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| Dead Men Walking | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,982 Views) | |
| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 12:14 AM Post #1411 |
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Is that so?
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Despite the tense atmosphere, Willow had appreciated the brief reprieve. Her weary body had recovered a lot of energy from just a few hours of driving. She was still mentally worn out, but physically she was feeling pretty good. Her chest had not bruised from the crash earlier and only a residual bit of whiplash was still present. Furthermore, despite the fact she had been limping earlier, she realized her leg actually felt better than it had yesterday. It hadn't actually been that bad of a hit in the first place so she was not all that surprised. But it was encouraging. Willow was pretty sure that after another couple of days, when her blood levels were back near normal, she'd be in pretty good shape minus the lung damage. If we can find the others. Several hours of driving with no results to show for it had not been encouraging. Ever since losing contact with the others, she was visibly concerned. They could be dead already. She wasn't giving up anytime soon, but it was difficult to keep the darker possibilities out of her head. Every once in a while, Emmett would speak into the radio, but never get an answer. Willow had blanked that out of her head and merely sat looking out the window for any sign of life. It was hardly surprising that Willow almost jumped out of her seat when a nearby explosion broke the terse monotony. "I think we found them." She stated after recovering. "But how are we gonna...?" She trailed off. She didn't think she needed to finish the rest of that thought. If the others were inside the warehouse, the implications were fairly straightforward. Her heart was already starting to sink into her stomach. * * * * * Jen flinched when the explosion boomed from the warehouse. Her first thought was that it seemed kind of unnecessary, but the suspicious rotters that had surrounded them seemed to have their attention drawn towards that as well. She noticed that Randall, who was still leading the pack, wasted no time in taking the opportunity to shoot a beeline for the clearing up ahead. While the rotters, as she had started making a habit of calling them, were confused, they made their way out of the writhing mess of rotters. As the horde cleared out, she felt like she could breathe freely. Considering what she was wearing, she found herself a little shocked that she was even thinking that. But they had somehow gotten out of that warehouse alive. All of them. She didn't even care that they smelled like shit anymore. They were alive. Mental note; hug Annie when we get these coats off. |
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| Strompy | May 8 2015, 12:44 AM Post #1412 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"Too bad about all our stuff." Julie commented as they cleared the herd by a comfortable margin. She couldn't convey a sense of regret in her voice though, since she didn't feel it. They were alive. Well, for now at least. Things would be much harder without the rest of their gear but they didn't exactly have much further to go before they could leave this shit-hole. The others could leave this shit-hole, rather. That reminder took a little bit of the wind out of her sails. She kept smiling in spite of it. They were safe for now. Annie's idea worked, the others had another trick up their sleeves, and a damn good one that would improve their chances drastically. With this approach they could do practically anything they wanted, and go anywhere they wanted freely. It was only a shame they hadn't known about this sooner. This information could have made a big difference in places like Flint, a lot of people would still be alive if more people knew this. She wondered if maybe some of these rotters would be standing beside them, alive, if they had had the same insight. Those who were left would find the world a little less trying because of it though. She had to content herself with that. Kelsey and Connor would live. Eli, Randall and the others would live and they'd teach others. This had given her a chance to go out on her terms now. That was also something to be glad about. If they could only find Emmett and the others now, assuming they were still alive, then she might just be able to go out peacefully. |
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| DoctorYerishi | May 8 2015, 12:56 AM Post #1413 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli had almost caught up to the others, and had so far resisted the urge to even look back. He was tempted to think about how lucky he had just gotten – how lucky they all had, really – until he remembered the bite wound on Julie’s shoulder. Annie was the last of the group ahead of him. She was letting Connor lead her forward, and Connor was being led by Kelsey, who was being led by Randall. It was a good system. He was about to exhale when he saw Annie bump up against the last rotter in her path. Instead of groaning and continuing on his way, the rotter paused in its tracks. Eli reached for his blade with one hand, and grabbed the rotter in the shoulder with the other. When it turned away from Annie to face him, Eli stabbed him in the eye. As he followed the rotter to the ground, he held a finger to his lips for Annie to see. She did, and she got the message. Behind him, the rest of the horde continued to converge on the warehouse. He finally looked back, and could see some smoke filtering through the shattered windows. He yanked the knife out of the fallen rotter, and got up. Hopefully, he had done it without attracting attention. The group remained understandably silent as he followed them down the road. When they got far enough away that Julie could speak comfortably, he nodded empathetically. He had brought his backpack with him – Mac’s backpack, really – and Randall, Jen and Annie had brought their smaller ones, but the rest of the luggage had been left behind. His gym bag with all his spare clothes, Randall bag with all the spare ammo they didn't have on their persons, Annie and Connor’s luggage with all the luxuries they had tried to take with them from Flint – it was all gone forever. Which sucked, because they would need that stuff more than ever after getting out of these clothes. * * * Emmett didn’t know what to do, so he kept staring forward from his seat in the cab. In no time at all, he could see smoke rising above the rotter crowd. Then he saw a group of the roamers split off from the horde. The sight made him furrow his eyebrows and concentrate. His hand reached for his knife. “Emmett… Is that you?” Eli’s voice crackled from the radio suddenly. There was a pause, but before he could reach for the radio, Eli’s voice appeared once again. “We’re comin’ your way,” he said. “Don’t shoot.” Emmett was still confused – but he was also relieved. He drew his knife anyway as he put the vehicle in park and slid out. After watching the splinter group of roamers for a minute longer, he realized they weren’t roamers at all. What Eli said was true. They were coming their way. Eli sheathed his knife, and crinkled his nose at the incoming smell. He watched all the others approach. His expression betrayed just a hint of his bafflement. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 01:14 AM Post #1414 |
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Is that so?
