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| Dead Men Walking | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,886 Views) | |
| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 22 2015, 02:37 PM Post #2851 |
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Is that so?
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Nolan stirred awake from his rest when he heard voices coming from the living room. Despite his claim of not getting sleep last night, he must have dozed off while sitting in the chair watching Kelsey sleep in the bed. The first thing he noticed was that he was stiff and sore from sleeping in such an awkward position and that his lips and mouth were pretty dried out. And of course he had to pee in a house with a bathroom detached the main portion of it. Hopefully the rotters had passed by now, though a few soft groans outside dashed that hope before it had a chance to get off the ground. His eyes glanced over toward Kels, who was still curled up and asleep on the bed. No reason to wake her yet. He stiffly got out of the chair and left the bedroom without bothering to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He might as well see what everyone else was talking about. * * * * * As with every morning, Willow was woken by the pain before anything else. The familiar burning in her chest that she got when her medication started to wear off. And it was always accompanied by pain in her back as well -- it made moving her arms difficult in some cases. She caught Brandon on the ass end of taking some of her medication for herself, and she couldn't help but smile ruefully at the scene. He was in a lot of pain too. "We're like a couple of old people now, aren't we?" Willow commented hoarsely. * * * * * Antonio softly hummed the tune of Knight Rider under his breath -- or hummed it to the best of his ability, rather. With all those fast-paced synths, it was difficult to really get it right. But in his head he could hear the song as clearly as he had on the days he watched it. They didn't seem like all that long ago. The rotters were still outside, he could hear their groans between the snores of Andy. He had been awake for an hour or two now, and the fallen outside were definitely quieter than they had been before. This was probably the tail end of the horde that had passed through. Still, to think there was a group of fallen this massive wandering around the United States... it was a terrifying thought. How many thousands of them must be there in order to keep them boxed in for a full night? Tens of thousands? Even Green River would have been overrun by the sheer numbers of them. And Antonio would have bet that there were more hordes of similar size elsewhere. It was an intimidating thought. The world could not continue like this. This cure needed to be delivered. He continued humming to himself, waiting for both the horde to finish passing by and for everyone else to start waking up. |
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| Strompy | Sep 23 2015, 06:39 AM Post #2852 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"I've got a cane and everything." Brandon chuckled softly. He winced slightly, laughing even a little bit hurt. He was hoping he hadn't woken her. They still had a few hours before they had decent light, at least he assumed so since he had no idea what time it was. The best use for those hours was in bed with her, keeping eachother warm. He took two more pills in his hand and put the bottle back in her bag. "I'm looking forward to those two weeks in bed you mentioned." he said in a suggestive tone as he walked back over to her, offering her the two pills and the bottle of water. ... "We should give them another hour or so once they pass incase some of them turn back, let them get some distance so we'll have plenty of warning. Then I guess our first order of business is getting everyone some new wheels." Emily said as she scratched her neck and yawned. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 23 2015, 03:43 PM Post #2853 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli was thinking the same thing about the wheels, and about how inconvenient that was going to be. They already tried searching Manila, and it was a ghost town. The only cars they passed on the way through were broken or disassembled. He was thinking that maybe it’d be best to send a small team out in Jimmy’s truck while everyone else waited here. Maybe that team could find some other options abandoned on the side of the road, or admittedly more likely, they could head back up into Wyoming and try finding something in the next town. He was busy thinking about that when – BRRRRRRRRRRRING! BRRRRRRRRING! A shrill, piercing metallic sound blasted through the house. It sent Eli immediately to his feet, and then it sent him scrambling, running as fast as he could towards its origin. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the… “Fuck!” Eli cursed – he didn’t bother keeping his voice low, he couldn’t scream as loud as the ringing even if he tried. BRRRRRRRRRRING! BRRRRRRRRING! The source of the noise was Ruby and CJ’s room – Hank’s kids. Eli rammed the door open with his shoulder, saw the boy looking confused in the corner, and the girl standing over a dresser, looking panicked as she fumbled with a mechanical alarm clock the size of both her hands. The boy reached out for it, took a step forward. She released the clock long enough to bat him away. BRRRRRRRRRR— Eli cleared the room in a few strides, then swiped the clock from Ruby’s grip. He pressed down on the top, and the shrieking immediately subsided. “I’m-sorry, I’m-sorry, I’m-sorry,” Ruby quickly stammered, like it was one word over and over. “I’m-sorry, I’m—” “What the hell are you doing?!” Eli snapped back – his voice was low again, but it was angry. His face was red. “I just woke up! CJ must have found the clock in one of the drawers and accidentally…” “Do you know what the fuck’s out there right now!?” Eli snapped again, still low. “Do you know what you just did?!” “I’m sorry,” Ruby said again – and maybe she did know, because she looked scared. “He didn’t – he didn’t know what he was doing.” “Eli!” Hank was at the door next, Eli’s gaze swivelled to him. “What’s going on here?” Hank looked disturbed by the scene. From where his eyes were fixed, Eli got the sense that it wasn’t just because of the noise, but because of the way he was towering over Ruby. Annoyed, Eli stood up straight and turned to him. “Shh,” Eli shushed him. Hank looked slightly more disturbed. “What do you mean, shh? What’s…” “Shut up!” Eli said, only a little louder. Hank’s eyebrows were knitted in consternation now, but he was quiet long enough to hear what Eli was hearing – which was exactly what they were all afraid of all this time. Something was knocking on the front door. There was a moment of silence as they absorbed that bad news. Then something was knocking on the side door too. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 23 2015, 04:46 PM Post #2854 |
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Is that so?
