Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Wcrp. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,888 Views)
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Ruby Kelly jumped in place when she heard the knock on the door.

She was doing that a lot lately, she realized, and she didn’t like it. She wanted to be steadier, less like an easily spooked little girl and more like Noah and his friend and girlfriend, the cool consummate survivors. Making that change was difficult, however – especially coming off the heels of a gunfight.

A for-real gunfight, she marvelled in her head. Like, seriously.

The experience had been playing over and over in her head like a tape on repeat. At the time, it didn’t felt real, it felt like she was watching a movie. The reality that they had been shot at and could have died still hadn’t sunk in, not really, and she was vaguely afraid of how she would react when it finally did.

Until then, she tried to pretend as if this was normal – as if sharing a cottage with a house-full of strangers that had almost killed them was an everyday occurrence. When she answered the door – when she opened it slightly and poked her head through the crack – she tried to play it cool. Like she was answering the door at home. Like it might have been a guy going door-to-door selling a driveway paving scam or spreading the word about Jesus’ love.

“Hi,” she said to the one who knocked.

In spite of her best intentions, she said it nervously, because she saw it was someone from the other group – one of the two young women in their party, the one with the normal-coloured hair. Emily, the introductions had gone. She was maybe six years older than Ruby, definitely no older than 10.

“What, uh – what’s up?” Ruby asked.

* * *

Eli sat, waited, and listened. If he concentrated, he could hear the chorus of groaning as it moved closer and closer to the house.

He realized how torturous this experience was going to be. The rotters were coming and they’d keep coming and there was nothing he could do besides what he was doing now. And if something went wrong, and the horde caught on, and they all found themselves trapped in here with no means of escape – well, shit.

He had sort of experienced this back in Canada, after Emmett took Kelsey and he and Brandon got stuck in a warehouse while trying to hunt him down. That night was chaotic, though, and he didn’t have the time or energy then to worry about it. The rest of the crew, back at the bar, had experienced an even purer version.

The rest of the crew… He considered that and frowned. That meant Willow, and no one else – Randall, Glenda and Maxwell were dead, and Jeff was a week into his new life at Flint. Most of that crew is gone, he thought.

He frowned deeper. That was another downside to this ‘wait it out’ strategy – it gave him too much time to think.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
Emily grinned sheepishly as Ruby answered the door. Girl seemed nervous. Understandable. Surrounded by a horde of creeps with a group of people who had just shot at them earlier.

"I was coming to ask you the same thing. How are you guys holding up? Pretty crazy today." she asked, almost as nervously as Ruby.

Emily could do authoritative well. Calm and reassuring was not a set of mannerisms she was particularly competent with. Maybe she was just making things worse by being the first to reach out, maybe it would have been better to wait for them to do that. She reasoned that any self-doubt would only make the situation awkward and more uncomfortable so she cleared her mind and reminded herself she was just talking to them, she didn't have to have a goal in mind.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
The question made Ruby glance over her shoulder at her little brother. Even with his hearing problems, CJ had recognized that something bad was happening during the earlier fight. It took him a while to calm down, but now Ruby had him set up with one of his coloring books, and he seemed to be tentatively into that.

As for Ruby herself, she didn’t even know. And she wasn't sure how much to open up to Emily. She didn’t know her at all, but she seemed fine, as far as that goes with people who had just been on the other side of a gun battle.

“Yeah, uh, there’s been a few of those lately,” she said, after taking an uncomfortably long amount of time to come up with an answer. “I think we’re okay.”

Even if Emily hadn’t been shooting at them recently – or at least, been part of a group that was – Ruby still wasn’t used to this new people thing in general. From what she could discern, her dad seemed to be for it, and her aunt against. Noah, Alma and Lowell seemed to have worked out okay, but in one of their late-night or early-morning conversations, Noah had privately warned her that Aunt Riley had a point anyway. He cautioned her to stay on her toes.

Am I on my toes now? she wondered. I mean – what does that even mean?

“Is everything okay, uh, out there?” she posed her own question.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
"Yeah we're all good. I know the whole guts thing seems insane, but it really works, I've seen it. You can walk right past those things if you smell like them. You know, just so long as you don't do anything too alive, like run or talk. We'll be safe in here." Emily assured her.

