The Survivors (started)

Raisa
Raisa's eyes were fixed on the body of one of the survivors, her eyes surprisingly dry as she focused on her thoughts. Her throat was thick and numb with witnessing a death and a small condescending voice raved at her for not crying like the others, though Raisa hadn't known him well enough to truly grieve; he was just a face in their pathetic little band of misfits, and with a pang she discovered that it was the same for her too.
Everyone had split up after they had sung Amazing Grace, crawling into little balls of misery and two steps backwards from when they all had first grouped together. Raisa had broke away from Tadge to find refuge next to a beaten Honda, and since then she had stared at the body, imprinting its crumpled figure on the inside of her eyelids. Her fight had been temporarily diminished; she didn't have the heart to rekindle it.
A vibration echoed under her, blurring the floors. Everyone froze and abandoned their grief with the new arrival of another possible earthquake. Raisa stood slowly, sliding her backpack over her shoulders and eyeing the others to make sure it wasn't just her. It came again greater this time, and Raisa put her hand on the car for support as she shared a knowing glance with Tadge.
Suddenly the thick doors smashed open and a wicked wind blasted into the group, stirring hair and flapping clothes as everyone turned and watched as a man emerged. He was giant, with a broad chest and shoulders and taut muscles under leathery tan skin, and a shockingly pale scar flashed across his face like a bolt of lightning, thick enough for Raisa to put her thumb on. And his eyes were a greedy sadistic black, brimming with bad intentions.
He smiled, an unholy act that stretched his scar into a jagged swirl. He was looking directly at Liam, the boy who had been bossing them around. Her chest flared with a scarlet flag as she spotted the flashing silver in his hand, and Liam picked up a broken piece of wood and stood in front of Tabitha like a snarling guard dog.
Liam whispered something into her ear, his eyes still riveted on the man. Tabitha stiffened, and then Liam unexpectedly turned her towards him and gave her a private kiss on her nose, and then hugged her tightly. The man chuckled, his eyes gleaming sarcastically at the act of tenderness. Raisa's spine shivered.
Then the fighting began. Raisa had to give Liam credit for getting the first hit on target, but the man just brushed it off like an annoying fly. He raised his meaty hand and struck Liam across the face with the blunt of the knife, sending him to his knees. When he tried to stand the man slashed the knife down his face, and a sickening trickle of blood flowed down Liam's neck and speckled the floor.
They jumped onto each other like bears and rolled on the floor, fists flying and grunts sounding as they connected. But no matter how many football practices Liam might have had, he was painfully over gunned. The man pinned him beneath his looming frame and jerked a mask over Liam's head, standing and dragging him off like a predator with it's kill.

Spoiler

I'm sorry this sucks cheese. My brain is dead *poof* Tadge has always had a beanie, I just never wrote about it :3

Tadge

I watched as the scene played out in front of us. They were fighting like wild animals. The tall man repeatedly bashed Liam across the head. Liam went down, the man pinned Liam down and placed something over his face. He picked him up like a doll and dragged him out of the building.

What now? I asked myself, Our leader has been taken. But why? I ran a hand through my hair, it was pushed up off my face from the gush of wind that just came through the doors. I flicked it onto my face making sure it almost covered me eyes. I straightened out my black beanie and walked to the far side of the room we were all in. Siding down on the wall I let out a sigh and put my head to my cold shaking hands. Are we all just going to sit here and wounder what to do? Wait to just all die?

"Gahh, I just want this to be over." I whispered to myself.

"I agree. . ." I looked up to see Raisa standing over me with a worried face. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just hate seeing people die. . ." I said honestly. "Who the hell was that guy? Why did he want Liam...?" I wondered out loud.

"I really don't know. . . But we have to do something, I just don't know what." She slid down beside me. Raisa yawned and covered her mouth.

"It must be getting late." Tadge whispered, "You look like you could use some sleep." I said plainly.

"Sleep is for the weak." She said coolly.

"Well," I raised his eyebrows.

"I'm stronger than you." She said crossing her arms. I nodded.

"If you say so."

"I bet I can stay up longer than you." She said narrowing her eyes at me.

