Welcome To New Haven

[VengefulPeanut]

Evie Appleby

Evie pouted slightly, blowing air through her pursed lips like a moody child at Sean's response. "How do you propose I do that?" she queried, turning her head to look at him. "I'm under strict orders to stay in bed and rest." Her tone had taken on a sort of false-innocence. "Still, I guess the fact that you're making me get you the booze is telling enough as it is..." She smirked to herself at Sean's reluctance. In truth, she had been watching the two for a while. She'd seen the way they looked at each other, the way they jumped to each other's protection at a moment's notice, the way they smiled when the other was around. Evie cared deeply for her friends like they were family. She couldn't see anything more brilliant than the two of them finally confessing to one another and sharing what happiness they could. Alas, she couldn't resist the temptation to tease Sean. There was something of a revenge about it after all of the 'British' comments he would throw at her.

@Thomas McTavish

Ellen Doyle

​

Ellen watched as Jack and the newcomer walked away, an uneasy feeling lodged in her gut. It frustrated her how carefree he was, how trusting... but still, that was one of the qualities she loved the most about him. If it wasn't for him being that way then half of the people she now called family would have been turned away from the camp. No matter what, he always seemed to make things work out. Sitting on her stool, she ran her fingers softly along the vanished wood on her rifle, leaning back into the glass as she cast her gaze across the open space around the camp. She liked watchtower duty. Sure, it was often solitary but it was a moment to relax. It sounded strange to most but Ellen always felt most at ease when she was the one keeping guard, keeping everyone safe. It was easier that way. Less variables of someone else screwing up. The low hubbub of the camp behind her served as a soundtrack to accompany the choir of birds and swooshing of the breeze as the day drew closer to its end.

"Days are definitely a lot shorter now..." she spoke idly to herself. Winter was almost upon them and the nights grew longer. Life was definitely about to get more difficult.

"Hey, mind if I keep you company?" a voice from behind spoke. Almost falling from her stool from the shock, Ellen planted her feet back into the floor and grounded herself, turning to see Maddie stood behind her, emerging from the interior of the watchtower.

"Sure thing," she smiled. "There should be another stool lying about somewhere." Ellen propped her gun up against the wall and leaned back on the stool once more. "Feeling lonely?" she asked, keeping her watchful gaze on the area in front of the camp.

@innocent devil​

​

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
"Quite." She paused to grab a stool from the corner, bringing it closer to Ellen. "Sean is doing his own thing so I can't go harass him about nothing. Evie is bedridden and everyone else is.. Doing something with each other. So lonely is a good term I suppose." She rubbed the back of head nonchalantly. "How've you been with everything Ellen?" She questioned her to move the topic from how lonely she is with no one around her. The faint sound of the others in the background made everything a bit more surreal. The infected to one side but the living on the other. It was something straight out of science fiction. She watched the infected roam mindlessly around the streets, sluggish and without purpose.

@VengefulPeanut​

 

[VengefulPeanut]

Ellen Doyle

​

"Good!" Ellen replied in an enthusiastic tone. "Definitely, not stressing out about Jack, definitely not stressing out about the camp and definitely not stressing out about the fact we're about to freeze to death in the Montana winter." She took a breath as a smile formed on her lips. "You know, I'm just generally being a stress-free person as of late." She chuckled briefly before shuffling in her seat. "How are you and Sean getting along, anyway? Is he any closer to killing one of us yet after our reign of terror? I imagine Evie's condition, as bad as it is, is a nice 'get out of jail free' card for her. Convenient timing, really, after the whole christmas jumper fiasco." While Sean wasn't the type to be forgiving over something as small as illness, Ellen knew Evie's weakened condition put herself and Maddie more in the firing line to receive the reprimands of their pranks. It had become something of a girls tradition on camp. Even though Ellen liked to harrass people indiscriminately with her practical jokes, she had to admit Sean was a nice target. Maybe it was the drunken, angry Irish ranting that made pranking him as special as it was. Maybe that's why Maddie and Evie enjoyed it so much. Still, Ellen had always suspected Maddie's motivations for pranking him weren't as sinisterly driven as Evie's. Or maybe she was just seeing things. Romance on camp would be nice, though...

