Fight or Flight 3: Texas

This is a closed roleplay.

Damn skippy it is!

As he walked briskly, yet silently (one of his many acquired skills,) Kael hummed to himself. This being yet another uncommon feat, as he was walking in double time to the song's tempo. He did these things almost absentmindedly, as he scoured the landscape in hope of locating another town. He'd been wondering around for what felt like forever, but realistically was most likely a few weeks. Some how or another Kael had managed to scrounge up just enough sustenance along his travel, and been able to avoid death--typically narrowly so--for a month, give or take. Time really had no meaning any more, and Kael hadn't really made too much of an effort to keep track after the first week or so.

Kael had been wandering for most of the day now, and the sun was a bit past it's height. He'd been forced out of the last city he was in by the degraded, and so here he was braving the elements once again. Perhaps it was for the best, Kael thought. I would probably have needed to move in the next few days anyway. Kael had recently found his store close to nothing. It would not have been long at all before he would have needed to seek out another spot.

Probably ten minutes later, Kael spotted some structures not too far out. He quickened his pace slightly, and chose a brighter, less melancholic, and of course quicker paced song to run through his head to march to. Time being even less of a concern now, Kael arrived in what seemed like a short time at the small Texas town.

Slowing his pace a he drew nearer, Kael became completely silent and eventually came to a stop. He looked up at the sign that read Mercy. Kael couldn't help but let out a single "hmph" as he chuckled to himself. His lips cracking a slight smile for the first time in a month, when they were typically in a slight frown. The sensation he felt as his face brightened even just the slight way it had felt so foreign to him. "Indeed," he said softly to the sign. Kael then proceeded into the city as quietly as possible, and began going from building to building to see what he could find for supplies, and to locate where would be the safest place to rest his weary body.

The bus was crowded with young adults mostly males. A few females were spread throughout the ranks even a few older adults as well. But the group was comprised of mostly straight out of high school kids. They each had one bag of belongings to call their own. Everything would be given to them once they arrived at their destination.
Fort Benning.
It was supposed to be the hardest out of all Army basic bases. Artemesia smirked to herself at the thought. She reveled in the challenge. Unlike some of the other luckily bastards on the bus, she volunteered to complete her basic training at Benning instead of Jackson. While Jackson once was known for being hell, it had slipped down through the years and all she wanted was to get the most out of her training.
"You seem smug." A male voice cut across her thoughts.
Art simply turned her head and arched a white brow at him in questioning.
"Looking forward to hell?" He asked once he saw he had gotten her attention.
"This ain't gonna be hell. It's going to be fun."
"I hope we get the same platoon. I like you. I'm Deacon Noble." He extended his out towards her.
"Art Dimitry."
The two of them shook hands from across the tiny aisle way.
"Art short somethin'?"
"I'll tell before you die."
Deacon grinned as he started laughing.
"So that white hair of yours natural? Cause if it ain't you're going to see hell if they find out."
"It is."
"Genetic?"
"Something like that."
"What's your MOS, Dimitry?"
"89Bravo. Ammunition Specialist."
"Sweet damn. 35Foxtrot. Intelligence Analyst."
"Sounds boring."
Deacon shrugged his shoulders. "Don't care. I plan on going Rangers after six months anyway. I wanna be a sniper like my uncle."
"I'm going Rangers for a sniper too."
"Then we should go together."
The bus hit a large dip and caused a few of the passengers in the back to scream out as they nailed their heads on the roof.


The screaming startled Switch from her sleep as her eyes shot open. One of her pistols in hand pointed outward, safety off. A quick glance around told her that she was alone, that she had scared herself from the dream, the memory.

With a shake of her head she put the gun away. The memories and dreams were getting worse. Usually missions prevented them, but this living nightmare of a world she now had to survive in changed everything.

It was easy at the beginning to think of what she had found herself in as another mission, another deployment. Only this time there was no fob to go back to. She was completely alone. A sniper mission with no where to return once the kill was over. Her body was weary, her mind past the point of keeping up. She needed a good few hours of asleep. Not tossing and turning from dreams or waking every five minutes at the slightest sound.

She stretched pulling her arms above her head to try and work out the kinks in her shoulder blades. Nothing helped anymore. Worse, she'd probably never get another massage again. One of the only pleasures she'd ever allowed herself was getting a professional massage after every deployment when she came back to the States. Those days were long gone now.

No need to whine about it. Things could be a lot worse. The former soldier checked all of her weapons and cleaned them as need be, ate a small amount of breakfast that included a few swigs of water from the canteen in her pack before she moved away from the hole she'd produced for herself.

A cabin in the middle of a open field. It had been the only shelter for miles and as luck would have it, she hadn't seen anything for hours before getting there. Lucky break, but maybe not so bad considering she'd left civilization long before. But she was beginning to run low on food reserves and water. She needed to restock and soon.

So she'd bunkered down in the small bathroom that had one small window at the top of the wall. Just large enough for her small frame to fit through and boarded up the door with furniture pieces she'd found throughout the cabin. All of this after she had raided what was left behind.

It wasn't much, but every little thing helped.

After checking over her babies, Art cleared the furniture away from the door and held the pistol out as she cracked the door open. Nothing moved. Slowly, she ventured out to the rest of the cabin until she was sure everything was clear. Time to leave.

The one thing she knew was that places like this had to be close enough to get fresh supplies somewhere. She just had to hope she picked the right direction. She had three ways to choose.

Finally deciding to go with her gut, she took off quickly and quietly through the landscape. Hell, she'd be happy to come across a rattlesnake just go the protein she could get out of it.

Hours later with the sun beating down on her, she made it to the outskirts of what appeared to be a town. She was sweating, but it wasn't anything like what she was accustomed to, so she resisted the urge to drink more of her precious water. She held her pistol in hand as she creped along getting slower to the inner parts of the town.

Which was when she noticed something. This place was small. "Fucking great.” She mumbled under her breath. If there was anything left in this place, she doubted it was going to be worth anything. Still she had to check everything out, make sure nothing was overlooked, because there was value in something as simple as a nail. She'd learned to rig anything and everything during her training, but what she was most concerned about was finding food and water.

The little place looked desolate and a vision of tumble weeds rolling across the street popped into her mind. She forced back a small smile as she entered the area all senses on alert. She wanted to check a grocery store, any mom and pop places she could find and hardware stores. Chances of finding ammo for her 9mm was probably going to be slim. Better than finding anything for her rifles, but she had a shit ton that she took from the post she was at when the shit fit the fan.

