Welcome To New Haven

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The early Fall sun poked its head out from the horizon, illuminating the small city that was formally known as Redville. The large town was absolutely silent. Not but the leaves fluttering down from the trees could be seen. This was how mornings were in the small city. Peaceful, serene, and abandoned. It wasn't until a few hours after sunrise that its inhabitants would begin to rise, reborn in their new rotting visage. They would crawl out from inside buildings, and from under the many abandoned cars littering the main roads, tempted out by the heat of the sun.

These creatures were no longer the people who once lived in this proud little city, and the city was no longer Redville. Welcome to New Haven.
 
Evie Appleby

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Securing her harness around her body, Evie prepared to set out for a day of scavenging. It was easier to move in the daytime. While there remained the fact that the creatures were out in force on the streets, it allowed Evie to enter the buildings with less risk. Tight spaces like interiors were deadly if more than a couple of infected were encountered. Better to enter when they were congregate outside. Her head dropped at the thought, memories striking at her conscience. It was a brutality of this new world, that lessons were taught in blood and death. The fact was true enough for Evie. It took losing a companion to teach her that lesson.

"Sorry, Lily," she muttered to herself in a wistful tone. Feeling her bowstring dig into her shoulder, she snapped back to the moment at hand. She finished packing, making sure she had her blanket, and slung her quiver over her back. Kissing her pendant once, she moved over towards the door of the safehouse and readied herself to leave. The dismal thoughts in her head turned to thoughts of the excursion ahead. Clothes, she thought to herself, I need some new clothes. There was an old clothing store near the high street, quite secluded from the reaches of the infected if entered correctly. Which brought her to her next item: the DIY store. While the majority of the supplies there had been looted there was still some things laying around that could be used to make traps. Traps weren't exactly Evie's forte but it never hurt to have too many supplies in a world of the dead. "I'm off out!" she called, alerting the others in the group, "Does anybody want anything from town?"
 
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Ryan ran as fast as he could up the side of the hill his newly acquired house was on. He had made a morning sprint for the water well and snagged himself a solid gallon and a half before the undead awoke. The door was the only thing not barricaded. Once inside he put a bar on it and put the water with his meager stash.

The house was a two story and sat on a hill that overlooked most of the town. The first floor was nearly empty as all the furniture was repurposed to block the windows and doors. The second floor had 3 rooms. The first was empty. The second two were filled with his supplies and a large amount of paper and books. His "study" was the most important thing to him. The world would one day recover, and preservation of old world knowledge would be crucial when that happened. But right now, he was running out cloth. The clothes store would be the obvious place to hit up, but he would need to wait until after the infected took to wandering the streets rather than the buildings. It was probably best to wait until noon for that. Until then he watched the main road to town from a window. Hopefully, no survivors would wander into town.
 
MADELEINE CYRIL
Madeleine had been out and about from since daylight broke out, ensuring that the perimeter was of no significant danger and that the group was safe. A person could never be too careful nowadays. With the world the way it was keeping an eye open for loop holes that the monsters could crawl through was the only way to survive. Once she finished her rounds she returned to her room where she kept her extra supplies. On the way there she heard one of her members yell about going out. Must be making a run into town. She picked up her sac along with some spare ammo, in case she would need it, and headed out towards the gate.

"Hey! Evie! Mind if I come with? You shouldn't go out alone and you know that." She readjusted her sword so that it was easier to reach. "Besides I need to grab some things anyways." Madeleine wasn't the type to take no for an answer so even if Evie had rejected her help, she would still go with her anyways. It was just common courtesy to ask.

NIKOLAI ROMANOVA
Still fast asleep in his bed like a baby for a good while, Nikolai dreamed of happier times. When his family was still with him. When things were like they are now. He soon woke up from it turning into a nightmare as the morning sun hit his face. He got up out of bed and threw on a shirt that he left on the floor. Another day in hell. He sighed before picking up his gun and walking outside. First priority was breakfast.​
 
LYNNE JOHNSON, 28

Lynne cocked her gun, before walking through the building towards the main lobby. She didn't want to spend too much of her time thinking, and she felt as if she needed to shoot something or someone. But instead, she holstered her gun and took a seat on a chair. She could see Bexley sitting in the other corner of the room, but decided to say nothing to the young girl. She looked traumatised, as one might expect from someone so young having to grow up in a ruined world overrun by the infected. As she leaned forwards to tighten the laces on her boots, she noticed Evie entering the room and heading over towards the exit of the safehouse. She was about to suggest that she should accompany her, but another girl entered the room, armed with a sword in her hand. It was Madeleine.

