eskimolander

You win, or you die

Together the Tilden girls sat and played in the gardens, a rare moment of quiet sisterhood. The oldest two having long since ignored the antics of their small siblings. Far too focused on their vanity they had thought nothing of the growing silence around them. Since they entered the world the twins had been wild and adventurous, with their father’s heart softening with age they were also often left to do as they pleased. So it was natural that when the small girls disappeared into the hedges their sisters gave no thought of it. Instead the continued to work on one anothers appearances. What had started as Naeva fix the damage done to her sister’s hair by way of her brothers teeth, had become a spa treatment for the both of them. A few orders to the right servants had seen them with cleansing masks on their face and hair assembled in shapes that made no sense. Not works of modern fashion trends but rather the imaginations of two young girls having a good time. They chatted loud and unabashedly for about any and everything for a seeming several hours. So lost in the moment, that had someone asked about their younger sisters, they might very well have forgotten they existed.

This played perfectly with young Esme’s bravery and wanderlust. Her twin Perienne coming along as little more than a loyal follower. Somehow without being caught they had managed to make all the way to the castle gate. It had only been a short while before that they had stood up there and watched their father depart. He was going an adventure. From the moment she had found out Esme had begged and pleaded to accompany him, but it was one of the few requests he had denied from her. She hated this. Sneaking past the guards with the stealth of a mouse, Esme made it onto the other side of the wall designed to keep her in and others out. Clearly it wasn’t terribly effective. Looking behind her she saw that Perienne hadn’t followed suit. Too frightened to join the outside world she had instead chose speak with the guards, distracting them. Smiling at her sister’s assistance Esme took off into the woods, holding her skirts up as she went. Not quite able to catch up with the men, she kept a close enough distance to be able to see them.

Lord Warreck meanwhile marched at the front of the small amalgamation of men, happily shouting commands occasionally opting to converse with the two generals that flanked him. Despite Carsley Keep still being visible behind them, they had actually been marching for the better half of two hours. The field in which Carsley Keep sat was simply just that flat. He was a man on a mission. In all honesty he didn’t care much who took the throne, be it Renly, Stannis or hell even Joffrey. As long as he could see a way for his own house to benefit. At the current moment, remaining loyal to the Tyrells would curry favour within the Reach. Even if they lost, it was proof of their loyalty and reliability. It had worked for them when he sat sidelong with Mace Tyrell in defense of the Targaryen’s. So he had no doubt that it would work now. The Tyrells had a remarkable talent for staying in the king’s good graces despite the many times that had stood against the crown. He had figured that the Reach’s fertile nature and the Tyrells fat coffers had the most credit for it. Lost in both conversation and thought, he had paid no mind when his men passed by two people on horseback. He had assumed them to be common travelers and kept on his path.

Well, So Much for the World

Julian breathed a sigh a relief when the man sat beside him. With both hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel, he pulled a u-turn so sharp that he scared himself a bit. He glanced at the man’s outstretched hand, but turned his sight back to the road. He was racing with the sun at this point. Casual conversation would just have to wait until they were somewhere safe for the night. Julian was sure that if enough zombies piled on the windshield that it would smash through. And he was in no hurry to find out what that number was.
“You’ll have to forgive me if my hands are a bit preoccupied,” Julian said somewhat sternly. He could feel the tightening of his muscles as he became increasingly anxious for the oncoming nightfall. Being caught in the middle of the road didn’t sound like a good idea to him. The forest was a bad option as well, given the area they were in. Stuck in between Toronto and Detroit, it was quite likely that the dead ones were swarming the area. It hadn’t taken long for them to start leaving the cities once they ran out of people to eat. “Name’s Julian, by the way,” He finally replied as an afterthought.

