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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,840 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank sighed. He didn’t share Riley’s antipathy. Since Andy’s death, he had trended more towards numb than angry.

“Riley,” he said.

His sister turned to look at him, and he didn’t have to say anything else. She frowned and her face softened, even if reluctantly.

“Fine,” she said.

She stepped aside, giving Hank room to hand over the keys.

* * *

“Hey!” Connor protested. “Don’t touch him!”

He resented being escorted outside at gunpoint, and resented even more seeing all the supplies they had risked their lives to gather being taken away. His fear had bubbled over into anger. He was starting to wish Brandon had chosen a different tactic than hide.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio frowned at the pointless display. What a surprise to find more petty thievery and violence -- he had hoped to believe that people were better than that. Now that Brandon was doubled over and Connor was angry, he needed to step in.

"You may not need that food, but we do."

Antonio's patience had limits; and with the behavior of the last three groups of people they had encountered, said patience was running very thin. He did not want to fight, but he expected these people didn't either. He swallowed the anger rising from the situation and tried once again to talk.

"We've hit a bit of a rough patch recently, you see, and our supplies are suffering. Your people may not be at risk of starving, but ours are."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Right now they're at risk of getting shot." Donnie remarked, staring daggers at Brandon.

"Donnie. Let's just go now. We'll talk about this later." Jon said with blatant disapproval in his voice.

"Everybody has problems. We can't make your problems ours." Donnie explained to Antonio before backing away.

"I'm going to hurt you..." Brandon promised again with a baleful stare.

"You think I won't shoot you?" Donnie whispered, tightening the grip on his shotgun.

"I know you would, but you're worried they won't ever look at you the same after. You're right to." Brandon explained.

"Donnie, Jon, there's a car coming." the woman informed them.

Donnie seemed to be considering something, maybe shooting him. It wouldn't be unwise to do that, Brandon had to acknowledge. They really were dangerous people after all. Even Connor had killed before... Donnie kept the shotgun leveled at them with one hand and with the other reached into their car and grabbed the keys to their car. He threw them away and Brandon marked their general location before looking back at Donnie.

"Don't follow us." Donnie warned them before getting on his bike and driving away with his family.

They might have driven away, but they mentioned a car coming. On top of that, the sound of their bikes had drawn in a dozen or so more rotters.

"Weapons." Brandon said simply before heading back in side.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Connor glared at Donnie and his family as they drove away. Even as more rotters converged, he didn’t look away. He kept it up right until Brandon headed back into the store, and snapped him out of it. He rushed to follow him and retrieve his Browning. He knew he’d feel better with that in his hands.

“Are we going to follow them?” he asked Brandon as he hurried behind him.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio let out a tired sigh. And so once again they found themselves getting robbed. The novelty of it was starting to wear thin.

I hope not. Antonio answered Connor mentally as he scooped his shotgun off the ground. The last thing we need is Brandon repeating Eli's mistakes.
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Strompy
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"First we need to take care of the rotters so we can find those keys." Brandon answered.

He was still steaming over what just happened. They'd been through too much today. They deserved to have something go their way. Just one thing that went right, no foul ups, no complications. When he found Donnie he was going to break his hands.

Brandon retrieved his HK and went back out the door. Wasn't much sense in playing it quiet anymore, they just had to get the keys and go. The closest rotter to them went limp as his gun let out a subtle pop. He stopped as he heard the car they mentioned before, a quick glance around the corner and he was immensely relieved to recognize it as theirs. He waved them down as Connor and Antonio watched his back and Emily came into view behind the wheel as she slowed down and stopped for them.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked as she got out of the car with her rifle drawn.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Connor was right – he felt better with the Browning in his hands. After scooping it up off the floor where Brandon had kicked it, he headed back outside. After Brandon fired the first shot, Connor started to line up a shot of his own. He was interrupted by the arrival of the car. He pointed the gun at that instead, but lowered it when he realized it was one of their own.

We’re okay,” he went ahead and answered first, while pointing from himself to Antonio. “But this asshole hit Brandon and took all the stuff we found.”
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Strompy
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"I'm fine. Let's finish them quick and get out of here." Brandon informed them both.

Not entirely true, but true enough. He could stand and shoot just fine which he did, dropping another rotter. Emily followed suit. Between the four of them the rotters were a minor threat, by now they were all proficient and practiced even Connor could put them down with relative ease. They were dealt with quickly, but the gunfire would attract more of them and they'd have more to deal with eventually. Brandon used the calm to look for the keys. By then their muggers were minutes ahead of them and they'd likely be gunning it away from them as fast as they could go.

