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Uninfected

Post Apocalyptic Earth

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a part of Uninfected, by mjolnir.

None

mjolnir holds sovereignty over Post Apocalyptic Earth, giving them the ability to make limited changes.

659 readers have been here.

Setting

Default Location for Uninfected
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Minimap

Post Apocalyptic Earth is a part of Uninfected.

11 Characters Here

Adam Lauren [10] [The Runner]
Sadie Rosette [10] [The Caring]
Beatrice Folley [10] {The Child}
Marianne Colleen [9] {The Mother Figure}
Jolene Carter [9] [ The Troublemaker ]
Mika Blackfoot [9] {The Healer}
Aru Fuujinn [9] {The silent one}
Thane Rutherford [8] {The Smartass}
Matthew Vernon [6] [The Apathetic]
Jed Carter [6] [ The Big Brother ]

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10 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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#, as written by mjolnir
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JED CARTER
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Intangibility & X-ray Vision
#837A23 | Outfit
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SALVATORE DE LUCA
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Superhuman Agility, Endurance & Strength
#678773 | Outfit
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JOLENE CARTER
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Ergokinesis & Telepathy
#72B0B4 | Outfit




PRE-INFECTION
The sound of the alarm blared in Jolene’s ear. She groaned as she slammed her hand all over her nightstand, missing the damned noise maker each time. After the seventh try she grabbed her spare pillow and pressed it around her head as she cocooned back under the blankets. She knew she had work soon or else the alarm wouldn’t be shouting its blood curdling wail right in her ear. But did she care about going to work? No.

Jed was already awake, dressed and nearly on his way out of the apartment when he heard the struggle with the clock going on down in his sister’s room. He sighed, setting his crossbow down on the couch before trudging down the hallway towards the bathroom. Before going straight to Jo, he bee lined for the medicine cabinet. He grabbed two pills from her prescribed pill bottle and a glass of water.

He then headed towards her bedroom, throwing the bedroom door open with a single good bump of his hip. “Get up you lazy ass.”

Jo groaned. “I can’t hear you… There’s an odd buzzing in my ear,” she said with dry sarcasm.

Jed rolled his eyes, before walking over to her nightstand, switching off the clock. “Get up before I get you up.”

She sighed, rolling over in her bed before sitting up. Her short dark hair standing up in every which way except for the right way. “Why do I have to?”

He took her hand, setting the pills into the palm before holding out the glass of water towards her. “Because you need to go make money.”

She blew air out her lips before taking her medicine. “I don’t see you going to work.”

“It’s Saturday. Shop’s closed.”

“I knew that.” Jo said while rubbing her eyes.

“Go to work Axe.” Jed walked towards her door, stopping just before he passed the threshold. “Shower first though. You smell worse than Ms. Bernice on litter box day.”

“Please. I don’t smell–” She turned her nose towards her armpit and took a big whiff. “Yeah, yeah, fine.”

Jed smirked before heading back towards the living room. He snatched up his crossbow and duffel bag full of all his hunting gear. “I’ll be with Wyatt. I should be back before you’re home from work but if I’m not I’ll be down by the crick.” He gave Jo a quick two finger salute before exiting their apartment and heading out to his old Ford pickup.

It took Jolene longer than it should to shuffle her butt into the shower, clean herself decently enough and then climb back out. She truly detested her job, and in a town like Mullen there wasn’t much in the offering of jobs. Getting ready and going to work was like pulling teeth. She wasn’t as lucky as Jed who had a good set of skills to get him a fairly decent job. No one in town wanted her working for them because of her “instability.”

Mr. Johnson knew her father and were really good friends long before Jed or Jolene were a sparkle in their parents’ eyes. It was probably only because of that that Jo was able to get a job at his hardware store. It wasn’t glamorous and didn’t pay very well. But it got her out of the house. Since she’s been there her conditions gotten better. Only on a couple occasions of customers knocking over the shovels has she had a serious melt down.

Maybe it wasn’t so much her job she hated but the looks she got from the people who came in there to shop. Her and Jed were definitely some of the more talked about it town. Probably why they both worked so hard to save money and get out of there. This is at least what she told herself everyday as she dragged herself through the ritual of getting ready.

Once she was groomed and decently enough dressed, Jolene headed out of her place and down the street towards the hardware store. It only took her a whopping two minutes to get to work and assume her post. Saturdays were particularly slow, so when no one was in the store Jo tended to read to pass the time. The poison of the day was The Iliad.

***

A few hours had passed since Jed and Wyatt got themselves deep in the woods around the outskirts of town. So far as the day had gone neither one of them had got anything. They spent most of their time bullshitting and smoking up half of their cigarettes.

Jed was about to suggest wrapping it up and calling it a day when they heard a rustle in the woods several feet away. Wyatt grinned, tapping his nose with his index finger. A silent gesture the pair made up years ago to call dibs on prey. Jed sighed, deciding to light another cigarette and lean back against an adjacent tree as his friend disappeared into the brush after the noise.

He quickly lost track of time at how long his friend had been gone… ten, fifteen minutes? At least enough time to make Jed start to worry. He didn’t want to make a bunch of noise and potentially scare off their only prey all day, so instead of calling out he held his crossbow at the ready and headed in the direction his friend disappeared in.

Jed quietly followed his friends trail. He wasn’t particularly worried until he saw Wyatt’s hunting knife laying on the ground, the blade covered in blood. Not wasting anymore time, Jed called out, “Wyatt!?”

His pace quickened as he continued to follow the trail of not one but two sets of foot prints now and blood. Jed cursed at himself for waiting too long before chasing after Wyatt. “Dammit man where are you?” he mumbled to himself before calling out once again, “Wyatt?!”

By the time Jed reached the creek the trail had disappeared and he was left just staring in all directions without a sign or clue. “Man if you’re pulling a prank on me I swear to God I’ll kick your mother fucking ass when I find you!” He shouted out towards the forest.

Not trying to let himself get too worried, he placed the strap of his crossbow over his head before deciding to head back to his truck. Although he was becoming more and more certain that this was just some shitty trick, he couldn’t help still look around, hoping to see Wyatt tucked behind a tree or something.

Jed’s pace slowed as his truck came into view along with a person seeming to be hidden behind the truck bed. “I see you ya fucking prick! Have fun walking your ass home!” He tossed his crossbow into the passenger seat of the truck. He sighed before walking around towards the back of the truck, “Dude stop with the damn games I’m tired of your sh—”

Jed nearly fell as he stumbled backwards at the sight of Wyatt on the ground soaked in his own blood. His throat looked like it had been torn open by some sort of wild animal, the wound too rigid to be created by a weapon. His hands were trembling as quickly fell to his knees beside his friend, pressing his hands to the gash in his throat. He tried with everything he had to stop the bleeding but deep down he knew it was too late.

Before he had a chance to even shed a tear a strange and inhuman snarl caught his attention. Just as he looked over his shoulder a blood covered man with flesh falling from his face sprinted out from the forest towards him. “Shit! Shit!” Jed didn’t have a chance to stand up before they reached him. He put up his hands to barely catch the person by their chest as they growled and reached for him vigorously. With a swift shove he threw them from him and scrambled to his feet.

“Hey man… You’re not in your right mind. Just… Just calm down. I can take you to the hospital, get you some help.” Jed said as he backed away, holding his hands up in a surrendering manner. But the person didn’t hesitate to get back up and dash towards him.

“Fuck.” Jed ran around his truck and hurdled over the truck. He quickly pivoted on his heels, reaching in through the open passenger side window to grab his crossbow. Just as he grasped the stock he felt a sharp pain flare in his right shoulder.

“Ahhh!” He glanced over to see the thing hungrily chomping at his deltoid. Jed threw his elbow back into its head before spinning around with weapon in hand. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger, lodging an arrow right through its eye. The… thing fell to the ground with a thud.

Jed leaned back against the passenger side door, his hands shaking more furiously than before as he tried to catch his breath. As he pealed back his torn shirt to look at the bite another snarl came from the woods. He tried to pull back the bow string to nock another arrow but the pain in his shoulder quickly flared up making it harder for him to exert any strength with his right arm.

Just he pulled out his hunting knife and turned towards the rustling branches, he saw Gunner Jackson sprint out of the woods towards him. “Jed! Run! They’re coming!”

His brows furrowed and just as he was about to ask what was coming, another crazed person busted out of the tree line behind Gunner, getting it clutches on him and digging its teeth deep into his neck. His blood curdling screams echoed through the forest. Jed prepared to take on another one of… Well whatever it was but it looked up and saw him standing there another five came barreling out after it, the growling sending the hair on the back of his neck straight up.

“Fuck this.” Jed quickly opened the passenger side door, climbing in and closing it as quickly as possible. Although it killed the bite in his shoulder he rolled up his window as fast as he could manage, getting it closed just as the first one slammed into the door. He slid down the bench seat while his hand trembled as it searched his pocket for the keys. Jed nearly dropped them on the floor when he found them and tried to stick them in the ignition. Without wasting a second he put the truck into drive and floored it, not giving two minds to the things he ran over as he sped out of there.

***

Jolene was nearly finished with her book by midday without a single customer stepping into the store. No surprise there but Mr. Johnson always wanted the store open in case anyone needed something. Not like they couldn’t call him up and ask him to open up. But Jo didn’t mind getting paid to sit around and do nothing.

So it was safe to say she was a bit surprised when she heard the bell ring indicating that someone had entered the store. The smell reached her nose before she had the chance to glance up. “Hello Ms. Bernice what is it this week?” Jo turned the page in her book, not caring to look up. “You know if you’d just call Mr. Johnson either him, his son or I could come over and take care of whatever is wrong. Then you wouldn’t have to keep coming in here every day.”

Ms. Bernice didn’t say anything, just snarled in a deep and quite frankly, disgusting way. “There is no need to get sassy with me ma’am. It is you who keeps spending all your money on the wrong things. I’m just trying to—” Jolene glanced up from her book, stopping mid-sentence as her jaw dropped. Whoever it was, it wasn’t Ms. Bernice. They stood there in the entrance just staring at her as blood and whatever else kind of excrement dripped from its mouth.

“Uh… Excuse me? Do you need help?” Jo set down her book and walked around the counter, heading towards the young woman. “I can call the Sheriff if you—” Then in the blink of an eye the estranged woman sprinted towards her. She didn’t have a clue what the woman was doing but she sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

Jolene ran down the aisle, grabbing on a shelf, using it to whip herself around and run down another. She kept swerve and zig zagging through the aisles but the strange woman wasn’t far behind. She turned down another aisle coming to the tool section. Jo grabbed the first thing her eyes locked out, a crowbar hanging on a peg hook. She gripped it in her hand like a baseball bat as she turned to face the woman.

“Don’t you come any closer!” Her hands shook so much she could barely grip the iron. Her breathing grew uneasy as she felt an attack creeping up her body and scratching at her brain. She had to keep it together. She can’t melt down now. “Leave now… And I won’t call the cops. Ok?” She pointed the hook of the crowbar at the woman.

But almost as if taking it as an invitation the oozing woman ran for her. When she got within round house range, Jolene slammed the crowbar into the stranger’s gut, sending her back into a shelf and knocking it over. She quickly backed up until she bumped into a shelf, her eyes fixed on the woman.

“Stay down.” Her hand fumbled around for her phone, but before she could get it out the woman was back on her feet and coming for her. Jo sprinted down the aisle, turning left at the first opening but then waited just out of site with the heavy iron still in hand. When she heard the woman nearly about to turn the corner, she swung the crowbar at her, this time slamming her right in the temple.

The woman stumbled over into another shelf, nearly knocking it over but then regained its footing and came at Jo. “What are you? The Terminator?” This time Jolene had no choice but to make her swing count, aiming the hooked end right at the side of her head. She lodged it in her brain which made the woman’s body go limp and fall to the ground, nearly taking Jo over with her.

Jolene’s began to hyperventilate as her shaking hands dislodged the crowbar from the lifeless skull. With jello knees, she made her way towards the entrance of the store, gripping the crowbar like she was in the major leagues. She looked out the window of the door seeing people running down the street screaming as more crazed people oozing and indestructible chased after them. She gasped quickly spinning around so her back was pressed to the wall beside the door, gripping tight to the shaft of the crowbar.

The bell to the entrance dinged and instincts kicked in. Jolene swung the crowbar at head level hoping to catch one as they entered. Jed’s hand barely was fast enough to catch the hook before it made a home in his face, “Jesus Jolene… Check before you try killin’ people.”

Her eyes widened when she saw her brother, “Jed… Oh my god this wo—”

Jed cut her off, grabbing her by the arm. “No time. We gotta go.” He let her take back the crowbar so he could hold his bow at the ready, wincing slightly as the butt pressed against his wounded shoulder.

“What happened?” Jo grabbed his good shoulder, turning him towards her.

“One of them bit me. I’ll be fine. Come on.” He motioned for her to followed as he ducked out of the store. He ran towards his truck looking down the sights, ready to shoot anything that came close to them.

They were nearly to the truck when Jolene saw at least a dozen of them running at them from an alleyway behind the truck. “Jed…”

“Run!” He called over his shoulder to her. She slid the crowbar through her belt loop before running as hard and fast as she could to the truck. Jed was in the driver’s seat and starting the engine as Jo reached the truck. She couldn’t risk running around to the passenger side and getting in, so instead she stepped up on the bumper of the truck and climbed into the bed.

Just as she was nearly in, one reached the back of the truck grabbing hold of her leg and sinking its teeth into her thigh. “Jed! Go!” She fell back into the bed, using her unharmed leg to kick it in the head so hard that their neck snapped and they collapsed to the ground as Jed sped away.

Jed quickly opened the window that lead to the bed of the truck. “Hey! Are you alright!?”

“That bitch bit me!” Jolene put pressure on the bite, wincing at how tender it already was.

“Jolene Axel are you ok?!” He asked again looking back at her.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” She looked towards him. “Jed look out!” Jo pointed forward where numerous cars sat unoccupied, half smoking in the middle of the road. Jed didn’t have time to react before the truck crashed into one of the idle cars. The airbag deployed against his face while Jolene was sent forward, slamming into the back window of the truck with a loud thud.

It took a few moments for Jed to shake off the effects of the airbag, the taste of iron spilling into his mouth from a bloody nose and split lip. He raised his hand to wipe away some of the blood before stumbling out of the truck. “Axe?... Jolene!?”

Jo was dazed, a gash in her forehead dripped blood down across her brow. “I’m ok…” She coughed.

“Come on.” He nearly pulled her from the back of the truck. Jed went to put her arm over his shoulders but winced when she touched his bite.

“I can walk.”

He didn’t have to look behind him to know they were coming. He could hear their growls and snarls. “We gotta go…” He looked around trying to find answers but was coming up short.

“This way, come on.” Jolene grabbed her crowbar and ran, slower than before, towards the police department on the corner.

“Jo?”

“Trust me.” Just as she nearly reached the door, a former cop came running out. Jo barely had enough time to slam the crowbar into its head, sending it to the ground. Once down, she continued to beat its skull until it was a pile of mush. She pushed her way into the police station. It didn’t look anyone had been in there since probably everyone in town started calling 911 about the lunatics running around.

Jed hurried her in, glancing back over his shoulder to see them closing in. “What now?”

Jo rubbed her temple, her brain was becoming fuzzy. She couldn’t tell if it was because an attack was creeping up on her or what. “I…”

“Jo…”

“Let me think.”

“Jolene!?”

They busted through the door, charging towards them. Jed, making a quick decision, pushed Jo towards and into the prison cell, quickly following after her. Once inside, he slammed in shut and stumbled back to be out of reach of the hands that reached through the bars towards them.

“Now what?” Jo looked towards her brother who doubled over and fell to his knees. “Jed!”

Jolene tried to move quickly to his side but ended up falling to her knees beside. She blinked her eyes as her vision started going black. “Jed…? J…ed…” Her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious beside her brother.


POST-INFECTION
Jed eyes slowly blinked as he became conscious. He rose a hand to rub his eyes, wincing when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He glanced over at it seeing it gnarled and torn but his brain started to hurt when he tried to remember how he got it. He looked around as he tried to get his bearings.

It didn’t take long for him to notice he was in a jail cell with the iron bars prominently keeping him locked where ever he is. He went to curse under his breath until he saw a woman unconscious on the ground beside him. His brows furrowed as he tried to recall if he knew her or not.

Just as he reached out his hand to try and wake her, she coughed before sitting up quickly, smacking away his hand. “Watch your paws buddy.”

“Sorry… I was just seeing if you were… Alive.”

“Why the hell wouldn’t I be?” Jo asked, shifting so that she was sitting up. The bite on her leg dragged on the ground causing her to curse, “Damn… What the hell?” She looked over the wound confused. “What happened to me?”

“I don’t know.” Jed shook his head. “…Who are you?”

“I’m…” Jolene’s face scrunched up as she tried to remember her name. “I don’t know. Who are you?”

Jed parted his lips to speak but found no words to say. He just sat there frozen for a long moment. Then an idea struck him. He searched his pockets until he found his wallet. He opened it and read over his I.D. “Jedidiah Carter.”

Jo’s hands patted all over her clothing finding no wallet and she definitely didn’t see a purse. Although something in her gut told her she never carried one of those stupid things anyways. She scratched at her neck when she felt a chain. Her fingers followed it to a pair of dog tags that rested against her chest. Her lips pursed as she read the name, “Jolene Carter.”

