Skulls walked over to Aylssa. “Killed him… but I didn’t loot his corpse. So I’ll break them off later… for now its time to grab the armory loot and get out of this shit hole.” He said wrapping his right arm around her waist and walking back towards the armory where he left his loot bag yet filled with the contents of the armory.

He leveled his hand cannon with Niko’s head as he stepped out of the armory. “That would belong to us… she opened it and you try to steal and loot civil property from what remains of the police department… put it down and leave your weapon on the floor until we’ve taken what we want boy…”

Instinctively, Niko threw up his hands as if he was criminal caught by an officer. He must have looked stupid guilty since he was looting a police station and the evidence covered his body and protruded through his bag. "Eh...so it was you guys who opened? My bad...I'll just set this right here..."
Niko left his mic on so the others could hear the exchange in case he was in real trouble. The guy was holding a woman in his arms. Although he was intimidated, he didn't feel too much in danger.

Roland was worried by what a little troubled by what he was now hearing from Niko's end of the line. "Hey, Niko. Is someone tying you up? Put 'em on." After a bit longer than he wanted it to take, he finally heard a reply from the other side. "Look," he began. " Both you and us all came here for the same reason. We stand a better chance together and there are more than enough weapons and ammo to go around. We have a locked down mall that you are more than welcome to share with us--which includes food--but if we all want to live through the day, we all need to get out of here right now.. We have a bit of ground to cover, but we can handle anything as a team. I'm not saying you have to obey me, or anyone,. All of us are together out of choice... at the very least, let Niko go, please?"

Roland waited for a response as his words sunk in. He hoped he'd convinced this guy to come with them. An extra gun man was always a good thing now days. And he'd really hate to have gone through all this mayhem to go back empty handed, and actually it would be worse, since they'd spent a lot of ammunition today.

Skulls looked at Niko shrugging at the deal the man on the Radio was spinning. “Fine… I’ll agree to come with you lot and split the guns on two conditions… I get all and any 44. Rounds we find… and when I eventually leave this town if she so chooses you have to look after my friend here. Dead men have no need for company after all… If you agree your boy gets to carry the guns… I have my own bags to carry if were going to the same place.” He cleared his throat calmly. “I just like to warn you though… you betray me… screw me over in any way… and I’ll butcher you pricks like I did the gang here… and every one who tried to kill or con me… their all dead butchered… burned… crucified.”

Alyssa had been quiet long enough and Skulls conditions made her feel that it was time for her to speak up. "You guys don't sound like you were with those other guys." She looked at Niko and concluded that he was too clean to be apart of the rogue group that ran a muck in the already dilapidated police station. "We'll come with you, but like my partner said....you cross us...I'll personally shove a .44 up your ass without a condom and pull the trigger." She made eye contact with Skulls hoping that her display pleased him.

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Moments later Niko jogged out of the building with big guns on straps slapping against his chest and stomach as well as the two new comers at this back. In one morning they'd lost one person of their group and gained four. For a moment Daniel's voice emerged to the forefront of his mind. Would bringing so many personalities in at once result in the destruction of the family they'd been building?

"Fair enough," Roland said calmly. "Two other new comers are across the street in the alley. I'm on the side of the building covering the fire escape so our other two comrades can escape safely. They are still fleeing the horde somewhere upstairs. They haven't checked in but their probably running and fighting for their lives at the moment." The next moment a gun shot was heard. Then another. "Yup," Roland said.

"Roland!" Bishop cut in on the conversation.

"I'm here, Bishop!"

"We're-... almost-... on the roof!"

"Good," Roland trained his pistols up to the roof. "I was just wondering about you guys."

"Be ready," came Alex.

"Roger." Then he spoke to the newcomer and Niko again. " Alright, you and Niko meet us in the alley. We'll regroup their. We'll be coming fast." Roland clicked off his headset's transmitter and turned his head and shouted across the street. "Mina! Mason! Get ready to run!" Then he turned his focus upward. A door was slammed open up above and the horrendous chorus of bestial sounds expelled forth, occasionally perforated by a burst of gunfire. Then he saw them. First Alex, then Bishop. Roland was very slightly relieved to finally see them again, but they were so far from safe. They began to shimmy down as fast as they could. Roland began to systematically pick of any of their pursuers with precision. His pistols calmly popping every other second. When they finally hit the ground, Bishop called out.