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Willow needed to see this for herself. She slipped out of the van and walked out to greet everyone. After making sure no rotters were nearby, she took a headcount and found that everyone was here safely. She let out a silent sigh of relief and allowed herself to be happy. "See?" Kelsey shot Connor a cheeky grin. "Told you we'd make it out." Willow smirked; it looked like Kelsey was showing Connor how it was done. Poor kid was being shown up by a girl several years his junior. Of course, Willow remembered a time when Kelsey was showing her up. Realistically, she probably still would. Even if Willow wouldn't admit it to anybody. That girl was made of some pretty stern stuff for someone as seemingly relaxed as her. "Thank God you guys are okay." Willow crinkled her nose at the putrid stench assailing her nostrils. "Trust me, I'm glad. I would hug you all personally, but... well, you know. You smell like ass." "Don't worry. I'll hug you instead." Jen made a step towards Willow and stretched out her arms. "NO!" Willow instantly took a step back towards the door. "Don't you dare! I happen to like these clothes!" |
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| DoctorYerishi | May 8 2015, 12:15 PM Post #1415 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Emmett wished he could share Willow’s light-heartedness. Instead, he noted Eli’s visage – it was solemn, absent of relief. Emmett adopted an expression that mirrored it. “Are you?” he asked, in his usual deep but soft voice. “Okay, I mean." |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 12:38 PM Post #1416 |
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Is that so?
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Upon hearing Emmett's words, Jen looked in the big man's direction. The brief look of levity she adopted was brought back down hard by the solemn reminder. She put her arms down and bowed her head slightly, unconsciously glancing towards Julie. She had gotten so caught up in their escape that she forgot they had to tell them what happened. It wasn't really her place to say anything so she looked back towards Willow, who had already picked up on the change in atmosphere; her smile had since faded and she looked more serious. "No, we aren't." Randall was the one to answer for Eli. He looked tense. Uncertain. He was glancing over his shoulder like he was expecting the horde to come shambling in this direction. When he seemed certain that they weren't, he took a deep breath and said the words. "Julie got bit." |
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| Strompy | May 8 2015, 01:06 PM Post #1417 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Brandon had stood quietly at the van door as the others walked up to them. Seeing them all alive was incomparable relief. They looked ridiculous and smelled even fouler than rotters. He thought rotters smelled bad on the outside. Inside was a whole other story in revulsion. He grinned widely at the sorry sight of them. That smile faded instantly when Randall delivered the news. His heart sank into his stomach. Nobody survived a bite, well almost nobody. He was about to ask where she was bitten but realized it was unnecessary. If they could have done for her what they did for Randall they would have. He looked to Julie for some clarification. She shed her gory hat and coat, and pulled her shirt to the side to show him and the others. Her shoulder was inflamed. He could make out a few breaks in the skin and the swollen red area was just about the width of a human bite. It was tiny. Before this it wouldn't have meant a damn thing, just a little nip. Now though, he could already see the infection was at work. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her face and her eyes were slightly bloodshot. She was an image entirely at odds with how he'd always seen her. She was already less alive than she had always been. She might stand up just fine but it was clear that something was inside her, taking her apart slowly. He put both of his hands on his head as he absorbed the information, anxiously drumming his fingers on his head. "I messed up. A rotter got the better of me. I'm sorry." she said in a small voice he wasn't used to hearing from her. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 01:55 PM Post #1418 |
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Is that so?