Ruby was a pretty little thing. She had a sort of doe-eyed look about her. If she had to guess it was dad and aunty who took care of things mostly. That wasn't a bad thing at all. Emily just hoped it could stay that way for Ruby's sake, people like her could maybe bring some sanity back once this was over.

If it ever ends. she thought to herself, guarding herself against hope.

"So, I'm going to go look for some candles, if I find some I'll bring one by for you guys, so you can save the batteries in that flashlight. Just if I do, keep it away from the window, and make sure the blackout curtains are fully closed." she informed her before turning to leave.

Before she did though she stopped and leaned back for one last word with her.

"About earlier today. I know it's a small word for it, but that was a misunderstanding. When our guy fired that first shot he meant it as a warning, he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. Then your guy got the wrong idea, pretty easy to do, especially if you've been through the shit, then our people started shooting... it's a miracle nobody was hurt. If we knew about..." she said tilting her head toward where she guess CJ was sitting based on the light from his flashlight.

"We never would have fired. We've just all had some really bad experiences."
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Ruby nodded at the apology. Not that she was an expert or anything, but it sounded to her like it was sincere and heartfelt. It would be great if it was, too, since they were all going to have to quietly share a house for a while yet. She chose to believe it.

“Thanks,” she said. “For the candle and for the, uh, the rest. I’m just glad Andy and Lowell didn’t get hurt.”

They were the ones in the firing line, after all, she thought, and she remembered the state Andy’s jeep was in after. Emily’s group hadn’t been messing around. Ruby wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than 100 bullets in that thing. It was a miracle, like Emily said, that they both walked away without any in their flesh.

Ruby was particularly thankful about Andy. He was a big target, and she feared for him pretty intensely while it was happening. Her dad referred to him as ‘Uncle Andy’ in conversation with her and CJ, and Ruby called him that herself up until a few years ago, when she retired it – because it felt childish, but not because it felt untrue.

As for Lowell – eh. He was Noah’s best friend, and Noah was a good guy, so she would have felt remorse for his sake more than anything else. To her, though, Lowell had always been standoffish and a little bit creepy.

Ruby refocused on Emily, and tried summoning a smile.

“I’m okay with, like, a clean slate,” she said.

* * *

Antonio was in, but Emmett and Andy were out. Emmett didn’t offer an explanation, just a subtle shake of his head. Andy said he’d sub in next round, and Noah could tell he was nervous about the coming flood of biters. He swore he heard wood snapping a minute ago, and he assumed that was the fence going down.

“Let’s do Euchre,” Noah said – it was a favourite card game of his. “Partners are me and Alma, and Tony and Lowell.”

He took it upon himself to start dealing.

“Tony, you ever played?”

“Shh.”

He must have asked the question a little too loudly, because Emmett shushed him from his bed. Noah looked over to see his stony, only slightly-pained face. It looked like he was concentrating.

“They’re here,” Emmett said.

In the quiet that followed, Noah could faintly make out their groaning. It suddenly felt like an invisible shadow had been cast over the whole cabin. He suppressed the urge to gulp.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strompy
Member Avatar
More posts, more Busey.
"Good. These peoeple are worth the chance." Emily said happily.

The faint familiar sound of groaning that filled the silence between them made the air somehow seems heavier. Emily was suddenly accutely aware of just how small this house was, and how meagre these walls werein the face of so many bodies outside. It gave her the feeling of being on a tiny raft out at sea. She grimaced jokingly at Ruby as the sound became more prevalent.

"I'll go get that candle." she whispered with a smile.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Antonio had never been a big card game player -- and what few games he had played had been decades ago. He knew a few of the basics of course, like blackjack and bullshit and poker, but had never played euchre before.

Before he could announce that to Noah though, the horde arrived and everyone had fallen silent. The soft moans of the fallen -- or rotters as everyone else called them -- were unmistakable through the walls of the cabin as they marched by. The little light they got from between the windows was cut off by moving shadows, which confirmed the already obvious fact that they were literally right outside.

