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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,980 Views)
Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow met Annie's gaze and frowned as Connor walked away. Well, that was awkward; if the internet was still around to see that, it might be an epic fail moment. She hoped nobody else had seen that apparently pitiful display, but she was pretty sure someone had. Her luck wasn't that good.

"Sorry, I never really had siblings or anything. Guess I'm not very good with kids that aren't Kelsey. Or maybe I'm not good at not being myself." Willow shrugged; not much point in dwelling on it. "But, uhh... hey, what I wanted to tell you before... thanks. For saving my life, I mean. I don't remember if I told you or not. I know you didn't really have any obligation to help me since we just kind of showed up at your door in the middle of the night, but you did anyway."

Willow paused awkwardly. She wasn't really sure what to say next, but she felt like she had to say something more.

"I, uhh... as you've seen, I'm not very good at a lot of things. But I kind of owe you for the whole 'being still alive' thing, so if you need help with anything, let me know, okay? Or anything that isn't child rearing, apparently."

Before Annie could properly respond, Kelsey came running up to Willow. Her attention was diverted from Annie down to the kid, but strangely Kelsey wasn't keeping eye contact with Willow.

"What's up, Kels?"

"Umm... B-Brandon wants you to come outside. He wants to help you guys practice..." She seemed far more sheepish than usual. "Annie and Connor too."

Willow was taken aback by Kelsey's unusual attitude. Where was the confidence and the grin she had before? Ever since this morning at Flint, she had been acting differently around her and Brandon both. She was obviously mourning the losses like everyone else, but she seemed visibly more off whenever either of them was around. It was weird. And she couldn't figure out why. Maybe she was bad with kids in general, not just Connor.

"Y-yeah, Connor went down that way." Willow pointed in the direction he had left in. "I guess we'll go head down there now and meet you there, okay?"

"Okay." Kelsey said flatly as she went down the hallway after Connor.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon wheeled the body outside and noted that everyone he asked for was present. He broughtthe bidy and head before them. It was cold out and now it was getting darker. Not ideal but this wasn't something you called because of weather.

"Good everyone's here. We're not shooting today, because we lost some ammo and we're in the middle of Chicago. We'll get to it some other time, but I'll show Annie and Connor some shooting stances at least once we're done with today's practice." he explained before pushing the body onto the ground and taking the severed head and sharpened stick.

Securing the head with his feet he then pushed the stick up through its neck. He then raised it in front of him.

"Some of you have already killed rotters with a knife, some of you have only practiced on secured rotters or dead ones. Everyone needs practice though, and this time it's a moving target. After you've all had some practice with me coming at you with the head, Annie and I are going to teach you about people and where to hit and stab them to cause the most pain and/or kill them. For that we have an anatomy dummy and I will be your assailant. You'll fend me off with a sheathed blade, obviously unlike our dummy I have a problem with being stabbed." he continued authoritatively, channeling his dad.

It reminded him of his own lessons. He started when he was a little younger Kelsey with guns. It wasn't until he was older with some muscle behind him that his dad taught him how to protect himself with a knife. Of course his dad never taught him how to kill rotters, he had that qualification over his dad.

"First thing about knives. How to hold them. When you take a rotter out you're going to use the grip that gives you the most power because you have to pierce the skull. So reverse grip, stabbing down or sideways. It's different for people, why? Because with a reverse grip you lose range. People are afraid of pain, rotters aren't, the first rule is defrnd yourself and that means keeping your assailant back. Rotters won't back down from a slash to the hand or to the ribs, but a person will. So forward grip, with quick lunges, and slashes with your feet wide apart so ready to move." he said demonstrating.

When he was in school and he had to do something with an audience he always found it best to go before everyone else. Nobody ever remembers the first guy.

"Connor. Head on a stick practice you're up, bruh." he declared offering him the handle of his own knife.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Connor was hesitant to accept the knife, but Annie nudged him and he relented. On the way out, she has reiterated that he should listen to Brandon’s instructions, and that this lesson wasn’t optional.

“I want to sleep,” he said, walking down the hall to the lobby.

“Soon,” Annie promised. “But this is important.”

The snow and the cold of the parking lot had seemed to wake him up, but he seemed nervous with a weapon in his hand.

“Reverse grip,” Annie prompted. “Like Brandon said.”

Instead of flipping it around with his fingers, he had to pass the knife from one hand to another to turn it around. When he did, he made a few slow test movements, striking down and sideways, like Brandon advised. He pursed his lips before looking up to Brandon.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon gave Connor a nod. He had no idea if he would be able to do it. Kelsey had but that was under extremely ideal circumstances, this time he was simulating a rotter attack. He movedthe head slowly toward Connor, once he demonstarted he had enough power to deal with that Brandon would mimic a rotter's movement pattern.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Connor narrowed his eyes and grunted as he swung the knife to the side – piercing the cheek of the severed head. The knife went all the way through, and when Connor’s wrist touched dead flesh he let go and jumped back.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
It looked like Connor was slowly getting the hang of it. The sight of a rotter head on a stick was weird enough for most kids. Randall didn't try to dwell on it too much. It was a pretty good training exercise, all things considered. And maybe if he could wear out Connor a bit, he would go to sleep easier.

Even with his weaker hand, Randall still felt fairly confident stabbing rotters with a knife. So while he was focusing his efforts more on the kids, Randall quietly excused himself back inside to use the restroom. It probably would have been more economic to just pee outside, but it was getting a little cold.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Solid swing. Take your weapon and try again. It needs to be here." Brandon said tapping his head.

