Trigger

She smiled as they entered the lighter floor, perfect lighting. Akira made sure to take note of the week spots. After all, what use would she be if she were to get injured?

"Twelve floors eh?" she muttered, looking at the stairs leading up. "Sounds like fun," she commented with a sly-grin. She turned back to Isaac. "It'll take less time, and ammo, if we work together. Unless you'd rather relax, in which case I could handle it on my own." She sat down on the floor right there and took her back pack off. She opened it and went through her supply of bullets, counting them (she always found it easier to count while sitting). "I have plenty ammo right here, and I know where to get some more," she said, standing up again.
 
Once the chaos was over (was the chaos EVER over?), Tara had gained some insight in the last couple of minutes. One, she had discovered two people that were actual humans and two, she hated questions.

How dare this man ask me my name!? It was true. She was only nit-picking things to get mad at. Tara observed the man up and down and came to the conclusion that he knew what he was doing. His uniform was just what i was...a uniform. The man must have formally been in a very high stature. She was guessing some former military operative. She scanned the gun, grenades, and the quality of the knife. They were all in well shape. He must take care of himself quite well. It'd be wise to stick with him for a while.

"Tara Bane."she snapped out. Accompanying the statement, she thrust out her hand. "I am obviously not an infected so you don't have to fear for your life. But if you get in my way, that's another story." The woman glared at him as hard as she could possibly muster enough muscle strength in her face to squint her eyes. The staring contest didn't go on for long. A shrill sound met her ears. It was a rarity to hear something other than gargling throats, spilled blood, shots, explosions. Already today she had heard another survivor's voice and a whistle...most likely from another sane person.

Tara snapped her head in the direction of the sound to find a pair of eyes gazing at her from a small hole in the building across the street. The distance was immaculate but rushing across it was clearly a no no. Tara caught the hand motion from the other person. She quickly forgot about the man who saved her and sprinted over to the building, peering left and right for any potential danger. Anymore existing infected from the roof top raid were bound to either be killed by her and the other man, or were just waiting to get up from a pretend death on the streets. You had to keep an eye out for things like that. Those infected were smart. Damn smart.
 
Akira got an interested eyebrow arch as green eyes looked her over a bit more closely now that they were in the light again. She had a rare attitude toward approaching danger. . . at least in his opinion anyway. Early on there were several more frightened people amongst the survivors. But it was starting to become rather clear that as time went on they were weeded out leaving only the brave, the smart, or the psychotic.

"I'm not in any real rush like I was in the beginning. Clearing out the first ten floors was the biggest chore. Ones from the upper floors would come down to attack what was causing all the noise below. The only thing that saved me was the bottleneck factor really. That along with my aim and a decent amount of luck."

Part of his mind went in a certain place whenever he looked at Akira, it was inevitable given the situation and the various circumstances. One of the factors that helped those thoughts come into his mind was the fact she was rather attractive. But he did try not to stare too much. Isaac didn't want to seem like a rapist or something that would freak her out. Then she would actually have reason to betray him.

"All that's probably left are some really smart ones or ones too messed up to move very far. It's a two person job. I appreciate the help."

Looking out the partially boarded windows and then over toward the stairwell he sighed just a little bit. This place was definitely keeping him in shape. An appetite was going to get worked up pretty soon. He had stored up quite a few snack foods but that was it. Nothing fancy enough to impress a world class chef. Kid's fruit snacks, crackers, juice boxes, and other thing that took a long time to even START going bad. Pretty soon they would have to raid a grocery store or something in a few days. Feeding two adults was a bit more taxing on food than feeding one. But Isaac wanted to finish clearing out the building first.

"Don't get comfy down here. We're going up a few more floors. There's more light up there."

With that he started walking up even more flights of stairs, heading for the sweet sixteenth floor.
 
Archer spots the man watching the two of them,contemplating if he should shoot him face to face or just leave him.He checked his ammunition on his weapons,to find them nearly empty.His decision was made,he decided to go to his safe house and resupply.But,with archer being a soldier,any survivor must be kept alive,safe,and protected.Personally he felt she Tara could handle herself,but it was protocal,no matter how much he denied it.


