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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (71,045 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jeff stared down at the lifeless deer and considered what Kelsey asked. He leaned over and pulled on the antlers, as hard as he could. It budged maybe an inch. It was like moving a washing machine.

"That's a very good question," he grunted. "Fuck. I mean, not fuuuuuuh..."

He almost said it again but stopped himself mid-word, trailing off. He frowned.

"I mean -- you know what I mean," he said.

He straightened up and looked back down at it. He shoved aside the part of his brain that was disturbed by the dead body, focused on the part of his brain that really wanted that venison.

"Maybe we gotta cut it up, or tie it to a pole or something ridiculous," he mused. "Brandon probably knows. His parents were nuts, they probably gave him homework on this kinda thing. Though, uh, I guess I should remember where I am right now. I guess that proves they weren't nuts, right?"

He realized Brandon hadn't caught up to them yet, and looked around. He saw him lagging behind with Willow. They seemed to be caught up in whatever conversation they had struck up suddenly.

"Uh, guys?" he shouted back.

* * *

Eli was totally taken aback by Julie's forwardness. His eyes darted to the closed door and back, and the lightbulb went off a little late. He opened his mouth to respond, and found he didn't have a response ready. He had to actually consider it.

He was older than her, first off. There was at least a decade between them, probably more. She also wasn't exactly his type -- Asian, kinda chubby, just a girl, still. Then again, he always kind of secretly took pride in the fact that he didn't have a type at all. More importantly, he had to consider what she said. The forget whatever shit you've got going on part. His angst wasn't going anywhere. He needed a distraction.

"Okay," he said, without affect.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Like I said, you don't give yourself enough credit. I don't know where this doubt comes from. I'll tell you what I see. I see a very beautiful woman who isn't vane or arrogant. I see a woman who is scared, but doesn't let it control her. I see a woman who kicks ass but doesn't brag or posture. I want you, Willow. If you believe just one thing I said, believe that." he continued, stepping closer to talk to her in a hushed tone.

He would have gone in to steal a kiss but Jeff snapped him back with a shout. Brandon walked backwards towards the others keeping his eyes on Willow.

Jeff, you motherfucker.

"I'll be waiting if you decide you want me too." he said before turning and jogging towards the others.

In his eagerness, he hadn't thought about how they'd get the deer back. He wasn't much good carrrying anything. They could drag it on a stretcher, though they'd need rope for that.

"Does anybody else remember the way back?" he asked as they all stood and considered their next meal.

...

"Damn straight. Are you going to help me out of these clothes?" she asked, removing her sling and unbuttoning her shirt.

It was good. In that room there was nothing but them, the rest of the world may have not even existed fir all she cared. Her arm made things a little awkward at times, but they laughed it off andhe was gentle when he had to be. She clapped a hand over her mouth as she threatened to make too much noise at the climax. A much needed release, a welcome moment of pleasure. Life affirming.

Afterward they lay next to each other looking up at the ceiling, she was out of breath and very satisfied.

"So... what was it... you wanted to ask?" she inquired breathlessly.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
As Brandon ran back towards the others, she craned her head to look at him. More specifically, at his butt, which she was ashamed to admit she had not noticed earlier. Dying without losing her v-card was a fear of hers that she had admitted to no one; in fact the mere thought of losing it had been previously enough to send her into fits of anxious hysteria. But every day she was exposed to more and more terrible things about the world and all of her old fears seemed so trivial by comparison. And the things he had said still weighed on her -- nobody had evver told her anything like that before, let alone a hot guy. It was so plain and so straightforward. He really did not mince words at all, and that was a very good thing. Already she couldn't help herself, she felt herself undressing him with her eyes; only to stop the train of thought with a solid slap to her own face.

Focus, Willow! She lectured herself harshly.

Flustered, a little confused, and with a heart that was still aflutter, Willow steeled herself as best she could and made her way towards the others, who were apparently discussing a few other points of interest. In her daze, she had missed the first few lines, but heard Kelsey of all people berating Brandon;

"What? You don't remember where the house is?" She seemed more surprised than anything else, before pointing in the general direction they had come from. "It was over there, somewhere. I think. Jeff, do you remember?"
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon chuckled.