The first place she came across appeared to have once been a diner. While most of their food was kept to be served as soon as it could, she knew she might get lucky and find a few cans of something within the walls. Besides knives and such might still be in good shape. Opening the door carefully, she moved throughout the space, checking very nook and cranny of hiding before she went about and started searching for supplies.

Shit. Shit.....shit. Derek thought to himself, slamming the thick wood door behind him, then dragging a chair to wedge under the knob.
He backed into the room, aiming the Remington 12-gauge pump action he had taken from a dead Dallas PD officers body, at the closed and blocked door. He expected it to break down at any moment as he heard the heavy footfalls and furious breathing of the Degraded he had been running from.
Derek jerked as the first one impacted with the door, splintering the frame. He brought his Remington up and aimed down the sights, trying hard to keep from shaking.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle from outside the door and to the right of the hallway cut through the sound of the Degraded pounding on the door, followed by more footfalls as the monstrous-once humans sprinted towards the source.
Fuck....Landon. This was the second time the ex-marine and UFC fighter had saved the Medics life.
He knew the Degraded had found the Fighter when the inhuman screeches sliced through the air and curdled Derek's blood, followed by the sound of a scuffle ensuing.
The drywall unexpectantly exploded inward as a a Degraded male was slammed through it and onto his back. Derek instantly put a shell of buckshot through its torso before it had a chance to get up, and began backpedaling as Landon's form pushed through the opening, making it larger.
He had a female Degraded in a head lock with his right arm, and yet another several inches off the ground with his left hand around her throat as he lumbered into the room. He tossed the one in his left hand against the far wall.
"Shoot", he simply stated to Derek, who obliged, pumping the Remington and taking the Degraded's head off with a 12-gauge shell.
Derek turned back to the fighter, who had now changed his hold on the other degraded he had head-locked just moments ago. He now had her back against his torso, his right arm wrapped around just under her jaw and his left arm locked on the back of her neck, cutting off the insane-woman's air supply. His arms and shoulders bulged once as he violently constricted his arms around her neck. There was a sickening crunch, then the Degraded's snarling turned into desperate rasps for breath, her trachea totally crushed.
Landon let her drop to the floor, stepping over her with his large, booted feet, while Derek stared at the thrashing, gasping form on the floor behind his companion.
"Don't waste the ammo on her". Landon said, reaching into his cargo pocket and producing a small box of 12-gauge shells tossing them to Derek.
"Eight-shells in there. Lets move to the next house", the big man said as he stepped back through the hole he made in the drywall.
Derek didn't move until the Degraded-female suffocating on the floor had stopped thrashing. He then followed Landon through the wall.
Welcome to Mercy, he thought bitterly to himself.

The little diner was pretty much a bust. There had only been a few cans of food which had been quickly packed into the bottom of her pack and caused a bit of shifting of items into her vest. All of the knives she found were butter and worthless. They wouldn't even be able to be sharpened properly to make a somewhat decent weapon. The cooking knives were no where to be seen.

Art cursed her luck.

"I could use a drink."

"Listen Art, this is between you and me." Tiny said as he sat the small girl onto the counter by the grill.
"Why they call you Tiny?"
"Cause believe it or not, I used to be smaller than you."
Young Artemesia smiled at the large bulk of a man in a white apron. He pulled out a bottle of hard liquor and poured a little into a small cup before handing it over.
"Don't tell Miss Tina." They both smiled at each other as Tiny put the bottle back on the top shelf. A perfect hiding place as Tina was rather short compared to the cook.

The sniper laughed at herself as she turned and glanced up at the top shelf above the grill. She nodded to herself.
"Let's hope all you backwater cooks are the same." She reached her right arm up to reach the shelf. She winced in pain as her arm refused to stretch the whole way up. She cursed under her breath as she pulled her arm back down.

I've got to do something about that knot. Otherwise I'm in serious trouble. She reached back for the bottle with her left arm just as the first shots rang out. She grabbed the glass bottle and pulled back ducking down, her pistol already in hand.

Gun shots. That means someone else is here... alive. Or the creatures have learned to use weapons... in which case the game has changed. She thought to herself as she stuffed the bottle into one of the pockets on her vest. She would check out her score later.

The second gun shot rang out.

First she had to determine whether or not there were actually other survivors or not. She checked the clip again in her Colt 1911 before she headed back towards the front of the restaurant. She glanced out the windows to try and see movement. Everything was dead.

Slowly, Switch opened the door and held it until she closed it as to make as little noise as possible. Tracing one foot across the other, pistol in hand she made her way through the streets checking open areas and easy places to hide as she made her way closer to the source of the noise.

If it was other survivors then the chances of more of the degraded were also on there way to the source of the noise. This could get bad if all of the towns people were here and hadn't wandered off.

She glanced around and found something worth while. A car was parked beside of a building. She climbed onto the roof as she made sure the coast was clear around her. Once she knew she was safe for the time being, she put the pistol back in the holster at her side and looked up at the side of the house.

She took a deep breath hoping that her shoulder wouldn't give out on her. Reaching out she put her foot on the bottom of the window sill and pushed off from the car until she was using the window to stand on. She wasn't sure if she should consider herself lucky about the window being intact or not. It would have been a lot easier without the glass in place but breaking it would cause noise she didn't need. Her rifles, both slung over her shoulders, made maneuvering much harder, but thankfully she was used to it.

Lifting her left arm first she gripped the top of the roof. Taking a deep breath, she added her other arm fighting against the pain before she lifted off with her legs to give her a bit of momentum. Finally, she was able to pull herself completely onto the roof. Staying low she crawled over to the uppermost part where she should be able to see most of the town.

Artemesia unslung the less powerful rifle from her shoulder took the safety off and looked through the scope. It gave her the ability to see further than she could normally. Finally after searching back the way she come and finding nothing, she'd turned further along the path and found movement.

There were two figures leaving the area between two buildings that looked like houses. Both of them were male, but of that she wasn't surprised. She didn't count on many females surviving this world. She watched where they were heading before seeing one of the creatures heading towards them.

A smirk slowly formed on her face. What better way to say hello? Her index finger slide to the trigger as she moved the rifle to center of the other form.

" Requiescat in pace." She whispered under her breath as she breathed out and pulled the trigger. The creature slumped to the ground seconds after the shot rang out. She looked through the scope to see if anymore of them showed up before pulling back to watch the two men's reactions. Her shoulder throbbed from the kick back, but she ignored it. She didn't want to move from her position just in case they had need of any back up. From what she could see, it wouldn't appear they would.

