The Sickness

SAMUEL

I shrugged. "Who knows?" I wasn't as calm as I made myself look, but I was working on blocking out my nervousness. It was surprisingly working quite well. Hex hobbled off and I didn't bother saying goodbye. Not like she wanted it anyways.

I sighed and stepped out onto the streets myself. Firehead was right, nothing. I kicked at a piece of rubble and stared ahead, sword in hand. I took a deep breath. They were hiding...they had to be.

I turned to Firehead. "We should probably get outta here."

She nodded and turned to take one last look at the puny bit of weapons that hadn't been ransacked already. There wasn't much that would be of any use. All of it had been taken by tribes already. "Coming?" I muttered.

She turned to me and nodded. I did't question why I asked her to come with me...I didn't question much anymore.

Kate Angell|Zaria:

I shrugged and followed him off down the street. I frowned and glanced back over my shoulder, but no one was following us.

"Hey," I said, suddenly realising something. "I didn't catch your name. I'm Zaria."

He glanced back at me and shrugged. I sighed and kept walking. This was weird; that no one was chasing us or something. I fingered my dagger, looking around. This street was empty.

"Hey," I said and grabbed his arm. He turned on me, sword raised. I held up my hands. "Okay, don't hurt me." He hesitated. "Um, where are we going? And you still haven't told me your name!"

He grinned and lowered the sword. "Sam."

"Okay," I said, frowning at him. "I told you my name...so, where are we going?"

SAMUEL

Firehead-excuse me- Zaria asked too many questions. "Away," I answered. She didn't let go of my arm. Obviously not a satisfying answer for her. I sighed. "For now I'm going to my roof. I actually found a skyscraper with a working elevator." I winked at her.

"That somehow doesn't sound very safe to me," she muttered.

I rolled my eyes. It's where I had been since this whole thing started. Then again, she could be right. "Well, I'm going to grab my stuff at least. Then we can go wherever. I want to get out of this blasted city."

She nodded and let go of my arm. Maybe she wasn't so bad, just curious. Then again, if I were her I'd want to know where we were going, too. I looked around. Still nobody. If they were hiding and one of them had a pistol we didn't stand a chance. I felt trapped, and trapped was not something I liked.

I sighed and started walking. Standing there wasn't going to do much good against a bullet either. Zaria followed. My roof was only a few blocks away. We could probably make in unscratched.

Caleb Reynolds-Aerrow

"Do we know any other places we could go?" I asked quickly over Jojo's sobs. Ari nodded, "What about the old marine shop. Last time I checked it was abandoned." A roar of laughter and screams erupted from our "old" hideout. "That might work; we just have to get to the other side of town without being seen." GT mumbled, she looked across the street towards the open sea.

Kammie whispered something into Mikayla’s ear which seemed to reassure both the girls. I sighed, "Then let's go." I began to walk, or more side skip, towards the end of the road where the intersection between streets met. A gull swooped above our head resting on the street sign. Its deep brown gaze lurked over us. It squawked loudly making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

"Where exactly is the Marine shop?" Kammie asked, her soft voice dropping a level. Ari coughed into the palm of her hand motioning with her head for us to duck into the darkness. I threw myself over a fence landing heavily on the ground behind it. Pressing my back to the splintered wood, I watched the others do the same.

The whirl of blue and red sirens crashed down the street, a group of children held onto the sides of what us to be a cop car. An elder boy sat in the drivers street banging his head to music coming from a broken radio. A group of drunken looking girls sat behind him laughing at everything he said. Ari looked up once they passed and shook her head. "Stupid girls." Standing up I felt my knees wobble under the strain of sleep deprivation.

The rest of the trip hadn't been as eventful. A few kids in front of bomb fires and a few making out in the tops of the trees welcomed us as we walked into the street. The peer behind it was drenched with sea gulls, and bugs that scavenged off the food the birds dropped.

Motioning with my finger we maundered behind a line of cottage looking houses towards the last building on the street, the marine shop. GT crept around the back; I could hear her fumbling with the front door. "It's locked!" She hissed hastily jumping over a large fern.

