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#Post#: 82--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (19)
By: winterssmary Date: December 24, 2018, 2:37 am
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Eli was used to not sleeping much, but this was ridiculous. The
fire went out almost immediately after they were done cooking
the rabbit, which he expected, but it meant that the temporary
relief from the cold went out with it. He'd bundled himself up
as best as he could, trapping himself in his sleeping bag and
keeping the blanket as tight to him as he could. But it didn't
do as much as he would have liked. He still shivered throughout
most of the night and was awake for each of the shifts in who
took watch. He kept to himself though, since there was no point
in waking anyone else up if they'd managed to get to sleep. He
also couldn't take his usual late-night walk because of the
situation they were in. But he'd be fine. Right?
He woke up knowing that they'd have to get on the road early.
Really, he should have been grateful for any sleep he got, but
he was actually just bitter at the weather for making his life
harder than it already was. His sleeping bag and blanket were
damp, as were his clothes. Luckily, he -- and everyone else, it
seems -- packed a change of clothes just in case of something
like this. They weren't in the best shape, but it was better
than the alternative. As the group started walking toward the
city, Eli found himself walking nearer to Blake than anyone
else, but still keeping a comfortable distance between the two
of them. He thought that, maybe, he was subconsciously
overcompensating for the fact that he did make her feel bad the
night before. Not that him being weird and close to her would
help that. Would it? He didn't know. He didn't know anything.
People were weird.
Luckily for the very, very tired band of travelers, they found a
truck outside the city walls and Blake managed to get it up and
running. Maybe Eli should have been concerned with her ability
to hot-wire a car, but he was really just impressed. As someone
who used to tinker with machines for a living, he knew how rough
electrical stuff was. Hell, he usually had someone else to
handle that stuff for him. And she'd done it with presumably no
formal training. Sure, it was a common criminal skill, but a
valuable and difficult skill nonetheless. The truck was a luxury
for them, but Eli was still not afforded the luxury of sitting
inside the vehicle, instead being put in the back with Blake and
the kids. Who weren't technically kids. But were basically kids.
Eli did his best to play nice with everyone, as he always did.
He had plenty of trivial conversations with Sam that helped
filled the silence -- a few of them about Batman, whom Sam
seemed to have some kind of odd obsession with -- and he'd
managed to exchange words with Grace that weren't harsh or mean.
He tried to talk to Blake and bring her into their
conversations, but she didn't seem very social. He understood.
She probably didn't like Batman all that much. And if that
wasn't it, it probably had something to do with how tired she
must have been. She was exhausted. They all were. But some
people were better at hiding their grumpiness than Blake. She'd
warm up to Eli eventually, right? Then again, she did have an
odd aversion to the kids, who Eli thought were much, much cooler
than he was. If she couldn't like people that cool -- especially
someone as cool and fun as Sam -- how could she possibly grow to
like an awkward mess like Eli?
When they made it to the city walls, they had to get clearance
to enter the city from these creepy guards. They were harsh with
each of them, as if they didn't care that they were weak and
exhausted from travel. Eli winced and gasped several times as
the men grabbed at him, checking over his entire body before
scanning his eyes with something that looked like a radar gun.
This was worse than airport security. He also noted that Chris
seemed unfazed by it. Sam seemed bothered. And Blake seemed
angry, but none of it seemed unfamiliar to her. On top of that,
she seemed almost scared, since she wasn't reacting in the way
he anticipated. Was it instinctive for her to keep her attitude
in check around men that were actually intimidating?
Interesting. Terrible, but interesting. If she was used to be
treated so roughly, it would certainly help him to better
understand her bad mood. He decided it was best to not mention
anything and not to jump to conclusions.
They were eventually cleared and allowed into the city. Eli
hadn't spent much time in the city before the outbreak, since he
traveled so often. Therefore, he had no emotional attachment to
the buildings that were now covered in graffiti. He wasn't sure
if it was red paint or blood that spelled out all the threats
and disturbing statements. It was eerily empty where there used
to be mobs of people and screams could be heard in the distance.
Smoke tainted the air, not only making it harder to breathe, but
also to see. Eli had never seen a dead body before, yet there he
was, staring at several of them slumped against buildings and in
the streets. Based on the state of the corpses, many of them
were ripped apart and possibly eaten by infected. Others just
looked like stab wounds. Perhaps he should have been more shaken
by the sight of all the dead people, but, really, he just felt a
sorrow he couldn't explain. Not fear. Not shock. Just sadness.
And a new, overwhelming sense that he'd be one of them soon
enough.
It fell silent on the back of the truck, which fit the mood
better than Sam talking about differences between each Batman
adaptation. But it was still haunting, even for someone as
clinical and rational as Eli. Luckily for them, they reached the
precinct and hid their truck from the street's view. Chris then
started describing the layout of the precinct before separating
everyone into pairs. He took Grace for himself, which was the
obvious choice. He then assigned Sam to Enzo, leaving Eli with
Blake. He didn't mind. In fact, he would have likely volunteered
to go with her if given the choice. Sam gave him a sympathetic
look, but Eli just shook his head and waved him away. He wasn't
concerned. Blake was oddly somber today. On top of that, he knew
enough about her to know that she wouldn't hurt him. She may not
save him in the heat of the moment, but Eli wasn't expecting to
get saved by any of these people, no matter how good. He knew he
was expendable. He was the only one who was completely alone and
had no emotional worth or value to anyone else. Everyone in this
little clique meant something, no matter how trivial, to someone
else. With the exception of Eli. And, oddly enough, he was okay
with that.
When Chris asked if they were ready, Eli nodded, pulling his
taser from the waistband of his jeans. He and Blake entered the
precinct, taking off toward the left for the storage rooms.
They'd tasked themselves with getting guns and ammunition and
other weapons that a police precinct might have handy. Eli was
both intrigued and unnerved by everything he saw. The building
was fairly empty and cold in itself, but it was the weapons that
bewildered him. Despite having designed for the military, it was
rare that Eli had ever actually seen this much deadly equipment
in one place. He didn't even know how to use any of this stuff.
He turned to Blake. "You seem to know more about this stuff than
I do. Do we just take everything or -?" he trailed off, running
his fingers along the firearms. He needed to learn how to use
these things. Soon. [/center]
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Enzo had a hard time sleeping, just like everyone else. Though
it seemed like he still slept better than everyone else. Maybe
it was because he was used to waking up in strange places while
being slightly damp and uncomfortable. For someone who used to
be so responsible in his youth, Enzo lived one hell of a life
before the outbreak. Regardless, his neck hurt a little bit and
it still took him a good while to shake off the cold. It wasn't
that cold, but it was cold enough to make him uncomfortable. And
everyone else's not-so-great moods didn't exactly give him
anything to bounce off of. But he'd get over it. Being happy
wasn't the purpose. Getting supplies for survival was what
mattered.
When they started walking again, Enzo realized just how sore his
feet were. And his neck. And pretty much all of him. But he'd
get over it. He hoped. Actually, realistically speaking, he'd
probably die before he got over his soreness. Not necessarily
because he thought he was going to die soon, but he knew his
body would constantly be put through hell and there'd be no
recovering whatsoever. Luckily, he realized that he could get
some relief when they stumbled upon an abandoned truck. He
climbed into the backseat without even asking anyone. He wasn't
in the mood to fight anyone about it. He wanted it. So it was
his. Blake hot-wired the vehicle and then Chris got in the
driver's seat, taking them to the city.
They had to be searched and scanned for infection upon entry.
Enzo was used to people being not-so-nice with him, but he still
didn't like it. If it weren't for the fact that all the guards
were heavily armed, he probably would have made a comment about
them at least needing to buy him dinner first. Instead, he kept
his mouth shut. You know, like a loser. He also noticed how
compliant Blake was, which was definitely out-of-character. She
must have been scared. Or thinking ahead and wanting to look out
for everyone. Either way, it was good. an outburst from either
of them was acceptable when there weren't at least ten guns
nearby.
Eventually, they were allowed into the city and Enzo tried to
tune out the world around him. Since he wasn't driving, it
wasn't too hard. Chris kept the windows up to block out the
smell and muffle the sounds of the screams. He wasn't sure if
the screams were pained or angry. Either way, it was
frightening. Enzo just leaned back and closed his eyes. He tried
to imagine his home. The city he knew and loved was massive and
shiny with people bustling in the streets and a vibrant arts
district and that French cafe that he liked and streets with
sideways stoplights. It wasn't on fire. It wasn't decaying and
dead. It wasn't littered with bodies. This is what he wanted to
remember.
He felt the truck stop and assumed it was time to get out. Chris
then split everyone up into groups, leaving Enzo with Sam. He
was a strange kid, though not unpleasant. Probably. Come to
think of it, he actually hadn't really talked to the kid yet.
But he did learn that he kissed a dude, despite not being gay,
and that he missed his family in New York. He probably had a
good heart. It'd be fine. Even though he was babysitting. Wait.
That's right. He's fucking babysitting. Dammit Chris.
Regardless, he nodded when Chris asked it they were ready,
drawing his gun and standing by Sam. "Stay close, kid," he said
before leading him into the building.
The pair broke for the lockers. "Take everything that you might
find useful," he said dully, rummaging through a few lockers,
pulling out an assortment of jackets and other clothing items
that were much more heavy duty than his own. Then, he had an
idea. "See if you can find any vests or something," he said,
knowing that police precincts tended to carry bulletproof vests,
which would be very, very useful when being chased by infected.
And also other armed robbers. Which is technically what they
were. "And try to be careful," he added quickly. [/center]
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Grace shivered most of the night, despite having Sam's blanket,
which she felt absolutely awful for taking. She'd fought him for
a little bit the night before, insisting that he take it back,
but Sam wasn't taking no for an answer. And she guessed he was
more stubborn than she was. That, or she just knew that, deep
down, she really was in no position to be passing it up. If it
weren't for the rain, she was sure that hiding in her sleeping
bag and cocooning herself in she and Sam's blanket would have
been more than enough. But, when everything was wet and cold,
she didn't stand a chance. She didn't move most of the night,
because moving only made it worse. If she stayed perfectly still
and shivered, she could almost fall into a state of half-sleep.
But that was as good as it got. She dozed, but never really fell
asleep.