"GO!" Bishop and Alex took off and Roland fired a couple for shots before bolting off after them. As they neared came out of the alley and turned onto the street, he yelled to those across the street, "GOOOOOOO!" They also bolted out of the alley, and the ragtag group was sprinting down the street. Bishop snatched Niko's large bag and slung it on his back. The occasional blind fire from those with Stim and guns dropped a degraded hear and there, but the large mass of unreasonably furious beings persisted.

We've got this, Roland thought. We can do this.

"Sven!" Bishop called out beside him, interrupting his thoughts. "We need off the street! Gotta get up!"

Oh, shit. That's right. We have to enter from the room... also... There was of course the horde at their backs that was their first obstacle. "Let's find a building-... across from ours-... that we can-..." Talking and sprinting is difficult.

"Got it!" Bishop knew what he was getting at. They kept running. Bishop and Roland made sure to keep with the others. Bishop only used his adrenaline control to increase his output enough to compensate the weight he was carrying. In fact, Roland, Bishop, and Alex, were keeping just behind the others, just in case.
They ran on for what seemed like forever, but they finally were getting nearer the mall. The street signs indicated as much. However, they needed to get into a building, and fast. They might have to get safe first, and then building hop the rest of the way.

"In here!" Roland called as he point up a head. He kicked it into overdrive via Stim and burst in the front door of an office building and found the stairs. There he stood, flagging everyone into the stair well. Bishop was in the rear, and was pulling what he could around him down into the path so that the degraded would have at least some what of a tougher time. Every second counted. Once he was in, Bishop hefted the large, bulky, heavy bag to Roland, as well as his rifle.

"Go," he bellowed. Roland hesitated with the bag in hand. "GO!" Roland nodded and bolted up the stairs. Bishop held the door closed for as he could. When Roland neared the top, the others safely above, he looked fown.

"BISHOP! THAT'S ENOUGH! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE, NOW!"

"Crazy bastard," Alex called out. Mina and Niko were panting heavily. Mason was sitting on the roof, leaning against the wall of the exit, heaving greatly.

Bishop had stayed more than enough time holding them off. His plan had worked. However, now he desperately needed to get up top. He pushed off the door and scaled the stairs with all he was worth. He couldn't use his stim abilities as much as he would like to, however, since he had used so much in such a short time. He had a damn good lead, though, by the time the degraded even set foot on the first stair.

"COME ON! Roland roared downward. A few moments later he stepped outside. "Mina!" She jerked her head in his direction, startled, scared and exhausted. "I need your pistol, mine are dry." She pulled it from her pocket and handed it too him. "Thanks," Roland muttered as he dashed back inside. He began to fire at those in the lead of the frenzy. As they fell, they would cause others to stumble. Thankfully, he was able to slowly widen the gap that had been closing in on Bishop. The marine was now getting so close to home. He was three quarters of the way up. Roland kept taking his time and making sure he made every shot. Five sixth, now. He shot his last two rounds. Seven eighths. "COME ON, BUDDY! YOU GOT THIS! IT'S ALL YOU!" Nine tenths. Roland was at the door, holding it open, but ready to slam it. Everyone else was safely outside at a very safe distance from the door. Mina was barely supporting the extremely drained Mason Steele. Bishop had been slowing down from understandable strain and exhaustion. The degraded were closing. Bishop, though, was almost there.

Roland was beckoning furiously. Bishop rounded the last bend and bounded his last steps and cleared the door just as the first fiendish face popped up from below. Roland slammed the preemptively locked door behind him. Five seconds later the pounding, scratching, snarling and screaming commenced. Roland. Fell back on his ass and heaved slowly. Bishop didn't come to a full stop until he almost reached the far side of the building. Roland recovered moments later and then scrambled back on his arms with some support of his legs until he was sitting just in front of the others. They all stared at the door. No one said a word until all was quite, which took a very, very long time. By the time the degraded settled down and probably left, the winded runners were finally recovered enough to speak.

"Well," Roland said. He slowly got up, groaning loudly. He legs were dead, as were everyone's. He couldn't even imagine how Bishop felt. Roland looked up as he recalled his friend. He found him laying on the ground at the far end of the building. Roland's eyes widened, but before he could react audibly, he noticed Bishop chest rise slowly. He was still breathing, just unconscious. Roland let out a long sigh of relief. "Well," he started again a moment later. We should get moving again soon. We're so close, and it will be dark in a few hours." They all consolidated around the sleeping marine. He was now the only one hindering their progress.

