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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,872 Views)
Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"I'll go too." Willow quickly volunteered and slipped out the door behind him.

She stepped into the dimly lit hallway and took her place next to Brandon. She wasn't even 100% sure where Hank was, but she assumed Brandon knew what he was doing. Though she wasn't about to let him go walking through this camp on his own -- maybe these people were alright, but she wasn't about to let her gimped fiancée go wandering about the place on his own.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli shook his head as Willow and Brandon left. He would have been madder if he hadn't given them permission to go, even if he did it unintentionally. Plus, he was confident he knew how Hank was going to respond and the end result was going to be the same. Hank was going to stay. He wasn't going to drag his family to California.

"The real question," he continued as if Brandon hadn't interrupted, "is what about Noah, his girl, and Lowell."
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Nolan ran his left hand across his chin. It seemed like a strange thing to Eli to be worried about, but Nolan didn't give it a second thought -- much like he didn't give Jimmy's current absence much of one either.

"Well, while we were driving, Alma told me about some family she had south of the border that she was really worried about. If they decide not to stay here, I got a pretty good feeling that's where she is gonna want to go."

Antonio glanced in Nolan's direction; "That is an assumption."

"Yeah, okay, maybe it is..." Nolan conceded "But they don't seem too bad. Lowell can be a little intense sometimes, but I'm almost used to that by now."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Eli was probably right about Hank wanting to stay. At least by telling the man he was allowing him to make a more informed decision about it. Brandon looked back to see Willow catch up to him. He wove his fingers inbetween hers happily. They made their way to the room he last saw the Kelly family congregating around and knocked.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank opened the door, a little excited, a little nervous. Those emotions levelled out when he saw it was just Brandon and Willow. He gave them a smile anyway.

"Hey guys," he said.

* * *

"If they want to go south, great, good on them, godspeed an' all that. The question we gotta consider is what if they want to come with us. I'm thinkin' we turn them down. We already gotta enough mouths to feed and we don't need to risk..."

He was interrupted by a loud, continuous hoooooonk. Outside, someone was laying on their horn. Like Jimmy did, that first day in Flint. Eli blinked, started feeling something he couldn't put his finger on -- relief, perhaps, or hope, or...

Then he realized that wasn't Jimmy's horn. Jimmy's truck made a distinctive sound, Eli would have known if it was his. It wasn't. It was someone else.

Emmett went to the window first.

"Big truck," he reported.

After a moment, the horn stopped blasting. A moment later, Emmett followed his report up.

"The one from Evanston," he said. "Patrick."
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Hey." Willow returned Hank's greeting and squeezed Brandon's hand a little tighter.

She wasn't entirely sure this was the right idea, telling Hank about the cure. Brandon seemed to have his mind made up about the ordeal though and she wasn't about to talk him down. She had always kind of wanted to tell Hank and the others, but had been afraid of the consequences for doing so. But now she could let Brandon handle the risky part while she just made sure he didn't get into any more trouble.

She scratched the itch on her forearm with her free hand awkwardly; "Can we come in for a few-"

Hooooooooooooooooooooonk!

* * * * *

"Well, that wasn't obnoxious or anything." Nolan groaned.

Even if it was a remnant from the old days, someone slamming their horn like that was something that rustled his jimmies. In fact, needlessly loud noises like that in general had that effect on him. And he knew it was stupid.

"I suppose he's here for his tryouts." Antonio seemed a little tense. "Let's tell him that we are not interested and request to leave."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
"He's coming inside," Emmett reported from his vantage point.

"He alone?" Eli asked.

"Yes," Emmett answered simply, not taking his eyes from the window.

Eli's hand rested on his holster. He turned to Antonio.

"Okay, let's tell him," he said.

* * *

Hank winced at the sound of the horn, until he remembered they were surrounded by walls. They didn't need to worry about attracting biters.

Still, that sound would have been troublesome, even in the pre-biter days.

"The heck is going on?" Andy opened the door of the room opposite theirs. He was tiredly scratching at the hairs on the back of his neck.

"What's that noise about?" Riley asked, before he could answer.

"Don't know and don't know," Hank spun on his heels and responded to them both, him first then her. "I'll check it out. Wait here."

He closed the door behind him, then nodded to Andy. Andy nodded back.

"Sorry guys, can this wait?" he asked Brandon and Willow.

