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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,875 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“I understand,” Leonora said, returning the handshakes. “It’s clear we haven’t been the only ones to contend with wayward souls outside these gates.”

She gave Brandon, in particular, a long look.

“Brother Gregory explained your intent,” she added. “You may keep your weapons.”

Eli let out a low breath, expelling a little relief. He was glad Brandon was on his side on this one. There was no way he was about to surrender any of their guns. He would rather turn around right now and walk backwards out the gate.

* * *

Hank snapped out of it. For a moment there, when the guns were pointed at his face, he had flashbacks to the other day, when the firefight suddenly broke out against Eli and his crew. Only this time, there was no chance it would have concluded the same. This time, they were surrounded by the same kind of men Hank had seen kick so much ass a few hours ago in Evanston, and with no clear way out if the situation got dire.

He blamed Eli. Sooner or later, his paranoia was going to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. He was glad they would be parting ways soon.

He was also glad for Leonora’s presence. Not only had she talked her men down from the brink of violence, but she was a woman. Until she came along, all he had seen of the camp was young men.

“Hank Kelly,” he introduced himself and shook Leonora’s hand next. “This is my family’s RV.”

She gave him a warm smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Hank,” she said. “And your family.”

She turned to address all the others once again.

“Please, come,” she said. “Let’s continue the introductions away from the gate.”

* * *

“So which of you are heading west, and which of you is applying to our community?” Leonora asked as she and her bodyguards led them up the road, toward the center of the walled off compound. Gregory followed.

A minute ago, Leonora had introduced herself to the people in Jimmy’s truck, much like she had the people in the RV. She had given them the same permission to open carry their guns, seemingly to the displeasure of the gate guards who had almost opened fire on them.

Now she was leading the way past some offices, and some miscellaneous activity by more men – the kind Eli had gotten used to seeing in Evanston and here.

“My family and I are looking for a permanent home,” Hank explained. “That includes Andy.”

“Hi,” the big man gave a small wave in response to his name.

“The rest of us will be on our way,” Eli said.

“Ah, yes,” Leonora said. “I understand Gregory offered you safe travel west?”

“That a problem?” Eli shot back.

Leonora’s younger, blonde-haired guard must have found his tone offensive, because he turned and gave him a scowl. Eli scowled right back.

“Not at all,” Leonora said. “A train is due back to the station tomorrow. We’d be happy to guarantee a spot on board for whoever wants it. After the kindness you showed Brother Gregory, it seems only fair recompense.”

She looked over her shoulder as she walked. Eli followed her gaze to Noah, Alma and Lowell. They were walking a little apart from the Kelly’s, and also from everyone else.

“And what about you three?” Leonora asked – she must have picked up on that subtle fact. “Will you be staying or going?”

“Us?” Noah asked, looking left and right at his girlfriend and best friend.

Leonora nodded.

“Uh, undecided,” Noah said.

Eli noticed how that earned a glare from Lowell.

“Fair enough,” Leonora said. “You have some time to think.”

She came to a stop in a courtyard by what used to be a Mexican restaurant. To her left was the Amtrak station. Eli looked that way and saw even more activity by more young men. Then he looked forward, observing how the walls ended at the end of the street, at the next intersection. Even more men patrolled them.

“I understand you must have questions,” she said, turning to address everyone face-to-face again. “As do we, for those of you who intend to take a different train, one that takes you to our community. But the day is getting long, so we can conduct the interviews tomorrow. We have secured a guest facility down the street…”

She pointed in the direction of the Mexican restaurant. Eli assumed she meant the facility was on the other side of it.

“Martin will escort you and help you with anything you may need,” she added. “And we will come collect you in the morning, and help you on your way, whichever way you are going. And allow me to say…”

She adopted her warmest, most welcoming smile yet. Eli’s frown didn’t budge.

“I recognize all this may seem a bit strange at first glance, especially after what you must have been through,” she said. “But I assure you, we’re not so inscrutable as we may appear. For those of you considering joining us, I just want you to know that we value nothing so much as community. We look forward to addressing any questions and allaying any concerns you might be harbouring.”

“Actually…” Riley spoke up. “I have one quick question right now.”

Leonora looked to her. “Yes?”

“It’s just, I haven’t seen a lot of… women, around here,” she said. “Besides yourself, I mean.”