Despite being awake all night, it was misery trying to get up
when it was time to travel again. Before moving again, everyone
had the opportunity to hide somewhere and change clothes. Grace
gladly took this opportunity, but, unfortunately, she only had
one sweatshirt. And it was the one that got kinda wet. She kept
it on though, hoping that it would dry out as she moved. She
wasn't about to be bare-armed in the wilderness. She felt bad
for Sam, who didn't have anything to change into, since all his
clothes were actually Chris's over-sized clothes. With any luck,
they'd be able to snag something from the precinct that fit him
better.
Speaking of Sam, Grace noticed that his nose was red when he
woke up and he seemed paler than usual. She hoped it was just
from exhaustion and that he wasn't getting sick. But he was
sniffling a lot, which made her feel very, very guilty. He
probably did catch a little something, and it was all her fault
because she took his blanket. She wanted to ask if he was
feeling okay and to offer him something to help him feel better,
but everything seemed to happen so fast. Besides, she still
wanted him to be in a good mood. And she didn't know if he was
one of those people who suddenly felt bad when you told them
that they should feel bad. On top of that, there wasn't anything
she could do if he was sick. She'd just have to make sure to
grab something to treat colds from the M.E.'s office at the
precinct.
They started walking, Grace staying between Sam and Chris, as
usual. Sam walked a little closer to her than he normally did,
which was nice. But she felt a surge of guilt rising in the pit
of her stomach every time he sniffled. On the bright side,
though, they didn't have to walk much. They found a truck
outside of the city and Blake hot-wired it. Chris decided he was
going to drive, Enzo sliding into the backseat and leaving Sam
and Grace with Eli and Blake. Sam and Eli were fine, but Grace
still felt uneasy around Blake. She wasn't even bothered by the
fact that she could hot-wire a car. After all, most of Grace's
high school friends could do that. And Grace, herself, could
pick locks. Sometimes. She just didn't like Blake's attitude.
Maybe she was being too harsh.
In the truck, it wasn't as awkward as she thought it might be.
This was mostly because Sam and Eli got along so well, keeping
conversation going between the two of them. Sam mentioned Batman
a few times, but Grace made sure to counter each time with a
simple But Spider-Man is objectively better, despite Grace not
knowing much about Batman. She just really loved Spider-Man. And
Sam just really loved Batman. That was fine. She'd just have to
try and learn more about him so she could contribute to
conversations with Sam like Eli could. Every time Sam and Eli
started rambling on and on, Grace found her eyes going to Blake,
whom she knew she couldn't quite trust. Rationally, she knew
Blake wasn't going to do anything evil or rash. Grace couldn't
even fully explain her odd distaste for the woman short of her
aggressive attitude and refusal to be a team-player. She caught
herself glaring at the woman several times and tried to stop
herself. She hated herself for being so short with her, but she
couldn't seem to control it. Unfortunately.
When they had to stop to be searched and scanned, Grace found
herself trembling ever-so-slightly. She was a nervous girl by
nature, but the scary men in the black suits with the big guns
only made things worse. It didn't help that they were being
incredibly rough with her. Of course, they may have been just as
rough with everyone else and it just felt worse because she was
so much smaller than everyone else. On top of that, these men
seemed to capitalize on how scared she was. She knew she'd have
marks on her for a while after this. In fact, her arms were both
sore from how hard they grabbed her. She tried not to whine or
say anything, but she couldn't help the quiet sounds that she
made every now and then.
Shaking much more harshly now, they were cleared and she got
back on the back of the truck. She stared down at her hands in
her lap, trying to steady them as everything went silent. The
city -- the half-home she'd had since moving in with Chris --
was now in complete ruin. It was amazing what enough people
could do to a majestic city when they were afraid. There was
smoke in the air, and Grace had to trying and stifle her
coughing for fear of making too much noise. There was a metallic
stench to the air, one that she'd grown familiar with after so
many animal dissections. Blood. Buildings were crumbling after
fire and smoke damage ruined a few of them. She wanted to throw
up.
That's when she started seeing the bodies. Instinctively, she
grabbed for Sam's hand, not saying anything or even looking up
at him. She wanted to, but she knew if she did, she'd probably
cry. And she wasn't about to do that when they were heading into
a raid on a police precinct. She didn't even mean to grab his
hand. She just panicked. She'd seen a body only one other time,
and that was her foster father's dad's at his funeral. It wasn't
the same as seeing the raw, torn apart remains of a random
person laying out in the street. She bit her lip, trying to keep
herself as calm as she could. She heard screams in the distance
and winced at the sound, tightening her grip on Sam's hand. She
only hoped he didn't care. If he pulled away from her, she
didn't know what she'd do.
They parked and she pulled her hand away from Sam's as soon as
Chris stepped out of the vehicle, knowing he'd be unhappy with
her if he saw her. She jumped out of the back of the truck,
staying close to Sam until Chris decided to split everyone off
into groups. Despite her wanting to stay with Sam, she was
relieved when Chris did the obvious thing and assigned himself
to Grace. She cared about Sam, but Chris was armed and made her
feel considerably safer. She stood by Chris, grabbing for her
knife. She knew she probably wouldn't need it, but it made her
feel better to know that she wasn't completely dependent on a
man.
Chris asked if everyone was ready and they began their raid on
his old workplace. She and Chris broke for the Medical
Examiner's room, which was a big relief to Grace. "I think Sam
has a cold, so I'm going to see if I can find something for
that," she began, filtering through the various drugs and
chemicals she found in the cabinets in the room. "Be on the
lookout for any anesthetics, painkillers, blood thinners,
antibiotics, and literally anything else. Also, a scalpel and
syringes and some suturing supplies," she rambled off. "And
rubbing alcohol and -," but she stopped herself, shoving much of
what she found into her bag. "I'm sorry. You know all of this
stuff, don't you?" she asked. [/center]
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Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 24, 2018, 4:12 am
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Blake wasn't against the idea of pairing up in the precinct,
just because she knew it was the smart thing to do. However, she
didn't know why she had been expecting to be partnered with
Enzo. Of course it made more sense for them to be with unarmed
people, but, of course, she got partnered with Eli - the man she
couldn't seem to escape no matter what. Well, at least it beat
babysitting, which Enzo would have to do. She would have teased
him about it if the situation hadn't been so serious. Besides,
after the security check and driving through the city, she
didn't much feel like teasing. In fact, she rather felt like
screaming.
She had been somewhat looking forward to coming to the city,
knowing she could grab more things that she needed, like ammo.
But, of course, before they could have even entered the city she
had to be grabbed and pushed around by men, just like always.
She hadn't failed to notice a few eyes from the group going to
her as she was searched, probably expecting to see her lash out.
Well, she was sorry to disappoint. Part of her wished she had
lashed out too instead of being so compliant with those
heathens. If they got checked again on the way out, she'd
certainly share a few words and thoughts with them. She was
certain she wouldn't be able to hold herself back a second time
with them.
Blake sighed as Chris asked if they were ready, taking her gun
out and mentally preparing herself for the worst. "Lets just get
this over with," she mumbled as he swung the door open,
revealing the quiet, still, dark and a bit dreary precinct. The
place looked barely touched compared to the other buildings she
had seen. She guessed she should be grateful - it probably meant
less infected had entered, if any at all.
She entered the building with the rest, Eli sticking close like
he had been all day. She hadn't failed to notice. Although, in a
situation like this, she didn't mind and could understand. She
kept her gun in her grip, moving slowly as they both headed
towards storage, Eli with his taser at the ready. Maybe someday
she'd ask how he had managed to make such a thing all by
himself, but now was not the time. They had to stay alert and
quiet until they were safe in a room. She was kind of
responsible for Eli's life at the moment, so she figured she
probably shouldn't screw anything up. Even though she didn't
really care for the guy, she knew she'd more than likely be
banished from the group if anything happened to him. No one
trusted her, so why wouldn't they? Enzo was probably the only
one that trusted her, but even then, she knew he'd certainly
prefer to stay with this group rather than her now. She didn't
blame him.
They entered the storage room where all the weapons were kept,
Blake checking it before shutting the door behind him. She had
to admit, the place had more weapons and tools than she had
originally thought it would. Eli looked taken aback, studying
the weapons with what looked almost like reverence mixed with a
bit of uncertainty, his fingers ghosting over some of the guns
as he asked what he should take. Normally, Blake would roll her
eyes at such a question, but seeing as how they didn't have many
bags, she couldn't give him the answer she wanted to of 'yes,
take everything.' Instead, she had to consider their options.
"You're going to want something with less kick," Blake decided,
wanting to hurry but also wanting to make sure Eli was properly
armed so he didn't end up getting them both killed. She reached
past him, their shoulders brushing for a brief moment before she
tapped a simple G45 pistol. "Take three of these. They have the
least amount of kick out of the rest of this stuff," she
explained, figuring Sam and Grace would need the same model. Of
course, that wasn't the only type of gun she was grabbing.
"We're mostly going to need ammo though, so if you can find a
shit ton of that, then grab it," she went on, further scanning
the room. "Please," she added as an afterthought, remembering
the incident from last night when she had told someone what to
do.
Blake stepped away from Eli, grabbing two DM-15 pistols and a
KSG tactical shotgun, stuffing them as well as she could into
her bag, glad that most of them were compact. they did stick out
a bit though, but it wasn't that big of a deal. None of them
were loaded yet. Blake then spotted some batons and grinned,
stepping over to them. They only had two options - the regular
kind and the electric kind. Blake grabbed one of each before
looking over he shoulder at Eli, deciding to grab two of the
electric kinds. The man was bound to be more useful with a baton
than a gun at the moment, judging from his taser. At least he'd
get some better distance with the baton.
"Oh! See if they've got a StrongArm anywhere. It kind of looks
like a giant clamp," she requested, grabbing a few smoke
grenades. "Please," she added again, realizing that she had once
again forgotten to say it right away. At least she was improving
though, right? And she hadn't snapped at Eli once today,
although she had really wanted to when he and Sam kept
discussing Batman, of all things. [/center]
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Sam hadn't been super thrilled about his pairing with Enzo at
first, but it didn't take him long to realize that Enzo was
probably the only guy he hadn't really spoken to in their group.
In fact, he totally was. He hadn't really spoken to Blake much
either, but hey, oops. Now was his perfect chance to see if Enzo
was as cool as he looked, hair all beautiful and long, beard
full unlike anything Sam could ever grown, flannel making him
look like some kind of angelic lumberjack. Plus, the guy had
been a bartender. Bartenders were kind of required to be cool,
as far as he had ever been able to tell.