They both sat there staring at their single forms of identification and each other. Somehow they were related or something but yet their faces were new to one another.

Jo was the first to break the eye contact to look around. There were obvious signs of a struggle that went down outside the cell. There was blood dried on the iron bars and she thought she could see feet of a corpse over by the entrance but no sign of anyone else in there. She clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth as she stood up. “How d’ya think we’ll get out of here?” Her hand reached out to touch the iron bars, but when her skin met the metal a spark shot from her fingers causing her to jump slightly, rubbing her hands together. Hoping the static electricity was gone, she grabbed the bars, looking around outside the cell to see if there was anything of use.

Jed didn’t say anything as he moved to his feet but thought of how a key would be an obvious way out.

“Well do you have one on you?” Jolene asked.

“Have one what?”

“A key?” She looked over her shoulder at him like he was stupid. “You said it’d be the obvious way out so I assume you have one on you right?”

“I didn’t say that…”

“Yeah you did…”

Jed shook his head, waving off the weird situation as he walked towards the bars to look around. After a moment or two his eyes settled on a set of keys on top of a desk. “There.”

“Great. Now just shimmy through the bars and go get it.”

“You’re smaller than I am.”

Jolene sighed. She was able to get a leg through but once she got to her hips she couldn’t squeeze no matter how hard she tried. “Dammit.” She slammed her hands on the bars causing another spark which made her squeal slightly. “What the—”

Jed’s eyes widened slightly at the sparks that flew from her hands. But he pretended not to notice as he tried to think of a way to get the keys. He sighed and went to rest his forehead on the bar. But instead of being stopped by the cold metal, his head passed right through it causing him to stumble forward until his hands reached out to catch himself against the desk.

“What the— How’d you just do that?” Jolene pressed her forehead against the bars trying to follow after him, even giving a little less than gentle knocks of her head against them.

“I–I don’t know.” He held up his hands staring at them confused. He reached over and grabbed the keys, his hand tangibly grasping them. Maybe they were on some seriously good drug trip? He had no clue, but he didn’t stand around thinking on it and instead went to the cell and unlocked it.

Jolene grabbed the crossbow that was on the ground and held it out towards him, “Don’t forget your weapon Casper.”

Jed took the bow and headed towards the door, his pace slowing as he got sight of dead bodies scattered throughout the street. “…What happened?”

“Ummm…” Jolene looked between Jed and the wall he was staring at. On the wall was a cork board with bulletins. “Mrs. Nebraska is coming to Mullen for the county fair? Or Deputy Peterson got employee of the month?”

“What?... No. Out on the street?”

“I don’t know… I’d need to see it.” Jo watched Jed curiously because he was acting like he was a few French fries short of a happy meal. She didn’t hesitate to walk right out the entrance onto the sidewalk. She stopped dead in her tracks as her jaw dropped in complete shock.

Too surprised at her surroundings, Jolene didn’t see the estranged person that emerged from around the corner and sprinted towards her. Jed was just fast enough to pull out his hunting knife and slam it into the forehead of the person.

Jo turned around to make eye contact with them as they growled at her before collapsing to the ground. She gasped, stumbling backwards. “What the fuck was that?!”

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn
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ARU FUUJINN
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Erebokinesis & Advanced Hearing
#8E388E | Outfit
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MARIANNE COLLEEN

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Hydrokinesis & Hind Sight
#FF92BB | Outfit




Pre-Infection

Marianne was applying the last of her makeup when she heard the familiar rat-a-tat-a-tat that signified that Aru had arrived. Marianne smiled to herself. Aru really was like her son and she was happy that he included her in his life. He didn't have to come by here and have a meal with her. He was a sweet kid and there were times where she wondered if he came by out of pity or if he really saw her as a mother to. Regardless, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The blond set her make up down and hurried down the stairs of her quaint little home and opened the door for the teenager.

"Good morning Aru. You are here a bit early." she greeted as she stepped aside.

Aru gave her a small bow as he came into the house, his hood falling forward over his dark hair. "Morning Mom. Chichi and Haha are at work so I decided to come over here. I have so much homework!" he said as he showed her the books he had brought over from his house. I have calculus, anatomy, and English homework, but I do like anatomy best."

"Good! I suggest you do the stuff you don't like first. Then you'll get it out of the way and then you'll have anatomy as a treat to clear your head. Go sit at the table and spread out your stuff."

"Okay," he nodded as he hurried to the kitchen table to get himself situated.

Marianne watched the boy a moment, smiling and aching. She remembered when her son and Aru would sit at the table together and do homework or just talk. Their laugher had always brightened up her day. Marianne pushed her hair away from her face, various bracelets clinging against each other at the movement. She walked over to the table and ruffled Aru's hair, earning a 'hey!' for the trouble. "Did you already have breakfast?"

"Yeah. I am good."

Marianne went to her coffee maker then and started that up while she fussed to get some breakfast for herself. Ugh, she needed to go to the grocery store. She was running out of edible food. Unless she wanted to eat a block of cheese and creamer for breakfast lunch and dinner. She did have some eggs, so eggs it was! When her breakfast was ready, she sat at the table across from her Asian son as she liked to refer to him. She had her black mug of coffee in hand with a poorly crafted white cat and the scrawled words 'Number one Mom' on it that her son had made for her a while back. She sipped her coffee, more milk and creamer than coffee, in relative silence, not wanting to disrupt Aru's studies too much.

"Hey Aru, I am going to go into the garage to work on some cleaning. If you need me, call me, all right? And when you are done, we'll go shopping and maybe hang out somewhere."

"Sounds good," Aru answered with a smile. Aru watched Marianne head into the garage before he went back to his studies, pencil tapping on the notebook as he worked through the reduction assignment for Chemistry. He sang to himself as he worked on the problem. At least until something caught his attention. It had been distant at first but more and more a heavy breathing noise was interrupting his thoughts. He frowned and looked up and tilted his head to the side trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. And was that a growl? He got up from the table and headed outside as he searched for the noise. Had the neighbor's dog got all tangled up again? He went around the house towards the neighbor and the sound was getting louder. "Mr. Anderson? Fluffy?" As he reached the short fence, he rested his hands on the blunt tips and leaned over to see if the dog was stuck in the space between the fence and the dog house. His deep mocha colored eyes settled on the dog's leg kicking but it looked like only its hind legs were behind the dog house. Was the silly thing dreaming? He could hear the growls and he chuckled.

Aru pulled himself over the fence and moved to go around the dog house to wake up the dog but stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide. There was blood everywhere in the grass and painting the side of the dog house. Fluffy was lying in the grass giving soft whimpers as someone leaned over the dog. It was quite evident that the blood was the dog's blood and the person was eating out of its side. For a moment Aru was struck dumb. He'd never seen anything like this except in horror movies. His mind was blank and he didn't know what to do. His heart was hammering in his throat and he felt claws of fear crawling down his back. He took a shaky step back trying to be quite but as he tried to shuffle back, he kicked the chain that kept the dog in the yard. The growling stopped a moment as the bloodied human looked up and stared at Aru. In a second it started to growl as it came rushing towards Aru.

"AHH!" Aru cried and shuffled back before finally turning and running. He jumped over the gate but the creature was on his heels. He tried to run behind the house to get into Marianne's back door but skidded to a halt when another one of those things rounded the corner. The creature saw him and immediately ran towards him. Crap! LUKA!" he screamed as he tried to run back. He barreled over the first creature but the other one quickly caught up to him and grabbed at Aru's hood. Aru stumbled with the creature on top of him. He struggled but the thing bit down on his shoulder, earning another pained scream from Aru. Aru could hear screams from various places in the neighborhood and saw people and creature running. He rolled with the thing and managed to kick the one that tried to join the creature already at his shoulder. The biting one tried to claw at him but his jacket helped deflect the thing's claws.

Marianne didn't know what was going on outside her home as she organized some of the things she had in her boxes but she herd Aru scream her name. Marianne's blood ran cold when she heard that sound. She dropped her box, uncaring if its contents broke, and rushed up the stairs. She grabbed her Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mmout out of the drawer she kept it in and rushed into the kitchen. Aru wasn't there. "Aru! Where are you!?" she cried.

She heard a muffled cry and rushed outside and to the side of her house where she saw Aru struggling with two people. Marianne didn't even think twice. She aimed her gun and fired. She hit the first thing Aru was keeping at bay in the arm. It turned towards her and she fired another shot into it in the chest when it got closer to her. The creature flopped onto the ground and she ran to Aru then and kicked the second one until it let go of Aru and then she fire another shot into its head. "Aru! Are you okay?" she asked frantically and looked at the throbbing red bite on Aru's shoulder. Aru winced and shrugged away from her touch. It was obviously very tender. A sharp pain erupted in Marianne's ankle then and she cried out, stumbling and gripping Aru's arm. She looked down to see the creature she had shot in the chest growling and biting her ankle. She turned her gun and shot at it a two more times, one time getting it in the head. At that point the thing finally stopped moving.

"What the fuck are these things?!"

Marianne turned to see a couple more of the creatures running towards them. "RUN!" Marianne rushed Aru towards his parent's house where she knew they had a cellar. She was very happy that they had just recently invested in a bullet proof door for the cellar in exchange for the rotten wood one. The two of them rushed towards it and Aru yanked open the cellar door and hurried inside. Marianne heard the things right behind them. The two managed to get into the cellar and yanked the doors closed before the creatures got to them and used the interior lock and chain to bolt it. Aru lit the candles in the cellar as tears filled his eyes.

"W-What's happening? What about my parents?" he asked. He was beginning to sway back and forth. Was he passing out?

Marianne hurried over to him to catch him before he toppled over. "Everything is going to be okay. I am sure they are safe. We'll go look for them when whatever this is passes," she assured him. She was starting to feel woozy to. She held onto Aru but it wasn't long before the both of them fell to the ground and went unconscious.


Post-Infection

Marianne groaned as she slowly woke. Her head was pounding. She slowly sat up, her golden locks falling in her face. What the hell was going on? She looked down at herself and saw the various chains on her pants and the bracelets. She touched the feather tattoo bracelet around her writ and the scar that it covered and frowned. She couldn't remember getting that. Not the scar and not the ink, though it was pretty. Then she saw the words 'never look back' on her arm. Was she into tribal stuff or something? what else would describe the feather on her wrist? She heard a moan and looked over to see an Asian looking boy moving. She backed up a bit and watched as he woke. The boy blinked at her and rubbed his eyes. He looked young. "W-who are you?" she asked.

"Who am I? I... I am..." Aru frowned. He didn't know who he was. That was disconcerting. Aru patted himself down but he didn't have any ID on him. "I don't remember..." he answered with a frown. "Who are you?"

Marianne opened her mouth but she too stuttered. She patted herself down much the way Aru had and took out her wallet. A flash of... of something touched her mind but she couldn't quite grasp what it was. She took out her ID then and another flash and nothing. She traced the letters of her name. "Marianne Colleen," she answered then. Marianne. There was something about that name she didn't quite like but she couldn't remember what it was. "Do you remember what happened? Where we are?"

Aru just shook her head. Marianne sighed as she got up and stumbled a little. She looked down at the bite mark on her leg. Ugh. That wasn't fun. And it stung. She saw a gun then and picked it up. Another flash and this time she saw herself shoot at bloodied creatures and then the image was gone. "I think we were attacked. Stay close to me. Maybe we can figure out what is going on."

"Okay. Thank you." Aru got up and dusted himself off. He winced and looked at the bite on his shoulder. What attacked them? That looked like a human mouth. He looked up, his dark hair falling into his face. Marianne was already heading up to the cellar door. He pushed his hair away and hurried after her. He swallowed dryly, a bit nervous about getting out of what looked like relative safety considering they had been attacked.

Marianne unlocked the door as the image of her locking it came to mind, and very slowly opened it to peer outside. A blast of cold air reached them but nothing alarming just yet. Marianne got out of the cellar and helped Au up as well before she shielded her light blue eyes to scan the scene. There was blood on the street and covering some of the walls. It made her a little queasy. She didn't want to know where that came from and what caused it.

"Well fuck me..." she murmured.

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford
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MIKA BLACKFOOT
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Regeneration & Healing
#771100 | Outfit
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BEATRICE FOLLEY
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Sonic Scream & Push
#87758F | Outfit
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THANE RUTHERFORD
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Metal Manipulation & Sharp Shooting
#003366 | Outfit




PRE-INFECTION
Cough. Cough. Cough.

Mika winced as she tucked her grandmother into her bed and pressed a hand to her forehead again to check her temperature. The woman just kept getting warmer and warmer as if her skin would soon combust. She stayed next to the woman's bedside, humming her traditional Lakota lullabies until she fell asleep with ragged, unsteady breaths. With one last glance Mika slipped from the room and closed the door as quietly as possible. She trudged out to the living room and plopped down on the creaky couch with a groan.

Mika had been up for hours now, since the early morning. Sickness had hit her household like a brick. It started with her grandmother; the shaking and the coughing, followed by vomiting and sweating. The fever set in after that. Next after her was Mika's second oldest brother, the middle child of the Blackfoot troupe, yet the one who acted most like a baby. Then came her mother. All three were sicker than dogs and not much seemed to be aiding them.

The creaking floorboards behind her made her turn her head to see her father and brother coming out from their own check ups with their assigned sick person. Mika's father chose the reclining chair as his refuge while her eldest brother, North, flopped down beside her and stretched out, throwing his legs over her lap. Her face crinkled in disgust.

"You know your feet smell worse than a dead raccoon that's been swimming in the dump for a few days." Mika waved a hand in front of her face as if to dispel the smell, but didn't bother moving his legs. She placed her hands on her brother's scrawny shins and looked at the two tired men. "They doing any better? Gram isn't looking so good and the sage incense is only making her cough more."

Mika watched her father's exhausted face crumple in a frown. He almost looked worse then when he's been drinking; eyes all veiny with dark circles underneath and a kind of sickly looking complexion. "Your mother's been coughing up some weird shit. All kinds of colours, you would think she swallowed a fuckin' rainbow." He grumbled.

North ran a hand through his long black hair and sighed. "Jay ain't lookin' that great either. Not even a Tylenol has helped fight whatever's going on. Plus he started groaning and saying crazy shit. Seems possessed or something." Mika sighed and rest her head back and closed her eyes. "Maybe we should run into town? Try some other medications? Maybe get an actual Doctor?" She asked.

Mika's father looked as if she had just told him the white folks had come to plunder their land and pillage their belongings for the second time in history. His leathery brown skin crinkled in disgust. "We Blackfoot people don't use the weird chemical shit the townies use. We stick to our traditional ways Mika, you know this. How many times must I tell you-" His rant was cut short by an episode of coughing. He looked like he was about to vomit. Mika and North both hopped up into action as if they had done this a million times. North ran and got the bucket while Mika tilted her father forward and patted his back. When he finished he leaned back and waved her hands away. "I'm fine. I'm fine." Mika frowned and touched his forehead, only to gasp and pull her hand away. "You aren't okay Dad. You have a fever too. Damn it all." She leaned down and flicked the lever that reclined the chair so her father was laying back. She threw a knitted blanket over top of him and walked to the door.

"Where you think your going?" Asked North. Mika rolled her eyes as she shoved her black hiking boots on. "To get modern medicine that may actually work." She grabbed the keys to their pickup truck and checked to make sure her plaid shirt was buttoned right. "Wait. I'll come too. I'm no help here, but at least I can grab us some more ammo for the rifles. We're running low on bullets and meat so I may as well get some now."

Mika sighed and looked at her father who just waved her off as if it was okay. He knew she was stubborn and would go anyways, better she have her brother with her too. "Fine." She groaned and head out. Her brother climbed into the passenger seat after throwing their hunting rifle in the back. She turned on the car and started the ride into town. "Don't forget to put on your seatbelt." She teased, knowing he had a knack for riding without one. He just cackled and began to entertain himself with the radio.

North, the annoying big brother he was, began to flick through all the radio stations just as he knew she hated it. "Would you just pick one!?" She laughed and shoved his hands. Her older brother always had a way of making her smile, even when he was trying to be obnoxious. North laughed back and stopped on a station that stated there was some urgent news.

"-Goverment officials have stated a nation wide emergency as the new critically acclaimed 'super vaccine' seems to have caused various side effects like fevers, vomiting and even signs of mental instability. If you see any cases of this please contact-" The radio suddenly burst into static. North turned it down and looked at the road in confusion. Mika looked back and forth between the radio and the road through her rainy windshield, keeping them on the road.

"What the hell do you think that was all about?" Mika asked curiously and looked over at him.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with th- WATCH OUT!" North yelled as he suddenly spotted something on the road. Mika looked over just in time to see a person shuffling across the road in the rain. She screamed and turned the wheel as fast as possible. The truck veered to the right and flew right off the shoulder of the road.

Everything went black.

Mika woke again with her ears ringing and head pounding. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes in confusion. The scene laid before her was like a nightmare. Their truck was rammed into the front of a tree, the metal warping around the wood with smoke curling from the engine. Through the front shattered glass of the windshield lay North across the hood of the car, covered in glass and blood. To the side of him was what looked like to be a human, but instead of helping North he was eating him, ripping flesh from his body.