"No problem!" Ari said pressing her hand to the back of the wall, she slid it downwards. "What are you doing?" I asked simultaneously. "Back door!" Ari stood up; taking a step back she kicked sending the door flying open. I looked into the darkness of the shop. A scent of bait tackle and seaweed filled my nose. I gagged loudly. "Get use to it, this is our new home." Jojo sobbed.

Arianna Cortez - Ari

I glanced around at the dusty shop, the stench of seaweed over rid the scent of salt but at least it was familiar. I spread out a thick rope netting between two barrels, and pushed Jojo towards it.

"You need some rest hun." I said softly.

I looked at the younger of the two sisters and waved her over beside Jojo. "You too."

When everyone had settled down, I sprawled out on a bunch of life rings. Aerrow sat on a crate of old sodas, sipping on one.

"That's gross. Those have been there for ages."

Aerrow shrugged and took another sip. I groaned and stood up, taking the bottle from his hands.

"Thanks mom, for watching what I dri-- Hey!" I smiled at him taking a big gulp and walking back to the rings. "That's mean."

I laughed, licking my lips and grabbed another soda, tossing it up to GT who was perched in the rafters.

"Ouch! What was that for!" she moaned.

"Soda! Enjoy." I grinned. "I'm going for a swim, not quite tired just yet."

Strolling out of the shop with bo in hand I whistled, squeezing my toes in the sand. I'd always loved the beach, treading my feet in the salty water. Shoving my bo into the sand so it would remain hidden but ready, before I plunged into the cold water.

"You reckless idiot!" someone shouted. "You're going to get hypothermia."

Kammie



One second we were just minding our own business, next thing you know me and Mikayla are in a dark shop, while some girl I don't even know is telling Mikayla to go to sleep. How do I know she isn't going to kill us the minute we close our eyes. I was wary to even go with them to begin with.

"So what's your story?" I ask the girl who talked to Mikayla, Ari I heard someone call her.

Spoiler

Arianna Cortez - Ari

The older girl sat in the sand as I tread through the water.

"So what's your story?" she asked warily.

"The same as anyone else's these days." I snorted.

"Gee, that's specific."

"Ugh, well let's see. I was an only child, my parents died from the illness. I ran away with a back pack and a shot gun. Got into a tribe and things went downhill from there. I wandered for a while, until I met Aerrow. I don't even remember how I met him..." I hesitated. "Hang on."

I ran up the beach, wringing out my hair as I stepped into the shop. The girl followed my slowly up the beach.

"Yo, Aerrow. Wakey wakey." I said, splashing water on his snoring figure.

"Eh! What!" he shouted jumping up.

"How'd we meet again?" I said sitting down on the rings.

"Seriously? You woke me up for that?" he yawned.

I smiled and wringed out my hair again. "Yea I did. All I remember was the alleyway, and there was a fight wasn't there?"

I sat quiet for a moment, thinking about that dark alleyway, covered in graffiti and crates stacked up against the walls. I'd done something stupidly reckless, and a group was after me. But that's all I remembered, hopefully Aerrow remembered himself.

"Um, let's see..." he said, pondering for a moment.

*Erm not sure what to do with this post now.*

** Oooh quick change! She's now 16 not 13. That seems to young and might mutate **


EDIT: Kammie is 16. Mikayla is 13

[jasmine, the character you are talking too is not in the building your character is in]

Greer Tolsen - GT

Greer yawned a little in the rafters as she pulled the hairtie out, her long curls flopped over the sides of the beams. She popped her soda open and took a sip--it was warm, but it was good. It had been forever since she remembered having anything cold to drink. It didn't even phase her anymore.

She sighed and sat up, "I think I'm going to join Ari. Get some of this dirt off." She left her soda on the rafter and hopped down to the hard cement.

Greer headed outside and slipped her boots and socks off just passed the waterline. She saw Ari about fifteen feet away from her in the water, but she was the only other person Greer could see from where she was. It was pitch black out anyway, so had there been someone else they would have only been a simple silhouette.

She quickly stripped her clothes off and headed into the ocean. It was absolutely freezing, but oddly refreshing. She put her head under in an attempt to get the dirt and sand out of it. The cold was worth it.