"What's in it for me?" I asked.

"Urm, I'll think of something and you think of something then tomorrow when I win. . I'll tell you." She said putting out her hand, "Deal?"

I took it roughly, "Deal."


*Five hours later*

It was like a Mexican stand off, she just wouldn't fall asleep, "Far out woman, Just sleep already." I sighed, she was going to keep me up all night if we keep this up.

"Sleep then. I wouldn't want you to be tired for-" She yawned again, "Tomorrow." I shook my head, I will win. I looked around at the other survivors sleeping bodies, it was making me quite sleepy. I cover my mouth as I yawned, "Maybe you should get some rest." She said faking her worried act.

"Oh, no, its fine. I'm not sleepy." I fake smiled at her. We fell into silence for what felt like forever.

I was having trouble keeping my eyes open when a body landed on me. I looked down at Raisa with a small smile, "I win." I whispered to myself. I bit my lip and put my hand on her shoulder and rubbed it softly making sure she was asleep. I carefully pushed her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Why is my heart doing weird things right now? Where are in the middle of a disaster, this is no time for love. I sighed and rested my head against the wall behind us. Could this be the start of something? I closed my eyes and thought about what would be happening if we weren't in this mess. For some reason all I could dream about was her.

Alex chose not to understand.
He had the choice to try and comprehend what had just happened. he knew what had just happened. But he chose not to. He shed no tears, he felt no pang of emptiness. These were strangers, this was no different than when an NPC died in a video game.

Alex had watched the man drag away one of the boys with complete intent. It had captured his full attention. Alex felt no shame, there was only one thing in the whole world that was important now.
The man.

He did not know who the man was, what he was there for, but he knew one thing. That man had something to do with something. Anything. That man had taken the boy for a reason, and if Alex was going to find out what was going on and who was sending these notes; he had to follow the man.
He acted fast, sprinting toward a car with shattered windows. He opened the glove compartment and found a mall torch and a box of matches. He stuffed them in his pocket. He exited the car and spied a line of motorcycles, it wasn't hard for him to choose the coolest helmet. Khaki green. And that wind blazer would keep him warm too.
He was running out of time. Soon the man would be gone, he pulled on the blazer as he jogged toward the door the ban had burst from, conveniently picking up a study iron strut on his way which he held defiantly as he pried open the door. The man could be seen just in the distance, weighed down by the body he was dragging. Alex slipped outside and into the rubble of a ruined city.
His heart beat hard and fast but he stuck to the walls. Hiding, lurking, creeping, freezing every time the man paused to readjust his grip. When he moved he felt like a ninja, dancing through the shadows and over the walls, safely hidden behind his motorcycle mask.
He pressed on, keeping a safe 100 meters at a time from the man. he wouldn't approach him, only keep him close enough to find out what it was about. He would stay far enough away that if he was spotted he would have a nice long head start.

Melissa Melone

Watching Liam get pulled in the woods by a huge man was.... absolutely terrifying. "I can't take much more of this!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everyone turned to look at me like I was some weird freak. "We need to join together, ALL of us." I looked around at everyone, my eyes all teary and red. I'm just tired of losing everyone. No one deserved to get hurt, especially like all these people. "You all are great people, everyone of yall. Now we just need a plan." I walked around in circles thinking.

Alice.
She wanted to reach out to Melissa, comfort her. But she could only stand there with her eyes wide with shock and terror. The same questions from before slipped through her mind, driving her nearly crazy. Her heart couldn't take this much longer. Too much loss, too much confusion, too much hurt.
The thoughts following the questions were worse. They made her want to cry. But she was starting to go numb. She couldn't. Not even if she wanted to.
Too much pain, too much loss, too many unanswered questions. I can't take it anymore.

Tabitha

Tabitha had protected the others, but there wasn't an immediate threat to the rest. Only Liam. Her stomach turned at the thought of witnessing his body being pummeled by the monster stranger. He had tried hard to protect the rest of them. All she could do was keep the others to remain calm seeing how much distress they were in and they were in no state to travel.