"I remember. I was thinking two of us go back to the house and bring back some rope or something while I get to work skinning this thing. With somebody watching my back." he explained.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jeff cocked his head at Brandon's suggestion. Goddamn, this guy has no shame, he thought with a smirk.

"Alright, alright, I got you," he conceded. "Kelsey, come on, let's find some... rope, I guess. Jesus. I think Eli probably has some."

He shoved his hands in his pocket and started walking back in the direction Willow had pointed.

"In the meantime, be careful out here!" he said, looking back over his shoulder for a moment.

* * *

"I forget," Eli lied as he stared up at the ceiling.

He didn't look happy, necessarily, but he did look peaceful. The thoughts and doubts that had raged in his mind an hour ago had calmed. They were there, but they weren't as persistent. He was more present. He wasn't going to jeopardize that right away.

He was going to ask Julie what happened to her boyfriend. She had hinted when they met that it was a living person -- like the people back at the border -- that had caused her to flee to Brandon's attics. He wanted to know if that person was still around, and if he was, what Julie would do if she had the chance. Would she do what he did to Evan? Would she take a life in cold blood?

No, not thinking about that, he reminded himself. He did a sit up, then raised his knees. He looked over at Julie, still supine on the bed.

"That was nice," he said, and he meant it.

He hoped then that she truly meant what she said about no strings, and that he didn't need to look after her emotions any more than that. He was terrible at that kind of thing.

He rotated his legs off the bed and stood up. Wordlessly, he scavenged for his dirty clothes. He caught a few reflections of his naked body in a mirror by a dresser. It reminded him that he needed to work out. He hadn't gotten in any serious exercise that wasn't him fighting for his life lately, not since New York. That would probably help him relax as well.

"I'm gonna go see if anybody needs any help or somethin'," he said as he pulled his jeans back on.

Then, after poking his arms back through his long-sleeved shirt, he turned to her one more time before heading out.

"Thanks," he said, and again, he meant it.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Yes. Send them away. Have Willow alone.

He was mentally punching himself as the words formed.

"Actually, I think you should take Willow with you. She's a good shot incase you need it and I can keep Kelsey safe here."

He was wounded and Kelsey had shorter legs, the should be walking less than the others. Also, if something something didhappen between he and Willow, he wanted a lot longer with her than what the trip there and back would give.

...

"You are welcome." she said looking back at him with equally appreciative expression, awkwardlydressing herself.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jeff turned all the way around and kept backwards. He was a little surprised, but he shrugged his acceptance.

"Sure, that'll work too," he said. "Come on pink, let's move it along. Sooner we get that beast back to base, sooner we eat."

* * *

Eli gave her a courteous nod as he clipped on his police belt, the last of his ensemble, before exiting the second bedroom and closing the door behind him. He headed out to the living room and looked out the window. He saw Maxwell sitting outside, alone. He looked around a bit for the others and found no sign.

He headed back down the hall to the master bedroom. The door was open, Randall and Glenda were sitting on the bed. Randall had his shirt off, but he was also very apparently injured. The vibe wasn't at all like the one he just got away from.

He knocked on the open door anyway to get their attention, and poked his head in.

"Hey," he said. "The others still out hunting?"
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Strompy
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It was an effort for Brandon to defend the completely logical decision he just made. Kelsey was a kid, kids tire easily especially when bored. He could show her how to skin and butcher a deer, she seemed less squeemish about that sort of thing than the others. Now that they weren't walking so deliberately Jeff and Kelsey would have made it there and back in under an hour. He'd need longer than that with Willow if something were to happen, since it would have been her first time he wanted that to be something less... opportunistic even predatory, more deliberate and respectful. Let her think it over, don't pressure her. Even so he was beating himself up inside.

"Ooookay. You wanna see something gross?" Brandon asked Kelsey waving his knife slightly.

...

Thank God Eli didn't want to talk. They might have said something to ruin the effect. She was contented and that was all she wanted. Eli didn't seem like the type to read into it too much which was good luck for her. She would have tried Brandon first but he wasn't there. Then Eli and if not Eli then Jeff though she didn't expect much from him somehow. Maybe that was a mean judgement. Randall was completely out of the question and Max... well he probably would have started stuttering and talking strangely which is a bit of a mood killer. All in all, that worked out perfectly.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Okay!" Kelsey seemed almost too enthusiastic.

