Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Poprockz]

A pained expression was given in response before the man looked up at the ceiling. "I only have my left arm left... I can't even use my legs to sit up or anything, and I can't get any leverage with just one arm. I'm not sure how much help I'd be. I'm fuckin' useless." The man's eyes welled up slightly and he started to blink back tears of mourning. He had lost so much in such a short amount of time.

Not a moment later, their captor scuffled back into the room with two short, fat candles, setting them on top of the shelf opposite their feet. If one were to lift their head (though not much as the restraints were very snug), they would be able to view him taking a lighter out of his pocket. With a click, the man flicked on the lighter and produced a small flickering flame. It was obvious that he intended to light it, but the next thing they knew, the zombie began to moan loudly and thrash, kicking and rolling like some kind of bug on its back.

The man instantly removed his thumb and the flame went out, his surprised gaze going to her before the realization hit him. He dropped the lighter on the shelf and rushed over to the zombie to kneel above her on the mattress, reaching out and stroking her balding head. "Shh! Shh! It's okay, Elizabeth, it's gone! Shh!" The zombie calmed down, though likely it was more due to the absence of the flame than anything.

A relieved sigh left the man before he took her face between his hands and stared at her, murmuring, "good girl, Elizabeth. You're such a good girl." It was enough to give anyone goosebumps, his eyes seemingly possessed by lust and rapture for the beautiful zombie.

Slowly, he leaned forward and kissed her neck, moving up to her jaw and then the corner of her lips. Surprisingly, they weren't that chapped, likely from the man applying chapstick to them. The zombie sat there, its mouth open absentmindedly as it looked back at him. His next move was to kiss her mouth, sloppily making out with the zombie as his tongue slipped around her lips and into her mouth, rubbing lewdly against her toothless gums.

It seemed as though the zombie tried to bite his tongue, but it only managed to massage it between the top and bottom gums, saliva dribbling out the sides of her mouth. As it had no arms, it wasn't able to grab him either, the legs not moving since there was no need to chase him.

Reaching down, the man groaned as he unzipped his pants and freed his cock. It was a modest cock of about 5 inches, throbbing and erect. He hiked up her dress and scooted forward, splaying her legs and licking his lips in anticipation.

"Oooh! Fuck Elizabeth..." He whispered on a shuddered breath, his hard rod sinking into the zombie's cold snatch. The man began thrusting, his hips jerking forward each time with the force of a rabid man enraptured by lust. The two men in the room could hear the slick sounds of it all, the grunting and fervent whispers of the insane man.

"Huh. Ung. Ung! Yeah... Elizabeth..."

----------------------------

"Yeah, quietness sounds like the best policy to me." Damien nodded and accepted her hand, moving forward with her and Sabastian through the mall.

Sebastian himself had simply nodded to acknowledge what she said before continuing. He was walking through the hall when he thought he heard Sayori or Quint say something nearby. At the same time, he felt that prick at the back of his mind; there were zombies headed in their direction- fast. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked toward the mall entrance.

"There are zombies headed in our direction, and not the dumb ones. I can't tell how many there are. Maybe... four? They probably know we're here too." He looked back at Cora and Damien with an uncertain expression.

"I think we should hide," Damien spoke up, straightening his back and looking around to see if he could spot the others. Quint had to have felt it too by now, so hopefully he would have the opportunity to hide with Sayori. "They might know we're in the mall, but they can't exactly pinpoint our location, can they?" He looked at Sabastian, honestly curious as to whether hiding would be futile or not.

----------------------------

"Don't worry, we'll keep each other safe."

The bigger guy hesitated before nodding a bit stiffly. He didn't look completely convinced, but it seemed as though he didn't have enough reason to insert himself into their affairs.

"Whatever, just go and swallow a bottle. And if he gets eaten, you know where to find me." Jarvis sneered at them as they exited the shop.

Sayori paid him no mind, walking out at Quint's side and looking around to see if there was a shop nearby that they might pop into next. What she saw was the rest of the group standing a bit of a ways away with a range of different looks on their faces.

It seemed like something might have been wrong, but she wasn't sure what it could have been. Perhaps they had encountered a similar group? Or maybe they had found the missing brother. She wasn't seeing Vin though, the woman's eyebrows knitting slightly as she wondered where he could be. The woman started forward toward the group, trusting that Quint was coming as well.

 

[Drobabes]

He stopped his struggling against his bonds for a moment, his laboured breathing slowing down to a few shallow breaths as he looked over at the man lying beside him. The other guys anguish pulled at his heart, his own eyes getting a bit moist as he let his head drop down against the gurney for a moment. As soon as the feeling came, though, it was gone and he was lifting his head once more to struggle. They didn't really have time for this.

Once again, the rank smell was what hit him first, the gag that had been choked down before coming back with avenges. Vin had to turn his head to the side just to ensure he wouldn't choke on his own puke, though luckily nothing came up.

When the lighter was lit, Vin jerked. Not from the flame, but from the sudden thrashing and noises that emanated from the creatures toothless mouth. In his desperation to get the crazy bastard away and buy himself some time, he had completely forgotten about the way that thing was going to react to the flame. Could they use that though? Maybe. If he could just get his damn hands free...

"good girl, Elizabeth. You're such a good girl."

Vin stared in shock and disgust, his nose wrinkling as the nut worked his way up its neck and to its lips. How that zombie didn't crush his tongue between it's jaws, teeth or not, he didn't know. Perhaps the sick bastard had removed a few key muscles when he was ripping her molars out. After all, he seemed to have been able to saw a guys limbs off without killing him in the process.

"What are you doing?" he half whispered, half protested, as he watched one filthy hand unzip his pants and pull out his dick.

His eyes didn't linger, finding the sight of any part of him to be repulsive, but out of the corner of his vision, just before he tried to turn away, Vin saw the fabric of her dress move. The sounds that followed were enough to make him shake with a feeling that he had no words for. He tried to close his eyes, to block it out, but as just as soon as the room went dark, his vision was quickly filled with a deadpan stare and a floor of blood.

His chocolate eyes shot open quickly, though they stared blankly through the air, his brows set in a scowl as his lips quivered. He didn't dare to look around, or meet the near limbless man's eyes.
_______________________________________________________

He was indeed coming, grabbing her hand once more in an unconscious manner, his fingers shaking a bit as they gripped hers.

The pricking at the back of his mind scared him. Quint couldn't count them any better than Sabastian could, but he knew that it didn't matter. These were big mamba jambas comin their way, and none of them would stand a chance against them. Sabastian hadn't been able to hold his own against that bitch Margaret, so how could they even hope to face more than one?

"We need to hide" he said, interrupting Cora just as she opened her mouth to answer Sabastian. She looked over at him with shock and relief, not know where he had come from, or how he had gotten there so quickly, but not really caring. They were together now.

"Right, but where?" she asked, a bit breathless with panic.

"I think they're looking for people" he said, his eyes darting over to Sabastian as he pushed the sunglasses up to the top of his head, any dampening to his senses causing him irritation in their combined panicked state.

"Who will probably move up to get away from the regular zombies. Should we go down?"

He opened his mouth again, hesitated, then continued.

"We'll find Delvin, but we can't do it until we're out of their radar."
__________

[OOC:]

 

[Poprockz]

[ OOC: Warning to anyone who happens to read this shit. This post is a bit gross, so if I were you, I would skip ahead a bit.]

The other man on the gurney seemed to be in a similar state of disgust and resignation, not uttering a word as the room was consumed with the sounds of lust. The grunting grew louder, each thrust of his punctuated by either a grunt or an exclamation. It didn't seem like it was going to take him long though, as his pace quickened after a bit and he soon groaned in satisfaction, holding himself against her as he presumably emptied himself inside her.

There was silence before the madman sighed, pulling his cock out and wiping it casually on the mattress before tucking it away again. He reached under the grimy mattress and found what he was looking for: a grody turkey baster. Still between her legs, he slipped the cooking utensil inside her, squeezing it at the end so that he could suck the sperm out of her. It took a couple tries, but soon the clear plastic tube was filled with his milky cum.

He cleared his throat, moving his hand near her mouth so that she would open it and lean forward in anticipation, the chain around her neck keeping her from actually reaching it. Now that her mouth was open... he squeezed the turkey baster above her waiting mouth, allowing his semen to drip onto her tongue and down her throat. The zombie didn't seem to really care what it was, merely swallowing whatever he gave it down to the last disgusting drop.

"Yeah... You like that cum, don't you?" He seemed very pleased with how quickly it had disappeared down her throat, replacing the baster under the mattress for next time.

Now that that was taken care of, he got to his feet and turned to Vin, a bit of a frown on his face. "You upset Elizabeth with the candle idea, so I think you need to make it up to her somehow, or she won't be able to accept your soul to heaven."

The man on the other gurney turned his head toward him and said through gritted teeth, "come on man... She's fucking dead- she doesn't even-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" If the wild-eyed murderous rage on his face wasn't enough to shut him up, his thunderous voice did the trick, flecks of spit spraying as he practically trembled with emotion. He pointed his finger at him in warning, jabbing it to inflect his words. "You will RESPECT my wife, or I'll find a way to make you PAY for your sins!"

He was breathing visibly hard at this point, the man wiping off his mouth before looking at Vin. "Now... You got you some pretty hair. You're going to give it to her to make up for what you did."

-------------------------------

Damien felt a bit glad that he and Quint had jumped to the same conclusion- the need to get out of sight. As such, he had nodded in agreement with the man's suggestions.

"Hey," Sayori interjected, "the map of the mall didn't show a basement or lower floor, so we should just try to get as far away as possible." She hadn't noticed the hand that was now intertwined with her own, the gesture feeling so natural that it simply seemed unquestionable.

The blonde zombie nervously glanced at the entrance to the mall, that nervousness translating to a slight hint of frustration in his voice. "Yeah, but there are a couple dumb zombies below us, so there has to be at least a sewer system or something."

"Yes, but the map didn't show any signs as to where there are any lower entrances or access points, so we would have to search all over the mall to find it and we don't have the time!" She quickly responded without missing a beat.

“I doubt they would hide an entrance to a basement in any of the regular shops, so it’s probably a good idea to check any of the main mall staff areas or the food court,” Damien added, glancing around to see if there was a mall map in sight.

"Fuck!" Sabastian ran his hand through his hair, all of his tentacles coming out and wrapping around the group loosely as he started to herd them in a direction. "We can keep talking about this as we move, we can't stay in the same fucking spot or they're going to find us!"

At that point, they were out of view of the entrance, but not a moment later they would hear the doors to the mall open. They were near a clothing store, a make-up shop, and a maternity shop.

 

[Drobabes]

Vin simply laid still on the gurney, trying to conserve his energy for when he might need it. He wasn't going anywhere with how well he was strapped down, and if he tried to free himself while that psycho was in the room, it would likely only end with him losing a limb. Besides, the last time he had been trapped in a cage, all his raging had done for him was wear down his nerves, and he had hurt himself from kicking things too hard. Not that he cared if he hurt himself, but he had gone through the ringer enough times now to, at the very least, attempt to hold it together.

"Yeah... You like that cum, don't you?"

Oh god, what the fuck?!

He had moved his head slowly, cautiously looking over to see why the man had gone quiet, and not wanting to be caught off guard if he was going to try and stab him or something. Vin really wished he hadn't looked though.