Brandon kept his tone even and respectful. Connor was practically a man now, it wouldn't do to talk down him, especially in front of girls.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
After a couple seconds, Connor visibly braced himself and did as Brandon asked. He gripped the handle of the knife and pulled it out. He took another deep breath and stared down the rotter’s severed head. He choked back his disgust and swung again, this time hitting the mark – stabbing the side of the rotter’s head, just above his eyes.

Annie gave him an approving nod. She didn’t know about Brandon, but she thought that was a solid first step. She readied herself to take her turn soon.

* * *

Eli was on his way out to observe the training when he caught Randall on his way in. He slowed to a stop as they crossed paths.

“How’s it going out there?” he asked, glancing towards the exit.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Randall didn't immediately say anything; he saw Jen walk by on her way to check out the training as well and waited until she had gone outside before replying.

"We only just got started and Connor looks like he's grasping the basics pretty well so far." Randall started with his most obvious observations. "I think these lessons are good though. Connor's not the only one that's never had to kill one with a knife before; even Willow's always killed them from a safer distance. Even if they all forget 90% of what Brandon says, that 10% left over could be enough to save their life or someone else's."

Randall frowned.

"Not sure why he requested Julie be out there too." He added somberly. "She'd have probably come on her own without being specifically asked..."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
The training went well. Annie proved capable enough, Kelsey was able to do the same by using both hands and Willow had regained a lot more of her strength. Then it was Julie's turn. She walked over to Brandon and drew her kukri. Brandon got in position opposite her with his rotter head out in front of him. Before he could start though Julie stepped forward, pushed the head aside and leaned toward him.

"Brandon, not that I don't appreciate being included but why am doing this? There's no point." shewhispered.

"Because you're not dead yet. The lab is so close. We could be there tomorrow morning. Those people would know more about this outbreak than anybody, one of them might know a way to help you." Brandon whispered back.

Oh Brandon, still hoping for a miracle.

Julie didn't dare entertain that hope. Doing so would have invited a greater fear of what was coming. If there was no hope then all that left her with was acceptance. How could she fear losing something she had already lost. There was a desperation on Brandon's face he was trying to pass off as resolve. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and was surprised when he dropped the stick and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sick of losing people." he said quietly.

After a moment they released each other and Brandon picked the stick up again. As he came towards Julie with the head she pictured herself in that warehouse, with that rotter baring downon her. She struck out at it, lopping off a neat little section of the top of its skull, leaving its brains exposed. It gave her a strange sense of pride. What happened in the warehouse was just a mistake, she could have taken it out if she'd swung at it like she did just then.

"Ah, okay. Guess we're done with rotter practice. We're moving on to people now. Annie, you want to help me with an anatomy lesson?" he asked as he lay the other body out in front of them.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Eli said.

He really didn’t. That was becoming a constant problem of his, especially where Julie was concerned. But as much as he wanted to obsess over it and her, he had just enough presence of mind to know that wouldn’t help. Instead, he thought about tomorrow, and even the day after that. They posed a lot of questions. He kept Randall detained with one of them.

“If this cure works out, what’s next for you?” he asked. “You goin’ back to Kisco? All those guys gotta be freakin’ out about where we are now.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"I'd like to go back to Mount Kisco. See how everyone is doing."

Randall nodded his approval of Eli's idea. But he wasn't smiling at the idea.

"It would mean going around Buffalo though. Not even sure how I would get back. I guess it would make the most sense to go back to Flint and figure it out from there."

He paused again. He hadn't really thought about what he would do after they delivered the cure. He had ideas of what he wanted to do; he wanted to go back and see everyone at Mount Kisco, absolutely; he wanted to go back to Flint and see how the community was rebuilding itself. But if this cure was the real deal, there was one thing he was going to do first before all of that.

"Honestly, Eli..." His tone became less confident and more subdued. "Before I could even plan that, I still have one stop I need to make after this one. We're only a couple hundred miles from Iowa City and most of that is countryside. I could make the trip in a few hours if I could find a working car, which shouldn't be too hard."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli nodded sympathetically. He had a good idea what Randall was talking about.

“Your son?” he asked anyway.

Randall had mentioned him before. Shortly after their first meeting, while in Roland’s office, he had told him he lived in Iowa and said that he was one of the reasons he needed to believe in the cure.

He hadn’t talked about him a lot since, but why would he? Until now, he was so far out of reach. He was also more than likely dead. More people were than the opposite, after all. Still, Eli could sympathize with the instinct. He never had much of a relationship with his real blood family, but if someone in their current group was missing one state over, he knew he’d want to do the same thing.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Nolan."

Randall said his name out loud.

"He's ten years older than Kelsey, so the two of them never interacted much. He was a handful sometimes, but he was smart and athletic. He was a son any father could be proud of... despite being stubborn and headstrong. Elaine had a harder time since she had to beat the girls off of him with a stick once he entered high school though." He reminisced ruefully, but cut himself off before he started raving about his son.

"I... I've come to terms with the fact he's probably dead. And I know even if I did get down there, I would probably never find him. But it's only a few hours away. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't at least go over there and look for him, no matter how fruitless of a search it may be."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
After taking in his short speech, Eli turned and focused on Randall. He gave him a sustained and meaningful look. Looking forward, so much was uncertain and the parts that weren’t were too hard to bear. He wanted to put his foot down on something – on anything – and this seemed like the right ground to do it.

“What does probably even mean anymore?” he said. “Fuck probably. We’ll find your son, Randall. One way or another. I promise."
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