The place was completely deserted. Still, Kael kept as silent as possible. He had already searched every place possible for anything of use in the first to places he'd gone to. He was on number three now. Go to college, they said, Kael thought. You can get a job, they said. Won't be homeless they said. It'll be fu-

A racket from inside town snapped Kael to hyperalertness. He instantly stood up straight and looked toward the direction of the sounds. It was more towards the other side of the smaller town. He went to the window and checked around. No one. He'd have to leave the building. Kael had found a few things of note, so he slung his back pack and crept out front, keeping low and silent.

After he'd quickly and quietly snuck around some buildings, keeping his ears trained on the sounds, Kael peeked out of a sort of alley and saw there was still nothing around. He turned right and hugged the building until he was back to the main street, but remained out of sight.

The ruckus was coming from a building just across the street, diagonally from where he was now, on the other side of town from where he had been. From all the commotion he'd heard, it sounded like at least one guy. Non-degraded, at that. Well, it sounded that way now. There had clearly been some degraded involved in the melee he'd heard as he made his way over.

Soon after, two large men came out of the battered building. One was particularly built, and somewhat intimidating. The other clearly appeared that he could handle himself, then or now, but had a less intimidating nature about him. Though, Kael was not wanting to fuck with either of them anytime soon. No, he'r remain hidden between this car and building, out of sight and out of mind.

Several moments later, as the two men were walking up the main street into town, a degraded came from somewhere and began shambling towards the men's backs. Kael ever so slightly started to rise, but didn't. He'd almost called out to them to warn them, but he suppressed the urge. Where the hell did that come from?! Kael's prayers so save the strangers were answered, however, when all at once there was a loud bang from down the road, a whizzing slicing the air in the street, and the creatures head being punctured. The two men seemed pretty experienced when it came to this kind of situation, and their reaction seemed natural. But they seemed to slowly figure out the situation as the corpse hit the dust. The two men turned and looked at it, then down the way the shot had come.

So there's not only these two, but a fourth player in town, as well. Kael wasn't sure he liked this. The few times he had run into people, they weren't wanting to help you. And on the off chance they did, it was to try to forcibly obligate you to surrender and thing of use you had at that time. But Kael decided he'd stay to the shadows and see for himself what kind of people now shared Mercy with him. He'd let this Western play out in the street, munching on a granola bar he'd found. So far it was pretty interesting.

Kael backed away, back the way he'd come, into that sort of alley behind the main shops. He was able to climb onto a dumpster and jump to a fire escape. Kael climbed onto the room, and took position near the street. Now he could see them, but it would be nigh impossible to see him, and he was always so good at being quiet.

A woman?! Kael had spotted the sniper. She hadn't been too far from where he started out in town. Damn, she's good. I had no idea. Fortunately, she had been ignorant of his presence, too. Now he had a slight vantage point on her, but obviously no rifle. Not that he necessarily wanted to kill her. He kept his eyes on her, occasionally looking to the other two. He was really curious as to just what the fuck was going to happen next in this chaos that had followed him to Mercy. This was the most entertainment he'd had since the shit hit the fan. And so Kael watched the three anxiously, quietly hidden atop some store, out of site. All the while, absentmindedly fingering and fiddling with a woman's engagement ring.

The gunshot echoed down the street and Derek swear he heard it whiz by him. On instinct he jerked and closed his eyes, and upon opening them he saw Landon, cold and stoic as ever simply staring over and behind him.
Derek turned in time to see a Degraded male flop on the ground.
"Damn nice shot. But now we're probably going to have to deal with the degraded-population of this shit-hole", the large man said in his usual quiet baritone voice.
Derek turned back to Landon.
"Why aren't we finding cover from the shooter?!".
Landon furrowed his brow at his companion.
"If the shooter wanted to kill us, he or she would have by now rather than taking him out", he explained, nodding his head at the dead Degraded.
Landon turned back in the direction of the sniper and waved a hand in thanks...or greeting. Either one would've been an appropriate gesture.
After a moment, Landon's trained-warriors eye caught a silhouette in the backdrop at the end of the street against a building off ground-level. A place a well-trained marksman would use.
At that moment, there was a howling noise from the other end of the street that froze the blood. Then another answered it from somewhere else.
Then another.
And then more, until it seemed they were surrounded.
"Shit", Landon said, ducking behind a nearby car and scanning the street for a suitable building to take cover in.
"There!", Derek said, pointing at a moderate sized building that said "Mercy Highschool" above a couple of metal-double doors, but there were chains and a padlock on the handles.
Landon waved again to get the snipers attention then pointed several times at the door, obviously wanting the shooter to join them.
INSIDE! he roared down the street. The buildings were close enough that he or she might be able to cross to the school from the rooftops. He just hoped their new friend reached them before the Degraded could climb the buildings.
Landon and Derek took off at a sprint, the hate-filled howls of the Degraded closing in around them.
The ex-marine examined the chains holding the door closed. They were rusted, and not heavy-duty to begin with, he might be able to break them.
Landon activated his Stim-altered adrenal glands, gripped the chains with both hands and pulled to the sides on them, his shoulders and upper-back bulging with the strain.
The first Degraded came into view.
"Fuck hurry up, Landon!", Derek exclaimed, readying his Remington against his shoulder.
Landon grunted and jerked his hands hard to the side, snapping the chain in the middle. He let it fall to the ground and jerked the doors open, hurrying himself and Derek inside.
The door-handles on the inside of the school were horizontal rather than vertical like on the outside. Landon was able to take a metal chair from the hallway and stick the legs in both handles, keeping the double doors from being pushed open.
"Now what?" Derek said after a moment.
"Well, this school should have a maintenance hatch on the roof, like most do. If our new friend decided to accept our invitation, he will probably be headed to the roof now, or trying to find a way in from the ground-level. Lets make sure our temporary home is safe and secured, and see if we can find our shooter".
Derek looked around the dim, dusty and creepy interior of the highschool.
Great , he thought to himself.

Watching through the scope of the rifle, the young woman was tempted to laugh at the reactions of the smaller man. He definitely wasn't used to someone shooting right past his head to kill something else. A small smile formed on her face as she watched them. As she focused on the larger of the two, her mind wandered as the image in the scope blurred.

The heat was overbearing much worse than the current Texas sun. She'd been in the same position for over twelve hours without sleep. Through the scope she could see the two days worth of beard on the man's face. See the dark hair that went to his eyes. He was laying in the same position as she was, his eyes trained through his own scope, his spotter a few feet behind him. Moving the scope until it was right on his head, she took a deep breath and moved her index to the trigger.

