Inferi Decretum: Chapter One

[Ghaarme]

The room was quiet, fighteningly so, and oh so very white. Every surface of the containment unit was scrubbed down to a perfect blank finish, so white that it seemed to glow. Four corners of silent nothingness in a box no larger than ten fifteen feet on each side. A compact wall-mounted camera painted white was glaring from the northern corner. This was horrible. This was maddening. This was...

Isolation.

In the middle of the floor, clearly out of place in the bright room was a dark skinned teenager laying spread eagle on the floor. Sam sighed through the cloth covering his face and grimaced, inhaling the scent of sterilized matter. They had taken away every piece of gear he had on his person at the settlement, scrubbed him down -without the benefit of a hot nurse, he mentally added- and handed over a pair of white pants and a shirt of the same blank shade.

During the entire thing Sam had been careful to keep at least one hand over either the bottom half of his face at all times, which drew some curious glances from the medical staff as they dressed his wounds. There was a bandage on the left side of his lower back, that sharp pain he had felt earlier turning out to be a sliver of metal lodged a few centimeters into his skin. It irked Sam that they had refused his insistance on dressing his own wounds, and they did shoddy work in his modest opinion. Only seven stitches? Amateur, they would tear as soon as he ran or jumped. Although...he thought, they might have done it so tightly for exactly that reason. A smaller band-aid was on the boy's left cheek, a reminder of government brutality. A guard had slugged him out of frustration on the ride over due to both Sam's unwillingness to cooperate with a report and the fact that he nodded off every five seconds. Now, Samuel Mako was stuck in a quiet room with no shirt on.

Oh, the shirt? He had taken it off and bound his head inside the article of clothing as a temporary substitute for the facemask. It's not like the merchant boy minded his exposure, he still had pants and his dark body was nicely toned without being particularly musclar. Probably a result from running from deadies with a ton of stuff on hand for years. The scars being out in the open bothered him even less.

"Hey!" he yelled to anyone who might have been listening, "When do I get out?" it had been at least twenty minutes...and a faint click could be heard from the seemingly featureless wall to his right, drawing Sam's attention.

"Right now. Come on, let's get your stuff." a neat-looking man, probably around his forties said, waving for Sam to hurry along.

Without another word the young man hopped up and strode out of the room. Outside wasn't too different, brightly lit hallways and the like. The man attending him was the first to break the silence.

"You know kid," that was funny, Sam thought, since the boy was almost half a foot taller than the guard, "that coat of yours is really something." Sam smiled at that, a gesture that would be lost to the soldier. "Minimal wear and tear, over thirty-two items of various quality and origin within external and internal compartments, and..." the lightly pigmented man shook his head in thought. "We were gon'na burn it, you know, because of all the blood on it...but when we opened up the ash chamber the thing was still there! With all the blood and infectious material burned clean off! The thinkers said it was lined with teflon or something, I wasn't really listening. Were'd you get something like that?"

"I made it." was Sam's only response.

After a few moments of silence the older man realized he would recieve no further answer. Sam noticed that his riot shotgun was hanging from a leather thong right beside the guard's own pistol, and even some shell-cartridges at his waist. As the two turned another corner he spoke again. "Casey told the fellas about how well you handled yourself...you ain't the average wandering teenager, are you?" it didn't surprise him that the medical team had given out what little personal information they could garner about the dour merchant. They said they wouldn't, and were very nice about the matter until Sam started correcting them about their procedures and techniques. Guess doctors can get angry too. "Shotguns and grenades..." the graying man gave a long, low whistle.

Finally the two arrived in the storage area containing the lockers. Sam promptly retrieved the many things they had confiscated. Whoever put them here needed an extra locker for his wares and gym bag. Everything in the bag was there, cleaned and pressed. He was surprised that they hadn't taken the weapons, although the operatives did decide to claim the ammunition for each gun. Inside the other locker Sam smiled as he donned his black undershirt and jacket, replaced all of the items that had been within it, and threw away the medical shirt to replace the one-way seethrough facemask. Sam pulled up his hood and took out some pants -not his black jeans, but a pair of bluejeans the facility had provided- and his black shortboots. Afer putting on all of his clothing and gear, the boy turned to the guard and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"This pack, for my gun."

The soldier grinned a mouthful of pearly whites. His eyebrow raised in silent question, one that Sam had learned very well in dealing narcotics.

"Yes, unfilitered. I don't serve any other kind." his hand retrieved on more pack and the smokes were tossed over to him. The guard chuckled and handed over the boy's favored weapon along with the ammunition. A 'guest' card was also affixed to his black jacket.

"Nice doin' buisness wit'cha." Sam gave a mock salute with two fingers and turned around to head off the medical area again. Marcus, the guard, had informed him that several of his medical supplies had been confiscated and moved to that area for examination.

