Snow's Story

Sweat dripped down Snow's forehead as he ran on the treadmill. His legs burned deliciously and his heart rate increased. His breathing was ragged while his mind was hazed in exhaustion and determination. He increased the speed of the machine, forcing his legs to move faster. His body was aching, but he welcomed the pain, knowing that this hard work would pay off in the end. As his body endured its workout, Snow began to think. Running was something that he could count on, it gave him a chance to sort through his memories and figure out what was reality and what was his imagination.

His mind drifted to the only memory that truly mattered: his first day.

The chill of the night was what woke him from his deep slumber. It was dark when Snow opened his bright eyes, save for the light of the flickering street light. He blinked with confusion evident in his face as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. He leaned against that cold brick wall, fear building up inside of him like thick smothering smoke. Panic. He stared at his hands, seeing the cuts there along with the tattered clothes that barely hung on his body. His head was pounding, throbbing in time with his beating heart.

"God," he muttered hoarsely. "Where...am I?"

It was at that moment that he heard it: the sound of footsteps, creeping towards him. He turned his head, facing the other side of the alley. A woman was inching towards him with blood covering her clothes and her dark hair caked with dirt. Her eyes were locked onto him before a crazed smile stretched onto her face. She then sped towards him as she screamed like a banshee, her eyes were demanding blood.

Snow snapped back into reality, his legs moving at the speed of light on the treadmill. He turned it off before slowing to a stop. His breathing was labored and sweat drenched his body. He walked over to his bottled water and towel, taking a hardy gulp then wiping his forehead and bare chest of sweat. He sat down on the floor, catching his breath while staring at the wall blankly. That was all he remembered. Not his name. Not his family. Just the fact that a crazed bitch tried to kill him. That was all he needed to know...that was all he needed to survive.

Ashley made her way back to the mall. She hadn't gone far from her post, not that it would have mattered since she was in charge of security anyways. Though she relied on her second more than she probably should, but she had her reasons to. Thinking of her second, and also her roommate apparently, she remember that she still needed to assign the other person for night watch. Luckily she had already signed someone up for the first watch, and she was taking the second shift, but she still needed to ask someone to take the third. Each shift ran for about two and a half hours, unless someone was really tired or- like her -couldn't sleep at all and stayed longer than they were supposed too. Usually people had no problems taking the shift after hers, because she ended up not having to wake them at all.

She didn't really know when her insomnia started, she just knew that she couldn't sleep unless she was passed out from exhaustion. Her brother used to tease her about it too, because they would find her dead-asleep in the most random places. Like on the kitchen floor or even in school. It wasn't her fault though. While most people tended to be mono-thinkers, she considered herself a poly-thinker. Her mind never stopped going, and it completely prevented her from getting any sleep. This also caused her to have dark circles under her eyes and she had completely lost the playful bounce in her step that she used to possess. Not to mention that when she actually did get to sleep, she was usually awake a half hour later from nightmares. So she just kept herself up until she was so tired that she- well -dropped.

Finding Snow in the gym wasn't a big surprise. Though, finding him without a shirt was a very nice surprise for Ash. Shaking her head, she silently scolded herself. They were in the middle of a- sort of -war. Approaching cautiously, she leaned down enough to gentle touch his shoulder before she dropped down next to him, folding her legs underneath her. "Hey S. You alright?", a single eyebrow was raised questioningly.

Elsy sighed and looked around. She was in the middle of the mall. She'd just been here for a week and she'd barely slept this week. Her nights were plagued with nightmares. She would imagine her mother's cries in her sleep. She saw a figure sometimes... She was never able to make out the face but she was certain it was the crank. Elsy idly shook until she came back to her senses. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and forced herself to move on.

Elsy walked down the hall and looked around. She didn't know what to do. She saw a group talking by the red chairs but didn't know if she should go talk... Elsy was shy... She bit her lip.

"C'mon Elsy! Go talk to them! Don't be a woos!" her inner voice told her.

Elsy started forward but couldn't get herself to continue on. She was nervous. She shook her head. She couldn't do it. She barely knew them... Elsy was too fragile... She couldn't approach people... She was just too nervous... To get a word out of her, you'd have to be the one to approach her. Elsy started to shake. She shook her head. "No!" she whispered and ran off. She ran past the gym and she glanced and saw a boy and a girl but she didn't dare slow down. She needed some alone time. She ran to the only place she knew she could be alone. She ran to the supply closet. She closed the door behind her and let herself slide down the wall into a sitting position. She looked down at her wrist. She stared longingly at the charm bracelet that had belonged to her mother once upon a time. She wiped a tear from her eye as she remembered that her mother was no longer with her. It was hard to believe some times but Elsy needed to get over it.

