Shoe Thief

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Well Fuck. Hunter watched as The Professor grinned a grin that only meant on thing. Bad news. If this woman's reaction was anything to take away from this, the whole trial served the purpose of attempting to break him down and make him snap in front of the whole camp. It would explain the moments that felt like they served no purpose other then to humiliate him, and it made sense. No matter where the verdict went, they would appear as the good guys. They'd either banish the unstable person for a win, or they'd look like the good guys for showing mercy to someone who clearly seemed unstable. She made a comment that seemed to be trying to justify the words said about his mother. Though they were vague at the time, they implied too much about her. Everything the professor pointed out had done a near total redirect on what Hunter had been thinking to this point. He still had the realization that he had fucked up on countless situations, but the final stretch of the trial refueled that suspicion that maybe this was another group with ill-intentions.

He had a chance to try and give his final thoughts on things before witnesses would be called up and the verdict was made. He had no idea what he was going to say, despite his efforts it seemed a choice was already made. His inability to explain his own thoughts had also come back to bite him in the ass, and he found himself on damage control with no idea how to do that. He stood awkwardly for a long time clearly wanting to say something but stumped for words and little clue what to say. Eventually he decided, fuck it, and would just attempt to clarify what he could. "I'm not lying to you. I have no fucking clue how to explain my logic of things the last few weeks. I'm no lawyer, nor English major, nor a phscy- pschy- ... Fucking mental doctor." Great start. He knew the word, but over thinking it he was starting to mix it up with other words that sounded similar. "I was never the smartest kid in school either. I loathed school for the most part finding it a total waste of effort and time and boring as hell. That's come to bite me in the ass too now it seems." He took a deep breath, and calmed down. He was stressed and felt desperate. "You want the truth? The whole truth? Even after this, I'd still have trouble trusting anyone in this room. It has 100% crossed my mind to prepare for hostile action. Especially that first week in quarantine. The place operates like a prison with armed guards, who's sole purpose is only to keep people in and nothing else. I had made a several mental notes on what I would do if I had to force my own way out, but nothing warranted things to go that far so I had no reason to act on it. Even with the writing on the wall of where things are going now, I still don't have reason enough to act on it. Though you can only get fucked by those above you so many times before getting into that mindset. SO for final clarification, yes. It had crossed my mind. But no, I have no intentions on acting on it. Ever. Even if this goes to shit in this room today I have no intentions on acting on it. I'll be pissed yeah, I'll be upset yeah, I will hate the guts of every person who took Izibell away from me. But I wouldn't take a rifle and start firing pot shots at the walls, or lobbing explosives over it, or lead a fucking horde to the walls. I'm a fuck up, a huge and total fuck up with a long list of problems I have to sort out. But I am not some monster who would take glee from trying to harm some dude's home." He wasn't sure what he planned on saying, but it wasn't that. The rant had lasted a hell of a lot longer then he planned on it.

He took another breath, though it was a long winded rant it wasn't an outburst in the traditional sense. But it was clear he was speaking as he himself processed the information. He figured he had to wrap things up. There was a good chance his long winded rant would be one of the last things he'd ever say here. "I think your late policies need work too. Two of those charges are related to that and trying to manage a lunch break and walking a dog who doesn't want to go back inside is difficult to manage in an hour." Something to say that served no personal or emotional attachment. A little breather to help calm down and keep his thoughts in check. But he knew there was more to it then just being late, part of it was everything else that was tacked on with it. But the bureaucracy of it could easily grind things to a halt or create more problems in his eyes. Not that he knew anything about management. "And no, my fuck ups are not an excuse for someone to talk poorly about my family. Especially my mom. She did the best she could with what she had. With me as her oldest. So considering only one was a total fuck up and it was by his own means I'd say she did pretty decent." Tacked with the list of regrets he had, was not mending things with his family before things went to hell. Before his unit imploded on itself, before the dead rose, before they left. "I am also aware of the contradictions. But a good portion of what you are asking about happened more then five years apart. I have had a lot of time to think on all of those choices I made now. And I do mean, a lot of time. During basic I'd like to think I was pretty decent at being a soldier despite my reservation of authority figures. To be fair they were mild compared to what they are now. You get a few incompetent and selfish officers getting your whole unit killed to save themselves and it leaves a bitterness that never really washes away. They didn't seem too bad at first either." He shrugged. "I guess that sums up a lot of my thoughts on this place. The worst people I have ever met didn't seem too bad at first. Especially with the world the way it is. Will always be waiting for that hammer to drop down and drop down hard. Think there's a term for the irony here though..." He paused trying to figure it out. "Self fulfilling Prophecy. I know it's not a good answer but it's the one I got for ya." His hope was to clarify the contradictions and explain his path of logic even when it was poor logic.

Hunter returned to his seat and returned to fidgeting. Things were set in motion to decide for all intents and purposes what could be the rest of his life.

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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To say Manny was in surprise of the situation was an understatement. Hunter had made it clear he was not 100% there, and from Manny's guess the boy possessed some sort of mask to hide a portion of himself behind when under stress. He wondered which was the mask though. The socially awkward boy who seemed easily overwhelmed, or the boy who lashed out at anything that seemed like an immediate threat whether it was or not. The optimist in him hoped it was the latter and that his outbursts were some flawed attempt to protect himself. But Manny had seen what people who had gone too far were capable of. Eden. That place would forever influence his choices and opinions on people. And he wondered if Hunter was one of those people that might have been indoctrinated instead of tutored. Both maybe? He had no idea when it came to Eden. Seemed like a great way to hook people though. Torture them, break them, make them do horrible things so that they can't be with any other people except the ones who have done the same thing. That group was gone now though. The real question is now, can Private Hunter Monroe integrate into any form of modern society?

Hunter had revealed a lot about himself though which did help clarify some of what was going on in the boy's head. Some. Manny at this point figured Hunter had at one point in his life, the best of intentions. But there was clearly something he was leaving out. Something that went wrong. Something that happened while his unit was out during when things fell apart? He tried to think of the guard unit that was tasked with protecting his safe zone. How they were so spread thin internal security wasn't even an option. So spread thin that when the infected had turned inside the safe zone the soldiers were nowhere to be found. He imagined that could have been it. Or was it something that happened afterwards?

