The Walking Dead IC

[Ldy_Sea]

Nikki Sloane

She watched Jessa walk away, remembering what her college boyfriend used to say, "The reason God gave woman asses is so there's some consoloation when they leave." Looking at Jessas she had to agree.

After searching for a while, she hadn't found anything worth a damn except a couple of knives and one .25 caliber pistol with no ammo. When Mathilda walks up, Nikki takes a break from searching the corpses and accepts the jars. "Thank you Mathilda." She says stretching her back. I'll be there in a few." giving her a smile surprised at the concern and generosity of the strangers she just met.

Finishing with the bodies, she found a map of the town and picked up the bag Mathilda saw throwing her finds in it, and heads off to breakfast. Sitting quietly she listens to everyone talk trying to learn their names and personalities.

When breakfast started to wind down, Nikki looked at the group. "Last night when I went riding around the town, I found the police station and a store, both were locked up and don't look to have been raided. One of the walkeers I took down this morning was a local cop, and he had a huge set of keys on him. I plan on checking out the police station after this. If anyone wants to join me, meet me by my room in 20 minutes.

"Also, I found about 20 knives in decent shape when I searched the bodies. They're in this bag, along with a small pistol I don't have ammo for. If you don't have a good knife take one and carry it. Never know when you might need it. Everything else in here is up for grabs."

As she went to gear up, Aaron approached her anbd gave her some Dog food. Nikki took the dog food "Thanks, Aaron right? Too many new faces. Still don't know the names. Shadow usually hunts rodents for food but until his leg is better, I don't want him running around alone."

Nikki then found jack and handed him the map. "This might come in handy." She winks at him hoping he takes charge of the group. She trusted him for some reason she didn't understand.

Nikki returned to her room and using the bandana she tied it over Shadows wound and then let him lick the jars clean. Opening one of the dog food cans she dumped it into the bowl she used for breakfast and filled a clean bowl with water.

Arming herself with her knife, tomahawk, pistol and rifle, leaving her bow behind, she changed from her daily attire into her high threat outfit. Seel toed combat boots, Tight leather pants that had saved her fropm being bitten more than once, and a heavy leather jacket with a high collar protecting her neck. Putting her binoculars around her neck, she ventured out to see if anyone was joining her.

 

[Scottykitty]

knives

Morning Nikki " Steven greets her as he approached. I could use a knife as Steven reached in the bag and pulled out a small kbar like knife. This will do now to find a sheath for it as he rummaged through the bag. Nikki I'd like to go with you but we need someone to stay behind. The young lady Jessa is up standing guard I'd hate to leave her by herself. So I think ill help by staying put. As Steven finds a sheath smiling at Nikki hope shadow gets better. Steven sheathed his new knife and walked towards his room waving bye to Nikki as he gathered his gear and set up a place to stand a roving watch on the ground around the camp.

Walking the entire area of the camp was a bit much so Steven decides with limited personnel he would make rounds every hour and only covet half the area. Looking up at Jessa as he made his first round he smiled and waved at her yelling at her something stupid and incoherent. She probably thinks I'm nuts he thinks to himself as he turns red and walks away thinking maybe next time ill just wave. Feeling silly he heads back to the gas station and watches as everyone either parts or gears up for departure.

 

[WebbedHawk]

After handing Nikki the dog food Aaron went to his room to grab a few things, namely a cheap pair of shades, a hat and a small notebook for a trip into town. Stepping out of his room he slipped on the sunglasses and hat, with his hatchet at his left and his handgun on his right. With his head down in his notebook he made his way to the edge of the motel property and took a turn towards the main drag. After picking a few spots out as to what he would grab he stuck his notebook away and started walking, aware, but still a bit stuck on working alone from months of solitude.

 

[JadeKnight]

Jack was quiet while the two ladies talked, though he did pay a little bit of attention to the conversation. However he also felt the feeling that they were being watched by someone. As far as he knew, the rest of the group was behind them, taking care of exploring more of the town. He was about to turn away from the ladies to see if his hunch was right, but Mathilda mentioned about Fluer joining them for a meal or two.

