Astraea Huntington's Story

I V Y - A R C H E R

---

B E F O R E - I N F E C T I O N
September 23rd, 2035. A normal day like any other for Ivy, although it was her birthday, she had no plans on celebrating. She was scheduled at the hardware store for the entire day, so if selling hammers and shovels was a party then she was getting trashed. It was around 3pm when she started noticing things weren't normal, she heard screams and shouts coming from outside, and something about it told her she shouldn't go outside, that she should lock the doors until it stops. But that wasn't in the cards.

As she walked towards the doors to see what was going on outside, that's when one of them ran in. The sight was so startling it caused her to scream out a blood curling shout of terror. Before her eyes was her brother crazed and covered in blood. She wanted to reach out to him and try and help, but he sprinted straight at her shouting inaudible jabber, baring his teeth. Without a second thought, Ivy raced around the cash registers and ran towards the first thing that caught her eyes... a crow bar. Grasping the long bar in both hands, she clutched the iron shaft as she spun to face her infected brother. With a swift movement she slammed the edged curve of the crow bar into the side of his skull, sending his now lifeless body to the ground.

Once he was dead, Ivy fell to her knees crying over her brothers corpse, but this left her guard down. Behind her, another infected citizen grabbed her. She fought and tried to pry the crow bar from her brother's skull, dislodging it and swinging it backwards into the zombie just before it tried to bite her. But the swarm kept coming. She stood up, yanking her crow bar from the newly killed zombie, and ran towards the back of the store.

She continued to fight her way through the endless onslaught of the undead, not noticing she was bitten in the shoulder and her neck. She finally was able to make her way to the backroom of the store, and climbed up a ladder to the attic. Once reaching the safe level of the store, she knocked over the ladder.

But it wasn't long after she reached momentary safety that her vision went black and her body crumpled over on the floor... unconscious, not dead.

---

A F T E R - I N F E C T I O N
Ivy woke up, clutching the bloodied crow bar in her fists. She felt unbelievably weak, and as she tried to gather the energy to site up the lights in the hardware store began to flicker... almost as if she was absorbing their energy to make herself stronger. Once she sat up, she glanced around in utter confusion. Who was she? Why was she here? Why is she covered in blood? Her first instinct was to pat down her pockets first coming upon her cell phone. She started to scroll through her contacts, then tried to call the last number in her phone but when she put the phone up to her ear, she unknowingly sucked the energy from the device causing it to die before the first ring. Frustrated, Ivy through the phone against the wall, causing it to shatter into many pieces.

Once again, Ivy searched her pockets, finding her wallet. She opened it up, then pulled out her driver's license. "Ivy... Archer. That must be my name." She said unconvincingly. As she continued to read she read that she just turned 26 today, some hell of a birthday. As she continued to thumb through her wallet she also noticed a piece of paper stating something about her 5+ years service in the marines. She scoffed, half surprised that she was in the marines. It was weird having rediscover who you are, instead of just knowing. With a sigh, Ivy slid her wallet back into her pocket, and looked over the edge of the attic floor down to the main floor of the store. No one was down there, but she felt the need to be stealthy. Slowly and carefully, Ivy climbed down onto the top of an aisle shelf. Once knowing for sure that the coast was clear, she hopped off the shelf and headed towards the entrance of the store.

Out on the main street, she noticed the road was littered with dead bodies, wrecked cars and small fires burned in some of the stores. She grabbed her license from her wallet once again, reading the address upon it, assuming it was her home. She decided to try and find this home of hers to possibly find out more about herself, or what happened. But as she walked down the main road she started to hear voices. "Hello?" She called out, but there was no response. But the voices continued, but it wasn't a conversation... they were talking over each other asking who they are, how they got there... they were coming from different directions. Was she actually hearing people talking... or was it all in her head? "Is anyone there!?"

"My life isn't one for you to simply toy with, mother. I'm twenty-three years old and can make my own decisions. Who are you to decide what I do or don't do?"

"You live in my house. Therefore, you are completely under my control."

Snorting in a very unladylike manner, Astraea cast a bored look to the woman who had birthed her. "And that's supposed to give you complete control of me? Trust me, mother-dear, I could leave and live a more than comfortable life if I so wished to. However, you and father are completely and utterly incapable of caring for Prea and Juslen, seeing as you are both so cold and unfeeling. If I weren't around, I can almost guarantee that you would no longer have three children, seeing as they would undoubtedly kill themselves to be rid of you," she practically snarled. With that said, she shoved back her chair, sending her plate across the immense table until it reached the very edge and, with a dramatic flare, toppled over the side and fell to the floor with a loud shatter. Her mother's shocked and furious gasp did nothing to stop Astraea as she strode from the room, her own seething anger fueling her rage.

However, it was as she stepped from the room that the sounds were heard. They weren't noticeable at first, mind you, but her trained ears easily picked them up. It was an instant later that the front doors to the foyer of the mansion exploded - exploded may have been a bit of an overstatement, but it was definitely a noticeable entrance - revealing a young man wearing disheveled clothing. His hands were matted in blood, and from there she could see that his entire being was caked with the red, sticky substance. When her eyes met his, his head slowly turning to face her, she felt a shiver travel down her spine.

The crazed look in his eyes was frightening enough to scare a grizzly bear into instant submission.

With a lunge, he flew at her. With barely a second to respond, she swung up her leg, her heel making instant contact with the side of his head. The brunt force of her kick didn't only make him stumble, but instead he sort of, well, flew. As he made contact with the wall, his body dropped for only a few heartbeats before it slowly began to rise once more.

"What on earth - Astraea, what in the world do you think you are doing? What is that ruck-"

The voice cut off with a gasp, but her mother did not succeed in distracting her. Instead, Astraea simply moved backwards, placing her arm behind her and pushing her mother back into the dining room with an easy force. Her mother seemed to realize that she could not, in any way, defend herself, and allowed her daughter to do so.

The creature - for it was clear that the man was no longer human - let out a ferocious snarl and once again lunged. Instead of using her leg, she shot her hand out, gripped his ear, quickly moved her other hand to the side of his head, and with a sharp twist, she snapped his neck. When he dropped to the ground but continued to snarl and twitch, she stared at it with pure horror. In the next few moments, she had smashed his head to little less than a pancake with her platformed, military-style boots.

Breathing heavily, Astraea slowly straightened, relaxing slightly.

"He was out of his damned-"

She was cut off abruptly as a sharp scream erupted behind her. Whipping around, she could only watch as her mother was tackled by another creature that had launched itself from outside of the window beside her. Blood gushed from the older woman's throat as it was torn open by the creature's own teeth, and she quickly went still.

Despite her own careers as a bodyguard and killer-for-hire, Astraea had never seen a bloodbath to this caliber. Her hand trembled as she stepped back, the creature that was feasting on her mother pausing at the sound of her movement. It slowly raised its head, blood and flesh coating its lips and chin, and after a moment of dead silence, it released a deafening shriek. The sound pulled her from her stupor and immediately she took off, her hand gripping the post of the railing as she reached the stairs. Footsteps thundered behind her, but she sprinted up the stairs nonetheless, the one safe place in the house her only destination in mind.

She was a few feet from the door that she needed to reach when solid flesh slammed into her back, knocking her to the floor and slamming the breath from her lungs. She quickly rolled, her legs launching out and flipping the crazed man away from her. He stumbled to his feet, only to launch down on her, his face directly above her own and her mother's flesh and blood dripping down onto her cheeks. Grimacing, they grappled for what seemed like an endless amount of time, before she managed to elbow him in the face. The snapping of bone hinted at a broken nose, but undeterred, he dropped down to her stomach. A searing pain erupted throughout her hipbone, causing her to cry out. Fury coursed through her as she grabbed his head, ripping his face away from her side, and she twisted his head with both hands, snapping the neck. Knowing this wouldn't work completely, she scrambled to her feet and looked frantically throughout the hallway. Reaching out, her fingers curled around a flared mace that was held by a suit of armor in the elaborate mansion, and she quickly swung down, the man's head exploding with a sickening sound.

Slowly she straightened, her shoulders heaving and her breathing heavy. Glancing up, she knew she had little time to find a place to take cover until she could find out what was going on, so as her vision began to grow hazy, she turned and stumbled to the steel door, punched in a code, and quickly moved inside. The darkness overtook her as she snapped the door shut, her entire body crumpling to the floor with a loud thud.

---

The first thing she keyed in on was the bright lights above her head as she awoke. Grimacing, she quickly closed her eyes. "For fuck's sake ... I feel like I down an entire bottle of Jack and then some ..."

After a few moments, her headache slowly faded to a dull thud. She managed to peel open her eyes, and although her vision was still a bit unclear, she rolled achingly onto her stomach. A sharp pain exploded through her right hip, causing her to gasp aloud. When her hand moved down to feel for a wound, it came away sticky with a large amount of blood on it.

"What on ... The Hell?" she rasped, knowing that if anyone heard her, she wouldn't make a lick of sense. She slowly moved to rise, limping a bit as she did so and blinking back tears of pain. In an instant she took in her surroundings, which weren't much. It was as though she were inside a steel box. The only things in there were a small cot - barely large enough for a child - a box labeled with a food sign, one labeled with a water bottle, one labeled with a large and very noticeable cross, and several large backpacks. Quickly moving to the cross box, she wrenched it open and peered inside.

