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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 3, 2014 16:36:36 GMT -5
With only a month left of winter, things had changed greatly. When John had finally realized that Rey and Madison had left, he lost his temper. He had a yelling match with Joseph who hadn't told them until John went looking for Madison and Rey. It nearly escalated to a point of no return but John pulled back and turned into a loner. He had spent a week trying to track their child trail. They had been following a cold trail themselves so John hoped they would give up and return. After they didn't show up, he stuck to hunting alone. Susie was there for him but he seemed to be fixed on Madison, which hurry her. Bobby had become the leader of the town and quite a fighter. He had found his silent weapon: a katana with which he trained with often to make him as deadly as a man with a gun. After being ignored for months, Susie confided in Bobby and they had become close. Though Bobby didn't push a relationship because he was busy running the town and didn't want to cross John.
The town had become a beacon to survivors who wanted to plant their feet. It was safe and well guarded. They had emptied the warehouse store in the town before finding a distribution center for a big name warehouse store. It allowed them to build nice walls and fences, gates, barricades, platforms, and sniper nests. This made sure the town was safe and the people who lived there could protect it. They had also built water heaters using solar power to allow people to have hot showers. Also the solar panels allowed them to use electric stoves and charge electronics. Things were comfortable but the group was always on edge that the man would return with an army.
Bobby stood among the people, wearing a black jacket with his sword on his back. It was weird to him that all these people were willing to follow his lead. He wasn't used being a leader, because even in Afghanistan he was always following orders. Before the end of the world, he was following orders to bring down criminals. He was never leading anyone until recently and he enjoyed it. He was on his way to train with his sword until it was time for him to take watch. John was out hunting still and Bobby wasn't worried about him. Susie was also on her way to watch Bobby train. She enjoyed watching him because she felt it was intense. She met him part way and grabbed his hand to drag him along. "Don't keep the others waiting, Bobby." She said as she pulled him close to her. "And stop worrying about John. I'm my own person." She added before making a move on him. She pulled him close and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Once she did that, he stopped worrying about John and just smiled.
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Post by Winters on Dec 3, 2014 18:16:29 GMT -5
In the what seemed like long time since the foundations were built on the sagezone, Joseph had made at countless trips back and forth from place to place, bringing people with him who wants to see their family, or trade goods. It was a good job. It kept him busy, informed of everybody who was coming and going through the place, and he was more than capable of dealing with each situation as they happened. He was there when Bobby couldnt be, for the people, running as the towns leader had been a full time job on its own. Joseph could tell that John was upset with him still, maybe not even with him as he was with Madison leaving, but it was what it was. He knew what the man was doing when ever he went out hunting, but he didnt question it, because he always came back with the quota for the week. He never let it interfere with things.
~~~
"Im not messing around, Jackson. I saw one, I swear I did, at the lake when I took that couple out fishing. First time I been over to Michigan since. I dont trust eating anything anyone pulls out of there. You can talk to them about it, too. Theyll tell ya what I told ya." The grye haird man insisted, and was trying Jacksons patience. "Yah okay, dont eat the fish from the hudson, got it. Ill take some people out to look at it. Ill let you come along if you just shut up about it." He joked, but was serious about investigating. If it really was a hazard, it was something that they needed to be sure of before spreaking rumors that obviously already started.
After finding the Ashburns, he asked them the same thing he asked Bowman. "That thing in the lake. Your sure you seen it?" Their response had been the same. It wasnt out of the realm of reallity. Jackson had seen all sorts of crazy things since it all happened, and really, he never had gone out on the water to really think about it. But that was three people now, not including the ones that heard the rumors, that have seen it. Jackson really did need to get out there, and sometime soon. The fish had been fine far as he knew, but as to who was fishing around there, they could be in trouble.
"Hey, cheif, I need you to do me a favor whenever you got the chance. Id ask Doucette, cause hes got all the details on people around here, but can you round up the fishing crew? I know Bowman is the one that takes them, but he sees so many people come and go. I need to take a trip to the lake with them. Dunno if you heard about the rumors of this god damn 'sea creature" going around, but people are starting to worry about the fish. I just wanna clear thing up, you know?" Jackson really didnt like to bother Bobby like this, but it was easier to have him make the announcement then it was trying to go around asking for names, and he knew that if it was important to the security detail, it was important to everybody.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 3, 2014 19:29:17 GMT -5
Bobby chuckled at the thought of the Loch Ness Monster being in their backyard. Giving Susie a quick kiss, he went into leader mode. "Let the guys know training will have to wait. Alright Jackson, I'll get the fishing crew together. I'm gonna go with you." He said to Jackson before heading to the police car set up to make announcements over its loud speaker. Over it, he called for the fishing crew front and center and waited for them to all show up. Once everyone was there he started his speech. "It has come to my attention that Nessie is hanging out in our fishing spot." He paused to let the chuckles happen, even if it was nervous laughter. "So I need you fine people and we're going to find it. If it really is there, God forbid, then we'll kill it so our food source is safe. If there's nothing, it'll out the rumors to rest." He said before leading the group to the docks where their boats were. He had slung his guns across his back before leaving because he knew a sword wouldn't be a choice weapon fighting a sea monster.