He walked behind her and placed his arm on her shoulder."I'm heading back to my safe house to resupply,you should come with,it's safer than here."Waiting for a response,he looked around for an escape route and saw a crashed military jeep.It had a mounted gun and was it pretty good shape,no doubt Archer was going to take it.He walked over towards the jeep and inspected it,to the last detail.He searched the back for infected,checked the gun for perfect function,and made sure they had an acceptable tank of gas.(If you call half a tank good)The gun was fully functional with only half its ammo,but it had to do.He looked back at Tara,scouting behind her,checking for any signs of an ambush.When the area was clear,he waved his hands and yelled, "Are you coming or what?"

Knowing this mite catch their stalker's attention,he puts his hands behin his back and estimates he has 2 mags of hand gun ammo remaining.Archer,could tell he was still watching,what he didn't know was if he's hostile or not.Archer,used the tac-vision to spot him,his thermal reading were off the harts."You really like to move,"he smiled under his gear,and quickly drew his eagles from thier holsters.He opened fire on the man's location and waited for a response."For some guy hiding,you suck at being stealthy."
 
"You must be a good luck charm in that case," Akira said, smiling. "A building this size must've had a ton of infected in it."

She followed him towards the stairs, glancing around the floor one last time. She started up the stairs, following Isaac slowly. Akira examined him. He had a nice build, she had to admit. Akira almost burst out laughing as it came to her mind that she was 'checking him out'. She cleared her throat and held back the laugh, though. Once they got to the next floor, she was totally silent.
 
"Maybe I am. It sure felt like a ton at the time."

While Isaac did not know he was being 'checked out', it may have boosted his ego should he ever find out. It was better than feeling some sort of 'last man on earth' syndrome. The kind where just because he was the last living thing with a penis, women were attracted to him. Or not even attracted really. . . more like forced tobe with him since he was the only one left. At this point he actually had no idea how many people were left in the world. Maybe they really were the last two survivors. People he had seen alive months ago could easily have died the next day or even the next hour without his knowledge.

"It was actually more of a chore to get rid of all those bodies once they were dead. At least when they were alive I didn't have to cart them around in a shopping cart with a squeaky wheel."

Once the pair passed the tenth floor there was nothing covering the windows at all. No more spare wood had remained. But then again, hopefully that high up nothing would reach them. If something tried. . . it would make so much noise going up the rickety old rusty fire escape that he would have gained plenty of warning.
 
Kai spotted the two of them finally making their way to his building. The red haired female was sure taking her time. He figured it was for good reason because if any more seconds fluttered by, he would have surely closed the offer to come into his haven out of the question. The building was discovered by him whether by accident or intentions. Times like those, any one of the survivors could've claimed their own personal building. Whatever it takes to survive. After the lady finally crossed into the building, the other man turned to a spotted vehicle. Kai didn't like him, short and simple.

"Kai. Sniper. Hungry."he said aloud to the two of them. Formalities had to be buzzed down to a simmer. The infected now knew, thanks to the woman, of their whereabouts and it was time to haul ass. He scouted the two of them as quickly paced as possible while he was attempting to multitask. Multitasking was not one of his strong suits but scouting was a zinger. Being a sniper, plus a security guard had its privileges. The girl didn't look too beat up and disoriented. The expectancy for her to burst out into a shrill cry of desperation for her survival was desecrated by one look at her expression: annoyance.

The other man on the other had was honestly...blank. Kai sighed.

"I assume the two of you want to live. In order to do that, you need to know this: don't touch my stuff. Find your own. Second, if Bond over there tries that crazy shit again, he'll have to find his own way to hell when he gets blown up. Third, it's your ass if you're in my line of fire." Sweet satisfaction pursued when he grabbed all of his items (ammo, old food, recorder) from the debris beside him and strut towards the mangled stairs behind him.​
 
Akira had to admit that after all the flights of stairs, she was getting tired. "God I miss elevators," she muttered, quiet enough that Isaac wouldn't hear her. Out loud she said, "No wonder you look so fit, climbing up all these stairs is good exercise." She grinned and continued to follow him up. As they walked, she picked at a loose thread on her jacket sleeve.

"Damn," she muttered. Her favorite jacket, the black one with her old highschool's logo on it, the only one she took with her when everything happened. It was already old and had holes here and there, it'd have to retire soon.
 
