Silas John Barker's Story

Its dark and cold. Anastasia wants nothing more than to curl back up in to a ball and sleep some more. But there's no way she's falling back asleep until she's done the rounds. Her heart pounds in her head from exhaustion and a general lack of nourishment but she can't just slack of right now. She grabs her bow off the table of the abandoned building. She shouldees the quiver and readies an arrow. She moves quietly to each window fof the uppee level at first. Then slowly makes her way down to the lower one.

Anastasia doesn't exactly know what kind of building this once was. Its been sweeped clean except for a few tables and chairs. Perhaps it was a furniture outlet but theres no way to know for sure. All she knows is its got just the right amount of defense to keep her safe at night.

Her ears strain to hear even the tiniest of noises. She freezez when she gets to a bottom floor window and looks out. There's someone out there just out of her sight. Nothing suggests that this person is alive so she draws back the arrow and aims for a spot just beside the person. The arrow sails smoothly to its target, silently embedding itself in the ground in front of the shadowy silhouette.

Anastasia moves slightly out of view while readying another arrow. She shakes slightly as she pulls it tight and stares at the figure.

---

Silas stares at the picture clutched between his forefinger and thumb. Its old, worn and fraying at the edges but the yellowing signs of age haven't obscured very much. There's still that smile Silas longs to see each day - the picture is Elizabeth on the day they found out she was pregnant. It hurts to see her face and to know she isn't there beside him. It hurts to remember she's six feet deep and staying that way.

But Silas is glad she never became a Zombie. If she had....There would be no way Silas could let her go so easily.

He sets aside the picture and leans back against the tree he's tied himself in to. Its not the easiest way to catch some z's but its the only idea he's got being in this wide foresty area. How he got there he couldnt even say. Days out here seemed to melt into weeks and those in turn into months. Days bled together worse than a wound and everyday took the same amount of survival instinct. Maybe he could have caught more sleep - after all the day had begun not long ago. But then he heard something close by.

In fact, the shuffling came from the base of the tree he's in. And though he's fairly high he's surprised they hadn't noticed him up there. Silas unties himself silently and peers down at the people. He quirks a slight smile as he sees a teenage boy and a girl whose age could be debatable.

Though he's glad to see more human faces he takes precautions anyway. Then when he's prepared to grab a weapon if need be he whistles softly to announce his presence.

Charlie checked her watch, standing up. She didn't need to signal to Alex that it was time to go. Reluctantly, he stood up, dusting off his butt and putting his backpack back on. "We don't always have to be on the move you know," he said, looking at her. She gave him back a blank look, not reply, then looked at Scout so he would stand. As she was about to start walking away, she heard a whistle from above her.

Out of instinct, in about a second, she grabbed Alex's shoulders, pushing him behind her and against a tree, backing up to stand infront of him, and pulled out the glock, turning off the safety. Charlie pointed it up at the tree, but lowered it slightly when she saw who was up there. Since she had reacted so quickly, she hadn't had time to look before, but seeing it was a human was quite shocking. Lowering the gun more, Charlie's hand lightly starts to shake, and her concern goes from keeping her and her brother safe to seeing the human closer, touching him, seeing that he's actually real.

Alex pushed around from behind his sister, looking up at the man. "Woah!" He said, a smile forming on his lips, getting bigger and bigger. He grabbed his sisters hand, squeezing it. Someone else was alive. And they'd found them. He glanced up at the silent girl, to find her eyes welling with tears. It may have seemed ridiculous, but not seeing anyone for over a year had an effect on you.

Charlie wiped her eyes, looking up at the man, then down at the excited Alex. Scout was prancing around the both of them, obviously sensing their excitement. "You should come down!" Alex said, excited.

Silas became slightly nervous when the girl pulled the glock. Not to mention the dog he hadn't noticed seconds before. His fingers twitch towards his own desert eagle but the second the girl lowers her gun he relaxes. He notices that both of them seem to be shocked to see him. Admittedly he's also shocked to see they arnt a figment of his imagination.

