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The Newest Virum

razerwing

razerwing

Supernova
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Location
Somewhere over the rainbow.
"The group was struggling. We had lost three fighters already to these undead bastards, Harding, Brook, and Northway. We had to keep on chugging though. They had caught radio signals from a nearby town, the great city of New York, the Big Apple. Funny thing though, ever since this "Non-threatening virus" started turning people into walking, flesh-eating, thoughtless little fucks, the world went crazy. It only served logic that higher density cities like this would be absolutely swarming with Zed. Right? Right.

The media had labelled it as 'Dutch Flu', started out as a cough but wasn't easily detected. The very first sign didn't happen with the Dutch though. It happened in Miami, with some guy eating another guy's face. They originally thought it was LSD, but it wasn't A few of us were prepared, the conspiracy theorists and such. And now, having survived as long as we have, we have seen hell, been there and back again. Everyone has lost something. Well, no more. Here we put our feet down. This little fort we're heading to, we'll stand there. Stand and fight back against these rotting, walking corpses. Today, we begin to rebuild. And we will not back down."

The leader, Trystan Nemico clapped the book shut, putting the small thing into his coat pocket. On his back, a light assault rifle. Almost everyone in his group had a gun of some sort. One even had a fully automatic machine gun. It worked too, or else they wouldn't have brought it along. Zombies don't have fear. A moan could be heard in the distance. They had entered one of the residential areas. Places like these were normally chock full of crawlers. "Alright guys. Take this nice, slow, and quiet. From what I understand, the place shouldn't be far away now." The group nodded, some pulling back the actions on their weapons.

The more they walked down the empty, blood-soaked road, the more they started to wonder. What if they were too late? What if they arrived to find the place overrun with Zed? Well.... they'd just have to clear it, that's all. Clear it, or die. They weren't running anymore.
 
Tapping herself on the shoulder signaled one of her partners and there was a dash along the ground, she then moved from her hiding space and darted after. Alisha kept her eyes pealed, there were not as many as there were, but there were still a lot around - though they seemed to be elsewhere at the moment - probably in the buildings, scavanging.

Alisha had her light brown hair pulled into a low pony-tail to keep it out of her hazel eyes. She was fit, most out of shape people had already been taken. She took a moment to look around the great city of New York, it was once a beautiful place, now it was infested with the infected. She currently stood on 14th street, there was a store a little ways ahead and she needed to get some supplies.

Her partner was in front of her, a strange companion - a dog that looked to weigh about thirty-five pounds - it was slim and resembeled a pointer/terrier mix. Short hair, black patches, a nub for a tail and one floppy ear, the other perked high. It was quiet on it's feet as it stalked through the streets.

Alisha had been training the dog for years, she had him before the virus came out, there was a bond between them then - it's only grown stronger. The Zed didn't like animals, they would take them if they could, but dogs were too quick and could sense them - they had a smell that could be picked up. Her companion also had a pack on it that had pouches. Alisha herself had a backpack as well. Clothed in a red tank-top and dark blue jeans she tried to be simple. There was a tan over her skin showing she spent a lot of time outside. She wasn't that big, only five foot three inches - but she was quick and talented. She wore a gun belt that currently she had two pistols strapped and extra clips as well as a few knifes.

Finally to the store, she suck quietly in - she had already disactivated the bell that made noise when one would open the door, she tapped her shoulder again and her dog went in first. She waited. When the dog came back and didn't leave the building she knew it was safe. She slid fully in and quickly gathered what she needed, using her backpack as well as her dogs pack.

She slid back out, a moan, a single one. She quickly pulled one pistol that had a silencer on it, it wasn't long before it caim into view - her companion at her side, growling softly but not making a move or barking - he was taught well. She took aim quickly and one shot to the head took the beast down. She moved quickly - others would be coming soon, she wanted to get home.
 
Somehow, the zombies had figured out where him and his not so merry band were, and decided that it was lunch time. They saw Zed coming, and did the only thing they could do. They went into a nearby house and readied their guns. They had enough ammo, hopefully, they just didn't know how many zombies were out there. "Alright guys, they know we're here. No sense in being quiet now eh?" The small group grumbled in approval. "Mickey, get that MG ready. Let's raise hell." Everyone raised their fists, 4 people going upstairs, everyone else busting out a window and opening fire. Trystan was upstairs, having had attached his scavenged scope to the top of his gun. The zombies fell quickly, either with missing heads, or with their brains on the pavement. There was however, a duo that wasn't firing. They had two massive tanks on their back that sloshed around when they moved, with a hose connecting to a sprayer. It was a makeshift flamethrower.

