Necropolis

Day 1. 2:39pm. Dave.

Dave had seen as the young boy (no younger than six he looked). Why was no one doing anything? The boy screams were deafening.

Can't anyone shoot him?

Kill him, ease the pain?

The girl was wailing loudly as the boy was devoured slowly--everyone backed off from the scene. Except Kevin. He felt Keri head over his shoulder she was weeping. He was so confused he turned to Derrick and sighed. They had to live to tell someone of the atrocities that had happened but he felt that this was only the beginning.

2:42

Katalyn

The group retreated a few steps and then turned as one to stare at the huge throng of zombies that was sweeping towards the lone man and his guns. That was one brave fool. One brave, hard, cruel fool.

"Come on, let's get going!" Someone declared over the top of our new arrival's screams. I followed after them numbly, surprised that my legs could remember to run or that they could find the strength.

"What about Kev?" One of the girls demanded. "We can't just leave him..."

"He'll catch up," One man declared, his voice lacking conviction as well as compassion. What sort of people had I got myself involved with? Did the passing of a human life mean nothing to them?

Day 1. 2:42pm. Angie.

Angie clung numbly to the man who'd helped her--Mev, she recognized now, though it seemed ages since she'd last seen him yesterday at the IHOP. She'd never liked him that much, the little she saw of him while home in Ashville--thought he was an emo loser, to be quite frank, in fact--but now if she lost sight of him she felt panic well in her throat. She recognized a few of the others, too, but didn't really have enough synapses left functioning to bother about puzzling out who exactly they were.

Teddy was dead.

Even the fingers stuffed into her ears hadn't blocked out his screams; she felt cold, numb. She felt like she deserved to die too. It wasn't any relief that his parents had done no better than she, his aunt; it was her duty to take care of him, protect him now, and she'd failed.

"He'll catch up," she heard Mev say, and glanced back to see Kevin still shooting at the zombies. The idiot. She hoped he got himself killed, then recanted: no more deaths, ojala!

"Where now?" she asked, her voice shaking with exertion and fear; Mev looked at her and released his grip on her upper arm as if only just realizing that he'd been dragging her along at a near-run.

"Costco," he said. "Two blocks up. We'll be safe there. Move faster, people!" he shouted back to the group, then grabbed Angie again and pushed her along. Good thing, too--her legs were ready to give out, and she'd have just sat down there and waited for the zombies to get her if anyone had given her half the chance.

3:00 pm Keri

Keri couldnt' stand it any more. Dave wouldn't talk to her and Kevin was gone. They needed guns despretly. She quietly snuck away from the group and headed to her apartment pulling her hand gun out and keeping it ready if any zombie dared show its horried face. She ran quickly, breathing through her nose so her breathing was as labored. She quickly rounded a corner and saw three zombies. She quickly let lose three bullets one into each. They feel down huge holes in their skulls. The hollowed point bullets doing thier job. She ran past several bodies where people had commited suicide to keep away from the zombies and the zombies hadn't devored all of them yet. She sighed, it stunk like none other. She kept going not seeing any other zombies but she could hear them in stores, and down allys. She didn't look for them, she didnt' want to. She kept going until she got to her apartment and ran up into her apartment running to her room. She yanked a few boxes out from under her bed and grabbed two duffel bags. She shoved ammo into one bag and guns in another feeling in the extra space with extra ammo. She pulled on cargo jeans and put in bullets and quick loads for her gun in them along with shot gun shells. She put a shot gun over her shoulder. Kevin wouldnt' want to mess wiht her now. No one with half a mind would. She zipped the bags up and put them over her shoulder the weight barely regestering in her angry mind. Now, just to get back to the group, with out losing either of the bags. SHe took a deep breath and started out of the apartment, she'd shoot the whole US army if that is what it took to get out of this god forsaken place.


