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Dead Winter (Anjeru and I)

B

Broomhandle45

Guest
Fuck

It was cold, not the normal kind of cold either. It was a biting, deep cold that was normal in this part of winter. But that was when you could find yourself in your house, nice and warm. Without any bogeymen to paw at your window..heh, he missed those times. Go rural, he thought..it'd be so much safer, he thought! Yeah, look at him now..turns out infected were everywhere. He didn't know if they migrated like birds or something..but it was impossible to go anywhere without finding packs of them.

His boots crunched against the snow, his breath coming in heavy puffs of steam. He was running, running as fast as his long since fit legs would take him. His only solace was that the snow was ankle deep, but the mass of pissed off people behind him made this less than a winter jog. You had to give people immense credit, they reinforced houses and doors in the most ramshackle way for any sort of safety. But it was these safehouses that kept people safe..one single house outside of a heavily walled town that was probably overrun from the inside out.

The man turned mid run, his well worn 1911 drawn and took aim. Two shots rang out as the .45's splattered across the chest and leg of two infected, sending the others stumbling over their bodies to buy him some time. What little time he had left, he was so close..but still so far away from his goal, even more so when he heard the high pitched shriek that made his blood run cold. As soon as his feet hit the patio, he turned to his right with a curse. That high pitched wail came right at him and he brought up his .45, the shot slamming into the side of the Hunter's face as they crashed together, the railing on the patio shattered against his back as he hit the ground ten feet below him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

The pain in his back was kind of hard to feel when you had some psychotic creature on top of you. He snarled in pain as his fists slammed into his chest, the 1911 pressed against the Hunter's chin and he pulled the trigger, blood splattered across his face as the bullet tore through his face and splattered out the top of his head. He pushed the Hunter off with a heavy pant, rising up as fast as the throb in his back would let him. He didn't have a lot of time, he already heard them screaming around the corner as he rose up his pistol, putting three more down as he ran around the house. It made sense that there wouldn't be another place to get in. Everything was boarded up!

He almost thought he got it until the Infected that never chased him were waiting. Son of a BITCH! They had pinned him! The last round in his 1911 splattered the brain of a rushing infected, the slide of his .45 snapped back and he smoothly reached back for his knife with a grit of his teeth. The next infected had it buried in the side of his throat in a reverse grip, ripping it out in a spray of blood the third one from his safety had the hunting knife rammed into her gut and shoved towards the rushing mass. What little time it could buy as he opened the iron latch on the door and slid in, slamming it shut and barring it down with the heavy iron grating as the infected pounded ceaselessly on the door.

Matthew Ivey finally relaxed when he realized he was truly safe for the night, dropping the empty magazine in his 1911 and replacing it with a fresh one as he racked the slide back and holstered it with a heavy sigh. He was a younger man in his twenties, settled around 5'6 with dark hair and dark eyes..generally unassuming to look at as he took stock of the first floor of the boarded up house. Tables forced into equipment racks, ammo crates and weapons that were given by the Army for everyone to use from the incoming Hordes..maps that splayed out hundreds of different escape routes, some x'd out with scribblings of rumors why it was unwise or inaccessible.

At least this place was somewhat warm, that was a small mercy indeed. Call it bitterness, or maybe just the thought that he might not be the only one who wasn't dead...he called out into the second story:

"Hello?" His voice carried so well it made his ears ring, he almost winced. But who was he kidding? He hadn't seen anyone since everything went to hell.
 
The racket filtered through the house, echoing almost sharply. The half dozing woman snapped to attention, her head pounding at the sudden movement due to the stiffness in her neck from the position she had unintentionally fallen asleep in. The word didn't register. All she knew was that there was someone - something -in the safehouse she had bunkered down in a day ago - or was it two, maybe three days; keeping track of the days, was becoming exceedingly difficult.

Her heart was beating frantically in her chest, causing it to tighten almost painfully. The world had gone to hell with absolutely no warning. She had been a normal teenager about to graduate from high school, when suddenly her classmates were tearing each other apart. Teachers were feeding off them. Her family, too. And those creatures weren't even the worst...there were the ones that pounced, ones with long and grotesque tongues that coughed like lifelong smokers, whimpering women who glowed an unnatural red, and one...very big motherfucker that took out everything in its path, undead or alive. On walls of safehouses, she had heard of more, but she could safely say that she didn't want to run across anymore.

Why won't they go away?