"Only a cooouple of meals? I'm sure we can find enough food for her to stay with the group longer than that. Actually, feel free to stay with us as long as you like Fluer. Like the rest of us, I'm sure you've spent enough time on your own to want to enjoy the company of others again. If you ladies don't mind, I'm going to look around a bit while you gather up the foodstuff."

He gave both of them a smile before lowering his rifle down to a low ready stance. He didn't think any walkers were around, at least not for the time being. He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched as he began moving through the cemetary slowly, checking around each gravestone carefully. He took his time, glancing towards Mathilda and Fluer to make sure they were alright.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

"Only a couple of meals? I'm sure we can find enough food for her to stay with the group longer than that. Actually, feel free to stay with us as long as you like Fluer. Like the rest of us, I'm sure you've spent enough time on your own to want to enjoy the company of others again. If you ladies don't mind, I'm going to look around a bit while you gather up the foodstuff."

Mathilda blushed deeply hearing what Jack said.

"I just didn't want to," she took a breath and started over. "I am sorry, Fleur, Jack. I only now realize I sounded not as welcoming as I thought. Lets start with these nettles."

She picked up one of the shopping bags and got her scissors out off the pocket. Bending one of the stalks towards the sack, which she kept open with one hand, with her foot, she cut off the top without getting stung. Soon top after top fell into the sack and filled it half before she moved to the next bunch of nettles. She looked over to Jack, smiled to tell him she was very glad she felt his eyes on her from time to time. Sadly the walker Fleur had killed lay on a big patch of nettles and Mathilda moved around it to a smaller one, looking in the bag.

"It will dwindle down to almost nothing when it is cooked," she sighed. "Did you see any bean pods still on the stalks in the garden, Fleur? Or other vegetables, or mint? I can see there are some shriveled apples still on the trees from here. With mint they'll make a nice applesauce. If there is no mint I'll throw them in the soup or stew with the nettles. One or two of the others offered some jerky, everything together will make a good meal."

She caught Jack's eye.

"Could you knock those apples down with a shovel or something for me please, Jack?" she called softly.

It was quite a big cemetery for a small town. Maybe it was the only one, or it had been the only one for some time, Mathilda thought while walking to yet another promising patch. She felt a bit more nervous than just picking nettles required. She realized it weren't just Jack's eyes she felt looking at her. It wouldn't be a walker. Walkers didn't look at you. They wanted to eat you. They didn't study you.

"Late in the summer the stalks would be good to make textile," Mathilda mused.
"They need to rot in water for a month or two though, just like flax. And the fibers need to be knocked loose after that, and combed and spun. We would need a spinning wheel. A nice job for the winter." She sighed. "No need to dream about that, who knows where we, I will be next winter?"

 

[anonymity90]

Fleur - Church Graveyard and Vicarage Garden with Jack and Mathilda

Fleur was so relieved she wasn't the only one who rambled when excited or nervous. She smiled warmly at Mathilda as she invited her over for a meal and a safe place to sleep tonight.

Jack chirped up to invite her over permanently which made her so overwhelmed with gratitude that she started to tear up. The man of very few words knew how to use them to make a girl happy.

"I just didn't want to," Mathilda took a breath and started over. "I am sorry, Fleur, Jack. I only now realize I sounded not as welcoming as I thought. Lets start with these nettles."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're both very welcoming. I'd like that very much, if it's okay with everyone else. I wouldn't want to impose. There's strength in numbers and it would be nice to sleep knowing someone was keeping watch - it's been a while... Let's find some fresh food to feed everyone. I need to pull my weight."

"Did you see any bean pods still on the stalks in the garden, Fleur? Or other vegetables, or mint?"

She listened to Mathilda talk about what she was going to cook with eagerness. She'd only studied permaculture in the tropics and sub-tropics so nettles and apple soup was fascinating to Fleur.

"I saw a few different types of vines. There's still a thin layer of frost so I'm not convinced there would be many beans but I'm pretty sure one was a pumpkin vine. Perhaps we'll be lucky and find a few big enough. Those buggers can survive arctic weather!"

Fleur studied Mathilda as she expertly snipped off large bunches of nettle without getting hurt. She glanced over to Jack as Mathilda asked him to knock out some apples from a nearby tree. He was handsome alright, but he looked so wary. As though he was on full alert. He needs something to help him relax, Fleur thought as she glanced back to Mathilda who seemed to be glowing now she was in her element.