The large man waved curtly and jerked Artemesia from the past. She shook her head. This was no time to be regretting what she did. The past was the past. It was over and done with. He'd be dead now regardless or one of the creatures like she'd just killed. But the thoughts didn't make it an easier a pill to swallow.

Now that she was more focused she felt a prickling on the back of her neck. Someone was watching her and it had nothing to do with the males on the street below. The idea of finding the source was cut short when she heard the first sign of other life. She froze half a second before she put the safety on her rifle and packed the entire system back up and slung the weapon over her shoulder adding more weight to the already aching back, but at least it was the lighter of the two she carried.

Switch nodded her head when she saw the man who seemed to understand and probably had training like she did. She would follow the orders because she knew for a damn fact these creatures would reach her vantage point and she would have less of a chance. She was up and running before the men had even moved, but then again they were a lot closer to the destination than she was.

Clearing the first roof to the second was an easy feat, but she could see it was going to get a lot harder. She would glance down to see how many creatures there were, keeping count as she went. It would be helpful later on down the road. As she made it to the next roof she saw someone else. The source of her discomfort earlier.

"Hey, if you want to live, you better follow me." She commented as she started past the person. It was their choice whether or not they came or not. But then it wasn't like her. I will never leave a fallen comrade. You're not fallen, but still. She paused only half a second to reach down and pulled him to his feet and dragged him behind of her. She just hoped he could clear the buildings like she could. She had two large sniper rifles slung over her shoulders and she was still clearing the distance.

The rendezvous point was coming into sight as well as more of the creatures. Switch frowned to herself as she counted at least eight within sight and she could hear more of them just couldn't see them. With luck some were taking time to get onto the roof to chase them and would give them a little bit of time. She pulled out one of the guns from her side and shot one of the ones ahead of them on the ground. It fell.

She glanced behind her to make sure the other male was still with her as they made it to the last building. Too bad the high school hadn't been close enough for them to jump to the roof. Going through any of the ground positions could be very tricky and getting to where the degraded would have a slightly harder time would be a lot better.

Checking to make sure their path was clear and there were no immediate threats surrounding her and the other survivor, she dropped to the ground. She bent her knees to cushion the blow, but the pain still shot up both of her legs.

"Let's go!" She yelled at the male before she took off for the high school seeing where she was going already. She was light and wouldn't break the system. She just hoped the male she'd been dragging with her could do the same as she. Otherwise she would have to find him a way into the school and risk her neck for him. Life sucked sometimes.

She shot another one of the creatures that was too close for comfort as she ran for the side of the building. She holstered her gun, but kept the safety off just in case she needed it. She stopped by one of the drain pipes that was bolted into the side of the concrete wall.

"Start climbing. Don't look down and move quickly but carefully." She ordered before running over to another one. She put both hands on the sides of the pipes, she feet on the side of the building and started climbing using more of her ab muscles to pull herself along than her arms to keep the pressure off her right shoulder as much as she could.

At least it seemed like the male could obey an order and figure out how to get himself out of harm's reach. She checked each window she passed but they were all locked so it was the roof she was heading to. The degraded seemed to have caught up with them and were following after. Artemesia quickened her pace and climbed onto the top of the roof. She pulled the same rifle off her shoulder as before and braced the butt to her hurt shoulder. She looked down the barrel of the rifle as she waited until she had three of the creatures in a row. She fired. The sound was deafening, but she was used to it. She'd go deaf sooner or later, she just didn't care. The three on her drain pipe fell to the ground. The last one was withering around in pain, but she knew he would soon die.

Once she saw the male was on the roof she ran over to his side and pointed her weapon down his pipe. She jerked her head over to the entrance to the building. He would be safer inside than out of it. She waited until the creatures had lined the shot up for her before taking the second one.

Seven rounds left. She thought to herself before she followed the same path she'd told the man to take. That's seven down and I know by the last roof I could see at least a dozen or so. Not many left. They're probably where the other men came into the school at.

She just shook her head as she opened the roof down and headed down the stairs, rifle still in hand. "Go find the others. You'll be safe there." She told the guy as she put her back against the wall so she could point the rifle directly up the roof steps. If anymore of them made it to the roof, they would find themselves with a bullet to the brain. Her shoulder was a constant throbbing now that she only wanted to stop. But she knew if anyone came through the pain was only likely to get worse.

"Go!" She demanded as she kept her index on the trigger, waiting. She could hear them outside. If she happened to die, she didn't want to take someone with her. She came into the world alone, she would leave it the same way.

One of the two on the street looked Kael's way, though he had been ready to conceal himself completely if need be, and so was just out of site in time... he hoped. He let out an almost inaudible "shit." Kael then decided he wouldn't chance it again and kept completely out of site. Although if he tipped forwardly just ever so slightly he could see the sniper down the street.

Her hair was almost blinding in the sunlight. To put it simply, she was not what Kael had expected to see. Not even close. We actually taken slightly aback. She seemed to notice his presence as well. What the fuck, these guys are good!{/i] At least so far they seemed like friendly people. Not that people hadn't in the passed before screwing someone over. Kael still thought it best to keep his distance for now. He'd probably end up just leaving first chance he got.

Except, that was never going to happen. Rasps and footfalls, and other noises started closing in from all sides. they were stuck in the middle of town, with no where to go. The two men seemed to have a plan and wanted to include the sniper. [i]Great, Kael thought. Get away from here. I'll be safe up here so long as... goddammit.

The sniper was making a B line for Kael. Attention would most certainly be drawn to the roofs. That, and she may shoot him in the leg for fodder. Oh, jeezus, please don't Otis me, lady... Instead, the woman with angelically gleaming hair grabbed his hand and ushered him along as if she legitimately wanted to help. Bewildered, but OK with this change in events, Kael grasped her hand bolted along with her.

The two bounded the roofs one by one, going the same direction down the street as the others who'd been in the street. They were bolting straight for the high school. As was he and his sniping savior. He made every effort to keep pace and react to instruction immediately. He was doing fine, he thought. Before he knew it, they were on the room of the high school, many a dead body in their wake. Now he just needed to get inside.

He came upon a vent and pulled out a knife. He Was able to quickly break it open and toss it to the ground. It may be a tight fit, at least for him, but it would do. It would probably pose even less an issue for the woman. The thought had him look back at her as she guarded their rear from the horde that was descending upon them.

"Hey, in here!" It was weird to actually talk to another person again, but Kael did it. It was weird to rediscover something so natural. After beckoning her over, he jumped into the vent. He stretched his hands out so he could accept the deposit of her bags so she could follow suit and they could make their way inside to rejoin the others.

