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Post by D on Sept 29, 2010 0:11:03 GMT -5
After an odd exchange and the odd expressions on the woman’s face, she finally told, or perhaps ordered, him to ‘make the pain go away.’ Riley nodded and jogged up the stairs to his room. To get rid of the heat and increase his visibility he took off his gas mask, but one look in the mirror brought a frown to his face. “She’ll feel uncomfortable.” He muttered and quickly, he made a head wrapped, which typically was seen on people with head wounds. Riley figured that this set up wasn’t too far from the truth.
Once that was all done, the man loosened a floorboard and reached down to get a few bags. Quickly, he fixed the floorboard back in place and with the bags he jogged back downstairs. “Sorry.” He said once he got to her. He dropped the bags and unzipped them. Soon enough, he was taking out supplies and giving her medical treatment. “I didn’t mean to bother you about it. It’s just…” He got out more supplies to use. “I don’t want to force medical aid on someone who may not want it.”
“Yeah…” He heard. “You’re pretty annoying.”
Riley gave her a light smile and looked up with his one good eye for a moment. “Sorry about that…you aren’t the first to tell me that…I suppose it isn’t one of my better qualities. “ It took some time to take out the glass and the splinters, but when that was all done, he did a good job of cleaning and a good job at other steps needed. Riley treated the situation gently and in the end was successful. He managed to get it done quickly for her sake and as soon as he was done, he gave her and himself some room.
“I know what you’re trying to do but I’m not staying.”
“That’s alright…I just wanted to fix something that was my fault.” He couldn’t blame her for her words or her discomfort because he knew that they were both complete strangers and he knew that the world wasn’t the same happy place. It was never happy, but now, it was just so much worst. “Yeah…” He packed the supplies left over and pushed the bags aside.
“Yes, it was.”
There was an awkward silence and Riley looked around before sighing. The room they were in was a mess and he would have to dispose of the corpses later. “What a mess…” He shook his head. “…And this is what a bad eye brings you.” Riley got up from his position and picked up his bags. “Well, I hope you live to see the days when these things are all gone.” He absentmindedly scratched at the wrap after feeling a ghostly itch.
Perhaps he was an optimistic person, but he really did hope that humanity could still survive. It would be even better if the world before the outbreak could come back…well the good parts about it. The bad parts could stay dead…If only life worked that way.
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Post by B on Oct 7, 2010 23:03:16 GMT -5
I stood there, holding my arm, cursing silently to myself for being so stupid. Oooh! If I knew how to fight he'd be in so much trouble! The corner would be the last place he'd get thrown into! When he came back I saw him without his mask. He had a head wrap, there was no blood seeping from it. What was the use of that? His eye, though, it was blue. I've seen that eye somewhere and that blond hair, it was messy and longer than the picture I had seen upstairs, likely hadn't received attention for a few months and the mask likely didn't help. I turned away. What can I say? He was a doll. Too old for me, but definitely had to be someone worth drooling over. I would've laughed if he didn't start speaking as he tended to my wound. “Sorry.” I heard him mumble. I rolled my eyes. Is that the word of every five seconds or something? It was worse than watching the old kid's shows that always wanted to teach you good habits. “I didn’t mean to bother you about it. It’s just…” He continued, getting out medical supplies to help my wound, or wounds should I say. I had completely gotten my mind off of the pain. Just his face and his over-accommodating manner filled my head. How I hated his formalities. “I don’t want to force medical aid on someone who may not want it.” I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah... You're pretty annoying..." I grumbled. What? Should I feel bad? Nope! It's all his fault. If he were smarter... And um... Less... Gunny? Yeah, gunny. I would be just fine and at a school sippin' down koolaid cups. Ya know, enjoyin' the good life. I looked at him for one split second and he looked up at me and smiled. I turned my head with a childish pout. I'd never admit it but I liked that smile. No, girl, he tried to kill you, keep your head on survival. I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Sorry about that…you aren’t the first to tell me that…I suppose it isn’t one of my better qualities." There goes that evil 'S' word again. I rolled my eyes for the third time then winced as he started pulling out splinters and glass shards. "Ow.." I whispered, he seemed to be more careful from there on out. What seemed like forever of silence and what felt like pin needles being stuck in my arms one after another, he was finished and he stepped back. I looked at him and looked away instantly. I sighed, I know what he was expecting, they all expect it. “I know what you’re trying to do but I’m not staying.” Surprisingly I didn't have the cold tone in my voice. I was sincere. I cannot stay with him or anyone. You have to look out for number one, girl. I stood up from the chair that I had sat one a while back when standing got painful. Ironically enough it was the same chair that the guy had managed to use over and over again for uses a chair should never be subjected to. Amazingly it stands tall. Hell, I'd rather carry that chair than a shotgun! “That’s alright…I just wanted to fix something that was my fault.” I actually refrained from rolling my eyes this time. I guess I was worried I'd get motion sickness if I kept listening to this guy. “Yes, it was.” I merely grumbled and readied my backpack. I took out some ammo and slipped out the empty clip and began loading individual bullets from a box into the clip. One, slip, two, slip... He said something about a mess, probably what they caused with dead zombies and stuff. Then talked about a bad eye, well obviously... Then something about me seeing this all finished. What would I do if they suddenly disappeared? It'd be like the world stopped. A shiver ran down my spine and I loaded the now full clip into the handgun. "Welp..." I said, walking over to the window. "Catcha lata alligata." I leaned over the window seal and looked at the surroundings. There were a few infected around. One of them was eating a rat, well, practically finished by now. The sun was high in the sky, I've lost soo much time. I pulled back from the broken frame. "Um... I need a second to look at my map... I need to replan..." I told him. A little disappointed at how stupid I must've seen. I rummaged through the backpack for the map and sat back into the chair. I studied it a bit, having no idea what to do now that my morning has been effectively destroyed. And also they're running. I hated to admit it, but I don't think I want to go out there for a while.
