The Walking Dead IC

[Ldy_Sea]

"Any issues?"

"None at the moment. But I don't know where anyone is and I don't want to surprise someone with a gun, or have to worry about strays. So I'll just wait here until they return. I just wish they'd stop shooting. Anything that hears the gunshots will start heading this way."

The smell of burning flesh surrounded Nikki. She looked around and saw the flickering of flames from behind the gas station. Quickly she tied Clip Clop to the truck and walked around behind the building.

Shaking her head at the people throwing corpses onto the fire. "Don't think that's a good idea folks. It's night and that fire can be seen and smelled for miles. Anything dead or alive that sees or smells it, will come this way. Not the best way to stay hidden. Besides if it goes out of control, we don't have water to put it out and it could cause a conflaguration that destroys this town, before we have a chance to scavenge for ammo or supplies we could use."

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

Mathilda was very glad Jack kept the walker caught behind the door, it was a very big one, and it took all her courage to move to the side to get a good shot at it.

Trembling she moved away from it, peeked in the office, where behind the desk a skeleton in ragged clothes lay over a case of bottled water. Maybe the owner had shot him/herself in the head, at some point? Out off a box on a shelf, a mother cat and two kittens peeked.

Gratefully her mind was thinking about something else than the big walker, Mathilda turned back to Jack.

"Not bad. You can keep hanging onto the gun if you want. I think there is an extra holster in the truck, along with some matches we can use to burn the bodies."Jack smiled at her.

Mathilda's lips quivered a bit as they formed a smile in respond. She hadn't smiled for too long, she thought.

Jack moved a bit closer, laid a hand on her shoulder, leaned his head towards her and kissed her forehead. Astonished Matilda gasped. This too she hadn't felt in a long time: soft, warm lips touching her skin lightly and a hand resting comfortingly on her shoulder. Suddenly she remembered how his hand had felt on hers when he had shown her how to use the flashlight together with her (yes, hers, he just said she could keep it, she reassured herself) gun and an almost forgotten kind of shiver ran down her spine.

Steven yelled something which she wasn't able to process, but it seemed Jack had, since he yelled back they were alright. Jack bend to pick the walker up, and dragged it out the open backdoor. Mathilda turned and went back to the men's restroom.

With tender care she lifted the small body from the ground and carried it outside. Carefully she put it down beside the big one.

"Maybe they were a family," she said softly. "Maybe this one turned and he," she pointed at the male cadaver, "wasn't able to kill it."

She took a deep breath.

"So burning them was what you planned? I thought, well, I don't really know what I thought when you said you had plans with the bodies," she giggled a bit nervous. "A moment I thought you wanted to arrange them around the building as a warning for others." She smiled up at him. It felt good to do, smiling and doing it with a head tilted slightly upwards.

She went back in, found a tarpaulin on a shelf and a broom standing in a corner, and went into the office. Putting the tarpaulin down beside he skeleton, she used the broom to get all the bones on it.

 

[JadeKnight]

Jack helped Steve start the walker pyre, tossing on the last body from the gas station. He gave a smile and nod when the older guy suggested a meal and sleep.

"See you in a bit then."

He watched the guy head to the hotel before turning back to the fire. The smell of burning flesh was a terrible thing, but he was used to it. A couple more walkers had stumbled out of the woods, but he dispatched them with his knife before adding them to the pile. He was lost in thought for a few minutes when the sound of Nikki's voice. He turned to smile at her for a moment.

"Yeah, that may be true for those reasons to not burn them. Actually the smell will keep them away, since it's just the scent of their own, which they seem to ignore. And if you noticed, we're burning on the asphalt, no danger of getting out of control."

He took a deep breathe for a moment.

"Besides it's a tradition for me to honor those lost. I lost all of my unit when this all stated, and I did the same thing to them when I found their bodies. It's also a small form of hygiene control, keeping the wildlife from spreading whatever is causing all this."

He pointed towards the gas station for a moment.

