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Post by Winters on Mar 10, 2015 13:54:40 GMT -5
Seemingly, it was decided that John and one of the newcomers could go gather up the rest of the people. Good thing they were taking a van, it would hold at least six people. There might have been time to get one of the bigger barracks vehicles they took from a military training base, thats what they normally used for transporting large groups of people, but they had been out of comission for some time. Nobody bothered repairing them, since they were slow, and very hard on gas, something they didnt need these days. "I know you by now, John. No scrubs. Im gonna check there houses for ones that lingered, make sure anybody moving in wont have a homecoming welcome surprise."
Filtering between the houses people had been inside of the whole time, and ones that were overrun, was easy. Though with more than half of the towns population now gone, they were going to have to work from the ground floor upwards if they wanted to make what they had before. Dani wasnt part of that process, she came late, but she could only assume it wasnt a walk in the park. Though with probably most, if not all of the undead presence in the province taken care of, and enough human lives taken to be the outcome of war, they had all the time in the world to make it work. If thats what they were going to do. Quite franky, Danica wanted to leave this place behind her, she was just waiting for the right time. They didnt need her, she didnt need them, so nobody would care whether or not she stuck around. And Steven would follow her wherever she went.
"This place is a real dump now. Remember what it felt like when you had youre sandcastle kicked down by the little sh*tbird at the beach?" Steven had been a little upset about how things turned out, really feeling like it was home here. There wasnt anywhere else in the world that felt quite the same, not even the two other communites hes been to. The people were know what was what, and they got along. Now they just had to get along so they could rebuild what they had. The deep thinking had faded away when Dani opened her mouth. "I was that little sh*tbird, Steve. But I always felt bad afterwards." Maybe she would stick around until after these people were back on their feet.
~~~
Seeing Josephs daughter in the biker vest was a strange thing, aside from all the other strange things he seen her do. The fact she had memory loss like this was even worse, because she didnt know who it belonged to. "When John comes back, hes going to ask you some questions. Might be in a bit of a mood after seeing you, that could go either way. Whatever happens, just keep it low, hes not going to hurt you, or anything." The yound woman had been so clueless, and it was difficult explaining somebody like John to somebody new without spooking them. Jackson knew how easily Rey was spooked, or at least alarmed by things, it was her nature from the time she came here. Hes heard plenty of stories. Her memory might be gone, but her nature was still her nature. "Also, thats his jacket and vest."
By the time they had gotten back to the house, Jackson heard the truck in the distance, gripping his magnum. Rey seen this as well, standing her ground, prepariong herself even though she didnt have access to a weapon. The truck pulled arund the trees on the snow covered path, and Jackson seen who it was. "Its John. Remember, just go along with it, tell him the truth." Soon as John came out of the truck, he did the most unexpected thing, something Jackson never seen the man do before. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her like a lost friend.
Out of all the outcomes Rey was planning for, this wasnt the one that made her comfortable. People who still hugged were usually weak people, and there had been no exceptions. The question came out, however, and she just looked at John, thinking about how to say it. "I dont know. They werent with me, nobody was." It was lost on her exactly how badly the memory loss had been. Rey took off the vest, followed by the jacket, exposing her torn shoulder tanktop to the cold air around her. "You can have these back." With that, she just walked away toward the house, waiting to find herself a weapon.
Jackson stood between the young woman walking away and John, looking at him, making an aggitated face with his lip. Hes told children that their parents were dead, hes told parents that their child was dead, women that their finaces didnt make it home from the tour, but when it came to this, Jackson was puzzled on what to say. So he just came out and said it, without having the details himself for any followup questions. "I dont know where they are, neither does she. I found her like that, and she doesnt know anything. I found her before the town was attacked by the hoard, too. She was different, but I didnt know. I mean, I know shes different, you and I both know that, but John, she dont know anything. Didnt even know her name til I told her."
Feeling like its been all said and done with for now, though actually not done with by a long show, Jackson took a breath, and then looked through the window at the people inside, then back at the van they brought. "Now, I can only assume the towns all clear, and you came here to take these people back, so lets just get to it. You can talk to Josephs daughter when were all settled. Just remember who she was, thats still her, I can see it in her eyes, but she dont know it."
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 12, 2015 17:34:32 GMT -5
John didn't know what to say. His jaw clenched at this information. Madison was possibly alone out in the wilderness. There were still things, people, out there who could hurt her. His head started to spin as he tried to plan something. Then his gaze started to fall on the snow and an idea came to mind. He saw the tracks of Jackson and Rey heading to and from the tower. Then he saw he tracks, as light as they were, coming from the woods to the house. He pulled the vest on over his current jacket and slung his crossbow across his back. "I'll be back round sundown. If not, I found somethin'." John explained to Jackson before taking off into the woods. Dominic didn't know which way to go, so he stayed with Jackson. "He'll be alright. He seems to know what he's doing. I'll help you out here. Nothing I can do for him at the moment." He said in his polite sounding British accent. He still hadn't gone full slang on his new hosts yet but he knew that in a fight it would slip.