Mika didn't have enough time to scream because before she knew it, her own arm was grabbed by another human looking thing that's had climbed into her side window and was biting into her own flesh. A half sob half scream tore from her throat and it was too late by the time she grabbed the machete and smashed it into the things skull, it had already taken another bite. Mika grabbed onto the wounds and sobbed. She was losing a lot of blood... Slowly her vision started to go black... The noises went away... The smell was gone.

And Mika's consciousness was also gone.


POST INFECTION
Mika woke up feeling better than she had in a very long time. At least, she thought so? She couldn't quite remember the last time she felt anything. She couldn't quite remember anything at all.

Her dark eyes creeped open and she was left in the midst of a very odd situation. "What the fuck...?" She mumbled as she took everything in. She was in a truck that was rammed up against a tree that was pouring smoke from the engine. There was blood everywhere. The passenger seat was covered as was the hood of the truck and from what she could see, a trail of the same blood went off in a trail to the forest. Mika rubbed her eyes hoping this was all a dream and she would wake up and know where she was, but when her eyes opened again she was staring at the same weird shit.

Mika looked around for some sign that would remind her of what happened but there was nothing. When her eyes met the drivers mirror she froze in shock. Not only because she was covered in blood but because she didn't recognize the person who stared back at her. Mika took a deep breath and tried to focus.

"Don't freak out." She repeated in her head multiple times before she gained to courage to shove the door open and look down to see a dead body laying there with a machete sticking out of it head. "Holy hell..."

Mika jumped out and nervously walked around the dead body. Some sort of instinct in her made her reach out and grab the machete from the skull. The weapon felt familiar in her hand which gave her a bit of relief considering nothing else felt right. She scanned the area and then looked into the back of the trucks bed where she found herself a nice rifle. She felt like she would be needing that too. After stringing it over her body she carefully headed back towards the road to figure out what the hell had happened.

-x-x-x-

PRE-INFECTION
Like any average child, Beatrice Folley was at school when it all happened. She woke up, had breakfast with her parents, got ready for school and head out on the bus. First was the morning assembly and then she went to class to learn things she already knew. Beatrice, also known as Bee by just about everyone, was smarter than your average eleven year old. She could have easily skipped a grade, but she knew she would have to leave her friends and she didn't want that. Her best friend, Lydia, hadn't shown up that day. That was the first thing that should have told Bee something was wrong. Lydia always came to class.

School was boring as always and Bee finished her work sheets fast so she could go curl up with a story book in one of the beanbag chairs her class had. There wasn't a lot of kids in her class and the teacher knew her, so she could get away with reading while others worked. Today her teacher was acting rather odd though. She was shakier and looked nervous for some reason. When Bee asked, her teacher had just said she had a cold. Of course, adults always lied. Bee could tell she had because when she had gone to the bathroom after that she had heard the staff whispering about some weird people who were running around eating other people.

Recess was kept inside for the children's safety. No one else knew about the crazy people running around and Bee supposed thats how it was supposed to be, so she stayed quiet. It was after lunch and recess that parents swung by to pick up their children early from school. Soon enough more than half the population of the school was gone and the others that were left were all shoved on a bus to get dropped off at their homes; school shutting down early.

Bee sat in her seat against the window and looked out at the streets. Most of everything seemed normal, but it was the little things that confused Bee. Cars were missing from their driveways, house doors were left open, things were scattered about as if people had been in a rush. Her neighbourhood was always peaceful, especially since it was close to the police station, so this seemed a little odd to her.

"Beatrice dear, its your stop."

Bee looked out from the window to the front of the bus. She hadn't realized that the driver had pulled straight up to her home. She grabbed her yellow bag, hopped up and ran down the aisle to the front. The lady sitting there was the same bus driver as always; Cathy the sweet black woman who always sang and gave them snacks. She gave Bee a big smile and patted her shoulder. "Go right into your house, okay? Find your parents. No dawdling." Cathy smiled harder. Despite the smile, Bee could see that she was uncomfortable and nervous from the way her hands clenched the steering wheel and her eye twitched.

"Okay." She nodded and hopped out of the bus when the door opened. Bee did as she was told and ran right to her front door and opened it, walking in. The house was quiet, and Bee didn't bother taking off her backpack, coat or shoes as she walked into the livingroom in search of her stay at home mom. "Mom? Mommy?" She called and looked around as she walked into the dining room. There was a map of the county on the table and things scribbled on papers in messy cursive writing. She didn't bother looking because at that moment someone grabbed her from behind. Bee screamed and turned around, only to see her father there with a worried look on his face. "Oh... Daddy. Its you. Where's Mom?"

Bee's father flinched at the mention of his wife and shook his head. "Bee honey, theres some weird stuff happening right now. I don't want you to be afraid, okay? I just need you to do me a favour." Bee blinked in confusion but nodded. "Okay, what?" Her father grabbed Bee's shoulders and leaned down to her height. "I need you to go hide. Like we are playing hide and seek. You go hide and don't come out until Daddy calls you, alright?" Bee furrowed her brows and looked at her fathers worried face. He looked like he was going to cry. "But why-?" Her father shook his head and pushed her towards the stairs. "No questions, just go honey."

Bee frowned as she ran up the stairs and into her bedroom. It was bright yellow and blue and covered in all things a little girl should have. She was wondering where to hide when a crash came from downstairs, followed by yelling. Bee's eyes widened in fright and she quickly crawled under her bed to hide.

POST INFECTION
Beatrice didn't know how long she had been laying there when she heard shuffling come up the stairs. She had wanted to crawl out of her spot, but she knew her father would be mad because he hadn't told her to come out yet. Instead, she lay there and listened. The footsteps staggered about the bedroom beside hers and then the hallway before coming into her room. Bee couldn't get a good look, but from her spot the person in her room was not her father. From the looks of it, it was a woman. She had a ankle tattoo of a dolphin, one Bee swore she had seen on her neighbour before. Just as Bee was about to call out to her, blood began to drip on Bee's white carpet. A lot of blood.

Bee's eyes widened and she curled up in a ball and covered her mouth with her hands. She prayed for someone to come and help her. Bee closed her eyes tight and tried to stay quiet.

"Someone please help me... Mommy... Daddy?"


-x-x-x-


PRE-INFECTION
Thane yawned for the fifth time within that hour. It wasn’t his fault, driving back from the less entertaining country side to his home in the city wasn’t exactly a pastime of his. There wasn’t anything to look at unless you were into fatass cows, signs for nascar and the occasional stereotypical beat up old truck that tried to race past his Audi. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget all the corn, corn and oh yeah, corn. The first guy who had tried had a whole deer strapped to the top of his truck that was plastered in mud and John Deere stickers. And as if that wasn’t enough he had the oh-so-amazing ball sack hanging from the hitch off the bumper of his rust bucket. How hick could you get? He just had to suffer a few more hours in the car and then he would be back in his penthouse suite where nothing smelt like hay, motor oil, manure and incest.

Thane flicked on the radio. Johnny Cash. Brilliant. It seemed every time he clicked to a new station it went from Southern, to Hick to fucking Deliverance. He made a mental note to plow over anyone that shows up with a banjo. He had no plan to squeal like a pig. Not today. His mind was so focused on mutant incest and terrifying banjos that he almost missed a sign he drove past that greeted “Now entering Mullen, Hooker County, Nebraska. Population 508.” He tried to hold himself back, but couldn’t help laughing like a child at “Hooker County”. He couldn’t decide what was worse a Hooker County or the fact that he had more kids in his High School graduating class than this entire fucking town. The country side was really ridiculous. Even more so ridiculous was the damn radio stations. Songs about guys and trucks, guys and their dogs, guys and accidentally making out with their cousins. He turned his ipod on instead and ignored the terrible country songs.

The ride was smooth sailing for a while until his check engine light flashed on. Thane, being the idiot he was, decided to ignore it, thinking his Audi would be fine for a few more hours and then he would get it sent in for a clean and repair when he was back. Of course this didn’t happen though. His car made it a few more miles before sputtering and dying out in the middle of the road by the edge of town. Thane, not amused at all, climbed out of his car, giving it death glares and a couple swift kicks to the tires.

“Stupid piece of shit. How dare you die on me? Fuckin’ stupid car… I thought we were friends. Just for that I’m not buying you the new leather seats I was looking at.” He growled sarcastically and looked at the sleek black Audi that he had bought rather recently with his endless amounts of money. Perks of being a city business men with a rich father.

Thane slid on his sun glasses that cost nearly as much as his car that was doing nothing more than decorating the side of the state route. He glared at the town close by. He knew he would have to go see a mechanic there who probably was as dumb as sticks and didn’t even know what an import is. Thane was willing to bet money that whatever grease bucket scratched at his balls in Hooker County probably hadn’t seen a car from the new millennium. He looked down at his shoes and sighed. “What a shame. They were designer and now I have to walk through hick town dust.” He crinkled his nose in disgust and began to walk to the town. Oddly enough there wasn't many people around, then again… it was a very small town. Thane just wasn’t used to the lack of people, coming from the bustling city and all.

Soon enough Thane found himself at a nasty mechanic’s shop. Sure there was a closed sign half-ass-tacked to the door but he didn’t give two shits. Especially considering the garage was open. He could give the inbred hick an extra Benjamin, probably more than he makes in a month. It looked like a hurricane had ran through it. There was shit everywhere. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought there had been a struggle or this dude was the worst fucking mechanic ever. Not like Thane knew anything about cars aside from how to start it and where the gas pedal was. He looked around and knocked on one of the cars inside.

“Aye, anyone in here? I’d like to get my car and myself out of this town as soon as possible. It smells like beer, piss and homeless people.” He scoffed and looked around. No one seemed to be around. This didn’t stop Thane from walking inside more. He paused when he heard a low growling noise and against his better judgement, he began to follow after it. He found himself turning the corner to an office, only to recoil at the stench and scene in front of him. “What the fuck!?” He yelled as he watched a larger man eat a skinnier girl beneath him, and not even in a fun way. His teeth tore into her stomach, ripping her intestines out with each bite. He had known country people were fucked, but since when was cannibalism a trend? He felt like he had just stepped into The Hills Have Eyes. The fatty even looked deformed like those desert freaks.

The yell of surprise from Thane had gotten the man’s attention. He looked over, blood and flesh of the girl below him covered his face and fell from between his snaggle tooth. His eyes looked deranged and he growled from deep in his throat. Thane backed up. “Hey, I wasn’t going to jump in, I prefer prettier, less dead girls… One’s with all their bits and pieces.” That didn’t seem to matter to the man, because he jumped up and lunged at Thane. He was lucky he had fast reflexes and grabbed the closest thing to him, a bat, and smashed it against the man’s skull. The oil and blood covered mechanic fell to the ground, growling more quietly. Thane looked at the bat in astonishment, “Damn bat. You made him eat shit. We can be friends.” He muttered to himself and then looked down at the man who grabbed onto his leg.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Thane hissed and slammed the bat down onto the man’s head again, knocking him out. Self-defense, right? He oddly didn’t feel so bad about slamming cold metal into the skull of a man who had decided to take the term ‘eating a girl out’ to the next level. Thane, knowing he wasn’t going to be getting his car fixed anytime soon, walked outside again and looked around. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed the local police station, but got no answer. He would just have to walk there and report it. Thane, not knowing the town so well, ended up walking around in confusion, bloody bat resting on his shoulder. There’s no doubt he probably looked like some American Psycho fuck. He didn’t know why he had kept it, but he felt comfortable on his shoulder.

A bus that had crashed into a house was what made Thane stop. “What the fuck is going on here? Where are the cops? Is this normal here or something?” He asked to himself. “Come to Hooker County… And there are no fucking Hooker’s just cannibals and people who seriously need their license revoked.” He walked forward to see if everyone inside was okay. They were kids after all. He didn’t have a great conscience, but he still had one. He was stopped when a small girl slid out from the bus and began stumbling towards him. At least one was alive.

Thane walked closer. “Aye brat, where’s your family? What the hell happened?” He asked as he got closer. “Alright that’s close enough. This suit cost more than… Well anything in this town.” The little girl stumbled forwards slowly before her head snapped up at Thane and she lunged. He yelled, a manly yell of course, but a yell nonetheless. The little girls face had a large slash across her left cheek, exposing the bone of her cheek and poured blood everywhere. Obviously she didn’t seem to care about the pain, as she jumped at Thane, grabbed onto his leg and bit into his ankle, taking quite a big chunk of flesh along with her. Thane instantly kicked her back off of him with wide eyes. “Devil child!” He yelled and tried to cover his wound with his hand, but the little girl was trying to come at him again. He couldn’t bring it in himself to hit the girl with the bat, so he turned and ran as best as he could with a bleeding ankle. He was lucky the little minnie bitch didn’t get his Achilles tendon or he’d be fucked. The girl followed but Thane was lucky to have long legs that carried him further.

Thane quickly found refuge in the closest place he could find; a small drug store. He locked the door behind him and limped behind the counter. Luckily no one was there. He slid down onto the ground and set the bat beside him, hissing in pain at his bleeding ankle. “Fuckin’ cannibal hicks.” He took his time to check it and wince at the nasty wound. “Fuckin’ demon child.” He had to clean it and cover it or get to a hospital. It never happened though, because before long Thane felt hot and woozy, and could barely keep himself sitting up. Soon enough his consciousness diminished and he slumped against the counter, out like a light.

POST INFECTION
Thane groaned as he woke up. He felt like shit and his ankle was on fire. The first thing he thought when he opened his eyes was, “Where the fuck am I?” He had no idea how he had ended up laying in the middle of a drug store. Had he been partying to hard and ended up here? Where was he? He tried to scratch at the recesses of his mind. “What the fuck did I get myself into last night?” What had he done last night? But it seemed the harder he strained he gave himself a headache. It was like grasping at straws.

With every try he seemed to just get more questions. It felt like all his memories were slipping away as he tried to recall them. He tried to grab a hold of anything. His job? No. Where he lived? No. His name… Easy. He was… His brows furrowed with frustration. “Seriously!? Not even my name!” Thane slammed his hand against the counter before he looked around for any sort of clue. With a spark of an idea he patted down his own body to see what he could find. Just a cellphone, a pen and some credit cards. He felt something tingling on his chest and looked down to see a set of dog tags laying there against his skin. He picked up the tags and looked at them. For some reason the metal tingled against his skin.

“Thane Rutherford.” He murmured. “What kind of name is that!?” The tags also went on to say he was in his late twenties, he was an Atheist and was blood type B negative. That was the extent to what he now knew about himself. Other than his ankle was killing him. He looked down to see the bleeding wound and winced. How the hell had he gotten that? He would find it out eventually, he was sure. But for now he had to bandage himself up before he got infected and had worse problems than his current identity crisis.

Since he was in a drug store, he found the supplies fairly easily. He cursed rather loudly as he disinfected it with alcohol and proceeded to wrap his ankle in bandages. He also took it upon himself to pop a few good pain killers he found. No one was around to care it seemed.

After a few minutes of contemplating what to do in his amnesia’d state, Thane decided it would be best to go ask someone what was going on or if they somehow knew him. Instinctively he grabbed onto the bat that he found beside him and used it as a slight cane as he limped to the entrance of the store. He caught a look of himself in the window of the pharmacy and smirked. “Well at least I’m handsome.” He smirked and then shoved the door open to walk out into the new world.

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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MATTHEW VERNON
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Telekinesis & Binding
#d48848 | Outfit
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ADAM LAUREN
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Pain Suppression & Empathy
#967575 | Outfit
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SADIE ROSETTE
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Mimicry & Camouflage
#319345 | Outfit





Pre-Infection


The rust bucket sputters to a stop just as he pulls into the parking lot. Promoting a quick string of curses followed by the rapid banging of his hand against the wheel. Thanking the car gods ‘or whatever’ that he didn’t die on the road. Adam gets out and tries his best on foot to get the car pushed into a parking spot. He’s crooked as hell, taking up at least a quarter of the parking space to his left as well, but that isn’t his problem.

Adam slams the door, it won’t close otherwise and heads towards apartment 2C. He tries to ignore the sweat at his temples, more from nerves than any heat, and winces at the throb of dull pain in his feet. He’s been on the road for too damn long. But when he knocks on the door all he can really think is about how he’s going to manage a conversation.

It’s been at least a year and a half since he last saw her but Sadie looks the same as ever. He’s known her since he was fifteen years old and hooked on poppers, too out of his mind to consider her helpful – but she was. She’s shocked, to say the least, a distantly pleased smile lighting up her face.

“Now that’s a face I haven’t seen yet,” Her lips part on a laugh. Adam realizes belatedly she’s talking about the fuzzy scruff that’s taken up residence on his face. He hadn’t even thought about cleaning up and recognizes what he must look like. She doesn’t look like she’s assuming anything, not that he would blame her.

“Come on in,” She opens the door wider, waits for him to step over the threshold before shutting it again.

Adam shrugs his shoes off when he sees a pile formed by the door, he can’t be too embarrassed about his holey socks when the rest of him is in a pretty similar state of disrepair. Sadie leads the way, comfortable already in an outfit that screams ‘I blur the lines between work and home.’ Typical of her.

“Go on and sit,” She motions towards a small square of a table in the center of the kitchen. She’s lucky enough to have a rather large apartment. It’s almost more of a townhome. “You know, I almost didn’t believe it when you called,” She spoke lightly. Tip-toeing across the reason why she couldn’t believe it. Adam understood just as well.

“So, to what do I owe this visit, I’m not exactly in business anymore.” She’s on the verge of putting her two weeks in really, but Adam wouldn’t care about that.