They all sat around their gear, beside Bishop. They tried waking him, but this was no normal sleep, so they decided to wait for at least an hour. Fortunately, however, Bishop began to rouse by himself. He had broken out into a cold sweat, and so Roland was really starting to worry, but as Bishop groaned softly and slowly slid open his eyelids, Roland's hope renewed. He kneeled over his comrade. "You alright, man," he asked with sincerity.

Bishop was unfocused. It could be seen in his eyes. Roland furrowed his brow. "Bishop?" Alex could see it, too. Bishop's visage gradually grimaced and then burst out into unexplainable rage. "HOLD HIM DOWN!" Alex exclaimed. Roland was already pinning down one arm, as Alex jumped on the other. Bishop tried to flail his way free. The others steered clear of the marine's kicking legs. The three struggled as Roland and Alex tried to bring their delirious companion back to sanity. After several futile moments, Mr. Skulls began to approach them.

Bishop burst free and stood as Mina, Niko and Mason staggered back.

"Hey!" Bishop jerked around to face the unknown assailant. The marine was confronted with a swift, solid slug to the face. Skull's fist collide with Bishop's face, and the man went down. He was motionless, as were the others. Skulls shook out his hand limply, then turned and walked back off to the side with Alice. Moments later, Bishop grunted and winced, his hand slowly finding his face. The hand recoiled and Bishop's eyes shot open.

"Sonuvuh..." Bishop mumbled at the recognition of the warm, red fluid. Roland had unknowingly been holding his breath and he let it out in an exasperated sigh. Then he slowly approached Bishop, and cautiously offered him a hand up. Bishop looked up, one eye closed tight to keep the blood out. He reached up and clasped Roland's and was assisted to his wobbly legs.

"What the hell happened," Bishop mumbled.

"We almost lost you," Alex said rather gravely.

"What?!"

"I'll tell you late," Roland said. Come on. Let's all stagger back home."

And so, the group on the rooftop made their way slowly from roof to roof, getting to their destination in the twilight.

"One more hop, and we're home free," Niko commented. They all groaned their last leap onto the mall, Alex in the lead, Roland in the rear, just behind Bishop. He hadn't taken his eyes off him since the man had freaked out on that office building roof. Now they were finally back at the mall. Roland allowed his mind to slip to the rest he'd finally be getting.
Home, sweet home," Niko announced exhaustively as he crossed the threshold. He lead the way to the security room and everyone dropped off their gear.

"Let's all get some water before we pass out for the week," Roland said. There was some chuckling, but he new they understood. They busted out the bottled water, downed the fluid until the case was empty. Then they all found somewhere comfortable and were out in ten seconds or less. Roland made sure to sleep near Bishop, with a newly loaded pistol in reach... just in case. He hoped with all his being he wouldn't have to use it.

Skulls nodded approvingly of Aylssa. “Getting your spunk back eh? Good…” He hefted his large back of miscellaneous food and medicine over the shoulder Alyssa wasn’t under before following after the group. God this was tiring… running while carrying a person and half a pharmacy was no laughing matter! By the time they had time to rest his throat was so dry and raw he was coughing up blood. “N…never apply… weight lifting…” He stopped as he breathed in as much air as he could before releasing it. “and Cardio…” He took out a bottle of water from his loot bag seeing Alyssa had drained his canteen and downed half of its contents before offering it to Alyssa. “So… think were screwed because of the increased people means the more stim heads we’ll inevitably attract with the enticing buffet?”

Though before she could answer Skulls was rather annoyed by the other’s screaming he stood up walked over to where said shouting was aimed at and nailed the bastard he who was disturbing his rest and probably attracting even more stim heads. With that done he returned to Alyssa… shortly after they made their way roof to roof until they reached the mall. There he put down his bag and Alyssa looking around the office he located a needle along with some thread that was used to sew on the security badges and promptly went to work with the hand cuffs. After five to ten minutes of work the cuffs clicked. “Ok your taken care of… now I need to go look around get some sleep.”

With that he walked the mall until he came across a department store located the house wear and took as many of the water filtering pitchers and filters as he could where he carried them back to the fountain for later use. He would first try the drinking fountains to see if they had a worker able water source. Of course he wouldn’t waste it and ‘adjusted’ the flow with a rubber band so he shot out and into a pitcher he had laid on the ground. “Idiots… always thinking about the now and not the later.”

