Somewhere in Kansas

Jude sat back and listened to the two speak, he liked the way Storm just seemed to brush everything off as a joke. Will however was a bit more serious but he supposed the was a likeable feature as well. He seemed dependable. When Will asked if he had seen Storm before he broke into a grin and chuckled a bit. "We've got a famous person in our midst." He told Will, he raised a brow as Storm pretended to pose for her hand as if it were a camera and he folded his arms over his chest and watched her a moment before sliding his gaze back to Will.

Storm said she had a question that meant the world to her and him and he wondered what on earth that meant, he thought for a moment she was going to ask the ultimate question to life the universe and everything but they already knew the answer was 42. Instead she asked for ice cream and he wondered what Will might have thought of that so he kept silent and waited for the man to react to the question.

He supposed this was not how one should act in the end of the world, normally there was more crying and screaming. But it seemed the only screaming here was for ice cream.

"Snakes and Sinners. That's what it was. If memory serves, you guys were pretty good." Will stated, thinking back to before the world went to hell. Storm sat on up on the counter next to Will, who turned around to face her. "And I'm pretty sure your face isn't generic." Will said as the woman mimed looking into a mirror with her hand. As Storm talked, Will couldn't help but feel there was something more to Storm, behind all the jokes and quips. There usually was to that kind of person. Will knew that from experience.

"Ice cream? Hold on..." Will rushed to his car, grabbed one of the duffel bags from the back seat, and returned to the house, placing it in on the floor. He opened it up and rummaged through it, making sure to have some care with the books, until he pulled one out entitled "Old World Confections." and handed it to Storm. "I'm pretty sure that book has a few simple recipes in it for the stuff. I wouldn't really trifle with the ones still in stores, but, then again, I'm paranoid."

"Snakes and Sinners. That's what it was. If memory serves, you guys were pretty good."

Storm laughed, as if laughing away the awkwardness. "Hey, thanks. Always nice to meet someone with good taste." She rubbed her neck. When Will left, she jumped down carefully and looked cautiously at Jude, then back at where Will was. He came back in and dropped a duffel bag. She tensed a little, not quite knowing what to expect to be in it. However when he brought out books she relaxed. When Will handed her the cookbook, she laughed and flicked through it. "Not much of a cook, me. Maybe Jude can cook." She walked to Jude, handing him the book and leaning on his arm a little, not putting enough weight on him to hurt him or push him but enough to lean. "Maybe I'll just stick to music. Anyway, after here, where are you going?"

Will left for a moment and then came back with a bag, he noticed Storm tense up but he didn't think that will was about to kill them over ice cream. So when he brought up a cook book and Storm went to grab it he smiled, Storm admitted she wasn't much of a cook and then went to him and gave him the book. She leaned against him and he glanced down at her and lifted a brow. The woman certainly had gotten comfortable with him in such a short time. He flipped open the book and saw delicious pictures of steak and desserts. He flipped to the index and found the word ice cream and turned to the right page.
"Yes Will are you planning on sticking around? There is strength in numbers." He would have stayed with the folks that Will had stumbled upon. Unless of course Will had his reasons. He tried his best not to judge the man.

He glanced at the recipe book and made a bit of a face, "This doesn't seem too bad. Shall we quest for ice cream then?"

Topeka
Free State of Topeka

The roar of heavy engines shattered the illusion of silence that had come with the plague. There was no shortage of fuel these days given the fact that no one was around to use it and the Free State had taken advantage of it. Nearly a hundred big tanker trucks had been salvaged and parked in various guarded compounds around the city while others had been drained to keep the gas stations topped up. If it wasn't for the massive bonfires that raged at the edge of the city, the dead had been to be dealt with, one might not even know that the plague had struck. To the casual observer, all was business as it should be.

Inside City Hall things were a bit different. The building, like everything out in the wide open spaces so often patrolled by tornados, was a massive solid block of a building. What it lacked in elegance and fine carvings it made up for in simple squat, brute efficiency. As one might expect, the men who guarded in their US Military issued fatigues were big brutal men as well. Their leader on the other hand was not what one might expect.

At that very moment she was striding along the boulevard in front of the building, looking up at green and gold flag where it snapped in a steady breeze and dictating to a harassed looking young man who was trying to write down everything she said on an iPad.

"We have fuel, power, the sewers will continue to work, but now we need to worry about food. I doubt it'll be anytime soon that we get another truck load of Californian oranges back up this way." She tossed a lock of auburn hair over her shoulder as she spoke. "General?"