Once they were both snuggly in the vent he took point and began crawling down to what he believed from where they had entered to be the middle of the school. After what felt like 5 minutes due to the need to get the hell out of this cramped space (though probably only about that time,) Kael came to a drop.

"Alright," he said just before stopping to give her a heads up so she didn't go head first into his ass. "There's a classroom or something below." Kael awkwardly crawled over it some so he could lower his feet down. He tried to gently kick the grate. He anxiously wanted to get out of the vent, but at the same time did not want to draw any attention to the room below where he was about to drop into.

Once on the floor, he had mixed feelings. He gained freedom again, but now he felt vulnerable. While keeping his eyes on his surroundings, he mentioned it was clear and lifted his hands up to accepted her gear again and waited for the woman to drop down. He returned it to her with a nod and then closed in on the door of the... whatever room this used to be. The place was thrashed, and Kael had to make sure he stepped in the place most free of debris. Once at the door, knife at the ready, he peaked out into the hall.

Since the door was already open a little due to debris lodged in the door, he could safely get a gander outside the room. No movement or any kind of indicator that it had been disturbed for quite some time.

"Well," Kael said softly, turning to the white haired woman. Her hair was less luminous out of the sun. "I guess we should find those guys you saved."

Once inside, Landon and Derek made their way to the cafeteria and raided the kitchen and stuffed their packs with anything non-perishable, which constituted mainly condensed soups, spam and bottled-water, but to them it was a feast compared to the weeks of nuts and berries they foraged after leaving Dallas.
After Derek's third can of chicken-noddle soup and a can of spam, he leaned back against the lower part of the stove and took a drink from a bottle of water.

"I use to hate spam. But oh god, that was amazing".
For the first time since they met, Derek heard Landon laugh.
"Agreed. Lets take some extra. I bet our new friend will be thankful".
Derek nodded and went back to the pantry, and started to place another can and a bottle in his pack.
"Surprising that no one thought to look here....", Derek started to say, but trailed off, noticing something peculiar.
Behind one of the rows of shelves in the pantry, there was a small pile of empty cans. He and Landon hadn't bothered to go far into the pantry and thus, had missed it.
Derek backed out of the door, and turned to Landon, about to announce his discovery but Landon moved his index finger to his lips and motioned for Derek to get down.
Instincts sharpened over the course of more than a month of surviving in a hostile world cause Derek to automatically obey. He crouched below the counter tops where students would've lined up with their trays and slowly moved forward to take cover.

Landon carefully handed the Remington to his companion and reached up to a knife-block to arm himself with a serrated steak-knife.
Derek was about to ask what was going on, but then a flashlight beam cut through the darkness above their heads.
Sniper? Derek mouthed to Landon, who shook his head and showed four-fingers to his companion.
"You sure there here?", a male voice said.
"Yeah,the first place anyone would go is the kitchen", a second, higher-pitched male voice said.
"Well lets not fuck around. Kill them and take their shit", number-one said.
"You fucking idiots. If they're here, then they can hear us", a female voice said harshly.
The group quieted down at that, but continued to move toward the kitchen area from the cafeteria.
It was too late to get out. there was one way in and out of the kitchen, and the other group was moving down it. Landon supposed they could climb over the counter and into the cafeteria, but they would be spotted, and with only the Remington, which didn't really match up as a ranged weapon and with no idea if the other four had guns, it seemed to be a bad idea.
The fighter looked at his companion. Derek was pale but his face was determined. He put the shotgun against his shoulder and nodded. Landon returned the nod and put the knife in a reverse-grip as he slowly shifted to the edge of the counter, putting himself in an ambush position when whoever was in the lead passed by him.
An eternity seemed to drag on as the footsteps drew closer, and the flashlight beam brightened.
Landon's body tensed up and he brought his hands to his chest, his body spring-loaded.
Finally, a booted foot came into view.
Landon exploded into motion, coming up infront of a bearded man in biker leathers. He had enough time to widen his eyes before Landon's serrated knife jammed into his neck and slid in a good 4-inches.
Derek's shotgun went off a split second later, taking another male in the shoulder and tossing him to the floor.
Landon caught movement over his victims shoulder and saw a female in hunter's cammo aim a snub-nosed revolver at him. He reacted by turning the biker he had stabbed in the neck towards the the woman, using him as a meat shield as she fired the first .38 round into her companions back.
"You son of a bitch!", she screamed, firing shot after shot into her former-friend.
Landon charged her with the bullet-riddled corpse. He slammed the body into her as she fired one more shot, knocking her to the ground.

Landon grunted as the bullet passed through his meat-shield and grazed his side. He tossed the corpse to the ground and lost his grip on the knife that was still stuck in his victims neck.
The downed-woman raised the revolver again at Landon's chest and pulled the trigger.
It simply clicked, empty.
The big man simply reached down and jerked the gun from her hand, tossing it to the floor.
"Please! No--".
Landon cut her off by crushing her windpipe with the heel of his boot, leaving her thrashing on the ground as he turned to assist Derek.

The medic apparently had finished off the man he had shot earlier, but was currently on the ground, protecting his head and ribs as a man even bigger than Landon viciously struck him with a wood baseball bat.
Landon charged, getting under the attacker and planting his shoulder in his hip, lifting up even as he continued his sprint and slammed him down on a wood table, breaking the legs off of it.
Landon followed through by straddling him and punching at his nose. His opponent was evidently a skilled and experienced brawler as well. He deflected the fist with his forearm and hooked Landon in the jaw hard enough to knock him to the side and cause him to see stars.
The large man stood quicker than Landon could recover and delivered a brutal kick to his stomach.
The Ex-marine's MMA training kicked in. He tightened his core, grunting as he absorbed the kick, placing his right forearm on top of the boot and his left arm wrapped around his opponents calf, trapping his leg.
He then placed his right leg between the man's legs and hooked his heel behind the knee of his opponents free-leg ,causing him to fall over Landon and land on his hands and knees.
Landon rolled from his left side to his back and reached up, hooked his right arm under his opponents right shoulder, reaching up and around to place his hand on the back of the other mans head and lock his shoulder. He then pulled himself up on his enemy's back and wrapped his left arm around his neck, grabbing the hand of the arm that was under his opponents shoulder.
Landon jerked hard, and the man screamed as his shoulder was dislocated.
The Fighter then wrapped both arms around his neck and rolled over on his back on the ground squeezing as hard as he could on his opponents neck until he stopped thrashing.
Once still, Landon tossed the body off of him and grabbed the baseball bat off the ground, using it to bash the big-man skull.