Alyssa rubbed her wrist, relieved to be free again. Skulls had wandered off somewhere. Probably checking out the mall. Alyssa had been to Water Tower Place so many times in her young life, not one time did she actually think that she'd wind up living there. A teenage girl's dream. Well...minus all the chaos. She wanted to explore the mall herself. Except for some broken glass on the first floor, the place pretty much seemed untouched. She came across a group of the guys who they'd joined, but kept her distance. She was still aware of how she was dressed and didn't want to provoke anyone.

She resolved to go to one of the stores and find some new outfit. One that didn't make her look like Skull's hoe. Before departing from her spot she accidentally made eye contact with one of the guys. She wasn't sure, but she heard the one with the wild hair call him Roland. A strange feeling washed over her. Her nerves seemed to rumble under her skin. She felt tied to this stranger she hadn't even spoken two words to. Finally, Alyssa decided to break the long awkward eye contact by blinking then turning to walk away.

She needed to find some more clothes.

As Roland was conversing with Mason, Mina and Niko, his eyes happened to scan one of the other new arrivals. Alice, was what he'd heard her go by. Apparently she had been a police officer, and was the reason their group of survivors was well supplied with guns and ammo.

For whatever reason, Alyssa had looked his way and their eyes now held the others' gaze for a solid ten seconds, at least. He didn't know what the deal was, but there was a strange... bond? It was so odd. There was no way to describe it. It was kind of like... what he had with Bishop... not exactly... When she looked away, he did as well, though he quickly shot a glance as he saw the scantily clad woman walk into a clothing store. Perhaps she wasn't Mr. Skulls' hoe after all.

A few minutes later, Roland excused himself from the others and made his way to where he'd seen the mysterious woman disappear to. As much as he enjoyed talking with the great Mina Hilden, he had to go to this other woman. So Roland looked around until he sighted the women's changing room. He made his way over and leaned against the wall outside. He could hear some rustling and the sounds of hangers occasionally, indicating that his instincts were correct.

"Everything alright?" Roland finally decided on saying. He wasn't sure on how to start his conversation. He figured this would make sense with their silent exchange a little while ago. "It's Roland, by the way..."

Alyssa stopped what she was doing, paused for a second to pick her .44 up from the bench and continued to try on the outfits she collected. "Oh..hi. You can call me Alice." She introduced. "Thanks for bringing us to this place. It's much better than where we were staying before. It was the hospital a few blocks away from here. We've brought alot of medical supplies with us...." She thought about when she first woke up, how she crawled across the floor, how she cried...how she never thought she'd see another living being again. Then the events that followed. She collapsed, catching herself on the bench. The person in the mirror she faced stared back at her. She was necked save for the pair of underwear she'd just taken out of a fresh pack.

"Well, I should thank you, then. We don't have a whole lot for medical supplies here in a mall... but we have clothes, " he chuckled softly. "There's also some food, too. We have our stores plus some stuff that's in the food court. Most went bad, but some stuff is still edible... anyway... when you've found something you like, and you're done changing, we should get you something to eat. Yesterday took a massive toll on all of us... so, yeah, whenever you are ready, we can get some food. I'll be back over with Niko and the others." With that, Roland lingered a moment just in case Alice might say something, then he went off on his way.

"Wait!" Alyssa said suddenly, surprising herself as well. She just had to know. She opened the door of the dressing room turning to face Roland with calculating eyes. "There's something about you...that...I'm drawn to and I don't know why...it's not just you," she corrected. "That other guy too. Bishop I think. But it's only the two of you..."

Roland pivoted back to face the dressing room in mid stride as he heard Alice's outburst. He heard her hastily scurry out to him. She appeared in the doorway moments later. "There's something about you...that...I'm drawn to, and I don't know why...it's not just you," she corrected. "That other guy, too. Bishop, I think. But it's only the two of you..." Roland froze. It took him several moments to process and come up with a response.

"Y-yeah... me, too." Roland started. He cleared his throat and tried to relax. "I feel it as well... that's why I followed you in here..."He paused. "You're a cop, right?" She nodded in response. "Stim... I guess... I guess that makes sense. I mean, I've always felt a connection to Bishop... until recently, I hadn't been with any other people since before everything fell apart." Roland paused again. Then he raised an arm and beckoned. "Come on. Now that you're dressed, let's get some nourishment." The two departed the store side-by-side.

