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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,957 Views)
Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Thank God..." Willow sighed quietly.

Brandon was unharmed. She wasn't about to go patting anyone else down to check them for wounds, but everyone else seemed okay too. Whatever happened, it looked like they'd been able to get out fairly quickly. She was thankful.

"The letter said the southern part of the school. We should be on the northern side of campus now. If that's all the letter gave us to go with, it should probably be pretty easy." Antonio pointed to the surrounding area. "Not many trees. I got a feeling that the tree he is talking about will be pretty easy to find."

"So you guys found a letter, huh?" Jen rose an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know where you found it?"

"On his girlfriend." Antonio was quick to answer. "It sounds like groups were being separated, but he somehow got a letter to her. She didn't make it out. But thanks to her, we do have a direction to search in and a picture to help you guys identify him should we... run across him."

The way he said 'run across him' was ambiguous. Willow got the feeling that even Father Antonio was having his doubts about the likelihood of finding Nolan alive. After everything he had seen today, she could not blame him either. She wasn't getting her hopes up any. Kelsey had been looking quietly disheartened since they drove in here as well. It was clear her short-lived confidence from Jen was starting to fade. If his girlfriend was dead, that didn't leave very high hopes for Nolan himself.

But there was still a chance.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon grinned in amusement at Willow's fussing. It had been a trying day for all of them. Emotionally he was all over the place. It was exhausting. It made him happy that Willow still found the energy to worry about him though. If they didn't stop soon he might go insane just thinking about her. It felt so completely inappropriate to be thinking about it at the time but with everything they'd gone through that day he wanted something truly truly good. And of course their brief brush with danger inside had given him another little rush.

He pulled her into a reassuring hug and gave her rear end a sneaky little squeeze while all eyes were on Antonio to let her know exactly what was on his mind. Nolan was probably dead. That was always the case, this news changed nothing. They were still alive though, and he wasn't about to let the dead distract him from that.

...

As Emily and the others rejoined the group she noticed Willow paying a great deal of attention to Brandon. So that was it. That's why she was acting a little weird at the bridge earlier. It was disappointing, she was hoping there was a different explanation for it. She'd have to have a talk with Willow later and set a few things straight.

"We're losing light, so let's make the most of it." Emily said heading off southward.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli gave Emily a look of approval, which surprised him a little. She was both a newcomer and a former cop. When it came to those descriptors, Eli didn’t think he had much room in his heart for anything except disapproval. She was being proactive though, and urging them to keep moving while they still could. Eli had a lot of respect for that right now.

“Let’s,” he agreed.

He patted Antonio on the back, urging him along. There was no time to waste, and no time to recover from the chaos they had just survived.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow had snuck in a few risque 'pats' during her pat-down of Brandon. A kind of hidden message for what was also on her mind. Brandon's reciprocation came as a relief -- asking for something like that with all this tension in the air would have been awkward. It felt like the best times were when it was just the two of them alone and she needed that tonight. Even if it was only for a while, it made the world seem a lot less messed up. Even though others were suffering and searching for their own happiness, she had something -- no, someone -- that gave that to her. She wanted as much time locked alone in a room with that source of happiness that she could get. And after the traumatizing day that they had just made it through, there was one stipulation Willow wanted to make. She stood on her toes and brought her mouth close to Brandon's ear before they followed after everyone else.

"All out tonight. No going easy." Willow cooed softly into his ear.

She wasn't even that concerned with the physical pain her body was in right now. She was feeling better by the day. Emotionally, it was the opposite story. Things just kept getting heavier. Not just for her, but for everyone. It was becoming a harder burden to carry and if things kept up like this, they may just break down entirely. She hoped they could find Nolan alive. The morale boost would help everyone, not just Kelsey. It would feel like a real, genuine victory instead of the Pyrrhic victories that had marked every step of this journey. It would be a cause for celebration. But Willow wasn't putting any eggs in that basket.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

* * * * *

"Emily's right." Jen was quick to agree. "We don't have much light left."

They would need to find a place to rest soon. Besides, if they didn't move soon, Brandon and Willow might get too comfortable off to the side there and then they'd have a whole other problem on their hands. Jen would rather fight rotters than have to deal with that. Her night at the inn had taught her that they went at it like freaking rabbits already. Sleeping in the adjacent room had been a terrible idea. But maybe they just thought the walls were more sound insulated than they actually were.

The school building was definitely longer than a football field. Maybe a field and a half, but that was a rough guesstimation on Jen's part. She was just thankful that there were so few rotters up and about. These National Guardsmen had likely murdered countless people in cold blood, but at least they were efficient. They could have killed them all sloppily and left a legion of rotters to deal with. But they hadn't. Brandon said they wasted a lot of ammunition inside the school, but out here they seemed oddly efficient with their shots.