Greer was quick and slid out of the water unnoticed, grabbing her clothes and forcing her underclothes on quickly. She'd wait a few minutes before putting her jeans and shirt back on, just to keep them from getting soaking wet. She wrung out her long hair and threw it back up in a ponytail.

She paused for a second and sat on a fallen tree. The moon was bouncing off the water calmly. Everything in the water seemed calm. There were no boats, no swimming (save Ari), no animals jumping out of it--it was calm. There wasn't much in their world that was this way anymore, and Greer tried to take this moment for what it was worth.

**Via, I should have explained better. My character's little sister went to sleep and my character went outside and saw Ari and started to talk to her**

** Yea, let's forget the last post I made, let's see if we can fix this up (also Skins! I'm sorry I kicked you out of the picture, I hadn't realized! Why don't you go stroll up the beach and run into us?)**

Ari

I smiled as I watched a very GT-like silhouette stroll down the beach. She moved so lightly, but knowing GT she'd probably want to be alone. Submerging myself in the cold water, I relaxed. When I popped out of the water again, another silhouette had appeared and sat down in the sand.

I couldn't recognize the figure, so I swam closer.

"So Ari is it? What's your story?"

I recognized the dry voice of the girl we'd run into earlier. "The same as anyone else's these days." I snorted.

"Gee, that's specific."

"Ugh, well let's see. I was an only child, my parents died from the illness. I ran away with a back pack and a shot gun. Got into a tribe and things went downhill from there. I wandered for a while, until I met Aerrow. I don't even remember how I met him..." I hesitated.

"I'm Kammie by the way." the girl said softly. "And my sister is Mikayla."

"Yea. I'm Ari, but you've already heard." I grimaced. "Gimme a sec."

I hopped out of the water to where my clothes were, slipping everything back on I walked over to GT.

"Are we gonna keep them?" I asked, wringing out my hair.

"I don't know. Aerrow is a fricking bleeding heart. We can't deal with too many more." she said, still laying on her back.

I chewed on my lip nervously. "This sucks a lot doesn't it?"

"Yea. It does."

[Sorry Jamas! I missed your post in the midst of posting mine!]

Greer Tolsen - GT

"Yea. It does."

She sat up and slid on her black shirt, "God what I wouldn't give for a shower."

Ari laughed, "I'm with you there."

Greer pulled her jeans and boots on in the moonlight and turned to Ari, "They'll get killed if we don't." She adjusted the top of her jeans and laced up her boots. She was still a bit damp, and her clothes were slightly sticking to her.

Ari cocked her head to the side, "..huh?"

Greer shook her head in an oh..duh..segway kind of manner, "Those two, I mean. If we don't keep them, they'll get killed."

Ari shrugged a little and turned back to look Kammie watching them from far away intently. She seemed to be stuck on something as she turned back to Greer, "But, what about us?"

Greer sighed. She knew the risk was higher for them for every person that traveled with them, especially the ones who lacked basic survival skills. But, after two years of this, Greer was used to the killing and death. She has basically accepted that death was a real possibily for her and everyone she knew and, although she wasn't exactly thrilled with it, she was a realist.

They started back down on the beach, "I don't think it really matters. We could be killed at any second, with or without them. It sucks, but it's what it is now."

**No big deal It's fixed now.

Ari

I grimaced at GT's words "That's a somber look on things. But if that's the case, we may as well enjoy ourselves in the process?"

"Yea, I guess." GT absently dug a hole in the sand.

I chewed my lips again, staring at the stars and the water lapping against the shore. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for myself and the others. We were trapped in a world that didn't like us, and didn't like each other.

"GT? What do you think is going to happen to us? I mean everyone. "

"I dunno. Positive? Everything's gonna work out and we can start fresh. But that's not probable."

I laughed, "Like building a new society in all those sci-fi books?"

"Yea. That," she smiled. "With hover cars."

"And what about negative?" I asked, giggling.

"Survival of the fittest." She said, looking back to Kammie, who had stood up and was headed in our direction.

Caleb Reynolds-Aerrow

Using my hands I flicked my hair out of my face. It was beginning to really annoy me now, especially when I was trying to sneak around in the dark! I looked over my shoulder to see Ari and GT sitting on the waters edge. Kammie was walking towards them in an almost dreamy state.