Fleur remembered what she was doing before she bumped into her two new friends."Oh, Jack! There was a shed in the garden. I think it might have a spade in it. We'll go have a look. Maybe we'll find some gardening gloves too as we don't want Mathilda to get hurt with all these nettles." Turning back, she realised that Mathilda's glow had gone. She seemed nervous again.

After collecting as much nettle as they could find, they both started walking towards the vicarage garden as Mathilda posed the question on both their minds about their unknown future. Just as they were about to enter, Fleur turned to Mathilda and said "We don't know, but for now, we're safe and in good health. I just remembered that I also have some quinoa, red lentils and dried chickpeas in my bag. The last store I raided was a bit sparse on dried goods. I think people are scared to cook with these ingredients but I doubt you'd have that problem. I was a vegan before all this and I loved cooking straight from the earth, let me give you a hand in the kitchen. I've never cooked with nettles but I'm a fast learner and great at following instructions."

 

[feistyphoenix]

Rachel shrank back against the wall surrounding the garden. She was huddled directly under some of the branches of the apple tree. She could hear someone on the other side of the wall, she stretched put her finger tips and touched the smooth stones, as if she was reaching for the person there. As her weight shifted a twig started to snap but she caught herself and pulled back, slinking along the wall away from the tree.

The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end now, she almost jumped out of her skin when the hissing and moaning started. The walker that used to be a man crept towards her in his jagged uneven walk, hand outstretched. He must have been in his sleep state nearby when the commotion disturbed him. He wasn't but ten feet away from her now. She had a decision to make. Usually she ran or climbed, but thr only thing nearby was the apple tree, her swiss army knife was the only thing she had that could be considered a weapon.

The flight response won out and as she jumped at the wall and clung to the top it grabbed at her ankle and she yelped. She was stronger but not by much and managed to pull herself up onto the top of the wall and then into the tree. The people below forgotten while she shook slightly in fear.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

Mathilda had been picking up her spear, laying it down again, shoving it around with her foot to keep it in easy reach, and now, as she and Fleur walked to the garden and chatted about life in general and food in special, it of course was in her hand again.

Her mind was half on recipes with the ingredients Fleur had offered, partly on Jack, partly on the near future, partly on the far future, partly following the conversation and partly on their surroundings.

"Dried chicken peas and lentils would be great for tomorrow. I'll put them in water overnight, that way they'll be marvelous," she responded Fleur, both of them standing at the garden entrance.

"The quinoa," she stopped and listened. "Was there another walker in the garden?" Mathilda whispered.

Both strained their ears.

"I think it is safe," Mathilda said softly, "it might have been a breeze, or a mouse or something like that. The quinoa," she restarted her sentence when she distinctly heard groans on the other side of the wall. It took her just a second to drop the bags again, pull Fleur behind her, and point her spear.

She froze. Almost pushed Fleur back again when she re-appeared from behind Mathilda's back.

"Sorry," she whispered.

The groans came closer.

Mathilda reached out to close the gate. And jolted when a head appeared above the wall, followed by the rest of a woman's body and a yelp. Astonished she watched the woman climb the wall and then the apple tree. With a loud snap Mathilda closed the gate.

"Here!" she yelled. She rattled her spear over the gate.

 

[JadeKnight]

Jack's searching had taken him to the far end of the cemetery, away from the apple tree and the ladies. Reaching the wall, he leaned over the top of it for a few moments to examine the other side. When he looked towards the ladies again to check on them, Mathilda asked him to grab some of the apples for her. He could have reached the apples easily with the rifle, so he was planning on using it since he didn't anything else.

"Sure thing, just let me finish looking around."

When Fluer yelled at him about going to check on the tools in the shed, he lifted his free hand for a moment giving her a thumbs-up that he heard her. He was almost at the end of the stone wall, looking out of the cemetery towards the town when Rachel made her escape from the zombie. His attention was grabbed hearing Mathilda yelling. He turned quickly to see what was going on.

He saw the apple tree swaying a little, but the foilage was enough that he couldn't see the young woman up the tree. His attention was focused on Mathilda's direction and the walker that pulled itself up the side of the wall beside the gate. Jack stepped to the side so he could get a clear shot, bring the rifle up. There was a soft pop from the rifle as he fired, and the back of the zombie's head exploded outwards before it fell to the ground.

