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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,947 Views)
Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Willow let slip to Emily. Eli got pissy." Brandon summarized.

Eli was behaving strangely. So what if Willow let Emily know? They just agreed she was trustworthy. He was never comfortable with hiding it from her in the first place, so maybe it was his own bias speaking but it seemed like this was a very small thing. Willow took off too, clearly a little upset herself. Again another source of bias working against Eli at that moment. Brandon tried to clear his head and consider it.

Since Randall had died Eli had taken on a de facto leader role. Maybe he was taking that a little too heavily. If he were feeling it that badly he should talk to somebody about it. Who would he talk to? Randall and apparently Julie were closest to him and they were both dead. Maybe that's why he was so high strung about this cure slip-up. He didn't really have anyone close he could confide in like Brandon did. Antonio continued after Eli, maybe he could help him out. As for Brandon, he went to look for Willow.

He knocked lightly on the door as he stepped inside the house she entered.

"Willow?" he called out calmly.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli arrived at the truck, hopping in to the passenger seat, where he had already grown accustomed. He took a deep calming breath and closed his eyes before Antonio caught up. When Eli looked up at him, he had achieved some calm. His expression was normal.

“I think it’s time to get moving,” he said.

He waved over to Emily, and whistled to get her attention. Then he turned back to Antonio, while leaning over and opening the driver-side door, and indicating for the priest to take the wheel. He’s the one that knew the area, after all.

“So hey,” Eli said as he leaned back into his seat. “You looked like you knew what you were talkin’ about with Jen a few minutes ago. You good with cars?”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio took the invitation and moved into the driver's seat of the truck, slamming the door behind him as he did.

"She wanted to learn how to maintain a car, so I stepped aside and started walking her through it."

Antonio confirmed to Eli with so many words. He wanted to ask about what had happened, but Eli seemed fairly even keel now. Maybe he was just imagining things. Or maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. Either way, Eli clearly didn't want to talk about it. All Antonio could do now was just let it be and hope for the best.

"My father owned a car and body shop. He worked himself to the bone to support my brother and I and sometimes we would try to help him in the shop to lessen the burden on him. It is amazing how quickly you can pick up the inner workings of a car in an environment like that. Never had any professional schooling in it, just what my dad taught me and what I learned from helping him. Which, admittedly, was quite a lot. With the right equipment, I can do pretty much anything a professional mechanic could."

Antonio spoke with a small degree of pride in his abilities. He understood pride was a sin, but he was genuinely good with cars. And he enjoyed working on them as a hobby, even today. Whenever he did, he was reminded of his childhood. Of his father. Of better times.

* * * * *

The little house Willow had disappeared into was quaint. Very suburban. Out of habit, she knocked on the walls of the house after entering to make sure it was empty. Like the rest of this neighborhood, it was. When she was sure that it was clear, she made her way into the living room, to the now useless 40-some odd inch flat screen, and threw it onto the ground. The TV made a loud crash, but didn't crack. It didn't splinter. It didn't break.

You need to be tougher.

She stomped on the TV. It didn't have much of an effect. Instead, she made her way to a few unbroken pieces of glass on a nearby end table. She threw them against the walls and let them shatter.

You need to be more confident.

She felt stupid. She was breaking things for the sake of breaking things. But it made her feel a little better. She was mad at herself. It was her fault. Everything was her fault. She wasn't thinking enough. She wasn't focusing enough. She had gotten careless. She kept making mistakes, no matter how much she tried not to. She couldn't blame anyone but herself. This was why she had stopped having expectations for herself.

You need to be more trustworthy.

She punched the nearest wall with everything she had. Her first cracked the wood and made a small hole in the cheap wall. It also hurt like hell.

"FUCK!" Willow screamed.

She slumped down in the couch. In front of her was a broken TV. Broken glass lined the floors around her. A small hole in the wall nearby. Not a bad little tantrum. In the past, she'd always resorted to throwing her toys against the wall. This... felt a little better. She let out a loud sigh and threw her head back and looked silently at the ceiling. She was unaware that Brandon had been at the door.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon chuckled lightly as he leaned against the door frame. Now that property law didn't exist they were free to vent their spleens on anything they liked. When he really thought about it, there was actually a lot they could just help themselves to. He understood to a small extent why people might not want things to go back to the way they were. As terrible as it was they were completely free in a lot of respects.

"Pretty satisfying, huh? What's got you so upset?" he asked.

He knew half the answer, but that little thing with Eli couldn't be the whole reason.
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Is that so?
Brandon's voice didn't really surprise her. She had a feeling he might try to follow her and see what was on her mind. He sounded clearly amused at the whole thing -- and she couldn't really blame him. There was a subtle sort of funny to it, even she could see that.

"I've been trying to step up and be more responsible and dependable since Randall died. More confident too." She admitted while still looking up at the ceiling. "Thought the group would need me. But for all the progress I made, I've been screwing it up and disappointing people just as much. I know Eli's got a lot of shit on his plate so I shouldn't take it personally, but he's not entirely wrong either. And it's always been like this for me. No matter how much progress I make or how much I try, I always fall short of what people expect. I've always been my own harshest critic. It's kind of part of the reason I stopped trying to do anything for a while."

