Ken Warren's Story

The world was never going to be the same, it was a world of death and destruction, not that it was much more before the planet went into chaos for Ken. As a soldier he had seen people at their worst, people would be willing to do anything for food and help in war torn nations but this apocalypse turned the entire planet like this, there were no longer an safe havens. Any fortress that the army built were eventually destroyed and overrun. Thats why Ken chose not to go to any of the so called "safe areas" that people were told to go to. Ken was better off on his own, that way he didn't have to look after anyone and he only had to worry about keeping himself alive. Sure it was nice to have someone to talk to now and then but that meant getting attached and Ken could no longer get into that position again.

Ken had been staying in the city for a couple of days gathering supplies and finding the odd house that had a comfortable bed for him to lay low. But he couldn't stay there for long, it was too dangerous. Any city was dangerous, there were too many "people" that posed a threat. However he had to either go there or starve, there were few other options, he could also now and then find ammo where soldiers had been left to die on the streets. Ken walked down an open street filled with old burnt out cars and the odd body dotted around, he always had his rifle close to his chest ready to react if anything or anyone alerted him. Ken had been out all day looking for supplies, where he had found the odd bottle of water and old tinned food ans surprisingly some bacon. Despite the fact he could have done with looking for more supplies it was starting to get late and the sun was setting and despite Ken preferring the night, the streets were no place to be hanging around at night, it was better to be in a building or somewhere high.

He continued to travel through the streets looking for whatever was a safe place to hide out. There wasn't many but he would make do with most places. Then he saw a god send, almost quite literally, a church tower was poking its tip over some of the houses around the corner, a perfect place for him to spend the night. Ken swiftly made his way to the church, it had seen better days, bullet holes were strewn all over the brick work and there were many holes in the walls that must have been made from tank and rocket blasts, however the bell tower seemed intact and stable. Ken made his way to the front doors of the church with his weapon at the ready. He entered the church checking his surroundings around him. An empty church always had a disturbing cold feeling to it, like something was wrong. Ken pulled out a cross from under his shirt and kissed it as he walked through the dark church, as if it was a request from god to protect him. It appeared that there none of the dead in the church or none that he could see. Ken made his way to the stairs up the tower and rose up them trying to make as little noise as possible. When he reached the summit nightfall had almost hit and it seemed like a good time to settle down. It was an open tower with huge gaps but there wasn't much wind so it was quite a comfortable area, Ken closed the hatch that he had just been through to stop any zombies trying to get the jump on him. He started unpacking some of his things like a lantern that he found when the zombies first attacked to light up the tower slightly, not so much light that he would be too visible but enough for him too see around him. He laid his rifle down up against a wall and leaned against the wall sitting down. It was a quiet night, he could almost hear his own heart beat as he settled down for the night.

That was when he saw it in the corner of his eye, a light, it was in a building down the street that looked like an old abandoned bar. Ken grabbed his rifle aiming down at the bar, there were definitely people down there, he could see the shadows in the windows. This wasn't good, people around meant that there was a chance of danger, Ken turned off his lantern and kept his rifle trained on the bar waiting for someone too appear.

Jaimie knew he shouldn't have left the group those few days ago. His brother always said, stay with a group. Keep the buddy system, don't wander off alone. But Jaimie just couldn't stay. He couldn't bear knowing that his brother had gone out with the older kids, and never came back. Chances were, one of the older kids had probably killed his brother. He knew they had no choice, once someone was dead, they were dangerous. But without his brother there to protect him, Jaimie didn't feel all that safe in the group. They had that Devan girl always being loud and drawing out zombies, and people with guns. His brother always said the trade off for fire power was the noise.

So Jaimie had disappeared during the night, sneaking off to try and go home. He didn't make it to his house, there were too many zombies. He'd ended up in a shopping center, which wasn't the ideal, until he found a comic book store. There was a giant poster there listing what to do in the zombie apocalypse. Jaimie was actually relieved of the reminder. Without his brother to follow, a little direction was welcome in Jaimie's life. It told him that if you were careful, you could get from one place to another carefully if you stuck to the shadows and didn't make too much noise. Hiding behind cars or other objects was advised. Jaimie took note of that.

The rest of the comic book store was basically this thirteen year old's dream. Jaimie snagged an amazing batman figure that had all sorts of joints and was just heavy enough to feel expensive. It never left his hand as he camped out at the comic store, doors locked and reading comics in the light coming in through the window. He had lasted this whole time on the food in his pack, mostly junk food but plenty of water and granola bars too. The comic store had even had a bathroom, so he never had to leave! But then, the food and water did run out. And honestly, now that he was starting to feel less sad about his brother's death, he was starting to miss socializing with people. As interesting as comics were, they couldn't listen to him or tell him it was okay.