"you can only get fucked by those above you so many times before getting into that mindset"

That stuck with Manny, and it left Manny thinking was it a specific person Hunter was thinking of? Or was it society as a whole? Hunter seemed to have his own list of grievances. Though his way to approach them seemed to be head on until it either wasn't a problem or it got worse and out of his control. Another thing that got Manny's attention was the fact that he did appear all bark no bite. Unless there was some missing information, Hunter seemed to outburst when things didn't go his way. But he hadn't been physically violent yet. The question was how far he was from that point? Was it close or was it that his voice was the extent of his ability to strike back? Then he remembered, Hunter had been out there on his own for years. Maybe there were others along the way, but you don't get far on your own for any amount of time without some fight in you. He thought back to one of Nikki's earlier testimonies as well. Where he called himself a violent psychopath. Though he wanted to be optimistic, the fact that in his drunken state he viewed himself like that was concerning.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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Watching things unfold was a mess. Hunter seemed almost like many of the events he was watching himself for the first time instead of being the one who was in the center of it all. Manny had no idea what he thought of the boy at this point. He knew for sure Hunter was troubled, and that he was unstable and easy to set off. Manny got the idea that Hunter didn't fully understand to what degree either. He seemed to show remorse for it though once it was clarified. That seemed to be the repeating pattern. He'd react to something, Many times inappropriately, there would be consequences or effects, then realization and regret. The issues seemed to be it kept happening. Some things he realized faster then others. Some may never be understood by the young soldier.

At the very least of things, Alexander seemed to be doing better. The trial seemed to be stressing out his fellow baby boomer as it continued though. He had no idea the things Alexander had gone through before the apocalypse, and he only hoped that Hunter's actions and the trial with it weren't too taxing on him. Manny was determined to make this fishing trip happen. A nice time out on the open ocean or some river or canal having a nice relaxing day. That would be a nice day off to end all of this madness off with. Manny continued watching the trial, hoping things would become more clear towards the end of it.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Hunter watched intently as things continued. At least tried too. The fidgeting was still pretty bad, though not as bad as before. More things were said that were gut dropping and as things continued his gaze broke off slowly. When he was asked to explain himself he struggled with what words to use again. He hesitated, and followed up an earlier comment instead of answering. "It uh... wasn't about a threat. That last one. It was more like..." He had no way to explain the thoughts in his head in that moment. He made eye contact with no one, and he mumbled a bit as he spoke. "I... well..." He thought about the question, and figured it related a decent amount. He spoke in an attempt to explain his own thought process in a way that may make sense. "I don't want to die. I don't... think so at least." It was hard to explain. What kept him going the last few years was his search for his family. When that had hit it's last dead end, Izibell had kept him going day by day since. He has had countless nights where he would debate if it was worth it to keep going on day by day. There were a couple days where he'd stay in the spot he slept in for a day or two barely moving, only deciding to move again once something had taken him out of his trance.

He had to think now though. He wasn't sure that was a viable answer to the question. "I'm not intentionally trying to push anyone. To see what I can get away with. It's just... something that happens. Easily. And a lot." Piece by piece. He didn't have a total answer, he wasn't sure how to answer it but he attempted to answer what he could. Even if it had to be done piece by piece. It was hard but he wasn't sure how else to approach it. "I don't think I have the answer to that either. I think it's more of this place holds all the cards, and those in quarantine with me didn't. Even now, they don't. I think it's a case of..." He struggled with words again. He was never good with presentations in school, talking to people was barely he could do and even then struggled, and he was no lawyer who knew how to choose his words to get his point across. "I think it's just a case of you could. Even if it wasn't your intentions." He wasn't sure how to word it. And though it didn't paint the most accurate picture of what he wanted to say, he hoped it at least explained things in a way that didn't make things worse.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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To Manny, Hunter gave the impression of someone who saw an enemy in every person he met. Someone who was legitimately hostile, people who were total strangers, even those who were potential friends were seen as an enemy to some degree. The boy seemed unable to relax, and unable to completely trust anything or anyone. The boy had opted to speak during his trial which didn't surprise Manny at all. The boy seemed to yearn for the chance to be heard. Maybe he might have learned from what had happened so far, but it's hard to say now. Though Hunter seemed to be slipping from time to time he hadn't had any real outbursts during the trial. But looking at him, he seemed only moments away from some kind of mental break. He was struggling, but Manny had no way of knowing if it was the stress of being confronted with what had happened here, in the past, or the setting of the court alone. Watching his posture change when Gunny went up and soon after himself caught Manny's attention. Though not hostile, he seemed to hold a grudge in his worn state. The boy clearly needed help, but it was impossible to say if this was the place to do it. Or if it was worth the risk of what he was now.

Alexander brought Manny back from his deep thoughts on the matter. Manny had to be careful with that, he was letting his thoughts spiral to the point of conspiracies and it was only a matter of time before they could control all of his thoughts if he wasn't careful. What helped? Seeing Alexander able to relax a little bit more now. He was stressed, and struggling. But he was the strongest man Manny knew, and he was holding on despite everything. "No problem." He spoke with a reassuring tone and smile. Even the strongest needed to be reassured sometimes. He wondered what thoughts were going through the old veterans head at the moment. What he thought of Hunter's situation. Was there concern what the boy was capable of doing? Was there some connection with their military history he couldn't hope to understand? He'd like a chance to get some of this cleared up with the Alexander later. Right now it was just a fight to get through the day.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Things continued on and by the looks of people on stage and a few in the audience many had seemed to think he would have opted to stay silent during his questioning phase of the trial. He had no idea how many exactly as he had to refocus his attention on things rather quickly. For all he knew, they could have been surprised because this was entertaining to them. But he needed to speak now, things had gone wrong fast for Hunter, and only worse as things went on. He felt alone and isolated again. He felt he had no allies left after he had burned what few bridges might have remained at that point. If he didn't let himself speak, it would be a repeat of the retreat to Buffalo. It would be a repeat of the Guard Base when the National Guard broke apart. It would be a repeat of what happened with Don and his gang.

His own thoughts held him up a bit. He had to remind himself that these people were not Don and his gang. They weren't the worst of the worst of the Guard. They weren't some selfish Colonel that got the bulk of his unit killed. Hopefully. hopefully. He felt sick. Though he had no reason to believe anyone here was as messed up as those people, any comparison that could be possibly made was made. Each small comparison adding more and more to the distrust he felt towards those around him.