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Post by D on Oct 11, 2010 1:18:33 GMT -5
Riley didn’t say all that much when she said she would take her leave. Instead, he grabbed his handgun, and carried a corpse out of the hole in the wall. After carefully, and quietly hauling the bodies out of the house, he pulled a handgun and shot at the rat eating zombie. Two bullets were fired off before it fell into eternal sleep and three others popped their heads up from the grass. The grays were new grays, but he wasn’t at all surprised. He quickly dispatched of them and like always, he put the ones on the road in a ditch. Riley picked up the corpses near the house and threw them into the ditch as well before putting some dirt over them. The other dead zombies that were in the grass he didn’t bother with, knowing that they were hidden from the view of the road. Retracing his steps back, he picked up shells, threw some dirt over the blood spots and reentered the house through the hole.
The whole idea of all that was to make it seem as if there was no one living in the lone buildings on this long road. He really didn’t want to bother anyone and for some reason, he felt it was best to not be bothered.
Now all that was left was to re-barricade the window, but when he reentered, he was surprised to see the girl still sitting in the chair, still examining her map. “Uh…” He began and looked down at her. “I’m going to have to board this place up because it’s a hassle for the undead to come through so easily... If you want to leave then you can, but if you want to stay you can as well…It’s dangerous out there and you are still injured.” Well of course, he knew that she probably felt that to her he was dangerous, so he quickly added, “If you do stay, you can take the upstairs and I’ll sleep on this floor.”
The girl responded with not being able to get out and then the thought about barricading the upstairs. At that Riley shrugged. “There are boards lying around, but I haven’t kept inventory of them…” He walked into another room to retrieve some to fix up the hole in the wall, knowing that his peculiar guest would now be staying. Riley worked on barricading the hole and looked back at her with his one good eye.
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Post by B on Oct 12, 2010 0:37:03 GMT -5
I found myself studying the map... and studying the map... and studying the map. To be honest part of it was to waste time. I didn't want to go out there, especially now that I have already started to waste time. The next part was to find a destination for tomorrow morning. It'd have to be somewhere closer than the school. I'm going to have to move slowly with those new zombies out there. I sighed and put a hand on my head, clearly frustrated. I wasn't trained to fight, I've only practiced on running. I never really had to fight much at all. All it takes is one scratch. As I ran my head through scenarios for tomorrow, time was going by around me. So quick in fact the man entered the house again and was surprised to see me here. He said told me that I was welcome to stay and that he needed to board up the window again. "But I wont be able to get out." I pouted and then thought it through. He was asking me to stay... It was late and I think I've already made my mind up about staying here. I looked at the stairs. "Um... What about barricading the door to the upstairs? I need protection from-" I paused myself, finally pausing my diarrhea mouth that had bashed him constantly earlier. I stood up and nodded and walked upstairs. I laid down on a make-shift bed. He must have slept here. I quickly forgot about barricading the door and fell asleep.