This last comment was to the black man who stood nearby in full combat fatigues, standing comfortably at ease as he admired the well defined buttocks of the Governor. At her command he snapped to attention and saluted. He might enjoy her looks but he was not fool enough to try and push his luck. She was as dangerous as she was beautiful and was much beloved by her few thousand people.

"Ma'am." He said with genuine courtesy. "We can begin securing the farmlands between here and power station anytime. From what my scouts have told me, we're more or less alone here right now but it would do us good to make sure we have the bodies to get the harvest in. All our machinery still works, we just don't have anyone to run it."

She stopped walking and turned to look at him, flashing a dazzling smile at him that barely concealed the fire behind her eyes. "Then find someone to run it General. You have my full support in this endeavour. Find them, volunteers if you can, or make them volunteer if they won't."

The big man smiled back at her. The world had ended and he was delighted that idiotic ideas like free will and human rights had died with them. It was one of the reasons he had chosen to willingly follow Jolene. She would do whatever it took to make sure that the Free-State survived and thrived.

"Ma'am." He saluted. "I'll send out patrols right away."

"Not to many General." She cautioned, I would hate to be taken unawares by someone with a bigger gun." She gave him a sly smile and then abruptly turned on her heel and headed for city hall. "I'll manage with the hospital while you're gone. If you find anyone who has useful skills, bring them to me, otherwise send them to the fields."

Storm looked up, noticing Jude looking down at her. "...What?" She laughed, standing straight again. She watched them talk, kind of hoping that Will would stick around. People were sparse these days, like ice-cream and alcohol and bass guitars. Basically the three fundamental things which made her happy. "Yeah, you should stick around, Will. At the very least until we get ice-cream." She fiddled with her pigtails again, standing beside Jude and humming the song Hey Jude. At the mention of ice-cream, her eyes lit up. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!!!" She began to jump up and down like a hyper school girl beside Jude and tugged on his arm. "Will, you're helping too. We are getting ice-cream if it kills me. Or I kill you. Or I kill something."

Will chuckled at Jude looking through the cook book. "It's more of some ice and sugar, but I get the point." Will zipped up his bag and placed the strap over his shoulder. He paused at the two's question, not knowing whether or not he should answer, but he figured what is the worst thing that could happen. "I'm heading to Oregon, actually. My family lives out there." he said, knowing what he sounded like for saying it. "I know it's a long shot, but I just have to know, you know? I know it's a waste of time, but I figured we all have all the time we need these days." Will was surprised by his own words and how open he was being with these people. He had just met them and already they knew more about him then some of his former so-called friends.

Realizing the topic may open up a can of worms, Will decided to quickly change the subject away from the depressing topic, hearing vaguely how the two wanted to try and get ice cream.
"Anyway, ice cream sounds nice, but you mind if we take a side trip? My gun broke on my way out of Missouri and I've been looking for a replacement."

Jude placed a hand on Storm's shoulder to calm her down and said "We'll try and get away with not killing anyone or anything over ice cream. That seems rather sad to me." He let his hand move away and then when Will spoke of his family he understood, he had done the same thing himself. He missed his family terribly but his up bringing helped him think that they were in a better place.
"I understand." He said to Will. Will changed the subject before he could speak again and asked for a side trip. Jude smiled at the word gun and said "Well no need I got you covered." He chuckled and motioned for Will to follow him to his garage.

"As a retired cop, they let me keep some of my favorite toys." He explained to Will. "I liked taking them to the shooting range when the world was still... normal." He told him. He opened the door to the garage. The garage was a bit of a mess as well but he maneuvered past boxes and old car parts and went to a tall cupboard leaning against the wall and opened it. Jude had about ten guns, ranging from pistols, to a rifle and even a shotgun. Ammo was piled neatly at the bottom of the cupboard and Jude took out his favorite pistol and sighed "The good old days." He murmured.

Rachel waved at Abby. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Rachel." She looked around. "Where are you guys from? I'm from California."

"This is my truck, man," Axel said to Vlad, chuckling to himself. This guy was really something. He wondered where he was from. "Where are you from, foreigner?" he asked him.

Storm stopped jumping when she felt Jude's hand on her shoulder. "Not to worry, I won't kill anything. Yet. It kind of depends if anyone pisses me off." She listened to Will talk of his family and her mind turned to her own. After the "Storm" incident, the family of the boy complained and she was put into care. Kelly never saw her parents again, and so became Storm. Her band was her family really, but she watched them grow ill and die. She missed them pretty badly.