Burrowing through the brambles I forced my legs to move. Lifting my head from the dirt I stared down the street. It was empty. Pushing myself up, I stumbled into the middle of the street holding my katana firmly in my hands.

I wasn't about to let some freak scare me! Not now or never. I looked around the street for the cloaked figure, what ever or where ever he or she was I knew it had to be close. I kept having the same feeling that someone was watching us.

Stepping forward I swung the blade in a threatening move my father had taught me when he hadn't been wasting his life away on that dumb sofa of his. I looked up into the moon, the bright light shone down over me lighting the ground around my figure.

It was always there; the sun and the moon. Though they came out in different times, they were always there waiting to show their faces. The two things I knew that would always be the same. The sun would rise from the east and the moon from the west to meet each other. It was prefect harmony. I was really starting to hate perfect harmony.

I heard something move behind me. Spinning around I forced my sword above my head shouting into the distant street. A leaf rustled onto the road, flipping and turning as it made its way across the worn out bitchamen. "Your only reacting, Aerrow." I sighed with relief, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead.

"No you're not." A hand moved over my mouth cutting out my scream. My heart skipped a beat, an icy wave blew across my face lighting up my lungs and heart beat in wave of cold flame. I began to squirm elbowing my holder in the gut. He grunted loudly letting his grip slip. Turning I forced his arms away from my body with a quick movement of my wrist. Jumping into the air I twirled quickly smashing my foot against his nose.

He stumbled back pulling a pistol from the back of his ripped pants. "I'm sending you a message!" He said quickly, placing a hand to his wounded nose. I raised my katana, staring angrily back at him. "A message?" I snapped in the roughest voice I could manage. The boy in front of me nodded. He looked like a stick, but his strength definitely felt like an elephants.

He nodded affirmatively. Pointing his long thin arm towards the bush, waving his gun around the air. "You and your little friends better watch out-" stepping forward I roared at him. He pulled his gun up suddenly pointing it at my chest. "Here me out! You are all in a lot of danger; your big heads are on the chopping blocks. If I was you I wouldn't stay in one place for to long. As we speak you are being tracked.”

Spoiler

** Yea, let's forget the last post I made, let's see if we can fix this up (also Skins! I'm sorry I kicked you out of the picture, I hadn't realized! Why don't you go stroll up the beach and run into us?)*

That's fine Kamas! I can't post that often anyway because most of you are Australian or American... and I have school. I'll try and bring my character back in now.

Dougie Lee

I watched the moon as it illuminated the sky. It was amazing how now there was hardly any pollution left, I could see stars that I never even knew existed. My mother used to tell me how stars were like people; each one was an individual and each one should be treated as though they were the most important thing in the world. Then again, my mum was a hypocrite.

As I concentrated on the night sky, something caught my attention. I could hear what sounded like an argument between two people in the street a few yards ahead. I tried to ignore it, but it was a lot harder said than done. After a few minutes, I stood up and decided to see what was going on. As I neared the two people, I was surprised to recognise one of the voices.

Making myself unnoticed, I hid behind one of the trees.

"A message?" The voice I recognised slightly, spoke.

I tried concentrating carefully, why did I recognise his voice? I must have been stood there, staring for five minutes or so when it finally hit me. He was one of those guys I'd met a few hours ago, the one with the dark hair, similar to mine.

"Here me out! You are all in a lot of danger; your big heads are on the chopping blocks. If I was you I wouldn't stay in one place for to long. As we speak you are being tracked.” The guy I didn't recognise hissed at the other one.

Wow, someone's happy today, I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. I was about to step in, but then I decided not to. Getting involved in other people's business ment trouble; I'd only end up killing them or something.

The boy didn't reply then, he simply glared at the other guy. Minutes later, the unrecognisable guy muttered something in the boys ear. Grinning, the guy . The boy was left standing on the sidewalk, clearly concerned.

"Dude, do you actually have any friends?" I said, walking out from behind the tree. "I mean, come on. Everyone seems to want to kill you."

The boy was obviously surprised to see me as he spun around. It took him a while, but he eventually recognised me. Although, he didn't look very impressed when he did.