After a few minutes of following the signs of the white hallways and passing a good amount of curious individuals, as it was quite unusual to see a man walking around with a masked face, Samuel arrived in the medical sector. It took only a couple of questions before a nurse directed him to a small white box containing all of his supplies...and more. Quite a shock. Every vial, scalpel and syringe had been cleaned, and his chemicals restocked. The attending physician passed by and Sam asked what he should do now, and if he could leave. Of course, the answer was no. He was directed to go to either the cafeteria or observatory until called upon. He was also told to remove the mask, or at least pull it down. He performed the latter, pulling the black fabric down just enough so that it only covered his mouth and nose, revealing intense brown eyes.

I fucking hate military... he thought sullenly.

On his way out Sam passed by a large glass window looking into a patient's room. He decided to spare it a glance and stopped. It was that woman... Astrid, he had learned. She was sleeping, hooked up to some basic things; an IV drip and a monitor. Absently, Sam pressed his uncovered forehead to the cool glass. Without a thought to his actions, he tapped on the window, creating a louder noise than he would have liked.

She looked kind of like Casey...

[Liquidus]

Hime had ran off to take cover behind a nearby rock as the chick was yapping “Chances are I’ll blow your arm off before you even flex that finger of yours.” She sneered in a answer. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a Beast Zom you ass!" She didn't know what this chick could do, and she'd really hate to lose another arm or leg. "I changed my mind! How about I buy you a stiff drink and we don't pump each other full of holes?" It wasn't a bluff or a trick, Hime herself knew the advantages of making friends; as elementary as she sounded, she didn't want to have a shootout. "You shouldn't sleep in the middle of nonewhere! You'll get bit in the ass by a Zom and want to do the same to some other joe or jane. I thought you were a zom, and I thought I'd be the gracious hero and end your Zom existence. Hell you obviously aren't one, how about a drink?"

She could see the woman now that the dust had cleared, she was looking at blue through the scope of her big ol' gun. She wasn't sure if she would be seen if she attacked, so she decided to see if the chick would just let her be on her way. She wasn't scared, she was hellified intelligent. The woman wasn't extremely far away, but Hime would only get one shot, most like she'd get a bullet ass whuppin' and die. She didn't like dying, it was painful and all that bad stuff. What really worried her is what would happen if she died. Bluewig would be mortified; she almost teared at the thought of it.

"Come on, I got booze and water in the trunk. We could forget this even happened. I'll lower my gun if you lower yours." Hime had raised the gun up pointing it toward the woman. She wasn't definitely seen now, no doubt about it. Of course she could slit her throat if she slept or shoot her while she was drunk; Hime thought about all of it, why take out someone you could get something from? Considering she was napping on a rock, she couldn't have had much of anything on her. "What do ya say? You wouldn't shoot a cute face like mine would you?"

She popped out her clip and threw it at the woman; she still had one in the chamber of course and that big ol' sniper rifle couldn't be fired as fast as she could move or so she thought. "Look no bullets.." Hell this woman might still shoot her and take bluewig, hell she had 50 ways to deal with the situation, only the woman's actions would tell what was going to happen.

[Neava13]

Buzzing touched her mind.. everything was cold, dark, and it hurt. The incessant buzzing made her feel like she was going to go mad. Astrid's mind created things to explain the sharp high pitched buzz, her mind was flooded with the images of bugs millions of bugs, they covered the sky and flew around in a dense fog. She was too horrified to move, in truth she could handle a lot of things but flying bugs were not one of them. The locust like things didn't stop for her instead they just flowed around her towards the military outpost. She started running for the medical unit, to warn them, but she couldn't beat the waves of insects there, then as she neared the gates she heard screaming through the flashes of yellow bodies and defining drone. Her eyes turned towards the screams only to see one of the guard.. Octavos.. in fact was being devoured alive by the things, she took off her lab coat and began beating at the bugs as they ate him to no avail. Finally the once handsome black man stopped moving and fire touched the sky before her. Casey was coating the area in flames though the bugs seemed to swarm in a tendril and hooked behind the man. Their small forms ripping through the guards stomach and sending gore through the entire area as they ripped him to shreds.

She watched unable to do anything, then she heard a woman's voice behind her, "Beautiful isn't it?" Astrid turned around to see the manticore she had faced once before sitting before her. The hideously deformed beast sat relaxed speaking through its needle like teeth its tail coiling behind it. From its maw the beautiful woman's voice rang through the air again, "We have you to thank for helping us make them.. soon it will all be over.. and there is nothing they can do."

She backed away her eyes wide as she looked at the manticor and then turned and started to run. Though she hit something fleshy and looked up to see the masked dark clothed figure from before in front of her. In his hand he held a grenade and he grabbed Astrid by the neck. She started to speak, but as she opened her mouth he put the grenade in her mouth and pulled the pin with a clink sound. Her eyes went wide as she gasped and tried to pull away, the dark clad man that she had seen before held her firm and chuckled, "You killed us.. now die with us bitch" She screamed through the grenade as the man pulled the mask off his face revealing nothing but a rotten skull behind the black cloth.