*Back into charactor, 100%, she was scared at first, so now her true colors are out *

(OOC: TN, please do us all a favor and proofread your post. They have spellcheck for a reason.)

3:02pm
Joanna

The tears had already dried on her face.

Jo walked silently, numbly. The coldness stayed with her long after the young boy's shrieks had died away.

And then there was Kevin.

So many losses in so few hours, she found herself thinking again. Kev... She didn't know what to think of him anymore. She didn't know what his motives were for his suicide mission, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't hate him.

She feared for his life, but in the way one tastes the terror in the air when the inevitable approaches.

She no longer could care for the shivering girl who had lost her friend, or the woman staring off vacantly with echoes of the young boy's screams in her eyes, or the couple they had picked up without realizing, or the girl who had sneaked away. It tore her up inside, breaking her heart over and over, and so she closed herself off to it.

Joanna just wanted to get somewhere safe and warm and quiet, where she could sleep and know she would wake up the next day.

Yet... there was more. There was anger. Anger at this plague, anger with herself for being so weak. Crying in the middle of the street. Tripping and dropping the light, forcing someone else to sacrifice his own life. Getting pushed around by a smartass chauvinistic pig who was stupid enough to venture out on his own.

No more.

With focus and determination coursing through her veins, she pushed her way to the front of the group, where Mev was leading cautiously.

"Give me that," she snapped, grabbing the gun from his hands.

"What the hell...?" He attempted to take the gun back, but one glance from her silenced him.

She knew what she was doing, that was clear.

And she was going to get this group to safety, no matter what the cost.

Day 1. 3:00pm. Kevin.

What. Were. You. THINKING!? You. Fucking. MORON.

I had all of two rounds left. The Ruger was 100% dry, and my Xtreme Duty was most of the way there. I'd shoved the empty mags back into the pouches on my belt, slung the rifle across my back once more.

And they were after me.

...The kid was dead. I don't know what possessed me to try to get him in the first place. He was as good as dead the second the first zombie bit into his flesh. Even when the first wave of them stepped past his corpse and half a dozen more fell upon him to feast, I fought. Even after Mev had taken Angie--was it Angie? Even after he'd hauled her away, I fought. For what? To get to a corpse?

I'd dispatched the first wave with ease. Six well-placed shots had dropped the five of them. I'd stepped over the forever dead corpses to reach the feast of blood that Angie's nephew had become. I emptied the magazine into the zombies that were upon him. After they fell away, I was snapped back to reality by Teddy's gnawed corpse.

I'd fought for nothing.

And they'd been all around.

With that realization I'd drawn my XD.

Three minutes later there were five more corpses in my wake and I was backing away from the growing mob of zombies, pistol leveled in front of me and eyes darting back and forth, not daring to try to count them all.

Time to give you fuckers something to chase.

3:10 pm

Katalyn

"Come on everyone, get inside," The brown haired woman who appeared to have taken charge, indicated the door of the shop with her gun. We filed in like sheep, all alone in our own thoughts but together in our grief. So many had been left behind that even I had noticed the decline in the group's members. First there was the blue eyed man with his light, brown hair and small build, walking alongside the woman who had arrived with the kid, her dark locks in a tangle. Then there was the girl who had spoken earlier with her pretty, hazel eyes and not far behind her the man with ginger hair and beside me, another man with blond hair that was almost white. I had a vague feeling that there had been a girl with him. In fact, I was pretty sure that there were two girls missing.

Once inside, someone closed the door and one by one, we all collapsed to the floor, our backs against the walls and shelves.

"Wait... where's Keri?" The ginger man leapt to his feet and frantically searched the members of our group. "Where's Keri?" he asked again, his voice booming around the store.

3:15pm

Dave looked around where was she? Why had he been so cruel to her? Looking around he saw the morose faces. Why she'd run off? Why'd he made her run off? He loved her and all that happened he was going to lose her again for good. He called her name out again. The new girl who's name was Kat was went over to him. He looked to her, "You see where Keri went?"