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Willow's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands. "N-no... Julie..." Julie had been there with encouragement after she woke up in the clinic at Flint. Now Willow felt like she had to be there for her now too. But she didn't know what she could say to someone who was dying. |
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| DoctorYerishi | May 8 2015, 05:09 PM Post #1419 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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It was dark and crowded in the trailer. Despite the cold outside, it was also uncomfortably warm. Up front, Emmett had stayed behind the wheel. He was joined now by Jen in the middle, and Randall and Kelsey on the side – they were chosen because they could share a seat. In the back, Eli, Julie, Annie, Connor, Willow and Brandon had to share space with the boxes of food and water they had left Flint with. There wasn’t a lot of room to stretch out. And even though they had left their dirtied coats on the side of the road, the rotter stink had yet to dissipate entirely. Eli couldn’t have felt worse for Julie. She didn’t have much time left. With every minute that passed, she had even less. It was horrifying that she had to spend even a second of it in these conditions. Not to mention the fact that she had been back here once before, when she was kidnapped. He was almost grateful when the vehicle sputtered to a slow stop, and Emmett opened the back of the trunk a minute later. The cold and the snowflakes came as almost a relief. “What happened?” Annie asked the obvious question she saw Emmett’s grim face. Beside her, Connor kept looking at the floor, his eyes glazed over in thought. After escaping the warehouse, he had gotten quiet again. It wasn’t the same shocked silence of before, though. It was more contemplative. Eli thought so, at least. But he’d never been great at reading kids. “Engine died,” Emmett said, with just the hint of a frown. Eli would have offered to take a look, but he was far from an expert at that kind of thing. Besides, he didn’t want to leave Julie’s side if he could help it. Her condition was getting worse with every second. “And what happens now?” Once again, Annie was the one that spoke up. “We saw a hotel up ahead,” Emmett said. “We’re going to walk.” He said it relatively definitively, so Eli supposed he must have discussed it with Randall. And the idea was fine with him. The sun had peaked before they had fallen through the highway. Judging by the dimming sunlight, it was on its way down. It made sense to wait out the night. Of course, so much for this all being over by the end of the day, he thought, remembering his earlier exchange with Randall. It served him right for being optimistic. “I got into a small accident on the highway,” Emmett offered a minute later, by way of explanation. “Did more damage than I thought.” He was handing Eli one of the boxes of supplies. They were going to have to carry it all by hand to their next resting stop. Eli personally wanted to bear as much of the burden as he could. “Sorry about your trailer,” Eli offered back, absently. With a heavy heart, he kept glancing over to Julie. “Was never mine,” Emmett responded, as he picked up and held onto the last two boxes himself. Eli would have complained more about losing both vehicles in the same day. It wasn’t even close to the day’s biggest loss, though, so he kept his mouth shut. They started walking down the highway, boxes in hand. Ahead, Eli could make out the sign of the hotel Emmett and Randall had picked out. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 05:44 PM Post #1420 |
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Is that so?
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It was difficult for Randall to help with the boxes, but he did carry with him a few of the bags he could sling over his shoulders while still holding his knife in his left hand should they run into any rotters. What a miserable day it had been. They lost supplies, they lost both cars, and they were about to lose one of their own. It could have been a lot worse given what they had gone through. But Randall didn't want to dwell on that. There wasn't time to dwell on it. Right now, he just wanted to get situated inside the hotel, find a room that wasn't absolutely freezing, and help Julie get comfortable. Behind him, Julie looked even worse than she had before, and Willow was helping her along and trying to keep her distracted with conversation. He couldn't hear what they were talking about. Eli and Brandon were both visibly troubled by everything as well. Connor was staring blankly into space, like he was lost in his own little world. After they escaped and everything had time to settle in, Jen had also fallen silent. It was not only Connor and Annie's, but also Jen's first time truly outside the walls of Flint in over a month. There was a lot to digest in there, but they all seemed to be handling it fairly well. Emmett seemed the most composed, but that was almost to be expected. Yet at the end of the day, they were just a battered and bruised group of survivors, trudging down a street in the last light of day while being caressed by the first snow of winter. In an ironic twist of fate, Randall couldn't help but think that they looked like dead men walking; even more than the walking corpses they had spent so much time killing. He thought about saying that to Eli and Emmett, but decided against it; one of their own was already a dead man walking. "I hope this place was a 5 star." Randall said mostly to himself. If I had to die, I'd rather do it on the bed of a nice hotel than a crappy one. I'm so sorry, Julie... |