She sat up in the bed screaming as Sam tapped the glass. Her eyes wide her body drenched in sweat, wires and leads connected over her chest and forehead as she looked at her hands and trembled. She was covered in a hospital gown as she looked around the sterile room her heart hammering in her chest. Her eyes looked at the heart monitor, though all she heard was buzzing, she felt out of place and very lost trying to remember why she was here, a long well stitched gash all the way up her back marked the injury she had received after being pinned. One of the medical staff came in to greet her with a normal fake smile. Jen's lips were moving but Astrid couldn't hear a thing past the buzzing. She spoke to the orderly but she couldn't hear her own voice.. so she put her hand to her throat to make sure she was speaking. Her voice was almost yelling however, "Jen!.. I can't hear!.. Is everyone ok?!" she frowned and Jen nodded pulling out a note pad. The black haired almost nerdy looking woman known as Jen looked towards Sam and arched a brow as Astrid took the note pad.

Jen then wrote Astrid a note on another note pad, and thrust it out to her it read, "Everything is fine.. we are expecting a report from you.. your cloths are on the side of the room in the cabinet, we lost 6 guards, though the situation outside is under control. Do you want me to get rid of the teenager?" Teenager? who? Jen was pointing towards the glass on the other side of the room and Astrid's eyes dodged to him, she jumped visibly at the sight of him though his partially revealed face made her relax slightly, he had eyes, he had skin.. he wasn't going to kill her.. it was ok. Astrid looked back at Jen and shook her head no, Jen then nodded and left the room leaving the door wide open for Astrid to leave when she was ready. Astrid would get her ears repaired later by the surgeon on duty right now she needed to get the report filed and see if she was needed any place. She DCed all the lines from her form including the IV and turned off the machines as she got up stiffly keeping herself covered the rest of the way by the blanket.

She then looked back at Sam and spun her finger around then pointed at him as if to ask him to turn around. She then went about getting dressed, she had gotten used to showering and changing in front of others for the most part her and the medical staff had been scrubbed from top to bottom soo many times that they had lost count of how many times they had seen each other nude, she honestly didn't care. She got dressed in a clean set of jeans and a white tank top pulling over a lab coat over that. Before long she had her hair twisted up and was walking out towards where Sam stood. She carried the note pad with her and then smiled at him kindly before pulling the note pad up and writing a note. She then turned the note towards him and smiled, "Thank you for saving my life back there.. and I'm sorry I passed out.. I can't hear.. so if you have anything to say.. you'll have to write it.. I will hopefully have my ears repaired within two days though.. until then.. please let me know if you need anything, we are happy to have you as a guest, and the government will of course help transport you where you need to go once all this blows over.. I'm Dr Astrid Williams.. a pleasure to meet you." She held out her right hand for him to shake a bright overly peppy smile over her face. She really hoped that she could at least have one person in this god forsaken duty assignment treat her somewhat well. Even if it was just a civilian passing through. She needed to find Casey and Corporal Franks as well to get the low down of what had happened.. If they were still alive.

[aipsylon]

Casey got up from the table. "Thanks for the clean bill of health."*he headed straight for the weapons locker. He knew that the men that took his weapon and cleaned it had excellent training and had likely done a perfectly acceptable, but it was something he did. He always assembled his weapon, his ammunition, cleaned it, inspected it. If something were wrong with the weapon he would know. It was his life in the field if something went wrong he was more than likely dead. You couldn't count on there being someone there to watch your back.

Reaching the locket he took it out, detaching the ammo drum and heading down to the room to being making some more. He listened to his boots clapping along the near empty hallway. He looked around, the events of the day still fresh in his mind, he needed rest, but more than that he needed to be ready. Preparedness was what kept you alive in this world.

Setting his weapons down on the table he lined up the for clips and three drums. He started with the drums, removing the inner drum from the casing he took out the shells one-by-one, inspecting each of them for any damage before sliding the inner drums back into the casings. Following that he began the equally routine task of placing each back in, manually rotating the drum in reverse as he filled them. Counting them silently realizing that he needed four more. He took out the shells, laying them along the table, he poured in the powder, stuffing the shell with the wadding and the cushion before pouring the shot into the shot cap and inserting that into the shell before crimping it closed. He did each step four times, inspecting each of the finished rounds before inserting them into the last drum, rotating it once more to confirm it was full, before setting the three drums aside and looking at the clips, first he checked the slugs, finding that they were as he left them unfired, he moved onto the Frag-12 rounds., first he took them all out before filling one clip, leaving just one on the table. He still had some time to go. He packed them as well, taking quite a while to make all seven, when he finished he took apart his shogun and reassembled it, finishing by locking in one of the 32 round drums, and switching on the safety before turning to head out of the room.

