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#Post#: 62--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (9)
By: winterssmary Date: December 18, 2018, 3:51 am
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Eli noted how Blake looked like maybe -- for a split second --
she might have almost sorta felt a little bit guilty for what
she said to him. And he immediately felt awful for that. Sure,
he didn't like her attitude and she was being kinda rash and
rude and just overall not good, but it didn't mean that she was
a bad person. She could have been, for all he knew, but he
didn't know for sure. And Eli had a habit of giving people the
benefit of the doubt. She didn't say anything to him or
apologize, but he did try to give her an awkward, reassuring
smile. Emphasis on the word awkward. It seemed more like a meme
of a cat trying to be polite. But it was something.
Enzo's story was short and didn't give anyone much information,
but at least he was charming. He was willing to talk a little
bit, which was good. He wasn't asking for anyone's life story.
Eli was just more comfortable sharing the details of his past
than other people. He'd always been a very open person and would
be terrible at keeping secrets if he had any. He was a bad liar
and often rambled so much that he didn't know what he was saying
half the time. Enzo seemed to handle the whole ordeal with ease,
even making Blake seem more friendly and likable by association.
The Chris started talking and, since he was already on of Eli's
favorite people, he did his best to listen intently. He was
apparently a police officer, which made Eli smile. That would
come in handy. It meant that he knew what he was doing with that
gun he had earlier. It also meant that he was good at keeping
his composure in highly intense situations, which was good. He
was probably fairly athletic and tough to crack. Lastly, it
meant that Chris likely had a good sense of justice and fully
understood the difference between right and wrong. He frowned
when Chris called his job useless. "Well, that just simply isn't
true," he said. "Your ability to stay calm in tense situations
is a necessity out here."
He then gave Grace the floor. She seemed nervous. Chris seemed
nervous. Sam even seemed a little uncomfortable with this. Odd.
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Enzo's eyes went wide when Chris made the casual comment that he
was a cop. Oh no. Enzo was not about cops. He wasn't some rugged
bad guy who broke the law a lot or anything, but he'd done his
fair share of pot int he past and he didn't need to get lectured
about the importance of the War on Drugs or whatever. Luckily,
Chris didn't seem to harp on all the self-righteousness that
Enzo usually found in cops. He actually seemed like the end of
the world humbled him somewhat. Which was good. Enzo wasn't
about to have that. Well, he wasn't going to have any of it
either way. He was going to rob and leave them. But still.
He couldn't help but feel a little sad when Chris said his job
was useless. Of course, he was right, but still. Anyone
realizing that their life's work meant basically nothing was
sad. Enzo knew what it was like to give your heart to something
that just vanished. It wasn't the same as Chris's situation in
the slightest, but he couldn't help but notice the sentiment
being vaguely similar. Vaguely. Chris then mentioned that he
took Grace in after he joined the police force. That must have
been weird. Practically adopting a teenager while being a young
cop. Did he ever end up arresting her for all the dumb shit she
probably did during high school?
Then it was Grace's turn to talk. Enzo wasn't particularly
interested in a kid's life story. Mostly because there was no
way she could actually have a life story. But he had to pretend.
He was in too deep and needed to seem more compassionate than he
actually was. [/center]
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Chris touched her shoulder, trying to keep her from saying
something particularly stupid. Grace let out a breath she didn't
realize she was holding and simply gave the man a small nod,
letting him know that she got the message. She was being bitter
and she knew it. She knew she was just going to make trouble if
she kept talking. But it really bothered her when people decided
that they were suddenly above getting along with people. And it
almost bothered her more when people let those people get away
with their shitty attitudes. But it didn't matter. It didn't
matter. It didn't matter. Odds are, Blake wasn't sticking around
anyway. She certainly didn't act like it. She obviously didn't
want to work with a team. Fine.
Then Chris started talking. He didn't go into much detail, which
was fine. He talked about being and cop, which might have come
as a shock to everyone, even though it probably shouldn't have.
He had the demeanor. Of course, Grace has known him for forever,
so the term 'police officer' was almost synonymous with 'Chris'
at this point. She tilted her head and looked up at him when he
said his job was pointless and smiled when Eli disagreed.
"Besides, if we're going to rebuild civilization someday, we're
gonna need a little law and order, right?" she added. Grace
wasn't as good at cheering people up as Sam was, but she'd be
damned if she didn't try for Chris. That man basically gave
up his life and his freedom for her. Which he mentioned next,
making her smile.
She relaxed a bit when he put his hand on her back. The man was
a safety net for her. But that's when he reminded her that it
was her turn to speak and she suddenly became very, very
nervous. But she wasn't about to abandon ship like Blake did.
She wasn't a coward. She took a breath. "I'm from a small town,
not too far from here," she said, pausing for a moment and
biting her lip. She didn't know what she was going to say. She
didn't know how much detail she was willing to go into. Grace's
past was somewhat painful, but she wasn't always shy about it.
She also didn't want these guys feeling sorry for her. But she
didn't want to lie.
Eli had been truthful, even going as far to say that his parents
didn't care much for him, which is a big deal to admit. If he
could do it, so could she. Maybe just not everything. "I never
knew my dad. My mom and I moved around a lot when I was really
little. She kept saying that it was about jobs or something, but
I found out later that she was just constantly running from the
drug dealers after she stopped being able to pay them," she said
nonchalantly. "When I was five, the state finally stepped in and
put me in foster care," she added. She didn't have the same
intense sob stories as a lot of other foster kids, including the
kids she lived with. But the system still sucked. "I had a tough
time fitting in with a lot of the other kids so, I got into some
bad stuff and mixed up with the wrong people from time to time,"
she explained, but she wasn't going to tell them about all the
details. It was unnecessary and could take them all night.
"But, when I was sixteen, Chris took me in and took care of me,"
she said with a smile. "Eventually, I started doing well in
school again and I went to college. I was studying to be a vet,"
she said. "That's also where I met Sam," she added offhandedly.
"I was set to graduate three weeks from now and I was gonna go
to grad school and eventually open up my own practice, but that
didn't work out for me, I guess," she said with a shrug. "I
guess I'm just glad that I'm not alone."[/center]
#Post#: 63--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Christian│Samuel
By: Zellaphone Date: December 19, 2018, 3:04 am
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Blake listened as Chris began to talk about his life, her
heartbeat starting to race when he mention he was a cop. Shit,
they were going to steal from a cop? It made sense now that that
was his profession - the calmness under pressure, shooting the
rabbit on his first try, and his sense of righteousness. She had
never done anything illegal recently, but she suddenly felt a
huge wave of guilt overtake her knowing that she was planning on
stealing from a cop. A cop that sounded like he just wanted to
take care of some fucking kids - and the way he kept touching
and smiling at Grace made her bite the inside of her cheek.
These were good people. Maybe the only good people she had ever
been around. Could she really just up and rob them?
Yes. She had to. She needed to survive. She needed to keep
reminding herself that if anyone was going to make it out here,
it was going to be her. Blake was used to surviving on nothing
and fighting through life. She had to keep reminding herself
that regardless of what she did, these people weren't going to
make it. Especially those kids.
