Ash Holloway
Location: Crash Site -> On the road back to Newnan
Ash was emotionally dead. Temporarily, this was a good sign; outwardly he would respond with cold rationalism, making decisions for the group based on logic and need. But inside of him, down deep, conflicting feelings grated upon each other. Ash was blessedly anesthetized by his emotional shutdown, at least for now. Hearing that voice in his head again, no matter how fleeting... it was possibly symptomatic of something serious. Logically, he knew this. So long as he realized that one crucial concept, Ash figured he wasn't too far gone. Yet.
Too many people had died, in too short a span of time. Their pool of survivors was shrinking, faster and faster every day. Already there were too few people to hold their fenced-in corner of the world, at least not effectively enough. And the lesson was certainly out there about helping others: You can't actually assist with a medical emergency without losing two of your best people, and you can't go to help
them without a casualty or two in the process, either. The dice seemed to be against the grand experiment of Newnan succeeding, and point of fact the only reason that Ash hadn't eaten a bullet by then was his strong undercurrent of duty. He still had people that were his responsibility, people that would be worse off without him.
All the same, the futility was overwhelming, sometimes. He had been to war before. It was the most mortal kind of stress imaginable, especially for someone in an Engineering unit that often had to plow their way ahead of the main force to complete their duties, so that the rest of them could complete theirs. At least there was an overall objective, to it. Terms of service, too, or a definable end to the conflict. If you survived, eventually you would be allowed to go home. If you didn't survive, well... you didn't get back up and try to eat your friends and family. There was no end to this tour, not anymore. There was no getting out, there was no deserting the post, even. Not even death guaranteed escape.
The absolute best that Ash could hope for was to give as many people as he could some mote of security, keep them fed, and delay their demise for as long as he was able. If they found meaning or happiness along the way, great. Such concepts were becoming lost on him.
"If you have any cargo, load it up fast." said Ash to no one in particular. He recovered Bazhooli's hunting rifle and stowed it in the Hordebuster's cab, and began climbing up into the driver's seat.
"I'm gone in two. Someone make sure that our dead don't come back." Ashton waited the promised two minutes, then hit the ignition on his 'Buster. It growled to life in a comforting way for the beleaguered Captain. He waited as Jack climbed into the truck's passenger side. Locking eyes with him, he nodded once. Today was a bad day. Very bad day.
"Time to go home. I could use a drink later, ah... after. You?" He shifted gear and brought the Hordebuster around, traveling at moderate speed back to Newnan.
Black James(!)
Location: Newnan Inner Wall - Northern Entrance -> LaGrange Street, headed south
"Naw, you hang on to your trail mix. If'n you decide to head out, you gonna want somethin' for the road." James kept his voice level and optimistic, as best he could given the circumstances. But this was not exactly the finest hour that Newnan had ever experienced.
"Gonna tell you straight, Bea - we had a little accident today. Took some losses, too. Ain't nobody real happy here, but we're most all good people. An' as we can, we feed those that need it." While James was being open and friendly, the armed escort was being quiet and watchful. James wasn't fully letting his guard down either, staying out of arm's reach of the lady and making sure that the side his 9mm rested upon faced away from her at all times. He talked a good game, but mostly used it as an opportunity to gauge her facial responses which were, to his experience in the matter, not very obvious. All the same, sometimes people needed reassuring words and a little time to rest before they opened up. Some good food never hurt, either.
The veteran hogger took a moment to let Guy up in the tower know what was up, and that he would be fulfilling his temporary duties as Second for the next bit of time. Of course, over the radio he was a hair less elegant in his speech to that effect.
"Just keep a good eye out, I'll send someone up 'fore long, keep you company." He then looked to the new girl.
"Like I said, I ain't the usual guy for this. Hell, I'm supposed to be the Farm Guy here, used to do some recruitin', too. James pointed down the road a little bit, past the Armory and past the cloth, under which the formerly alive Sophia used to lay. Why they didn't get the sheet too, he had no idea. The spot of blood was probably a little bit of a turn-off, too.
"Like I said, had some losses today. Now, down there's a church we been usin' as a Mess Hall. Our girl Sally's been keepin' some fresh smoked deer, cabbage, an some crackers on hold for stragglers comin' back from work late. We can get you set up there 'till our bossman gets back. Meantime, you got questions? You ain't got to talk if you don't wanna." James gave a warm, toothy smile, and turned fully to Beatrice.
"But I always do like a little supper conversation, don't you?"