When he got up and left his 'love', Vin's eyes went back to him once more, looking into those crazed depths as he spoke. It obviously wasn't his fault that the zombie had freaked out, Vin having forgotten about that particular fact with the predicament he was currently in, but he wasn't going to try to argue that point to the lunatic with limb choppers. His partner in horror didn't seem so smart, having seemingly not learned his lesson with the first three limbs he had lost. Or perhaps he just didn't care anymore.

Delvin flinched, closing his eyes to both avoid the wrath and the spit that was flying. He almost didn't want to open them back up, not knowing if the next meal that would be offered up would be Jerseys heart. However, he was being addressed.

"Now... You got you some pretty hair. You're going to give it to her to make up for what you did."

The back of his head was leaning back as much as it was allowed, trying, even now, to get as far away from that rank breath as possible. His own brown eyes looked at him steadily, his hands shaking a bit, though he managed to keep his voice relatively calm and quiet when he answered.

"Sure. You do what you feel is best."

Of course Vin didn't want that creeps hands anywhere near his hair, but if the option was being given to take his hair, or tank an arm, of fucking course he was going to pick his hair. He could grow that back, he couldn't grow a limb back.
_________________________________________________________

Quint didn't speak as they all hastily tried to come up with a plan, but Cora could see the look in his eyes. He was doing that thing that he did whenever they played strategy games, and she knew that given a few more minutes left to his thoughts, he would have a loose plan. She gripped on to her gun, however, nervous that between Bowie's squirming and fear, and Sabastian's own agitation, he was likely going to have a harder time thinking.

"If we're trying to find the sewers," Cora spoke up as they all frantically moved, trying to keep a scream choked down at hearing the entrance opening behind them.

"Would the entrance even be in the building?"

"No" Quint said, sudden realization dawning on his face before he looked down at Sabastian.

"Let's go to the back! We'll go out the back entrance, put some distance between us and them, and we'll circle back and find the entrance to the sewers. It should be in some kind of maintenance building. Cora,"

He let go of Sayori's hand and reached out to her.

"Give me Bowie, I need his help."

Quint hadn't needed to communicate with Sabastian to know that his nose was temporarily out of service. The pain in the back of his own nostrils, combined with a phantom smell of perfume, was almost as overwhelming as if he had smelled it himself. If he was going to be using that particular sense, then he needed something to put his focus on that would distract him from what Sabastian was smelling. And feeling.

His thoughts were a hot mess of fear, anger, pain, and trepidation. At least with Bowie, the animal had the instincts to channel it a bit and make it more simple, even if he wasn't quite blocking it all out. And Quint knew that through their link, he would be able to experience the sense of smell a bit differently; hopefully enough to focus and not be overwhelmed.

 

[Poprockz]

For his compliance, Vin was given an approving nod. It seemed as though the man was very pleased that he was taking responsibility for rattling Elizabeth. "Hmph. Good."

Going over to the shelf, the man rummaged around in a paper bag and took out a pair of scissors. They were still in their plastic casing, having not been opened yet. It took him a minute to pick at the plastic until he got the thin edges separated and pulled apart. The plastic was then discarded onto the floor as he studied his brand-new tool. He also grabbed reached into the bag and took out a little pouch of rubber bands, selecting a few of them before turning back to the gurneys.

He quickly moved to the head of Vin's gurney to look down at that glossy black hair. In his eyes was a bit of envy, as well as hunger. The thought of Elizabeth having Vin's hair seemed to excite him, the man licking his chapped lips before setting the rubber bands down on the gurney and taking the scissors in his right hand.

"Hm..." He reached down and started to paw at Vin's hair, trying to gather it upwards. Occasionally this would cause his clammy fingers to rub Vin's cheek or forehead. While he himself didn't smell like a Victoria's Secret model, his hands smelled like a mixture of meat and sex, a dark red substance stuck under his fingernails.

A section of hair was gathered near his forehead and the top of his head, the man apparently thinking to himself that he could get more hair in general if he isolated the hair into a few sections.

SNIP

And just like that, the man had a handful of hair, tying a rubber band around it in order to keep it from going all over the place. Now the hair on the top of his head was only about two inches at most, though he didn't stop there. Snipping sounds could be heard throughout the room as he trimmed Vin's hair down further, catching the trimmings in his cupped hand after setting the lock of hair down. There was a little pouch hanging from the head of the gurney, so he used this to occasionally dump the trimmings.

Now that the top of his head was done, the man gruffly said, "hey, I need to get the sides. Turn your head to the right." He placed his hand on the left side of Vin's head as though to direct him to comply.

-------------------------

The clack of several footsteps could be heard in the other hall, and Sabastian realized that as they were now, they would be spotted if they didn't hide. Thankfully, there was a large mall map jutting out in the middle of the hall, so he quickly dragged them all behind it, tightening his tentacles slightly so that they were all huddled up. He could feel that Quint was trying to do something, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear upon the other zombies' arrivals. It would do better if he were to remain calm.

Sabastian closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing, repeating the phrase, "we'll be okay. Vin will be okay," in his head. It helped immensely, the blond's mind becoming less agitated.

However, they all couldn't help but overhear what happened in the other hallway. The group of zombies passed the intersection between the two halls, walking more in the direction of the pharmacy.

"Hello? Anybody?" A soft male voice called out a bit hesitantly.

There was silence before a sharper, female voice spoke up clearly and loudly. "We know you're here. We want to talk to you about an opportunity we're offering! Hello?"

"We want to talk to you about your car's extended warranty," a deeper male voice snickered before a 'thwack!" was heard. "Ouch! Hey, lighten up!"

It was at that point where a familiar voice responded. "Who the fuck are you guys?" It was the voice of the man with the beanie. Presumably, the other two companions were also with him.

The militant female voice had an edge of annoyance to it, but it was obvious she was trying to stay polite. "We're from a group called ZUDH (OOCronounced Zood), and we need to speak with your keepers. Can you tell me where they are?"

"Keepers? What the fuck does that even mean?"

The male voice piped up, "you know. Guardians, keepers, protectors, Z-buddies? Nothing? Damn, playing hard to get, are we?"

The man who had gotten Quint the pills replied, "no? I don't- we don't need protecting. We've survived this far and we've got guns."

"I don't think they're lying..." the soft male voice suggested, likely to the woman before continuing. "Have you seen anyone else in this mall? Presumably with glasses?"

"Uh... Yeah. There was that tweaker and his knocked-up girlfriend." The man with the beanie sneered. They were pretty much losers. You look like a chick who's rough in the streets and wild in the sheets. Wanna hang out with us? The pharmacy's got anything you could want to get you going."

There was a hard, long silence. Only the steps of one pair of boots could be heard for a moment.

"Get on your knees and submit to me. Relinquish your weapons and your pride, and you will be rewarded." The female's voice had a dangerous tone to it, as though "no" would not be an option.

-------------------------

Meanwhile...

It was a bright, sunny day and Francisco was walking nearby several trees. It had been a little while since he was completely alone, the events of the escape having kept everyone pretty busy. As he passed one of them, there was suddenly a wolf-whistle, as though someone was impressed with his assets and wanted to let him know. However, the sound was coming from up in a tree.

"Rr. Wow! Pretty boy! Rr." There, perched on one of the branches of the tree was a large raven. The eyes were the only thing that hinted that it was a changed animal, as its feathers were black and glossy like any other healthy bird of its kind. Those eyes were violet, fixed upon Francisco in a bemused manner. Attached to one of its legs was a small red ribbon that looked as though it secured a rolled-up message.

The bird started to bob its head in a circular motion, giving him another wolf-whistle before opening its beak again. "Rr. Sssssilver fox. Wow! Back it up! Rr." It then proceeded to make kissy noises at him. It had the mannerisms of a bird, but there was something about the way it looked at him that made one wonder if it might actually understand what it was saying.

 

[Drobabes]

Vin watched with caution and fear, not knowing if the package of scissors was going to brandished as a weapon. Maybe the sharp blades would slice his throat or take out an eye. Memories of his mother yelling at him not to run with sharp objects in his hand suddenly cropped up in his mind, making him snort briefly as the irony of it filled him with sick mirth, though it was followed very quickly with sorrow. He hadn't been a good enough son to her; the time shared between them often so tense and filled with turmoil that he hadn't wanted to be around her for the most part. But she had loved them dearly, and it was only in death that he was forced to reconsider the reasoning of her actions.

"Hm..."

God, he could practically feel the grease coming off of his fingers and coating his hair. Vin tried to be still, not wanting to provoke him, but each time those greasy, clammy, filthy fingers touched his skin, he couldn't help but flinch and try to jerk away before he forced himself to settle once more. His heart rate was kicking up again, and though he had managed to mostly keep himself in control before, the smell wafting across the already rank air was only hammering in how close the guy was too him. Vin was trapped, true, but now he was feeling cornered, and the dragon in him was beginning to curl it's lips.

Snip.

His nostrils flared wide, ignoring the smell of rot and dirty sex.

Snip.

His fingers curled, balling up into fists against the gurney.

...Snip.

"hey, I need to get the sides. Turn your head to the right."

Vin jerked his head away from that filthy hand and his chocolate brown eyes sought out the crazed man's in a wild look of rage. Not a fraction of a second after their eyes met, Vin lifted his head and spat hard, a warm and wet ball of spit landing right between the mans nose and forehead.

"Fuck you!"
________________________________________________

The group allowed themselves to be pulled aside and behind the sign, all of them grateful for the cover. Cora gripped her gun and tried not to lean too heavily against Damien, knowing that they may need to run, or fight, at any second. Quint on the other hand took the brief pause to wrestle Bowie around his waist and up over his shoulder, focusing on him as best he could and trying to silently communicate the need for cooperation between the two of them. After just a few seconds, the snake finally calmed down and began to more willingly open his side of the link to the half zombie, finally allowing the man to take a deep breathe and focus his intent on the current situation.

"We're from a group called ZUDH, and we need to speak with your keepers. Can you tell me where they are?"

Cora's hazel eyes shot over to Damien, her brows furrowing in confusion. Who the fuck was Zudh? Some crazed group? She knew he didn't have the answer, but the fact that they had a name and thought that the other group of people should have 'keepers' was extremely worrying.

"Get on your knees and submit to me. Relinquish your weapons and your pride, and you will be rewarded."

Both Bowie and Quint seemed to look up slightly in unison, though in reality, the snake was merely reacting to his handlers sudden focus. The purple ring around his pupils seemed to almost glow in the shadow of the sign, and a sudden shiver of fury rippled through his tense muscles. Cora looked at him sharply, and with her brows furrowing, she angrily mouthed 'no!'. She then quickly followed it up with a hard sweep of her hand to emphasize her point.

Unlike herself, Sabastian, and Damien, Quint hadn't been exposed to anything of what the fully turned humans were capable of doing. He didn't know of the strength, nor the madness, that they had experienced. Unless Sabastian had directly shared it with him during their time in the prison. But, in that case, she would only assume that he wouldn't be so stupid as to risk all their lives.

Her eyes turned to Sabastian, meeting his gaze with an angry and desperate look, hoping he would back her up. Did Quinton understand that this was a battle that they simply couldn't win?
__________________________________________

"Rr. Wow! Pretty boy! Rr."

"Hm?"

He looked up, lifting a hand to shield his sensitive eyes from the morning sun. The sight of the animal surprised him, though the hue to it's own eyes and the red ribbon around it's ankle immediately got his attention.