"Jackpot," she whispered.

After she had patched up her wounds - she would need stitches, but due to her lack of medical training, or so she could assume, the patch job would have to do - she peered inside the bags. They were all empty, so taking advantage of that fact, she tossed some water and food packages inside of them. Despite the fact that she didn't know why she was in the odd room, or who she was, her injury and location indicated something dangerous had occurred. Who knew if or when she would need the basic necessities of life?

Rising, she tossed the half-filled bag over her shoulder. One wall of the room was completely filled with small televisions, giving her a panorama of what she had to guess was the rest of the building she was in. Nothing moved on the screens, but she saw a littering of dead bodies throughout it, coated in blood. Many of the women were dressed in maid's outfits, the men in suits, but a few were dressed in normal clothing. An older woman lay un-moving by a window, and two children were not too far away from her.

Inhaling deeply and slowly breathing it out, she glanced around the room once more. A bloodied mace lay on the floor and she quickly snatched it up. Who knew?

After summoning some more courage, she slowly opened the door, quietly peaking outside. When nothing moved and no sound was heard, she crept outside of it, quietly shutting the steel door behind her.

She made quick work of scavenging for weapons through the bedrooms in the enormous house. A few of the 'dead' bodies attempted to move, but after a while, she became used to bludgeoning their heads. In fact, the blood itself never bothered her from the beginning, leading her to believe that she was accustomed to the sight before her loss of memory.

When she made her way to a large study, she shut the door behind her and paused. In the leather rolling chair was a man, pale white in color, and a torn hole in his throat. He looked older, undoubtedly in his late forties, and he didn't even twitch as she strode inside of the room.

Suddenly she paused, her hands quickly reaching to pat the pockets of her leather black pants. When she retrieved a small black wallet from her back right pocket, she pulled it open and rifled through the contents. Very little cash, a punch card for a casino, a phone number scribbled in a neat scrawl, a few gift cards to various stores, a credit card, a picture of herself and four other people, and a driver's license.

"Astraea ... Huntington. Twenty-three years old ... Donor ... Born February 24th ... Is that ... Me?"

After placing the wallet in her backpack, she made her way over to the desk, moving the chair with the dead man away from it. It took her mere minutes to find a code written out on a notepad, and after glancing around the office, she keyed in on a safe. When she punched the code in and revealed the contents, she found several legal documents with people's names who, although she didn't recognize them, were connected to the last name of Huntington - her apparent last name. When she found her birth certificate, she frowned a bit before quickly folding it and slipping it in with the rest of the contents of her now-full backpack.

With little left to explore in the immense house, and barely a glance at the man in the leather chair, she strode from the room.

---

It was hot outside, leading Astraea to believe that she was in an area where the climate went little below 60 degrees on a good day. She had crossed paths with only a couple of those ... Things ... Since leaving the mansion that she had come find out was called Huntington Manor. She dealt with those quickly and efficiently, and found herself back on the road in no time.

From what she could tell, the town that she had awoken in was small and rather boring in appearance, despite the crazed creatures roaming throughout it. Although, in retrospect, if a small town like this had them, then undoubtedly the rest of the United States was under the same threat.

Stifling a sigh, she shoved a hand through her tangled, red-orange hair. Her hand jolted in a tangle in surprise as a loud explosion echoed nearby - as in the next street over - startling her and causing her heart to leap into her throat. The guttural sound of a creature dying was heard, followed by the very clear sound of a male's voice begging for someone to hurry. His voice was raspy, as though he had whispered it, but she scoffed that off and talked herself into believing he had shouted it. It was followed very quickly by a woman's voice introducing herself and some other person who had yet to speak.

The scuffled feet of a few more of those things resonated throughout her eardrums. Her head jerked to the side. Instantly she was off, her feet carrying her quickly towards the houses that separated them - there wasn't any time to go around the block. She vaulted over the fences, dismissing the feral creatures she passed due to their enclosure inside of said fences, and skidded to a stop when her eyes landed on a very blonde, very defenseless man. Her eyes caught fiery red hair, not very different from her own, and a large frame that she couldn't see the face of. Cursing softly, she ducked behind a nearby trashcan, hissing out as more footsteps could be heard. A jittery movement took hold of her, causing her to suddenly lurch out and hiss out at them.

"Are you all complete dumbasses? Can't you hear them coming? We need to get somewhere safe before they get here - which will be soon!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper, quickly striding towards them.

---

Taking a short breath of air, Perry pursed his lips in utter frustration. He guessed that he was alone and would have to find a way out of the damned predicament all on his own. So far, he wasn't very prideful about his own luck in things.

There were footsteps, and this time it sounded like more than one being. Perry couldn't muster up the will to turn around and clustered his fists very tightly, somewhat ready to pathetically defend himself once again against one of those bloody creatures summoned from hell. After a few short seconds that seemed like an eternity, Perry slowly turned around. What he saw immediately shocked him.

A creature's head raced towards his feet, and Perry let out a shriek and jumped back. There was a redhead and a built man in front of him. Relieved, he was overjoyed to be with company of other people and not a being trying to kill him, but his relief was cut short when he noticed the red head sheathing a blade and the both of them slowly walking towards him.

"Hey there...well aren't you a fish out of water."

The statement from the redhead rubbed off on Perry the wrong way. He grimaced at the two as the redhead laughed, shook her head, and gave the man a strange look. She quickly cut the laugh off and smiled at Perry.

"I'm Ivy... Ivy Archer. This, is my new partner in crime... Jack Dukes."

Perry began to look over the two people in front of him. The redhead had a sarcastic feel to her. She seemed roughed up to him, as if she's been through things he's never even heard of. The man didn't seem all to impressed with him, but Perry couldn't care less.

"And these are your new best friends."

The redhead handed over a duffle bag to Perry. By then, Perry finally found the words to say.

"I think my name is Perry Maxwell Charming. Thank you for the bag, but I think I'm okay."

Unceremoniously handing the duffle bag back over to the red head, Perry wiped off his hands, unsure of who's touched the bag over the course of its life. He wasn't very thrilled of the two people in front of him. If this situation was going to last, it would have helped if anyone that crossed paths with him shared at least his sense of fashion.

"I have to thank you for getting rid of that creature. They're absolutely disgusting," said Perry, giving the two of them a small smile. He couldn't help but force the gesture, as smiling was at the extreme bottom of the list of things he wanted to do at the moment. Suddenly, there was an odd noise from somewhere nearby. Perry was getting awfully annoyed by the constant strange noises appearing out of nowhere, but was glad to have Ivy and Jack to defend him if all else fails.

"Are you all complete dumbasses? Can't you hear them coming? We need to get somewhere safe before they get here - which will be soon!"

Surprised by hearing a human voice and not a horrifying creature growling at them, Perry turned around and took sight of another redhead. She seemed more like the two in appearance instead of him. He sighed.

"Do we know her? I mean, I wouldn't know, with my sudden memory loss and all." Perry retorted snottily. His shoulder then began to hurt once again and he winced, trying not to let his signs of pain completely obvious.

I V Y - A R C H E R


Dialogue Color=#27b99c

---

"I think my name is Perry Maxwell Charming. Thank you for the bag, but I think I'm okay." Then Perry handed the bag back to her. Ivy was so surprised and aghast from his response that she stood froze momentarily with her head cocked slightly and her mouth agape. "I have to thank you for getting rid of that creature. They're absolutely disgusting," Was this dude serious?

Ivy dropped the bag on the ground right at their feet, obviously irritated at the male's demeanor. "Listen here, cupcake." between his better-than-you comments, and the thoughts he had about their fashion... at a time like this? She had it. Ivy even saw the red head female approaching but she was fueled up for a rant and nothing was going to stop her. This guy pushed her buttons in just the right way and after the day she's been having, she wasn't sitting by idly. "Take the fucking weapons. This isn't..." She glances over at the destroyed Porsche, "New York or where ever the hell you hail from. I don't feel like babysitting you, and I'd bet that neither of them wish to either. This," She pointed down at the zombie head at his feet, "Was a decency because your back was turned. But I can't watch your ass and my own at the same time. And honey you are not a priority over me. So you'll either take a fucking weapon and defend yourself, or you can stay here with all these lovely creatures and hope to survive. Which wouldn't be long considering you think shouting at the top of your lungs is a peachy idea."

That's when the red headed woman spoke up as she reached them, "Are you all complete dumbasses? Can't you hear them coming? We need to get somewhere safe before they get here - which will be soon!"

Ivy chuckled at the red head's comment, "Good afternoon to you too." Before adding onto the woman's statement, "Zoolander over here thought it was a good idea to let the entire town know where he was."

That's when Perry piped up again, "Do we know her? I mean, I wouldn't know, with my sudden memory loss and all."