@innocent devil​

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
The mention of Jack perked her interest until she was asked about Sean. She always held him a bit closer in her heart than the others but she was hoping others didn't notice. "I-I think we're fine." She bit her lip knowing the blush on her face was coming along. "Evie was going to take most of the fire since she proposed the idea but now that she's sick it looks like it falls on us. I mean he hasn't done anything yet but... he's too much of a softy deep down to do anything too crazy to us. I feel like he enjoys the attention." A soft chuckle escaped her lips before she brushed some hair from her face. "It's kind of cute if you think about it." Her smile full of joy while her cheeks became a rosy color.
@VengefulPeanut​

 

[Thomas McTavish]

Sean shrugged. "Not my issue, you're the one who made the deal. And my insistence means nothing; You should know by now I never perform a service before payment. Most especially in the information industry." he reminded her smugly, lighting up a cigarette and taking a deep drag. He turned back to Claire. "Do as I say, Claire, not as I do. And I say never start smoking. Nothing good comes of doing it, and it's all but impossible to stop." he finishes, exhaling a stream of smoke from his nostrils.

Strangely enough, his mind started to wander, wondering what Maddie was doing about now.

 

[VengefulPeanut]

Evie Appleby

Evie blew down her nose and folded her arms, looking away from Sean for a moment. Despite his bluff, she knew how he felt. She just wanted him to admit it. Maybe Alexis would let her get up and about soon but maybe not. She was so dosed up on meds and painkillers that she probably wouldn't be able to remember where the whiskey was anyway. A scowl formed on her face as she glared solidly at Sean as he lit up a cigarette. The fact that he took the time to lecture Claire was a nice touch but Evie wasn't deterred.

"Was that a preemptive apology for smoking in the med-tent, around Alexis and the baby, around Claire and around your sick friend, Sean?" she grilled, one eyebrow raised. Her tone wasn't aggressive or confrontational, more jocular as she hid her mothering statement amongst the rhetoric. A smug smile fell on her lips and a look of determination set in her eyes. "Alexis, do you mind if I take a walk around camp? I promise I'll wear gloves and my surgical mask."

@Thomas McTavish @Kirisuna

Ellen Doyle

​

"Oooooh, cute, eh?" Ellen teased, nudging the flaxen-haired girl with her elbow, her eyebrow raised with curiosity. "Am I detecting a hint of..." she began before inhaling deeply, her eyes closed momentarily before she opened them once more, "...lust?" Ellen chuckled to herself as she looked back out towards the town. She'd always found it curious how the infected had, over the years, began to leave them alone at camp. Usually, they hovelled in the buildings or, as was the case that day, shambled aimlessly through the streets. Maybe they'd realised the camp was too well fortified and wasn't a viable food source. Where they even that intelligent? "You like him, don't you?" Ellen asked bluntly, laying her cards out on the table. She felt slightly guilty singling Maddie out but at the same time she knew it was only a matter of time before one of the others brought it up. She knew Evie was itching to ask the question as well as several of the other members of the group.

@innocent devil​

 

[Link]

"Ah! That's very thoughtful of you, Jack, however Claire would need some training with a gun before I would even think of giving her one. In fact, I need some training as well." Emil stated with a smile, scratching his chin with his right hand, "A toy store you say? Well, I suppose I'm in luck then. We can drop in there after on the way back, if we have time."

Claire took her heavy bag off of her back and placed it lightly on the ground. Her feet hurt. She removed her oversized left boot and dropped it to the floor, her right boot followed. She listened to what Sean had to say and nodded.
"Yes, sir!"
She was still a bit shook up, therefore not tired, but she trusted the nurse was right. She lay on her side with her eyes open. Sleep could wait for a little while. She listened in to Evie and Sean's conversation.