Putting the weapon on safe, he moved over to the two ladies quickly.

"Are you guys ok? Where did the walker come from? I didn't see him earlier."

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

Seeing the walkers head explode before Mathilda's noises had it attracted fully towards the gate, Mathilda closed her eyes a moment and mumbled a thank you.

"Are you guys ok? Where did the walker come from? I didn't see him earlier." Jack's voice sounded concerned and maybe a bit as if he felt guilty for the walker appearing.

Mathilda smiled reassuringly.

"We are alright, Jack. Thank you for using a bullet, I planned to stab it through the gate. Not something I like. Once my spear got stuck that way and broke when the walker fell. I have no idea where it came from. It was," she pointed to the still quivering tree, "attacking a young lady now hiding in the apple tree. I wonder if she would be so kind as to throw the apples down for me? In exchange for lunch and dinner and a safe place to sleep of course, if she wants."

 

[feistyphoenix]

Rachel calmed herself enough to descend a little ways down the tree. She sat on a lower branch, observing the three people below her for a moment. The offer was tempting, but she wasn't sure if they could be trusted. It had been so very long since she'd talked to someone she didn't know how to respond.

"Well I...I don't know. Join who?" She said quietly from up in the tree.

It suddenly seemed ridiculous that she was having a conversation whilst sitting in a tree.

Rachel unfolded herself and dropped lightly to the ground, dull aching pain shot up her legs from the impact. Her bones were feeling the effects of malnutrition.

She stood at her full height, damn near as tall as the man with the rifle. She continued studying those in front of her, curious more than anything else...and slightly afraid. She was unarmed after all.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda

A few shriveled apples had fallen to the ground already. Mathilda thought it wasn't the right time to pick them up though.

"Well I...I don't know. Join who?" The woman asked form out the tree.

More apples fell as the woman jumped down. Mathilda thought it wasn't the right time to say "thank you for the apples" either.

"Us," Mathilda responded. "For lunch. Or for longer. If you would like to. We are all strangers, most only met yesterday."

A big smile spread over her face when she saw the young lady was a bit taller than she was.

"I am going to make apple sauce for lunch," Mathilda announced, bent down and started to pick the apples up. The birds had picked at them, but that didn't matter.

 

[feistyphoenix]

A quizzical look passed over Rachel's features, they didn't even know each other. She'd been under the impression they had been a group for awhile. How else could someone survive the winter here?

"Lunch would be nice, thank you," her voice wavered a little. At least she hadnt forgotten her southern manners.

"I might be able to help you...if you want, i'm really sorry about, well that I guess"Rachel gestured to the gate indicating the now dead walker. She bent and picked up an apple before straightening back up and surveying their expressions.

 

[JadeKnight]

Jack stepped back a little to give Rachel a bit of room to breathe. She was beautiful, even if she looked a little undernourished. He was a stickler for redheads, and she was no exception. And having another to join the group wasn't a bad thing at all. He listened to Mathilda offer the young woman a place to eat with them, nodding when she agreed to at leas join them for now.

"No need to apoligize for the walker. What's you name? I'm Jack, that's Mathilda and Fluer."

He almost laughed for a moment at the current situation he was in. It reminded him of the anime he used to watch before the Outbreak, where it was one guy and he had several girls trying to get his attention. He wouldn't mind if that happened, but it also was probably not going to happen. Afterall, he wasn't the only guy in the group and he didn't think it would be right for him to get greedy like that. He would just have to see how things played out.

"Well, if we're done here, we can either head back to camp for the time being or go explore some more. It doesn't matter to me, I'm just enjoying the company of three lovely ladies."

 

[anonymity90]

Fleur - Vicarage Garden with Mathilda, Jack and Rachel

Still half in shock by the way Mathilda and Jack had defended her without question, she watching the exchange with interest. The wariness of Rachel was a stark difference to her attitude. Fleur hadn't wondered if she had been foolish to accept their offer of food and somewhere to sleep until Rachel had said "Well I...I don't know. Join who?"

The girl had probably been through a lot, Fleur thought and listened to the exchange. She felt a strange tug on her heart towards this starving girl who was almost too scared to accept food from these two caring people.