This morning, Jaimie had finally left the comic book store, sporting a brand new Captain America shirt and a superman cape to go along with his army camo-print cargo pants and red converses. The batman figure he had refused to leave behind, and even carried, though there was plenty of space in his backpack now that it was empty of food. He liked to have batman with him, it made him less scared of being attacked at any second. Jaimie snuck around trying to find the group again, but it seemed that they had moved on from their last location. He was disappointed by that. What would he do now? He tried to figure out where they would go next. While he was searching, he found a pen and paper, and wrote a letter to his dad, and then one to his mom and his brother. He cried a little while he did it, but he felt better for it.

His current goal was to get to a church. God was the only one who could give letters to dead people, so he just wanted to leave his letters at the church where God could find them. He passed a temple, which was almost as good, but his mom had been christian, so he decided to keep looking. It was getting darker by the time he saw the church. A man was walking inside when Jaimie got there, which made him nervous. But the guy was carrying a gun, and Jaimie had never ever seen a zombie carry anything before, so he thought it might be safe. He'd run in, pray for God to come get his letters, and run out.

The door to the church was kind of heavy for Jaimie to push, but that was probably because he wasn't very strong. His brother did always call him a little twerp, which he kind of was. He was short for his age, and the baby of his family. Not that it mattered now. There wasn't any family left to baby him. Peeking inside the church with the door open enough for Jaimie to squeeze in, Jaimie didn't see the man that had entered. He hurried inside, running to the altar, his converses squeaking against the polished floor.

Jaimie quickly pulled off his backpack and took out the letters, giving another glance around the building. Sure that he was alone, Jaimie set the letters on the altar, then got on his knees and bowed his head. He spoke in a loud whisper so that God could hear him but hopefully the man who had come in before couldn't.

"Dear God, it's Jaimie. I wrote some letters to my family, but since they are all dead I can't send them by myself. If you could, I'd like it if you got these letters to them for me. But don't worry if you can't right now, I know a lot of people are dying so you're probably really busy greeting people in heaven. No offense, but I hope I don't join you up there just yet. I'm scared to die..." Jaimie trailed off. Maybe he should clarify that he wasn't too scared about regular dying, it was just the horrible zombie death he was really scared of. But God knew a lot, he probably understood. "Anyway, I'll just leave the letters right here in your house, and you can come get them when you have time." Jaimie almost stood up, but then he remembered what his mom always said about praying. Don't just ask God for everything you want, remember to thank him for the things he gave you. And don't forget to say amen! "Oops." Jaimie sank back on his knees, bowing his head a little more. He bit his lip, trying to think of what there was to be thankful for when everything seemed really bad in the world right then. After a pause, he worked out how to end his prayer.

"And also, thank you for Jesus, and granola bars, and batman. Amen."

Ken watched as a very small group left the bar and started to approach a shop across the road, They must be scavenging he thought. Ken just silently kept watching the store through his scope, no movement, complete quiet and calmness. Multiple thoughts were going through his head, should he move or should he just stay and see what they do, they may have seen the church and had the same idea as him, that the church was a good place to stay. He couldn't afford to get penned in, but at the same time it wouldn't be the first time he had been outnumbered by potential hostile survivors. He decided to stay, but he had to be prepared, if they were a danger he needed to make sure he had the advantage.

Ken grabbed his gear and opened the hatch into the church keeping his rifle at the ready. The stairs were a perfect place for him to get a vantage point if anyone entered and he would be able to take anyone by surprise and take some of them out before they even knew where he was. He slowly walked down the steps and positioned himself and could see the whole church in front of him. He waited for a few minutes silently and patiently, like any sniper should. Then out of nowhere he heard a noise, it wasn't very loud but something was definitely there. Ken scanned the huge room trying to spot something, then he saw it, a small figure kneeling down at the altar. He raised his scope to look at the person, they didn't seem dead, in fact they looked like they were praying. It was a child, what the hell was a child doing in a place like this? Maybe he had the same idea of Ken. Ken needed to get a closer look to see if he was armed. It may have sounded harsh to assume that a child was a danger, but in this new world everything was a danger. Ken slowly took some more steps down the stairs keeping his rifle trained on the boy. Ken decided he would get his attention and make sure he knew he wasn't a threat, Ken had the upper hand, he was higher and had his rifle on the boy. He pulled a flash light from his belt and shone it on the boy, quickly shouting "Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!"