Susie took the time to train with the group since Bobby wasn't. Since that man had attacked her she didn't want to be vulnerable again. She wanted to fight back and do it well. The men trained with Bobby so they knew how to teach her. Usually she got her training with Bobby himself, but sometimes he was too busy and she knew that. So she went to train with the guys, previous cops, soldiers, and a boxer. Once he got back, Susie was to ask Bobby to give her something to focus on like he did with his sword. "Alright guys, Bobby can't come. He has monsters to deal with. So I'm taking his place and you guys need to train me. Please." She added the please but knew that the guys would work with anyone who wanted to learn.
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Post by Winters on Dec 3, 2014 23:05:58 GMT -5
"See, I knew we were gonna get pulled into something like this.", she groined, but a little uneasy about going back onto the water. "Dont worry Crystal, if anything happens, you know ill be beside you the whole time." The Ashburns had been at the docks with the other, who were Bowman and a few others that were a little new to the community. They were all fairly new, really, but they didnt even know their names yet. Bobby showed up too, which meant things were serious. Only few times Crystal or Tom had seen the leader of the community, but he was a good guy. Far as they could tell, and wouldnt send anybody out if they didnt think it wasnt safe. Plus, Jackson to boot, who ran security for several other communites in the past.
They only had two boats, one of them belonged to Bowman, the other was a smaller fishing floater that the Ashburns used. Before they even got to the water, Bowman was the one who spoke, filling the others in on the situation, in case people had mixed rumours, or any last thoughts. "We never see this thing, so it hasnt been bothering us, but its been feeding here off something. I dont think its the other fish, its something else, has to be. It wasnt normal, one of the biogenic mutant things." Jackson came in, filling in the rest with a little more clear terminology. "Bio-Organic Weapon, BOW for short. The virus does its thing, and then the host evolves into something else, in this case, a sea creature of some sort. Far as I know, the virus feeds of people, which makes me think that maybe somewhere along the coast, somebody is dumping bodies, they float into the lake, and there you have it. But the fish we catch are safe to eat. Just clarifying that. When theyre cooked properly, as anything else we eat from the woods."
Giving one more look at everyone, who didnt seem too worried, considering they all had their weapons with them, Jackson jumped into Bowmans fishingcraft, and began to untie. "Stick close to the shoreline for now, dont go out any further than what you can see without a pair of binoculars. But most important of all, dont start shooting, radio in immediately after you make contact. We dont need to waste ammo if we dont have to."
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 4, 2014 1:19:39 GMT -5
Bobby separated from Jackson. Two symbols of authority on one boat was too much. He felt that Jackson could handle half the group, which was why he was head of security. Bobby boarded the Ashburns' boat. He stood at the bow of the boat and kept his eyes peeled. He was focused but he did appreciate the Ashburns for their boat. Not too many people thought of using a boat but the few who did lasted over a year for a reason. It was strange how the world had fallen apart over a year ago. Maybe the Mayan calender was right but the world's wasn't totally over yet. He was also glad that Jackson knew more than him but didn't undermine his authority by expressing his knowledge. Bobby had been a normal guy who took on responsibility. He didn't know anything about mutants or BOWs but it didn't mean he wasn't capable of running the town. The facts were clear though: the monster wasn't affecting their food source but it was a threat to their people. It was like a bear in a hunting ground. But for now, things were quiet for now as the boat drifted through the water. So Bobby relaxed and spoke to the Ashburns, making small talk.
"So Nessie, huh? This whole think is crazy. First the dead come back to life. Then we got sea monsters and mutant turtles. You'd think the cold would be our main concern, right? Man, I'll just be glad to get warm weather again. Even if that does mean more eaters walking around." He said as he watched the surroundings. Even though he was keeping his eyes open nothing was showing up. He hoped this wouldn't take all day and that it wouldn't be dangerous either. He didn't want to lose anyone to this creature. He was willing to fight it on his own to protect his people. This was probably why he was the leader. He was a protector.
John had been out all day taking a deer. His focus on hunting took his mind off loosing two people he cared for. In the day they left he lost his best friend and a friend who he connected with on a primal, warrior like level. He was more angry that he lost his best friend. He had done everything for her, protected her, fed her, and saved her life when others wouldn't have. And she left him without even a goodbye. Worst yet, a man who he saved kept a secret from him long enough that he couldn't find his friends. He thought it was stupid for Rey to try and find the guy who nearly killed them on her own. Especially taking Madison with her. As well as trying to follow a trail that didn't exist and was colder than the air around him. He hated Joseph for making a call to not tell John. He hated Rey for taking Madison. And he hated Madison for leaving. Once he got the deer, he'd have to bring it back to the town and face Joseph again. He hadn't said a word to him since their argument, only bringing meat back and taking supplies. To continue his time away from Joseph, he held off killing the deer until the very last moment. One week he brought back a bear and that let him stay away for longer than normal.