Leonora nodded. “I understand your apprehension,” she said. “And would share it, were I in your shoes. But don’t worry, our community is almost evenly split. The unfortunate fact is that this is a dangerous posting, and our best fighters and most capable workers happen to be our brothers. Our sisters have important roles, also, but theirs are at home.”

“How very Civil War of you,” Jimmy remarked.

Leonora seemed taken aback for a split second, but quickly recovered.

“Yes, um, I suppose that’s true,” she said with a less confident smile than before.

Eli kept frowning. Riley smiled back, though. She seemed appeased by the answer.

With no one else raising their hand, Leonora gestured to her teenager aide – Martin, Eli assumed.

“This way,” Martin said, and led the way into the restaurant.

“I’ll see you soon,” Gregory smiled, and clasped a few of them on the shoulder before they left. “Thank you again for today.”

* * *

On the other side of the restaurant was the Homewood Suites, an extended stay hotel that bordered the eastern facing wall. After leading them through the dining area of the Rio Grande Café and out the front door, Martin led the whole group – all 19 of them – into the hotel.

Annie followed, taking it all in. She was surprised to find it empty. It seemed like Leonora wasn’t lying, it really was for guests and not their own people.

It also seemed like Leonora must have been very trusting. It occurred to Annie that there was nothing stopping the group from taking down Martin at this point.

Well, nothing except the unknown amount of well-armed guards that populated the rest of the camp, she thought. It could be that Leonora wasn’t trusting, so much as taking a calculated risk.

Annie didn’t care – this group seemed strange, like Leonora admitted, but they would be done with them tomorrow, whether they accepted the train ride or not. Though Annie was hoping they would. It seemed to her like the trip might go a lot smoother if it was literally on rails. Typical of the last 24 hours, however, there were other things on her mind.

Martin led them all up the stairs to the second floor, where all the rooms were. He stepped aside and gestured down the hallway. He offered to let them choose between themselves, and requested politely that they try to avoid making too much of a mess.

“We’ll have a man stationed in the lobby for your protection,” he concluded. “If you have need of anything, please go to him.”

“Our protection, huh?” Eli said, glowering.

“Got it,” Hank jumped in hastily. “Thank you.”

With that, Martin was gone, and the group was alone. They started divvying up the rooms.

“Keep an eye out for cameras or listening devices,” Eli whispered before they got going. “Be careful what you say until you’re sure. Scream if there’s a problem.”

“We’re not going to need to scream,” Hank said.

Scream if there’s a problem,” Eli repeated, shooting the older man a glare. He’d been giving a lot of those recently.

Eli headed furthest down the wall, opening doors and peeking inside as he went. He kept his rifle at the ready the entire time. When he was at the far end, Annie bounded over to Brandon.

“You need to talk to Willow and Emily tonight,” she whispered over his shoulder.

She bounded over to Antonio immediately after.

“Talk to Nolan,” she whispered.

“Mom?” Connor asked when he caught up to her. “Is everything okay?”

She turned to her son and tried to look normal – a harder and harder endeavour these days. “Everything's fine,” she said.
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Willow quickly shuffled her way through the other 18 people here and found her way to Annie before she and her son could find a room. She was talking to Connor, but Willow didn't even care if someone over heard anymore. The discomfort and pressure were building up and she needed some sort of relief for this. It had been a couple of hours since she started feeling it and it was getting worse.

"Hey, uhh... Annie?" She whispered quietly as she unconsciously started scratching a patch of reddened skin on her left forearm. "Do you... uhh..."

Damn, this is still awkward. She's a doctor, Willow, come on!

"I think I'm having some problems. Do you know any remedies or anything for... constipation? It's starting to hurt and I can't seem to go. I was trying during the drive on the RV and didn't get much."

* * * * *

Nolan let out an unconscious sigh as they walked down the hallway toward their rooms for the night. He was pretty tired after today. It had felt like a long day, even if they had spent most of it in cars so far. He was looking forward to resting for a night or two; this hotel did look fairly nice. Of course, it could just be because he had lost track of what 'nice' really was. His body was more than a little sore and he was looking forward to laying down and relaxing for a little bit.

He was still wary of these guys, but at least they were offering to help give them transport out west tomorrow.

"Let's find a room, Kels." Nolan suggested.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie motioned for Connor to head inside as Willow interrupted, then closed the door so she could speak with her in private. As she explained her problem, Annie’s eyes were drawn to her restless fingers, and the irritated skin it was scratching.