She busies herself with the coffee maker. Adam chews his bottom lip, perceivably swallowing. The truth is he had no actual reason, his road trip was meant to get him out of his parents’ house and ‘find’ himself or whatever that meant. A selfish gamble at self-control more like. He had only put Mullen on the list of stops because of Sadie because he needed to thank her for all she did.

The disquieting way in which his life had suddenly turned from bad to good left impressions of a coming storm. And, to be quite honest he’d rather have a dozen bridges at his back than a bunch of burnt husks of wood. He takes small victory in the fact that he can make peace and leave after this, back on the road to god knows where.

“Nothing business related, I guess you could say nostalgia,” He smiled at that, “I’m on one of those soul seeking journeys.” While her back is turned to him she rolls her eyes, watching the carafe fill to a satisfactory level. It takes a few minutes before she pours two mugs full. “Soul seeking huh?” She smiles into her mug, one delicate eyebrow raised. Adam sighs and rolls his shoulders, he is thankful for the warmth of the mug in his cupped hands.

“I mean it’s not a bad thing, but is it wise to be going far from home?” Concern furrows in her brow. No, it really isn’t[i], but something about the way she phrases it sparks the memories of an adolescent punk in him. He doesn’t trust himself with this either but it would be nice if somebody else did.

“It’s not my smartest decision,” He agrees, “but I never claimed to be smart.” He sighs, sips the coffee and tries to ignore the bitter bite of it. “You helped me out a lot, I mean, I know I didn’t act like it at the time,” He had been a gigantic asshole to her really, especially when she started telling him the truth of his situation. “I guess you can say this is like one of those 12-step things, except I’m just following my gut.”

Sadie ponders for a moment, then nods, slowly. “I think it’s brave of you,” She notes, but then frowns. “But I also think that it’s incredibly stupid.” He winces a bit. “You should be home, soul seeking where people can help you.” She had always stressed the important of family and having a network to stand with. Isolation never helped. “But, that being said I won’t [i]tell
you to go home.” She’s standing now.

“Thank you,” He didn’t know what else to say. He had actually planned on her being more or less supportive, not this middle ground no man’s land. He watches her cross to the window across the way. She’s frowning, pulling back the curtains. But it’s in the tense way she stands and the hard set to her shoulders that alerts him that something might be wrong. For a few silent moments, he wonders what changed in the span of a few seconds. Sadie curses under her breath.

“Adam toss me the phone,” She motions to the wall, but doesn’t break eye contact with the window. He almost makes a joke about the landline but figured it wouldn’t be appreciated. The second it’s in her hands she starts dialing at a frantic pace. He finally catches sight of what she’s looking at, over her shoulder. It looks like someone fighting on the back lawn of the building. The apartments here don’t have backyards but instead walkways from the porch that adjoin at a central park area.

Its empty besides a pair of men who seem to be more interested in beating each other – only, that isn’t the case when he looks again. Sadie is quicker to catch the fact that only one of them is doing the tackling. The other kicking up a fuss and screaming, but it’s when one man bites the other that things get really weird. Without prompting Adam rushed out the door, is halfway there when he hears Sadie’s outraged cries. She drops the phone to follow him, fist catching in his shirt but it just tears without stopping him.

They race around the side of the building to the spot where the men are, out of breath but Adam doesn’t think twice before barreling into the other man. He notices something is off but the adrenaline is already there, pumping through his blood. Sadie is at the injured man’s side instantly, talking to him in quick fire mumbles. Her hands are getting bloody as she tries to staunch the flow coming from the wound. He was bitten just below his eye, where the fleshy part of his cheek now hung loosely from bleeding skin. She could see his back teeth, clear as day through the fleshy mess.

“Adam!” Sadie screamed as the ragged boy and his assailant flew past, Adam falling flat on his back with the man above him. Snapping wildly at him, rage coiled tightly in every inch of his being.

“Get the fuck off me!” Adam punched the man, but it only served to enrage him further. Bloodied teeth visible as his lips pull back into a snarl, before digging deep into Adams forearm where it had formerly been barred across the man’s throat. “Goddamit!” Adams scream followed with curse after curse. Sadie left the bleeding man, digging in her back pockets for the stupidly small switchblade that should be there. She always carried it in case a sketchy situation arose, it wasn’t as effective as the mace that she usually kept in her purse – but it would work.

She flicked open the pink handled blade and mustered all the anger she could manage. She had never thought about stabbing somebody before. Had never thought she would need to. But that man wasn’t stopping, and Adam was bleeding now too. She knew logically, that this man was wrong. But it didn’t make sense in her head until she had the knife lodged between his shoulders, wincing at the force it took to even manage that.

He turned on her then, with Adam cradling his arm beneath him and kicking wildly. He couldn’t stop the man from lunging at Sadie until the last second. But tripping him up only brought him closer, she had to shove her hand out to get his face away from her. The noises he made were inhuman. Adam is quick when he swept the legs out from underneath the man, gripped the pink blade to dislodge it from thick flesh and sink it deep into the man’s eye socket.

It bought them time – Sadie was quick to usher Adam away from the two men. They didn’t head back towards the apartment, however. No, she didn’t want those maniacs following them there. It's Adam who leads them towards his car, she shoves him into the passenger seat, knowing he couldn’t drive while bleeding like that. Turns out, she couldn’t either. The car turned over but never started, its sputtering engine dying seconds after turning on. She cursed as she noticed throbbing pain in her hand from where it gripped the wheel hard. Perfect teeth mark circling the meat of her thumb and back of hand.

As soon as she got the damned car running they were set on a course for the nearest hospital. Progress impeded by the sudden, heavy nausea in her gut. She pulled over to expel her guts and noticed that Adams silence had been due to him passing out. She worried only for a few seconds before her own eyes blinked, black dots flickering in and out of her vision. She only had time to groan before falling out of the driver’s side, slumped in the grass.

Post-Infection


She wakes with the taste of copper in her mouth and a smear of blood across her brow. Courtesy of a hand covered in both dried and fresh blood being dragged across dark skin. She looks up, licking her dried lips and letting out a pained grunt. Her hand throbbed like hell, but she managed to push herself out of the grass – and a pile of retch to look up at the car beside her. She realizes she must have fallen out of it. There’s a passenger as well, passed out against the window with his mouth lolled open. Looks too young to be as ragged as he is. She leans in across the seat and steels herself before slapping him awake, no mercy to be had in her confusion. “Hey kid, kid wake up!” She doesn’t want to scream but she’s getting real anxious. There are holes in her thoughts, memories completely gone and its setting her teeth to a nervous grind. Why can't she remember anything?

Nothing makes sense, she doesn’t know where she is or who she’s with or why there’s so much blood. Why did she puke? None of it makes sense at all. But the matching bite on the kid’s forearm must at least be half a clue. When he finally opens his eyes he looks twice as startled, a rabid animal backed into a corner. She ducks as he swipes out, unseeing with one hand. There’s a short scuffle as he flings himself out of the car.

“Who are you?” He’s asking, feeling too much all at once. “No, wait.” A look of glazed confusion crosses his face for a moment after that. “Who am I?” He mumbles, but she hears him just fine. He frowns, digging through his pockets as if that holds all the answers. When his hands come back into sight with a Wallet she realizes that’s a good idea in figuring out what the hell is going on. Looks around for something but only finds a cell phone with a childish green decal on the case reading S-A-D-I-E in cutesy looping cursive.

“Adam Lauren,” the boy mumbles. As if testing out the name. He shrugs, and looks at her, clearly pained by not knowing this already. She understands because she has no fucking clue either. No matter how hard she tries there are no memories to go on. She scrolls the phone a bit till she’s managed to place the last name to a first. “Sadie Rosette.” She purses her lips as the phone ticks town to 2%, why would she carry an almost dead cell phone on her. This wasn’t getting them anywhere. She'd rifle through it more if she thought she could get any real information out of it before it died. Besides they need to figure out what the hell’s going.

“Well, Adam, I don’t know what’s going on here but I’m also not inclined to stick around and find out – “She motions towards the road. “Yeah,” He groans, utterly lost, “Let's head up the road and figure it out.” Sadie for her part lets a small, dry laugh escape. “Yes, lets...”






Pre-Infection


“Oh come on Hana!” Matthew pounds his fist against the door, feeling anger spark deep in his gut. “I know you’re in there, your cars in the fucking drive!” He practically punches the door with as much force as he puts behind the knocks. He lets up, only for a moment when the lock clicks. But the chain slid into place didn’t allow it to open more than a crack. A face peered through – but it wasn’t Hana.

“She doesn’t want to see you, Matthew, go away,” Threatens the face, some girl he barely remembers or knows the name of, but figures is one of Hana’s idiotic friends. He looks at the chain for all of two seconds worth of thinking about breaking it and entering anyway. “I will call the cops.” The girl says as if sensing his train of thoughts.

Matthew sneers, but he gets the fucking point. He won’t be seeing her today, but he would be back as many times as it took to get her attention. He wasn’t letting her go so easily, wouldn’t let what they had slip through his fingers as if it were nothing at all. He is the one that’s supposed to be nothing – she’s meant to be everything. The only thing that really kept him ticking.

He could wait for now. Would take a drive to clear his mind, maybe stop to buy some junk. Hell, maybe he’d hit the range. Get his aggressions out that way. Then again, he couldn’t exactly trust himself with a gun when all he wanted was to fight someone. Wanted that rush of adrenaline that kept him alive. All he wanted was to fight that goddamn bastard that called himself Hana’s new beau. For Christ sakes, they’d only been broken up a for a few weeks.

Clearing his mind was never easy, but it got better as he drove. Fingers gripping the steering wheel till they turned white with rage. He almost stopped at home but knew if he did he would just brood there all day. Instead, he turned towards the nearest general store. Where he could buy useless shit and blow money until the urge to actually murder left his veins. He felt worse than usual, cold in all the ways that signaled an oncoming fit. He’d be prepared for It.

As he entered the oddly quiet store he noticed that most of the shelves had been left in a state of disarray. There were a few shoppers there, but what stood out was the strange looks on their faces. As if something was going down, something he had not been privy to. He didn’t follow current events or trends much, but if something really is going down he’d like to know. Matt swiped open his phone, scrolling through his social media feeds for a few seconds before heading towards the back of the store. He opted to check through some news websites, nothing particularly exciting to him. No mass murders, no riots, nothing that usually got his attention in terms of violence, only – no – there was an article. Vague as it was.

Interestingly enough the article didn’t much pique his interest, it could explain however why the store had thinned more than usual. People in towns like this were fear mongers and gossips, he had his doubts as to the truth of what was going on. News or not, there were always lies in the papers. And he would believe it faster if he saw it in action. Comments of varying degrees of absurdity were popping up just below the article, linked to social media accounts and while he wanted to ignore them he read a few as he browsed shelves, adding an unnecessary number of items to his cart. He’s sifting through a stack of odds and ends when a text comes in from Allison.

“There’s some freaky shit on the streets right now, are you home?”

It reads. He rolls his eyes and decides to stuff it in his pocket, choosing not to reply in favor of adding one of those heat massage pillows to his basket. Did he need it? No. Did he want to spend money on junk just to spite the world? Yes. That’s exactly what he wanted. He strolled his way to the front of the store a good twenty minutes later, bogged down with junk that he’d probably just leave at the register anyway. Typical of him to do and no doubt a major headache for the employee that’s going to have to put it all back.

Speaking of employee’s…the store had thinned out much more. In fact, if he weren’t convinced otherwise he’d have assumed it completely deserted. That made no sense, though, it wasn’t possible that, and surely nobody would leave the cash registers unmanned and yet – he only saw one person in the middle of the junk mess that the store had become. Maybe he hadn’t been looking hard enough on his way in, self-absorbed as some would say, but he had his own head wrapped up in thoughts far more important. Mostly about a certain woman whom he is almost desperate to get back in the good graces of.

If she could only see how hard he’d been trying. How his temper had been kept mostly in check, sure, today had been a spectacular failure in showcasing that… But that didn’t mean he hadn’t curbed it some. All he wanted was a chance to talk it through, and she couldn’t even give him that. Well, fuck her right, he could live without her? Only, no, he really couldn’t. He really is as messed up as Allison always says, too stuck up his ex-girlfriend’s ass to see what a mess he’s become and damn it all if he’s going to let people think he’s gone soft.

The only store employee still left is facing away from him, shoulders slumped in poor posture. Making a strange gurgling noise that he doesn’t think he should be hearing. Who the hell had hired this poor excuse? This place was a pig sty. Products were scattered everywhere and it looked like maybe some sort of a scuffle had happened. But this store was small enough that he surely would have heard right? Unless it had happened while he was at the very back.

He tapped the man’s shoulder, peeved by the lack of attention. “Excuse me,” his tone reflects his frustrations, though his general aura was always quite frustrated. Or angry. Or, really, any number of lackluster emotions. As much as he played at not caring he cared a hell of a lot when it came to himself.

A growl ripped from the employee, Matthew simply quirked a half smirk. Really? And when the man turned rapidly and reached for him he had half a mind to just knock the fool out and call management on him. Who ran this place anyways? Did they not realize what a junk hole it happened to be. He had no actual time to dwell on the thought when the employee, ‘Brad’ his nametag read, grabbed at him again. Matthew saw then that the man was positively filthy. Bloodied from cheek to chin, and eyes filled with so much rage it could have given Matt himself a run for his money.

Hands fisted in his shirt, ripping the black fabric and causing a spark of true anger to stab him. He liked that shirt. Matt said nothing as he hit back, their tussle becoming a full-on fight that he wasn’t exactly winning. Not with how caught off guard he was being attacked out of nowhere. At some point, the man pressed him up to a register. Snapping his teeth far too close to Matt’s face for comfort. Disgusted, he pushed the bloody man away but is winded in the next instant when he’s slammed back again with a head butt to the gut. This time, the mans teeth connecting with the soft skin of his side, where rib meets muscle.

Normal people don’t usually bite hard enough to break skin, but his man managed it twice over. Tearing flesh from bone in a way that had Matt truly screaming. It hurt, worse than anything he had ever felt and he knew then that this fight wouldn’t be won by simple means. This had become a fight to the death, and Matthew wouldn’t let himself lose. He wrenched the mans head away, pushed him back but following to the ground. His eyes scanned the area around him until he found a glass paperweight, not exactly the best weapon but it would work in a pinch.

He brought the glass down on the man’s head in rapid succession, feeling the squelch of flesh and bone giving way. He had caved the man’s nose in but didn’t stop until the man did. Listened closely for the sputtering and gurgling to stop as well. He wondered then if guilt would hit him, he had never done anything like this before. But all he felt was the leftover rage and the vague feeling of needing to throw his guts up the next chance he got. If that’s what guilt felt like, well, then he’s glad that something about him is relatively normal.

He didn’t manage to get to his feet very well. Dizzy from blood loss and the feeling of weightlessness in his entire body. He didn’t make it three steps before collapsing against a cart and sending it careening into the wall. His body laid out on the floor now, blood soaking the ceramic tile around him. He registered distantly that his phone was pinging, slow pops followed by a burst of quick ones, and then ringing.

Post-Infection


Matts surroundings are unfamiliar and painfully confusing; he is acutely aware of the throbbing in his side where fresh blood gushes the second he tears himself from the floor. His blood had created a glue effect against the tiles, where he had been laying and fresh agony burst through his skull as he peeled off. A cellphone slips from his hands, and he chases it despite the pressing pain. It clatters to the ground and shatters before he can even manage to save it. So much for that.

He leaves the broken mess on the ground and instead checks his surroundings. He’s in a store, which would be obvious to any average idiot on the face of the earth. He takes his sweet time sweeping the area first, settling finally on the body of a man who, if he were to guess hadn’t died in the most pleasant of ways. In fact, Matt could see the bloody paperweight that had killed him laying beside his concave head.

Gruesome, but not exactly his problem as of that moment. One, he needed to patch himself up. He didn’t know how he had survived this wound but he knew he wouldn’t continue surviving if it got infected. Easily fixed since he happened to be in some sort of general store. He scanned the aisles for any remaining bandages or anything of use and came up with some peroxide as well – score. Two, he really needs to figure out who, where, and what the hell’s going. He can figure himself out easily by following the chain looped to his pants to a wallet in his back pocket. Where a drivers license shows a blonde version of himself and a name, “Matthew Vernon,” he shrugs. “Could be worse,” He says aloud, feeling a lot less insane than he thinks he should.

Now to figure out the where and what. To do that he’d need to leave the store and possibly find the car that belongs to the keys at his belt. With the state of the store, he has his doubts as for the state of the streets. But, he leaves anyways, aware of what could be waiting for him out there.

He surely isn’t disappointed by the scene that greets him.

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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JED CARTER
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Intangibility & X-ray Vision
#837A23 | Outfit
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SALVATORE DE LUCA
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Superhuman Agility, Endurance & Strength
#678773 | Outfit
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JOLENE CARTER
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Ergokinesis & Telepathy
#72B0B4 | Outfit




Jolene pushed Jed's offered hand away as she moved to her feet. She dusted her pants off before glancing around at the wreckage that plagued the streets of Mullen. "I'm starting to think we were in that jail cell by choice." Jed said as his gaze followed hers.