The guys were pushing Susie to fight harder. Wearing gloves to keep the guys from getting too hurt two of them were sparing against her, two on one. Anytime they had her in a position where she had lost the fight, they pushed her to keep them from getting that advantage on her. They kept telling her that she would be dead or at someone's mercy in a real fight. Then she pushed harder each time until she actually knocked one of them down and then used a choke hold Bobby had showed her on the other. After that she asked the guys what would be a good weapon to practice with but they couldn't think of anything that the town had. They said that she should get good with a gun before focusing on something like what Bobby had. Since a gun was a solid weapon to use these days and not many people were great with guns only just making it by with skill. Which she felt was reasonable and would ask Bobby for training with a gun since he had a lot of training with a lot of different guns.
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Post by Winters on Dec 4, 2014 3:33:27 GMT -5
The whole thing really did sound crazy, but his sister wasnt crazy. Thomas hadnt seen it, but his sister did. She wasnt one to say anything she didnt know was real, there was never any monsters under her bed but that one time a Raccoon got in the house. He could tell her ration fears from her irrational ones. This was something she saw, and it scared her enough to be holding his hand almost the entire time they shipped off land. As Bobby spoke, Thomas could see a side of him that he didnt see before. A leader, yes, but one with a good attitude. "I dunno about Nessie, but I can tell you my sister and I seen some strange things since all of this happened. It really doesnt surprised me that something like this was in the water. This new world was already bred from a horror movie, so yeah, this doesnt surprise me. But if its active enough to be seen when theres a thin sheet of ice on parts of these waters? Its big. Thats what worries me. Thats whats scaring Crystal."
~~~
The trip took in a few days this time, but finally, Joseph arrived back to the town. Checkpoint Michigan was the man given to it, since it had been the only safezone this close to the lake of the same name. The lake crossed over between Windsor and Detroit, but since both of those cities had been too highly populated to even step foot in, this was their best option. Being so close to the city was a little nervewracking, but thats why they kept scouts, and spotters. Joseph new they needed more people with actually experience in killing the undead effeciently if they were going to even try to clear out the city, which is what this trip was about. But everybody at the neighboring towns worth the cause had their own problems to deal with. Couldnt blame them. Hed try again next month, when there had been new, local talent, hearing that Bobby setup training sessions for people who wanted to learn. It was good. The more people that had proper experience, the better it would be when they actually needed to apply it.
~~~
Danica had been oh so very good at killing a zombie, practically breathed it. When she first came here and they asked her the questions, the look she got when she had told them her bodycount in the undead column was one she wished she had a picture of. It had been nearly eight thousand at this point. She kept track in her own method, in her own way, in her head, which didnt look good on paper. But she had never killed anybody before, or even got herself involved in any fight. She was among the group taking classes, to be better when it came down to dealing with people. Honestly, she liked Bobbys style, and figured she would benifiet from it. His girlfriend was a lot younger than her, but she definitely knew more as well. The training hadnt been as well as when the leader was here himself, but it was enough to keep Danica focused, and soak up some things. "Hey, yo, Ms-I-havent-memorized-your-name-yet. Whens Bobby coming back? Whered he go?"
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 4, 2014 4:35:40 GMT -5
Bobby hadn't seen monsters like others had. John had mentioned lickers to him when he was setting up the walls and John was surprised Bobby had never fought one. Bobby had noticed John wasn't mad at him and wanted to keep it that way. By the way everyone mentioned certain monsters in their travels, Bobby knew one thing in common with them all. Everything could be killed. As he was thinking about that he saw movement in the water. It was far off but sure enough was huge. He could see it from where they were. It was skimming the surface before going under. This was it's world and they were going to be at a disadvantage when fighting. "Jackson, I just saw the damn thing. It's bigger than I thought. My thought on how to kill it: spear it like the fish it is, tire it out, and shoot it til it stops moving. Agreed?" Bobby radioed in, sounding both surprised and confident. If he was wrong about the plan of attack, Jackson would come up with something different.
John couldn't delay any longer and finally got the clean kill on the deer. After a half hour, he had it gutted and bled. He was going to have to carry it back which would take a few hours to do. It would be sundown by the time he was done getting supplies from town. He figured he'd sleep in a bed tonight where it was warm rather than leaving when it would be more dangerous. He may have been angry, but he wasn't stupid. The deer was big and back before this all happened, this deer would have been worth bragging about to others. Now it was just food. He wasn't even going to eat much of it. He was going to take the dried and smoked meat on his next time in town. That was the deal he had made with Bobby about the food. He'd always bring back enough for the town in exchange for enough for himself. Bobby was a good man taking care of good people. He wasn't going to take his anger out on anyone but the people he was mad at. And this arrangement allowed him to be angry all he wanted.