He had things explained to him. He watched the professor with a tired look as she explained how things would work, replying with a simple nod alone. His first question, did he deny? He thought about it for probably longer then he should have. He debated calling a couple redundant, but assuming the woman meant what she said he'd get a chance to say something later. "Nope." It did him no good to deny any of it. Even with the evidence presented, he would have given a similar answer with the exception of likely speaking out about the redundancy immediately, or trying to defend some of it in the moment. He'd decide later if it was worth approaching at all.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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Many of the testimonies started to sound rather alike. No one really paid the young soldier much mind until he lost it, and things fell apart. It was overall a rather big mess from start to finish, and as things continued on things were looking worse and worse for Hunter. Manny had spent time with a lot of people in his lifetime, many of them deemed as the most violent and unlawful people imaginable in some ways. Though the statement wasn't true, the rumors didn't start from nothing. Hunter's impression was that of someone who would give all of those people second thoughts on their actions in life. It made him question exactly what Hunter had done to survive in the world out there. Part of him wondered if Hunter was like so many of those people who mentally couldn't comprehend that the world was ending the way it was, but unlike the others had gotten through the initial chaos and somehow survived past it. Manny had seen a few of those people in the first year, maybe two years. People who had mentally either shut down, or had been unable to process what had happened and were only functioning at the cost fragmenting their mentality. That was the extent of the old dentists theories though. Though he had the most basic understanding from his own experiences and a few areas that he got introductions to from schooling, he was no expert. Seeing how things went though and other conversations he has had with people since he arrived he wondered if he should have gotten into microbiology or into psychology in some capacity. It was too late in life for him to ask those questions now though and expect answers. But maybe he could ask them for future generations to solve.

Most of Manny's thoughts were cut short when Alexander went up to testify. He was struggling, the memory of the situation taking a strain on him as he spoke. When Alexander returned to his seat Manny was there to greet him as best as he could. He wanted to reach out, ask if he was doing alright. But he clearly needed some room to breath and collect himself. When the old vet sat besides him Manny reached out and firmly grabbed his shoulder in a reassuring manner. "You did good." He kept it short and sweet. The man had a lot on his mind, but he was hoping the small reassurance could help. When this was over, he was going to try and get the man a cup of coffee and a chance to relax. Maybe they could take that fishing trip soon and take that as a real good chance to forget the crazy of the old and new world for a moment or two? That sounded good.

The next portion of the trial was at least as much of a mess as the last part if not more so. The boy clearly had some kind of confrontational issues, jumped to conclusions, and seemed to hold more then a healthy dose of hostility towards everyone around him. Between the events that took place with some of those in charge, and those who where present with him while in lock up it was clear that the boy had more then a couple issues. From what Manny could tell, he had some remorse to him. But the way he was handling things, that had a tendency to get blotted out by his urge to face every problem no matter the size or how serious it was with everything he could throw at it. And here, he had nothing but the words he could think of in a moment's notice. Manny wondered how much of those thoughts were just lashing out with anything he could say to cause damage, or were genuine thoughts of the boy? Somewhere between maybe? The events showed did not look good for the boy at all. Social was a low on any skill set he had. He wondered how Hunter handled things before they feel apart? Did he have any severe issues then or was this all new developments caused by the stress of the end of the world? He supposed that didn't matter now. Now, it seemed everyone was an enemy to Hunter until proven otherwise. And even then, it didn't take much to go back onto that list.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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Hunter had a lot of trouble staying focused as everything that was going on. Though he did his best to follow along, much of it he found himself leaning forward eyes locked to the floor if open at all. His hands held together by wedging his fingers between one another to keep from fidgeting anymore then he already was. It did little good as his he still found himself fidgeting with his foot tapping the floor rapidly, or his hands coming undone and him attempting to adjust his fingers, hand, wrists, or even elbows as if they were parts to a machine slowly falling apart and he was attempting to put them back together. Only stopping when he realized he was doing it, and would eventually go back to locking his fingers together, and return to tapping his foot. The attention was getting to him. His fears of integrating back into society had led to the worst case he could imagine, ironically by his own hands and fears. And now he was nearing another breaking point. Unlike past times, it was easier to notice it coming as there was no singular even that was pushing the few limits he had left, but rather the collection of the trial as a whole was starting to take it's toll. With each person who came up to testify, he willed himself to sit up and try again. The only calming factor being the quiet between the statements. But as they went on he regressed more and more into this state, each time taking less and less to get there.

Something that helped was that the statements were getting shorter and shorter as people came up. Most saying the same thing, adding less per statement, and others just stating they had nothing new to offer. A couple more unique perspectives came into play. Others who needed to do their own thing while Hunter got pinned to the floor. The one that stood out the most to Hunter? The man with the very heavy limp to his step that broke up the usual statements between each other. It was an odd sensation, the heavy thuds as the man walked. Alexander was the name that came to mind. His statement was different in the sense that the man was clearly struggling in his own regard. There was a mix of guilt and reassurance with that thought. Guilt that more were suffering from everything that had happened, yet reassurance that in some fucked up way he wasn't alone in his struggles. And more guilt with the last one. He hoped the man got a chance to recover from this mess. No matter how this went, damage was done to a lot of people. No matter how it went, it was going to end up being a lose-lose situation. Part of him regrets not taking the offer to leave, but he didn't. So it he needed to make it worth something to make up for the damage that was done.

Alexander went off, and Nikki came back up. Her statement was short and simple. And with how the day had gone, and what had gone on with Nikki earlier, it was unsettling to hear her say anything positive about him now. Next, was another rather harsh nail in the coffin. Gunny and Hunter's many less then great interactions. Hunter wasn't sure what he felt about that one. He lashed out, a few points were made attempting to justify them. But at the end of the day it was still them trying to take away his dog. It could be spun any way they wanted, but they were trying to take away the only thing he had left he still cared about. No justification would ever change that for him. There were few emotions Hunter had that were stronger then the guilt and remorse he held. Hate, bitterness, spite, and anything that happened to be attached to those when they showed. Unlike previous times where Hunter would attempt to hold contact with those giving the testimony and then fail to keep it as the stress, guilt, and remorse. This time, he held the gaze the whole time still struggling with the previous emotions, but the bitterness of the justification barely making him hold his gaze. He still regretted losing it, but the continued justification seemed to hold no purpose other then to humiliate him and to keep hammering the point that had been made. Maybe if it wasn't concerning Izibell, or it was following everything else that happened through the day he would have been able to face it more. But at that moment it felt like nothing more then a violent jab then a testimony. It still didn't stop him from fidgeting with his hands and foot as it continued.

It ended soon enough, and Hunter took a moment to try and calm down hiding his frustration. He wondered how much of it was frustration from the events that took place back then, or how much of it was the built up stress hitting the breaking point. Cage came up soon, and by that time Hunter was feeling more burned out then anything else. The fidgeting slowed, his gaze and overall pace slowed, but he did his best to continue to try and focus. Hunter learned a few things, the main ones beings that his cell was recorded with a half decent video recording system. Nikki made contact at some point, mouthing something he couldn't make out. His conversation with Ashton stood out. The man was probably the first person to give real hope of the place to Hunter. Sure, there were individuals that held his attention, but the place as a whole never seemed to connect until Ashton had talked about it. It didn't stop things from getting worse from there, but it was one of the first key starting points he remembered. There was one of his many rants about Cage, which Cage took the time to make eye contact with during. That's around the point where Hunter's guilt won out again and he broke eye contact. The man had gotten the leftover spite from the Izibell situation and the emotions that followed it, their first interaction wasn't the most pleasant either, and everything that could be taken as a negative from that point on was a negative in his eyes.