"Rr. Sssssilver fox. Wow! Back it up! Rr."

Silver fox? His mind worked quickly, categorizing his list of contacts and who was most likely to have called him that, along with the obvious cat calls. Almost immediately he had his answer, and seeing as he had the added bonus of knowing how the zombies shared mental abilities worked, knew he was likely under watch. Time to turn on the charm.

His lips twisted into a suave grin, his white teeth almost glinting in the light. The hand that was shielding his eyes moved down to smoothly run along the side of his army cut, as if he were combing back the stripe of grey hair that only added to his hansom looks. Francis then did as the bird requested, 'backing up' in a playful and skilled manner as his hands came to his chest and slowly undid the top two buttons of his shirt. Once the slightest bit of his chest hair was showing, he let out a loud laugh and held his arm out like a perch, offering for the bird to come down and join him.

"What wonderful news have you brought me, gorgeous?" he said, grinning with the full confidence of a man who knew he had it goin' on.
__________________________________________

Niles walked to the edge of the treeline where Kuznet's lawn met the wild forest, his feet carrying him slowly, but steadily. Save for the limp.

His dark eyes bore into the shadows, looking around at mother nature's perfection. Every fallen leaf seemed to be perfectly placed, every sprout of a seed reaching up to the nurturing sun above planted in just the perfect place to survive. Nothing seemed out of it's natural order, nor contaminated with the filth that was mankind's disease. But something was, and as he limped along, his scowl boring into every branch, twig, and rock, he finally found what he was looking for.

The dogs.

Or, rather, the remains of them. They were a good ways out from the property, and there was no solid evidence of the bodies it would appear, save for a few small tufts of fur snagged in the brambles of a bush, and a bit of blood splattered over the rocks underneath.

Niles stared down at the remains for a long moment before he pulled a little baggy, tweezers, and a vial from his pocket. Collecting the fur, and a few flecks of blood, he stood with a groan and let out a breathe through parted lips. In the single ray of sun through the trees canopy, he held the vial up before his eyes and shook the small pebbles inside.

 

[Poprockz]

The man flinched as the spit made contact, immediately backing up and wiping it off his face with a disgusted look. It took him a second to get it all off before that look of disgust quickly turned to one of rage.

"You fucking ungrateful bastard..." He pointed the scissors at Vin in an accusatory manner. At this point Vin's hair looked like it belonged in a catalogue for bad hairdos; the top was completely trimmed while he still had the sides. The man was breathing hard through his nose while his mouth was drawn up in a deep frown.

"All you had to do was turn your fucking head, but you wanna be a brat instead? Well fine then. If you act like one, then I'll treat you like one." At that, he stomped close to the gurney once more and grabbed a handful of Vin's hair from the side, lifting his head and then slamming Vin back down. It wasn't enough force to really hurt him, but it would certainly be painful. Pressure was applied to the side of Vin's head as the man leaned over him and held him down.

"Now you listen here, you better behave, you hear me?" The whites of his eyes were showing as a tense silence hung in the air, the man waiting to see if Vin was brave enough to mouth off to him again.

-----------------------------------

Damien briefly met Cora's gaze, his own brows scrunched up as he also tried to make sense of things. From what he could tell, it seemed like the zombies were specifically looking for Quint and Sabastian rather than humans in general. What their intentions were was anyone's guess, but it could be assumed that what they wanted was likely something unsavory or violent. It was possible they wanted to fight or to imprison them, much more likely that than the possibility of them needing help. It was simply too risky to reveal themselves at this point, so he was all for retreating down the hall.

Even when he heard the conversation, he felt zero need to put them all in danger in favor of a few men who didn't seem to know danger when it was staring them in the face. For this reason, he was glad when Cora drew the line with Quint, the man also nodding to show his support for her.

Meanwhile, Sayori felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the other group to be prey to those zombies, but what could they do? There were three of them and two zombies on their own side. It was a losing battle, and to go out there would just make all of their deaths meaningless.

Sabastian hadn't really paid attention to what Margaret felt like while he was with her, mostly because he hadn't wanted to be very present during his time with the voracious woman. As such, he wasn't able to tell whether they were fully-turned or not. It was a gamble that he didn't want to partake in. Besides, their real mission was to save Vin, not some group of douches who didn't know how to keep their noses out of trouble.

He glanced at Cora and then at Quint, reaching out with one of his tentacles and wrapping it around his wrist to get his attention and hopefully get the message across that the majority of them weren't in favor of fucking everything up. He didn't want to have to physically stop him, but if it was necessary, then he might not have another choice. It was better for Quint to be pissed at him than to see one of his friends be ripped apart. The man shook his head seriously, intent on convincing Quint of the danger.

"Why don't you get on your knees and suck my dick, bitch? Ha-ha!" The man with the beanie retorted with a douchy tone, a smirk on his face. There was a click after he finished his sentence, one that resembled the safety being turned off on a gun. One of the other guys snickered, likely the one who had hadn't talked to Quint and Sayori. His click followed, so at this point it could be assumed that two of the men had their guns out with the safety off, pointed at the zombies.

There was then the combined sound of three men hitting the floor, each of them grunting in pain and surprise.

"What the FUCK IS- WHAT THE FUCK?!" It seemed as though the beanie-guy wasn't as amused anymore, his tone now one of terror.

"I've got the weapons," the soft voice of one of the men interjected, the voice sounding a bit hesitant and uncomfortable.

The authoritative feminine voice spoke. "Good. Now-"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU, FREAK?! FUCKING MONSTER! It seemed like the shocked man still didn't have the presence of mind to restrain himself from insulting them further.

"I'm not the monster here, you are." Her voice was extremely cold at this point, its low tone commanding all of their attention. "Now die."

"No, wait-!" A slicing noise was heard before it was followed by the sound of a body collapsing. Presumably, the other two men were alive, but soon another slice and crumple sound was heard.

"You. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Come with us and you'll have food, water, and protection." Though her voice still had a touch of coldness to it, it seemed as though her offer was a bit softer now in a kinder tone.

---------------------------------

The raven watched his sexy show, shuffling excitedly on the branch before clicking its beak. When he was done, it puffed up its feathers and ruffled them before commenting, "rr. Wow! Hhhhot."

It didn't hesitate, spreading its wings and flapping a few times before gliding down onto his arm. The talons that now clutched the officer's arm were beautiful in a deadly way, long and sharp and capable of inflicting a lot of damage to a person if the bird was so inclined. Likely the wounds it could make would be deep and painful, though the bird held onto him in a firm but gentle manner. It was obvious that it trusted that no harm would come to it from the officer.

"Rr. Kisses." It leaned forward and brushed its beak against his cheek, making an exaggerated "mmmmwah~!" before pulling back. While some ravens had deeper voices, this one's was pleasantly rich and feminine, while still retaining that signature bird accent.

It then tilted its head to the side slightly and said, "here you go, pretty boy. Wow!" The bird lifted its leg and extended it as though offering for him to untie it. If opened, the letter was written in black ink in small letters. She had wanted to maximize the space given, after all.

The note read:

"Hello darlings, Angel here. Raven's name is Truffle. Show the bird a map and it will give a few places to avoid. Dangerous zombie group gathering numbers. Intentions unknown. Breeding evident. Humans employed. Possibility of human spies in base. No known id markers for group."

 

[Drobabes]

He was past logic and reason at this point, the stench and filth of the man's hands still filling the air between them and making Vin shake with revulsion and rage. When his hair was grabbed and his head slammed down, all the man received was a grunt and growl of shock and anger, Delvin's legs and arms then trying to fight against his bonds. They stopped only momentarily as the scissors were brought close once more, those crazy eyes leaning in close again.

"Now you listen here, you better behave, you hear me?"

His own eyes, now wild and almost matching the look of the man above him, turned to his captor. He stared at him as best he could from his position, nostrils flaring.

"Fuck...you," he said slowly, the tremor in his voice making his words shake. Suddenly his whole body was struggling; pushing, pulling, fighting against his restraints and causing the gurney to rock back and forth with the strength of his struggle.

"I'M GOING TO USE THOSE SCISSORS TO CUT YOUR FUCKING DICK OFF! AND THEN I'M GOING TO SHOVE IT DOWN THAT BITCHES THROAT!!"
___________________________

Quint's eyes met Cora's, the twins sharing a fierce look, until he felt that extra limb wrap around his wrist. His blue jeweled eyes then turned to Sabastian, full of anger for a second until his expression crumpled into pain, and he quickly looked away.

He knew he couldn't risk all their lives, but much like his sister, Quint had a very gentle heart. He would beat the crap out of someone for doing something he deemed shitty, but he didn't believe in killing without damn good reason and damn good proof. It didn't matter that those men were dicks, they were still people and they didn't deserve to die. Not just for being asshole.

The conversations and sounds that followed rippled through them. Cora closed her eyes and turned to Damien, burying her face in his chest for a brief moment before she remembered that they were still running, and needed to be ready to move. Quint on the other hand simply glared down at the ground, pain written all over his expression, and at the sound of the body hitting the floor, he flinched badly.
___________________________

Fran simply laughed at the birds affection, finding himself feeling the same little tingle in his spine as when he was in the same room with Ray on a bad day. The raven was beautiful, intelligent, and absolutely deadly. He was under no illusions as to how easily those claws could likely snap the bones of his arm if it wished, though the sweet kiss to his cheek let him know that they were on good terms for the time being.

He took the little note, holding it up to his other hand so he could roll it down, reading it quickly before turning his eyes to the bird.

"Truffle, hm?" he said, giving the bird another grin.

"Is that because you're so sweet?"

He held the note between his fingers as he look down to his pocket, reaching in and shuffling a a folded square of paper out as he held the bird up. He then walked over towards the treeline, finding a branch that was a bit below his eye level, and let the bird off his arm. He then pulled a pin out from his shirt pocket and opened up his little map, showing it to the bird.

A few spots were already marked, such as the fire that had burnt a good portion of the mountain, and the mall where he had sent Quinton. All that was written next to it was, "cleared", to indicate that they had no further use for the location. He put the map up against the trunk of the tree, pulling the cap off his pin and waiting patiently for Truffle to do her magic.

 

[Poprockz]

(OOC: Warning to people who might be reading: This post is also a bit fucked up, so reader discretion is advised.)

"You must not have heard me, you bastard..." The madman growled. Obviously VIn's struggling and shaking the gurney was agitating the man, and no matter how much he tried to hold the gurney down, Vin had enough force to rock and move it. This absolutely infuriated him, the man letting out a frustrated grunt.

Though, once Vin had let loose with his retort, the man absolutely fucking lost it. "DON'T YOU FUCKING TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!!" He hollered, lifting Vin's head up and slamming it down once more. He used all his body-weight to hold his head down, making sure that he couldn't move it. His arm was in a 'V' shape on top of the side of his face, his bicep across Vin's forehead and nose, and his forearm coming back against his jawline and cheek. His hand gripped the back of Vin's neck for leverage and at that point Vin wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.

He was about to be able to feel it though.

It started as a sharp pain, the likes of which he probably hadn't felt before. It felt like two knives were pinching around his ear, the scissors being sharp but not sharp enough to be quick and efficient. It required numerous sawing and slicing motions, blood trickling down his neck. Obviously, the maniac had taken the scissors to his ear, trying to cut it off in his fit of unbridled rage.