"Damn... I was kinda hoping I broke some laws." There were dozens of cars stopped or crashed up the main street of Mullen. Engines smoked, fire hydrants exploded and stores were left wide open. But everything was still, silent... Dead. Her hand rested on the curve of the crowbar that was hooked in the loop of her jeans. Although the town looked nothing above a ghost town, something in her gut told her that she shouldn't feel safe or calm... Maybe never again.

Jed got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he started walking down the middle of the street. Could they be the last ones left alive? Why can't he remember who he is or who she is? Obviously they were related on some level... In a town like this you don't have the same last name out of coincidence. But deep down he hoped that someone else had survived anyone.

"Do you think there could be?" Jolene asked keeping in pace with him a couple steps back.

Jed shook his head slightly in confusion, "There could be what?"

Jolene sighs rolling her eyes before quickening her steps to run up beside him. "Do you have short term memory loss or something? What you just said about hoping there are other people alive."

"This again?" He stops, turning to face her. "I didn't say anything... Sure I was thinking it but I didn't say it."

"Funny. Last time I checked I wasn't Professor X."

Jed pursed his lips, unamused at her accusing him of well whatever. It was odd that she seemed to know what he was thinking. But then again it wasn't like any sort of trivial thought. Something anyone would be thinking of in this situation. Maybe she is just crazy.

"I am not crazy!"

"Dude I didn't—" He froze mid sentence. "Hey look at me." He motioned for her gaze to lock on his mouth. This time he didn't say anything but just thought, I told you I didn't say anything.

Jolene gasped, "Stop. I don't know what you're doing but just stop."

"I'm not doing—"

Jolene threw up her hand shushing him, "Did you hear that?"

Jed ruffled his long hair truly considering that maybe she was crazy.

"God dammit, I'm not crazy! Now shut up!" She cocked her head to the side listening like an owl, slowly closing her eyes. She sifted through the silence and ambient noises to pick up on a feint voice.

"Someone please help me... Mommy... Daddy?"

"Oh my god..." Jo's jaw dropped as she looked over towards Jed hoping her heard what she did.

"What?" Before she answered Jo broke off in a mad sprint in the direction of the voice she heard. He called out after her, "Jo stop! Where are you going!?"

"Doing X-men things... Just stay here! I'll be back!" She ran straight towards a white picket fence, placing her hands on it as she seamlessly hurdled it. Jolene weaved through yards as she listened for the young voice. God she had to be crazy to hear a voice from this far away. He gave her a head ache just trying to comprehend it. Her mind began to wonder in its own vastness as it tried to wrap around the idea that she could hear thoughts or something. With the wondering of her own thoughts she nearly missed the house.

Jolene skidded to a halt before redirecting herself up the driveway and towards the porch. Once she reached the front door she stopped seeing as it was wide open. She had to fight the urge to call out and instead pulled the crowbar from her belt loop and held it ready like she was about to hit a homerun. With a deep breath she crossed the threshold. The voice seemed to come from the second floor so without hesitation she tip toed up the steps. The voice as a guide lead her through the hallways until she was outside the room that she heard the young girl's voice coming from. But that wasn't the only thing she heard...

Taking a moment to gather her courage, Jo's grip on the crowbar tightened until her knuckles were white. With one final breath she stepped into the doorway, "Hey!"

What used to be a woman turned around, growling and gargling up blood as it saw Jolene standing there in the doorway. A fresh meal. It threw its head back before letting out some distorted wail before charging towards her. With a swift move she swung the iron bar, slamming it into the temple or the thing with a long smack and then crack as it twisted the head beyond its breaking point. She had to move quickly to catch it before it fell to the ground. Something in her gut told her to try to keep the child from seeing it.

Jo dragged the body out of the girl's room and tossed it into a hall closet before running back to the room. She slowly and carefully moved to her knees, then rested her hands on the ground so she could lean over to look under the bed. "Hey there. Are you ok?" She kept her voice soft and calming as she extended a hand under the bed towards the girl. "It's ok, you can come out now." She waited a moment before adding, "Your parents probably told you not to speak to strangers. I'm Jolene... So now I'm not a stranger." Jo smiled towards the girl.

Jed sighed as he grew anxious and impatient waiting around. His gaze kept searching the streets, but he found himself constantly blinking and rubbing his eyes as he tried to focus. He didn't know what was going on with his vision but either he was hallucinating things or he could see through cars and walls. At one point he focused on a building, his gaze fading in and out of the walls. What was going on.

He tried rubbing his eyes, even slapping his face to try and get himself to focus. When he opened his eyes he saw another one of them, growling and running towards a street corner. Jed stood upright, moving towards it slowly. He couldn't help but wonder what could have drawn its attention. With the fluctuation in his vision his focus went through the building to see a woman near his age with darker skin and a young kid that could barely be considered a man walking right towards the corner that that thing was running towards.

Jed ran after it as he pulled his crossbow from over his shoulder. There was no way he'd be able to reach the thing if he went around the building. Although he was running in that direction he thought back to how he somehow went right through the jail cell bars. He wasn't sure how it happened or even how it worked... Maybe it was like Jolene somehow knowing what he was thinking. He gritted his teeth as he changed course right towards a brick wall. "I'm going to regret this?"

He turned his head slightly, raising his hands as he braced for impact, even closing his eyes. But when he was still running without coming into contact with any barriers, he opened his eyes to see himself running straight threw cubicles and desks. "Holy shit..." He mumbled to himself but kept running.

He got his crossbow ready and aimed as he emerged from the wall just before the woman and teenager. Jed came to a halt, resting his cheek against the stock to look down the sights just as the creature rounded the corner, sprinting towards them. He pulled the trigger sending and arrow flying, landing it right between its eyes. It seemed like thing fell backwards in slow motion, landing with a thud on the concrete.

Jed rested the bow against his shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. He slowly glanced over his shoulder towards the two with a nervous smile. Witchcraft! He could just imagine hearing that shouted at him. "Uh... Nice to see... Others." He never was very good as socializing with new people which made him wonder why he was so comfortable around Jolene. But something inside him like a feeling of deja vu told him she wasn't new... Not even close.



3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn
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ARU FUUJINN
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Erebokinesis & Advanced Hearing
#8E388E | Outfit
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MARIANNE COLLEEN

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Hydrokinesis & Hind Sight
#FF92BB | Outfit




Marianne sighed to herself and rubbed her arm, feeling a chill across her body. It wasn't cold out but that didn't stop her from shivering. They needed a game plan. Whatever happened wasn't good obviously and from what she could see, all she had on her was a gun. The Asian kid looked like he didn't have any weapons and they were both bitten. They needed supplies and attention. She doubted they'd get help at a hospital though considering most of the town was probably there seeking attention if this little hamlet of blood and guts was any indication. At least they had houses around here. Time to collect some gear. Marianne gripped her gun tighter and got the next shot ready before pointing it to the ground for now.

"We are going to raid these houses and see if we can get some information and gear. Specifically, look for some weapon to arm yourself and medical supplies. I will collect weapons and food." When she received a nod from the kid, she motioned him to follow her and brought her gun up in case whatever maniac was attacking came out at them. Since they were already beside a house, she figured it was a good first stop. She moved to the front of the house and saw it was already open. She quietly moved up the stairs to the porch and glanced around before entering the abandoned home. It looked pretty normal aside for the few items that were scattered about. It looked like it had been tidy and organized before this. There had obviously been a struggle. She moved to one of the tables against the wall to look down at the photographs there. They were scattered as if someone had been interrupted from a project. Marianne's eyes widened. Some of the pictured looked like the Asian kid behind her. Well, that was good and bad. She was not hopeful that the kid's family escaped.

"Hey kid, be real careful. This looks like it is your house. Try and find an ID or something to identify yourself."

Aru looked up from where he had been staring at a streak of blood on the wall. This was his house? "...okay," he answered quietly. He was getting a very ominous feeling about this. Was his family dead? He swallowed dryly as he made his way up the stairs. Might as well start there to look for his identity. At the top of the stairs he saw a door right in front of him. He opened it up as quietly as he could and peeked inside. It wasn't the master bedroom but it was rather spacious. It looked like a teenagers room; his room he had to assume. He left the door open as he entered and did a turn to make sure nothing was hiding in the room. Once he was sure he wasn't going to get jumped, he turned his attention to a bow and accompanying arrows mounted on a wall. Well, that was a good weapon. He hurried over to the bow and rested them on his back. He sifted through his papers then and found a name: Aru Fuujinn. Aru. He did feel better now that he had an identity, even if he didn't quite remember it.

Aru turned his attention back to the task at hand then. He opened his closet door and found a backpack. He dumped the books out of the bag and set it on top of his bed. he quickly took off his ripped thin jacket and replaced it with a heavier black coat that also had a hood. It may not be hot now but he didn't want to be caught in a situation where he froze to death. He could bear some heat. Plus it had more pockets to store things. He placed the empty bag on his good shoulder then and adjusted his weapons. He was about to leave the room when he saw a dagger sitting on a shelf. That would be good in a pinch if he needed it. He grabbed it and used the belt harness beside it to attach the weapon to his hip.

He exited the room and found the bathroom next where he tossed the first aid kit into his backpack along with the alcohol and Iodine disinfectant. He even threw in some pain killers and cold medicine. You never knew when you'd need it. He was about to go back downstairs but the other room up here was beckoning him. What if his parents were there? He was sure he was going to regret this. He took a deep breath before he headed towards the door at the end of the hall that was open a crack. He slipped inside but found that there was no one there. The place did look like someone had been in here, but he saw no trace of anyone else there now. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or upset that they weren't there. He didn't even know where to look for them. With a sigh, he headed back down the stairs.

Marianne had grabbed a fire poker during the tour of the house before she entered the kitchen. She quickly stocked up on some canned goods and non-perishables. They'd hold them for a little while. They were going to have to find some place to stay and accumulate more things. She did not want to stay here and she doubted that cellar was going to be safe forever. They needed a real place to haul up and safe resources. She didn't know if other places were like this after all. She wanted them both to be prepared. She shook her head before she grabbed the bag she found and stocked with supplies. She looked up when she heard someone enter the kitchen and smiled at the kid."You got what you needed?"

"Yes. My name's Aru."

Marianne gave a nod before she led them out of the house. The two of them raided two more houses then and stocked up on some lighters and brass knuckles. All good things to have on you person when shit hit the fan. "Once we have secured a good place to hole up for now, we will get our wounds treated. I don't want to use our supplies just yet. I want to see if there is anyone else around that needs help to." Aru simply nodded. Dang, the kid didn't talk much. She supposed that was better than a chatter-box. Marianne began limping down the streets with Aru, using the houses as some shelter as they scanned the area. And no matter where they went, they were met with the same scene. Carnage was everywhere. Though she didn't really see too many bodies. It was mostly blood and items thrown about. She felt like she was in some sort of survival video game.

Aru reached out and grabbed Marianne suddenly to get her to crouch down behind a large boulder they came across on their way away from the houses. Marianne turned towards him confused. Why had he stopped her. He placed a finger to his lips and pointed straight ahead. Marianne looked up over the rock but she didn't see anything. What the hell was he seeing? Aru drew his bow but it was several minutes before she saw a woman walking in the distance with two weapons. She couldn't exactly see what weapons she had but from the stranger's right, there were four of the crazed things racing towards her. Before Marianne could process all the information, Aru had moved forward with the bow fully drawn. He loosed an arrow and hit one of the creatures in the stomach. It went down but it didn't stop crawling towards the other girl. Aru fired more arrows at the others, slowing them down and hopefully alerting the girl to what was happening and giving her time to attack and defend herself. They were just too far for Aru to feel confident in aiming for their heads. They were fast to. Aru rushed towards the scene then.

"Aru!" Marianne hissed as she tried to catch him before he got too close but he was too quick and she did have a bum leg. Damn it, she wasn't sure if she was happy Aru was quick to fire so easily in a situation where they had no idea who was friend or foe without a second thought.

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn
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#, as written by Arrow-
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MIKA BLACKFOOT
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Regeneration & Healing
#771100 | [url]Outfit[/url]
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BEATRICE FOLLEY
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sonic Scream & Push
#87758F | [url]Outfit[/url]
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THANE RUTHERFORD
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Metal Manipulation & Sharp Shooting
#003366 | [url]Outfit[/url]





Mika hadn’t really known what she was supposed to do. She was soaking wet in blood, so a shower seemed like a good option, but then there was the problem of not knowing where she was or what had happened to her. She had hoped that maybe she just had amnesia from smacking her head in the truck crash, but that wouldn't explain all the blood, the dead guy with the machete in his head, or the lack of any other injury on her body. With no real ideas of what to do, Mika went to the road and began to follow it towards some kind of civilization.

Halfway down the road Mika spotted the beginnings of what looked like a town. Towns meant people, and people meant that she could get help. Mika marched onwards while trying not to feel numb at the confusing thoughts in her head. When she got into town, she was nothing less than confused. Of course it was a little town, but shouldn’t there have been some kind of community here? The streets were empty and in disarray, as if something had blown through and caused a panic.

Mika set out to find someone or something useful, but she didn’t have to search long because a person ambled out of a busted up store and started walking towards her. Mika let out a sigh of relief and waved, “Hello? Would you be able to tell me where I am right now, or maybe why the town looks like such a disaster?” Mika waited for a response but only got a growl back. Now that the thing was closer, Mika could see that the guy wasn’t looking so great either. His eyes looked weird and he had scratches all over him, not to mention the weird black liquid falling down his chin. “Hey! Are you- Oh hell.” She had reached out to meet the man but as soon as he looked up, his face twisted into a feral snarl and he began running at her.

Mika relied on her instincts, because without them she would have been dead. She grabbed her machete, raised it up and brought it down on the mans head before he could grab onto her. He fell flat to the ground and blood oozed from his cracked head. Mika covered her mouth and looked away for a moment to compose herself. Had she used to be a murderer before? If confused her how fast she had reacted. The man had sen coming to attack her though… So it was only self defence.

After composing herself, Mika grabbed the machete again and set off down the road. She walked until she found herself at a small housing neighbourhood. She looked around curiously but was only seeing the same things; disaster and abandoned homes. Mika was almost suspicious of how quiet it was, because she got the feeling that the crazy man from the store hadn’t been the only one.

Mika jumped when something whizzed by her arm. It had gone by so fast she hadn’t seen what it was. She peered down the street, only to see a small boy jump out from behind a boulder, notching another arrow into his bow and pulling back the string to aim. Was he going to shoot at her!? She dove out of the way when he let the arrow fly, only to hear it sink into something behind her. She turned and cursed herself for being so stupid. There was four people running at her, two takedown by the little archer. She grabbed her machete again and let out a breath. At least she wasn’t the only murderer around here.

Like cutting through butter, Mika’s sharp machete sliced though the torso of one person and she finished the other one with a sharp stab to the face. She pulled her machete out of a person for the third time that day and turned to see the archer boy, and someone else coming behind him. Mika was regularly cautious, so of course she decided to keep her machete unsheathed as she slowly walked towards the two. Of course she was outnumbered, so she had to be careful.

“Hello… Thank you.” She said slowly as she looked the two up and down. The boy was small, shorter than her and the woman who accompanied him seemed to have a messed up leg. Meanwhile, Mika was in perfect shape. If it came down to it, she may be able to handle the two of them on her own.

-x-x-x-


Beatrice didn't know how long she was curled up under the bed, listening to the snarling woman in her room shuffle around, looking for something. Looking for her. Bee wanted nothing more to crawl out from under her bed and ask the woman that lived next door what was wrong, and if she was okay, and most importantly; where was her parents? Just when Bee was going to give in, a woman's voice shouted from the area of her bedroom entrance. "Hey!" Bee flinched at the yell and curled up more. What was going on?

There was a snarl, sounds of shuffling around, a terrible cracking noise, the sound of something dragging and then silence. Bee peeked her eyes open in time to see the tattooed ankle being dragged out of sight by another pair of feet. The shoes didn't look like her mothers or fathers, so it was someone she didn't know.

Bee began to shake in fear when the footsteps returned to her room, coming closer to the bed. The person lowered themselves to the ground slowly, as if to show that Bee wasn't to be afraid of them. Slowly a face appeared; a woman's face by the look of it. "Hey there. Are you ok?" The lady asked softly. "It's ok, you can come out now." Something about her voice was rather soothing, and she didn't seem harmful, but Bee could hear her parents words of wisdom in her head. "Beatrice, honey, if there is ever a person who comes to you that you do not know, and wants to talk to you or take you somewhere, you make sure to always say no and go find mommy, daddy, or someone you do know." The lady in front of her, though she did seem nice, was still a stranger. As if reading her mind, the lady smiled at her and said, "Your parents probably told you not to speak to strangers. I'm Jolene... So now I'm not a stranger."

Would that really be okay? Her parents wouldn't get mad right? Maybe this Jolene lady could help her find her parents. "Okay..." She whispered nervously. Cautiously, Bee took ahold of the ladies hand and let her help Bee slide out from underneath her bed. When Bee was pulled up to her feet, she looked up at the lady who was much taller than her. Upon closer inspection, Bee decided this lady was very pretty, and had kind eyes just like her mommy had.

"I'm... I'm Beatrice. Beatrice Folley." Bee said slowly as she looked around her room. There was splatters of weird looking black liquid everywhere and some of the things in her room had been knocked over. Her eyes stopped on the puddle of blood that was pooled at their feet, soaking into the carpet. Bee looked up at Jolene. "Who are you? Do you know my mommy and daddy? Where are they?" She blurted out, still shaking like a leaf. Tears of fear threatened to pour, but Bee refused to let the flood gates open. Bee nervously stepped forward and grabbed the ladies hand, "M-Miss Jolene... Can you help me find my mommy and daddy? Please?”