Then came the part he thought he would dread the most, but now seemed to be rather mild compared to what had happened. One of the older woman took center stage to speak primarily to him but in a tone so everyone could hear clearly. What she stated seemed true as it could be. When addressed he did his best to not seem as defeated as he felt. The time came for him to be questioned. There was no telling what they would ask. He had no idea what of his past they would ask, what of his intentions they would ask, or if they would just stick to his time while in camp. He had no idea if they would throw him curve ball questions meant to throw him off to see if he'd get confused, or if there would simply be vague questions to see how he would answer. When it was his time to answer he stood up and looked The Professor with a deadpan expression that read of remorse, regret, and an ever so slight tone of bitterness expressed as "Do your worst". "I'll answer whatever you want to ask me." He wasn't sure if the bitterness was towards the people here, though he figured unlikely. Towards himself or how things played out? Maybe. Likely a general bitterness and acceptance that things were fucked now. They had little room to get any worse then they did. He sat, completely still for the first time in hours.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills: N/A

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Manny Enjoyed his conversation with Alexander. The man had a whole world of experience that Manny couldn't even begin to understand. He had a stronger understanding of what it was like to handle blue collar jobs, where Manny cleaned teeth. Alexander went to war, where Manny went to school. When the apocalypse hit it was his skill with a rifle that proved his most useful, and Manny's skill with a scalpel that was his most useful. Manny avoided asking too much about Alexander's early life, as he knew others who were in his war that struggled a lot with those memories. It appeared Manny hadn't shared too much of his early life with Alexander either, as the old vet asked about Manny's former Husband from years before after following up Manny's comment about fishing and boats. "I look forward to be dragged kicking and screaming into a nice comfortable boat." He said with a joking ton about it. Then the question came he wasn't sure how to answer at first. But with some thought, he put the words together. "Two actually. Technically, legally we weren't allowed to be married. But for all intents and purposes we were. Then once after the world fell apart, and I don't think anyone really cared about those rules anymore." Though legally he was never allowed to marry him and his partner did everything they could to work around it with... mixed results.

He finished his food with that on his mind. "To be fair, the second marriage was rather short. But I knew the him before things fell apart, so it's not like it was an on the whim thing. I think at the time we were both just..." He paused thinking of the right word. "Lonely." Looking back, he wasn't sure how much he actually felt love in that relationship. In that case, it was more a desperate attempt to get some joy out of his life in a time where any day could be their last. Alexander explained much of his life involving sailing, his struggling relationship with his father which Manny could understand rather well. But there were good moments, and Manny was glad to see his friend was able to get some familiar happiness with his wife years later. "I think Id o know. Yeah." Manny nodded a little with his words, though those days were long gone he still felt good looking forward on things. He made note of Alexander's comment about his time int he service and stayed focus as he explained it. "My mistake. I can ask her about it when we got some time." Manny took his seat near where he sat before, but not 100% confident it was the same seat. A part of him was worried it was age again, but he had to remind himself that it is likely just a case of it's a big room, and all the seats look alike. Though something to pay attention to, he'd need to hammer out those thoughts as best he could over time.

The trial continued on to a point that was arguably the lowest moment of quarantine. The moment Hunter had snapped on the Russian Mother. One at a time they were called up to explain their sides, even the guards who were on duty gave their perspectives. Though they gave justification for their inaction, he was still frustrated with it. When his turn came to give his statement he stepped up to stage attempting to give everyone he made eye contact with a nod of Acknowledgment. "I didn't see what led up to first contact, but I recognized the sounds of it pretty easily. Things escalated verbally, then calmed down. Moments after is when Hunter has his moment. I was personally hoping the guards would have gotten involved before things got out of hand, but thanks Beatrice while she was still here he was pinned and restrained before things could have gotten worse. He spoke a lot of things, that maybe could have made more sense if I understood what Tatiana said in full context, but he seemed frustrated to a rather extreme degree." Frustrated was the wrong word. He lashed out at her, lost all sense of self control, and he clearly was not completely together in the head. "He seemed to hesitate before he snapped at her. I remember noting how odd that was, and can't personally figure out why. Maybe he had second thoughts he ignored, or maybe he wasn't able to process what he had just witnessed." Remembering back to Beatrice was harder, she had been gone for a little over a week now, but it felt like lifetimes ago. "Beatrice had pinned Hunter after a few people had attempted to verbally put him in his place. He seemed to resist a bit, then slow down, then picked up rather drastically soon afterwards. She let him go soon enough, and reminded him to back off. He isolated himself afterwards near the coffee machine." He tried to be detailed without going over the top, but he wasn't really sure what they were looking for, so he hoped he didn't miss anything. When he had the chance in the future, he wanted to push for different responses from guards. Though looking at him now, he didn't seem like he could be threatening to anything other then by being loud and maybe a stern look. But in that moment, he seemed like he could have escalated things quickly, maybe quicker then the guards could have reacted if he went that far.

Manny returned to his seat, giving a glancing look at Hunter who seemed to be having trouble focusing on things. He even took note of the nervous swallowing the boy did as he was doing from time to time. Assuming his theory about the boy being some conscripted scout was wrong, he wondered when the last time the boy had interacted with a real person was. Part of him wondered if there was anyone after those first few months. No, he didn't seem that far lost. Five years was a long time, and anything could have happened in that time. But that still brought up the question, when was the last time he had an actual conversation with another human being? Manny sat down after breaking his glance towards Hunter.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Education Center Skills:N/A

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His question about what a LARP was never answered, to that it was a shame. But he had gone this far without knowing, so no harm he guessed. Despite his mind being occupied with countless thoughts, he took the moment to respond to Cage. "If the only thing I cared about was being alive I wouldn't have come here in the first place." If just staying alive was his main concern, he would have stayed home five years ago when things first started going bad, or when he last returned from being in the military. He wouldn't have gone south, he wouldn't have returned to the safe zone that wanted nothing more then to shoot him, he wouldn't have gotten on the chopper to first get into camp, and if staying alive was his only concern he'd have taken the offer to leave when the trial first began. He didn't know how to word what he wanted. But there was more to it. Cage was uncomfortably close to Hunter's wants. Every time he had made a move to do what he wanted, he had found himself at gun point in some way shape or form. Sometimes by his fellow soldiers, sometimes by those he'd share shelter with later, sometimes by scared and hungry people who had no idea how to view him, and sometimes it was just a wrong place at the wrong time. Ironically, the last event that started with shooting before he even realized there was a gun on him probably ended the best for him.