Lynne stood up once she had finished tying her shoelaces and smiled at Evie. "I'm fine, but take care."

BEXLEY JOHNSON, 14

Bexley stared blankly into the wall, her eyes were close to watering, as she sat with her hands wrapped around her legs. It was almost as if she was waiting for something to come for her - death, perhaps. Just as she felt a tear fall from her eye, she noticed people entering the room, and quickly wiped her tear away with her sleeve and got up to her feet. She heard Evie, Madeleine and Lynne speak, before lifting up her backpack and putting on. Madeleine had asked Evie whether she could come with her, but Bexley walked towards them and then straight past Evie and out of the exit.

"I'm coming," she sniffed, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder. "Don't wait up."
 
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Eve-
"No, don't go. Momma. Please!" She cried.
A small girl could be seen hovering over her mother's body, tears falling from her eyes onto her mother's cold skin. The girl had sadness in her eyes, as well as the tears that flowed freely. Sobs racked her body, and her arms were wrapped around her now-late mother. Small gasps escaped her mother's body, and the woman would open and close her jaw. The girl would cry harder, and move away from her mother's head. Her mother would slowly raise her arm, reaching out for the teary-eyed blonde. The girl would push it away. The soft clatter of an object could be heard when the girl picked up the kitchen knife, slowly bringing it up. Her mother, or what was left of her, would watch with clouded eyes as the girl brought it up to her forehead. Her mother looked directly upwards when she rested the tip of the blade on her mother's forehead. The girl brought the knife down, driving it through her mother's skull. There was a squish noise, and the girl would cringe, closing her eyes for a moment before breaking into cries again, laying by her mother's corpse.
Geo would be woken up by Eve. The man sat next to the crying girl, and put his arms around her. "It's okay. It was just a dream." He whispered, rocking her gently. She sobbed into his chest, her teddy bear curled up in her left arm, her other gripping him like her life depended on it.

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George-
Geo was woken by sobbing, and sat up slowly. He looked around, noticing that Beth was absent. Sometimes Beth did that. She'd be there the whole day, fixing up people who were injured or reading one of her books, or making food for the three. But come nightfall, she'd disappear like a ghost on a windy night. One time, about a week after they had joined up together, he had woken and she'd been gone. To say the least, he had freaked. He had armed himself with his ivory-coloured knife, leaving the comfort of the ambulance and setting off to find the girl. They had parked a little while away from the woods, so immediately he had thought she'd followed a sound, or had left the ambulance for something to go scampering off into the dark. He spent hours searching for her, eventually giving up, thinking she'd become just like the others that walked in the night. He went back to the ambulance, mourning his last friend and eventually falling asleep. But in the morning, she was there. He woke up to her painting her toes, humming a soft tune. He told her, he thought she had died. She apologized. He asked where she went. She didn't reply.
After a while he got used to it, expecting that in the night she'd disappear to wherever she went. She always came back, though. After a few weeks he stopped asking where she went to, and just accepted that she needed her space.
His attention came back to the girl in his arms. Her sobs had quieted down, and she was leaning against him, her eyes closed. He waited there a few minutes before leaning down and kissing the top of her head, gently putting her back in her bed and pulling the blankets over her. Then he tucked himself in and went back to sleep.