They decided to go to the lockers, figuring clothes were kind of
important. All the other jobs had been taken anyway. However, he
wasn't complaining - he definitely needed more clothes that
weren't Mr. Smith's. Of course, he'd still have to roll up
sleeves and such, he was sure. Cops were normally big guys, and
even if they weren't, no one as skinny as himself would probably
ever be a cop. He'd get taken down, no problem. Then again, Mr.
Smith wasn't a big, macho guy. He was just tall and kind of
skinny himself. Of course, he was more muscular than him,
unfortunately.
They made it to the lockers, Sam briefly glancing at the wall of
cop's head shots or whatever they were called, noticing Mr.
Smith right away, considering how the picture was recent. He
looked kind of funny in the uniform's hat.
Enzo told him to take everything useful, which Sam was just
going to assume was most things, and added that he should look
for vests and be careful. Right, vests, careful. He could do
that. The locker room was small anyway, and as he began to walk
down the isle of lockers, he spotted Mr. Smith's name. "Oh, no
way!" Sam exclaimed, getting overly excited about someone's
locker. "We totally need to break into Mr. Smith's locker!
There's no telling what he has in here!" Also, he could use the
clothes, even if they were still Mr. Smith's. He also didn't
know what he was talking about when it came to finding something
in his locker, either. They were just cops lockers - it wasn't
like he was going to find a diary or anything. "But, uh, I guess
I'll look through unlocked lockers firsts for those vests," he
decided quickly afterwards, not wanting to be useless and make
light of their serious looting mission.
Sam began the task of opening lockers that didn't have locks,
grabbing whatever clothes he thought could fit any of them, and
finding a few padded vests, which were the ones he figured Enzo
had been referring to. "So, uh, whaddya think about Batman?" he
asked out of the blue, not liking the silence and also realizing
that he had not been trying to find out more about Enzo like
originally planned.[/center]
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Chris, knowing exactly what Grace needed and would want, headed
straight to the Medical Examiner's room when they entered the
precinct, staying close to her, gun at the ready. They had to
head a bit further than everyone else, well, except Enzo and Sam
who decided to go to the locker's, but they managed to make it
there without a problem, hearing nothing from the other's to
give them any concern. He still wouldn't let his guard down,
though.
It was strange, being back at his workplace in these conditions.
Almost everything was as it was before, besides a few papers
thrown here and there from the chaos of them having to quickly
leave. There was also some dust starting to collect in certain
areas, as well as spiderwebs. It was odd. He had never seen the
place so... still. There had never been peace within these
walls, and there necessarily wasn't any now, but it was the most
he had ever felt. It was unnerving and just, well, sad. This is
where he had spent most of his time these past nine years, and
now, it was just rotting away like the other buildings in the
city. This would probably be the last time he ever saw it.
Grace started listing things they needed to grab almost the
second after they entered the room, mentioning that she felt
like Sam had a cold. It wouldn't be surprising after all that
rain they had. He started to open up cabinets, knowing where
most of the stuff she had named was. She even asked if he knew
what she was talking about, and he smiled. "Yes, but it makes it
easier that you're naming almost everything," he teased,
scooping a scalpel off the operating tray. "You know, I used to
date the Medical Examiner here," he said offhandedly, making
small-talk. He hadn't really gotten a change to talk to Grace in
awhile. "We dated for a long while, until she moved further down
south. She wanted me to come with her, but, uh, that didn't
happen," he said with a shrug, finding some suturing kits.
Romance had never really gone well in his life, which may have
been another reason he was so wary about Sam. He had dated
plenty of nice girls, but each one had left him in one way or
another, finding some excuse. A couple had broken his heart.
Only a few had he chosen to leave himself. He wondered what his
life would be like now if he had taken Andrea's offer and had
moved with her somewhere more sunny. He probably wouldn't be in
the same situation he was in now, but it would most likely be
worse. He wouldn't have Grace, and he couldn't even begin to
think of where Grace would be. Well, at least he wouldn't have
to worry about it. Andrea had left and he had moved on, pushing
all thoughts of pretty little rings out of his mind. He had had
too much work to focus on anyways.[/center]
#Post#: 84--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (20)
By: winterssmary Date: December 24, 2018, 9:01 pm
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Eli frowned a little bit when Blake mumbled. He knew that,
realistically speaking, she was just wanting to get in and get
out, since the precinct was probably kind of scary and she was
tired and none of them really wanted to be there. But the
insecure little boy in him thought that maybe she would be
happier about all of this if she were partnered with anyone but
him. But that didn't matter. Feelings were completely
unnecessarily and debilitating right now. So he merely shrugged
the thought off and followed her. She had the weapon, so he
wasn't about to be an idiot and try and take charge here.
Blake seemed to take a moment to contemplate what they'd need,
which was a nice surprise. He was almost expecting some sort of
snappy comment or backhanded compliment or anything that was
designed to hurt his feelings. He knew that she was smart enough
not to understand that they had to limit what they took --
mostly because of room, but they could fit stuff onto the truck
if need be -- but it was nice to see her do something not
impulsive. She eventually said that they'd need something with
'less kick,' which made sense. Eli had never fired a gun, but
he'd researched recoil for his designs in the past knew it was
likely a pain in the ass. The she reached around him, allowing
their shoulders to graze. Eli realized all at once that this was
the first time she'd allowed herself to be touched -- even
briefly -- by him. Did this mean she was getting more
comfortable? Or was it an accident? It was probably an accident.
So he decided he'd never bring it up again.
"They're still powerful though, right?" he asked, knowing that,
typically, the mentality was that recoil added power to the gun.
But it wasn't always true. In fact, there were plenty of
exceptions to that rule. Eli himself had worked on things that
minimized recoil while still being more powerful than your
average rifle. He didn't know if these specific weapons were
like that though. Regardless, he obeyed, taking three guns and
sliding them into his bag. He nodded at her second comment.
"Shiton of ammo. Right. Got it," he repeated, casually walking
about the room and grabbing large boxes of bullets of all kinds.
He didn't know exactly which ones applied to which guns, but he
did know that he could also melt the metal down and cast his own
bullets to match if need be. He smiled when she said please, but
chose not to make a big deal about it. It might embarrass her.
Blake stepped on and grabbed two more pistols and a rifle. "Good
thinking on the rifle," he said with a smile. "I'm sure hunting
was a pain the other day with just your handguns," he added. He
didn't know why he was so insistent on talking. He also noticed
that she had managed to snag a few batons, two of them being
electrified. "Oooo," he mused, sounding very much like a white
girl in a shoe store. "That's gonna be more effective than my
taser," he said with a grin.
"StrongArm?" he repeated, his eyes lighting up when Blake told
him it looked like a giant clamp. He knew a thing or two about
clamps. She also said please again, which made him smile. But,
again he didn't want to draw attention to it. Positive
reinforcement was nice when you were a child, but Blake would
likely take it as if Eli were gloating had it mentioned it. He
looked about the room before finding what she was asking for,
grabbing it and putting it in his bag. His bag was bulging in
ways that made it look more like an odd bundle of grapes than a
bag. "So, what exactly does this thing do?" he asked. [/center]
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Why did it have to be the kid? It wasn't the worst option and
Enzo knew it, but he got the kid who seemed the least obedient
and the most easily distracted. If he had to get stuck with one
of the children, couldn't it have been the one with the knife?
The one who kept quiet? Still, Enzo knew that this wasn't as bad
as it could get. Sam could be some little punk with an attitude
problem. He seemed like he was constantly bouncing off the
walls, but at least he seemed eager to please. And not a jerk.
At the lockers, Enzo noticed that nothing looked like stuff he
would wear unless he absolutely had to. Of course, that was
kinda where they were at as a society at this point. There
wasn't much flannel. But the stuff would be practical, even if
just to drape over himself in order to keep warm. Plus, some of
this could go to Sam. Maybe some it would fit him better than
the stuff he was wearing. Enzo was sure they could find stuff
that worked for Chris, since he was a cop himself. It was a
shame that there wouldn't be much for Blake and Grace, since
there weren't as many lady-cops as he assumed there would be.
Enzo jumped when Sam got overexcited about Chris's locker, but
gave him a sly smirk at the thought. "Oh, for sure, kid," he
said. "I'll bust the lock in a second, but we need other stuff
first," he said, going through a few more unlocked lockers. He
thought for a moment. "Chris is kinda your typical cop. He
probably doesn't have much in there. But it's worth checking for
blackmail material," he said sarcastically. Who knew? Maybe he
had embarrassing photos for unsent love letters or something.
Sam packed away padded vests while he and Enzo moved about the
room, taking as much as they could fit without being ridiculous.
But Enzo's eyes went wide when Sam asked about Batman. "Batman?"
he asked. "I don't know. I was never one for all that hero
stuff," he said with a shrug. "But he always seemed like kind of
a tool," he said bluntly, using the butt of his gun to break the
lock on Chris's locker. "If you wanna raid the cop's locker, be
my guest," he said. [/center]
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Grace knew that this little mission would be interesting for
Chris, to say the least. This was his place of work. It was
almost like a sanctuary to him, from what she could gather. It
must have been jarring for him to see it like this. The whole
city was in chaos and Chris has dedicated his entire career to
keeping chaos at bay. He wanted to protect people, but
everything fell apart completely and now, all he could do was
struggle to keep them together. Grace wasn't sure if this would
be a wake up call or somehow emotionally debilitating for him,
but either way, it couldn't be easy.
She rolled her eyes when he teased her about calling everything
out. She didn't keep a grocery list for this sort of thing, but
she did come in fully knowing what they needed from the medical
supply rooms. This was kind of her field of expertise. "I get
it. I get it," she said, giving him a dismissive wave. "I'll
stop. I just didn't want us to forget anything," she explained,
fitting as much as she could into her bag. She briefly came
across stuff that she didn't expect to find in a police
precinct. Fentanyl and Oxycodone. These weren't your typical
run-of-the-mill painkillers. She slipped them into her bag,
knowing that they could come in handy if any of them were too
terribly injured. She also found a few dissociative anesthetics
and such. This was getting interesting.