Sching sching sching. The sound of metal scraping over metal was heard by the two as they left the clothing store. Skulls sat, a silhouette against crimson lights he had set up for easy transition to light and dark. He turned to look at the two, the light reflecting off his glasses painted everything before him crimson. Sching… repeated every time he drew the angled blood stained blade over the rough metal rod which slowly honed the blade.

“Its bad to build relationships… in times like these people die. That is an absolute truth one that can not change and can not be altered. With man kinds thinning numbers I slew seven men today alone… including one who thought themselves a better monster then myself. Though even though the coward used stim… I made him understand a secondary truth… man prevails over all things… most importantly they excel at killing humans. It is man kinds specialty, all technology developed because of man kinds need to push others below themselves. Compelled to crush all opposition be it friendly or deadly.” He smiled in the red light which gave birth to something wickedly sinister. “Emotions will drag you to the bottom of the ocean… and harming that girl in any way will cause your limbs to be separated from your body by blunt force… I will beat you arms and legs till flesh subsides to bone… and bone crumbles to dust… it is pain beyond imagination a simple clean or jagged cut is through in an instant… but breaking through flesh is messy and consumes weeks of hard effort…” He paused returning his current knife to his belt he drew another one and began to sharpen it as well. “Now you two sleep tight… don’t let the stimbugs bite.”

After talking with Roland, who walked away to converse with the new girl, Mason quickly staggered up the stairs to the hallway that housed the security room, along with a few other darkened rooms, Mina guided him into the closest room in the hallway, to the right of the security room, where she laid him down on a padded bench. He was crashing from from his stim-altered adrenaline use and the massive amounts of running he did with his injured body. Mina guided Mason to the bench and helped him lay down comfortably on the part of his back that wasn't shredded, then she rose and smiled at Mason.
"I'm going to meet the others, and find someone to properly dress your wounds, they have medic, okay?".
In his fatigue induced delirium, the only thing Mason was paying attention to was Mina's accent, which seemed about 10 times sexier in his current state.
"Mason?", she asked.
Suddenly the room seemed to be getting blurry, and Mason couldn't keep his eyes open, slowly they began to close, and Mina said something indecipherable.
As Mason drifted off to sleep he could've sworn he felt a soft pair of lips press gently on his cheek.
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Alex Hamer
"Excuse me?"
Alex spun around. "Yeah?", he asked the accented voice, which apparently belonged to the red-haired beauty in front of him.
"MY name is Vilhelmina, or just Mina", she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, I"m Alex", he responded, "The uh, local doctor, I guess", he said, running a hand through his hair.
She nodded smiled.
"Good! My friend, Mason, is hurt, I laid him down on a bench on the right of the security room, could you have a look at his injuries?"
"Sure thing", Alex responded. "Just let me get my kit, I'll be right there".