Susie could remember the day Danica came to the town she almost scoffed in disbelief at Danica's numbers. Eight thousand sounded made up to her and she still didn't believe her. Her attitude clashed with Susie's but it wasn't going to make them fight each other. Not yet anyway. "Well ms-8000-but-names-are-too-hard, I don't know when he'll be back. I'm not his keeper, but I do know he's taking care of something at the lake. Once that's killed I'm sure he'll come back." She said sarcastically since it seemed that Danica wouldn't be happy unless Bobby was here to teach her how to hurt someone. She saw the way Danica looked at Bobby, while it might not have been attraction, it did have a hint of adoration. Which made Susie a bit jealous since she had feelings for Bobby. She also saw that Danica thought she was older than Susie but Danica just looked older. It was always funny before the outbreak that people would say she looked like she was only twenty and how they were jealous of how young she looked. Nowadays, it made others think she was young so she was ignorant. Which she could tell Danica thought as well. Maybe Susie was being rude and jealous for no reason but to her, it made sense.
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Post by Winters on Dec 4, 2014 5:57:04 GMT -5
"Well ill be damned, there really is something out here, Bowman. I owe you that beer. A cold one, not this **** you have on the boat" Finally, after it had been radioed in, Jackson figured that it was best if they got a little closer to shore when the action started. He knew how unpredictable these things were, and how hard the chief could fight, but it was the others he was worried about, the Ashburns. "Sounds simple enough, but lets lure it closer to land, maybe making it angry enough will work, thinking it can get a quick kill. Id rather not have the Ashburns out there, it dont think its going to get safe once we start throwing a spear at it. You lead, and Bowman will follow suit, try to corner it into that cove on your portside." Jackson wasnt sure if he knew the lingo, but the cover was hard to miss. The plan sounded good to him, but he really just wanted Thomas and Crystal is come out of this. They werent as well trained.
~~~
As he got back into town, Joseph checked in with whoever was left in charge at the main entrance, since Barry had been doing his rounds or something. He was just hoping to talk to Bobby as soon as he could to get a sitrep on how many people this town had to defend it exactly. Joseph knew that he was on bad terms with John, but he really wanted to get a sitrep from him as well. Not on the people, but whether or not he was going to actually be around if they decided to launch an attack. The idea wasnt too far out, and from hearing things on his routes to the other colonies, there was still a lot of unmarked territory they havent covered. Whoever they were waiting was definitely somewhere in there, and if he was going to take anybody to scout it out, it would be John, their differences aside.
~~~
"Hey now, easy on the new girl. I used to date somebody like you. Full of energy, never took s*** from nobody. Kicked some hardcore ass, too. Ill keep coming back to these if you keep showing me how to do what you do. Maybe well go out on a killing spree sometime, huh? Slay some stiffs?" Always with the sense of humor. Danica had total respect for Susie and what she was doing for the community, it took a lot of dedication to teach, that and patience, something Danica never had a lot of. That and she knew these training courses werent just about learning some useful things, they were preparing for the worst. Two of her old groups had been taken out, not be the undead, but by people. Only reason she lived is because she was good at running. The people just werent her thing, and Danica needed to get over it.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 4, 2014 8:45:57 GMT -5
As if on queue, a walker came out of the woods to the edge of the water. Bait. This was all just like big time fishing. Before throwing the spear he turned to the brother and sister pair and offered them safety but he hoped one of them would stay to help him. "Now's your chance to go for safety." He said before spearing the walker through the chest causing it to fall over. He then dragged it out into the water to bait the big fish. "Jackson, I got bait to get this Moby, but I need you in place to put a spear into it's hide. Get on the opposite side of it." He instructed through the radio. This was going to be a whole other level of fishing and Bobby wasn't even sure if the boats would be able to resist the large creature's actions. It was a risk he was willing to take as the boat was in position near the cove.
John came back to the town, greeted by the same people as usual. They were all grateful for him and the food he brought back but he didn't have much to say to them. He didn't see Bobby anywhere which meant he had to deal with Joseph. Which meant he was going to hand the deer off and walk away. Today was not the day to be dealing with Joseph. It had been exactly three months since the girls left. John had kept track down to the very day, with help from a calender in one of the houses and a survive announcing the first day of winter because she had been keep track. Before this, he hadn't cared about the date, anniversaries, birthdays, or holidays. Now he cared only about one thing. As he walked through the town, he found Joseph and passed off the deer carcass like it was a letter. He didn't say a thing and didn't offer to help the man with the animal, just turned to walk away.