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Beth-
Flashback/Beginning:
Beth sighed, taking off her reading glasses and putting them on her desk. She was working at a university part-time until she got her feet back on the ground. The hospital in which she worked had just been declared unfit to serve, because of some pesky inspector wanting things the hospital wouldn't give. The hospital would be out for two months while fixing these 'problems', and its employees, and its patients would be out of commission until it was fixed. She was working on a lecture to give to undergrad students. She was frustrated after working a full night shift, trying to write up something that was at least legible so others could actually learn from it. Writing was not her strong suit. Neither was speaking in front of a crowd. She ran her hands through her hair, yanking on it a bit. She felt like she was back in high school, writing essays for teachers who didn't appreciate that she was probably smarter than the whole school combined. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but she was, in fact, smarter than the snobs who worked there. She had hated her teachers, because they were always trying to undermine the students as much as they could. Probably years of working in the same stuffy classroom with the same stuffy teenagers had pushed them over the edge. Whatever the reason, they made it clear she knew how much they hated her. She didn't exactly make it easy on them, either. When they were teaching the class something, she'd butt in every now and then explaining why that theory was wrong or that principle didn't apply. She was only fifteen and she was already a junior. I guess that's what they hated most. They knew she was ahead. They knew she'd go on to higher levels of learning and better jobs while they'd be stuck there. She snapped out of her reverie and groaned, pushing away from her desk. She'd get it done tomorrow. Right now, she needed to go home and take a nice, long bubble bath. Maybe with lavender. That always calmed her down. She picked up her purse and distributed her reading glasses inside. She walked into the hall and saw the other members of faculty huddled around the TV. Some news show was on, a pretty brunette sitting at the desk with papers in her hand. "Oh!" She walked up behind them. "Don't watch that. It'll only rot your brain." Her nose scrunched up. She sounded like her mother. "El, come here." One of them motioned over to her, and with a sigh she walked to where she could get a clear view of the screen, that currently all twenty-six members of the third floor were watching so intently. The screen cut to a man, a microphone in his hand. "Reports are coming in about a group of mad citizens turning on each other." Beth would frown. Turning on each other? 'This wasn't another domestic disturbance, right?' She asked herself. Her question was soon answered. "Witnesses say that the affected were turning on each other, and biting them." The man looked into the camera like he was about to tell the world's biggest secret. "And it's spreading." By now Beth was convinced this was just another big media scare. Safe to say, she wasn't exactly confident in her country's choice of interesting news. But for a few seconds, she kept watching. The man straightened up, the wind blowing around his hair. His gaze cut to something right over the cameraman's shoulder. He backed up, his face contorting a bit in confusion. "What is-" His eyes widened, backing up. He let out a shriek, and the camera turned to show a somebody running towards them. The person's face was deviant, intended for the two in the middle of the street. It ran straight for the man with the camera, and the camera was dropped when the man pounced. The camera fell, its image cracking up a bit before becoming clear again. It showed the news reporter running, and several more people tackling the man, one biting into his neck. He screamed out, and the group around her gasped as the footage continued to watch the man be devoured by the hungry beings. Then something went after the camera, the feed going dark. The crowd that was grouped around the TV backed up a bit, whispers spreading throughout them. Someone switched the channel, and there was a static on that too. They flipped it again, and an image came across. A person huddled in an office with a camera. "If you're seeing this, then you already know what's happening. They're everywhere. They killed my coworkers.." A few tears fell from her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away. "A secretary. She was the first one in here. She came in during a news broadcast and started attacking people. She bit them, and-" She stopped, closing her eyes for a few seconds and shaking her head slightly. "Then they changed too. I don't know how it happens, but it's like a virus. One bites another one, and they turn into something else. Something bad." She stopped talking, and the sounds of screams could be heard from her position. "If you find one, or rather if one finds you, run. Get away. Go somewhere, arm yourself. Because they will find you. And they will kill you. My name is Marai Kellis. Remember me." She raised a gun to her forehead, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger. The camera dropped and laid on the floor, and only then could Beth see the badge on the woman's shirt. Then growls filled the room of her office, drawn to the sound of the gunshot. They found her body, and dug in.
Beth shaded her eyes, cringing and grabbing the remote, shutting off the TV. "No, No. This isn't happening." She said, putting her fingers on the bridge of her nose. "It's all a scare. Some stupid April fools joke." But it wasn't April, and it wasn't a joke. Then, noises came from the end of the office hallway. Scratching, tapping. Little scuff noises. Then a face emerged. And then two. And three. Two out of the three had blood running down their faces and on their hands, streaks on their clothes. Then she saw the third. The third's stomach was cut wide open, blood running and intestinal organs falling out with every step she made. Beth's eyes widened. No human could survive that. Certainly not survive that and keep moving the way the woman did. Her coworkers broke out into screams, and the things down the hall broke into attack mode. Beth was among one of the screamers. Well, not initially, but when the first started attacking others, she made a beeline for the closest door she could find. Locked. Locked. Locked! She turned to look behind and saw the woman advancing, some of her organs spilling out and tripping her. She fell, and Beth ran. She ran, coming up on a dead end. The woman had gotten back up, and had started walking closer to Beth. This time, she wasn't running. She was walking. Slowly advancing. Like it was a game. Like she was the cat and Beth was the mouse. And we all know who wins there.
Screams emerged from the rest of the building, and the woman turned her head to look back, her attention captured for a minute. Beth took that as a sign to run up to the nearest door and jiggle the doorknob. And to her luck, it opened. She ran inside and closed the door, locking it. The woman turned back and grunted. Beth could imagine that if this was a book, the woman would be saying something like, 'Where did my prey go?' But this wasn't a book. And it sure as hell wasn't funny. Beth turned around, looking around the room. She saw a chair and grabbed it, putting it underneath the doorknob. The jingling of the knob alerted the woman's attention and she ran up, well, not up, but right at it. A large thump could be heard, and Beth backed away. It seemed to be a small supply room. She searched through the cabinets, looking for something, anything, to arm herself. Just like the woman said. 'Yeah, just before she died.' A voice inside her head told her. She pushed it away. "Now is not the time to be going crazy, alright?" She asked herself, sort of rhetorically. She found a scalpel, and sighed in relief. Although she didn't know what she could do with it. It wasn't like physical injuries stopped them. Except for tripping them. What even were they? Certainly not human. At least she didn't think so. Thump. Beth stared at the door, a few moments passing by. Thump. She held her scalpel out in front of her. Thump. Thump. Thump. THUMP. The knocks got more frequent, to the point where she knew that there were more than one. She turned back to the cabinets and started rushing through them. A scalpel wouldn't help. Certainly not with more than one. She saw tongue depressors, boxes of gloves, even a bandage box or two. She looked in the bottom cabinets and found a large duffle bag. She picked it up. Okay, maybe not what she was expecting. But maybe it could help. If she got out alive. She pulled out a drawer and found needles. She put a large box of them in the bag, throwing whatever seemed useful from the drawers in. She looked around and rushed over to a small refrigerator. She opened it, smiling at what was inside. Medicine, pain relievers and more. She dumped it into the bag, rooting through a few more shelves. She found antibiotics and pills, to which she put as much as she could in the bag. She didn't even know why she was taking these things, just that impending doom was nearby and hoarding was satisfying her OCD. She added random stuff, anything that seemed useful. Medical kits. Useful. Respirators, useful. Standard condoms? Not useful. She, after finding that the bag was heavy by now, put the bag down. Now that her OCD was satisfied, she looked around trying to find an exit. If she didn't, she would just shoot herself up with whatever was in one of the vials she threw in her bag and let herself choke on her own vomit. That was a better choice than being one of them. 'No, no,' she told herself. 'You are not going to die.' She sat back, looking around the small room. She checked the closets, small windows, heck she even checked for loose paneling in the walls. But to no avail. Then she spotted it. A small, grated vent. A vent big enough to fit her and the bag. She grinned, getting up on the counter. She used the scalpel to take off the screws and pulled herself up into the vent. She started crawling, and moments after she got a small distance away from the hole she heard a crash, following multiple groans coming from the small room.
The streets were chaos. People were running, screaming, children crying, some were praying to their gods. She hoisted the bag over her shoulder and started running. The first thing she found was an abandoned ambulance, the keys still in the ignition. She checked to make sure that there were no 'surprises' inside before she got in and started it up, rushing past the groups of things that defied all laws of nature.
She got home after a few minutes of panic-driving, rushing into her home and taking comfort in the solitude for once. One thing was evident. She needed a weapon. And she knew exactly where to get it. When she was ten, her grandfather bought her a sniper rifle. "Woah," Her parents had said. "Dad, she's only ten. She could blow her foot off with this." Her grandfather chuckled. "There's no ammunition in there. Plus, I'll teach her how to use it. She can already use a huntin' rifle, and she's a pretty darn good shot too." After promising not to let her kill someone, her parents calmed down and left young Beth alone with her grandfather. "When I was around nineteen, I enlisted in the war. They taught me a lot, including how to use a sniper rifle much like this one. One day, there's going to be a war. A worldwide war. And I want you to be ready." All through her childhood he taught her about weapons and the importance of using one only in the direst of times. And now, the time had finally come. She went to her bedroom and pulled the large navy box out from underneath her bed, opening the case and taking a glimpse at the large gun. There were several clips as well as multiple boxes of ammunition. She picked up the box, grabbing clothes and other items as well as food and personal things. She needed to get out of the city. She loaded the things in the ambulance, making her way downtown. Walking fast, Faces pass, and I'm homebound.