The young girl shook her head, he ran around the store screaming Keri. He had to get her back he couldn't lose her. He slammed his head into wall and wailed.

3:15pm Keri

Keri quickly moved out of the apartment, the bags were getting heavy, they were waying her down. She hoisted them up higher on her shoulders and kept going her gun out. She kept her ears open for any noise. Adrinalene was rushing through her body, that was probably the only thing allowing her to keep going. She checked her gun, she had reloaded it on the way out of the apartment. When she steped on the road she saw two zombies and let a bullet fly into both of their heads. She quickly headed past them only thinking about getting back to the group, and being with Dave weither he was still mad at her or not. She shifted the bags again, they were getting really heavy. She rounded a corner and saw several zombies, a hoard of them to be exact. She turned and tried to run, but one of her bags pulled her back stuck on something. She dropped it and ran a few feet away. The first zombie had been almost two feet from her. She sighed, she couldn't let that ammo go to waste, but there was no getting it now. She took off at a dead run, looking every where for the group. With out the ammo the bags weren't as heavy. She sighed, it was going to be a long run.

3:16 pm

Katalyn

I shook my head slowly and watched numbly as the man hurtled around the store, asking after Keri, shouting her name and finally he collapsed against a wall and let out a sharp cry of agony. Somehow that cry reached into me, delved into the depths of my soul and pulled me back from whatever hole I had been trying to hide in. I could not ignore a creature in such obvious pain. Slowly I approached and laid a shaking hand upon his shoulder. I don't think his mind registered the touch.

"I'm sure she's okay," I told him.

"Okay?" He repeated. "Okay? How the fuck is she going to be okay? She's out there with those... things! She could be dead already, I have to go out there..." He turned away from the wall and I moved to block his path but he pushed me aside.

"Hey!" The girl with the gun objected. "Cool it. We've all lost people okay but that gives you no right to push others around and going out there is suicide."

Day 1. 3:00. Bernard.

Bethany fluttered behind him like an injured bird, seeming to try with all her might to simply take off and fly. Her brown eyes were tinged with madness and they swivelled in their sockets, looking for a reason to get moving.

“We can’t just stay here!” She gushed hysterically. “We’re sitting ducks!”

“Be quiet,” Bernard hissed, his patience rubbed raw.

“But they’ll—”

“—ignore us!”

Bethany’s eyes narrowed but she was silent. Bernard was too busy watching the fool with the guns to notice. The man moved with an eerie grace but his fighting was vicious and aggressive, although not without meaning. The fight was slowly progressing down a side street. The man was luring the zombies away.

“Look they’re going!” Bethany blurted out the obvious and Bernard sighed. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut?

“Ok,” he faced her again and pointed behind him, “we’re going towards him. He might know where the others went.”

Bethany swallowed but nodded.

“We might be able to help them.”

Another nod.

“So, you ready?”

She shrugged her pack higher on her shoulders and nodded a third time. Bernard looked down at her and smiled. And then they were running. Long arcing strides that boomed like drums as their feet slapped against the cold sidewalk. Suddenly the gunman looked round at them.

“No! Fuck off you retards!” The man shouted angrily and waved his arms to keep the attention of the zombies. He started jogging away, forcing the creatures to shuffle quicker in pursuit.

Bernard slowed to a jog and waited for Bethany to catch up. As soon as she was within reach he stopped her.

“We can’t get to him, there’s too many of them.”

“He doesn’t look like he needs much help too!”

Bernard rolled his eyes. “He will if he carries on like that!”

“We’ll have to follow the others then, I guess,” Bethany trailed off at the end of her sentence as she stared transfixed at a man lying broken on the ground. Bernard looked too and saw the reason for her attention.

“He’s breathing, Bernard!”

Training took over. He was satisfied the area was clear of danger and he knelt at his patient’s side. Bernard grabbed him solidly by the shoulders and shook him gently.

