Cassiopeia Zielkov's Story

Cassie felt along the flat of the katana's blade with her fingertips as it lay on her bed. She often did this, if only for something to do. She tried, she tried so hard, not to think of the day she had to plunge this very blade through her father's skull. Her father had been an Undead. She had no choice. It was this fact that help her sleep at night. Sighing, Cassiopeia turned away from the blade, looking instead at her riot gun, propped up against the wall by the door. It was fully loaded, as she remembered doing so last night. She took a few steps over to it, examined it for a while, then, bored, left the room to wander about. Cass stuck her hands in her pockets as she passed through the living room, not even bothering to glance at the news on the television as it didn't interest her much and it never had. She walked into the kitchen to see none other than Richard sitting in a chair, and looking rather despondent. Smiling softly, she pulled up a chair of her own and greeted him. "Hey, Richard. Why so glum?"

Lauren clutched onto her Pickaxe for dear life, terrified that if she let it go, she would lose her sanity. The comfort of her room and bed was no use, as she still felt like she was tied up in that abandoned town, her hands tied behind her back.

Lauren curled up against a rock, attempting to break the bindings on her hands. It was little use, and at best it gave Kara a light scratch. She stood up, and noticed plenty of people firing at the Undead. She slowly walked over to cover, and hid behind it. The cover was a highly dilapidated house. She let out a breath of relief, but sucked it back in when one of her captors walked by. He saw her and grabbed her throat. The only thing she could do was wait for death.

Although, that's not how she wanted to die. She leaned up, and bit his neck, and kneed him in the gut, before turning and running. She ran for a good twenty minutes, to scared to stop. She lifted a strange Pickaxe on the way. Lauren fell, and smacked her chin against the floor. She rolled over, and the male leaped onto her. Lauren kicked him off, freed her hands on the pickaxe, and swung at the man's head...

She took a deep breath, and stood up off her bed. Lauren slowly walked out of her room, and into the living room. She sat on the couch, and tightened a few of her bandages. She listened to Cassie in the other room, obviously talking to Richard. Lauren let out a sigh of relief again, happy to be alive.

:: The first thing Richard heard of was Dan Smith, seeming to smile a bit to himself when he heard him call himself an old man, oh it must of been a happy day for him. He listened carefully to the sounds of Dan heading in his little room to invent as usual, shaking his head lightly as he wondered if there wasn't anything Dan couldn't do with technology. Then he found Cassie sitting next to him, his head turning to look over at her as he smiled softly at her company, she was asking what was troubling him, oh if only he could rant about it all day. "Ah you know, the usual crud. I don't know how many more supplies we can take until we run out in this area, this is the only place those... things can't get us. If the entire world is our enemy now, where do we have to go? Ah well... It would be nice to rest in the arms of a pretty lady, don't you agree?" He asked her teasingly, this was meant to be a joke and not intentional flirting, although he couldn't say how she interpreted it.

Next he heard Lauren making her way to the living room, this brought a small smile on his face, she was getting better at the least and he always found himself worrying on whether she actually did her jobs or if she ran back home with her pants full of crap. That reminded him, how long would the machines they had last, the washer, the dryer, the fridge, the television, all that and more came rushing through his mind in a matter of seconds. The last thing he heard was actually two in one, loud knocking in which he began to roll his eyes and sigh as he got up on to his feet and pushed the chair back in. "I'll get it this ti --" He started, but then rudely heard the door burst open as he heard Bryce Lawford enter in, grumbling to himself as he saw the door still open. "What have I told you about leaving that thing open Bryce?! Jeez..." But as he walked to see it, he saw an unusual man beginning to enter, instinct kicking in as he quickly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at his forehead, making sure the red light came on to alert him.

"Close the damn door, stranger! Bryce, this is why I WARN first, so it doesn't happen!" Richard was obviously starting to panic, this man might already be infected, they had to check. "Cass, Lauren, Bryce, SOMEONE get a scanner on this guy and check if he's infected or not, move!" He could feel his arms shaking a bit, but he couldn't let it be seen. "Sir, do not move until we have made sure everything is alright with you... If you resist before this, I will not hesitate to shoot you on sight. Are we clear...?" He made sure not to speak through his teeth while doing this, he wanted to be understood by this man, if anything hostile came out of him he was sure to shoot his shoulder by accident, but he had to calm himself for now, this man wouldn't dare be hostile with a pistol being aimed at his head, he thought to himself. ::

Cassiopeia rose from her seat quickly, pissed off that she'd left her katana in her room. This new guy didn't really look infected, but you could never be too sure. He could be a newly infected. They didn't always look exactly like the walking dead. She saw Lauren cowering behind Richard and had to hold back a glower. What a baby. It was a wonder she was still alive, really. she crossed her arms and waited for the results of the scan which would tell if there'd ba an addition to the team or an addition to the blood spatters on the pavement outside.

::Richard looked back at Lauren as he sighed a bit, rolling his eyes when she wasn't looking as he held out an arm for her to come into if she wished so he could hold her to his side. "I'll protect you, just calm down... Calm down, alright? Now... Let's see if I can get this thing working." Putting his pistol away and turning off the red-dot light, he turned on the scanner and used it on the new man before them, once it was done the results showed up as negative. "Scanners show he looks fine, something's up with his leg though... He just needs a 'wash-over' and he'll be fine. Cass, do you mind looking outside to see if he was followed at all? You have my permission to clean out any undead spotted coming near this place. And make sure not to shoot Dan by accident, we don't need his wounds infected too. Bryce, take this man to clean him off, then we'll see what we'll do with him. I got to, uh, calm down Lauren here..." After that he would take her away from the others and sit down with her on the couch as he would rub her shoulder gently. "Just take deep breaths like I've told you, I don't want you having a panic attack, alright?" He kept telling her gently, trying to get her in a more calmer state, he felt like a parent half the time, but maybe that was bound to happen sooner or later. He remembered the first day he met her, out on a mission, not even knowing she would soon join his team. He remembered his first words he said to her after he had saved her. 'It's my job lady, if I didn't do this, who would?' In a way, he was kind of glad they were all a team, then again that was all it came back to, a team. Sure, he may be happy around them, sure he may act social with most of them, but inside he knew above all else that being a team was what was most important.::

::Richard found the strength somehow to stand up, looking at her as she told him what she had in mind. When no one was looking, he touched her arm gently, looking at her as he sighed and gave a weak smile at this. "Just be okay..." He said to her, after this he pulled away, feeling the warmth of her skin fade away from his palm, which made him confused. Did she like him? Did he like her? He tried not to give too much thought on it, but could she...? Did he? He couldn't tell, as he saw everyone begin to gather. "Alright, I want everyone to voice in what they think we should do with this guy. Personally I think letting him stay might give negative effects, but again, I could be entirely wrong on the issue. So, what's everyone thinking then?"::