Rigormortis - IC

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Cottontail noticed her sudden snap back to now and turned his gaze to the floor. "I understand. It hurts to talk about the university, or all the people I saw die in the subway. Here, have a protein bar." He tossed it, not waiting for a response. She missed it, still not fully aware, and picked it up sheepishly. Cottontail muffled a laugh, then turned towards Zackery, still focused on his artillery.

"I know we are not really a group, but I want to ask. Would you mind telling us about you? You seem to ask questions without talking about yourself. That is, ugh, if you want too." Just hope he is not one of those silent psychos. We would both be at his mercy.
 
Z.C. thought for a moment. "I used to be a businessman. Not joking. Acquisitions and mergers... in retrospect, it was terribly unrewarding. Everything was a copy, of a copy, of a copy. There was no satisfaction, no pride in stepping back and saying 'I made that!'" Z.C. patted the pockets of his ballistic vest; eventually, he found a pack of Camels. He tapped the pack against the palm of his hand, then pulled a cigarette out of the pack with his mouth. He struck a match upon the rough tarmac of the roof, igniting the cherry. Smoking wasn't stealthy in the slightest, but this was a dead zone; hardly any human life to be found here. "Nasty habit, don't start." He took a long, satisfying drag, letting the nicotine calm his somewhat frayed nerves, speaking with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"I can see your trepidation, Cottontail. You're probably thinking: This man's not all there. Well, you're right, I'm not. The outbreak has taken away everything from me. Everything except my new job."

He took another drag, exhaling the sour smoke through his nostrils. "My new job is all I have left." He kept puffing, ending the cigarette with a large drag and blew smoke rings, one after the other. The final smoke ring flew through the largest and dissolved into the air, lost to the cooling ozone and background din of the moans of the infected.
 
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'Now would be a good time to go.' Markus thought, pulling the slide back on his 9mm SIG P229. Not many rounds left, only seven total. Enough to get him out of a sticky situation if he needed...or to end it all before he became one of "them". The undead had begun to rise weeks ago, and while the city WAS quarantined, the government didn't seem too keen on sending any aid. Not really the best of situations. Holstering the sidearm on his hip, he reached over next to the workbench to his pack, slinging it onto his back as he made his way towards the stairs across the room. Markus had worked at the local jail as a guard, and during the initial outbreak him and his fellow officers had held the jail pretty well. It didn't take long for reality to set in; no where was safe, especially from the undead. But what was done was done, and after grabbing his PR-24 knight stick by the door to the basement of the 34th street apartment complex, he slipped quietly out into the street, securing the door as he went out for supplies.

He ate lite to make sure that nothing weighed him down. Markus needed as much speed as possible. While on the roof of the complex a few days before, he saw several convenience stores to the east of the complex. He was heading out to see if he couldn't grab a few extra supplies: food, water, anything. Running out into the street, a few zombies slowly shambling about as he made a dead sprint towards the alleyway just ahead. There were several bodies in the alleyway, and provided some minor hurdles for him to leap over. They were his handy work from the day before. Three or for of these bastards weren't that hard to deal with: while working the jail, he had dealt with several riots. The large groups were the ones to worry about. He ended is sprint at the end of the alleyway, adjusting his pack, reassuring his grip on the knight stick as he peeked around the corner from the alley. Looking up and down the street, he saw a decent sized group of zombies up the street to the north, maybe one or two to the south. 'Well...looks like I know where to avoid...'

From what he wagered, he was only about one more street away from his position. He readied himself, darting south at a 45 degree angle towards a very rundown and empty looking building. He was trying to be as quiet as he could be until reaching the building. The was a small indent in the front of the building where the door was, and he leaned into it, keeping himself hidden from the northern end as well as the southern end of the street. All he had to do was slip into the next alley, and he'd be nearly be to the convenience stores he saw...and then, he made a mistake. A mistake that made his heart sink. As he turned down the alley, he saw around three undead, turned away from him and just shambling about. He was thinking that it would be easy to dispatch them, and then his foot touched something. The clinking of glass echoed on the brick walls of the alley, almost like a dinner bell...and then they turned. He could hear their moans from the street he just came from as well, hearing them shuffle towards the sound. Markus acted fast, darting forward towards the first zombie, striking out at its leg and knocking it aside against the door. It's rotten flesh pealed off onto the wall, hitting it with a wet smack as it slid limply to the floor, leaving a long trail of blood. Sprinting easily past the next one by giving it a wider birth, he launched another strike to the side of the third zombies head, a splatter of blood erupting from the contact point as it slumped to the ground.