Ivy rolled her eyes slightly, "Dude... none of us have our memories. That lovely bite you have their on your shoulder that you're failing at trying to hide from us is what caused it if I had to bet on it. So no we don't know her... or you... or-"

Ivy stopped mid sentenced when she heard another approaching, her right hand quickly moving to grasp her crowbar as she spun on her heels. But her hand quickly released the weapon when she saw another woman approaching. A dark haired latino woman that looked around Ivy's own age approached before falling to her hands and knees. It was apparent that she was have been injured or bitten on her ankle. Even though she was hurt, she was still able to lighten the mood, "I'm not too late for the party am I?"

Without hesitation Ivy slipped the crowbar back through her belt loop, chuckling as she ran over to the woman. "Looks like you brought the party with you Rambo." Ivy heard the infected coming as she slipped her right arm under the woman's left, helping her stand up. She then held the woman's left hand with her own left hand, while her right arm held her waist so that Ivy was able to help her walk and keep weight off her bad foot. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see some of the zombies pour out from the alley ways on the far end of the street. Continuing to look around, Ivy was trying to think of a solution and quick. That's when her eyes locked onto an old Ford pick up parked on the side of the road seeming to be untouched by the infected and in decent condition. "The truck!"

As quickly as Ivy could, she held onto the woman and ran her over towards the truck. With her left hand she opened the bed of the truck and helped the woman up. Seeing that the female had a baseball bat and a pistol tucked into the back of her pants, she knew she'd be ok protecting herself. Ivy then sprinted back over to where Perry was standing to pick up the duffle he obviously didn't want. Whether he liked it or not, she reached into the bag pulling out a pistol, shoving it into his hand. "Lock your elbows, grip with both hands, point and shoot." Ivy grabbed Perry by the arm, dragging him along with her and pushed him towards the bed of the truck. "Shoot anyone that isn't a crazy monster and I'll castrate you!"

Ivy removed her crowbar from her belt loop, grasping it like a baseball bat before swinging it at the driver's side window, shattering it into a million pieces. "Hey Red!" Clearly talking as she was working, "Get in the back with the rest of them. They might need your help since the model's probably never handled a gun before. Ivy unlocked the door and hopped in. First she sat back in the seat and kicked out the windshield, she then leaned over and unlocked the passenger door. "Jack sit up here! I'll need your help getting any that come up on the hood." Now obvious as to why she kicked out the window. Leaning over, she began to strip wires using her teeth because she didn't have time to find something to cut them.

Ivy attempted to hot wire the truck multiple times but the engine wouldn't turn over. "FUCK!" She shouted in frustration. "Come on... START!" Ivy slammed her hands onto the steering wheel, and as if on cue a force of energy surged from her palms through the steering wheel, into the engine, starting the truck. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise but she wasn't going to stick around and figure out how she did it. Seeing the zombies only feet from the bed of the truck, Ivy shifted into first then hit the gas.

Once the truck was rolling, Ivy looked over at Jack, "What's the address on your license? You said you wanted to stop by your house right?... Maybe it'll be safer there for the time being."

That's when she hit one of the infected with the truck, taken by surprise she jumped and screamed. The jolt triggered something in her, something that frightened her from long ago. She started having flashed of memories of a caravan driving down a desert road, Afghanistan maybe? Then the front tire of the military vehicle hit a land mine and was sent flying through the air. The vision caused Ivy to start sweating, as she gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. Her mind kept flashing back and forth between reality and the past, the flood of memories overwhelming her. Unknowingly the onslaught of PTSD caused her to loose control of her ability, sending her own thoughts and memories into the minds of the others. Ivy's focus gone, she slams on the breaks bringing the car to a complete stop, sitting there with the engine idling as she stares blankly out the absent windshield.

After a brief moment she removes her shaking hands from the wheel, while her grey blue eyes slowly drift over towards Jack who sat in the passenger seat. "I... I'm sorry." Although she was looking at him, she said it towards everyone. Her breathing was heavy and rapid. While her eyes locked with Jack's, Ivy was on the edge of tears as she whispered to only him "I can't drive..."

---

"Do we know her? I mean, I wouldn't know, with my sudden memory loss and all."

A heavy sigh of frustration puffed out of Astraea's lips, and in an instant she was by his side, her eyes narrowed up at the blonde Adonis. Her hand shot out, her fingers curling in his expensive shirt.

"Now listen here and listen good; you aren't the only bastard around these parts who's in a bit of a jam. You aren't some sort of Prince freaking Charming, and you don't get special treatment. I sure as hell am not going to be covering your ass twenty-four-seven, and clearly these two won't be, either. Now, instead of standing there, quaking in your Italian, scuff-free, black leather shoes, grab a God damned weapon and make yourself useful!" With that growled out in a harsh, yet soft, snarl, she roughly released his shirt and turned to face the other woman, who had only just concluded her own ass-tearing of the perfect little prince.

"Prince Adonis here makes any move that could possibly piss you off, you let me know. I have zero patience for anyone who acts like a whimpering little bitch when there's no time to deal with it."

Suddenly her head lurched up, her eyes instantly zoning in on a dark-headed figured stumbling towards their small, depressing group. Before she could even move to assist her, the other red head had already made her way to the woman's side and was helping her walk. A split second later and a large horde of the infected made their way out of an alleyway, causing her to curse under her breath and reach over her head and into her backpack. Quickly ripping out a small crossbow, she pulled back on the string, slipped an arrow into the notch, and pulled the trigger. It whistled softly through the air before flying completely through one forehead and embedding itself in the head of the infected being behind it.

The word truck resonated in her mind, her ears dimly catching the word, and Astraea quickly whipped around.

"Go! I'll cover your asses on the way to the truck, but I don't know how much I can do!" she called to the woman. Once again, she turned to face the swarm of infected - she estimated about twenty to thirty in count - and quickly returned the crossbow to her bag. In exchange she removed two long sickles that glinted in the sunlight.

A few stragglers managed to get ahead of the group, and she made quick work of them. She did, however, almost manage to get a chunk taken out of her upper left arm in the process, and barely dodged a swipe of a manicured woman's dirtied, bloodied nails.

"Hey Red! Get in the back with the rest of them. They might need your help since the model's probably never handled a gun before."

Pressing her lips firmly together, Astraea took a running start backwards before turning and sprinting towards the truck. Bracing her hand on the side of the bed, she launched herself up and into it, landing with a soft thud. The next few seconds were the longest of her life - or so she assumed - as the zombie hoard slowly inched closer ... And closer. Whipping around, she wrenched open the middle window between the two parts of the truck.

"What the Hell is going on in there? We need to go! Now!" she snapped. Spinning back, she turned in time to see the first zombie reach the truck. Its grotesque hand struggled to find a grip on the edge of the truck, and when Prince Adonis and who she now referred to as 'Ladybird', seeing as she lacked actual names from either of them, continued to simply stare at the disgusting being, she shoved past both of them.

"I get why she isn't doing much, but you? Get off your high horse and use that gun before I kick your ass!" she shouted, bring a heavy boot crashing down on the zombies face. A splatter of blood squirted out, undoubtedly from its nose, and it stumbled back from the truck. The stumble caused it to take three others down with it, and when the truck finally lurched away, she threw out her arm, stopping Adonis from flailing from the vehicle.

"At least learn to keep your footing," she grumbled.

It was smooth sailing for about ... Five seconds. Out of nowhere, the truck jerked and a loud thunk was heard, followed by another swerve. Whipping around, she cast her gaze into the inside of the truck.

"What the fu-!"

A hard lurch caused her to stumble, but she easily regained her footing, something that she barely even paid any notice to. The truck thundered to a jerky stop, nearly going into the ditch.

"I ... I'm sorry ..."

Casting a hectic glance behind them at the zombies that were making quick work of closing the small distance between them and the truck, she turned and shoved her head between them.

"Look, as heart-wrenching and romantic as this little episode is, we don't have time to play match-maker. Right now, we're knees-deep in shit and we're going nowhere fast," she said quickly. Jumping out of the back of the truck, she went to pull on the driver's side door handle, only to find her hand go completely through the door itself. Ripping it back out, she stifled a scream and stumbled back from the car, her eyes wide and her lips an open 'O'. The snarls of an infected being nearing her was what jerked her back, and in an instant she had torn open the door and shimmied inside, effectively scooting the red head so that she was trapped between her and the large male.

"I'd recommend you put your seat belts on ... And you two!" she yelled through the window, "Sit down and grab onto something, unless you want to fly out of this truck!"

With that, she shifted the truck into drive and they tore off, leaving burning rubber trails behind them.

Dialogue Color:#78866B

Jack sort of zoned out a little bit as they moved toward the crashed Porsche. Jack felt as if he had been in this position before. A sudden glimpse of a memory had appeared in his mind. He was somewhere that was blistering hot and dry. He was moving with 5 other men, all dressed in Army fatigues and combat gear. They were patrolling down what looked to be an ancient street. It was the middle east, but where? Then a little boy, who looked no older than 14 appeared from a doorway brandishing an old and tattered AK47. The boy was struggling to aim the rifle at the pointman. Jack was screaming at the boy to put the gun down, both in English and Arabic. But he must have been deaf and Jack had no choice. He raised his M14 and aimed at center mass as the boy finally got a bead on the soldier in front. Jack pulled the trigger.