The eighteen year old had been deathly quiet up here. No, seriously. She barely allowed herself to breathe. So how had the horde found her here? Gunshots rang out in the cold, silencing some of the zombies that had become some noisy outside. Screeching of a Hunter almost had her covering her ears to shut out the eerie noise she had come to despise. She heard the porch give under the ruckus and clutched her P220 pistol like her life depended on it, which it did in this newly developed hell on Earth.

The door she had come in suddenly slammed open, then shut just as quickly, leaving the undead to paw at the metal door without hope of reaching their new meal. She swallowed thickly and pushed her trembling body up from the corner where she had been hiding(she was certain she was shivering from the cold, as well as the fear). Keeping the pistol close to her, she edged forward, her finger almost itchy in its need to pull the trigger; deep breath, it's not like she wanted to kill anyone else who had managed to survive this hell. As she came toward the stair way, the voice filtered up, altering her to the fact that the intruder was indeed human.

Her relief was palpable to say the least.

The pistol was held at her side, though not threateningly any longer. "H-hello?" Her voiced trembled and she swallowed, moving to stand at the railing to peek over it. The 5'4" teen, slim and toned, with tumbling curls of raven stood there, trying her best to see down the stairs into the main room of the first floor. There was someone here. "W-who's there? I'm coming down, so don't shoot." She held her pistol out away from her and started down the stairs, ceasing at the bottom to find the man with her bright emerald eyes.

"Oh man...there actually is someone else alive..." A brief, relieved smile curled her pale lips, the dim light in the safehouse highlighting her pale skin. She wore a pair of black jeans, torn and shredded in several places, a black v neck long sleeved shirt, and shin high combat boots. She looked like any average teen, save the fact that that wasn't even what she was now; she was the same as he - a survivor. For now.
 
You'd have thought that the world was nothing but sunshine when Matt saw her come down, smiling himself as he relaxed his grip on his 1911 with a heavy sigh. Wow, not only was there a survivor..she was kid! Well..what was he saying? He wasn't even twenty-five yet. Regardless, he offered his hand in a friendly gesture. Things felt a little less hellish with a pretty face, he had to admit.

"You're telling me," He sighed. "You're the first one I've seen since everything went to hell..and I don't even remember how long ago that was...I'm Matt," He introduced. "It's nice to meet you..hell, nice to meet anyone." He admitted, but hey! At least that person wasn't some old guy. It was a pretty woman, but that came with issues. Oh man, his stress level was bad enough for him to worry about something like that. She could obviously handle herself, otherwise she wouldn't have made it out of that mass of infected that he blundered into.

..Which meant she was probably smarter than him. How silly of him to assume a lesser populated area would be safer, right?
 
She took his hand and shook it with a slight smile. "I'm Kara...it's so nice to meet you." Kara almost didn't want to let go of his hand, almost afraid that if she did, he would disappear as the rest of humanity had. "I know what you mean," she rubbed the back of her head as she took her hand back. "I think it's been weeks but I have lost track...I can't even really recall how long I've been in this safehouse." She chuckled weakly, like it was funny yet not at the same time - a joke that walked the line.

A kid, maybe. Compared to him at least, but she didn't care in that moment. Another survivor was another survivor, regardless. "I have seen others but they...well...those things got them." She frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose I should be grateful I am a fast runner." It hadn't been silly to assume the lesser populated area would be safer; she had assumed the same thing, as others had. She'd been lucky enough to have made it inside a safe place, where as the others had not.

"That sounded like a lot...did you get hurt?"
 
"Eh..you know.." He laughed, patting his back. "Just a few hundred infected and one of those..jumping, screaming things..nothing a good nights rest and a pretty smile won't fix! I feel better already." God, did his back fucking hurt. Nothing that wouldn't impair him, but ooh man..he was going to be completely sore in the morning. Still, he was too happy to feel hurt! Someone else was here! He wasn't some crazy guy talking to himself anymore!

"I'm used to it, you know..gotta get used to getting in rough spots when you're by yourself." He assured. Hell, he wasn't even..really quite sure how he made it here. He didn't want to think about it, otherwise he'd probably break down and piss himself.
 
Kara found herself smiling and nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "Here, hold on a second," she set the P220 on the table top alongside what was left of the supplies that had been brought to this safehouse when other survivors had been a common thing. She could have sworn she was alone now, but was happy that she wasn't the only one left alive. The first aid cabinet on the wall was her next stop, where she pulled out a bottle of painkillers and a bottle of water.

She came back to him, extending forth the supplies. "This might help," she offered, her fingers brushing his when he took the extended offering; it was strange that such a little touch of another person suddenly made her feel like this wasn't the end.