Tabitha opened her photo album, something she did often when something was troubling her. She skipped the pictures of her family before the madness and went straight to the pictures she took when she first arrived. The fire with everybody huddling around, Mark playing his music, the soda fight, the tornadoes. Snapshots of only moments, some joyous others terrifying. She turned the page and found a picture of Liam she had taken as they had paid their respects to Mark. Alex stood next to Liam, crying and holding his hand. It had been such an innocent moment filled with mourning.

She had been worried for Alex and the trauma that came with the situation they were in. In the parking garage he had shown how strong such a young boy could be, she wondered where he was now. She thought he would enjoy to see the picture of the soda fight.

"Have you seen Alex?" She asked Alice as she stood.

"No, not since the garage..." Alice's voice trailed off.

"Okay, thanks." Tabitha looked about the group for the young boy to no avail. "Has anyone seen Alex?" She asked the group.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Alex?" Tabitha called out and was joined by the others.

First Mark doomed by the note and then Liam attacked by the deranged man. Now it seemed that Alex had disappeared. Somebody or something was causing people to disappear or die. The man? Tabitha wasn't so sure. However she was sure she wasn't going to allow anybody else leave or... Liam had told her to protect them and that's just what she was going to do.

Liam Hindi

Liam woke to a sharp pain in his head. He tried to raise his hand to touch it but it was held back by ropes.

"What the hell do you want?" Liam screamed wiggling around in his chair. The man's laugh could be heard echoing down the dark room. Liam was furious with this man.

"Aw the little baby is scared," The man said emerging from the shadows. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Liam."

The man was frustrating Liam. "Let me go you coward!"

The man just smiled. "OK fine, you got me. I'll tell you the whole story."

Liam was tired of this game, but he calmed him self enough to listen.

"Our company has been watching you for the past couple of days." The man said circling Liam. "We have been studying you. The storm, The hurricane, it was all a set up."

"You mean this has all been fake!" Liam screamed at the man. The man nodded a smug smile spread across his face.

"We chose you to help us with our tests." The man spoke leaning into Liam, "Join us and you will understand why we had to do this."

"What do you think I'm crazy!" Liam screamed trying to loosen the ropes. "Poeple have died!"

"Oh no, they didn't die, we set them free." The man said pointing to a screen across the room. It showed Mark happy with his family.

"Why did you let only some people go?" Liam asked confused.

"They decided to join us," The man snickered.

"Then how do you explain Marks death?" Liam asked his ropes almost lose from him loosening them with out the man noticing.

"We have our ways." The man said. Liam had gotten the ropes lose enough to free him self. He pounced on the man sending him flying across the room. He kicked him in the face and the impact flung him into the near by wall. He was out cold.

"And stay down." Liam said picking up a knife from the desk. His slipped the knife into his waistband and looked for an exit. He found a door and walked out into a city, DC. He knew his way around and found his old home after about 40 minutes of running. He was brought to tears as he sat down on his apartment building's stairwell. He sniffed and finally got enough energy to bring him self up the stairs to his apartment. It was unlocked like always. He started to sob when he looked over at his family's smiling faces.

"I miss you guys," Liam said looking at all their faces. Cate his youngest sister who always wanted Liam to play with. Mason, his youngest brother who was only 8 but yet so brave. Anna, his 12 year sister who was never home because she was "Too cool" for parents. And finally Louis, He was 15 and looked up to Liam. He had let his family down, he had become someone he wasn't. He cried some more and hung his shirt now soaked with blood to dry, over the balcony. He laid in his old creaky bed and fell alseep once more.

Melissa Melone

I layed on the ground, so distressed, my mind felt like it was going to explode into a million pieces. Some girl was looking for Alex, I wanted to help but I couldn't find the nerve to get up. Maybe he died to.. then what? I couldn't bare seeing a little boy dead. Alice just stood next to a tree teary eyed and looking at the ground, we both need some time to actually relax, but I doubt that will ever happen in a life time. I closed my eyes and eventually fell asleep.