Beth took a deep breath, getting up from her position on a fallen tree and walking past the trees that seemed to go on forever. Thirteen. Thirteen of them and not one resembled her sister in the slightest. She guessed that was a good thing, maybe that meant her sister was still alive. Maybe it meant she wasn't one of them. Or maybe it meant that she had left long before Beth got there. The worst part was, she didn't know what it meant. She just hoped that her sister was alive and kicking. She really hoped that. As she made her way back to the ambulance and slipped inside, she took a moment to look over her two companions in the back. Eve was curled up with her teddy bear, gripping onto him. 'She must've had a bad dream', Beth thought to herself. She opened her backpack and pulled out a squirrel, taking out her knife and starting to skin it. Her nightly quests had taken on a new activity; hunting. Even though they had canned food, it was unlikely that they would have it forever. Hunting frequently and making jerkey out of the things she caught helped to keep their small stock of canned food up. If anything, they could trade food and water for supplies or other things. She cut the hide into little pieces, each with a piece of fur attached. She would dry these out and use them for fishing lures. She discarded the rest of the squirrel pieces, and set the meat in a small pan. She took out one of the empty cans and placed it down, stuffing some wood and dry grass in it. After she had an adequate amount of fodder and kindling packed in the can, she took out her nail polish. She opened it up and dripped a few drops onto the kindling, closing it back up after the coral colour seeped through. She took it out near the ambulance, putting it on the road. Then she added some magnesium to it, and a few sparks. It lit quickly, singing the tips of her hair. She cursed under her breath at the singe, stabbing a stick through the middle of the squirrel meat. She placed the stick across the top of the makeshift fire, watching as the meat burned a little bit. She turned it every few minutes, resting her chin on her hand.
 