A couple of minutes later, Alex was entering the room Mina had told him Mason was in. it looked like it might've been a management office at one time, and on the far right wall Mason was sprawled out on his back laying on a leather padded bench. Alex grabbed a stool from the storage closet and moved it over to the side of the bench, then he took a quick look at Mason and opened the kit on the floor to grab the required medical gear. First he took out his surgical cutting scissors and cut Mason's hoodie, then his shirt down the middle to lay it open.
Damn, looks like a really big cat used his torso for a scratching post, Alex thought to himself.
He gently unwrapped the bandages on the sleeping man's chest and left arm, then took out a cotton ball and doused it with a bottle of alcohol and leaned forward to press it to the nastiest cut on Mason's chest.
Mason's hand shot out as he cried out in surprised pain and palmed the smaller Alex in the chest, sending the poor medic tumbling across the small room and into the wood desk.
"ow!", Mason exlcaimed , looking around the room for the source of his inflicted pain.
Alex gave a weak cough as he attempted to catch his breath and rose from the ground, rubbing his bruised chest.
Mason looked at the familiar man, then down at the medical kit on the ground and his bare chest, then sudden realization flashed into his mind.
"oh, I'm sorry".
"sorry?", Alex squeaked, still trying to recover his breath. "You fucking palmed me across the room".
"It was an accident".
'It okay, I thought you were unconscious".
"Nah, just asleep".
"Yeah, figured that out", Alex said, picking up the stool and placing it beside Mason before sitting down on it again.
Alex picked up the the alcohol drenched cotton ball, and began to move it towards Mason's injured chest again, but paused and glared at the bigger man.
Mason raised his hands to his shoulders with his palms out to Alex.
"Promise, I won't hit you again", Mason said, trying to hide a grin.
Alex just grunted and pressed the cotton on the first wound and began to swab his entire chest, stopping every few seconds to change cotton balls or drench them in alcohol.
It stung like hell, but Mason kept a straight face and held still as the medic worked on his torso, then his back, then on his arm. A few minutes later, Alex had completely rerapped Mason's injuries, and about five red-tinted cotton balls littered the floor around Alex's bench.
''I'm going to go through some vital sign checks", Alex said as he pulled a small pocket flashlight from his medkit. "I need to look look at my face and keep your eyes open".
He aimed the flashlight as Mason;s right eye and held it open with his thumb and first finger. He clicked the light on for a couple of seconds then turned it off.
"Your right eye seems fine, lemme check the left", Mason repeated the same thing on the left, but his face remained emotionless.
"Your left eye didn't dilate to the light, that shows me you have a minor concussion", he said, packing his kit up.
"That means I need to stay awake for a couple of hours, right?".
"Yeah, that'd be a good idea", Alex responded, picking the kit up. "Why don't you go down and get something to eat with the others? I'll see about giving you some pain-killers if you need them, but not while your stomachs empty".
Mason nodded, then looked down at his freshly bandaged chest.
"uh, you know where I can get a shirt?".
"Oh, yeah sorry, check storage in the security room, we have stuff stashed in there, clothes included", Alex said, setting his medkit on the desk and sitting on the stool.
"Thanks", Mason said, but before he walked out the door he paused and turned.
"Are you staying here?", he asked Alex.
"Yeah, but I'll grab something to eat later...I decided i might turn this into a "doctors office", if you will...there's a lot of stuff I can stash here for medical purpose", Alex said, looking around the room. "Oh and when you go to eat with the others, could you send in Bishop? I need to speak with him."
"Sure," Mason said as he left to go get a shirt, and later, eat with his new-found friends.

Roland and Alice stopped and stared at the maniacal man sharpening his gore-stained blade as he spoke. When the man was done, Roland just shook his head as he continued on. Several moments later, when Alice was back at his side once more, he shared his thoughts. "He's one to talk..."

"What do you mean?" Alice inquired.

"He said not to start a relationship, right before he went all super-protective of you! It's ridiculous..." Roland paused. "Who is that guy, anyway? Awful odd for a psychopathic killer like the notorious Mr. Skulls to be running along with you, a police woman..." He paused again. Then he muttered under his breath. "How'd I get mixed up with that crazy bastard..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Hey, mind telling me about you two over dinner?"

"Sure."

"Alright. Well, the food court is just up here. Let's see what we can find, if anything. I'd rather save our rations we've collected for emergencies. We haven't completely scoured the mall yet."
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Mina waited in the middle of the mall, sitting on a bench, near the hall that led to the security offices. She'd definitely have to go get some food soon. She heard Roland talking to someone. She'd note where he was going and meet up with him later.

Suddenly, Bishop staggered out. Mina just looked at him, and he right back. "Hi," he finally said in his usual calm, low voice.

"Hello," she said back, weakly. "You alright?"

"Yeah..." he paused. "I think so."

"Why don't you have a seat," Mina slid over all the way to one side of the bench and laid a hand on the open space.

"Thanks," Bishop said as he lethargically moved to the bench and plopped down. Mina couldn't help it but she was trembling slightly. Bishop was leaning over, his arms on his thighs. Head hung over. He was like this a few moments before sitting up and leaning back over the bench. Then he sat upright.

"So..." Mina started. Bishop looked to her. "What happened...?" Bishop furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I don't know," Bishop replied. "You tell me."

"You mean, you don't know?"

"Nope. I blacked out. Used way too much adrenaline, I think. No one has told me anything. In fact, you're the first person I've seen since I passed out once we got here. I woke up just now, feeling like shit. Sven told me he'd fill me in later, but so far nothing."

"Sven?" She asked, curiously.

"Yeah," Bishop said. "Roland. Roland Svensson."
"Oh..." Mina wasn't sure what else to say. This poor man... She finally decided she would let him know about what happened. "A while after you blacked out, you woke up suddenly and-..."

"What," Bishop wondered.

"The medic, Alex I believe, and Roland pinned you down, because... because you... you were like!..."