"You should come down!" says the teenage boy. Silas considers for a silent moment before nodding and quickly slipping down the tree. He regards the two for a long moment. Suddenly he quirks a strange smile.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," he says. His hand smoothes back his blonde hair away from his face. "Don't worry I'm as real as you are." Though he isn't exactly sure how real they are. He looks down at the dog and smiles. Its been a long time since he's seen a domesticated dog instead of the usual feral beast. He holds out his hand to the dog.

"I'm Silas."

Charlie watched the man come down, taking him in for the first time. He looked civilized enough, although, anyone living would.

Alex looked the man up and down. He took the hand the man held out to the dog, grinning and shaking it happily. "I'm Alexander. Well, Alex for short." He said, giving the man a friendly smile, then looking at his sister, so she would introduce herself. But in the mean time, she had begun walking around the man, evaluating him like she had so many times. She paused after her second lap around him, standing infront of him, next to Alex. She nodded her head, turning on her heel to pick up the backpack she had dropped, putting it on her arm, then looking up at the sky. "It's getting dark," was all she said.

Her brother chuckled, dropping the mans hand as his sister turned back, her face telling him she wanted to get going. "That's my sister Charlie." He said, taking a step toward her like he was going to follow her, then turning back around to the man.

"Are you joining our survivor party?"

Katya gave a silent sigh as she stood pressed against the door, listening to the heavy footsteps on the floor below her. She’d been there since she woke up, only a half hour or so ago, trying to come up with the simplest way to get out of her situation. When Haus nudged her awake, the first thing she’d noted was the sounds of the ‘guests’ that joined her in the vacant office building as she slept. When she entered the building, she’d thoroughly checked the first two floors, unable to go any higher because of the stairs having collapsed. One of the doors on the lower level was hanging off of its hinges, but that was why she’d chosen a second-floor room with a working lock to sleep in. After not seeing any infected in the area, she assumed it would be a good enough place to hunker down and rest… and look where that landed her.

After a few more minutes, she finally decided on a plan. Carefully, she turned the lock and opened the door. The hallway was empty save for a desk that was once used to barricade a door, but now sat overturned across the middle of the hallway. Downstairs was last on Katya’s escape list; the less close-combat she had to get into, the better. Keeping her steps light and quick, she looked into each room as she walked by it. They all looked roughly the same; just old offices, some with desks and chairs still in them, some completely vacant, but all of them somehow had the window blocked, whether it was boarded shut, covered by a bookcase, or otherwise impassable.

The last room, however, was a godsend. It looked like it had been undergoing construction at one point, but now it was just a mess of caution tape and useless materials. A section of the wall was completely missing, and she could only imagine how that had happened. With a shrug to clear her thoughts, she walked forward into the room until she met the open space. As far as she could tell, there were no stray infected wandering the streets below. At the base of the building, overgrown bushes and foliage looked like it would make a decent, if uncomfortable, cushion at the base of the ten foot drop. It was the only real choice she had, anyways—trying to get out though the bottom floor would only end badly and she knew it. Sighing, she sat down at the edge, the broken bits of concrete making it less than comfortable, and tugged her bag off, dropping it and wincing at the ‘thud’ it made against the ground. Moments later she motioned Haus over, grabbing him and pulling him close before he could protest. “This is going to suck.” She muttered to herself before shifting off of the edge, moving herself so her companion wouldn’t take the brunt of the small fall.

---

It was hot. That was the only thing going through Ryan’s mind as he walked—he felt like he could pass out any moment. The fact that he was wearing a jacket and had been walking the same straight path for nearly four hours didn’t help his situation much. The map he’d taken from an old tourist trap only a day earlier had told him that the next decent sized town was twenty-two miles west, and so that’s the direction he’d been heading towards since then. All the houses he passed were either vacant or occupied by some undesirables, who he preferred not to tango with unless necessary. That said, it was an utterly boring hike. He didn’t expect to see any other living, breathing people, either—his last encounter had been less than two weeks ago, and the group was less than welcoming.