Like it or not, she was still a kid; the gross had an odd appeal to her. And this was the kind of gross you would find in the old world, before rotters were a thing and changed the concept of 'gross'. Or at least Kelsey assumed as much. Not that it would matter anyway. She was pretty used to the new world concept of gross.

**********

"God, I can't argue with eating. Let's go." Willow told Jeff as she headed back in the direction of the house.

The last few minutes had made Willow forget how hungry she was, but the mere mention of food sent her stomach into rebellion. She really wanted to eat. She tried to put the business with Brandon in the back of her head. She was secretly thankful that Brandon suggested she go with Jeff; Willow needed a little bit of room and time to process everything that had just happened. It was overwhelming, to say the least. She thought that this decision would be easier now that her anxiety was focused more on the walking dead than on other things, but it seemed old habits died hard if nothing else.

"So, what happened between yesterday and today?" Willow asked Jeff; she decided she wanted to talk about something that wasn't the deer and wasn't Brandon. "You're different."

**********

"Yeah, they should be."

Randall dug through the dresser of the master bedroom and found a new shirt to replace the bloodied one that laid on the bed. He eventually found one that was about his size; a plain red one. He slipped it on, not without a little bit of pain in his shoulder, however.

"We heard a few gunshots a while back, maybe they caught something." He hoped they caught something at least; after yesterday gunshots could mean a lot of things.

Meanwhile, Glenda finished packing the last of their medical supplies into the bag and zipped it up. Randall was thankful that she did a little scavenging during their time in the hospital, those supplies would be invaluable.

"You feeling any better this morning?" Randall asked rather abruptly and gave Eli a knowing look.

Randall knew what he did yesterday was still on his mind. Randall had been honest to him, after all. The first time Randall killed someone, it really did trouble him badly for a full week before it started getting any better.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli glanced back down the hall towards the other room before answering. "Yeah, a bit," he said. "I heard those same shots, though. I'm gonna go see how they're doing. If I'm not back in half an hour, start worrying."

* * *

Jeff shrugged at Willow's question as they walked back. They may not have been close friends, or even technically friends at all, but they had known each other for weeks back at the lodge, where she had been one of the few people who wasn't constantly on his case to contribute more. Jeff always appreciated that, so he decided to be straight with her.

"I snapped out of it, I guess," he answered. "Adapt or die, right? Isn't that what you've done? We heard explosions back at the hospital, you know, that must have been some serious action movie shit yesterday."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
With a lot of effort and grunting Brandon moved the carcass a few feet away, out of the pool of blood that had formed around it. He rolled it onto its back and severed its throat. With a slight tearing noise he began cutting down it's sternum, belly and then crotch, exposing its innards.

"You need to be really careful at this point, you don't want to nick the guts or you're going to have a mess. I don't have hacksaw with me so I'm just going to use the serrated edge of my knife to try and cut through the sternum and pelvis, just again being really careful not to puncture the gut. Okay, you see in here how, everything is connected by these membranes? Just cut those free, cut the diaphragm. I cut the throat before, so I'm gonna reach up in here, grab the esophagus and pull that down. Then you just... just grab all this and pull it out. Then see how the intestines are still attached to the butt? Just cut right around that and we're down with the guts." he said breathlessly hefting the mass of organs free of the deer.

"What do you think?" he asked Kelsey with a proud grin.

His answer was a wolf-whistle from somewhere nearby. The FAL was on the ground next to him, so he went for his pistol. The reproachful sound of a pump action shotgun chambering a shell put that notion to rest though. With a spiteful expression on his face he reluctantly raised his hands, gesturing for Kelsey to do the same. They were quiet as they appeared around them.