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| Strompy | May 8 2015, 08:12 PM Post #1421 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Brandon was quiet as they walked. He was taking the situation hard, it was that same problem he always had when there was nothing he could do. Another one of his friends was dying. It wasn't a sudden loss like Glenda. They knew it was coming and all that was left to do was make her comfortable and wait for this thing to finally kill her. It was like watching Willow all over again, before they knew about Flint. He'd been through it before with his brother. That was so much faster though, he was in a state of complete shock at the time. This was slow, and haunting. It gave them just enough time agonize and appreciate how powerless they were. Cruel. The specter of death loomed over her even as she laughed and chatted with Willow. He felt a swelling in his chest as he looked at her with Julie. Thank God at least somebody could be of help to her. He bit his lip, readjusted his bag on his shoulder and kept his rifle ready. Eyes up. Protect the group. ... "Turns out it wasn't weed, it was literally just dry grass and I was being a complete idiot. Embarrassing. After that though they stopped screwing with me and gave me the real thing." Julie told Willow of her first time experimenting with drugs, or rather not experimenting with drugs. "I could really go for some of that right now." she added ruefully. Willow was good company. Everyone else was either too uncomfortable or too Eli to be of any use with words. Willow on the other hand had been in pretty much the same position only a couple days ago. Maybe that made her a little more at ease with the topic, or realize what Julie needed most at the time. Julie noted that she must look to be in even worse shape than Willow did. She was waning while Willow was waxing. She felt... strange. She could feel the infection getting worse but again that animal part of her was still very much alive and raging in the face of the inevitable. Julie still hadn't told anyone else about her pregnancy, there was no point now, it would only compound their pity. "So you and Brandon. You've spent a few nights together now. Have you...?" she asked. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 8 2015, 09:42 PM Post #1422 |
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Is that so?
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Dry grass!? Willow tried her best to stifle a chuckle at Julie's story, but failed. She felt bad laughing, all things considered. But dry grass? Really? It was a prank she kind of wished she had thought up at some point; not that she had many friends she could have tried duping like that though. Still, this conversation was making her wish she had decided to take those extra joints with her from Old Fort Erie back with her; even if only to give Julie one last smoke before she went. If there was ever an occasion that called for it, it was now. When Brandon was mentioned though, Willow became a little more sheepish. "Ah, well..." She nervously started but quickly worked up the courage. "Yeah, we have had a few nights together. And we did do... that. Twice technically, but the real thing only once... and that was actually this morning." She smiled a little as she thought back to the experience. One of the only lights she still had in a world as cruel as this. "He wore me out pretty good, but I blamed my lungs on it." Willow paused for a moment, "Sorry was that too much? I've never had these talks before..." |
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| Strompy | May 9 2015, 12:37 AM Post #1423 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Julie smiled at the update. She was glad they were finding something good together. They'd keep each other going. She was going to miss that too. "It's not too much." Julie assured her. She grinned as she remembered how she'd interrupted a moment between them. It made her recall how close Willow had come to death. She was curious. Was there anything she could learn from Willow's brush with death that could maybe make the situation easier? "Hey. How much do you remember from when you got shot? Do you remember what it was like when it got bad?" she asked, trying not to seem too desperate. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | May 9 2015, 01:15 AM Post #1424 |
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Is that so?
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Willow pursed her lips. She would have rather talked about her and Brandon some more. The good times. She wanted to keep Julie's mind away from the thought of death. Of course, Willow knew that was a tall order and it was going to come up eventually. She knew where Julie was going with this line of questioning. But the difference was that Willow had just barely survived. Julie was not going to have that luxury. "Honestly... I kind of remember everything until Chris and Brooke left. But after that, it all becomes kind of a haze, you know? I remember I was fighting to stay awake. Brandon and Kelsey were there. Brandon told me you walked in on us while I had my hand down his pants and I am really sorry for that, but I don't even remember it happening. Apparently it was right before I blacked out, so who knows what was going through my head." Willow smirked ruefully at the mental image. She didn't mention what she had really thought prompted that. The fear of death and the desire to do something you always wanted to do before going out. She may not remember the exact details, but the feeling of knocking on death's door was one thing she did remember. "The nice thing was that after a while, I do remember the pain going away and all I felt was tired. Like I wanted to go to sleep. I think if I had taken my body up on that offer then I wouldn't be here today." Willow paused. "Between you and me though... sometimes I think I should have just gone to sleep back then. It would have been a lot more peaceful that way. I'd have been able to die surrounded by the people I've come to love instead of by a faceless wall of corpses." |
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| Strompy | May 9 2015, 02:26 AM Post #1425 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Julie nodded as Willow spoke. She hoped it was going to be like that for her. Just going to sleep, that wouldn't be so bad. What did she want to do before she went though? Aside from literally everything she wanted to do in her life that is. She could only really think of one thing. "Take every opportunity you can with Brandon, okay? Don't ever second guess yourself." Julie decreed. She leaned in toward Willow conspiratorially. "Now give me some details..." she whispered, with a wry grin. |
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