Susie was all business during these training sessions and she wanted that to be clear to everyone not just Danica. "Do you know why I train everyday, both here with the group and alone with Bobby? Only the group who started the town really do. It is because I am done being a victim. Before I met with John, I was always running for my life. Running from dangerous people and the eaters." She explained, adopting Bobby's use of the word eaters. Then she continued. "I was lucky John found me when he did, because two guys were dragging me away to be a prisoner. I was about to face a fate worse than death. In my opinion. But John saved me. But it doesn't stop there. A man who lead those evil men came to this town and took me hostage. If Bobby hadn't been there I'm sure I'd be dead right now. I'm not letting that happen again. So let's get to work. If you have a question, ask me and if I don't know the answer, if we don't know it, I can ask Bobby for you if he's not back soon." She finished talking, adding that Danica can ask her question to anyone at the training session. Then she turned to the trainers and motioned over three of the men to fight her. She was sure that she was going to leave with bruises, a black eye, or a split lip, but she was going to be proud of it all. Like little, painful badges of honor.
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Post by Winters on Dec 4, 2014 15:51:27 GMT -5
"Crystal, im staying, they need me. Keep watch, and use the rifle like I taught you." Letting go of her brothers hand was the hardest thing she did in that moment, but Crystal knew that Tommy could handle this, and was like he made sure she was safe. "Okay..." Was all that was needed before he and the leader let back into action.
Jackson heard the radio, and didnt even need to respond before seeing what the chief had been setting up. Of all the things he did since the outbreak, even before the outbreak, this was by far the craziest. But he believed it would work as as much as Bobby. "In the back, under all the other stuff." The boat man quickly sputtered out. Jackson grabbed the spear launcher, not even question where the hell Bowman actually got something like this, or why he still had it, but it was good that he did. He took steady aim, waiting for an opportunity for it to surface even for a quick second, and then fired. He wasnt sure how far the spear even got, or if it was going to hold right, but their question was answered when it came barreling out of the water, jumping into the air and making a loud horrific sound.
~~~
Asisde from some sort of fishing troubles down at the lake, the evening had been pretty quiet. Everybody had all been doing their expected jobs, and all did it very well. It was recently that the snipers on the wall had switched to unsuppressed gunfire, in hopes of dragging more in slowely. The more they took out, the more they killed, and if they scouted a herd, they knew how to deal with it. Thinking back to his most recent event with one, he knew that wasnt the right way to deal with them, but it worked for the time. He also remembered his daughter leaving, still a little upset about it, but was even more upset about her dragged the other one along too. It complicted things between John and him, and the community didnt need complications.
Seeing the gates open, Josephs eye diverted away from the back wall snipers that faced the direction of the city, and looked to see who had been coming in. On time before sundown, it was John, and he had a nice catch him him, as expected. But also as usual, John just made the delivery, didnt even try to make any sort of eye contact, and certainly didnt speak before walking away at his brisk pace. Joseph understood why he was angry, and new he had every reason to be upset. "Sooner or later, were gonna have to sit and talk, John. You know it, too." He didnt blame John for avoiding him, but Joseph knew that when the time came, they would need to talk. Not just about his daughter and Madison, but about their next move. For the community. Joseph still believed that John was probably one of the most valuable assets to everybody here.
~~~
Danica realized that there was something that run inside her on a deeper level, and felt a little bad about her humor. It was just her way of keeping positive. Danica kept her mouth closed though, making sure that Susie knew that she wasnt just here to waste time, and actually wanted to pay attention and learn. The training session usually lasted few hours, but the timing had been a little different when Susie was in charge, which was fine because she did the job just as effectively.
By the end of it, Danica had been sweating, and probably smelled pretty bad, but it wasnt just a good workout. She definitely walked away with a little more knowlege, and was thankful this group had these classes. The others around didnt seem to have anything close. Sure, learning how to shoot a gun properly, but anybody could teach that. This was different, this felt like it all meant something, especially after hearing Susies story. "Way to **** off the head hanchos love interest, Dan.", the voice came out as Danica walked back to her hotel after the session. She looked back and seen her friend making a snarky face. "Oh f*** off Steven, I have to shower, and no you cant join me."
With that, she decided to jogged the rest of the blocks to her hotel, feeling like the evening had ended good as she couldve hoped for. But it would be even better if she had showed up at the next enlistment and got put into scavenging detail. It was almost two weeks since Danica killed a zombie, and it was starting to show in her temper. Hopefully tomorrow she could get her opportunity to do it on a daily basis. Sure, there was nothing stopping her from just going out with a couple of guns and a supply of ammo, but since they all shared everything here, she didnt even have a job yet since she came, so all of her guns and ammunition had been stocked up until the community needed it. But she needed it. Might as well be doing what she loved for a good cause, right?
