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Ivy Archer

No memories, only infection... strategist, stubborn and courageous.

0 · 1,796 views · located in Post apocalyptic Earth

a character in “The Uninfected”, originally authored by mjolnir, as played by RolePlayGateway

Description

I V Y
I V Y - A R C H E R

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B A S I C S

F A C E - C L A I M
A L I - L A R T E R

B I R T H D A Y
S E P T E M B E R - T W E N T Y - T H I R D

A G E
T W E N T Y - S I X

G E N D E R
F E M A L E

S E X U A L - O R I E N T A T I O N
H E T E R O S E X U A L

A B I L I T I E S
E R G O K I N E S I S
Ivy can absorb energy from machines, equipment, people and even
zombies. If she drains enough energy from a living being she can
knock them unconscious as for the undead it can merely slow them
down. Once energy is absorbed she can use it to send jolts of electricity
and bursts of energy which are invisible orbs of matter used for
blunt force. (Energy control)
T E L E P A T H I C
Ivy can read others thoughts to the extent of seeing images, thoughts
or dreams and in return she can project her own thoughts into the
minds of others.

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ImageA P P E A R A N C E

H A I R
C R I M S O N - R E D

E Y E S
G R E Y - B L U E

H E I G H T
5 ' 7 "

W E I G H T
1 3 5 l b s


P E R S O N A L I T Y


A B O U T
Ivy was the average girl next door in the small town of Mullen but still very
much a tomboy. She was very friendly, warm and inviting. After being
infected she is tougher, still friendly to those she can trust, which she
can usually determine pretty quickly because of her ability. Ivy likes to
tinker, she is very mechanically inclined and can build just about anything
she puts her mind to. She has a tendency to be very stubborn and take
control without permission, she can be proven wrong but it may take some
convincing before she admits she's wrong. She is good at strategizing and
figure out the best plans of action. Also Ivy cares deeply for those close to
her, taking them under her wing. She'll do whatever it takes to protect
those closest to her, she would sacrifice her life for theirs in a heart beat.
Also, when put in certain situations, Ivy can suffer from slight PTSD, but
it didn't seem to surface until after she was infected.


L I K E S
    S A R C A S M
    H O N O R
    G U N S
    D R I N K I N G
D I S L I K E S
    D I S H O N E S T Y
    C O C K I N E S S
    S E L F I S H N E S S
    D R A M A




B I O G R A P H Y

Ivy was one of those people in Mullen that everyone knew. She got good grades in high school, and even was Homecoming Queen. She didn't want all the attention but I guess she couldn't avoid it when the Sheriff was her father. When she turned 18 she enlisted in the Marines. She spent 5 years over seas as an engineer and technician for all sorts of equipment and machines. She would have probably still been over seas when the outbreak happened if it wasn't for the accident. One day she was riding in a caravan and one of their tires hit a mine which sent their vehicle flying. Ivy didn't have any permanent damage done to her body but she had several broken bones and over 3 dozen stitches. Once she was clear to leave, Ivy returned to America to recover, because Mullen was such a small town she was sent to Dallas to get better medical treatment than the hospital in Mullen could offer. Once out of her casts and with her stitches removed she began rehab. Shortly after completing her physical training her physical therapist, John, began to date her. When Ivy was free to leave the hospital, Ivy moved in with John, shortly after they were even engaged to be married. Ivy started to establish a new life in Dallas, getting a job helping disabled war vets., making new friends and even planning her wedding.

It wasn't long before the wedding, maybe a month, that Ivy came home early from work one day to surprise John. But when she entered her home it wasn't at all what she was expecting. She walked in on John having an affair with her closest friend. She doesn't remember what she did, all she remembers is she blacked out... and the next thing she knew John was unconscious on the floor. Thankfully, she didn't kill him but she did break his nose and destroy half of the things in their apartment. With no other choice, Ivy moved back to Mullen. She got a job in the local hardware store and a small apartment above the corner store off the main street.

But now... this is a faded hope of a memory washed from her mind after she became infected...




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W E A P O N S

P I S T O L
Usually her go to weapon, Ivy is deadly accurate with a pistol due to her
military training. But she only uses it when she's in a bind because she likes
to try and conserve her ammo.


S H O T G U N
Ivy uses her shotgun in more close up combat because it doesn't have the
range like her pistol does. But like the pistol she tries not to use it unless she
has to so she can save ammo.


M A C H E T E S
These are her first weapon she whips out when facing the undead, giving
her the capability to easily decapitate them.


C R O W B A R
Ivy always has a back up, just in case, and nothing beats an object of pure
blunt force.

So begins...

Ivy Archer's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington
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  1. Stunning story there. What happened after? Thanks! http://www.webtoolmaster.com/registermaker.htm

    by Anonymous

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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Pre-Infection


Jack woke up in a cold sweat, he found himself screaming at things that were unseen in the shadows. Things that he was trying to stop. He looked around the room and realized it was his room, Jack released the fully tensed muscles in his whole body after coming to this knowledge. Jack continued to try and breath at a regular pace rather than the heightened run he was just at. He stood up from his bed and ran his fingers through his hair looking out his window that perfectly framed the beauty of the rising sun. Jack took in the sights for a second to help him calm down. He took a deep breath and turned around and made his way to the bathroom. He washed up a bit and continued his morning routine.

Jack put on a pair of wrangler jeans and a button up shirt that has seen a lot of sweat and dirt in its time. He left his bedroom passing his sister's room as he made his way to the kitchen. His sister, Jessica, was about 5 years younger than Jack. She was currently attending a University out west studying to be a RN. Jack knew she had a lot going for her and he couldn't wait to see his baby sister make it in the world. But for now it was up to Jack to hold down the fort and take care of the farm. He entered the kitchen and proceeded with making himself some oatmeal. With the quiet bothering Jack he decided to turn on the radio on the counter. A piano and a country singer filled the room.

I've seen the light
I've seen the darkness
Only God knows where my heart is
I've got my strength
And Lord knows, I've got my weakness
Oh, I'm lost somewhere between
Jack Daniels and Jesus


Jack listened to these lyrics intently, he had heard this song a hundred times but each time he felt something. Like it was the song that described him. He looked over into the living room where a family portrait was placed above a picture of his parents. Underneath that was a King James Holy Bible, their family's that Jack's father used to read every Sunday to the family. Jack really missed that. He just missed seeing his parents. His father's jokes and his mother's laughs. But some drunk driver took it all away from him while he was on tour in Afghanistan about a year before his own incident.

I ain't afraid to admit I've hit rock bottom
You wanna see a lifetime full of sins
Just look at me
I've got 'em


The music continued to echo in his ears as he thought about everything he lost. He figured he was being punished. But Jack knew he had to keep fighting. Even if he was lost somewhere between Jack Daniels & Jesus. He stood up and cleaned up after himself and trying to clear his head from the negative thoughts that haunted him night and day. Right now he had work to do, just because he had some demons didn't mean he couldn't keep up the family farm.Jack put on his work boots and grabbed his Jericho, he holstered it inside his waistband and made sure his trusty knife was in his back pocket. His everyday carry, not because he was expecting a problem. No, he would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. If the Rangers taught him anything it was that he was never truly prepared for everything. Something that would become a horrific reality later in the day...