John followed the footprints as the sun scraped it's way across the sky. If the prints weren't covered enough they were mostly covered by snow. Even if the prints stopped, he didn't give up. He wasn't going to give up. Then the prints lead him deeper into the woods. They lead him to a clearing that was still pretty protected from the snow. The snow was splattered red. There were tracks from two walkers, two people, and something else. One of the walkers was still laying on the ground trying to reach out to grab John. John moved to the walker and brought a hard boot down on the decomposing head. He took a moment to survey the grizzly scene. He couldn't quite figure out what happened but from the looks of things it wasn't good. As he stood there the other walker came around the tree and John connected that the walkers had been there after the incident. But something else had been there. He decided to track the creature to make sure it was dead. John shot the walker in the head with his crossbow. Before heading off to hunt the creature, he took his bolt back and readied his crossbow.
John found it easy to follow the creatures because they were leaving a bloody trail. John hoped it was their blood and not someone else's. John caught up with them quickly because they had just escaped danger before resting. There was three of them. Bald, dog like, muscular, and vicious. He took his shot and got the biggest one. His aim was spot on. It entered it's eye as it lay there asleep. It never got a chance to cry out in pain but the bolt punching through flesh alerted the other two. They lunged at him quickly and he didn't have time to reload and fire another shot. He was able to drop the crossbow, pull out his knife and catch one of the dogs by its throat. He tried to plunge the knife into the dog but the other on had bit down in John's arm. John could feel it's teeth through the jacket into his flesh. It took all of his strength against the dog to bring the blade up into the other's head. He switched the blade into his other hand and brought it down into the top of the dog's head. As the dog let go John felt the edges of his vision darken. These dogs were infected and now he was too. He felt himself falling to the ground but someone caught him. He felt a needle puncture his skin at his wrist.
His vision went black before he felt the snow touch his face. Then nothing everything was black and he was out cold. He figured he was going to be changed and never come back. But when he opened his eyes again he wasn't any different, only sitting in the driver's seat of a truck. He found that his crossbow was between his legs and his knife back in its sheath. The person sitting next to him though caught him off guard.
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Post by Winters on Mar 12, 2015 19:45:44 GMT -5
Much as he wouldve liked to go with him, Jackson couldnt leave Josephs daughter alone, and he still didnt really trust the others yet. Though before he could even get a proper plan in order, John did what he usually did, and took off anyways, so he would have to make do with that he had. It would be easy enough to get everyone back to the town, and since John came back for them, it meant it had been safe enough for everyone to be on the move right right minute, if they wanted to. Waiting for John was pointless, he knew he way around, and could easily figure out if they were at the town or here when he was finished. Even if he found something, it wasnt like they could communicate, he the man was on his own, and Jackson had to watch over Reylene and the newcomers, and the load of survivors. "Alright then, buddy. John seems to think your alright, so ill have to just take his word on that. You know where the town is, so you can help me get these people back there."
Jackson looked at Rey, and seen that she was staring off in the direction John went. She was completely spaced out. He wanted to snap her out of her, but thoght it was best to just leave her until she either seen what she wanted to see, or was finished and back in reality. Jackson stoof behind her, just waiting, while the other guy, Dominic, had been collecting people. He had some of his attention on the ones that left the building, still making sure that the guy wasnt going to screw them over, but at this point, they had every opportunity to do so, and he wasnt with his buddies, he Jackson was confident that he was going to help out just fine. Still, security was his thing, and he wouldnt forgive himself if he did get the jump on him, but Rey just seemed to be more important right now.
Once everyone had been in the vehicle, he looked back, and then to Rey again, but she still hasnt budged. Now he was getting a little impatient, and they needed to get going. John would be fine, and these people needed to get back. "Come on, lets go. We have a town not far from here. Medical supplies, too. We can get you looked at." But as Jackson turned to head back to the others for the ride home, Rey took in a run. Jackson ran ahead to try and catch her, but she was already in the woods, so with all of the faith left inside of him at this point, he looked at Dominic and spoke. "Get em back to the town... God dammit..." Jackson followed after her, jusy barely keeping up.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 14, 2015 7:29:59 GMT -5
John's eyes had a hard time focusing on something he didn't believe was real. A large Native American man sat next to him. His beard and hair were long than when he last saw him, but John figured most people's were. The man was wearing a vest that John recognized all too well. The cut of a One Percenter. "What the f*ck ya doin' here, Bear?" John said once he realized Bear was real. Bear rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and shook his head. "I ain't gotta clue, John. I'm just as surprised to see you. Thought you and Chris died years ago. Both of yer places were empty after everythin' happened. Always figured that the DEA had gotten you outta there." John looked surprise when Bear said he knew about Chris being DEA. "I was helpin' him the entire time in exchange for making my past go away. You saw how evil those biker bastard were. They were helpin' some big shot, international f*ck ship women along the east coast. The only thing I ever did was kill the guy who killed my wife. That don't make me a terrible person. Chris was going to get me a deal for helping bring down the whole operation." Bear explained letting John know that he had actually been a good guy all along.