Willow let out a loud sigh and got back to her feet. Her hand was sore from punching the wall and her back throbbed from the sudden burst of activity, but emotionally she felt a lot better. Brandon being here too also helped with that. She looked at Brandon and shot him a disarming smile.

"I'm feeling better, don't worry. And I got no intention of giving up either. When it happened before, all I could do was throw toys and pillows at the walls and then get scolded for throwing a temper tantrum. Now I get to shatter TVs and expensive glassware while my boyfriend watches in amusement. Definitely an upgrade. And definitely fun."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"You don't disappoint me. You let slip to Emily, so what? We didn't lose any supplies and nobody got hurt, it's nothing. Frankly I should have just told her from the start anyway, and we all just agreed she was trustworthy. Eli over-reacted." Brandon said, walking toward Willow and presenting the three bullets he kept with him since they were taken out of her.

"Just remember everything you've done right."
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Is that so?
"Thanks. As I said, I am my own harshest critic. Thanks to you though, I am better about it now than I used to be. You proved that I can do things right."

Willow glanced at the bullets -- twisted and bloodied -- and then brought her hands up to Brandon's and closed his hand around the bullets. She then eyed Brandon with a coy smile.

"Although last I recall, you told me that was stupid and something I should never do again."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Good to know,” Eli nodded to Antonio. “An’ there’s something you should know as well.”

He looked back at Emily, who had joined them in the truck.

“I got a story to tell,” Eli added, addressing her now. “Hear you’ve already heard it.”

He looked ahead again. He gestured to the ignition.

“Go ahead. I’ll tell you on the way.”

* * *

Annie approached the house hesitantly. Brandon was still standing in the door frame, and had just finished exchanging words with Willow. She felt bad about interrupting, but at the same time wanted to get to him before he had a chance to disappear with his girlfriend.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat to get his attention. She didn’t want to take him by surprise. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Brandon – I was thinking now might be a good chance to get some more training in. While Eli and the others are finding Nolan a suitable vehicle.”
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"You got me there." Brandon conceded, resting his head on Willow's.

Annie got his attention a moment later. Some practice would be a good idea. It always helped him if he had something to occupy himself with when something was troubling him. At that moment the thing that was troubling him most was Kelsey's impending departure. That nasty, selfish, bitter little part of him almost wished they hadn't found Nolan, so they could keep Kelsey to themselves. He'd miss her terribly when she was gone. He wasn't ashamed to admit to himself that he'd come to rely upon her almost as much as he did Willow for his own strength. Being important to her. Teaching her, comforting her. Yes. He was very jealous of Nolan.

"Definitely. I wanted to show you guys some take downs that work well on rotters. And do you know if Connor has ever had to throw a punch? Ehhh no disregard, today we'll stick to the take downs." Brandon said busying his mind with his new task as he made his way back.
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Is that so?
A few blocks away, a small group of fallen had congregated. Since they were fairly close to the church, Antonio suggested they be taken out, just in case they happened to wander in the wrong direction. Between himself, Eli, and Emily, the small number was almost easy prey. One of the fallen carried with him the keys to a Hyundai -- which they found out was a blue Sonata that was a few years old parked just down the street. Antonio looked it over, found it to be in good shape with a nearly full tank, and they brought that back to the church. Antonio elected to drive the Sonata himself.

Eli had told him about the cure as they left. He felt like Eli was asking if Antonio wanted to help, but he did not give him any answer. If their story was to be believed, then they had a legitimate cure to this disease. A way to fight back against the forces of darkness. In all the stories of Revelations, this battle between good and evil was supposed to be waged for years. It had hardly been two months. Maybe this cure would be the focal point of that war, though. But maybe the interpretations of the Bible had been wrong. Revelations was nothing if not a subjective book. He didn't even think that humanity would have a way to fight back. Yet one had supposedly appeared. And he was on the side of God and the side of humanity. If something fell into his hands that could save humanity and prevent this suffering from continuing, how could he back down from the challenge? How could he call himself a man of God if he turned his back on a potential cure? Did it really matter if the Bible never said anything about this? It did say that the dead would rise from their graves but most people, himself included, had interpreted that as a joyous reunion. But the truth had been far from joyous. The Bible had not technically been wrong -- people had interpreted it incorrectly. Maybe this was another such case. A cure that could stop this from happening in the future. There was nothing left for him in Iowa City anymore. And there was nothing left at Highland. There were undoubtedly other survivors from Highland, but they were scattered in all directions. He had always thought that there was a reason he had met these people. Perhaps this was the work of God after all. Antonio had suspected it all along. This was the work of God.

By the time they returned to the church, it had only been about half an hour. Eli pulled up in the truck alongside him and Antonio instantly left the Sonata.

"Eli." He asked the man as he left the truck. "If you would have it, I would like to offer my services to your group as they continue westward. I feel like I met your group for a reason and I think I know what it is now. There isn't anything left for me here."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli’s mood had levelled out over the course of the quick trip. The burst of anger he had felt upon Willow’s confession had faded – but so had his earlier relief at finding Nolan, and then getting him to agree to take Kelsey to safety. Recounting the relevant details of the cure to Antonio and Emily had reminded him just how long the journey ahead was going to take, and just how likely it was that many of them still wouldn’t make it.