"Leave him alone!" The other man on the gurney begged, also trying to wiggle out of his restraints with no luck. That plea wasn't even acknowledged.

-------------

Damien held Cora tightly, though when she indicated that she wanted him to let go, he did so. He had thought to himself that things might go down this way once the men pulled their weapons out, but it was still unfortunate, and likely a shock to Cora. Though she had pulled away, he reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it in the hopes of comforting he, or at least letting her know that he was there for her.

Sayori had quickly put her hands over her mouth, jumping at the sounds of the men being killed. Her eyes watered and she looked sad and afraid. She also didn't believe they deserved to die just for being dicks, though she was a bit glad that they had at least spared one of them.

Looking around to try to make eye-contact with each of them, the blonde zombie silently mouthed, "let's go!" Since Quint was glaring at the floor, he simply started to move with the group, pulling Quint by the wrist.

"Hello?" The female zombie called out in no direction in particular. "Please come out. We sensed you and wanted to make contact. Hello?"

Sabastian ignored her, moving the group in the direction of the doors. Though once they were nearer to them, he saw to his surprise, another zombie walking through them.

She stared at them for a moment, her black and turquoise hair done up in two little messy buns. The woman had a lot of tattoos and piercings, wearing a pear of shorts with black fishnets. Her eyes were odd, not like ones they had seen before. The pupil of her eye was violet, while the iris was black, as though the two had swapped colors. They were still a ways away from her, but it was obvious that they had been spotted. She effectively was blocking their exit, the woman blinking before putting her hand up for a brief gesture of greeting.

"Hey."

-------------

Truffle cocked her head and actually giggled. It sounded very much like a mimic sound, as though she had heard someone giggle and was simply repeating the sound. "Hehehe, silly. Rr."

She watched Francisco take out the map from the branch she now rested on, those glossy violet eyes fixed upon his movements with anticipation. When it was placed against the tree, the bird shuffled on the branch until it was close to the trunk, giving the map a look to find the important spots.

It first pecked a spot further on the map and said, "home." Of course, this was just to give reference to where Angelique's hotel was in reference to the base. The bird then tapped the shortest mountain route to the hotel (a mountain road being in-between their establishments) and said, "no, no, no, no. Bad."

Pausing, the bird looked up at Francisco and waited for him to mark it before continuing. It tapped a couple more places along that path and repeated that same phrase, though "no" and "bad" were used interchangeably. Based on the bird's indications, there were several places in that valley/mountain area that were not safe to travel, though truffle did tap a longer route, telling Francisco, "Good good. Rr." The safe route would obviously take an additional day or two to traverse, unfortunately.

 

[Drobabes]

The fact that he was able to shake the gurney gave him a false sense of hope, his struggling only becoming more wild until his head was lifted and slammed down once more. The big man could take a good amount of damage, but the surface was hard, and the head was always something that should be avoided being hit, if at all possible.

He saw a few black spots swimming in his vision as he let out a grunt, the struggling only slowing down for a brief few seconds until he felt weight and strength being forced down on him. Fear quickly replaced the anger, the man fighting against his restraints with the desperation of someone knowing they were possibly on the brink of death; though what followed was no more of a release.

"AAH! FUCK! STOP STO-AAAH!!"

He shouted and screamed, his deeper voice raising to a higher pitch in his desperation and pain as his struggles turned from yanking and rocking, to tense stretching and jerking of his legs. His screams filled the small room, his back arching desperately as he tried futilely to get away.
___________________

That warm hand was gripped back with equal strength, a bit of a tremble running through Cora's fingers. When Sabastian gave the signal to move, she was ready. Her eyes took a quick survey, seeing that Quint was willing to be pulled away, the anger in his expression and the slump in his shoulders telling her that he was hurting from not having been able to stop the men being killed, but there was simply nothing they could do about that now. She would comfort him later, but they needed to survive this first.

The half zombie pulled his hand back somewhat gently until Sabastian had let go, and then he reached out and put that same hand on Sayori's shoulder, beckoning her to get in between himself and Sabastian. He didn't like that Cora was further away from him, but he knew that she had her pistol on her, and had already taken note of the way she had changed her looks. The strategic side of his mind told him that this was good, that if they got caught, it would be less likely that she would be associated with being his sister, and therefore there would be less possibility that someone would think to try and use them against each other.

"Please come out. We sensed you and wanted to make contact. "

Quint gritted his teeth, his eyes momentarily flashing towards Sabastian before he tried to further reach out to Bowie through their link. He didn't want these people 'knocking' on the door to their minds, and yet it was a risk because neither one of them truly knew how to block. He felt as if Bowie was giving him a better shot at it, and hopefully Sabastian too, but they really wouldn't know until it was too late.

"Hey."

Cora sucked in a startled breath, having come so close to the exit only to be blocked, and took a step back. Her brother on the other hand, tried to compose himself. The addict act might have worked with that group of men, but seeing as their noses were damn near as good as bloodhounds now, he knew that the women in front of them would be able to discern what they were just from a quick sniff. He stood up straight, squaring his shoulders back, and returned the little wave of her hand with a two fingered one of his own.

"Yo" was his simple reply, trying to gauge what the atmosphere between them was going to be. She looked like a strong women, even before the change, but those eyes of hers were especially intimidating and he wondered briefly what that meant about her own changes.

Taking a cue from her brother, and knowing they were essentially cornered now, Cora gently let go of Damien's hand and moved her own to his back. She tried to feign indifference, her head turning as casually as she could manage too look towards something in one of the windows behind her lover. Her true intentions were to try and gage, from the corner of her eyes, if anyone was coming up behind them, though she didn't know how well she was pulling it off with how scared she felt inside. Still, it had to be better than latching onto Damien's arm and acting like a scared puppy.
____________________________________________

The giggle, though a bit surprising, only made him flash his teeth in an automatic response to the praise, his chest almost imperceptively puffing a bit. He would have done well if he had came into this world as a bird, he thought to himself. Or maybe that was just the cockiness talking.

Fran worked with the raven, marking each spot that sleek beak indicated. Once she got to the 'safe' route, he gave a little nod and marked it down. It was unfortunate, as he had hoped to be moving some of Jameson's men through that area, but it was good that he was alerted to Angelique's possible presence. Tommy and his boys were on strict orders to stick near Jameson's ass, knowing that any one of them could be recognized to almost anyone at the compound, but the men and women that Jameson had personally recruited were still very much at risk of being interrogated.

"Alright" he said, circling and then adding a few arrows to indicate direction before he tapped it with his pen.

"Thank you very much Ms.Truffle, and if you would be so kind..." he said, carefully ripping off a blank corner of the map paper and writing down his own little message. Once done, he pulled out a rubber band from the pocket his pen was stored, and carefully attached it to small note to the birds ankle, taking care to make sure it was not so tight as to cause discomfort.

"As to deliver that back to Angelique for me. There should be a reward in it for you" he said with a little wink.

The note read:

Angel, baby. We missed our coffee date. Or do you prefer a good whiskey? Thanks for the tip, sexy doll. I hope to be feeling you soon. P.S., there's a shipment of Raspberry wine coming your way. Pour Ms.Truffle a glass for me, won't you? Warm caresses, Francis.

 

[Poprockz]

With heated huffs, growls, and grunts to accent Vin's screams of pain, the man continued in his mutilation of Vin's ear. It took a minute or two, but eventually, the severed appendage rolled down Vin's head and onto the gurney, his ear having been entirely removed. He now simply had bloody flesh surrounding his earhole. Reaching into one of his pockets, the madman took out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, popping off the cap and starting to spray it on the open wound. As everyone knows, the disinfecting liquid immediately stung, bubbling as it killed off any germs that might have found their way into the bloody mess.

Meanwhile, the zombie had perked up, jerking against the chain in an excited manner as though the smell of fresh blood had roused its interest. The man huffed and straightened back up, striding to the shelf in the room and taking out some tape and a bandage before returning. Vin's head was forced to remain looking to the side, as if he resisted, the man simply put more pressure on his head. He then unceremoniously pushed the bandage against Vin's ear, ignoring Vin's reactions until it was taped securely.

Once that was done, he leaned in close and spoke in a murderously low tone. "Now, you better fucking keep still while I'm cutting the rest of your hair. Do you hear me right, or do I have to take the other one off to get you to listen?"

----------------

Next to Cora, Damien's heart was beating very quickly. He hadn't expected for them to be caught so soon, and wasn't sure what to do. To pull out guns and start shooting didn't seem like the best option, so at this point he decided to play things by ear. His hand went around Cora's waist with a mixture of protectiveness and affection. It seemed like they were trying to play it cool, so he wanted to go along with it. Though he wasn't entirely sure what Cora was doing.

The new zombie nodded at his greeting and put her hands in her pockets, looking down at the floor before returning her gaze to them. One got the feeling that she had been caught a bit off-guard by having run into them on this side of the mall.

"So uh... you three are humans and you two are zombies, right? That's cool." She took one hand out of her pocket to point her black-painted nail at the ones she knew to be human and the two zombies. Though Quint's sunglasses prevented her from seeing what kind of zombie he was, she could still tell off the bat from the way that all the humans' eyes looked normal and his were hidden. "The weather's pretty hot isn't it? Like you could fry an egg or... something."

An awkward silence hung in the air as the hand returned to her pocket. "I uh... Well, I guess you might have met the others. Or maybe you haven't? Anyway, we're from a group called "Zudh." It's like..." She thought for a moment, mouthing a couple different words before shaking her head and shrugging.

"I don't fucking know. Zombies United for something or other? Shit..." she sighed, "Sorry, I'm not usually the one who talks, so..." She reached up and scratched her head with one of her fingers before shifting on her feet. "It's like an organization that wants to like... restructure shit? I don't know."

----------------

The attachment of the return message to the raven's leg was made easier by the raven staying very still while he did so. Once the deed was done, Truffle put her leg back down on the branch and cooed, "wow! Thanks."

She cocked her head for a moment as though mulling something over before unfolding one of her wings. The longest feather was plucked from it, the bird handling the feather very gingerly so as not to ruffle it. Almost immediately, one could see another feather growing in its place, making it look as though nothing had happened. It was odd, the feather almost looking like a black tentacle before morphing into a regular feather.

She lifted her leg to grab the stem of the feather before transferring the stem to be held by her beak once more. With a hop, she flapped her wings and jumped to Francisco's shoulder, having to flap a few times to find her balance again. Francisco's shoulder wasn't small per se, but the bird was a bigger one, so it didn't quite fit there comfortably. Carefully, the bird tucked the feather behind Francisco's ear, taking another moment to quickly preen the man's hair after having tousled it with its flapping.

"Rr. Here you go. Rr. Bu-bye!" With that, she hopped off his shoulder and glided gracefully, flapping a few times to get a bit more altitude. When it was still somewhat close by, the bird suddenly swooped down, the action preceding a loud squeak. The bird had found a rabbit as a meal, though upon its attack, it had accidentally sliced the rabbit into about five separate slices with its talons. Apparently, Truffle still didn't quite have the hang of her strength when it came to her meals, though it didn't bother the bird. She started to eat, holding down a slice of rabbit with her foot while eating little pieces at a time.

 

[Drobabes]

The screaming went on for most of the cutting-Vin's body still struggling aggressively until near the end, his pained shouts dieing down into long grunts and moans through clenched teeth as his body shook with pain and shock.