"Secure the doors!" The flamethrowers nodded, opening the door and letting loose a stream of flaming diesel fuel at the Zed. They screamed and gurgled as they were burned to a crisp. The fire never let up, the sound of the MG going off reverberating across several of the silent city blocks. It was deep and thunderous, hard to mistake as something else. That loud booming was accompanied by the short burst of crackles that was easily identifiable. Eventually, the horde began to thin out, and soon was dissipated altogether. Bullet casings littered the carpet, some still smoking, a few still hot.

"Well..... I think we just about told the entire city of New York that we were here. Let's get out of here. Might want to find some more ammo. Or a crowbar or something." Everyone nodded and started packing up again. Trystan took out his little book and started writing. 'Not the heart, not the gut, it's gotta be the head. Otherwise you're just wasting ammo. Although, a little oomph in the gut never hurt anyone. Besides Zed.' He chuckled, closing the book and storing it. So far, so good. They'd need to send out their scavengers to find some more equipment, food, and ammo.
 
Alsiha was close enough that she could almost feel the MG go off. Her partner whined a little, she patted her partner on the head, and pulled off her backpack. She transfered some of the mediciine she grabbed to her dogs pack and grabbed some extra amo and put it in her backpack. "Home." she commanded the dog, it sprinted off quickly. She stood up and slid her backpack back on as she started towards the noise. She got there just in time to see the swarm dead, she smirked to herself, "Not bad," She said, kind of impressed. Though there would be more coming.

She moved quietly to the back of the house and pushed the back door open with her foot, "Hello?" She called into the house, "With the carnage out here, I'm assuming there are some survivors in here..." She kept off to the side of the door, she didn't want to get shot by accident, or if there was noone alive in there, she had her gun ready - just in case.

Alisha kept her eyes open for any sounds of moaning, but all was quiet, it would be a while before any others came around, generally they generally kept in different sections. They weren't totally bright, but they weren't just all in one huge group, they wandered in smaller hoards, unless it was a feeding frenzy - then they would all come, slowly but surely.

Alisha couldn't help her mind from racing, thinking on how many there were, what they were like, it wasn't very common to find survivors in the city, most avoided it because of the large population of Zed, others didn't travel smart and ended up getting killed.
 
The leader grinned, strapping his rifle securely to his back before motioning for everyone to go out. Then he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and in a flash had a snub nose pistol drawn and pointed at the source. After a moment, he realized it wasn't a zombie. It was a human, completely alive girl, and her dog. "Heh. Don't sneak up on people like that hun. Good way to get yourself shot ya know? Although that is a nice little dog ya got there." He chuckled, looking back at his crew. Some were dressed in heavy military armor, others donned Recon armor, but all of them had some sort of militaristic protection on them. Even their guns looked to be army grade, except for their two jury rigged flamethrowers. Trystan holstered his gun, adjusting his standard vest and his helmet before outstretching his hand.

"Name's Trystan. Leader of what remains of Newark. Me and a few army buddies had just enough time to grab our weapons, even give a few civilians basic weapons training." He motioned to his group, grinning widely. "Had to walk all the way from New Jersey, so they got plenty of experience. We got a radio message saying there was a fort of some sort here, one that was secure, at least for the time being. Figured they could use some more gunpower." The soldier grinned, seeing a crawler making it's way towards them, he nodded to another soldier and started walking towards it.

This new soldier had a scar running the length of his face, jagged and twisted, although how they'd managed to get through his heavy armour and reinforced helmet was unfathomable. "I'm Jack. Trystan's right hand man. You want a decision made, you go through me, and then him. As long as that's understood, we'll have no problems." He hefted his Assault Rifle, a few grenades jingling on his belt. It was obvious the man had been through a bit of crap. Trystan meanwhile had arrived at the crawler. "Well hello there little guy. Whaddya doing so far from the rest of your group eh?" The zombie took a swing, but it only hit air. Without hesitation, the soldier lifted his boot and stomped on the skull. It cracked way too easily to have been crushed by a regular boot though. Maybe this one was weighted?
 
Alisha shrugged, "Couldn't have risked running in just chatting away if you had happened to be crawlers," she retorted, sliding her pistol back into her holster. She eyed at their weapons, they had more advanced stuff than her and her group had - it could be handy, and they did hold off that entire hoard. She was standing straight while talking with them, a proud stance. Her dog was sitting at her feet like usual, she wasn't sure if his remark about her dog was good or if he was just being a smartass - dogs weren't common. Well...they were, the ones that were able to get out of their homes or off their chains ended up running in packs, you could find a few packs around the city, but mainly they stayed out - not much food here.

She met eyes with Jack, "There is a fort here, there aren't very many of us - as I see there aren't of you. You are welcome to join but don't expect anyone to do any of your beck-and-call stuff," she immediately got defensive, she didn't know why, but then again, she was never the best around military people - that probably was because of her dad and mom. "Anyway, if you guys really want to join up, follow me."