Jack entered his old Chevy truck and drove his way to town to pick up some supplies at the local storehouse. His picture of his sister and parents hanging off the sun visor to remind him what he needed to come home to, safely. He arrived at the store and entered the building to order some things for his horses and cattle. But deep down something seemed off. Jack shook it off and continued his shopping. That's when he heard the screams. Painful, horrific screams. He dropped what he was doing and ran outside to see what was happening. One of his friends from high school, Matt, had his back turned to Jack and was hunched over another man that was covered in blood. Jack started to jog towards the scene while yelling,"Matt! Whats going on?!" His old friend made a sudden turn that made Jack stop in his tracks about 15 yards away. Matt had a piece of the man's jugular in his teeth and he was snarling with an inhuman growl. Trying to make sense of what was going on Jack tried talking to Matt,"Bro, what happened to you? What the heck is going on here?!" All Jack got in reply was another growl and his friend, or whatever it was, started rushing at Jack.

Jack pulled his Jericho and aimed at Matt and commanded him to stop. The only problem was that he kept going and he kept snarling. Finally, Jack had no choice and pulled the trigger to his 9mm handgun, erupting a bullet from the barrel. The Personal Defense round soared through the air and made contact with Matt about 5 feet away from Jack. The bullet struck him where his heart was and knocked him down. Jack kept his pistol at the low and ready position in case something else was going to go down. He looked at his friend laying on the ground, which panged Jack's heart a bit. He just killed a guy that he hung out with in High School, what kind of drug was he on? Jack looked at the man on the ground with his neck torn apart. His foot was twitching but he was losing way too much blood. Jack started moving towards the victim to check for a pulse. His back was turned to Matt, a mistake that would forever change Jack's life. The creature stood back up and crept behind Jack, he heard a slight drag and turned around to face Matt who sunk his teeth into Jack's left forearm as he tried to shield himself. Without hesitation he placed the barrel of his Jericho on the head of the thing and fired point blank. Grey matter showered the immediate area. Jack gripped at his left arm and started yelling.

The man on the ground stopped twitching and slowly got up. Jack turned his attention to the new movement behind him. The man snarled to snarl as well, his eyes blank but screaming in rage. Jack aimed his pistol at the man with his right arm screaming,[color=78866B]"Stay back! Stay back! I will do it!"[/color] Adrenaline going through his veins Jack wasn't going to take any chances. The man made a mad rush towards Jack but he learned from the last incident. Jack fired three rounds in to the man, all hit center mass. Three shots like that would take out a normal man. But like Matt this thing tried to stand and rush at Jack again. Jack fired a single bullet into the man's head. This time it stayed down.

Jack started to feel a little dizzy as he made his way to his truck. He needed to get home and get supplies. He needed to find his sister. He needed to get out of here. Jack entered his truck and started it up. Then he heard more of those roars. He looked to his left to see 2 men and a girl covered in blooded running full speed at his truck. He hit the gas pedal and exited the scene rather than confront these things again.

After successfully escaping, Jack kept driving but his vision kept getting blurred. He was going in and out of darkness. His adrenaline slowly running out. The darkness finally took over as his truck made contact with a streetlight. Effectively putting Jack to sleep.



Post-Infection


Slowly coming to Jack started to wake up. His vision was blurred but he was eventually able to focus on his surrounds. But where was he? He looked around trying to figure out where he was then he realized... Who was he? What was his name? Jack felt something metal around his neck he pulled it out to reveal a set of dogtags. They read:
Dukes
Jack
AB-
LDS


Is that who he was? He looked up to see a picture of a girl and her parents. He grabbed at it and examined it closer. He felt like he knew these people but who were they? He turned it around and found an address. What that important? His head started to hurt then he heard someone yelling. Words, luckily. He looked up to see off in the distance another girl. She didn't have a crazy look about her but she was bleeding. Jack shook his head, wait how could he see her in such clarity like she was right in front of him but she must have been a good 300 yards away. The girl was still yelling for someone.

Jack just remembered being attacked by something that looked human but wasn't. He looked down at his lap and he found a pistol. He released the mag and checked the capacity, 6 rounds were used. He wondered if Jack used those rounds. It was as if he was in some sort of weird nightmare. Jack just wanted to wake up.

He focused back on the girl but she seemed to be attracting more attention than just himself. Jack exited the truck and waved his arms to get the girl's attention. She wasn't one of those things, she had to be a normal human. Jack didn't want to be alone in this. Not now.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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#, as written by mjolnir
I V Y - A R C H E R
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Ivy froze in the middle of the street, brushing her long red hair back behind her ears as she listened intently. She thought she heard a man talking, debating over whether or not she was... was what a monster? She could see the feint memory of him being attacked before he passed out. Wait... she could see? How could she see what he was thinking. She slowly glanced up seeing him a few hundred feet down the road waving his arms in her direction, but he wasn't talking... was she, hearing his thoughts? She started to walk towards the man but realized he had wrecked his car, which means they couldn't get anywhere if they took it. She thought to herself, and pulled out her I.D. again, reading the address once more she realized she lived above the general store that he conveniently wrecked in front of.

As she started walking towards him, she kept glancing around with the crow bar held tightly in her hands. She knew something was wrong but she couldn't wrap her mind around it. Maybe she could find answers in her home? That was their best bet. Ivy continued to walk towards him, paying more attention to her surroundings then where she was walking. Numb to the number of dead bodies that laid in the road, she paid no mind to the zombie body on the ground beside her. Assuming it was dead, she stepped over it but as she stepped the monster reached out and grabbed her leg. She screamed out, and almost instinctively, she swung the crowbar down at the zombie, hooking the curved edge up under the jaw and into the skull. Then with one swift movement she yanked upwards, ripping the head off of them.

Although Ivy was free of that one, her scream was attracting more, she heard their growls and groans before she saw them, but she didn't wait around to set eyes on them. Crow bar in hand, Ivy sprinted towards the male. When she was halfway to him a zombie ran out of an alley between them. She held up the blood dripping bar like a baseball bat, and swung at it's head nearly knocking it off with the sheer force. When she glanced up she saw another one, running up behind the guy. Glancing around quickly she found a long spear like piece of metal, and grasped it in her hand. She went to yell towards him, "Duck!" She didn't realize at the moment that she actually didn't say anything to him, but said it to him... in his mind? Once the male ducked, she did a slight hop and thrusted the spear towards the zombie, skewering it right through the left eye socket.

After seeing the zombie downed, Ivy picked up the crowbar as she ran towards the male. She didn't stop for introductions or anything, she simply grabbed his left hand in her right, "Come on!" and sprinted for the alley. Upon entering the alley way, she ran towards a fire escape. Unable to reach it when she jumped, Ivy reached up the curved crow bar, hooking it on the bottom rung of the ladder, pulling it down. She felt as if she had down this before, because she hoisted herself up with ease, and once she was up, Ivy held onto a support with her left hand, reaching down towards him with her right to help him up. "I got you." Somehow she knew she was strong enough to help him up, she wasn't sure why but she knew.

Ivy helped pull the man up onto the fire escape, and once he was up she raised the ladder. "Almost there!" She ran up the fire escape to the top floor. Once she reached the window, Ivy open the window, first she motioned him in, then she quickly followed, closing and locking the window behind them. Then without hesitation she ran towards the entrance door, she wasn't sure how she knew exactly where to go but she did. She first checked to make sure it was locked then push a near by book shelf in front of it.