Everyone started to reassure Chris that his job wasn't useless,
Blake keep her mouth shut. His job was useless. People could
stay calm in situations like this no matter what their
profession was, and there was no way society was going to be
rebuilt anytime soon. Chris was right, there was no law anymore,
and there was no need for cops. She didn't understand why
everyone was trying to sugar-coat this. Chris seemed like a guy
that could see through peoples bullshit and preferred not to
have it in the first place. She could respect that. She was the
same way.
Then Grace briefly described her life, and Blake listened
intently, wanting to know about the girl that had stood up to
her earlier. While her little outburst had annoyed her, she
could also respect her as well. No one else had really stood up
to her yet, and she knew she needed to be put in her place
sometimes. She still didn't like the girl though, and didn't
want to grow to like the girl, but hearing her story about her
parents and the foster system, she couldn't help but feel a bit
of sympathy. She knew what it was like to be young and go
through more shit than anyone should or that anyone should be
able to. At least Grace had Chris. She was sure that that made
things a lot easier for her. Plus, she got to go to college. It
sounded like her whole life wasn't a shit show, which was nice,
she guessed. A kid shouldn't have to go through so much torment.
It wasn't fair.
Blake looked down at her lap, squeezing her hands together. She
couldn't let herself get carried away by these people's stories.
She had to remind herself again what was important and why she
was here. These people didn't mean anything to her. She could
easily leave them all behind and not dwell on them a second
longer.
Right?[/center]
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Chris appreciated the support from Eli and Grace, smiling weakly
as they tried to assure him of his significance. They were very
kind to try and cheer him up, but he knew deep down that he was
still right. He had always been calm under pressure, and the
world didn't look like it was going to get much better. The
outbreak had only seemed to have just begun, and already
everything was in pieces. No one had been prepared for this, and
now, thanks to all the chaos and destruction, it didn't look
like they could make any real headway anytime soon. He'd just
have to live with the fact that he wasn't a cop anymore and
never would be again.
"Thanks guys," was all Chris finally said to Eli and Grace's
encouragement, not wanting to be all gloomy at a time like this.
Really, not being a cop anymore shouldn't bother him as much as
it did. Now he had more time to focus on Grace and had more of a
chance to not become his father.
Grace began to tell a bit of her backstory, Chris already
knowing it but listening anyways. She knew talking about her
past was difficult for her, for obvious reasons, but thankfully,
she didn't seem to struggle all that much. Chris was touched at
the mention of him, noticing Grace's smile as she talked about
her more current life after he took her in. He was glad he could
help her live a better life. He had hated to see her suffer like
she had. At least if he died during all of this, he could die
knowing that he did one things right. He had just wished that
Grace could have graduated. He had been looking forward to her
receiving her diploma and being able to see her really begin her
life. He knew she had been looking forward to it too, but,
unfortunately, that wasn't how things had worked out. She had
been so close too.[/center]
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Sam perked up a little more once it was Grace's turn to talk
about herself. He knew a little about her past, just because
they were friends, but he was still interested. Really, she
could talk about something like butter and he'd fascinated. He
could listen to Grace talk all day, to be honest - as long as it
made her happy.
Grace only talked vaguely about her life, skipping over this and
that and only mentioning her mother for a brief moment, mostly
talking about the foster system and college. He smiled when she
talked about Mr. Smith and college, kinda glad he had only met
Grace when things were looking better for her, though he did
wish he could have been there for her before to cheer her up. He
was sure she could have used a friend. At least she had found
Mr. Smith, and then found him. He didn't know what he'd do if it
weren't for her. In fact, he knew he'd be dead right now if it
wasn't for her. Dead or infected. He didn't know which one was
worse.
Then, it was his turn, and he suddenly realized that he didn't
really have anything to say. His life had been pretty good, but
kinda uneventful. He couldn't complain, really, but when he was
being pressured to talk about his life, he just couldn't think
of anything interesting to say. He he really done so little with
his life? Dang. "Well, um, I'm from Queens," he began a bit
awkwardly, quickly wracking his brain for something else to say.
"Uh, I'm an only child and my parents are super cool." Shoot,
was he bragging? He didn't mean to be bragging after two people
talked about their crappy parents. "But, uh, I went to college
and studied pretty much everything you could. I started out with
trying to be a doctor like my parents, but that didn't stick. I
tried engineering, English, art, sports medicine, business,
music, astronomy, law, and gender studies, to name a few. Didn't
realize that I wanted to go into dancing until the world started
to end. I finally found something I love, but then life was like
yeet!" Sam shrugged, but he was sure everyone could tell that he
was really struggling right now. "So, uh, long story short, I'm
twenty-two and still basically a sophomore."[/center]
#Post#: 64--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (10)
By: winterssmary Date: December 19, 2018, 6:10 am
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Eli's plan didn't go quite as planned, but at least they all
managed to learn something about one another. Well, everyone but
Blake. But, that wasn't entirely true, he supposed. He learned
just how emotionally closed off she was, which was still
learning something. Silver linings. Everyone had given a brief
introduction and told the group a little bit about themselves.
Eli felt much better knowing that Chris was a police officer and
Enzo was a bartender who made jokes and Grace was a medical
student and Sam was an aspiring engineer turned writer turned
artist turned physical therapist turned businessman turned
musician turned astronomer turned lawyer turned
gender-studies-specialist turned dancer. But Blake was still a
mystery to them.
Of course, until Eli's little multi-talented friend, Sam,
decided to suggest a game of Never Have I Ever. Eli had never
played the game before, but the rules were simple enough. So
far, he'd learned quite a bit of trivial details about his new
friends. He learned that Sam kissed a man once during a game of
Spin the Bottle. He learned that most of his friends never owned
a dog and several of them had never been to the beach or a
wedding or even ridden a roller coaster. He learned that Grace,
Blake, Sam, and Eli have never held babies in their lifetime,
which meant that they probably weren't trusted like Chris and
Enzo were. He learned that Blake had never slept on a
comfortable mattress, which meant that she was likely poor and
had very little to her name. So, through putting things
together, Eli had finally begun to learn about his new
companions. All of them.
And it was his turn to ask a question. He didn't mean for it to
come out the way it did and for people to be so floored by the
comment, but he thought he should continue speaking his truth.
It wasn't particularly scarring. Just a fact of life. "Never
have I ever made my parents proud." And everyone was silent. His
eyes went wide. He didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable. So,
he needed to explain himself. "They're not bad people, I
promise," he began. "It's just that they never so much as
acknowledged me, no matter what I did. And I did everything
right," he added. "I got an engineering degree from M.I.T. at
age eighteen and was making millions of dollars in my field by
the next year, and they didn't even come to my mansion for
Christmas that year," he said, staring down at his hands as they
spoke. "I was doing everything they said I should do. I was
making weapons for the military, I was designing defense systems
and self-building bridges and robots that could care for infants
and it was still never enough. They still chose Jordan," he
said, quieter this time. "And they were probably right to. I
mean, look at me," he said with a defeated laugh. "I never made
any friends, I never had a girlfriend who liked me for anything
other than money, and even my friends after the world ended just
used me for my inventions and then left me for dead," he
admitted, refusing to make eye contact with any of his
companions. "If my own parents couldn't be proud of me, what
makes me think anyone else will ever be?" he whispered.