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
A brighter shade took root in her cheeks when she was questioned about her feelings. "Like him? Him?? Of all people? He's stern and obnoxious and cold...." She paused to reassess herself. "And sweet and funny and confident." The slight curl in her lips hinting to her true thoughts of him practically gave it away. Maddie covered her face in embarrassment, she always hated when people asked her about her feelings towards others. Even when she was younger and the world wasn't the way it is now. She would get flustered and wouldn't know how to respond since she was never good at interpreting her emotions. "Was it that obvious..?" She sighed knowing that it was quite apparent to most of the others besides just Ellen. She was happiest the most when she was speaking with Sean after all. "It doesn't really matter. It can't happen. Surviving takes priority over romancing. We don't get to live like we used to anymore. Besides, I don't think he feels the same so it's pointless." Her head sank into her lap, covering the remainder of her face and any signs of disturbance she may feel. Contrary to her words Maddie did feel differently about the subject. She never gave up hope that one day things might be different, but things don't always work out that way.
@VengefulPeanut​

 

[Blood Lightning]

Evie Appleby

Evie blew down her nose and folded her arms, looking away from Sean for a moment. Despite his bluff, she knew how he felt. She just wanted him to admit it. Maybe Alexis would let her get up and about soon but maybe not. She was so dosed up on meds and painkillers that she probably wouldn't be able to remember where the whiskey was anyway. A scowl formed on her face as she glared solidly at Sean as he lit up a cigarette. The fact that he took the time to lecture Claire was a nice touch but Evie wasn't deterred.

"Was that a preemptive apology for smoking in the med-tent, around Alexis and the baby, around Claire and around your sick friend, Sean?" she grilled, one eyebrow raised. Her tone wasn't aggressive or confrontational, more jocular as she hid her mothering statement amongst the rhetoric. A smug smile fell on her lips and a look of determination set in her eyes. "Alexis, do you mind if I take a walk around camp? I promise I'll wear gloves and my surgical mask."

@Thomas McTavish @Kirisuna

Ellen Doyle

​

"Oooooh, cute, eh?" Ellen teased, nudging the flaxen-haired girl with her elbow, her eyebrow raised with curiosity. "Am I detecting a hint of..." she began before inhaling deeply, her eyes closed momentarily before she opened them once more, "...lust?" Ellen chuckled to herself as she looked back out towards the town. She'd always found it curious how the infected had, over the years, began to leave them alone at camp. Usually, they hovelled in the buildings or, as was the case that day, shambled aimlessly through the streets. Maybe they'd realised the camp was too well fortified and wasn't a viable food source. Where they even that intelligent? "You like him, don't you?" Ellen asked bluntly, laying her cards out on the table. She felt slightly guilty singling Maddie out but at the same time she knew it was only a matter of time before one of the others brought it up. She knew Evie was itching to ask the question as well as several of the other members of the group.

@innocent devil​

At the smell of a Cigarette, Alexis covered her nose and her mouth, not wanting to inhale the Cigarette Smell, in fear that something might happen to her baby. It really frustrated her to see that someone would smoke around a pregnant woman. "Jeez if you're going to do that, take it outside!" She exclaimed as she held her belly as well as continuing to cover her nose and mouth. When Evie asked if she can get up and go around for a walk, Alexis got a bit suspicious, thinking that was an attempt to sneak out and be super girl again. However, she said that she'd keep a mask and gloves on in case the illness was contagious. "Sure. You may. Just don't stay out too long. And don't leave the camp. If you do, don't expect me to be happy about it." she replied.