Without waiting for an answer she turned and started walking, her dog just a bit in front of her. The fort actually wasn't that far away, within a few minutes they came to a concrete wall that blocked off a alley, her dog broke away and started in another direction - he knew the way in that best fit him, she would see him inside. She jumped up and climbed on to the wall, it was tall enough that one had to jump, but walkers wouldn't be able to climb, even tall ones - their hand eye coordination wasn't very good.

"If y'all need a ladder let me know, I have one over on this side." They had many entrances, many of them covered and if one looked close enough on each of the side buildings one could see someone looking out the window, rifle at the ready. The other side of the alley also had a concrete wall, encasing it. If one didn't already notice the person in the window, they would when Alisha raised her hand and waved at them.

Her dog appeared in the alley, using very small tunnels, too small for the Zed to get through. From the alley there was a metal door, installed of course - it if the infected got over the walls, there was a handle but it was more of a latch handle - hard for them to grab onto, the door itself was reinforced, as well as having reinforced locks. Alisha didn't have to say anything before the door was pushed open and on the other side stood a young man, blond hair and brown eyes. He was a strapping young lad, mid-twenties. He stood tall, also dressed with a gun belt, extra ammo, he also held a rifle in his hand. "About time! Who are they?" He asked, nodding toward the others.
 
The small company seemed happy to have some more people to help them out. Trystan had heard, and his eyes were filled with something akin to joy. Jack's eyes were still as cold and dead as ever. One might wonder if he was Zed, if it wasn't for the fact that he was probably the best hand to hand fighter here. "We'd love to come, and of course, we don't expect you guys to follow our orders. Although, it might help if we had more man power." Trystan shrugged, following her as she made her way down the street, to a walled off alley. He felt Jack tensed, and he knew why. There was a man in a nicely concealed opening with a rifle in hand and ready to fire. Following the girl's lead, he waved, chuckling to himself as the girl vaulted over the wall and started climbing. "Well, you certainly have a bit of defensive ability don't you? Impressive." Without trouble, he hefted himself, his armor, and his seemingly heavy pack over the wall all at once, the others following suit and staying with them. They were nimble, although it was fairly easy to tell the civilians from the actual soldiers.

One of the civilians jumped though when the dog appeared out of nowhere, just barely managing not to fire at the unexpected surprise. When the man came out of hiding and asked, quite rudely, who they were, Trystan intervened. "We are a military company. Or what's left of it, plus a few civvies. In fact, we are the best thing that could've possibly happened to this place since the invention of the machine gun." He shrugged, his armour rustling. "Of course, that's unless you don't like trained fighters that have adapted tactics for killing people with guns and intelligence to killing Zed. Then we're the worst thing since.... well... the Zed." He chuckled lightly, one of the soldiers taking out a pair of binoculars. "So far, we've gotten a name. The Riffs. The Zombie Kill Squad. Call us what you want, we just want the city back." He patted his soldier on the shoulder, and the man simply offered a few rushed hand signals. Jack frowned, more than usual and pulled out his own pair of binoculars. Oh boy. "Uhm, sir...." The hardened face moved towards Trystan's and he whispered something.

"Ah.... we may want to continue our introductions inside. I think that we have an incredibly large amount of walkers and such incoming."
 
"We just don't like blind orders, working together on strategies we of course can use your expertise. Coming from New Jersey is not easy, and we know the streets like the back of our hands - together we can get rid of these sickening creatures," she said as they walked. Though she didn't like talking too much on a walk, just in case.

The man glared at the troupe untrustingly. "Oh, for heavens sake, dipshit - move aside and let us in," Alisha snapped, "They can help, they aren't Zed, now step aside before I toss you over the wall!" The man huffed but stepped aside, the dog darted in first.

The long hallway was was you first stepped in before coming to another metal door. She opened the door and led the way up the stairs and through another steal door, which then opened into what looked like an apartment. "There are more apartments, we have them scaterred but still close just in case. We also have buildings throughout the city secured as well, this one and the two on each side are our main ones. In the living room of the apartment were five other people, all of which stood up when they walked in.

There were three other males, and two females. The dog - Bo - had found his spot on a dog bed and was already asleep. The room was large, plenty of room and some chairs scattered around. She pulled off her backpack and tossed it to one of the guys - all three of the guys ranged a few inches in size, but none of them were as big as the soldiers. They had survived because of their security, stealth, and knowledge of the city. "Uh..." one of the men started "Who..." Before he could answer, the one that answered the door shoved past and said, "Alisha did it."

Alisha rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, "We can use the help, they are survivors, dipshit, stop being an ass." The guy barked at Alisha, "My name isn't dipshit! Stop calling me that!"