Brandon was siezed by an urge to chase them down, run Donnie off the road and break his thumbs if that didn't kill him. It wasn't worth splitting the group up for any longer though. His anger was completely useless. With a defeated sigh he shook his head and made hid way back to the cars. They had passed a few restaurants where they could probably find some canned food or something, it just meant they'd have to look for more. There were still plenty of houses they could check. They really did get lucky to find so much in one place though, even more so because it was a supermarket which were usually stripped clean. He tossed the keys to Antonio and got in the passenger side of Emily's ride.

"You two go back to the others, the gunfire will have them worried. Emily and I can check the restaurants we passed, see if we can make up what we lost." he said.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Of course." Antonio accepted the keys from Brandon.

He was glad to see Brandon was making the responsible choice here. For a moment, he was worried that he really would chase those guys down and get their food back. It wasn't enough food to justify losing more lives. In fact, Antonio couldn't say he was sure there was any amount of food that could justify it.

"Let's go, Connor." He said. "Let's make sure your mom and the others are still safe."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“So we’re not going to go after them,” Connor said.

He frowned in annoyance, but followed Antonio into a car anyway.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m coming.”

* * *

BANG!

Eli jumped in his seat and swerved left and right on the road when he heard the sound. It came from somewhere far in the distance. It sounded like a gunshot. Or maybe a car backfiring. Neither were exciting possibilities.

“Shit, Kelsey, did you…?”

He looked over to find her sleeping, her head against the back of her seat and her mouth hanging open. The medicine he’d given her must have taken effect.

The gunshot – or whatever it was – echoed in the back of his mind. He looked around some more for the source. There was nothing in sight for miles. Just open road.

He blinked hard and repeatedly. When he was done, he looked around some more. Still nothing.

He kept driving.
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Strompy
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The pickings were slim. There were a few pickles and pineapple chucks but aside from that hardly any real food. They could have found something better if they had more time to do a proper check. There were plenty of houses they could check which probably had some more canned food or something. Brandon and Emily still managed to find some rice, flour and salt as well as a few bottles of water.

"I don't want to spent anymore time in this town. I can practically feel those freaks breathing down my neck." Emily declared as they discussed whether they were going to scavenge another store.

"Yeah you're right. Let's take off." Brandon said.

He attempted to pick up a shopping bag with some bottled water in with his left hand but immediately put it down when it proved too much for his shoulder. He conceded and let Emily take it.

"You shouldn't be out here." Emily reminded him.

"I know." he admitted.

The two got back in the car as more rotters began to wander by. As they drove she noticed Brandon looking back a lot, like something was troubling him. He kept looking at the trunk, and Emily knew why.

"I know why you're doing this. You're punishing yourself. Aren't you?" she asked.

Brandon didn't answer but he did stop looking back.

"That's why I haven't even seen you so much as hug Willow either." she continued.

"I couldn't be happy, not in front of the Kellys. Not after I got Andy killed." he answered with a sigh.

"Andy's dead. It sucks. Maybe you had a hand in it. Maybe he was going to bite it tomorrow anyway. And the Kellys? I like Hank and the kids, sister's a bit of a cow, but overall I like them. I've decided not to get too attached to them though and you might be smart to do the same. They're not like us, Brandon. They're not fighters and if that doesn't change they're going to die." she explained.

Brandon frowned silently for a bit. She wasn't sure what impact her words had. He had a far away look as if he was thinking hard about something. Emily decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"One more thing. You need to apologize to Willow. You think you were afraid yesterday? She was locked in a train car coming down off pain killers and alike you she didn't have any reason to think you were still alive. You're punishing her too by acting like this. We can't afford for you to destroy yourself right now, we need you. What you're doing is self-centered and self-indulgent. Kiss you're fucking fiancée and stop being an emo." she lectured him.

He looked at her with a frown that wasn't angry so much as self-conscious. They continued to drive quietly a few moments as Brandon mulled all that over. Brandon sighed heavily as he settled on something.

"Okay. I love you, you know?" he said

"Duh." Emily replied with a half smile.

...

They pulled into the small parking area behind the woodworker's. Emily exited the car and waved to the others.

"We got a little something. Not much. We have more water though." Emily declared.

Brandon got out of the car with a slight groan and immediately made a beeline for Willow. He grabbed hold of her with about as much care for her injuries as his own, which wasn't a great deal. It hurt, but that was becoming normal for them. He kissed her desperately as if she might go away again at any second. When he finally stopped he rested his head against hers.

"You smell like puke." he whispered lovingly.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow closed her eyes and let herself be swept away in the moment. For a few seconds, she felt lighter than air and the pain of her body lifted from her shoulders. The world stopped spinning. Then Brandon stopped kissing her. Her body felt heavy and the world started to spin again. Her head started to spin.