I gasped and woke up. Feint light shined through the windows. It was early morning. Probably about 6-7. I had to leave, now. A snore from down below signaled that the man was still asleep. I brought out my map and looked at a gun store I was deciding on going to the other day. Yes. I could go there and find myself a shotgun. A guy had told me you don't need a good aim for one of them. But... I'll never make it. Should something happen... I glanced around the room and noticed the picture of the man and his girlfriend. My mind ran through a quick plot and without being final on the decision I snatched it up and put it in my bag. Now ready, I had to figure out how to get out quietly. I started down the steps and noticed they were creaking quite bad. I shook my head and went back up. Besides, I wouldn't be able to break past his barricade again, that was pure survival and determination. I looked around and noticed he had a rope coiled in the corner. I took it and tied a rather tight knot on the sill of the window and let the rope down. I may not have been good at killing zombies but I was quite athletic and knew many survival skills. I slowly and quietly repelled down it into the thick grass. I had to put my hands on my mouth to keep from freaking when I stepped on a deceased zombies exposed penis and it ripped right off. I had mentioned that nudity didn't matter to me but when I step in something disgusting, that's when it hits me. I gagged but controlled myself, keeping my head on the game. There weren't many zombies out at all, he had cleared many of them. They were the slow ones. One had seen me and started to limp gradually towards me. I shook my head and broke out in a sprint. This would be one of the hardest moves of my life. Especially when a quick zombie shot out of a looted 7-eleven, I picked up my pace. Just a few blocks and I will reach the gun store. It will be easy to enter and then there will be a working and loaded shotgun waiting for me. Yeah.
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Post by D on Oct 13, 2010 19:14:56 GMT -5
I found myself studying the map... and studying the map... and studying the map. To be honest part of it was to waste time. I didn't want to go out there, especially now that I have already started to waste time. The next part was to find a destination for tomorrow morning. It'd have to be somewhere closer than the school. I'm going to have to move slowly with those new zombies out there. I sighed and put a hand on my head, clearly frustrated. I wasn't trained to fight, I've only practiced on running. I never really had to fight much at all. All it takes is one scratch. As I ran my head through scenarios for tomorrow, time was going by around me. So quick in fact the man entered the house again and was surprised to see me here. He said told me that I was welcome to stay and that he needed to board up the window again. "But I wont be able to get out." I pouted and then thought it through. He was asking me to stay... It was late and I think I've already made my mind up about staying here. I looked at the stairs. "Um... What about barricading the door to the upstairs? I need protection from-" I paused myself, finally pausing my diarrhea mouth that had bashed him constantly earlier. I stood up and nodded and walked upstairs. I laid down on a make-shift bed. He must have slept here. I quickly forgot about barricading the door and fell asleep.
I gasped and woke up. Feint light shined through the windows. It was early morning. Probably about 6-7. I had to leave, now. A snore from down below signaled that the man was still asleep. I brought out my map and looked at a gun store I was deciding on going to the other day. Yes. I could go there and find myself a shotgun. A guy had told me you don't need a good aim for one of them. But... I'll never make it. Should something happen... I glanced around the room and noticed the picture of the man and his girlfriend. My mind ran through a quick plot and without being final on the decision I snatched it up and put it in my bag. Now ready, I had to figure out how to get out quietly. I started down the steps and noticed they were creaking quite bad. I shook my head and went back up. Besides, I wouldn't be able to break past his barricade again, that was pure survival and determination. I looked around and noticed he had a rope coiled in the corner. I took it and tied a rather tight knot on the sill of the window and let the rope down. I may not have been good at killing zombies but I was quite athletic and knew many survival skills. I slowly and quietly repelled down it into the thick grass. I had to put my hands on my mouth to keep from freaking when I stepped on a deceased zombies exposed penis and it ripped right off. I had mentioned that nudity didn't matter to me but when I step in something disgusting, that's when it hits me. I gagged but controlled myself, keeping my head on the game. There weren't many zombies out at all, he had cleared many of them. They were the slow ones. One had seen me and started to limp gradually towards me. I shook my head and broke out in a sprint. This would be one of the hardest moves of my life. Especially when a quick zombie shot out of a looted 7-eleven, I picked up my pace. Just a few blocks and I will reach the gun store. It will be easy to enter and then there will be a working and loaded shotgun waiting for me. Yeah.
Had Riley been gifted or perhaps cursed with the powers of heightened awareness and senses, he would have known that the girl had escaped his ‘fortress’ exactly thirty minutes before he woke. It would take him five minutes to figure that out and another five minutes to learn that she had thieved from him. Normally, he wouldn’t have worried as much, but the girl had stolen something of extreme importance to Riley. Forty-five minutes had passed when he started to pack some things and at the fifty-five minute mark, he was just about ready with absolute necessities. At the hour and ten-minute mark, he said good-bye to his little fortress, marked a map, cut the rope, and then jumped down.
Coiling the rope around his arm, he began at a job toward a direction, he knew that she would be going. Riley, who had been living around this area, knew that resources would be in the next town over and he also knew that there were still good places there to pick clean. The last he had been in the town was a month ago for a quest to find a decent amount of food. Riley remembered that he found an abundance of both good and bad foods. However, the reason why he hadn’t returned was because his experimentation with the food proved to be almost fatal. The memories of that time brought chills to his spine.