Sean was patrolling the perimeter along with Madeline. For the group, and for himself. While it was important they keep a watch on the fences and make sure no fleshbiters manage to sneak in, Sean himself had wanted to keep an eye on the girl. She absolutely refused to sleep unless she was cuddled up with someone, and Sean once begrudgingly agreed to be that someone. It had been a while since then, and the two were growing closer because of it, leaving the man more protective of her.

"You girls pick me up some sticks and stones then, yeah? Dowel rods, broom handles, and bits of metal that could be made into spear or arrowheads. Your quiver's looking low, and I'm running out of pointy things and sticks to put them on. And try not to bring back too many 'friends' this time, eh? The last horde that charged damn near ran me dry o' shells. And don't die, either." Joked Sean. The resident Celtic-blooded asshole had taken up a hobby of turning scraps of metal and wood into knives, spears, and arrows for Evie. With the mass communication power of the internet gone, books in short supply, and things to do in high demand, weapon making had become enjoyable and useful busywork for Sean.
 
Evie Appleby

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"Hey! Evie! Mind if I come with? You shouldn't go out alone and you know that. Besides, I need to grab somethings anyways." Evie craned at her hips to look to Madeleine who bore a look that she wouldn't be deterred. A small smile flashed across Evie's face as she gave a small nod in response. Maybe Madeleine could help her choose some clothes to wear. Evie's style was a lot more... vintage... than her friend's but still the company would be nice.

"You girls pick me up some sticks and stones then, yeah? Dowel rods, broom handles, and bits of metal that could be made into spear or arrowheads. Your quiver's looking low, and I'm running out of pointy things and sticks to put them on. And try not to bring back too many 'friends' this time, eh? The last horde that charged damn near ran me dry o' shells. And don't die, either." Sean's voice was the type of voice that carried so when his long list of topics was read aloud to the girls, Evie fully turned to face him, pressing her back gently against wall next to the door. A smirk grew on Evie's lips at the death comment however she couldn't help but frown at the comment about the horde. How was she to know that she had been followed the last time? Still, it was a problem in the past that was dealt with. Before Evie could comment, Bexley had risen to her feet and declared that she was coming, throwing her bag over her shoulder and exiting. Smiling back warmly to Lynne, she nodded her head understandingly.

"I'll look after her," she spoke softly, hoping to allay any worries Lynne may have had about Bexley. She knew Lynne was the maternal type, so the three of them leaving was bound to cause her some level of distress. "I'll try find what you're looking for at the DIY store, Sean. I'm sure Bexley wouldn't mind carrying them back for you." She pushed herself from the wall and exited through the door, saying a sunny farewell as she stepped out into the early autumn breeze. "Ready to go?" Evie asked, looking to her two companions. Her first priority was getting some new clothes for the winter. The clothing store was quite large, almost department-like in nature. Strange for a small town. However, the size of the building lent itself well to their goals. It was a very easy building to approach from the back without being seen by any infected and, better yet, the old alarm system was a complete dud, so entry was a walk in the park. Evie gave a strong tug on her harness, ensuring it was properly secured, as she awaited confirmation from her friends.
 
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As Bexley bolted to the door, Lynne's eyes widened slightly. The idea of a fourteen year old girl heading out alone into a world filled with infected creatures at every turn disturbed her, and she was about to stand up and follow the girl but Evie spoke. Lynne eased into half a smile. She knew that of all the people in the safehouse, she trusted Evie the most. She seemed to be the most responsible and mature of the lot. Reassured, Lynne headed over towards Sean, and pulled one of the chairs against to the wall so that it was closer to him. "I don't like this one bit," she said quietly, sitting on the chair. Bexley stopped walking almost fifty feet away from the entrance, turning around to see whether Madeleine and Evie had followed her yet.
 