Snow didn't realize that he was zoning out until he felt the light touch on his sweaty shoulder. His heartbeat quickened a bit, seeing as he was still briefly trapped in his own mind. He didn't necessarily jump, but he did visibly shudder. He remembered how that Crank pinned him down by his shoulders, scratching at his face with its filth encrusted fingernails. He could see it, playing over and over in his mind's eye. It still rendered him speechless.

"Hey S. You alright?"

Those words sent him back to the present. His eyes darted to the dark haired leader of security with a bit of surprise. How long has she been there? He ran a hand through his wet hair before sighing. He needed to get a grip. The more he tried to remember who he was, the more he felt as though he were slipping into insanity. Snow wiped more sweat off his left breast where his 'name' resided.

"I could be better," he replied with a distant look on his face. "It's time for my shift? If so, just give me a minute to clean up."



A small grin spread onto Hazel's face at the sight Adelaide. She held the stuffed animal closer to her chest before speaking.

"Something like that..." She patted the spot next to her, signaling Ade to sit beside her. "So, you come here often?" She joked lightly. Hazel liked Adelaide, finding her rather endearing and fun to be around. It was a relief to have someone the lean on in the midst of all this madness; someone to be able to joke with despite the Cranks residing outside of these walls. Hazel continued to smile because if she didn't then who else will?

Snow almost quirked a smile. Almost. He glanced at Ashley and leaned on his hands, studying her with his bright eyes. He could see the dark circles under her eyes and hear the exhaustion in her tone, though he didn't worry. She had already informed him of her sleeping habits, so he would be surprised if the circles magical disappeared. Honestly, he kind of liked them. He knew that was weird, but he liked that she had flaws. Perfect people disgusted him. If she were perfect then he wouldn't have bothered to share a room with her.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've got it covered." He stretched his arms and winced. Perhaps, he worked out too hard. His legs were screaming bloody murder and his arms weren't feeling any better. "I need to lay off the treadmill for a while...help me up." He offered her his hand so that she could help him stand up.

"Poor baby, I'll pray for her," Hazel sighed, feeling that pang in her heart that she couldn't ignore whenever the children were in any type of trouble, no matter how small. She wiped the sadness from her face in an instant, not wanting to ruin the bonding moment with Ade. "I just finished taking inventory on the food, and I think that we have some popcorn left. I can pop it up while you get the movie and I'll meet you there." She stood up and offered Ade her hand. "I think a dose of Leonardo DiCaprio can lift anyone's spirits." She stopped talking when a strange thought crossed her mind.

What if Leonardo DiCaprio was infected? What if he was no longer like Jack from Titanicor Frank from Catch Me If You Can? What if at this moment Leo was ripping someone's jaw open? It sickened her to her core.



Snow pulled himself up, causing a low hiss of pain to release itself through clenched teeth. He almost lost his balance, but he was glad that Ashley was there because he shoulder was his support. "Did you just run four miles?" He gave her a empty look then shook his head slowly. "Didn't think so."

Snow took a step forward gingerly, but not gingerly enough. He grunted as white hot pain shot up his right leg. "I'm fine," Snow said more to himself. He limped towards the door without complaining. He was a man that suffered in silence and although each step felt like his leg was going to fall off, he took it like a man and said nothing, only grunting and wincing on occasion.

This was nothing. Snow's had worse injuries...well, at least he thought he did. There was a large scar on his abs that he didn't remember getting, but it looked like it was a deep cut. There were bruises on his arms from his unknown past. He assumed that he was some sort of badass, judging by his various battle scars. Nevertheless, Snow was a trooper and an aching leg wasn't going to slow him down. He refused to let it hold him back. He limped his way to his and Ashley's room, so he could get some clean and non-sweaty clothes. After grabbing a pair of basket ball shorts and a plain white V-neck, Snow limped to the bathroom to ready himself for the night shift.