The thoughts, proving to be quite troublesome, were quickly forgotten, and he continued with his jog. Like any other lovely jog in this day and age, he quickly noticed a few of the undead follow after him. Not really in a mood for a fight and knowing that, the ammo he carried was extremely limited compared to the supply in his home, he dodged and fled from them. For now, his main priority was getting back-
He had forgotten his gas mask. This sucks, he thought and then quickly got back at the issue in hand. For now, his main priority was getting back that picture. He had a sentimental attachment to that picture and not only that, it also connected him to something> he didn’t know what, but it made him feel slightly better knowing that he had such a thing around. Strange and perhaps too strange to understand, but even Riley didn’t understand his own feelings about the picture. It wasn’t that he was stupid but it was that, Riley never took the time to study the human mind…Who really had that time anymore? And if they did have that time, why would they even spend studying on that while surrounded with the undead?
Eventually, Riley reached the town, rather quickly and had somehow found himself cornered in the church, a place he hadn’t had the time to explore. He wasn’t a religious man and he wasn’t an atheist, but he thought that the church was quite distasteful. Upon entering, the first he noticed was the light, or the lack of it, being filtered through grime covered stain glass windows. The environment of the church was quite dim and the few light beams would reflect off of the massive amounts of dust floating through the air. However, that wasn’t what was so offensive to the sanctity of the place. No, it was the evidence of mass murder. Perhaps it was the atmosphere in the church, but it seemed as if the floor glistened with blood despite the fact that it was dry. Around the place were different clues to where the dead might have been, but of course, the bodies were nowhere to be seen.
Mentally, he was about to make a remark about the extent of what a on eyed man could see, but he was quickly interrupted as he noticed that in the corner of his eye was a scantly dressed man covered with war paint. As soon as Riley took notice the war painted tribal man pounced and Riley quickly slammed the tribal down. Great, now he was stuck in a church with crazy tribal men because of the undead at the doors.
Meanwhile…
Within a small sandwich shop was the girl Riley had met earlier. Everything seemed all good and well…but as soon as she turned her back, hungry eyes took aim on her. With an almost inhuman cry, two men, dressed similarly to the tribal man in the church, jumped out from the cooking area. One held a spear and the other held a gun, duct-taped and rusted. Perhaps this was now a hostage taking?
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Post by B on Oct 16, 2010 2:11:45 GMT -5
I continued moving. The one on my tail had broken off, smelling something fresh nearby. Maybe another rat. Good thing about America, there was no shortage of them. Later, the running and movement were taking a toll on my legs. Over the years I have trained them and pushed them but I haven't pushed them this hard. I needed to stop and rest. But where? An empty area, what looked to be some shop called "Subway". I turned off and into there, closing the glass door behind me. I looked around the shop. Rotting meat in a counter, molded bread on the shelves, some blood on the floor, it was nothing new. I was breathing hard. Was this how it was going to be now? Well, I've done it before and I'll grow to be fine with moving this fast, too. An I idea came to my head, what if I got a cage and caught live, uninfected rats? Then when things get bad I could toss one, the zombies would go insane and chase them instead. I'm such a genius. I started for the door when something hit a microwave oven somewhere and it fell. I turned quickly and noticed two zombies... Wait no... One was carrying a spear and the other a... I put my hands up with a gasp. I kept my eye on that gun.. No... there was no way that thing could work. I may not be a warrior but I wasn't stupid. I needed to go, and now. My eye turned to my side and to my joy... There was a chair right against my hip. It was time to borrow a tactic from the guy yesterday. I picked up the chair and hurled it at the guy with the spear, it hit him so hard he fell to the ground, the other guy attempted to fire his gun but apparently he wasn't a gun whiz either and the thing fell to bits in his hand. My mind quickly perceived this as a chance. I sprinted for the door and opened it. The one with the gun was right behind me, as I left the shop I quickly slammed the door back, the guy smashed through the door. Unlike the one I threw the chair at, this one wasn't one go down so easily. There was a shard of glass sticking out of his forehead. I shook my head. "Leave me alone!" I shouted at him. A grin creased his face as he withdrew a dagger. This was my chance, I had to call for help. If my tactic proved correct, he shouldn't be far behind. I just need to run the opposite direction. I began another sprint, the guy did at the same time. "God damn American monkey!" I screamed. "HELP!" I shouted. Please blue eye, please hear me. "HEEELP!" He was gaining on me. This guy had obviously been working on his strength more than me. If he catches me you might as well call me a beef steak.
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Post by D on Oct 22, 2010 21:46:21 GMT -5
In every creepy old church, old ruined scaffolding was norm and somehow, Reily and the tribal man were on the scaffolding, climbing and fighting. Kicks and two broken boards later, Reily had the tribal man by the man’s ripped shirt. With a shout of victory, Reily rushed and pushed the tribal man through the stained glass window. The tribal man, with an assortment of colored shards in his back, crashed to the ground and was immediately winded. Thinking of finishing off the tribal man, Reily tugged on his assault rifle’s straps and aimed down, but the undead were quicker than he was. Without warning, the undead swarmed the tribal man and soon they were feasting.