 

[Thomas McTavish]

Defeated, Sean raised his hands in surrender and exited the tent. He forgot about the baby. Had it really been so long? Apparently. Sean thought to himself, heading towards the Command Center, where he spent most of his time, if not on the perimeter, checking their supplies around camp, or scavenging in the town. The others didn't go there often, save when it got really cold and everyone moved into the underground bunker for warmth and safety. Until then, though, Sean could smoke in peace. He shut the door and lit a candle as he took another drag, plopping down into a chair. The silence was heavy, the chill of the concrete seeping into his bones. After a week or two, he'd start moving everything "downstairs." The underground part was a fully furnished underground home, four-family colony model. It originally belonged to a man who had it installed in fear of the zombie apocalypse. Ironically, he was infected and died while visiting relatives on the east coast. The government seized the property, made the underground part a living space for the officers, placed a command building over the main entrance, and built a quarantine camp around it.

After the military moved off, the group had claimed this little square of the camp as their own, and the underground was their winter residence, choosing to stay above ground during the warmer months to get fresh air and sunlight. They wouldn't freeze to death, but it had been getting colder. With less humans around to keep nature at bay, trees were growing rampantly, and nature had begun to reclaim the land stolen from her. As more CO2 started being absorbed by the increased growth, world temperatures were starting to fall. The downside? Sean and the others couldn't live as comfortably as they used to.

No one could...

 

[VengefulPeanut]

Jack Rollinson

​

"Ah! That's very thoughtful of you, Jack, however Claire would need some training with a gun before I would even think of giving her one. In fact, I need some training as well."

"Well, it's never too late to start. With the state the world is in now, knowing how to use weaponry, especially firearms, is sadly crucial..." Jack responded, a look of faded pain on his face. While he wished with every fiber of his being that it wasn't true, that was the world they now lived in. It harked back to his time in Afghanistan, in some of the more war-torn areas of the country. He remembered the looks on the faces of children who starved, the desperateness in men's eyes when they had to lift a rifle or die, or worse see their family die. That was the effects of war. He thought there could be nothing worse. Turns out the effects of extinction proved him wrong.

"A toy store you say? Well, I suppose I'm in luck then. We can drop in there after on the way back, if we have time," Emil began once more, snapping Jack from his sombre state of thoughtfulness.

"Sure thing," he agreed with a smile, nodding his head ever so slightly. It wasn't long before the duo were entering the built up area of the town, the small road that led from the camp to the outskirts long behind them. Sightings of the infected were common on the streets, a fact that caused Jack to pull Emil to one side. "Okay, there's an alleyway up ahead on our left," he explained in a hushed tone. "We need to move into it to get on the right path to the jewelry store." Jack readied his rifle, an old, battered M14, and gave Emil a resolute nod. "Let's go." Shifting from cover, Jack darted forward and then left, submerging himself entirely in the alleyway. The infected on the street didn't seem to pay much notice, thankfully. Raising his rifle, he gave a brief look back to make sure Emil was okay before slowly edging further into alleyway. His body was composed, it was clear he was trained in this. Despite looking solely forward, he constantly scanned his surroundings using his peripheral vision, aware of any small movements and sounds. An opening onto the next street was just ahead. The two would need to cross with as much haste as possible. Sticking to the corner, Jack looked to Emil once more. "We're going to have to sprint across. I'll cover you from here. Then you cover me. Jewelry store is at the end of that next alleyway."

@Link​

Evie Appleby

Smiling at being given permission, Evie slid off the side of the bed. Putting on her cardigan once more, she also wrapped herself up in her sky-blue fluffy blanket. Ellen would always ridicule her for that look. She would always say that she looked a fluffy marshmallow that had been set alight on account of her red hair. "Don't worry, I'll behave," Evie said in a comforting tone to the obviously perplexed Alexis. She smiled once more, waving to Claire and leaving not long after Sean. As she left, she was instantly assaulted by the cold breeze, causing her to enter another coughing fit. She raised her hand to needlessly cover her mouth, still unused to having the mask on her face. She wasn't unfamiliar with them. Most of the refugees in Liverpool were wearing them; everyone was horrified at the prospect of becoming infected. Not that it did a lot of them any good in the end. She hobbled over to the male tent, her head still swimming and groggy. "Anybody home?" she called inside with a croaky voice. Silence. And more silence. And a bit more silence. "Okay..." she mumbled to herself, pushing through the flap of the tent and sliding over to Jack's bunk. Popping open his trunk, she removed a few items before lifting a fake panel off of the bottom of the container. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed with a small fist pump. 3 bottles of whiskey, ripe for the taking. Removing one, she refitted the panel and placed all of the stuff back inside before heading out. All she had to do was find Sean. Easy.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

