The New World

Mai began to pack a bag. Over the last few hours, she had decided to move on. Nobody was going to randomly pass by the house and she knew that now. Mai shoved two knives in her pockets and checked to make sure her lighter was with them. Once she was sure she was prepared, she left the house. Flare was relaxed so Mai took that as a sign that there were no zombies around at this particular time, although that could change and Mai knew that. She set out down the road, her footsteps echoing malevolently. Flare walked right beside Mai like the loyal and protective dog she was. Mai reached down and stroked Flare's head quickly. Mai mummed a little to herself as she walked, trying to block out the eerie silence that hung over the town like a blanket. That was one thing Mai really wanted, silence. It really creeped her out sometimes. Mai looked up at the sky, it wasn't a bad afternoon, but clouds had started to role in making Mai predict that it might rain tonight. Mai reached the end of the road and looked both ways, part of her wished that a car would be rolling by, full of alive people that would take her in. Alas, the road was empty, except for a few abandoned cars. Mai walked over to them and inspected them. When she was fifteen, her boyfriend had taught her how to hotwire a car. Although the memory had faded, Mai wondered if she could remember how. The thought hadn't occured to her. Mai opened the door and looked inside. It was empty, no zombies and no bodies. At first, Mai looked around for a key, but she couldn't find one. Then she attempted to hotwire it but it was no use. She couldn't remember. "Come on Flare" Mai said jumping out of the car. Flare followed close behind. They continued walking up the street hoping for other signs of life but to no avail. "Looks like we will have to find another town girl, this ones more like a ghost town at this point" she said. She knew Flare couldn't understand her, but at being spoken too, Flare wagged her bum in reply. Mai almost laughed in spite of herself. Flare didn't have a tail so it was funny to watch her swing her butt back in worth instead. Mai broke into another store and gathered up some more food. She wasn't sure which way or how far the next town was, but she needed to start somewhere.

It was well into the day when Charlie awoke, his head throbbing and his left leg aching. Fucking crosswind, he cursed to himself. As far as he could gather from looking around, he had been blown a little ways from where the helicopter was going down. On one hand, this meant he wouldn't be able to check on the stock unless he made it to the crash. On the other hand, it meant that he was no where near that burning pile of bait. He could imagine swarms of raiders and infected marching towards the crash site.

Luckily, his leg was not broken, and he was able to stand after disengaging the parachute. Dusting himself off and slinging his back pack over his shoulder, he attempted to gather more information about his surroundings. Right before they were attacked, Franklin said they were only about thirty minutes out from the minefield.... but which direction? Charlie spun his head around. It seemed he was in a rural area, a lot of fields, once tended, but now overgrown with weeds. He spotted a stream of smoke off in the distance, and figured that must be where the helicopter had crashed, which meant that was the direction he needed to head.

It was then that Charlie realized where he was: somewhere in East Texas.

Shit, he thought. I hate Texas. Checking his gun - it was loaded and ready to go - and then holstering it, he set off towards the minefield.

Opening his eyes slowly, Lucas woke up and hopped out of bed. He made his bed, and straightened the room up a bit, when suddenly he smelled smoke coming from outside.
"Are they having having a barbecue or something." He said quietly.
He looked out of the window and saw black smoke rising from the barn.
As six years had passed, Lucas gained a relationship with Zanetta and moved to Richard's farm in a guest house with Leon. Zanetta and Lucas' relationship grew stronger as years passed, even taking Zanetta's virginity.
Lucas always watched out for Zanetta, even though her "enhancement" made her stronger and faster than he was, he still worried and looked out for her.

Lucas quickly put on the nearest shirt on, he was wearing a tight white shirt, black jeans and black converse shoes. He went to Leon's room and woke him up;
"Hey, get up, there is a fire, something is wrong!" He yelled to Leon to wake him up.
All Lucas could think about was Zanetta, and Richard and Darcy's children.
He ran through the house and grabbed one of his HK45 pistols. He no longer used his bow, because he ran out of arrows years ago, and still hadn't found anymore.

As he made his way outside he saw the barn was burnt down to the ground, and Zanetta standing in front of it. He quickly ran inside Richard's house to see if everyone was okay, he saw Belinda holding the baby, and the twins at the table trying to look outside.
"Oh, thank God." Lucas said as he sighed in relief.
After checking on the children he snuck up behind Zanetta trying to shock her, hugging her from behind and kissing her on the cheek.
"What happened?" He asked.

Zanetta jumped alittle and turned her head to Lucas, his head nestled neatly and comfortable in her neck, his eyes looking up to hers. A smiled crept up on her face then she laughed. ''Y-you scared me there, even though I heard you coming, you still scared me.'' She laughed some more then kissed his forehead.

Jake looked up at Lucas, his blue eye quite distracting the others, though not Zanetta still after so many years. He was tilt his head and pant, wagging his tail happily as he saw Lucas though as Zaneet and Lucas exchanged affections he would squeeze inbetween them both, in effort to split them apart. He was always like that at the moent with Zanetta though it was never aggressive.

She would laugh at Jake and bend down to him, stroking him on his ears, he would almost purr as it was his favourite scratching spot. ''You...my little Jakey boy will always be my baby!'' She would then put her forehead against his, he would then lick her and she would giggle then stood up again, turning her body towards Lucas.

NIGHTmares were in the shed, they attacked Richard but luckily he is so strong and talented as he is otherwise he would be dead..'' She was become silent at the though then smile again and continue. ''But all is well and...well...he had to burn the shed though I think, no, I know Darcy is probably mad at him for it.'' She would laugh under her breath then turn to Richard again. ''So do you want the help or not?''

(Intro song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhwQKTRAgA)

"Discipline...Loyalty....Sacrifice, these words will mold who you are from this moment on." Scott spoke into the microphone that lay rested in front of him on the balcony of the many new NDO "Capital" buildings that sat as a symbol of 'peace and prosperity' across the entire globe. The dark shadow of the building was cast over hundreds of men and woman dressed in the combat uniform of the NDO that was almost identical to that of the American uniform, aside from the NDO flag that sat menacingly on their shoulders. "You men and woman are the finest this order has to offer, and soon you will be sent to the Russian front to fight the tyranny of Vladimir Putin, the socialist who hides behind a fake Democracy. I will not lie to you, this government you are now fighting to destroy will do everything in their power to stop you. They have used nuclear weapons on our land and their own to stop our advances. But this is all the more proof that the Russian Federation is an enemy to not just Democracy, but humanity as a whole!" Scott was using exaggerated hand gestures as he spoke, his words carrying the weight of a God to these men and women who believed all the lies he spewed.