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 4, 2014 18:29:49 GMT -5
Bobby saw the monster swallow the eater in one gulp before Jackson's spear was fired. In a fit of pain from both spears, it jumped up and Bobby got to see the monster's full size. It was big enough to pull the boats down underwater. Bobby panicked and started shouting out orders. "Cut it loose or we'll lose the boats!" He yelled before the monster done down. He saw it coming before the monster had hit the water. Bobby got caught though, his arm was wrapped in the rope when he used it to drag the eater into the water. The rope snapped tight on his arm and dragged him off the boat. He barely had enough time to get a breath in before he hit the cold water. The cold water hit him hard and he almost lost his breath. He saw the rope being pulled down and rushed to pull his sword and cut the rope. The monster felt the tension go slack and turned to attack the boats before seeing Bobby. Once it layed it's gaze on him, it charged forward and Bobby reacted defensively. He raised the sword up and caught the monster in the face. It's momentum pushed against Bobby's sword and split it open a large part of the way. The monster went quickly but it could have been a lot worse. Now Bobby had to worry about hyperthermia which was going to suck.
Bobby swam up as quick add he could. He gulped in fresh air but it's cold stung his lungs. He climbed up onto the bigger boat and started to strip as quick as he could. They had been prepared in the case of someone going overboard. He was naked in seconds, revealing to the others for the first time him false leg, and started toweling off. Once he was dry, he caught the surprised looks and shook his head. There would be a time to discuss it but this wasn't it. He put on dry clothes and wrapped up in several blankets. "This sucks. At least I got my Moby Dick." He said between shivers and a chuckle.
John just waved off the man's statement in an angry fashion. He didn't need to talk to Joseph because he went to Bobby for everything. He knew Bobby would fill Joseph in on what's happening around the area. It wasn't worth his time talking to Joseph about the area, because the old man went further out than he did. John started to his room he had. He caught Susie's eye but he was too ashamed to say anything to her. He saw her light black eye and knew she had toughened up since they first met up. He was proud of her for it. Once he got to his room he shut the door and made himself comfortable. He didn't shower because he said the deer could smell the soap. So he was just going to sleep so he could be out by dawn.
Susie actually went to speak to Danica after training was done but she had bolted off to wash up. Susie tried catching up, passing John along the way, before overhearing them joke about making her mad during training. What caught Susie off guard was that they called her Bobby's love interest. She hasn't even kissed him before today. She wondered if their feelings for each other were that obvious before today. "Danica, wait. I can tell your trigger finger's itchy. I'll talk to Bobby when he gets back about you going out scavenging. On one condition. Keep showing up to training. It's good to have another woman there with me. I always felt outnumbered with all the guys there." She said trying to be friendly after having snapped on her. After saying that Bobby and the fishing crew stepped back into the town wrapped in blankets and wearing new clothes. "Bobby McKay! What the Hell did you do?!" She shouted at him, using his full name and all.
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Post by Winters on Dec 4, 2014 19:19:16 GMT -5
At this point, it was too much to control, no matter how hard he tried. The same time it was radioed in, Bowman had told him they needed to cut the rope, but the gun had been ripped from his hands before Jackson could even radio back. Bowman really didnt care about the spear, his deep sea fishing days were over anywho, but it was the boat he didnt want to lose. The engines kicked back on, and quickly, he drove through the cove toward shore. Thats when Jackson seen their cheif go under.
In a matter of seconds, the man had been somewhere else in the water, and Boman was closer now. Thomas quickly jetted back to land to reunite with his sister, convinced that their leader had just been killed. Jackson took his rifle, and tried to get a decent shot, but it was too hard to tell when they were under the surface. After what seemed like forver, the beast rose above water again, the sword in his head, and Bobby pulling it out as they both hit the water. Boman was already on his way over, but to his surprise, Bobby had been swimming, and caught up quickly. The obvious hit of hypothermia was one thing, and as Jackson took care of him, Boman look at the dead creature floating to the surface. "You god damn did it, son!"
~~~
It was worth a shot. So long as it didnt affect how things were done around here, and everybody was safe, he didnt really care if John ever talked to him again. But the moment he needed to, Joseph would be willing, and thats all that mattered. He did hope there wouldnt come a time when they were forced to work together again, because if that day came, he didnt know how things would go down.
Joseph took the deer to the storage units they used to keep their food. A lot of them still had refrigeration in bulk, so that helped with the whole process. He wasnt in charge of how it ran, but it run well, and knew the deer were going to be put to good use and distributed accordingly. "Another haul. Expect another tomorrow, as usual. And hey, for that favor you owe me, how about a few strips of jerky the next time your batch is done?", he questioned Thorne. "You betchya, grif.", Thorne saluted back, knowing the name would bother him. Joseph grinned, and walked away. He was just in time to see the doors open again, this time it was the group that gone out. Bobby, Jackson, and a few others. "Mustve been one hell of a fish..." Jackson was the one to stay and respond, letting the others go and Boman to make sure their cheif got to medical examination to be sure. "You dont know the half of it, brother. That cheif of ours is one crazy son of a b*tch." The pair continued back towards the medical tent for the full story with Bobby, and right as Susie showed up. This should be good.