"Mathilda and I cleared the gas station, which she is cleaning up for us to use. I think I saw some bottle water as well, plus we rescued a mother cat and two kittens in the office. They've been living in some boxes on the shelf. I'll tend the fire and you can check on the rest if you want."

 

[dutchrain]

Matilda wrapped the tarpaulin around the bones, and carried it to the pile. At the door she heard Jack talking with Nikki and she waited a moment.

"Cleaning the gas station for us to use," she heard Jack say and looking around her, she decided it was as good a place as the others around them, maybe better than some, since there were two undamaged doors they could close, maybe even lock. The few windows other than the front window had bars on the outside, so not much had a change to get in. And she had swept the office floor already, so ...

She walked over to the pile and shook the bones and rags out off the tarp on the fire.

Wiping the smoke out off her eyes, she headed back in and started to sweep the storage room. Suddenly she halted. She had swept a little box out from under the shelfs, and looked at it. It was closed. It had a familiar logo on it. She picked it up, and grinned. "New Car Scent X-tra Strength" as she opened the carton, it was full of little sealed sachets each with one of the infamous little trees in it.

She would rather smell the overpowering artificial new-car 'odor' than the reek of the pile though, thus she placed it carefully on a shelf and continued to sweep debris out off the door.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Understanding the history she was worried. She knew from experience the flames and smoke would attract attention from the dead, and the living. Instead of arguing, she went into the gas station and started to make a pile of usable supplies she found. The water that was mentioned and a few cans of...soomething. Labels had been worn off, so it was anyones guess.

She did find a 9mm pistol behind the counter, in a holster and two almost full boxes of ammo. She looked around a bit more but there was notihing else worth taking except some old girly mags which she wasn't interested in, at least not in this situation, and some odds and ends.

Glancing at her watch, she saw it was time to contact her parents. Leacing her cache for a moment she went out to her gear. First she freed Clip Clop so he could graze while the bodies burned and everyone got to know each other. Then she dug out the short wave radio. Connecting it to her solar charger, she saw both were low on power, so she made a note to let it charge tomorrow.

Turning it on and setting it to the right frequency she started trying to contact her family "Wayfarer to Hearth, wayfearer to hearth, come in hearth." there was a bit of static then her mothers voice came out of the speaker.

"We're here. Alls quiet. How are you?"

"Alls well. I am west of the great lakes somewhere near the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. My coordinates are..." she read her position off her GPS unit.

 

[JadeKnight]

Jack sighed for a moment as he watched the fire burn. It would burn for a little longer, so he decided to leave it for now. Heading back to the gas station, he checked on Matilda's progress. He smiled for a moment seeing the gas station was alot cleaner than it had been. He chuckled softly for a moment.

"You did pretty good. Once done here, maybe we could see who wants to explore the other places around here."

He searched the backroom for a moment, coming up with a couple of cans of wet cat food. He opened one can before going into the office where the mother cat was hiding. She hissed at him for a moment, one paw waving in the air at him.

"There, there little one. No need to get so mad. Here, have some food."

He placed the open can on the shelf a couple of feet away before leaning against the door frame to watch the feline.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Shadow trotted up his mouth bloody, his tail wagging showing he had a successful hunt. She patted him and poured some water onto his snout to rinse off the excess blood.

"Glad to hear from you wanderer. Here is Hearth actual."

Her fothers booming voice came from the speaker which she rapidly lowered. "Hearth actual to wayfarer. Stauts."

"Supplies holding out, support units intact. Encountered 6 repeat 6 Souls. We eliminated 20 or more hostiles. One national guard Sgt. has Mike Romeo Alpha Papa vehicle with food and supplies. Indicates more gear available at Depot one hour east repeat one hour east of current postion. Depot is fenced. Rest are unknown. Will check in daily until India Foxtrot Foxtrot is confirmed."

"Be careful wayfarer. Trust is not to be given easily in these times. Will monitor this freq constantly. Report as needed. Get here safe. Hearth standing by. We love you wayfarer." Her fathers voice chocked on those last words.