Though, it likely was. God knows how many of those things were out there. She bit her lip; she couldn't think about that, she couldn't.
 
"Oh, you're an angel!" He sighed in relief, popping a pill in his mouth and gulping down the entire bottle of water like he hadn't drank anything in days. He knew it'd take a little while for the painkillers to settle in, so he glanced around to find a place to sit. Which was an old, worn out chair that sunk him in. He groaned from that, stretching his sore limbs. Phew..it'd been a while since he could really relax, and boy was he appreciating it.

Someone here with him, so he wasn't just talking to himself. Gave Matt a little bit of hope that he wasn't going to die alone in some gutter somewhere with his intestines ripped out of his stomach. Not exactly something he wanted to picture now that he was in the bowels of safety, but his mind was too much of a realist to stay that way very long.

"So...you live around here?" He asked idly. It was impossible to tell, really...she looked as haggard as he did. He would assume that anyone he found would look just as worn down.
 
She ruffled her hair and got herself a bottle of water, sitting down on the floor into front of the chair with her legs criss crossed. Popping the cap she took a long drink of the refreshing liquid, before setting it down with a soft sigh. His question made her think; how far had she gone?

"It's ridiculous but...I'm not sure. Running away from those...things, kind of hard to keep track of where you're going." In truth, she probably hadn't fared any better than he. She knew she needed new clothes, but that was no surprise considering what they had to do with.

She took the tie on her wrist and gathered up her curls, tying her hair back into a messy ponytail that allowed her to see him a little better, though she still had to tuck a strand or two here and there. "I went to school in the city. What about you?"
 
"School?" He chuckled. "Oh god, you're making me feel old! I was..ah..in the military." He said, arms crossed. "Overseas...imagine my surprise to come home to this, eh?" Not that it wasn't too surprising, some of our weapons were being transferred over as we were all heading back to deal with it. It was supposed to be just an illness or something, wide pandemic and chaos everywhere..that was our second surprise.

"On my way back home, and here I am." He sighed, scratching his head. "Our bus met one of those..big guys," He frowned. "The..the ones that are all..huge and muscular? flipped our bus three our four times before we could finally get out..far as I know, I'm the only one that managed to do so." It wasn't something he was happy about, but that was the fatalist thoughts of a military mind. No sense wasting your life when everyone else was going to die.

A schoolgirl, a boarded up house and..crazy infected things everywhere around them. Sounded like the best romance movie or the worst porn movie ever, hell..he'd take both!
 
He seemed flabbergasted that she was merely a student and she couldn't help but chuckle a little. Of all the survivors that could have found her, a military man had; perhaps her luck wasn't as bad as she had assumed, after all. "I'm almost nineteen," then she thought for a second. "I think," she added, not entirely sure how much time had passed - it was so hard to keep track when the Earth had gone to hell and never came back.

"Oh...those guys...I ran across one of them," she shuddered at the memory. He'd chased her, flipping cars that missed her by mere inches. She had slid underneath a semi truck and sprinted toward a building. The damn thing had just busted through the truck like it wasn't there! "I was on the Track team when the illness started...I think that's why I got away from it, along with some tricky maneuvering. I had jump across roof tops. I barely made the last one...the thing caught the edge, but it's so heavy, you know? The brick crumbled and it fell. Thank god!"

She took another sip of the water - well, in actuality, she finished it off, her throat still a tad rough from lack of constant hydration.
 
"Yeah.." He sighed. "The normal ones..I can handle those, it's those screaming ones that launch at you..and ugh..those fat ones that seem to explode...the smell is horrendous and it draws all the others in." He mumbled. "Give me a terrorist any day..I figured it'd be safer out here, but I'm going to assume that we're not the only ones who thought that.." He sighed. Hell, the wall leading to this house looked dented and bloodied. Had to give people credit for their initiative, though.

He wasn't quite sure how much safer the inside of town would be, however. Probably as safe as the outside..but he had to keep moving. There was some place out there that was safe, hopefully.

..Or maybe somewhere that had a lot more ammo.
 
"Oh trust me, I know." She sighed with a slightly bitter chuckle. "I came here hoping to find some more information on an excavation point...I'm sure you saw how people write info on the walls of safe extraction points, or what places are safe and what aren't?" Climbing to her feet, she moved to the table and picked up a small piece of folded up paper which she took back to her spot it with her.

Kara's slim fingers peeled up the paper and then spread it on the floor; Matt would then notice that it was a map of the city, and the surrounding limits. Probably as big as the county, she couldn't be entirely sure. She couldn't even keep track of where she was going half the time. It was hard to. He'd see various marks of red X' over areas, or even areas scribbled out completely in red. There were very few circles of red.