He blinked. "Anyway," he said, perking up as if he didn't just
spill some of his deepest insecurities on a bunch of
almost-total-strangers. "Your turn, Chris."[/center]
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Enzo wasn't expecting everyone to have not-so-nice backstories.
And they didn't. He knew Blake's was rough, though he didn't
know why. Apparently, Grace had it pretty tough. That Sam kid
seemed fine. Aside from being completely lost in his life. Chris
seemed fine. Eli didn't seem too fabulous, but he was handling
it like a champ. So, because of that, Enzo didn't expect himself
to learn so many sad things during their stupid game of never
have I ever. He didn't expect Sam and Grace to have never held
babies -- though he totally saw it coming for Blake and Eli --
or been to the beach or owned a dog. He didn't expect Blake to
say she'd never slept on a comfortable mattress or for a lot of
these people to have never been to a wedding.
However, one of the biggest shocks was finding out that Sam had,
indeed, kissed a boy during a game of spin the bottle. Of
course, Enzo had kissed men before, but Sam seemed like such a
hetero. He wasn't expecting Eli to tell a completely irrelevant
story, one that made perfect sense and totally fit with who Eli
was as a person: he'd apparently only ever kissed two women in
his life and one of them was his mother, who made him never
speak of it again. The other was probably a girlfriend, but he
never elaborated on that situation. He found himself shocked by
a lot of what he learned today.
However, nothing shocked him more than Eli's confession that
he'd never made his parents proud. Or Eli admitting that he was
an engineer who probably designed his taser and all those traps.
Or Eli acknowledging that his friends left him to die. Why was
this man telling them all of this?[/center]
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Grace both hated and loved the idea of playing Never Have I Ever
with these guys. She wanted to learn more and wanted to see if
Blake would finally say something instead of being so obstinate
about the whole thing. She also wanted to encourage Sam's ideas
in any way that she could. So long as they weren't dangerous,
which this one didn't seem to be. However, she wasn't expecting
to get sad during this game. It had hit her that she hadn't done
so many of these things. She'd never been to a wedding or held a
baby, though she'd always wanted those things. Sam had never
been to the beach or owned a dog. Blake never slept on a
comfortable bed. Someone made a point to make people feel bad
for not getting a college degree, which was painful, since Grace
was so close. Being a foster kid with a college education is
already unheard of, but she guessed life just didn't want her to
feel special.
Throughout the game, she'd admitted to so much and it reminded
her that she was young and inexperienced and that, while that
was good before the outbreak, in this world, it meant that she
would likely never have any of these things. She'd probably
never get married or have a child. She'd probably never own a
dog or go to a concert or get a tattoo. She'd probably never go
on a real date. She'd never get to go ice skating. She'd never
get to do anything. Well fuck. Now she was sad.
And, to make things worse, Eli went on a rant about how his mom
and dad were never proud of him. He revealed that he's secretly
a super genius and super rich. Then why did he become a
musician? It didn't matter, she guessed. The point was, he was
really, really sad about how hard he tried and how little it
ever seemed to matter. Grace knew what that was like. And she
wasn't ready for how she could sense things were about to go
down. [/center]
#Post#: 65--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Christian│Samuel
By: Zellaphone Date: December 19, 2018, 6:55 pm
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Blake had been super against playing Never Have I Ever, but she
went along with it since everyone else did and she didn't feel
like arguing with a kid. Besides, it wasn't like he had to
contribute, and really, she didn't - she didn't even tell the
truth for some of the questions, deciding it was better to not
admit to ever stealing something in front of a cop. When you had
nothing but the clothes on your back, you had to steal to eat.
She also got to learn a lot of things about these people that
she would have rather have never known, like Eli accidentally
kissing his mom and that was one of the two people he has
kissed. Two people. Like, how could a man so pretty have only
kissed two people? Sure, he was a bit... strange, but damn.
She should really stop thinking about kissing Eli.
Things started out innocent enough, but as the game continued,
people got a bit more heavy with their statements, bringing up
never holding babies (which Blake was still fine with never
having accomplished), or having dogs, or graduating college. It
was obvious everyone was really thinking about the things they'd
never be able to do now that the world was ending, and even
Blake had brought up about how she had never slept on a
comfortable mattress. It was just one of the first things that
had popped into her mind. Sure, she would have loved to have
done other things, but the fact that she couldn't have even had
a nice mattress was a bit upsetting.
Blake turned to look at Eli when it was his turn again, waiting
to see what else the man had never done. Things were getting a
bit upsetting, but Blake couldn't help but find herself
intrigued, feeling a bit connected to the group for a moment,
but just a bit. Eli revealed that he had never made his parents
proud, which was something he had mentioned before, but now he
was going into detail, talking about he had managed to get into
MIT when he was fucking sixteen, which was a huge feat, and how
he had even lived in a goddamn mansion. He had even fucking
built robots and made weapons for the military. What was this
man's life? Obviously, Blake had been way to quick yo judge.
Yeah, the man was a little awkward, but it was apparent to her
now that he was also a fucking genius, and apparently his own
parents had been to dumb to even see that or congratulate him.
What pricks.
Blake bit her lip when Eli said that he didn't blame his parents
for overlooking him, admitting to never having friends (which
Blake understood), a girlfriend that didn't care about him (also
relatable), and even finally admitting to the fact that he knew
that his previous group had used him and then left him for dead.
Blake couldn't even remind herself that she wasn't suppose to be
getting close to these people - she was mad.
"Damn," was all she could say quietly, staring into the flames
of the fire. She wanted to say more, but found herself unable
to, and Eli was already moving on, telling Chris that it was his
turn now. She didn't want Eli to drop it, though. She didn't
want him to move on. This was something she felt like that he
needed to talk about and needed to be discussed. The man was a
genius but felt like he didn't deserve any praise. Blake had
totally been unaware that men like Eli existed this morning, but
now she found herself growing a bit protective of him. It was
only slightly, but it was there, and she knew it was there.
Maybe if she could work past being a bitch long enough, she
could talk to him about it later.[/center]
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Chris went along with playing Sam's game like everyone else, not
having the heart to turn him down. He had never played the game
himself, but knew well enough how it worked. He found it to be
quite an interesting game, and didn't fail to notice how some of
his own questions about never breaking the law or stealing made
certain people look uncomfortable. He just couldn't really think
of any other questions to ask. Still, they ended up learning a
good amount about one another, Chris learning that Sam had
kissed another man before and Eli had kissed his mother. He also
discovered that both Blake and Enzo had had sex in public
restrooms, making him and surely some others feel a bit
uncomfortable, even if it was just sex.
However, it didn't take too long before things started to take a
turn, people pointing out some of the things they had never done
or had that they regretted. Chris thought of his family at the
mention of holding a baby, remembering looking down at little
Cassie, his latest niece, as he had held her in his arms, his
brother, Michael, saying how he had wished that their father
could have been there to see her. Chris couldn't help the
feeling like he didn't share his brother's sentiment in that
moment, and it had made him feel awful.