Storm snapped out of it in time to follow behind Will and Jude to the garage of awesome. She stared admiringly at all of the guns, never having fired one herself. She'd always been fascinated by guns. They took away life as easily as they protected it. Though, her fascination was probably unhealthily due to her usually violent nature though of course in a special situation like this she was allowed to be excited or just plain nice. It was strange for her.

"As a retired cop, they let me keep some of my favorite toys." Will eyed the weapons, running through the pros and cons of each in his head. He decided on a pistol as his eye sight wasn't the best for a rifle. Will picked up one of the pistols, inspecting every angle of the weapon.

"I'll trade with you for this pistol and some ammo." Will told him, putting the gun down and walking out of the room, gesturing for the two to follow him. He exited the house and returned to the station wagon, showing the the items he had to trade. Lots of books on various subjects, a few DVDs and CDs, cans of food, jugs of water, and a box of assorted scraps of tech.

"Feel free to look for yourself."

Jude noticed Storm eying the weapons and he shook his head, "Sorry missy. Not for you." He had no desire to give her a weapon and so once Will picked his weapon and ammo he offered to trade and Jude nodded. He closed the cupboard and then followed Will out to his his station wagon.

Jude spotted the DVD's right away and was sold. Grinning he rubbed his hands together and leaned over the pile. He found an old copy of the Mummy and Jurassic Park. He grabbed them and held up the two movies. "Seems fair to me." He chuckled knowing Will was getting a good deal. "Shall we shake on it." He offered his hand and looked at Storm, "Can she look as well?" He asked.

Rachel grabbed a box of cans of mixed vegetables. "These look so good right now," she said, mostly to herself. It hadn't been too long since she'd eaten, but she was still hungry. She still wasn't really used to eating so little. Owning a store gave her a lot of free time, and having a toddler meant she cooked a lot of food.

Jude seemed to take a liking to the some of the DVDs Will had. "Seems fair to me." Jude said, seemingly giddy over the DVDs. "If you're okay with it, I'm okay with it." Will replied, meeting his hand for another handshake. "Can she look as well?" Jude asked. "I don't see why not, but I forgot something." Will dug through one of the duffelbags and grabbed a leather bound book from it.

"This I won't trade, but everything else is fair game." Will said, bowing in front of the car like an old timey salesman.

Grant headed outside along with Vlad and Axel. Straddling his bike, he turned around to them. "Alright boys, let's hope there's some good shit layin' around in Fort Yates. I'll see ya' there." He got a small head start on his bike as he zoomed off down the road.

The ride there was pretty peaceful for him; but he couldn't help but wonder how Axel was doing with Vlad in the truck. It wasn't that he didn't trust the foreigner, it was just that it was harder to form an immediate bond with someone you had trouble communicating with. One way or another, he thought they'd be fine. In his mirror, he could see the truck close behind him as he pulled into the small town.

It wasn't long before he pulled up to a grocery store. The place was probably picked clean, but then again, it wouldn't hurt to check. After cutting his engine, he stood the bike up and stretched his legs outside of the store.

"Am I... Am I five years old again?" She sighed, looking rather annoyed. "Are you treating me like a five year old because I said I would kill someone? Is that it?" She leaned against a wall. "Or is it the pigtails because I'm sure as hell I can look at movies without causing a catastrophe, okay?" She muttered for a few moments to herself, before turning to see Will take out the book and say it wasn't for trading. For the sake of it, Storm put on a Scottish accent and said "Aye Willy, what's in the book lad?" Before grinning from ear to ear.

"Russia! I hope is ok there." Vlad seemed to ask, but really, he was just stating that he hoped his home country was doing well, which it probably wasn't. The russian would jump into the truck when allowed to, settling into the passenger seat, it'd been a long time since he'd been in a working vehicle. "Comfy!"

When they arrived, he'd jump out and stretch his shirt to reveal a holster and a pair of american dogtags(which didn't bare his name). Inside the holster was a small 22lr pistol, still bearing it's pricetag.

"You go, I stay, protect truck and bike from steal." Vlad said, making sure he didn't flash them with the muzzle of the gun. "Unless you want me go." Vlad quickly added, realizing they might not trust him with their vehicles.