Eve
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A little while later the group of three had eaten, and was currently lounging around the Ambulance. Upon hearing that there were some people going out, Eve's eyes lit up with excitement. She clambered out of the vehicle and ran to the entrance of the camp. She ran up to Evie, tugging on her shirt. "Can I go? Please, Miss Evie?" She grinned, almost jumping in joy. There was little to do around the camp for a ten year old, even the books that Beth had loaned to Eve had only been satisfying for a few hours. She was dying to do anything. Anything that included being outside of those walls. Besides, when you were bored you thought. And Eve didn't like thinking about the things around today.

Beth
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When Beth saw Eve get up and run, she put her plate aside and followed the young girl. Beth knew that Eve was bored of staying inside all the time, staying safe, but if that's what it meant to protect her then that's what Beth would do. When Beth reached the group heading out, she noticed Eve tugging on Evie's shirt. She walked up to them both. "Eve.. You know it's dangerous out there." Beth said, her voice soft but concerned. "I'll be okay, I promise!" Piped Eve. Beth sighed, taking two fingers and resting them on the bridge of her nose-- Something she tended to do a lot. After taking a few deep breaths Beth looked up to Evie. The girl hadn't even said yes yet. "It's up to Evie, really. If you'll be okay I believe you but she's the one you have to ask." This made Eve grin. "Miss Evie? Please? Please can I go with you?"

@innocent devil @VengefulPeanut @derelict_lilyflower
 
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"I don't like this one bit," said Lynne as she pulled a chair up next to Sean, who had moved inside and sat near a window. Both of them had a fear that one of the trio would be lost on the expedition, both of them with a different person in mind. But, it was necessary. Sean himself had wanted to go out, but someone needed to stay behind and protect the fort they had made. Even if it was just an old building they fenced and barricaded, it was home now.

"Let her go, Lynne. The little bird'll be fine. Besides, she needs to be exposed to what's really out there more, if you ever expect her to come to terms with the new reality. She'll be growing up in this new world, she may as well get a chance to get used to it. We'll all have to..." Sean said, trailing off as he stared at the rest of town in the distance. It wasn't a very large town, nor very populated. But the group was still vastly outnumbered. If they were going to clear the town and reclaim it, it would take time and resilience, things that were in short supply these days.
 
MADELEINE CYRIL
Sean gave his list of what he wanted and everyone else had said their goodbyes so their little group started to head out before a little girl approached them. "You should stay here. You're much too little to go out there and get hurt. How about I bring you back something super cool okay? But you have to stay and take care of everyone." She flashed a wide grin and patted the girl on the head then gave a small wave to Sean before leaving. Maddie walked close to Evie so that the two wouldn't get separated. Bexley was still young and, unfortunately, strong headed. That could get them killed if she wasn't too careful around her. "Everything looks clear in the area. We'll do a sweep floor by floor then grab whatever else we can. Sound good?" She strolled up to the entrance, sword in hand, and knocked on the window a few times. It normally took a few moments before the biters would come, which they did. "Remember to keep it quiet." She spoke, mostly towards Bexley, as she pried the door open. Old as it was, the door opened without making too much noise. The infected almost instantly ran out but with a slash of her sword the infected dropped to the floor and its head rolled.

Entering the old building was easy enough but what was inside the building was the problem. The building could still have some infected roaming around so being cautious was an understatement. "Evie what do you need from here anyways?" This was a clothing store but it carried some other miscellaneous wares as well.​
 
Evie Appleby

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Evie smiled warmly as Eve requested to come and at Madeleine's reply.

"Maddie's right, Eve. I need you to make sure Sean doesn't get himself into too much trouble. Think you can do that?" Evie added affectionately. "Like Maddie says, we'll try and bring you back something really cool!" Evie pressed the creases from her shirt before motioning to head out. "Anyway, we need to be going. We'll see you later, princess."

The journey into the town wasn't a particularly long one, nor was it too dangerous. As per usual, the group met little no resistance on their way in. However, the closer they got to the centre of the town, the more frequent sightings of the infected became. While they were terrifying creatures, things of nightmares, the infected were largely docile if one knew how to evade them correctly. A minimalist approach to everything was key: noise discipline, movement discipline and such. As the three girls moved, Evie paid careful attention to Bexley. She was her responsibility as far as Evie was concerned and making sure she could survive properly in the new world was a priority. Evie would occasionally smile to the girl, silently asking if she was okay with nought but her eyes.

