Thalia abruptly turned around when she heard Diana's voice up close. The woman who had given the prognosis of the virus. Thalia regarded her with a strange sense of awe, but quickly masked it with coldness, although she had no misgivings towards the woman. Diana informed her that she would be fixing up a safe zone of sorts, a temporary refuge where they could all rest and recover their strength. Thalia immediately had a desperate need for sleep, almost as desperate as her need for some tobacco, but she ran out a few days earlier. Diana then turned to Doctor Dude and they began discussing plans, and Thalia again wished that she and Salmon would be joining with them. She noticed Mallet Guy. Mute Girl, and Red Girl, still off on their own, and she instinctively shot them a look of disdain.

They are stupid. Just mouths to feed.

Thalia then turned to the window, and quickly scanned the street in front of her. In a distant alley way, she could faintly see what appeared to be another survivor, although he was struggling to get up. Another figure was there, gaunt and animalistic, and Thalia flinched when the bestial form launched itself at the downed man. She stiffly turned her gaze elsewhere. There was a blue Toyota, and it looked new. Only slightly worn paint, and little rust. Too new for use. A Lexus, also modern and therefore unusable. She spotted a vehicle that would be good, if not for the blood splattered in the seats, blood which could be infected, and therefore, dangerous. She then caught sight of a grey, battered vehicle. She couldn't tell the brand at this distance, but it had the general appearance of being from 1985- 1995. If her estimation was correct, which is usually was from experience, Thalia figured she'd be able to get it to start. One window was slightly ajar, convenient in that most likely she could avoid setting off any possible alarm. Most likely it would attract more infected to the location.

I'll remember you, Super Car.

Thalia then pulled Salmon, despite the difference in weight, girth, and strength, and dragged him back to the only other humans alive that she respected, out of the ones she has known so far. Doctor Dude and Diana no-nickname. Thalia made a mental note to not call Diana that out loud as of yet, it might be offensive, and she hardly knew her. She instinctively ignored the low throb in her chest area, the injury that would daunt her for weeks to come. Thalia found herself cursing the three assailants again. They just had to injure her, after terrorizing and insulting her. But she had Salmon to thank for not being in a worse condition.

Everyone, including Mallet Guy's sub-group?

"No." Thalia said, when she heard Diana speak about telling everyone about the meeting area. "They are dead weights and another mouth to waste food on! Let's not tell them anything."

The supermarket was beginning to clear out. Slowly, but surely. The ones who remained were conversing among themselves about where they would be resting for the night. Gabriel was loading his backpack up with more water bottles. The sound of the water swishing inside the plastic as he dropped them into a stack at the bottom of his bag made his mouth dry. He opened the last bottle and took four gulps of the water, consuming nearly half of what was inside. It was lukewarm, but it wet the inside of his mouth and already felt refreshing.

His pack was finished. There were perishable and non-perishable foods packed, though only so many of each. Gabriel was ready to leave. The sun had already gone beneath the horizon, and the darkness only grew by the minute. He sought out Yashie, the first of the survivors he'd met. Though he'd taken charge quickly and made it clear that he was one of the more intelligent members of the group, Gabriel had grown rather fond of him. He didn't want to take off without giving him a heads up.

"Hey, man. I'm heading out, I guess. See you in the morning," he said, completely confident that he would find the group in time to join them in their road trip to Canada. Not wanting a morbid "if you survive..." goodbye, he left it at that and gave a small wave of his hand while his back was to Yashie and the others. The cool night air made him shiver through his tee shirt. He'd taken a few steps out the door and towards the empty road when he became uncomfortable. He set his back down on the ground and pulled out his sweatshirt. It was his only sweatshirt, and it had his university's logo on it.
University. College. Home.

"Gabriel, find the fire extinguisher!" Megan's scream filled the apartment. The corpses of their two roommates slammed into the wall, and Lucas's dead body narrowly missed grabbing Gabriel. How are they moving? He remembered wondering. They're dead! He'd been the one to confirm that they had no pulse!
The fire had started when the now undead female, Miranda, had reached out for Megan and ended up accidentally snatching a dishtowel in her hand, and when Megan ran along the edge of the counters beyond the stove, Miranda's hand had dropped the dishtowel over an open flame, burning her hand at the same time. It was as if she felt no pain; made no sound to acknowledge that she had been burned at all.
Gabriel and Megan were about to be cornered by zombies foaming at the mouth when he took her skinny hand with a strong grip and yanked her body behind him as he made a run for the door. He wasn't going to look for the extinguisher, though the fire began to swallow everything in the kitchen. "Fuck the house!" he yelled. The two animated corpses ran after them, as fast as they were running. He swung the door open and made it outside with her. Megan managed to get the door closed behind her, locking the two inside the burning house.

