Minya Polack's Story

The forests of Virginia had become a bit of the comfort of sorts since seeing nothing but plains in his travels since the walkers rose, however sitting on the edge of river often gave the feeling of peace in the contant struggle to survive in this world. Minya hid his machete on the river's edge, fresh blood washing off of it from a recent killing. Not of a walker, but of another infected survivor. Bitten by a lonely walker that had crossed their path. Sure, he was going to steal his things for his own survival in these desprate times, it was only mercy to kill him before he rose again in death.

He sat watching the water go by, fish swimming like nothing was wrong in the world. "May you be well in the realm of Hades. Charon will be your way in." He muttered to himself as he stood, walking over the body and pulling his rifle off his back. He knew a slit neck would not be enough to keep him down. "Your body will not rise again in this world." He said, firing a single round into his head. Gore splattered up and around his feet, but it was nessicary to keep the dead down. He sighed. Human contact was rare now a days, it was either walkers or humans that only wanted his stuff and him dead. Truly good people, in his mind, were either dead or rare.

He grabbed his blade from the river and moved on from the bank. The forest was not what he was used to, but it provided hunting grounds and underbrush to hide if hunters or walkers where in the area. It was only a matter of time before he found someplace to sleep as soundly as he could. Until then, the cover of trees will have to do.

Minya wandered through the forest, finding himself back at the highway. 'Great...Has to lead somewhere though.' He thought to himself as he started his way on the highway. Cars everywhere. Man made things that annoyed him when he looked back on it. Now they littered the landscape like bounders on a rocky hillside. Some looked new as if they had been just bought the day the walkers rose. Others looked as if they where on the end of their line. It felt like he was out place, unwelcome among the rubble. Several walkers still wandered the highway. The same that he had lured there the night before. Slow ones when scattered aren't they.

He hit one of the cars beside them and walked back into the forest, watching as they turned around toward the noise and shambled toward it while he made an easy escape back on to the highway once it was all clear. "Bet they had a good snack while out. But I can't have them in the way." He said as he walked along the path.

It wasn't long until he spied a manor in the distance, people as well. Again, he felt out of place. Wondering wither or not these people wish ill will or to take his means of survival. They couldn't learn that he was there. However, curiousity did spark somewhere inside him. What kind of people where they? Did they know each other or was the manor something that everyone had just happened upon? He purred to himself in intrest as he slipped into the woods and layed low to watch them. If these were the rare good people that Apollo's plague had nearly whipped out.

The sound of the car honking wasn't the only thing putting Minya on edge. The amount of noise that the people were made him start looking around around himself, knowing how easy it was to attract them to a place with a simple noise. He looked at the windows, checking for anything that he could see pointing out the window. From what he could see there was nothing apparent, he pulled up his hood, covered in feathers, leaves and a large pair of curled goat horns, and bolted for the back of the house. Trying to be a quiet as possible while heading for the back of the house.

Their had to be a door somewhere. A trap door to the cellar, back door, anything that he would be able to leave unnoticed from the others. In the back, there was a cellar door, open slightly but enough for him to slip through and fudge the door a bit so it could be opened from the inside. It was dark, that what was completely fine to him. So long as they haven't found the cellar, he would go unnoticed for the night so long as no storms rolled in the morning. He could still hear people as he moved down into the darkest part of the cellar to remain unseen as he kept looking around, muttering prayers to his own Heathen gods so they wouldn't find and shoot him. Then again, a man with horns wasn't the most settling things that one would want to see aside from walkers.

It wasn't until Minya settled in until he started hearing something. A muffled crunching and shuffling. 'Walkers down here and they don't even know it. Apollo bless them.' he thought to himself as he slowly rose from the ground and armed himself. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, two walkers shuffling around and one who had lost both his legs; dead from an apparent shot to the head. He raised his gun, aiming at head level at them. He held his breath, quiet and suppressed of all emotion at this point.

One seemed to notice him, but before they could turn to shuffle toward him they where down.

Two shots.

Two thuds.

Two bodies that could be sent back to Hades, but they had to be out of this cellar if he was to stay down here. He also knew that he must have given himself away with those two shots and he was out of ammo. There was no telling how quickly they would find the cellar and find him if he was still there. He started to drag the two walker bodies to the cellar door and plopped them under a window and ducked back in to check the other body.

An older man, at least in his forties. He sighed as he looked him over. There was a bite on his neck and a gun shot wound in his temple. "The only way out in these parts now my friend. May you be well with Hades." He said to the man as he dragged him out at well. He was a heavy sort, making him struggle to even get to the door. If this was gonna take this long to put him outside, then that could be a problem.

