Shanti Nayar's Story

She hated towns, or anything with more than two houses, so she had no intention of heading out with the group that was going to pick over what they could in the quaint town in the New York country side. Shanti instead moved steadily through the trees of the forest, watching a deer she spotted not more then ten minutes ago. She had on a pair of jeans, and boots, her hair was tied back and she wore a long-sleeved t-shirt. She did sort of wish for a coat or something. The creature had not caught her scent as of yet, and she was glad that she had the wind on her side. She fitted the crossbow with an arrow, if she didn't get this right, and just wounded the creature, the smell of blood would attract the undead. She was pretty sure there were some out here, and some other creatures that she didn't feel like facing on her own.

The deer was actually still pretty young, it looked like the start of the horns could be seen on its head. Venison would be a welcomed change, but what made Shanti hesitant was the smell of blood would still be strong, as she raised her crossbow,the deer looked up, but not at her. Something else had caught its attention, a lick on her hand and she looked down. Lizzy was right there, where she always was. With that moment of distraction she heard the deer take flight, and that made her uneasy. She listened again, and heard a creak.

It was that sound that made her curious, and she moved toward it, there it stood like a light bulb of some sort, the white house tucked back into the woods. It was an two story with a wrap around porch, a barn stood next to it as did a small garden off to the side. She noticed a shed in the back, she slung the crossbow back in its place and took out her binoculars. This was one of her most prized possessions, these belonged to her foster father, and she didn't ever leave them at camp. She looked at the house first for any sign of life, the windows had been boarded, there were loose ones hanging from the upstairs ones. The front door stood intact and she zoomed in, "No scratch marks, Elizabeth, that is a good sign."

She looked at the barn next, the door was securely closed, that was interesting. She looked at the beagle, "so what do you think." Elizabeth looked up and looked up with one of those dog faces that made you smile. Shanti looked at her, "your a bunch of help." Shanti took a swept of the area, for anything that looked suspicious. The area looked to quiet, to quiet, not even one undead, but also no sign of life either.

She put the binoculars up and moved her crossbow aside to pull her knives out. Arrows were to precious, and she rather not waste them if she didn't need to, when she went back over her mind what she grabbed that last day. She knew she was going to make choices and pack smart. She didn't know how long she would be walking, or who she would run into. She knew though if she headed north, warmer clothes would be needed. Yet she lost her coat somewhere in Maryland, or lets say she had to barter it, which she was now debating if that was a good idea or not.

She decided to approach this in the least threatening manner, just in case...and there was always a just in case. So she put the knives away and walked. She was silent and had her hands out in front of her, like there was a cop right there and he was going to arrest her. She entered the lane that would leave her out in the open, Nathan would probably call it a dumb fucking move, but the guy wasn't around, she could be dumb all she wanted without him there to nag her. She didn't walk slowly though, she tried to look normal, just a passerby looking for shelter or something to that effect.

She got to the first step and stopped, she took another three sixty look around, for two reasons, to see if she missed anything from afar and to give the person inside (if there was one) a good look at her. She didn't want to yell, that would be a sure way to attract the undead. She did the next best thing though, she walked the steps to the door and knocked. She had not met an undead person to this day that knocked. The door creaked open and with one hand behind her and another still out in front, she moved it more open with her foot. "Hello, anyone here, I am just a traveler, I mean no harm. I am looking for some food."

She didn't hear anything, no movement, "I only have protection from the undead," she continued, she didn't want to lie. It would be a sure sign that she was mistrustful. Again she moved the door open with her foot, her hand still on her knife, but the other was at her side. Elizabeth was by her side, not moving any more forward then Shanti, "Elizabeth...," the beagle took off inside the door. She didn't hear anything, nothing moved suddenly at the movement of the dog. Nothing came out and chased it, two minutes went by and Elizabeth came back.