She couldn't help but smile a little when Chris said he dated
the Medical Examiner. "No, you never mentioned your love life to
me," she said. She had a hard time imagining Chris with anyone,
since he'd been basically single since she moved in with him.
She just assumed that he wasn't the dating type. But, it did
make sense that he dated a Medical Examiner. They typically
seemed like responsible women and Chris was a responsible,
respectable guy. She frowned when he said that they were broken
up because she moved away. "I'm sorry," she said. "If it makes
you feel any better," she began, knowing that she'd never
discussed her love life with Chris either. "The last guy I dated
yelled at me for trying to hold his hand in public," she said
with a laugh. Chris wasn't the only one who had a not-so-good
past when it came to relationships.
"Why didn't you go with her?" she asked. She was nervous to hear
the answer though. What if the timing had just worked out so
that he needed to stay and take care of her instead of running
away with the woman he loved? "It wasn't me, was it?" she asked.
She'd never forgive herself if Chris lost someone he loved
because of her. Of course, there could have been a thousand
reasons for him staying home. She was just being paranoid. She
knew she was being paranoid. [/center]
#Post#: 85--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 24, 2018, 10:10 pm
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Blake had to admit, she wasn't having as bad of a time as she
had excepted to have. The weapons room was fairly small, making
it easier to find and go through everything, the pickings were
pretty good, and Eli was saying weird things or asking stupid
questions. Sure, he was still asking questions and making
comments, but they were bearable ones, nodding when he asked if
the gun she had chosen for him was still powerful. It also
helped that he wasn't completely useless, doing like she had
asked and finding a nice stash of ammo. Looked like they were
going to be set for awhile as far as ammunition went.
Eli complemented her thinking for grabbing the rifle, talking
about hunting before his attention turned to the batons, looking
rather excited about them. Blake smirked, finding his interest
to be amusing. She'd never admit that she had grabbed the
electric batons with him specifically in mind. It wasn't like
she was doing it to be nice, she was doing it to be efficient.
It only made sense to give Eli the gun he'd be more at ease with
using and grabbing the batons he'd definitely be more
comfortable with. It meant that he'd be even more useful this
way, which was good. It was a bit much being one of the only
people in their group who could properly fire a gun.
While Blake grabbed more smoke grenades for the group, still
thinking about who would do best with what, Eli asked about the
StrongArm, Blake noticing that he had found one and had already
slipped it into his backpack, his zippers looking like they
wanted to break. "I think you'll like it," she said
conversationally, thinking about what else she could fit into
her backpack. "It cuts things, lifts things, spreads things. In
other words, it can get you into any building," she explained,
figuring she might as well grab a regular taser for each of
them. She even grabbed one for Eli, not really sure how well the
one he had made for himself worked.
"Well, I think that should be enough," she decided, unable to
fully zip-up her backpack due to the bulk inside and the guns
sticking out. She slid it onto her back carefully, not wanting
everything to spill out on the ground. "Maybe we should search
some other rooms for things as well. I'd assume that a precinct
would bound to have portable generators or something, at least,"
she mused, already starting to head out the door. They'd
probably have to drop some things off at the truck, but she
wanted to grab as much as possible. She wasn't sure when they'd
be able to come back to the city for another loot, so she wasn't
taking her chances. [/center]
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It didn't take long for Sam to completely stuff his backpack to
the brim, clothes and bulletproof vests taking up a lot of
space. Really, he was kind of disappointed that this was the job
they got. While Eli and Blake got to have fun with guns and
Grace and Mr. Smith got to look at whatever cool things were in
the Medical Examiner's room, Sam just got to rustle through
clothes. Lame. Well, at least he had more outfits now, even
though most of them were pieces of uniforms, meaning he was
going to look pretty weird. He totally wouldn't look right in a
police uniform, but at least they got vests. Those he would
definitely be wearing.
Enzo confessed that he didn't really care for heroes, making
Sam's heart drop a little. That was really too bad, but at least
Enzo didn't laugh at him. However, he did call Batman a tool,
and those were fighting words to Sam. Batman was mist certainly
not a tool. He was a damaged man who turned that damage into a
reason to get stronger and help people! Batman was great!
"You're a tool," he mumbled while Enzo broke the lock to Mr.
Smith's locker, giving him permission that wasn't technically
his to riffle through it. Sam grinned, figuring he could give
Enzo more hell about Batman later, very excited to see what Mr.
Smith's locker had to offer. It was more than likely going to be
boring like Enzo had said, but Sam was still hopefully to get a
peak into the other man's mind.
Sam opened the locker door, frowning when he was met with, well,
nothing. All that was in his locker was a spare change of
clothes, which Sam snagged, and some cologne, which he also
decided to take. Other than that, there was just a single, small
picture of grace hanging on the inside of the door. It looked
like a high school senior photo, and Sam smiled, carefully
pulling it out from behind the magnet it was under, staring at
it. It was only a few years old, but Grace still looked so, so
pretty. He figured he should probably return the photo to Mr.
Smith, but Sam felt a selfish desire to keep it for himself, for
whatever reason. It wasn't like Mr. Smith needed a photo of
Grace when she was with him just about all the time, but, then
again, why would he need one?"
"Man, Mr. Smith is boring," Sam commented with a sigh, shoving
the photo into his jacket pocket quickly, still not knowing if
he was going to return it or not. He closed the locker door,
tapping on it briefly. "At least some of these other guys had
crossword puzzle books and stuff," he went on, putting his
backpack back on and turning to Enzo. "Do you think he likes
me?" he asked, knowing he was being kind of random again. "I
mean, I know you just met him and all, but an outside opinion is
always nice to have," he quickly explained, placing his hands in
his pockets to keep them occupied. [/center]
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Chris chuckled at Grace's reaction to his teasing, deciding it
was better to not give her anymore trouble and focus on the task
at hand. He didn't want to take up too much time in here - he
still planned on finding some walkie-talkies and a radio. He
figured it would be nice to be able to communicate to one
another when apart, and the radio would hopefully help them stay
updated on current events, if anyone was even still
broadcasting. Maybe he'd even be able to reach out to someone
through the radio.
He continued to grab whatever he thought was useful, like cotton
swabs, bandages, surgical glue - anything that they'd need if
they were injured. Grace pointed out that Chris had never
mentioned his love life to her, and he frowned, realizing that
that probably wasn't great. Was it bad to not tell your
surrogate daughter that much about your past? Probably. He just
didn't think it was that important to divulge Grace in boring
stories of his failed attempts at settling down with someone,
especially when they didn't matter to him anymore. After Grace,
he didn't feel it necessary anymore to find a life-partner. He
was fine just having her around. Plus, he was always too busy to
worry about dating. Cops kept strange hours most days, and led
stressful lives.
Grace told him about her last boyfriend, explaining that he
hadn't even wanted them to hold hands in public. Chris chuckled,
shaking his head. Some people were just hopeless. He wondered
why Grace had even dated the guy in the first place, but decided
not to pry too much. He didn't like to appear nosy, especially
when it came to her. He liked to give her her space and privacy
when he felt like she really needed it.
Then, Grace asked about Andrea, asking him why he didn't go with
her before asking if it was because of her. Chris quickly shook
his head. "Oh no, this was before I met you," he told her,
grabbing a hacksaw he found on the table, thinking it would come
in handy at some point - just hopefully not helpful in cutting
up bodies, for any reason. "I just didn't feel like leaving
everything I had here behind," he started to explain, zipping up
his backpack. "I didn't have a lot, to be honest, but I had just
settled into my job and had just gotten an apartment. I felt
like it was silly to leave a life I had just started to build.
However, I did regret not going for the longest time," he
admitted, waiting for Grace to finish up with her looting,
reminiscing. "It would have been nice to have the company, but
it wasn't all that long after that I met you," he said with a
smile, adjusting his backpack straps. "And after I took you in,
I just didn't feel like getting married was that big of a deal
anymore."[/center]
#Post#: 86--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (21)
By: winterssmary Date: December 24, 2018, 11:52 pm
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Eli smiled when Blake said that he'd probably like the
StrongArm, elaborating and finally saying that it did all kinds
of cool stuff. "Fascinating," he said, bouncing on his toes, his
fingers ghosting over the device in his bag. "Is it wrong of me
to find that intriguing?" he asked, rhetorically, of course. He
wasn't a psychopath with an odd love for breaking into anything.
"I like things that can mutlitask," he explained, realizing that
nothing he was saying would probably make any sense. Not just to
Blake, but the more the thought about it himself, he didn't get
it either. He shook these thoughts from his head. "Sorry," he
said quietly. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
He nodded when Blake said that they probably had enough from
weapons storage. They both have overfilled their bags and would
have a hard time getting around until they unloaded at least
some stuff onto the truck. She then suggested that they search
some other rooms and offices to look for things like generators.
He nodded. "Good idea. Maybe we can get one for the water
heater," he suggested, knowing that everyone would thoroughly
enjoy a hot shower after the night they just had.
***
So, good news. Eli and Blake had managed to find the generators
she was talking about. They were small and couldn't power the
whole precinct, but they were perfect for running things in the
cabin. Not in their entirety, of course. He'd have to play with
the wiring to make sure he could turn on certain devices as they
were needed in order to conserve power. But, this would be
enough to give them hot water. As long as everyone's showers
were around ten minutes or less. Good news part two: Chris and
Grace had found some walkie talkies, which had good range that
Eli could probably boost if he had a few minutes. This way, they
could keep in touch during hunting trips and when Eli and Sam
checked traps. Good news part three: They all met up in the
central room in the precinct and everyone looked totally fine.
Save for Sam, who looked like he may have been slightly under
the weather. Come to think of it, Eli wasn't feeling so great
himself. He assumed it was just because he was tired. But his
throat was scratchy and he had been sniffing more than usual. Oh
well. It didn't matter.
No, what did matter was the bad news. After reuniting, they
started hearing noises. They were quiet, almost completely
unnoticeable at first. In fact, Eli thought he was just crazy or
paranoid. Then he heard the horrible blood-curdling screams just
before he felt a cold arm wrap around his neck. He screamed,
reaching for his taser as he tried to fight the body off of him.