Evie's footsteps reverberated off of the concrete walls as she entered the underground bunker, making her approach more than obvious. The metal door open with a loud screech as she entered the dimly lit room. "You know, when you're sitting down here on yourself like this you sort of remind of Puss in Boots from Shrek 2. You know, the bit where he's in the dark room in the back of the tavern?" Evie commented idly to Sean as he face became illuminated from the glow of his cigarette. "Though knowing you I doubt you ever watched that." She reached inside her blanket, pulling the aforementioned whiskey into plain sight. "I got you your booze. Now, cough up! And not... literally... you know... cause that's my job," she joked with a weak smile and a small chuckle.

@Thomas McTavish

Ellen Doyle

​

Ellen scowled slightly at Maddie's pessimism. She bit her lip and looked to the floor, clearly mulling things over in her head. "Well, if you say it like that then I guess we're both screwed," she responded with a defeatist tone. Placing her hands in her pockets, she looked up to the sky briefly. "Do you ever wonder if it's really the world that's changed and not us?" she prosed, cocking her head to the side before bringing her gaze back down to Madeleine. "I mean, sure there's the whole virus fiasco and dealing with not dying on a daily basis but... maybe the reason we see romance as so impossible is because it reminds us of a time before, a commodity we lost, when really it's just something we do naturally." She coughed demurely before adjusting how she was sat slightly. "I don't want live the rest of my life never feeling love again, never being cuddled during a cold winter, never saying embarrassing things or making silly decisions... hell, I don't think I could survive the rest of the apocalypse like some sort of badass abstinent, sexless nun. At the end of a day, a girl's got needs!" She chuckled and bit her lip slightly before looking back to the road outside. "I think you should go for it. And if he doesn't feel the same? Well, then fuck him, his loss."

@innocent devil​

 

[Thomas McTavish]

Sean smirked. "Alright, a deal's a deal." he agreed, getting up at taking the whiskey from Evie. Jack Daniels. Not his favorite, but it would do. "Truth be told, I don't have to say anything. You already know. I like her. A lot. She gives me a comfort I felt all too rarely in the Old World. Companionship. I've been wanting to ask her if I could make her dinner one night. Just one problem," he noted, twisting open the bottle and taking a swig. "If I'm focused on her, I might not focus on the group as a whole. And If I fuck up, it could mean something disastrous. A miscalculation in the rations leads to starvation. A blurred eye lost in thought leads to an unwanted intruder. A stray fantasy while on a trek leads to me own demise. It's not that I don't like her, it's that I can't afford to desire the things I used to. She'd be good for me health, but if I got too close, it'd be one more thing to fear: losing her."

He sat in the chair, slumped forward and staring at the bottle in his hands. "I didn't always used to be like this, y'know. Cold, calculating, spiteful, pessimistic. I smiled, once. I laughed. Cracked jokes. Ran around in the sunshine in the fields. I was happy. The damned apocalypse took that from me. From everyone. Now, it's hell just to survive. What I'm getting at is that the world is different. Don't have the time right now. I need to go out to town soon, see if I can find anything more we'd need. Who knows, maybe I'll talk to her in the winter, when we've moved underground and have nothing better to do... For now, though, I've more important matters to attend. D'ya know if anyone's gone out to town? I'd like to make a trip of me own, but I need to do it alone." he asked, standing shaking off his troubles for the time being.