Still Shanti moved slowly as she entered the door, the smell of old house hit her nose. She pulled her knife then, not willing to get surprised by something hiding in a closet or she walked slowly into the house and the first room she came to was the living room. She glanced here and there looking at what was still around. A white couch sat there, with two rocking chairs. The coffee table had magazines on it, and she looked down. Yes...that definitely looked like a knitting basket, she flipped it open and inspected the contents. The crochet needles would be useful, the yarn would be useful too. She looked around and looked at the mantle, but someone had stripped the pictures from their frames. She would come back, plus if she were to grab anything, she would need to find another bag.

She continued on, and hit the kitchen, it looked ransacked, but not totally. She looked through the cupboards and the pantry, there was some stuff, but not much. She wasn't really looking for food, because she was leaving that up to the ones that went to town. Room by room she went, closely inspected everything. She found some winter clothes that someone could use, one being a flannel shirt that she put on, grateful for the extra warmth. She headed upstairs next, slowly and cautiously, finally found a bag she could use to carry some things in, the thing that threw her off was the nursery. She opened the closet, baby clothes, a few things would not hurt and they weren't that heavy.

She moved from room to room, grabbing mostly clothes, some things from the bathroom, including medicine and some other necessary items. She found herself in the master bedroom, and she stopped, something smelled really bad in there. She looked about and noticed the bathroom door closed, Elizabeth growled a low growl. Something hit the door from the other side and Shanti jumped. "Well that is just freaking great," she said to herself. She left the room, only grabbing the crocheted blanket from the chair near the door. She closed the door, and pulled some red lipstick from her back pocket. It was her way of marking territories. She put an X on the door and pulled a table that was in the hallway in front of it.

She decided it was time to head back, whatever was left someone else could have. She went to the kitchen again when she got back downstairs and noticed the door to the cellar, that wasn't going to happen today. In between the clothes she put what cans she could find, and anything else useful from the kitchen, matches were always helpful. She didn't even bother with the fridge, rotting food was a good way to attract the dead. In the living room she took the knitting needles and yarn and put that in last, and looked around. She kneeled down in front of the couch and turned a cushion over. Her own tradition when scrounging was to be honest about it. She typed a note on the underside of the couch, explaining who she was and if anyone came back, they would usually find money there, or something of value. No one wanted to move the dumb couch, and if they did decide to look under the cushion..well they must have been desperate.

Outside, she scanned the area and looked to the garden, she walked over to see what was worth saving, or could be taken for future use in a more permanent setting. She had what she needed, pulling up some of the root vegetables to see if anything was still good. She sighed, gardening was a favorite thing to do, but nothing could be saved from this one.

She glanced to the barn last, she wasn't going to try that either, she would Robyn about the house, and if she wanted some others to come back with her, it probably would be a good idea anyways. She walked back down the lane and toward the wood. She travel home was slower as she was weighed down with more, she approached camp and noticed Kela pulling her wagon, "What the...," she stopped, that wasn't good, Art never went anywhere without that dog. She passed Elias, "Teach," she said, giving him a smile. The man looked like he was in a bad mood, Elizabeth growled slightly, and Shanti rolled her eyes, "Lizzy," she said and she kept walking. She dropped her extra bag off in her tent, it was just her method and then followed where the dog had gone.

The two youngest members of the group were out on the look for Robyn, and Shanti stood nearby. If something was going on, she would go check out for the leader, as the majority of the group had gone with Nathan.

Shanti followed Robyn out of camp and into to town, on her guard and knives at her sides. They followed Kela to the pile of zombie bodies, "Robyn, I don't think she is there," she said as she took a good look at them, someone had put up a good fight, and Art was more willing to live then to let four zombies take her down. Shanti glanced at the ground, footsteps led farther into town, "Maybe she went to look for the others," she continued.

She heard something crash nearby, and smelled something, "Lizzy," the beagle took off, having the better sense of smell, and probably could recognize someone's scent. She hoped the other dog would follow, she looked back at Robyn, "We can only think that she just beat the heck out of these guys and then went into town, and it sounds like trouble so keep you guard up." She knew that she didn't have to tell Robyn that, and she said it in a quiet manner, not like an order, but as a reminder. Shanti gave her a quick smile.