But his taser was knocked from his hand in the struggle and he
fell to the ground. His heart was pounding as he panted,
thrashing under the strength of this being. Fingernails dug into
his shoulders as a used-to-be-woman screamed profanities into
his ear. She knocked the glasses off of his face and suddenly,
everything was blurry. He was going to die, wasn't he? [/center]
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Sam had stuffed his bag completely full and Enzo had done the
same. He was about to suggest that they move on and start
searching the offices for stuff when Sam the mischievous little
bean, started toward Chris's locker, just as he was given
permission to do so. He did however, mutter something about Enzo
being a tool. Probably because he insulted Batman. "Not my
problem, Samuel," he said with a smirk, suddenly deciding that
it might be nice to have a little fun with Sam, now that he knew
the kid's weakness. Maybe being stuck with the kid could be fun.
Sam seemed disappointed when he went through Chris's locker.
Enzo didn't blame him. He didn't fail to notice how empty it
was. And how it was even emptier once Sam was done with it. He
raised an eyebrow when Sam took the picture of Grace down,
slipping it into his pocket. The kid thought he was discreet. He
wasn't discreet. He wanted to say something, but he decided that
it might be best to leave that alone. Making fun of Batman was
one thing, but crushes were something different entirely. Or
were they? Who would Enzo be if he didn't push the envelope a
little?
He laughed when Sam asked if Chris liked him. "Well he
definitely won't if he finds that picture you took," he said
without looking at the kid. "Don't worry though, I'm not gonna
tell him anything." He smirked at the kid before sighing. "Nah,
kid, but, in all seriousness, yes, I think he likes you. Sorta.
Your crush on his almost-daughter is kinda weird, but he doesn't
want you to die or anything, if that makes you feel better," he
said with a shrug. He straightened up. "Alright, time to move,"
he said, ushering the boy toward other offices and rooms to
raid.
***
Enzo and Sam didn't find much in the other offices, but they did
manage to find an old radio that he thought might come in handy.
Enzo had no idea how to use the damn thing, but he was sure
Chris could make use of it somehow. Or Eli, since that guy was
an engineer, something Enzo was constantly forgetting. He had to
carry it by hand though, which made it hard to travel and even
harder to fight anything off if they were attacked. Which is
exactly why he tasked Sam with it. They met with the others in
the center of the precinct. They racked up pretty well. Eli and
Blake found some great weapons and stocked everyone up on
ammunition. Chris and Grace found a bunch of medical stuff that
Enzo did not understand. Blake also found a generator and Chris
found walkie talkies. They were set for a little bit if they
played their cards right.
Enzo would be lying if he said he didn't let his guard down for
a bit when they were all together again. He almost didn't hear
the whispers. He certainly didn't think anything of them. A man
and a woman whispering to one another? He thought, honestly,
that it was just Sam and Grace, since he wasn't actually playing
attention to the kids at the moment. However, he started hearing
screams and it snapped him back into reality. There were two
infected individuals, a man and woman, suddenly assaulting his
little gang. He drew his gun, shooting the man in the heart, but
the woman had already taken Eli to the ground. And Enzo had to
reload.[/center]
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Grace noticed that Chris didn't comment on her ex-boyfriend.
That was probably a good thing. She shouldn't have brought it up
to begin with. The story would just piss Chris off. The guy was
a shitty boyfriend and a shitty person all together. Plus,
talking about her dating life with the guy who was basically her
father was kinda weird. It was less weird when he did it.
Because, you know, he was older and not actively seeking anyone.
That she knew of. On top of that, Chris liked to give Grace
space, which was nice. Really nice. She would have probably run
away from him long ago if he was as overbearing as you would
expect a cop to be.
She sighed in relief when he said that his thing with the
Medical Examiner was before he met her. She figured, but she
needed to be sure. "I can understand that. It sucks having to
pick up and move right after you get settled somewhere," she
said, commenting on the fact that he didn't want to move down
south right after getting his own apartment. She and her mom
moved around so much as a kid that she never felt like any house
she had was a home. If she would have been able to change that
as a child, she would have. She frowned when Chris said that he
regretted not going with her, but couldn't help but smile once
he said that all changed when he took her in. "Glad I was useful
to somebody," she mused. She zipped up her backpack after
throwing in a few more vials of varying medicines and pill
bottles.
***
Grace followed Chris as he guided her through the precinct. He'd
managed to snag some walkie talkies, which Grace was
particularly excited for. They could all come up with codenames.
She'd also feel a lot better about Chris hunting and leaving her
at the cabin every day if she knew she had a direct line of
communication with him. Upon arriving in the central room, where
the rest of the group was, Grace noticed just how much they'd
managed to get from the precinct. Sam and Enzo got a radio and
Eli and Blake got a bunch of cool weapons and a generator. She
only hoped it would mean they could get hot water back at the
cabin.
Then all hell broke lose. Out of nowhere, these two figures
emerged from the back of the room, one charging at Eli and the
other toward Enzo and Sam. Grace screamed. They screamed. Eli
screamed. There was a lot of screaming. But all Grace had was a
knife, which she quickly opened, holding it in a panicked
stance. Enzo quickly took care of one of the former-humans,
shooting it and sending it tumbling to the ground. Grace
couldn't help but grab for Chris's arm at the sound, keeping the
knife held out away from them. Eli, on the other hand, wasn't
having the same luck as anyone else. The creature had him by the
neck, having leaped onto his back and pulled him to the ground.
She was clawing at him. Grace wasn't sure what she was trying to
accomplish, but she assumed that the infected weren't trying to
do anything. Anything but eat.[/center]
#Post#: 87--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 25, 2018, 1:28 am
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Blake was grateful to get a move on with things, Eli stopping
himself from rambling too much. They entered another room, and
Blake had spotted a small, portable generator, grabbing it right
away and working it into her bag. After that, however, she
didn't try to take anything else, knowing that she wouldn't be
able to carry it - she knew she needed to keep her hands free in
the event of an attack, which seemed unlikely at this point, but
you never knew.
They joined the others in the main area of the precinct before
long, weaving their way around desks. Chris and Grace had
managed to get walkie talkies, Blake nodding in approval. As
much as she didn't like the idea of anyone being able to talk to
her at anytime, it would be nice to have a way to communicate in
case of an emergency. As for Enzo and Sam, they had found a
small radio, Chris looking very pleased with their find. It
seemed like everyone had ended up making good use of their time,
their bags all filled to the brim. Hopefully, they wouldn't need
anything else for awhile.
It was the sound of whispers that finally alerted her again,
chills shooting up her spine as soon as she realized none of
them were talking. As soon as the realization hit, everything
moved in almost a blur, the sound of screams filling her ears.
She spun around just in time to see a serve-looking woman wrap
her arm around Eli's neck, shouting curses like what what left
of her life depended on it, eyes wide and wild as scratched at
his shoulders and knocked off his glasses. Blake could see that
look of terror on Eli's face.
Blake raised her gun, cocking it quickly as she tried to aim for
the monster's head. It was hard to focus with the amount of
thrashing they were both doing, but the second Blake had a good
shot, she took it, the bullet landing right between the infected
woman's eyes, which rolled into the back of her skull, letting
out a long and loud moan as she toppled to the floor. Blake
thought she saw her fingers twitch, so she shot at her again,
hitting her heart this time as she panted loudly, adrenaline
pumping through her body as quick as a racehorse. She blinked,
unsure if any of what had just happened had really occurred or
not, watching blood ooze from the infected's wounds.
Blake looked to Eli, and, without really thinking, rushed over
to him, taking in his now-bleeding shoulder. "Shit, are you
okay?" she asked, reaching down and grabbing his glasses,
offering them to him. "Did any blood get on you?" she went on
with her questions, scanning his body to see if there was any
traces of blood that wasn't his, holding him still by placing
her hands on both of his arms. It had been released to the
public right before they had fled that the infection was spread
through body fluids. Thankfully, she didn't spot any on him.
Thank god, she didn't really want to have to shoot Eli
too.[/center]
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Sam was very pleased with their little looting trip, clinging
onto a radio that Enzo had found. He wasn't pleased, of course,
with the fact that it seemed that Enzo knew about his crush on
Grace (which him seeing him shove that picture of her in his
pocket surely didn't help), but hey, they got what they came for
at least. Silver linings, right? Oh, and also, apparently, Mr.
Smith liked him, despite his crush on his kinda-daughter. At
least, that's how it seemed to Enzo.
He followed close behind Enzo has they entered the large, more
open area of the precinct, meeting up with the others. Sam
immediately smiled at Grace, happy to see that she was okay, not
that he had ever doubted that she would be. Really, he just
didn't like being away from her for that long and being left in
the care of an almost-stranger. He had discovered that he didn't
mind Enzo all that much, though. He just didn't like that he
thought that Batman was a tool. Obviously, the man had never
picked up a comic book before. If Batman was a tool, then so
were a lot of other cool heroes.
Anyway.
Sam had started to make his way over to Grace when he suddenly
heard sounds. He couldn't place exactly where they were coming
from, but they were there. They sounded almost like whispers,
but Sam also figured that the building they were in was pretty
old and probably made a lot of noises.
He was wrong.
The sound of screams echoed off the walls, and Sam recognized
one of the screams as his own as a crazed man came barreling
towards them. Thankfully, Enzo shot him right away, the man
falling and drawing his last breath. The man hadn't been alone
though, and Sam's eyes widened with horror as he was a pale,
ferocious woman clawing at Eli, the man trying to fight for his
life, but unable to.
Sam cursed inwardly, the woman doing the opposite. He glanced at
Enzo, only to see the man hurrying to try and re-load his gun.
He wasn't being fast enough. He then looked at Mr. Smith, whose
gun was raised but his eyes seemed almost distant, looking
frozen.
Shit, if he was scared, then they were truly doomed.
A shot rang out through the precinct, and Sam turned to see the
woman fall to the floor, blood pouring from the fresh wound in
her skull, causing Sam's stomach to turn. Blake had shot her. He
released a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Blake even
going as far as to shoot the woman again, the body twitching
before falling completely still, the grey floors turning a dark
red, a metallic stench reaching his nose. He wanted to hurl, but
refrained from doing so.
"Holy shit," he breathed out, placing a hand on his heart to
feel it beating wildly in his chest while Blake checked on Eli.
"Thanks, man," he said to Enzo, gripping the radio he had
miraculously managed not to drop tighter. "That was- Wow..."