Stacking up at the rear entrance of the clothing store, Madeleine dispatched an infected male that bolted from the building. Evie watched the body slam into the ground, tilting her head curiously and kneeling beside it momentarily. "Odd..." she muttered, "I thought the infected would have congregated outside to look for food." Evie pushed herself back to a standing position with a small groan of effort, slinging her bow from her back and into her grasp. "Let's hope this one was just a lone-ranger." Following Madeleine inside the building, the girls found themselves in the staff area. It wasn't a large portion of the shop, a few toilets, a staff room and a manager's office comprised it whole. The walls were decorated by old blood stains and claw marks from the initial outbreak and the lack of windows gave it a dingy, musty feel. Pushing inside, Evie opened the door to the main shop floor slightly ajar and scanned the room with her eyes. It seemed entirely still, a complete lack of movement. She gently rapped her fingers against the door to provoke any infected within yet still the silence remained. She looked back to Madeleine and Bexley with a relieved smile. "It seems clear. That one must have been a straggler."

"Evie what do you need from here anyways?" Madeleine questioned from behind.

"At the risk of sounding like a Stark, winter is coming," Evie answered, a proud look on her face for managing to fit in the reference. "I need some new clothes. Hopefully, they'll still have some here. The place doesn't look too sparse or looted." She adjusted her shirt slightly, releasing it from catching on her harness. "I think a woolly cardigan would go down nicely, preferably beige. If I find a onesie to snuggle up in then that will be a lovely bonus." Evie's blissful tone suggested a naive idleness but that wasn't the case. In her time surviving, she had learned to take what pleasures she could in the little things. It was nice to pretend that the rules of the world before still applied, that she could still go shopping for winter clothes with friends, that she could still look forward to reading the next book in a series - that sort of thing. For Evie, acting as if the trip was solely for vanity was an enjoyable escape from the harsh realities of contemporary practicality.​
 
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Robert rose with the sun. He pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and wiped the morning dew from his things. He sat on the edge of the roof of the building he had made camp on and watched in silence as the dead city began to reanimate. He watched the infected climb out of their hiding places and begin to roam the streets looking for their meals. He watched on disinterested until he saw something unusual. Three forms weaving themselves around the buildings and through alleyways. Too much purpose in their direction, and they were carrying things. Robert knew what these creatures were. People.
 
Eve frowned, her small features pulling together in distaste. But when Madeleine mentioned gifts, well that was a totally different circumstance. The ten-year old grinned in excitement, nodding her head rapidly. "Okay!" She replied, looking back at Sean for a moment before looking to Evie. "Be careful, okay?" She asked the blue-eyed redhead. Well, technically, the other blue-eyed redhead. Beth's hand rested on Eve's back as they walked back towards their section of camp. The girl took off running towards Sean when they got a little ways away. "You don't get in trouble, do you?" The blonde peered up at the man, tilting her small head. The girl may have seemed a little kid, but the truth of it was she had grown far too much in the short time this.. thing had happened. She was perfectly happy living in her little world of denial, and that's what she'd do. She had seen what those things could do. Tore her family apart right in front of her eyes. She was the one who had put her mother down, too. She might've seemed like a little kid, but honestly, her innocence had gone out the door the minute those things had came in. So for now, she was happy pretending the world still turned and people didn't eat each other and those things weren't alive. Until the moment they were.
 
Sean watched the group leave, barely hearing something about Eve keeping him out of trouble. Quickly, the bright-eyed little girl ran up to him and asked a simple question. "You don't get in trouble, do you?" she queried, a look halfway between genuine concern for his well being and childish apathy twinkling in her eye.

"Well," came the reply, "I do some things that aren't good for me. But I only get in trouble sometimes." he said, doing one of those "bad things" right that second, placing a cigarette between his lips and taking a drag as he lit it up. He'd set up a trade agreement with Beth where she'd give him cigarettes and he'd spar with her. "You better keep a close eye me, just to be safe." he said with a smile and a wink.
 
MADELEINE CYRIL
Like she said, winter was approaching and the camp wasn't exactly ready to embrace the cold. "Makes sense to me. Maybe I could get a nice pullover or something because uh, this isn't working for me." She said pointing to her crop top with a small giggle. Maddie would surely freeze to death if she didn't get something to cover herself with. "We could also do with getting more blankets or sheets. Something to insulate the windows you know?" Her words fell softly from her lips so not to cause any excess noise. The room was dead silent with the exception of the three girls roaming around. If there were to be a biter wandering around, any of them would hear it in an instant. Those things make more noise than a bad traffic jam.