Suddenly he was back in the present and just witnessed Ivy decapitating another ghoul. The new guy looked like one of those rich daddy's boys. But Jack was going to withhold any judgement until he got to know him. Ivy offered him the other gun bag and shockingly he had turned it down. Ok, either this guy was totally prideful or he never used a gun in his life or heck maybe he was in shock. But Ivy and the newcomer, Perry, had a little argument if that's what you would call it. Little by little Jack started to dislike this new guy. As long as he wasn't going to be extra weight Jack wouldn't mind having this guy follow them around. Jack noticed another ginger show up. She made a wonderful entrance as well. Something about this red heads being super tough... The new girl just straight up did not get along with Perry. She tore him apart.

Then another girl randomly showed up. As well as a horde of zombies. Jack couldn't help but think to himself if there was a sign in the air pointing down at their location. Jack aimed at members of the horde with his Recon and fired perfect headshots with each bullet. As if he had done this kind of thing before. Some of his shots were so perfectly aligned that he would get two headshots with one bullet. Under his breath Jack said,"One shot, one kill." He felt like he used to say that a lot. Ivy made way to a truck and lead everyone to it, she ordered him to sit in the passenger seat. His rifle was going to be hard to shoot out of the vehicle so he pulled out his Jericho. He got in the truck and leaned his body out the window and kept fire down at the incoming horde. Ivy was frantically trying to hotwire the truck, she was swearing up a storm. She really must have been frustrated. Jack ran empty, dropped a mag and reloaded in one beautiful and seamless motion. It was as if he trained for years on combat reloads.

Ivy finally started the truck and took off. She asked Jack,"What's the address on your license? You said you wanted to stop by your house right?... Maybe it'll be safer there for the time being." Jack sure hoped so, if he was anything like Ivy he would be packing heat as well. He replied,[color=78866B]"It says I live at 783 Frontier Road. If I'm right that's about 10 minutes south of town that'll give us room to breath and figure out what we are doing."[/color] As he finished Ivy hit a walker and everything changed. She went from an invincible female Rambo to something else. She couldn't drive anymore. Jack pieced together that she was a Marine and judging by her medals she had some type of PTSD. The truck came to a stop and the other redhead jumped out of the truck bed and took control of the vehicle. Pushing Ivy towards Jack, Jack wasn't sure what Ivy was thinking but she was distressed and maybe even scared. Somehow he was seeing an IED explosion in his head. Was Jack in an IED attack in the Army? He tried to shake it off and focus on Ivy. Maybe she was in one, that had to be it.

Red squealed of and kept driving. Jack reached his left arm around Ivy and squeezed her towards him. He quietly said,"Ivy, its okay. You're not over there anymore. You're with me. With us I mean. Just breath, you've got this." Jack continued to hold Ivy to try and support her. Jack felt a genuine pain for this girl, he knows what she is going through. Jack turned his attention to Red and said,"The name's Jack. Good to know you know your way around a gun. We are going to my place. Its a little bit south of town. We will be safe there, I think." He looked back down at Ivy and brushed away a piece of hair in front of her face. They needed to breath and regroup.

As they kept driving Jack was doing his best to remember who he was. Did he have family? A girlfriend? A dog? He couldn't wait to get to his house to find out about these things. Houses started to grow less in number as they made their way to his property. At some point most of the residential house ceased to exist. Jack figured he lived on a farm. After a few more minutes of driving they reached the address and pulled up on a gate that was open. They proceeded to drive through and found a lonely house with a barn behind it and equipment scattered about. A flash of a memory showed him running through the yard playing with a little girl. He came back to the present as the truck stopped. He Jumped out of the vehicle with his pistol drawn. He announced,"I'm going to check it out, wait here."

He stalked his way to the front door and quietly opened it with his pistol at the ready. He checked every corner and shadow in a few minutes and he deemed the house clear. He came out and announced,"Clear!" He sat on the front porch steps, finally being able to breath. Then a creature emerged from the house, and rushed at Jack's back from behind. The animal proceeded to lick Jack's face. It was a Huskie with blue eyes, wagging his tail up a storm. Jack smiled a little bit after realizing he wasn't being attacked. He petted the dog behind the ears as he looked at the name tag, Frost. Must have been his dog, he continued to pet the little guy and motioned for the others to come in.

---

Perry patiently listened to Ivy and the other redhead spill their rants onto him. He couldn't find much else to do while they kept on mouthing but to roll his eyes and look away from them to distract himself. Confrontations such as this was what he hated the most, and he was already receiving them from people he had just met and probably didn't even know before his memory loss.

"Oh, please..." Perry mumbled to himself once the two redheads finished their episodic shouting. Another woman decided to join the group, though he couldn't care less about her. Even in the predicament, Perry would have easily chosen finding safety on his own if it weren't for his own inept survival skills.

There was a sudden commotion in the group. Perry gasped when he noticed everyone else beginning to attack the incoming horde of those nasty creatures coming after then. Groaning, he was tempted to take something out of the duffle bug he pridefully refused from Ivy, but wasn't exactly sure what to do. Each of the others seemed to have at least some experience or training in defending themselves, while the closest thing Perry has come to self-defense was pathetic poke-fights with other self-conscious men during sales at the metro luxury shoe stores, which is where he got the scuff-free, black leather Italian shoes that the other redhead kindly pointed out just a few moments before.

"Lock your elbows, grip with both hands, point and shoot. Shoot anyone that isn't a crazy monster and I'll castrate you!"

Perry suddenly noticed that a pistol had been forced into his hands and he began to panic. "Wait! What!? I can't...I can't do this!" he shouted out to Ivy, who only ignored him and pushed him towards the bed of a truck he hadn't noticed before. The pressure of everything going on got to Perry, and he pulled the trigger out of pure terror. Luckily, the bullet just happened to strike a zombie in the neck, slowing it down. That didn't help much in the huge scheme of things, as he saw the others taking out a small group all at once. The other redhead joined him, and he was only allowed a small moment of relief before seeing more and more of the zombies coming towards them. He didn't realize that his screaming and shouting from earlier was what probably attracted them towards the group in the first place.

He noticed the other girl was at the bed of the truck also. Guessing that Ivy and Jack were in the front of the truck, he began to wish that he could be in the somewhat safe zone of the front of the truck instead of the exposed bed with the redhead and the other girl whose appearance Perry didn't particularly enjoy either.

"I get why she isn't doing much, but you? Get off your high horse and use that gun before I kick your ass!" shouted the redhead. Perry let out stupid sounds of nervousness before awfully aiming and shooting at the horde, only managing to slow down a few instead of actually knocking them down. Suddenly, he felt himself fall from his stance, and the redhead saved him from falling off the vehicle and onto the pavement.

"At least learn to keep your footing," grumbled the redhead. Perry rolled his eyes and scooted to the part of the bed closet to the small window separating the front and back of the truck. "I am literally quite done with everything at the moment," he began, getting too comfortable for the three seconds the ride was smoothly going. "I'm in serious need of a massage."

The truck began to jerk out of nowhere. Perry was lucky to have grabbed onto something as the vehicle came to a sudden stop. He looked over and was surprisingly glad that the other two girls had also kept themselves from flying off to the distance. The redhead shoved her head between Ivy and Jack at the front and said something inaudible before jumping out of the bed of the truck. He noticed the creatures coming towards them once again.

"Um hello! We're about to be devoured if we don't do something quick!" Perry stated, oblivious to how obvious and idiotic the statement was. He began to panic as the zombies got closer, gripping the pistol harder and harder.

"I'd recommend you put your seat belts on ... And you two! Sit down and grab onto something, unless you want to fly out of this truck!" shouted the redhead, who had now joined the other two in the front. Perry glanced over at the girl next to him and couldn't find anything to say to her. Instead, he pursed his lips and embraced himself. He felt the truck screech off from it's position and saw the horde of zombies getting farther and farther away.

The ride was far better than the other one, which only lasted so long. There was actually enough time for Perry to take out his phone, which luckily did not have a password or he would have spent a whole day trying to guess that it was 1202, his birthday and the password that he told himself in the past he would use if he ever needed to. Scrolling through his pictures, he began to see that he was some sort of socialite before all of this. Many pictures of him with friends at night clubs, yacht parties, and fancy dinners. There was one picture that stood out to him; it was of another picture, presumably from a while ago. It was of him as a young teenager and an older lady with silver-blonde hair. The woman was very familiar to Perry, though he couldn't make out exactly who she was or what her relation to him was.

For one second, his phone attained a weak signal. A text message from Father read, Perry, are you okay? It's bad over here, I hope you and your Aunt Minerva are okay. Me and your mother are trying to find safety. Hopefully, Mullen is safe. I love you. Perry gasped. He was confused, and was just about to reply when his phone lost the signal that was barely there.

The truck stopped and Perry looked over to the side. He saw Jack get off the truck and walk towards a house he wasn't very impressed with, though there weren't a lot of things so far Perry was taking a liking to.

"I'm going to check it out, wait here."

Perry returned his attention to his phone, this time swiping through his old messages. Lots of other socialites and a few family members he occasionally contacted. It wasn't long before Jack came out of the house once again and announced, "Clear!"