~~~
Be got to the hotel room, however, Susie had caught up to her. It was a good jog too, even better to knew she could keep up among being good with her fists. She had been telling Danica about wanting to enlist her into the scavenging runs shes been asking for since she showed up here. With all of the people coming and going, it was hard to get the chance to really sit and talk with everybody, anything more than the usual questions anyways. Danica was happy to hear it from Susie though. "Thatd be hella awesome! You wont regret this, ill be at training on time, everytime, dont worry about that. Thanks. Honestly." Danica wouldve hugged her, but Susie seemed to be needing to get somewhere, and they were both pretty worn from the training. Her hotel bed would be nice and ready for her after the hot shower. Warm water was something to be greatful for, and Danica wanted to make sure that she earned her stay here.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 4, 2014 21:27:06 GMT -5
Bobby kept shivering but the heat of the fire and Susie's body heat as she hugged him helped get rid of it. Without moving away from him, Susie popped him on the forehead with her fingertips. She heard the whole story about him swimming in ice cold waters with the thing. That's when he brought up his leg since everything seemed to be okay. "So it's pretty clear to you guys about my leg. It's not there." He said with a chuckle. He was going to tell them the story since they already saw it. "When I was younger I joined the Army. Fresh out of high school I went in to jump out of planes and fight terrorists. Joined just after 9/11. But the war didn't start immediately but once it did things got serious. After a few years fighting against an unknown enemy most of the time, IEDs were the number one killer. I took on the job of getting rid of those stupid bombs. One day someone used a person against their will as a suicide bomber. I tried to save the guy but the vest and remaining time were against me and I couldn't do it. I jumped away at the last second trying to save myself but I didn't come out of it whole." He explained to the group in the tent. He kept it short but it explained what he'd do for a stranger so they knew what he'd do for them. "I keep it covered because it doesn't change who I am and I don't want to be treated differently because of it." He explained the last part. Once he was cleared by the medics, he and Susie walked back to his room. He would deal with John in the morning. Since it was the day for him to be back, but he was tired at the moment. Once they got alone Susie brought up Danica. "So the new girl, 8000 eaters killed, Danica. Well she wants to go with the scavenging party tomorrow. She's a fighter. She was at training today and caught on quick. Besides it wouldn't hurt the group to have another female in it. Looks better to other survivors looking for safety. A bunch of dudes can be intimidating." He listened to her and she made sense of she was willing to vouch for Danica than it would be okay by him. "Sure thing. But I'm going to need that eater killer there not just a scared survivor." They were going to need a bigger group for tomorrow's run. He wanted to get into one of the cities. He cleaned the water out of his guns before he settled for bed. Then he realized Susie wasn't leaving. "Spending the night?" He asked and she just nodded with a grin on her face. Then the room went dark as she extinguished the light.
John always liked sleeping in the bed. He knew he was safe and so he slept soundly. But tonight was different. He just layed in the bed, eyes burning holes in the ceiling. He wasn't ever going to talk to Joseph if he had to. He didn't even want to be near him anymore than he had to. If Joseph was in trouble he wasn't sure what he'd do. If Joseph knew where they had gone, John was sure he'd have cut it out of him. The soldiers at the factory had nothing on him. They didn't know how to break a man. John did. He knew because he was broken. Had been for a while. But Madison always made him feel okay. Now that she was gone, he broke more each day. He often wondered if the group would notice if he never came back. He just wanted to disappear into the woods and never return. But he knew that was foolish since if they did come back and he was gone, he'd never see them again. For now he'd have to suffer being an angry, lost, broken soul.
Abandoned Tricell Laboratory, Nevada Desert Paul had left Canada far behind. He was amazed that the girl had managed to hurt him as much as she had. He was told the parasite in him would make him faster and stronger than any other person. Yet she was just as fast and strong. He knew that Tricell had grown and harvested add many parasites as they could just before everything went down. He also knew they kept them all here. If he was going to have an army, he wanted a proper and obedient one. He knew his parasite could control others who were infected with it. He just needed the people to infect. He knew that infecting anyone would make them a soldier. That included women and children which was a new type of evil.