 

[VengefulPeanut]

Evie Appleby

​

​

Evie listened intently as Sean talked, perching herself on the edge of one of the nearby seats. She shuddered from the cold, wrapping the blanket even tighter around her as she began to shiver slightly. While Sean spoke, a thousand romantic thoughts came to mind - cliche after cliche. 'Love conquers all' and all of that. She believed in it once. Surviving for as long she had had knocked it out of her, though. Still, one thing she believed in was the need for companionship, normality and the persuing of one's desires. As such, every time those romantic cliches came around in her mind she did entertain them slightly. She just needed a way to explain it to Sean without him going macho about it. As he finished speaking, she sighed and looked to the floor, brushing her feet against the cold, concrete floor.

"Jack took that newcomer into town," she answered. "It's how I managed to steal you the whiskey without being caught." She raised her head to look Sean directly in the eyes, her glare determined and almost cold in nature. "Look. I get where you're coming from. I really do. But you say you don't want to be scared of losing her, but aren't you already? Sean, for bloody hell's sake, just admit that you really want to be with her! In this world... the way things are... I don't think many of us will have the luxury of living to see our twilight years. Shouldn't we try and make the most of the time we have? Every time you step out of that gate, every time she steps out of that gate, you both risk not coming back. Do you really want your last regret to be not telling her how you feel about her? Not knowing how it feels to have her in your arms or to be in her arms?" She ran her fingers through her hair as she took a deep breath. "I know I'm being dramatic," she admitted, frowning slightly before recomposing herself into that determined glare. "Maddie's my dearest friend and, believe it or not, I'm actually quite partial to you too, you big bloody Paddy. I just want to see you both happy. You should say something to her, cook her that meal you were on about. Lord knows she's as stubborn as you are so I doubt she'll be the one to make the first move." Almost immediately after she finished her sentence, she broke out into another coughing fit as she pulled her hand to cover her mouth. "Consider yourself lucky my body's telling me not to talk so much otherwise I wouldn't stop lecturing you 'til you get out there and tell her how you feel," she finished, croakily. She smiled briefly but warmly, the only indicator being her eyes on account of the mask.


@Thomas McTavish

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
Maddie took a deep breath before giving in to Ellen's words. She was right. A girl has needs, most of which are a man. She was more afraid of dying alone that dying in general. Death was just a means to end the suffering they endure now. Dying alone was a whole other story. It's worse than anything she could possibly imagine in her eyes. "What's the harm in trying? I really have nothing else to lose. Him, this camp, my own life... That's all I have left and what's the point of being alive to live in constant fear of not living." She rubbed her eyes after lifting it from her curled state. She was willing to go through with it but the fear of rejection has a much stronger grip on her. She couldn't muster the strength to tell him herself but she couldn't live with it sitting inside her. "I want to feel something... Anything really. I don't want to be just another breathing corpse." She chuckled lightly to how she compared herself to the dead. She was really nothing like them. Her more cognitive thoughts gave it away but she might as well be one without emotions.

She looked out once more to the infected roaming aimlessly through the streets and into the buildings. "Am I just deluding myself? There's no way a guy like that could ever think about a fragile girl like me. I look and sound so tough but.. I'm just as scared as everyone else. Those things out there could break in at anytime. Someone dies, everyone panics, then more people die. It's how it always goes, so they say. I'm grateful we have chances like this to actually talk casually instead of risking our lives so blatantly." She shivered feeling a strong gust of wind against her body. The sweater she had gotten was only warm enough for the in between season rather than the actual winter. "On the bright side if the world wasn't the way it was, I would have never met you or Sean or Evie or any of the others I hold so dearly." She zippered up her sweater as high as she could as she tried to stay on the more positive side of things to keep herself from freaking out.
@VengefulPeanut​

 

[Thomas McTavish]

Sean thought a moment, took another large gulp, and decided Evie was right. They were all going to die relatively soon anyway, might as well go out with as few regrets as possible. Stamping out the butt of his cigarette on the floor and stashing the whiskey behind a loose brick in the wall, he resolved to make his intentions known. With a mock salute to Evie, he left the concrete box and set to finding Maddie. Shouldn't be too hard, he figured, camps's damn small.