When it was Eli's turn, things got pretty depressing as Eli
started to describe how his parents had never been proud of him,
making it sound like no one had ever truly cared about him or
given him the time of day, some people even leaving him for
dead. It baffled Chris how awful people could be, even though he
had seen some of the scum of the earth. Eli truly had many
talents and was a man that was very deserving of praise. Now it
made more sense why he had seemed so happy when Chris had been
encouraging of him earlier. He'd have to make a note to do it
more. No one deserved to feel like they were nothing.
Then, suddenly, it was his turn, and after everything Eli had
just said, Chris felt like he was under an interrogation light,
knowing that the game couldn't go back to being even remotely
light-hearted after all of that. He found himself just saying
the first thing that came to his mind. "Never have I ever told
my dad that I loved him," he admitted, looking grim as he
watched embers rise and fall from the fire. "I had always
resented him, really. He had one of the most dangerous jobs in
the world and knew he could die any day, but still went out each
morning, leaving his struggling wife and three kids behind," he
heard himself explaining, not finding it in himself to really
want to stop. He had never told anyone any of this before, and
he felt like it needed to be said. He could die himself any day
now. "Then, when he did get himself killed, I found myself being
angry rather then sad. I wondered why he didn't just step away.
Why he always insisted on running into the flames rather than
running into the open arms of his family. I felt like I hadn't
truly mattered to him, and now I'm afraid I'm becoming just like
him. More than anything I wanted to distance myself from him,
but instead, I followed in his shoes. I became a cop and even
took in Grace, possibly dooming her to the same fate of having
to loose and resent-"
Chris finally cut himself off, shaking his head and briefly
glancing at Grace. These people didn't need to hear all of that.
That was private. Something he should just talk to Grace about
sometime. They didn't need to know of all his
insecurities.[/center]
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Sam had been having a great time playing his game, at first, but
then, unexpectedly, things started to take a bit of a turn.
People started admitting things like never having a dog, and Sam
admitted to never going to the beach, which had been something
he had always wanted to to. He thought he would have been able
to now that he was much closer to the coast, but with the end of
the world being upon him, he guessed that probably wouldn't be
happening anytime soon. He just wished his family could have at
least been with them. He found himself thinking about them every
now and again, wondering if they were still at home or if they
had to leave everything, if they were even still alive. The
thoughts made his throat feel tight and his heart feel heavy,
wondering if he'd ever be able to see either one of them again.
Maybe they were trying to get to him. Maybe they would actually
make it.
Next thing Sam knew, Eli was talking about his parents and the
crappy way they had treated him, never making him feel
appreciated. It only made him miss his own parents more. They
had always been supportive and proud of him, even though he was
such a screw up. Chris made him feel bad too, talking about
never telling his dad he loved him and always resenting him -
even going as far to say that he was afraid that he was doing
the same thing to Grace as his father had done to him and his
family. God, everything was getting so depressing, and Sam knew
that Eli was great and that Grace would never resent Chris. He
just wished he could find the right words to say to both of
them. All anyone had been able to say to Eli before moving on
was damn, and that had been from Blake, of all people.
Sam swallowed, feeling awful now that everything had gotten so
sad. It was like everyone was revealing things they had never
told anyone else before, like they all knew they were going to
die soon or something. Was everyone really thinking that? Was
everyone here really content on dying? Sam wasn't. He didn't
want to die. He wanted to go back home and see his family again
and sleep in his own bed and have another slice of his mom's
blueberry pie. He wanted to lie in his backyard and pull at the
grass while he heard the sound of cars pass by, skyscrapers in
the distance. He wanted to go have coffee again with his friends
and go see a Broadway play. There was still so much he had to
do! He couldn't be so content on dying yet. Not when he was
still so young and still so ready to really begin his
life.[/center]
#Post#: 66--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (11)
By: winterssmary Date: December 19, 2018, 9:19 pm
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Eli didn't mean for everything to come out the way it had. He
didn't mean to bring down everyone's good mood. He didn't mean
to make Blake curse or encourage Chris to divulge such sensitive
information about his own life. He just wanted to share
something. And he didn't mean for everything to happen. He just
rambled. It was how he handled things. Maybe that was another
reason he spent so much time alone. People didn't like being
around someone who always says too much. That's what his mom
always told him, anyway. Everyone was feeling bad now and things
were growing sadder by the minute. And, since Eli had been the
one to drop the first drama bomb, everyone else seemed like they
wanted to make sure they didn't revert back to the trivial
questions.
Part of him was happy about that. Sticking to surface level
stuff was exhausting and it didn't tell him anything that he
needed -- or wanted -- to know. However, the other part of him
wanted his new friends not to be sad so that they wouldn't leave
him like the last group. Eli didn't like being alone. He could
handle it, sure, but he wasn't sure how much longer he would
make it on his own. The world was getting darker, colder, and
more terrifying. He was smart, sure, but that didn't matter when
you didn't have numbers on your side. Or weapons. Or knowledge
of the area. He needed these people. Maybe his weird little
habits would somehow bring them all together? He doubted it.
Chris spoke up about having never told his father that he loved
him. It was sad to listen to, since it didn't seem like his
father was a particularly awful man, but just busy. He put his
career above his family, which was upsetting and warranted
resentment, but not as bad as it could have been. Eli almost
gasped when he mentioned that he was doing the same thing to
Grace. Almost. The girl seemed mortified at the thought. This
was a bad, bad idea. [/center]
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Enzo listened to Chris's backstory. Damn. The cop had some
secrets. Kinda dark secrets. Who doesn't forgive their late
father for doing their job? Enzo supposed he could understand
being angry, especially at the moment it happened. His father
had been willing to leave his family completely on their own for
the sake of pursuing some sense of justice. He cared more about
his own ego and self-righteousness than the people who loved him
the most. It was a common trope among police officers that Enzo
had discovered. Police officers and war veterans. But Enzo
couldn't imagine going through his own life without telling
either of his parents that he loved them. Even when he was at
his angriest, he loved them.
But it didn't really matter anymore. His family was dead.
Probably. And Enzo had lost touch with them a few years ago
after his girlfriend left him. He didn't have them to go back
to. He never had to worry about making them proud, like Eli, or
telling them that he loved them, like Chris. He'd done both of
those things. He'd done them for as long as he could remember.
Still, he felt empty at the thought of his family. There was no
joy or warmth when he remembered their faces, even though he
knew his life with them was just fine. There was only emptiness.
He wasn't sure if he'd rather feel numb or sad.
But at least it was better than being angry. [/center]
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Grace wasn't expecting Chris to jump onto another deep subject
immediately after Eli basically called himself a failure in
front of the entire group. She wasn't sure if the topic of
Chris's father would come up again, and she certainly didn't
know all the little details that he started throwing in. He'd
apparently never told his dad that he loved him, which was
upsetting to Grace. She would have given anything to know her
father, let alone love him. But, it was understandable. Grace
knew the sting of abandonment better than most and what Chris
was describing in terms of his father certainly sounded like
abandonment. He didn't love his family enough to stay safe for
them or to walk away, like they all wanted him too. But in all
the years that Grace had known Chris, she never knew him to be
particularly angry or resentful. The idea that he held this kind
of grudge toward the man who gave him life was a little haunting
to her. She supposed everyone had a dark side though.