"So what happened to ya?" John asked Bear as they continued to gather their heads. "We tried to get everyone together but a lot happened in just the first night. It seemed that only the worst ones survived as we made a run to the desert out west. We found nothin' good everywhere we went. We decided to go north to Alaska. I got tired of them. They killed people for their things. They did horrible sh*t, John. So one night while I was keeping watch, I killed them all. I slit their throats in their sleep." John looked shocked at that news but Bear just shrugged. He reached into a pocket in his vest and pulled out half a cigar and some matches. With it between his teeth he spoke to John. "Been milkin' this thing forever now. So I found a small town here and was livin' with them. Then a herd bigger than anythin' I've ever seen came through and ate almost everyone. I got out. Word at the town was there was another town east of us doing better, electricity, hot water, ya know. Nice sh*t. So when my town went down, I came this way. What about you?" Bear finished telling John before asking about John's story.
"I dunno man it's a long story. Basically I was with a town that sounded like what you were describin'. We just got hit by a huge herd as well. Yesterday, I think. Dependin' on what today is. I was out lookin' for our people once we got the town back under control. Some bald dogs attacked me n I blacked out. Then I woke up here." John explained but kept it short. He then started to look around. If it hadn't been such a clear night, he might not have been able to figure out where they were. They were only a few minutes walking distance from the town. He turned back to Bear and decided to ask one last question. "So you dunno who put us in this truck?" When Bear shook his head John just shrugged and considered himself lucky. They got out of the truck together and John looked around for tracks but saw none other than the truck's.
Dominic helped Jackson out by shuttling as many people back to the town. They were trusting him and that made him feel good. By the time he had finished bringing people back it was barely after noon. Dominic did what he could to help around the town and spoke in private with Paul. It wasn't much but it was a show of good faith. It showed that the small group could be trusted. The day dragged on as any able bodied person help rebuild the wall in the back they used to escape. It was nearly sundown when they finished fixing that. Dominic saw two guys a couple years older than him toting shotguns and figured they were part of the group before the attack but he found them to be obnoxious. Though they did their job and offered to take first watch. As the day dragged on, he didn't see John, Rey, or Jackson. He noticed Paul playing googly eyes with the girl who helped them clear out the walkers when they first took back the town. Dominic told him to go say something to her in sign language mocking him slightly. It was well after dark before Dominic saw two figures approaching the front gate. One large man and John.
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Post by Winters on Mar 14, 2015 12:53:17 GMT -5
"Think they came all this way? For what? Trails running cold. Already dont have answers to most of the other questions I have, not sure I want anymore today." As he followed Josephs daughter, Jackson tried to make sense of everything. Why she loast her memory wasnt obvious, or in any way normal, but it made sense. Being shot in the head, and then revived from it, thats why. Repaired what it could, but left longterm damage. What happened between her getting out of the hole and now was a different question, and he knew it had something to do with the other stuff going on. John taking off like this, and by this time, not coming back, means he definitely found something. The fact that Reylene had bolted in his direction meant she did, as well, and with how much crazy she had in her, it could be just about anything.
The young woman was quietm concentrating on the trail, which consisted of tire tracks at this point. They didnt follow them straight though, she had been going off the trail everywhere, stopping every now and again, like a dog or something. Jackson was convinced that zigzagging off the trail like this, they were certain to miss something, any sort of evidence, but he just went along with Rey, hoping she knew what she was doing. Then she stopped, and just like that, changed directions again, but when they came out into a small clearing, the truck was sitting parked. "Well ill be damned..."
With Steven catching up on some sleep, there wasnt much else to do. Danica would have pitched in with the rebuilding process, but hard labor wasnt her forte. What she did, however, was go to the armory, and sorted out their inventory. Most of it hadnt been touched, but after going door to door, collections guns off the ground, boxes of ammo that had been dropped, she stockpiled it all back where it needed to be. Unlike most of the other towns shed been too, this one didnt force anybody to give up theirs guns, but that didnt stop their storeage room from filling up.
Most of the day had been that, inventory, mix and matching ammunition, and actually remembering what gun would have which sort of impact on an undead head, going through them all. One thing distracting her from the pleasant thoughts was one of the others guys that showed up earlier to clear the town. Danica didnt catch his name, but he was definitely playing with her, the silly expression on his face making her almost chuckle. Most people were depressed and angry, not a lot still had a lot of joy left in them. It was good to know there had been others out there who still did. But before he even came over to say anything, two people arrived at the checkpoint. Danica readied up an sub machine gun from the storage, and went to check it out with the others.