The flag of NDO was casting it's wicked shadow over the buildings that sat around the capital building, which dwarfed all of them with it's emasculate and unnecessary size. "You men and woman will fight! And you will drive the Russian bear back into it's cave and bury it there where it belongs! Now go forth my brothers and sisters, bring peace, prosperity and democracy to the world!" Scott raised his fist up next to his ear and shouted at the top of his voice into the microphone "For the order!"

The soldiers below pounded on their chests, right over their hearts, with their own fists and shouted back in almost perfect unison "FOR FREEDOM!" Scott hit his own chest with overwhelming pride and joy for the army he had raised. These men and woman were loyal to his new order, and his order was doing well, very well. All of Western Europe was in his grasp, and with very little resistance. This pleased Scott because it meant that most the armies were intact as well, in fact his armies were so strong that with the Russia, China, and several other Asian countries united against him were still not strong enough to defeat them. He had the most advanced and numerous fighting force in the entire world, and he was using it to crush every foe in his path. Soon Russia would be forced to fold into his whim, and multiple middle eastern countries were already falling, or had fallen to him.

Scott had little to fear as of the current moment. Although the civil war in the United States was becoming a thorn in his side. But it mattered little right now, he had bigger issues that must be dealt with first. He had to conquer the rest of the civilized countries and figure out a way to get rid of all the infected that lie therein. Europe was by far the worst infected NDO territory that Scott had conquered so far. The only up side to it was that most of the hordes had moved into the forests that lay all across the continent, all Scott needed to do was burn them down with napalm and he could kill hundreds of thousands in mere hours. America would not be so easy, however, since there is less space for the infected to go in his home country, Scott would have to deal with hordes that number close to the million at a time. It was a thinker all right, but Scott would think of something...he always did.




Jinn? Jinn was in Nevada? Mando had a take a minute to absorb this information, he hadn't seen Jinn in years and now his old friend was coming back to say hello? Fucker probably wanted something from him. Mando's lips curved into a wicked smile as he thought about the havoc he wrecked with Jinn back in the day. Jinn and Mando were like two peas from the same pod, they both killed without mercy and enjoyed it. Will, maybe Mando enjoyed it a tad more than Jinn did but that is beside the point.

Mando put the phone away from his head for a second and snorted his second line of coke, when he lifted his head back up he was shaking and a creepy willy wonka style grin came across his face. This coke was some good shit, he was glad he stole it from those assholes bringing it to the Commonwealth "He is en route to you as we speak. Give us your gps coordinates." the man on the other line said. It was a bad time to sound bossy around Mando just that second, his second line of coke was making him bug out even more and his grip of sanity and reality was beginning to slip over the edge. He was angry...real angry. His dark brown eyes were as small as grains of sand and full of a twitchy rage that was engulfing his every cell.

"The fuck did you just say to me!?" Mando blurted out into the phone, his whole body shaking like a revved up engine from the sudden burst of energy from the cocaine "Bitch, who the fuck do you think you are? Motherfucker you don't tell me to give you dick! You ask me to give you shit with a pretty please and pile of naked pussy on top!" Mando's eyes twitched with furry at the man "You call me Mister Ortega you fucking got that! I don't know you, you're not my friend so you show me some respect or I'll cut your dick off and shove it up your ass!" Mando wasn't even pausing to breath and the man on the other line couldn't get a single word in

"Motherfucker I'll kill you!" Mando sprung from his seat and went over to a map on the wall that he kept so he could always mark where he was "When you get here me and you are going to throw down bitch! You here me, i'm going to kick your ass and then chop your nose off your ugly ass face!" Mando then proceeded to yell the coordinates into the man's ear when he was finished he went back to his cursing rage "So you be there or be square you little bitch!" Mando was just about to hang up when suddenly he stopped and put the phone back to his head, and in a voice as calm as the waters of a lake he said "Oh, and tell Jinn I said, 'sup." then he clicked the end call button.....





"So, what brings you to this humble town sir." The unruly looking man asked as he sat on his desk. Stanley expected the man to look bad, but not this bad. He looked as if he had just walked out of some ghetto casino at his job as a card dealer, with that red vest of his. The fact that he tried to cover it up with such a nasty and disgusting brown colored coat made it all the worse, there was much work to be done here indeed.

"You ask what my business is, yet you have not introduced yourself to me." Stanley said in a unimpressed and slightly unpleasant tone. The man looked a little panicked as he quickly stood at attention and extended his hand

"My name is Barnaby sir, Barnaby Turncoat." Stanley reached his plump hand out and took Barnaby's hand in a tight grip.

"That is much better mister Turncoat." This man had no sense of manners did he? How he ever got elected as mayor here was beyond Stanley, but it is what it is he supposed "Now, as you may know I helped start the Commonwealth many years ago. I hold this place very dear to me." Well the luxury it helped provide him at least. But even a man such as Stanley still had things outside of luxury that he held dear, and the Commonwealth was one of them. Mostly because it was a symbol of his success to everyone who mocked him when he ran for president "I am here to insure that you, as the new mayor, have everything you require." Stanley said in his uptown accent

"Well sir I-

"No, no." Stanley interrupted "Don't say you have everything you need my boy! Because from the moment I walked through those doors I knew you do not." Barnaby gave Stanley a puzzled look as he stood from his chair and straightened his suit once again "You are a man of power now my boy." Stanley said as he put an arm around Barnaby "Even in this world that we live in, men of power must look the part. Because looking the part is where half your power comes from!" Stanley walked Barnaby over to the door of his office and through it open, his arm still around him "You see this my boy? These walls are redecorated with every new mayor, so that every new era can be recognized differently. With every new mayor, the decoration of his halls and the way he portrays himself must remind the people of his ambition, and what he stands for!" Stanley turned to Barnaby and looked him up and down "And the way you are dressed now my boy it would appear you stand for drunken bar fights and sleeping in gutters."