Then he casually mentioned that he was basically following in
his father's footsteps, mentioning Grace by name and talking
about leaving her to resent him if he died. Her eyes went wide
at the comment and, panicked, she just stared directly into the
fire. She'd never even considered the possibility of Chris
taking her in just to jump headfirst into every dangerous
situation he possibly could. But that was how it happened,
wasn't it? He, much like her own mother, brought a child into a
situation and didn't quit any of his old and dangerous habits.
But Chris was not her mom. He was there for her. Right? She
shook her head quickly, realizing it was her turn anyway and not
really wanting Chris to continue this conversation in front of
all of these people. "Never have I ever hugged my mother," he
said bluntly.
She stared at the ground for a moment. "So, funny story, I was
born addicted to crack," she began, refusing to make eye contact
with anyone. "And, uh, when you're born addicted to something,
they separate you from your mother during your detox. You don't
get much in the way of attention, which is medically necessary
for infants to develop normally, by the way," she added, not
entirely sure where she was going with this. "But by the time
they left my mother take me home, she had pretty much completely
checked out. I can't remember a time in my life that she ever
hugged me or held my hand or carried me back to bed when
fell asleep on the couch or -," but she stopped, letting out a
breath. "And then, when I was five, the police came to take me
away. She didn't even fight for me," she said with a shrug. "And
I screamed for her to stop them, but she did nothing. I'm not
even sure she was really there," she said, feeling tears pool in
her eyes, but fighting to keep from crying in front of everyone.
"I think, deep down, she was relieved. She obvious didn't love
me enough to try for me. I think I was just too much of a
handful or too hard to be around," she admitted. "Cause my
foster parents never hugged me either, so it's not just that my
mother sucked. The common factor is me."[/center]
#Post#: 67--------------------------------------------------
Christian│Samuel│Blake
By: Zellaphone Date: December 19, 2018, 10:40 pm
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The way Grace only stared into the fire after Chris had said too
much terrified him. He hadn't meant to get so caught up in the
moment that he said things that were better said in private, if
at all. He knew that he and his father weren't the same. He knew
he had been there for Grace unlike his father had been there for
him, but that didn't mean that he kept away from danger during
his job. He had still gone into dangerous situations that could
have taken him from her, not even thinking about it before doing
so. It was just part of the job, he knew, but he also knew that
Grace really needed him. Sure, he didn't have a job anymore, but
his instinct to risk himself for others was still there, and it
wasn't something he could just turn off. The fear of leaving
Grace behind like his father had left him was still there.
After a moment of everyone being quiet and Chris not knowing
exactly what to do to make it better, Grace spoke up, admitting
that she had never hugged her mother. Chris shut his eyes at the
statement, feeling guilty for probably giving Grace these
thoughts. He didn't mean to make her upset. He didn't mean to
make her feel like she needed to talk more about her life,
picking at old wounds.
Chris placed his hand on her knee, giving it a small squeeze as
his way of trying to assure her that he was here for her, and
that he loved her. He knew he couldn't change Grace's past, but
he wished more than anything that he could, even if it meant
that he would have never found her. He knew how important it was
to have a loving mother. His mother had been the only person he
could depend on for years. She had always been there for him -
well, until he joined the force. After that, she made a choice
to let them drift apart, probably too scared to have to face the
same sort of heartbreak she had when she had lost his father. He
couldn't blame her for that. He knew how much she had been
affected by his father's death.
He wanted to say more to Grace, but he figured he should leave
it to be said when they were alone, not in front of these people
that they had just met. It wouldn't be right. So, instead, he
patted her knee twice before withdrawing his hand, hoping that
she understood his actions. [/center]
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Tonight had already been a lot, but Sam hadn't been excepting
Grace to say all that she did. After Chris, she started to
explain how she had never hugged her mother and how she had been
born a crack baby and taken from her mother when she was only
five. It was the first time Sam was able to put together just
how long she had been in the foster system. Just how long she
had been alone. And to make it all worse, it sounded like Grace,
just like Eli, couldn't even fully blame her mother, like she
was a problem.
Sam noticed Chris touching her knee, looking pained to hear
Grace's story that Sam knew he already knew. Still, hearing it
again still probably wasn't easy, especially not after admitting
his own fears. Sam felt awful for the both of them. For them and
for Eli. If Sam had known that things would get this dark, he
would have never suggested that they play this game. He didn't
like it when people were sad, but now he was too. All this talk
about family made him extremely homesick.
"Never have I ever been away from home this long..." Sam said
quietly, kicking gently at the dirt in front of him, staring
down at the ground. "I was so exited to come here and see new
places... I didn't know that it would be the last time I'd see
my family or my home when I left," he admitted, finally telling
himself that he was never going to see his parents again. "I had
to hang up on my mom the last time I called her. I didn't even
really think anything of it. I just thought that I could call
her back later and apologize and tell her that I loved her and
dad, but instead, the end of the world happened. I didn't think
that would be the last time I'd hear her voice."
Sam stared intently at the ground some more, unable to look
anyone in the eyes at this point. He'd never really been so open
about his insecurities before. He was always the cheerful one.
The one that people kept around to brighten their day and make
them laugh. He just... couldn't be that person right now,
though. He couldn't comfort anyone if he didn't even know how to
comfort himself. There was no way he'd be able to see his family
again. There was no way he'd be able to thank them for all that
they've done and for always loving him and treating him well.
There was no way to tell them one last time that he loved them,
or to hug them tight. He'd never see them again - and somehow,
he'd have to live with that.[/center]
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Blake wished that she could have just gotten up and walked away
before everyone started telling their sob stories. She didn't
know what to do or how to feel when Chris started talking about
his father, or when Grace spoke of her mother. She had resented
her father, but, unfortunately, to her knowledge, hers had never
died. As for her mother, well, hers had left when when she was
five, obviously finding herself unable to care for the daughter
she had chosen to have or stay with the man she had married. She
understood their pain, but to a different extent. Her father was
a shitbag, not a man who at least tried to do the right thing,
and instead of getting put into the foster system, she had to
stay with her abusive, drunken, disgusting father until she had
been brave enough to run.
Then Sam started to talk about his family. His didn't sound like
they had wronged them in any way, which was what seemed to be
hurting Sam. He'd never be able to see them again, and it looked
like he was just realizing that, staring at the ground like he
was at a complete loss. Now that, she definitely couldn't
understand. She had never missed anyone before. She couldn't
remember her mother, and everyone else in her life had treated
her worse than dirt. She had ran from the people in her life,
realizing that people were nothing but liars and cheats and
thieves. And now she was still trying to run, too afraid to
fully accept that their were still good people in the world. She
couldn't believe that not everyone would hurt her in some way or
another. She couldn't comprehend not being damaged in some way
by letting someone into her life.
"Never have I ever been loved," Blake found herself saying, her
voice the quietest she had heard it in years. It didn't even
sound like her. God, she hated this. She hated that she felt bad
for these strangers. She hated that she wished she could comfort
them and help them. She couldn't let these people in. She
couldn't. She didn't even know these people. They could hurt
her. Each one of them could use her weaknesses against her. She
couldn't let that happen. She knew she couldn't completely
change the fact that she felt for these people now, but she
could still control what she did. She could still keep herself
closed off so she wouldn't get hurt.