Slowly and steadily getting himself off the bed of the truck, Perry forgot to help the other girl off, though she didn't look like she would need any type of help from him. He smiled once he saw Jack playing with a Huskie and the guy motioned for them to come in. Perry walked inside the house first, and again was not impressed. There was a sofa that he guessed wasn't very expensive to purchase and he took a seat, placing the pistol he brought from the truck on a sidetable. He wasn't exactly sure what happened to the duffle bag, but that was now far from his worries. Pulling out his phone again, he smiled. He crossed his legs and began to enjoy the various amounts of selfies in his phone gallery.

While scrolling through the selfies, Perry remembered the text from who he guessed probably was his father. He pulled the conversation up on his phone and stared at the text. He must have erased the conversation before because that text was the only one present. He began to wonder about a lot of things.

Where were his parents? Who was that lady with silver-blonde hair that he had taken a picture with when he was a teenager, was it Aunt Minerva? And if so, where was she? Perry sighed.

I V Y - A R C H E R


Dialogue Color=#27b99c

---

When the truck had stopped, first it was Perry that piped up, "Um hello! We're about to be devoured if we don't do something quick!" Then quickly following, the injured woman banged on the side of the truck before adding, "Hey, not to rush you or anything but we better get moving because I'm pretty sure we are looking like a couple of juicy burgers to them!" It wasn't a moment later that the red head poked in through the back window stating, "Look, as heart-wrenching and romantic as this little episode is, we don't have time to play match-maker. Right now, we're knees-deep in shit and we're going nowhere fast." Ivy, still shaken up heard what the woman said, but it obviously didn't register in her mind completely or she probably would have hit her for good measure.

Before Ivy could even try to regain her sanity from the PTSD outburst, the red head hand open the door shoving her over into Jack. Ivy probably would have blushed or said sorry, but her grey blue eyes just glanced from the woman, then too her shaking hands as her heavy breathing caused her body to tremble. "I'd recommend you put your seat belts on ... And you two!" she yelled through the window, "Sit down and grab onto something, unless you want to fly out of this truck!" the red head said before speeding off down the road leaving the hoard of zombies eating their dust.

Once they were moving, Ivy felt Jack's massive arm wrap around her and draw her slightly closer. Without hesitation she rested her head against his chest as he said, "Ivy, its okay. You're not over there anymore. You're with me. With us I mean. Just breath, you've got this." She listened to his words as he tried to calm her. When he said that she was with him she was able to take a deep breath. He then spoke towards the red headed woman, "The name's Jack. Good to know you know your way around a gun. We are going to my place. Its a little bit south of town. We will be safe there, I think." Which was followed by him brushing loose hair back from her face.

Pulling up to Jack's house, he slipped out of the truck commenting, "I'm going to check it out, wait here." He shouldn't go in there alone... no one should. But it was only a minute or two before he returned, "Clear!" Once getting the all clear, Ivy slowly slipped out of the truck making her way towards the house, much slower than Perry though who practically bursted into the house. As Ivy walked up the porch she softly petted the husky, then lightly brushed her hand against Jack's shoulder as a silent thank you before entering the home.

Ivy didn't want to sit in the living room with Narcissus, so after a moment of searching she came upon the bathroom. She entered the room, closing the door behind her, then walking over to the sink. Ivy's shaky hands gripped the cold porcelain sink, her grasp getting tighter and tighter causing her knuckles to whiten. Then in a swift movement she raised her right hand, making a fist and slammed it into the tile wall. She did this repeatedly until her knuckles bled... She cracked. She stood there hunched over the sink for what felt like an eternity, crying shakily. She was frustrated that she had an episode, she didn't even know she had PTSD. She was also mad that everyone saw it. She hated looking weak. Ivy tried to steady her breath as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Deciding she should probably leave the restroom incase someone needed it, she exited into the hallway. Ivy glanced towards the living room, not wanting to deal with the drama king she grabbed the closest door. She entered the room and closed the door behind her, making her way over to the bed. She slowly brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs before burying her face into her knees, ignoring the throbbing pain in her bloodied hand as she tried to stop crying. Ivy paid no mind to the room she was in or her surroundings, or she would have quickly realized it was Jack's room.

---

---

I V Y - A R C H E R


Dialogue Color=#27b99c

---

Ivy slowly glanced up from her knees as she heard the static from the TV in Jack's room as it turned on. Her cheeks stained from tears, her expression confused as the message played upon the screen. With each sentenced, her stomach turned more and more. Not only were these monsters after them, now every single person on the planet other than those like them, if there are anymore, are out to kill them as well. It was as if the world was turning against them for surviving and being stronger than the virus. She slowly leaned her head back against the wall as she held her stomach, to try to keep herself from tossing it's contents back up. Ivy knew... they couldn't stay here. He said they were moving their searches to the smaller cities in 24 hours. That gives them all a day... one single day to try and recover, and get the fuck out of dodge. Apparently catching a break wasn't in the cards.

Ivy knew the others had to have seen the message too, considering it took over all the airwaves. They all probably knew the same thing she knew... but for just one evening she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to keep planning and thinking of their neck moves. They had a day. So as long as they were out in 12 hours, they should be far enough out of dodge before they reach Mullen... She hoped.

---

The scrolling through the selfies continued for quite a ridiculous amount of time. It was almost as if Perry had forgotten that there were others with him as he dived deeper into his own little world. The pictures of him posing in front of New York skyscrapers or palm trees in the Bahamas were his favorites, and the amount of pictures he took of his fancy dinners was a bit embarrassing. Once in a while, he came across pictures of him and family members, which gave him an odd feeling whenever looking at them.

Suddenly, a swipe of a finger blacked him out. There was a picture of Perry, a blonde man, and another male whose facial features seemed very familiar, like someone who he had just interacted with. Images of dinners and wine glasses softly touching each other flashed by his eyes. He thought he saw the blonde man and the other talking, apologizing to each other, then hugging. They were talking about a woman, but who? The name mentioned was weird, but Perry couldn't clearly hear it. A very blonde woman and another were awkwardly making small chat, as if they had just gotten over a rough past with each other and were trying to make amends. What was this? Who were these people? They all seemed strangely familiar, especially the two blondes. Were they his parents?

Perry blinked and returned to the real world. He heard the footsteps of the others as they roamed through the house. Looking over to the side table and seeing the pistol, he looked away and glanced back at his phone. He did not black out once again. Swiping to the right, there weren't anymore odd pictures that caught Perry's attentions. Just more selfies and photographs of him with friends on overpriced boats. After not having anything catch his eye, he returned to his text messages and began to scroll through them once again. Just the same thing he saw just a few minutes before: mostly his socialite friends and a few who he guessed were family members. He decided to read a conversation between him and a woman named Richelle. The conversation went as follows:

---

---

Perry, I know you do not like her, but please understand. It's best for us.

Grandmother, I don't care. Why are we even doing this? It's pointless!

The Huntingtons have apologized, and so have we. Amends have been overdue for quite some time now.

Marriages have no relation whatsoever to amends. This is the 21st century, who still does this? Please tell me that.

You're just going to have to talk to your father about this.

You don't think I've tried? He doesn't want my opinion, he never has! All I'm saying is, fine. Make amends. Become friends. Hell, host boat parties together in Hawaii. I don't care. But if I have to be forced to do this, I do NOT find it okay.

Perry, you know I love you and I want the best for you, but this is out of my control. It's all on your father, and I can't change his mind. Again, I love you grandson.

Whatever.

Also, be careful. I heard lots of bad things have been happening lately. We're lucky we're in Nebraska right now. I will see you tonight. She will be there.

Bad things? The only bad thing going on is this family, we're constantly putting work before everything and it's ruining my life. Goodbye.

---

---

The conversation was painful to read. Why was Perry so rude to his grandmother, and what in the hell were they talking about? Seeing as how the conversation took place the day before, he was more desperate than ever to learn more about his past. Who was this girl they were talking?

Sounds of static from the television filled the house, and Perry looked at the nearest one. The noise began to creep Perry out, and for some reason his palms began to sweat from slight nervousness. The announcement that followed the static was definitely one to remember.

---

The announcement didn't really make sense to Perry, though not a lot did. He was guessing that he and the group of people he disliked were part of the ones that the nation was trying to hunt down and get rid of. Sighing, Perry couldn't believe what was going on. From what he saw in the pictures on his phone, which surprisingly had half of full battery still, his past life was great, easy-going, and extremely fun. What happened?

He noticed Astraea closeby, and rolled his eyes. Tempted to make a snobby comment to get back at her for the explosion earlier, he changed his mind once the text conversation between him and his grandmother popped into his mind. He really should try to be a little bit nicer to people if he was going to get them to at least tolerate him.

"Hey, I don't know your name," started Perry. What a great start to a conversation. "But it's whatever. Anyway, I just want to apologize for my rudeness when I asked about you earlier. I really don't mean it most of the time. I'm Perry, and uh," Perry nervously ran his hand through his hair. "I like your hair. Better than Ivy's, in my opinion." awkwardly smiling, he couldn't believe he managed to sneak an insult in a sentence he was trying to be humble in. Oh well, at least he tried.