The memories flashed through his mind as he pulled the sweatshirt over his head. They must have run down that sidewalk for hours after that. Running just to escape the oncoming panic, even though they were safe. Perhaps it was because they had both had an instinct that this was just the beginning of a brutal plague. Gabriel swallowed, trying to fight away the memories after that. The fact that the two of them had been partners in this war against the undead. The fact that they were nearly invincible. The perfect pair. The fact that Megan was missing to this day. The reality that he knew she was probably one of them now.

As he zipped up his backpack, a flash of red caught his peripheral vision. He looked over and saw Adrien leaning against a shopping cart. As he stepped closer and got a better look, he noticed she looked somewhat down. He looked back to the sky. It was getting kind of dark; he knew he should get to leaving, but he waited around. "Hey. You doin' alright?" He asked, crouching down to get on her level. These days could get rough on people. Could twist their thoughts. Could bring back unwanted memories.

Whisper hummed, walking up to the roof and finding nothing. She smiled and went back to the top floor. It had been an odd day, and all she really wanted to do was sleep. She walked to a room and looked around, trying to determine if any zombies were in here. She tapped loudly on the frame of the door. Nothing came forward but a mouse. It was satisfying enough for her to choose this room to stay in.

Whisper closed the door quickly and slid as much stuff as she possibly could in front of it. Once that had been blocked off, she sat down and sighed, listening to the silence of the zombie filled world. She hoped she would be able to find the others tomorrow, or sometime soon.

Adrien could only stare at Gabriel as he asked her if she was alright. Hell, did she looks alright? She bit her tongue to refrain from snapping at him and sighed, shaking her head. "Just worried. Thanks for asking though." No need to yell at him, he was only being considerate. Which is more than she could say for a few other people. Whisper had disappeared, Sola-whatever still kind of scared her and she wanted desperately to hurt the smart-mouth he'd saved earlier. For whatever she didn't like her, and it most certainly went both ways. It wasn't like she couldn't help, but she had gotten no sleep in at least 4 days, not to mention no food or water. Her brain wasn't even working right.

Shaking her head furiously and leaned on her shopping cart again, looking over at Gabriel. "You should probably hurry if you're going to leave. I'd hate to be out here at night. Who knows how many zombies are lurking around?" Adrien couldn't help but glare as the subject of her anger walked by back into the store but ignored her anyway, looking back at him. "And I really think you should stay with us as we go rest. You're one of the few people I can trust and stand here besides Diana and...Yashie? And I need to keep that list as long as I can get it."

Reaching inside her cart, she withdrew and bottle of juice and eyed it. It looked good enough. She opened it cautiously and swallowed a few sips of strawberry bliss before smiling at him. If she got sick in the morning it was worth it. An hours of happiness for a minute of regret. What harm could that do?

"Besides," A nodded her head in the direction of the store. "Little smart mouth in there is most definitely talking about leaving us, which makes no sense, because even though she's injured and probably going to hold us back a lot more than to able fighters," She motioned to herself and him, "She and they still consider her more valuable. If you go solo I have no doubts you'll be left here and as much as I like you, I'm not giving up my ticket to freedom in the North for you." She shrugged and continued sipping her bottle of fruity heaven.

Yashie yawned wide and rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes. He was growing tired and he knew it. Tiredness, however, was not something he was going to allow himself to succumb to tonight. He had to stay alert, it was either that or die. He didn't like the silence. It felt too much like the calm before the storm and his instincts were screaming at him. Something was wrong ... something he could not place his finger on. He watched Whisper disappear, trying to remember where she was going just in case. Who is to say she would still be human in the morning? He shook his head as if to clear it, struggling up to stand as Diana spoke

"Let's leave, we're gaining nothing by staying here. We can wake at the break of dawn tomorrow and Thalia can help us get a car. If we need more supplies from here we can just come back. Why not tell everyone this is where we'll meet tomorrow bright and early?" Yashie agreed. Standing still didn't comfort him. It didn't give him a sense of accomplishment. Somehow he would feel better just walking, it would give him the feeling that he was getting something done towards ensuring the survival of the others. "Yes, let us leave. We need to scout for a dwelling." Yashie tossed Thalia's bag to Solamon gently and pulled his pack onto his shoulder and picked his weapon up chuckling softly at Thalia's comment about leaving Gabriel and co. behind.

He turned, hearing Gabriel's voice. "Hey, man. I'm heading out, I guess. See you in the morning," Yashie nodded slowly, wishing Gabriel would come with him than go someplace else. More hands made work light, and besides, it was safer, he felt. But he wasn't going to force anyone to do anything, of course. He just nodded and called after Gabriel's disappearing back, "Come to this spot tomorrow at noon, when the shadows are the shortest. And be careful, please." His watch had stopped working long ago, as had most clocks he had seen. He shrugged, it wasn't like he was going to miss his favorite show on TV. He sighed and watched Gabriel walk away and then talk to the woman with the orange hair. He was not sure who SHE was going to accompany. He opened his mouth to ask.