"You know what? Fuck this game," she said, getting to her feet,
too overwhelmed with too many different emotions. "It's late.
I'm tired. We should all be getting some sleep," she went on,
already starting to make her way back to the cabin. She knew
coming here was a bad idea, but she also found herself not
wanting to leave. This was the closest she had gotten to anyone
in years.[/center]
#Post#: 68--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (12)
By: winterssmary Date: December 20, 2018, 12:43 am
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Last night was oddly eventful. Eli wasn't expecting to hear
anything that he did. He was expecting to learn a little bit --
maybe pieces of everyone's tragic backstories -- but not nearly
to the extent that he did. Everyone was insecure and sad. It was
the end of the world. So, it wasn't surprising. But Eli didn't
like it. He didn't like all the weird tension and how sad
everyone was and Grace crying and Chris obviously feeling
conflicted and guilty for something that he hadn't even done
yet. He didn't like that Sam had given up all hope of ever
seeing his parents -- who sounded great, by the way -- again. He
didn't like Blake dramatically dropping the bombshell that no
one ever loved her before running out on everyone. How could
someone as pretty as her never be loved?
Eli woke up in the bed in the cabin, for the first time ever,
next to Chris. Eli was always late to bed and early to rise. He
simply never slept much. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for him to
wake up in the middle of the night and take walks just outside
the cabin. So, when he was awake before everyone else in the
cabin, he wasn't even a little bit surprised. But he was bored.
And still sad from the events of the night before. So, he
decided to just ignore it. And, if it were up to him, everyone
else was going to ignore it as well.
From the sounds of it, that's exactly what was happening.
Everyone was awake, but no one was having a heart-to-heart about
their deepest and darkest fears. Instead, Blake was trying to
skin a rabbit, Chris was chopping wood, Enzo was cleaning his
gun, and Grace was trying to keep Sam from having a crisis after
he realized that they didn't have anything for breakfast. Eli
was pacing around the fire pit, trying to come up with an
efficient sleeping arrangement for the next night. All was going
well. And by well, he meant absolutely not well in the
slightest. But it was better than last night. And no one was
crying. So, that was a plus.[/center]
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Last night was rough. Nobody expected Sam's party game idea to
turn into something so hurtful. Grace knew that Sam didn't mean
for anything to get serious. He just wanted to joke with people
and laugh about a bunch of the dumb shit a lot of them have
done. It was supposed to be innocent, but lately, things were
never working out the way they were intended to. She felt awful
for everyone. She felt awful for how guilty she knew Chris felt.
She felt awful for poor Eli and how he always felt like he
disappointed everyone. She felt bad for Enzo, who seemed like he
thought his entire life was empty and wasted. She felt bad for
Sam, who had given up on the idea of seeing his family again.
Hell, she even felt bad for Blake, who said that she'd never
been loved. And somehow, they were all just supposed to go to
bed after that. Uncomfortable with being too far away from
either of her companions, Grace slept as close to Sam -- and
Chris, though he was on the bed -- as possible without being
awkward.
She heard Sam tossing and turning all night and knew that he
didn't usually have this much trouble sleeping. He must have had
a lot on his mind. If she weren't afraid of waking everyone up
and people yelling at her, she would have talked to him. She
heard a brief discussion between Blake and Enzo. Well, she
didn't hear the actual discussion. She just knew they were
talking about something. She heard Eli snoring. Needless to say,
it didn't seem like any of them got enough sleep the night
before. But it was still better than sleeping in the dirt.
When she woke up, it seemed like everyone had already decided to
move on with their lives. Nobody was mentioning anything from
the night before. In fact, they'd all moved on and started with
simple, day-to-day tasks. Chris had left her inside to start
chopping wood for the day while Blake skinned the rabbit they
killed. Eli was walking around the fire like some kind of
lunatic. Enzo was doing something with his gun.
And then there was Sam, who was probably the most sad that she
had ever seen him. Her heart ached when she saw him, tired and
on the verge of some kind of mental break. She sat down with
him, only to find out that he was mostly just hungry. She hoped.
"It's not like we're not going to eat today," she said, trying
her best to comfort him, but not really knowing how. Sam was
good at making people feel better. Grace didn't quite have his
talent. She awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all
gonna be okay," she tried. [/center]
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Enzo didn't want to deal with any of this bullshit. He didn't
need to be reminded that, even when he had everything that
everyone else wanted, he was still afraid to die while his life
felt so pathetic and sad and empty. When he heard everyone
else's struggles, he should have been grateful for his own
history and family. He didn't have nearly the problems that
everyone else did. In fact, he found himself unable to empathize
with any of them, not because he lacked empathy, but because
he'd never experienced that kind of disappointment or crippling
loneliness. It made him feel as though he'd not lived his life.
And, the parts of it he did live ever an utter waste of time.
Now he was going to die being unfulfilled and having lives a
life that is completely meaningless.
Nice. He didn't want to have an existential crisis on a Tuesday.
So, after Blake made her dramatic exit, Enzo asked if she still
wanted to rob the place, silently praying that she'd changed her
mind. He felt bad for these people and, logically speaking,
thought it was smart to keep the band together for now. Of
course, he'd still steal all of their shit if Blake insisted.
Luckily for him, she just told him to go back to sleep. They'd
found their people for the time being.
Enzo woke up to people trying to be productive. And, because he
was bored, he also wanted to pretend to be productive. So he
pulled out his gun and started "cleaning" it. Was it actually
productive? Of course not. Did he care? Not really. After a few
moments, he came to the realization that their little group was
largely unarmed. And kinda weak. And they were out of food. And
pretty much everything else. "Hey guys," he began, putting his
gun back together. "Call me crazy, but we don't have any
weapons. Or anything else. Maybe, just maybe, we should do
something about that?"[/center]
#Post#: 69--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 20, 2018, 3:15 am
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Blake didn't want to talk about last night, so she was actually
happy when it seemed like everyone else shared her sentiment,
all of them off doing their own thing instead of talking to one
another - except the kids. She, for one, decided to try and skin
and gut the rabbit Chris had shot yesterday, knowing that their
food supply wasn't that great. In fact, they didn't have any
breakfast because of it. It looked like they were either going
to have to spend all day hunting or travel back into the city.
Really, she think she'd rather hunt since the city was too
risky, but she knew they would need other things as well at some
point.
She glanced up from her spot on the ground, pausing her efforts
of skinning the rabbit to glare briefly at Eli again. The man
was in his own little world, and had been pacing practically
from the moment he woke up. It was starting to drive her a
little crazy. What was he thinking about anyway? Hopefully not
about anything said last night. She didn't know what she'd say
if someone mentioned the last thing she had said before going to
bed. She hadn't meant to get so emotional, but she had, and now
she seemed content on remaining with this group for the time
being. She had even called off her and Enzo's plans to rob them.
She figured, if anything, it was better to be in a group than in
a pair in times like these. She would benefit having more people
around for protection. Although, only three of them were really
armed. Eli had his taser, but he'd have to get close to an
infected to use that, which wasn't a smart idea seeing as how
they were all quite cannibalistic.