It was a rhetorical question, since he and Andy were already on the move.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
It was odd to be agreeing so readily with Eli, but in this situation it could not be helped.

"Good." Antonio said, though he had not heard half of it.

I need to get a word in with Annie though before Eli realizes the cure is gone. Who knows what will happen then?
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli was almost to the staircase by the time Patrick appeared, smiling from under his scraggly moustache.

“Good morning!” he greeted when he saw them.

Eli looked behind him. Noah and Lowell had appeared from their rooms, likely as curious about the honking as anyone. Hank and Andy were not far behind.

“Uh huh,” Eli said, when he turned back to Patrick. “Look, we got something to say.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Patrick said. “I want to hear it. But you mind if I go first?”

“Actually…”

“’Cause I’ve already swung by Leonora, and she filled me in on the pertinent details, I believe – see, you, you want to get on your way. And you guys – you’re looking to stay. That about right?”

He pointed at Eli and Antonio first, and then over their shoulders at Hank and Andy.

“Morning Patrick,” Hank waved as he caught up and joined the scrum. “Is everything alright in Evanston?”

“Just about, friend, thank you for asking,” Patrick smiled back. “I just headed back a little early to check in on you fine folks.”

“What about the honking?” Andy asked.

Patrick shrugged. “My apologies. I get that it can be obnoxious, but some old habits die harder than others. Just wanted to give y’all a heads up I was on the way.”

“Oh,” Hank said, surprised by the answer. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.”

“Thank you for your understanding. And I’m here to let you know, Leonora will see you as soon as you’re up and at ‘em. Someone is waiting in the lobby to take you and your family to her, as soon as you’re ready.” He turned back to Eli. “And you – you wanted to tell me something?”

Eli looked back at Hank, frowned, then refocused on Patrick. “We’re going.”

Patrick nodded. “I know. Like I said…”

“No,” Eli said. “I mean right now.”

“Ah,” Patrick said. “Well I’m sorry to hear that, friend. We have a train getting back in just a few. Weren’t you looking to hop aboard? I think you know pretty damn – ahem, darn – pretty darn well how dangerous those roads are. Train could save you a lot of time and hassle.”

“We’ll risk it,” Eli said. “Are we free to go?’

Patrick glanced down to Eli’s hip, arched his eyebrow, then met his gaze again. His smile didn’t waver.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Of course. Any time.”

“Then we’re going,” Eli repeated.

“Sure,” Patrick said. “Can I ask in what? I heard your friend with the kickass truck – I mean, kick… no kickass, it’s definitely kickass – I heard he split. I’ve only been back a little while, but from what I hear he pulled quite the disappearing act. One minute the truck's there, one minute it’s not. Didn’t even swipe his ticket at the gate, so to speak. Though of course, he could have. Like I said, any time.”
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Is that so?
Antonio's left eyebrow cocked upward. Patrick's insistence that they could leave any time was actually the opposite of comforting. While they were nice outwardly, they were trying way too hard to be something that they clearly were not. That was the part that unnerved Antonio the most about all of this -- how fake it all felt.

Of course, I could be looking too deeply into all of this. I have been... increasingly paranoid as of late.

Antonio rubbed the fingers of his left hand into his forehead. Jimmy up and bailing on them right now was doing little to help his frustration. Though he was assuming that Jimmy left and hadn't been sent off to stir up trouble by Eli. He wasn't sure which of those options was worse.

"My friends and I are capable." Despite his inward conflict, Antonio's words seemed calm. "Finding some new transportation will not be a problem for us."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“I’m absolutely positive that’s true,” a smiling Patrick replied. “Just looking at you, I can tell. You got that ‘capable’ look, tip to tail. But let me ask you this – what about supplies? I’m talking food, water, the basics. ‘Cause fair warning, friends, but if SLC was dry before, now it’s super dry. We’ve pretty much licked the bones clean over these last three, four, weeks.”

“We’ll manage,” Eli said, unimpressed. “Excuse us.”

He turned around.

“I will, if that’s what you’d like,” Patrick kept talking to his back. “But maybe you’d consider hearing me out? I didn’t just come here to tell y’all the good Mother’s waiting – she is by the way.”

Eli was facing Hank now, so he saw the older man nod quickly.

“Right,” Hank said. “We’ll get moving.”

He patted Andy on the arm, and the two of them bounded down the hallway. Lowell and Noah stepped aside to let them pass. Eli didn’t move, not just yet.