“I took a little bit of everything from that last pharmacy,” Annie said, hesitant. “I have some laxatives I can give you. But Willow…”

She sighed. Dealing with Eli’s so-called ‘intervention’ was plenty stressful already, helping Willow through her problem was just fuel on the fire.

“Has Brandon spoken to you yet, about your…” She paused, looking for the words. “Your… pill intake?”
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Willow furled her brow at the question and stopped picking at her arm for a few seconds.

"Eh, my pill uptake? No, no, no, Brandon hasn't really said anything about that to me. Besides, why would he? I'm just following the instructions on them." Willow forced an awkward laugh.

She might have stretched the truth a little bit just now. But Annie didn't really understand what it was like in her position either. And Willow didn't exactly want to get lectured right now either.

"So, uh... about those laxatives though..." She shifted uncomfortably in place as she steered the conversation away from her painkillers.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie pursed her lips. Clearly, Willow wasn’t following the instructions. Her stoned display the night Brandon was kidnapped, combined with her growing symptoms, proved that. The lie compounded Annie’s worry. If they weren’t surrounded by strangers in a strange land – and if Eli’s paranoia and aggression wasn’t a more pressing threat, in her opinion – then Annie might have confronted her.

For now, she resolved to simply mitigate the damage if she could.

“I’ll get them,” she said. “But just so I know, for medical reasons – your pills are all coming from me, right? You’re not taking anything I’m not giving you?”
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Willow glanced away from Annie and looked conflicted for a few seconds. She mulled over whether or not she wanted to say anything more, but ultimately decided to do so anyway.

"I... okay, okay... I might be taking a few extras every once in a while." Willow elaborated on the prior question. "It helps me... it helps me make it through the day sometimes."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie was pleasantly surprised by the honesty. She reached into her bag and found the small cardboard container with the laxatives, and held it out for Willow to take. She didn’t let go, however. Instead, she looked Willow straight on – going for an expression with the right balance of serious but compassionate.

“I understand, I do,” she said. “Thank you for being honest. But Willow, you have to be careful. Those medications are dangerous if over-prescribed. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but it will hurt less in the long run to start lowering your dosage. That means I’m going to need those extra pills back.”
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She's not going to give me the laxatives until I agree to this, is she?

"Okay, okay, fine." Willow whined.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie released the box. She wondered if this could possibly be so easy. Something had to be, right? she asked herself. After so much other difficulty, something had to go right.

“Okay,” she said. “Good.

Right?

“But you need talk to Brandon,” she added. “Seriously. Not just about this.”
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What is she talking about?

"Alright." Willow responded. "Thanks Doc."

As soon as she had the laxatives in her possession, she took off.
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon set his and Willow's bags down just inside the room he claimed. It beat most places they'd stayed but he'd still rather have their cabin back. Somehow being surrounded by thousands of rotters had been less uncomfortable than this. He wondered if their hosts were feeling as uneasy as they were. They'd have plenty of reason to be.

Brandon wasn't as readily trusting of the sutuation as Hank seemed to be, maybe it was just his eagerness to get his children settled somewhere but he was a little too unquestioning. Why did they keep callibg each other "brother", why was Leonora "mother", where was their father, and where were their women? Leonora explained the situation but it still seemed odd that they hadn't seen even one.

From these people's perspective, if everything were as they claimed, they had even more reason to be unsure about them. They came into their home, carrying guns which they refused to relinquish and Eli hadn't done much to assuage their uncertainty. For the most part Brandon was on the same page as him, but Eli wasn't exactly playing it cool. Maybe letting them know they were on guard would disuade them from trying something if they had some nefarious intent. Brandon smiled at Eli's standoffish behavior and paranoia for a moment, but stopped when he realized that just because he was paranoid didn't mean he was wrong.

He began checking the room in all the places he thought to place a camera or microphone. The drawers, the lamp, the picture frame on the wall, the vent. If there were bugs, they were too well hiddenfor him to find. The room had almost been dismantled when there was a knock at the door. Brandon opened it a crack to see Emily standing there with an expectant look on her face. He opened the door fully and let her in. She surveyed the room and gave him a judgmental look.

"Hypocrite." she said simply.

"What do you want?" he asked without defending himself.

"This needs sharpening." she said producing her machete.

"Can do." he said taking it from her and looking over the edge on the blade.