"Like what!"

"Like... them." Bishop could see the worry in her eyes and her face. She saw the realization in

"Look..." he said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you... I'm a U.S. Marine for, for godsake." He paused. "We don't hurt innocent... especially when they're as lovely as you," he added with a gentle smile. Mina blushed and looked away slightly. She was, however, unable prevent the slight smile that she now wore from manifesting. "No... I will protect you guys until I die. That's a promise........ what the hell is that goddamn noise! I have a horrible headache and it's driving me nuts! It's probably what woke me..."
"Oh..." Mina said as she turned to look down the mall towards where Skulls was sharpening his tool. "I think that's the one that hit you-"

"WHAT!" Bishop blurted out. Mina snapped back to him, ready to bolt if need be.

"...the one who was with the other woman," she finished. "He-... he knocked you back out after you broke free from Alex and Sven." Bishop relaxed back into the bench, shut his eyes, and let his head fall back.
"I guess he saved my life, then..."

"Yeah," Mina said softly. They would have had no choice but to kill him if he had stayed that way. "He did..."

A few moments later, Mason Steele came out of the doors. He seemed a bit more recovered, but only just barely. He was still moving slowly and you could tell he had very little strength when he spoke.

"There you are, big guy," he said to Bishop. "You weren't in your room. The doctor will see you now." Mason smiled weakly. "He wants to check your vitals." Bishop sighed before slowly rising to his feet and making his way back. Mason then joined Mina on the bench.

"So..." Mason said.

"So?" Mina's voice gave away that she felt a little better. Her image of Bishop had thankfully been shattered and rebuild, though it would take some time to fully be comfortable around him, if ever. What she was really enjoying, however, was Mason's presence, and that fact that he could walk on his own. He was definitely making a slow, but steady recovery.

"So," Mason started again. "Did I imagine that, earlier? Or what?" Mina's heard fluttered. She knew exactly what she meant. She didn't know what to do. After a few moments, which felt longer in her head, she decided everything was screwed anyway, so what the hell...

"Oh, you mean..." she leaned in slowly. "This?" She then pressed her luscious lips on his and let them stay there for several moments. Then she pulled away, sheepishly smiling and avoiding eye contact.

"That wasn't a dream," she added slightly slyly. She looked back to him, still wearing her slight, pleasant smile.

"Notorious...Mr.Skulls...mister.." Alyssa murmured to herself. Then suddenly something in her mind clicked. "Johnson Maxwell..." An odd smile crossed her lips. She'd woken up at the end of the world and was aided by and being protected by a man who'd been deemed a true monster by her fellow officers. She found it hilarious, but decided to not say a word.

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Niko was digging through the bags he, Alice and Skulls brought in. He got a message from Roland saying that Alice and Skulls came with a bag of medical supplies then asked him to take it to Alex. Niko hauled the bag over his shoulder and limped into the room. "Yo, Alex. Look at me. I'm a doctor." he gestured to the stethoscope hanging around his neck. "This bag is loaded, bro. It has stupid load of pain killers in here and I'm not just talking about tylenol. Some of this could put an elephant to sleep." He dumped the bag on a neaby chair.

Skulls eyed the punk kid as he spoke to Alyssa. He didn't like that runt though he was lucky for now... he called out after them. “Don’t worry boy I’m not staying long. I’ll be gone within a week by then the Stim heads will be thinned enough for you lot to have an easier time surviving and I continue on my way to finding my perfect resting place.”

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“Stay… for you?” He cocked an eyebrow and laughed. “Why would I stay her for you… as I just explained I don’t let myself get tied down with cares or friends. The sad fact of the matter is the monster never wins… and monsters are the outcasts. Think of it… most of the world’s population are now stim heads… you understand what that means right… all humans are monsters we are the minority that slaughters them almost senselessly. I once did the same to man… the sense of fulfillment as I dragged a knife across the throat of some punk. The thrill as I forced my way through a line of national guardsmen during a raging fire fight. The roads I’ve paved with blood and corpses. Every law enforcement agencies crème of the crop top tier most wanted. You want someone most actually believed was some inhuman demon to stay with you?” He said shaking his head. “No. I think these hands have sown enough blood… enough destruction. The only thing left is to find a proper place to rest eternally.” He paused a while before speaking softly. “A rumor is that they developed stim to combat me…” He had heard that rumor countless times in his turf and it may very well have been true to an extent.