"Shut up you two," the male that had caught Alisha's backpack said. He went over and extended his hand, "Name's Brad, nice to see some friendly faces in this part of the woods."
 
Trystan studied the doors, tilting his head as they made their way through the building, nodding, showing he heard and agreed with the girl. "We can definitely liberate the city if we tried." The leader noticed her anxiousness and smiled. "Hey, listen, you can relax a little. You have more people. More firepower, and at the very least, you have some fodder. You took us in, I at least owe my life." He shrugged. "We only lost a few people, and we did all we could to save them. I mean, hopefully that means something."

When they entered the hallway, a few of the group gasped. They hadn't seen such secure walls between them and the undead in a long time. The more they got away from the possibility of death, the more they seemed to lighten up. Even Jack seemed to warm up a bit. "Well, we've gotten used to bunking with each other, so we can share rooms. I like the set up though. Very homey, as homey as you can get in these times." The crew nodded in agreement. Although, he was a little disappointed when he saw there were only five other people, three guys and two girls. They had about three among their own, all of which were combat capable. The guys were shorter. They made the soldiers look like tanks in their armor and vests, with their weapons either held loosely or on their backs. The armor even added a slight touch of intimidation factor.

And of course, before one of these men could finish a sentence, the one who was holding the rifle at his troops came in and muscled his way past. "Alisha did it." Trystan sighed, Jack tensed and clenched a fist, and a few guns clicked ready. Although, the way the girl, Alisha, told him off made them relax, and even a few laughed. When they were done, promptly told to stop by a man from the girl's group, he came to introduce himself. "Well, nice to meet you Brad. I could say the same. Sargeant Trystan Nemico at your service. This guy is Jack Trevor, the biggest hard ass this side of the country." He motioned to the rest of his group. "And this is my crew. Recently decreased by a 3 though." He shrugged, shaking his head. "I'm sure you'll get to know the rest better over time. I'm curious though, Brad. Who's the bigmouth with the rifle?" He looked deliberately at the person who was at the opening when they came when he said this, bringing a few snickers from the soldiers.
 
Brad laughed, "That's Nate, he's a little skeptical of new comers, the last few that came throught weren't very....." he paused and looked over to Alisha, which he was greeted with a huff and she walked into another room. "Some bad things happened," He finished. "Anyway, he's a dick, but he is a great sniper shot. You already met Alisha, she is a great at gathering, knows this city the best. You've probably met her dog, Bo, he has been trained to smell out zombies and will alert everyone if any ever get too close, he also retrieves stuff if needed." He motioned towards the others, "This is our crew, plus two more, they are currently at another building." Everyone but Nate smiled and exchanged pleasantries of greetings.

Alisha came out with with a bottle of water for each of the soldiers, offering it to them. Brad continued, "It's good to have some experienced hands on board, if you guys see anywhere we can improve our area here is still a work in progress of course. Our weapons room is over there," he motioned, "Until you get used to things if you take one of our members with y'all we can also show you the other places - we have weapons, food, and medicine stashed throughout the city - as well as traps."

Alisha chimed in, "You guys look tired, feel free to relax, it's starting to get dark, there are some rooms unused through there, we've knocked out a piece of built stairs." They had multiple ways to get out of an area, they were all rather handy with constructing things, Nate was actually a construction member before all this happened, even though he didn't look like much. "Feel free to also look around if you would like."

Nate huffed and went to regain his post in one of the side rooms where he could look out and watch the Zed. "I'm going for some air." She remarked to Brad and gave a friendly nod to the soldiers before leaving the door they came in - she was going to the roof, still secured of course.

"If you want shown around just let us know, but make yourself at home," he turned and returned to the small group - who it was evident that they were now playing cards.
 
Trystan nodded, waving at Nate. A sniper hm? "Oiyu, Nate. I got something for you." He dug into his pocket, pulling out a scope. It had variable zoom, and even a built in wind compensator. With a flourish, he tossed it at Nate. "Don't miss. Zed hate it when you miss." He nodded. "Two more? Interesting." When he was handed a bottle of water, he took it, nodding his thanks. "Well, Jack doesn't like people, so I guess he'll find his way. Everyone else is pretty friendly." He nodded to Brad. "We don't bite much. And when we do bite, it won't kill ya." He grinned, finally removing his helmet to reveal dark blonde, short cropped hair. He was the first to remove any piece of his armor. "Medicine will come in handy. We'll need to be careful with ammo though. Not sure there are many NATO rounds around here. Although, I think there's quite a bit at that new naval base they opened up." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "That's a ways off though. Probably waste more ammo than we'd ge- do you have any baseball bats?"