That's one hell of a silver lining, Jen.

"Hey, Father." Jen called out to the newcomer. "Can I see that picture you found of Nolan?"

"Ah, that would be a good idea." Antonio agreed.

He dug around his pockets as they walked. Eventually he withdrew a small picture and handed it over to Jen. Then she glanced back over to Kelsey. Kelsey definitely took more after Randall. But there were traces of Randall in there; especially in his eyes. He had the exact same eyes as his father. And presumably the hair, just a lot more of it. It was odd. She still felt like she owed Randall for saving her life. Maybe finding his son would be a good way to start. That was what she had been telling herself this whole time. It looked bleak, but there was still a chance. It was encouraging to know that he was pretty handsome though. And scruffy. And single.

Dammit, you're fucking horrible for thinking like that.

Jen sighed somberly and handed the picture back to Antonio. Now she just felt like a capital heel. "So, what are we expecting to find at this tree?"

"Anything." Antonio answered her as he accepted the picture back. "We know where he was planning to go, but we should still try to retrace his steps as closely as we can."

"Seems tedious." Jen pursed her lips together thoughtfully.

"It is. And the trail could go cold at any moment." His words weren't exactly reassuring. "All we can do is trust in God that he will give us a path to follow."

There was the God talk again. It didn't bother Jen, but she could understand how some of the others would be turned off by it. Some people needed faith to keep moving through times like these. It was one of the services that faith provided. It gave people strength. Some would toss it aside during hardships because they felt like God had abandoned them. Others embraced it even more fully. Antonio was one of the latter. His ability to have faith in a higher power and a greater cause, even during all this, was kind of comforting.

They finally rounded the southernmost tip of the school building. Separated from them by a small chain link fence, a single large tree stood in the middle of a flat piece of land. A tool or athletics shed of some sort rested beside it. At the foot of the tree, the evening light illuminated a single figure propped up against the tree and resting motionlessly. It was difficult to tell at this distance, but it looked male.

"Oh, shit..."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon shuddered slightly in barely contained eagerness at Willow's whispered order.

"I'm gonna f-" Brandon whispered back to Willow but cut himself off before he let himself get carried away.

They still had serious stuff to take care of. It was disrespectful to lose sight of that. He breathed deep and exhaled long and steady, calming himself and focusing his mind on the task at hand. He followed behind, keeping any distracting thoughts about Willow from his mind. It was difficult.

Before too long the tree they were looking for came in sight. As well as a body. The people in the field had been pretty handling put down, they clearly had some decent shooters amongst them. Somebody could have spotted Nolan out here and shot him. The fact that this was exactly where he'd asked Monica to meet him made Brandon consider they may very well have found him.

He crossed the distance between himself and Kelsey and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Partly to support, but also to restrain. She'd likely come to the same conclusion as him. He didn't think she was silly, but people can get silly when it came to the people they loved. He wasn't going to let her rush off to go check.

"Go check it out." he said to anyone who was willing to oblige, bringing both himself and Kelsey to a stop some distance from the body.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli was already moving. Without asking for permission, he swiped the photo from Jen’s hand and broke out into a brisk walk ahead of the crowd.

He held his breath as he moved. He needed to stave off the worry and panic. Just because there was a body, it didn’t mean it was Nolan. They hadn’t yet come all this way for nothing. He wouldn’t let himself believe that until he had to.

When he got within feet of the tree, he kneeled down. He held up the photo next to the body for reference.

He let out a long, measured breath as he studied both.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Kelsey looked nervous. No doubt she had the same thoughts everyone else was having right now. It was enough to draw Willow's mind away from her filthy thoughts involving later tonight and back to where they were right now. This could be it. Eli had already taken off ahead of the others, but Jen and Antonio were on their way behind him. Willow sat down on the ground next to the worried Kelsey. But she didn't tell her that it would be okay or that everything was gonna work out. Kelsey was smarter than that and Willow knew better than to lie to her. All they could do was wait for the verdict.

* * * * *

Eli was already examining the body and the picture at the tree when Jen got there. She couldn't get a real good look at the rotter's face, partly because its cranium had been bashed in by a rock. She knew it was a rock because the weapon itself was still on the ground a few feet away and it was still caked in dried crimson. But she doubted that was the cause of death. That honor probably went to the gunshot wounds on the chest. Jen could see a story unfolding here; but no matter what version of the story, there was someone else here. Whoever used the rock to prevent this man from coming back. Or put him out of his misery after coming back. The former seemed more likely given the situation here.