"She was hardly able to speak herself "Copy all hearth, wilco and I love you too. Will see you soon. Wayfarer out and clear."

She took a deep breath trying to get her emotions under control, as she packed her radio up and took out several MRE's from her gear. She walked around to the fire, seeing several figures still there. "Anyone hungry? I got some food here. I got water too but it needs to be boiled...and I really don't want to boil it over that fire."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Nikki thought she heard something in the distance. As she turned to look she saw Shadow take oof like a rocket. Her eyes followed him as he dropped the food packs in her hand, and drew her gun. Without waiting for the others, she took off running after shadow.

As she got close she saw two people fighting several walkers, as Shadow ran into them knocking them down and doging away before they could grab him. Seeing that it was only a few walkers, and not wanting to attract more attention, she put her colt away and drew her tomahawk. Jogging up, she took down two of them.

 

[Wyld52771]

Having followed Steven around back, Nick cautiously scanned the area as his companion advised him of traps he had set. Nick thought the idea of traps was a bit of a waste of energy, due to the fact that he really didn't think they would be staying at the gas station long enough to need them, but obviously, they had kept Steven alive up to this point, so he just shrugged and nodded.

"To each, his own," Nick thought to himself.

Suddenly, shots rang out from inside the gas station the shots, causing Nick's heart to jump in his chest. Steven ran inside the back door, and Nick had followed, placing his hatchet back in the belt loop, and pulling his Beretta. Once inside, they found Jack already had the situation well in hand, the walkers down and motionless on the floor.

While Jack and Steven started to carry the dead bodies out back...presumably to make a temporary camp for the night, he assumed...Nick found himself following Steven's example, grabbing some of the food that had been left behind. There wasn't much, but anything was better than nothing at all.

Walking out the back, Nick was alarmed when he came out after his search of the gas station to find they had begun to burn the bodies. He did not like the idea of a large fire...it'd be like a beacon to both the dead and the living. Still, there was nothing to be done about it now...except to stay alert. The smell of burning flesh began to make him feel sick, so he began to walk away, when he heard a man's deep voice cry out in the dark...

“RUN SARAH!!!”

“NO DAD!” a woman's voice cried out in reply, and Nick heard the moans and snarls of more walkers reply as well.

Nick reacted without thought, grabbing his hatchet again from the loop, and racing over to help the newcomers...

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

"You did pretty good. Once done here, maybe we could see who wants to explore the other places around here."


Mathilda looked around her, then up at Jack, and smiled.

"Yes," she said, "it is clean enough now to throw some mattresses down on the floor, if what I saw opposite of the road is a motel, and if there are 'clean' mattresses left in it."

She watched him move around, watched him open a can and set it about a meter away from the momma cat. From around his shoulder she watched the cat smell the food, her nose quivering just above the edge of the carton. When the cat climbed out after a moment Mathilda drew in her breath.

"The poor dear! Don't let her eat it all at once, Jack, she is starved!" she urged him, horrified by the skeletal figure of the animal. It must have stayed in the carton, feeding the little ones without eating anything herself for a long time. Quickly Mathilda opened a bottle she had filled at a little stream, squeezed past Jack and poured some on top of the cat-food. That way the cat would have to drink before she could eat more than she already did. Her hand shook a bit.

The cat wasn't too pleased with the droplets landing on her nose.

"We always had a cat at home," she said softly. "I hope my children, or the neighbors," her voice faltered and she was unable to add "take care of her."

She cleared her throat.

"Lets check out the motel, shall we?"

“RUN SARAH!”

“NO DAD!”

Frightened she looked towards the door and laid her hand on Jack's arm.

"More walkers?" she asked rhetorically. "Lets help!"

 

[JadeKnight]

He blinked for a moment as she pushed past him, letting her have room. He smiled a little watching her take care of the cat as she spoke of her own.

"Sounds like you miss her."