"Overkill much?", Derek said when Landon finished, standing off to the side and leaning on the counter.
Landon, covered in blood and pulped brain matter, narrowed his eyes at him.
"Eh, you had it handled. I didn't want to get in the way", the medic responded before spitting a wad of blood on the floor.
"How considerate of you. Are you alright?".
"Yeah. Think he knocked out a couple of my teeth. Other than that, I'm just going to have some gnarly bruises and soreness for a couple of weeks", he responded.
"Here", Landon said, tossing him a rag which Derek stuffed in his mouth to staunch the bleeding and gave him a thumbs up in thanks. He took another rag and placed it against the flesh wound he received from the .38 round, then retrieved the revolver off the floor.

Landon searched the woman's corpse and found three more rounds for the pistol, taking them and her leg holster. He adjusted the straps on the holster, placing it on his right thigh and loaded the weapon before holstering it.
He heard Derek put another shell in the Remington and pump it.
"Lets hang out here and see if our sniper-friend makes an appearance. We made a lot of noise, so hopefully he or she would come to investigate, then we can go from there", Landon said. "And if more of these fuckers come investigating, we'll be ready".

If there was one thing Artemesia hated more than anything in the world - it was taking orders. Given her track record in the Army and Rangers especially it was a surprise she hadn't been kicked out years prior. But now wasn't the time to disagree with the male she'd saved. She followed behind of him not liking the fact she'd had to give him her gear.

The duct tunnel wasn't tight to her sides, but it was on her back even with the male having her bag. The rifles alone made the trek difficult. Needless to say, she was thrilled to be out of the tight space. She accepted her bag with a nod of her head and replaced it underneath of the two sniper rifles taking care not to move her right shoulder too much. The last two shots really did her in.

She followed him into the hallway, her pistol in hand. She didn't trust that there weren't more creatures in the building. She wanted to go back to the roof and at least make sure that they couldn't get in from there. Finally she turned to him at his suggestion.

Art shook her head. "No, you go. I'm heading back towards the roof to make sure they can't follow us in." She replied. She didn't wait for a response as she took off heading for the stairs, her feet barely making a sound on the tile floor. She kept the same vigilance as she headed upper wards glad to see they hadn't landed too far from the stairwell to the roof.

Every little noise or lack of was taken into account as she slowly made her way to the roof door. It wasn't breached. So either it was locked and they weren't getting through the thick metal or they were trying to follow down the way they came. She didn't like those odds either. She cursed under her breath as she made her way back down to where she had left the male.

Heading back into the room she replaced the grate over the opening so that if it were to fall they would hear it and then backed out of the room moving a desk and putting it to jam the door shut.

That should do it. Now -

Her thoughts stopped short as she heard the sounds of gunshots. She frowned before she took off for the staircase and heading to the lower level. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she slowed her pace. She seemed to have caught up with the male who might have been waiting on her.

Switch inclined her head to him as she kept the pistol in front of her, feet crossing over each other to make her steps quieter as the two made their way towards the entrance the other two survivors had entered through. Like her old high school the hall emptied into the cafeteria and the kitchen. She could see across from where they were the hall that would lead to the gym area and locker rooms. Which she really hoped meant running water.

Before she even made it to the doorway, she saw the first dead body. She shook her head knowing exactly what had happened. Capons. All of them. They deserved it. But at least it hadn't been the degraded making it into the building. She proceeded with the same ever cautious nature until they reached the kitchen area.

There had better be food left. She grumbled knowing what little she had left wasn't going to last much longer and she needed more water having less than three ounces left in her canteens.

Finally, she holstered the Colt back at her side, safety on. She stood up straighter as she lead the male towards where she could see the two men she'd shot past. She wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't like she'd had much company after all hell had broken loose. Sure she'd traded a bit, but nothing like saving someone from the creatures like she'd done in this small town.

Mercy was the name right? Maybe that's why I've been so nice. She scoffed to herself as she took them in now that she was closer and not looking through the scope at them with a finger on the trigger.

The smaller of the two and the one she remember had flinched at the bullet whizzing past his head was about the height as she was. He was built like he worked out once upon a time but he was nothing compared to what he was standing beside.

The man who hadn't reacted to her shot and had only waved. He was like her, she knew. His face was familiar, but she couldn't figure out from where. He was over half a foot taller than her and his companion and he was over twice her width. He wasn't someone she wanted to be in a close quarter fight with. Either of them really. She could stand her ground, but being as thin as she was, it wasn't likely she'd be able to last long. No, she was better off at a distance against them.

Art nodded her head in greeting to them. Am I supposed to talk first? She groaned inwardly. This wasn't something she ever liked doing. She felt like she was being forced to the front of the classroom again to speak. So she decided to keep it strictly business and allow them to venture off as they liked.

"Any supplies left?"

They looked like they could find more than just the basics of food and water. Anything in this place could be put to good use. It wasn't that she didn't trust people not to do their jobs, she just felt better knowing there was absolutely nothing left unturned. She glanced back at the dead bodies and arched a single brow.

"Problems?" A small smirk formed on her lips as she turned back to face the men.

Kael continued on alone through the school, slowly and quietly. Cautiously searching every crevice and corner with his eyes as he traveled deeper. His first reaction to the white-haired woman running off was disappointment, and irritation. But that only lasted an instant. It was a good idea. He was glad she was going to make sure the place was secure. She had the training, and weapons if need be. She'd be better at the task, and it was a task that needed to be done.

And so he continued on. Periodically, he'd here foot steps on the roof, and other sounds of the degraded humans outside.They were slowly moving on, now that the excitement had died down. Good, Kael thought. I've got enough stress with regular people. He pulled his backpack tighter on his body, and felt his pocket from the outside of his pants to make sure the ring was still there.

After he'd been meandering through the school for at least a few minutes, making sure it was safe, and if there was any supplies, the lithe, pale-haired sniper returned. She wasn't a wordy one, which was OK, he supposed. Like before, he wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't spoken to another person, really, in a while. Not that he was super talkative to many people to begin with. And on top of that, the few people he'd met so far in this world-gone-mad had all been, well, mad. Whether it was openly or secretly.

The two of them continued on, until they were confronted with the two large men--one specifically so--and a shotgun. He hadn't expected them as they turned the corner, and he was a mite intimidated, so his eyes flashed wide for an instant. But when no assault came, he relaxed--mostly. He stood there, much like the woman beside him. Neither really knew what to say. Though, she did at least make an attempt to converse with the others, which was more than she'd offered him. So he had to give her credit for trying, despite the situation.