Shanti moved from where Robyn was, but only took a few steps away, she sort of thought if the other needed to continue digging she would just let her, but truthfully she sort of hoped that her words would snap her out of it. She actually said a silent prayer that she was right and Art really went to go look for the others. Somewhere nearby she heard a gunshot, "Fuck," it was a silent curse, "Robyn come on, it really does sound like trouble."

She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't like towns, full of nothing but zombies and people who wanted to take you out for their own enjoyment. This was turning into a really bad day.

Art rolled her eyes, already knowing Nate's answer before he gave it. He wasn't predictable – She just knew him well enough. Sighing, she watched as the molotovs were thrown and busied herself with trailing behind him. She almost felt bad for letting Nate be the protector in the situation, hiding behind him as he stabbed the zombies moving towards him, but she figured that he didn't mind too much. She let off steam with midnight dances and he liked to stab dead people. Everyone had their quirks. Besides, she recalled a point in time where he mentioned that he didn't mind saving her ass. She smirked a little at the memory before realizing that he had cleared their area, immediately producing a large black trash bag from one of her backpack side pockets. “You people eat canned soup, right?” Even in this situation she joked, teasing in her voice. She knew very well that they ate canned soup. It was often that Nate teased – and sometimes reprimanded – Art for not eating what the others did.

A few of the others probably saw it as her being uppity - She wasn't one to sit down and explain herself these days and to be fair to them, she kind of did seem a bit prissy for it being the zombie apocalypse. She still spent at least twenty minutes every morning and night on her hair and pouted about her clothes being dirty. Lord knows that the organic eater wasn't about to slurp down a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. She had literally turned such food down to eat wild mushroom and grass soup instead. There was a time when she thought Robyn was going to die from simultaneously choking on her coffee and having a heart attack when Art suggested they all go nude during the summer. Robyn assured her that there would be none of that.

All were such fond memories that kept her smiling even through dark times as she used her thigh-strapped phone light and Nate's gun light to select food from the shelves. There were lots of soups and dry ramen packets in this aisle along with those sides that you need only to add water, heat up, and stir. She made sure to grab all the three cheese instant mashed potatoes that she could because Joshamee loved them. Isabelle, on the other hand, was more of a fan of macaroni and cheese.

There was something exhilarating about killing in the mind of Nate. Video games could provide a mockery of what the carnage was really like, but it was nothing like the real thing. It was much like giving an alcoholic a can of soda. There was no auto-aiming in real life or unlimited ammunition for your pistol. This was real life, and there was no way to restart the mission. And he loved it. Wendy thought he was crazy when he tried to take Penny out shooting. Crazy bitch. Maybe she was one of the zombies he slashed through now. The knife moved with a bit more strength. Filed for divorce. How dare she divorce him? She’d been far too nonchalant about it, too.

Nate looked up as the door’s lock clicked. It was too late, far too late. He’d stayed up by himself after the kids went to bed, waiting for Wendy to come home. As she entered, he flipped the light on and watched her jump in surprise with cold, calculating eyes.

”Where the hell were you?” he asked, his voice soft despite his steely gaze.

“Out.” She moved past him and set her purse down on the table, heels clicking on the wood floor, as he stood up and moved around. Wendy had never really lost the beauty of her high school years. She was still a slight woman who preened just about every morning. He rubbed at the stubble of his unkempt facial hair as she turned around, dress twirling slightly.

”Where?” he asked quickly, moving closer to her, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. She shrugged and turned away from him, occupying herself with a magazine on the stained coffee table. Wendy toyed with her hair slowly, running a hand through the bleached pixie cut. His throat caught, for she only did that when she was nervous.

“Nate. It’s not working out...we’re not working out, babe. I...called a lawyer.” His brow furrowed, and he chewed the piece of gum in his mouth with more vigor. “I think it would be best for us both if we got...a divorce.” He caught the gum between his teeth and stared at her without expression, jaw clenched. He slowly opened his mouth and then he closed it again as he walked back toward the kitchen, head held between his hands.