When Ivy no longer heard angry growls and screeches outside, assuming they were distracting by another sound or had a short attention span, she sighed a sigh of relief. Leaning back against the wall trying to catch her breath, she extended her right hand towards the male, "I'm Ivy... Ivy Archer." She didn't really notice until they were in the safety of her apartment that he was rather tall and large, possibly a military build? Ironic, because if anything she new she must have had similar experience and training due to the card in her wallet and the medals of honor on the walls in her apartment. He must have been around her age as well, but much taller, Also quite attractive, despite being covered in blood and them almost dying. As she looked over him, her eyes stopped when she noticed the bite on his forearm. But for some reason it didn't worry her, and while she stared at it she raised her left hand to brush her shoulder that had a similar mark in the flesh. "Were you... bitten too?"



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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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After making contact with the female she sure made one heck of an impression. She saved his life once already, although it was kind of a weird experience. Jack swears he didn't see the woman say it but he heard her yell "duck!" All Jack knew was that this whole ordeal was just unbelievable. It was like something that you would see in one of those horror shows growing up as a teenager. None of this was making any sense but it was either go with the flow or die.

At this moment the flow was moving pretty fast and it was in the form of a little redheaded female leading him... somewhere. She knew where she was going so he wasn't going to ask why. That and he really didn't have a choice, the firecracker grabbed his left hand to lead him. Which was fine by Jack, an excuse to hold a girl's hand was always welcome. Even if it meant that if he let go it would mean probable death. Something that Jack didn't want.

The couple made their way up a fie escape ladder, which impressed Jack that this redhead could lift the big man. She probably worked out, that was cool. Then the thought entered his mind, did he work out? Did he even work? He still had so many questions. Hopefully he could find answers and soon. This whole event was really getting to him. The woman lead him into an apartment where she shut the door behind them. Leaving them with some time to talk, hopefully. He looked around the girl's apartment. She was a Marine. Jack kind of chuckled because that sure explained a lot. If the dog tag was correct then he himself was in the Army. Which means they would probably get along, after all the teasing of course.

Jack found himself analyzing her, he tried not to stare at a single area for long but this girl was very pleasing to the eye. Jack wasn't sure if he had a thing for fit redheads but this individual was slowly persuading him to do so. The thing that got him the most were her blue eyes, Jack assumed in his past life he had a huge thing for eyes. She was just beautiful. Apparently, the woman was analyzing Jack as well because she introduced herself and then asked if he was bitten as well. Jack subconsciously reached for his left forearm trying to cover the bite with his shirt. Ivy brushed her hair to the side revealing a bite mark as well. Jack replied,"Yeah, I guess. I don't remember how it happened though. But do you have any medkits Marine? We need to fix you up. Your bite looks a little bit worse than mine."

He looked around the room looking for something. Then he realized Ivy had introduced herself, he should probably do the same. He took her handshake and introduced himself,"Its a pleasure to meet you Ivy, wish we could have met under better circumstances. But my name is... Well... I think my name is Jack. Jack Dukes." He let go of the handshake, revealed his dog tags and continued,"Honestly, I only think that's my name because of these. I can't remember anything. I must have hit my head when I crashed my truck."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Perry Charming
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#, as written by mjolnir
I V Y - A R C H E R
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Ivy watched the male with her grey blue eyes, unable to help the slight smile that tugged at the corners of her lips as she noticed him glancing her over. When he went to cover the bite, she raised a brow curiously. She chuckled as he noticed she was a Marine, he nearly picked up on that faster than herself. "Your's doesn't look good either." Then he finally introduce himself, but i was alright the whole situation was a lot to take in. When she saw that he had the dog tags on she grinned, "Guess I'm not the only soldier here." Then she walked over to him, obviously personal boundaries didn't really bother her because she reached into his back pocket, grabbing his wallet. "More accurate way to find out your identity." She chuckled softly as she opened it. "I don't think it was the crash... I think it was the bites." she said as she thumbed through his wallet for his Drivers License, glancing up at him as she spoke "I don't remember anything either... I saw my address on my license and a card saying I used to be a Marine so I figured I had to have something here. But by the looks of this place, I think I'm happy that I don't remember who I was. It's pretty obvious I was injured while deployed because of all the medals." She motioned to the medals on the wall, "And obviously I'm single by the look of this apartment." She laughed softly at her own comment, then grinned as she pulled out his license and held it up to him. "Voila! Here, I'll go see if I have some medical stuff." She handed him his I.D. and wallet before heading towards the kitchen.

As she was heading to the kitchen, Ivy stopped mid step as she heard something. A man? Talking in the distance, wondering what happened and if anyone else was out there. She closed her eyes to try to see through his eyes, and got a glimpse of where he was. Then with her best effort she tried to project her own thoughts towards the man, "Hey, don't freak out. Stay quiet and find a hiding place. You're not alone and we will come as soon as possible. Try and find a weapon." Ivy didn't realize how much energy it took to do that... maybe it was because she just developed this ability? But she stumbled towards the kitchen catching herself on the door frame. She glanced back over her shoulder towards Jack, "There's someone else out there... I think we should address our wounds. And I have to have weapons here somewhere, maybe you do too at your place? I mean you are a soldier too."

After searching nearly half of the cabinets in her kitchen she found a first aid kit. "Hey!" She motioned for him to come take a seat in the kitchen. She first grabbed a wash cloth and wet it, then moved back over to him kneeling before him. Ivy rolled up his sleeve, then took the cloth and cleaned the dirt out of the wound. Once it was somewhat clean, she grabbed some alcohol for cleansing the wound. "Don't hate me for this..." She poured a little of the alcohol into the wound, then quickly put a gauze pad on top of it. After taping it down, she wrapped his forearm in an ace bandage. "All better." She smiled softly towards him before standing up.

"I guess it's my turn." Ivy crossed her arms before her abdomen, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. She wasn't very self conscious and the shirt was covered in lord knows what, plus she had a bra on underneath. She figured removing the shirt would make it easier for him to address her wound. She grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and sat on it backwards, straddling the back of the seat while her arms hugged the back rest. Before she had him address her wound, she half turned towards him, "Thanks... For not killing me back there when you first saw me. I don't know if I could handle all this... alone." She smiled a sweet genuine smile towards him, before turning back away from him, reaching her hand up to brush her red hair off her wounded shoulder.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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Jack tried to keep eye contact with the firecracker but she sort of invaded his personal space, just like a Marine would. She reached for his butt, well, butt pocket to be precise and she reached for Jack's wallet. Something that Jack didn't think about at all. He was busy running from... whatever those things were to check his pockets completely. Ivy went through his wallet and he prayed he didn't have anything embarrassing in there. Jack had no idea what was in there but still, a person had their secrets. He examined her as she spoke about how she was in the same boat. She found his ID and handed it over to Jack. Catching a particular sentence she said,"And obviously I'm single by the look of this apartment." She gave a pretty little laugh as she made her way to the kitchen to find supplies. Jack kind of raised his right eyebrow as he watched Ivy walk towards the kitchen. She was definitely something to look at from behind as well as in the front. Ivy was definitely attractive but for some reason deep down, Jack wanted to keep a distance from her. Not physically, but more emotionally. For some reason he was putting up a wall. It just felt comfortable to him. Eventually Ivy stumbled onto the door frame like she just ran a mile. Jack moved towards her to help support her. He placed one of his hands on her waist to help her keep balance. She looked back at him and said,"There's someone else out there... I think we should address our wounds. And I have to have weapons here somewhere, maybe you do too at your place? I mean you are a soldier too." He just nodded and let go of her so she could search for supplies. She seemed to be doing a little better.