He had had a long day indeed, and was looking forward to a nice relaxing nights sleep though some itch told him that was not going to happen. Still he could hope. He did not think about Astrid coming to find him. He did not think about the zombies that were gathering around the perimeter. He did not think about the debriefing that he was going to have. It had been a long day indeed, and for now his next step was sleep. He hoped to get at least a twenty minuet nap in before he was awakened for some reason. Each step he took toward bed his side hurt a little more. Whatever painkillers they had given him while wrapping it must have been wearing off. 'Good if anything happens I'll be at a hundred percent.' He flicked off the light and began to walk down the corridor toward his quarters.

[Ghaarme]

It was a bit startling to see Astrid come to wakefulness, just as soon as he finished drumming his fingers on the glass. The woman looked panicked or confused, Sam couldn't tell, as she glanced around to take in her surroundings. In a few moments a nurse, short and overflowing with the nerd factor entered the room. Sparing only a questioning glance at Sam, the woman, actually kind of cute in a coke-bottle glasses sort of way, began to speak to Dr. Williams. The words sounded muffled and low through the thick window. Astrid's next words though, could be heard quite clearly, like an idiot speaking overly loud with their headphones turned way up.

"Jen!.. I can't hear!.. Is everyone ok?!"

Sam's eyes widened, as did the nurse's when they both realized that she had been struck deaf. The young merchant cocked his head curiously in an attempt to see what Jen was jotting down on her notepad. He failed, as the notepad was turned opposite to his vision. The patient's head snapped toward Sam and she nearly jumped out of her skin. He stepped back once, leery of how she examined him through the clear surface, as if he was some sort of animal that could be rabid...or some smartass analogy like that. The two locked eyes for a few moments before Astrid seemed to smooth out her ruffled feathers, and shook her head at the nerd-nurse, who was promptly dismissed. As Williams began to unplug the wires and drips, and turn off the machines Sam thought to himself...

Why am I still here? he couldn't seem to tear his eyes off of Astrid. I don't even know you... his gaze was locked on her face, pale and smooth. What the hell is wrong with me?

His awareness came back in a rush as he noticed the doctor turn to regard him, making a 'turn-around' gesture.Sam cocked his head to the side in a silent question before he realized that she was about to change. A quick about-face was performed and he leaned against against the large window. Now there really is something wrong, he thought, furrowing his brow. When had he ever been polite enough, nay, decent enough to allow a nude female to go ungroped within his prescence? Never! Now Sam stared at the white linolium floors with blank eyes, simply wondering. He didn't take any notice of doctor William's approach until she was within a couple feet. He glanced up and stared at her in casual clothing and cleaned hair, a stark contrast to her earlier appearance.

The young woman beamed at him and quickly wrote down something on a new notepad. After a couple seconds of review she flipped the paper over for Sam to read.

"Thank you for saving my life back there.. and I'm sorry I passed out.. I can't hear.. so if you have anything to say.. you'll have to write it.. I will hopefully have my ears repaired within two days though.. until then.. please let me know if you need anything, we are happy to have you as a guest, and the government will of course help transport you where you need to go once all this blows over.. I'm Dr Astrid Williams.. a pleasure to meet you." it was quite a bit to digest. He pulled back his hood to reveal short, black hair, but still kept the mask up to his nose.

Sam flipped over to the next blank page to formulate a response. It was about that time he realized...during all of his travels, with all of the people he had spoken to, nobody had ever required it...Sam didn't know how to write.

Psh, yeah right!

"Oh, uhmmm...no problem. Savin a beautiful woman is part of the whole urban-hero gig :D lol, jkjk. I think your ears being hurt was my fault. Sry bout that. You can have this *look at my jacket* I salvaged it from the...um...the behemoth and a small group of panthers. Free of charge! And cool. I need to get back to the settlement we just left, or at least near it. I left at least a trucksworth of supplies and weaponry in a wagon XD I kno stupid right? Funny thing, i was chased by a group of panthers. NEWays, nice to meet you. I'm Sam!" finally he gave the notepad back and shook he hand in a firm grip. It was odd, doing so without his gloves.

After she had read that specific part egarding his jacket and looked up, Sam would unzip the coat and reveal several vials of black blood, each with a small drawing on them in sharpie black marker.

He smiled then and made a curteous gesture.

After you.

[slack-R]

"Chris . . ."

Lockon ignored Alina's soft whisper. He didn't have time for her to be worried about his emotions right now. His job was to get them out of here. And that's what he planned on doing. He kicked open the front door, gun trained ahead, his eye's down the dot sight. Moving quickly he approached the truck that was abandoned at the side of the house. He could only see the front end but it looked to be in good shape . . . as he approached the corner however he let out an aggravated yell.

"No rear wheels . . . Just my damn luck. We risked all our lives for this piece of shit." Frustrated he kicked at the door of the barn behind the truck. This just wasn't his day . . .He examined the truck for anything useful. A med kit was all he found but it was better than nothing. He'd have the house searched before they left again.

"Leave." he laughed. "And go where?" Looks like they might be stuck again.

Turning, he walked into the barn, looking around. His heart jumped as he saw a makeshift gas pump off in the far corner. Ok . . .a start. He moved further in and looked to his left.