The trial was harder to handle at the moment. A lot of it was overwhelming still, much of it was stress built up from before, stress from the shame of his actions, and the new stress from worrying about how things would end. The part of the trial they were at didn't help. He avoided eye contact with everyone at that moment, especially Tatiana. In the moment, he panicked and his panic within his first couple words had escalated into him exploded and lashing out rather quickly. His intention when he started was meant to be good, but it quickly went out of hand as he lost control of his temper and ability to think of what he was saying. Though his understanding of Russian was rusty and broken he could recognize what was said. He sighed unsure what to do now. At this moment he was thankful for the Advil he was given before. He took it realizing his mistake after he put the tablet in his mouth. No drink to follow it up. Shit. He let his spit collect to swallow it, but all he ended up doing was swallowing multiple times as he tried to down the tablet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck" were the words that went through his mind. He struggled but got it down enough that it just left irritation in his throat. He thought to himself, "Congrats fucker, you can't even take a fucking pain killer without fucking it up". He did his best to follow along with the statements given, but he found himself struggling to stay focused again.

Too many people watching, too much attention on himself, too much was going on for him to keep staying focused. He tried to hold up to it before but the longer it went on the more it wore down on him. He took a deep breath, then another swallow as he tried to remove that irritating feeling in his throat. Then another breath to try and calm himself down. Hunter knew how to handle a lot of problems, but not a single one involved how to handle people on a personal level.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills: N/A

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Manny's attention diverted towards Alexander as he spoke. It was a bit funny as normally Manny's dialog heavy persona tended to get the conversations going. But this time Alexander had taken the moment to get things going. Manny found that comforting, he figured an environment where people felt comfortable talking to one another had to be a good one. Even if they decided to not talk in that moment. "Oh my that does sound good. Land crab is a good term for me though. I know next to nothing about fish, and little about the ocean." Despite living in Florida nearly his whole life, he had spent little time on the beaches. Always full of tourist except a select few weeks in the late fall where there was no spring breaks, less people avoiding the northern winters, and the populace of what seemed like the whole country arriving to the beaches in the summer. "So I will say, The Polawksi fish filet sounds rather good." This nice conversation reminded him of his final year of school when he had finally found a social circle he didn't feel the need to constantly watch his back with.

Alexander described the MREs that he used to have to eat, with that though Manny had a visible cringe to his face. Though he had been forced to eat some in the last settlement he had been apart of, the cooks they had were normally able to make it seem pretty edible. The talk of going boating got Manny's attention though. He asked about Manny's past with boats and Manny found himself unsure. "Never anything deep water. Went once or twice with my father before I hit my rebellious phase. After that, my father and I never got along well enough to go out again." There were other factors in place. Manny in his 20s had made a strong effort to cut out a large portion of his family and heritage. Though he regretted his choice later in life and attempted to correct it, his surviving family made it clear he was not welcome back. "My late Husband wanted to get a boat, he enjoyed that out doors stuff a lot more then I did. Recent years have helped me warm up and respect them a lot more. Never ended up getting one though and after he passed I saw no reason to get one. Now though, it's definitely something I am more open to trying." Manny took note of Alexander's frustration with the side show going on. He looked over and Wayne and Hank and understood Alexander a bit.

Though he hadn't spoken to either men much, he had spent time with Wayne as they shared chores in quarantine and the man was gracious enough to not bring up Manny's inability to keep up after his body had rejected the meals from the first day. He did a half decent job explaining Manny's mood when he was at his near own personal breaking point that same week. But he didn't know the man too well on a personal level. "How about you? Any time with boats?" He paused realizing that was a bit of a silly question. The man had been deployed on the other side of the world, and as far as he knew the army wasn't flown into Vietnam across the world. But then again, he knew next to nothing of military logistics. For all he knew of how any modern military worked, there were hidden tunnels across the planet military forces used to transport soldiers and material. "I guess outside of military purposes." Manny would finish his soup and bread while Alexander replied, paying close attention to all of his words as he spoke. When done, it would be time to make their way back to the trial. Manny would wait until Alexander was ready to leave, then at that point make his way towards the education center to continue things.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Mess Hall --> Education Center Skills:N/A

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Cage commented on Hunter's follow up comments. And it left Hunter with plenty of new questions. "Social lessons? And what the hell is a LARP?" Hunter had never heard of it before, and it was another thing to leave him confused. "Did do a play once. Got a lead part, fucked it up so badly I wasn't allowed to get a speaking part ever again." The first time he went up on a stage in front of a crowd. "Who knew people could be so critical of a third grader. Sure I panicked and ran off stage but damn. Third Grade." The main reason he never found himself in a play of any kind again was more to do with the lack of wanting too after how badly that went. Though the drama teacher was definitely hot happy to have to replace a lead part the day of the play. "I don't know, wouldn't mind a social group though. Not sure if there's a group I'd enjoy but not the worst problem I've worked against."

To Hunter's surprise, he had indeed nailed it. He had successfully gotten a none hostile conversation going. Or at least the start of one. Or at least he thought he did. The preacher had mentioned doing something like what Thana and Ashton were doing and Hunter had a visible thinking face as he processed that information. Looking at couple across the room, then back to Atticus and Joaquin. If he was thinking any harder on it there would be an audible sound of gears struggling to turn in opposite directions and smoke pouring out of his ears. He decided he would figure it out later, but now he was determined to figure out what the man was talking about. Hunter was good on picking up on material details with his years of taking things apart, but when it came to people he had next to no understanding of how to understand them.

As the conversation continued, Atticus made some more of his intentions clearer and Hunter found himself at a loss of words. He mentioned about Hunter's reaction to Nikki's testimony. Hunter debated how to respond to that, or if there was even a response he could give. "It's there. The remorse is there just..." He paused. "Just what?" He asked himself. He wanted to say something now that he started, but he wasn't really sure what? "I don't know." He let out with a defeated sigh. Part of him wondered if it was suppressed by his general fear and mistrust of others or if it was something else. "What else was I going to do? I compared her to the biggest fuck up of my life. I compared her to a person who I failed over and over, let get hurt over and over, until she was a husk like those fucking corpses outside the walls." What Nikki had said stuck. Had he realized how badly he fucked up, he would have found her sooner. Jobs be damned, camp be damned, all of it be damned. Under normal circumstances he would have tensed up on sharing information he had worked to keep hidden for so long. But it appeared much of it was already out, and with everything else it fell rather low on his proities.