"I've been trying to keep track of where is safe and where isn't...but there hasn't been much info, lately."
 
"I haven't really seen anyone." Matt admitted with a smile. "Well, except you..not that I'm complaining...I'd hazard a guess that the people who left that info are either dead or long since gone..." He said, leaning over the map. "I'm going to also assume that the town is probably not safe either.." He said, his eyes trailing up the only remaining path that wasn't marked red on the map. He found it somewhat funny that the path lead right to Kara's chest. Which is where his eyes unintentionally moved along.

Heh, if that wasn't the right path..he wasn't sure what was, eh?

"Hm..well..there's really only one way to..uh..find out," He said, reclining back. Good one, Matt. Eyeball the first woman you've seen to make her uncomfortable..but dammit, it was nice to smell something besides blood and guts!
 
"I would assume not," she mused right along with him. "I've only come across a few people. I was traveling with one. But she, uh, didn't make it into the house. I tried to help but I kinda panicked." She sighed and studied the map, glancing up briefly to find that he had been eyeballing her cleavage. She quickly averted her eyes back to the map, trying not to blush. She'd almost forgotten what that had felt like. Kind of hard to feel attractive when you were in torn clothes, dotted with blood, and smudged with dirt; it was nice to feel human for a moment.

He wasn't exactly bad looking himself, she thought, though she kept her eyes firmly on the map. Right Kara, don't go there. Probably not a good idea.

She tapped a finger on a spot on the map. At the end of that only open area was a circle. "There was supposed to be an excavation point at City Hall...but I didn't see how that could be a good idea...though my idea of the rural area being less infested was brilliant, so maybe it is a possibility."
 
"Well.." He mused, looking over the map again. "To be perfectly honest, we're probably just hopping out of one hell for another." He shrugged, "I'd rather go somewhere with a purpose than muck around with no purpose. What do you say, Kara?" He grinned. "Wanna come with me to City Hall? I'd prefer a pretty face next to me, compared to thousands of people trying to rip my arms off. We got plenty of weapons and ammo." He said, nudging to the shoddily assembled arsenal and boxes of ammo.

Shit..did..she catch him staring? He was really trying his hardest not to!

Okay, that was a horrible lie. He was trying to stare at her every chance he got. Ah..fuck, he was going to get shot by the end of the night, wasn't he?
 
She sat back and folded the map closed. "It really would be much better than being alone," she admitted with a smile curling her lips. "I honestly find it miraculous I have made it this long and this far. I would love to accompany you." It was kinda weird that it almost sounded she was making a date, rather than planning an escape attempt from the hell that lay just outside these doors. They couldn't stay here long, it was only a matter of time before those things found a way in, or worse, the...big one found them.

No, don't think about that. Think about how he looked at you; that was a nice distraction.

"So, are you feeling better?" She grinned briefly. "I could make you something if you're hungry. Not much here save canned goods, but it is better than nothing as I constantly remind myself." Fingers tucked some hair behind her ear, as she looked off toward the meager stack of supplies.
 
"Yeah..I am," He smiled, rising up. "I appreciate the hospitality, but you don't have to cook for me. Didn't last this long without knowing a few things." He assured, heading towards the dwindling supplies of food. Soup, eh? Fuck..that sounded so delicious right now. Regardless, he rummaged in his pocket for his well worn Swiss army knife and popped the can open. You wouldn't think the smell of soup would be so wonderful, but it was. It was going to be even better warm.

Those freaks didn't seem to protest to a microwave being turned on at least. With that all done and ready, he headed over to the collection of weapons.

"So..you been in this safehouse long?" He said, lifting up an M4A1 to pull the chamber back, inspecting it in the light. M4s, eh? It wasn't uncommon to see M16s, AKs..pretty much anything and everything out there. At least he knew these weapons like the back of his hand. He saw more than a few different weapons on the table, no doubt replaced with something else in turn..some of them looked fairly worn. But guns would always work if you took care of them.
 
"I think it's been a few days, I'm not sure," she chuckled, almost embarrassed. "I offered to help since you'd just had to deal with those things, but I suppose you're used to situations like this being in the military?" For a moment, she wondered if she was hungry; she really couldn't recall when she'd eaten last.

Kinda iffy to worry about eating when you had flesh eating monsters chasing you around, she though.