He reeled around the corner to his right, Seeing the convenience store right ahead of him. He was panting, and sweating, his body shaking with adrenaline as he made it across the street. Slipping into the first stores front door, he turned and locked it quickly. He was sure something had seen him, and it wouldn't be long before the undead would be creeping by, to see where that noise went. Markus hopped the counter, landing behind it quickly as he caught his breath. 'Doing well until you hit the bottle, dumbass...' Markus cursed at himself under his breath.
 
Lexi was looking back and forth between the flashing light on the dashboard indicating that the fuel level was low and on the road. Wondering if she would even make it to the nearest gas station, if they had fuel left that is. 'I don't think I'll make it.' She thought to herself, thinking that she might have to sprint to the nearest place she could find shelter. She was starting to get parnoid, she didn't feel safe, even while driving. The only weapons she had on her was a few knives that were carefully placed in her backpack, in the passenger seat beside her. Although she didn't hate them, she actually loved them, considering the types of tricks she could do with butterfly knives. It wasn't something fancy but she thought they were pretty decent tricks.

The vehicle slowly came to a hault as she saw a gas station in the distance. 'So close, but yet so far.' Slaming her hands on the steering wheel, thinking of what to do next before any zombies tried to scratch away at the vehicle and trap her. Trusting her gut without thinking, she quickly grabbed her backpack and slowly opened the door. As she hopped out of the vehicle she looked around, leaving the door open to avoid making any noise that would attract the zombies. She then swiftly made her way to the nearest building, which was probably an old hair salon. The place looked like a mess, chairs flipped over, graffiti written on the walls, mirrors smashed with the smashed shards all over the floor. 'I need to get on some place high...Some place they can't reach me' Looking for a staircase nearby, trying to step over the mirror shards, again avoiding making too much noise.

She found a staircase that lead to the rooftop, looked behind her to make sure there weren't any zombies around, picked up a chair and made her way up the stairs. When she reached the rooftop she placed the chair by the door, blocking it so the infected wouldn't come through, but she knew that wouldn't hold them for long. Off in the distance she spotted a tent on a roof with zombies near it...or people.

"Are those people..Even if they are I don't need their help...but then again, it would be stupid to go around by myself. Agghh, but I hate working with other people, I like doing things my own way." She said, arguing with herself. 'Maybe I'll just avoid them' then plopping to the ground of the rooftop from exhaustion.
 
Figures. I was wondering if he was a smoker or a drinker. Cottontail's hand trembled subtly at the sight of a pack of camels, but he stopped himself. No! I quit for good with the apocalypse. Cottontail sighed inwardly and then realized he was blowing smoke rings. "Guess you started before the apocalypse. Must be a side effect of being a business man." A smile escaped at Cottontail's slight reminiscence. "Even the people with business majors were chain smokers.

Then Cottontail straightened himself and told Zackery, "You don't need to hide your pain. We all lost something to these.. things." Probably sound like I have a psychology major. Hope he doesn't want a diagnosis. Cottontail continued, trying to NOT sound like he was nagging, "Hiding it will only let it build up. Like stress. Which can cause physiological side effects. Last thing you want during the apocalypse is delusions and nervous shock."

Cottontail heard the creaking of an old metal door, and turned cautiously towards the source of the noise. Not another monster. We just settled in. His hand reached for his knife, with Analise and Zackery taking aim as his eyesight focused on a figure emerging a few rooftops away. Cottontail couldn't make it out clearly, but it didn't move like a zombie. The figure's movements were smooth, like it was trying to observe them. Has to be human. Those monster stink and moan like a man in pain. Cottontail raised his hand to signal 'Do not fire' towards the others. Cottontail murmured, "It's another survivor. Don't shoot unless it shoots."
 
Z.C.'s USP was trained upon the target, near-perfectly still from the nicotine buzz. Unless... he lowered the weapon, and prompted others of the group to do the same. He held up his fist, the international gesture for 'hold position.'

He crossed a plywood bridge, and leapt a second gap, approaching the silhouette. As he got closer, he noticed that she was a teenage girl, brandishing a butterfly knife, shaking with nervousness and fatigue. "We nearly blew your head off. If you'll stop hiding, I'll get you something to eat, and we can get acquainted. If not..." He was interrupted by the girl; he looked back at the group, their weapons still out, but pointed at the ground.
 
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Analiese was fidgiting as she looked from Cottontail to Z.C. She had her weapon raised and trained on the figure in the distance, but slowly lowered it when Z.C. told them to. She didn't like it.