Xander noticed that the sun was starting to set. He was glad that this day was almost over, maybe he could get some sleep tonight. He often took night watch. He knew when to sleep. Xander didn't look up when Katie approached him, "No, but she showed severe dehydration symptoms. So I figure what the hell." Xander stood up and dusted himself off he was going to continue but, he was cut off by the gunshots. His eyes when straight upstairs. They sounded like it came from below the house than above the ground floor. He tried to remember if there was a basement. "Check inside the house for a door and I'll swing around back to see if there's an outside entrance." He clicked off the safety and ran around the back. He found the cellar door open with a boy trying to lift a big man. He was not having an easy time with it. He put away his gun and said, "I think a bed is a bit more comfortable than the cellar floor."

*Meanwhile*

Lyra was surprised at the sudden appearance of a man with a girl in his arms. She didn't even had enough time to speak before he disappeared in one of the bed rooms. She turned to Rena and said, "Well, I think the amount of excitement we've had today is more than enough to last us the rest of our lives." She smiled. When the gunshots went off she jumped a little bit. She grabbed her gun and rushed to the nearest window. Below was a boy dragging out a half of a walker. The next thing she knew Xander was on the scene. "I was worried something happened. It's just some boy who killed some walkers. Xander is dealing with him now. I just hope he didn't attract more of them. That's just what we need more of those these monsters." She sat back down and sighed.

Minya froze when he heard Xander's voice, but relaxed when the words in question were a joke...he hoped. "In these times. You can't be picky with where you sleep." he said as he slumped the dead man's body against the wall. "You had a bit of a Valka problem in your cellar, but it's taken care of." He pulled down his hood and looked back into the cellar. "And a cellar muffles the noise of a gun shot, and as much as I would have liked to be a bit quieter, that will have to do for now."

He rolled his shoulder in slight pain. Nevermind the fact that he's been on the move for a few days and needed a place to sleep, but he'd rather not be in a place that was taken and with people that could be hostile. "I don't suppose you would lend me the cellar to rest for a day or two? I mean no trouble since you didn't shoot me on sight." He pulled his horned hood up over his head as he headed back down into the basement.

'Watch your ass, Kay,' Tia called out as the Englishman shut the door. His footsteps were muffled on the stairs, and she heard him call out 'Xander?'

He was right, she thought. She had been out in the wild for days, longer even. The flight from the hunters had worn her down as much as running from the freaks ever had. More possibly. It was the first time humans had been the enemy, instead of just dangers because of their reckless actions. And yet another human had apparently picked her up off the side of the road and brought her to safety, when she could just as easily have made a convenient meal for a passing freak. It seemed trusting humans could get you killed in this new world, but at the same time, they were the only thing that was going to keep you alive. She glanced at her useless gun, and smiled at the thought of Kay placing it by her side. For all the good it would do her. Poor Kay, exhausted but still on the move, still checking on people's safety.


She sniffed. A faint smell had crept into the room when Kay had opened the door, a smell she hadn't experienced since before the outbreak. It took her a moment to identify it, and then she swung her legs off her bed and gingerly sat up. He hadn't even taken her shoes off. 'Always ready to go, girl,' she thought. Her vision swam as she stood, and suddenly the distance to the door, which Kay had covered in a few strides, looked like miles. Closing one eye, she wobbled towards the door, her knees weak. Surprisingly out of breath and her head thumping, she grappled with the door handle. The door to the next room stood open, and inside sat two girls, around her own age or slightly older, she guessed. One had long, dark hair, the other, whose eyes looked red from crying, had a slash of red in her hair, and was just stubbing out a cigarette. A long, slender animal lay curled up in her lap.

'Hey,' said Tia abruptly from the doorway. 'What's that thing?' nodding to the animal.

"He's a ferret. His name is Coon," the girl replied in a tired slur. Tia eyed the ferret nervously. It was calm now, but it looked like it could move like lightning. 'You friends of Kieran?' Tia asked.

'Kieran?' asked the second girl. 'The English guy,' Tia said. 'The doctor guy. Just went downstairs.' Met with blank stares, Tia forged on. 'This your house?'

'I just got here,' the girl with the ferret said, looking up at her roommate. 'I... I was with my brother... but...he didn't make it.' She tailed off. The second girl filled the awkward silence that followed. 'I came here this morning, with my big brother, Xander. My name is Lyra, and this is Rena,' she said, putting a comforting hand on the other girl's shoulder. 'Who are you?'

'Tia,' she said, having to swallow to wet her dry throat so she could speak. 'You got a drink? I really...' Her vision blurred again, and she lurched to one side, clinging onto the doorpost. She could see Lyra step towards her, and reached out her hand to the dark-haired girl as she slid down to her knees, mumbling: 'I don't feel so good.'