He quickly spotted her on top of the guard tower with whom he figured was Ellen. "Maddie!" he called, shouting up the ladder from the base of the tower, "Mind comin' down 'ere a minute? I'd like ta talk to ya." He waited patiently, liquid courage fighting back the numbing terror clawing at the edges of his mind.

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
An anxious smile quickly forced its way into her expression. She could only think that this was about the sweater incident. She looked back to Ellen with pleading eyes, not knowing what to do but she knew that would only make matters worse for herself. Better to face it now than later. With a final deep breath she waved goodbye to Ellen and composed herself before climbing down the ladder. "Present." She gingerly responded to the man. Normally he wouldn't call upon her unless there was something wrong or he needed to speak with her about something important. This was different for some reason. She could almost feel the tension in the air. Maddie ran a hand through her hair, brushing the loose blonde strands to the side of her face. "What's wrong?"
@Thomas McTavish​

 

[Link]

Emil nodded, appreciating Jack's clear experience. He took out his revolver and opened the chamber, checking the amount of bullets he had left. He removed the two empty casings and replaced them with two more from his pocket. He pushed the chamber back in and pulled back on the hammer. He looked back up to Jack and nodded.
"See you on the other side."
Emil moved across the street at the fastest pace possible for him without making much noise, small sounds still emanating from the movement of his clothes and equipment. He made it to the other side in one piece, seemingly undetected. He exhaled deeply. He knew his luck would run out soon enough. He signalled for Jack to follow, and kept his revolver up.


Claire wiped her eyes and turned over in her bed. She couldn't sleep. She was too uncomfortable with these new people to just fall asleep. She was thirsty. She sat up and picked up her bag. She began rummaging through it, whispering to herself.
"Pencils, screwdrivers, butterfly knife, socks, bible, teddy, icepick, scarf... Water." Claire pulled a plastic bottle from her bag and looked at it. Empty. She removed another one and examined it. Just a drop left. She frowned and looked to Alexis. "Um, miss, is there any water that I could have? I am very thirsty and have none left." Her voice was shaky and nervous.

 

[Thomas McTavish]

"I've been meaning to ask ya fer a while now..." he could hardly look at her. This wasn't the first time he'd asked a girl over for dinner, but this was different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. "Would ye mind if I made you dinner sometime? I mean, I know I already do a lot of the cooking for the camp, but I mean something more... Private? Special? Something for just you and me. The food storage is downstairs, and I managed to stock my underground section's kitchen with a bunch of stuff." He swallowed a hard lump. Why was this so difficult to do? He had been with dozens of girls, killed hundreds of men, living and undead. He had proven time and time again he was an alpha among the human hordes. So why did he feel like puking in the presence of this one?

Meanwhile, his mind split into several directions. Recipes, ingredients, things he needed to get on his excursion, ingredients he'd need to find along the way, ways he'd need to take care of the garden before winter hits to prepare it for the next year, contingency plans for if he got stuck in town during bad weather, it was beginning to feel like hard rain was on it's way. He blinked to bring his mind back to the moment at hand.

@innocent devil

 

[VengefulPeanut]

Jack Rollinson

​

Seeing the signal from Emil, Jack dashed across the street before sliding into the alley, hugging the wall behind Emil. "Nice work," he praised with an affirming nod. Patting him on the shoulder, Jack took point leading Emil towards the Jewelry store. Beyond the jewelry store was the toy store, quite a large building in truth. The roof of it could be seen above the other buildings and it was accessible from the same alleyway as the jewelry store. Stacking on the door to the store, Jack pulled it open slowly before whistling quite loudly in an attempt to draw any infected out into the open, his knife at the ready. A pervasive silence descended. Nothing. "I think we're clear. Let's go."