Thankfully all Akira could see was the back of his head while they ascended, for a rosey hue tinged his cheeks for an entire flight of strairs. It had been quite some time since he had been complimented. Let alone by a rather attractive woman. Aqunk could hear the grin in Akira's voice. . . there was no need to see something that would have only made him blush more. But while his breath was getting a little heavier Isaac was by no means tired which spoke volumes about his stamina.

Out of consideration for his new guest Isaac stopped at the eleventh floor. Exiting the stairwell into the main hallway, he looked around for a room which did not smell of death and decay. After all without gallons of febreeze the smell of the infected was not going anywhere anytime soon. Finally there was one with an open window that did not face the main street. Leaving the door open behind him he searched around the room for anything useful or dangerous. There was an old couch and a recliner in the living room along with a kitchenette close by in the same room.

"We can rest in here if you like. Feel free to explore."
 
"Cool," Akira said, not wanting to sound too eager to rest. She looked around the room and wondered if there was any food in the kitchenette, but after a few seconds, she decided she shouldn't ask. She walked to the window and peeked outside.

Akira sighed and shut her eyes. She turned away from the window and went to sit on the couch. She didn't like looking out windows anymore, it always reminded her of the past. There was no time to get emotional though, she had to focus on the here and now. And right now, her jacket was coming undone.

Taking one last look at the loose thread, she slipped her jacket off and leaned her head on the back of the couch.
 
After a few minutes Isaac broke the silence.

"You know, I don't think I've actually been in this room before."

Green eyes gazed around the room a little more closely, as if to confirm the suspicion in his statement. It was entirely possible at this point for him not to have inspected every single room thoroughly. At most he had probably stuck his head in here once before to see if any infected were roaming around and found none. Had Isaac battled something in here. . . the room would look far worse for wear and certainly smell quite a bit worse. Thankfully the open window helped with that.

Searching the kitchenette he found a few boxes in the pantry. One was an entire box of those snack crackers wrapped in plastic and had a variety of cheeses between different types of crackers. It was common for these to be taken on hunting or fishing trips as well as kid's lunches. A smile spread onto his face as he pulled the box out and brought it out to Akira.

"Care for some lunch? I just found it."

An unbroken plastic wrapper was tossed into her lap. Out of all the food they could come across, this was the type least likely to have anything wrong with it. Truly there was some luck left in the world . . . or at least the building.
 
Despite the fact that she was starving, Akira now wondered if Isaac had enough food to spare. "I hope this isn't an inconvenience for you," she said, picking up the crackers. She opened the wrapper and gave them a quick examination before starting to eat one.

"I suddenly miss fast-food restaurants," she said after a moment, laughing. It was ironic, she used to hate going to fast-food restaurants (she preferred eating at home), now, she'd give anything to walk into a McDonald's and see people. People that weren't infected at least. She looked up at him and smiled.
 
Isaac waved his hand dismissively at her mention of it being an inconveinence. He had already stocked up his own food upstairs. If anything they needed to start looking for food Akira could eat. After all feeding two people was far different than just one. Especially when that one person had military training and could get by on rations easily enough. Survival training came in handy these days.

"You ever think those places were behind the infected coming about? I mean when you think about how fast the infection spread. . . and how many people eat fast food. It kind of matches up."

The serious look on his face suddenly turned into a goofy half-grin. One that made it clear he had been taking some shot at making a joke. Not many chances came along these days to perfect a sense of humor and very little joking was allowed in a world so rotted.
 
For a second, Akira considered what he'd said about the fast-food places. It made sense, it could be possible. When she saw him grin, she realized he must've been joking. She started giggling, it wasn't entirely the joke that made her laugh. It was more that he had attempted to make a joke (And that he looked simply adorable when he grinned).

She finished the crackers and stood up. "Shall we continue?" she asked him.
 
With no response delivered,he retrieved Tara and brought her over to the jeep.Archer thought "Since your just gonna sit there," he said,sighing in disappointment."There is no point in me staying here any longer than i already have."He loaded his weapons into the vehicle,keeping a suspicion whether they're still being watched or if he was just paranoid.Besides,if you'd seen what he has in his life time as a special operative,you'd also be paranoid.

He sits in the driver's seat of the car and opens the passenger side."Well miss Bane," he said with a persistent glare."Are you gonna stay here or come with me to find some ammo?"
 