Don't lower your weapon until you're positive you're safe, Ana. Humans are even more dangerous than the dead. The dead leave nothing to be guessed, you know exactly what they want; food. You're smarter, and faster. Humans though, that's another matter. You don't know for sure what they want. They may want food. They may want water. Maybe they want shelter, or your company. Maybe they want to gut you and take whatever you have.

She shook the memories away and tightened her grip on her weapon. 'Stay focused on the present, Ana.' She thought to herself. 'Stay alert.' She kept her eyes on the figure on the other roof and watched anxiously as Z.C. drew closer. She hoped he'd be careful.
 
Lexi noticed that they were indeed humans and they seemed to spot her. 'Well I guess since they spotted me, theres no use for me to be sneaking around anymore' She sat up and looked over, seeing a man making his way over to her. They seemed very cautious and looked like they might of shot her if she did anything suspicious. When the man finally reached her she didn't move, still sitting on the roof, playing with little pebbles that were near her. "We nearly blew your head off. If you'll stop hiding, I'll get you something to eat, and we can get acquainted. If not," She heard the man say. "So, I don't really care. This world is messed up now, and besides I'm tired of running. So I wouldn't of minded you shooting me, because I have nothing left. Every is gone." She replied staring at the ground, blanking out and not listening to the rest of the words he was saying. 'Is this what I really want? To not exist anymore?' After awhile of thinking to herself, she stood up and looked at him waiting for what he was going to say.
 
Z.C. was slightly taken aback at the girl's nihilistic view upon life; Z.C. felt that she was not entirely serious, otherwise she would have attacked him by now in an attempt to prompt him to kill her. "You are not the only one. All of us here," He swept his arm, gesturing to the others situated 2 rooftops over, "have lost everything. Think about it this way: each day you live, each Zed you kill, you defy the will of nature. You spit in the face of death, your beating heart an engine for your defiance. So ask yourself... have you truly lost everything? If you really think so, cast yourself off of this roof, and let gravity take it all. If you don't, follow me, and I can promise you that I'll ensure your defiance of death continues."

Z.C. held his breath, unsure of what the girl was going to do now.
 
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Lexi looked over to the others and back at the man in front of her, listening the the meaningful words he was speaking. 'He has a point, the others have lost a lot also…I'm not the only one. I should stop only thinking about myself.' His words were giving her hope in this world. She felt her eyes filling up with tears and a lump in her throat. 'Why am I even thinking this way. I don't want to die..not yet.' She looked up into the sky. The sun was starting to rise and she could feel its warmth. She then quickly wiped her eyes and looked back at the man. "Ok I'll go with you...By the way I'm Lexi." She replied.
 
Z.C., for once in a long while, smiled a genuine smile. It faded as soon as it reappeared. He shook Lexi's hand with a firm grip. "A pleasure, Lexi. I am Zackary Cohen; call me Z.C. Come, meet the others."

She followed him as they crossed to the impromptu base, the rays of the moon starting to illuminate the rooftops of Eureka. "Everyone, this is Lexi. In order; Analiese, Borislav, or 'Cottontail' as he likes to be called, and me, Z.C. So tell us Lexi, what are you good at? You know, things that you can contribute to the greater whole."
 
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Analiese studied Lexi as she slowly relaxeed her tight hold on the bow. This girl was young, and despite her prior suspicion she could feel her heart going out to the teen. She set down her bow and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you." She said kindly. "Come, sit with us." She sat down and patted the ground next to her. She glanced up at Z.C. again. He was quite kind, for sure, to take in people like herself and Lexi."
 
Cottontail felt like he was rescuing a lost puppy. Surely this girl had been through worse than him. "Privet, my darling. Welcome to our little nest!" What had I been so wary of before. This poor girl looks like she's starving. Must find something good for her to eat. Cottontail started shuffling through his pack, hunting for something to eat, when he realized she might need medical attention.

"Are you hurt? If anything, from cut to heart failure, tell me. I am... nearly became a doctor" Lexi shook he head nervously, while Cottontail started fretting over her. Then he stopped himself and apologized stating," Sorry! I didn't mean to upset you. Sometimes I get carried away with helping people. Please, sit down. Warm up on such a dark night."
 
Lexi followed Z.C to the others where the rest of them introduced themselves. They made her feel welcomed, sort of like a family. "Its nice to meet you too" She replied. It felt like as soon as she got there, she was flooded with questions. "Umm..well I guess I'm good fighting. My father thought it was a good idea for me to take taekwondo classes, incase we were ever robbed, since we lived in the rich part of town. Also I'm pretty good at hunting. My father and I used to go camping in the east, the national parks and sometimes we'd go deep into the forrest to hunt. So I have a pretty good idea how to live off the land... I was planing to make my way there, but now I'm not sure." She told them. She looked over to Cottontail who seemed to be examining her, asking if she was okay. But she didn't blame him because she knew they had to be cautious just in case someone was infected. "It's fine, I know you have to take precautions, especially when meeting someone new." Lexi looked over at Analiese who gestured for her to sit down and did so.
 