It was dark by the time I woke back up and so I just sat up, when I did, I felt something grab on my foot. It was a snake, I screamed and jumped up but it was to late. The snake bit me. "someone has to suck the venom out!!" Alice screamed. Everyone was panicing. I laid their in agony and slowly spoke the words, "No. Let. Me. Die..." then I trailed off into a daze.

Liam woke from his deep sleep. His bed was sticky with blood. He tried standing but he was to dizzy. He groaned and raised his hand to his head. Liam tried to find skin but he could only feel sticky dried blood. A gash that needed stitches went from the bottom of his right eye and across nose and ending at the bottom of his left cheek. He leaned over to his small mirror that laid on his dresser.

Liam saw a green eyed boy with honey colored hair. But the old Liam ended there. His face was covered in blood and his gash made him look like a complete stranger. To finish it off his eye's had gone cold and mean. He was almost scared of the stranger that stared at him. He slowly stood up and almost stepped on a frame that laid on the floor. His family. The hallucinations from last night, he was looking at that picture. Liam moaned and got down on his knee's. He crawled to the bathroom and turned the sink facet. To his surprise, hot water flowed out soaking his hands. He dragged his weak body into a standing position and started to wash his face.

After 30 good minutes of cleaning and soaking. He almost looked like the old Liam. His eye's had gone back to the calm green they used to be and his hair was no longer coated with blood. But that nasty scar still screamed across his face. Liam sighed and set off for food. He found a can of chicken noodle soup and heated it up in his microwave that also still worked. He ate slowly and went back to his room to get in better clothes. He changed and grabbed his back-pack from his desk. He filled it with kitchen knifes and any other thing that could be used as a weapon.

He took one last look at his small apartment and turned and left to find his friends. He slowly stumbled though the destroyed town looking for the CVS. He saw it off in the distance and nearly screamed in joy. Liam finally approached it and knocked 3 times on the door. He looked in the window and he saw Tabitha doing what he told her to do. She was almost on top of the group bearing the wood he had used earlier as a weapon.

"Tabitha..." Liam said weakly but loud enough to be heard. She whipped around and instantly ran for the door. The door flung open and Tabitha almost jumped on top of Liam. Liam was now on the verge of tears and pulled Tabitha into a tight hug.

"Your face," She said pulling away and reaching up to touch it.

"Is it that bad?" Liam asked. Tabitha nodded and wrapped a arm around his waist helping him inside. She set Liam down on a sleeping bag and ran for the first aid kit. She covered his face in a gauze and sat next to him.

"So what happened?" She asked as the group sat down.

"We're being watched," Liam said still leaning on Tabitha for support. "This is all a test, Mark isn't dead, He joined them. Everything was a set up, even the storms."

"They can't control weather," Tabitha said.

"I know, but we are gonna fight back," Liam said swinging the bag of weapons in front of him. He opened it and out spilled all the weapons.

Alex shrunk against something that may have once been a chimney, there was a small broken gap in the bottom which he wiggled into then climbed up the inside to the top, peeking above the curved rim. It was tall and impossible to get into apart from the way he had come. The man who had dragged the boy had taken him into a sort of garage for a while then he had come out again, fists bloodied; the boy was no longer with him. The man scoped around and Alex ducked down. Too fast, when he peeked out again the mans hard glare met his eyes. He had been seen.
Alex pulled down the visor as the man approached his chimney fort and circled it a couple of times.
"Stupid kid" he muttered as he spotted the hole in the concrete. The man was far to fat to fit so he stuck his arm into the gap, flailing it around looking for an ankle to grip onto.

Alex smiled, he was perched far higher than the stupid mans reach and now he was vulnerable. Alex took a good hard grip on his strut and slammed it down into the arm. The was a crunch and a scream of pain so loud it echoed beyond the buildings and into the dusty sky. The arm receded leaving a train of blood. Alex looked over the edge of the chimney o see the man sniveling on the ground.
"Stupid kid" he grunted again through clenched teeth and reached into his jacket with his good arm.
A gun.
Before he had time to aim Alex prize the strut under a lose crack in the concrete, levering out a huge hunk then heaved. It fell instantly below right to the mans head then rolled to his good arm, crushing that too.