"Well Zanetta!" Richard called to the girl in the back seat "You are now an accomplice to the crime of going against Darcy! We can all be executed together now!" Richard joked as he drove the truck through the dirt path that lead to a back woods section of the farmland where they would burn the remains of the infected to keep the infected from being consumed by animals and giving the family more issues.

"This is so cool dad!" Connor said from the passenger seat

"It is until we get back to the house, then we are going to be in a little bit of heat." Richard replied to his son as he brought the truck to a stop in the middle of a dirt field "Here, we can burn them here." Richard said "Zanetta, mind helping me set up the bonfire?"

Tsu hated this, she was walking through the desert every here and there stopping under any sort of shade to cool down a bit. She didn't know what the hell was going through her head when she thought of it, but she regretted her choice with more annoyance instead of hatred. She knew the danger, but she'd rather testing herself against Pirates instead of walkers and whatever the hell else was out here. Tsu had risen again, she felt better since she had more water than she needed and started walking again. She was calm since she had covered her pale skin up in thin clothes so she doesn't burn, since she hated the feeling, as she walked. She heard the light rumble of her sword still in her sheath on her back which she had also strapped her Fire Ax to the sheath and bundles it in a light cloth she had taken. A little ways away as Tsu saw, was a shadow, she didn't have the time to try to see if it was human or not, she just ran, darting at full speed to the angle right of it, she had thought she could curve her escape route in which she could have a flat area in which she had a chance to fully sprint and hopefully escape.

Nicholas Solidor

Nicholas woke up, sitting straight up with his heart pumping.
"Another nightmare." He whispered to himself frustrated. This was a routine for him every time he slept. It would be, survive and find some shelter, go to sleep and wake up from nightmares about his sister; Maggie.
As he got up, he folded one of the curtains and wrapped around his backpack, since it wouldn't fit inside. After he finished doing his morning work out, he checked the bar out one more time and found some energy drinks inside one of the cupboards right behind the counter. It said on the can that it doesn't expire, as long as the can is never opened. He found 3 cans.
"Perfect." He said, with a smile on his face.

He exited out of the building through the back, and saw the alley way was clear. It was good so far. There was no way on to the roof of this building without a ladder, and it was the same for all the other buildings.
"8:32am, I guess I have to do this the hard way." He said as he was creeping around the alley way. Then he remembered the alcohol in his backpack, but then thought again; "No, I'll save this for later."

As he looked up to one of the rooftops, he saw a crawler. "Shit! What are crawlers doing all the way out here?"
He looked down to the direction he was moving and saw a forest. "That's probably where it came from.
He took his sniper aiming straight at its head, this was the only idea he had that actually had a chance with living through it. As long as that crawler was alive, he would get caught for sure. BANG Nicholas shot the crawler right in the head, the sound of the gun alarmed all of the infected. Nicholas put his sniper away and sprinted out of the alley way, with the earphones in his ears listening to his favourite song, trying to dodge every infected attack.

Some infected grabbed onto his clothes, but lost its grip, or he just slipped out of their hands. Luckily, Nicholas was quick and small, which came to his advantage. As he made it deep into the city, he didn't stop running, he ran until he reached the other side of the town. As he was at the exit, he ripped a piece off of his curtain blanket and put it in one of the bottles of alcohol, then lit it on fire. He then through it to the ground, blocking the whole exit of the entrance leaving anything that walked through to burn and rot.
"I hope there was no survivors in that town."

After that, he looked at his watch; "Seven minutes." He shook his head in disappointment, if it wasn't for that crawler, he would've been quicker. He then took care of one straggler that was wandering around the open fields and made his way to the forest, resting on a large rock to catch his breathe.

The top of the tank opened with Yinon appearing out from within the war machine. His face had the look of confusion and even a bit of frustration playing across it.

"Ortega has answered. I gave the drivers the coordinates... He also threatened to kill me."

What he received from his master was not what the Israeli would have liked. Instead of encouraging words or some explanation of the man's mad words what he got was an eerie laugh that emanated out from behind the mask with a deep, throaty tone. Jinn did not turn to look at Yinon but kept his eyes on something that had caught his attention in the distance.

"Then I hope for your sake you have a greater desire to live than Mando has to kill... though I doubt it."

Yinon swallowed hard but nodded knowing he dared not push further on the subject. It was then that he looked up to see what Jinn had been looking at.

"Is that?... Are those regulars?"

"It does appear so does it not? They have found food even here in this waste land. A young man and woman it seems."

It was difficult to make out any defining features of the couple beyond their genders and approximate heights but what was clear was that while they hid for safety beneath a pair of downed cars a small horde of around eighteen to twenty zombies moaned for their blood as they worked at a way to pull them from the wreckage.

Yinon was watching with interest when heard his masters voice once more.

"Bring up the 50 calibers, we will intervene."

Yinon nodded and went to his radio where he dispatched two of the humvee's with mounted machine guns. The two vehicles sped off from the group in a cloud of dust before coming to an abrupt halt and opening fire on the horde. Rounds tore through the bodies with sickening ease, reducing the corpses to meat in seconds. Once the hail of bullets stopped the young man and woman timidly made their way out from beneath the cars as Jinn's tank rolled up to greet them.

Now that they were closer Jinn could get a good look at the two survivors. The boy in his late teens, the girl equally so. He was covered in cuts and scrapes, she fared no better but she was the one that stood out. While the boy was painfully unremarkable she was quite beautiful, too beautiful for a man such as the one she was with at the moment. It was clear the two were an item by the way they held each other lovingly in the presence of their savior.

"Thanks so much man, you saved our asses."

The teen boy said, out of breath and still more than a little nervous. Jinn got to his feet before hopping off the side of the tank. Once his boots hit the sand his eyes locked onto the boy as he slowly and casually advanced.

"Your thanks are not needed, for I did nothing for you."

A confused look dawned on the boy's face as he blinked his eyes curiously.

"Wait, what?"

Jinn was getting closer now, not but a few paces away as he continued.