Rena nudged Coon, making him jump from her lap, and quickly moved over to brace Tia. She placed one hand on her shoulder, ready to try and grab hold of her if Lyra gave her any indication.

Katie Halesworth

After Xander had come back, confirming the suspicion that there was someone in the cellar, though that it was okay, she muttered a soft, "that's good," before reaching into her back pack and looking around. It didn't take Xander to tell her that he thought it was unusually quiet, she was already thinking that. Katie was looking in her backpack for her other form of defense, and as Xander sat down on the stairs, then stood up, she simply nodded. "Yeah, okay, I'll still be here," she said, finding what she was looking for, though keeping it in her bag, at the top, before pulling it closed and walking to the stairs, sitting down at a place where she had a clear view through the window. Nick walked over to her, sitting at her feet, then laying down, looking up at her. A sloppy and light grin fell on her face as she looked at him, though she then remembered she would have to find something to feed him later. She had planned on getting some small animal on her walk around during the day, though she hadn't, and it was getting dark.

Her head whipped around at the sound of movement, recognizing the foot steps to be of someone a bit bigger than her. She sat in her place, assuming it was one of the many other occupants of the house, and watched as she saw their figure in the room over, moving. Katie sat in her place, just observing, knowing that the boy would next wander into the room she was in, thinking of whether or not she wanted to introduce herself. Try to make friends, these are probably the only people you will ever encounter for the next how ever long you are able to survive, she thought, looking down and scratching Nick's head, waiting for the boy to enter this room.

Minya walked in a rather slouched way, as if ducking under various branches outside rather than being in doors. He kept his hood (and horns) up, just in case some one was hostile here. He had many encouters with bandits on the road, with and without sibling and them mostly resulting in him getting away from them and later sacking their camp after hours of stalking them until night fall for their food and more important items. Food, ammo, their lives if need be. However, no one here had been hostile. At least not yet. The last of the good hearted people gather to a manor to survive as long as they could.

He wandered into one of the rooms, looking around before stopping in his tracks. There was a presence, but he didn't see them before walking in. He straightened himself out before actually looking, keeping his eyes to the floor. When he looked up, his eyes fell on the canine first. For some reason, dogs always made him smile even in such dark times such as this. "Where most would leave their compainions to the plague, this one still stays with his master." He said to himself as he looked toward the woman. "Sorry. I've seen pups abandoned and chased by valkas since this whole thing started." He said tilting his head to the side. He shivered a bit, shaking his head and making a scraping noise from the inside of his hood.

Katie Halesworth

As the boy entered the room, Katie didn't look directly up. She could seem him out of her peripheral vision, and when he would look up, she would look at him. Not realizing his head was raised, her attention was still trained on Nick, scratching behind his ear as he looked at the boy. It wasn't until he spoke that she realized he was looking at her. She glanced at him, taking in his stunning eyes and features as he spoke, interested in both him, and his words. Abandoned?, she thought, the possibiliy seeming impossible. She would die before abandoning the one living thing she seemed able to trust these days. As the boy drew closer, Nick stood, his ears perking and a slight twitch in his lip, as if it was going to pull back into a snarl, but before it could do so, Katie's hand was on his head, and he instantly calmed.

"I couldn't imagine abandoning him," she said, the rethinking his words. "And I like to think he feels the same for me." She finished, a soft tut in her words from burnt taste bugs. Katie's eyes moved over the boy, not really examining him, but not leaving any of his body un seen. It was a bad habbit of hers, but it tended to work better for her, letting her know more about people than they let on.

Minya shurgged, and squatted down to the floor. He pulled on his horn and pulled his hood off. His hair was a mess, as expected from not being able to keep himself tidy in a zombie apcolypse. Not that anyone would care either. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a large peice of what looked like dried meat and tore it in half. "I assume that he might be hungry." he said as he reached out to the dog with the meat.

As much as he looked like a wild man, with all the animal hides, horns and parts on his person; he wasn't the monster to those who gave him a chance. To those that tried to take advanage of him...that was a different story in the very least. "I'm Minya, by the way." He said, once realizing that he hadn't even put a name to his face. "I'm the one who cause the shots in the cellar."

Xander stepped outside and looked towards the moon. It wasn't even halfway overhead and it rose a bit after the sun went down. If he had to guess, "It's roughly 7. That's what I can tell. I used to be able to tell the time of day from looking at the sun. I got really good at it." He took a look at the things she said could be used as weapons. Not much, the wrenches could be useful. However, they had certain flaws to them. "If you think they could be good, you can take them. As for watch, keep an ear open for walkers or bandits. So, keep doing what your doing but, be vigilant."