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Chris and Grace were the last to arrive at the bullpen, Chris
finishing up re-zipping his backpack after putting enough walkie
talkies for everyone inside. He was glad that he had managed to
find so many for them. He figured everyone that had been here at
the time of the breakout would have taken a lot of their stuff
with them like Chris had. Of course, it wasn't like they had had
much time to clear out, and Chris had to leave most of his
things behind in the chaos of escaping their apartment.
Nonetheless, he had walkie talkies, and everyone else had
managed to find more useful items as well. Chris was especially
happy to see Sam holding a radio. It brought him a little bit of
comfort, though he wasn't sure if it would even work or be
useful at all. Still, it was better than nothing, he supposed.
If anything, there were probably a few stations still playing
music that he could find.
Everything seemed to have gone really well, until, suddenly,
Chris heard whispers. Right away, he drew out his gun, searching
for the source of the whispers, his eyes spotting a few drops of
blood on a nearby desk right before the sound of screams broke
out, signalling them all to the two figures who all but charged
at them. Everyone reacted instantly when spotting the infected,
Grace screaming as well as Sam, Enzo shooting the man infected,
but Eli was suddenly grabbed, Blake's eyes going wide and her
jaw dropping in shock. Chris, however, was frozen in place.
As he stared at the body tearing at Eli, he realized that he
recognized her. She had been one of his partners - a fellow cop.
They had worked together for quite some time before Chris got a
new partner. Her name was Eve. She had a husband and three small
children. He believed the oldest one had just turned seven
recently.
His finger twitched against the trigger of his gun, but nothing
happened. He just stared wide-eyed at the face of someone he
once called a friend. He could barely tell it was her anymore.
He could barely tell that she was still, in some ways, human.
All that seemed left of her now was a shell filled with a
violent, incurable rage. He wondered how this could have
happened to her. He wondered where her family was. He almost
didn't register the sound of a gunshot, a bullet passing through
her skull as she cried out, collapsing the ground.
It was the second shot that broke him out of his spell, causing
him to blink a few times before his mind returned fully to him.
"Shit, Eli," he said quickly, looking over at the bleeding,
disheveled, terrified man. Blake was already by his side,
checking on him. Chris couldn't even be surprised by her
actions, still in his own state of shock, his heart continuing
to pound in his chest as he avoided glancing back down at the
body that was slowly bleeding out on the floor. He hadn't even
been able to help him. He froze. He never froze. What had gotten
into him?[/center]
#Post#: 88--------------------------------------------------
Re: Grace & Enzo & Elijah (21)
By: winterssmary Date: December 25, 2018, 11:40 pm
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Eli had been panicked a few times in his life. He'd been nervous
constantly, but never experienced sheer terror like this before.
And what was funny was that he wasn't even that panicked about
someone strangling him and clawing at his shoulders and chest.
What really got to Eli was when he lost his glasses and the
world turned into a giant dark blur. Being unaware was much more
terrifying than being helpless to the weird little man. He
couldn't tell what was happening to him, or his new friends. And
his screams grew more horrifying when he realized that he had no
idea where the gunshot came from.
He'd basically accepted his inevitable death when he heard
another gunshot, followed by the relief of the weight dropping
from his shoulders, the arm dropping from around his neck, and
the moan from the woman who'd just been shot behind him. He sat
up, pulling his knees to his chest and panting. He had no idea
who pulled the trigger, since all the shapes and movement became
impossible to read underneath the blur of the world without his
glasses. He buried his face in his hands, which were shaking
uncontrollably, trying anything he could to steady his
heartbeat, or slow his breathing, or stop trembling. It wasn't
working.
He closed his eyes tightly, only to snap them open when he heard
a voice, one that he'd been familiarizing himself with since
they raided the precinct. He snapped to attention, rubbing his
eyes, but he still couldn't see anything. Well, anything aside
from the mass of long, dark hair, confirming his suspicions.
Blake had been the one to save him. He grabbed for his glasses
when she handed them to him, finally letting the world come back
into focus. He tried to form words, but couldn't at first. He
still couldn't breathe properly, so speaking was completely out
of the question. He merely nodded when she asked if he was okay
and shook his head when she asked if he had gotten blood on him.
The fragile man did everything he could to steady his voice and
rise to his feet, but he was still shaking, so this was awkward.
"You-y-y, you sav-sa, you saved my life," he finally choked out,
making eye contact with the woman for the first time since his
near-death-experience. Without thinking, he reached out, arms
trembling, and wrapped himself around her, hugging the
very-not-affectionate-or-social woman. "Th-thank you," he
whispered, before his eyes widened and he pulled away from her,
clearing his throat. [/center]
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Enzo was still in a frenzy to reload his gun, since it seemed
apparent that Chris wasn't going to pull the trigger. Enzo
thought, for a moment, that the cop might have been lying about
his profession earlier, since this didn't make sense. But then
he realized that he vaguely recognized the woman attacking Eli.
He didn't know her personally, but he recognized her from the
picture of her by the lockers. She was an officer. Chris knew
her, didn't he? Enzo wanted to say something, anything to push
Chris into pulling the damn trigger, even if it meant killing
his former co-worker. Something about it not being her or
something.
Luckily, it didn't come to that. Because, contrary to popular
belief, Blake does do the right thing when she needs to. And it
Blake that pulled the trigger and effectively killed the woman
who attacked Eli. "Nice shot," he breathed, his shoulders
dropping in relief. The woman then rushed over to the fallen
man, who, in turn, stuttered for a good ninety seconds before
having the audacity to hug her. He stifled an 'aw,' since this
was a serious moment and he needed to keep his thoughts to
himself. He'd be sure to bring it up once enough time had passed
and he could make fun of this situation without being deemed
'insensitive.'
When Sam thanked Enzo, he couldn't help but grab him by the
shoulder and turn the boy to face him. He wanted to yell at him
about going to Grace instead of being careful. He wanted to yell
about this little twerp endangering himself because he wasn't
cautious. But why? Enzo just met this kid. The only thing they
talked about was Batman and his school-boy crush. Why did he
give a shit. He stopped himself from saying anything too rash
though. "Don't ever run into a situation without scoping the
scene first, kid," he said bluntly, but it didn't make much
sense. He sighed. "You're okay, right? Nothing got a hold of
you?"
He glanced out at the group, Eli barely standing on his feet,
Grace looking both confused and mortified, Sam looking
completely out of it, Blake seeming almost relieved, and then
there was Chris. Who was distant. Enzo scanned the scene
briefly. He didn't see signs of any other infected, but the
sound of struggle and gunshots might attract more. Besides, this
place was starting to bring down everyone's mood. "Should we get
going?"[/center]
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Grace had fully expected Chris to dispose of the infected rather
quickly. After all, his gun was drawn before anyone else's and
he'd had the most training in shooting people. The logical chain
of events would involve him taking care of things. But, Grace
noticed how much his muscles tensed when the woman attacked Eli
and it terrified her. She'd depended on this man -- so much that
she literally hid behind him and held onto his arm when she
started hearing the screams -- and, yet, he froze. It was so out
of character for him and Grace couldn't help but be very, very
confused by his lack of action. "Are you okay?" she whispered
after Blake killed the woman.
She folded her knife back, letting go of Chris, but still
staying close to him. She looked over at Sam, who'd also
narrowly avoided being seriously hurt. She wanted to run over to
him, to make sure nothing had grabbed him or anything, but it
seemed like Enzo was already taking care of that. She'd just be
sure to talk to him later. Instead, she needed to stay with
Chris, who looked scarred, as if he'd just seen a ghost. That
was when it occurred to Grace that she'd been completely
ignoring the possibility that he knew the now-dead woman. She
didn't know for sure, since Chris didn't bring his work home
with him as often as you'd think. She decided not to ask right
now, since she wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it. "We're
all okay, Chris," she said quietly. "Eli's okay. You're okay.
Everyone's okay," she added. [/center]
#Post#: 89--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 26, 2018, 2:09 am
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Eli seemed a bit at a loss for words at first, which was
understandable - the man had almost just been killed. He simply
nodded and shook his head to Blake's questions, but at least he
was responding, right? Finally, he rose to his feet, glasses
back in place as he shook almost violently. Blake wasn't quite
sure what to do, standing back up herself and staring at the
beanstalk. He eventually spoke, stuttering his words out,
stating the obvious that she had just saved his life. What else
was she supposed to do, really? She couldn't have just let him
get infected or eaten. Sure, she didn't care for people, but
that didn't mean that she wanted to see them die - even if they
were an awkward, stuttering, shaky bean pole.
Then, suddenly, Eli's gaze wasn't the most intense thing in the
room, Blake finding herself being enveloped in a hug made of
long, thin, but warm limbs, the heat spreading to her cheeks.
She quickly stiffened, not quite sure what to do with herself,
her hands hovering awkwardly by Eli's sides, not touching him at
all. This was weird. This was definitely weird. She hadn't been
hugged in god knows how long, and she didn't like hugs. She
didn't like hugs at all. In fact, she didn't enjoy people
touching her in general.
Eli thanked her, and although she hated just about all forms of
physical contact, she couldn't get the heat in her cheeks to
vanish. It was probably just due to embarrassment. She knew that
probably everyone was staring at them. Thankfully though, Eli
seemed to fairly quickly notice his mistake, drawing away from
her almost as quickly as he had thrown himself around her,
clearing his throat.
"Uh," she began, finally finding her voice now that he was no
longer around her. "You're welcome, I guess," she said a bit
awkwardly, her muscles slowly starting to relax, fingers
twitching by her side. "Don't do that again," she added quickly
before turning around and starting to make her way back to the
door they had entered through as fast as she could.
***
After they had left the precinct, they had all agreed to try and
find a grocery store to loot, knowing that they needed more food
and more food fast. All they had left as far as food went is a
little bit of rabbit, and whatever else each of them had had
before they had all met, which wasn't mush at all.
Really, Blake had just been thankful that no one had brought up
that awkward moment back in the precinct. She'd probably
threaten their life if someone did bring it up. Unless, of
course, it was Eli. In that case, she'd probably just scold him
and move on. She was certain that he knew now that it was better
not to touch her.
Blake sighed as she wondered down the aisles of the torn-apart
store, grabbing snacks and other non-perishable items she could
find. So far she had a lot of jerky, some peanut butter, rice,
and trail mix. It wasn't a lot, but it was much better than
nothing, and she knew everyone else was grabbing things as well.