As Ivy was looking for medical supplies Jack examined the room he was in. Ivy had pictures and medal around the room. She was definitely not someone that hid in a foxhole. Or at least her past self wasn't. Jack did not want to piss off this Marine. Combine that with the fact that she was a redhead and that was just asking for trouble. Just then she called Jack into the kitchen, he followed her in and sat down as she treated his forearm. She poured some alcohol on his wound but it didn't bother Jack because his father used to do that for all of their cuts. Wait a minute... Did Jack just remember his father? The face was in his mind saying exactly what Ivy said,"Don't hate me for this..." The more he tried to clarify this memory the more it faded. He was pretty sure that the face he saw was the same as the man in the photo that he found in the truck. Currently the photo was in his pocket, when he was done here he would look at it a little bit closer. Ivy finished and smiled at him, for a second Jack felt comfortable. Like he could relax.

"I guess it's my turn."

Then his instincts kicked back in and his wall came back up and replied,"I think I can do this. Just don't try to kill me if I mess up." He smiled back at her. Then she proceeded to take her shirt off. This somewhat shocked Jack, was his smile that attractive? He gave a slight chuckle to his internal joke and watched Ivy straddle the chair so Jack could mend her wound, she turned and looked at him,

"Thanks... For not killing me back there when you first saw me. I don't know if I could handle all this... alone."

"I should be thanking you. You've already saved my life Marine. If we meet any other soldiers just know I will deny that a Marine saved an Army Ranger."

He winked at her as she brushed her hair back to reveal her bite mark. Jack went to work cleaning and addressing the open wound.

"Seriously this looks worse than mine, I think I would have died."

He worked for a few more minutes as he finished up. He closed the wound and dressed it to keep it sterile. Jack accidentally brushed his finger tips off of Ivy's shoulders, feeling the softness of her skin. Feeling awkward he kind of jumped back and turned his back on the woman and slightly said,"You're good to go ma'am."

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Perry Charming
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#, as written by mjolnir
I V Y - A R C H E R
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Dialogue Color=#27b99c



As Ivy was with Jack she tried to not let her facial expression show that she knew what he was thinking, that'd be awkward to explain. A person's thoughts are their own, and she'll keep leaving them his own until he actually says them to her. She remembered hearing something about him putting up a wall and not wanting to get emotionally close to her, this caused her smile to fade slightly as she ran a hand through her crimson locks. Why did that bother her? She wasn't expecting anything but they're in this together, and if he wouldn't even open up enough to be her friend, then this would be very difficult. Although... Ivy looked over at him, he was very attractive, and funny, and... Stop. She told herself in her mind. How could she like him when she barely knew him... She didn't know. Or.. did she know him? Then just for a brief moment she had a flash of a memory, she saw Jack, obviously younger in a football uniform. She saw him run over to a cheerleader, obviously his girlfriend at the time because he kissed her. Ivy had a feeling she knew that girl... maybe a friend?

She came back to reality when he said "I should be thanking you. You've already saved my life Marine. If we meet any other soldiers just know I will deny that a Marine saved an Army Ranger."

She couldn't help but laugh at his comment, glancing over her shoulder at him, trying not to move her shoulder "I'm sure you'll get the opportunity to pay me back... let's hope you don't fail since, you know, you're a Ranger."

She stuck out her tongue playfully before turning around back around, that's when he said, "Seriously this looks worse than mine, I think I would have died."

"Eh, I'm tough, I could handle it. At least she thought she was, after all is she a marine.

Ivy sat there patiently as he addressed her wound. At one point she felt Jack she felt his finger tips brush her skin. It felt... nice? but then she felt him jump back slightly and say "You're good to go ma'am."

She stood up from the chair, and started to clean up the mess. Then she walked towards the small bedroom, she grabbed herself and jack new shirts and walked back out. She tossed him the larger shirt, "Here you go. I'm sure you'd like to not be covered in blood. It should fit... found it in my pajama drawer, but it's just a plain grey t-shirt." She then pulled on a grey tank top, being ginger as she pulled it over her shoulder. She then walked over to her hall closest, grabbing a red leather vest, putting it on over her shirt. Ivy eyed the objects in her closet, she pulled out 2 duffle bags and a backpack.

Speaking more to herself, Ivy glanced around her apartment, "Now where would I keep my weapons." Speaking more to herself then anything. She then walked back to her bedroom, kneeling before the bed to get a look under it, "Bingo!" She pulled out a large trunk, unlocking it she found a stock full of weapons. "I think we should have guns obviously... but it might be best to stick with melee weapons unless we absolutely need guns, to save ammo." She grabs a pistol with a thigh strap, tying it to her left thigh and a harness to be worn like a gun holster but she slipped 2 machetes into the harness. Ivy then grabbed a duffle bag, shoving a shotgun, flashlight, extra ammo and batteries into the bag before zipping it up.

Ivy filled the other duffle with a pistol, shotgun, axe, flashlight and also additional ammo and batteries. She pushed that bag aside and grabbed the back pack tossing a hunting knife into it, 2 pistols, a sledgehammer and a sniper rifle, with the basic flashlight, ammo and batteries. She threw her duffle with just the shotgun over her good shoulder, then walked back into the living room. Ivy held out the second duffle "Infantry?" She then held up the backpack, "Or sniper?" She let him choose which bag he wanted, the other for the other guy out there.

She went back to the kitchen, grabbing her crowbar, slipping it through her belt loop on the right side of her hip. Ivy then searched the fridge tossing all canned goods, and bottles of water into her bag. She then grabbed the med kit and tossed it to Jack like a frisbee. "Ready to go lover boy?" She said in a joking manner, while she tied her hair back in a pony tail, quickly slipped on a pair of combat boots and put on her aviator sunglasses.

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Perry Charming
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Perry Charming

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The pain in Perry's shoulders was definitely not getting any better. As each second passed, the intensity of the wound worsened. Taking deep breaths, he leaned his unharmed shoulder on the Porsche, who he guessed was of his possession. A tear managed to crawl out of his eye as he looked around the neighborhood once more, hoping to catch sight of another human being.

Checking his phone, Perry noticed two words that slightly crushed his heart. No Serivce.

There he was, completely clueless of literally everything about his own identity while being alone in a strange neighborhood. Only knowing his own name didn't lessen his despair. He slowly slouched down until he was sitting on the cold pavement once again. Maybe that's how his life was meant to end. Alone, confused, in pain.

Suddenly, Perry felt a strange vibration centered in his head. He looked around, thinking it could someone trying to shout to him. There was a voice, female to be exact, talking to him.

"Hey, don't freak out. Stay quiet and find a hiding place. You're not alone and we will come as soon as possible. Try and find a weapon."