He sighed in relief, but when he looked up, he saw a familiar face, the thief’s. Reily couldn’t help but notice the girl heading towards his direction and the girl also catching the attentions of the zombies. “Geeze…” He aimed toward the zombies and quickly dispatched of them and then knelt down. Raising his gun, he aimed down the sights and with a quick pull of the trigger he easily got three bullets into the tribal’s chest.
The tribal chasing the girl collapsed behind her and made a final attempt to reach for the girl. “H-h-“ Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth and his body grew limp. For now, his target was free from danger and her ‘hero’ stood at the edge of the church with a frown on his face. Perhaps it wasn’t obvious from where she was standing, but the man on the church scaffolding was anything but happy. He knew that these tribals had lost some of their humanity, but they had been among the living and were nothing like the undead.
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Post by B on Nov 10, 2010 19:08:58 GMT -5
I was running as fast as I could. My slight panic didn't stop me from noticing the undead gathering in front of a church but they seemed busy, feasting on one of tall, dark, and ugly's brothers. I glanced behind me, he was getting close, and when I turned around I notice some of the undead began to chase me. This could be good or bad, they could eat me but they could also eat h- BANG! One zombie went down and in a flash the other was down. Three shots later and I heard the guy grunting behind me. I looked back and stopped when I noticed the holes in his chest. He stumbled forward a few steps and fell, his hand reached out for me but then fell and he was gone. I took a deep breath. I don't know how I get this lucky all the time. I turned and looked towards the source of the bullets. The familiar bandaged face and blond hair. I smiled. "Oh yeah... Because I'm freakin' smart." I mumbled to myself. After all, would he be here if I didn't snatch something off him? My smile waned as I noticed the smell of blood were attracting more zombies. So far There have been four names for these things that I've heard. Zombies, Infected, Zeds, and now Grays. It was funny how different countries tended to call them different things. Zombies are popular among most the people in Canada and US, the simpletons, anyways. Infected is normally said by scientists and government factions, Zeds are a European, UK thing, I met a gentleman from the UK, best. accent. ever. Finally Grays... So far only one guy says that... And it annoys me. They certainly aren't that gray. Getting back to the issue at hand, I only had one choice, run towards him. I began for the church. My legs are tired and I don't fancy tripping and breaking an ankle today. As I ran shots rang out, he was covering me. I was surprised he didn't let them kill me. Maybe he was worried the picture would get damaged. I rolled my eyes and attempted to ram into the heavy doors only to find out they open the opposite direction. Holding my arm and muttering a very light curse, I opened the door and rushed in. Man this church was big. I could see up on the scaffolding was the man. "Hey!" I called up to him and searched around for a way to get up. Maybe I had to redirect to a different room? Cus I didn't see anything. "Hey, how do I get up there!?" I called and looked around. I could hear banging on the doors behind me but I was confident that they wouldn't be able to bust through. I merely waited for him to point me in the right direction.
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Post by D on Dec 5, 2010 16:05:34 GMT -5
Riley looked down through the window, seeing that there was quite a number of the undead and frowned. “At least they can’t get in… How’re we supposed to get out though?” He pulled the gun strap over his head and then heard the woman’s voice. “Oh…hey…” He began and stopped to chuckle when she asked about how to get up. “You have to climb, but I’ll come right down. All that running must have been tiring.” Easily, the one eyed man climb down and landed on the ground. “It isn’t safe here…Maybe we should move.”
For some reason, what happened at the church was one of the memories Riley remembered from when he first met Sheryll and it was funny to him. Even though they had been travelling together for months, he didn’t know much about her. He did, however, know her name, her assumed age, and that she was Canadian. Riley supposed that it was a fair trade because she didn’t know too much about him either, but the trade of information was enough if it allowed a certain sense of mutual trust.
In the past months, they had travelled around the US and did what survivors did. Trouble seemed to follow them, but Riley felt it was a good thing because it kept him alert. It wasn’t until this one week they settled at a shop did the trouble stop for a while. In that week of safety, they found a clothing store and changed clothes for the winter. Out of respect they changed clothes else where from each other. He appreciated it because he still hadn’t told her about his eye problem.
Having replaced his clothes, Riley now sported a heavy, hooded olive green coat and dark grey jeans. Under the coat and jeans were body armor, and of course a shirt and shorts. He exchanged his military boots for new hiking boots, but even there he took the precaution of adding some kind of ‘body armor.’ Riley replaced the bandages to hide his eyes with tinted goggles, and still thinking of protecting himself he wore a civilian gas mask covering his nose and mouth. Over that he sported a gray scarf to cover the mask. The last thing he equipped himself with were gloves that he modified to keep his hands warm yet still allow him to shoot and hold a gun appropriately.