"Holy shit." he stared for a moment before letting out a laugh. "No way . . ." A few yards away was a school bus. A little rusted but from there it looked to be in good condition . . .

He pryed open the doors of the bus and stepped inside. The bus hadn't seen use in a while obviously but it looked to be in great condition. He jumped into the drivers seat, searching the cab for a set of keys.

"Please pleasepleaseplease." he begged.

He jumped when he found them, taped under the seat. There was a map with them. Whoever had left this there had intentions of coming back for it. That would explain his good fortune. He opened the map and saw an area outlined in red.

"New Chicago . . . " he grinned. That's where they would go. He just had to gt this bus up and running. He muttered a few more pleases as he turned the key. The engine coughed but didn't start. "Gas." he laughed. He moved to the pump and checked the gauge. Not very full . . maybe a quarter tank left. But that should be enough to fill the bus and then some. He thought to himself, heading back to the house, a little less cautious now then when he was on his way out.

"We can't trust the Russian. And the Australian may seem like he cares about us but you know damn well if he has to he'll turn on us. They aren't to be trusted!" Lockon sighed. Trying to rile up the group again . . . He stepped into the living room and the speaker, turned. To Lockons surprise the man didn't look shocked or embarrassed. He just glared at him, the distrust evident in his eyes.

"your welcome to leave." he said simply. He wasn't in the mood for an arguement. "But face it. You won't last a day out there alone. So your gonna stay here. And if you do choose to stay here, you're going to shut the fuck up and do what i tell you to. Why? Because you want to live to see another day."

Lockon turned. "I'm not holding anyone hostage here. As i recall you all asked to be here. You wanna leave? do it. Walk out the door." he paused. No one moved.

"Anyone staying, check the house for any supplies you think will be useful. I found transportation. The truck was useless so we'll be taking a bus to New Chicago."

"The settlement? You realize how dangerous that trip is going to be right?" the man spoke again. Lockon ignored him.

"You're going to get us all killed!" he yelled frantically. "I'm getting out of here. Anyone smart will come with me." the man left the house. No one followed.

"Well. That settles that then. Shall we get moving?"

[Neava13]

"Oh, uhmmm...no problem. Savin a beautiful woman is part of the whole urban-hero gig :D lol, jkjk. I think your ears being hurt was my fault. Sry bout that. You can have this *look at my jacket* I salvaged it from the...um...the behemoth and a small group of panthers. Free of charge! And cool. I need to get back to the settlement we just left, or at least near it. I left at least a trucksworth of supplies and weaponry in a wagon XD I kno stupid right? Funny thing, i was chased by a group of panthers. NEWays, nice to meet you. I'm Sam!"

Astrid shook his hand confidently, she took the note pad back and read it over arching a brow at the jk jk... must mean joking? Odd but ok... Behemoth? he must mean a beast? Astrid looked up at him curiously at the mention of looking at his jacket. Then she smiled realizing what he had in vials which of course was always interesting to have a look at. She wondered if he was the one who threw the grenade, though in truth she knew he had probably saved her life. She read over the rest of it then grinned brightly and nodded putting the note pad away. At his motion she nodded and walked through the halls holding the note pad to her chest as she moved. It was odd not hearing things she never realized how much she relied on her hearing, she was almost ran into by a man pushing a large loud cart down one of the side tunnels she didn’t even know he was there. It was only lucky that she was moving fast enough to just miss being clipped by the cart, though he did hit her heel at full force.

She kept glancing back at Sam as they went making sure he wasn’t going to go off on his own direction. Though it didn’t take long to get to the Morgue part of the modular hospital the place had not been touched other then the large black blood soaked table in the center of the room where the lab techs had cut the manticor in half and left a lovely mess. ”God damn it! I swear! They leave shit like this for me just to keep me out of their hair!” she announced with a heated voice, though her tone was somewhat normal since it was more out of habit that she talked to herself then anyone else anyway. It was odd not hearing her words, but it only caused her to pause momentarily. She quickly grabbed bleach and set the note pad down. She poured the bleach over the black blood and the blood quickly turned clear as the bleach soaked through it. She grabbed some cloths and some thick gloves, as well as a face mask and goggles. She put the mask and goggles on as well as the gloves, and began wiping the entire area down. Though she quickly paused and frowned looking at Sam. She then pointed towards a refrigerator in the far corner and nodded before going back to cleaning the entire room with several towels throwing each towel in a bin at the side of the room. Before long the room smelled thickly of bleach but was clean enough to eat off of any surface.

