2020 - In The Ruins

[Winters]

Natalie seemed very calm about the whole thing, which was a first. Rey had been preparing herself to end up knocking her unconcious, and taking the coat back before running off with the bags. But she didnt need to, Natalie had been open. If she didnt see anything like her before, then she mustve seen other things that werent normal, besides the obvious threats outside. Humans augmented with abilities might have been a norm in most places, but here, they werent. Cept that Natalie was okay with it, so all was calm in the room. Still, the invitation wasnt a good idea, and Rey didnt even feel temperatures anymore. The end of winter would have been hard for most, but for her, she knew she would rather be back up north.

So. She had no reason to bundle up with her new partner for the night, other than because she asked nicely. There wasnt a single thing that Rey was going to gain from it, and all things considered, it would be putting the woman at risk. Though there still had been that feeling inside her, and seeing Natalie in Madisons coat gave her enough idea to just accept that people are capable of taking risks. Natalie was, and so was Rey. She needed to be in full control, and this was an opportunity to try again. A do over. "You have the jacket, and the blanket. But fine, if you really need the extra warmth, ill stay close, and keep watch. Just dont f***ing touch me, face the other way. Body heat is enough."

Rey had went from being completely alone, bitter, and avoiding people when possible, to laying in a makeshift bed with another woman she had just met, in the same night. She never understood how the human brain worked when it came to this sorts of emotions, but she believed that even people who were desensitized to death and hatred were capable of feeling something towards another person. On some level, it was still a selfish feeling for her, but Rey just accepted the situation for what it was. A test of her control. "Four hours from now, ill wake you up."

[JDrew25]

Natalie smiled, taking her small victory and not attempting to prod the woman for any other concessions or information. She'd see what she could do to help her, even if it meant simply giving her a place in the community where she would be safe. She had come to the radio tower to save someone, and save her she would.

As she curled up for the night, she turned away from the woman, and was tempted to give her arm a gentle squeeze. Remembering she didn't want to be touched, she kept her hands to herself and made herself small and warm.

"Goodnight Rey. I hope I don't snore."

[Winters]

Interesting words. Most of the people alive these days had been changed to the point where making simple jokes was all they had, but it stood out that Natalie was one of them. Rey shook it off, cracking her neck, and relaxing with both arms above the back of her head, staring at the window. There hadnt been any snoring, thankfully, because not that it would have bothered her itself, but the fact that Rey was listening very carefully to the different sounds in and around the building. Whether or not there had been other infected inside already, rattling of any sort would give that away. Thankfully, it was all quiet, not to her own person benifeit, but it let her know that they were actually the only things moving inside of the building, and with that, Rey could finally relax.

Hours seemed to pass quickly, turning to almost minutes instead. One of the perks of being able to hibernate inside of a body who had been partially controlled by a virus, Rey could sit still for days, and rest her mind, but she was so used to knowing when the virus had been active that if it did try to move part of her toward Natalie, should could stop it and just lay patiently instead. But it all worked, and the top of the sun could be seen just start to glow over the tops of the high buildings. Before Natalie was woken up, however, Rey took her hand, and covered it directly over the womans face. She felt the impulses, but didnt grab on, and there was little to no color change in her hand. Retracting it, Rey slipped the blanket off of her, and stood up, navigating over to her boots. The sound of them hitting the floor when she put them on wouldve been enough to wake her.

[JDrew25]

Natalie awoke with a start, her eyes half open as she brought her hands up, protecting herself from a non-threat. When she was Rey putting her shoes on, she smiled a little, and uncovered herself, beginning to get ready for their morning trek. She pulled her own boots on, and began gathering the coat and blanket, the cold morning air filling the room and making her shiver.

"Anything try and come up here last night? I slept so well, first time I have been asleep outside of the community before."

She finished gathering all of the supplies, and made sure she gathered TJ's shotgun as well as his remaining shells. She was hoping she wouldn't need them, but she couldn't leave potentially useful supplies behind. They may need it back at the community, even if she didn't need it right this moment.

"So, are you going to come with me? We can maybe make it home before dark. We should be able to avoid the zombies too. At the very least we will be able to see them coming."