When Jack mentioned her name, she waved meekly. Realising she was still half hiding behind Mathilda, she stepped aside. It had reminded her she was now part of the newly-formed group although she had only met two members. Fleur decided to try to help this poor girl trust again and maybe even act her age - they were about the same age.

"...I'm just enjoying the company of three lovely ladies." Fleur rolled her eyes at Jack and turned to Mathilda for guidance.

Rachel still looked like she was on the verge of running off despite having accepted the offer of lunch. Fleur smiled at her, walked up to her and threw her arms around her. "You look like you need a hug."

 

[feistyphoenix]

Rachel- Vicarage Garden

She looked at Jack for a long moment before deciding telling them her name wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He was almost painfully good looking she noticed now that they were up close to her. Fluer looked like a girl she might be friends with and Mathilda looked sweetly motherly.

"I'm Rachel," the words tumbled out in her slightly accented speech.

You look like you need a hug...

She resisted the urge to back away from the other girl, instead she just looked hopelessly between Jack and Mathilda as Fluer hugged her.She politely patted the girl's back in reciprocation before pulling away. She felt like hiding again but the offer of food was too good to pass up.

"Applesauce for lunch you said? How many people are we feeding," Rachel looked around, based on the number of people she counted when she was watching through the fence the number was 8 at least. That would require quite a few apples and there were only a handful or so on the ground.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Nikki Sloane...Heading to Police Station...ALONE

Nikki emptied put a few of her bags and debated whether or not to bring Clip Clop. It was a few blocks away, but after Shadow getting hurt, and not knowing any safe place to leave him, she decided to walk. If there was too much to carry, she would come back later with others.

Walking up the middle of the street, Nikki saw lots of buildings many of which had suffered from neglect, fire, vandalism, and attempts at fortifications. Nikki kept her eyes open and her head swivled looking for walkers.

Reaching the cop shop without incident, she took out the keys and hoped they would unlock the reinforced metal doors. The eighth key she tried opened the door. Not walking in, she let out a low whistle to see if any walkers would respond to the audible stimuli.

Unearthly moans echoed in the darkness, but no omovement could be seen. Whistling once more, she waited but nothing moved. Flicking on her flashlight she cautiously entered the front room. Using a chair, she propped open the door in case she had to make a quick exit.

Using her flashlight she saw signs of a rapid evacuation, papers scattered everywhere, chairs overturned nd half finished food and drink rotting where they were abondoned.

Heading down a corridor she saw a door labeled communications. Entering that room, she scanned the work terminals and found a clipboard at the supervisors station. the last entries indicated a riot in progress at a local park, and evey officer except one was dispatched. the last entry read, 'The chief has authorized use of deadly force on any person not responding to officer commands.

Nikki left the computers and radios behind, and headed further into the station. She found the Investigation section and interrogation rooms. Nothing of obvious interest was in these rooms, but in the hall there was a bank of small lockers with keys in the locks.

Walking past them, she saw a large room seperated from the rest of the building by a large wall of metal bars. Inside that room were 3 fairly small cells, and they were all occupied. Two of the cells were locked up holding the walkers prisoner, the third cell was wide open, and on the floor in that cell was a walker in a police uniform including a Sam Browne belt.

Using the keys she had, Nikki was able to open the gate and enter teh detainment area. Ignoring the two locked in the cells, Nikki quickly walked up to the former cop. The poor creature never moved. It's moans were pitiful, almost like it was begging for the torment to end. Nikki knealt down and drove her KBar into it's head whispering "I'm sorry"

Once it was dead she went to take the weapons from it, and found while there were holders for a gun, tazer, asp baton, and OC spray, they were missing. Patting down his body she found a key in his shirt pocket, unlike a normal key. Rmemembering the lockers she figured maybe the cop working here may not bring his weapons in this room. She pocketed the key and left the twice dead cop behind.

She used her tomahawk on the other two and the building fell silent once again. leaving the cell area unlocked she hurried to the locker bank and saw one of the lockers was missing it's key. Takingout the key she got from the deaad cop, she put it in the slot and opened the locker. She was rewarded with a .40 caliber pistol with 4 15 round amgazines and a fifth one in the weapon. There was also a .38 snub nose revolver, fully loaded, in an ankle holster; a 21" asp baton, and the other items missing from the officers belt. Taking the two guns and baton, she left the rest, and returned to her search, after getting the Sam Browne belt.