“Honey...please don’t just walk away from me,” Wendy said, a sigh of exasperation leaving through her frowning lips. “We can’t just keep living this God damn lie, Nathan!” He turned to her, and she met his gaze, tightening her jaw as if mimicking him. “I don’t love you.”

The stack of dishes hit the floor violently, knocked in a sharp movement as Nate shoved past. ”Fuck you, Wendy. Fuck you!” He had wanted to say something snarky, something moving. Instead, he cursed her out and continued to do so as he moved down the hallway, past the kids' rooms. He disappeared into their bedroom with a loud slam of the door that woke the kids. He’d woken up the next morning to a pile of divorce papers in place of his wife.

He physically shook his head at the heat of the nearby flames licking by his face. There was no time to think about her. Art piled food into the bag beside him as he passed by again with his bag and gun in hand. ”Can’t be too picky when the world’ gone to shit,” he replied, smirk returning to his lips. ”I’m going to grab protein bars. You coming?” In truth, he didn’t want to leave her behind. Not because he didn’t trust her to protect herself-- well, partially because of that-- but because he liked keeping the others in view. It lessened the chance of a casualty, and in turn, the wrath of Robyn who would undoubtedly lose trust for him if one of the survivors perished.

He hardly noticed the limp in his step anymore. The health aisle, packed with powdered protein shakes and supplements, was quite easy to find and navigate through. Zombies had no use for the products there. As he set his backpack down, the beer cans clanked together slightly and made a soft ding in response to the first few protein bars.

Nate was zoned out again. Art paused with him, canting her head to the side as she observed him until he came to. The fire was moving across the aisles and they had to get out. She pulled the gray fabric of her Nirvana shirt over her mouth as some form of protection from the thickening smoke. She could smell the plastic and paper burning stronger now, the thick cloud of smoke starting to sting her eyes. Squinting, she pulled her shirt down and gave a cough, following him. “I'm not sure setting fire to the whole store while we're all in here was the best idea,” she teased. She knew full well that Nate would never make such a decision if he thought for a second that even one of them wouldn't make it out alive.

Nathan looked quickly over his shoulder and replied with a short chuckle. ”Well, it worked out good except for the-” He paused to cough. “Smoke. Besides, it adds to the excitement.”

“Next aisle over.” She walked past him and headed into the next aisle – Cereal and snacks. She didn't bother looking too hard as she grabbed every Quaker and General Mills brand item she could, shoving it into the bag. A brush of movement against her back caused her to turn and speak. “Oh – Are you ready to le-” She was cut short as she saw the flaming, rotting corpse with gaping maw reaching for her. Her voice became a shrill scream. Her knife found its way into her hand again and she quickly and immediately began stabbing the zombie in the face until it crumpled at her feet.

She could hardly stand the stench any longer, burning rotted flesh smell now wafting directly beneath her nostrils and attacking her olfactory senses in the most horrendous of ways. As was usual, her killing of a zombie was followed by a hearty vomiting session. She slipped in the blood and guts as she turned in an attempt to not get any on the bag or the now for-sure dead body. Grunting, she ended up with her earlier meal on her jacket, headphones, hands, and some of it on her face. Whimpering in disgust and just a bit of fright, she pushed herself up and grabbed her bag, taking a moment to breathe. Didn't do her much good - Her shirt smelled like vomit. So did her hands. And the air was thick with smoke.

Nate finished piling what remained of the protein-heavy snacks into his backpack before standing up and slinging it back over his shoulders. The store was quite bright from the slowly spreading flames now, so he flipped off the flashlight and looked around. Art was nowhere in sight, of course, for she wasn’t the type to follow mindlessly. You had to respect her for it, but it was also worrisome. His protective nature kicked in, and he moved back down the aisle, gun held at his hip.