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Nolan only watched the confrontation take place between Eli, Hank, and Ruby. He was simply too groggy still from the rough night before to offer much of a coherent opinion on what was going on. That and he got the feeling that 'it was just a mistake' wasn't going to placate Eli's rage right now. Besides, they had bigger things to worry about right now. Behind him, Kelsey crept out of the bedroom quietly and rejoined everyone else. There was a hint of fear written on her face. Even though she had just woken up, she grasped the situation they were in now. Nobody had any idea how many of them were out there right now. If they tried taking any action, they could end up turning the entire horde in their direction. Then they would be really dead. He wondered if Jimmy was awake right now or in a good position to see the house. "Can we get a status report from Jimmy?" Nolan suggested. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 23 2015, 06:18 PM Post #2855 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli shook his head as he stormed away from Ruby and out the room. He shouldered past Hank roughly. “Jimmy’s watching the road, not us,” he said. He’d seen it enough times to know how it worked – he knew how these goddamn dead things operated. A rotter thought there was food inside somewhere, then it started trying to get in, then other rotters noticed and followed suit, because follow is one of the only things they knew how to do. It didn’t even matter if there was food, a rotter could just hear the static of a TV and they’d be banging on the door for days. That couldn’t happen here – the southern horde was too big, if it turned around and swarmed the house Eli and everyone else inside might never get out. They had to stop the knocking, and they had to do it fast. “I’m taking the front door – Nolan, you and Emily take the side,” he ordered as he moved. “When I say ‘go,’ you open up, take out the ones making the noise, get ‘em inside, then close it up. As quiet as you fucking can. If we do it right, and if we get lucky, maybe the others keep going.” He was walking with purpose now, and drawing his knife as he went. “If we do it wrong, if we don’t get lucky – then we still have options.” Unpleasant options, Eli thought. Covering ourselves in rotter gut options. But options nonetheless. “Hank, come on,” he said. “Huh? What are you…” Hank was lost, but trailed along nonetheless. “I can’t do this by myself,” Eli said. “Go to the door.” |
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| Strompy | Sep 24 2015, 12:50 AM Post #2856 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Shit shit shit. What the fuck? They were really fucked now. They needed that noise to stop before it attracted too many creeps. If they ciuld get the ones at the doors inside they may be able to avoid that. The others outside might not notice what was happening if they were fast and quiet enough. Then they could always use the ones they snagged for camouflage and hide inside while the horde passed through and moved on when they found nothing. Eli was quicker to that conclusion and suggested they do just that. "Read my mind. Let's go." Emily said as she readied her machete, gesturing for Nolan to get ready by the door. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 24 2015, 01:15 AM Post #2857 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Hank was a little slow on the uptake – and a little slow was aggravatingly slow, given the circumstances – but he finally arrived at the doorknob. Eli readied his knife and prepared to give the order. Some movement in his periphery distracted him. He looked to see that Ruby had followed them out of her room. She and Riley watched from under a doorframe as the banging continued from both ends. Eli turned back to Hank. “When I say go,” he repeated. Hank gave him a silent nod. Eli held up three fingers. Then two. Then one. Then he inhaled. “Go!” he said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Hank pulled the door open and stood back. Eli lunged forward before he even saw the rotter – he grabbed it by the throat with one hand and stabbed it through the skull with the other. It was dead midway through its strangled cry. Eli pivoted and threw the corpse inside. Then another corpse – a walking one – was on him. Eli couldn’t really see past it, couldn’t really make out how many were still there and how many had taken notice. All he could see was this latest rotter’s bulky form and bared teeth. He pivoted again, and shoved it inside just the same. He heard it hit the floor as he sidestepped away from the doorframe. He gave Hank an angry look and swiped his arm, indicating for the older man to shut the door. Hank did, shutting it fast, but not getting it closed. It took Eli only a second to realize why – there was a pale hand, with rotten scabby skin. Wordlessly, Eli forced the door open enough to confront it. It was a woman – was a woman – with a curtain of thin blonde hair covering its face. Eli yanked it by its arm through the doorframe, then gestured for Hank again. The door closed shut this time, Eli heard it but didn’t see it. He was too busy forcing the third rotter to the ground, and planting a knee on its stomach, pinning it long enough to raise his ka-bar for another killing blow. “Eek!” Eli looked up. The second – still living – rotter was on its stomach, but clawing its arms at Ruby’s feet. The girl had started to scream, but her aunt’s hand was over her mouth now, silencing her. The rotter crawled to its knees. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 24 2015, 01:48 AM Post #2858 |
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Is that so?