It was snowing now and he wasn’t sure where they were, but he knew that Sherryl would. After all she did keep all the maps, but judging from the snow, he knew that it would be time to move. He had a gut feeling that his week of not having to worry about any danger would come to an end, so that added to the urgency. “Hey…are you done changing?” He asked. “This place isn’t going to stay safe forever…We can eat on the road, yeah?”
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Post by B on Dec 5, 2010 17:08:01 GMT -5
I remember a few months ago, when me and Riley truly met, not that ordeal in the house but in that church. He saved me. I remember handing him the picture I had stolen, thinking that he'd go back to his hole called a house. I hated the idea, why? Because I knew at that moment that I had misjudged him. I remember shaking hands with him, emphasizing the word "mutual". Me and him kept true to that word. I can't deny that I was curious about him, about the girl in the photograph, about the bandage but I could sense he was uncomfortable with it so I never said a thing, ever. Now here we were, playing roommate barbie in a clothes store. I bit my bottom lip as I ran the razor across my leg, kicking up hair left neglected the last few months. At first it didn't bother me but recently I felt disgusting. I could hear Riley outside the door urging me to finish. "Hooooold o-Ow!" I gasped and pulled back the razor off my leg which now bled freely. The cut wasn't nearly big but legs bleed easy. I rolled my eyes and grunted. "God damnit Riley! I'll be done when I'm done!" I shouted at him. I know this must've been strange to him, normally whenever we had to change clothes I was very quick, choosing random things and not really worrying about how I look. But today I felt that I could be safe. Braving a minute more of the razor I was now smooth, with the exception of the red cotton ball stuck to my leg. I put on my clothes, ones that I actually spent time choosing. The most notable of my choices was a pink dress that I decided to rip up so that only half the length covered one leg, I didn't choose a large dress, I was conscious of the fact that I could trip if I did that. Under that would be black jeans with multiple pockets on the side of the legs (They were a young teen male's size but they fit okay). on top, not counting the torso portion of the dress, were two sweat shirts with a black bulky jacket. Inside had hair that reminded me of animal hair, it was comfortable and warm. The hood should also protect my head. I slipped on a fresh pair of black hiking boots and was ready. "Okay, okay, I'm done!" I shouted as I quickly ran a brush a few times through my hair and walked out. I walked out, pistol in my hand relaxed aiming up to the roof. I could've looked like a member of Charlie's Angels. "How do I look?" That was the first time I asked him but I sounded playful enough. He jokingly gave a reply at my expense and I chuckled. "Haw, haw. Okay jerkface. We can go, now." I rolled my eyes playfully and walked over to my dufflebag which was beyond filled. I dug through it and took out a folded map. I was opposed to crumpling it up reading a map like that was like 10x more difficult. I reached into my duffle again and pulled out the nearest writing utensil inside, it was lipstick. Hearing another joke from Riley behind me I rolled my eyes. "A girl likes to look good sometimes, ya know." I joked and looked back at him. "Speaking of which, I need to give you another haircut. It's getting so long so fast." I said, with an expression of mock horror on my face. But in reality, I HATED when his hair started to get long. It's only happened once before since I met him but it grew back just so darn fast! Oh well, at least he didn't seem to have any signs of balding. I turned back to the map and put a pink dot at where we were. "Okay, If we start moving east we may be able to get to Volbe... Volbey?... Voooooble. Yeah I can't pronounce it but that's where we're going." I folded up the map again and shoved it into my dufflebag. Hopefully next stop there will be some easy to find bottles for me to shoot at, or maybe very few grays... Yeah, the jerk got me calling them grays. I still hate the name. But regardless I'm still not great at shooting but Riley assures me that I'm getting much better. Me and him walked up to the door we barricaded and I looked over at him, handgun in hand, just in case. "Shall we?"
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Post by D on Dec 6, 2010 2:08:39 GMT -5
Riley looked at her and made a joke about her style and chuckled with her. As soon as that was done, he pulled on his bag and pulled his rifle strap over his head. “I didn’t say you looked bad.” He responded to her and then she made a remark about his hair. “My hair isn’t bad.” Riley thought it was better long because it covered where his eye should have been. It was better that way and it hid his insecurity, but now that he thought about it, it didn’t sound very good at all.
“Off to V town.” He picked up the crowbar from a table and pried a wood piece off. “Oh hello.” Riley saw the head of one of the undead and with the crowbar he jabbed at an open wound it had. Perhaps it was reaction, but the thing moaned. “Yeah the head’s in the way, can’t see how much is out there.” Of course it didn’t last long as he pulled his knife and struck the zombie. Looking out, he saw a few more zombies but they were slow ones. Good, he thought. Now he would be able to undo the barricade in peace.