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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MATTHEW VERNON
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Telekinesis & Binding
#d48848 | Outfit
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ADAM LAUREN
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Pain Suppression & Empathy
#967575 | Outfit
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SADIE ROSETTE
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Mimicry & Camouflage
#319345 | Outfit






They hadn’t been walking long, most of their time had been spent keeping out of sight and for the most part bickering back and forth. Sadie couldn’t stop herself when it came down to it. For some reason, she felt strangely inclined to mother him. Hovering when he started to drift too far to the side of her. She lagged at times, her physical limits exerted. There were various odd pains that kept flaring up, internal things as well that kept her from moving fast.

“Where is everyone?” Adam asks, scratching his inner arm for the hundredth time. He notes that Sadie pointedly avoids looking at him for too long. He tries to do the same, the feeling of knowing and yet not knowing her too painfully confusing to handle. He simply wanted to know why he couldn’t remember, where his memories had gone. He could almost swear she felt the same, like a prickling of a feeling that radiated from her in waves. He couldn’t quite pin down how, or why he knew this. More mysteries that simply made him feel like hell.

They were drawing nearby a cross section now, the corner ahead of them looming on. When they turned, it would civilization return? Sadie knew for sure that they needed to get to a hospital but the way things looked, the state of sudden, startling disrepair and utter lack of people led her to believe that wouldn’t be so easy. She is the first to hear, before seeing the person that happened to be heading right for them. She did not examine them too closely, blinded by the sudden suffocating need to get some answers. But she had just barely opened her mouth when Adam stopped her, looking ill faced and ready to bolt.

“Get behind me.” He told her, though he looked more afraid than she could even begin to feel. She didn’t take kindly to him assuming she needed protection, especially protection that came from a kid half her height. “I’m good, kid.” She resumed to her former plan of getting the persons attention but now she can see that something is most certainly wrong with them. Rushing towards them in a way that suggested they were five seconds from being attacked rather than having a chat – and the blood, oh god. She has no idea what to say or do – or whether they should be turning tail and bolting until suddenly, and quite startlingly there is a man coming out of a building.

Not through a door, nor window, nor hole. But out of the wall, as if it were an illusion all its own. He proceeded to take aim at the person – creature – whatever it is, and take it down without a second thought. Sadie stood stock still for a long, drawn out moment without even breathing. Adam, unsurprisingly was the first to speak in reply to the man. He couldn’t even begin to think about the sudden, waves of new emotion that washed over him. It felt oddly unlike himself, outside of his own body when the tidal wave of nerves came rushing over him. He pushed past it, determined to get a handle of himself.

“Ho-oly shit. That was fucking awesome!” It really was, no matter how odd the situation he couldn’t believe what had suddenly happened. Even as it had happened right before his eyes. It reminded him, in a way of something a superhero would do, only, the guy didn’t look much like a hero. Maybe a vigilante. “How did you do that?” He felt his own surprise and excitement, magnified for whatever reason.

“Adam.” Sadie spoke, quiet but authoritative. “Shut up.” She didn’t mean it so harshly, but the kid shut up instantly. She didn’t share in his enthusiasm, instantly suspicious.

“Thank you,” she didn’t know if she should be thanking him, but it felt right given the situation. Besides, the man could easily turn his weapon on them and she didn’t think they’d be able to outrun him. “My name's Sadie, he’s Adam.” Adam threw up his hand, waving an awkward greeting.

“Do you happen to know what’s going on?” She asks, feeling self-conscious out in the open. They probably shouldn’t be standing out in the open, but Sadie didn’t feel inclined to voicing her fears aloud.




Matthew clicks the unlock button on the FOB, trying to discern which car is his in the parking lot. The subsequent flickering headlights from a jet-black SUV catch his attention. However, there’s a car parked directly in front of it and a sideways Mazda crashed into the back of it – lovely. Blocked in on all sides. He decided to check it anyways, hoping for some sort of weapon. From the state of the store and the streets outside there’s no telling what sort of trouble he’ll find himself in. He peered into the Mazda as he walked by, wincing at the sight within. A woman lay face down on the wheel, blood spreading out around where her forehead rested against it. She didn’t move, not even when he tapped his knuckles on the window. The passenger side door hung wide open, maybe someone had escaped the crash and gone to get help.

He turned away, disgusted, and got into his SUV. Shuffling through the glove box and visors, checking out random scraps of paper and noting that whoever he is, he’s prone to speeding tickets. He sets those aside and digs around behind the seats, in the pockets on the backs of them. In the one behind his seat, he hits gold, finding a knife that doesn’t look like something anyone would legally be carrying on them. He fit it to his belt, glad to have some form of protection. There wasn’t much else to be found, though he did come across a handwritten letter, that he simply skimmed to catch the gist of.

Looked like he was on bad terms with some girl named Hana, although he can’t remember her, he can tell by the emotion of the letter that they had been together. Perhaps recently. He checks the address, wondering if he should go there. If he can even figure out how to get there. He kept the letter just in case, climbing over the back seat to get to the trunk. Half of it smashed in by the Mazda’s hood. The rest packed with junk, odds, and ends, and luckily a backpack that only looks a little beat up. It looks well used but he gets the feeling that it’s been in the trunk for a while now.

Matt takes it too, putting the letter in the front pocket for safe keeping. He leaves his car, stopping by the Mazda once more.
”What the hell?” He looks in through the window again, the woman is gone but he hadn’t heard a single thing while digging through the car. She couldn’t have gone far, not with those injuries. He stood, and turned, feeling before hearing the creature behind him. ”Fuck!

The woman had her hands fisted in his shirt before he could do much of anything. He wrestled away from her, stronger despite his own exhaustion. She didn’t look right, her face bloody and busted up. A chunk of her arm gone, that arm hanging down further than the other. He doesn’t have time to notice much else before she’s swinging on him again, gargling out these awful noises that no living person should make.

Matthew grabs the knife at his belt, fumbling with its casing as she continues to catch him off guard. Thick saliva sliding from her mouth, jaw just slightly crooked. He smacks her away, moving further from the cars so as to not get trapped on them. He should just run – he turns to do so when he see’s more of them. The sound of their scuffle having brought people out of the silence. They looked to be in similar states of disarray, bodies mangled but some perfectly together. He can tell they’re all the same, by the rage in their eyes.

He knows when to pick his battles. He turns back towards the cars, past the women, and slides over the Mazdas busted hood. Hoping they won’t catch up to him as he took off down the street. His lungs burn from the exertion, legs already tired by the time he’s put some distance between himself and the creatures. He stops to take stock of his unfamiliar surroundings, still quite a few store fronts. He doesn’t want to stand still for too long, knowing that there could easily be more of those people lying in wait.

For a few seconds, he keeps up an even paced jog, pushing past the ache in his side. He hasn’t run like this in forever – he’s, not sure how he knows that. About half up the road he stops, noticing another person. Albeit, someone who doesn’t look quite as busted up as the ones that were after him. He pauses, unsure of approaching them even if he looks normal. Matt purses his lips, quiet as he watched the man for a few moments. Steeling himself to run again, Hey! he calls out, hand going to his side where the knife is still sheathed.

6 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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#, as written by mjolnir
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JED CARTER
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Intangibility & X-ray Vision
#837A23 | Outfit
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SALVATORE DE LUCA
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Superhuman Agility, Endurance & Strength
#678773 | Outfit
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JOLENE CARTER
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ergokinesis & Telepathy
#72B0B4 | Outfit




"Okay..." The little one whispered towards her from under the bed. Jolene gave a reassuring smile when the girl grasped her hand and helped her out from under the bed. Her smile couldn't help but grow when she heard the thoughts of the young girl about how pretty she was. Not something Jolene was used to hearing. "I'm... I'm Beatrice. Beatrice Folley."

Beatrice started to look around the room taking in the mess that Jolene had created when she arrived. She swallowed hard wishing she could have prevented the girl from seeing all of the blood. But from what she could tell this was only the first of bad things the unfortunate child would see. "Who are you? Do you know my mommy and daddy? Where are they?" The question took Jo by surprised causing her to meet Beatrice's gaze, tears noticeably fighting to break through. "M-Miss Jolene... Can you help me find my mommy and daddy? Please?”

Jo squatted down so that she was at eye level of the girl, placing a hand on Bee's shoulder. "I... I don't know where your mommy and daddy are. But I promise you that I will keep you safe until we find them." With that she stood up and looked around the small bedroom. She snatched up a backpack on the ground, grabbing some clothes from Bee's dresser and shoving it inside with the books and crayons that were already inside. Just before she zipped it up she saw a lone teddy bear on the bed. Jo placed it in the pack, its head sticking out when she zipped it up.

She helped get the backpack onto Beatrice then held her hand out towards her. "We're going to go meet up with my friend. He'll help keep us safe and find your parents." With Bee's hand held in her left, Jo grasped the crowbar in her right and headed downstairs. When they reached the bottom floor a noise came from the back end of the house. She motioned her index finger in front of her lips telling the girl to be quiet and wait there.

Jolene slowly made her way to the kitchen where she saw two of them on the other side of glass sliding doors that lead to the backyard. She contemplated opening the door until she saw out of the corner of eye a portrait that showed those two along with Beatrice. A sinking feeling grew in her stomach while her hands began to shake. She couldn't move, frozen in place. There was no way she'd be able to bring herself to kill that girl's parents, regardless of what they are.

With a deep breath, she moved towards the door, carefully closing the curtains before returning to the girl. Jolene knelt down before Beatrice, "I found your mommy and daddy. They... They are sick." She cleared her throat trying to stay calm for her. "They are going to a better place though. They wanted to say bye but don't want to get you sick... And asked me to look after you now." She didn't like telling the white lie, but it was better than giving a child the harsh truth. "I promise to take good care of you, ok?" Jo stood up and lead Beatrice out of the house. She didn't want to be there when those glass doors broke... Killing a child's parents before their eyes is not a way to keep them safe or have them trust you.

When they stepped out onto the porch, Jo froze in her tracks. There was at three of them in the street no more than thirty feet from them. She was scared to breath thinking it might attract them. Jo squatted in front of Bee, glancing over her shoulder at her and whispers, "I need you to hold onto me really tight and don't let go." Jolene helped the girl so that she was riding piggy back.

With crowbar in hand she began to carefully tip toe across the front yard trying to keep as quiet and as far away from those things as she could. But with her sights set on the crazed people, she didn't see the branch beneath her foot. The snap caused all of their heads to snap in her direction. "Shit." Without hesitation she bolted back towards the main street where she left Jed. She swerved around abandoned cars and shrubbery but she could hear one of them closing in. After hurdling a fence she turned around to meet the first one, "Close your eyes Bee!" Jo raised the crowbar and slammed the shaft through the eye socket of the approaching thing. She yanked the weapon free and started running again, nearly at the main street again.

“Ho-oly shit. That was fucking awesome!” Jed scoffed with a slight smirk, taken by surprise at the reaction. “How did you do that?”

Jed cleared his throat, adjusting his cross bow on his shoulder, "I... don't really know."

“Adam,” The woman said, “Shut up.” She then looked towards him, “Thank you. My name's Sadie, he’s Adam.”

The kid waved his hand awkwardly at the introduction causing Jed to chuckled and nod his head in his direction. "Jed."

“Do you happen to know what’s going on?”

Jed started walking backwards so that he could look at the pair while he spoke but he needed to return to the main street to keep an eye out for Jolene. "Me and this woman, Jolene... We woke up in a cell in the PD together. I can't remember anything before but... I don't think I was a prisoner or anything." He glanced around every few steps to keep an eye out for any others. "There were bodies everywhere when we woke up. I can't explain how... but I was able to kinda just walk through the bars. And when we got outside one of those charged us."

When they reached the main street he turned around, looking up and down the street, thankfully not seeing anything else. Jed looked over his shoulder towards the two, "I don't know what's wrong with them. It's like they're-"

"JED!" Jolene shouted as she came running down a side street with two of them at her heels. She ran as fast as she could with a child on her back but not fast enough. If she didn't get help soon she'd surely be over ran by the mad sprinting maniacs.

Something inside of Jed pinged with an instant protective urge. He turned his attention from the pair he was with and immediately ran towards where she called from before he could even see her. He got his bow ready as he ran. First Jo came into view from around the building and then the two after. Without a flinch Jed pulled the trigger taking down the first one. He had no time to reload so instead took a hunting knife strapped to his belt and ran straight at the second, sinking the blade into its temple.

Jo finally stopped to catch her breath letting Beatrice slip from her back. She spun around and knelt before the girl, "Are you ok? You weren't hurt were you?!"

"...Jo." Jed didn't want to say it but a child in something like this wasn't good. What were the chances that this child could even survive until night fall? He didn't like it. Not because he didn't like children but because he knew what it inevitably meant.

Jolene stood up, shaking her head towards him. "I'm all she has now Jed," she whispered. She lightly rested her hand on Bee's shoulder, "Beatrice, this is Jed." Before she could say anything else another voice started to plague her mind pulling her attention down the street. "Bee stay with him. I'll be right back."

She headed down the street, closing her eyes and tilting her head to try and hear the voice better. Jo's grip on the crowbar tightened when she neared the drug store hearing a groan from the alley past it. A man near her age stepped out from the store right before her startling her. But before she could say anything one of the things ran from around a corner towards the back of the man. She swung the bar like a baseball bat. To the man it probably looked like she was going to slam him in the head but instead lodged it into the head of the thing just as it was about to sink its teeth into the male's neck.

8 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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ARU FUUJINN
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Erebokinesis & Advanced Hearing
#8E388E | Outfit
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MARIANNE COLLEEN

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Hydrokinesis & Hind Sight
#FF1493 | Outfit




Aru gave a sigh of relief when the girl he was trying to help turned and finished downing the crazed people running towards her. He didn't exactly know what was going on around here, but he didn't want something bad to happen to people. The crazed ones were sad enough as it was. And he did feel bad for hurting them but it came down to the fact that it was either them or his little group here. He wasn't about to let his sympathies end up with him gurgling in the grass. He put his arrow back in its place and settled the bow on his shoulder again as he slowed his approach. His eyes shifted to look down at the machete she did not put away. That was a clear warning if he ever saw one. Aru stopped walking forward to make sure they had some distance. If things turned ugly, he didn't want to be in range of her swing. He did give her a cautious nod when she thanked him for helping her but otherwise didn't offer much else in the way of conversation.

Marianne panted a bit when she finally reached Aru's side. She reached out and used his good shoulder to lean on him so she didn't have to put pressure on her ankle and catch her breath. Damn she needed to get in better shape. She pushed her hair away from her face and rested some of her weight on the fire poker as well. She too eyed the machete the stranger was wielding. With her poker she could hopefully counter her swing if she tried anything. She didn't know who was friend or foe around her and just because only some people were crazed and running around didn't mean that those who weren't were automatically safe. And the stranger didn't look injured. At least they didn't have to worry about that to.

"Hello," she called back to the stranger. Now to see if she had any information about what the hell was going on around here. "My name is Marianne and this is Aru. I am glad we got to you before... those.... they did. Do you happen to know what is going on around here? The town is pretty much deserted. It looks like it was part of a war zone or something." She wasn't sure how much information she should give but there really wasn't much else to say. They didn't know anything else. "You aren't injured right? I don't see anything on your person. Since we haven't seen many people, I am assuming the hospital is pretty crowded. It probably isn't the safest place to go. What is your name? Are you a local to?"

"JED!"

Aru stiffened when he heard the shout. He quickly turned back towards the town, forcing Marianne to lose her grip on his shoulder and she stumbled till she got her footing back. She frowned and looked over at him. What was up with him? He was like a jumpy little ferret. Aru was even tilting his head to the side, his eyes scanning the houses and streets that he could see from here. "What? What is it now? she asked. Damn she felt like she was asking a dog if he had sniffed something out.

"Didn't you hear that?"

"No. Hear what?"

"Someone's in trouble." Aru took off running towards the shout then.

Marianne's eyes widened in surprise. What the fuck was up with this kid!? They couldn't go running around when they had no idea what was going on! He was going to get himself killed! "Aru!" she hissed. But just like before, Aru wasn't listening. He just kept running. "Damn it..." Marianne looked at the stranger behind her. She should have never turned her back to her considering she had her weapon out. Too late now. "I don't know about you but I guess if there is someone else out there, we should help and stick together." Safety in numbers until they got their bearings. And next time, she was going to put a leash on that kid. Marianne started to run after Aru as best she could. She didn't know what it was, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to Aru. The thought of him dying or getting injured tightened something in her stomach and heart. She couldn't lose him. Maybe she knew the kids parents before or something and she owed them. She made sure not to call after Aru. Whoever was in trouble was running for something and she didn't want whoever was doing the attacking to hear them and attract more people.

Aru himself wove through the alleys without a second thought, his bow out and ready. He knew that what he was doing was dangerous. But if he could help someone, why shouldn't he? The more people he saved, the better they'd be in the long run. As he got closer, he slowed himself down and moved quietly, hoping to catch the attacker unawares. He followed the voices he heard then. There was more than one person that was for sure and he could hear them breathing. It was strange how clearly he could hear everything. Aru pressed up against the side of a house and peaked out then. He saw two women and two men and a child together then. Had whoever screamed been saved? Should he make his presence known? He wasn't sure what to do. He was alone and he was outnumbered this time. He knew Marianne was coming but she was slow right now with her injury. He couldn't pretend that she would get to him in time. Maybe he'd just watch them, get feel for who and what they were doing. Maybe they could find out more information about this situation by tailing them.