[Winters]

Seeing that nAtalie was awake, Rey continued to gather up everything useful from the bags. Technically, everything had been useful, but she just took what she would use personally, because she didnt feel the need to take it all. It would only slow her down. Her bow and knife were all she needed, and a small sachel for various things that took up little to no space. Eyeing the shotgun that Natalie took, Rey thought about how amazing it would have been if she cut off the barrel and carved in the stock, make a very light recoil sawn off shotgun. Normally they had been gauged in twelve, but four ten had been easier to find, and a slug to the face still did the job none the less. But it wasnt up to her, just thinking to herself.

When Natalie asked about where she was going, and the possibility that she was going to be coming with her to the community, Rey thought about it for a moment. There was still one other thing she had left to do, but it could be left for another time, so she was open to the idea. But after hearing it would take them the entire day to get there, Rey nearly groaned out loud, keeping it in with a slightly impatient look on her face. She remembered that the people in this city, at least the ones she had seen, all had little advanced locomotion ability. Being what she was had nothing to do with it, it was training. It took her a few hours to get across the entire length of the city, easy. if they split up, it would mean the end of an adventure, and an opporunity to become part of a community that might actually be worth it. "Better get a move on then, lets go. I assumed you were from the museum, where do you live?"

TJ was from the museum, and the two had been together, thats all Rey knew, si she added two and two together. Though with how well kept Natalie had been, and how he smelled, she couldnt have been part of the old part of the city. And she definitely wasnt with the raiders, so that only left a handful of place, all of which she hadnt yet been to.

[JDrew25]

"No, we had contact with the museum, and I have been there a few times, but we are from the larger community towards the center of the city. That's why it takes so long to get there, we have to spend half the time either cutting down small groups of the undead or avoiding the larger herds."

Natalie thought about TJ as they got ready to leave. She didn't like the idea of leaving him behind, but she had a plan.

"I was thinking, we should stop by the museum first. We should let them know about TJ, and maybe they can take care of him, as well as get more people here to man the radio station. From there we might be able to get an escort to home. What do you think?"

She had finished packing, leaving the blanket and some of the food behind. She had a new knapsack from the room here, and had loaded it with the spare ammunition, some food and a canteen. She was ready as she was going to be.

[Winters]

An escort wasnt nessicary in the least, and would probably end up slowing them down even more than they already were. Slow compared to how quickly Rey normally moved, it was nothing against Natalie, not everybody knew how to move like she did. Still listening to the woman, Rey peered out of the window to the front of the building, seeing how many of the infected had been below. Lucky for them, there was none. They probably took off somewhere else, which meant a speedy start to their treck. "All clear, meet you at the entrance." Without giving Natalie a chance to even react, Rey took a few steps back, tucking her bow and arrows against her front and then quickly ran at full speed, hurling herself outside. She aimed for the nearest car, which she had seen before, making sure to land on her back on top of the roof of the sedan on the ground, five stories below.

After the thud, Rey lay for a second or two, allowing herself to correct her back, and then rolled off onto the pavement on both feet, looking up at Natalie who had been staring down at her. She didnt yell up, but she was up and moving fine, so the second the woman was out of sight, Rey positioned her bow to its original place on her shoulders. At this point, she made sure nothing nearby heard her, and they didnt, so by the time Natalie had gotten down to the entrance, the place was clear to move. "You lead, ill follow, but I cant guarentee ill stay on street level."

[JDrew25]

Natalie knew that she was going to have to get used to Rey hurting herself and not worrying about being down for the count longer than a few moments. It seemed she was completely indestructible. If the fall was any indicator she could take a lot of punishment and walk away without a scratch.

Once she got to the entrance, she looked at the damage done to the sedan, and just shook her head. She wished the car was working. She hadn't seen many that did, and they were great prizes amongst survivors. For now they were going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

"Alright, just be sure you stay where I can see you. Don't want to mistake you for one of them, you know? Might need the bullet later."

She couldn't stop the grin that came to her face, and as they began to move back into the dead territory, she felt her seriousness take over again. She chambered a shell into the shotgun and began making her way through the streets, avoiding staying out in the open and keeping her ears open for the telltale signs of the undead.