---

Following his address, Astraea made sure to take the quickest route that she could find. Without a GPS or map, navigating was a bit difficult. Even though she was clearly from this town, she hadn’t a clue as to where she was going, what with her lack of memory and all. The scenery itself was breathtaking. Its beauty could almost make a passenger forget that all Hell had broken loose - almost. From the lush green grass to the endless fields of healthy crops, it was captivating.

Jerking her attention back to the road, her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

Whatever was happening, it clearly wasn’t good - or normal. It was doubtful that the town that they were in was the only one infected - the one hosting Patient Zero. Their little band of merry misfits were obviously different from the infected. There was the fact that each of them had been bit, and when they had been fighting those ... things, bite wounds were placed clearly upon many of them. The difference was that they had turned, while Astraea and her comrades had not.

Briefly glancing down at her concealed hip, she frowned. When she had awoken, she had the bite. Perhaps the bite - and whatever was in it - had caused her to black out and, in the process, made her amnesiac?

Did the others all have amnesia? And if so, was it caused by whatever was in the bites of those who were no longer human?

Turning her attention to her hands, she clenched her jaw.

The memory of her hand going through the door stood at the forefront of her mind. As she drove, she played through it over and over again, but the end result was all the same.

She shook her head.

She had been panicking at the time. A horde of the infected had been closing in on them, and she had been panicking - on the inside only, of course. It would make sense that she had imagined everything.

That had to be it, she nodded. Her own imagination had gotten the better of her.

Relaxing, she turned down the road to the farm. Gravel crunched loudly beneath the tires and she could see horses grazing in a nearby pasture.

When she finally pulled to a slow stop and turned the truck off, everyone made quick work of exiting it. The bulky man retreated inside for a minute before swiftly returning and calling the all-clear.

She was still in the truck.

Who was she kidding? She was a fish out of water with these people. Clearly she was not a people person before her loss of memory.

When the dark-haired woman appeared at the driver’s window, Astraea was jerked back to reality.

”Nice ass-kicking back there. You’re like a one-woman cavalry.”

Opening the door, she dropped out, her heavy boots crunching gravel.

“It’s no big deal. Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was doing back there. My body kind of just knew on its own what to do,” she shrugged. “But as nice as you seem, we don’t have time to chat. Right now, we have wounds to lick, and we need to recuperate,” she said. Moving around the woman, she quickly entered the house.

Pausing on her path to the kitchen, Astraea turned her attention to the television as it flickered, spit out static, and slowly turned clearer. On it was a man, clearly important, speaking about the spreading pandemic.

When he brought up the ‘uninfected’ people, her blood ran cold.

He couldn’t be serious, could he? Kill them? Clearly her new comrades and herself were under the ‘super-humans’ category, seeing as their bite wounds proved their inability to be infected.

Turning her gaze to her hands, her eyes focused on them as they began to tremble.

It wasn’t possible ... Was it?

Moving to the nearest wall, she flickered her eyes back and forth between her hands and the plaster. Finally, she lifted her arm, pressing the palm against the cool surface. Closing her eyes, she attempted to recreate her emotions of the moment by the truck.

”Hey, I don’t know your name, but it’s whatever.”

Jumping and ripping away from the wall, she cast an alarmed look at Mr. Adonis. When he continued to rattle on, she clutched her hand defensively to her chest, her gaze guarded as she look at him.

”Anyway, I just want to apologize for my rudeness when I asked about you earlier. I really don’t mean it most of the time. I’m Perry, and uh ...” his nervous feelings were made very clear when he ran his hand through his hair, “I like your hair. Better than Ivy’s, in my opinion.”

Narrowing her eyes Astraea dropped her hand, only to poke his chest with her index finger.

“I don’t accept backhanded compliments, Perry,” she said, giving his name a distasteful sound to it. Dropping her hand once more, she looked out the window. The sun was almost completely set at that point. As the dark-haired woman approached them, Astraea turned to face her.

“Find the others and have everyone tend to their wounds. After that, barricade every opening except the front door, and get some sleep. I’ll stand watch. I trust you to make sure it gets done - more so than I trust Mr. Adonis over here,” she said, jutting a thumb at him over her shoulder. Moving to the front door, she paused when she reached it, her hand on the knob, and without turning around, she spoke again.

“My name is Astraea. Astraea Huntington. And we leave at dawn.”

With that, she opened the door and stepped out into the cooling air.

Removing her sickles, she dropped her bag at her feet and set down onto a wooden rocking chair that left her with a perfect view of every spot that anything could come from. One hand moved to gingerly lift the waistline of her shirt, which was damp with blood. The bandage that had hastily been placed over her bite wound was a mess of blood, completely soaked and sticky, and with a disgusted look, she tore it off, rose, and tossed it in a nearby bush. It wasn't enough blood to attract the infected, but she didn't want to get a normal infection by any means.

It was the last thing she needed.

Returning to the rocking chair, she left her shirt up to expose the wound, air being the best medicine for it in her mind.

And she waited.

---

The poke in the chest Astraea delivered to Perry before speaking was definitely unexpected.

“I don’t accept backhanded compliments, Perry,” she snarled. He was taken aback; whenever he tried to be nice, it didn't seem to have much of an effect to it. Maybe he was just naturally annoying?

"Well, whatever. I really do like your hair," he responded awkwardly before turning around. She didn't look as if she had anymore to say to him, so he didn't bother to continue the pathetic excuse of a conversation they just had.

"...more so than I trust Mr. Adonis over here,” Perry turned to look at Astraea, who was talking with the dark-haired girl who shared the bed of the truck with him on the way there. Why did she keep calling him Mr. Adonis? He surely did not understand the metaphor the name was supposed to be, though again he didn't really grasp a great understanding of many things in the world.

Hearing Astraea formally introduce herself to them, Perry nodded his head. He thought about what a beautiful name Astraea was when suddenly, she spoke her last name. Huntington. Turning to look at her, she was already out the front door and gone. Looking at the dark haired girl, he asked her, "You heard her say Huntington too, right?" Pulling out his phone and reading through the text conversation between him and his grandmother once again, he didn't even wait for the girl to respond to his question before stepping out the front door.

Spotting Astraea with her shirt lifted up, Perry turned away for a second, finding the moment a bit awkward. The exposed wound didn't make it any better.

"Look, Astraea. I know you're not a too big of a fan of me, I totally got that a while ago. I just need you to look at this," he handed over the phone to her with the conversation pulled up. Thinking everything over in his head, Perry finally began to exercise his brain for the first time. He and his grandmother seemed to be talking about a family rivalry. The Huntingtons have apologized, and so have we. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Astraea's surname was exactly the same, could it? Perry watched Astraea read through the conversation, and couldn't help but begin to admire what wonderful hair she had once again.

I V Y - A R C H E R


Dialogue Color=#27b99c

---

Ivy sat there in the silence of his room, she hadn't paid much attention to how dark the room had actually gotten, it must have been past sunset because the only light that lit the room was the small amount that poured in threw the crack under the door. She had been wondering this whole time since she met him, why she had such strong feelings for him... and now it all made sense. She always had, since she was young but never did anything about it. Before she continue to run away with her thoughts, his hand reaching out to take hers grabbed her full attention. As she stared at their hands, hers was so small and dainty compared to his... she wanted to slowly turned her hand over and entangle their fingers but they've been friends forever, he couldn't feel that way about her. Then as if on cue his head slowly peered into her line of sight, she smiled slightly down towards him in a curious manner before he said, "You know Ivy, I'm pretty sure you're broadcasting your feelings and memories right now."

Oh no! Ivy's face turned bright red out of embarrassment, "Oh God!" She quickly slipped her hand from under his, before bringing her hands up to cover her face. "That's so embarrassing." she mumbled softly from behind her hands.

She slowly peaked out at him from between her fingers as he added, "But remember that was high school and this is now..." Ivy let her hands slide down from her face, her brows pulling together slightly, curious as to what he met. That's when his hands move to gently cup her cheeks, the intimate touch sending her heart racing in her chest. She was about to ask him what he was doing but then he leaned in and kissed her. For a moment she thought it wasn't real, that it was all her imagination. But it was real. Her hands moved to lightly rest upon his neck as she kissed him back.

After what felt like an eternity, Ivy reluctantly and slowly broke the kiss. She took a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes to look towards him. She bit her bottom lip as she tried not to smile like a dork as her face turned bright red. To hide her blush she rested her forehead on his shoulder, chuckling softly. "So that happened." She sighed softly before raising her head, her smile slowly fading. Ivy didn't want to go back to reality, she wanted to live in this moment but she knew better. And if she ever wanted moments like this again, she knew she had to accept the not to distant future. "...I hope you found some like grade A military shit on this farm of yours. Because we're going to need it." If Jack didn't have an arsenal, they weren't going to last very long, and that scared her.

Ivy secretly hoped that if they all were going to die, she would die first. She didn't want to think of any of them dying, let alone witnessing it. She would manage to an extent, but Jack's would probably ruin her. She couldn't stand to see someone that has been so close to her for her entire life die, especially not now... not after what happened. But none of them needed to know that. This was her new family, for lack of a better term, and as much as it made her want to vomit momentarily, she'd sacrifice her life for any of them... Even Perry.