Most of the station was office space, but she did find the police armory which didn't have any weapons left, but lots of ammo .40, .38 .9MM, .45, 5.56, and .223 calibers as well as 12 guage slugs and buckshot. She also found flashlights and batteries, a few more batons, and some tear gas grenades. Loading up everything she found, she finished her once over of the station, disappointed at the lack of weapons, but happy about all the ammo.

Opening one last room, she found several first aid kits, fire extingushers, flares and 4 cases of MRE's and 2 more of canned fruits and vegetables. She took her time moving this treasure to the door so she could get people to help her move it back to the groups home. Laughing about how after less than a day with these people in a town she never heard of, she felt like it was home.

Once she had moved everything she found so far to the door, she searched the last section. Finding a back door to the walled yard of the station she opened the door and saw a few police cars that were in need of major repairs, a command trailer, and most importantly of all a horse trailer. Unbelieveing her luck she walked out and saw that this small municipal police force had a mounted unit for search and rescue as well as crowd control.

The four horse trailer was connected to a large crew cab pickup, with dual rear wheels and a diesel engine. Someone had left the keys in the truck on the seat and the door was unlocked, so Nikki tried to start it, and after several tries the engine coughed to life. Pleased that she had a way to move her supplies and a second vihicle for the now much larger group, and a trailer for the animals and extra gear.

Climbing up into the truck she drove up to the no longer functioning self opening gate. Easing teh truck forward, she pushed lightly on the accelerator until the gate gave way and opened. Driving around the building, she quickly loaded everything she found into the truck.

After making one last check, she stood at teh entrance of the police station catching her breath. Off in the distance she thought she saw a tall bronze figure that seemed to wave to her. In the time it took to raise her binoculars to her eyes the figure had disappeared. Nikki wasn't even sure if he was there or if it was a trick of the light. Scanning the area, with her binoculars she didn't see anyone. Locking the door in case they needed safe place to retreat to, Nikki pocketed the keys and got in the truck and started driving back to the Motel.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

Fights Like Bear

Fights like bear stood at the edge of the woods watching the attractive paleface load the horseless carriage with a smile on his face. She was exactly where Dancing Buffalo had said whe would be.

He was taken with her pale skin and long hair. She would be perfect for the ritual, now he just had to find where she was staying and with how many. Then the paleface squaw looked at him and he slipped back into the woods.

He remained followed the horseless carriage with his eyes, until it turned. Closing his eyes he heard it stop and shut off shortly after it turned. He moved silently throughteh woods, to see where the paleface fort was. As war chief he needed to tell his warriors how many paleface were there and how they were armed.

Arriving at the exact spot the first walker emerged from teh woods he had a good view of the group and their activities. Standing there gripping his war hammer, he was pleased to see that this group did not have any defensive preimeter set up and only on person on watch. It would be easy to sneak up and take the one they wanted. Slipping away he knew they would have their prize before too many suns had gone.

 

[WebbedHawk]

Aaron... heading downtown alone

Aaron made a turn onto the main street, taking a look down the road at the line of shops along the way. An old thrift store picked clean save for some children's clothes and toys. A hardware store fairly empty from people grabbing reinforcement supplies, including some that Aaron had taken for his motel room. A grocery store devoid of life... and food, a gas station much the same. There wasn't a place left untouched, which wasn't exactly unexpected to Aaron. Thankfully he didn't hear any moaning or sounds of movement, so it didn't seem like there were any new dead heads in the area since he had made a sweep a week or two ago.

Aaron had already used some of his hidden supplies considering his extended stay after the winter thaw had started. Looking on his list of leftovers it was mostly some sugary snacks which wouldn't do much long term but would probably make for some happy survivors in the short term. That said it didn't seem like the kind of haul worth bringing in, since he was alone. Making his way down the block Aaron stopped into the grocery store. Cautiously he looked around, listening for movement, moaning or the typical disturbance.