"Eli, could you sit down for maybe, I don't know, five minutes?"
she finally asked, trying her best not to sound too annoyed or
snappy at him. She was trying to be nice, but she could only
take so much. It also didn't help that she had hardly slept last
night and was starving. The emotional fire circle hadn't helped
either.
She looked back down at her rabbit, her hands covered with
blood, as well as Grace's knife that she had borrowed. Blake
scrunched her nose in distaste, but continued to try and finish
her work. She knew nothing about skinning and gutting things,
but really, how hard could it be? You just cut the skin off,
slice it open and pull out it's innards. Easy peasy.[/center]
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Sam was not having a good time. After last night, all he had
done was tossed and turned as he tried to fall asleep. He
couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for what had transpired,
making everyone upset. He had just wanted to have fun, and that
game had never gone so wrong for him before. He'd have to make
sure to never play it again. They should have just played
charades or something. He had never felt so down before, and it
was kind of scaring him. Plus, he was starving, and he could
only go so long without eating before he got a little cranky.
He sat at the table, everyone else outside doing something
productive besides Grace who remained indoors with him. He was
glad that she was with him, because without her there, he'd
probably still be on the floor, staring blankly at the wall like
he had done for a good chunk of the night. Honestly, he felt
like he was having a bit of a breakdown, but who could blame
him? Last night he had admitted to the fact that he'd more than
likely never see his parents again or go home. That's not a
realization you could sleep easy on.
Grace finally spoke up, insisting that everything was going to
be okay and that they would eat at some point today. "You don't
know that," he said quietly, head in his hands as he stared down
at the table. "There's six of us and all we have is a little bit
of stew and one rabbit. Even if we do eat today, it'll only be
once and then god knows when we'll eat again." God, he was
starting to sound like Mr. Smith, all logic and reasoning and no
fun. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this, but I think I may be
having what people describe as a mid-life crisis," he admitted,
finally meeting Grace's eyes. He wanted to ask her if she
believed that they were going to die here, because he kinda did,
but he didn't want to upset her again like he had last
night.[/center]
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Chris had been the second one to make up that morning after the
eventful night they had all had. Really, he had been surprised
that he hadn't been the first to wake up, but Eli had beaten him
to the punch. They hadn't really said much to one another that
morning, both of them seemingly in silent agreement to do their
best to not bring up last night. Apparently, it had been a bit
too much for everyone, and Chris had had a hard time sleeping.
Well, it also didn't help that Eli snored. Either way, he hadn't
slept well, but he had woken up feeling like he needed to be
productive, so almost immediately started chopping wood, knowing
better than to go out hunting alone.
It wasn't long until Blake had joined them outside, mumbling a
'good morning' before starting to try and skint he rabbit they
had caught. After her, Enzo had shown up, taking out his gun to
"clean." Chris had glanced inside once or twice to notice Grace
and Sam at the table, the boy looking distressed. Chris decided
to leave them alone because of it.
The four of them outside remained fairly quiet, Chris focused on
chopping the wood while Eli paced, Blake skinned, and Enzo
cleaned, but it was Blake who spoke up first, asking Eli to stop
pacing, obviously stressed. It was Enzo who spoke up second,
voicing Chris's thoughts from the previous day about needing
more weapons. . He was right, they did need weapons, among other
things, and Chris definitely knew what they should do about it,
but he just wasn't sure that everyone would be on board. After
all, the journey wouldn't be easy. "I was actually thinking
about that myself," Chris admitted, sticking the ax into the
cutting block for the time being, wiping sweat from his brow.
"The precinct would be the perfect location to loot for weapons,
but, of course, we'd have to travel back into the city, which
was a three-day journey for the kids and I," he went of, a bit
skeptical of his offer. He wasn't sure how safe they'd all be
with only three properly armed people on a three-day journey to
the city. "But going to the city would probably be our best bet
for finding all the supplies we need. I'm just not sure how many
places have already been scavenged dry. The precinct had pretty
good security, so I imagine, unless my brother's have returned,
there still should be quite a bit left, as well as medical and
lab supplies in the M.E.'s office. The only thing we wouldn't
really find there is food."[/center]
#Post#: 70--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (13)
By: winterssmary Date: December 20, 2018, 4:36 am
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Eli knew that he paced. It helped him think. He wasn't sure why.
His dad told him it was because he had a lot of nervous energy
that his body needed to get rid of every time he had a thought,
and he thought it was pretty fitting. Every time his mind
started going, he had to do something so that his body could
keep up with the way his brain was working. Which, when put into
words, doesn't make much sense. But he constantly felt like his
physical energy needed to at least try to match his mental
energy. And his brain worked really, really fast, so fast that
his body often didn't catch up with it. Which is why he didn't
realize that he had been pacing as much as he had until Blake
snapped at him.
She practically snapped him from a change and he cringed at the
sound of her voice, though it wasn't as harsh or demanding as it
had been the night before. He was more shocked that someone
addressed him at all. That hadn't happened in a while. "Sorry,"
he said. "I like to move around when I think. Helps me
concentrate. But that probably doesn't make a whole lot of
sense, does it?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. He then
stiffened before ultimately deciding to just sit down in one of
the folding chairs, though now he couldn't stop shaking his leg
and tapping his fingers. "Sorry again, Blake," he said. "If any
of my future quirks bother you, feel free to tell me."
His ears perked when Enzo mentioned that they didn't have many
resources left and suggested that they do something about it.
Then Chris jumped in with the idea that they try and raid the
precinct that he worked at before the outbreak. Eli hummed in
thought. "It's a good idea," he said, tapping his fingers
furiously against his leg. "Do you suggest that we leave today?
All of us?" he added. "Because we might struggle to make it
there, since we don't have enough travel resources for three
days," he explained.[/center]
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Enzo raised a brow when Blake made a comment at Eli. Not because
she made the comment. That was something he saw coming,
especially because his constant movement was probably annoying
the hell out of her. No, he was shocked at how gentle she
sounded. It wasn't gentle by normal standards, but it was
considering that Blake had been the one to say it. If she wasn't
half-yelling at you, Enzo considered it her 'gentle' voice. The
skinny man quickly obeyed, which was both sad and hilarious at
the same time. Funny because he was so eager to please, kinda
like a puppy, and sad because he genuinely felt the need to be
so obedient to a woman he had just met. A woman who had been so
cruel to him the night before. Eli didn't seem intimidated by
Blake, but the way he blindly listened to her suggested
otherwise.
Chris was the first to respond to Enzo's inquiry about supplies,
suggesting that they take from his old precinct. "Interesting. I
just know we need weapons and food, so we could hit up a grocery
store or something while we're there," he added, noting that Sam
complained about the lack of breakfast this morning, meaning no
one else could be doing well with the hunger either. He raised
an eyebrow when Chris mentioned a three-day journey into the
city. "That's weird, because Blake and I made it here in about a
day and half. It'd be a two-day journey if we stopped to hunt,"
he said. "We can show you guys the way easily," he finished with
a nonchalant shrug, as if it were the most obvious course of
action in the world. Because it was. [/center]
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Grace was already a little uncomfortable that morning. She would
normally be fine knowing that Chris was right outside the door.