Swink seemed pleased with the fact that he had gotten a giggle out of Akira. Just that sound alone made it nice to have survived so long, considering how long it had been since he heard a girl's giggle. A feeling of accomplishment entered him, one much different than the kind a survivor go from taking down the infected. This one left him with a slightly warm and human feeling inside. On top of that, it apparently led to him sitting down on the couch next to where Akira had sat and placing the carton of cracker snacks on the floor at his feet.

"Not yet."

Isaac replied with a slight shake of his head before producing the reason in his hand. It was another package of crackers taken from the carton. Six in all were inside the simple plastic wrapping, with the crackers being the usual light brown type and the thing between them a sort of cream cheese that didn't require refrigeration. Opening up the package some he then started to eat them at a normal pace. Every so often he glanced over at Akira with a look that hinted at a silent solitude she was helping to end. Soon enough he would finish the snack. . . but for now he was just enjoying her company as he ate.
 
"Okay," Akira said, sitting back down next to him. She leaned back, crossing her legs, and she closed her eyes again.

""When..." she began, eyes still closed. She didn't finish, instead, she opened her eyes and looked at him through the corner of her eye.
 
Finally polishing off the last cracker of the pack, he sighed with the satisfaction of a half full stomach. Over the months is stomach had shrunken considerably but he still never seemed to end up with a full tummy. Perhaps there truly was reason to seek out a supermarket or other form of grocery store. Even a liquor store might have some food. But then again those places might have too many infected or even a crazy survivor. It only really felt possible now that Akira was here to help with getting in and out alive.

"You know. . . for a while there I wondered if I was the last one. But it seems like every time I get to that point I hear gunfire somewhere out in the city. And then today I met you. Now that makes me wonder if we might actually be the last two."

Isaac took his officer's hat off, placing it in his lap before looking over at his new companion. Both hands gloved in black moved to rest on his knees. For some reason Swink found himself rather nervous all the sudden. It had been a while since he'd spoken to anyone. Especially a woman who was definitely attractive.
 
Akira had never thought of being the last person in the world. She had never put much thought into those sort of things. When the infection started, she simply grabbed a gun and set off by herself. That's how it always had been, her against the world. She had liked solitude, but always had the assurance of being able to walk outside and see...someone, anyone. That hadn't changed when the infection began.

She always imagined there being groups of survivors here and there, like in movies.

She turned to him. "I don't think we're the last people there has to be someone else crazy enough to survive, right?" she said, laughing a little. "Although, it might not be that bad if we were the last two people." She scooted a little closer to him and leaned over, taking the hat from his lap and smiling at him.
 
It was like a bird was fighting over a worm. Tara looked from Archer to Kai and back to Archer and back to Kai in that order. It was becoming very agitating to sit here and contemplate her next movements. Actually there should BE no next movements in survival! You survive! That's the only 'movement' you need! The Archer man did make some very valid points: Searching for ammo was going to be a necessity but also a pain in the ass. They just don't have obvious ammo caches lying around for the taking. Some of them were possibly going to be extracted from fellow fallen survivors. Tara shuddered at the thought and moved right along to point 2: the vehicle of choice was also a major plus on the operation. The only thing that tugged in her brain was the man behind the wheel.

I mean...he seems innocent enough. But then again...

Tara stole a glance behind her to see the man with the large sniper trudge across his broken, derelict building. It didn't phase him whether any one joined him on his quarry or not; he was going to get the hell out of there alone or accompanied. Accompanied was a word Tara was beginning to enjoy hearing. It mean that she didn't have to go through the torment alone, excluding any chance of future trauma on her point.

"You know what I think? I think we should all stick together."she said. Her voice was the only sound to her own ears, and probably to the ears of anyone around her. Speeches weren't exactly her light point. Sweat threatened to for on her brow as she cleared her throat of any further squeaks or sounds of reluctance.

"I mean, logically speaking, if we all want to get out of here alive, we should at least make some sort of...bondage of some type? Of course, the sniper would be at a distance if danger ever was to arise, but then he'd have the two of us flanking the ones at close quarters. There is strength in numbers, of course."she concluded with a shrug and blinked both of her green eyes slowly, waiting on a response.