Ash wanted to offer help, badly. But she had already assumed he wouldn't allow her, so she kept her mouth shut and followed him out of the gym room. Once in the hallway, she moved to his side, close enough that if he needed, he could have used her for support. It made her feel bad to see him limping, then again she had always been a lot more sympathetic towards the male species- compared to the female. You could call it her being a bit biased though, since she had grown up without a mother, making it just her ex-military father, three older brothers, and a twin brother. All of them were dead now though, or at least her father was. Her brothers were Cranks, and that meant they were as good as dead to her.

Though she hadn't meant too, she followed Snow into their room. Seeing as it would be a bit rude, her just standing there and then suddenly walking out, she went over to her bed and sat down. It wasn't like she had anything else to do, her daytime shift had just ended and she didn't have to worry about going back outside for at least eight hours. Snow left to go to the bathroom, leaving her staring at the spot he had been standing. With a wistful sigh, she laid back on her pillow and stared at the ceiling.

After washing the sweat from his body, Snow dressed him and stared at himself in the mirror. He could see the the tattoo of his 'name' peeking from the V-neck. He leaned forward on the counter and leered at himself. "I need answers..." he said blandly. His gaze remained on the mirror. "Come on, think. Who am I?" He started to play various scenarios in his mind, thinking of the clues that would lead him to the truth. "I have scars...I can sing a bit...I have tattoos..." Was he in a band? Was he a player? Did he have a girlfriend?

Snow groaned in frustration, "Who am I?" He gave himself one more once over then left the bathroom. His legs were still killing him, but he sucked it up and made his way to his room. He spotted Ashley laying her bed, staring at the ceiling. He leaned against the doorway and just watched her for about a minute before finally speaking.

"Thinking?" He asked monotonously. His arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned to take some weight off of his leg. "Don't let me interrupt. I just came back for my weapons." He then limped to the other side of the room, picking up his metal baseball bat and placing his swiss army knife into his pocket. He was about to walk out, but he noticed the strange expression on Ash's face. "What are you thinking about?"

Snow just stared at Ashley. He understood...it was weird, but Snow wasn't very close with anyone here, yet he felt as if he could understand Ashley. He didn't know why, but he just did. He could hear the emptiness in her voice and practically feel her stress. In the world that they lived in, stress wasn't uncommon. He carefully sat at the foot of her bed before picking up her guitar.

"You know," he said as he placed the instrument on his lap. "I'm not even sure if I can play this thing. After waking up in that alley, I don't even know if I have a talent." His thumb plucked a string, causing a semi-pleasant sound to fill the room. His 'almost' smile found its way onto his face.

"I don't know my name, my age, and I don't even know if I like cherry pie." He strummed the guitar again, then looked dead at Ashley with a rare warmth in his expression. Now, there is one thing that should be known about Snow, he wasn't a very warm person. He wasn't mean or rude, but he was like stone: quiet and still. He never joked, never really smiled, and sure as hell never gave anyone a look that indicated anything remotely warm. So, this expression was practically monumental.

"However, I know one thing," that warmth was gone now and the only sign that it had ever existed was the tone of his voice. His usual bland voice was now tinged with both concern and genuine understanding. "I know that this world is fucked, but despite the loss, death, and fear, there are people that are willing to have each other's back. I think that's what keeps me going...it's definitely not the cherry pie." He placed the guitar back onto the bed before pushing himself onto his feet. "I understand that this is hard, Ash, but remember that everyone here has your back. That includes me."

With that being said, Snow gave Ashley his average blank look then left with his baseball bat in hand.

Ashley watched him come over to her, watched him sit down on her bed. When he moved to pick up her guitar, she slid back a bit so he wouldn't have to reach over her so much. The oddest thing though, was that she stayed eerily silent throughout all of this. Every word he uttered, was met with a blank expression. Not a smile forced its way onto her face, or a frown. Maybe a tear or something, as you would probably expect from a girl who was in the middle of a war. Just, nothingness. And it sort of terrified her. She felt as if she couldn't, not that she wouldn't. Because she wanted too. The warm look that he gave her, even though it was gone in the next second, she wanted to return that. She wanted to be able to reach out and touch his shoulder, or his hand, anything. The girl wanted to say something in return, something happy or hopeful, even something angry. But she felt like she couldn't. And instead she just stared at him, watching as he returned her guitar, as he stood and grabbed his baseball bat again. Stared at his back as he turned and left, and she felt hurt.