She pulled off the gloves and threw them in another bin to be melted down and remade. Her face mask was thrown in the same bin as the gloves and she sat the goggles down looking at Sam. The refrigerator was filled with samples vials and parts, everything from eyes to brain stems, tissue samples about every type of undead thinkable and some that weren’t so common. Astrid took the note pad and wrote another note then held it out to him, ”Just place the vials on the shelf I’ll get you some new vials tomorrow ok? Let me get you to your quarters for now.. that way you can rest.” She then waited for him to agree or disagree.. truly she needed more sleep everything still ached, and where as she wanted a good look at that undead, she really wanted sleep more than anything else. If he agreed she would take him outside to a rather large big rig with a trailer with several doors outside it. She grabbed a slant at the base of one of the doors and gave it a good tug, a set of stairs slid from the base of the flat bed. She then climbed up the stairs and unlocked the door. Inside was a bunk, a small shower and a toilet, it was small, but it had blankets as well as a place to hang your cloths. She smiled and pointed her thumb up towards it. Since they had lost some of their sell swords earlier in the year to another beast it left them with a couple extra beds to spare.

---

The panthers in the trees continued to watch unmoving, though hidden behind their rotten heads flashed very dim red lights, as if some type of electronic device was laying just at the base of their skull. They would wait, until whatever seemed to be holding them there released them and let them behave as they should. Off in the trees far to the north the animals began to rush forward, bears, deer, racoons, and about any other still living beast began to move at an almost panicked rate towards the medical unit. It would take them several hours to get to the unit, and whatever had spooked them a couple more hours than that.

[itsaforeverthingxx]

Elle did a double-take as the attacker seemed to change tactics. Blinking, she didn’t lower her weapon and simply stood there, going over every possible reason she could think of. “Wait... what?” she spluttered out, quite taken back, “You tried to kill me... and now you want to buy me a drink?”

Her twitched, literally twitched, at what this woman had just suggested. Taking a deep breath, she began, “This... sounds... GREAT!” she jumped up from her position and grinned. “Are there smokes involved? Cause’ seriously lady, I could go for a stress-stick right now? How bout’ some grub? I’m fuckin’ starving over here!” she clambered on, now noticing just how good her invitation sounded. Hey, Elle wasn’t one to hold a grudge and this chic had a ride, she’d be in New Chicago in no time flat!

Elle then searched around to where the voice was coming from, letting Birdie hang on her shoulder by its safety strap. “Hey, no worries, I probably shouldn’t be out here but those bombs did seem to scare the piss outta ya, right?” she drawled. The way the buggie seemed to roll – quite literally – out of the way of her MB’s was grounds to suggest the driver had been pretty shocked. Elle finally located the woman and noticed she had a little whimpy ass fire-arm pointed at her. Elle had – as the implication of food and drink was announced – stupidly lowered her weapon but, hey, she could probably get out with a flesh wound if she really needed to.

As the odd woman showed she had no bullets in her weapon, Elle continued to grin and bounced over to her. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna shoot ya... only if there’s water involved,” she thought for a moment, “Booze is good to, but I’m frying out here.” She lifted out her hand for a handshake, watching for the woman’s reaction, “I’m Elle by the way, you should be more careful, soon as I get a target I don’t stop till they have more holes then a sponge.” Lie, she usually ran away when the going got tough, which would have been soon if this chic got back in her rig and started a chase. God, she hated playing cat and mouse.

Elle blinked and tilted her head slightly. She was on guard in case this woman tried anything, but she looked harmless enough, “There are Zom’s out here though, I had mini explosives sourounding my... ah... camp, yeah we’ll go with camp,” she laughed nervously and scratched the back of her sheepishly, “In case a bunch of em’ tried to attack. If you’re serious, think you could make up trying to kill me by taking me to New Chicago?”

[Liquidus]

Hime's plan was successful, and the woman lowered her weapon. "Now you die!" She lowered the weapon and chuckled. "Nah, I'm just kidding.." She shook her hand firmly. "The name's Hime, nice to meet you.." She broke the handshake and walked over to Blue, also picking up the magazine of ammo she had stupidly throw and inspecting the destroyed tire throughly. "Luckily I keep a spare handy. She walked along the driver side and shift the gear down to neutral, then pulling on the front bar to get the old girl rolling as she lifted the front onto a rock, which raised the front just enough to switch the tire out. She had blown so many tires, she didn't even think about it really. Hell she knew she could drive for another quarter mile before she had to stop, and it was a front tire, the back always required more work because she had to turn Blue around to get her setup up.

"Water, Booze, and food can always change someone's mind...but there's always a chance I would lose the damn shootout and I'm allergic to pain.." She chuckled and grabbed the tire mounted to the back of Blue big ol' rear end, grabbing the partially rusted tire iron and starting to loosen the screw on the front right tire, quickly slipping it off and carrying to the back to mount it where the good wheel was previously mounted. She placed the good wheel on the frame screwed it back in and pushed the front off of the rock. "There we go, and yeah I'm serious I was headed that way regardless, plus it's nice to have a human to talk to...All Bluewig likes to talk about is when she's thirsty or when she doesn't feel well." That being said she glanced at Blue's gas o meter as she called it; she was full and ready to speed off.

