Jocelyn Doe's Story

Jocelyn Doe

The city was eerily quiet for such a clouded day. The zombies tended to come out at that kind of weather, along with the night. It was quickly darkening and Jo knew that she had to find a place to stay for the night if she wanted to keep going. Her goal was to make a base in the city, and probably stay there. It was better to hide in plain sight than in a suspicious and lonely neighborhood; she had learned that the hard way.

Her motorcycle made little noise as she slowly drove around the deserted streets, admiring the towering skyscrapers. Cars were everywhere, wrecked, upside down, burning even. The air smelled like rotten flesh; a smell Jo had grown used to since the infection. When she saw that there was no threat ahead, she decided to park her motorcycle, hide it and go for a walk. Maybe that way she'd find something, or someone.

Her footsteps where loud compared with the atmosphere around her; her breath forming an almost invisible puff of smoke. A noise coming from an alley caused her to quickly raise her gun and alert her senses. She approached said alley and waited to hear it again. And she did, it was a growl and clearly zombie-like. A sadistic grin shone her face as she stepped forward and showing to mercy, shot the living corpse right between the eyes. Boom! "Shit!" she cursed. The shot echoed around the city, and if another zombie was close, she was likely to have some company. "Why did I have to be so stupid!" Jo said in anger.

She said her name was Kenshinshi. A mysterious name to a girl carrying a sword around. When Gabriel heard there was a safe house close by, this made his mind ease a little.

"Ok, lead the way then."

Suddenly there was a gun shot that was close. Gabriel holstered his sidearm and pulled up his M4. He checked his ammo and motioned for the others to follow.

"Come on, it came from this direction. Maybe it is one of my guys."

He ditched his gear to find later and then went into towards the darkness, hoping to find a familiar face.

Kenshinshi took off in front of Gabriel. He grinned as he tried to keep up but by the time he rounded the corner, she already knocked one of the creatures into a building. Trying to focus on providing security, he went to a car and aimed his rifle down a road. He could see a corpse start to reanimate back to its feet. He pulled out his knife and slowly walked behind it and slit its throat. The monster stumbled forward and turned around. Confused, he stepped back avoiding the slow attempt to grab him. Gabriel frustrated with his failed killed, thrust the knife in the eye socket and saw the body go limp and fall to the ground.

He put the knife back into his sheath and moved back to his position taking up his aim again.

As soon as those words left Jo's mouth, another zombie made its way to approach her. She quickly took a battle pose and as she was about to shoot the zombie between the eyes again, another person had already slashed the zombie's back, pushing it further into the alley. Long red hair caught Jo's attention, and she quietly observed the other human work her magic. She still hadn't lowered her gun. The girl had seemingly brought a friend too; a male one. He closed the distance between the zombie and him, and quickly thrusting his knife in the zombie's eye, killing him instantly.

"Are you alright, Miss?" the girl asked.

"Miss my ass. I'm not your grandmother. My name's Jo, who are you?" she retorted.

Keni let out a small laugh hearing the girl's sass. It's been too long since someone responded to Keni's kindness like that... though times had changed. Zombies ruled the world, and trust had been long forgotten. "My name is Kenshinshi, but you can call me Keni. That's Cross."

Cross held his hand up while keeping his other hand on the grip. He was becoming uncomfortable with the nighttime falling in on them. With the gun shot probably drawing in unwanted attention, he turned towards the others.

"I hate to ruin this moment but we have to get going. Keni you mentioned a house earlier that we could use to stay in. Have you stayed there before or are we going to need to clear it?"

Gabriel wasn't sure if this new 'team' could pull off a house clearing, especially if they have never done it before. He didn't have much choice as doing one alone was worse. He started to walk back down the alley, clearing it step by step. He needed to get his gear back and make sure he could double check their distance. As he made it to his gear, he looked down the road and saw shadows moving in and out of the cars and alleyways. He jogged back to others to tell them.

"No... it's an actual safe house. It's already been cleared, and others live there." Keni told him before he left. Kenshinshi looked back towards the other girl, wondering what her story was. "Would you like to come with us?"

Jocelyn Doe

Jo's hand lowered her gun, pointing now to the old pavement below her. Her mouth broke into a small smile as the event registered in her mind; she had found other people. Her blonde hair fell forward in her eyes, obstructing her view, forcing her to push it back with her fingers. Jo noticed the girl's eyes widening slightly as a chuckle emerged from the girl's mouth.

"My name's Kenshinshi, but you can call me Keni. That's Cross," Keni responded, motioning to the guy standing beside her.

"Alright, nice meeting y'all," Jo said, sending them both a mock salute.

Jo was about to say something else, but she stopped when Cross's voice cut her off. "I hate to ruin the moment, but we have to get going. Keni you mentioned a house earlier that we could use to stay in. Have you stayed there before, or are we going to need to clear it?" he asked.

"No... It’s an actual safe house. It's already been cleared, and others live there," Keni told him.

Place to stay for the night, check. Jo watched curiously as Cross started to walk back down the alley, clearing it step by step. He crouched down and took what looked like some gear. He must be a soldier... that's a plus, Jo thought. She watched as he observed the distance, and apparently he must've seen something because before she knew it he was jogging back to them.

"Man, this must be my lucky day! Hop on the bike kids, this zombies run slower than a snail, and if you wanna make it to the house on time you better trust me," Jo offered.