He nodded in agreement for a moment when she suggested checking out the motel, moving to the front of the store. He stopped for a moment when Matilda laid her hand on his arm, questioning about the walkers. He glanced towards the backdoor before turning to head out that way, with her in tow.

It took a moment for him to find the source of the distress, seeing the rest of the group already in the middle of helping. He didn't see Steven, figuring the guy was still at the motel. Not wanting to draw any more than needed, Jack drew his combat knife as he moved to help the others.

He lifted his knife and threw it, hitting one beside Nikki as it lurched towards her from her side. The knife hit the zombie's left eye, sinking up to the hilt before it fell over.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Hearing a wet thwunk real close she looked and saw a walker fall like a marionette who just had all its strings cut. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Jack stnding there. Throwing him a half salute with her bloody tomahawk, she turned back ready to join in the fracas.

No walkers were left standing, only one on the ground Shadow had by the neck. Nikki walked over and said, "I give you mercy", and drove her tomahawk into its skull. Shadow released it and came over to Nikki.

Nikki grabbed Jacks knife from the walker he killed and wiped it clean on the unfortunates shirt and tossed it back to Jack. Turning back to the newcomers Nikki says to them "Fuck, why is it for every live person I meet theres a swarm of walkers around."

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

Seeing the others fighting walkers with two new people, and Jack throwing his knife, Mathilda ran to he truck and picked up her spear. She peered through the falling darkness, but couldn't see new walkers arriving.

She wanted to be inside. Slowly she moved over to the others, turning her head to all sides, still trying to see if more walkers were around.

She saw the man pushing the girl behind his back when all walkers were dealt with.

"We don't want no trouble! We didn't mean to bring those things towards you! Just give us passage and we'll get out of your hair."

Mathilda nodded. She was completely in favor of letting them go, and she wouldn't hinder them. If he kept yelling, more walkers would arrive soon.

"We'll kick your asses if you try and get too close!" the girl half hissed.

Mathilda backed off, stayed just in earshot and turned her back towards the group, checking if there still were no new walkers in her back.

"Shut up girl. Look, we don't want no trouble. If you try and take anything we have we fight you."

"Could we discuss that somewhere inside?" Mathilda said sotto-voce, "I mean, if you want? I want to be inside. Behind some doors. I spent two nights on trees."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

"Nikki being the closest to them held up her hands showing she wasn't going to attack. "If you want to leave no one here will stop you. We have no desire to rob you. Hell we all just meet up earlier today a few miles up the road. I couldn't even tell you most of these peoples names yet. However, I do have food and water to share if you want."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

descriotion of the contents of an MRE added to OOC thread...

Nikki let outth ebreath she was holding. She hadn't yet had to kill a person, but that was only because she had avoided them ever since the farm. Being alone was easier. No one else to worry about, no one else to feed, no one else to protect. But she was tired. Bone tired and needed the respite being in a group offered.

She went back to the fueral pyre and picked up the MRE's she had dropped, then returned to her supplies, and took out a couple of more MRE's, her large cooking pot, and one of her water jugs. "If someone will gather some wood, we can boil this water so we can have something to drink, with our dinners." She tells everyone holding up the boxes.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

"Yeah. She seems safe to me though."

Mathilda opened her eyes wide when she heard the new girl say this after she had stared at her for a few moments. Now why would she say this? Of all the people around, Jack, Nick and Nikki who had been fighting beside them and Ashley by the truck, the girl had singled her out with her comment. Mathilda looked down at herself and shook her head slightly.

Then the girl looked at Nikki and introduced her father and herself.

"We will stay for one night, then we move on. No questions, Sarah." Patrick said.

They eye roll Sarah then sent Mathilda, and the half grin showing on her face for just a moment -she wasn't sure if she simply had imagined these though after hearing Sarah's "yeah, yeah", since the twilight made it quite difficult to see details already- made Mathilda's heart cringe. Too often she had heard and seen these teenage ways of rebellion from her own children. She thought she had dealt with mourning for them. She thought she had been immune to things remembering her of them for a long time now, not even Joan had made her heart cringe like it just did.