When the woman with the child began to move in the other direction, he watched if the group followed suit and when they moved, he began to stalk them. He briefly wondered how he knew how to be so quiet and how to stalk people. It was a bit unnerving. Had he done this before? Maybe he hunted animals or something. Aru pressed further against the wall, hiding in the shadows created and considering his clothing, Aru seemed to vanish in the darkness. Marianne arrived shortly, eyes scanning around quickly. Where was Aru? She was about to walk past him and into the line of sight of the other group when Aru's hand reached out from the darkness and pulled her back. Marianne gasped, barely keeping a shout locked in her throat. She raised her poker and nearly slammed it into Aru until she realized it was him. How had she not seen him right next to her?

"Don't do that! You scared the shit out of me," she hissed.

Aru raised a finger to his lips and nodded for her to look out from behind the house and she took a peek at the group walking away. She frowned, her eyes lingering on the child before the woman disappeared behind another house. "Why are we hiding?" she whispered to Aru.

"We can watch them. See if they know what is going on," Aru answered her.

"Good point," she mused. Aru was a little sneak, wasn't he? That could prove useful later. "Don't run off like that anymore. I don't want us separated and then end up in trouble." she warned.

Aru just gave a nod, slowly moving to the next house as they began to follow after the group, Marianne looking back to see if the girl from earlier was following and listened to her advise of sticking together.

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Jed Carter Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren
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#, as written by Arrow-
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MIKA BLACKFOOT
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Regeneration & Healing
#771100 | [url]Outfit[/url]
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BEATRICE FOLLEY
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Sonic Scream & Push
#87758F | [url]Outfit[/url]
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THANE RUTHERFORD
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Metal Manipulation & Sharp Shooting
#003366 | [url]Outfit[/url]




Mika looked at her new acquaintances and watched the blonde woman seize her up. At least she had the right idea. Survival was what they should be looking out for and even though this new woman threatened Mika, Mika could at least respect the fact that she had her head in the right place.

"My name is Marianne and this is Aru. I am glad we got to you before... those.... they did. Do you happen to know what is going on around here? The town is pretty much deserted. It looks like it was part of a war zone or something.” The lady, now known as Marianne, said to her. Mika nodded, placing names on their faces. “You aren't injured right? I don't see anything on your person. Since we haven't seen many people, I am assuming the hospital is pretty crowded. It probably isn't the safest place to go. What is your name? Are you a local too?”

Mika sighed. She sure was a talkative lady. Then again, she couldn’t blame her. When the world was going to shit and there was no explanations, it was only natural to ask as many questions as possible. Mika really wished she could have explained but she couldn’t. “I’m unaware of what is going on as well. I’m not hurt… I just woke up like this, covered in blood.” She sighed. It didn’t make much sense to her either and it was starting to get uncomfortable. The blood was drying and flaking on her skin and the smell stung her nose with the scent of iron.

“As for my name…” That was a good question. How had it not occurred to her until now to identify herself? Oddly enough, she really couldn’t remember who she was. She caught a glimpse of dog tags around the woman's throat and reached up to see if she had her own. Luckily she did. “Mika Blackfoot.” She read out loud. “I suppose thats me.”

The smaller boy who had been quiet up until now, jerked wildly and looked around, asking them if they had heard anything. Mika hadn't and the woman hadn't either. Mika briefly wondered if the kid had already lost his marbles from the pressure. "Someone's in trouble.” The boy pressed and then turned and ran. Did he not realize the woman he was with was also in trouble of bleeding out from her wounds and causing more problems because of her hurt foot? Marianne turned her back to Mika and for a moment she considered making a move, but something about the two of them screamed innocence. Besides, innocent until proven guilty, as the old saying went.

"I don't know about you but I guess if there is someone else out there, we should help and stick together.” Marianne told her and with thats she began limping away after the kid. Mika knew she was right. Power in numbers was a valid tactic. Mika still wasn’t sure about them but she followed anyways. She kept her distance behind Marianne and watched out for anything that could pop out and harm them.

Mika watched as Marianne caught up to the boy, Aru, and seemed to have a bit of a talk with him. Not wanting to intrude, she hung back and kept watch. When things seemed resolved, she walked closer and got the gist that they were following the group in the distance. Mika paused when she saw the child and winced. That girl could be barely older than ten. At least Aru was old enough to take care of himself… A small child like that had no chances of protecting herself. Mika got a bad feeling in her stomach. She would have to worry about that later though.

“Look, if we are going to follow them, we have to make sure we don’t get caught. It will only look more suspicious if they realize we have been tailing them. Not many people I know would want to have strangers tag along, much less people who have been stalking them.” Mika stated and then looked at Marianne’s bitten leg; bite wounds she assumed only came from the crazy lunatics around them. Slowly, so to show the lady that she meant no harm, Mika leaned down to look at the wound. “We will have to get this covered as soon as possible. We don't need you bleeding out.” She looked around before grabbing her own shirt and ripping the bottom off and leaning forward to wrap it around the woman's leg. The moment Mika’s hand touched the bite mark though, a painful burning sensation dug into her own leg, making Mika want to scream. She instantly pulled her hand away and froze at what she saw. Somehow the bite wound, within the seconds Mika’s hands had covered it, looked half healed. The bruising had gone from a purple to a yellow, the blood had stopped oozing and was beginning to clot and lead to a scar. Mika looked at her own hands in shock. What the hell had happened?

Before she or the other two could question her, she quickly tied the cloth around her leg and stood up, backing away. Had Mika just done that? That was impossible. She looked at her hands and then at Marianne and Aru. “Right… lets keep moving.” She ushered and tried to keep her mind off of what just happened.

-x-x-x-


Beatrice sniffled nervously as Jolene squatted down next to her. "I... I don't know where your mommy and daddy are. But I promise you that I will keep you safe until we find them.” She told her. Bee nodded. The lady was being very nice. We're going to go meet up with my friend. He'll help keep us safe and find your parents.” Bee nodded again. Any friend of hers was sure to be nice. She stuck next to Jolene and clung to her nervously, trying to stay quiet as Jo had indicated.

In the kitchen Beatrice felt Jolene pause before going to close the curtains before Bee had time to look outside of them. She came back to her and bent down again. "I found your mommy and daddy. They... They are sick.” Beatrice felt her stomach drop and she wanted to cry. Would they be okay? Did they just have a cold or something worse? The way Jolene looked at her made her realize it was probably worse then the common cold."They are going to a better place though. They wanted to say bye but don't want to get you sick... And asked me to look after you now. I promise to take good care of you, ok?” Bee nodded and sniffled. A better place would be good. Her parents always complained that they didn’t get enough vacation days. Maybe this would be a vacation for them? Besides, Jolene seemed like a good person to hang around.

Bee followed Jolene out onto the porch and ambled onto the woman's back when she dropped down. "I need you to hold onto me really tight and don't let go.” Bee wrapped her arms around her shoulders and carefully pressed her face into the woman's back. She felt Jolene creeping slowly before taking off at a sprint. "Close your eyes Bee!” Jolene yelled and Bee did as she was told, shutting her eyes as tight as she could and pressing her face into the woman's back.

They were running for a while before Jolene yelled, “JED!" Soon enough Jolene came to a halt and let Bee slide down from her back. Even though Jo looked tired she instantly leaned down to Bee and asked if she was okay. Bee nodded again and looked around nervously. What had her so shaken up?

"Beatrice, this is Jed.” Bee looked over at the man and gave him a shy wave. She would have stuck close to Jolene the whole time but within the next few moments Jolene was turning, telling her to stay with this new man and then she was running off.

Beatrice watched as Jolene ran away, probably off to go save someone else like she had saved Bee. Bee was kind of amazed. The woman was just like a super hero, defeating all the bad guys. Bee decided that if the woman was a super hero, she would like to stay around her a lot longer.

Bee looked over at the man who Jolene had left her with. Mister Jed. He looked kind of scary, and dirty, but she could see in his eyes that he was soft. She was an innocent girl, but she could read people very well. His whole appearance screamed stranger; someone who she should run away from. But Bee knew better than that. The way he held his bow, as if he was ready to protect them from anything that came, and the way his eyes grew softer when he saw Jolene made her know for sure that he was a nice guy on the inside. She briefly wondered if this man was Miss Jolene's super hero side kick. If that was true, she would be safe with him too.

The other two people that were with him looked nice as well. A kind looking lady with rich skin and another boy who looked younger than the others. Bee shyly waved at them and adjusted her backpack straps nervously. "My name is Beatrice Folley. It's nice to meet you." She introduced herself, just like her parents had always told her to do when meeting new people. She didn't have much time to say anything else because a loud noise from nearby made her jump. Her automatic reaction was to scramble beside the older man who was Jo's sidekick.

Bee nervously pressed beside him and grabbed onto the bottom of his shirt nervously. "Mister... you won't let anything hurt me right? Please and thank you." She whispered and looked up at the man with her big, scared eyes. "Will Miss Jolene be coming back soon? She will be ok, right?" As much as she believed that this man could protect her, she felt very comfortable around Jolene. The woman was so sweet. Beatrice only hoped she would be ok.

-x-x-x-


Thane winced as the afternoon sun pierced into his eyes upon his entrance into the open world. He supposed he had been in that dark drug store for a while if the sun was doing such a number on his eyes. Said eyes barely had enough time to adjust to the light before his whole world was thrown upside down again.

He heard her coming before he saw her and just as he turned his head to figure out who was running closer, she had already arrived and was thrusting her crow bar at his face. Thane flinched and dodged out of the way before the metal rod could find its way into his brain.

“Woah, woah!” He yelled as he backed up. He looked over to see the person pulling her iron crowbar out of another persons head. “Wait a damn minute!” He yelled as he tried to understand the situation. He pointed his bat at the now deceased person on the ground. “Who the hell is that!?” He then pointed his bat at the living person. “Who the hell are you!?” He hissed.

The person in from of him was… questionable, to say the least. Was it a boy? Was it a girl? Somehow Thane hoped it wasn't a boy because somehow he found this person roguishly attractive. Usually short cropped hair, tattoos and dirty hick outfits didn’t really turn his gears but something about the way it had just killed a person unflinchingly was kind of… hot? Did that make him messed up? Probably. Did he care? Nah. He looked over the person again as they stood up and his eyes landed on their, or should he say her chest. Not the biggest he had ever seen, but tits were still tits. Turns out it was a woman after all. Unfortunately from the looks of it Miss Tattoo’s and Attitude didn’t look like she played the field of men. Rather, she looked like she batted for the same team as him.

Of course, considering she had just saved his life, he should have been thankful and compassionate towards this woman, but being the standoffish, entitled asshole he was, he began to run his mouth.

“Listen here Pixie Cut, I don’t know who the hell you are or why you just downed that man… My theory being that he forgot to pay you child support for your bastard kid, or that he didn’t have enough of your favourite drug, but you need to start talking. What the fuck is going on here?” He rested his bat on his shoulder, ready to swing at any time if the he-lady decided to make a move at him next.

Somehow the distant memory of the area rang in his mind and he snorted to himself. “I get it. A whore from hooker county. How very classy?” He snorted and looked at her. She looked tough, then again it could be the whole butch persona, but she was smaller than him. Even if she was strong, his weight alone could pin her down if need be. Not that he would be opposed to having her under him. She was hot in a I-Could-Turn-Your-Girlfriend-Gay kind of way.

10 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren Character Portrait: Jed Charter
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MATTHEW VERNON
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Telekinesis & Binding
#d48848 | [url]Outfit[/url]
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ADAM LAUREN
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pain Suppression & Empathy
#967575 | [url]Outfit[/url]
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SADIE ROSETTE
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Mimicry & Camouflage
#319345 | [url]Outfit[/url]







"Me and this woman, Jolene... We woke up in a cell in the PD together. I can't remember anything before but... I don't think I was a prisoner or anything." Sadie tried not to take his gesture of glancing around as anything but face value. Despite the way, her nerves seemed to be getting the better of her. [color=#837A23"There were bodies everywhere when we woke up. I can't explain how... but I was able to kinda just walk through the bars. And when we got outside one of those charged us."[/color] Sadie had been mostly concerned at the start of their talk, but it had now grown into full blown internal panic. She couldn't believe how unconcerned Adam seemed with it, his own interest having waned the moment that Jed confessed to having no clue how he could walk through solid objects.

"Sounds like a real shitshow," she interjects, quietly.

If Adam had any guess, they'd all drank the fucking kool-aid. Whatever happened next would be a product of this shared psychotic break.

"I don't know what's wrong with them. It's like they're-" Jed had stopped speaking as they walked, seemingly distracted. This was all just too perfect. In a way that made her want to curl up in the fetal position behind several layers of padded walls. Empty streets abandoned homes, and people attacking each other. If she didn't know any better she'd think this were a horror movie - would that make her the star? There always has to be a final girl.

"JED!" The scream caught both Adam and Sadie off guard, Adams hand coming forward to steady before she overbalances. A new form of adrenaline kicked up in his heart, a thrill of it pulsating in his blood. While Jed took off, Sadie tried to keep Adam rooted in place. There was no way they could follow him to a certain death.

"Let me go." Adam hissed while clenching his teeth, something dark crossing into his expression. Sadie, fully disarmed by the aggression let him. Watching him follow quickly behind Jed. She only had a split second to think about how it isn't her problem that the kids ready to run off into certain death before following right behind him. She'd be damned if she wound up alone.

A woman was running down the street towards them now, with a very small child on her back. Neither Adam nor Sadie were firing on all cylinders enough yet to realize that she was running away from something. When she finally noticed, Sadie felt as if someone had sucker punched her with a fist made of fear. God, what the hell was happening to people? Without a weapon neither of them could fight, so Adam relented this time when Sadie halted his pace, determined this time not to let him rush into a fight he couldn't win. She doesn't get why she cares - he's not her problem - but she can't stop herself.

Not when she's afraid for herself just as much as she is for him - and even to some extent these strangers she doesn't even know. Maybe its leftover instincts from a life she can't remember. It has to be right?

"Damn, that's a little scary, but also fucking awesome." Adam had thought Jed's moves before had been awe inspiring but seeing him take down two of those things? Legendary. This guy is definitely someone to stick around. Not to mention the whole phasing through walls ability, useful as hell...If only the world hadn't suddenly flipped on its axis, Jed would have made a hell of a bank robber. They didn't get too close, not wanting to interrupt the family reunion going on here. Adam however, itched to know what the next steps would be.

"Oh god," Sadie grabbed his attention with the rough way she spoke, her eyes glued to her hands when he turned to look at her. He had no idea what was going on but the skin of her palms seemed to be swirling. Rippling and suddenly fading, showing through in some places like a hole showing the landscape behind it. It didn't look painful but she was wincing anyway, watching her palms distort and almost disappear completely to show the pavement just below.

"What the fuck is - " Adam began to ask, but just as abruptly as he spoke, her eyes snapped up to his and her palms returned into full view. As if speaking had broken whatever weird thing had been happening. They shared a look, and Sadie tried to quell her mounting fear - because at this point it's simply becoming more annoying than useful to be afraid.

Never speak of it again. Sadie had to be hallucinating, maybe it hadn't happened at all. Nothing felt right anymore. Everything had become a topsy-turvy mess of emotions that left her feeling vaguely drained the more she thought about how much things suddenly don't make sense anymore. She's almost glad for the lack of memories, knowing that if she had them the feeling of being displaced would be that much worse.

~*~

Big fucking mistake.

Whatever he thought he could achieve by yelling at some barely visible person from halfway down the street had not come true. In fact, if anything he could say the opposite of his goals had come to light. The second he had taken a moment to notice the man's lack of regular movement it had already been too late. He barely had the time to start running again before a handful of them were heading his way. Matt felt like a rat trapped in a damn maze as he started dodging down side streets as best as he can. Lungs burning with the exertion - damn, he really needs to exercise more.

He knew he couldn't exactly outrun them if he tried he'd likely just bring more attention. He needed a better plan, or, as angry as he is to admit it help. No way in hell he'll let the latter happen till shit has well and truly hit the fan. Not that he knew if there would be anyone out there to help anyways. The streets were far too empty besides the crazy rage monsters lurking about.

Matt thinks hard about how he's going to lose this crowd, he'd have to pick one or two of them off either way. They were fast, and as fast as he thought he could be he wasn't fast enough. He didn't want to lose his only weapon, so he kept the knife at his side. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to make any close range attacks without losing it entirely. What he really needs is a gun, which of course he doesn't have. Damn bad luck is what it all comes down to.

While he contemplated on just exactly how shitty his day happened to be going so far he rounded one more corner. Coming to a light jog as he started looking for anything suitable as a longer weapon. He didn't want those fuckers anywhere near him if he could help it. Nothing but sticks and rocks, the farthest thing from helpful he could find. Hell, maybe he could stone the things to death.