"You cower in fear when you should stand and fight. You take your lover into the dirt while the hordes of the undead thirst for your blood and your response to such a threat, is no different then that of a child. Hide until the monsters go away... "

The boy turned to look at his girlfriend, still unsure of what point the masked man was getting at. Jinn was now in arms reach of the two, he loomed over the young teen boy as his gaze held him in thrall. Frozen with fear the boy could only look up at the masked man in terror.

"You are but a child in the world of men, scrambling in futility for your own salvation. Then to further prove your own foolishness you thank a stranger with an armed force at his back all the while forgetting what a treasure you have on your arm... "

The words hit him like a bucket of ice water to a sleeping man and the teen's eyes went wide with fear.

"P-please don't-"

The words were cut off as Jinn backhanded the teen with such force the boy dropped to the sand. The girl screamed in shock and fear as she fell beside him in concern as tears streamed down her face.

"Such worry for you... such concern she shows... in one who doesn't deserve it. What a pity, the state of today's youth. Take them!"

With that four of Jinn's men rushed in and grabbed hold of the two teens. The male received a hard punch to the gut to end his incessant struggling before they were both bound and gagged.

"You will be our gifts to Mando, one should never arrive at a friends home empty handed."

Jinn said as he climbed back onto the side of the tank as the two teens were tossed into the back of one of the trucks. Within minutes the mercenaries were once again on the move. Within the hour they neared Mando Ortega's camp. The dust from their march signaled their arrival as they breached the outskirts of Ortega's home and fell within range of the sentries posted.

Darcy stepped out after spending almost a half in the shower. Even after the running warm water she still felt like the smoke and the charred smell of burnt flesh clung to her, even though she knew it was impossible.

Sighing Darcy pulled on her underwear, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a red plaid shirt that she tied instead of buttoning it up. It was hot out here in Kentucky. Darcy was a Midwestern girl and she couldn't cope with the heat, so if she had to show a little skin then so be it. Plus, even after three kids she still looked damn good.

As Darcy pulled her long curly locks into a ponytail two things consumed her thoughts. One the NIGHTmares had been so close to their home! A shiver ran through her at the thought. How the hell had they got so close without anyone noticing anything? She should have paid more attention to the Dogs strange behavior . . . But she'd never expected them to get so damn close! Darcy pushed the disturbing thought's away . . . At least it was taken care of now . . . and she was left without a shed and all the content's inside it, like the children's bikes!

The second item running through Darcy's mind as laced up her combat boots was how she was going to chastise Richard! Should she even bother? It occurred to her, it's not like he ever listened just like his son! But of course she should bother! If she didn't just imagine how much worse the chaos would be!

Especially this! Darcy felt too strongly about this and Richard felt completely the opposite. It was something they could not compromise on. Darcy did not want her children growing up around violence or to witness things that was not normal. It was bad enough they lived in a world that was full of dangerous creatures but to expose her children to that seemed so very wrong. She did not want her children touching or anywhere near weapons. She did not want them near infectious Zombie corpses. She wanted as much normality in their lives as was possible.

Why couldn't Richard understand that? He argued that they needed to be able to defend themselves. Well yes, they did and they could as Richard taught them how to do it. And he argued that they need to see the creatures and learn everything that was out there so they could know how to defeat and over power it . . . but for Darcy they were still too young for that . . . although she was well aware the twins probably knew much more then what Darcy was aware of and definitely much more then she would like for them to know!

Maybe it was her fault. She still saw them both as those squishy red skinned, pudgy fingered little things that they were when they were first born . . . But No! She was right, of course, as always! They were still much too young. Only six years of age.

Darcy could say she was shocked that Richard took Connor with him when he knew she didn't want him to but then she would be lying. Richard would fighter on this matter always.

So that just left what she would have to say to him when he got back . . . which would be more then an earful . . . But first . . . She would give him the cold shoulder, to make sure he knew how serious she was. Which could be quite hard as he would say something or do something purposefully that would make her laugh and she'd give in and he'd get away around her, but not this time! Darcy decide firmly as she headed back into the kitchen.

Looking up at the clock on the wall. Damn! was it 11.30am already!? And she had got nothing done. She'd have to start making lunch soon . . . How had her life become so domesticated? There was a time when Darcy didn't even know how to make toast! Now, she could practically cook everything under the Sun and it tasted damn good too.

"Ma-ma." Maggie sounded happily as Darcy took her from Belinda.

"Hi baby." Darcy smiled as she rocked the baby in her arms.

"Alright. I'm going for a bath." Belinda said as she got up from the table and headed for the door.

"Okay." Darcy replied "Time for your bath too." She said to Maggie.

"Ducky!" The baby cheered happily.

"Yeah! Ducky's right here." Darcy said happily as she placed the baby's bathing tub in the large kitchen sink and filled it up with lukewarm water, taking Maggies jammies off and sat the girl in the tub. "Here. Here's Ducky." She said handing the girl the yellow plastic duck.

"Do you know Maggie should know at least six words by now?" Alex stated from behind where she sat on the table, head in a book.

Darcy looked over her shoulder at her daughter. "And where did you learn that Goldilocks?" Darcy questioned already knowing the answer.

"A book." Lexi replied not even bothering to look up from the pages.

Darcy smiled, her little genius. She had such dreams and such high hopes for Lexi, beyond the life on a farm in Kentucky. There was a new world developing outside of the four quarters surrounding them. She wanted so much more for Alex. Lexi would be someone someday. Someone important. She would do something with her life, that would help others and change this world for the better again . . . If only that brother of her's didn't corrupt her.

Darcy turned back around, her smile widened as she watched Maggie splash happily in the water making a mess and talking gibberish to the toy duck.

"Boss! Convoy approaching, looks like a fucking army!" The sentry voice rang out through the empty air to Mando, who still sat in his RV throwing knives at the wall. Mando smiled as he opened the door to his RV and stepped out into the scorching Nevada sun, he looked to his sentry past the harsh sunlight and saw that the man was looking down the scope of a Barret 50 caliber.