William ran a hand through his hair as he watched everyone file out of the store, a slight jot of pain shooting through his left arm. Not really something he needed to worry about now, but it would be better to get it looked at sooner than later. He quickly replaced his crowbar in his bag, a safe yet easy place to reach, as he walked out of the store's entrance closing it behind him.

Will quietly did a head count before continuing on down the street. Honestly he didn't know if going to the church was such a good idea, considering some people would have actually like to have died in a church rather than on the streets. But it would be better than camping out in that death trap store and continuing to walk at night. So to the church they were going.

"When we get there we should all get a bite to eat before doing anything else, then we can decide nights shifts." William called over his shoulder to his group as they approached the church. It didnt seem like any zombies were around, but it was always better to assume they were. William pulled out his crowbar once more, ready for another attack if need be.

"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" William jumped slightly not expecting a human voice.

"Survivors." He whispered glancing at Tori, before scanning the church in front of him. William scrunched his eyebrows, of course they were armed, didnt the guy see his crowbar. "Tori." He whispered trying to stay as still as possible, so he wouldn't set the guy off. " He doesn't sound stable. Should I try to reason with him?" He asked out loud, but already knowing the answer they, should get the heck out of dodge. Reasoning with strangers during an apcolaspse is already dangerous, forget reasoning with a lunatic.

The walk up to the church was something that proved slightly difficult fro Moon, most likely due to the fact it was uphill, and she almost fell every second step. After actually falling once more, she began to cling on whom every was closest, which for her was Rain. She liked Rain, he seemed smart, and not in a know-it-all way she suspected Dusty to be. Sure, he wasn't the strongest, or bravest, or even most likely to smoke with her, but she couldn't dislike the guy. She was holding onto him, and as far as she could tell, he wasn't too bothered by it, but what did she know. Around half way, she started to talk, a bit slurring, but understandable. "Has anyone ever told you your name is really deep? I mean rain gives life, joy, and so much to all, never understood why people don't like it. It must be cool to have that name. I mean Moonstone? That's odd, even for hippies, you know?" She was still on his arm, but she found herself walking easier. When drunk or drugged, she found she tends to become rather open and big-mouthed.

Dusty, on the other hand, was trying to remember the last time he even entered a church. It must have been at least three years. He remembered getting communion and all that, but he and his family were never ones to go regularly. He had to wonder, if he was still alive, did that mean God saved or punished him? It was a good question, something that Moon might thing or when relaxed. He walked within the group, but didn't really make an effort to talk to anyone. He just wanted to rest and relax, even for a few minutes.

When someone yelled, "Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" Dusty was caught off guard so fast, he just did what the bodiless voice told him and watched as William and Tori talked about something. "Are they going to try and reason with this guy? He might be crazy, and if he is, he could kill them all. Best option was to get him before he got them." He thought to himself and realized how dark that was, but it was the truth. Moon, on the other hand, didn't seem to fazed by the guy, instead just holding on to Rain. "If I let go, I'll fall." She thought to herself, before saying in a not too loud voice, but still stronger than usual. "You first!" It only hit her later that that sentence could have gotten them killed, but she knew she didn't say it too loud, so hopefully he didn't hear, and said an apology in a small voice.

Jace followed the crew as they made their way to the church. He had his hans stuffed in his pockets, but he kept his piercing dark eyes on the alleyways and street corners around them. They reached the church without any problems, but Jace was always on edge these days. He hadn't ever actually been inside a church...his parents had been the kind of people that went every Sunday, but he always got out of it. Maybe when he was younger he had been forced to go with, but he had no memory of that.

"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" Jace blinked, turning his attention to the figure at the front of the church.

"Shit" he muttered and rotated the shotgun front his back to his hands in a few seconds, pointing in directly at the stranger. He didn't really care if William was going to try and reason with him, Jace never took any chances. And with a shotgun on his back, he was always quick to draw it out.

Dodger let loose a growl at his side, sensing his masters agitation instantly. The police dog was too well trained to outright attack the man, but Jace didn't doubt for a second that if that man tried to attack them, Dodger would rip his throat out without hesitation.

"Heel, Dodge...not yet" Jace whispered to the dog, never removing his eyes or his weapon from his target.