Z.C. just started to feel comfortable in a long while. It even seemed like the moans of the zombified were abated, at least for a brief time. Given the lack of attention, Z.C. found it prudent that he should show off his meager musical talent.

"Hey, I didn't mention that I could play the harmonica; one of the only things that have kept my sanity, alongside my writing. Sit back, and let me play you a song."

Z.C. pulled out a well-worn harmonica. He took a deep breath, and started upon a faintly Irish jig, playing soulfully as the stars started to appear in the night sky. He flubbed a couple of notes, but continued, getting more and more inundated into his own song. He eventually finished up, stowing his harmonica into a pocket built into his ballistic vest.
 
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Analiese listened to Z.C.'s music with a faint smile, swaying back and forth to the tune gently. She hadn't danced since this god forsaken thing had started, but she found herself wanting to dance again for the first time in awhile. She didn't though, she just sat and let him play his song. "That's a beautiful song." She said quietly when he'd finished. "Where did you learn it?" She rested her chin on her hand as she spoke.

Surprisingly, she felt safe. At least, more safe than she had in awhile. She wondered if she'd found a group again. If she had, she wasn't going to let anything happen to them. No way, she was done losing people. She glanced back at the small, makeshift tent, then remembered Lexi. "Oh! You could sleep in the tent tonight." She offered Lexi. "I'm sure we'd both fit, and the gentlemen have kindly offered to sleep outside."
 
It was quiet now, or at least quieter than it had been earlier. If you listened you could hear the moans and steady shuffling that signaled the presence of s. lethargica. But at the moment, something had grabbed their attention so that there was no longer a group gathered around the base of the liquor store that Diana and Will were currently in. They had set up on the second floor, a storage space and office for the looks of it, placing a large metal desk with several heavy boxes on top of the trap door leading down stairs to prevent any unwanted guests from wandering up. At the moment Diana had her back pressed up against the far wall, her attention almost completely taken up with a spot on her leg. It had been earlier morning when she had made the decision to hole up in the liquor shop once it had become clear that just running through the town was not an option. As they had been making their way through the narrow aisle, she had rounded a corner to quickly and a broken bottle that had become wedged between two shelves dug a good two inches into her leg before it broke off. With the dead close on their tail there had been no time to stop and look at the wound, and it had taken a good deal of effort to make it up the rickety stairs to the upper floor.

Thankfully it seemed that they still had a bit of luck left. After looking around Will had found a box of teeshirts baring the store's logo, as well as a box of pretty high quality vodka. While Will started to shred some of the shirts into some strips Diana had rolled up her pant's leg to get a better look at the wound. With one of the spare she tried to clean the cut but she had to be careful as everytime she pressed a little to hard the pain spiked. There was a shard of glass still stuck in her leg but try as she might she could not get a grip on the blood covered piece of glass. In the end Diana just poured a forth of the vodka on her leg, and tied it with the makeshift bandages, a thin film of sweat covering her brow from the effort. The pup that they had found only a few days earlier seemed to be handling the situation the best out of all of them, as soon as the zombies had stopped hammering on the door it had wandered around the room sniffing around this new enviornment. However it seemed to sense that Diana was not doing to well as it was now resting with it's body pressed against her good leg. She was almost drifting off when Will suddenly broke the heavy silence from his spot by the window.

"There are some people out there." He said quietly turning to look at his sister. While his sister had been looking after her leg he had grabbed the scope off of her rifle and been playing look out. Diana was up in a second, and leaning heavily against the wall she managed to make her way over to where Will stood. After he handed her the scope she peered out into the fading light trying to locate the people.

"On the roof of the convenience store." He said after a second when Diana made no indication that she had seen. After the it was only a second before she let out a small noise of confirmation. Quickly scanning the group, and after a breif head count Diana turned and sank down against the wall her forehead wrinkled with thought.

"I don't think we should engage with them, to much of a risk." She said after a moment as she gently shoot her head. There were to many factors, she did not know if these people were survivors like her and her brother or if they were scavengers ready to take down anyone or anything to get what they wanted.

"One has a red cross on his sleeve." Will insisted prompting Diana to take another look. And sure enough she could just barely make out the red shape on the arm of one of the men. Exchanging a look with her brother Diana let out a heavy sigh.