[Winters]

The fact that natalie had been using the shotgun was good, because it meant she knew what she was doing. She knew the infected had an earshot that was deteriorating since they started to rot, so most of them around that they would see would be old and decaying. Too slow to worry about, but even if she had to take a shot, it wouldnt cause too much attention. Or maybe it was that Natalie just didnt care enough, knowing full well that the undead needed to be killed here in the city eventually. Feeling that maybe the dialogue had gone short after ten minutes of no talking, Rey had to say something. Not because she enjoyed to talk, but because she wanted to share information that may or may not be useful.

"Years ago, we had teams go into cities. Clear out the undead. Wasnt really my thing, I was better at killing the people. You can handle yourself against a zombie, and I seen you shoot for the head none the less, but that was close quarters. Not sure how many runins you had with the living, ones where you had to shoot or die I mean. Id suggest aiming for the center of mass. Or just let me take care of them, given I have the quiet weapon." Rey wasnt gloating. In fact, she really only mentioned it because she enjoyed the violence at this point. It was her job before, and it could be her job again, given this city needed somebody like her. For the last month, she kept to herself, and didnt really try to get on anybodies good side or bad side. Now, it was clear what the sides were.

[JDrew25]

"I don't have much call to kill the living. Most of the bandit raids happened when I was a kid, and my dad made sure I was protected with the other children. Hell, he isn't happy with me being out here now that I am an adult."

She shouldered her shotgun, and showed Rey her sling. She also had a silent weapon, and she didn't have to get close to use it. If they needed to be silent, she could do her part as well to clear the way.

"Plenty of ammunition for it. I can get my rocks polished too if I am willing to wait a few days for them. Been taking to doing it myself, just to learn how."

As she stopped speaking, she saw what appeared to be a recently turned zombie staggering out into the middle of the street. It hadn't noticed them yet, but soon it would be hunting for them. She nodded towards it, not immediately recognizing it as someone she knew. Maybe it was someone Rey had known from her group?

"Friend of yours?"

[Winters]

Bow and arrow had been her weapon of choice ever since she had been twelve years old, and every since, she had been using it. Rey also used conventional firearms too, but the arrows were quick, didnt make any noise, and able to be made herself. It seemed that Natalie had the same idea, albeit different sort of weapon, one that she wasnt seen anybody use before. It was an interesting thing, and honestly, she couldnt really imagine how effective it was, but she wasnt one to judge. If Natalie used it all this time to kill walkers, it mustve done her good.

By the time the one showed up and Rey was asked if he knew who it was, she didnt know how to respond. It was Michael, or Mike, different people called him either or. Rey never used either of his names, or anybodies names in general. but had a knack for remembering them, odd as it was. "Wouldnt say friend, but ive seen him before. Roaving traders, he was one of them. Didnt really like him." They were going to be completely honest with eachother, but in the form of a game. Madison played it with new people they met. "I wanna see you take it down with that weapon of yours. You make the kill, you get to ask me a question. We can go back and forth, if you like." It was depressing that there was still only one person Rey really cared about in this world. Now she was gone, and she still thought about her.

[JDrew25]

"Alright, keep a lookout for more."

Natalie laid down her shotgun, and took the sling back out. Picking out a stone about half the size of her fist, she put it in the leather pouch and began spinning it by her side. When she felt there was enough force to propel the rock forward, she let it fly, watching as it connected right about the zombies temple and driving it deep into the zombie's brain. It fell forward and she grinned at the other woman, picking the shotgun up again and moving to check to see if the trader had anything on him.

"I'll think of a good question, just need to look him over before we keep going."

She never liked looting the bodies, but she could not afford to leave vital supplies lying around. There were other people that needed it, and she didn't want anyone else risking their lives to go out and get it because she was too lazy to do it the first time.

"So, what's it like to be between life and death? Not like these sorry bastards right here."

[Winters]

Feeling surprised by the outcome, and the nice hole in the zeds head, Rey slowely nodded, perking the corner of her lip upwards. It was a good shot, no luck. That was all skill. A hell of a lot easier than making arrows. The only downside is it worked well on the infected because they had been rotting away. To a human, it would just give them a concussion, or knock them unconcious. Maybe, and just maybe, it would crack their skull if they hit it at the right angle, but when people with people who shot back, slinging that thing wouldnt be ideal. Obviously it was intended for the infeacted though, so props for the weapon. Natalie had it going for her, and it worked, so there was little to nit pick about.