"Put that shit away Roman! These are our guests!" Mando ordered as he climbed onto the rock with the sentry. In the distance was a wall of steel that kicked up a storm of sand as it growled across the Mojave. "Damn, that bastard always get's the good shit." Jin was always a man who liked to procure the biggest and baddest thing around. Mando on the other hand, usually liked to keep things simple. His philosophy was, if you are always totting around the biggest tank, your going to have the biggest pain in the ass when it breaks down. But what Mando lacked in mobile firepower, he made up for with infantry weapons. He had four whole trucks in his convoy that were full of everything from AK-47s to Stinger Anti-Air missiles and he even had a few WW2 era German flamethrowers. Sure they were big and bulky, but they made nice pretty flames and Mando liked that.

As the convoy finally made it to the camp and the legions of vehicles came to a grinding halt, Jinn stood from his seat on the lead tank and jumped to the sandy Earth with a great thud .

"Jinn! You fucking big motherfucker, where the hell you been man!" Mando said as he strode up to his old friend and mentor, who stood breathing heavy and deep behind his mask

"Busy." Jinn replied

"Well no shit." Mando said as he observed the legion of armored vehicles. As he looked on at the vehicles, a few men drug two teenagers out from behind a nearby tank

"A gift for you my friend." Jinn said as the men drug the two teens and put them on their knees in front of Ortega

"For me!" Mando said with exaggerated excitement "Oh baby, you shouldn't have!" Mando said as he went up to the girl of the two and examined her. She was very beautiful, more beautiful than both the ones Mando's men captured earlier "Hmm, this one is very sexy. I think I'll keep her for myself." Mando turned around and looked at his more than fifty men "One of you dumb fucks come put this pretty little bitch in my RV." The girl started to panic at Mando's words as two of his men grabbed her and drug her to the RV. She was crying hysterically for her boyfriend who struggled to get to her, but was punched in the back of the head by one of Jinns mercenaries "And lucky me!" Mando said with glee "I need another male, my other one had a, uh accident. Put this fuck in with the others!" Mando called out, and as ordered to men can over, beat him down with their guns and drug his barely moving body to the captives trailer

Mando smiled at Jinn "Now, we can catch up in a second you big hunk of love you." Mando reassured as he walked around Jinn and looked at his men. Without warning Mando jumped up and spread his arms and legs out like some crazed spider monkey "Now which of these motherfuckers was the bitch that called me on the phone!"

Beneath the mask a dark smile spread across Jinn's face as Mando wildly eyed the troops behind Jinn as he searched for the one who'd spoke to him on the phone. The chaotic savagery of his pupil was well missed and Jinn was eager to see him in all his violent glory once more.

"Yinon."

Jinn said aloud, his voice authoritative and commanding. Yinon stepped out from the crowd and made his way to stand at Jinn's side without a word. His eyes locked onto Mando's without fear yet with a hint of apprehension at what was in store for him.

"Remember me?! You never said pretty please fucker!"

Mando shouted, his rage boiling to dangerous levels as he made a move forward only to find one big hand stopping him in his tracks as Jinn held him back with a hand to his chest.

"Not yet..."

Jinn said as his eyes looked upon Mando with pride before he lowered his hand and turned to Yinon.

"Remove your firearms, draw your knife and draw a circle in the sand. Then, he will kill you."

Jinn's lieutenant set his jaw in determination and did as he was commanded. Quickly he unhooked all his weapons before drawing his combat dagger and set to the task of making a circle in the sand where the two men would square off to the death. The mercenaries and members of Mando's gan all began to form in a large circle around the spot where the duel would take place to watch the bloodshed that would soon come to pass. One of them would die that day, it was obvious most bets were in favor of Mando coming out on top. As Yinon made the make shift ring Jinn handed Mando a dagger.

"Do you remember how I taught you how to settle a disagreement in the old way?"

Mando took the blade from Jinn's hand with a wickedly gleeful grin.

"Nunca olvidaría..."

Mando looked at the dagger, his eyes full of primitive savagery as he licked his lips...he wanted blood. But he handed threw the dagger to the ground "Sorry, but I have something...much more...my style." Mando grinned at the Israeli, his eyes those of a demon as he placed a hand on a machete that he had attached to his side. Like a sword from hell Mando pulled the dark bladed knife from it's sheath. Mando strode into the circle, his every muscle shaking in anticipation "This, is a SOG MC-20 SOGfari machete." Mando eyed his own blade with a drug induced stare of excitement, even as the fingers of his left hand were cut by the razer sharp blade he continued to run his hand along it "18 inches of cold hard steel...many men have died by it..." Mando grinned like a mad man as he reminisced. He breathed in a deep breath as if inhaling a drug and let it out in pleasure filled gasps "Makes me feel so..." He bit his lower lip as he looked at the soldier "GOOD!" Mando yelled as he leap at his opponent and swung the massive blade at neck level.

The Israeli ducked just in time and tried to dig his own blade into Mando's gut. However, Mando was too fast and he reached his left hand under his right arm and grabbed the man's wrist. Without hesitation, Mando delivered a headbutt to the man's face, who stumbled backwards. Mando then lifted his boot high in the air and planted it right into the mans chest and sent him flying backwards out of the circle. The Israeli groaned in pain as Mando taunted him "Is that all you got bitch!?" The Israeli slowly got to his feet and grabbed his dagger from the scorching sand. As soon as he was stable, the soldier charged at Mando and tried to tackle him to the ground. Mando simply ducked, moved to the side and the brought his hand hard up into the mans groin and flipped him over onto his back.

Mando started laughing hysterically "Look at this pussy, he can't even lay a finger on me!"

This set the Israeli off into a rage and he fought through his pain and jumped to his feet. He swung his dagger wildly at Mando who ducked and dodged left and right, only being glanced by the blade a few times. Then the Israeli made the grave mistake of trying to plunge the dagger into Mando's chest. In one flawless and fluid motion the slaver moved to the left and brought the machete up against the man's arm and severed it just above the elbow.

"AHHHH, FUUUCKKK!" the Israeli screamed as he stumbled back and looked at his mutilated arm on the ground. Mando didn't stop his savage attack, next he brought the machete up above his head in the same motion, and then brought it down and sliced the man's left leg clean off at an angle. More primitive screams ensued as the mercenary fell to the ground.

