Mission: Z, IC

JJ

The Mom Friend
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
  2. 1-3 posts per day
  3. One post per day
Online Availability
I use Iwaku on my phone also so usually if I'm awake, I'm reachable.
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
Modern, Fantasy, Horror, Action, Feral. I can get with pretty much anything as long as it is enough to hold my interest. I do not like RP that -specifically- revolves around romance, but I do like romance being a sub-plot if the RP calls for it.
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Please do not post here until your character has been approved by an admin. Any questions can be directed to @JJ, @VengefulPeanut, or @Dakota K5 thanks!

If you wish to apply to join, please PM @JJ! :) We are always tentatively accepting skilled writers.
 
Last edited:
4nAuzQs.jpg


Location: No.1, Ballamory
Interactions: Dexter (Collab with JJ)


With the beaming afternoon sun piercing between the empty panels of the weathered window frame, the ambience of the breeze and bird song was about the only sound present for a while. A serenity, albeit brief, had fallen over the newfound settlement of Ballamory. Not long established, the perimeter defences were still make-shift at best and the first foundations of agriculture were just forming. Despite some of the protests towards its naming, none in the group could gripe with the location. An old, under-construction residency that had been abandoned to a fate of non-completion was now fulfilling the purpose it was originally intended to have. The surrounding area was mainly woodland, the main town centre about a twenty minute walk away. It was ideal: low foot traffic, low infected traffic. Still, serenity only lasts so long.


Crash.


"Ouch! Oh, bugger me, that stings!" Evie cried out, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs after bouncing her way down each one of them.


Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, where he’d been hard at work making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Dexter paused, butter knife in hand, once the thump-thump-thump in the stairwell had finished. He was, at this point, well used to Evie’s clumsiness, but falling down the stairs was a first. These stairs, at least. So far. Setting the knife down on the counter, he peered around the doorway from the kitchen that led into the hallway just in time to see Hero following the ginger down the stairs, albeit of his own volition rather than gravity’s. The dog stood on the bottom two stairs, tail thumping against the wall, head tilted quizzically as he stared down at Evie as if to ask her why she’d needed to get down in such a hurry that she couldn’t just walk.


“You okay down there?” He asked, managing to hide the smirk that threatened to blow his cover. Taking a few steps down the hallway, he extended a hand to help her up. “You know, if you’re in that much of a rush to eat PB&J for the third time this week, you could have just told me to make them faster.”


"Oh, ha-ha, didn't realize you'd become the comedian of the group," she retorted, taking his hand and rising to her feet with a slight groan.


“I haven’t.” He replied. “But when I see an opening I have to take it. You okay though?”


"Y-yeah, I'm good. Was just off in my own world for a moment, forgot to look where I was going," she answered, flashing him a smile before turning away to grimace slightly from the dull throbbing. Finally letting go of his hand, she took a step back from him creating a little bit of distance. "Thank you," she hummed, quite earnestly. Maybe a little more seriously than the situation required.


“Be careful next time.” He grinned, kneeling down to wrestle with the dog who came towards him. “Anyway, you wanna grab everyone? Sandwiches are pretty much done.”

"Sure, thing," Evie answered.


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Otto White
Location:No.1, Ballamory

-
Otto stalked along the abandoned streets as the morning fog rolled around his legs, his rifle cradled in his arms with a sling supporting most of it's weight. He sighed as he came to a stop and sat against a half finished wall, he pulled back the charging handle of his rifle and checked the chamber in what was becoming a bit of a habit when he had nothing else to do. The whole rifle was in fine working order of course but old habits die hard.
He had put forward the idea of going out to the surrounding woodlands and trying to hunt fresh game but it was agreed that any gunfire would probably draw infected or worse bandits, he stood again and continued to walk his patrol, while hunting was out he did set up some traps for smaller animals such as squirrels and possums which he was going to be checking soon and hopefully get them all something fresh to eat and not more canned goods because if he had to eat another one of Dex's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches he was going to put his head through a wall. He arrived at the first trap to find nothing but the second and third did yield two fat squirrels while the forth had a six foot rattle snake which he took after cutting it's head off, all three animals were attached to his belt as he finished his patrol and started to make his way back to the main building where they were all staying.
-----

On person:
1x PTR91 rifle (caliber 7.62x51/308)
4x 20rnd magazines
1x knife
1x canteen (Full)