He was offered Aspirin and reminded what would be coming next. He didn't care what came next though. He knew he fucked up then too but his mind was so far in thought about Nikki and Lucy that nothing could beat that. Nothing they could bring up could be worse then what was already brought to light. He took the aspirin anyways because if it might help, then great. If not, then oh well. Nothing lost. When asked about restroom he just shook his head, he was ready to get this over with. He got up and returned to the education center to continue his own trial.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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

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Manny ate his food letting his thoughts disperse. At this point, he figured the counsel either had thought the same thing he did, or it was such a none issue right now that if he was really concerned he could bring it up later when there was less to worry about. If Hunter was kicked out, he would be sent far away to not be a threat to the community. And if he was some poor kid who was pressured into being a spy for joining a group, he was clearly a bad one who would be set so far away from then he would have to figure things out anew again anyways. And if he stayed, the place was locked down most of the time. It would take a long time for him to get a message out too, assuming he still had any interest too. Even assuming it was real. In that time when things calmed down, Manny figured he could bring up the concerns then when things were less tense. Plus, it was likely that someone deciding things has already had that thought or concern.

He set the thoughts aside, and enjoyed the nice bits of bread especially. He was never the cook in his marriages as the most he could do was go to the store to pick up things, and even then he remembered calling from time to time to clarify items on the grocery list to make sure he didn't get the wrong thing. There was apart of him that missed those days. Granted, who didn't miss the old days where you could walk from one side of town to the other without having to be well armed either do to the undead, bandits, or even scared and undisciplined people who panicked easily. Granted, despite being rather well armed when he was on the road by himself it did him little good when the the group from Eden decided they wanted another man to throw into a cage. Things could have been worse though, and even with what happened in mind he still felt more comfortable armed the way the world was now. Even with things inside the walls safe there was always concerns about what would happen if the walls ever fell, or if something happened to cause an outbreak within the walls. The place was big enough he figured he could figure something out. But it was still an unpleasant thought. But one he would have to work over anyways. Manny finished up his meal and took a good look around taking note of Wayne and Hank at the stage, Thalia with Nigel, Thana and Ashton sitting with each other, Hunter surrounded by a lot of guards, a few others from quarantine as well, and last, but surely not least Alexander. It was a really strange bunch of people, and he wondered how many of them would have had direct interaction, let alone be on a first name basis before all of this went down. The whole thing was a bit insane to think about, but if the apocalypse did anything it was bringing those that were left a lot closer together. For better, and in a few cases worse.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Mess Hall Skills:N/A

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The walk to the mess hall was something Hunter wasn't sure what to think of. There was clear disapproval of something, and he wondered if it was his constant rotation he did while walking, or if they suspected him of being up to something. He wasn't sure, and spent a decent portion of the remaining walk eyeing Panama in confusion as he walked after his comment. Hunter kept his mouth shut on it though, he wasn't sure what to ask to clarify the comment without making things worse, and without knowing the specifics there was nothing he could say to change their minds.

Lunch conversation went even less smooth. Joaquin didn't reply to Hunter's question, Panama did though. And so did Cage. Hunter sighed, even though he had a purpose in his mind of what he wanted to do he clearly wasn't getting things across. "I'm not trying to pry for information. I am trying to..." He paused for a moment trying to think of his specific intentions. "Actually.... no I think it would still be. But like, it's not for the reason you think." He was right though, in a reverse situation Hunter would have either avoided someone like himself, or prepared to shoot. "I am trying to be social." He let out a sigh again, expressing his intentions was something rather challenging for him and it didn't help things with the situation he was in. Joaquin made a comment and Hunter found himself at a loss of words for it. He had no idea what the man specifically meant, but he figured it was another he was still seen as a threat comment. Maybe he just didn't want to be social with him. But he was pretty sure he got the basic idea.

Atticus came by, followed up Joaquin's comment. And to Hunter's surprise, the man smiled. Atticus sat and continued on the conversation addressing Hunter directly. And out of all the questions Hunter was ready to be asked today, that was not one of them. Hunter was visibly perplexed as he tried to process an answer. "Fine I guess. Trying to break some habits. Adjusting slowly. Reminds me of highschool." He spoke quickly trying to answer the question as best he could, but clearly unsure of if they were good answers. One of those habits, was jumping to worst case scenario with every person he met. Even now, there was a thought running through his mind that the religious man before him was some kind of passive test to see how he acted without the main audience present. He pushed those thoughts down, even if it was a case like that this is a bad time to fuck that up too.

He tried to think of something to say to the man to keep things positive, social, and to try and show he had no hostile intentions. "So... What brings you to this here table?" Nailed it.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center --> Mess Hall Skills: N/A

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Manny listened to the testimonies as they came. Though many seemed to point towards a mix of foolishness, and a severe lack of social skills. What did strike Manny as a concern was Hunter's probing of information. And the amateur nature of it at that. The last part concerned him the most though. It reminded him of when he was a bit younger then Hunter, his time in his "Gang". Manny wasn't sure the best word for it looking back. But it didn't change the concern he had when thinking about the situation at hand. How many, the right of passage to join, was to prove you would do anything for your new family. That there were no limits to what you could and would do. It normally wasn't too extreme, but most of the time it meant doing something stupid, and dangerous. Rob a liquor store, fight the biggest dude in the group, get close towards the enemy and learn his secretes so we can use that against him.

His thoughts were derailed a bit when the topic of Thana came up. Even with the request to keep things broad to avoid the conversation, Manny felt mislead about Thana's situation. It was a vague comment that implied a lot, while staying so little. Just because he knew the why, didn't change how he felt. In the moment he couldn't be sure he'd do better. But that didn't change his thoughts on the matter. Not much could be done about it now though.

Meal break was called. Manny debated a few thoughts in his head, the main being what to do with his theory. Did he see if he could talk to the boy directly, clear things up on his own? Between the armed guards and the fact Hunter was known to lash out rather easily trying to talk to him on guess work at best seemed like a bad idea. He wondered about going to camp leadership with his concern, but that brought up it's own list of problems. Including adding more suspicion to an already suspicious person. Suspicion that may be completely false. But if he was right, and Hunter was just some kid who had been roped into a scouting mission just because he was the new guy, or the bottom of the pecking order... It could be a disaster. Or, he was just some socially inept kid with no understanding of how to talk or interact with people.