And with that, Ivy slowly moved to her feet, stretching slightly. She then slowly turned to face him, hooking her thumbs in her belt loops. Ivy lightly bumped his foot with her boot, smiling softly towards him, "I uh... probably should get some air after that." She laughed softly. "I'm going to see how everyone's doing, if they need help attending their wounds. She ran her hand back through her long red hair, "Then I might catch some Z's... you should too." Ivy reached her hand toward's Jack's bed, stealing one of his pillows. She then walked towards the door and opened it. As she went to walk out into the hall, she stopped in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder towards him. She had so much she wanted to say, but then she didn't want to ruin anything with words. So she simply said what she could with a gentle gaze and a soft smile before disappearing into the hall.

Ivy made her way outside onto the front porch, looking over towards the red head and Perry. She moved past them quietly, making her way to the old pick up truck. Ivy tossed the pillow into the bed of the truck, before opening the passenger door. She leaned into the truck, searching one of her duffles until she found her first aid kit. She threw the bags over her good shoulder, med kit in her right hand. She made her way back up onto the porch, setting her bags inside the front door then looked over towards the pair. "I'm going to assume you both have bites somewhere. You guys should let me take a look at them. I have stuff to clean them and even give you stitches if necessary." Ivy was still slightly drained from everything that happened that day, she wasn't in the mood to argue or bicker with either one. At this point she was just trying to be civil. "It'd be beneficial if we all were in somewhat good condition before we have to run from mindless freaks, and even dumber freaks... with guns. Ivy smirked slightly at her shitty joke.

Without even waiting for permission, Ivy made her way to the red head first. Kneeling down beside her, she raised up the side of the woman's shirt, holding the hem up for the woman to hold it. "Telepathic... remember. Hold this for me please." Ivy looked the wound over, realizing it was in pretty rough condition, she then started to finger through her supplies. "I'm Ivy by the way..."

---

"Look, Astraea. I know you're not a too big of a fan of me, I totally got that a while ago. I just need you to look at this."

Without even looking at him, Astraea let out a sigh, one hand placed over the handles of the sickles in her lap. "Sneaking up on someone like that when the entire world is going to absolute shit is a good way to get yourself killed," she responded. After several moments of simply staring out and into the night, she reached up and took the cell phone, still without looking at him. Lowering it, she studied the screen, narrowing her eyes as she read the text messages. After a few minutes, she snapped the phone shut, dropped it to the floor, and slammed the heel of her boot hard down onto it. Kicking the shattered phone to the side, she pushed herself up, allowing the sickles to hang by her sides.

"That was then and this is now. Whatever happened before all of this doesn't matter, and from the looks of things, we didn't get along very well. All I can say is that you might as well forget anything that may or may not have happened between us, and forget that you ever read those messages," she said, her face cast in the shadows.

It was then that other read head appeared through the doorway. Keeping a heavy gaze on the woman, she followed her with her eyes as she approached the truck, rifled through it, before quickly returning. "I'm going to assume you both have bites somewhere. You guys should let me take a look at them. I have stuff to clean them and even give you stitches if necessary. It'd be beneficial if we all were in somewhat good condition before we have to run from mindless freaks, and even dumber freaks... with guns."

When she suddenly approached her without waiting for a response, Astraea jerked away, instinctively pulling away from any possibility of a threat. After a moment of struggling, she tightened her jaw, her eyes dark.

"I get that you're trying to help, but instead of just assuming that I want it, maybe next time wait for me to respond. I almost killed you by instinct alone," she ground out, her face turned away from the woman and Perry both.

"Telepathic... remember.

Sneering slightly, Astraea contained her annoyance and continued with a bland voice. "Actually, I wouldn't remember that, seeing as you never mentioned that you were."

"I'm Ivy by the way ..."

Pushing down her irritation at being bombarded by not just one, but two people who, although having the best intentions in mind, were bothering her incessantly. Astraea suffered through being poked and prodded by the woman, not because it was painful physically but instead because it was painful mentally for her to be touched by another human, and when Ivy finally finished and pulled away, she put a great deal of distance between herself and the two by moving to the stairs of the porch and dropping down. Her discomfort was obvious in her stance as she moved several steps from the house.

"Astraea. But you can call me anything as long as it isn't offensive," she managed to say, dropping her sickles onto the ground beside her. Clenching and relaxing her fists repeatedly, she turned away, a pained expression on her face. "Now, if you don't mind, I would appreciate if you wouldn't touch me. Go patch up the others; they're undoubtedly far worse off than I am. I'll stand guard tonight. Barricade every entrance except for the front door, and have everyone get some rest. As I said earlier, we must leave at dawn. It isn't safe here."

With that said, Astraea bent down and retrieved her sickles, her calm appearance returned to her, and she moved back onto the porch. However, seeing as the two of them were still crowding the original chair she had been in, she moved to a different one, acknowledging the black-haired woman with a nod as she passed her. Dropping her sickles into her lap once more, she settled in for the long night ahead of them.

Dialogue Color:#78866B

Jack was feeling things that he was positive that he hadn't felt before as his lips met with Ivy's. The few seconds of bliss that felt like had lasted forever finally ended as Ivy pulled away. Jack actually wanted a little more but technically he had just met this girl earlier in the day. Even if he had known her for a long time before the infections. It felt like Jack might have moved a little fast, yet somehow it still felt right to him. Jack wasn't sure if Ivy had enjoyed the kiss as much as he had because she moved in a different direction real quick.

"So that happened... I hope you found some like grade A military shit on this farm of yours. Because we're going to need it." Kind of taken off guard by the comment Jack stammered out an answer,"Well... Um... Ah... Yeah I have my little man cave in the garage. I've got a ton of gear, some ARs and some pistols. My Bug Out Vehicle is in there as well." In his memory he still had some chest rigs, plate carriers and holsters for any of the others if they needed it. The truck was ready to roll with everything they needed in it. He just needed to make sure there was dog food in there. "I uh... probably should get some air after that." She laughed softly which was so very cute. "I'm going to see how everyone's doing, if they need help attending their wounds." She ran her hand back through her beautiful long red hair, "Then I might catch some Z's... you should too." Ivy left the room looking over her shoulder to smile at Jack.

Like a boss he replied back to her,"You could always sleep with me... WAIT! THAT CAME OUT WRONG!" Ivy had already left and Jack commenced a face palm. Frost stalked into the room, giving Jack a curious look and licked his hand. Jack looked at the Huskie,"Not. Another. Word. He scratched behind his little friend's ear and stood up. He gave his room another quick glance, he had some family pictures and a picture of a younger girl on his wall. He collected a few and looked at the picture of who he assumed to be his sister. Jack found a rucksack laying in front of his closet, he picked it up and loaded it with things in his room. Jack found an iPhone on the night stand and stashed it in his front pocket. He would examine it later.

Then something caught his eye outside of his window. Jack stopped everything that he was doing and opened his window to lean out and get a better look. Ivy, Perry and the Female Rambo were talking on the porch under him but out near the edges of his property he saw a male running from 2 of the freaks that had been chasing them all day. Jack said to himself,"Can't I just get a break?" Jack grabbed his M1A off his bed and sighted it in at the commotion. He had just glimpsed the man dispatch on of the things with a rock. So, this guy was definitively a survivor. This guy was a good 150 yards away from the house. Jack was surprised no one else had noticed this. He aimed at the other creature but the new guy was handling the situation pretty well, he just spartan kicked the thing. This made Jack laugh a little. Then the guy approached the snarling creature and crushed its skull like a watermelon.

Jack caught another glimpse of movement rushing out of the cornfield and headed towards the new guy. But almost as quickly as it appeared Jack put it down with a perfect head shot, sending skull pieces and brain matter into the air. Jack raised his head from the stock and let out a loud whistle. He raised his right arm up and tried to motion to the man to come towards them.

" I swear if I see any more of those things before I eat dinner..."

I V Y - A R C H E R


Dialogue Color=#27b99c

---

Ivy didn't like the woman's attitude as she tried to help her. If she had any mind, she would just get up and let the wench mend herself, but Ivy couldn't do that. So reluctantly, she finished attending the woman's wound when the woman said, "Astraea. But you can call me anything as long as it isn't offensive... Now, if you don't mind, I would appreciate if you wouldn't touch me. Go patch up the others; they're undoubtedly far worse off than I am. I'll stand guard tonight. Barricade every entrance except for the front door, and have everyone get some rest. As I said earlier, we must leave at dawn. It isn't safe here."

Ivy was about ready to growl, so was so livid. But just as she was about to pipe up she heard something in the distance... Frantic thoughts of a man in trouble? She couldn't quite make out too much, but enough to know he was heading this way. Reaching behind her back, Ivy grasped the handle of the pistol that was tucked into the back of her pants. As she went to grasp it with both hands, she pivoted on her heels while still crouched, aiming towards the line of corn. That's when, bursting through the thicket came a man with one of the infected chasing after him. She contemplated taking a shot, but the man quickly seemed to have that one in control, killing him by... Smashing it's head in? Gross. But then, with his back turned towards the corn, another came bounding out towards him. Ivy's arms tensed, and she prepared to fire when she gained a good shot, but just as she was about to pull the trigger, she heard a gun shot explode behind her. The surprise caused her to jump out of her skin. She quickly turned to glance in the direction the shot came from, releasing a sigh of great relief when she saw it was Jack. "I swear if I see any more of those things before I eat dinner..."