”Art?” he called, waving smoke from in front of his face with a quick movement of his hand. ”Where are you, damn it?” He turned and peered down the cereal aisle where she was located. A look of relief moved across his face as he moved closer, but it disappeared as he noticed the vomit on her front. ”Aw, shit, Art…” he murmured, brow furrowing as he stepped over the dead undead corpse. Nate made sure to breathe through his mouth as he leaned down to help her up the rest of the way, but that only caused him to cough harshly from the thickening smoke. ”Let’s head out, okay? Meet up with the others.” Nate moved ahead of her, clearing his throat.

“I'm... I'm comin', Nate.” Art tried to keep up, dragging her bag behind her. Fuck! I should have double bagged it! The bag began to tear and she quickly put away her knife. Dry heaving, she felt like passing out until she remembered that she'd probably die if she did. She prepared the remaining three bags, stuffing one inside the other and beginning the slow transfer of goods from the ripped bag into the more sturdy set of bags. She forced herself up and toted the bag over her shoulder, her knees buckling under the weight as she trudged towards the exit. “Guys! Let's go!” There was a gunshot in answer and she immediately picked up her pace.

”Get the hell out of here!” he shouted, throat feeling scratchy from the mixture of stress on his vocal cords and smoke. It wasn’t difficult to make his way out of the store and back on to the streets once the smaller, fallen shelves were stepped over. Once he was out in the open, away from the store, Nate turned around again and looked for a trace of Art. Twenty minutes had obviously come and gone, but he fought the urge to make a snarky comment about it until the others showed up with their spoils.

Art wasn't too far behind Nate... Okay, maybe about twenty-three minutes behind him. But she made it out, nearly collapsing at his feet. She gasped and drank in the semi-clean air like a fish back into water, closing her eyes. Resting against the bag, she shielded her eyes and glanced back at the store. “Should we leave the stuff and go back in? Can't be much longer before that fire reaches the cleaning aisle and I don't want anyone in there when that plastic melts and those flames hit the chemicals.” She gave him a worried look, reaching up to ask for assistance in getting up.

Relief washed through him as Art moved out of the building. Sure, she collapsed on to her bag of food and whatnot, but at least she was out of the store. He set his gun down along with his backpack by the spot Oakley had settled down when the going got too tough for her. Nate moved to her and crouched down, balancing on the balls of his feet as she spoke.

”No, you’re not going back in,” he said, making his voice firm to avoid arguing about it with her. Nathan offered a brief smile, trying to lighten the situation. ”Can’t have you wasting food like that.” He joked, referencing the way her stomach rejected its earlier meal. He reached down to help her up, but Nate walked her away from the store instead of toward it. He supported her with an arm below her armpit, ensuring she wouldn’t fall. ”Do you want me to leave you to head back in?”

Art grumbled unintelligibly under her breath when Nate assured her that he absolutely wasn't letting her go back in, making her way away from the burning building instead. She didn't complain too long because she knew she wasn't going to win. Nate tended to win these sorts of arguments more than she did. Sighing, she momentarily decided to act like a child, throwing her head back and letting out a whine. “But I can heeelllllppp.” It accomplished nothing and served no use other than a brief second of amusement. She hated when things got serious. People got all serious. Then they got their panties into a wad. People argued. People got angry. People got sad. It was all so depressing. At his final words, it was almost reflex, her reaction. She threw her arms around his shoulders and mock swooned. “No! Nate! I don't ever want you to leave me! Who shall keep me warm at night?” She peeked to see if there was just a hint of a smile on his face, giving her own cheesy smile.

It was a wonder at times that she was their third in command.

It was also a wonder that nobody had outright told her that she was mentally unstable. She wasn't, obviously. But you can see how someone might think that.

He gave a bit of a forced laugh, the worry beginning to overshadow his amusement. Still, he managed to retain a smile as she pretended to swoon in his arms. To put it bluntly, he was quite dense. Inference had never been his strong suit, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. He blinked at her a few times, wondering to himself whether she was to be taken seriously. Then again, it was Art, so perhaps it was just her being her not-so-serious and flirty self.