"Mmm!" he growled, trying not to outright cry and give the sick bastard the pleasure of seeing his tears as he panted and tried to recover. It didn't last very long, as the next thing he knew, his already raw flesh was being seared by something that felt like acid.

"Aah! Fuck!" he shouted again, his body jerking one more time before settling down. Vin was then left lying on the gurney, shocked and breathing heavily between his intermittent sounds of pain, only bothering a limp jerk when the bandaid was forced against his tender flesh.

"Now, you better fucking keep still while I'm cutting the rest of your hair. Do you hear me right, or do I have to take the other one off to get you to listen?"

Vin opened his eyes, not having realized he had shut them. He didn't move his head, but he let those brown eyes of his, almost black in the dim light, glare up at the man above him. His nostrils were flaring with barely contained rage, and he could still feel the blood on his face and neck, but he didn't say a word this time. The fucker had cut his ear off. He cut his fucking ear off! And he had dismembered that man! If vin made it out of here, this bastard was done. All that talk of morality, wrong and right, between Robert and himself was far at the back of his mind. There was no saving this crazed bastard.
_______________________

Shifting himself to fit the mood, Quint let his body relax, nodding in easy acknowledgement as she spoke and even trying to give her a smile. She didn't seem to realize they were running, so maybe there was still some time to get out of this.

"Yea, I getcha" he said with a light laugh, bringing his hand up to brush his hair back and adjust Bowie on his shoulder.

"I wasn't much of a public speaker myself back in school. So, Zudh huh? Never heard of it, have you?" he said, turning to look at Sabastian.

Meanwhile, Cora started to try and inch her way forward, walking towards the door as if she were trying to go out.

"I haven't" she said with a shrug, swallowing hard and trying to wet her mouth a bit.

"We were just trying to get outside and get some fresh air-someone dropped a couple bottles of perfume back there, and it's hurting their noses."

She gave a little wave with her hand to their half zombie companions, hoping that the young women would understand and 'let them out', so to say.
_________________________________

The whole process was watched with great, Fran raising a brow when he saw the strange tentacle pop out from the birds skin and quickly form a new feather. He wondered briefly if the reason the changed humans and creatures always seemed to be hungry, was because of their regenerative abilities. After all, it had to take some energy to grow those body pieces back so quickly.

A smile was given once more as the bird preened his hair, the older gentleman almost beaming at having been given a gift by the intelligent animal. He took it down from behind his ear to examine it once she had flown off, feeling the texture of the soft feather. This too, was odd, as it felt no different from a normal bird feather. He might have to take a look at it later, under the microscope, but for now...

"Owch!" he commented, seeing those sharp talons do away with the rabbit like an experienced butcher. Tucking the feather back behind his ear, he started to whistle as he continued on his way, briefly wondering how Cora and Bowie were doing, now that they were all united once more.

 

[Poprockz]

"Good." The man huffed and released the pressure on Vin's head, taking the scissors and continuing in his mission to harvest Vin's hair. He was a bit rougher now, yanking Vin's hair a bit every now and then. It seemed as though he had lost the privilege of a gentle haircut, instead earning one with blatant passive aggressiveness. There wasn't any asking anymore, the man turning Vin's head as he pleased, man-handling him without care.

Soon there was nothing left, all of his long locks all collected in several rubber bands. The trim he had received was choppy at best, the insane man obviously miles away from being skilled at performing a haircut. When it was finished, he reached out and rubbed Vin's scalp as though admiring his work, his greasy fingers sliding through Vin's hair.

With a satisfied grunt, the man glanced over to where Vin's bloody ear lay on the gurney, scooping it up and turning it over in his hand. He seemed to get an idea, taking his scissors back in hand and cutting the ear into small strips, though it wasn't apparent what he was doing it for just yet.

When it was in several strips, he approached the zombie and crouched close to her. A bit of Vin's ear was taken in hand and he started to feed them to the zombie. She greedily swallowed the chunks of meat, not even pausing to savor the flavor. The sounds of her lips smacking filled the room, along with the crazed man's soft coos of encouragement.

----------------------------

"I wasn't much of a public speaker myself back in school. So, Zudh huh? Never heard of it, have you?"

"Can't say that I have," Sabastian answered, not quite sure how to feel about the situation. The woman in front of them didn't seem bad, but she was also impeding their progress in finding and rescuing Vin whether she knew it or not. He was impatient, not wanting to waste time chatting with other zombies while god knows what could be happening to his lover.

Damien followed Cora's lead, trying to make it seem as though they were needing to be on their way, like a family member leaving a Thanksgiving dinner afterwards, edging themselves toward the doors.

"We were just trying to get outside and get some fresh air-someone dropped a couple bottles of perfume back there, and it's hurting their noses."

The zombie took a sniff and made a face of repulsion. "Yeah, it does stink in here, now that you mention it. Do you want to like... chat outside then? The others will be over in just a sec."

The hair on the back of Sayori's neck stood up, the woman glancing behind them as though the other zombies would simply appear there like in the movies. How did the others already know where they were? Was it one of those zombie things like Sabastian and Quint did? Whatever the case was, she didn't want to come into contact with that other group, not if they could help it.

"Um, excuse me, but we're in a bit of a hurry. Do you have a pamphlet or something, perhaps?" Sayori spoke up, hoping they could just get away with a little info pamphlet.

"Damn it..." The new zombie sighed, "I told them that pamphlets would be a good idea, but they didn't think so. I'm sorry, but if you could just hold on for a little while, we'll just give you the quick pitch, take down your info, and let you be on your way if you need to."

 

[Drobabes]

The big man remained relatively still as the choppy cut was continued, only trembling every so often with internal rage. When it was finally over, and those greasy hands ran through what was left, he clenched his teeth hard and fought off the urge to lift his head and break those filthy fingers beneath his skull.

He closed his eyes once more, the veins in his neck protruding from the pain pulsing on the side of his head. Was a bandaid enough to hold back that blood flow? Or was he going to bleed out?

The psycho was doing something with what remained of his ear, but at this point Vin didn't really care. He had no hope of re-attaching it, even if he could get out. Although, hearing those disgusting, wet, smacking sounds of the zombies lips gave him a profound sense of dread. How more pieces of him were going to end up down that things throat?
_________________________________________

"I'm sorry, but if you could just hold on for a little while, we'll just give you the quick pitch, take down your info, and let you be on your way if you need to."

Cora's fingers twitched slightly against Damien's back, feeling a similar shiver of fear as Sayori. They weren't going to get out of this, and she was scared they if they made a run for it, they might end up with a fight on their hands. Sabastian was strong, but the other zombies might be as well. And they were inside. What if the building came down on top of them? Then they would have no hope of finding Vin. But then again...how were they going to find him if they couldn't search the building?

"Sure, that would be fine" she spoke up suddenly, straightening her back and looking over at her brother.

"Is the smell getting to you two still? Why don't we wait for them outside. I'm sure it won't take too long, and maybe they've seen Alex."

Cora made the name up on the spot, not wanting to give away their real names. The slight nod from her brother let her know that is was a good move-keep your friends close; your enemies closer. Especially enemies that had no problem taking a life.

"Yea, have you seen him?" Quint followed up quickly, his feet taking him towards the door and beckoning the young women out with them, not giving her much of a chance to say no this time.

"Big guy, long black hair, covered in tats. You know, you're typical 'looks like he rides bikes and probably did some time in the slammer'", he laughed, giving her an easy, albeit fake, grin. Inside his head, he was fighting to hold onto Bowie's more animalistic mental capabilities and push them outward toward Sabastian, the feeling of the other zombies coming up on their backs making it difficult to keep his composure. If they could just get out the doors, he would be able to take a breath of air and play it more smooth.

 

[Poprockz]

"Hmm..." The man made a thoughtful sound once the last of what used to be Vin's ear was consumed. "Are you still hungry, Elizabeth?"

He seemed to be waiting for an answer, the zombie growling and smacking her gums together as though expecting more strips of meat. Nodding, he stood back up and scratched his beard again before wiping his hand on his pants.

The man on the other gurney went pale, his body stiffening as if he had head that phrase before. He started trembling, barely able to speak before he cleared his throat and swallowed. "Look man... She ate yesterday. Isn't that enough? Don't you want to-" He had to swallow again before continuing. "Don't you want us to last longer?"

This brought a hard stare upon him for a moment before the madman chuckled, "no... I live to keep her happy. If she's hungry, she's hungry. I can always get more meat." With that, he started to approach the almost limbless man, bending over and looking for something underneath. All the while, soft sobs started to fill the room. Perhaps it was the fact that he was likely about to lose the last limb he had left that had him breaking down, but there was no question that the tears running down his face were ones of despair.

------------------------------

The group moved out the doors, the zombie girl following closely behind. She had a receptive look on her face as Quint spoke as though she wanted to be helpful. Though when he finished his description of Vin, she shook her head. "No, I don't think I have seen anyone just yet. I had just done a perimeter check before coming inside. You know there's a military base nearby, and it would really unfortunate to cross paths with them. Hmm... But you could ask the rest of my group. They might have seen him."

She shuffled her feet and crossed her arms, looking out across the parking lot before offering them an apologetic smile.

Of course she hadn't seen him. Sabastian had a sour look on his face as he impatiently stood outside with them. His foot tapped lightly on the cement, making even more evident his annoyance with the situation. The feeling was coming through strong, and the woman seemed to notice, awkwardly avoiding any eye-contact with Sabastian.

Meanwhile, Damien wondered to himself whether she could pick up on their apprehension. He wasn't sure what the extent of their abilities were, nor whether they could figure out why someone was feeling a certain way. If someone was in a river feeling afraid, would they assume they were afraid of drowning even if they were just afraid of losing their phone?

Down the hall, the other group of zombies had rounded the corner with the human in tow. They hadn't restrained him or anything, the man simply following along with them at the side of the group. In the lead was a tall woman, her strides long and business-like while her posture was straight and controlled. There was a militaristic air about her, and it was obvious that she was currently in-charge.

She wore a white tank top with camo pants, large leather boots on her feet, and looked to be of Indian descent; a camo jacket was tied around her waist. Her black hair was long and thick, pulled into a tight ponytail. One couldn't see from as far away, but the closer she got, the more apparent it was that her body was littered with scars. They were pale upon her skin and looked to be oddly surgical in the way that they were all perfectly straight or curved. Her dark eyes would have looked like Sabastian's, if she had both of them, that is. In place of where the violet eye would have been, there was only a black marble.

To her right was a short, chubby man who had to constantly jog every few paces to keep up with her. He had curly red hair and glasses, the man clutching his notebook as they continued along. Freckles were sprinkled across his face, his glasses magnifying his half-full zombie eyes. The human half was a pale blue, almost looking as though it was an afterthought in comparison to the striking violet half. He also wore a camo shirt and pants, though instead of boots he was wearing running shoes that looked to provide excellent support.

Another man accompanied them, looking as though he was related to the first man with the same signature red hair and freckles. He had slightly sharper features, was about six inches taller, and was leaner than his relative. It also seemed as though he might be several years older. Instead of military garb though, he simply sported jeans and a black shirt with sneakers. Some bandages were wrapped around his hand, a spot of purple blood or two indicating where he might have bled through a little bit.

It wasn't long before the mall doors opened and they stepped outside, the leader's eye appraising each of them in turn.