At her second question, he then noticed the mess the guys had left. That is, now that the surprise of them being there at all had worn off. One of the men was covered in gore, and there were bodies strewn about. One, of which, was of larger note than the others, since its head was now pulp on the floor, as well as adoring the man who must have downed him. Kael finally found words after taking all this in.

"I've only seen one of them do something like that..." Kael realized he might have come off slightly accusing and immediately looked back to the floor after meeting the eyes of the big man covered in blood and gray matter.

"Any supplies left?"]

Landon caught himself eyeing the platinum-haired woman up and down.
Damn. Gorgeous -and- she carries herself like a hardass. Must be ex-military....[I/] Landon spotted the rifles over her shoulders and nodded.
He reached into his pack and tossed a can of spam and a bottle of water to the white-haired lass, then a can of baked beans and water to the guy who seemed to be looking at Landon like he murdered a goat and was currently drinking the blood from its skull.

She looked around at the corpses in the kitchen.
"Problems?" , she asked, smirking and seeming totally undisturbed by the gore and evident violence strewn about them.
[i] Oh, please be single , he thought to himself before speaking.
"Not anymore", he responded giving her his own smirk. "Well, based off the long-range weaponry you have, I'd guess you are our rooftop-sniper friend", Landon said.
"I've only seen one of them do something like that..." The guy suddenly said.
Landon just looked at him neutrally, his face not showing any annoyance, or anything else indicating that he took offense. Truth be told the comment hadn't bothered him at all.
"Well kid. This is what we do to people who start shooting as us", Landon said jokingly. Only the white-haired sniper would probably have appreciated the humor behind it.
He turned back to the sniper.
"So. Marines, Rangers or Delta Force? i know a trained marksman...or markswoman when I see one".

Angling her head back towards the direction of the males she'd saved, she caught the larger of the two eying her. She kept her face schooled into the neutral mask she was used to wearing. She didn't let on that she knew what he was doing or why. She was used to it by now. Four years in the Rangers made her used to many things that men had a habit of doing.

Art caught the bottle of water and turned to see what she'd been tossed. She paused and blinked as she took in the container. Spam. Of all things to have thrown her.


"Is there nothing to eat in this house?" Seven year old whined as she straddled the back of a kitchen chair looking over at her older sister who was searching the cabinets for food.
"Only two cans of treat, green beans, and some raw meat. I think its coon."
Artemesia made a sour face. "Anything but the treat. I'm sick of eating it. When are Mom and Dad getting home?"
"Whenever they get back from helping Uncle with Auntie." A male voice cut into the conversation. Art's thirteen year old brother walked into the room. "Now go play with Eras while we get something together."
"I don't wanna play with a three year old."
"Teach him to shoot or something."
"Fine, but I still don't want treat. It's the only thing this house ever has."
"Then you learn to cook the meat you kill." Anna-Marie piped back as the young girl ran out of the house, bow and arrows in her hand.

She snapped out of the memory at the sound of the man's voice. She stuffed the can into her cargo pocket but opened the water and took a large sip of it, but left most of it in the bottle to save for later.

A sly smile formed on her face as she nodded her head to his question. "Weh. I am. Though it was more fun to watch your reaction." She said indicating the smaller man with her words and an incline of her head.

"I've only seen one of them do something like that..." The comment from the male beside her, cause the woman to stop and turn to look over at him.

"Are you saying that humans aren't capable of the violence of those creatures out there? I've blown men's heads from their shoulders and there be nothing left of their skulls. I've seen men beaten into pulps worse than that. Hell, looks like he pulled back some. Musta not been very pissed off. So tuat t'en grosse bueche won't ya."

In her anger, she realized she'd resorted back to her native tongue. She always did when she was upset no matter how hard she fought against it. She shook her head and took a deep breath taking another sip of water to help bring herself back down to the calm rational she was used to. Within seconds the mask was bad in place, showing a little peek of how she'd earned her call sign of Switch.

"Well kid. This is what we do to people who start shooting as us." The large male who'd been speaking added.

Artemesia only huffed as she hide the laughter beneath the exterior she gave them. "I'm glad I was shooting at you. Though I could have killed ya'll and you wouldn't have made it to me to bash my brain in. Though if I'm looking for a bloody out, I'll call you."

The humor in her voice and gray eyes died almost instantly as the man started speaking again. Her body tensed a few seconds before she released the muscles. She glared up at him not caring how much larger than he was of her.

"Feet puetan why don't you just embrasse moi tchew. Better yet beck moi tchew. Ranger sniper. Four years. I'm not a fucking marksman. Perfect marks from basic and Ranger training. Me and two others were best of the best. Expert." She was seething, her hands balled into fists, the water bottle crushed under the pressure, though luckily the water was still inside and hadn't been wasted.

The second thing she hated just under taking orders was letting her anger get the best of her like it was now. She took a deep breath knowing it wasn't his fault. And what did the ranking system matter anymore. She no longer had to constantly prove she was the best. Everyone else was gone. As soon as all the air was out of her lungs, the calm exterior was back in place.

"They would have had a camp somewhere. I'm guessing teachers' lounge. And we need to find out how they got in and make sure the place is secure." And then a shower and sleep. I could use some sleep. At least four solid hours would do me some good. Maybe a calmer head too. What the hell were you thinking, Art? Play nice. For now. Until it's better to split. Get what you need and leave.

So far the two didn't seem to phased with Kael's presence. They seemed more interested in the arrival of a woman. perhaps the first in a long while. than anther dude. Kael didn't blame them, or anything. He even smirked ever so slightly on the right corner of his mouth. He simply accepted the meal he was tossed and stood by.

Except, as always, it wouldn't be that easy. The pale-haired woman was going off on some rant in response to what Kael had thought out loud to the big guy. What the fuck...? Kael thought. She wasn't even speaking English sometimes. She was going in and out of English and French so much, he didn't even know what her point was. What he was able to make of it was that Kael's meaning to his comment was completely lost upon her. On top of that, she snapped back to her previous demeanor pretty much instantly. Jeezus, she's completely different than she lets on.

The big, blood-splattered guy's response was much less hostile. Though, Kael's meaning apparently missed him as well. Oh well, he sighed mentally. He cocked his head, and a brow as he considered what the guy said. He had a point. He'd let the missed point slide for the moment.

Kael let them continue with the talking. The woman definitely became more talkative since Kael's slip of the tongue. He simply stood by and ate the SPAM he'd been passed. It was so weird. The world had turned to shit, and nothing really had changed. "Sub sole nihil novum est...hmh," he whispered to himself, then continued savoring the awkward, canned meat, wishing it could be pan fired.