Only when Nikki walked past her, she realized she held her breath and stood like frozen. Slowly she turned her head to follow Nikki with her eyes. Food, Nikki was getting food.

Mathilda closed her eyes a second and then walked towards the truck. She rummaged in her backpack, and selected three plastic bags by touch.

"If someone will gather some wood, we can boil this water so we can have something to drink, with our dinners." Nikki said, presenting some cans, jugs and a big pot.

"And I have dried carrots and dried roasted pumpkin to mix with the food," Mathilda announced and stepped beside Nikki. "I also have dried apples and plums for dessert. Don't go out alone to get wood, stay together, please," she added a bit hesitantly, hoping she didn't offend anyone by saying it, since these people had survived very well until now.

She looked at Nikki.

"What is in those bags and things, can we empty all in the pot and add the dried vegetables to make a stew? I have some salt and pepper in my backpack," she whispered to Nikki, "small sachets you get in restaurants."

Without waiting for an answer Mathilda quickly went into the shop, put her supplies on the counter, and hurried into the back to get the packet of "New Car" trees. Ripping open two sachets she returned to the counter and hung them over the register.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

[OOC: So Sorry this should have been in the OOC thread. My bad.]

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

Waiting for the others, Mathilda opened the bag with dried apples and put a slice in her mouth.

Chewing, enjoying the sweetness spreading in her mouth, she went to the office, to check on the mommy-cat and the two kittens. Loud purring greeted her when she looked in the carton. Mommy was lying on her side, licked her paw and the two kittens were busy drinking. All three purred like they had to win a contest. Mathilda smiled.

"I won't leave you here," she whispered. "I'll put you in the car, in a clean box, which I will get you now. I'll put some of the wool I have in it to make a nice soft nest for you three. The moss green, I think, that would make a nice combination with you three tabbies on it." She stroked the cats over their heads and left them after she checked how much mommy had eaten. Nearly half the can. She hoped mommy wouldn't get an upset tummy and had poured some fresh water on the rest of the food. The young looked like they were around three or four weeks old, but they could be six or seven weeks too, since they probably didn't have enough food to grow properly, even if mommy had fed them with all she had. Mathilda never had seen the description "skin over bones" fit an animal so accurate as it sadly applied to this one.

In the storage room she found a fitting carton, not too big and not too small either.
She put it on the counter, got the moss green wool and two of her thickest knitting needles out off Jack's car and settled down on the ground, her back against the counter and her spear lying beside her.

Within five minutes she had fifty big loops on the needle, and started to knit. The loops were big enough she wouldn't miss one in the dark. A very loose, small blanket it would be, but it would be a nice soft nest for the cats, especially if she made a second one tomorrow. Outside she heard the others move around, sometimes wood clattered to the ground, sometimes some soft words were exchanged.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Seeing a camp of sorts, though not a very secure one, was being established, Nikki grabbed her bow and arrows, made sure her 1911 wasin her holster and her k-bar and tomahawk were in their scabboards. "I'm going to make a quick patrol of the town and surrounding woods. If you hear shots it means I need help. Otherwise I'll be back in an hour." She mounted Clip Clop and whistled low and shadow appeared at her side. She rode deeper into town to see what was around and if there was anything worth scavenging, as well as to make sure that there wasn't a horde about to march into town.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Riding through the center of town, Nikki noticed that many buildings looked like they had been locked up for the night and hadn't been scavenged. She made a mental note of places that might have supplies her group could use including the police station, the general store and a pharmacy among others.

Riding slowly through town, circling the groups impromptu camp, she watched for signs of the dead, or living. Not seeing any movement except for a bunch of raccoons, which she took as a good sign. If the dead were around, there would be no critters foraging for food. Heading back to camp, she decided to lock put Clip Clop in one of the rooms in the motel for safe keeping for the night.