Rain didn't mind the walk up to the church, it gave him some time to wonder if sleeping there was really such a good thing to do. It's the best option, He reminded himself, And no one else is objecting... it's fine.
Alicia on the other hand apparently was having too much trouble walking to be wondering if the church was safe. Rain, not wanting her to fall behind due to her falling every three seconds, slowed his walking pace so it matched hers. After another fall Moon decided she'd cling onto his arm for stability.
Shortly after that Moon began to talk, Rain wouldn't have minded her speaking so much if her topic hadn't been his name. He'd never once heard someone say that it was deep or meaningful, to him and to everyone else it had always just been Rain. Flat out boring and also, in his case, completely unoriginal. It had been raining outside the hospital the day he was born and he was positive that his parents weren't able to think of anything better to name their child.
Rain did agree that it was better than Moonstone, which was truly an odd choice even for hippies.

He would have said something so it wasn't a one sided conversation, but someone elses voice cut off his own.
"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" Even before the second sentence could be said Rain had his free arm up over his head, his other arm remaining down so Moon wouldn't topple backwards.
"You first!" The girl said rather loudly as William and Tori were discussing the matter. Rain shot her a Why the hell would you say that? look. What on Earth was going on in her head?

Then when Jace got his gun ready Rain was sure that things were going to end badly as they did every time.
Please let there be no deaths. He thought/prayed, No one dying would be great.

The walk to the church, in Devan's words, was 'creepy as fuck!' It was dark and foggy, the only thing that lit their path was a few street lights that hadn't blew out or got knocked over by a car crashing into it. The alleyways was what got her the most. They were creepy and dark and...creepy.

Devan, for the first time that day they were walking, was quiet. Usually, she's the loud girl always commenting on something. But, it was different now. They were going to a church and she was honestly a bit scared. No one could tell she was a bit scared and nervous though. They'd just mark her wide eyes and quietness as her tipsiness. Coming up on the church made Devan let out her small "Oh lordy" catch phrase and her eyes, though they were slightly widened before, seem to widened even more. Church's, in Devan's mind, were the creepiest buildings out there, aside mansions, hospitals, and fun houses or house of mirrors that are usually at a circus.

Walking up to the church, Devan gripped her bat. She was expecting a zombie priest to come out of the door and snarl at them with a crucifix sticking out of his head. Hell, Devan was so bonkers right now about stepping into a church that she was expecting Jesus, 'the son of God', to come out of that church all zombiefied. Holes in his palms and feet along with rose stems or barbwire around his head. I am going insane. Devan thought as she pushed her zombie infested thoughts out of her mind as they started up to the door. That's when she heard a guy yell.

"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" Devan had jumped slightly at the words, almost dropping her bat. She struggled to catch it again, but once she did she held it tight to her chest and looked up at everyone with wide eyes and her eyebrows bowed slightly. "What the fuck, man." She said in an almost sad sounding voice as she looked in the direction Jace was pointing his gun. Devan didn't see shit. She glanced over at every one. She then made her way slowly over to Will and Tori. "What we doin'?" Devan said to them through her teeth quietly, shifting her eyes from Will to Tori to the church where the unseen body of the voice was coming from and back to Will and Tori.

Jaimie was just standing up after saying 'amen' when a bright light shone in his face. He lifted his batman toy to shield his face before a man's voice cut through the silence of the church.

"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!"

Jaimie swallowed hard. His original plan had been to get in and out of the church as quickly as possible to avoid this exact situation. But apparently he'd gotten a little carried away with his prayer, and whoever it was had heard him. Though the light was shining too brightly for him to see the man, Jaimie knew there was a big gun trained right on him. He'd seen that gun when the man had originally entered the church. Jaimie had to make a conscious effort not to pee his pants. The prospect of a bullet in his brain wasn't much more comforting than that of the zombie apocalypse outside.

Shifting his hands so they were both behind his head, though never releasing his precious figurine, Jaimie squinted up in the direction of the man apparently standing on the stairs of the church. He was going to answer that he was unarmed (unless the man considered a miniature batman in the hands of a thirteen year old a threat) and try to get himself out of there, when he heard shuffling behind him.

Jaimie turned around, arms still behind his head, expecting to see a swarm of undead piling into the church. Instead, he saw the group he'd been searching for entering the church, obviously being cautious with weapons at the ready. He heard a few of them speak up, but from where he was, he couldn't really make out what it was. He hoped that the guy with the gun couldn't hear what they said either, just in case they were saying something stupid. "Guys! William, Tori, Devan!" Jaimie couldn't get much more out than that before his throat closed up. He was so happy to see familiar faces! But then, now wasn't the time to be a baby. He should at least pretend to be brave. "Look out, there is a bad guy with a gun over here!"