Backpack (At apartment):
300x ammunition
13x magazines
1x medkit
 
Cecilio & Ringo
Location: Ballamory
Interaction: Otto
Cecilio made his return from the patrol he made after returning to check on their farming layout still working on a irrigation system to water for them instead of having to do so for the crops. Ringo bounded along side him panting as seemed eager to be getting back having found an old baseball to claim as a new toy for a while at least until he either lost it to Hero or it was forgotten again. In a slight positive turn Cecilio had found some Persimmons and wild Okra growing near by the wooded area. He still bore hesitations about the towns name but the more he though of it the more he didn't mind it. He spotted Otto and waved his hand to the man of course not wanting to be shot at by mistake. He did feel the need to tell Otto he found an Alligator that for some reason decided the streets were a nice pace to sunbathe though it wasn't doing anything and frankly the animal wasn't in their way to warrant killing it though he was getting increasingly sick of PB&J for 3 square meals and alligator was starting to sound more and more appetizing as he thought about it.

"Hey Otto...Seems we got a rather thick skinned guest that might be interested in being dinner..." He said addressing the man seeing that the traps he made managed to actually work and catch animals. At this point Okra and meat sound like a winning combination topped off with some fruit for dessert. Cecilio's new fatigues still looked comparatively better to his other clothing from before. "Also seems the woods have a good bit of boars...If we can get Evie to kill one we might be able to have something other than damned sandwiches for once or maybe we can kill the gator."

--------------------------
Inventory
1x Colt Le901-16s w/ 4-14x scope & bayonet
3x Rifle Magazines (4 loaded)
1x P226 Pistol (9mm)
2x Pistol Magazines (2 loaded)

1x Large canteen ( 2/4 Full)
1x Bowie Knife


At Apartment:
2 lb's of dog kibble
Assorted hygiene items

1x 7 string acoustic guitar
1x Trauma kit
1x Pump Shotgun
12x 12G buckshot
Condiments
1x Riot Gear suit​
 
[fieldbox="Dexter | Location: Ballamory HQ, darkorange, solid"]

uHBb1iN.jpg


Retreating to the kitchen as Evie set out to find the others, Dexter finished the sandwich he'd been working on and then tossed the butter knife into the sink to wash later. Their water supply was limited to the reserves in the tank beneath the cul-de-sac, and since none of them knew exactly how long it would last, they'd opted to restrict the water usage to keep it as long as they could. Piling the half-dozen sandwiches on the large plate on the counter, he took them to the dining room and placed them on the table, dropping into a chair.

Since "founding" Ballamory (and letting Evie of all people name it), things had sort of settled into a comfortable rhythm. In a matter of days the group of six managed to put up a decent perimeter, made mostly of 4x4s, paneling and fencing left over from when this place was still under construction. There were nine houses in a half-circle, four of which were completed and already furnished, two half-finished, and three with only the bare skeleton of a house erected. These proved to be much more helpful than actual completed houses would have been, as they supplied most of the materials used to fortify the perimeter.

The centered two level, four-bedroom house that he and Evie lived in had become sort of a "headquarters" for their little ragtag group, even though the rest had chosen to room elsewhere. The bottom levels of the half completed houses were habitable, which meant that had everyone wanted, they could each have a house to themselves. But that option hadn't seemed palatable to him. Dexter had thought that he was happy on the road, fending for only himself, and Hero. But after linking up with Otto and Evie, he'd come to realize that it was a lie he'd told himself just to keep from going insane from loneliness. And when Marcus, Jesse and Elizabeth joined them, it only solidified his opinion. And he had a feeling that it was for the same reason that Evie had chosen to stay here, as well. They were both reluctant to be alone again after growing used to their makeshift family. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Stifling a yawn, Dexter rubbed a hand across his face and leaned back in the chair to wait, staring at the sandwiches with poorly disguised contempt. While it was better than starving, even he had to admit that eating peanut butter and jelly three times a week was starting to become a chore. But until they could go out to gather more food, which involved finding a reliable vehicle and enough gas to get there and back, they had to make do with what they had.