She hopped into the driver seat and buckled up, turning the key in the ignition and sending Blue purring away as the buggy roared to life. Hime had read some extremely old car magazines from an ancient times, and the speeds they were able to go to were top notch, she sighed happily thinking of having one. "Listen to my baby purr, ain't it beautiful?!" Hime shouted out, patting the passenger seat. "Come on now, everyone knows explosions attract bad things!" She shook a bottle of water that had a large piece of ice in it, at the end of her last job she had bought some water that had came from someone who had got an old frig up and working, the ice in it was melting like butter in the hot sun, but it made the water feel a thousand times more refreshing. She revved the engine waiting for Elle to hop in.

[Ghaarme]

A wide grin spread beneath the black fabric of the facemask as Sam returned Astrid's smile. By all appearances and mannerisms, she was quite...not, dysfunctional. Totally wierd. Everyone had their ticks, something totally whacked out about their body or in their head. Her? Nothing. As the scientist padded down the hallway, Sam made a mental note to observe her closely. Not only to figure out what exactly was wrong with her aside from being deaf, but also because she obviously held some sway over her co-workers. He promptly began to move again and followed her through the facility, and boy, she was moving pretty fast for a chick fresh out of pain-induced sleep.

Got a hot date lady? he thought with a hidden smile, She was moving quite fast, and the squeak of wheels alerted Sam to the movement of a cart in the next intersection of the hallway. Just as he was about to call out a warning it dawned on him that the words would be lost on deaf ears. Literally. In any case, it didn't look like she had even been hit as Astrid kept on walking.

As the two placed a brisk pace down the tiled floors, Samuel stared at the woman's back, not caring for much else. The white hallways and flourescent lighting were plain and annoying, plus it gave him a headache. Every few moments, Sam noticed that Astrid glanced back. During these brief perids he would avert his gaze as not to seem rude. He suspected that she did this in order to keep track of him. It was probably hard being deaf, and even if she was fully able, the encumbered merchant made little more than the whisper of fabric while moving. After a couple seconds she would continue to focus on the path ahead. It was wierd being here. It had been over seven years since Sam had last set foot in a government facility, but the memories were still fresh in his mind, having been resurfaced by the sense stimuli within the area. His opinion of feds didn't change, however. They still sucked balls.

As soon as she turned the corner and saw what Astrid had come here for, Sam couldn't help but gawk. It was a good thing that the mask covered his mouth, which was hanging wide open.

"The cat?" he asked, not remembering until after a few moments of silence that his newfound companion was at a loss for...sound. He unintentionally jumped back an inch when Astrid exclaimed;

”God damn it! I swear! They leave shit like this for me just to keep me out of their hair!” her voice wasn't overly-loud as before, probably her acclimating to the new level of sound...or lack there of.

The boy leaned against the opaque wall near the door, that had shut a few moments ago. The lady was spreading around some kind of clear liquid, very basic Sam guessed, by the way it drained the color from the semi-congealed blood. After some shuffling and bleaching, their eyes met and Astrid scowled. Sam raised his hands in supplication, not quite knowing what she meant until she gestured toward a large metal fridge nearby. A few steps brought the black-clad merchant to the front of the fridge. Leaning over, not quite liking the feel of his new blue-jeans, he opened the door to reveal a multitude of zombie-parts and fluids.

"Grodey." the sound of shifting papers caused him to turn, and he saw Astrid holding up another note.

”Just place the vials on the shelf I’ll get you some new vials tomorrow ok? Let me get you to your quarters for now.. that way you can rest.”

Samuel nodded and placed the four vials into seperate holding stands within the chilled environment, and closed the door. Once again he motioned for her to take the lead. In truth, she looked just as bad, if not worse than he. A couple minutes of walking brought him outside, then back inside another area and into a sparcely furnished room. After some showing around, he plopped down onto the lower bunk and tossed his gym bag into the corner. Sam pulled down the mask to show his entire face, and smiled.

"Godnight." it wasn't too hard to guess what he had said.

After the door shut he laid back and closed his eyes, resting the 'boomstick' across the head of the bed. Sleep claimed the tired teenager moments later. Something, deep inside him, told Sam that he wouldn't be getting much rest. And it wasn't just the insomnia.

[NeonWingedPhoenix]

The dusty streets were just as busy as always. It was about noon in the nicer side of New Chicago, probably the only place left in the within hundred of miles that had any kind of market place. A few brick buildings were lined up, each home to a single business. There was not much variety in the business that the Square, as it was called offered. Most of what you would find there would be Inns and Bars, perhaps a few Merchant Trucks with their goods laid out for trade. All the bars and eateries were as self-sufficient as could be, produce was grown on the rooftops and then distilled into booze, which had to be"inspected" by the Government to make sure no one would go blind. Fights erupted constantly and a stream of sober people came in, while a slower stream of drunks came out. Ladies in skimpy dressed paraded up and down the streets, work was all but guaranteed on this street.