After several minutes of top-speed driving he finally slowed down to a reasonable rate. They were now in farmland and Julian was scoping for a place that could hold them for the night. It had to be out in the open, so they could spot any monsters from a distance. And the smaller the better, as it made it less likely to have unwanted guests on the inside. “Sorry about that.” He said, referring to both the nascar style driving and his silence during the ride. “I wanted to get out of there before it got dark,” Which was exactly what he had done. It was now dark with only the headlights leading the way, but at least they were in a more open area. In fact, Julian had been in this area only but a few days prior with his last group. This gave him a small confidence in its safety.

“Where’re you headed?” He took one hand of the wheel, much more relaxed than before. The drive almost became leisurely as he twisted up and down the dirt roads looking for house or barn to set up camp.

Well, So Much for the World

This guy was clearly unimpressed with Julian’s antics. However the fact that followed the car, even if only for a few steps, meant that he was at least entertaining the idea. Looking up at the sky he saw that the night was approaching fast and he was beginning to wonder why he was still waiting around for. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but these fuckers loved the dark. They weren’t smart enough to understand camouflage, so it must have been instinct. Or at least that’s what he figured. Julian turned his attention back to the man who was now deep in thought. It only took him a moment to notice the zombie stumbling its way past the last few rows of trees lining the road. Shame the thinker in front of him didn’t. This was the perfect opportunity for Julian to see if this guy really was worth keeping around.

"Why are you wasting the gas in your car fooling around, who knows the next time you will be able to find any?" The man questioned him, sounding like a disappointed father lecturing a rebellious teen. Julian just smirked as the zombie finally rounded up on him. In the car, he was safe. This guy was only safe if he was strong enough. He crinkled his nose at the stench that came from it head when the machete cracked it open. Should be used to it by now, Julian chastised himself. He continued to watch as the man followed through with his ritual. Lot of people had them these days, Julian was no different. For the past month Julian had fallen into a ritual of finding group, having the group die then finding a new one. Rinse and repeat. It was what was keeping him alive. To him, that’s all that mattered. After the little display the guy sat on the hood of the car across from Julians own. Something about this felt odd, a bit too casual.

“It’s not my car.” Julian finally answered. “I’m just trying to stay alive. I did fine before the car, I’ll do fine after it.” He tapped his fingers anxiously, eyes flittering to the sun ever closer to setting. “It’s a lot easier to survive in groups,” He paused for a breath, “Look man, I’ve got some food, a gun and a few blankets for when the cold sets in. You’re obviously on a mission, and if staying alive means helping you with it than I don’t mind. Just get in already.” It was a bit long winded, and sounded more beggy than Julian had liked but with each minute they wasted they were both getting closer to becoming zombie chow.

@Red_massa

Well, So Much for the World

Julian just gave the man an incredulous look. He almost felt like laughing at the sap. Just from a glance, it didn’t seem like he much—or anything—on him. And his attempt to hide was pitiful at best. Julian had yet to see a zombie jump and duck for cover. That’s what ultimately gave the guy away as living. If he wanted to go unnoticed he should’ve pretend to be one of them, Julian thought to himself. He made a mental note that if ever needed to hide to not take hit advice from this shmuck. Given the man’s situation, he had expected an immediate yes. Perhaps he would’ve jumped right in the car. Julian probably would have. Instead he was met with resistance.
“Why should I trust you?” It was a reasonable concern. People go crazy when their lives are on the line. Julian had seen, no, experienced firsthand. With a flash of the previous night’s events, Julian didn’t really feel like he trusted himself too much at the moment. Years of acting experience stopped him from expressing it though. He knew better. If he was going to survive in this messed up world than he needed people. Muscle to back up his cunning. And, if need be, zed bait.

“Do you trust the dead then?” Julian gathered up all his charm for that sentence. With just the right mix of condescension and concern, he meant to make the man realise how desperate his situation really was. Nobody had a lot of options these days, being in a nice safe car with food and sleeping material was the closest thing to heaven at the moment. Really, Julian was being saintly in asking this guy to share it.