She rounded the corner to the hygiene section, knowing exactly
what else she'd need for herself.
They had all split up by this point, the grocery store pretty
small. Well, at least, she had split up from everyone, but she
had her walkie talkie and a new gun full of ammo. Honestly,
after what went down at the precinct, she just wanted to be
alone, even if it was just for a few minutes. She had just shot
a person, and, sure, they weren't really much of a person
anymore, but after Blake had recovered from her awkward
encounter with Eli, she had seen the look on Chris's face and
had looked back down at the body he had been staring at,
noticing for the first time that the woman had been wearing a
police uniform. There was no doubt in her mind that Chris had
known her, and had probably know her pretty well. It made her
feel even worse, even though she knew that she had done the
right thing. Chris just needed to realize that the people he
knew, once they were infected, weren't people anymore. At least,
not the people they used to be. Once infected, people just
became violent, hopeless monsters with incredible strength. It
was like nothing mattered to them besides tearing apart
everything in their path.
Blake spotted what she had been looking for, picking up the box
of tampons before shoving them into her jacket. For some reason,
she still felt kind of shy about such things. Maybe it was
because men typically related normal female functions to things
that were 'gross.' Sorry her suffering was such an
inconvenience.
Blake started to walk away before she suddenly spotted Grace out
of the corner of her eye, Sam keeping close, but looking pretty
distracted, as usual. Quickly, she grabbed the second box of
tampons, striding over to Grace and swiftly pressing the box
against her chest, waiting for her to take it before she walked
away, moving towards the alcohol. All they had was wine, which
she wasn't crazy about, and beer, which she also wasn't fond of,
but it was something. Truthfully, she preferred the harder
stuff, like whiskey, but in times like these, she couldn't be
picky.[/center]
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Sam saw Eli bring Blake into a hug before Enzo was on him,
scolding his actions like he was supposed to know that two
infected crazy people were waiting to attack. None of them had
suspected anything, that much was obvious, so why Enzo was
yelling at him, he wasn't quite sure. Of course, the guy did
quickly take a step back, asking if he was alright.
"Uh, yeah," he decided, glancing back down at the two bodies on
the floor. "I mean, I just watched two people die, but, uh,
yeah, I guess things could be worse. I could be dead," he
considered before shaking his head and pulling his eyes away
from the corpses. He couldn't believe any of that had just
really happened. It was like one minute they were all doing
super well, and then the next, they had almost died. Or, well,
Eli had almost died.
Sam looked to the others, Eli pulling away from a shocked Blake,
and Grace seemingly comforting a startled looking Mr. Smith. He
never thought he'd see that - Mr. Smith looking so unnerved. It
made him feel a little more uneasy himself considering how Mr.
Smith had been like his rock these past few weeks. The man never
seemed to break under any sort of pressure, but there he was,
looking like he had just been defrosted from an iceberg.
"Yeah, lets get out of here," he agreed.
***
The visit to the grocery store was much more cheery, Sam finding
himself completely distracted from what had just occurred at the
precinct, grabbing as much food as he could carry, which was
mostly granola bars. He just wasn't really sure what could keep
for awhile and what could not. He had never shopped for "End of
the World" food. All he knew is that granola bars were usually a
safe bet, and they came in many varieties. Of course, Sam had
never shopped in a grocery store that had almost been completely
ravaged either.
"Hey Grace," he called, walking over the the girl, holding out
some granola bars. "You want some of these?" he offered, smiling
all dopey-like. He figured after the precinct, she'd need some
cheering up. "You know what they say, a granola bar a day keeps
the infected away!" [/center]
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Chris felt slightly better as Eli got to his feet, embracing
Blake as he thanked her, calming down a bit. He still couldn't
even find himself barely fazed by Eli's sudden reaction to being
saved, still trying to get over the fact that the woman they had
just killed was his old partner. His friend. He had never lost a
fellow officer before, but he had known it was a possibility.
Just not like this. She couldn't even die human. She died as
some twisted, violent, unhinged version of who she used to be -
sharing nothing more than a body with her old self.
It was awful.
Grace somewhat snapped him out of his thoughts again, asking if
he was okay as she let go of him, reminding him that they were
all alright. "I know," he said, sounding more like he was trying
to convince himself as he once again teared his eyes away from
the corpse.
I know," he repeated, sounding more sure this time as he offered
Grace a weak smile, the corners of his mouth twitching as he
placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.
"I'll be alright. I promise," he said to her, pulling her in for
a quick hug.
Enzo asked if they were ready to go, Blake already heading in
the direction as Chris pulled away from Grace, avoiding the
corpses on the ground. "Yes, lets go."
***
Chris remained fairly quite as they traversed through the
grocery store, most of them splitting up temporarily after
searching the place, in search of their own things. He, of
course, was mainly just concerned about having enough food,
avoiding all things that needed refrigeration. He mainly stuck
to canned goods, grabbing beans and corn and fruits. Really,
there wasn't much left after the store had been obviously raided
previously.
Chris grabbed what he could find, filling his bag rather
quickly. He also grabbed some toilet paper, figuring it would
make life just a little more comfortable, and then grabbing more
things like toothpaste and shampoo. He decided that if it was
there, he might as well just take it. If they could afford these
small things (which they could, because everything was suddenly
free in the end times) then he would take them while he still
could. He knew it would only be harder to live without them
again once everything was used up, but they were still easing
their way into things.
After stuffing his bag with foods and useful items, he managed
to catch up with Eli, approaching the man from in front to avoid
startling him. "Hey," he greeted the other man. "How's your
shoulder doing?" he asked, observing the drying blood on the
man's shoulder, his shirt starting to stick to it. "I'm sure
Grace could patch you up once we stop long enough," he told him,
giving him a reassuring smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.
"Or maybe even Blake could, if you'd prefer that," he added
teasingly, chucking only slightly.[/center]
#Post#: 90--------------------------------------------------
Grace & Enzo & Elijah (22)
By: winterssmary Date: December 27, 2018, 6:09 am
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After all the drama at the precinct, everyone thought it would
be a good idea to loot a grocery store. Enzo agreed. They needed
food. Especially Sam, who'd been complaining about being hungry
since they left the cabin. And Eli, who complained about being
hungry a lot. And, well, everyone. They were all hungry. They'd
all been living on a calorie intake of less than a thousand a
day with little water and constant movement. It was a wonder
they had retained any muscle mass at all. So, they needed
protein. And vegetables and all that other special healthy shit.
They needed to take everything they could to help them get
through the next little bit.
And yet, Enzo wanted nothing to do with the post-apocalyptic
grocery shopping. He figured that everyone else could grab this
stuff, since they seemed more concerned with it than him.
Besides, there were five other people looking for food and
toiletries. Was it really necessary for him to try and beat them
to everything? No, no it wasn't. So, instead, Enzo went for the
more fun option. There was a bar next to the grocery store and
he knew that they'd need a pick-me-up after everything that
happened to them in the precinct. And, if by some miracle, they
didn't, they could always use it to celebrate a successful raid
on the city, right?
So there he was, behind the bar, where he felt most at home,
filing through all the liquor on the shelves. He knew how it
worked here: if a bottle was open, odds are, the liquor on the
label wasn't what was in the bottle. But it would still get them
drunk, he supposed. He grabbed what he could -- mostly whisky,
scotch, and vodka -- and put them in his bag. He then went for
tequila, his personal favorite, and grabbed a few glasses to
match -- shot glasses as well as plain whisky glasses. He stored
everything carefully in his bag, but knew that if he moved
slowly and them put them on the inside of the truck, he could
preserve pretty much everything.
He nearly jumped when he heard footsteps behind him, but soon
realized that it was just Blake. He didn't know why she'd
followed him here, but he assumed, after what she did for Eli,
that she was feeling oddly protective over the bunch today.
"Thought we could use this sort of thing," he said with a shrug.
"What's your drink?" he asked, ready to grab whatever her
favorite was. [/center]
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Grace was still uneasy going into the grocery store. How could
she not be? She just watched two almost-people get shot, one of
her new companions nearly get eaten, and Chris freeze in fear.
He'd never done that before. Chris and Sam were Grace's only
source of strength since the outbreak, Chris being the thing
that made her feel the most safe. Seeing him like that was
heartbreaking. And terrifying. She was trying to get over it.
Really. She knew that he said he was fine. He even hugged her.
Everything was supposed to be fine now, right? Then why was she
still so on edge all the time? It seemed like everything was
freaking her out, even the grocery store, which was relatively
laid back, considering the day they'd been having.
But there she was, standing in the middle of the aisle, looking
and looking, but she couldn't focus on what she wanted. Or
needed. She tried to stick with non-perishable foods, like
cereals and dried fruits and stuff, but she just couldn't stop
worrying about grabbing the wrong thing or something. After
grabbing what she could of the food -- without completely
freaking out -- she decided to go for hygienic products. They
needed various soaps -- for dishes and laundry and also
themselves -- and she felt like she was going to stab someone if
she didn't get some shampoo and conditioner for her hair. Sure,
they were nonessential, but she had the room to carry them, so
why not? That was when she felt something hit her chest,
causing her to stumble backward. Blake had just casually and
silently slapped her with a box of tampons. She sighed in
relief, completely forgetting that these would be necessary. And
soon, if she remembered correctly. "Thank you," she said
quietly.
But Blake was already walking away from her. Wow. Okay. Rude.
She quickly slipped them into her bag before she heard Sam call
her name. He walked over to her, a stupid grin on his face, and
she couldn't help but smile, instantly feeling a little better.
The boy was weird, but he had a way about making people feel
better that amazed her. He held a granola bar out to her, and
she took it quickly, even going as far to take a bite of it.
"Thank you," she said with a grin. That was when he said that
awful, awful phrase.
A granola bar a day keeps the infected away!
And she almost spat out her granola, but she held her hand over
her mouth as she laughed, almost uncontrollably. Almost. She was
able to calm herself down long enough to finally chew and
swallow the damn thing. "Sammy, you're wonderful, you know
that?" she said, still trying to keep her laughter under
control. "But that was horrible. Don't ever say that again," she
teased.[/center]
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Eli was still pretty shaken from the precinct. He almost died.