With an ax. But she still didn't feel completely safe around all
of these new people. On top of that, Blake, the person she liked
and trusted the least out of the whole group, had asked to
borrow her knife earlier to skin the rabbit that Chris shot. Of
course, Grace couldn't say no. They all needed to eat and she
couldn't let her wariness get in the way of the well being of
the group. So, she was without Chris, without her only weapon,
and without her Sam. Because Sam was not acting like himself in
the slightest this morning. She hoped it was mostly the hunger,
but she knew that it had a lot to do with the fact that he was
still upset from Never Have I Ever.
She sat at the table with him trying to rub his shoulder or
something to make him feel better, but she was really bad at
this. After being denied physical affection for the vast
majority of her life, she had no idea how to use it to her
advantage. Sam was much, much better at this whole thing. But at
Sam's first comment sounded so defeated and sad that it broke
her. She dropped her hand from his shoulder and sighed gently,
looking at her own hands as they rested on the table. She
usually needed Sam's optimism to make it through the day. With
his spirit broken, she didn't know how to proceed. She knew
she'd have to be his Sam for the day, but she didn't know how.
Her shoulders fell when he continued with his explanation,
sounding a lot like Chris. Who was very, very bad at making
people feel better.
She snapped herself out of it. It was Sam's turn to be sad and
her turn to be less sad. Or at least fake it. But boy is she a
bad actress. "Well, Chris and that Blake girl are going hunting
again," she said with a shrug. "And you can have my portion of
stew and rabbit," she offered with a weak smile. "I'm not that
hungry anyway," she lied. This is why Grace was so bad at
comforting. She constantly made the classic mistake of offering
solutions -- good or bad -- instead of just saying 'gee, that
sucks buddy,' or something to that extent. She was also not
nearly as good as Sam at cracking jokes or being just outrageous
enough to get a laugh.
She smiled when he apologized for not being like himself and
laughed when he called it a mid-life crisis. "Sam, you're
twenty-two. And you're gonna live way past forty-four, so there
is no way this is a mid-life crisis," she said. "A mid-mid-life
crisis maybe," she added. "And you have nothing to apologize
for," she said, being genuine this time. "I know you didn't get
much sleep last night and it's been a rough few days. You're
entitled to one bad day every now and then," she said, tilting
her head at him. She was really, really bad at comforting
people, but remembered something she saw on tv once and decided
to go for it either way and hope he wouldn't notice. "I've
learned, over the past several years, I've learned that a human
can endure just about anything for ten seconds. So just take it
ten seconds at a time."[/center]
#Post#: 71--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Christian│Samuel
By: Zellaphone Date: December 20, 2018, 5:34 am
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Blake was relieved that Eli actually listened to her, taking a
seat after explaining why he paced. She actually did understand,
but she just didn't have that kind of patience at the moment to
be able to let it go on without saying something. Maybe if the
previous night had gone better, she'd be much more lenient. All
she could do was smirk a bit at his explanation, the closest she
could get to a smile at the present time, and continue skinning
the rabbit, quickly assuring him under he breath that he was
fine, not wanting him to feel that bad for pacing.
After that, Enzo spoke up, asking what they should do about
their lack of weapons. Blake paused her work again, waiting to
hear what everyone else had to say on the matter. She knew what
would be the smartest thing to do, but it just wouldn't be the
easiest. Plus, now they had kids to worry about, and they
couldn't just leave them there, nor would it be wise to split
up.
Chris suggested they go to his old precinct, and Blake raised a
brow at that. She hadn't even considered something like that. It
was weird hearing a cop suggest they loot a precinct, even in
times like these. Still, it was a good idea - a very good idea,
and Blake was already thinking about some of the things they
could grab there. Eli also agreed that the idea was a good one,
his leg bouncing and his fingers tapping, which was still a
little annoying, but bearable. In fact, it might have even been
a bit... cute? The man just couldn't seem to stop moving even if
he tried. He did, however, bring up the struggles of the
journey, both Chris and Eli pointing out that it was a three-day
journey. Thankfully, Enzo corrected them, telling them about how
they had made it in less time, also adding that they should raid
a grocery store.
"It's worth a shot," she said, setting the mostly-skinned rabbit
aside. "Better than starving to death out here. I'm sure if we
spent most of the day hunting we could find something more
sustainable, but Enzo is right, we need more weapons. I myself
am almost out of ammo," she admitted, knowing she was down to
about three shots now, which was not good, especially if they
were going into the city, but it was better than no bullets at
all. "We should probably also try to find a car or something
while we're there to make traveling easier. I can hot-wire one
if we find one." It wasn't something she was proud to admit in
front of a former cop, but it would prove to be a useful skill
now.[/center]
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Chris was intrigued to hear that Enzo and Blake knew a shorter
way into the city, grateful that they did. The three-day journey
had been hell on the kids, he knew. He wasn't sure if they could
do it again, but just one night there and one night back wasn't
bad at all. He nodded at Enzo when he suggested hitting up a
grocery store as well. If the pickings weren't slim, they could
definitely stock up on some necessities. It was just unfortunate
that they didn't have a working fridge, but they could make it
work. Plus, apparently, Blake somehow knew how to hot-wire a
car, which was a bit concerning, but useful, nonetheless, and if
she could, then they could grab even more supplies.
"I think the longer we wait to go into the city, the worse
things will get," he said, referring both to the city and to
their own situation. "I also don't feel comfortable splitting up
since it sounds like at least two of us are running low on
ammo," he added, knowing that he should have enough for the
journey, but not much after that unless the stocked up.
"Traveling as a group will be our safest bet," he decided,
glancing back at the kids talking inside. "We should also
probably split into pairs once entering the city so each group
will have someone armed. After we hit the precinct, it shouldn't
be as big of a deal, but I'd rather not anyone wonder off
alone."[/center]
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Sam tensed up as soon as Grace touched him, not having expected
such a physical reaction to his outbursts. It was nice though,
having her touch him. It was just a simple touch as well, her
trying to rub his shoulder. It did ease him a little, his body
relaxing again right before she dropped her hand. He wished he
could reach out and grab it, but knew that was a stupid idea.
They were just friends, after all.
Grace continued to try and comfort him, reminding him that Mr.
Smith and Blake were going hunting (something that he still
wished he could help out with), and offering her own portions to
him. "Oh! No. No. No!" he said, his voice rising in pitch with
every 'no.' No, there was no way he was letting her give up her
food. They all needed to eat if they wanted to survive.
Grace then explained to him that there was no way he was having
a mid-life crisis since he was so young, which made sense, but
he still wasn't sure. Maybe it was more of an existential crisis
or something. Or just a crisis in general. "Yeah, you're right,
I guess," he said with a sigh, placing one of his hands on the
table, leaning his head onto the other. "Man, I miss having a
fridge. You know, one with food and stuff. And I miss
electricity. And having a bed. God, I hope we can get that bed
tonight," he said before his face went pink, realizing that he
had basically just said that he had hoped they would sleep
together. Just sleep, of course, but, you know. "And, uh, I also
missed having cell service," he added quickly, smiling
nervously.[/center]
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