 

[SimplyJessi]

Jessa - on the hotel roof, alone -

Jessa was watching from the roof of the hotel. It had to be about lunch time, and thankfully nothing seemed to happen. She did see a few people from the group go off to hunt for supplies or whatnot. She was beginning to be a little bored and a bit jealous of the groups that got to go "hunting". She knew that she was getting restless and so she stood up from the perch that she had made and began doing some exercises that still allowed her to keep watch while moving around.

She saw a truck drive close to the hotel and quickly grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked through them. She relaxed when she recognized the person behind the wheel as Nikki. She thought she should let people know, and then realized there was no way to. Hopefully someone would come across radios or something on their travels. That would probably be something useful in case she needed to warn the people.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

zParking the truck and trailer in the lot, she left the supplies in it until more people returned and they began to set up an amory and supply room. Waving at Jessa Nikki wanted to join her on the roof, but CLip Clop needed some excercise and Shadow proabably was going stir crazy.

She opened the door and Clip Clop burst out of the room and ran into the field to eat. Nikki watched him and then let Shadow out to see how he was doing. Shadow was still slightly favoring his back leg, but he was almost his normal self. Nikki wrinkled her nose at the smell. She knew this would happen, but damn she hated manure.

Walking to the truck she got the pushbtroow shovel and barrel stored in the back and began to clean up the room Clip Clop was in. She debated leaving his in the trailer at night, but was afraid a zombie would get him. She really needed to find a better place than a motel room to keep him.

 

[WebbedHawk]

Aaron - in the grocery store alone

"Son of a bitch!" Aaron yelled to the vacant store, throwing another empty bin across the floor. Of the handful of reserves he had left in the store they had all been found, so far. He had one left to go and wasn't exactly holding his breath for that one now. Sighing he headed towards the produce freezer with a grocery cart in tow, opening the door while crossing his fingers that this last one hadn't been found. The few scraps of leaves and pickings left on the freezer floor were well beyond rotted, thanks to the lack of power a freezer was about useless these days. Aaron smiled as he looked over int he corner, seeing the palette still leaning up against the wall like he had it, a piece of paper stuck behind the one corner against the wall so he would know it was moved. Better to have some kind of signal than to risk being cornered for nothing. Closing the freezer door slightly Aaron made his way to the corner, moving the palette to the side and lifting the green plastic wrap off of the bin it was concealing. Opening it up he found it untouched, a couple bags of beef jerky, some canned fruits and veg as well as a couple cans of potted meat and tuna he hoped weren't spoiled. He tossed the batteries he had packed as well, seeing they had all begun to leak within the packaging which meant they were useless.

Thankfully this meant now that the trip wasn't a complete loss. Picking up the bin he moved slowly, cautiously, listening for movement outside the freezer door before opening it, and then placed the bin in the grocery cart. Passing by the school supplies he grabbed what few notebooks, pens and pencils were still there. He also made sure to grab the handful of books and magazines that were still left in the rack, grabbing a couple logic puzzle mags and rolling them in his pocket for himself. With that he went towards the front door before he stopped, looking off into the corner. While Aaron wasn't much for alcohol himself, something about the stray bottle of champagne and the cheap looking bottle of whiskey sounded like a good idea to share with the group, perhaps to celebrate coming together or something. Before he walked over however he shook his head. 'Be logical' he thought 'a group of drunk, or even slightly intoxicated, people will not make it through a dead attack. Better sober and safe.' Nodding to himself in his convincing argument he made his way out the front doors of the store, and back towards the motel. "Aaron my friend," he said aloud "I think this requires a little music." Slipping on some headphones he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of one of his favorite bands, walking in time to the beat as he pushed the cart, headphone cord swaying, attached to nothing.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda
Vicarage Garden

"Applesauce for lunch you said? How many people are we feeding?" Rachel asked after she picked up an apple.

"Twelve, with you," Mathilda answered, holding open the apple bag for Rachel. "I am Mathilda, nice to meet you."

"Well, if we're done here, we can either head back to camp for the time being or go explore some more. It doesn't matter to me, I'm just enjoying the company of three lovely ladies." Mathilda blushed when she heard Jack's words.