At the next steep hill he crossed, what he saw at the other side was a sight for sore eyes. Well, it would have been if his last run-in with people hadn’t gone so badly. About twenty yards down he could see several figures, all moving deliberately enough to be one-hundred percent living flesh and blood. Plus, the dog he saw next to them probably wouldn’t be hanging around if the figures were zombies. Without missing a beat, Ryan pulled his revolver from its holster and hauled ass behind a tree only a few feet away from him. It was thick enough for him to hide behind, and would provide good enough cover while he surveyed the far-off figures. He’d watch them, see if they seemed to pose a threat, and whether or not they were would guide his next actions.

After only a few seconds of studying, however, he began to relax his senses. One of them was a kid. They couldn’t be all that bad if there was a kid there, right? ”Sure, why not. Gonna pass out from exhaustion anyways, might as well have some people around to make sure I don’t get eaten.” Sliding the gun back into his holster, he came out from behind the trunk and resumed his trek along the road, not even trying to keep quiet—it would be better if they noticed him now rather than him accidentally surprising them.

Charlie watched Alex question the man, finding it useless. Either he was, or he wasn't, and if he wasn't, he was probably going to try to kill them. She sighed, the emotions still bubbly in her stomach. She took another step, reaching back to hand Alex the glock as he caught up to her, but stopping when she heard footsteps. She saw a man with a gun in his holster, and again, out of instinct, she pushed Alex behind her, bringing the glock up.

But he, like Silas, was not making any move to attack them, and wasn't trying to be hidden either. We just got insainly lucky, she thought to herself, or we're about to get killed.

Charlie lowered the gun, glancing at Alex who seemed just as confused as she was, then at Silas, before back at the new comer. As he came closer, and she got a better look at him, she realized he was quite handsome. And possibly trying to kill them, she reminded herself. He also looked quite a bit like one of her old best friends, but whether or not that was a good thing was debatable. "Hello?" She said, calling to him, anxious for his reply.

Anastasia jumps when a girl pokes her head through the window. Her hands shaking with the effort not to shoot the arrow into her head. The girl says something but Anastasia can't comprehend it until she's through the window and pushing Anastasia's bow down with more words and not particularly in that order either. Is this girl real? Anastasia doesn't know but she still grits her teeth to keep herself from tearing up. Wether or not she's real the fear is still there. She can't just trust this girl. Anastasia takes a few precautionary steps back and places the unused arrow back in the quiver. Then she loops the bow through a hook on her back pack.

She looks at the girl with eyes that show more fear than anything. Anastasia has been on her own for a long time. She isnt sure how people act anymore and if this girl is being nice as a ploy she'll probably flip an lid. But so far she hasn't done anything to suggest she's a bad person.

“My name is Allison” the girl says with emotion she cant quite understand. “And some friendly advice Hun, next time you want to shoot a deadly weapon, please make sure the person isn’t alive first. Though I do appreciate the fact it actually didn’t hit me!”

Anastasia frowns at the last sentance. She pushes strands of brunette hair from her forehead and shrugs her shoulders lightly. She looks back out the window to see the arrows shadow, its probably still intact but there's no way she's going out to get it. She only ever goes out for food or water if she runs low. She turns back to the girl and eyes her wearily. She barely feels herself taking the food or water from Allison.

"I never waste arrow," is her only answer to Allison. She had noticed the axe Allison carried but as she hadn't used it Anastasia felt fairly sure she wasn't a danger. Her guard did stay up though as she sunk to the ground. Her exhaustion is overwhelmind her by the second and all she really wants is a nice warm bed to sleep in.