"Let's not forget that we have to go find some materials for Sean. He'll get cranky if we come back without them." She proceeded to the racks towards the front of the store. Most times stores put their more 'favorable' wares towards the front window so that was a good place to start browsing in her mind. No.. No.. No.. No. The styles just weren't what she had in mind. Something like this was more towards Evie's style rather than her own, although she did happen to find a pair of red skinny jeans in her size. "Too tacky?" She jested as she held up the jeans for them to behold it. The jeans were a bit too vibrant for her taste but she had taken a liking to them anyways.​
 
Bexley scowled when Maddie made her comment to keep quiet, her eyes fixed on Bexley at the time. She was fourteen, not ten. She wasn't as young as Eve and, although she had no knowledge of what Eve had got up to before she came to New Haven, she knew she could handle herself. After all, she found New Haven by herself, and she had no intentions of giving up on everything she had done just to get here by making too much noise and disturbing the infected. But instead of making a snide remark in retaliation, Bexley allowed Maddie's comment to pass her by.

Almost just as Maddie made that comment, she pried the door open and an infected came charging out. Although she quickly dispatched it, Bexley couldn't help but to think about the irony of the situation. She kept her frown on her face until Evie made a Game of Thrones jokes, causing her to offer a brief smile. She then made her way to a rack of coats, pulling a thick black leather jacket off of the racks, as well as a longer trench coat too.

"This is for me," she said, as she eyed the leather jacket, before turning to the trench coat. "This is for Lynne, she might like this. Do you think Sean or Eve might want something too?
 
Evie Appleby

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"Makes sense to me. Maybe I could get a nice pullover or something because uh, this isn't working for me." Evie smiled at Maddie's comment, a small, suppressed giggle falling from her lips. "We could also do with getting more blankets or sheets. Something to insulate the windows you know?" Her smile dissipated to give way to a thoughtful expression at that comment. It was a strong point well made. Insulating the camp would be a priority. Evie nodded resolutely.

"We'll try keep an eye out," she responded. As the girls entered the room, they seemed to fracture formation-wise, each of them perusing the clothes that still hung from the racks. Evie followed closely with Maddie to the front of the shop, a couple of items catching her eye. She was about to grasp at a jumper when Maddie's voice warranted her to spin on her heel.

"Too tacky?" the girl asked, presenting a pair red skinny jeans. A juvenile grin crept onto Evie's face as she eyed the clothing item up and down.

"I think vibrant is the word I'd use. We'll see you from a mile away in those..." she chuckled before cocking her head to the side. "Still, though, they have a certain charm." Bexley was the next to ask for fashion advice, though not for herself. That was very typical of Bexley. She knew what she wanted and even if she didn't she'd be damned before anybody could talk down to her - or at least that was Evie's take on the young girl. "I think Sean would blow a fuse if we tried to dress him. I am tempted to find a cute little sweater for Eve, though." Evie wandered through the aisles, collecting a wine red cardigan that she had taken a fancy to as she went. It was nice to let her guard down for a moment, even while the feeling that they were being watched remained at the back of her mind. That was when she saw it. "Bexley!" Evie called over to the girl, her voice still hushed somewhat but loud enough to attract the girl's attention. "I think I've found the perfect gift for Sean. How much is he going to hate us if we bring him this back?" she asked mischievously, pointing to the Christmas sweater that hung from the rack before her, the grin of an evil Cheshire cat resting playfully on her lips.

@derelict_lilyflower @innocent devil



 
Eve nodded. "I can do that." Eve smiled, watching him bring up a cigarette and light it. "Those are bad for you." She scrunched up her nose, looking over to where Beth was situated, taking apart her gun and cleaning it. She pointed towards Beth, her head half-cocked at the man, much like a young puppy would when trying to make sense of something. "Did she make those?" Eve would ask, her gaze drifting to Beth, who had looked up from the pieces in her hand. Beth had become like a mother to her, feeding her and surprising Eve with small little things that would make the younger girl's day. Eve didn't know why Beth had taken a liking to her, just that she had. And just that Eve had trusted Beth since the moment she found her. Moving over to sit next to Sean, she looked up at him once again. "So what do you do?" She asked him. She was full of questions today, mostly because, once again, she was bored. And aside from running off into the woods, this was the only thing that put her mind to rest.
@Thomas McTavish
 
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