Landon was mildly impressed with the Snipers rant, but again, he didn’t let that show on his face. At first he kept a neutral mask, but finally raised an eyebrow, his large arms folded over his broad-chest.
“….You done?” he finally asked rhetorically to her after she suddenly calmed down.
He approached her first and offered his right hand (the one with the Eagle Globe and Anchor, and “Warmachine tattooed on his forearm) offering her a handshake, then offered his left hand to the guy.
“I’m Landon Wolfe”. He looked pointedly at the woman. “Former Marine Staff-sergeant”.
“And UFC fighter”, Derek said from around the rag hanging out of his mouth. He then stepped up too, for handshakes.
“Derek Frost. Texas EMS paramedic out of Dallas”.

Once introductions were made, Landon looked around at the bodies on the floor.
“…..Right. We should probably take some more food and water, then move some where else”. He then reached a hand to his face and wiped away drying blood and brain matter.
“And I need to get cleaned up”.

“….You done?”

Oh, if only there had been a smirk on his face. Artemesia would have wanted to wipe it out of existence. As it stood, he was as calm as she normally held herself. It only solidified that it was over and no need to get worked up again.

As he walked over to her, she kept her gaze focused on his face until her eyes caught the tattoo. She shifted back to him as she stuck out her right hand and accepted his. She held back the wince of pain at how the moment was hurting her shoulder. She wouldn't show she was weak or hurt to these people. She couldn't trust them yet. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to. She wanted to, but after Maverick, she wasn't sure she trusted anyone anymore.

"Art Dimitry. Former Army Ranger sniper, Sergeant. Fucking, Staff sergeants," she muttered the last under her breath. "I was once a Staff sergeant. Lost rank for refusing Stim."

UFC fighter.

That was where she knew him from. She smirked at the thought as the memory came rushing back of the first fight she'd seen him in.


"Move your ass over, Noble." Art ordered as she plopped onto the side of the worn out couch a bottle of liquor in her hand beside of the same male she'd met during basic.
"Don't be so fat, Switch."
The woman just huffed as the volume was turned up by the man closest to the tv. The fight was on and the jar on the coffee table was filled already with their betting money.
"So, Art, who you voting on?" The man, codename Shade, asked.
"The new guy. What's he called, War Machine? He'll kick your guy's ass in a heart beat."
"You're on."
Switch leaned forward and dumped a hundred into the kitty as she took a swig of her drink.
"No, you owe me."

The woman laughed lightly. "You won me two hundred bucks. After that the guys wouldn't bet against me when you fought."

She took Derek's hand showing the same respect to him as she did Landon and still fighting back the pain. She hoped a shower would ease some of the tension in the muscles and getting the rifles and her pack off her back too.

"I'm heading for a science room. There's bound to be a burner up there. Grab a pan from the kitchen. I'll have us a warm meal as soon as we make camp. I'd check the teachers' lounge for their camp. It's bound to have a nice, comfy chair or even a couch in it. Also, I'd raid the nurse's station and see what's left in here."

She needed a shower too. A nice long, hot one. The hot part probably wouldn't happen but any form of water would feel great.

"Also need to find where they came in at. Last thing we need is one of those damned things coming in here. I think we all need showers. I haven't had one since I was on deployment and that was almost a week before the shit hit the fan."

Art turned and waved a hand over her shoulder. "Either way, I'm heading to get that burner. Someone's welcome to tag along with they want." She didn't wait around to find out if any of the males were coming or not as she walked away. She'd just peek into the room to see if she could find what she was looking for. The burners would be in a locked area unless she got lucky, but it didn't bother her. She'd broken into her old high school enough to use the burners when she didn't have power at home to cook dinner for herself. She'd get into one way or another.

So the big guy was Landon, and the one with the rag in his mouth was Derek. Easy enough for Kael to keep them straight. And he finally had the woman's name, Art. Most likely short for Artemis, or something, which Kael could appreciate--even if she couldn't. They also had a plan now. Apparently everyone was of the same mind and wanted to work together. If everyone was on the same page, survival can be easier when resources and efforts are pooled, and Kael wasn't going to ignore assistance from like-minded in such circumstances. Trust, of course, but what was going on now was a start.

"I'm Kael," he said as Art walked away to get down to business making this place a makeshift home. Glad you two aren't hostile," he paused and looked about the place. "Like some other people we know..." He looked to each man's face one at a time. He had always been able to accurately gauge someone pretty early on, and time always proved him right. He had a good feeling so far about these three, though obviously had his concerns with Art. Darek seemed a solid enough guy. And the only concern he had with Landon may end up being nothing at all. But Kael would not turn a blind eye just yet, until he had hard facts about his doubts one way or the other.

Although Kael was suspicious from the first impression, something about how Landon treated him made him take pause. Even though they couldn't be that far apart in age, Landon had called Kael "kid." Kael used to have a brother, a couple years older then he was. Kael had hated it at first, but it grew on him. And now this... Kael would keep an eye out for his suspicions, but he wanted to give this Landon guy a change.

"Well," Kael thought aloud. "So far so good." He donned his bag once again after placing what remained of his meal in it. "I guess let's get going with this plan of hers. Makes enough sense... plus I'd hate for her to go off on us again." Kael smirked slightly. Hopefully the humor would be well received. "And besides, this place is a little corpsey. We really should find somewhere else to hang around."

"Well," Kael said. "So far so good." He placed his meal in his bag. "I guess let's get going with this plan of hers. Makes enough sense... plus I'd hate for her to go off on us again." Kael smirked slightly. "And besides, this place is a little corpsey. We really should find somewhere else to hang around."
Derek grinned, rag shoved in his mouth again, and Landon chuckled quietly.

"Alright. If you two want to hit the Nurses-station and see what Derek here can put together, I'm going to find Art. We don't need to be doing this alone", Landon said, bending down to scoop up the baseball bat that was just as coated in gore as he was. "Be careful guys. Derek, keep that Remington ready. Kael...I'd find a melee weapon off one of these bodies".
With that, Landon took off at a steady jog to catch up with the white-haired woman.

Landon caught up to Art in the hallway, coming up beside her.
"So....Burner....I'm glad you know how to cook. What brings you to Mercy, Art?".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derek Frost

Derek found a notepad and a functioning pen on a kitchen counter and began making a list.
"Alright....The basics first. Antibiotics, painkillers, antiseptic, bandages and stitches. Extra shit can come when we get these first.....". He looked over at Kael, slinging his pack over both shoulders and pumping his 12-gauge, smiling warmly. "Shall we?"