After moving some furniture around she lead Clip Clop into a room, and closed the door. Heading back over to the camp she saw one of the new comers sitting with the older lady whose name she had forgotten. Joining them she sat there watching the fire. Shadow sitting next to her, his ears on alert for teh unearhly moans of the undead.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

After a little while people came in and build a fire. Mathilda sighed contentedly. The time she had spent in the store alone had been getting on her nerves somewhat, even if the backdoor was closed -but not locked yet- and the army car was parked so close to the front door, people had to squeeze through small gaps to enter the store.

She was very glad she wasn't alone anymore, and her needles clacked less fervently.
The two new people had come in too, Patrick took a book out off his backpack after he had checked the contents and settled down to read. Sarah seemed restless however and ambled through the room, moving closer to Mathilda. Finally she sat down beside her.

"Why are you doing that? Kind of a waste of time, don't ya think?"

A bit startled Mathilda looked at her. It sounded a bit hostile. She took three seconds to think about how to respond.

"I do it because I like to knit. It also calms my nerves. It allows my mind to wander, without falling asleep or losing my alertness because my hands keep moving and part of my mind counts stitches and rounds," she said somewhat soothingly. "It also happens the momma cat and her two kittens we found in here need a new box and a soft blanket tomorrow in the car. If they sleep on it tonight, they'll feel safer in and on it tomorrow. So I don't think it is a waste of time. It might look so to someone else, but isn't for me."

Shadow trotted into the room, came directly to Mathilda and sniffed at her legs. Nikki came in just behind him, and sat down beside Matilda. Shadow settled down beside Nikki, but his ears didn't settle down. Mathilda bit her lip. Shadow looked worried. Mathilda was very afraid again suddenly and her needles moved faster.

"Are there many walkers outside?" she asked Nikki in a half whisper, her eyes on the dog. "Shadow seems worried. Or is he hungry? Should we give him a can of the cat food? I put them in the new box for the cats on the counter. I thought it was big enough, and I'll put the blanket against it when it is finished."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Nikki looks at the older woman annd smiles. "He hunts and eats rodents. No need to carry extra food for him. She pats her on the knee reassuringly, "I rode down the main street and few family groups of racoons. That tells me there's no predators around otherwise they would be hiding."

Raising her arms over her head, she stretches. "If there were walkers around, he would run off and bark to draw them away. He's just on alert listening for them. Nothing to worry about."

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

"Nothing to worry about." Nikki said while she raised her arms and stretched.

Mathilda looked at her, at the dancing shadows the fire created on Nikki, and smiled. She held her knitting up, twenty rounds she had done, so a little over an hour had passed.

"Time to have dinner?," she inquired at the room at large. "And maybe some could get some mattresses from the motel while others prepare it? I for one, would love to sleep on a mattress, after spending a night in the trunk of a car."

 

[Ldy_Sea]

"I for one plan on sleeping in one of the rooms in the motel. A nice locked door beats a small gap anyday."

 

[JadeKnight]

After Nikki gave his knife back, Jack re-sheathed his knife and kept his hands in sight so that the two newcomers would know he was no threat to them. He gave a smile when it seemed they wouldn't attack them, for now.

"Feel free to join us. Plenty of room to go around."

He sighed for a moment as he looked at the newly killed walkers laying around the field. Leaving the newcomers to settle in, Jack began hauling the bodies over to the pyre one at a time. He glanced towards the others as they began eating and went their separate ways to get settled in for the night. As he stroked the fire for a few moments, he watched Nikki as she went on her patrol making sure she didn't need help. He dropped the last body on the pyre as Nikki returned back to the gas station.

He went to the backdoor and stepped inside, taking in the group.

"Did you happen to see Steve over at the hotel? He went in one of the rooms for a nap, but haven't seen him since."

He moved into the office and pulled out the chair, sitting down in it.

"I'll sleep here near the vehicle, just in case we'll have to get outta here quick. How's everyone doing? Drinking enough water?"