”The smoke must have gotten to you worse than I thought,” he replied, still trying to make light of the situation as said smoke spread within the store. He hadn’t shared a bed with someone since the divorce was filed. In fact, he hadn’t really had a bed since the divorce process began.

He pried her hands off of his shoulders gently and set her down before rising. ”Don’t go running off, alright?” he said, looking at her with as much seriousness as he could given her swooning. As he moved toward the door, he continued looking back at her, pointing his index finger and middle finger at his eyes and then at her in an “I’m watching you” gesture. He wouldn’t enter the store, but Nate pushed open the door and shouted in again, calling for them to get out. He didn’t want to outright abandon them, but Nate knew that it wouldn’t do the group much good if he went in and died alongside them. He was extremely practical when it came to decisions. Nate’s emotions were hardly a part of these executive decisions. As a few more filtered out, he picked up his belongings and moved back toward Art with them in hand, Oakley following behind. ”I’ll give ‘em a minute, and then I’ll go in after the stragglers, okay?”

Art gave a silent nod, rolling over on her side and closing her eyes. The adrenaline was winding down and she was tired. She hoped that Kela had made it back safely and that Robyn wasn't too worried. Robyn was probably going to smack Art when she saw her alive and well. She didn't mind though - It was nice having someone that cared that you were alive. She gave the faintest of smiles and yawned, pulling her headphones over her ears and plugging them into the phone still strapped to her thigh. “Galaxy, play Metallica, For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The phone replied with a ding and a smooth “Of course, Art” before the metal music began blaring into her eardrums, forcing her to keep awake.

"Art!" Nate looked up suddenly, still wearing that half-amused smile he'd given Art as Robyn approached at a half-run, half-walk. Nathan looked down again and shook Art before pulling the headphones up slightly so they rested on her temples instead of her ears.

“Whaaat?” The younger woman whined and sat up, rubbing her eyes. “You know I hate people touching my headphones when I got my jams,” she grumbled under her breath before looking towards the sound of footsteps from the opposite direction.

"Mom's here," he told her, utilizing the name many in the group had adopted including Art. Nate normally would not have referred to the older woman by the name, for Robyn was less than twenty years older than him. Still, he knew Art would be receptive to the nickname and would recognize it. The red head knelt by Art and looked down at her. "God, Art...my God, how crazy are you?" Her voice didn't sound as frantic now, for Nate was one of the ones who needed her to stay level-headed and calm. He was far too unstable and trigger-happy. "I thought you died." She sighed and looked to Nathan. "How did it go...?"

"Successful, I believe." He stood up slowly, his feet seizing up from crouching. "Still waiting on a few, but we have supplies."

“Everything's fine. From my run, theirs, and then my run with them... I'd say that we've got enough food for a while for everyone. Assuming nobody steals our shit. Oh! And clothes. Nothing Gucci, but it'll keep us warm. We could blanket raid ater this.” Art pushed herself up and embraced Robyn, hugging her tightly before moving to Nate's side, wrapping her arms around his side. “On a much lighter note!” Art prepared herself mentally for the prank she'd been waiting to play on them both forever and this just seemed like the absolute perfect time for it. The actress put her skills to work and beamed a happy smile. “Nate and I are totally an item now!” She gave her most joyous of squeals, giving Nate a tight squeeze and leaning up to place a kiss on his dirty cheek. But with the chunks she's blown and concrete she's eaten in the past hour alone, her lips weren't exactly clean either.

Robyn's smile returned rapidly as Art began speaking about the supplies they'd gathered Hell, what would she have done if Art didn't make it? "I guess we'll have to make do with that," she replied, playing along with the joke. Robyn wasn't even sure if she'd worn anything from Gucci in her life. With the condition the world was currently in, she probably wouldn't in her remaining years either. She relished the hug, holding Art tightly as if letting go would mean losing her. When they finally parted, though, Robyn watched in confusion as she latched on to Nate, who seemed just as confused.