"It's not that far, Jo. We could walk..." When Keni looked over at Cross, she notice the look on his face which was not exactly one of calmness. Keni turned top Jo and joped onto the bike. "Okay then. Let's get going. It's down the street to the left. I'll tell you when."

Gabriel jogged back to the others but didn't even need to say a word. They were already mounting up on motorcycle driven by Jo. It was going to be challenge to balance his rucksack on his back while riding. He didn't run it through his mind a second time as he remembered the monsters approaching the street quickly. He jumped on behind Keni and held on. He never sat this close or even this way next to a girl before. He kept his mouth shut and tried to keep his blushing from being noticed.

"It's not that far, Jo. We could walk..." Keni told Jo, clearly not having noticed her companion's panicked face as he ran towards them. She watched as Keni's eyes darted over to Cross, and back to Jo's with an understanding gaze. Jo hopped on into her bike and started its engine, joined by shortly by Keni. "Okay then, let's get going. It's down the street to the left. I'll tell you when."

Jo smirked slightly, waiting for Cross to hop into the bike. He didn't say a word and obediently took a seat behind Keni. "Alright people! Keni, hold on to me, Cross, hold on to Keni. We wouldn't want anyone to fall down, would we?" Jo asked, with a slightly sadistic humor to it.

She quickly pressed the accelerator with her foot and they were off, speeding through the horde of the living dead. She quickly scanned the streets, as the sun set even further, making it harder to see with such little light. After crossing the two streets Keni had instructed her, she turned left observing a couple of houses that came into view, "Which one?" Jo asked, slowing down slightly so they could get a better look.

Keni pointed out a house that stood out among the other houses. It was a worn blue but seemed well kept. It didn't seem like there was any life around the house. Gabriel felt a little more tense as the bike moved closer to the front yard. It was quiet outside and really dark. Nighttime was here and so were those perfect hiding places. Gabriel unholstered his sidearm and cocked it.

Jo turned slightly to look at Keni from the corner of her eye as she pointed out a blue house near them. She slowly hit the break and drove up the sidwalk and into the yard. "Does anyone else live here?" she asked, carefully eyeing the house. She parked her bike near the front door and got off from it, taking out a special camuflage blanket and placing it over her motorcycle. She got her gun out from her boot and quietly walked towards the house. It was now night, and this was the perfect scenario for a zombie to hop out from the bushes and attack them all.

"Keep your guard up people. Anything suspicious, report it immediatly," Jo instructed, taking the role of a general at war.

Jo parked the motorcycle on the yard and covered it up. Gabriel holstered back his sidearm and pulled up his M4, looking through his scope he could overhear Jo giving out orders. Though she wasn't military, Gabriel was not one to push people aside for his own glory. The situation called for team work and he needed to make sure to keep that team work going. He looked over the front of the blue house and decided to check out the back to see if there was any vulnerable spots in the design. It was dark following the side of the large blue structure, so he pull out his night vision goggles and put them on. The night suddenly turned into a digital green and white environment. Nothing could be seen so he pressed forward slowly, lightly stepping on the grass as to avoid any unseen objects where he could trip over.

As Gabriel made it to the backyard, the dilapidated fence was nothing out the normal. He looked towards the backdoor and didn't see any forced entry or any attempt at it. The backdoor, however, was boarded shut and nailed down as to prevent anything from coming in. He noticed the windows were also boarded. He continued around to the other side to check it over. He finished his search and walked over.

"Nothing unusual other than the backdoor and windows are boarded shut. The fence in the back is worn but not ruined from those monsters. Looks like this safehouse is good... for now."

"Well then. I told you." Keni told them walking into the house, holding onto her sword. She looked around, not seeing anyone. She thought there would be someone here. Maybe they were gone for the day. She heard a slight click from behind her and swung out her sword just in time to deflect a bullet. When she looked up, there was a girl holding a gun at Keni. She stood on the steps, shaking. when the girl realized Keni was human, she put the gun down and sighed.
"I'm so sorry." The girl said, a little panicked as she ran down the steps. She looked over at Jo and Cross and then back to Keni.
"Ah. No. That's okay." Kenshinshi replied honestly, with a sweet smile.

Just as Gabriel came back, Keni swung her sword sharply. He wasted no time as he put his sight on a little girl with a handgun. She did apologize to Keni.

"Ah. No. That's okay.", Keni replied.

She didn't seem phased by the incident but Gabriel didn't let up. If this was a trap, he was going to be ready for it.

"Keni, are you alrght?", he asked with concern, "This could be an ambush. I don't trust someone when they just pop off a round like that."

He checked his left and right to make sure there was really no one hiding. He didn't see anyone earlier through the night vision and he wasn't sure where she came from so quietly. He never took his sights off her. If she was planning to do something to the group, she chose the wrong group to do it to.

"She's just a kid who got scared when I walked inside.", Keni said while glancing over her shoulder.

Gabriel was confused at that moment. Usually, anyone who shoots at him is going to be put down. She just lets it slide like nothing happened. Still feeling uneasy about going into the house with gun wielding people who would shoot at anything moving. Slinging his M4 and clipping back his sidearm, Gabriel goes to the back of the house. There was candles in the house, set in certain places to provide enough light but not to give any signs of life on the outside. He checked all boards on the windows and door to make sure they were secured tightly. With all the safety precautions done, Gabriel set down all of his gear, rested his head on his rucksack, and closed his eyes for ten minutes.