Alex waited a good five minutes. The man still hadn't moved. Had he killed him? Was he the boss or just a henchman? Alex took a risk and wiggled out on the chimney and cautious approached the lump on the mans still form, strut wielded in front of him. The man was completely still.

Alex searched through his pockets, and jacket. There was a handgun, a key card, a sort of phone.. he stuffed them all into the pockets of his blazer. Alex had no clue how to use a gun and he thought he probably wouldn't ever want to use it. He aimed it to the sky to give it a kind of test but chickened out before pulling the trigger. He had heard that guns recoils hurt and the thing was heavy enough he could barely lift it. He still wasn't even fully grown. Alex had watched enough movies and played enough video games to push the S button then store it back in the blazer pocket. Even if he was never going to fire it, it would come in useful for getting people to do things. People usually did things when there was a gun aimed at their heads.

Alex looked around. He could go into the garage.. or not. He wasn't fond of the idea of coming face to face with a body. He activated the phone which conveniently had a map already up. He studied it. There was a red dot where he was now, a blue square where the CVS building was and another green square a little further away.
Destination: Green square.

Melissa Melone

Laying there I was still weak from the bite. No one was near me, they were all surrounding someone with a bag of weapons. Who might that be? I questioned to myself. Slowly I got up and walked inside the CVS place. It was Liam, he was back, but mark still hadn't appeared, nor had Alex. I sat down on the floor not knowing what was going on. I just wanted to go home. I was tired of this place. "What's going on?" I asked. No one looked at me and I repeated it a few more times but no reply. "Goodness gracious." I slammed the door shut and took a walk around.

Little did they know, that Steave had been crushed not far from Mark. Sadly, unlike Marks "death" Steave had really perished. A freak accident, that no one would ever completely understand.

Tabitha

Tabitha stared at Liam. Everything they've been through, watching people perish violent deaths, struggling with grief and uncertainty has been...staged? Tabitha suddenly had an urge to punch something. Somebody. Instead she rested her hand on Liam's arm, and adjusted the bandage around his head.

"What do you suggest we do?" She asked him.

"Fight back." He revealed a bag packed with weapons, "Everybody grab a weapon."

"Where did you get all of this?" Tadge asked coming out of the shadows and looking at the artillery.

"Let's just say there's a helpful store down the street." Liam laughed.

Tabitha moved to take a revolver along with extra magazines. She had used one once, when her dad had taken her hunting. Her fingers grasped the handle. It was cold. She opened the gun to load, clicking the bullets into place. Without warning, bullets dropped and scattered across the floor. Clumsy, she thought to herself as she bent down to collect the fallen bullets.

Liam joined her. She paused for a moment to look at him. He was focused, his green eyes calm and stern at the task at hand. Tabitha wondered how such a handsome guy could ever like a girl with a scar like hers. By instinct, Tabitha touched her hand to the silver scar that ran down her face. Liam looked up, feeling her gaze on him. Tabitha looked away as she picked up the last stray bullet.

"Liam, there's something else...something that happened after you were taken." She whispered.

"What?"

"Alex, he went been missing. I've looked everywhere. We've looked everywhere. He's no where to be found."

"I don't mean to sound harsh, but that kid can handle himself. You saw how he took the lead and saved us from the tornadoes. He has smarts." Liam hugged Tabitha and she closed her eyes and tried to forget the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Liam


Liam held Tabitha in his arm's till the other's had gone off to either get food or practice their new weapons. Liam pulled away and looked into her blue eye's.

"I promise, it will be OK." He whispered kissing her forehead. Liam stood up offering Tabitha a hand, she took it picking up her weapon along the way. Liam put the bullet's in the revolver for her and smiled. Liam had picked 3 daggers and had strapped them to his belt. He took Tabitha's hand in his and walked to a empty hallway.

"I'm going to teach you how to throw knife's OK?" Liam said handing Tabitha a knife them pulling out one for him self. He wrapped his hand around the handle and watched Tabitha do the same. He flicked his wrist and the knife went spinning into the wall on the other side of the hallway. Tabitha copied him and her's flew right next to Liam's knife. Tabitha had a huge smile on her face and Liam was sure he did too.