That was a big deal. He couldn't stop looking over his shoulder
and jumping at literally every sound he heard. He was doing his
best to be vigilant, especially with Blake almost immediately
distancing herself from him. Was it odd that he felt safe with
this woman because she saved his life once? Maybe. Did it
matter? Absolutely not. So, when she completely ditched the
grocery store, he felt oddly vulnerable, despite Chris being not
too far away. Of course, Chris wasn't exactly helpful in the
precinct. Eli forgave it, obviously, but he was still pretty
nervous.
He went for pasta and rice in the grocery store, since they were
both filling, lasted a long time, and easy to work with. Plus,
even Eli, who couldn't cook to save his life, could make pasta
and rice without destroying the kitchen. He grabbed what she
could before going for other canned goods and stuff. He'd also
grabbed some bandages and ointments from the first aid section.
He had just finished putting the last few items in his bag when
he noticed a form coming toward him. He looked up quickly,
almost reaching for his taser before he realized that it was
just Chris. He sighed in relief.
"Hi Chris," he said softly, trying to look more confident. Was
it working? Probably not. He blinked at his question. "My
shoulder?"
he asked, before remembering that he'd been clawed. Honestly,
he was still so anxious from the assault that he didn't really
feel his injuries. "It's fine, I guess," he said. "It hasn't
really started hurting yet. You know, adrenaline and all," he
explained with a shrug. He then smiled when he said that Grace
would probably patch him up later, and frowned when he teased
him about Blake. "I don't think Blake likes me very much," he
said. It sucked. It'd be nice if the person who saved his life
seemed to enjoy his company a little bit. But they did just
meet. So it wasn't that weird, right? [/center]
#Post#: 91--------------------------------------------------
Blake│Samuel│Christian
By: Zellaphone Date: December 27, 2018, 10:49 pm
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After looking in the alcohol section of the grocery store for
about ten minutes, Blake decided that everything they had wasn't
worth her time. She did, however, grab a bottle of wine and a
bottle of champagne, just in case that was someone else's
preference, but she didn't bother with the beer. The shit tasted
like dishwater anyways, not that she liked wine all that much
better. It was better than nothing, really.
However, after grabbing the alcohol, she remembered the bar
right next door, glancing around the grocery store and noticing
that Enzo wasn't present. She figured that that had to be where
he was, and it wasn't a bad idea at all. At least there she
could get the good booze. So, she made her way over to the bar,
wanting to make sure that Enzo had at least grabbed some
whiskey. After the time they've been having in this group, she
was going to need something with a bit of a kick. Of course, she
figured she'd now have to watch her intake - she didn't want to
be drunk next time they got attacked.
Blake entered the bar, seeing Enzo grab some tequila. She
quickly sneaked a peak into his backpack as she approached,
noticing that he had, indeed, already grabbed some whiskey as
well as some of her other favorites. Enzo shrugged after
noticing her, explaining that he felt like they could use the
alcohol. Well, he wasn't wrong. After the shit they had just
went through and witnessed, she was certain they did. She
wouldn't blame the kids, Eli, or Chris for wanting to get a bit
buzzed later on. Chris especially looked like he was having a
hard time, seeing as how he fucking froze when they were under
attack. He was a cop, right? That's the last reaction a cop is
supposed to have during an attack. Wasn't he trained for things
like that? Sure, he probably knew the woman she had killed, but
still. If it weren't for her being able to move fast, Eli would
be dead.
"Some bourbon would be nice," she said, not remembering seeing
any of that in his bag. "But I'll probably just stick with the
whiskey, mostly," she added, taking a seat at the bar. "Anything
to make this situation easier," she grumbled, already itching
for a sip of something, but refraining from asking.
***
The ride back out of the city was thankfully pretty easy. They
still had to pass by the occasional body with the smell of death
lingering in the air, but they didn't stumble across anymore
trouble. It also helped that they didn't have to be searched
again when exiting the city. She guessed no one care what
happened to people as long as it wasn't inside largely populated
areas. Outside of the city, no one had protection. There were no
guards or walls, but at least it was open land. Building that
wall had basically just trapped most of the problem in with
innocent people to suffer.
Assholes.
Oh well, at least she was out of there.
Later that night, they built another fire, all of them a bit
more quiet than usual. Chris didn't even say a word, simply
poking at the fire when it started to die down. It made things a
little awkward, but Blake didn't mind the silence. Really, she
preferred it, though it seemed like others didn't share her
sentiment. The only sounds that were really made besides the
occasional, short conversations were the sounds of Eli starting
to sniffle, as well as Sam, one of them sneezing every now and
again, no doubt getting colds from the rain the previous night.
Of course, the silence didn't last that long, Eli whipping out
his ukulele and singing some song she had never even heard of.
IT wouldn't surprise her if he had made the song himself, and he
sang very, very well, but it didn't make Blake want to die any
less. It's like she couldn't have a moments peace.
Still, she supposed it was better than listening to a bad singer
sing. She could see why he wanted to be a musician. He had
talent. She just wished that he didn't have to showcase that
talent at the most awkward of times.
After the fire died out, they all settled down for bed, Chris
and Enzo taking the inside of the truck while Sam and Grace took
the bed of the truck, leaving herself and Eli to sleep on the
ground. It was like the universe was trying to force Eli on her.
It was a bit aggravating, if she was being honest, but at least
they'd just be sleeping. They wouldn't be talking.
Blake slid into her sleeping bag, immediately turning away from
the human toothpick who was still continuously sniffling. At
least she couldn't hear Sam anymore, but there was still no way
she was going to get any sleep if he continued, not that she
slept well anyways, but still. [/center]
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Sam grinned as Grace accepted the offered granola bar, already
starting to eat it as she laughed at Sam's saying about granola
bars and the infected. He was glad he could make her smile and
laugh since that had been the original goal, but when she called
him wonderful, he was beaming with joy himself. She thought he
was wonderful? She thought he was wonderful! It made heat rise
into his cheeks, but, of course, he had felt weirdly warm all
day as it was. Nonetheless, he continued to smile as she told
him to never say anything like that again.
"No promises," he told her happily, opening a granola bar for
himself. "I tend to say stupid stuff all the time." He would
have to think of more silly things to say for later. He'd say
anything just to get Grace to laugh and smile like that again.
Maybe she'd even refer to him as wonderful again, with maybe an
added playful punch?
***
Sam kept his head down the majority of the ride out of the city,
sighing in relief when they didn't have to go through another
checkpoint at the gates. He was certain that he was bruised from
the last search after the way those men had grabbed him.
Everyone probably was.
Around the fire that night, things were pretty awkward. That is,
until Eli decided to sing for him. Sam, who had been pretty
quiet and jittery, leaned forward, excited to hear Eli play and
sing. He didn't disappoint, either, singing some original song
and singing it super well. The man had a mind-bending voice. Sam
was instantly entranced, swaying along with the song until it
was over. He was glad Eli had done that - it had helped lighten
the mood and cheer him up. Blake looked like she was ready to
pitch herself into the nearby flames though.
Once the fire died, they all went off to bed, Sam and Grace
snagging the trunk of the truck, which was way better than
sleeping on the ground, he decided. It was actually kind of
romantic, not that he was actively thinking of that. They
weren't going to gaze up at the stars together and hold hands.
They'd just... gaze up at the stars and not speaking as they try
and fall asleep. Besides, Chris wouldn't be that far away, and
would more than likely be looking out to them every now and
again.
Sam sneezed once again, having been doing so since they started
to leave the city. He was positive now that he had a cold, but
there wasn't all the much he could do about it. He hadn't
grabbed any medicines for colds of anything, so he figured he
was just screwed, which was fine. Chances were high that he
wouldn't die from a silly cold, right?[/center]
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Eli seemed a bit on-edge as Chris approached him, but,
thankfully, he stated that his shoulder seemed fine, probably
due to the adrenaline. Well, the scratches didn't look all that
deep, but he knew they would probably start to hurt once they
all went to bed. Things always seemed to hurt worse at bedtime.
Eli also mentioned that he didn't think Blake liked him very
much, and Chris bit back a chuckle. Well, he didn't think that
at all, but he could see why Eli would.
“I think she’s just more cautious of people. Maybe she’ll open
up to you a bit more if you ask. She seems like she’s getting a
bit of a soft spot for you," Chris explained to him with a small
smile that was slightly forced. He just wasn't feeling too
chipper after the precinct. He saw how everyone was starting to
look at him differently, even Grace. Especially Grace. Really,
that's what hurt him more than anything. He felt like he had
failed her by not being able to continuously prove that he could
stay strong and be her rock in any situation, but the truth was,
he couldn't. He had always known that, and maybe he should have
told her that before, but he had always assumed that that was
something that she would never want to hear, because he knew it
wasn't. No one that has gone through what she has would want to
hear that the person that they looked up to couldn't always be
the hero they thought they were. Chris wasn't a hero, he was
just a person, and a person that had been faced with the option
of killing whatever was left of someone he had considered a
friend.
Chris knew that his thoughts were probably causing him to look
rather grin, realizing that his smile had slipped. "Well, I'm
glad you're alright," he said, patting Eli's good shoulder. "I'd
hate to see something happen to you."
***
Chris remained quiet throughout the entire drive out of the
city, ignoring the carnage they passed by, having had his fill
for the day. He also didn't say much around the fire either,
eating along with everyone else and smiling when it was
necessary. Thankfully, no one else seemed rather chatty either.
He felt like he was partially responsible. What he had done was
the elephant in the room, but he hoped that by tomorrow it would
no longer be. Although, the next time they were in a sticky
situation, no one would probably count on him as much.
Eli, at one point, started to sing, but Chris was too lost in
thought to really pay all that much attention, only thinking
that Eli had a beautiful voice. He really just wanted to lie
down for the night. He had to watch a shell of his old partner
attack one of his new friends and be shot down twice in front of
him. Eli had almost died, and he had done nothing about it
because he let personal reasons get in his way. He knew that he
old friend had already been as good as dead, but seeing her face
just made it too hard to act fast enough. No one had ever taught
him how to kill and live with killing a friend.
Chris eventually let the fire go out after they had eaten,
situating themselves for bed. Chris decided to take watch,
avoiding people's gaze as he climbed into the driver's seat,
only reclining it slightly so he could watch out the window for
any threats. He knew his mind was going to be racing too much to
sleep anyway. Plus, Sam and Grace were sleeping together in the
back, and he didn't want to go too long without glancing back at
the two as they fell asleep.[/center]
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