"Yeah! Fuck you motherfucker! I told you I was going to fucking kill you!" Mando screamed like a mad man as he jumped atop the dying Israeli and put his Machete to his throat and looked him dead in the eyes "You have some pretty eyes." Mando said in a low and menacing voice "Let's get a closer look." Then Mando proceeded to dig the blad of his machete behind the man's eyes...and slowly cutting them out of his head, laughing like a man having the time of his life with every incision....

Mai brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. The air had gotten humid over the past hour she had been walking and it was starting to make her sweat. Mai shrugged her coat off reluctantly and flinched as the air hit her bare arms. Flare had walked ahead looking for danger. The dogs intelligance amazed Mai sometimes. She was starting to contemplate taking a break when Flare came running back. Her ears flat against her head and her eyes wide in fear. Mai stopped and waited for Flare to come back before taking off down the road. There was an old farm house that Mai had passed not long ago. Once she found it, she ran into the barn beside it, not wanting to risk running into the zombies that could possibly still live in the house. Mai and Flare hid behind a stack of moldy hay bales. Mai looked through a hole in the barn wall and saw them. A pack of about seven zombies were making their way down the road. Obviously they hadn't noticed Mai and Flare because they made no move towards the barn. Mai waited almost twenty minutes to make sure they were gone before she left the barn. Flare sniffed the air causiously and listened to make sure there were no signs of danger before stepping onto the road. Mai carried on down the road and this time, Flare stood as close as possible to her. Mai looked at the sky and started to get nervous about what she was going to do for the night. The possibility of running into one of those noctural zombies absolutely terrified Mai. She had gotten attacked by one of those before and had barely made it away with her life. Mai considered going back to the barn but she was determind to get to the next town. She continued on her journey.

Tsu had escaped, apparently she wasn't too deep into the desert and had gotten out after about an hour of running. She was investigating the small town around her. After about an hour of frisking the area, she found something in the wreckage that glimmered a bit, a bike.
She was content with its conditioning but as she started it noticed, no gas. She scoffed at the fact of the gas, she needed a faster way to move, she frisked about again, making sure to stay silent and unseen so she wasn't noticed by the walkers. Soon, she heard screams, and ran over to them, she was too late, the group of about eight walkers had overrun the poor soul and was tearing him apart, Tsukiko covered her mouth, it was a grotesque scene of the man still struggling to stay alive. Soon, he grew silent. At that point the walkers had turned and noticed Tsu, and Tsu noticed it as she drew her sword as the walkers charged, and she was almost overrun, she though got lucky with the walkers biting her loose clothing and she killed them all. She ran up looking at herself swearing that she had been injured, but got lucky. She smiled greatly at her sheer luck.she entered the house she had presumed the man ran out of to see some more useful items he had stockpiled. She had a messenger bag she had picked up a while back and put the items in it. And soon, found gas. It seemed that the man was going to leave with the gas he had there and Tsu quickly brought the bike over and barricaded the door for the time being. After she had done that she checked on the bike for any damage, none that seemed major, a few cuts in the tubing, she patched them up easily. She had found duct tape a bit after leaving the group she had met. Looking at the bike she nodded, it was hopefully able to run, she put in a gallon of gas and attempted to start the bike, and start it did. Tsu smiled and nodded before grabbing two bags and taped them together before taping them to the bike for more gas storage. She had straddled the bike and soon, drove off.

--About five hours Later--

Tsukiko had gone for quite some time, riding the bike she had found seemed fun to her, and she had monitored the gas level gauge the bike had. She had soon stopped by a barn that looked like it had been used within a few days. It soon came to her, survivors. She kept going down the road turning the headlight on

***Commonwealth Mayor's office***
Barnaby cringed as the man put an arm around him. Shuddering would have been his preferred method of expressing it, but this guy weighed so much he didn't think he'd even be able too. "Ok then sir..." Barnaby said sliding out of his grip and brushing himself off. "About looking the part. I look like I'm ready to get in, as you said, get in drunken fights and sleep in a gutter." He stood back, letting out a puff of smoke from the cigar and walking over to the balcony once more. He looked back at Stanley, waving his hand out to the balcony. "Please, if you would step out here." Stanley scowled before stepping out, Barnaby following him.

"As president, you want this city to run as strong as it can. Not just because it's strength grants strength to the other territories, but also!" He grinned looking at Stanley. "Also, it grants strength and wealth to you! Now of course why do I mention this? Simple, good sir." He leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking out and letting out a puff. "Morale is the most important part about this city staying strong. When it's people are happy, then they want to work, they want to improve things. Now I understand wanting an aesthetically pleasing office building, which yeah it could probably use some minute improvements. However, sir. These people, they live a hard life, some live in the gutter, some simple homes. The richest workers still are not what we'd call upper-class in the old ways of life."

"Get to the point, Mr. Turncoat." Stanley said, tapping his cane.

Barnaby looked at him, standing up off the railing. "For you, looking high-class as you do works, because you are the complete man in charge, and you deal with us mayors. So you need to look this way to let us know our place." He could see the nod from Stanley, Barnaby wanted to roll his eyes. "But for me, I need to look like the "drunken brawler." First off, it's what I wore surviving this whole mess we call the zeds. So it's very comfortable for me. But also, Mr. Mockerson, it let's these people know that they are being led by a man with experience in not only surviving, but climbing out of the hell-hole that was created. They want to follow me, not because I look powerful or ambitious, but because they know I've fought and survived the same and even worse conditions than how they live. And they respect that. They do what I ask because they trust me as well."

Walking back into the officer, Stanley following, Barnaby took another long drag of the cigar and let out the smoke. He then turned to face the president. "And any resources you are going to give me for improvement will go to improving their lives, not mine. And by doing so, it will not only make them happy, but it will also improve productivity because they are happy! Make sense?"

***Belial***

Belial stood nearby Scott's position. Currently the mutant was not wearing anything other than his pants, arms crossed as he listened to Scott speak to the men and women of the NDO army. Strong willed, determined, disciplined people; all fighting for the new cause. It really amused Belial, to think Scott had made it so far. Of course, it was because of the strong arms of operatives, especially Belial. He had no idea how many people he had killed by this point, and how many were dead because Scott needed cretins out of the way. He smiled, his sharp bottom canines still protruding from between his lips.