Devan was standing next to Will and Tori, not too sure what to do next. She took a quick glance in the door of the church. It was dark except for the guy who was shinning a light at someone. Looking closer Devan could tell it was a kid. 'Da fuck...?' Devan thought as she squinted at the kid, who wasn't that far in front of them. "He looks familiar." She said quietly, mostly to herself. Then the kid turned and looked at them and started saying something.

"Guys! William, Tori, Devan!" Devan's ear's perked up as she heard her name. Looking closer at the kid and listening to see if he was going to speak again. "Look out, there is a bad guy with a gun over here!" He said and Devan smiled as she realized it was Jamie. Personally, Devan liked Jamie. He reminded her of her little brother Terry. She smiled while making a pout and saying "awww" quietly.

Now, being in the presence of a tipsy Devan is not always the best thing to do. While tipsy, Devan will forget to think and act on impulse. This, in her case, isn't always the smartest thing to do. Without thinking, Devan ran past Will and Tori. "Jamie!" She said in a slightly high pitched squeal as she ran in the door and glomped Jamie. Jamie, obviously, wasn't ready and as soon as Devan jumped at him and hugged him, they fell over with a big thud as the hit the ground. "Awh, fuck! Damn, that hurt!" Devan complained loudly through her teeth, though she tried to quiet down the profanities. Though that didn't work much.

Remembering she had knocked over Jamie, Devan stood up and help the poor little guy up. Once she dusted him off slightly and fixed his clouthes, she gave him a big hug again as she told him "You little bastard, had me worried sick when you disappeared. I thought a zombie villain had gotten ahold of you and was gonna' lead us all to his evil lair and capture us!" She tried to keep a serious face as she looked down at him but couldn't help but smile as she sparked his interest. "Never do that again." She said one final word to him before looking up to where the guy who was shinning the light came from. "Now, your not gonna shoot us after that, are you?" Devan said up to the guy, her face wiped of the smile and replaced with a blank expression and slightly wide eyes and she hoped, even prayed, that someone else would come in the church so she wasn't in there alone with Jamie and some mysterious guy in the shadows with a light and most likely a gun.

“You first!” Zara heard Moon shout at the man. Even if she agreed with the intoxicated brunette, this was not the way to go about it. She walked up to the girl, clinging to Rain and covered her mouth forcefully with her hand. She knew the girl was apologetic,

“If you cannot shut your mouth long enough to keep Mr. Sniper up there from shooting us, I can arrange a gag for you.” She hissed, keeping her voice low.

Tori shot Zara a “play nice” look, but was secretly envious that she could say what Tori was thinking.

“Guys! William, Tori, Devan! Look out, there is a bad guy with a gun over here!" shouted a familiar voice, part of the redhead wondered if no one in this group knew how to tactfully handle a stand off, the other part was busy trying to place the voice.

Zara watched in horror as the screaming bat girl threw herself into the church. Sighing in total frustration she walked up toward the church, bow drawn and aimed at the older man's head.

Shit had just gotten serious. That was Jamie in there, one of their own. They couldn't just walk away from this situation.

“Look, we mean no harm here!” Tori shouted up to the man. “He is one of ours, let us have him and we will be on our way.” She held her pistol high above her head in surrender.

“Speak for yourself,” Zara growled.

“Zara, heel,” Tori snapped. Zara would have rolled her eyes, but refused to take her eyes off of her target.

“We don't need to surrender, we have this guy,” Zara protested.

“You are being dumb,” Tori retorted. Zara could have laughed in frustration.

“I am being dumb?! Me?! I am not the sex-driven airhead that goes diving into danger so she can get a hug and endangering my whole party.” When Tori didn't respond Zara smirked.

She didn't do anything else, she held her ground, arrow aimed at his head. She knew if things got bad Jace would back her up even if it was just for pure enjoyment of ripping this muscle head to shreds.

Rain recognized the kids voice the moment he heard it. Okay, that's not exactly the truth but he still figured out who it was fairly quick.
"Jaimie?" He whispered in half disbelief and half shock. Hadn't he, like.... disappeared into the Unknown and died? How did he manage not to get himself killed?
Rain wasn't complaining, but he was certain that the kid was dead and this his ears were playing tricks on him. It was almost as if his brain was telling him Hey! Look who just came back even though he practically disappeared from the face of the Earth! Look who's not dead! Maybe other people can do that too!
Rain knew that 'other people' were the ones he didn't want to believe were gone, such as -and most of all- his brother. He didn't have proof that Jonah was gone like he did for his parents, he killed them himself. Jonah was missing, just like Jaimie had been.
Surely if Jaime could come back then Jonah could too.
Stop lying to yourself. Jaime isn't a four year old and is capable of looking after himself. Jonah's dead.
No. Rain shook his head. His brother was just missing, that's all.