"Useless," He mutters, his anger at the situation growing exponentially as the one that had been nearest to him rounded the corner as well. Where could he go now? Nowhere really. More fuel to the flames ever burning in his gut. He didn't notice the slight shaking of the gravel nearest to him. Not until he clenched his fist and started as one of the rocks went whizzing into the air of its own volition. Embedding into the nearest creatures skull. It fell to its knee's as another rock flew, hitting it harder. Several more rocks followed, a torrent of them pelting the people at full force until none remained standing.

Surprise had suddenly overcome him, as well as a weariness he had never felt before. Sinking him for the moment to his knees, where he gathered his head in his hands and groaned. He recognizes the feeling as something similar to drinking too much paired with a hangover, only much worse than either of those things, a fuzzy-ness in his head that clouds everything else over and leaves an ache deep in his skull. That certainly made things much harder to deal with. He didn't know what had happened or how the rocks had flown like that, but there was no time to stop and decipher it. He had to keep running -

Mere moments later salvation finally came in the form of a drugstore, a surly looking man, and a woman embedding a crowbar into the head of one of those creatures. Matt recognized danger when he saw it, he doesn't know how exactly but he does. And these people may not be thugs in everyday life, but right now with his head on fire, holding weapons that could easily best him and his knife - he'd rather not take the chance.

So he stood and observed, prepared to approach only when they proved to be anything other than dangerous.

10 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren Character Portrait: Jed Charter
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#, as written by mjolnir
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JED CARTER
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Intangibility & X-ray Vision
#837A23 | Outfit
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SALVATORE DE LUCA
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Superhuman Agility, Endurance & Strength
#678773 | Outfit
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JOLENE CARTER
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ergokinesis & Telepathy
#72B0B4 | Outfit




“Woah, woah!” The man yelled towards Jolene as he backed up. “Wait a damn minute!" She sighed, slipping the crowbar through her belt loop before crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Who the hell is that!?” He pointed his bat at the dead thing on the ground that she just pommeled, then pointed it at her. “Who the hell are you!?”

Jolene rolled her eyes as she looked this guy over. Straight up city boy no doubt about it. Probably spent more on one bottle of hair gel then she'd spend on a fucking car. She scoffed when she noticed him looking at her chest. Jo snapped her fingers and motioned for him to look back up at her eyes.

“Listen here Pixie Cut." Jo inhaled sharply, resting her hands on her hips as she clicked her tongue in her mouth preparing for, no doubt, his rant. "I don’t know who the hell you are or why you just downed that man… My theory being that he forgot to pay you child support for your bastard kid, or that he didn’t have enough of your favourite drug, but you need to start talking. What the fuck is going on here?” He adjusted his bat like he was prepared to swing at her in any moment, causing her to raised a brow. “I get it. A whore from hooker county. How very classy?”

Jolene ran her tongue along her teeth, nodding her head as she turned to just walk away. "No, fuck this." She spun around balling up her fist in the process. As she turned to face him, she slammed her fist into his nose feeling the bone snap under the blow. "Listen here city twat!" Before he got a chance to swing that bat at her she reached up and grabbed it. When her skin touched the metal electric sparks shot from her hand, rand down the shaft and electrocuted its owner.

She cocked her head to the side in curiosity and then smiled as she yanked the back from him. Jolene grasped it in both hands and slammed the butt of it into the guy's gut before throwing the bat on the ground. "You are on my turf Paris Hilton!" Jo hooked the back of her heel behind his knee while her hands shoved against his shoulders sending him to the ground. She quickly moved down so that she was straddling him, each one of her knees pinning down his hands. "I'm not a whore!" Slap. "I don't do drugs!" Punch. "And I don't have ANY FUCKING KIDS!"

***

Adam and Sadie caught up with Jed not long after he laid waste to the crazies that were chasing after Jolene and her new little shadow. He nervously watched Jolene run off towards something that she heard and he didn't. He doesn't remember anything about her prior to the black out but something inside him said this wasn't all that strange. Well the running off, hearing things he didn't hear was odd.

"Damn, that's a little scary, but also fucking awesome," Adam said towards him. Jed gave a slight nervous laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't quite sure how he knew that he could do that, but he did it.

His grip on his crossbow tightened when he saw a man and one of those... things come out from a store. He blinked a couple times realizing he was seeing what others couldn't. Depending on how much he squinted he saw the brick wall of the building or... Through it towards the insane person, the new person and Jolene. He knew if he ran he wouldn't be fast enough and shooting with his bow was frivolous, it'd just break against the wall. But Jo was on it, sinking her crowbar right into its temple.

Before he could head in that direction he felt a small body press against the side of his leg and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. "Mister... you won't let anything hurt me right? Please and thank you." Her little voice was a whisper as she looked up at him with terrified eyes. It broke his heart. A child with no parents in a world like this. Jolene was kind enough in her heart to take this child no questions asked and now she relied on them for survival. It was the right thing to do but deep down he also felt a sinking feeling in his gut. How long could a child really survive in... Whatever this was?

Jed rested his crossbow back on his right shoulder while he hesitantly lowered his left hand to softly pat the girl's head. "Of course."

"Will Miss Jolene be coming back soon? She will be ok, right?"

He smiled slightly. "Oh yeah, she'll be fine. She's tough, like you."

Jed stood upright getting the strange feeling like he was being watched, like eyes were drilling into the back of his head. His arm protectively hooked around Beatrice as he squinted his eyes glancing around. He stopped when he thought he something move. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust before he was able to see them as clearly as day through whatever it was they hid behind. He cursed under his breath, glancing back towards Jolene who looked to be dealing with the other guy.

"Hey," Jed whispered towards Sadie, motioning her closer so he could whisper in her ear. "Don't look, but I think we're being watched." He nodded in the direction slightly. "I'll be right back, just wait here."

His gaze shifted between Adam and Sadie to Beatrice. Jolene asked him to watch the little one. He might not remember Jo but they're related somehow. He meant no offense towards the other two but at this point he wasn't taking any chances leaving the little girl with them. So he crouched down in front of Beatrice, "Hop aboard little miss."

With Beatrice on his back, he lifted his left leg and pulled out a small hunting knife from his boot and held it out towards Sadie. "It's not much... But it's something."

Jed adjusted Beatrice on his back before walking straight towards the group in the shadows. When he got close enough he put the cross bow strap over his shoulder to free his hands and held them up to show he meant no harm. "Hey... I'm not going to hurt you." He waited a minute, glancing over his shoulder towards the girl then back to them. It was a group of three, a young oriental man who couldn't be a day over eighteen and then two women. Jed tried to keep his voice calm and friendly even though he was never that friendly of a guy. "Look, no one likes being followed. So it'd be in all of our interests you guys just joined us... Safety in numbers and all that."

Before Jed could say anything else he heard a low grumbling growl in the distance. He held up his index finger to his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet. He slowly stepped towards the alleyway. When he glanced around the corner, the shock had him frozen in place until the adrenaline kicked in. It wasn't one, not even several over dozens of those mindless people running straight for them. "We gotta go... Now." He turned back towards the new group of three, "Run..." He then called out towards Sadie and Adam, "RUN!"

He had no time to worry about shooting them, instead he held tightly to Beatrice as she sprinted in Jolene's direction. Jed came upon her on top of the guy she had just helped, beating the living shit out of him. "Jo!" She didn't hear him, obviously in a blind rage. "JOLENE!!"

Just as Jo was about to lay another devastating punch into mister-perfect-hair's face, she finally registered Jed shouting towards her. He leaned down, practically yanking her arm to get her up. She stumbled to her feet, glancing back towards the direction he came from with the others and saw the mass hoard of those crazy things coming after them. It was like the wind was knocked out of at the sight. She leaned down, aggressively yanking the city boy up. "Come on fucker!"

Once Thane was up on his feet, Jolene grabbed his bat and threw it at him before she began running. "I know where to go! Come on!" She ran as fast as she could down the main road, Jed hot on her tail holding Beatrice tightly to him so she didn't get left behind. As Jo went to turn down at alley she screamed coming face to face with one of them. As fast as she could she slammed the crowbar into its gut then plunged the end of it into their head. She kicked them off her weapon before taking off again.

Jo cursed under her breath when there wasn't a dumpster under the fire escape. With as much of a running start as she could get, Jolene ran towards it, jumping and hooking the crowbar on the ladder. As she came down she pulled the ladder down with her. It stopped about three feet off the ground. "Up here!" Jo gently but quickly took Beatrice from Jed's back and his crossbow.

Without hesitation Jed hoisted himself up the ladder. Once on the platform, he caught his weapon that Jo tossed up at him and set it aside. He laid on his stomach holding out his hands, "Hurry!"

Jolene held up Beatrice towards Jed who lifted her up onto the fire escape. "Follow me, ok?" He hurried up the stairs to the top window. His hands shook from the adrenalin rush which caused him to fumble as he opened the window. "Don't come in until I say it's clear," he said towards Beatrice as he climbed into his and Jolene's apartment. Even though nothing looked familiar, he knew his way around with ease. He raced through every room making sure it was empty. He then through open the door and ran all the way downstairs to the main entrance and made sure ever lock and bolt was done.

When everything seemed clear, Jed sprinted up the stairs taking them four at a time. He slammed the apartment door shut, calling back towards Beatrice, "It's ok sweetie, you can come in." But even in the safety of the apartment he still furiously locked the door. Jed then pressed his back to the side of the bookshelf and used all his might to scoot it in front of the door in case any of them got through.

Jolene stayed on the ground, quickly motioning for everyone to get up the ladder. "Go! Go! Go!" As she herded everyone up the fire escape, she heard something else. Not a crazed person but someone else... A new voice in her head? It seemed to be coming from around the corner. Was he watching them?

She cursed under her breath, "Just get up there and help Jed! I'll be right there!" Jolene pivoted on her heels as she headed towards the voice. She knocked down one of the things that ran at her before she reached a blonde male who looked to be around her age. "Come one!" She didn't have time to ask him questions about why he was watching them or whatever else. He wasn't one of those things and that was enough for her. "If you stay here you'll die! It's you choice!" Jo took out another as the guy pondered his options.

Once he started moving towards the fire escape, Jolene was right behind him. When the guy was up the ladder, she hooked the crowbar on her pants and climbed. She was nearly to the top when one grabbed her foot causing her grip to slip and knock her down a couple rungs. Jolene held on for dear life as she kicked at the thing with all her might. When she was free, she scurried up the ladder and then quickly pulled it up so there was no way any of them could reach them.

Jolene took a second to catch her breath before making her way up the stairs to the window. "Jed," she said with a hoarse voice. "I need a chain, duct tape or something." Jed nodded towards her and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before returning with rope. Jo descended the stairs again and tied the ladder up in its locked position so there wasn't even a chance of it sliding down.

When Jolene entered the apartment, she closed the window, locked it and even moved another bookshelf in front of it, finally reaching a more paranoid state. She turned around to face the room but wasn't all that ready to let it soak in. "First aid," she mumbled to herself before hurrying down the hall. She stopped by a door that felt familiar and slowly opened it. As she walked inside she looked around seeing the walls plastered with band posters, and military memorabilia. Jo made her way over to a desk where she saw a picture of two very young kids hugging as they held up fish they had caught. The image sent of flood of memories back to her mind. She nearly fell to the ground as they overwhelmed her, causing her to stumble, using the desk for support.

In no time Jed was there next to her. "What's wrong? What is it?" His eyes fixed on what she saw and like a freight train his memories came back to him too. In that moment they both realized they bond to each other, brother and sister. He grabbed Jolene, pulling her into an embrace. "Oh thank god," he whispered. The realization that they forgot each other but somehow still stuck together sunk in. They could have died but here they were.

Jo slowly pulled away, wiping a tear from her eye. She wanted to break down and cry because of everything that happened. Something gnawed at the back of her mind, her silent PTSD that she just slowly began to remember she had. But Jo wasn't going to crack, she couldn't. "First aid."

Jolene raided the bathroom of anything medical they could use and rejoined the group in the living room. She handed out some of the supplies before sitting on the ground and motioning Beatrice over. "Hey there... Did you get hurt anywhere? Doctor Jolene will fix you up." She tried to smile and stay as positive and somewhat silly that she could for the young girl.

10 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mika Blackfoot Character Portrait: Beatrice Folley Character Portrait: Jolene Carter Character Portrait: Matthew Vernon Character Portrait: Thane Rutherford Character Portrait: Marianne Colleen Character Portrait: Sadie Rosette Character Portrait: Aru Fuujinn Character Portrait: Adam Lauren Character Portrait: Jed Charter
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ARU FUUJINN
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Erebokinesis & Advanced Hearing
#8E388E | Outfit
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MARIANNE COLLEEN

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Hydrokinesis & Hind Sight
#FF1493 | Outfit




“Look, if we are going to follow them, we have to make sure we don’t get caught. It will only look more suspicious if they realize we have been tailing them. Not many people I know would want to have strangers tag along, much less people who have been stalking them," Mika mentioned as Aru began to move after the other group of people. He gave a silent nod in understanding as he slowed himself down. In all honesty, he was a bit nervous about all of this. With the blood and crazed people running after them, Aru was unsure who to trust. These humans could be different, could be like them but what if they weren't? What if they killed them to get supplies? Being in groups provided protection but too large a group could also be a detriment if they didn't have enough resources and larger groups were harder to move about without detection. In this unknown though, he wanted to be among more people.

Marianne herself nodded and gripped Aru's shoulder to slow him down. She didn't want him to get ahead of himself. She let go however when the boy winced and shrugged his shoulder. The movement revealed the bite hidden beneath the clothes. She had forgotten that he had the injury. And speaking of injury, Marianne looked back at Mika when the woman mentioned her own leg injury. She hesitated a moment before she offered up her foot for her to wrap. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the wound begin to heal rapidly until Mika pulled her hands away. That was... that was unexpected. She looked over at Mika who also looked startled about the action. Marianne didn't say anything as Mika quickly finished wrapping up the wound and pulled away as if nothing had occurred.

"Thank you..." Marianne whispered.

She didn't want to bring it up now. They had bigger worries right now. They could talk about the wonder healing when they had the luxury. With her injury taken care of for now, the party of three hurried after the other group of people. The three of them hid behind one of the houses and Aru peeked out from the edge to watch the interaction between the man and the little girl. He couldn't see where one of the girls had run off to. The man seemed gentle enough towards the child. That was a good sign at the very least. Aru was about to relay that bit of information to Marianne and Mika when the man in question turned to look straight at them. Oh shit. Aru tensed, his eyes narrowing on Jed, trying to figure out if the man was going to run at them or attack them. His heart was hammering like a jackrabbit in the claws of a wolf. How had the man noticed them there? They had been quiet! Aru had hardly peeked out from the corner.

"Look, no one likes being followed. So it'd be in all of our interests you guys just joined us... Safety in numbers and all that," the man announced. Aru swallowed hard and glanced back at the other two, the silent question being what they should do. It was obvious they had been spotted so coming out seemed like the best idea. And then there was the growl. Aru gasped and turned his attention to the noise. That didn't sound like just one growl. Now that he was paying attention to it, he could hear a variety of scuffling feet, growls, and haggard breathing coming in their direction. They weren't all that far away.

"We gotta go... Now. Run...RUN!"

"Run!" Aru echoed the stranger and hurried out from the hiding place after the other group. He glanced back to make sure Marianne and Aru were behind him and his eyes widened when he saw the horde of the crazed people. They really hadn't been that far away. If they hadn't run, they would have been the first to be attacked. How had he not realized how close they were?

"Just run!" Marianne cried to get Aru to stop looking back. If he kept turning he'd trip himself and she didn't want anything to happen to the kid. She grabbed his hand as they ran away from the crazed thing. As they rounded the corner with the other group, they saw the girl that had run off earlier and another stranger that was added to the party. Marianne didn't know where they were going but she had to trust that they would make it to safety. She could hear the nasty little things behind them getting closer. She wanted to look back to see just how close they were but knew that if she did that, she would slow herself down and it really didn't matter how far behind they were as long as they didn't reach them.

Then they reached another building and the guy who had spotted them and the other girl pulled down a ladder. It was probably only seconds, but it felt like hours before everything was clear and the group began to rush up the ladder. "Come on come on come on come one," Marianne muttered as each person went up the ladder. She shoved Aru up before her and then Mika before she jumped up behind the girl and they scrambled up to get away from the creatures in human skin.

Once up in the building, Aru leaned against a wall panting, hands on his bent knees and just breathed. He was shaking from their close call. They were safe in here, but were they really? What if those things got in here? They would be sitting ducks and how long could they stay in here? They wouldn't have enough food and water for all of them for too long. They would have to venture out again and wouldn't those things stay around the building until they came out? What were they going to do?

Aru looked up when Marianne came over to him and rested a hand on his uninjured shoulder. She looked terrified to but it was obvious she was trying to give him some support. He sighed before he let himself slide down to sit instead of lean against the wall the way he had been. Marianne sighed and looked around the rest of their party. They were quite the hodgepodge of people, weren't they? She heard someone mention first aid before leaving the room where the rest of them were crowding about. It wasn't long before the woman returned with the first aid kit and handed out supplies. Marianne accepted what was offered to her and looked over at Aru and Mika. They were her first priority in this situation.

"Are you injured to, Mika? I didn't even ask if you were. I am sorry." Marianne offered her the antibiotic jell before she walked over to the sink and grabbed a bowl and filled it up with water before she returned to her tiny group and ripped a piece off her pants and wet it to wash Aru's wound before applying some of the antiseptic on it and wrapping it up.

"Thank you," he said softly. Marianne just smiled and patted his arm.