A few men came out from the group and introduced themselves to the others, and almost melted at the mention of rest. They had been on the move at such a fast pace for such a long time. However, Jack followed Nate, at least as far as his post. Then he went back to find a way up to the top of the building. He was just as good an aim as Nate. At least, he thought he was. He wouldn't know until they saw combat.

Meanwhile, back on the lower floor, Trystan's crew had either joined the other people in the card game, or had started to take off their armor and clean their equipment. Dried blood smelled funky after a while. Although, any way you look at it, a zombies blood is going to smell funky. It even made some people sick.
 
Nate stared at the scope for a little bit before he nodded his thanks, before he went to his spot.

Brad nodded, "We have some, but not a lot. Got some ammo from people that came into town with it but they didn't last, and of course we have baseball bats, we have solid oak ones, miscl ones, metal ones, small ones, big ones," Brad laughed, "We also have a whole bunch of knives and swords, as well as granades and other explosives. We see it, we grab it." Brad liked Trystan, he was a good man, at least he seemed it.

Brad's group was rather friendly, all of them civilians so having some solideirs would be a plus and help out a lot. They could really start getting rid of the Zed, which would be great, then they could secure down the entire city, a safe haven for survivors, that would be a fantastic feat.

Alisha sat on a chair on the rooftop, watching as some of the infected were walking by, they had no idea they were there - at least no interest. She liked to have some time away from the group, it gave her a great opportunity to think about things. There was a contraption on the roof that gathered and filtered rain water, a great source to get water without having to leave. They also had a garden on the rooftop next to their building. The air was cool - a small breeze blowing. They were almost like crickets, the moans of the Zed. Alisha couldn't help but chuckle to herself at that thought.
 
Jack found a room near the top that allowed him a great view of the roads. It wasn't the roof, but it was pretty good, enough to get a few shots in if he needed to. Higher ground was always good in the throes of war. When he was all settled down, he stripped himself of his heavy armor, exposing heavily scarred arms and quite the muscle tone. As he leaned back against the wall he smelled the stench of undead blood and decided it was time to clean his gear.

"Knives and swords will definately be helpful. Although, taking and securing that naval base will definitely help." The soldier nodded, looking at the cards. "So, what game are we playing? Poker? Texas Hold' em? Spoons?" He started to absentmindedly shuffled the cards. As a soldier, they had alot of time on their hands between wars. Most of the time, they spent it playing various card games. It helped them pass the time, and Trystan had one hell of a poker face. He also had a slight gambling problem, but it was under control. The two soldiers gaurding the lower floor tensed, pulling the actions back on their rifles and tracking the Zed until they left.
 
"Yeah, it would be very helpful, we could use a lot of their stuff, if you want we can go check it out tomorrow, see how much work will need to be done. Poker this time around, Poker and Gin are a few of our favorites," Brad laughed aw we waited the deal and the game commensed. "So, where did you guys come from again? And why New York?" Brad paused, "Not that here is as bad as others, it's actually a bit better, we have been trying to thin the Zed slowly - lost a few of our own in the process - especially while we were reinforcing everything," he paused, "But still, it's a large city - most people try to avoid here."

After some time on the roof Alish stood up and stretched her arms over her head, giving another glance around, there were some Zed testing the wall, but they couldn't get through and gave up pretty quickly. She turned and headed down off the roof. She paused at a door where the smell of undead blood and cleander. She knocked on the door - figuring it was one of the soldiers and not wanting to sneak up on them. After knocking she peeped her head in to see Jack, "Want some help cleaning?" He had a lot of armor, and she was taught how to clean this type of armor by her father - back in the safe times.

Bo walked over to Brad, sitting down and huffing, he was still wearing his backpack so Brad took it off, opening it and reavealing the medicine, a few snacks, some rolls of bandage gauze.
 
Trystan chuckled to himself, dealing out the cards with sure, swift hands. When the cards were down his face went stony, unreadable. When Brad started talking however, he softened up a little bit. "We came from New Jersey. A little town called Newark. We caught wind of a secure place down here, so we decided why not take a peek. Although when we got to the first fort, it was empty, deserted, with all the walls either busted, or covered in gore." He sighed, checking his cards. A king of Hearts and a Queen of Spades. Hm, might come in handy. "After the first fort was a bust, we decided to keep looking. Big city meant a large amount of supplies, at least, that's what we thought. And then, there's that presence of the ever important ammunition depots, the industrial districts, the drug districts. Figured at the very least, New York would be a good start to make a new life." He shrugged, a few of the soldiers at the table nodding.

Jack looked up from his gear, nodding slightly at the girl. His gun was propped against the window, the sights clean as a whistle. A few magazines were by it, the bullets crisp and clean. He was working on his vest, the front part at least, bloody shinguards, armguards, and his thick helmet still covered in blood. Somehow, up here alone, he didn't seem as hard as he put on back downstairs. "Yeah, help would make this whole process quicker. Don't really relish the thought of smelling this shit cleaner any longer than I have to." He shrugged, leaning against the wall, placing his freshly cleaned grenades on the floor next to him.
 