@Link​

Evie Appleby​

Sitting now alone, feeling proud of herself, Evie looked about the empty underground room. Sean had certainly been busy during his little sessions down there. She sniffled slightly, rubbing the tip of her nose through her mask with the side of her index finger, her eyes squinting from the contact. She'd always liked it underground. While she enjoyed eying the stars on a clear night and reminiscing about times past, there was something about the creature comforts the underground shelter provided that appealed to her. Concealed away from the world, one could almost forget the world that they lived in. The place was a sanctuary but yet an illusion. An echo of a world now gone. Pushing herself from her seat, she began to walk around the room, trying to ignore the pervasive smell of cigarettes and the thickness of the air. She began to hum a melody to herself before beginning to sing in a soft whisper so as not to hurt her voice.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long..." She breathed deeply for a moment, running her hands along one of the nearby walls and closing her eyes. "And wouldn't it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we belong..." Doing a small twirl in the middle of the room, she threw her blanket to the one of the beds before hurling herself down atop it, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes began to glisten as tears began to well in her eyes. "Good night my baby, sleep tight my baby," she chirped croakily, finishing the song. Drawing her hand to her face, she wiped a single tear that hung like a raindrop from a leaf off her eyelashes. "Why the fuck am I crying?" she asked herself, a level of frustration prevalent in her tone. As if being struck by lightning, her whole body jolted and her eyes shot open wide as a revelation of remembrance stormed her mind.

3 Years Prior
​

"Mother!?" Evie screamed, the hysterical crowd stampeding past her. "Mother, where are you!?" She fought against the tide of people as best she could before she was knocked to the floor by a fleeing man. As her head hit the floor, it all went black. She regained consciousness sometime later, unsure of how long she had actually being laid there. The crowd was gone, however. All that remained was the thick smell of smoke, death and the rattling of distant gunfire. Liverpool was falling.

"You there! Oi, you alright, love?" a voice asked concernedly. Evie turned to face the man, dazed. As she focused, the man was revealed to be an army soldier - his BDU's torn and stained with blood. Pulling a small medical torch from his plate carrier, he checked her pupils, whether to see if she was concussed or infected she wasn't sure.

"I... I need to find my mother," she managed to answer. A grim look crossed his face, a look of sheer remorse.

"Look, love, if you're looking on heading out westward, Birkenhead Park is a no-go zone."

"But I need to find her!"

"Fine, look. I got split up from my unit. They might be around here somewhere. We'll head to Birkenhead Park together but you need to stick close. Okay?" the soldier asked. Evie nodded in understanding, happy with the answer. In truth, the prospect of facing the dead didn't scare her. She just needed to know her mother was safe and get her back. "I'm Doyle. Lcpl.Jack Doyle, 1YORKS, last section of the White Rose," he spoke, introducing himself as he helped her to her feet.

"I'm Evie..."

"Well then Evie, I'm not supposed to do this but you should take this." As he spoke, he handed her a G17 handgun, a severe look in his eyes. "Just point and shoot. Only use it if you absolutely have to. Let's go..."
​

Present Day
​

Leaping from the bed, her eyes red raw from the tears, Evie rushed out of the bunker. A look of remorseful determination on her face, she headed straight for the dugout that Maddie had shown her previously. The perfect way to sneak out of camp. She wasn't quite sure where she was going. She just needed to search for her mother. All logical cognitive processes were gone from her mind. Delirious from her illness and the shock of unlocking a repressed memory, she wandered... no supplies, no weapons... just wandering towards central Redville. She only had one goal. One purpose... To find what she had lost.​

 

[hero.ic]

MADELEINE CYRIL
Maddie blinked a few times, trying to take in that this was truly happening to her. A silence came between the two for a brief moment before she smiled. "That's awfully sweet of you. I wouldn't mind doing something different for a change." She chuckled to cover her nervous smile. This wasn't the first time she was asked on a 'date' of sorts and she certainly never felt nervous about the subject. After not living as normal humans should for so long this made her feel some type of way, as if this was different and new compared to things she had done. This feeling of euphoria was something she thought was long forgotten.
@Thomas McTavish​