A few moments later, she jumped up and ran outside the room. From her place in the hallway, she could see the quickly retreating form of Snow. "Wait! Snow!" She yelled, loud enough for him to hear. Then she waited, wide eyed and sort of terrified that he wouldn't hear, or just wouldn't turn around. Like she expected him to ignore her. Taking a few steps forward, which really didn't bring her that much closer, her breath caught in her throat. Without thinking, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Want to come get a piece of cherry pie with me?" There was a place in the basement that had freezers in the back, though she only knew it existed because she worked there one year. It was the only place in the mall with such sugary food, and she knew there wasn't much left of it, but there was always some pies left over.

Hazel waved farewell to Ade then left the daycare. She hummed a hymn under her breath as she made her way to the food court. The mall felt so...big and empty, but she tried to forget about the eeriness of her surroundings. It didn't take long for her to arrive at the food storage room. She grabbed a bag of microwave popcorn then used a microwave at the food court to pop its content. As she waited, Hazel leaned against the counter, her green eyes skimming the area. She saw movement from the corner of her eye. He spotted her roommate, Elsy. They haven't talked much since her arrival, but she seemed nice.

Hazel waved her hands in the air in an attempt to get Elsy's attention. "Hey, Elsy."



Snow rested the bat on his shoulder as he walked down the hall. He was still limping, but he was slowly growing accustom to the pain. It wasn't until he heard his name being called. He turned around, seeing Ashley standing on the other side of the hall. Snow quirked a dark eyebrow as he listened to Ashley's request.

"Yeah," he replied with a shrug. "Sounds good. I have to do my rounds, come with me."

He twirled the bat in his hand, licking his lips as he waited. Was it strange that he was happy that she asked to have pie? No, but it was strange that he wasn't that excited about the pie.

Ashley grinned, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment before beginning towards him. Within a few moments she was next to him, and they began his rounds. She walked beside him during this, seeing how he was still limping made her smile fade, but she pretended not to notice. If it was bothering him too much, he probably would have ditched his rounds or at least asked her to take over for her. Of course, she wouldn't have minded. He already worked so much, it was the least she could do for him.

Surprisingly, she wasn't worried about not having her main weapon. Though she still did have her dagger in her boot, but she didn't have jeans on so she had no where to put her gun. Actually, all she had on was a long grey v-neck and a pair of black leggings that went down to her knees. "Do you remember anything?", she asked softly, looking over at him.

Snow was checking Entrance B's locks, making sure that they were secure. After jiggling the locks and looking through the windows, Snow stuffed one hand into his pocket while the other was on the handle of his bat. He limped beside Ashley without saying a word. That was until, Ashley asked him about his memories.

"I remember waking up alone in an alley," he replied. "And killing my first Crank. Losing your memory is like that moment when you forget the name of something and it's on the tip of your tongue, but in this case it's more than a name; it's my entire life. It's a pain in the ass." He glanced at her while nonchalantly twirling his bat. His eyes scanned her face then her attire.

"You're wearing my shirt," he raised an eyebrow. He didn't mind, it was just an observation, after all.

Ashley nodded, trying to imagine what it would be like to forget everything. Actually, in her case, it might have been a good thing. She wouldn't have had so many memories to think back on, she might have been able to sleep. At the same time though, she knew that she wouldn't give up the memories of her family for anything in the world. They were precious, and she didn't want the only memories about her brothers to be them trying to eat the neighbors. What she didn't want to think about, though, was the possibility of having to kill them one day. And she knew she wasn't going to be able to do it, so she really just hoped that it never came down to that. Would there ever be a cure for this? What was this?

His last statement confused her, and she ended up looking down at her clothing. "Oh," she said, tilting her head to the side, a bit confused. "Well, how do I look?" She winked and struck a pose, clearly aiming to move on from the previous subject.

They were approaching Entrance C. Snow pulled on the locks, checking the outer perimeter through the window. He turned around after deeming that the coast was clear just as Ashley struck a pose. He managed to keep a straight face, looking dead at her.

"You look like a girl that's wearing my shirt," he shrugged before he continued walking. He ran his fingers through his bronze hair as he absentmindedly twirled the bat. "Well, all the entrances are secure and there aren't any Cranks in sight. It's safe to say that we're good to go. Time for pie."