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Post by Winters on Dec 5, 2014 0:13:13 GMT -5
It was obvious that it didnt prevent their cheif from doing anything a man with two legs could do, becasue Jackson hadnt seen it coming. It was eyeopening, but it didnt change things. Just tell him more about their leader then he already knew, and that was aside from the face he single handedly taken out a BOW that either of them had seen before. If the BSAA had been more equip for dealing with things, there was no doubt in his mind that their cheif would be a part of it. A different time, though, this was now. They needed him here, much as they needed everybody they had here. Jackson took off early once he knew the chief would be okay, and decided it was a good time to get some well needed shuteye. He slept early, to rise early, thats how it worked. Thats how he worked, to keep people safe.
in the morning, Danica had been the first one at the training grounds. She wasnt entirely sure when they actually started, because her being tardy for it in the first place meant she showed up whenever she could. Getting used to things here still. But she was here, waiting for class to start, if it was even today. She knew that the scavenging team would be ready for today, and hoped that Susie talked to the leader about it. Either way, Danica would find her here, with the weapons, and was excited to get out into the real world and start doing something again.
~~~
Joseph Lay down on the bed inside of his trailer. It was hauled inside the city limits and setup in an old park. They didnt have any kids here that used it for anything, and so he took the spot for his own little place to call home. A fire pit was lit up outside from the can of beans he cooked earlier when he got back. No on a full stomach, he closed his eyes, thinking about earlier that evening. Joseph had been out on a run to another group, one they didnt keep much contact with. It was small, and the had moved around a lot. They never set up for longer then a few days, caravans is was it wouldve been called back in the day. But he liked to keep tabs on them, in case their goods and services was needed. The group had only two members, who only Joseph had dealy with due to them traveling around the United States and Canada so often. Only recently, it made a round back into Canada all the way from Florida. The pair who ran the trading group was his daughter, Rey, and Madison.
"Hes worried about you. Hes angry with me, thinks its all my fault you left, like I knew you were going to be taking her with you. I know youve grown fond of my daughter, enough for me to lie to John, and id do whatever I could for the both of you, but I think its time you came back." He was interrupted by Madison, but Joseph quieted her, and continued. "Things are different now. Its not like it was before. Either of you are on some revenge killing, your just staying away because youd rather be alone. I understand that. But you need to come back and talk to him, let him know your okay. You dont need to stay, not if you dont want to, you just need to let him know your not dead. Explain things to him. Give him some sort of closure. He wont listen to me, and I dont think he would even if I went against your word and told him its you two that run this thing. You need to do it for John. He might not be family, but hes the closet thing you have. You cant throw that all away because of your own selfish desire to be on your own..."
It was hard to muster, but Rey knew it was right. They needed to. It seemed everybody had changed so much in the last few months, because they had. Madison realized she could make it without a group, and that Rey wanted to be by her side and do it together. But she didnt think of John as anything more than a friend, despite her mixed signals. That was her mind just messing with her for keeping things locked away for so long. It wasnt right to let it all out, and make the decision to leave without saying goodbye. If coming back meant John would be happy, then Madison deserved that as well. She owed him so much. She didnt know the full extend of how much he cared for her until she wasnt there. "Okay..." Madison replied, looking at Rey, who was more than happy to follow because it made Madison happy. "Okay.", Joseph nodded.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Dec 5, 2014 8:03:12 GMT -5
Morning came quickly to Bobby and Susie as they layed in bed together. He knew that if he wasn't ready soon John would be gone. Bobby got up and got dressed as Susie layed in bed watching. She examined all of the tattoos in the dim morning light. Then she piped up to ask a question. "So the one in the middle of your chest means what? Since I know they all have meaning." She said add she pointed to the same spot on her own bare chest. "Caught that huh? Guess I'm not so mysterious after all." He joked before continuing. "Well back in the Airborne Infantry, my squad was tasked with taking down a high ranking general. The government dubbed him the King of Spades. The only person higher than him was Osama Bin Laden. One of his guys shot me as I shot him. I got a nice bonus that year." He explained the tattoo. He have Susie a kiss before heading for the door. "Get some sleep. It's gonna be a long day." He said before closing the door behind him.
Bobby headed to John's room and heard him moving around inside. For John, morning couldn't have come soon enough. He was up and moving when others still considered it night. "Hey John. Gotta talk to you man." Bobby said to the closed door. John opened it up, looked around to see if Joseph was nearby before letting him in. "You already know what the area looks like. Safe til the city north a here. Safe til the city south a here. Nothin's changed." That's all Bobby wanted to hear before heading out today. "Thanks." Was all he said to join before he went and did his rounds. By the time he got outside, he was surprised to see Susie waiting for him. "Thought I told you to get some sleep." He said but didn't send her away. They started doing the rounds together.
John was left alone again, and he was on his way out of town again for a few days until he had to bring back food. He was going to be gone the moment the first bit of the sun was over the horizon. He had his crossbow on his back, his bags below that, and a quiver holding his bolts below that. He had his vest over his jacket, which was over a sweatshirt to keep him warm. A few pairs of pants kept his legs warm, and a good pair of boys kept his feet dry and warm. He didn't care about anything else. He sat outside of the building watching the sunlight until it was time for him to leave. He was just waiting it out. He always knew that you can't leave until the sun was up. He had argued it before and knew what was enough to avoid arguing. Any second now and he was leaving.
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