"We...are?" he replied, his words a mixture of question and statement but mostly question. He took the hug well, of course, for he would certainly never reject her from hugging him. He'd learned not to do that, for she was always hugging someone. Plus, she hadn't reacted well when he first rejected her hugs. She followed the constricting squeeze with a peck on his scruffy, dirty cheek however, and he made a brief expression of both fake and actual disgust mixed with the remaining confusion as she did so. He certainly didn't hate the kiss. In all honesty, he did appreciate it. Or perhaps that wasn't the right word. Regardless, he allowed her to do so without pulling away. The amusement showed plainly on his face now as he turned to look at her. "You're delirious," he told her, fighting to sound serious. He wasn't an actor in any sense of the word. Placing an arm around her from under her armpits again, he started to stand and pull her upward. "Let's get you back, okay?" His limp added an unnecessary little bounce each time they moved, but he kept a decent pace as he moved her along, away from the chaos of the burning building. "You're crazy. You know that, right?" He was joking, of course, but there was something...quirky about her.

Amusement flickered beneath the surface of her visage but didn't once show as she looked at Nate adoringly. That is, until he told her twice that she was crazy and began to tow her off. Time to really sell it! With the smoke in her eyes it wasn't hard to muster up some tears as she threw herself away from Nate and onto the pavement like some Disney princess in pain. It actually did hurt as she hit the concrete but the more tears the better. She whined some and looked back up at Nate with a tear stained face. “I'm not crazy, Nate!” Something that her shrieking suggested otherwise. “I thought you liked me.” Her bottom lip poked out some as she quivered with mock hurt (and a bit of real physical pain), putting on a show for everyone about. Humiliating Nate wasn't exactly the idea but she knew they'd laugh and kiss and makeup later. Regretfully, minus the kissing. Unless things went better than expected. She placed her face in her hands and cried a little more, taking a moment to let it sink in. She knew Nate hated it when she - or anyone else - cried. She shamelessly played on his emotions before looking up at him again, crinkling her nose delicately. “I guess I am crazy to think...we” She stopped and choked up, burying her face in her hands again.

Her skills had not lessened in her time away from the stage. As Art threw herself on to the concrete, he turned a light pinkish color. The more she whimpered and cried, the deeper the color of red became. "Art..." he mumbled, leaning down to begin pulling her back on to her feet. With the backpack on his shoulders and his gun in one hand, it became too hard to do, so he crouched on the pavement beside her. His face was a bright scarlet now, and he rubbed at the back of his neck slowly. "Come on...don't do this," he replied, keeping his voice low. "I-I like you." He wasn't sure in which context they were speaking, though he could assume she meant the "like-like" kind that elementary school students whispered about. For now, he referred to the amicable type. Maybe he did have those feelings, but there was far too much going on the worry about such things. Art peeked up at him with one eye, her distraught expression slowly becoming one of amusement. She leaned up to his ear, whispering softly. “Yeah, I know. Just wanted to hear ya say it. Now, go play firefighter.” The possibly insane actress kissed his cheek again and made a shooing motion, setting herself upright quickly, dusting herself off. “I seriously need to bathe and brush my teeth,” she whined to Robyn as she moved back towards the store only to grab her large black bag, heading back over to those who had made it out. “I think we could all do with some nice "hygiene-me-time" tonight, right?” Her smile was a polite and normal one, acting as though there weren't a building with zombies, fire, and other group members right behind her. Pretending it wasn't happening helped her not break down.

His grin returned quickly, almost taking over as his blush slowly died down. "Screw you," he muttered as she kissed his cheek. “You know where I sleep.” "Don't get yourself killed, okay?" Again, he moved toward the building and waited, occasionally shooting a glance at Art. God damn it, it was hard to tell when she was pulling your leg.

Shanti followed behind Robyn, who took off when she saw the others. Shanti figured they would have to leave quickly to avoid the undead that would be attracted by the noise. Lizzy came back after seeing the others come from the building, which yes had been set on fire.