More lost than ever, Perry was creeped out by the voice. There was clearly no one around, yet someone was trying to talk to him. He walked to the middle of the road and looked around once again. Having the urge to shout something out to get a response from the voice, Perry took a deep breath and was ready to yell when suddenly, he heard an odd noise. Slow, wet footsteps on pavement. Very slowly, he turned around. There was a horrific-looking creature who was blood covered slowly making it's way to him. Perry let out a terrified scream and stepped back. For some reason, he couldn't pick up his feet so he could run away. He felt trapped in that one spot, ready to be murdered by the horrible creature. It got closer. Perry managed to step back a few steps and he began to feel around his pockets once again in search of some type of weapon. He felt something sharp and metallic. In the pocket that held his wallet was a retractable pocket knife. How could he have missed that earlier?

He stared at the creature dead in the eye. Gripping the pocket knife with a tight hold, he took a stab at the creature. That failed miserably and managed only to poke a pathetic wound on the creature's stomach. It lunged for him and Perry ducked, retracting the small blade to prevent accidentally slicing himself. The creature's reflexes were great, however, and it quickly turned around and grabbed hold of Perry. He stomped on its foot and elbowed it in the head, managing to barely escape. There was a moderate wound on his back, but Perry ignored it as he searched for something to permanently remove the creature from existence. Suddenly, something odd happened once again.

Perry locked eyes with a fire hydrant for one second, and in that one second he wished for it to somehow become dislodged and fly towards the creature's head, killing it from blunt force trauma. Knowing that would definitely not happen, he was shocked when the hydrant made a strange noise. He began to run away from the creature, wondering what was going on with the hydrant. In a split second, the red object flew from the sidewalk, water gushing everywhere. Perry yelped and quickly ducked. He heard a metallic BANG!

Turning around, he saw the creature lying on the pavement, the fire hydrant resting in the now broken Porsche. The windows of the luxury car was smashed and water was now flowing everywhere. Wet and slightly exhausted, Perry tried to collect his thoughts. Was it a coincidence that the fire hydrant did exactly what Perry wished it would do? Even more clueless than ever, Perry began to walk the opposite direction of where the creature's corpse laid.

"Hey, is anyone out there? I heard you! If I'm really not alone..." he shouted out to the world.

Perry looked around the neighborhood once again. This time, he whispered to himself.

"Just please, hurry..."

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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After Jack had finished cleaning up and attempting to mend Ivy's wound she had walked off to her bedroom. She came back in a fresh pair of clothes as well as a grey shirt for himself. She threw the shirt at Jack and said she found it in her PJ drawer. Jack looked at it to make sure there wasn't any fluffy kittens on it and accepted it as wearable. Without really thinking Jack pulled off his shirt, exposing the body of a former operative and current farmer. Jack wasn't a bodybuilder but he wasn't a stick either. He pulled on the grey shirt, finding it somewhat tight against his skin. Which was fine by him, he didn't like loose clothes and it wasn't like the shirt was skin tight. He wondered if this shirt was the trophy from a one-night stand at Ivy's.

Ivy accessed her own personal little armory. She literally could fight a war by herself with all the gear she had. One duffle bag for her and she produced another duffle alongside a backpack. She gave Jack the choice between the two, either infantry or sniper. He replied,"I feel like I'd be more in the middle of the two. But I like to keep my distance from things." He grabbed the back pack and looked through the contents. He found a very nice rifle, a LBC Tactical Recon chambered in the .308 round. There was also 2 handguns in the pack, they were both Glocks chambered in 9mm. He already had his own pistol so he didn't really care for these two other pistols. He grew to like his Jericho, even if didn't spend long with it. He took the ammo from the mags and refilled his current mag.

Jack looked over to the locked and loaded ginger that looked like Rambo if he was an attractive girl. Jack somehow found this even more attractive. She tossed him a medkit and asked,"Ready to go lover boy?" Jack replied,"As long as I get to cover your six!" He winked at her and for a second he wondered if she meant more to that lover boy comment. Was she reading his mind?

Jack chambered a round into the bolt of his rifle and checked his Jericho to make sure it was loaded. He strapped on the backpack tight and was ready for business. Jack made a suggestion for a plan,"After we find this other guy I'd suggest we hit my house. Or farm. Or whatever it is. I'm sure I have stuff there as well. Stuff more familiar to me. Hopefully I don't get too jealous of the missing person though." He chuckled a little bit. Jack reached for the door handle with his rifle in ready position waiting for Ivy's go.

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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#, as written by mjolnir
I V Y - A R C H E R
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Ivy couldn't help herself from glancing over her shoulder slightly at him as he changed his shirt. He definitely wasn't bad to look at, and she had no regrets about giving him that shirt, not too tight but enough to see his muscles and... Stop! She told herself, God damn Ivy she thought to herself. Then that's when she head him wondering if it was from a one-night stand, was it? She thought hard, she didn't know what it was from but she had a guy feeling it wasn't. She grinned towards Jack slightly as he grabbed the bag, she wasn't offended he didn't want her pistols, but it couldn't hurt to have extras. After all, they didn't really know the extent of what they were facing.

Ivy couldn't help but laugh at his comment, "As long as I get to cover your six!" Then she heard it, heard him wonder if she was reading his mind. Then just as quickly as her smile came, it faded. She didn't want him feeling uncomfortable around her because she could hear his thoughts... it actually made understanding men, or him, much easier. She didn't want to seem like a freak either. She headed over towards the window when she heard him... the other guy that was out there, "Hey, is anyone out there? I heard you! If I'm really not alone... Just please, hurry..."

She placed her hands on either side of the window frame, trying to stable her as he stretched the boundaries of her mind, "You shouldn't shout... you'll just attract them. Stay put, we're on our way!" It made her weak to try and speak to him telepathically over such a distance, he was probably a block or 2 away but this is all new to her. As she was trying to catch her breath she felt and electric tingle in her fingers, noticing the lights slowly went out. As they dimmed, she felt stronger. Did she do that? Absorb their energy?

She was lost in thought but when Jack spoke up it brought her back to reality. ""After we find this other guy I'd suggest we hit my house. Or farm. Or whatever it is. I'm sure I have stuff there as well. Stuff more familiar to me. Hopefully I don't get too jealous of the missing person though."

"I agree." She replied, "I would assume you'd have something. So we can go to the address on your license." Just as Ivy was about to open the window to leave the way she came, she paused realizing what he had said and turned slightly to face him. "Jealous? Why would you get jealous?"

Once down speaking with Jack, she slowly opened the window and climbed out gingerly to avoid making too much noise. She placed her hands on the railing to glance over and see what was beneath them. She only saw one, eating something... maybe a dog? Ivy reached her right hand up and grabbed a machete. Glancing down at the monster, she aimed up carefully, then released the blade. Allowing the machete to fall, it slipped through the air noiselessly until it met it's marking, splitting the zombie's skull. "Alright lets go... he's 2 blocks over"

Ivy scaled down the fire escape quickly and quietly. Upon reaching the final level, instead of pushing down the noisy ladder, she placed her hands on the railing and hurdled it, falling the 10ft. As she landed, Ivy lost her balance, falling into a roll until a dumpster stopped her fall. Thankfully she put out her hands to stop the momentum of her body so that she didn't slam into the metal and make too much noise. Slowly getting back up on her feet, she walked over to the now dead zombie to reclaim her machete, but continued to hold it in hand as she head down the alley the opposite way they originally enterer. "This way."