Four people; an older man and woman, a guy around his age and a girl of maybe seventeen. Rifles and shotguns. Another wolf-whistle, this time from his left, the girl with the pump. The older man gave her a rebuking look. Were they with the border bandits? Had they really followed them this far? They must have heard Willow's big .308. What could Brandon do? Fighting would get him kill, maybe even Kelsey too. If they took them away, could he leave a clear enough trail for the others to follow? Maybe if he tore his stitching open he could leave a blood trail, but how would he do that without these people getting wise to what he was doing? His thoughts were interrupted by the oddly sympathetic tone of the older man.

"That's a fine job. Sorry for scaring you. We don't actually mean any harm, it's just we don't know you. All we want is the deer. Brian, can you take their weapons please? Just a safety thing, like I said." the man explained as the younger man came and puled Brandon's pistol from him, also taking his FAL and Kelsey's .22.

Not the border bandits, thank god.

"We need that deer." Brandon explained, avoiding using an objecting tone.

"No kidding? Us to." the man responded with a chuckle.

Brandon nodded his head acknowledging the stupidity of what he said. The man reached behind him and Brandon took a step to the side, moving a little in front of Kelsey. He scoffed, and produced a rag, throwing it to Brandon. Brandon relaxed a little and wiped his hands relatively clean. The man shouldered his rifle and the others lowered their weapons.

"We shot it." Brandon pointed out, as if haggling.

"Anyone can shoot a thing, my friend. We've been tracking that deer since before sun up. It was our for hours, you got lucky, you didn't work at it." he rebutted.

Brandon couldn't hold it against them, if the roles were reversed he'd feel the same.

"Patrick, he has a child with him." the older woman said pleadingly, looking at Kelsey with tenderness.

Patrick looked torn, but eventually walked over to the carcass and began stripping the skin back at the join of the abdomen and right hind leg.

"Dad!" Brian objected.

"If it were the other way around, Brian..." he replied simply, putting him in his place.

Patrick finished severing the leg and with a little reluctance, handed it to Brandon. Brandon didn't say anything, but nodded his thanks. His heart swelled at the gesture though.

"I'm Patrick. This is my wife Beth, our son Brian, and our daughter Casey. We've got a little one back home with her mother. She's Brian's child." Patrick explained extending his hand.

"Brandon. This is Kelsey." Brandon replied shaking his hand firmly.

Beth shouldered her rifle and approached the pair and knelt down to eye level with Kelsey.

"Hello, darling, is it just you two all alone out here?" she asked, with a sympathetic smile.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Whatever the situation, Kelsey was incited at the nerve of these people! They shot the deer, they should get to eat it! Sure, they were leaving them some meat, but they had nine people to feed and they were being cheated out of a meal! Cheated! And if there was one thing Kelsey did not like, it was being cheated.

"I don't really want to talk to you right now." She said flatly. "You're robbing us."

There was no malice in her voice; only apathy with a tinge of disappointment.

"But don't worry about us." Kelsey shot this woman, and everyone else, a knowing smile. "We aren't alone."

**********

Willow contemplated Jeff's words. It is what she had done; in less than a week she had changed more than she had in the past 5 years. It turned out death was a pretty good motivator; it had been for her and it looked like it had been one for Jeff too. In fact, she could argue it had been one for everyone. Even those people back at Old For Erie. They were all probably normal people with normal jobs a couple of months ago.

"Heh, it kinda was, actually." Willow chuckled at Jeff's comment. "Some guys came back as we were slipping out and said they found you all at the hospital. It started one hell of a raiding party. So, Eli grabbed some grenades and we blew up all their cars on the way out while using the smoke as cover from their gunfire. Well, except the one car that we stole from them. Can you believe they just left the keys in the ignition to all their cars?"

She couldn't believe she was actually laughing at the memories. She was still so happy to have gotten out of that alive that the feelings of elation of getting in and out without losing anyone (or having to kill anyone) were still there. Or maybe she had just gone over the deep end. The line was pretty blurred these days.

**********

"Yeah..." Randall trailed off the thought as Eli abruptly left. "Guess I shouldn't have asked so bluntly, huh?"

Glenda shrugged.
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Strompy
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"Okay." Beth said patiently, giving her and Brandon a warm smile.

"Speaking of which, we should get going. Tell them we won't need that rope." Brandon explained.

Patrick seemed to be torn about something again. As he and Brian began tying the deer's legs to a pole he sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about this, I have to look to my family's needs first." he said apologetically.