“Hello, this is Bernard Grahams. I’m a doctor, can you hear me?”

The man’s eyes flickered open and stared deep into Bernard’s soul. Something inside him squirmed at the penetrating gaze, but his discipline kept him from doing so.

“I’m called … Derrik,” the man grunted awkwardly, “nice to meet you, Doctor!”

Day 1. 3:06pm. Kevin.

"Fuckin' moronic british motherfuckers," I huffed. Damned tourists.

The zombies were actually moving a bit faster than before. They didn't shuffle so much as they did...shuffle quickly? They were faster than I was, at a normal walk. Fuckers were gonna make me work to get away.

Then, all at once, I saw my out. I ducked into an alley and sprinted to the end of it. The cement wall came rushing at me, or me to it, and I jumped up onto the dumpster that was leaned against it. I hoisted myself up and over the wall in a deft move and went to haul myself over it--but my pant leg got caught on a rusted nail protruding from goknowswhat, and I fell headlong over the wall. I managed to turn my body a bit and land more or less on my feet.

Less, rather than more. My knee struck the pavement and I howled in pain, hearing the damned thing crack a little.

Smooth move, dipshit.

I pushed myself into a seated position and suddenly I was glad I still had a bullet left in the chamber of my pistol. On a fucked leg I knew I was as good as dead.

...Fuck.

I ran a hand through my hair.

"Clumsy motherfucker."

For the moment, I was safe. But if the shit hit the fan, and I was backed into a corner, it was lights out, Kevster.

Day 1. 3:18pm

Katalyn

"And you expect me to stay here?" He shook his ginger head back and forth. It reminded me of a lion's mane how it fell back around his face in a tangled mound and then he turned and planted a fist into the wall, causing just a little plaster to fall away.

"Yes, yes I do," The girl replied. He stood there a moment and then turned away and slunk back to the wall with the others.

"She'll be okay," One of the others promised but she seemed reluctant to touch him. In fact, the whole group seemed to avoid physical contact with each other. Were they scared of getting too close? Or did they not know each other, just a handful of people thrown together in the middle of a crisis.

"What's in the bag?" The girl with the gun asked me. That was when I remembered I was still carrying it. I shrugged it from my shoulders and placed it on the ground.

"There's a gun," I told her. "Just a small one. And a knife. First aid pack, food, make-up. Just some things I grabbed when I was panicking."

"Your name was Kat, right?" The girl asked. I nodded. "Well I'm Jo. That's Mev, Dave, Angie and Adara."

Day 1. 3:22pm. Adara.

After a while of staring at her the silence became uncomfortable and I reached forward to shake her hand, not watnting to start off with a bad impression. Like it mattered.

She smiled uneasily and took my hand shakily. She behaved just the way I felt. But I'd never been good at showing my feelings.

"Welcome to our hell." I said with faux cheer. It could have sounded rude, but I hand't meant it to. I ignored her look of concern and turned away from her to face Jo who now paced in her act to convince Dave not to leave the group. He wasn't having it.

I didn't blame him, I didn't think anyone could. He'd already lost a friend, but now to lose someone he really loved? I couldn't only imagine because I'd never really felt it. I'd grown up without much comapssion, it was the best I could do, to imagine how he felt. If I could help him...

Something sparked in my mind and I realized that I'd found what I needed. I needed to be useful. Jo was useful, Mev was useful, Dave was, even Kat with her bag and consoling behavior was. Now I could be useful as well.

I could find Keri.

It was perfect. I'd have a chance to part from the group for a while. They made me feel lonely, the relationships and care they had for one another, nothing like the friends they'd appeared to be before the zombies. But I considered that my fault. I did have a tendency to become a loner and get lost in my own little world.

We were still huddled by the front door, either too tired or too scared to venture any further in the dark warehouse. Mev and Angie were now greeting Kat, emptying the contents of her bag into neat piles on the floor and factoring out how they could be used.