For a long time, Belial was Scott's secret weapon. Now though, he was Scott's terror weapon. To the majority of the world's population and people, he was a boogey man. None knew if he actually existed or not, but not the men in charge. To those of power, they knew of Belial's existence, and many had to sleep with one eye open less the mutant devour them. They never knew if they were Belial's next target.

To these soldiers, he still served a couple roles. Primarily, was something of inspiration, or at least an example to follow. In battles, Belial would join the fray and charge the enemy. Sometimes it helped the soldiers by distracting the enemy. At other times, the presence of the blood crazed berserker would even drive the soldiers into something of a similar blood frenzy. This ferocity was often enough to break the enemy, or at the least cause severe casualties. His other form of "inspiration" was the same as before. You turn from the NDO, you die. You run from our enemies, you die. Your life for the NDO, it was as simple as that.

Aarti looked at the girl in surprise, and then her surprise changed quickly into suspicion.
From what Aarti could see, the girl was alone, how did she manage that?
A group of three had a hard time getting by, surely a group of one would be even worse...
[i] The others might of died recently, [\i] Aarti thought, trying to make sense of it, [i] Or maybe they're somewhere else.. [\i] Those were both equally realistic possibilities, now Aarti just had to find out if she was right.

"Um... Hello." Leo said, Aarti was thankful for him breaking the silence.
Alex didn't say anything and Aarti guessed that he was deciding whether to play nice and find out who the girl was, or kill her on the spot.
Aarti hoped that he'd play nice.
However, when Alex reached for a pocket inside his jacket, Aarti knew immediately what he had chosen.

Before he could even had the gun in his hand, Aarti quickly stepped infront of him and put on her most convincing smile,
"Don't you dare." She whispered so softly it was difficult for Alex to hear.
Then, as if she hadn't spoken to Alex, Aarti spoke again,
"Hi there... It's not too often that we run into people who aren't trying to kill us, so it's nice to have things changed up a bit for once!"

Upon first awaking, Charlie had decided to head in the direction of his crashed helicopter. This would take him East, towards the minefield - towards home. After walking a short while, however, a thought had occurred to him - What the fuck am I going to do when I get to the minefield? Dance my way through? Smacking himself in the forehead for being so stupid, he had turned around and started the long walk towards Houston, towards the Commonwealth.

Even before the incident years ago, Charlie had never been a huge fan of Texas. He'd always try to live by the motto "To each their own," but something about Texans had always rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was their blatant intolerance of change and those different than themselves; maybe it was their gun crazed ways. Maybe it was simply that every Texan he'd encountered had been a drunken asshole looking for a fight. Whatever the case, he had never been a huge fan of Texans, but at this point, with the alternative being flesh craving maniacs and drugged out slavers, he decided to just deal with it.

His walk had been uneventful for the most part, aside from a couple infected here and there. These were quickly disposed of, and he continued on his way. A quick look towards the sky hastened his step, as he began to worry about the coming night. As luck would have it, he soon came across a small town. Most of the buildings were in total disrepair, and a few had fallen walls. But there was a small church that seemed to be in decent shape, and, at any rate, would provide a refuge from the elements, as well as any nasty creatures walking about.

The wooden door of the church groaned as Charlie walked through, shutting it behind him. His eyes immediately darted around for something to push in front of it, and he settled upon a sturdy looking table that held a dust filled donations bowl. After barricading the door, he headed towards the front of the pews. They were of an older style, with faded red coverings, and a brass trim. The feet of the pews with curved, giving them the appearance of talons. The seats were comfortable enough to sleep on, but the moment Charlie plopped down, a large cloud of dust filled the air, causing him to cough. With a sigh, he continued to the altar, looked around, and then threw his backpack in the corner.

He sat down, pulling a small bag of weed from his pocket, which he looked at with slight disgust. Damn, running low, he thought to himself. And just to think, at this point, he had figured to be at home, a nice glass of Jameson in his hand, maybe an old Kinks record playing. Instead, he sat in a run down church, alone and hunger growing, rolling a small joint. Plopping it between his lips, he lit it and took a deep drag.

It was gonna be a boring night.

Official Mod post signature


EVENT 1: The Battle of Nashville



The morning was crisp and clear on the day of the siege. Corporal Johann Schafer of the NDO Enforcer Cops was sitting amongst his squad, talking of the wives and girlfriends that had waiting for them back in their home countries. You see, Johann's squad was made up of soldiers who were all from Europe and not one of them had ever been to America before their deployment to assist against the revolution.

"These fucking 'revolutionaries' are nothing but a pain in the ass." Johann complained

"More like a bunch of dumbasses is more like it." Petr corrected as he looked out over the streets

"They are fighting for what they think is right." another soldier argued

"Yeah, and we are being fucked over into fighting it." Johann hissed

That's when the mortar hit, and Johann's squad was eradicated in an instant. The rebels began firing round after round of mortars onto NDO positions throughout the city. The Enforcers tried to escape, but it was of no use, the mortars hit too fast and too hard and almost a hundred men were killed in mere minutes. When the smoke was just settling the rebels started their attack, and the battle for Nashville was on...

Affects: The state of Tennessee is now a major war zone, both rebel and NDO presence had been increased in the state.
Also, some civilians are being forced to flee East towards the minefield, new camps are being sit up just on the border of East and West this will bring an increase of slaver activity going in and out of areas around the minefield such as Texas and the Canadian borders.

EVENT 2: Horde Movement



A Horde of about 200,000 zombies has been confirmed as moving from South Nevada, down towards Texas. It is possible they are following the trails of the increased slaver movement in the area.

EVENT 3: Propaganda!



The COF (Children of Our Fathers) resistance movement has begun hacking into multiple radio signals across the East United States, urging people to come fight for what they are calling "True Freedom". So far the hacking is stumping technicians at radio broadcast sites and it is predicted that they will continue to be at the mercy of the COF for at least another 48 hours.

Leon smiled as he got onto his motorbike, he looked around before driving off into the night. He got into the nightclub and smiled, the nightclub turned into a cyclone and swirled around. He gripped a pole and was soon pulled into the swirl. Leon looked around as he stood in a white room that was filled with light.
"Hello?" He called out.
He looked around until he saw a figure standing there.
"Oi Mate, can you help me out, I don't know whats happening and-"
The figure turned around and Leon fell to his knees.
"Liam?" He coughed out. He looked around as he was now surrounded by people. His mother, his father, Lilith and a few others. He looked at his brother as he started to ripple away.
"Noo!" He yelled.