"I hope we don't regret this." She said under her breath reaching into the pocket of her vest pulling out a laser pointer the size of the palm of her hand. Clicking it on she directed the bright blue beam at a spot near the center of the group moving it in a spiral fashion to hopefully get their attention. She placed the scope up to her eye to let her guage the group's reaction, and then once she was sure she had the group's attention she clicked the pointer one and off till she had spelled out H-E-L-L-O in morse code. She did not know if anyone in the group did understand morse code but, it was worth a try and at the very least it would get their attention, and hopefully not make them think that she was trying to take them out with a sniper rifle.
 
Z.C. pulled a second cigarette out of his pack of Camels, the pack about half-way with six cigarettes remaining. He used another match to light the cherry, extinguishing the match with a flick of his wrist. He took a drag, and turned his attention to Analiese.

"I learned to play the harmonica about a year ago... I have a shit singing voice; I'm completely tone deaf when it comes to vocals. I picked up the harmonica on a whim, mostly because I'm a fan of spaghetti westerns. It wasn't long before I discovered I had a particular talent for folk songs. I kind of fell out of playing for a long period of time... until the outbreak. Without this little piece of metal, I would have probably blown my brains out by now." Z.C. took another drag, exhaling upwards into the night air.

"Yeah, the night isn't getting any younger. We should get a little bit of shut-eye." Zackary was about to lay out his bedroll, before a few flashes of blue, indicative of a laser pointer, emanated from the second floor of the building across the street. Zackary stood up with a start. He kept the cigarette in his mouth as he dug around the pockets on his ballistic vest, pulling out a miniature Maglite no bigger than his middle finger. He was rusty on his morse code, only knowing the language from listening to National Guard broadcasts, but he knew enough for basic communication. He pointed the maglite to the source of the blue laser, and started to click it on and off, the surprisingly bright light reaching the second floor window.

N-U-M-B-E-R break O-F break P-E-O-P-L-E
 
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With a sigh of relief Diana watched as a light flashed in reply. As she watched however one of her eyebrow's rose in a questioning manner, whoever was answering was really to the point. Then again she would have probably done the same thing. So once the person was done she point the laser at the same spot as before and coded back.
2
Here she paused her cautious nature making her hesitate. However after exchanging a look with Will she continued carefully.
1 break H-U-R-T
While she waited for a reply she looked around at her surroundings from where she was sitting she couldn't see an obvious way up onto the roof but, that didn't mean there wasn't some way. "See if you can find a way up." She said softly to Will and the boy nodded, droppping his back pack and pulling out his crow bar as he went to go have a look around their limited space. Diana herself carefully shifted positions so that she could see out of the window better however she winced heavily as she accidently shifted weight onto her leg. More than anything she hoped that that guy with the red cross on his arm was any good, other wise this was going to be a very painful and pointless crossing.
"I think I found something." Will suddenly called out from somewhere in the back. He had found one of the old utility closets, mostly full of spare okds and ends there was one feature that was a bit unusual. On the ceiling there was another trapdoor, only about two feet both ways it was locked with a large padlock and so far it was the only thing that looked like it could lead to the roof.
 
Z.C. sighed; this group was growing larger than he expected, but not enough to make themselves a target. He pondered for a brief moment... the person opposite could have opened fire at any time due to their relatively exposed position (that is, if they were armed,) which means that they had no malevolent intentions. There was no way that those two individuals were going to cross the zed-infested street alive, especially at night-time. He raised his Maglight, sending more messages in Morse.

F-O-U-R break P-E-O-P-L-E

M-E-D-I-C-A-L break S-U-P-P-L-I-E-S break H-E-R-E

Z.C. took one last drag, flicking the butt of the cigarette off the roof.

W-I-L-L break T-R-E-A-T break W-O-U-N-D-S

He paused, checking his person for medical supplies. Other than some basics, such as rubbing alcohol, tweezers, tourniquets, and sterilized bandages, he didn't have much to offer in the way of medicine. Cottontail, however, did.

H-O-L-D break U-N-T-I-L break D-A-W-N ... W-I-L-L break D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T break H-O-R-D-E-S break T-H-E-N

Z.C. wracked his brain for the next communication he wanted to send.

G-O-O-D break L-U-C-K

Z.C. put the maglite back into a velcro pocket. He turned to the rest of the group. "Okay, there are two people in that building opposite and one of them is injured. We'll bide our time until dawn, then I'll figure out a distraction so that those two in the opposite building can cross the street without getting bitten. I have a blanket ladder here that I'll throw down when they do cross."
 
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