Antonio slowed his breathing and stayed calm. He was confident that this would work as long as everyone was quiet. If everyone could be quiet.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
The first wave was over, and they were still swimming. At least, they hadn’t drowned. If Hank’s earlier report was to be believed, though, the second wave was going to be much bigger and last a while longer. It would be seismic, really.

“How long?” Eli asked into the radio.

His face was pressed up against a boarded window in the kitchen, and he was trying to look through a tiny gap. It’s not that he didn’t believe Jimmy’s report that the rotters were gone, but he wanted to see for himself. Anyway, he couldn’t, the gap was too smile.

I’m thinking soon,” Jimmy reported back. “I can kind of see them in the distance. Like a huge approaching shadow. Like the sun is going down on that road.

“Poetic,” Eli said back, sardonic.

What can I say?” Jimmy’s static-y voice replied. “I must be a poet.

Eli shook his head. “You gonna be okay out there?”

I’ll manage, amigo,” Jimmy said. “But your concern is touching and will be remembered.

“Uh huh,” Eli said. “Keep me updated.”

Oh, I will.

Eli put the radio down, then headed back to the living room. Only who knows how many hours left to go, he told himself.

* * *

Noah’s nap came to an end and his eyes fluttered open. He craned his neck and looked around. He wasn’t sure if it was dark yet – Andy and Hank had done too good a job boarding up the windows. He also wasn’t sure how long he was out.

The card game was over, at least. When he bowed out, Andy, Alma, Lowell and the priest were still going at it. Now Alma and Andy were sleeping too. Andy was snoring – making a hoarse rumbling sound with every exhale, loud enough that Noah was sure that’s what woke him up. Alma was a heavier sleeper, though, which he knew. She was still conked out, laying on her side facing the wall.

The priest was up too. And Lowell was nowhere to be seen. He had probably stepped into the other room. Someone probably would have freaked out if he tried to leave with the biter still out there.

Noah rubbed his eyes as he sat up and addressed the priest.

“What’d I miss?” he asked.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Antonio shook his head in response to Noah.

"Nothing." He reported quietly.

After the card games ended, Antonio had stayed on guard while most of the others slept. They may be in a cabin, but keeping someone on watch at all times was still important. Even more so now that they had a horde slinking by just outside their walls. All it took was one fallen getting the wrong idea and they could be laying siege to the house in seconds. Though he found himself getting a little dreary eyed, he kept pushing through it for the time being.

"I was worried Andy's snoring might lure them in, but the walls here seem to be holding up against that."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Yippee,” Noah said with faux cheer.

He got up and stretched his arms a little bit.

“So you said you’re a priest, right? Catholic?”

* * *

Hank lightly closed the door on Ruby’s room – she was asleep and so was CJ, and he didn’t want to wake them. It was just as well they got the rest while they could, and they weren’t missing much. Just a lot of waiting around and being afraid.

His next stop was the kitchen. He was peckish, and thought he might as well see if there was anything left over from their big meal that afternoon. When he got there, it seemed that one of the members of the other group had the same idea. It was the young man, the older brother to the little girl – Nolan, is his name, Hank was pretty sure.

“Hey,” he said, waving. He didn’t want to sneak up on him, even accidentally. “Your girl sleeping too?”
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
"Born and raised Catholic, actually." Antonio answered. "Well, kind of."

Antonio leaned his head into his left shoulder, and then right on over to his right shoulder; a few audible cracks accompanied the second movement. Then he rotated his shoulders a bit as well. He had been sitting still for too long and his body was starting to grow a little stiff. Antonio had never exactly been good with inactivity. Because of it, he was feeling a little talkative.

"Though the different denominations of Christianity seem pretty trivial right now. In that way, I don't really consider myself Catholic anymore. I am just a priest who is trying to do right in this world."

* * * * *

Nolan was helping himself to a few of the leftovers that they still had. It was hard to feel bad about taking food when it wasn't going to last long on its own now. He was interrupted only when a voice asked him a question -- he peered over his shoulder to see it was one of the new guys, Hank was his name. Antonio had been talking to him earlier in the day, they seemed to hit it off pretty well. And Nolan liked to think that Antonio was a pretty good judge of character.