It was a long alley way, and when Ivy got close to the end she put her back up a brick wall and inched her way to the edge of the building. Peaking her head around the wall she looked out at the road, it was there she saw the smashed Porsche, and assumed the male was close by. She slowly stepped out into the open and made her way to the destroyed, over priced vehicle. Making her way over she saw him standing their, obviously made of money no doubt... also not accustomed to anything violent. Apparently deaf as well because he hadn't heard the zombie that was coming up behind him, or herself and Jack as they came up behind the zombie. With stealth Ivy quickly snuck up on the monster, taking her machete like Babe Ruth, she swung it at it's throat, knocking it's head clean off and sent it rolling towards the new male's feet.

Ivy then sheathed the blade and slowly stepped in front of the man, not wanting to surprise him and make him scream. "Hey there... Ivy leaned her left arm on the roof of the destroyed Porsche, wincing slightly at the bending of her injured shoulder. "Well aren't you a fish out of water." She laughed while shaking her head, her ice blue eyes slowly drifted over towards Jack. She exchanged a what are we gonna do with this kinda of look, before her expression changed slightly to just a simple smile.

Ivy shifted where she was standing slightly, before extending her right hand towards the newbie, "I'm Ivy... Ivy Archer. This," She motioned towards Jack, "Is my new partner in crime... Jack Dukes." She winked towards Jack playfully. "And these..." She held out the third duffle towards the male, "Are your new best friends."

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming
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Hey, hey, heyyyy, Kura checking in! Sorry for the delay! Here we go! :D

P.S. *silent sobbing* I had a kickass end to my post and then you guys posted and I had to make it lame *resumes silent sobbing*

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"I'm a complex yet severely uninteresting individual."




PRE-INFECTION
SEPTEMBER 23RD
YEAR 2035


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Breathing heavily, Astraea slowly straightened, relaxing slightly.

"He was out of his damned-"

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

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

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

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




POST-INFECTION
SEPTEMBER 23RD
YEAR 2035


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

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

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

"Jackpot," she whispered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




SHORT TIME LAPSE


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

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

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

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

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

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming
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Perry Charming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"And these are your new best friends."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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Melanie Rodriguez
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Before Infection

Melanie pulled herself out from under the car she was working on. Her white tank top was covered in oil and other car muck and so was her face. She wiped her arm across her forehead smearing some of that much across it and let out a tired sigh. After a whole day of hard work she finally managed to fix this customers car up before the due date she gave him. She was happy because that met more time with her daughter. After picking up Isabella from school Melanie let her go play outside with the other kids she always played with.

This town was the kind where you could let your children play around the neighborhood without much worry but Melanie always worried. The kids always played in front of her shop or around it, not far enough where she couldn't hear them anymore. Through out the day Mel's soundtrack to her work was the classic rock that played on her old radio and the sound of her daughter and her friends laughing and playing around and that's how she liked it. Grabbing towel that hung off the back of a chair she wiped the sweat off her face with it and around her arms. She looked out and something struck her as odd, she couldn't hear any children playing around or cars passing by. It was definitely odd to her.

Chugging down half her water bottle, Melanie capped it, turned off her radio and walked out of her garage. She looked around with an eyebrow raised before calling out to her daughter. When she got no response that's when the panic lights in her head began to go off. She hastily walked around the corner of her shop to look at the streets to see . . . nothing. It was like the place was dead silent and that set her on edge. Her heart began to race as she heard a couple of odd noises come from around the back of the building. Maybe it was her daughter? Without another thought Mel began to walk towards the sound, her heart thumping louder and louder the closer she got to the back of her shop.

When she finally got to the back what she saw almost had her doubled over spewing up her lunch. There were two, no, three bodies on the ground, small bodies, most likely children bodies all bloodied and mangled. It looked as if a rabid animal had tore them to pieces. Holding down the contents of her stomach she noticed the two other children that looked alive, I mean they were moving but covered in blood from behind. That long blondish-brown hair instantly struck a cord in Melanie, it was definitely her daughter. Her hand reached out in uncertainty with shaking hands as she spoke. "b-bella? Are you okay?" That right there was something Mel regret saying because as soon as her daughter turned around she all but covered her mouth and snapped her hand back.

Her face has a chunk of her cheek missing, it both angered and terrified her. Who did this to her daughter? and how was she still alive with all the blood that covered her and the floor? Melanie asked again but in a more panicked tone. "Isabella! Who did this to you?! Answer me - bell?" The child did nothing but growled as the other child next to her, one of the kids she was playing with stood up in the creepiest motion. The young child had his ankle broken as in his bone was sticking out and everything. He shuffled slightly towards Mel who took a few steps back with tears streaming down her face. Her daughter, Isabella was the one to take a few steps towards her before trying to launch at her making a horrible screeching noise. Mel all but jumped back in horror before taking off in the opposite direction, back into her shop with her daughter and friend hot on her heels.

Melanie stopped for a second frantically looking for something to protect her with and found her old baseball bat leaning up against the wall. Grabbing it she quickly turned to face the two things that charged at her. With one swing she bashed her daughters friends head in and his body landed lifelessly on the floor. Over and over in her head she was apologizing for what she just did and for what she was going to do. Not wanting to kill her daughter Mel swung her her daughters legs making her drop on the ground with a loud thump and crunch. When she looked the thing had bit it's own tongue off and she fell back on her rear, bat bloodied and shaking in her hands. "Sorry, sorry , sorry . . ." she repeated over and over as her head leaned back against the wall, her eyes tightly closed shut not wanting to see the sight of her squirming child on the floor oozing dark red blood from her tongue that looked coagulated. Not paying attention though, she felt a sharp searing pain shoot up her leg as her daughter bit right into it. Reacting out of pure instinct she kicked it in the face and scrambled to her feet. Mel stared down at her daughter with the bat held high up above her head ready to strike but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Terrified and grief stricken she instead turned on her heal and limped over to the shops bathroom where she locked the door behind her. She slumped down it with her bitten leg laid out while the other was pulled up against her chest. The dirty bat laid next to her staining the off white tile floor red. She began to cry a bit loudly before she laid her head back against the door and her crying turned into quiet sobs. In the middle of it all though her head began to feel light and she thought it was because of the crying so she brushed it off until she went to stand up and found that she couldn't Her vision was failing her as she gripped the sink to pull herself up that's when she went and passed out on the bathroom floor.




After Infection

Melanie woke with a jolt. She jumped out of her unconsciousness gripping the baseball bat in her hands. Her eyes quickly scanned the room frantically before she calmed a bit, noticing she was by herself and in a . . . bathroom? She blinked the heaviness from her eyes and pulled herself off the ground feeling a pulsing pain in her leg. Looking down she noticed small teeth marks pretty deep into her leg and touched it before wincing and pulling her hand away. When did she get this? What bit her this hard? Mel tried to remember but her head sent a stinging pulse as she did so she stopped. She gripped the sided of the sink and took a deep breath, what the two hells was going on? Melanie raised her head and looked into the mirror, she had car oil and blood smeared on her face, neck and tank top. Looking at herself for a second more she turned on the water and splashed some in her face to both clean and wake her up from this glooming dizziness and heavy feelings she had.