As soon as he made a hole big enough for them to move out of, he stepped out and dispatched a few of the undead and let her handle the rest. “Hey, you’re doing better.” He patted her on her head and then headed toward V-town.
The journey was long, but it seemed pretty short and it was probably due to the fact that he wasn’t travelling alone. It was nice being able to talk to another soul. Somewhere along the trip he explained to her about the photograph and who the woman in it once was. Riley told her about his ex’s death and that he only kept the picture as a respect. He knew that burying bodies almost never happened now and days so maybe it would be the same to bury a picture. It was a silly idea…but he felt it was ok to tell. There was no harm in that, right?
Eventually, they made it to V-town and as soon as they entered, Riley was quick to notice that the town held a small survivor settlement. Of course, being a careful guy, he drew his weapon and readied himself for a possible attack, but upon closer look of the people, he knew that there wouldn’t be much of a fight. They seemed too tired for such a thing and to be truthful, he wasn’t up for a fight either.
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Post by B on Dec 6, 2010 2:38:56 GMT -5
The cold wasn't really too much a problem for me, I did live in Canada after all. Along the way something I didn't expect happen. As the snow died down Riley began talking about the girl in the picture. I listened slightly uncomfortable but we were moving too fast to show it, of course we were moving fast, it was cold and who knows if a blizzard is suddenly going to pop up. I just listened, he even talked about burying the picture. How silly was that? If I was any older I would have called it an attempt to hang onto one's own humanity but sadly I'm not. All I could do was shrug. I felt rude doing that but I was dreading that he'd look at me as if expecting me to get something off my chest. But instead I pointed at a barn. "Lets rest a sec!" We did and without any trouble. Most the undead were laying on the ground attempting to move, it seems trying to shuffle in a foot of snow was not easy. Finally we were barely able to make out a shot up sign that said "Volbe" "Haha, welcome to V-Town Riley!" I called to him and looked back but it seems he noticed something I didn't, he was on guard. I turned back around to notice glares of light from inside buildings. A few weary guards looking out but nothing too bad. I removed my pistol and me and Riley slowly approached. "Are you here to take what aint yours!?" A man called down to us and I looked at Riley then back to them. "No! Are you here to trap wanderers like ourselves to have nice Riley steaks!?" I called out to them. A slight chuckle was heard from the guy up top. "Nope... Come on in if you'd like." I looked at Riley and shook my head. "Let's go Riley. I don't trust this." It was then that he said not to be so hasty and that we needed food. Huh! Food! I'm not hungry... Okay maybe I was hungry... No, starving. But there could be food in the city... I sighed. "Fine..." It was then that we decided to walk up to the closed door. A power drill could be heard in operation and then the door opened. A tired middle aged gentlemen held the door open for us and hurried us in. He didn't look violent, just tired. "Welcome, welcome. Such a young soul." He was talking to me and I gave a very shy smile and then he looked to Riley. "You injured? I don't have a PH.D but I was a medic at one point." I only looked at Riley who dismissed the man with an excuse. I stuck close to Riley... CLOSE to Riley. Some of these people didn't look like they're part of the benign party, especially the woman leaning against the wall int he corner who was giving me an odd look, she was even handcuffed to a metal heater pipe. We found ourselves on the top floor where the guard was. Riley did all the talking and soon enough we found out that he was the "leader" of half the people here, the other half were just wanderers. But yup, food for ammo, food for ammo. When the deal was done, I had to wonder why the woman was handcuffed. Was she a murderer? Why was she looking at me? "Excuse me... The woman downstairs, why is she handcuffed?" "She's infected." I paused and I thought carefully about what I was going to say but I decided to say it anyways. "Shouldn't you... You know..." "Shoot her?" I nodded slowly. "Probably... But she tells us that it's been a few days. We aren't killers here and if she turns there aint nothin' a chained zombie could do. Now I gotta get back to lookin' out. Why don't ya'll make yourselves at home for the night? We'll even feed ya no charge this time."
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Post by D on Dec 6, 2010 2:58:06 GMT -5
They made it in without any trouble and Riley found the leader and began to negotiate. Surprisingly time he spent surviving and in the army had granted him enough intelligence to make a fair deal with the leader. As friendly as the leader sounded, Riley still could hear the slight unhappiness from being unable to completely rip him off. Riley didn’t mind it though because he knew that they needed ammunition as much as Sheryll and he needed food.
It probably wasn’t apparent, but Riley didn’t think this place was all that safe. He would make himself home along alright, but he would keep alert even when he sleeps, that is if he was going to sleep. For now, he wasn’t planning on taking a nap and his curiosity had the same target as Sheryll’s. Riley soon found himself walking towards the handcuffed woman and when he figured he was a safe distance away, he knelt down to eye level.