I approached Jo who had given up talking to Dave-- whom now pressured his head firmly against the brick wall murmuring to himself-- and put my hand on her shoulder.

She jumped around to face me, hand gripping her gun and aiming it at my chest. I didn't move nor look down but waited patiently for her to lower it. When she did she looked at me like I was crazy, which I probably was, but I'd already guessed that.

"Don't do that!" She said angrily, though I could tell that she was just startled.

"Sorry." I muttered. "I have a plan." Her eyes brightened at this. I wrung my hands together unsure of what she would say. "I...want to go find Keri." I said looking into her eyes. She frowned at this and then turned away. At first I thought it was ayes but then she walked over to where Mev and Angie sat.

"Did you hear what she just asked me?" she said in shock. Mev shrugged and she said it again, way louder than I'd said it before.

"She wants to find Keri!" she said angrily. I could tell it was anger. She'd been angry since Keve left, that I could understand. Mev jumped up and walked to me briskly, rage coloring his face.

"What part of suicide don't you understand?" he said through gritted teeth.

"I don't really care about that." I said quickly, he eyes widened and he opened his mouth to yell. I could tell everyone was irritable. Finally we were getting out some real feelings. " What I meant was that she is more important__"

"Than you?" he inturrupted. My eyes cast down to where Derrik sat looking up at me questioningly. The hunger in his eyes told me that I'd have to fight for this.

"Yes." I murmured. Jo slapped her hangs to her sides.

"We don't need this right now! We don't need to worry about another person."

"Then don't worry." I said turning around and facing Dave again. "Come on, let's go get your girlfriend."

Day 1. 3:27pm. Keri.

Yelling from an old were house caught Keri's ear. SHe hurried to it,

"Come on let's go get your girlfriend." She heard a girl yell at Dave. Keri shook her head and walked in hoisting the duffel bag higher on her now sore shoulder. Dave's eyes grew big along with the others.

"Lookin for me?" She asked,

"Where the hell have you been?" Mev demanded,

"Well, now if your gona start yellin at me I might as well leave." She hissed, she was to sore to put up with his yelling. He shut his mouth. "Now, I went and got some guns. Not much good some of them will do sense I lost my other bag with most of the ammo, but this will have to do. The ammo just wont last to long." SHe said regretibly.

"What happened to the other bag?" Jo asked,

"Zombies, I should've stuck dynamite in it and shot it up. I didn't have any though." She said smiling, her plan to lighten the mood didn't help any and she set the bag down for Mev to inspect. She rubbed her shoulder and readjusted the rifle on her shoulder. She wasn't going to put it down. She had put her hand gun away and it was hidden again. SHe walked over to Dave and gave him a hug.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" He demanded,

"You were mad, I didn't want to bother you, plus, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if you had gotten killed in the process." SHe said, she looked up at Kat. "THanks for caring." She said smiling up at her. Kat nodded,

"How many guns are in that bag?" She asked,

"Only three or four that the ammo is in that bag. And only about a box per gun." Keri replied,

"A MACHINE GUN!" Jo gasped, Keri looked her way, "These things are illegal."

"Your point, its useless. The ammo is in the other bag regretfully." Keri said, Mev frowned. "Mostly what you can use is the two rifles, and maybe a hand gun or two. Just depends on what ammo I stuck in there." She had all the ammo she wanted in her cargo pants. Quick loads and a box of ammo for her hand gun and then some for the rifle.

"How did you manage to get the Machine gun?" Kat asked,

"I like guns." Keri smiled, "And a friend of mine used to love illegal guns. Before he got caught he dropped it off at my place."

"Oh," Kat seemed upset. Keri stood up.

"Lets check out the rest of this were house." She turned to Dave who seemed a little upset. "You want to come?" She asked gently, she felt bad that she had upset him, at least he didn't seem mad at her any more.