Ashley pretended to be offended, crossing her arms and giving an exasperated sigh. Though she wasn't able to keep it up long, and ended up smiling. "Mm, and I'm sure you've seen a lot of those," she raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. Almost self-consciously, she pulled at the hem of the shirt, wishing that she had chosen to wear real pants or at least something that didn't make her look like she had no pants on. The leggings weren't really helping much, and the shirt only reached mid-thigh. "Oh, yes, pie," she blushed, embarrassed that she had already completely forgotten the whole reason for her tagging along with him. "The shop is on the lower level." Again she was reminded of his limp, and wished that she hadn't even asked him to come with her in the first place. Then again, she was also thrilled to be with him.

"If I have," Snow said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone. "I don't remember them." He used the bat as support, leaning on it. He groaned a bit when she said that the pie was in the lower level. That meant he'd have to face the dreaded stairs. He limped towards her, taking her hand in his large ones. "If you help me down the stairs then this won't be a problem." He had no idea why he grabbed her hand, but he did and it felt...nice. He pulled her to the staircase then looped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to his side for support. She was so must shorter than him that it was awkward to hold onto her.

"Okay," he sighed. "This is going to hurt..." He then took a step forward, wincing a bit when he made it down the first step.

Snow tilted his head to the side when he looked up at Ashley. He noticed the pink shade that her cheeks took which confused him. Was she hot or something? He poked her cheek as he stared at her face with furrowed brows. "Don't worry about me. I've been through worse...at least I think I have, judging by all of my scars. What's with the blush, anyway? I didn't think you'd care about my well-being enough to turn red."

Snow took another step down the stairs and he tried with all of his might not to winch, but his body portrayed him and he grunted anyway. God, that hurt. He gave Ashley a look that screamed 'Don't you dare say 'I told you so'. With a loud sigh, Snow finally, but reluctantly, said: "Fine, I'll stay and you get the treats."

Ashley jerked back when he moved to poke her cheek, though it only resulted in her hitting her head against the side of the stairwell. Offering an apologetic for her mini freak out, she rubbed at the back of her head with her free hand. Luckily, he began speaking again, which distracted her enough to forget about her head. "Maybe you were just really clumsy as your were growing up, and couldn't quite grasp the concept of how to use a knife," she smirked slightly, though it fell when he asked about the blush. "Well you know, cute boy randomly holds my hand and puts his arm around my shoulders- even if it is just to help him down the stairs -sort of gets a girl a bit flustered."

This time, when Snow attempted to get down the steps, she winced. Seeing his pain was enough to make her physically hurt. Though his look did make her want to say her I told you so's, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. "Thank you, S. Now head back to the room, I'll meet you there."

Without really waiting for a reply, she went down the rest of the stairs and headed quickly towards the shop. Usually she would have been more relaxed, but now she was practically running. Being alone- especially in the basement -freaked her out. After she located and grabbed a cherry pie, utensils and napkins, and two Pepsi's, she headed back towards the steps. Once she was back upstairs, she relaxed, feeling a bit more safe. It took her another minute or two to get back to their room, but once she did she knocked twice on the door before going in. "No injuries while I was gone?", she teased.

Snow's pride was a tad bruised, but he tried not to let that get to him. His eyes widened a bit at Ashley's 'cute' comment. He never really thought about how women saw him. He just focused on the task at hand and kept it moving, but now that he wasn't working, he let that comment sink in. It was the first time that he'd been called cute since he could remember. He limped his way up the two stairs and made his way to the door. His hand touched the handle lightly before he looked back at Ash, "I'm not cute," he said, deadpan then left.

By the time he reached their room, Snow's leg was screaming bloody murder. He plopped onto his bed and laid on his back; waiting. It didn't take long for Ashley to arrive back with their food. He was tempted to let her stay out there because he didn't want to get up, but pie was on the line here. He pushed himself to open the door. His face was void of emotion as he said, "Funny," though he wasn't laughing. He grabbed a pepsi from her hand and made his way back onto his bed. He sat with his long legs extended and his back against the headboard. "So, is this, like, us bonding or something?" He kicked his bat onto the floor beside his bed, hearing the low thump. His bright eyes were on Ashley, but they conveyed nothing. "Is pie your way of trying to understand me and getting me to 'open up'? Like in those romantic novels?" There goes that 'Almost' smile. "Since I've been here, I've been doing some light reading."