The water worked quite well because after she cleaned herself up she felt a bit refreshed. After drying her face, Mel noticed the bloodied baseball bat on the ground. She stared at it a bit in confusion. Did she hit someone with it? Is that why it was all covered in blood? Shaking her head she picked it up and cautiously opened the bathroom door. When she stepped out she covered her mouth at the horrendous sight before she couldn't stand the smell and sight no more and spewed her stomach contents on the floor. Between heavy pants Mel looked around in a panic before stumbling over to her desk that held a photo of her and her daughter, some tools scattered around and papers with oily finger prints on them. "Is this my desk?" she question before her memory tired to give her small hints. A familiar feeling washed over her as she quickly ripped open the bottom drawer to reveal her old pistol and a pair of handcuffs.

Mel checked the chamber and found that the gun was fully loaded then clicked it back in before tucking it in the back of her dirty khaki pants. The handcuffs she placed in her back pocket where they just barely fit. Looking over to her half finished water bottle and slightly dirty towel she chugged the rest of it down then ripped a piece of the towel before tying it tightly around her leg. Limping back over to her desk she searched around a bit more trying to find anything useful. She went through drawer after drawer to find nothing but pencils, different types of keys and bawled up papers. Mel got to one drawer though that held a box of pills. The box clearing stated Natrol, stress and anxiety reliever for night and day. While thinking about it a bit too hard a painful headache came across her as a flash of a memory came through. It was a short memory of her having what looked like an anxiety attack. Shaking it out of her head her hand reached out and swiped the box placing it in her front pocket, just in case. Looking back at the photo on the desk she broke the frame and took the picture, something about it was bugging her and she wanted to find out who that girl in the picture was beside her but before she put the picture away she took a glance at the back and read Melanie and Isabella, then the date it was taken at the bottom.

Thinking it was time to leave now, with bat in hand, Melanie walked out of her shop. Once out a foul smell hit her nose and it made her hold her breathe for a few seconds before getting use to it. It was a putrid rotting smell but she nothing around that was rotting. This didn't stop her though, she walked down the street keeping alert but almost all but jumped when she heard a female scream. It made her spin around and grunt in pain when her leg throbbed at the sudden movement. "Fuck," she cursed under her breathe before recovering and making her way over to the scream with a slight limp. "Hey!" she shouted. "Are you okay!? Do you need help?" Mel continued as she rounded the corner of the building where the scream came from. Just then something jumped out and growled in her face, Mel shielded herself with her arms and pushed that thing back fast enough that it couldn't bite. She took a good look at it's monstrous body before raising her weapon. "h-hey-" she stuttered. " Stay back man, you should really go to the hospital." she tried to explain only to receive growls in return. It gave a loud snarl before launching at her but Mel swung her bat as hard as she could. The woman could feel the vibrations on the bat as it impacted with the damn things skull and the cracking sound was so loud.

Melanie all but limped out from behind the building as fast as she could then shot down the street ignoring the throbbing pain that came from her leg. She rounded the corner and skid a bit at her sudden stop because what was in front of her was a sizable group of those things. Mel's eyes grew wide then looked at her feet, there were actual scorch marks around them. Looking a bit dumbfounded she snapped back into reality, her heart raced and luckily she stopped at the very corner of the street and didn't make enough noise that they would notice her so she took off the other direction. There was no other choice than to take the alleys so that's what she did. She met a few zombies through her run that in return met the end of her bat but that didn't stop her from getting the hell out of there. Finally she saw out, a way back onto the street and hopefully there were no things on this street or she was screwed. Stumbling out of the alley she fell on her hands and feels panting for air like she had just came up from a long while underwater. Her head turned to the side when she saw a group of figures standing not to far from her and it terrified her for a moment before she made out that they didn't look like those things that attacked her. Mel raised her hand for them to notice her before letting out a bit of humor. "I'm not too late for the party am I?"

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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#, as written by mjolnir
I V Y - A R C H E R
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Dialogue Color=#27b99c



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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"You say that I'm cold ... But have you experienced subzero temperatures?"

Dialogue Color: #4C0B5F





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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What the fu-!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Characters Present

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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Perry Charming

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Dialogue Color is #CC9900



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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Melanie Rodriguez
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Melanie was grateful for the woman to help her up though she could have done it herself but it did take some of the pain off the leg so she was still grateful. Right then Mel seemed to look over her shoulder in sync with the redhead to notice the zombie hoard heading their way. With a new rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins Mel managed to run all the way to the truck with the redhead stuck to her side, she tossed her baseball bat in the back before getting on the back of the truck, again grateful that she was there to help. Once in the back of the truck Mel pulled her pistol out from behind her and cocked it back, she watched as the young blonde lad beside her was handed a gun and given a short yet fairly easy instructions on how to use it. He protested once she left and Mel rolled her eyes. " Hey, pretty boy, just shut up and shoot."

Turning her head back to face the hoard Mel shot down a few of her own, getting them right between the eyes.
"I get why she isn't doing much, but you? Get off your high horse and use that gun before I kick your ass!" Mel got distracted for a moment though by the one woman cavalry who kicked down the first few zombies that got to the truck before they took off. "Better watch out pretty boy, the cavalry ain't taking no shit from you today." with that Mel shot a few more of those things, the ones pretty boy over here didn't finish off. Her last shot was aimed at a zombie that was near the front of the crowd. It flew right through the air and hit it's kneecap crippling it and making it drop instantly. The zombies behind it played follow the leader and stumbled over it's once leader falling onto their faces.

Once they began to get distance from the hoard Mel thought it was good to check her rounds then tuck her gun back in her pants but suddenly the truck came to a stop and a sudden flash of images took hold of her head. It can along with a piercing pain that made her squeeze her eyes shut for a second before shaking it off. Blinking a few times Melanie slightly panicked when she noticed the hoard getting closer and closer to the truck once more. She banged twice on the side of the truck after the cavalry made her way into the truck and now owned the steering wheel. "Hey, not to rush you or anything but we better get moving because I'm pretty sure we are looking like a couple of juicy burgers to them!"

Doing what she said, Mel griped her baseball bat making sure it didn't go anywhere when the truck took off. A bit of relief rushed over her body when she saw the zombies disappear in the distant. Mel breathed in and out, trying to calm herself before glancing over to pretty boy who seemed occupied by his phone. Shaking her head Mel pulled out the picture that held her and her daughter in it. She stared and examined it wondering who that little girl was, her finger traced over the child's face endearingly before a rippling sensation took over her brain. It was quick but painful. Images and sounds, It was a birthday party, kids running around, balloons and streamers all over. She was holding a camera and smiling . . . she was taking the little girls picture. Isabella smiled brightly at the camera with her little party hat on and a tooth missing. Mel could hear herself telling the girl to smile and referred to her as bella.

Snapping out of the memory Mel shook her head and looked down at the picture in her hands once again. The little girl's name in the picture was Isabella so that meant her name was Melanie. After a while the truck came to a stop and Mel folded the picture back up before pocketing it again. The other guy, the only man of the group hopped out the truck and told them to wait while he checked it out and she did and when he gave the okay Mel hopped out the back before mister pretty boy with a slight wince as the throbbing pain that came from her leg. The pain had significantly dimmed down from earlier which made her able to walk again but it did still hurt a bit but nothing she couldn't take. Once out the truck Mel decided to stretch a bit and she reached up for the sky hearing multiple bones crack. The dirty white tank top she wore decided to lift up along with her arms to reveal a light scar across her abdomen. Noticing it her fingers ran over it. Where did she get this? It was at least half a foot long and it looked like a clean cut. Putting it in the back of her head Mel made her way over to the fierce redhead before the actual house. She rubbed the back of her neck trying to release the tension in it. "Nice ass kicking back there, your like a one woman cavalry."