"Cool. I'll come by a little later for it." she said as she turned to leave.

"Before you go, there's something I need to talk to you about..."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli cleared every room in the hallway before picking one for himself, and then he looked under surface, cushion, and inch of wall for anything out of place. Spying on them or listening in seemed exactly like the kind of creepy thing these people would do. But he found nothing.

Then there was a knock on his open door. He swivelled in place, his hand went to the holster on his hip.

A man from the camp was standing there. His eyes flickered with concern when he saw where Eli’s hand was, but he didn’t make a move of his own. Good. Because if he had, Eli was fairly confident he would have shot him.

“You were supposed to wait in the lobby,” Eli said.

“There’s a delivery for you,” the guard said.

* * *

“What is this?” Eli eyed the boxes with suspicion, even though he knew very well what they were.

“Your supplies,” Greg stated, as men dropped the items off in the lobby and left.

Eli stood there with his arms folded. He waited until the deliveries stopped, and it was just him and Greg standing there. Plus the guard who had sent him downstairs – he was sitting or standing around here somewhere.

“I mean, what is this?” Eli asked again, his voice darker.

“I assumed you would rather they stay within your sight,” Greg said. “I thought it might make you more comfortable.”

Comfortable. Eli’s scorn for that notion was written all over his face. I’ll be comfortable the minute we’re out of here.

“Was I wrong?” Greg asked.

Eli didn’t answer. Instead, he wandered over to one of the boxes and knelt over to sort through it.

“Everything is where it was,” Greg said. “I promise you.”

Eli kept searching. Indeed, everything in this box seemed to be accounted for. So he moved on to the next.

“You’re suspicious,” Greg stated the obvious. "Many of us start out that way.”

“This isn’t the start of anything, ’mano,” Eli said.

“I know,” Greg said. “I just meant that I understood. And I wanted to prove that I brought you here to help. That’s all.”

Eli looked up at him.

“You’ve made your point,” he said. “We done?”

Greg nodded – seemingly unfazed by his brusqueness. It seemed to Eli like his patience was sincere, not like the straining patience he had seen on the faces of Wendy and her crew when he and Brandon challenged them. The difference didn’t make him feel any better.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Gregory said.

“Lookin’ forward to it,” Eli said, his tone very much conveying the opposite.

* * *

Hank returned to the suite he had claimed for himself, Riley, and the kids. He cradled a box under one arm, and held the barrel of his rifle in the other. His expression conveyed his mild confusion.

Riley noticed. “What happened?”

“I ran into Eli in the hall,” Hank said, putting the box down and placing the rifle against the wall.

Riley knitted her eyes in concern. She took a few long strides to peek inside. She looked up at him, sharing his confusion now.

“Food?”

Hank nodded. “Our cut of their rations,” he said. “For the ride in the RV. I tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted that a deal was a deal.”

“That’s… nice,” Riley said, cocking her head.

“Yeah,” Hank said.

It didn’t seem nice, though, the way Eli did it. He was frowning the whole time, like he had been since he had arrived – or hell, probably even longer, at least since he opened fire on the biters surrounding Gregory’s hiding place.

The supplies also came with a warning. He told him if he wanted to protect his family, he’d get them out of here. He didn’t take Hank’s reply that he needed to relax very well at all. He just shook his head, looked at Hank like he was a fool, and walked away.

“And the rifle?” Riley looked to the weapon he had placed on the wall.

“The rest of our weapons are in there too,” Hank answered. “We’re in Salt Lake City now. Like he said – a deal was a deal.”

“Oh,” Riley said. “Well… good.”

The problem, Hank thought, was that Eli had lost perspective. He had dealt with too many bad people, had experienced so much adversity, that now all he could see was adversity. He had become a hammer and now everything else in the world was a nail.

Eli couldn’t recognize that this group’s behaviour, while slightly odd, was nothing to worry about. They were in a brand new world now. What did odd even mean? This group had carved some order into a realm of chaos, offered their kids protection and everyone jobs in a safe community. That was extraordinary in these times. If a little oddness was the price, Hank would gladly pay it.

He told himself that, at least. Still, Eli’s vehemence had left him a little unsteady.

“You think we’re doing the right thing?” he asked.

Riley seemed to be expecting the question. “Do you?” she asked right back.

He let the silence linger for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said.