Ivy chuckled as she flashed him a quick smile, before tucking her pistol back into the back of her pants as she moved to her feet. It's funny how her face could go from so sweet, to complete distaste. She leaned over, swiping up the medical kit in her right hand before stepping towards Perry. She slammed the kit against his chest, glancing at him then over towards Astraea. "The rest of you can mend your own fucking wounds for all I care. I'm done trying to be helpful to you ungrateful narcissists." She places her hands on the railing of the porch, hurdling it with ease. Landing in the grass, Ivy then made her way over towards the new comer, muttering more to herself than anyone, "I can't handle anymore of this shit today."

Once she reached the male, she shot a glance towards the smushed-skulled-zombie, then back towards him, "That was... effective?" She chuckled softly, before extending her right hand in greeting towards the male. "I'm Ivy... and I pray to god that you're not a total dick like half the people I've been dealing with today." Once done introducing herself, she turned to walk with him back towards the farm house. As they walked she gave him the reader's digest version of the day's events, and the TV broadcast, if he hadn't seen it already. Once they reached the house, Ivy stopped to glance at the other's, "Maybe you guys could try not to be completely unpleasant... after all you don't even know the poor guy yet." Then before any of them could say a word, Ivy walked inside the house.

Ivy had planned to sleep in the bed of the old pickup they came here in, so she could keep an ear out for anything, but she couldn't stomach being outside with any of them at the moment. She decided to make her way to the kitchen. After a few moments of searching cabinets and the fridge, she came up with a couple sandwiches that she put on a plate and 2 ice cold beers. She slowly walked down the hallway towards Jack's room, stopping just before the door, she takes a deep breath before lightly bumping it open with her hip. Upon seeing him, she couldn't help but smile. "Is that offer still open?" She looked towards him sheepishly in the dark room. It was obvious she was exhausted, and that last encounter just was the final straw for her... She needed to be around the one person she didn't make her want to pull her hair out. She then held up the plate and the beers slightly, "I come with offerings of food and booze."

Ivy slowly made her way into his room, setting the plate and bottles down on the table. She didn't hesitate about making herself at home, because she had a feeling she had been doing that for years. So she kicked off her boots, removed all her weapons and sat down on his bed, bringing her feet up to cross underneath her, Indian style. Then without waiting another moment, she grabbed one of the beers. Hooking the edge of the bootle cap on the edge of the table, she then slammed her hand down on it and pulled the bottle at the same time, making a POP followed by some fizzing. With a slight grin, she brought the cool glass to her lips, and practically downed half of it in the first gulp. "Oh yeah." After taking a bite out the sandwich, nearly moaning from the orgasmic sensation of having food, she glanced over towards him. "...I'm sorry I kinda left out quickly." She said it very quietly, following it with "But I'm glad that what happened... happened." She concluded with a gentle smile.

It didn't take long for Ivy to finish her beer and the sandwich, glad to have sustenance on her stomach. She was slightly surprised she didn't get sick after how much turning of her stomach had occurred that day. Now even more tired, with food on the belly, she carefully removed her leather vest, trying not to aggravate her wounded shoulder. Setting her vest down in the pile with her shoes and weapons, Ivy then walked over towards him. Her right hand reached up to lightly thumb over his dog tags, "Thanks... For everything." And with that, Ivy gave him a light peck on the lips before going back over to the bed. She decided to lay down on the far side of the bed, making sure there was more than enough room for him. She was beyond exhausted, and getting some much needed Z's sounded like heaven on earth... and it wasn't long before she was dead asleep.

---

Astraea quickly disposed of his expensive phone with the heel of her boot. "What the hell! I probably paid tons for that!" he exclaimed, kneeling down and trying to hold back the tears that screamed materialism.

"That was then and this is now. Whatever happened before all of this doesn't matter, and from the looks of things, we didn't get along very well. All I can say is that you might as well forget anything that may or may not have happened between us, and forget that you ever read those messages," she simply said, irritating Perry. He was just about to return an equally bitchy comment back at the redhead when Ivy stepped out onto the porch to join them.

"It's a strawberry field out here," he retorted, getting up from the ground while rolling his eyes.

"I'm going to assume you both have bites somewhere. You guys should let me take a look at them. I have stuff to clean them and even give you stitches if necessary. It'd be beneficial if we all were in somewhat good condition before we have to run from mindless freaks, and even dumber freaks... with guns." said Ivy, though Perry didn't listen to half of her sentence and began to stare off into the distance soon after she opened her mouth. She approached Astraea, and making sure he didn't have to have any further contact with either them, he stepped back and crossed his arms angrily like a small child. The fact that his phone, which was the only thing keeping him happy at that moment, was nothing more than technological debris on the ground. He ignored the small conversation, if it was even relevant enough to be one, the two shared, continually shaking his head in frustration. The dark-haired girl suddenly stomped out onto the porch. "Hey, where are you going!" he shouted out at her, though she didn't seem to hear him.

Sudden gunshots shocked Perry out of nowhere, causing him to pathetically scream and turn in circles frantically trying to found out what the source was. He finally noticed Jack's body poking out from a window, and Ivy seemed to smiling pretty hard looking at the guy.

"The rest of you can mend your own fucking wounds for all I care. I'm done trying to be helpful to you ungrateful narcissists." said Ivy, and Perry rolled his eyes once again. His eye muscles must have improved greatly in the past few hours. The redhead walked away, leaving with him with Astraea.

"You know, I'd love to stay and chat with you, but you've proved that your social skills aren't something I want to try to improve. Goodbye." He stomped off inside the house, ignoring the fact that Ivy had brought back with her a new male to add to the group. Angrily walking around the house searching for an empty bedroom, he finally found one and slammed the door behind him.

"Literally everyone here sucks!" he shouted, not caring how audible the sentence was. Plopping himself onto the dusty twin bed the room had, his back cracked once it hit the mattress. "And this house sucks too! Can't anybody afford good furniture anymore? God!"

Crossing his arms once again and leaning on his side, he sighed. No one seemed to be great fans of each other, though he didn't care anymore. All he wanted to do was find a way out of his situation, regain his memory, and return to the fun life he seemed to have before all of this. Perry leaned on his side and frowned at the wall that stared back at him.

"This wallpaper sucks too!"

Dialogue Color:#78866B

After the new exciting event had just ended Jack held his M1A and curiously studied the rifle. Etched on the stock was a a name,"Victoria". Probably the name of the rifle, Jack chuckled at the idea that he named his guns. His pistol probably had a name as well. Probably a female if he knew himself well enough. Jack shook his head, he couldn't believe that here he was standing in his room, looking tacti-cool in his gear, holding a recently fired Designated Marksman Rifle. He was sure that he never saw this much action before he was infected. Well not this kind of action anyways.

He looked back out the window in the direction of the survivors that were hanging out in the porch. They were all bickering about something. Jack silently shook his head and wondered how they were going to survive this if none of them had been able to get along. Jack did what he could to be the nice guy but there was just too many conflicting personalities. Especially in the form of Mr. Princess and the She-Rambo. But at least it would keep things interesting, Jack would take any form of entertainment now that the world had changed. Ivy left the group and went inside. Shortly after Princess Perry threw a tantrum and ran into the house screaming and crying. Jack raised an eyebrow in astonishment, how old was this guy?

Ivy appeared in the doorway, bumping open the door with her waist, "Is that offer still open? I come with offerings of food and booze." Jack gave her a grin and welcomed Ivy back in the room,"I was thinking that I would have to offer the invite to Perry but since you brought me a sandwich... I guess I'll change my mind." He winked at her. She made her way to his bed and began to eat and a drink a little. "...I'm sorry I kinda left out quickly." She said it very quietly, following it with "But I'm glad that what happened... happened." She concluded with a gentle smile. This made Jack breathe a little easier. At least he knew her feelings for him were real as well. But at the same time this scared the living hell out of him. Now Ivy was just something else that he couldn't afford to lose. Jack had created a weakness without realizing it.

Ivy finished up and stripped out of her vest. She approached Jack, played with his dog tags and said,"Thanks... For everything." She gave Jack a quick kiss and returned to bed. Jack replied to her," Well, I am here for you. I'll join you in a minute. I want to make sure the new guy gets invited in." Before he knew it the young lady was out cold. Jack quietly approached the sleeping redhead and brushed her hair with his fingers. Hoping that this door he opened wouldn't come back to haunt him.

Jack quietly crept out the door and returned back downstairs, Perry was still throwing his tantrum, Jack laughed. He opened up the front door and walked onto the porch. Melanie and She-Rambo were sitting on some wooden chairs he had out there. Jack said outloud not really aiming at anyone,"I've got food in the fridge. The water is from a well so it tastes good. I've got a few bedrooms as well. Make yourselves at home, then at dawn we will move out." Jack located a blue wooden chair and took a seat. Frost must have been following him this entire time because he laid down at Jack's side. He scratched behind Frost's ears and said,"What have we gotten ourselves into buddy?" Jack pulled his pistol and laid it on a little table next to him and waited.