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Nolan followed Emily to the side door as per Eli's instructions. This was really the only plan available to them, though he really didn't like the feel of it without Jimmy's eyes in the skies to tell them just how bad their situation was. They were going into this blind, but it was the only choice they had. He grabbed the doorknob while Emily took her position by the door. I hope this shit doesn't go south. On Eli's count, he pulled the door open for the policewoman. * * * * * While Emily and Eli were dealing with the rotters at their respective doors, Kelsey hung further back, behind Ruby and Riley. It wasn't necessarily because she was scared, but she knew how high the stakes were. She didn't trust herself not to make a mistake after Eli's 'training' session earlier -- she and Connor had both failed that pretty hard and made it obvious just how unprepared they were for a straight on fight against these things. They had both gotten bitten several times. Well, gummed. Then Ruby screamed and Kelsey turned in her direction. One of the rotters that had been pulled inside was starting to make its way toward her and her aunt and Eli was in no real position to jump in. Though they were really in no danger, Kelsey leaped in anyway. With her knife securely held in a reserve grip, she was easily able to slam the blade of her knife downward into the back of the rotter's head using both of her arms. Thankfully, the knife sunk into its skull on the first blow for once and the rotter collapsed back onto its stomach before it even had a chance to get a hold of Ruby or anyone else. "Got him." She unnecessarily reported. |
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| Strompy | Sep 24 2015, 02:44 AM Post #2859 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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The first creep through door went limp as its head tumbled off its shoulders. The next one through didn't make it much further as Emily put her machete firmly in its skull. She struggled to free the blade as a third came staggering toward her. She freed it in time to put the blade between her and it, a pespecled Indian man in office attire. The blade dug into its throat as it lunged at her with habds and teeth. "Close it!" she grunted as she tilted the rotter to the side and tripped it over. With another grunt of exertion she drove her machete into its head. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 24 2015, 12:01 PM Post #2860 |
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Is that so?
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On Emily's command, Nolan pushed the door closed without a second of hesitation. He even avoided slamming the door to draw more attention, but he made sure to flip the lock afterward, just in case. All they could do now was wait and hope that they had taken care of all the rotters that were after them. "That was pretty impressive." Nolan complimented Emily with a nod. |
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| Strompy | Sep 24 2015, 12:27 PM Post #2861 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"I know, right? I'm kicking ass right now." Emily said quietly with as much surprise as pride. Aside from the threat of being swarmed and eaten alive, or maybe even because of it, Emily sort of enjoyed that. Avoiding creeps had been her primary tactic for dealing with them when she was on her own, it was rare she ever had to take one out let alone three at once. She always knew her limits with them and never pushed them like this until now, the imminent danger of the horde outside got her heart pumping and adrenaline coursing through her. It was a hell of a way to start the day. "Go check on the others." she whispered. She noticed the severed head on the ground chomping away at thin air and planted her foot on it before pushing her machete into its brain. She found herself liking this thing a lot more than her old baton. It had more heft to it, but that also meant she didn't need to strike nearly as many times to down a creep as she used to, so the extra effort behind every swing was worth it. She just hoped all of that effort wasn't for nothing and that those three were the only ones this side that had taken notice. She didn't think she had another streak like that in her just yet, aside form being tiring it was also incredibly lucky it went that smoothly. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 24 2015, 03:33 PM Post #2862 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli nodded when Kelsey stepped in. “Good girl,” he said quietly. He sunk his own knife into the skull of the girl rotter he had pinned, ending its struggling. “Are we…?” Ruby started to ask, as Eli stood up. “Shh,” he said, looking up at her while wiping his blade clean on the dead girl’s shirt. When he was finished, he waited. He noticed Nolan returning from the side door to check on them, so he concluded that he and Emily had done their job too. Now they just needed to know if it worked. So Eli listened, and kept listening. The silence was tense. It was also long. It persisted for a full minute. Eli listened carefully for any more knocking on the doors or windows, but he heard nothing. Eventually, he nodded his head, thankful to the universe for this small mercy. As he stood up, he put his finger to his lips, indicating for the rest of the room to keep their mouths shut for a while yet. He headed over to where he left the radio. * * * After taking a long while to stretch his legs and arms and everything else – as well as wait out the horde – Jimmy headed back down the hill on Eli’s orders. Over the radio, Eli had recounted the close call they had just had back at the main house, and asked Jimmy to come scope out the ranch before they made another move. Jimmy was happy to oblige. His time in that perch had been too long, too stifling. He wanted to be alone and inactive long enough to think, to meditate a little, but the horde had proved bigger and slower than he would have liked and that alone time had started to seem never-ending. But it had ended. It was over now, and he was on the move again – that was the silver lining, the bright side, and he focused on that. He moved quietly, crouched behind a tree when the ranch came into view. Some sporadic groaning tipped him off that he still needed to be careful. He poked his head out to see what he would see. It turned out the horde was gone, but they left some stuff behind – muddy, trampled grass, for instance, as well as what must have their rear guard. For some reason, a good amount of deadheads still milled around the property. They weren’t marching after their comrades, and they weren’t banging down any doors. They were just standing there, or pacing. Going nowhere fast. Jimmy took the time to count, his eyes darting rapidly from one to the next as he mouthed the numbers – there were 24 in all, wait, no 25, no, look at that, 26. “Looks like we have some stragglers,” Jimmy reported quietly into his radio, which was clipped to a strap on his backpack. Maybe they lost track of the others, Jimmy theorized. Or maybe they got distracted by the moves Eli had to pull on the few that took notice of the house. Maybe they were about to take notice too, but the others disappeared too fast, leaving them confused and without a clear direction. With deadheads, it was impossible to know. “I count 26 total,” he added to his report. “They look like they plan to stay a while. Maybe I can lure them away.” * * * “What about the rest of the horde?” Eli asked into the radio. “Long gone,” Jimmy answered. “So what do you say? Should I lead these ‘heads on a merry chase?” Eli considered that, then frowned. “26 total?” he asked. “That’s right,” Jimmy confirmed. “We can take 26 rotters,” Eli said. “Wait there.” He put the radio down, and looked around the room. Everyone was gathered there now – even Annie and Connor, who had been a little late to arrive at the previous crisis. A few minutes ago, Annie was apparently too busy telling Connor to stay put to get involved herself. She had joined the party just in time to see Kelsey put down that rotter. “You can take them?” Riley asked, sounding incredulous. Eli ignored her and left the room. When he returned a moment later, it was with his gym bag. Earlier in the day – well, earlier yesterday – he had unpacked his spare clothes and replaced them with Hank, Noah, Lowell, Alma and Andy’s weapons. Just now, he had removed the guns, but left the melee weapons inside. Now, he lifted the hatchet with one hand, and held it up towards Hank. “Here,” he said. Hank cocked his head slightly. “I said we can take them,” Eli said. “Take it.” “Didn’t he say 26?” Riley asked, while Hank still hesitated. “That seems like a lot.” “There’s a lot of us,” Eli replied. “Take it.” Finally, Hank reached out and accepted his weapon. Eli lifted the bag again – which was much easier now, without its heaviest weapon – and approached Nolan. “Get this to the second cabin,” he ordered. Eli turned to Ann and Connor next – he wasn’t sure if Annie would be up for this, and he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be up for sending Connor, even if he wanted to go. Eli didn’t want to fight her on this, so he turned to Emily next. He guessed she’d be ready to go, so he gave her a simple nod. “My family stays inside,” Hank said, before Eli could look to Riley or Ruby. “Fine,” Eli said. “Hank,” Riley said, in a plaintive tone. “You don’t have to…” “No, he’s right,” Hank interrupted. “We can handle this.” “I’m coming,” Annie added, surprisingly. “Just me.” “Mom!” it was Connor’s turn to complain now. “It’s okay, kid,” Eli said – they wouldn’t be using guns, anyway, and yesterday’s training session indicated Connor needed a bit more practice at close range. “This’ll be quick.” He headed for the door. It was only right that he was the first one unto the breach, so to speak. “Ready?” he looked over his shoulder at his small strike team. Hank exhaled. “Ready,” he said, as he adjusted his grip on his hatchet. Eli adjusted his own grip on his ka-bar. “Good,” he said, then he charged. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 24 2015, 04:28 PM Post #2863 |
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Is that so?