“Hello.” He said in an attempt to get her attention. “What’s your story?” His voice held nothing negative in it, unless simple curiosity counted as a negative aspect. Riley hoped that the woman would say something because it would answer his question and because he liked hearing people. It was strange and stupid, but he had been lonely before. Geez, the ways he picked to deal with his insecurities were quite silly...Just as long as no one really saw.
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Post by B on Dec 6, 2010 3:28:13 GMT -5
I was hoping that Riley would just make up his mind and decide either to sleep somewhere here or for us to get going but instead he decided neither. He decided to interact with the people here, and not just any people, the woman that creeped me out. We went downstairs and there she was sitting with her arms folded just under her breast. She looked highly impatient. As we approached her eyes seemed to glance at us for a second before her head completely turned towards us. I stopped dead and let Riley walk a few steps ahead of me and then he gave her a cheery "hello" then asked her for her story. Stupid! Stupid stupid Riley! What if she turns and bites you!? Then I'll be left al- Woah! Don't even finish that thought Sheryll! My mind quickly empty when the woman spoke back. "My story? I dunno, check the isles between "action" and "drama"." Hm? Was she making a library joke? Maybe she's a renegade. "Look, don't think the old jackass is so nice. He's only gathering people here so he can feel a bit safer. Shit when I walked by I was quick to admit that I was bitten. The bastard had his guys jump me and look where I am. Is that brown haired guy still cradling his balls?" She chuckled and a chill ran down my spine. I reached out and tapped Riley's shoulder but he seemed to ignore me. Riley asked her what the old man wanted protection from. "Good question. There's actually gang that works the highways close to the city. According to Mr. Shits-his-pants they haven't done anything except scope out the settlement but they're liable to. For all he knows he's letting in gang members ready to slit his throat while he sleeps and run off with his stuff." A man close to me moved uneasily, a look of discontent on his face, glaring at the woman. He obviously didn't like the insults she was throwing at the man's leader, she only glanced a smile at him. "Look, you seem to be a smart man, Shady and I'm quickly running out of time. I may be immune to the virus and I know someone who can run the right tests without making me hamburger meat in the process. If you help me out of here I'll give you information... Information that 90% of survivors wish they had. Like... How did this all start? Where is safe? Is there a cure?" I grew uneasy, she sounded too sure, like a professional liar. There is nowhere safe and there is no cure, and there is definitely no immunity. She's going crazy is all, she's infected, surely she is and she's trying to get out to hurt people. I wasn't scared, though, I know not even Riley would be stupid enough to beli- what did he just say? Did he just say he'd help her!? The woman leaned in close to Riley. "Okay, the old guy up top has the key, either talk him out of it or steal it but don't hurt him." Mission on hand it was now Riley's choice. I only shook my head at him. "What have you done?" I mumbled to him and the man who was giving the woman dirty looks behind me stepped forward to Riley. "I know you aint about to help her. She's just another zombie in disguise. You think about that before you go doomin' us all." That said, the man walked off to another room where a few people were sleeping. "Ooh.. Riley, I hope you know what you're doing." I mumbled again to him and the woman could be heard from behind him. "Tick tock, Riley."
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Post by D on Dec 6, 2010 3:49:14 GMT -5
Riley wanted to believe the woman was lying, but of the few rumors he heard, they were always about this cure. “Ok.” He got up and walked away from her. Of course, someone tried talking him out of it but he wanted to know. Perhaps he was being naïve and extremely innocent, but he wanted the knowledge. “Be good and stay at the door to guard.” He was careful not to say Sheryll’s name.
It was a couple steps into a room when he was sure that Sheryll could no longer see his face. Riley pulled off the tinted goggles before entering the dimly lit room. He saw that the old cowardly man was sitting at a desk doing some work. Perfect. Riley approached the man and placed his hand on the old man’s shoulder. With a menacing aura, he squeezed, looked down, and said, “Hello, mind a trade?” He could feel the old man tremble in terror as he said, “S-sure what do you want?” Riley squeezed harder and lowered himself so the man could get a good look at his face. “The key to the handcuffs. You do know what you’re trading for.” The old man quickly found the key and gave it to Riley.
Having retrieved the key quickly, he put his goggles back on and backed away from the old man. “Now, don’t turn around…” He advised the man and turned around himself. As he left, his aura changed back to normal and he said a cheerful “Thank you,” but the old man was too frightened to realize the change. “I got it easily.” He said quietly to Sheryll. “Wasn’t hard at all.”
Walking back to the woman, he whispered to Sheryll, telling her to open them, and got an amusing reaction back. Of course, he told her he was just kidding and went to do it himself. Riley was being a bit selfish and thinking about himself again. He didn’t worry about being attacked by the woman because he had nothing to lose and he had forgotten to think about Sheryll. For a man who was once a golden boy, he was far from perfect.
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