He finished his smoke and tossed it on the ground. He grounded it and headed inside the house. He saw Kieran on the couch and smirked. He headed up the stairs and checked one of the hall closets. He found a pile of blankets. He grabbed them and put a few of them on the ground in front of the room where his sister was. He knocked on the door like he used to when he left her dinner infront of the door. It was the old 'Shave and a Haircut,' knock. He left before Lyra could open the door. He took the rest and headed downstairs. He was going to check to see if that guy in the basement wanted a blanket. It couldn't hurt to ask. As he made his way to the basement he decided to put a blanket on the sleeping EMT. Xander took a quick look at the designs of the blankets and decided to drape the pink floral one on the man. He needed a good laugh. Xander wanted to take a picture. He chuckled as he headed down stairs, "I'm coming down, It's just me." He said as he started down the stairs. He was surprised about how dark it was.

"I brought some blankets. Man, how can you see down here? It's really dark." Xander said as his eyes adjusted to the almost dark. He look around and didn't see the boy. He shrugged and put a blanket on a work bench. He went back up the stairs and decided to look for the boy. He searched the house finding the boy talking to Katie. "I found some extra blankets, I put one in the basement for you. I'm curious on why you have animal bones... Well everywhere?"

Elsewhere...

Lyra grabbed a can of pineapples. She looked at the can and sighed, it was her and her brother's favorite fruit. He would have told her to eat it. Her plan was to give it to him for his dinner. She decided to do what her brother would have told her to do. It was for the best. "Xander... hasn't had the easiest life in the world. I know, by the looks of it... None of us has had an easy life. His life has been harder than mine by a long shot." Lyra said. She started to open the can when Tia cut her finger. She started up but, Lyra realized that she had it under control. "Don't worry sweetie I've seen worse. You just need sleep." Lyra was happy to see her go to her room. She shut the door behind Tia. She finished off her pineapple.

She leaned against the wall and started dozing. She came to her senses when she saw Rena start to get up. She chuckled as she saw her fail. A bit after Rena fell asleep she heard the knock on the door. Lyra smiled as she remembered the times before. She got up and opened the door. There was a stack of three blankets on the floor. She picked one up and threw one over the girl. Lyra thought about the times when Xander would through the holiest of blankets on her when she fell asleep on the couch. She smiled at the memory. She wanted more of the good ones. She took the rest with her as she went to Tia's room. She threw one blanket on the ground and draped the other one around the sleeping girl. She smiled and watched Tia for a few minutes. Lyra turned and left. She was getting tired. It had been a long day. She decided to go back to Rena's room. She laid down and used Xander's pack as a pillow. She got under the blanket and fell asleep.

Minya perkered up from hearing Xander behind him. He never liked people sneaking up on him, though that probably wasn't what he was trying to do. His question wasn't one that he had heard before, but it was normally before someone attempted to rob him of his belongings. "I was a taxidermist before all of this so every part of the animal had a use for us." he said simply as he pet the dog and stood up again. "These days, I've had to fight for my food and hunt it, and I have to used to the rest of the body for something. Why not use it at armor and weapons." The last part was a half truth. If he told him that he was a bandit who only prayed on those who betrayed him and other bandits, he didn't think that the man would let him stay in the house for too long.

"Either way, thank you. If you need anything, I'll actually be in the basement." He said as he walked past him. He made his way back down to the cellar, wandering around in it as he started to adjust his eyes to the dark. He grabbed the blanket and spread out on the floor before sitting down. The dark had been his home for the past three months, some where that he felt some semblence of safety for the time being. Sure, it wasn't safe to travel in the dark. But who said desprate times didn't make a dangerous time of day safe.

Xander nodded as the boy went back down to the basement. He told Katie to head up to the attic. It was a great look out point for them right now. Xander found himself a bed and laid down. His exhaustion was his worst enemy, he tried fighting the sleep as long as possible, then he slipped away to a light slumber that he had gotten used to.

"Lyra, we're gonna make it... I swear." Xander looked over and saw a group of walkers coming right for him and his sister. He tried to help his sister up. However, her leg was battered up. She wasn't going to stand anytime soon. He swore and pulled out his gun and stared firing in the group of walkers. When the clip was emptied, there was a good 4 walkers left. He picked up his bat on the ground and started swinging. He killed them all, but he had gotten bit in the process. Then a scream let out behind him. A walker was on top of Lyra. Xander didn't have enough time to kill it. What was supposed to be a scream came out as...

"Lyra!" Xander whispered as he shot up in the air. He looked around and saw that he was still in the mansion. He and his sister were still safe for now. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. He wasn't going to let that happen to her. He decided to take over the watch, as he wasn't going to go back to sleep. He headed up to the attic and relieved Katie of guard duty. He watched and waited for the sunrise...