"What's the verdict?" Jen asked uncomfortably. "Is it..."

God, she hoped it wasn't Nolan. After everything she told Kelsey earlier, she was going to feel like an even bigger heel if they found his body less than an hour after she said everything would be okay.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli shook his head. He would have felt relief, if he had allowed himself to feel worry in the first place.

“It’s not him,” he announced, rising once again to his feet.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio knelt down and took a look at the body after Eli had finished. It was a face he had not explicitly remembered seeing during his time back at Kinnick Stadium. Then again, there were thousands upon thousands of people there. It was more surprising when he did recognize somebody. They had seen over several hundred bodies here and he had only recognized a handful of them.

"Were I a betting man, I would bet that he had been shot trying to escape." Antonio surmised. "Made it out here. Died. Then whoever was with him used that rock to prevent him from coming back."

It accounted for everything. It was the only scenario that Antonio could see with the information they had available to them. Though he explained it more for Jen's benefit than for Eli's. Eli had probably figured all this out by now. With the letter they found, they might have even had a name for this man.

"It looks like Jon was another victim of this..." Antonio pursed his lips into a frown. "This messed up situation."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli frowned with one side of his lip as he pocketed Nolan’s picture, and looked again at the sunset. It had turned the field a warm orange. It would have been beautiful if it was illuminating something besides a field of dead bodies.

It minutes, not hours, it would be dark. Eli didn’t want to drive into the unknown in the darkness, especially now that he knew living men had done this, and that they might still be out there somewhere.

He would have to think about that more in just a second. There was still one more thing to do out here, if this was indeed Jon, as Antonio theorized.

Eli knelt over anew, and started palming through the corpses pockets. Maybe he had a wallet. Maybe there was one more clue to find.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
While Eli and Antonio continued looking for as many clues as they could, Jen turned back to everyone else. She had to deliver the good news. It wasn't fair to keep them waiting, after all.

"It's not him."

There was a visible look of relief on everyone's faces.

"Hear that?" Willow afforded herself a smile and nudged Kelsey. "It wasn't him."

"Yeah." Kelsey managed a weak smile in response.

* * * * *

Antonio watches as Eli withdrew a worn, brown leather wallet from the man's pocket and flipped it open. It was rather sparse, he had less than ten dollars cash and only a single credit card. But the prize was encased in the center. His Iowa State driver's license. Antonio leaned over Eli's shoulder as he looked it over.

His driver's license picture was terrible; a lop-sided smile and half a head of bed head. Like Nolan though, he had a lot of the telltale signs of the popular, attractive, jock-type character. Even from this picture, it was clear he had been pretty strong in his heyday. It was not as easy to tell that now.

His name was Jonathan Weller. The address read 299 Mather Street, Ainsworth.

"There is no Mather Street in Ainsworth." Antonio told him confidently.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli glanced over his shoulder at Antonio, then back at the license. His slight frown remained.

“Fake ID,” he stated the obvious, before folding the wallet back up and tossing it back on Jonathon’s body. “Looks like you were right, anyway. This was Jon, and he didn’t make it all the way out. Maybe it was even Nolan that finished him off.”

Eli rose once again, for good this time.

“Still – his place in Haskins, that’s our best lead,” he said.

Then he glanced again at the setting sun. His frown deepened a little. He didn’t like what he was about to suggest, but he was confident it was the prudent thing, and he had grown pretty sure Antonio was on the up and up.

“But we can’t go lookin’ for it in the dark, ‘specially since you don’t even know exactly where it is,” Eli said. He adopted an even expression. “How sure are you that your church is safe?”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"It's safe." Antonio spoke certainly. "I've had no incidents there during my several week stay and I was very proactive about keeping the fallen away from it."

He glanced across the street. There were a handful of residential homes in the area as well. It could save them two thirty minute trips.

"Those houses would be another alternative. We'd be able to jump back on that lead more easily at first light. Though I can't really vouch for their safety in the same way."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli considered Antonio’s words. After a few long moments, he shook his head.

“We dunno know what’s in there,” he said. “We dunno anything about this place, not really. The friendly territory’s worth the half hour. Come on.”

He turned and headed back for the truck, expecting the others to follow.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Not Nolan. Unconciously he'd squeezed Kelsey's shoulder a little as Jen was about to tell them. He physically relaxed when she gave them the good news. This was getting to be a real pain. It was getting to the point where he just wanted to know one way or another if Nolan was alive. Any confirmation was preferable at this point.

"We shouldn't pass up safe for convenient. We should make for the church." Brandon agreed and followed.
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