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Nolan accepted the bag of weapons and slung it over his shoulder, acknowledging Eli's request with a simple nod of his head. Day by day he could feel himself getting stronger -- carrying a bag of weapons wouldn't be a problem at all, despite his the aches his body had from being jettisoned out the window of a truck. He just hoped that no rotters would stand between him and the other cabins. Though knowing his luck, they would be. His fear was confirmed as soon as he broke away from Eli and the others. 26 was a big number, so of course there would be a pair of rotters standing directly by the door of the cabin! Where else would they possibly be standing? He groaned in his head sarcastically. * * * * * Antonio peered between the smallest crack in the boards covering the windows. A moment ago, he had heard what sounded like fighting coming from outside. A few short yells in particular piqued his interest. In the light of early morning, he saw Eli and some of the others, weapons in hand, engaged in a fight with a few rotters -- fallen, these guys are rubbing off on me. Leftovers from the horde, he suspected. And Nolan was just outside the cabin. He swung a black bag he was holding like a mace and knocked one of the fallen off its feet, but Antonio saw him cringe from the exertion. "Open up!" He shouted. Not all of the weapons were unaccounted for. Antonio grabbed the cutlass they had mysteriously found in a McDonald's and went for the door. He pushed through the front door; one of the fallen was directly in front of it, its back turned to Antonio as it looked at Nolan from the other side. Antonio decapitated the fallen in a single swing and let its body fall to the ground. The other nearby fallen couldn't get back to its feet, so Nolan ignored it and went for the open door. "Thanks!" The young man with a scar over his left eye held up the bag. "I got everyone's weapons. We're clearing 'em out." Antonio went toward the second fallen and swiftly executed it with a downward swing against the back of its skull, creating a pool of rotting brain matter near its head when it hit the ground. "Good." Antonio turned and nodded to Nolan. "Get them handed out to everyone inside." |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 24 2015, 06:12 PM Post #2864 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Two rotters greeted Eli as he charged through the door. The first he shoved as hard as he could in the chest, sending it stumbling backwards. The second he kicked, knocking it against the wall. As it tried to recover, Eli swung his reverse-gripped knife into its temple. Hank moved past him, and Eli saw the head of his hatchet glint in the morning light, as he presumably brought it down on the other rotter crowding the entrance. “Fan out!” Eli said, just as soon as he removed his knife from the rotter he just killed. “Don’t get surrounded!” * * * Noah blinked in surprise when Nolan entered the cabin, but got the message quickly enough, and he centred himself. It looked like it was time to fight, so that’s what he would do, limp or not. He adopted a grim expression. “Finally,” Lowell said, his expression not-so-grim. He was the first to dig into the gym bag Nolan had brought with him. He ignored Nolan and found his blade and followed the priest out into the open. Noah reached into the pack next, and immediately identified his ornate, stainless steel knife. He allowed himself a small smile as he retrieved it, leaving Alma’s machete for her to pick up next. “What the hell’s going on, anyway?” Alma asked when he stepped aside. She was only recently awake – Noah had nudged her from her sleep after Antonio claimed to have heard some yelling. “No idea,” Noah replied. “I’ll see you out there.” She grabbed the handle of her machete with both hands. “Yeah, you will,” she said. Noah smirked, patted Nolan on the shoulder, then charged into the open as fast as his leg would carry him. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 25 2015, 05:07 AM Post #2865 |
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Is that so?
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"Sounds like there's a fight going on out there." Willow confirmed her statement a moment later by peering out through the front door of the small, one-room cabin. Eli and the others were fairly handily taking care of a group of remaining rotters. Of course, this begged the obvious question of why they would leave the safety of the house to beat up some rotters. "I'll be right back." She told Brandon. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." By stupid, she meant fight. He wouldn't like the order, but she wouldn't like having to worry about her gimped boyfriend hobbling around a battlefield. * * * * * The cutlass left many questions in Antonio's mind. But right now, he was just thankful he had it. The blade was sharp, he was pretty strong, and the fallen were pretty brittle -- it was a good combination. With a swing of his arm, he sliced through the face of a nearby fallen and brought it to the ground with relative ease. That put him at three kills. And to boot, he found himself near Eli's group already. The closest man to him was Hank, who had just taken down a rotter of his own. "Sleep well?" Antonio inquired casually. |
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