"If you enjoy our company, we'll stay here for a bit," she smiled back over her shoulder, bending to pick up yet another apple. "We still need to check the garden itself. I bet apples fell down on the other side of the wall too. And we need to check the vines Fleur mentioned. And those runner bean vines still around the stalks. There are some dried bean pods on them, I can see it from here. And inside those pods will be beans. Even a handful will help us get enough for one meal. A quarter of an hour to check and harvest?"

Mathilda put the brimful bag with nettles against the gate and entered the garden, stepping over the dead walker. She new the nettles would dwindle down to just a portion for three or four people. She knew the apples would only feed two or three, she knew they needed a lot more and headed over to an overgrown bed. It were vines, still covering almost all the ground. Some brittle leafs still on them, Mathilda couldn't decide if it was a cucumber plant, a pumpkin plant, zucchinis or melons from a distance. Maybe some of each, she thought as she stood in front of it. Some orange shone through the mass of vines. Carefully she stepped into the 'jungle'.

Suddenly she stopped.

"Looks like this garden hasn't been looked after since last spring, the vines have covered a patch of onions!" She pulled at some and soon had a few big onions.

"We'll get some more tomorrow," she smiled, "and leave some in the ground to bloom and seed, so there will be more onions next year. We should do the same with the beans and the rest."

She handed the onions to someone standing behind her, and discovered the vines also had crept upon a patch with cabbages. The outside of them didn't look nice at all, rotten and dried and mice had been feeding on them as well, but they were still hard to the touch when she tipped a few with her foot. She pushed a bit harder, and the roots came out the ground. Holding the cabbages at the roots, she handed two back.

"With this, and with what you gathered we'll have enough for dinner too," she smiled, looking at the bags others had in their hands or by their feet. "Lets go back, and check a promising house, we need some pans and bowls, and things too."

 

[feistyphoenix]

Twelve is a lot to feed Rachel thought to herself as she carefully dropped the apple into the bag Mathilda offered. She plucked a few more off the tree, they were mostly ripe. One was a bit soft but it wouldn't matter once it was cooked.

She followed Mathilda around the garden, keeping her distance at first. Given her background in biology and gardening hobby she could identify most of the plants in the garden with ease. Mathilda ticked each one off her mental list before she could say anything. She wandered a little ways away and found some tiny new basil plants cropping up in the bushy undergrowth, she picked the most mature leaves, only 3 and left the rest attached. It wouldnt do much good to pick them clean now. She also spotted some broad vieny leaves half rotting nearby. She knew what was attached under the ground but wasn't prepared to find three large golden beets and four...no five of the purple variety. These would be excellent once they were roasted. If only they had olive oil...or salt and pepper.

Her mouth watered as she carried the armful back to Mathilda's canvas bag containing the apples. Rachel salvaged the remaining greens that were not rotted, it would cook down enough for one person to have a serving.

She watched Jack carefully, he was obviously the most skilled of the four of them and therefore the most dangerous to her. She could either make him a friend or keep her distance. At this moment she couldn't decide.

 

[dutchrain]

Mathilda
At the Vicarage Garden

Mathilda's eyes lighted up when she saw what Rachel dropped into the bag. Beetroots!

"Boiled, and chopped up into a salad, or boiled and mashed with potatoes and onions, a wonderful source of carotene! We have a few little sachets of salt and pepper, I'll use some with the beetroot."

Mathilda pulled a little piece of string out off one of her pockets and bound the bag with nettles to the apple bag.

"I am ready to go back, you?" She asked Fleur, Jack and Rachel. "Rachel, Fleur, do you two want get your things on the way back, or will you get them later? We really need a few more pots and bowls. And wood for the cooking fire. And we need to get water from the stream. Quite a lot. We should make sure that comes on the chores' list. It wouldn't be fair if the same ones have to haul the heavy containers around all the time." Mathilda looked around. In a corner of the garden she spotted green leafs.

"Mint!" She quickly went over and broke three of the emerging stems off.

"Over there is rhubarb. In a few weeks it will ready to harvest. This garden is wonderful." She twirled the mint under her nose. "I can easily imagine how peaceful it was to sit in that little corner on the bench and listen to the bees and watch the butterflies. Something is strange. Why would they board the church on the outside? The windows yes, we did that too. But the door?" A frightening thought filled Mathilda's brain.

"Could it be they used the church as a quarantine station?" She whispered and grabbed her spear in both hands, dropping the mint.