As if to branch ehr train of thought into the question, Rey answered promptly. "It is what it is. I stopped aging when I was around twenty five. Ive always been this age, and I always will be. The world will go on, and ill be here. I couldnt even kill myself if I wanted to. So I guess its pretty bad, thinking about it. I feel like death was an end, and now I have no ending to my story. Which is sad, because all good books need an ending, right?" Ending it on sort of a down note, Rey thought even more now, about why she used to even play this game in the first place. It wasnt to get to know eachother better, it was to get to know herself. Rey truely was, in all parts of the world, somebody else now. Anybody she wanted to be. But everybody was these days. They all had a do-over. Hers just wasnt by choice.

Abruptly ending the answer with a thud behind a car was the perfect segway into a question for Natalie. Rey seen the infected fall, trying to get back up, but she effortlessly pulled out her knife and drove it into its skull. With the same speed, she pulled it out, and wiped away the blood, tucking it back into her leather sheath. "Whats youre favorite color?"

[JDrew25]

Natalie had still been taking in what the woman had told her as she had dispatched the other zombie so effortlessly. The woman was almost an apex predator, clearly capable of killing whatever crossed her path, and able to survive just about anything. From what she had said, it was clear that Rey had tried to dispatch herself, more than likely multiple times. She supposed she couldn't blame her, living a half-life was not something that was ideal. From what she was told by the older members of her community, there were a lot of people that had the ability to survive, but the will. Many had killed their loved ones and themselves when the world fell apart, and the thought saddened her greatly.

"My favorite color? The color of the sky in the morning. That pinkish red when the sun comes up."

There appeared to be more of the undead nearby, maybe a few blocks away. It was time they started evading instead of killing. They would be overwhelmed if they attempted, and she never took on more than one or two at a time, and always at range.

[Winters]

"Hm. Good one. I like green." She was good at answering questions, to say the least. It was a simple one, but the fact that Natalie also backed her response up with a reason meant it wasnt just a quick reaction thought. She still had some happiness inside of her, but she was also a true survivor, so it said a lot about who she was. Madison wasnt like that. From what Rey actually knew about her, anyways. It was the problem with her, the only thing that felt wrong between them. They were completely different people, and in the end, Rey was the one that was left alive. Not because she couldnt save her, there was nothing she could do, but because she herself couldnt die.

Thinking a little too much about it, Rey wanted another question, or to just kill the undead. Luckily enough, soon as they rounded a corner, there was a handful of the things. By her quick count, Rey seen about seven, and seeing how Natalie was keeping her distance and edging around them, she was aiming to avoid them. Probably would have been faster, but this was a good time to clear her head. "Keep moving." Without listening to see if Natalie said anything to her or not in response, Rey took off toward them at full speed.

The first of the undead had been kicked down, and dropping her knee onto his head, Rey smashed it from the weight. These were too slow and decaying, would be quick. As she stood up, Rey brought her knife into another, kicking it sideways into another three. While those were down, she jumped onto the roof of a car, and then on top of ones shoulders, hearing it crack under were weight, and topple to the ground, the knife in his head. Kicking back the other infected, Rey turned to the other three, who had now gotten to their feet. She brought up her bow, firing an arrow into the skull of the closest, and then ran at him to pull it out. As she pulled it out, she placed it through the eye socket of another, and then repeated the same to the last before putting it back into her quiver.

Now with a good sweat on, Rey turned to see if Natalie had been watching, or if she kept on ahead. Seeing her close by, and prepared, was a good sign, but her face seem like she might have gotten a little worried. Or annoyed, or just surprised. It was hard for her to tell the difference between them. But the infected she thought she previously ended before crawled toward her, and now sunk its teeth into her calf, holding on. Rey jerked her leg forward, feeling it rip away a large chunk of her leg muscle, and fell flat on her face when she put weight on it to turn around. This couldnt be happening. Not now, of all times.