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Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes Character Portrait: Astraea Huntington Character Portrait: Perry Charming Character Portrait: Melanie Rodriguez
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I V Y - A R C H E R
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Dialogue Color=#27b99c



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

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

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

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

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

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



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Every TV in the house came to life, loud with static blaring in every room. But it quickly cleared out as a gritty picture slowly appeared on the screens revealing a middle aged man sitting at a desk calmly. His hands were resting upon the table top, his cold blank stare fixed upon the camera. He brought his right hand up to cover his mouth as he cleared his throat before proceeding with his message, "Please excuse this interruption and give your attention to this emergency broadcast. It has been 48 hours since all armed forces at our disposal began cleansing the cities. We started with the larger cities, where there was a better chance of possible survivors. We are pleased to announce that we have evacuated over 3,000 uninfected survivors from over 150 major cities across the nation. Although we have been successful so far, we are bringing a temporary halt to our cleansing to lick our wounds and rest before moving to the smaller towns.

Upon our cleansings we have discovered that there are also in fact those that have been infected, but still retain all amounts of their humanity. Although this may sound like possible redemption, these people are VERY dangerous. The virus has seemed to bounded to their cells giving them supernatural abilities that have not been seen at all in the human race. Many of you are probably thinking that these... beings, could help with the infection and quite possibly be the cure as well. I regret to inform you that those notions are completely false. These anti-humans are an incredible danger to the human race, even more of a danger than mindless infected. Since the virus runs through their veins, they have the capability to spread the disease to those whom are not infected. Not only that, but because they are superior to us, they threaten our now inferior species with extinction.

Since the discovery of these anti-humans our mission has changed from containment of the virus, to first eradicating the world of this species. We have evacuated those that have not been infected to safe areas that are beyond the reach of the virus and the undead, while we turn our efforts towards finding these advanced people. In 24 hours we will begin searching the nation with every abled soldier we have at our disposal. We have programed our satellites to check for the unique heat signatures these anti-humans give off, as well as every soldiers' gun being equipped with the same technology in their thermal scopes. We promise you that we will work with efficiency to rid our nation of this greater threat. If you are a survivor that is awaiting your evacuation and you have seen one of these anti-humans, you have diplomatic immunity to kill on sight."
And with that the man drew quiet for a long moment, adjusting his tie and slicking back his hair with his right hand before adding, Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules for this emergency broadcast." And as quickly as the message had came, it left. Leaving the TVs with temporary static before they shut back off.


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I V Y - A R C H E R
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Dialogue Color=#27b99c



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

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

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ivy Archer Character Portrait: Jack Dukes
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Jack watched as everyone piled out of the Ford truck into his home. He was surprised the piece of junk didn't break down on them, after all it was a Ford. Jack was more of a Chevy guy. The thought made him perk up a bit, he must have had a better vehicle for the survival party to use. He stood up and walked to the side of the house where a separate garage was located. Frost followed Jack into the dark garage, never leaving his side. Jack scanned the wall with his hand to try and locate a light switch. He finally located it and allowed light to flow into the room. Revealing quite possibly the most manly man cave that Jack had ever laid his eyes upon. He had no idea what he did for a living but he was sure a lot of the money he made went into everything in this garage. The biggest and baddest object in the garage was a truck. Not just any truck, first off it was a Chevy but it was a custom Chevy. The Black Ops Silverado. Built to be the ultimate outdoors truck, or in this case a survival truck. It can seat 5 in the cab and the bed is filled with surprises thanks to the truck vault built underneath it. Jack couldn't help but whistle at this masterpiece. He wanted to thank himself for owning such a beast.

Jack continued to scan the room and found one corner that looked almost like an armory. He didn't have a whole ton of guns but there was a few alongside combat gear. The Army Ranger within never left Jack apparently, it must have been a side hobby of his. He walked over to the gear and located a set of Crye Precision Combat Pants and a Crye Jumpable Plate Carrier within the assortment of camo and vests. Jack picked these because he needed to be light but still ready for a fight. Next to the gear was a small assortment of AR15s and hunting rifles but one rifle caught his eye. The M1A EBR, the civilian version of the M14 EBR he saw in his memory. He reached for the beauty and examined it in his hands. Everything about it seemed familiar to him, like it was another appendage to his body. He smiled and slung the rifle over his back. He made sure to load up his pouched with all the mags he could carry, in this case was 7. Each mag had a capacity of 20 rounds meaning he had the potential for 140 head shots. He found a few boxes of .308 rounds with about 200 more rounds. Hopefully they could find more out there. Jack loaded 2 of the ARs, a Mossberg 500 and a Remington 700 in the Truck Vaults. He loaded the little ammo he could find as well. Food and water had their own vault and was good for at least a week. The truck was ready to roll if they needed to head out. Frost nudged Jack's leg to let him know he was still there. Jack patted the top of his head. He figured he needed to load up dog food as well. That was probably located inside.

Jack left the garage and made his way inside his house. The others were already inside doing whatever they needed to. He looked at his surroundings with a little bit more detail that when he cleared it. He found a few family pictures around, some of them had pictures of Jack in them and in some of them he seemed to be absent. Jack found a spot where a bible was sitting on a small table underneath a picture of what he assumed to be his parents. He picked it up and scanned the pages, he felt like this was important to him at some point. Jack took out the picture he found when he first crashed and placed it in the book, he then placed the book in his side utility pouch and patted it. As he did this he heard static and then a voice. He looked towards the sound and found himself watching an announcement on a TV in the room.



The TV shut off and Jack found himself standing in amazement. He finally broke the silence by saying,"Good to know we are being hunted by everyone." He shook his head and kept walking around the house, Frost disappeared and must have been doing his own thing. Jack kept walking and entered a room. This room felt very familiar to Jack as he scanned it. He found Ivy sitting on the ground with her head resting on the wall, she was recently crying. Jack felt like the hunt for clues of his past life was over, he had a new mission now. For some reason seeing Ivy in tears was breaking down his walls.

Jack walked over to Ivy and sat down next to her. He placed his arm around her again and tried to look in her beautiful eyes. Jack spoke to her,"How are you holding up?" Using his free hand he guided Ivy's chin so she could look at him,"This whole thing has been a nightmare. I'm just glad we have been there for each other. Even if I have no clue who you are, I feel like I've known you forever. Something feels right about you, I guess that's why I'm sticking around. Which doesn't make sense because I seem to be a bit of a lone wolf." He motioned at the pictures on the wall and the frame that contained his former rank and medals. He saw the his role was a DMR, Designated Marksmen Rifle. Not quite a sniper but not a rifleman. No wonder the M1A felt perfect in his hands. Jack looked back at Ivy and asked,"What are we doing now Captain?" He squeezed her a little bit more to let her know he was still there for her. The walls would go back up again, just not now.