What snapped Rain out of his thoughts was Devan running right on into the church followed shortly after by Zara and Tori and eventually Rain himself after he shook Moon off his arm.
When he heard the second in command and Zara going at each others throats, Rain wanted to walk straight up to the two and... and what? He certainly couldn't hit them, he just wanted them to quit whatever they were doing because there was a man with a gun watching them who could very well shoot them if he felt like it.
This wasn't the time to get on someones bad side.

Rain looked over at Jaimie and gave a slight wave, then to the man with the gun.
"Um, hello." He said, choking out the few words he could actually say. Maybe he could reason with the guy to put down his weapon and not shoot a bullet through their brains. Maybe he could suddenly be all charismatic and befriend him, which would also prevent them all dying. Maybe he could even give an impressive 'We come in peace, do not kill us.' speech.
"We're all... friendly."

Avalon sighed a joy of relief as she watched Devan enter the store just in time, heading straight for the zombie over Jace. Avalon covered her eyes the thick thud of a body hitting the ground confirmed that Devan's target was down.

As Avalon opened her eyes she noticed that everyone was back at the front of the store, where thay had all started before they had run into this disaster.

Both Devan and Moon looked a little bit on the sick side from what she could tell. Avy cocked an eyebrow as she watched Moon stagger out of the store. What's up with her, Avalon thought stepping out after her leaving the store into what she couldn't really call fresh air, but hey at least it was better than what was in the store.

As they made they're way up the rode to the church Avalon couldn't help but glare at the backs of who she thought were their leaders. They had promised they would try to find her mommy, but they hadn't even as much as mentioned it. She let out a frustrated sigh, she would defiantly bring this up so William would make it a priority for the group.

Stopping in front of the church Avalon starred wide eyed at what the rest of the group had called a church, to her it looked like a regular rotting building with a high tower, but hey thats why she wasn't the leader, right?

"Put your hands on your head! Are you armed?!" Avalon gulped, that didnt sound like the moaning flesh eaters they usually encountered. She looked desperately at William and Tori, what were they planning on doing. Should they just leave or try to take the guy, or guys. From what she watched in movies, it always seemed like one guy would speak, but they're would actually be like twenty people in the house.

"Guys! William, Tori, Devan!" Avalon squinted trying to see deeper into the church as she heard yet another voice, a younger one this time. A young voice that sounded very familiar, like one she had talked to many times. But she couldn't seem to put a face with the voice.

"Look out, there is a bad guy with a gun over here!" The same voice shouted again. Jaimie, Avalon thought with a smile as she watched Devan run into the church no doubt going to greet their missing friend. Avalon took a small step forwards wanting to run into the church too, it would be okay wouldn't it since Devan did it. She was an older kid and third in command.

Jaimie only had time to widen his brown eyes before he was on the ground. Devan had apparently thought of his greeting as an invitation to tackle him with a hug. Not to mention his warning seemed to have little effect. Jaimie cringed as he lay on the floor. "Ouch." He'd managed to drop his batman toy before he hit the ground, which was good because otherwise he would have cracked his head against it. He scooped it up from the floor before Devan pulled him to his feet.

It was already embarrassing enough that Devan had come flying towards him and knocked him down on his butt. But then she proceeded to dust him off and lecture him like she was his mom or something. Jaimie's cheeks were burning red from the moment Devan called him a 'little bastard' right until she told him never to wander off again, and finally turned her attention away from him and towards the real problem, which was the gunman on the stairs. He wanted to speak up but Devan's display of affection had suddenly made Jaimie feel so painfully shy.

Jaimie hung his head, peeking up through his bangs at the other people of the group. He was glad to hear Tori say that he was one of theirs, even though he had run away. He saw Rain wave, and managed a half-hearted wave in return with the hand that wasn't hugging batman to his torso. Then, closer to William and Tori, he saw Avalon. Jaimie grinned, waving eagerly to her. He hadn't seen her in a few days, and now that she was here, he wanted to show her his batman toy. And he also had read something on the zombie poster about how to get in contact with a person who was missing. It would take a long time, and they would need the group to get there, but maybe Avalon could find her mom... Or maybe he souldn't mention it. He should ask one of the older kids first.

Turning to Devan, Jaimie tugged on the hem of her top. "Devan, can I go back with the rest of the group? I'm really sorry about running away. But I was trying really hard to get back! I missed you guys." He blushed again, shuffling his feet. He knew that there was a badguy with a gun not too far away but now that everyone else was here he felt like the badguy couldn't get him. After all, there were all of these big kids and they were standing in God's house. If this wasn't safe, what was?

