad or anything.” She inquired with a raised eyebrow. She had nothing against her personally and found this curious.

Then her eyes wandered over to the side where Manny, ever the brave old man stood up and proclaimed he will undertake the mighty quest.” Go get ‘em, Manny!” Lisa stated, giving him a cheeky grin and a thumbs up. Of course she would have done it herself, but since he wanted, why not. Besides the joke aside, she was certain Nikki’s fine, she was a big girl and could look after herself and if she got into relationship troubles, well it wouldn’t be anything a bunch of alcohol and another Fuck hunt wouldn’t solve. Then again… they had a doggo now, so that worked too. Doggos were pretty good relationship remedies. By habit she moved to put a lock of hair behind her ear when some dirt fell from it.” Ohh right… ehh better eat fast and go back home to grab a quick shower or something… Probably got enough dirt in my hair to use it to plan stuff in.“ She chuckled.