Axel jumped of of the truck. He nodded at Vlad. "I've got the keys, but if you want to watch it anyways, go ahead." He walked up to Grant and whispered, "How in the hell does a Russian get to America during an apocalypse?" He pulled his gun out of his bag, checking to make sure it was loaded.

Rachel walked onto the porch and set her box of cans down. "I owned a little boutique in California. Nothing too excited. Well... I was a mom, too." She looked down, not wanting to remember Nina's frail little three year old body.

"Sure. Make sure no one messes with the rides." Grant said, stuffing his keys into his pocket before turning to Axel. "Beats me. Maybe he got here before everything went down?" Grant checked the gun he had strapped to him. Although he kept it around, it wasn't loaded; he sure as hell didn't want to shoot anybody. In fact, he had kept it around before the end of the world as he knew it, but that was more as a symbol; and intimidation tactic if it ever came down to it, but it never really did.

Although he wasn't packing heat, he did have a few weapons that could help him. After everyone had gotten sick, he had raided a police station. Because of this, he had a few pairs of handcuffs, a taser, and some pepperspray. Cautiously, Grant moved up to the grocery store door and looked inside.

Storm sounded grumpy with him and he supposed he understood, but there was still no way she was getting a gun from him. Any person that spoke of killing even as a joke would never be given a gun from Jude. It was a personal thing and he didn't bother to explain it to her figuring she might get even more angry. Her annoyance seemed forgotten when she asked Will what was in his book and he explained it was a journal.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea to do." Jude mused to himself. Will told them he was going to grab the gun and ammo and Jude nodded when Will told them not to kill each other. Jude chuckled and he gave Storm a look "I think we can manage that." He looked down at his movies that he had gotten and shuffled through them, "Which one should we watch first Storm?" he asked holding up the Mummy and Jurassic Park.

"I think we can manage that."
Storm laughed, rubbing the back of her neck and shaking her head. "Just about." She watched him inspect the movies The Mummy and Jurassic Park, both of which are highly rated classics in her mind, anyway. "Which one should we watch first Storm?" She groaned as she tried to pick between two fantastic films. "The Mummy. It's more.. creepy. And the fact the sequels of Jurassic Park were so... hyped... for not much at all just pisses me off." She said with a smirk. She stood straight and decided to actually stand beside Jude without killing or maiming him, which may be an achievement of some kind.

Jude ginned agreeing of her decision of the Mummy and said "Well once we make ourselves some ice cream we can sit down and watch this... That is if we still have power. I'm surprised it's lasted this long to be honest." He shrugged and said "I can always find a generator I guess." He listened as she spoke of the squeals to Jurassic park, and lifted a shoulder. "I liked the third one." He told her.

She stood next to him and he glanced down at her. "I'm sorry by the way. I didn't mean to piss you off."

"There is probably some back-up to the electric, if anything happened. I wouldn't know because I prefer amps to fuses and wires. So. A generator would be the safe choice." She laughed, shifting her weight a few times. It was funny, how uneasy she was about his height. He could probably just knock her out or overpower her at any second, and it was an unusual feeling for her. She snapped out of it in time to hear him comment on the third sequel of Jurassic Park. "That one was okay."

When Jude looked down at Storm, she couldn't help but feel like she needed some sort of boots or heels on, or at least he needed to shrink. "Oh, it's fine. I'm a bitch, my reaction was unneeded." She smiled up at him.

Jude nodded and he said "Well I guess a generator is on the shopping list along side with ice cream." She was tiny compared to him and he had the sudden urge to lift her up but naturally he thought that might freak her out so he let his arms hang by his sides. She told him that she was fine with how he had reacted before and smiled up at him. He grinned back and lifted a hand to brush one of her pigtails back.
"I suppose we better see what's taking Will." he said dropping his hand and beginning to walk towards the door. He stepped in and called for Will. "Lets go get ice cream and a generator!"

When Jude lifted his hand Storm had flinched but remained still which allowed him to push back her pigtail. She didn't know why she flinched, she had never done it before hand. Especially not to Beatles Boy (which was Storm's new nickname for Jude). Maybe it was his height. Or the 'Ex-cop-with-guns' thing. When she snapped out of a brief daydream, she had noticed Jude calling to Will at the door. "Let go get ice cream and a generator!"

"Yeah, come on!" Storm stood by the door-frame and lent beside it without actually entering. "Me and Beatles Boy are bored." She fiddled with her hands impatiently.