She climbed to her feet and walked over to where he stood at the table, fiddling around with the guns, ones she had no idea what to do with them. Well, except the pistols. She could use pistols. "You seem like you know what you're doing much better than I." She leaned over the table, looking at the assorted weapons that lay strewn about, along with loads of all sorts of different ammunition. "I never really thought I'd have to use these kinds of things, but, whaddya know."
 
"Well..not exactly used to thousands of people trying to beat me into the pulp, but the world's a crazy place," He agreed with a smile, letting go of the charging handle as he offered her the carbine. "Here, let me show you how to properly hold it, okay? Guns are idiot proof if the person holding them isn't one." He grinned. "And you're too cute to be stupid."

..That was awful, ugh..this wasn't going to go well. He should have stuck to talking about guns! Still, he could do this. "It's all about keeping it against your shoulder, and leaning into it to absorb the recoil." He smiled.
 
Kara blushed faintly at his words, a smile tickling the edge of her lips. "Thanks?" She chuckled and did as he told, but couldn't get it just the right way. It felt awkward to her, much different than the small pistols she had learned to use fairly well over...well how ever long it had been since this had all started.

"I can't seem to get it right, can you show me?" She cocked her head at him, raising a brow in question. It didn't really occur to her that it would involve him getting pretty close to her, if not right up there in her space.
 
"Yeah." I smiled, moving up behind her. He was a bit taller than her, of course..so his face was into her hair and his body pressed behind hers..well, not PRESSED. But god, he wanted to..really badly. He was getting an amazing view as he took her hands gently. It was muscle memory for him, so it was easy enough to slide her hands to in front of the magazine well. "You can place your front arm here..or further up to the forearm." He smiled, hand over hers. "Always remember..finger off the trigger unless you are absolutely positive you want to shoot it."

Her breasts looked amazing in her sweater, so round and firm..

"You need a really good breas-GRIP," He corrected sharply. Fuuuuck. His face blossomed slightly in embarrassment. "A..a good grip..to..you know..keep..better..better...hold of the gun." He stammered somewhat, clearing his throat.

Good job, Matt.
 
Kara tried not to notice how close he was when he came to stand behind her. Or they way his hands felt when he took her small ones and directed her how to hold the gun properly. A soft blush was on her cheeks, and she could be happy in the fact that he couldn't see her face at the moment, but was oblivious to the fact that he was getting a rather nice view down her top.

Well, that is, until he spoke next.

Her brows spiked up quickly and he desperately tried to cover up what he'd let slip out. His face may have been red, but her cheeks could have mirrored his. She wondered if she should say something, or anything. There was a bit of an awkward silence, but then she started giggling. Her shoulders shook as she tried to keep it quiet, not wanting to attract unwanted attention.

Finally, she took a deep breath. "I'll keep that in mind," she chuckled.
 
"Eh..sorry.." He grinned, scratching his cheek. "But..you know..it's..been a while..but..uhm..yeah, try what I said." He murmured, swallowing thickly to clear his head. Great, nothing like an erection that you haven't had in months..son of a bitch.

He could clear the air though, surely. "Just get used to handling the rifle like I told you." He mumbled, heading over to the microwave where his soup was done. He didn't even know he was hungry..but when that first bit of hot chicken noodle grazed his lips, his stomach growled in appreciation.

He was fucking starving.
 
She continued to giggle softy as he moved away from her toward the kitchenette where he got his soup. Kara's hands held the gun as he said, then after a moment, set it down on the table where it had been moments before. She felt awkward holding a rifle, but she was certain she would have to get over that. Worrying about this is what she should be doing after finally finding someone to talk to. Her body turned and she leaned back against the table on her rear, folding her arms across her chest.

She gave him a sheepish grin. "It's not like i don't understand. For all we know, we're on the brink of extinction." A slim finger tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "We used to see other people like thousands of times a day. Now we're lucky if we see any, at all." A soft, genuine smile graced her lips as her green eyes watched him eat.

"It's nice to have company. I felt like I would go mad if I had to continue talking to myself."
 
"..Yeah," He said, any traces of shyness somewhat replaced with her genuine expression as he drank his soup steadily. "There keeps being mention of people here and there..but...whose to say those people aren't already dead? They might have died the moment they stepped out of the safehouse." He shrugged. "..You're really beautiful, and I think even if we weren't the only people we've seen, I'd still say that." He chuckled.

"But I'll mind my manners, don't worry." He sighed, licking his lips of broth. "I could keep it in my pants in Iraq, I can do it here, eh?" He smiled, chucking the can in the trash. "It's just all blending together for me."
 
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