“I do too,” she said. “I still have questions, and I still have doubts, but meeting Leonora and seeing the way she diffused that situation, the way she kept both us and her men safe. That was encouraging. And these walls… I haven’t been afraid of a biter attack since I’ve been here. After all that time on the road, it feels strange.”

“Yeah, it does,” Hank said.

“A good strange,” she said. “I could get used to strange.”

“Me too.”

Riley let out a short laugh.

Hank looked at her curiously. “What?”

“It’s just…” she smiled. “Come on, Charlie. You know you’ve always been strange.”

Hank smiled back. She was calling him Charlie again. That was a good sign.
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The dancing flames of a pair of candles served as the only light for Nolan. Though the hotel room itself had windows in it, the bathroom did not. Thankfully, it was enough light to work with. He could clearly see his naked form in the mirror, along with every single cut, bruise, and scrape that adorned it. Though he doubted it was necessary, he still wanted to at least make sure the wounds were all cleaned out and healing properly. And that was something he couldn't really do with Kelsey watching. It was an activity he had been trying to do daily since getting thrown out of the truck -- the last thing he or anybody else needed right now was one of his wounds getting dirty and infected from lack of daily cleaning. And without a shower, his options were pretty limited.

"Gah, damn..." Nolan grunted as he ran the wet cotton swab over the gunshot wound on his forearm.

Annie had cleaned it out and closed it pretty well. It looked infinitely better than it had before and he was glad to be seeing some real healing taking place. But, unsurprisingly, it still hurt. His shoulder stung when he cleaned it. His forehead stung. A few of the smaller cuts stung too. Half of his body was tender right now, but only the wound on his arm actually caused any sort of recoil from him.

It's probably nothing to worry about, Nolan was quick to assure himself. A wound like that isn't gonna heal overnight. Willow must be a hell of a trooper to keep walking after what she's been through though. I wonder kind of pain killers Annie has her on. That can't be healthy.

After he screwed the cap back onto the water bottle and tucked the bag of cotton swabs away, Nolan redressed the wound on his forearm and then dressed the rest of himself. His clothes were starting to smell. It wasn't all that odd these days, but he made a mental note to wash them in the next river they stopped at. Because they weren't going to be staying here. Nolan didn't need to be a mind reader to know that was what the others were thinking.

"Anybody come by while I was in there?" Nolan asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Willow came by." Kelsey told Nolan as she quickly slipped something underneath the covers of the bed she had claimed for herself. "She was just looking for Brandon though."

Nolan's left eyebrow rose curiously but before he could ask about whatever it was Kelsey had hidden away, a rough knocking at the door drew his attention away. Unconsciously, his hand slid toward the handgun holstered at his hip. Before he even realized it, his fingers were wrapped around the grip of the weapon. Nolan froze, let go of the gun, and exhaled slowly.

We're in a hotel. Nobody is trying to kill us. It's probably just Brandon or something. Calm down.

"Nolan?" Another series of knocks on the door. "This is your room, right?"

"Oh, Antonio." Nolan breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. "What's up?"

"We need to talk." He told him simply.

Nolan's lips curled into a frown. Based off Antonio's solemn expression, he had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a fun talk to have. He stepped out of the way and let Antonio come inside.

* * * * *

Willow had already taken a dose of the laxatives that Annie had given her. The instructions said that it would take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours for it to work. Then she would probably need to find a hotel room nobody was using -- Brandon didn't deserve to have his hotel room smell terrible all night. Unless these guys were sophisticated enough to have running water systems. Which she doubted.

It took a few failed tries to find the hotel room Brandon had chosen out, but she eventually did.

"Hey, B." She greeted him as she stepped inside.
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"How can I spend the whole day in an RV with you, and still feel like I miss you?" Brandon asked as he walked over to greet Willow.

His hands were around her waist and his lips were on hers. This was the sort of moment he lived for now, that made everything else just drift away. It could have been minutes or hours, it didn't matter, just a moment for them alone could make a bad day good. He let the silence hang between them a moment as he just held her, savouring the touch.

"We have some stuff to talk about." he informed her eventually.
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"Annie was just telling me that I needed to talk to you about something." Willow said apprehensively.

Honestly, she would have rather they just cuddled or something for a while until these new pills could work their magic on her digestive system. Between that and Gregory's band of weirdos, the past day had put a lot on her plate and a heavy talk was kind of the last thing she wanted to have. Still... if they needed to talk, then they needed to talk.

"What's up?" She finally asked.
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