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Post by Dark Nomad on Mar 29, 2015 15:00:30 GMT -5
The two already had their hands up before approaching the gate. Though, John's walk with his crossbow on his back was recognizable to the people who knew him. The larger frame of Bear, though, nobody recognized. He had a sawed off pump action shotgun with no stock and one of the biggest revolvers John had ever seen. Even in the Apocalypse, Bear was still a biker. Bear probably wouldn't ever change that about himself. Though he stayed behind John because this was his town. Once they entered the gates they both sensed something wasn't right. Someone wasn't right. Someone was bit but neither knew how they could tell. Then they realized they were different but didn't say it outloud. Bear and John sensed each other and that's when they knew something wasn't right anymore. Bear looked to John to see if he realized it and when they locked eyes they knew they were different. John looked to his arm where he was bit and Bear just rolled his shoulder. Then John jammed his fists into his pockets and found a piece of paper. Pulling it out, he read it. "Tell BJ, you're both welcome." He read it and then handed it to Bear. After Bear read it, he jammed it into his pocket. He knew they'd talk about it later. In private.
John then turned to the group of survivors who had greeted them. "Danica, Nicky, where is Jackson and Rey?" He asked and got a sheepish look from Dominic. They ran off after you earlier today. He told me to bring your people back to town." John nodded, he knew no one controlled Rey so Jackson had to have followed her into the woods. "Did you check everyone for bites?" John then asked but as soon as he finished the last word, Pete and Jose drew their weapons. "F*ck you dude, you're not gonna kill us!" Pete shouted at John and everyone backed away from the man except for Bear. The large Native American man just started daggers into the two cowards. "You idiots are going a risk these people's lives cause you don't want to die quickly? F*ck you, pair a ugly p*ssies." Bear hadn't even drawn his weapon but he was standing his ground to the two men trying to make their escape. "Boys, what're you doin'? How long have you been bit?" Dominic asked but didn't get an answer.
The guns Pete and Jose were pointing at Bear now were close to the big man now as they tried to inch by him. He didn't take a step forward because he knew they'd shoot him if he did. The two were staring Bear in the eye and he knew he could trick them easily. With a slight glance past them, they looked back over their shoulder to see what he was looking at. With that split second he was attacking them. He shoved their guns up into the air so they wouldn't shoot anyone. It was a good thing he did because the moment the guns were shoved upward, they both pulled the trigger. Though the recoil was enough extra to slam into their faces. It was enough to knock them down and then he pulled his own gun and pointed it at the two. "Now show us where them uglies gotchu at." He ordered. The two stared daggers at Bear but revealed their bites. The bites looked like they had happened a few days ago but looked highly infected. "Happened about a week ago, dude. We never turned but it still hurts."
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Post by Winters on Mar 29, 2015 16:31:47 GMT -5
She didnt exactly know John all too well, but once he was in clear sight, it was obvious that it was him. His friend on the other hand was a mystery, but if John brought him back here, Danica didnt question it because the noteritety of John was enough to make her believe he knew what he was doing. On top of that, they looked to know eachother. Sure, everyone had scruff these days, but this seemed to charaterize them, and knowing that John had once been part of a motorcycle crew, she just sort of put two and two together. He asked where the other two had been, but before she could respond, the other new guy told him. It was up in the air, and seemed everything had been good for the time behind. No infected for miles, town wasnt overrun, and they had time on their sides when the snow came to a stop early morning.
Things started heating up between them when they asked if anybody had been bitten. It was a strange question, but Danica supposed that they needed to ask it, being how people just spent a day inside of an undead warzone. Danica didnt ever check people, because she didnt really care who turned, she would put them down soon as they did. But when the two people became hostile, she gripped the SMG in her hands tightly, and stood close to the side of the stoarge shed in case she needed to get into cover. She didnt draw her gun, because standoffs like these didnt need anymore guns aimed, it only made things worse.
Seemed it was over not long after it started though, and the outcome being nobody was shot, so she was thankful for that. Turned out one of the others had been infected, two of them were, and said they were bitten weeks ago. They showed their wounds, and it seemed to be pretty bad, but definitely should have turned by now. Danica seen her fair share, and this was text book, only they hadnt turned, so definitely not as text book as she was used to seeing. She wasnt sure if John knew what was up, or if anybody who was around this situation knew, but she finally got a word out. "So we dont get to shoot anybody, great great great, now lets get back to work." Danica seen it twice before, but never cared enough. Immunity, cure, postponement, she didnt care. You turn, she shoots you. So long as they didnt turn, she wouldnt worry about it.
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