Then, “Besides you are coming from the east driving west and I am coming from the west traveling east. It would be slightly irrelevant to go back the way I came.” There was something else in between, but Julian hadn’t listened. This caught his attention a bit though. Mostly since this wasn’t the first person he met who was headed to the great white north. His last group had been, too. Of course Julian protested he tried to explain just how cold it really gets, but they insisted. Said there’d be less dead. All he could do was mumble about not wanting to be one of them. Julian knew he’d be just as dead if went off on his own though and figured freezing was the lesser of two evils.

“Dude, you do know that cars can turn around right?” He rested his arm on the open window, trucker style. Somewhere in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think of how badass he looked. “I just don’t get what you’d wanna go up there for,” He tapped his fingers impatiently waiting for a response. A few seconds later, just to taunt the guy, he started pressing down on the gas. “No? Alright, good luck then,” Julian said mockingly as the car slowly moved forward, topping of at the same speed of a brisk walk. The worlds ended and I’m still having this much fun? , Julian thought, smirking at himself.

@Red_massa

Well, So Much for the World

Lucky! I'm basically a vampire. Insomnia sucks, wanna swap? Lol. I'm kidding of course, enjoy your sleep and catch ya later!

Well, So Much for the World

Conversation is always fun! How are you?

Let's try a different approach (1x1)

One more bump

You win, or you die

Do you think we should actually use the characters tab?

Well, So Much for the World

Even with no one else driving the road wasn't exactly a safe place. Like a nervous tick Julian kept looking down at his meters. The old beater had about a half tank of gas left in her. If he kept at this speed, Julian estimated he could get a total day or two out of it. For the hundred time in as many minutes his eyes fell back to the meter, as if he was scared the gas would suddenly disappear. He held the steering wheel so fiercely he thought it might break. If he were the strongman type it probably would've. Getting to the border had proved more difficult than he had initially thought. Already he had had to change direction a few times. Having hit several roadblocks and almost driving straight into Toronto. He knew to stay clear of any big cities, but he stayed close enough to not get lost. The detour around Toronto was a long one though, and when he remembered that he'd also have to avoid Detroit he could only grumble in discontent. Though he knew it was that or be eaten.

It was daybreak before he even considered pulling over. Just about noon when he finally did. Stopping at the shoulder he looked out all the windows, to be sure no zombies were standing around. The sound of a running vehicle would draw them in pretty soon though. Carefully he got out of the car and leaving it running he quickly ran to the trunk. Popping it open he scooped up the box of supplies and deposited into the backseat. It didn't do him much good if he couldn't get to it after all. Whoever owned this car did seem to have some brains though. After removing the box, Julian returned to find a few tools that would be enormously useful: A tire iron, wrench, car-jack and a jerrycan. Pleased with his new treasure, Julian slammed the trunk door closed and went back to the drivers seat. Just in time too as he heard the groans of approaching zed.

"Pedal to the metal," He said beneath his breath as he floored it, enjoying the crunching noise as he drove through a few of the monsters. Shortly after he went across the border, flipping of the guard booth as he went. Normally he'd be scared shitless to go to Michigan, well he still was, but for different reasons. In a vehicle the dead really want that scary, though he tried not to get too comfortable with it. Back before the dead turned deadly, Detroit would get you with or without a car. Julian went on like this for a few more hours, thinking of how before this all started he would've died for a car like this.

That was when he saw it. A person. Not a dead one, but a living breathing person. He could tell by the way he walked. Julian it the brakes hard, and when he finally stopped half a yard away from the guy he looked over his shoulder to be sure. Definitely alive, but with the sun setting he wouldn't be much longer without help. And Julian knew that once this car broke down--and it would--that he'd be just as dead as this guy. There was a reason he stuck in a group, he had the brains to survive but not the brawn. So, he backed up until he was level with the man. He rolled down the, hovering his foot over the gas pedal in case he was wrong.

"Hey! Need a lift?" Julian spoke just loud enough for the other guy to hear him and waited for a response.

Let's try a different approach (1x1)

And another bump`