“I passed a small group of the fallen on the way in, is what I was going to say,” Patrick spoke. “Might be I led them this way. My brothers have a lot on their plate here, and they could give me a hand if I needed it, but I was hoping that maybe I didn’t.”

Eli started walking away. “Good luck,” he said without sincerity, not looking back.

“Thank you kindly,” Patrick kept talking anyway. “But I was hoping you might offer a little more than that. I was hoping you and a few volunteers from your group might take an hour, help me clean up my mess. Not for free, of course.”

Eli stopped walking, but didn’t turn around.

“I can pay,” Patrick said. “Food, water – more than enough to replace what you lost in that truck. If you’re interested, might be I could even set you up with a new one of those.”

“The one outside?” Lowell spoke for the first time, an uncharacteristic note of excitement in his voice.

“Well, no,” Patrick said. “That one out there is kind of a local favourite. But something not too shabby. If you’re interested.”

Eli still didn’t turn around. But he didn’t walk away, either.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Not interested." Antonio stated bluntly.

"Not exactly." Willow overruled him almost instantly.

She and Brandon had arrived a little late and she hadn't heard everything, but she heard enough. If Jimmy really had gone and flaked on them, then that changed the ball game for them here. Jimmy's truck was the only set of wheels they had and there was no conceivable way that they could carry their supplies around town with all their injured -- or rather, what little supplies they had after losing the cars and Jimmy. The fact that he was offering all this now was extremely convenient for them.

Almost too convenient.

"I ain't gonna deny it, your offer would help us out a lot... but why would you give us all that just to shoot a few rotters for you? Doesn't sound like a great deal for you guys, you know?"
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli acknowledged Willow and Brandon with a neutral look. Then slowly, he turned around.

“We have it to spare,” he saw Patrick shrug. “And you saved Brother Gregory’s life. It’s only right that we reward your kindness somehow. And since you don’t want the train ride... Besides, I really could use the hand.”

Eli wondered if he could trust the offer. He didn’t trust them but he had to admit, they had come through on everything they promised so far.

Antonio may have dismissed the idea already, but his reason was downright asinine. Eli’s resistance to the idea was based on experience and pragmatism. Antonio’s was based on superstition.

“Fine,” Eli decided. “’An hour,’ you said?”

Patrick’s grin returned in full force. “Give or take,” he said. “I won’t keep you long.”
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Is that so?
Willow nodded her head slowly. Patrick's explanation seemed reasonable enough; she could understand why they would think to owe them a debt. And despite their strangeness, they hadn't been so bad thus far. Shooting rotters for an hour seemed like a better idea than wandering around Salt Lake City looking for supplies for the rest of the day.

She glanced in Antonio's direction; the priest did not exactly look happy, but he wasn't objecting either.

"Alright then." Willow spoke up when it didn't seem like anyone present was going to object. "Let's see what we got to work with here."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon was naturally skeptical of the situation. If he indulged his more paranoid side he'd view the proposition as an attempt to weaken the group by seperating them from their most capable people. Patrick was by himself which means the men they saw yesterday could be laying in ambush for them. With everyone else back at base wounded or inecperienced they'd put up even less of a fight against the superior numbers they had there. Or they could kill off their friends and claim they died at the hands of rotters making them more likely to stay with their community. He didn't know why they would do that, it was just paranoid speculation.

On the other end of the spectrum, what if it were all sincere? What if these people really did have no hidden agenda? What if they weren't crazy and their peculiarities were just a way of coping? Brandon would like to know more about these people if they were intending to leave the Kelly's with them. It might even allay some of his anxiety regarding their bizarre mannerisms. Once the cure was delivered it was also going to be places like this that the rebuilding effort centered around, it'd be good to know what kind of people would be doing it.

Emily joined the group and asked him for an explanation which he gave. She seemed uncomfortable about the prospect of waiting even an hour but even so volunteered for the kill team.

"You know if I were the paranoid type..." she began in a low volume.

"Yeah I know. If this is all some kind of ruse then they haven't done a great job, pretty much all of us assume something is up." Brandon mused quietly.

"Doesn't mean they're smart enough not to go through with it. Could be trouble." she pointed out.

"You guys'll be fine, whatever happens." he said as he handed over the machete he sharpened for her.

He made his way over to join his fiancée and put a hand gently on her shoulder.

"What about you? Are you staying back with me or do you feel up to helping the others?" he asked.
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