Ken kept his rifle trained on the boy looking through the scope close to his hands. The boy was unarmed, apart from a toy, which unless it was some sort of small robot that could obliterate the church, was no danger. Ken began to lower his rifle as he was about to calm the situation, but as soon as he did he heard a voice, “You first!”. Ken quickly turned his body shining the flash light at them making it harder for them to see his face. He aimed his rifle to the opposite end of the church. There was a small group standing there. He recognized one of them, a girl who ran from the bar to the store was part of them. They were armed clearly, one was aiming a shotgun at Ken, "Boy. I am not the sort of person you want to aim that weapon at. You think you can hit me from that distance? I can see the white in your eyes, if you don't lower you're gun I will turn it to red." he shouted.

The girl he recognized all of a sudden ran across the church to the young boy at the altar. Ken almost panicked but kept his cool, she wasn't much of a threat it seemed, she only had a bat, unless she threw it at him, Ken was under know danger. She tackled the boy to the ground, it appeared that they knew each other. Some of the group at the opposite end of the church tried to plead with Ken to calm down, try to convince him that they meant no harm. "Well your boy there and the amazon wannabe don't look to fucking friendly too me. Lower your weapons too the ground or I will take you down." Ken knew he wouldn't be able to kill all of them but he could take out at least the ones with guns and try to make an escape, but he would also have to bring down the dog which wasn't too much trouble for Ken but when people are firing at you it becomes a whole different story. Ken kept his rifle aimed at the forehead of the boy with the shotgun "I'm not fucking about here people, put your weapons down or the shotgun boy there gets a bullet in the skull".

”I don't see another option here. He looks dangerous, be careful.” William nodded looking over at Tori.

Perfect. Will could get everyone out of here alive and without any physical violence. He opened his mouth, but before he could even get his first word out, chaos began to erupt.

"Guys! William, Tori, Devan!" William closed his mouth, was that the voice of a kid and if so how could he know their names? "Look out, there is a bad guy with a gun over here!" William glanced over at Tori confusion written on his face.

What the heck was going on here, he thought turning his attention back to the church. Will looked down at his shoes his mind whirling he needed to think up a new plan and quick. William looked up just in time to see Devan running into the building. Will's eyes widened in horror, what the hell was she doing! From there it all went down hill, kind of like a domino affect.

Jace raised his gun at the man, and Tori, Rain and Zara entered the church, Zara with her weapon raised ready to shoot the man. William's brow twitched in annoyance, so much for his plan of peace. He carefully placed his crowbar back into his bag to show the man he ment no harm and entered the church with his hands raised slightly above his head.

"We're all... friendly." William heard Rain say upon entering the church. Right now Rain was his favorite, trying to calm the situation down instead of getting it started. He shot an annoyed glance at Deavn and Zara they were not helping. This guy obviously had a way better gun and he looked to have pretty good hand to hand combat skills.

William starred at the guy, what Rain said seemed to have riled him up more than to have calmed him down.

" Excuse me sir." William started trying to get the man's attention. " How about we talk through this like men. No guns." He motioned for his group to put down their guns, if he was going to get anywhere with this guy he would need to make the first move. Praying that his group would understand he turned his attention backed to the man.

"My names William, and as you can see I'm a survivor just like you. Trying to fight to survive .....in this messed up world. My group and I have been through a lot and its a miracle we have even made it this far. With all these flesh eating monsters running around you never know what days going to be your last. And that's the very reason we are a group today, to survive together fighting those monsters not each other." William starred at the man, not really sure if whats he was saying was getting his point across to the man or not. " Sir, I think I can speak for everybody when I say we rather fight for you rather than against you.What I'm really trying to say is let's not destroy each other lets destroy those things outside."

Devan was shocked at what Zara said. It was obvious she was talking about her. But, Devan wanted to say she was sorry, but what was the point? She would've just gotten yelled at for being stupid. She had a choice to make. Shoot something back at the girl to continue a little fight, to say she was sorry for being stupid, give up and go back to her old ways of 'not giving a fuck' or just keep her mouth shut as to not make the situation any worse. Devan, her senses coming back to her, kept her mouth shut for the time being.

Devan looked back at Zara and Tori, her eyes wide and a clearly ashamed look on her face. This was a really 'what the hell have I done' moment for Devan. Her ashamed look turned to a slightly confused look as Rain came in the church and decided to try and calm the man down himself. That didn't look to good as two of our people, more specifically Zara and Jace apparently as Devan could see, were pointing weapons right at the guy. Devan would have laughed if she wasn't caught up in all this mess at the moment. She jumped slightly as the guy spoke loudly at Rain. She couldn't help but think he had a point, but she decided to keep her mouth shut.