Antonio’s offer didn’t take him by surprise, and it didn’t change his neutral feelings. He saw it coming a mile away. When he, Brandon, Willow and Annie all agreed to share the truth with him, they had to know this would be the result. And though they hadn’t discussed it, Eli felt pretty sure they were all on board.

“I have to confirm with the others,” Eli said. “But yeah – I accept. You’re in.”

He left it at that for now. There’d be more to talk about later. First, they had some people to say goodbye too.

* * *

Annie patted Connor encouragingly on the shoulder as the training broke up. Everyone participating had heard Eli, Emily and Antonio pull in, and had moved to greet them.

“You did well,” Annie said with a maternal smile, before she led Connor out to do the same. “Let’s go see what they got.”

The truth was, he did okay. Maybe that was being generous. He had stifled his complaints, but his body language had made his frustration evident. He just wasn’t good or comfortable with a knife. Apparently, he did better at long range – Jen had made a remark earlier about how he naturally gifted with a gun, even, though Annie wasn’t sure if she was just being nice for her sake. Either way, his gift didn’t extend to blades.

He’ll work on it, Annie assured herself. If I can do it, he can.
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Is that so?
"Hah, that's nicer than I was expecting." Nolan commentated with a wry grin. "I thought you guys were gonna bring us back a junker or something. Suppose there are plenty of cars around here to choose from though."

A Hyundai Sonata. Maybe it wasn't the nicest car in the world, but dad had given him an old Honda and it was all he had ever known. All they could really afford. It didn't take much to be a step up from that. The thought of dad still hit him deep down though -- he tried to think about something else.

"He shoulda gotten us a nicer van while he was out there." Jen complained quietly.

"I just hope it has good heating." Kelsey neutrally stated.

After talking with Kelsey a little bit back in the church, the cute black girl, Jen, had come in and offered to show Nolan around a little bit. Introduce him to some of the group. They both knew he was leaving, but he was kind of curious to see firsthand some of the people that had kept his sister safe. He knew they must have been good people, but he didn't really know too much else about them. It had been mostly business since they picked him up. Not a lot of time to really mingle.

Of course, most people were attending Brandon's knife training. 'Most people' meant Willow, Brandon, Connor, and Annie. Jen lent Nolan a butterfly knife she had and he tried taking part. Kelsey did too. She proved to be far more adept at it than he was. Nolan felt like an untrained child swinging a toy knife around while Kelsey looked like someone who had actually used a knife before. The idea was disturbing. Still, he blamed his incompetence on the fact he was malnourished -- something Jen and he was sure some of the others took amusement with. Even if he hadn't been malnourished though, knife fighting and gun slinging were things he never really had any experience with. All it really gave him was a convenient excuse to abuse. It had gotten bad enough that he was thankful when Eli and the others rolled up. It was saving him what little face he might have had left.

Not like it will matter anyway once we leave, right? This isn't the kind of life mom and dad would want Kelsey to live.

He glanced down at his little sister. She stood nearby. The same complicated look was on her face again. He could feel doubt beginning to gnaw at his heart.

But this isn't about mom and dad, is it? How does Kelsey want to live?
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“My husband used to drive a car exactly like this,” Annie offered, observing Nolan and Kelsey’s new ride for herself. “Though, his was black. He liked it a lot.”

She didn’t know much about cars, so she couldn’t contribute more than that. The memory of Chase sent she accidentally invoked distracted her from continuing anyway. When she shook it off, she summoned a friendly smile and turned to Nolan.

“I’m sure it’ll get you there fine,” she said.

“Antonio says it will,” Eli said, as he approached the group huddling in the parking lot. “And he knows cars. Which should be useful, ‘cause he’s coming with us.”

“Oh,” Annie said. She was surprised for just a moment, then turned to the priest. “Well – welcome aboard.” She turned once more, this time to Emily. “And what about you, Emily? What's your next move?”
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Emily rubbed the back of her neck. She was still fairly uncertain about what she was doing. Her head told her that her decision was right but her heart said differently. She had to go ith her head though, didn't she?

"Nolan and Kelsey might need somebody who's handy with a gun. You've got enough people and gun hands to get you to California. I think anymore would be a drain on your resources. I'm going to accompany these two back to Flint, and then see what good I can do there." she finally decided.
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Is that so?
"I do appreciate the aid, Emily." Nolan smiled and nodded to Emily.

The cute police officer chick. Man, they sure had a lot of cute girls here. Willow was a knockout, Jen and Emily were both very easy on the eyes as well. Even Annie was an attractive woman -- and she was old enough to be his mom. It felt kind of insulting to the memory of Monica to be having these thoughts so soon after her death, but he had been locked alone in a house for a couple of weeks. It was hard not to notice the fairer sex right about now.

"I was kind of worried about what would happen if we ran into trouble on the way back without someone a little more... capable." Nolan explained warily. "Even before all of this, I wouldn't have been much good in a gunfight. Or a knife fight. It'll be good to have you along."
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