After a tense moment she spoke. "Hello, my name is Laneesha. We also have Jeremy, Zach, and Salina." She gestured first to the smaller man, then the taller man, then the goth girl. "We're from a group called Zudh and we would like to speak to you regarding an opportunity for you to join our cause."

 

[Drobabes]

"Are you still hungry, Elizabeth?"

He sucked in a breath, his eyes widening and his fingers trembling. The man next to him seemed to have the same realization mere seconds before Vin did, as the ensuing conversation was heavy with implication. His throat went dry suddenly and tears stung his eyes as a cough was choked off. What the fuck was going to happen now? Of course, he already knew the answer to that, but he didn't want to face it. Didn't want it to be a part of his reality. But it didn't matter what he wanted.

"Don't you want us to last longer?"

Forgetting that his ear was missing, Vin whipped his head to the side, momentarily cringing at the pain. His now bloodshot eyes stared with horror at the madman, his heart beating fast at the seemingly simple answer. It was barbaric, and yet, he had already done it not once, but multiple times.

"Hey! Leave him alone! For fucks sake man, you've taken enough from him!"

He didn't expect his pleas to be answered or even slightly considered, but what else could he do, trapped as he was?

We're going to die here.

He closed his eyes and slammed his head back, the pain from where his ear had once been now blossoming into a full on migraine. No, this couldn't be happening. He didn't want to die here, he needed to get out, to be free. People needed him, and he needed them. Lizzy, Demaris, Cora and Damien. Sabastian.

Tears began to pour from the corners of his eyes, a few sobs of his own breaking through his composure. Vin needed to see him again, to tell him one more time that he loved him. To be there with him goddamnit. What if Kuznet caught him again? Tortured him again?

"No..."

Suddenly he was pulling again, the veins in his arms protruding and his biceps bulging as he put the full force of what he had into fighting against those restraints.

"Nng! Rrrnn! Mother fucker!" he growled and grunted, shaking the gurney as much as he could. He wasn't going to lay here and become zombie strips for the toothless bitch and her rank, Hills Have Eyes hubby without a goddamn fight.
___________________________________

They took in the group as they approached, Cora stepping a bit closer to Damien in an unconscious manner of fear, while Quint simply held his ground. He wasn't gearing to get in a fight, but he felt much more comfortable now that they were out in the open.

His eyes briefly looked to the human man from behind his sunglasses, but he gave him no mind. Either the guy would figure out that his earlier impression had simply been for show, or he would think he was more high than he had originally assumed. It didn't really matter either way, now.

"We're from a group called Zudh and we would like to speak to you regarding an opportunity for you to join our cause."

Cora cleared her throat, looking first at Damien, then over to Sabastian. She was just as nervous as the rest of them, but she knew how frustrating and terrifying this must be for him right now. If Damien had been the one to go missing, she would have been an absolute wreck.

"We don't mind hearing your proposal," she started, looking over to Quint for a moment to see if the offer was okay with him. After a small nod, she continued.

"But one of our group went missing in the mall, and we're worried that any number of things could be happening to him right now. I'm sure you understand the importance of time," she said, raising a hand up to gesture at her military like clothing.

"In these manners? I don't think any of us will be able to focus until we've found him."

Quint nodded in agreement, reaching up to pet Bowie's head when he let out a sorrowful little hiss, almost as if he were in pain. He hadn't had enough time to really understand the differences between the types of eyes that the different half humans obtained after changing, so his own gaze lingered on each one of them for a beat or two in turn. The black marble in particular was an interesting touch, but he doubted he would ever be willing to take his own eyes out in order to hide what he was from the world. Or perhaps she hadn't? Maybe she had lost it in some other manner.

 

[Poprockz]

Vin was largely ignored, though he did get a look of disgust and annoyance when he began rocking the gurney. The man muttered to himself after straightening up that he must have left it in the other room, the guy walking over to the "door" (more like a crawlspace) before disappearing and then reappearing a few moments later. In hand he had a saw, a very sharp-looking butcher knife, a cloth, a bottle of clear liquid with a spray nozzle, and some bandages.

He set the stuff down on the shelf nearby before grabbing the cloth and spraying it down a bit. All the while, the man on the gurney started sobbing uncontrollably, snot running from his nose. He knew what that liquid was- the very same liquid that had caused him to be taken down into the god-forsaken hell-hole.

"It's time to take a nap, okay?"

"No no no... I can't do this again..."

"It'll be fine, just like the first couple times." The eyes of the madman were fixed upon him, and one almost got the feeling that he was trying to be sympathetic. However, there was barely-concealed eagerness in his body-language and expression, the man obviously looking forward to the newest operation.

"Please just don't...! I have a brother! Please... Oh God..."

"Ssh..." The man was right by his side now, poised to put the cloth over his mouth.

"NO! HELP! HELP! HEEL-"

The cloth was shoved over his face, the screaming and crying of the man being heard only a few moments more before he slumped, now unconscious. His body was now completely vulnerable, the madman eyeing him as though he was to be the one to truly devour him.

--------------------------------

Damien also moved closer to Cora, his arm protectively resting around her waist. He probably wouldn't be able to protect Cora if a fight broke out, but the least he could do was offer his support. The sight of the other group made him nervous, though it only showed as him pursing his lips. The majority of them looked like fairly normal zombies (if there was such a thing), but the leader seemed somehow sharper and much less friendly than one might expect. He had thought that the fully turned were sex-crazed lunatics, and the half-turned zombies were decent folk. And yet, this group had just killed two humans just down the hall.

That dark eye regarded Cora as she spoke, though no smile was offered to her by the leader at least. Her gaze almost seemed disapproving, her eyebrows pinching a bit. Meanwhile, the two redheaded zombies gave her polite smiles while the goth zombie had an uncomfortable look, as though she was sympathetic but didn't know what to say.

The human that had previously been temporarily forgotten also spoke up hesitantly once Cora finished her sentence. "My brother is missing too. I... don't want to leave without him." When the stern eye turned to him, he shrank a bit and added, "if that's okay. You did say I had a choice, right?"

There was a pause before she gave a sharp nod, turning to address the redheads. "Zach. Search the two zombies you can feel further from us and Jeremy, search the one nearby." Her voice did not give any indication that she expected anything other than compliance, though she wasn't harsh with her words either.

Once she had confirmation from them that they understood, she spoke directly to Quint rather than Cora, "It's possible that your friends were unfortunate enough to fall victim to one of them. If that is not the case, then I would be willing to aid in your search to a reasonable extent."

"A reasonable extent?" The irritated voice that had spoken up was now Sabastian's, the man giving her a bit of a glare. "I'm sorry, but we're going to be looking for him until we find him- end of story. It isn't like we misplaced a can of beans or something. This is a fucking person."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I realize this, but you have to understand-"

"I don't have to understand SHIT," Sabastian snarled, clearly letting his emotions get the best of him. He was scared shitless, feeling desperate, and was entirely on the edge, so the way she was responding with such indifference really bugged him. It all felt like it was cumulating into a strong anger that he couldn't help directing at her. "I understand YOU might not have any issue with lives being lost, but that doesn't mean we don't too."

Immediately upon him letting that loose, the two groups got tense. Sayori's eyes widened and she drifted slightly behind Quint. She might have even clutched his shirt if she wasn't already wearing his. Guilt radiated from the two redheads, surprise from the goth, and anger from Sabastian. Laneesha on the other hand had tensed, but wasn't in a threatening stance. Moreover, she more had an expression of disdain on her face.

 

[Drobabes]

"Fucking leave him alone! Get away from him!" Vin yelled, momentarily stopping his struggling to look over and watch in horror as the other man was put to sleep. In his own breath was heavy and laboured, a few choked sobs starting to work their way up his own chest.

No one was coming to save them. Not in time, at least.
___________________________

This was not going well. Between trying to keep their true selves hidden, Sabastian's fear and anger, and Laneesha's seeming willingness to kill to get what she wanted, Quint could see the situation turning south fast. He needed to do something.

Taking a quick look behind him, he took Bowie off his shoulders and plopped him down onto Sayori, not bothering to watch as the snake quickly coiled around her in a defensive manner, his tail rattling nervously against her arm. He then stepped forward, his eyes never leaving the scarred military women as he reached out and patted Sabastian's shoulder before whispering a quick message to the smaller man.

"Let me try something."

The touch was light and quick, as were his words. It was meant to bring assurance while also not patronizing him for being upset, though there was no telling how it would be taken. Quint just hoped that after the hell they had gone through, Sabastian would being willing to trust him with this.

"Laneesha, was it?" he asked, coming to stand in front of the women, though he kept a good eight or so feet between them. He reached up and took hold of his glasses, taking them off and quickly stuffing them away inside his pants pocket.

"Maybe we can strike a deal. I would be willing to trade a favour," he said, taking his eyes away to look down at the ground for something. Once he had found it, he reached down and picked it up. What he now held in his hand was a small rock, with a sharp edge, of which he brought up to his palm. In one quick movement, he sliced his skin, letting the rock fall back to the ground just after. The wound began to gush blood, the cut having gone rather deep. The next thing he did was bring out all four of his tentacles, one of which had been freshly mutilated but was healing. When Cora saw this, she sucked in a breath and winced. Ignoring it, he proceeded to pour some of his healing goop onto the wound, letting it set as he continued talking.

"If you would be willing to help us, or at the very least, let us search the building without your interference..."

He trailed off, his ocean jeweled eyes coming up to meet hers, his gaze intense but at the moment, neutral.

"You have blood on your hands. You're willing to kill to get what you want. Whatever, none of my business, but it puts me in a spot where I can't fully trust you-so I would rather deal with you like a business partner until some trust can be earned between us. What I have to offer is information, and the one time use of my abilities."

To show what he meant, he reached down to his palm and peeled the fresh layer of goop off, tossing it to the ground before holding his hand up for her to see. The wound was no longer bleeding, and it looked as if it were already a day old, and certainly no need for stitches.

"I can heal wounds-external and internal, and rather quickly if I might add. I would be willing to do this for you, one time, if it does not involve harming a person, zombie or otherwise. Directly or indirectly, either."

He paused, letting it sink in, before he put his hand down and brought up the tentacle which he had cut halfway off.

"Before you answer me though, I just have to make something clear. I'm willing to go to great lengths to ensure that I won't be used as someone's military bitch. If you think you can control me, then I would reconsider. Take me as a prisoner if you like, but I'll cause you nothing but trouble and suffering, and be willing to die if it means I get the last laugh."

Behind him, Cora let out a mumbled "oh my god" under her breath, before she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. She didn't know why Quint had hurt himself so badly, but whatever the reason, it shook her to her core.

"And I mean, the other option is, we could fight" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"But someone has to lose, and I doubt it will be even either way. What I'm offering saves us both valuable resources, don't you think?"

He put his hands in his pockets, his tentacles laying down in a relaxed manner as he waited to see what she would do. The offer of 'information' was still on the table as well; an enticing little detail, barely hinted at, to draw her in, or at the very least, offer something else if she already had a healer on her team.

 

[Poprockz]

"Don't worry. He won't feel a thing." The madman smiled and tossed the rag to the side, taking out the sharp knife. He admired it, running his finger on the smooth, flat side of the blade. The dim light of the room glinted off the sharp edge of the blade, the weapon that would sink once more into the unfortunate victim of the crazed individual.