"Do you know how to shoot a gun?" He asked Tabitha. She nodded. "Can you teach me?"

Liam smiled when she handed him the gun. She stood behind him and worked as his hands and fingers. He fired. Tabitha's hands still harm around his she stepped bac to let Liam try by him self. He did the stance and set him self up. BANG. The bullet had stuck into the wall. Liam smiled and went to retrieve his daggers as Tabitha filled the gun back up with bullets.

"Tabitha, I'm gonna go look for Alex." Liam said walking back towards her.

"I'm going with you." Tabitha replied sticking the gun in her waist band.

"No your not." Liam replied staring straight into her eyes

"Yes I am." Tabitha said staring back.

Liam finally gave in and let her come. He was still terrified of Tabitha getting hurt.

Raisa

Raisa arched her back like a cat as she stretched, yawning profusely and rubbing her eyes. Sleeping on the cement floor hadn't exactly been a free lift to Candyland, but it wasn't like anyone was willing to give out queen mattresses and handmade quilts anytime soon. Raisa's stomach growled at her to get some breakfast, and she hushed it with a pat on her belly. Then she remembered.

She jumped up from the hard floor and dusted herself off, glaring at Tadge who was smugly standing up from his own spot. Raisa had been literally sprawled out like some rag doll opposite of him, and she remembered that she had a habit of talking in her sleep. The whole time she had no doubt that Tadge had been contemplating what was the worst thing he could make her do.

She cursed her smallness, even though it probably didn't have anything to do with falling asleep. She was about to say some snarky remark at an attempt to redeem some dignity when collective gasps sounded around her. Raisa glanced around, looking for the thing that she had missed. Then she saw the recently-declared-deceased Liam stumble through the doors, a suspicious bag thrown around his shoulder.

Raisa had to say that the jock had seen better days. Even though he had washed himself off, Raisa could see that not long before he had been covered in his own blood. He had a wicked puckering scar running across his face that eerily resembled the man that had dragged him away, but his cool confidence had remained in place as he dumped the bag on the floor, talking to Tabitha as he did. Tadge was already moving in to the small growing cluster of people, and Raisa hesitantly followed behind.

Guns, and a lot of them. Raisa could feel her eyes widen, and she bit her lip. Tabitha already had a revolver in her hand, and she heard Liam say, "Everyone grab a weapon, we're fighting back."

Maybe she can learn to like the jock, Raisa thought. She reached into the bag and grabbed the first barrel she touched, and she pulled it out. It was longer than her forearm, and the only thing she could tell about it was that it was automatic. She grabbed some magazines and sprinted away with her new toy.

She wasn't completely used to guns, but she wasn't stupid. After a few mishaps she got the gun loaded and positioned it at the farthest wall where she had the least chance of killing someone. She aimed and pressed her finger on the trigger. The gun jumped back and slammed into her shoulder and the bullets went wide, but luckily still hit the wall. She massaged her shoulder and took aim again, this time gripping the gun as hard as she can.

The gun gave a little kick, but didn't dislocate her shoulder. The bullets hit in a much improved circle than before, and Raisa grinned at her small victory. She shot again, this time aiming at a trashed car. The bullets slammed into the car, making an ear-splitting noise and shouting sparks into the air. Raisa stood, satisfied enough with her aim.

She turned and saw Tabitha and Liam walk off in outfits that would make Rambo proud. They disappeared behind the doors, and Raisa's new respect for him faltered. So much for a leader. Raisa huffed and went in search of some food, walking into one of the side doors in hopes that some food had fallen when the CVS had caved in. Instead, she found a dark haired girl with red streaks glowering in the corner. Raisa lifted an eyebrow and leaned on the doorway, propping her new gun on her hip. "I assume you're just going to sit here the rest of your life?" She said, noting that she must have disappeared before Liam had gotten the guns.

The girl's eyes went all wide and terrified when she saw the gun, and Raisa had the urge to scream boo at her. Instead Raisa nodded back towards where the guns were and said, "If you haven't noticed, we're kind of rebeling here."

Spoiler

Sorry its so long.