Brad nodded, "Long walk, I see why Alisha trusted you guys," He glanced at his cards, his friendly face not giving away to his hand - though it was crap. He nodded, "Yeah, unfortunately they didn't want to team up, and wouldn't listen to us about how to secure an area - so while they were working they were attached." Brad shook his head, "Shame, there were some good people in that group." He shrugged, "The other places we know about were gone of people for a while - most either dead or they ran off because the city, though it is lush with resources, is a very dangerous place." He paused, "Especially for those that don't want to get along with others - we all have to stick together."

Alisha nodded, he seemed different up here alone, he wasn't as....she wasn't sure the right word for it. He had more of an essance of a human than of a machine on a mission. She sat across from him, grabbing a shinguard tha was the closest to her and started cleaning it with a large eye to detail. She didn't speak for a moment, she looked up from her task over to Jack, this was the first time she got a good look at him. He was ruggedly handsome, she was sure that the scar on his face had a story, but she wasn't sure if she should ask. She looked over to the already cleaned items and chuckled a little, "I haven't seen such pristene cleaned weaponry since one of my dad's cleaning sprees." She looked back to her work, finishing off the shinguard, it as clean as the other stuff. She grabbed another item and started working on it, "So, how long have you and Trystand known each other?"
 
"Yeah, quite the hellish one too. You ever tried to shoot a fully armored SWAT zombie? The only way we could kill it was by rolling it over with a car. It was fun though, because after the car hit it, it didn't stop. Mowed down about 6 more before crashing into the side of a China shop." He grinned, laying down the first three cards, an Ace of spades, a 7 of hearts, and a Jack of diamonds. "Well, good people or not, they obviously weren't very smart. Otherwise they would've listened. These are hard times, and although a large group means more food and water, it also means much more protection." He shrugged, listening while checking his cards again. "Danger is relative. I'm one of those people who if there is a chance of getting better equipment, I'll risk my neck to go get them. The better your weapons, the more Zed you can take out. But it might just be me." He shrugged, leaning forward and rapping his fingers against the desk.

Jack laughed. It was halfhearted, but it was a laugh nonetheless. "Yeah, well, you don't want blood on your explosives. After a while it eats at the metal, jams your guns. You let a baseball bat get covered with the stuff, it'll be about as effective as hitting a metal wall with a rubber chicken." He sighed, finishing with the front of the vest and working his way to the back of it. When she grabbed his shinguard he smiled. "Well, me and Trystan have been in the same squad ever since the guy joined the army. Graduated top of his class in military strategy, shot through the ranks. Although technically, I outrank him." He sighed, rubbing his face, tapping the scar. "His true calling is medicine though. Saved my ass a few times before all this, a few times during all this. The best damned field medic that ever lived." The soldier sighed, shaking his head, finishing the vest and trading it for his helmet. "There was this one time back when people shot back at you, me and him served together. It was a particularly nasty mission. Dubbed classified. It was us two, and maybe another three that went out for this. They sent us into the heart of the Ural Mountains. Don't know why, the only thing they told us was that we weren't supposed to get caught, and that we had to find some guy named ADAM." He stopped cleaning his helmet for a minute, looking at the visor. "The meeting was a setup. We were ambushed, I got shot in the face. Trystan saw it coming and tackled me, so the bullet only grazed me. Still hurt like hell though."
 
Brad nodded, "I'm the same way, the better the stuff, the better your outcome. I've come across a few of those, with the navy base and all, they tried to keep the streets clean right after the outbreak." Brad shuddered when the memory came back to him, "They tried their best...but it just didn't work in their favor." He looked at his cards, it was a little ways into the game. Brad sighed and placed his hand down, "I fold, not my luck tonight." There was a sudden boom of thunder - a storm had rolled in. Brad smirked, "I like the rain even more now, some Zed look up at the sky when it rains with their mouth open, they'll end up drowning themselves." Brad then looked a little worried, biting his lower lip - he was a little worried about the people he had outside - the building they were at wasn't prepared for the rain - he hoped they would be alright or at least come back to base before it got too bad.

Alisha smiled at his laugh, she could tell it was only halfhearted but she was glad to see him relax a little bit. She relaxed a little more when he talked. She nodded as he spoke about Trystan, "Is that where you got the scar?" She asked curiously. It must have be nice - having someone that you utterly trusted and had a teammate on. It was dispicable that the meeting was a setup - but it happens. "You're very lucky to have a friend like that." She said, sincerety in her voice. She finished the armor peice she was working on and grabbed another, only one piece left. She jumped when the thunder sounded, she saw the clouds when she was ontop the building, but it looked like it would pass over them - the needed the rain. "So, what do you miss most?" She asked randomly, "You know, from before the Zed."
 