The only limb left on the other man was the left arm. It seemed that it would be on the menu today, the madman moving closer and reaching out to loosen the gurney strips enough to allow the arm to be stretched out to the side. The better for slicing and chopping, most likely. As Vin was on the man's right, he wasn't able to completely see the operation, though one didn't have to watch to know what was happening.

There were the sickening sounds of flesh and bone being separated, the splatter of blood on concrete, and the clinking of the zombies chain. It seemed Elizabeth knew what this meant, the zombie straining against her restraints at the sweet smell of crimson.

----------------------

"Let me try something."

With a frustrated huff directed at Quint, Sabastian lightly threw up his arms before crossing them and angling his body away. Logically, he knew he shouldn't have said that, but he couldn't help but feel as though it needed to be said. Who did that sociopath think she was? Not only had she killed people, but now she was treating Vin as though he didn't matter enough for legitimate time and effort.

Upon his approach, Laneesha looked receptive (though perhaps not enthusiastic) in regards to Quint speaking. Her demeanor did not change when he removed his glasses, the woman seemingly not too surprised, as though she had seen eyes like his before. She simply watched as he cut and healed himself, still respectfully listening.

Though she had been largely stoic throughout Quint's speech, her eye lingered on his injured tentacle when he had presented it, and her expression changed to one of pity. One of her hands unconsciously went to her stomach, her fingertips lightly gracing the fabric as though seeking something she knew to be there. Though soon her finger twitched and she brought her hands behind her back. The twitch of her finger had seemed to bring her back to her senses, her posture returning to its militaristic stance and her face becoming neutral once more.

"Oh my god..."

It wasn't new for Sayori, seeing Quint's tentacle like that. After all, she had been there when he had first mutilated himself. It had been for her sake, to avoid impregnating her. Cora's words sent a rush of guilt through her, as she felt like it was her own fault that he had to endure such pain. Part of her wished that he had simply obeyed Kuznet rather than literally sawing off his own limb. That was Quint though, ever the selfless friend. Perhaps it would be easier to bear if there had been even a single thing she could do to ease his pain.

The older red-head looked a bit offended at this point, stepping forward and starting to say, "maybe what we did earlier was a bit excessive, but you don't understand-" However, before he could finish, the leader held up her hand and he stopped, reluctantly stepping back with furrowed brows.

"Zach, Jeremy. Do what I asked you to do. Salina, search the mall thoroughly." The two redheads stepped to the side and closed their eyes, likely so that they could concentrate on their task. Salina on the other hand nodded and zipped to the door, opened it, and zoomed away. Her speed was inhuman, her body almost a blur as she entered the mall at Laneesha's behest; the sound was almost akin to hearing a hummingbird whizzing by.

Sayori couldn't help but stare, wondering to herself how quick that zombie truly was. What was the extent of her speed, and how was she able to go so fast? If they had gotten into a fight, how would they have dealt with someone like that? She reached up and stroked Bowie's scales, the smoothness of them helping ease her anxiety about the situation.

Laneesha gave Quint a hard stare and then crossed her arms. "There seems to be a misunderstanding here. I'm assuming you indirectly witnessed me dispatching the humans that were in the mall earlier."

Her gaze traveled to each of them, taking in their expressions and nodding. "What you may not have seen was the fact that I had a gun pressed against my lips and a hand on my ass. Though they were crude, I could have forgiven them for making remarks about me as a woman. However, as soon as he and his friend pulled their guns out and turned off the safeties, their lives were forfeit. I don't know what your own policies are, but when my life is threatened, I tend to respond in kind."

"Furthermore, I have no issue with what you are trying to do, nor do I have any intent to harm you. I merely mean that we are on a bit of a time-table and need to cover more ground before it gets dark. I understand you may want to find the human, but if we search and cannot find them, I will not continue to comb the mall indefinitely."

Her eye had lingered on Sabastian before once again looking at Quint's injured tentacle. Her voice became a bit quieter. "Keep your medicine. If you're not offering it to me freely, I don't want it. There is nothing I despise more... than exploitation."

---------------------

Though the sight and smell of blood had riled Elizabeth up, she was suddenly completely still. Her head slowly turned to the right, and then back to the left again. Unlike her previous stares, if one was looking, they could see her milky pupils darting like a normal person's might. She seemed to be surveying the room, taking stock of all details. Once the room had been thoroughly covered, her attention turned to Vin, the madman, and the man on the other gurney. She studied their faces, though didn't linger for too long.

The next moment, Elizabeth was acting normal again, pulling at the chains and groaning every now and then. It was as though she had been temporarily possessed, though the madman didn't notice a thing, preoccupied as he was.

 

[Drobabes]

Tears started running down the corners of his eyes, Vin soon turning his face away so that he didn't have to watch the man lose what little he had left. The sickening sounds that started filling the room made him flinch and sob harder, knowing that at any second that poor man could likely bleed out and succumb to his wounds. Or that crazed lunatic could bring that rag over his way, and he would be the one waking up on the gurney missing a leg.

Closing his eyes, he tried to block it out. He wanted to think of something else, wanted to think of Sabastian, though at first he couldn't. Still, with some effort, it managed to lead his thoughts in that direction.

They had had so little time together, and yet, Delvin didn't regret one second of it. Even the memory of that cute, grumpy, little man losing his mind and telling them to run...even that was a good memory in this dark place. He had been so scared for them, but strong. He had been strong enough to get away, to keep them safe. Vin just hoped he would be strong enough to survive out there with the others. He hoped he didn't try to run away again, knowing that being alone was sometimes a fate worse than death.

*Crunch*

Vin flinched, opening his eyes at the sickening sound. Immediately they landed on the zombie, watching with equal parts dread and curiosity as it seemed to purposefully look around the room before reverting back to how it had been.

"What?..."
________________________________________

"maybe what we did earlier was a bit excessive, but you don't understand-..."

Both of the twins looked at the man, their faces taking on similar looks of confusion and suspicion. They then watched with shock as the young women moved faster than either one of them thought could ever be possible.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding here. I'm assuming you indirectly witnessed me dispatching the humans that were in the mall earlier."

Though 'dispatching' was something more akin to what Ray would have said, and Quint himself would have preferred to simply say murder, the women was now helping them, so he kept it to himself. He listened intently as she spoke, watching her face and body posture for signs that she may be lying. It wasn't too far off from what him and Sayori had experienced, and quite honestly had been what he had feared might happen. Still, their half inhuman bodies were so much stronger, and obviously faster, that it felt unfair in a way. Like an adult beating up on a child-those people had no chance to defend themselves, really, and could have just as easily been knocked out and then dealt with. Trash or not, killing them was unnecessary.

"Keep your medicine. If you're not offering it to me freely, I don't want it. There is nothing I despise more... than exploitation."

Quint was silent for a moment, simply staring at her. When he did decide to speak, he brought his tentacles inside his body first.

"Looks like we have something in common then."

He turned his head to the side, taking in his companions one at a time as he seemed to ponder something.

Of the six of them, Cora had been the only one who had had enough time to change how she looked. If Kuznet caught any one of these half zombies, it wouldn't take very much to identify them. A group of three pairs? With a large orange snake? Yea, that alone would be enough to tip him off and make him look into it, even without their obvious features. He didn't like this women, but they needed allies.

Kuznet's Kingdom had been shaken, and he was going to be stretching his hands far and wide in an attempt to strengthen it. He was likely weaving his own ties, with who knew what kind of powers, each and every day that passed. If Francisco and him where ever going to have a shot, this might be their only chance, while there were other groups looking to rise up on top.

"Alright," he said, seemingly making up his mind as he turned back to her and brought up the uninjured hand for her to shake.

"My name's Quinton Bluefield. The man we are looking for is called Vin."

"What are you doing?" Cora hissed, a nervous edge to her voice.

"Networking, maybe you should try it some time."

To Laneesha, he gave a nod of his head.

"That's Sabastian, Sayori, my sister Cora, and that's..."

He brought a hand up, fiddling his fingers in a way that made him look as if he were trying to pluck a hair out of the air.

"Her mutt. As far as my medicine goes, I'll give you some for helping us. And I'll be in your debt, if you ever need more, so just look me up. I don't agree with killing people," he said, putting some extra emphasis on the word.

"Especially when you so clearly had the upper hand...but I believe you about what happened, and that you felt threatened when the guns came out."

He shrugged again, his jaw setting in a bit of a distasteful look of his own. It wasn't a hard guess to assume that Quint felt as if killing those men was beneath Laneesha, but he had always tended to walk on the moral high ground himself.

 

[Poprockz]

"Shoot..." The madman muttered, putting his red-stained fingers to other man's neck. He waited for a second, moving his fingers around to try to find a pulse. It seemed as though he wasn't able to find one as the next moment he threw the now-severed arm to the floor in a fit of rage. Unfortunately, the man had simply lost too much blood and wasn't able to withstand another amputation. The ruby liquid pooled on the floor, slowly running down into a drain in the center of the room.

It took him a minute to calm down, breathing heavily over the gurney as though he wanted to punish the dead man for dying. "I had planned on using his arm and your foot, but it looks like she's getting arm and torso today." The man huffed and made a cross motion over the man, putting his hands together and starting to pray.

"Oh holy father, blessed is your name. May you have mercy upon this young soul, and may his soul find itself in the heavenly kingdom with the rest of god's chosen. Amen." With that, he bent over and grabbed the arm, brushing it off before starting to butcher it, making sure that all the strips of meat were the appropriate size.

---------------------------------

The mention of him being a "mutt" made Damien frown, though he didn't say anything about it. There wasn't much point in correcting him now, and it was a given that Quint would use any opportunity he could to try to put him down.

When Quint said his name, she got an odd look on her face, as though she was trying to figure out where she had heard it before. She continued to mull it over as he continued, only coming to the answer once there was silence once more.

Recognition flashed in her eyes and her guard immediately went up. All four of her tentacles came out and spread out, the woman quickly backing up to shield the two redheads. The look in her eyes was pure hatred, venom oozing from her next words, "that's rich coming from the son of a murderer!"

She started looking around wildly as though expecting military personnel to appear from behind corners.

The younger redhead who had been checking out the closest zombie suddenly vomited, life coming to his eyes just as soon as tears did. "Laneesha- La-I'm sorry- I don't-" He started to sob, a sickened look on his face. Fear and shock radiated from him, only adding fuel to Laneesha's fire.

"Quiet!" She hissed at him, obviously too concerned with a likely ambush than with whatever he might have found. In fact it seemed as though his reaction only solidified her belief that they were in danger.

Meanwhile, Sabastian's eyes were glued to the one called Jeremy, his heart beating quickly in his chest. What had he seen that would make him react like that?! Was Vin in danger?! He unconsciously took a step forward, prompting the leader of the other group to jump back further.

"So you were stalling for time, were you?" She had now backed them in a corner near the doors, the woman checking through the glass to see if any men were coming through the mall's hallway. All the while she kept herself in front of the others protectively.

Once in the corner though, she crouched slightly and got into a fighting stance, with her fists near her face. "I won't be used by anyone again. I'm afraid if you want us alive, the General is going to be disappointed."

 

[Drobabes]

Delvin was shocked and disgusted to hear the madmans plans, and for just the briefest moment, relieved. He didn't want to be harmed or killed, though he hated that he felt good about no longer being on the chopping block for today.