"I'm..." Anastasia stops to think about the danger of giving her real name out. Really there was none but it still felt wrong to let anyone call her Anastasia. "Staysha," she decides at last on the nickname most of her friends would call her. And that's when the first tear slides from the corner of her eye. Thinking of old friends in addition to her mounting anxiety and exhaustion nearly had her sobbing. She swipes her hand across her eyes and laughs to cover up her anguish.

Anastasia climbs on unsteady legs and looks Allison in the eyes. If these were the old days a person could mistake her for being some kind of drug addict with the way she looked. She tears into the food as if she hasn't eaten in months. Though it has been a week since she's had anything in her stomach besides stale bread and packets of uncooked rice she scavenged from a corner store.




Silas nods and follows the two. He knows there isn't rrally explanation needed. He only hopes they don't end up being his death sentance....He catche's up to Charlie and pauses with his hand heading for a weappn. He examines the area before spotting a guy making a racket up ahead. He looks at the others and shrugs.

"The more the merrier. Saying of course he isn't a crazed lunatic." Silas says aloud to Charlie who seemed to take the initiative to engage the possibly crazed man and slowly starts to approach him with his hands raised. If the man attacked he could atleast take the first hit and let the others do what they will.

Ryan eyed the group carefully, paying special attention to the one that trained her gun on him- his only reaction was to raise his hands slightly in front of him to show that he wasn't going to try anything. He was hoping for a peaceful encounter, but if he did have to pull his own weapon... well, he didn't want to think about that possibility unless it became a reality. When the gun was lowered, he relaxed, giving them the best smile he could manage. First impressions never meant too much these days since people could easily put up a nice facade only to lose it soon after, but it definitely couldn't hurt to try.

"Hey, strangers." He greeted easily, stopping a couple yards away from them as to not infringe on any boundaries. He quickly looked over them now that he was closer and took in each of their features. A man whose age couldn't be far off from his own, the girl who still held the glock, an adolescent boy, and... the dog. A rather large one, at that. His eyes lingered on it for a moment, almost scrutinizing it before he made eye contact with the girl again. "I'm not looking for any trouble. Just en route to... somewhere." A lazy shrug accompanied his statement. He really wasn't completely sure where he was headed. He only knew that there was a town somewhere in this direction, and he'd been walking towards it for the better part of his day.

[size=80]Charlie shrugged Silias's words off. They may now be working together, but it would be a while until she took his word as a command. Holding the glock down, yet still ready, she watched the man stop a couple yards away. His hands were lifted, to show he wasn't making a move to attack them, but that wasn't what she cared about. She was paying attention to what he was doing. His eyes lingered on Scout, and an idea popped into her head. One that would show them if they could trust him, and if he could trust them.

She could feel Alex looking at her, so she glanced at him. He was grinning, a goofy, childish grin that showed her he trusted them. Which he did. Alex took a step closer to the new guy, but Charlie put her hand out, holding him back. She glanced down at Scout, who was already looking at her, ready for a command. "обоняние," Charlie said, Scout nodding his head, approaching the man. "You're gunna want to stay still," Alex said nicely, grinning to the man.

Scout went to the man, circling him once and sniffing him, before looking at Charlie. "Расслабьтесь. Хороший мальчик."

The dog let his ears go loose, starting to pant, and sitting down next to the man, looking friendlyly at him. Charlie looked at the sky again, sighing. It really was getting dark, no matter how hot it was outside. She assumed the man was joining their group. And by the looks of this forrest, they either needed to start moving, and fast, or they would be forced to sleep in the trees, which in reality wouldn't be that bad. She looked at the man again, the purple bags under his eyes big. He was obviously tired.

"We don't really have a destination. We just left a town from over there, it was empty of living, food and full of the undead." Alex said to the new guy, walking closer to him. "I'm Alex. That's our new friend Silas," he said, pointing to him, "and that's my big sis Charlie." He grinned, putting out his hand to shake. Behind him, Charlie watched their every move.