Shanti looked at it What a waste she thought to herself. Nate's need to cause destruction had struck again. Yet she hung back, knowing full well that she was in for a lecture one way or another. She had to smile though at Art's antics, smiled then roll her eyes. The others followed out, and it didn't look like they lost anyone to whatever was inside the building. She looked over at the Doc who was helping Kat, but she was also looking out for more undead. Anna came over and talked about finding another woman, Shanti glanced in the newcomer's direction...yeah something else was more of an accurate assumption.

The girl looked away and down the street, either the majority of the undead had been in the store, or they were hiding. She only saw a handful lumbering their way, "Can we play reunion back at base," she said to no one in particular. She didn't want to be wasting anymore time inside the town, which was creeping her out as it was. She shivered slightly even though she had an extra layer on from that morning. She had changed weapons figuring distance would be a better option at the moment. Risking a glance at Nate, she said nothing else, positive that mouthing off wasn't a good idea anyways.

"I am sure the kids are worried about you," this time her comment was to Art, she would have admitted that she was a little worried herself, but Shanti kept the face without expression. She gave the actress one of her small smiles instead after a minute, "good think you got big feet, or would have never found the trail leading here."

(Collab with Little Fox, sorry our colors are very similar)

Art watched as Nate walked away, rolling her eyes every time he looked back to glance at her though there was a smile of amusement still on her face. Her head turned some at the sound of Shanti's voice. Lizzy was there with her (of course) and Kela sat as well, waiting patiently to be acknowledged. Art's smile became a grin as gave a sharp whistle. Kela bounded over and almost toppled her companion, pressing her nose against Art's face. “Big feet? All the better to dance with, my dear Shanti.” She gave a soft laugh and pushed Kela down but kept one hand on her head. “The kids alright? I know they practically die inside when I'm not there. Well - Everyone does - But, they're okay?” Ever the serious one (yeah, right) Art gave the other young woman an upward nod.

Shanti looked at the other, a smile still present on her face, "They are fine Art, just worried, of course your note didn't help much," Shanti had not actually read it but she was sure it had a melodramatic tone to it. "So tell me you guys actually got something out of there before it went all to hell" Shanti could feel the heat from the store, as again her eyes went to the street.

Art plopped onto the ground and moved her headphones down from her temple to her neck. “Woah - My note said if. I'm somewhat offended that you'd think that I might not make it out alive. I live. It's what I do. The note was just a precautionary measure.” Art really was quite confident in her ability to survive this zombie apocalypse since she had teamed up with Robyn and it showed through her daily antics. One might say that she didn't even really know that the world had gone to hell. “I don't know about the others but Nate and I snagged a pretty big haul. Protein bars, protein powders, cereal, snack bars, those icky sides where you just add water and heat. And soup. Lots of soup and noodles.”

A chuckle fell from her lips, as if anyone would take Art seriously at all, Shanti was sure that she would stop to entertain the zombies just for the hell of it. "Well next be sure to put, oh I am just kidding at the bottom, so you don't give someone a heart attack,". She glanced in Robyn's direction with that, she had been worried with Robyn's reaction. However she didn't want to embarrass her, so it was a general statement. She had been worried a little bit too, especially after seeing that pile of zombie bodies. After Art answered her second question, all she did was nod, and it her stomach finally found the moment to growl. She had forgotten to eat anything that morning as she was out of camp before the sun came up. Slightly embarrassed, she looked down at the ground, "Sorry, I guess you naming all that food made realize how hungry I was.'

“Well, as soon as we get back to base I promise to whip us all up something really delicious. We need to use the rest of the veggies and herbs from my last run before they go bad anyways.” She offered Shanti a look of understanding.

"Sounds good, she said in reply. Now all that was left was to actually move out and go back to base. She looked about, who were they missing anyways, not that she expected anyone to take role in the morning, but to make sure they weren't leaving anyone behind would have been nice.