One such bar had the clever foresight to place a number of their tables outside the hall so that the most drunk people, or the ones that wanted to enjoy the weather away from the noisey inside could sit in peace. At one of these tables sat a couple. A young man and his companion. The man could not be older the twenty five, handsome with short cut brown hair and bright green eyes. His clothes fit him tightly, showing off a rigorously maintained physique. Many people stopped to stare as they passed by, but it was not the man that they were looking at. Sitting across him was a young woman, even younger then the man. Her hair was long and blonde, her face angelic with bright eyes underneath the sensual cruve of her brow, a cute nose and full lips which glistened with a natural shade of pink. Her neck was graceful, as were the lines of her arms, but what drew the most attention was her utterly magnificent rack. She was dressed rather conservatively, but even her modest pink t-shirt could not hide the fact that the girl was wondrously stacked . The slim line of her waist and her wide hips only accentuated her beauty. She was a rare peice, a diamond found amoungst coal...

Don't do this to me. said the young man, holding his face in his hand, rather distraught I don't understand..why would you want to break up now !?..I thought we had something great going on..something special ! he said, keeping his voice down, but his body language said it all. The girl sighed a bit, a sheepish smile graced her beautiful face

" It was special..It's just I have found someone else and..I do not think that..it would work out in the long run."

" What do you mean, someone else ? You found someone that much better then me ?...just like that ? What has he got that I have not got ?" asked the distraught man. This was not going to look good, how could he look his buddies in the eye again

" Robert please, can't we just part as friends without having to drag this out like this." asked the girl, looking a bit exasperated

"No, I want to know what this guy has that is so amazing that you would just drop ME like this all of the sudden..without any warning..ME!. I want to know, Kitty !"

"Oranges."

" Huh ?

"Oranges.

"I can't hear you, speak up !

"Oranges!"

Robert sat there, his face blank for several seconds before his mouth dropped open "Oranges!! he yelled "You are dumping me, because some guy gave you ORANGES! he said, his voice rising to a shout, causing some heads to turn all around him. Kitty looked up and smiled a bit dreamily "Mmm..but they were amazing..five of them..he grows them." she said in a equally dreamy voice "

" You're insane! You would dump me because of some damn fruit tree!!

"Well..that is not the only reason."

What the hell now ?!!

Don't push your luck, you thought the first reason stung."

"Oh, well you are a whore then, aren't you.

"I just prefer not to settle for second best is all."

Bitch.

"That's Miss Bitch to you."

You're gonna come crawling back, begging in three days.

" I doubt it, you can't beat a Italian Stallion, baby."

Robert cursed and got up out of his chair, storming down the street. Kitty waited until he was gone before sighing and rubbing her temples..god, she thought he was never leave. Kitty reached in her pocket and pulled out a watch, looking at the time before getting up and moving away from the table, heading deeper into the city.

[slack-R]

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as the trip got underway. It wouldn't be to long until they got to the settlement, it was about 7 hours, given the detours that were outlined on the map. That was the safest path to get where they were going, or so the map said. Since he had no idea where they were going, he'd follow the map and hope for the best.

He felt someone over him and opened an eye slightly, seeing one of the younger drifters peering over the seat at him. A young girl, her hair a dirty blonde, sprawled out everywhere. He ignored her and closed his eyes again. Let her gawk.

He grinned to himself as he felt her presence leave the area, and promptly frowned as he felt a small body curl up next to him. He sighed and opened his eyes. "There's no room. Find another seat kid." She looked up at him, defiant. Apparently she wasn't gonna move. Fine. He would. Grabbing his gun, he scooted past her, moving for the front end of the bus and sat again, his feet strecthing across the aisle to the other chair, forming a makeshift bed. The girl followed, curling up with him again.

He sighed, not wanting to bother getting up. It was only for a few hours and then he'd never see the kid again. He'd suffered through worse. She draped an arm around his chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth, asleep in seconds. He lay there away though. As tired as he'd been, he couldn't sleep anymore. Was it this girl?

He saw Alina staring, a small smile on her face. He laughed to himself. She'd once talked about having a child with him. He hadn't known how to react then. He was sure that he loved her, but what he wasn't sure of was in what way. As a friend? Sister? Lover? He still hadn't been able to sort that out. He stared at the ceiling of the bus, trying to sort his feelings out. He was rather calm, he realized. usually, his mind was racing, thinking of ways to plan every possible movement, outcome of every situation. It was his means of survivial. It wasn't about the strongest, it was the smartest. Brute force couldn't win every battle. If you wanted to survive you had to outsmart your opponent.

And yet, he found that he wasn't planning, deliberating. . . or even blaming himself for the moment. His head was at peace . . .he was enjoying the feeling. Was it this girl?

he looked at her. He wouldn't have been surprised. Even with everything going on around them, she was at ease. Peaceful even. HE envyed her immensely . . .

Suddenly, sleep hit him hard and his eyelids drooped. One more check up front to see one of the drifters driving and Yassan navigating . . . arguing was more like it. He ignored it. 7 hours . . . just 7 hours left . . .