"How much does she eat each day?" he asked after a moment, a fresh flood of tears spilling down his face for the life that had been lost, and his own inevitable doom. The question wouldn't do much for him, except to tell him how much time he had left. To suffer.
__________________________

Quint's brows squinted at her sudden reaction to him, the anger in her tone confusing. He didn't have a whole lot of time to ask questions or understand just what the hell had happened, because the next thing he knew, the other guy was puking and the heavy tension of fear filled the air.

"Wait, what?...hey, what did he see?!" he asked, a bit of panic leaking into his own tone and making him take a step forward, almost more in reaction to Sabastian than to himself. Though as soon as he saw Laneesha moving her group back, he stepped back as well.

"Hey! What did you see?!" he asked, looking directly at the guy and pointing an accusatory finger, ignoring their leader..until he heard what she had to say.

"I won't be used by anyone again. I'm afraid if you want us alive, the General is going to be disappointed."

His blue eyes went back to her quickly, suddenly filling with anger as his whole body seemed to react to that word.

"He's the one who's after us" he spat back before he could think to shut his mouth, Sabastian's feelings almost overwhelming him. It was at that point that Cora spoke up as well, the dots suddenly connecting for her.

"We are not his kids! How fucking dare he! Bluefield is our father's name! Markus, River, Bluefield!" she said angrily, punctuating each word with an angry jab of her hand and her cheeks heating up to match the fire that was now burning inside of her.

"That...monster!, doesn't deserve to have that name in his mouth!"

"It doesn't matter right now Cory!" Quint yelled back, interrupting her before she could get even more worked up-though he couldn't blame her. Were the circumstances differrent, he would have been right there with her. Looking back at Laneesha, he put his hands up in a show of surrender.

"Listen, I don't know what kind of lies that bastard has been spreading, but it's pretty obvious he's done something to you. I understand, because he's done things to us. Awful things... I'll spare you the details, but we've still got the bruises to prove it."

Cora flinched, looking over at Sayori for a brief moment with a mixture of shame and guilt, before looking away. Not directed at her, of course, but just at the memories of what had transpired between them, and what...could have happened, had they not been rescued.

It was true, they did. Cora had done a lot to change her appearance while in that dressing room, but it would have taken a make-up artists touch to erase the black and blue bruising that so heavily lined her jaw, neck, shoulders and arms. To even look at the outlines that were so clearly formed in their soft skin made her instantly remember the feeling of his large hands, and the white of his knuckles as he gripped her. She hadn't even bothered to try and cover them.

"Cory! Take Damien's gun and your own and put them on the ground, and slide them away!"

"What?! No! What the fuck are you doi-"

"CORA! What's important right now? We need to find Vin!"

She looked at him before looking over to Laneesha, the stress and fear was written all over her face, but... That Jeremy man had seen something, something awful enough to make him puke and sob, and she could all too easily imagine the sorts of things that it could be. Quint was right, this was too important to risk losing their trust in this moment, when they so desperately needed their help in finding him.

Turning her face down, she looked back at Damien. Raising one hand up in the air where Laneesha could see it, she reached out with her other, holding it out expectantly.

"Give me my gun sweety, and put yours on the ground...please..." she said, a tremor in her voice and tears starting to gloss her eyes. She was obviously scared, but she was more scared of losing their help.

Quint continued, looking deep into Laneeshas eyes as he finally put the last of his mental walls down and just let his feelings flood out.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, or trap you. If He wanted you, he would have already gotten you the moment you stepped into that mall. Kuznet doesn't "buy time", he simply comes in and takes what he wants, when he wants."

Tears of rage started to sting his eyes, but he held his ground, continuing to stare at her.

"Please. We just want to find our friend and go, before Kuznet tracks us down again."

 

[Poprockz]

"Hm?" The man looked up for a moment before continuing to cut. "Well, it's about a leg a day. Arms are a bit smaller, so I wanted to have a bit more for her to eat. So, You could say that this guy's been here for about three days." He sighed, "it's a shame he didn't last longer. I tried to keep it to a limb a day, but sometimes she gets hungrier than usual. She must have really liked him."

He glanced over at her and his gaze lingered. "I always kind of wondered... what it might be like..." There was a bit of hunger in his voice, the man looking down at the slices of arm-meat he now had on the gurney, the arm only botched about a quarter of the way through at that point.

Hesitating, he picked up a thin slice of the meat and turned it over in his hand, as though contemplating what might have made it so tasty for the zombie. A bit of blood dripped off his palm and onto the floor, almost signifying the last sliver of his sanity leaving him.

----------------

Jeremy was unable to respond to Quint's questions, as he was a bit inconsolable during the conversation that followed. The other redhead pulled him over from behind Laneesha and wrapped him up in a hug, one of his tentacles coming up to stroke his hair in a comforting manner. He seemed to be murmuring encouraging things to his younger brother, trying to get him to breathe more evenly and calm down a bit. Meanwhile, the human that had also been pushed behind Laneesha was cowering slightly, not really understanding what the fuck they were talking about.

The one-eyed zombie's expression changed from surprise to a mix of confusion and suspicion. She looked back between the two twins as they spoke, as though trying to figure out whether this was all an elaborate ruse. When they mentioned the bruises, however, her eyes went to Cora's jaw and widened, following Cora's gaze to the bruises on Sayori as well. A bit of realization seemed to click in her mind, her shoulders lowering slightly as she connected some of the dots.

Sayori had glanced at Cora as well, her eyes averting when they made eye-contact and finally landing on her feet. It was unfortunate that while bruises did heal, they took a bit of time to fade. Her scars would never fade though, the ghostly outline of whip marks on her back, and the tiny white spots on the bottoms of her feet. She hugged herself, her shoulders hunching in slightly in an effort to ward off the reminder of her former captivity.

Though he didn't much care for Quint as a person, Damien had to admit that Quint was cool-headed in a crisis, and very quick-witted. He also seemed very good at diffusing the situation, as the more he spoke, the less defensive Laneesha seemed to be. Glancing over at Cora, Damien nodded his head and handed her the gun, putting his own pistol on the ground and sliding it away. The scratches would be unfortunate, but it was a small price to pay for peace. He had honestly wanted to keep his pistol as well, but he trusted Cora's judgement in accepting Quint's suggestion.

Laneesha watched them get rid of their weapons, feeling the sincerity behind Quint's eyes. Was this truly sincere though? Her arms started to lower but she hesitated, second-guessing herself and her assessment of the situation. She didn't seem very trusting, but she decided to compromise by at least returning her tentacles to her body.

"He's done nothing to me personally yet, but we know some of the things that go on in his dungeons. He also hasn't taken your name... Though I don't know why or how he would. It's just common knowledge that he has adopted children, and we saw a few files related to you two." She turned her head to Zack and gestured her head to Quint. "What do you think. Is this a farce?"

Pausing his comforting of Jeremy, Zack looked up at her and then at Quint, his eyes locking with his. Quint would feel a little bit of a probe in his mind, though not a deep one. It seemed as though Zach wasn't trying to dig around too deep, perhaps trying to be polite while still trying to feel him out. After a moment, he nodded. "I feel he's telling the truth. He despises the General. They're just scared about their friend."

The leader nodded and looked at Jeremy, softening her voice a bit. "Jeremy, can you tell us what you saw?"

The man breathed and prepared to speak, Sabastian leaning in slightly in anticipation.

"The zombie I was in was chained up with no arms or teeth. I-I saw two men on gurneys and one of them was getting-" he gagged and had to take a couple deep breaths before swallowing. "That guy just sawed his arm off. It was just a stump- I could see the bone. It-" He shook his head and sobbed.

Sabastian's stomach dropped and he found his throat becoming very dry. Had Vin been dismembered? Stepping forward, he quickly asked in a panicked voice. "Did he have tattoos on his chest?! Tan skin and dark hair?!"

"No, that was the guy on the other gurney. He still had all his limbs."

 

[Drobabes]

Hearing about the amount of time he had before the zombie got hungry again wasn't as comforting as he had hoped. That gave him one more day, maybe, before the hacking started. The thought of being put under was almost worse, in it's own right. To simply wake up with an arm or a leg missing...

"I always kind of wondered... what it might be like..."

What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he look away?

Don't...fucking don't...

His big brown eyes stared at him, bloodshot and wide with horror. If he actually stuck that piece of his former captive companion in his mouth, Vin was going to lose it.
_______________________________________

Quint hated the feeling of it, even if it was only surface level. He didn't even really like the feeling of how close Sabastian's and his own thoughts could be at times, but that was leagues more comfortable considering that Sabastian wasn't intentionally trying to pry. It also helped that they had bonded, he felt, quite closely during their capture. So his firey eyes never left Zacks, not until he was done, at which point he let his shoulders relax once more. Bowie adjusted himself around his body, seeming to need to relax himself as well.

"Did he have tattoos on his chest?! Tan skin and dark hair?!"

The tension in the air was thick as everyone waited for the answer to that, but no sooner had the sighs of relief and 'thank gods' come, then everyone became agitated once more.

"We have to go get him," Cora said, her voice thick with emotion as she turned around to pick up her gun, though she stopped short and hesitated. She didn't know exactly what kind of terms they were all on, so before she reached for it, she looked over to Laneesha.

While she was doing that, Quint stepped over to Sabastian as he tried to regain some of his composure. He didn't try to reach out to him, like he normally might have with Brandon, but instead just stood near by and tried to offer support through his presence.

"Will you help us find him? Or at least tell us where he is?"

 

[Poprockz]

He almost seemed tempted to try it, but after a moment he lowered his hand with a somewhat resigned expression. That is, until something occurred to him. Vin was fixed with an intense stare, as though the man was ruminating on something in his mind. It was at that point that he started muttering to himself.

"She's going to help you ascend anyway so... you could have some." He said softly, moving to the side of Vin's gurney. "Yeah, you're going to end up in her too, so it's okay..." Licking his lips, he brought the piece of meat up and held it near Vin's mouth, nodding encouragingly as if to let Vin know that it was alright if he just had a mouthful of that fresh white meat.

"I bet you're hungry, hm? Open your mouth." The piece of meat was lowered as a drop of blood dripped onto Vin's face. Just a short while ago, that meat had been part of a person, someone alive and conscious. It smelled somewhat like raw chicken.

------------------------

Laneesha simply gave Cora a curt nod, indicating that while she didn't necessarily like that they were armed, she wasn't going to deny them their weapons. Quint's question prompted her to look pointedly over at Jeremy again, the zombie sniffling and nodding as though he understood the need for urgency. Of course he would after what he had just seen.

"I can feel the zombie somewhat below us at an angle. It's underground, and if I had to guess, there might be an access tunnel or something below that maintenance shed there." He pointed in the direction of the shed nearby, adding "At least there should be a tunnel or something. He had to have a way of getting them in there fairly quickly."

"Then what the fuck are we waiting for?!" Sabastian huffed, turning on his heel and starting to run over to it without a second thought. When he got to it, he kicked tried opening the door, finding that it was locked. He didn't have time to fuck around though, so he simply kicked the door in roughly, not expecting what was to follow. In the midst of the door crashing inside, there was the sound of broken glass, an entire shelf of perfume breaking upon the door's impact. The wave of perfume hit Sabastian's nose like a truck and his eyes watered up, blaring his vision as he fell back on his ass and tried to crawl backwards away from it.

There must have been a fuckton of perfume bottles in there, as the smell physically hurt until he was backed up a sufficient distance.

The other zombies cringed. Even outside at a good distance, the perfume stung a bit.