Manny made his way to the mess hall with his thoughts as the humid air hit him. With the clouds out as thick as they were the day felt rather gloomy as he tried to think this through in his head. Dinner helped, with a nice seafood chowder he sat across from Alexander and ate his food. No comments about the trial, no questions, no out loud thoughts. He just needed a familiar face near him while he organized his thoughts, weighed the pros and the cons.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Auditorium --> Mess Hall Skills:N/A

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Hunter watched the trial as his blunders of information gathering went south. He remembered poking and prodding for information after arriving, trying to play it off as being friendly, and being rather bad at both. He had halfassed both things and fucked them both up. He remembered distinctly trying to gather the information assuming that the camp was likely still a potential threat to him, and he needed to know if fighting his way out was an option. If the guards were spread out enough, maybe he could have taken them on one at a time, two at a time if he felt ballsy. Create a distraction, and pull out where attention had been pulled away from. If asked, he'd be lying if he said those thoughts were not still in his mind. He still took turns eyeing the guards one at a time deciding which ones he could try to talk his way out of, which he could try to intimidate assuming he got a weapon, and which he would have to shoot no questions asked. There were those who were not guards too that he eyed from time to time. Though he had no intentions on acting on these thoughts, they were present none the less. He wondered if that was ever a habit he could get out of, or if it was just one he would have to learn to suppress better.

Some other stuff came up he felt he had little involvement with so he barely paid attention only taking note of the name Thana again. But soon enough, that thought was gone too. Under guard he was brought to the mess hall. He took a deep breath and made a big smile with his eyes closed on the way. It felt good to be outside again. He spent much of his time on his family's scrap yard outside, either playing with his siblings, pulling his little sister off a pile of stacked cars, or taking apart said cars. Post apocalypse he went a lot of places on foot. Especially after the first year when it started getting harder to find cars that were not only working but fueled up. Mostly starting up when he left the last Safe Zone he had been involved with. The one he left covered in bloody bandages limping his way out while being watched by the scope of a rifle. Involved was a loose worse though. He had been there twice, the time he left on foot where he spent a few days recovering from his injuries, and the first time he was there. The reason he left the second time with his torso covered in bandages and smelling of alcohol.

He spun in circles as he walked the way a kid might with a short attention span taking in the view. Which was a rather accurate statement in his case. He enjoyed taking in the whole view at once, and his feet were well used to the rotation he took while walking as if practiced hundreds of times. It was something he did a ton while growing up, and he did even more when travailing the road to keep a constant eye in every direction, and be ready to open fire at a moment's notice. This time it served another involuntary purpose. He locked eyes with each of his guards as he walked. Deciding which were the biggest threats, those he could maybe talk his way out of getting into a shootout with, and if it came to it, who needed to go down first. Joaquin The Mirror, injured not dead. Dead would cause more problems then fix. Maybe Panama next, though Panama had no personal connection to Hunter, and would be almost as bad a wild card as Joaquin. Cage, maybe could be talked down if convinced that backing off was a better bet for his people than dealing with Hunter right then and there. Hunter shrugged his head, trying his best to not let his mind go down that way. That thought process had saved him in the past, but it was only useful in the worst of survival situations. Ones that here were just as likely to get him killed. And that was assuming things went to according to his instinctive thoughts.

When at the mess hall Hunter got a bowl of the spicy veggie stew. A break from fish and a good one at that. Hunter spent much of the middle years of the apocalypse dependent on hot sauce for flavor. Even before the end of the world he enjoyed spicy foods. He focused mostly on the bread instead of the soup though, but for once seemed semi focused on his meal at hand rather then his concerns or out of control thoughts. At some point he turned to look at Joaquin. The wild card who had sights on him the whole afternoon. "You seem like you got a story." Hunter tried to break the cycle of threat assessment and order of targets in his head. It was a stop gap solution, but it was something none the less. "Any of it you want ta share?" It was rather blunt, but Hunter had to work on one social problem at a time and right now it was paranoia's turn to take a chill pill.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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Things continued on rather smoothly. Another round of questioning took place where Manny had been called back up to the stage to present. Arrival and showers mostly. Short, simple. Manny walked his way up getting another look at the crowd watching. Between the boy and the few people he could pick out in the crowd, there was some anxiety either from how fears of how Hunter may react or maybe even just some general stress from legal process. Manny personally, it was the legal process at work. Manny in his lifetime had spent time with the legal system more then he would like to admit. He had seen the fail safes first hand, the flaws, and had not only been saved by it more then once. He had taken advantage of it in his lowest point in life.

Manny prepared his statement in his head at first before speaking to those in charge. "Seemed pretty simple at the time. I at the time was more taking in the scene of things at the time. I remember when Ashton's comment on service came up how surprised I was at the number military were not only in the camp, but in the new arrivals alone. I never was in the military under any form, so I didn't have much to add to the conversation at the time. I didn't notice much about Hunter at the time outside of another body in the room." He found it a weird coincidence the number of military that made up the survivors. Though out of those who could survive military personnel made sense. Though he had doubts about if Hunter was really military, but it wasn't his place to question it. Plus, what would he gain from lying about that? Then again, it was a military camp and if it was a lie, some connection could be there. If it was the case, seemed like a big risk for a minimal reward. Then again, he was under trial for a lot of things at the moment. Manny returned to his seat once allowed too and took a deep breath

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Hunter Monroe Location: Auditorium Skills:N/A

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Hunter watched as conversations had continued explaining the days. He knew what would be coming up soon enough. SO far, he was thankful that he had been more or less left out of the conversation as he was never a fan of mass attention. For the first time so far, it seemed little had to be said about himself which he enjoyed as well. Nothing other then witnesses to his rather short military career. Basic training, short break, and then deployed with his undermanned, and under equipped Guard unit. Looking back, under equipped had a completely different definition then compared to now. Back then he was deployed with an M249 SAW, over 600 rounds of ammunition on his person, a spare fucking barrel of all things, and more stuff in the trucks they had. They had fucking trucks that ran decent as well. Deployed with both some food and even skittles. His company even had a field mortar with some munitions. Not that it did them any good in the end. Not a lot of jet fuel though, nor air support, nor artillery, no engineers, poor comms, and no one at the time knew where battalion HQ was so that didn't help. Even after meeting up with the Buffalo garrison they had already fallen so low that it didn't really matter how many spare barrels, trucks, or skittles they had. They were simply too few, too weak, and too lost to do more then stall things.

So for now he waited knowing what was about to come up and knew it would be anything but fun. He'd be the center of attention yet again, but at least the questions were more directed to witnesses instead of himself. He wondered what kind of situation things would be in after that. Most people who had been called up so far already knew what had happened. Most. And despite the size of the camp he had a pretty good idea how the rest of the camp would view him too once statements continued.