"Hey, get up, there is a fire, something is wrong!" Lucas yelled.
Leon's eyes snapped open but his body wasn't as fast as his eyes as he struggled to get up. He finally managed to sit up he scratched his skin and his scar was standing out on the whole of him. He grabbed a random shirt and pulled it over his head, he slipped on his shoes as he was walking out the door and ran a hand through his hair before going past the mirror. He walked outside behind Lucas and sighed. He was kind of sick of these new zombies, it was way better when six years ago there was only one.... breed? He didn't know what to call it, they were mutations basically and Leon missed the days that the only thing that roamed where the normies.

As Lucas stood there, Zanetta ran off with Richard and Connor so fast, that he wasn't quick enough to volunteer.
"Whatever!" Lucas yelled at them as they left.
He turned around saw Leon standing behind him, "Sorry mate, Richard took care of it. We probably have to bold another one." He said as he sighed and walked back to his house.

Lucas saw that Jake was left behind when Zanetta left, "Come on, Jake!" Lucas was making his way back to the house as with Jake, he then turned around and said; "Are you coming?" He asked and continued walking. He saw little Alex through the window and started making faces and waved.

Lucas placed Jake's breakfast in his bowl, and then he went to his bathroom and began to have a shower.

((OOC: Sorry, my iPad made it post three times.))

**Theme for the moment**

Jinn watched the fight between Mando and Yinon with great interest. The Israeli was payed little attention for it was Ortega whom had been the one that the masked man had been interested in seeing fight once more. It was more than mere nostalgia that drew Jinn to wish to see Mando fight, his desire derived from a much more cerebral part of the mysterious man. Years had passed since Mando had been studying beneath Jinn. Such time could change a man for the better or worse, Jinn needed to be certain Mando was still the man he once was. It was for this reason alone that he had Yinon make the call to his old pupil. He was well aware Yinon's prickly personality would set off the unpredictable man. He needed only wait and watch the inevitable.

What he observed however was anything but the rebellious military man and dutiful pupil he once knew. Before him he saw a savage, glorious in his ferocity yet feral. Like a beast Mando hacked and slashed at his foe all the while taunting him relentlessly. No respect was shown to his adversary, none was warranted. Mando was merciless in his onslaught, the pure talent he displayed for brutality was on full display. Mando's style had mutated from the well timed and honed fighting man forged in the United States military. He had changed from the masterful combatant he had become under the tutelage of Jinn. No he was an entirely new breed of animal now.

As the blood of the Israeli wet the sands and Mando circled his pray, his machete in hand, Jinn was reminded of a scene he'd watch play out years ago. Jinn was in Africa working on destabilizing the government of a militarized zone and while out on the hunt for a general who had gone to ground he'd witnessed a solitary male lion. The beast looked hungry as if it hadn't eaten well in weeks. It's muscles appeared tired yet resilient. It's once kingly mane now was little more than patches of overgrown hair. It's entire body covered in scars and dried blood. Yet it was the beasts eyes that appeared in the fore front of Jinn's mind for he saw the same look in Mando's eyes now. The beast and the man had a crazed look to them, their mind fleeting leaving behind only feral savagery. Jinn remembered the look of the beast, eyes full of madness, it's jaws dripping frothy saliva. Sick with rabies the animal had wandered from it's pride and now found itself surrounded by a pack of ravenous hyenas. Instead of running for it's own survival or fighting carefully the beast was mad with a blood lust. It cared not for it's own safety but only to feed on the blood of whatever unfortunate creature ventured too close. Jinn remembered the lion, covered in gashes and bite marks as blood dripped from it's countless wounds fight on with a viciousness that gave the hyenas pause. The pack hounded the sick beast again and again, each time drawing more blood yet with each wave more hyenas fell to the mad beast. The lion lashed out with claws and teeth as Mando now lashed out with blade in hand. A roar in the throat of the beast, a curse in the throat of the man.

Jinn was unmoving as he watched the final moments of the duel, his hands holding his vest as his eyes followed the animal that now was his pupil finish the mercenary. He hacked off pieces of the man before setting to the nasty work of carving out the eyes of the man. The image of the lion being eaten alive as he continued to bite down on the throat of one final hyena flashed in Jinn's mind. Mando Ortega was not the man he once knew. That much was certain yet that didn't mean he was lost. On the contrary for...

"...even animals have their uses."

Jinn murmured under his breath, his voice so low none heard his words yet the sentiment rung truer than the clearest bell.

Another hour later, Mai came up to the ghost town that Charlie Poe had. The night was growing closer and Mai knew that this was her only chance to stop and bed down safetly for the night. She and Flare looked around at the houses, trying to decide what would make the best place to sleep. None of them looked all that safe. In fact they all looked like they would probably house an infected person. Mai moved on to the church and walked around the outide. She looked for any holes or cracks on the outside before contemplating the inside.

Flare got to the front of the church and barked. Mai nearly jumped at it. She instantly wipped out her knife and followed Flare to the front door. Flare fearlessly walked right inside, Mai followed close behind. Obviously there was no infected because Flare wasn't running away. Instead she looked almost eager to get inside. "Hello!" Mai called causiously. Flare barked rather loudly. "Shush Flare, they might hear you" she snapped at the Australian Shepherd. Flare barely gave her a glance, she was to busy smelling the fresh scent of another human. Mai followed her slowly, her knife clutched in her left hand and her lighter in the right one.

Soon she smelt the distinct smell of weed. Flare obviously had caught the scent as well because she cringed away. Mai felt fear rise in her chest. Her father had smoked weed a lot, usually right after he had finished taking all his pent up anger on Mai. She wanted to run out of that church right then and there, but it was clear now there was a person in the building and Mai hadn't seen another person in about six months and the suffocating loneliness had outweighed the fear of her past. Flare finally caught sight of Charlie and she padded over wagging her butt. "Flare! get back here" Mai squeaked.

(Sorry, I accidently clicked submit twice)