"And you look like shit. But at least you're my shit." Willow paused awkwardly. "Uhh... well, you know what I mean."

She broke away from Brandon and sat down, groaning as she did. She hated to ruin the moment, but she had already done just that. And she really needed to sit down.

"I'm just glad you're talking to me again."
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Strompy
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"I'm sorry. All I've wanted to do is kiss you. After what happened to Andy... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to punish you too." he said planting another long kiss on her forehead.

He felt a huge welling of sympathy for her. She barely had the energy to stand which he could relate to. She was probably in pain, he could definitely relate to that. This was the worst he'd seen her since her surgery. Had she really been depending on those things this much?

"How are you feeling?" he asked rubbing her shoulders gently.

...

Emily put the new supplies in the back of the other convertible as the Kellys moved to get in their car. The woman said she didn't want anything from them, and Emily sure as hell wasn't in a mood to do her any favors but the kids hadn't done anything and neither had Hank. As they passed her she offered three bottles of water to Riley, which was a significant portion of what they had.
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Is that so?
Willow smiled at the shows of affection from him, but could only wish that she had enough energy to return it.

"I know.... I know I'm not the most responsible person around. Like, for my entire adult life, and a fair share of my teenage one, weed and alcohol have been my jams, ya know? And I'm stupid, I don't see myself ever not enjoying all that. Shit helps me control my anxiety like nothing else. And I'm glad as shit that you can see past all that."

Before she was even aware of it, Willow found herself knee deep in a monologue. It hurt to talk this much, but she had a lot she wanted to say to Brandon. Or rather, she had a lot she wanted to rant at someone about. She was miserable and disgusting, but so was everyone else. She didn't really have any right to rant at anyone about this except Brandon.

"And... and these painkillers. ZoHydro? That shit blows everything I've ever abused out the window. I mean, I ate those things and I felt like I could surf on clouds! Not metaphorically, like real clouds! And this was only after taking it for a week! Like... I haven't had one in a couple of days, and it's like... it's like withdrawal like you wouldn't believe! And not only does your body hate you for not taking the pills, but then your body hates you because it suddenly remembers it was shot! And while it was trying to heal, you were jumping and running and getting thrown into things, but couldn't feel any of it because of those magic pills! But now that week catches up to you and is like 'Oh hey, remember me?'"

She wanted to jump to her feet and wave her arms for emphasis, but that was out of the question right now. The pain she was in wasn't just from withdrawal, but now that she was not on any painkillers, every injury she had accumulated over the past week was felt loud and clear. Or it was withdrawal. Honestly, she didn't even know anymore.

"And all this talking is making my chest hurt. How do you feel?"
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Strompy
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"Tired and sore. Really tired and sore. All pretty straight forward." he said as he took a seat next to her.

Pain wasn't something you ever got comfortable with but it was something you could become familiar with. They'd both had their fair share of that lately. It'd be a miracle if they came through all this alive, let alone without picking up more cuts and bruises. That was easy to cope with after a while though, Willow would come through this, so would he.

"Up here's a little less straight forward." he said pointing to his head.

"I keep thinking about everything... We killed so many people. So many. I let Connor do some of that. I used him. I've killed so many people and at best I felt nothing, at worst I enjoyed it. I enjoyed killing those guys before, especially Gregory. I can't stop thinking about Andy, and what I've done to the Kellys. I can't stop thinking about losing Nolan and what's happening to Kelsey and Eli. I'm supposed to be making the decisions but I keep thinking what if I make the wrong decision? What if I lose it like a did just before? Who do I get killed then? Emily? Connor? You? You know what I think about what happened to Jen but this is so much worse. I've been trusted to do right by everyone and I've already fucked everything up." he ranted in turn.

He rubbed his aching head and wished he could reach into his skull and massage his brain or something. When he looked back up at Willow though, every ache seemed worth it. His woman. She was so beautiful. She was a total mess, she was beaten, drained and bruised but she wasn't broken. Still alive, still fighting after everything and somehow still seeming a little unsure. Was it that she couldn't see the forest for the trees? Was she so caught up in those faults that she didn't realize just how strong she was?

"Maybe worse than all that is that even with all of that going on, none of it means anything next to having you back. I love you. I didn't know it was like this. Like I need you. Like air or water. Like if I don't have you my heart won't beat anymore." he said with a mounting intensity.

He was staring at her now with a thousand words running through his mind. He was trying to find the right word for what she was to him. How much she meant. There was really only one.

"You're my wife."
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