"Err .. err .." and he realized he didn't know her name. He gently nudged Diana and pointed at the Orange-haired woman. "Ask her if she is coming with us?" he said, then rubbed his nose. He still felt something was wrong, felt it in his bones. Shaking his head once more, he looked at Thalia and Solamon. "No sudden movements, no carrying loads, and also, remember to take breaths as deep as you can without the rib hurting you. That is vital. Breathe .." he advised the woman with the broken rib and turned away, walking a few steps down the street, the better to get a good view of the houses and to select something to his liking.

Beckoning to Diana, he began piling some empty cans and tins from the trash and from the shop into a cart from the supermarket and began walking, dragging the cart behind him. He hadn't far to go, he found a house about four blocks away from the supermarket. It was an independent house, not a part of a block of flats. Such houses were common in neighbourhoods such as this one. It had two stories, which was the most important criterion he was looking for, and walls a good six feet high. They seemed solid enough. He grabbed the gate, a wrought-iron affair, and gave it a good rattling. It seemed strong. Opening the gate, he walked in, nodding to the person/people behind him. "This should do, this seems pretty good ..." he whispered and walked into the gate. The house itself was open, which was to be expected. Raising his weapon, he swung the flat side against the gate to make a loud metallic noise. He did this thrice, sure that any zombie would come shambling out of the door, where he could exterminate it. But nothing actually did, even though he waited a good while. "'Tis safe.."

Yashie left the cart and headed inside the house, setting his bag down on a table. the couch seemed intact but most of the house seemed to have been ransacked. The stairs leading up to the upper story were wooden and he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Thank god for small towns. Small towns ..... SMALL towns? Then it hit him. This was a small town, less people, less zombies. No wonder it was deserted. This was indeed the eye of the storm. The zombies from the bigger cities and such migrated outwards, into smaller places and unpopulated lands in search of human food. Of course! He ran to a window and peeked out, as though expecting to see zombies marching down the driveway. He shook himself. Don't be silly, this isn't Hollywood. Zombies dont turn up just when you realize they should turn up. You'll be away safely, tomorrow. relax. he told himself and walked out to close the gate, bolt it shut and reinforce it as best as he could with the shopping cart. THe cans he dumped on the porch. "We should probably begin with the alarm-setting and zombie proofing, huh?" he said conversationally, which was as close as he would get to asking the others to just up and follow him and do the things needed.

Gabriel listened to her words and nodded when appropriate. He wondered if it was more than just being worried, but he didn't know what sort of state she was in. Physically or mentally. She could be half starved and cranky, or have some sort of disorder he didn't know about. And for all she knew, he could too. Some topics were better off avoided. So he left it at that, and listened further as she advised that he should rest at the same location she did tonight.

"You going with Yashie and the others? Or to the pizza shop?" He asked, and then watched her stare down Thalia as she walked back inside the store. It was clear that Adrien didn't like her much, and to be honest Gabriel wasn't her biggest fan either. Besides, she was hurt. Gabriel wasn't nearly chivalrous enough to give up his life by throwing himself to the zombies in the event that she needed to get away as well. All is fair in survival. Could he say the same for Adrien or Yashie, or even the mute girl named Whisper though? The ones he'd rather grown to like.

In the end, it was all about him. Nobody else really mattered. At least, that's what he'd like to believe. That he was still completely independent. Fact is, he probably would fight for a select few from this group. Maybe it would be better off if he was on his own at night. More dangerous, but he wouldn't be relying on anyone so much.

Ughh... Gabriel's head started pounding, the beginnings of a headache rattling his brain. Such a simple decision and it seemed so hard. He realized then that he'd let his guard down. He was standing out in the open and he hadn't even been keeping an eye out. A flicker of agitation joined his aching mind. Had he always been so careless of his safety? With the bloody shirt he'd been told to take off and all of the information he hadn't known before today, it was beginning to make him wonder.

Maybe it would be better, staying with the group Adrien was leaving with. He wouldn't bet on it just yet, but there was nothing wrong with giving it a try, right? Worst case scenario would be that he had to up-and-leave. Well, no. Worst case scenario would be they were all infected and trapped and he was on his own to survive a battle against so many survivors recently infested by zombies.

Either way, he had to stop changing his mind. And for tonight, it stopped here.
"I'll tag along with you and the others. Maybe not permanently, but at least until we get to Canada." Why Canada, anyway? Gabriel felt like he'd missed a whole conversation. Whatever. He had no place else he needed to be. "Strength in numbers, I guess." Though that wasn't necessarily the case in a zombie doomsday.