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Emanuel "Manny" Newman Location: Education Center Skills: N/A

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Manny's turn came to present his perspective of morning events. He came up to stage and tries to keep a posture that helped make him seem as presentable as possible. "Well, we woke to a sound I couldn't personally Identify. Other's more experienced in helicopters recognized it as a Huey. Never heard the term before myself but at the prospect of people and a bed that wasn't a floor or hadn't been cleaned in five plus years, I was curious." He looked over towards Hunter a moment wondering again if the boy was ever actually military. He had no self discipline, and looked too young. Or maybe it was Manny just being old, and thinking anyone younger then him was too young. He turned back towards the counsel to speak. "I attempted to keep in the middle of our group as possible, keep everyone in sight. And I won't lie, I was hesitant. Last people I went up to say Hello towards locked me in a cage. But with those I have grown to trust willing to take the chance so was I." Manny paused a moment attempting to jog his memory a bit. Even though it was only two weeks ago there was a lot that happened within the last two weeks.

Thinking about it Wayne did come to mind. "Noticed a rather long rant by Wayne. As for Hunter, he gave me some creeps. But I spent a lot of time around angst teenagers. He seemed a bit too ready for a fight and realistically if it came to shooting, he'd likely be rather high on the most likely threats. He seemed a bit hostile for what at the time I thought seemed pretty standard stuff. But like I said, not uncommon for a rebellious teenager." Or someone who was mentally about as functional as one. But he didn't say that part out loud. "The biggest difference being the apocalypse, and compared to everyone but the helicopter crew he was rather well armed and had made it this far." Out of all the new arrivals, Hunter seemed to have the biggest potential to cause the most damage prior to being disarmed. Though Manny wasn't a huge fan of it himself, he understood the reasoning. "Maybe some arrogance. Seeing him now he seems more like some kid who has little understanding of the real world." Manny would wait to be dismissed, and return to his seat.

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Hunter Monroe Location: Auditorium Skills:N/A

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Hunter sat and watched as person after person gave testimony to the morning of coming to the camp. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of those around him as they explained how they had arrived, what they had seen of the encounter, and how they reacted to it internally. Ranging from hostile to borderline bait to try the waters for those who had thoughts that may have been similar to his own. He listened to Maddoc's comments, trying to stick with letting the past that hadn't caused direct harm go he more or less glossed over it. Wayne spoke up, and him making his own comments about the situation, Hunter no longer felt bad for thinking of using the man as a human shield. Though a lot of that still tied back towards the comments the man made about his mother. Hunter knew he wasn't where he needed to be mentally, but none of that was her fault. The entire time he was up Hunter gave the man a dead pan stare until he left. He took note of one of the other old men who had stepped up to the stage to speak. Alexander. Hunter had minimal interactions with the old man, but remembered from day one how he also claimed to be former military. Vietnam or Korea maybe? He took the distinct note of the metal foot as it stepped up the stage. Thunk, thunk, thunk. Made Hunter think if the injury was pre or post apocalypse. He knew a few older vets who had lost limbs and suffered injuries and he figured it was a good coin toss as to what had caused it. He made some comments that more or less summed up the relationship they had. Which was mostly, they had barely interacted, and had been left to take guesses on one another.

Nigel's testimony was pretty strait forward and like many, his attachment to Izibell had come up again and again. All so far had agreed on at least one thing. He appeared to be more or less the aggressor but more or less out of stupidity with a strong taste of distrust. Or just stupid in some cases. Amelia Hunter watched with a mix of confusion and curiosity. When he had first tried to introduce himself to her, she had backed off as if trying to avoid him. She hesitated when talking about his dog? It sounded as if she was going to say something else but he couldn't be sure what. It left him puzzled and left him wondering if there was more going on then met the eye? Then he thought about himself, and figured she probably had her own past he was unaware of.

Ashton gave a rather large and detailed testimony of the situation at hand. Some mistrust, Ashton made it clear he felt better when everyone was unarmed despite some of his own suspicions. And like many others, Hunter had created some unease with him too at first meeting. Hunter sat with a rather stern thinking face though, as Ashton's testimony had done a lot more then explain the events of that morning in great detail. It had done more then confirm that Hunter's first impressions were probably his weakest impressions. Ashton had filled in the missing puzzle pieces to a rather large series of questions Hunter had about this place, the coincidences at hand, and the crazy things that had been built up. He had filled in how so many strangers meeting at near random had not only known each other, but members in the camp, and the woman around it all. Thana. Many of the people that had met at near random had been trying to link up, and the Helicopter events had brought them together. Though Hunter knew none of these people before that morning, he had taken note of how many people who he felt should have no connections had somehow known each other, and Ashton in a single statement had cleared it all rather smoothly.

Hunter's trance of learning was halted with the sudden brain stopping of a rather thick Boston accent. There were talks of ducks, more Thana, talks of the girl who had pinned him to the floor, and more distrust of himself. He was getting the picture. Lots of distrust. Hunter would be lying though if he said he understood everything as clearly as he needed too. Powersaw girl's accent was so thick he had a lot of trouble following her as she spoke. Though he did get enough of it. And she had a point, Hunter would avoid people like himself too. Mistrustful, ready to end a fight before it can turn into one even if he was in no position to do so, and maybe a bit too confrontational. Then, there was Hank. Hunter had never interacted with the man directly, but he had seem the man interact with Wayne. A man Hunter wasn't a big fan of. Granted, a lot of people in the room were probably indifferent at best. Many opinions probably a lot worse. He was the most open about how Hunter had in his mistrusting ways, helped prove that these people were at least somewhat trustful. He found it funny how it was rather unlikely the chopper would have lowered itself if he was wondering the roadway. If he had chose to sleep in a bit more in his last hiding spot he wondered if all of these people who were in earshot would have ever noticed each other? And here he was ready to be removed for much of his own actions. He was a MacGuffin by total accident and situation, and he found that rather hilarious.

Hunter visibly tensed when Hank had turned to talk to him. Even though he wasn't speaking, he was still int he partial spotlight. But when Hank spoke, he was center again. When Hank spoke about getting shot, he was still tense, ready to confront yet again. It took him a moment to realize a few things. The man was not only unarmed, but paying attention to what he had said earlier it felt more like a warning then any kind of threat. And the words the man chose to use struck Hunter harder then Hank probably meant to do. The last person that had talked to Hunter about his self destructive tendencies was a woman who scared the shit out of him. June. She had confronted him at probably his lowest point about it and made him do something about it. He realized then it probably wasn't for his sake, but more of she didn't think she could take on Don and the rest of them by herself. And out of all of the bunch, Hunter was the one most likely to turn on the man. There were a lot of reasons to mistrust Hunter, a lot of them more apparent then even he realized.