The leader grinned at Brad when he folded, nodding at him and placing down the fourth card. A Queen of hearts. Oh boy, this might turn out pretty well for him. "Well, the problem was that there wasn't enough of them out there. When we clean the streets, the streets will stay clean. We don't screw up too much." He chuckled, watching as everyone placed their bets down and he pulled the fifth card. A Queen of diamonds. "Well...... I've got three of a kind." He grinned, placing his cards gently on the table. "Anyone else?" His game face twitched when the thunder boomed over head, and one of the soldiers sitting at another table pulled his pistol, aiming at the door. It took a few seconds for him to relax, but eventually he holstered the gun and turned back to the table.

Jack nodded, finishing the helmet and placing it by his gun. "Yeah, it was there I got this scar on my face. All the others..... well let's just say most of them are the payment of my career." When she commented about how he was lucky, he simply nodded. "Yeah. Something about the little guy grew on me. Don't know what, but hell, it was pretty strong. Didn't want to be friends with anyone during the war time." When the thunder made itself known he only smiled. Zombies were stupid. They'd drown themselves looking up in amazement at the rain. With a sigh, he took up his rifle, tilting his head contemplatively. "The thing I miss the most? That would probably be the option to die without going to eat someone else. Zombies annoyed the shit out of me when they weren't real. And now this?"
 
Brad clapped a little, "Congratulations," he stated, noone else had a hand to beat him. They were playing with chips, nothing too fancy just the plastic ones that come in kits - they had to splurge a little and find some sore of entertainment in everything. Brad looked over when Nate appeared at the doorway, "I think I saw Jill and Adam on their, using the roofs." He turned and headed out the door. Brad nodded, "Good, I was about to starting to worry about them - it's not too dangerous in the rain, but it's easier to have accidents and to be snuck up on."

She smiled, "My father was in the military, he never really talked about any of his missions or anything - but he did teach me a few things that have come in handy in this situation." She liked talking with Jack, there was just something about him when he wasn't so...business...that she liked. She nodded, "I miss that too, I was hoping the Miami guy was just something else, I wanted to believe in the news that it was just drugs, but there was just something about it that told me that it wasn't." She shook her head, focusing a moment on the cleaning. The virus sure had thinned out the population a lot, unfortunately that meant that there were a lot more Zed than humans. Alisha kept her eyes focused on her cleaning task, her eyes becoming a little clouded. It seemed like a dream, back when they didn't have to be scared, when they didn't have to wonder every time they go outside if they were going to be hurt, eaten, or turned.
 
Trystan grinned, taking the pot and adding to his chips. "Well played guys.* When the door opened, the soldier turned to see Nate standing there. "So, I'm guessing those are the two other people you were talking about huh? Are they good shots?" He tilted his head, shuffling the cards again as he thought. "You know what, don't tell me. I'll figure out eventually. Oh, and I'd like to talk to you guys about something. I see that most of the guys here are civilians, people that managed to survive right? Very little actual training, only field experience. That's good." He caught Brad's eyes, dealing out the cards. "I'm going to ask everyone this, since I like people having their own choices, but would you guys like some actual training? Me and my group have learned a few things on our way down that I think could be rather useful here." He shrugged, sitting back while the first round of betting went on.

"Really? Hm, that's interesting. Must've been one of those shadow soldiers. As far as I know, regulars can talk about most of their missions. Although, things were different back then." In the silence that followed for a little, he looked out the window and saw something moving on the streets. It was moving way too fast to be a zombie, but too wild to be a human. Strange. He shrugged, turning back to focus on Alisha. When she brought up what happened in Miami, he cracked an honest smile and started to laugh insanely. "Ha! Oh, I remember that. I knew it right from the start. I mean, not right from the start. LSD sounded like a legitimate reason at first. 'LSD makes random guy eat what he believed was a man with the face of an MNM'." The laughs started to fade. "Yeah, good times. That story almost killed the Sargent, he laughed so hard."
 
Brad smiled at Trystan, he would probably find out soon enough - he figured a few could at least scout out the Navy base tomorrow. He looked at the others before answering the offer, he could tell by their expressions that they were interested. Honestly, anything that could increase their chances of living they were all for. Brad looked at Trystan, "Trystan, my man, you have yourself new recruits." He said with a determined nod.

Alisha smiled at Jack's laugh, causing her to chuckle a little bit. It was pretty funny - she remember first reading it. "I bet," she said inbetween her chuckles. She finished off what she was working on, which was the last dirty item in his pile. "Well, looks like everything's all clean." She said with a smile, "No more Zed smell."