"Yeah, she's been out for about 20 minutes." Nolan turned back to his plate of cold food. "Did you want to catch some rest or something? No idea what time it is, but I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight. I could keep watch for you if you wanted."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank shook his head. “No need,” he said. “I think your friend Eli has that covered.”

As far as he could tell, Eli wasn’t planning on sleeping. He was awake when Hank left to check on Ruby, and when Hank made the same offer Nolan had just made him, he couldn’t have been quicker to dismiss it. Hank didn’t know what to make of that, besides it probably wasn’t good. People needed sleep. Only biters could stay awake forever.

“It’s good that you have your sister, by the way,” he said, not sure right away where he was going with that. He hoped he wasn't being weird. “And that Annie has her son. Family’s important. It didn’t occur to me until recently, really, just how lucky we are to have some around.”

* * *

“Fair enough,” Noah said. “So what do you make of this world? I mean, the biters, or the rotters, or the deadheads – you know, whatever you want to call them. As a priest, I’m guessing you have an opinion.”
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
"Yeah, it's good." Nolan replied.

He didn't want to seem cold and removed, especially from these new guys, but it was difficult for him to muster up anything more. When he thought of his family, he thought of his mom and dad too. And neither of them were able to stand here with them today. He knew that was just him being melancholy though -- he could have lost his sister too. That was probably what Hank was trying to say.

"Sometimes it's hard to focus on the good through all the bad. We focus on what we've already lost and what we still have is kind of forgotten."

* * * * *

Antonio hummed lightly and nodded his head. It was a good question. And it was hard for someone like him, who dealt with religion for a career, to not think about things like that.

"That is... a complicated question." He leaned back in his chair and answered truthfully. "The book of Revelations mentions that in the end times, the dead will walk among the living once more. But I didn't imagine it would be quite like this. I thought for the longest time that this might be the work of Satan twisting the words of the Bible. I gave them the name 'fallen', as I saw them as humans who had fallen from grace and become tools of another power."

Antonio sighed and shook his head.

"I used to think it was some sort of demonic possession that was bringing people back, but I don't think that anymore. Too many inconsistencies. I think there were evil people out there who made this happen to us. Some sort of biological weapon I would imagine. No matter how I look at it, I don't see anything natural about this outbreak."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DoctorYerishi
Member Avatar
Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“So it’s not all part of God’s plan, then?” Noah asked.

He kept his tone the right side of mocking. He knew a few religious types growing up – Catholics, especially – and had his share of problems with them. But his family, if not religious, was spiritual, and he tried to keep his contempt people-specific. Now, he was just genuinely curious what this priest thought. He’d never gotten a chance to talk to one until now.

* * *

“That’s… kind of wise,” Hank said.

Nolan’s words made him think about Julianne. He thought about how guilty he felt that he didn’t think of her more. Now he wondered, more than ever, if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.

“There’s probably a balance,” he offered. “A way to remember the past and honour those we left behind, while still living in the present with those still with us. I mean – I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m sure it’s possible.”

He wasn’t sure how the discussion got so heavy, so fast. A side effect of living in such an uncertain world, he assumed.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Make-7-Up-Yours
Member Avatar
Is that so?
Antonio pursed his lips together. It was a question he had found he was asking himself at times. Was this all part of God's plan? He adhered to the belief that it was. He thought it had to be. But at times, he couldn't help but wonder. It was a small doubt, but doubt nonetheless.

"I want to say that it is all part of his plan, but honestly... I don't know. This isn't like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, because it seems like evil is thriving more than ever before. I think I just want to believe that there is some greater purpose behind it. Maybe I need there to be one."

Antonio shrugged his shoulders somberly.

"I suppose that doesn't make me sound very priestly, does it?" He managed a smirk.

* * * * *

Nolan hadn't really meant for that to come out sounding wise -- though in a way it did. And that didn't make the statement any less true either. It struck a chord in Nolan. Nevertheless, he didn't really show it and instead took a seat at the small table in the kitchen and began to work at the leftovers on the plate.

"I'm sure there is a good balance out there, but I haven't found it yet either." Nolan agreed with him after a few lingering seconds. "And I think the worst part is we all need to find that balance for ourselves. I'd love nothing more than an easy button on that one."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums with no limits on posts or members.
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Roleplaying · Next Topic »
Add Reply