When she felt something tug on her top slightly, Devan looked down and remembered Jamie. Poor kid's probably scared as fuck. Devan thought as she bent down to get at his eye level. "Aww, we missed you too buddy." Devan said quietly, not wanting to distract anyone. She glanced up and looked at Tori and Zara and now Will who was talking to the guy and trying to calm him down, the same slight look of ashamedness on her face. She let out a sigh before looking back at Jamie then standing up straight. "Okay." She said quietly as she slowly walked Jamie over to the door where everyone else was standing. She saw Avalon right there looking in. Damn it. Devan thought as she looked at Avalon and Jasmine, who was close behind. She brought all three kids together and got down at their eye level. "Okay, listen up. What Devan just did was not the smartest thing to do, okay? If something like this ever happens again, do not do what I did. Okay?" She said in a quiet and clear voice and waited for all of them to nod before she said "good" and stood back up to look inside. She leaned against the frame of the door with her arms crossed and looked inside as Will tried to reason with the guy. There wasn't much else to do then listen and wait as they tried to reason with him. Part of Devan wanted to point out that they had children in their group, but, in these days, that doesn't really make much difference, does it?

Jace gritted his teeth as the military man turned his gun on him, the flash light practically blinding him. He clutched the shot gun together, his finger tips and knuckles turning white. Dodger had began to growl again, and Jace didn't feel the need to calm him.

"I'm not fucking about here people, put your weapons down or the shotgun boy there gets a bullet in the skull". Jace could tell that the man meant business, and that his sniper was aimed at Jace. While he knew the smart thing to do would be to lower his shotgun, there was no way he could get the guy with a round before a bullet was lodged into his skull, Jace wasn't he smartest of guys. There was no way he was going to stand defenseless in front of this insane man and hope his group could deal with it. While Jace trusted them...he didn't trust them that much.

William began to try and talk the guy down, motioning for the group to lower their guns. Jace chanced a looked at there leader, curling his lip at the order.

"I'm not lowering mine until her lowers his" Jace growled out turning his glare back to the man, narrowing his eyes at the blinding light. Dodger was getting touchy next to him, the dog practically pacing as it wished to rush forward. Jace let him be for now, ready to release the hound if it came to that. If the man did shoot him, Dodger would rush forward and rip his head off. Hopefully the guy realized that, otherwise this was going to be a blood bath.

"Sir, I think I can speak for everybody when I say we rather fight for you rather than against you. What I'm really trying to say is let's not destroy each other lets destroy those things outside." William tried to explain the man and Jace rolled his eyes. Nah, he would definitely put a round in this guy if it came to it. Thats not to say that a sniper wouldn't be handy in the next coming days, but they already had their guns pointed at each other so Jace didn't trust having him in their group.

The whole stand off against a possible mad person was something that Dusty found to be a very interesting concept, and reflected on how only a few weeks ago, his biggest worry was making an 'A' in AP Calculus. Funny for an apocalypse can change your view on the world, he mused, his hands still in the air. He knew Jace probably wouldn't be able to hit him from that distance, and Zara; a good bowsman, but he doubted it would kill the guy. When Devan ran up to the boy, he knew the guy would likely snap, and he hoped that all of this wasn't in vain. But he didn't shoot, and people were making pleads with him to reason, William's being the strongest in his mind. "I just want to live. Please dear God/Allah/Yahweh/Zeus, just let us live. Also, if you could sneak in a hot guy, that would be good too." he prayed to himself, thinking that he shouldn't talk, less something go wrong.

Moon, on the other hand, was awe struck by how fast people moved, and didn't seem to outwardly blame her, "I should take this stuff more often, no yelling." She thought to herself, and when Devan ran up, she wanted to say something, but she recognized the boy, Jamie. She was very depressed when he left, she didn't like losing children, and it hurt. When Rain went to talk to the crazy guy, Moon had trouble standing up. She knew her body was trying to expel the GHP, and she would throw up and pass out before long, but she wanted to see the end of this showdown. So, she tried to grab back onto something, but found herself falling on the ground. She sighed as she flipped around, her legs spread out, and decided it would be safer to stay here, and wait for some help up. She felt something come up her throat and she turned her head, and puked on the ground, and found she felt a little better, probably because the vomit wasn't touching her. "Hey Jamie! When this is over," She yelled at no one, "Can someone get me a towel. I kinda blew chunks over here."