Alisha jumped when there was a loud clatter in the alley that was sealed off. Her eyes narrowed - one window in the room overlooked the alley. The noise had gotten the attention of the wandering Zed, who turned their attention to trying to get in the alley - just hitting against the concrete wall. She moved cautiously to the window, only to see one of the planks that was originally on the roof now on the ground of the alley. "What the?" She was puzzeled. Moving towards the door to check out what was going on ontop the roof.
 
"Heheh, very good. You guy's will be much more than battle ready when I'm done with you. Trust me, you'll be able to kill a zombie just by squinting at it." He chuckled, placing some chips in the middle. Just as he went and checked his cards though, he heard a loud clanging in the sealed off alley way. That couldn't be a good thing. He stood up, his rifle loaded and ready in the flash of a second. "Squad, on me now. Lock and load, I want every single eye on whatever the hell made that noise. Trenton, Darlene, by the front door. Anything gets in, you knock it back into the afterlife." The soldiers nodded, each and every one readying their weapons and scrambling into position. He looked at Brad and the other survivors. "Looks like your training might get started earlier then I had planned. Follow my lead, shoot anything that moves." He nodded, pulling his helmet over his head, snapping the colored visor down.

"Thank God. I have no doubts the smell alone would be enough to turn someone." He chuckled lightly, smiling at her with a genuine look. That pleasant mood was gone the second the noise hit his ears. In a flash he was by the window, gun loaded, scope trained on the board that had drawn the attention of the passing group of Zed. "Damnit. Damnit all to hell." He grabbed a radio from the vest, clicking it on. "Trystan, you have the others in defensive position?" The radio crackled for a few seconds before clearing up.

"Yeah, we got the bottom floor locked down tight. Where the hell are you?" Jack looked to Alisha. "I'm on the floor right below the top. I got a bird's eye view from up here. A board dropped from one of the higher windows." He looked around through the scope. "We have a small horde coming over to check us out, with a couple hundred down the road." Trystan peeked through a crick in the boarded windows, shaking his head. "I see them. We'll try to keep silent for now, but I don't have a good feeling about this." Jack nodded, scouting the area with his scope. The radio crackled again. "Uh, Jack. We can't stay silent. Apparently there are two other survivors out there. We'll wait for this horde to pass and go out on a search." Jack nodded. "Alright kid. I'll get suited up. We'll show these guys who's got the real gun-power."
 
Brad was one of the many that jumped at the noise, everything springing into action, him and his people drew weapons that were near them, at the ready. He paused and looked around, "Is Alisha still on the roof?" He asked, somewhat to himself, somewhat not. He narrowed his eyes, Nate had just headed to meet the others, where was he, usually when there was something going on he headed to the safest place he can think of, and whether he wanted to admit it but Brad knew that Nate knew with these guys around, here was the safest place.

Alisha didn't hold still, she went out of the room and headed up the neighboring stairs outside the room to the roof. She stepped out onto the roof looking around, her eyes scanning the rooftop, what could have caused the item to fall, it was rather secured to the roof. She had a gun drawn and ready. There was noone up there. she snuck to the edge of the roof, there was a small concrete wall where she could stay conceled, just in case. She looked over the edge quickly, the planks looked like it was broken. She looked around, there were some fixtures on the roof that was missing, looking over the edge again she noticed them on the ground. She looked up to see something on a little ways around, jumping? "Shit." She muttered scrambling over to a place she had binocolors. Using them she could see it was indeed a person, jumping up and down waving their hands.

This caused Alisha to grab a walkie that was on the roof, she switched channels on it, "Brad, you have your walkie on you?" She asked.

Brad grabbed his walkie, "Yeah, Alisha, what's up, where are you?"

"On the roof," She responded, "It's Adam, he's on the roof a ways down, looks like he's trapped on one of the unsecure buildings."
 
Jack had quite the view of the gathering horde from up on the roof, but something didn't seem right. The zombies below seemed almost organized, forming a circle around the least decayed body. But, intelligence was impossible. They were brainless flesh eaters, they couldn't think, they couldn't form tactics. With a sigh, he called down to his commander. "Hey, Trystan, we have a man stuck outside. Think you can go give him a hand?" Trystan was beside the door, rifle loaded and ready for some action.

"Alright, we'll go give him some time to get back here. You guys know the drill." Three soldiers nodded, and when the leader opened the door and waltzed out with guns blazing, they followed, walking down the street. The Zed followed like lost dogs, disproving Jack's theory of them being intelligent and organized. They were still as dumb as ever. The farther down the street the small team got, the bigger the horde grew, and the farther away from Alisha's little fort they were. "Jack, you might wanna make sure no extra undead get close. This guy you said is stranded better hurry his ass up. With all the commotion, there should be more than this."
 
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