"You don't have to explain." Brandon excused him.

Kelsey didn't seem to feel the same way. She thought they were thieves, Brandon saw generosity. They could have taken the entire animal or worse taken what little they had. Between the leg and the two rabbits, that was a decent amount of meat. They would also be moving on soon anyway, these people were probably local. They could find food elsewhere.

"Casey, do you have a pen?" Patrick asked and the girl eagerly jumped to attention.

She slung her shotgun and pulled a pen from her pocket taking Brandon's left hand and scribbling on it. Brandon examined his hand. Coordinates, and her name as a reminder, with an little winking emoticon. He looked up at her with an amused but not dismissive expression. She might have been 18...

"Hope you appreciate the risk we just took. If you're in these parts again and in abad way, that's us. Not many people left in the world, gotta do what we can for each other... just ah... not at this very moment." he looked at the carcass as he spoke of the exception.

Brian and Patrick hefted the deer up by the pole, carrying it between them. They began walking away with their prize. Beth and Casey followed keeping an eye on Brandon and Kelsey but not raising their weapons.

"It was nice meeting you." the stout woman called to them as they disappeared.

Brandon looked at Kelsey and shrugged as they reclaimed their weapons. He looked at the writing on his hand. He looked at the personal message from Casey, but thought about Willow. With a smile he spat on his hand and rubbed it clean. Looking at the coordinates however he thought of the others, he really wasn't sure how they'd see the situation. He rubbed that clean too after committing it to memory.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
"Complacency, I guess," Jeff answered, even though her question seemed rhetorical. "I understand that. Look at the club up 'till last week or so. I bet we had some keys still in the ignition too."

A distant sound caught his attention and he stopped walking. The low rumble of a car engine, it sounded like. In the otherwise quiet woods, he could faintly make it out. It sounded unusual somehow, but familiar.

"Do you hear that?" he said, stopping suddenly to narrow his eyes and pay attention.

It was so distant it was almost inaudible. He may have even been imagining things. But he had good hearing, and something bugged him about it, and he quickly realized what. He hadn't heard this sound in more than a month, and he used to hear it all the time. It was a motorcycle.

Grrraagh! Another sound invaded his hearing. A much more common one these days. At least one rotter, maybe more, heading towards them in the opposite direction of the sound. Could be it was drawn to it and not them, and least originally. Or maybe they were drawn in by one of the many shots they had fired on their hunt.

"Goddamn, these things always gotta ruin a good time," Jeff remarked as he drew his pistol and scanned the treeline. He thought he got a glimpse of a leg as it shuffled towards them. "Hold up, let's see if I have better luck with rotters than bunnies."

The moaning continued as the rotter got closer. Jeff raised his pistol like Brandon told him, aiming carefully down the sights. When the rotter finally appeared in full view, Jeff squeezed the trigger. POW! Some bark fell from the tree beside the rotter, where Jeff's bullet ended up.

"So close, so close," Jeff said lowly, still aiming, still determined.

The rotter was a big guy in overalls, maybe a local once upon a time. Jeff really wanted to see it topple over.

POW! A spray of blood shot out of the rotters chest. Jeff had hit it below the shoulder, whereabouts its lungs would have been. That was progress at least. If this was one of those border bandits and not a rotter, he would have done some damage.

"Third time's the charm, come on," he said, and he kept aiming.

Jesus Christ! He recoiled at the sound of another moan, frightening close to him. From the right, another rotter he hadn't seen coming emerged from behind a thick tree trunk. It was a short but thick woman in a plaid shirt. It's skeletal hands got a piece of Jeff's coat before he knew what was happening, and the rotter's weight clumsily pushed him against a nearby tree.

With his free hand, Jeff reacted just in time to grab the rotter by what was left of its blonde hair near it's scalp. He held it inches away from his chest as it thrashed its teeth madly.

"Ahhh, fuck!" Jeff cried out, panicked.
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Strompy
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The faint sound of a .22 got Brandon's attention as he and Kelsey made their way back.

"Hey hey, sounds like they found some more rabbits. Come on!" he said excitedly picking up the pace.
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