INVENTORY (DEXTER)
-------------------------
On Person
Items: 0

Backpack/In Room
Items: 6
Glock G29 (15 in clip, box of 50)
.50 Cal Desert Eagle (no rounds)
Hunting Knife, with Sheath
Minor First Aid Kit
Small LED Flashlight


Food: none
Water: none


[/fieldbox]​
 
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Location: No.1 (HQ), Ballamory
Interactions: Dexter, Cecilio, Otto

Still rubbing at the now-bruising spot on her rear end, Evie groaned as Dexter went off to continue making the sandwiches. How she could continue to be such a clumsy mess all of the time was completely beyond her. After all she had been through, she had managed to become tougher, stronger, more resilient; yet, she still couldn't master not being something of a klutz sometimes. In truth, it was the daydreaming that had been doing it. More and more she found herself retreating into her own mind, in her own little world. Thankfully, the habit was yet to spill out into her excursions further afield of the town perimeter.

Poking her head out of the front door, she saw the returning figures of Otto and Cecilio - quite a convenience considering she was just on her way to find them. As for the others, Elizabeth and Marcus, she was sure they'd find their ways to the house of their own accord in their own time.

"Hey guys!" she called out to the two. "Food's ready and waiting. It's your favourite!" she continued with an all-too-sunny tone and beaming smile. It was almost convincing enough to fool anyone around the she wasn't being her usual teasing self. "Better be quick before it's all gone."

As she finished, she didn't wait for a response. She knew full well the two would be groaning and cursing all the way to the dinner table and knowing that was enough to satisfy her sadistic tendencies for the time being. Entering the dining room, she saw that even the master chef was as enthused as the other two would certainly be. "Oh, come on, cheer up! It could be worse!" she said, nudging his shoulder as she passed by. Taking a seat, she gave a quick look to the food and scrunched up her lips. "I mean, we've eaten worse. Remember the canned food at the Sci-Port?"

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

On Person (Evie):


Backpack/Room (Evie):
Items (3):
- Blanket
- Hunting Knife
- Bow (20 arrows)
- Change of Outfit

Water (0):
-
-

Food (0):
-

Outfit:
[spoili]

RvJWtIy.jpg


[/spoili]​
 
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Otto Williams
Location: No.1 (HQ), Ballamory
Interaction: Evie, Dexter and Cecilio
-

"Eh, probably be best to leave the damn thing alone. Would be a waste of a bullet if we shot it then attracted the infected or bandits and we don't really have the means to preserve the meat same goes for the boars...well I should clarify that if we are gonna try and preserve anything we should wait until a few days before we leave here so we don't have to worry about storage or attracting mice and rats." Otto spoke to Cecilio as they walked. "But hey I did manage to get a snake and a couple fat squirrels so we will have something other then peanut butter and jelly and if that is what I think that is on your belt then I am damn sure gonna make Okra stew with this meat and that." Otto almost seemed happy at the prospect when he heard Evie call to the two of them, they made it to the center of operations as it were. Otto pushed in the door and walked in with Cecilio behind, he looked at both Evie and Dexter. "I hope you two like Okra and wild meat cause we got some." Otto said as he held up the headless rattle snake and two dead squirrels. "We also got a gator and some boar calling this place home with us or so Cecilio says." Otto informed them as he pointed to the man behind him as he went over to the kitchen table and picked up one of the sandwiches and ate it with some distain. "Dex imma start calling these sadwiches cause every time I see them I feel a tiny bit more of the joy left in the world die." Otto spoke in a deadpan to their defacto leader sitting down on the couch after setting the meat on the counter. "I can butcher those after we eat and get the meat cooking, it ain't a whole lot but it should be enough to give us all a bit of something different then your sadwiches Dex." Otto finished as he leaned back on the couch with his rifle next to him.
----

On person/backpack
-

1x PTR91 rifle (caliber 7.62x51/308)
4x 20rnd magazines
1x knife
1x canteen (Full)
Backpack (At apartment):
300x ammunition
13x magazines
1x medkit
 
Cecilio & Ringo
Location: Ballamory
Interaction: Otto, Evie. Dex

Cecilio nodded "Well see I've been thinking about that too. We got a lot of spare metal and wood and I was thinking we could build a smoker and maybe make jerky. I still got a good amount of stuff from the plaza when we went there to make the marinade for it plus a whole animal means a lot of jerky. But you got a point...Evie's got the only quiet weapon out of all of us and I don't think it'd be nice to have her kill an alligator for us." He seemed relieved when Otto mentioned the animals were intended for eating. "Well lucky us I managed to forage up some greens and get a little work on the garden. I found Okra and Clovers and for dessert Persimmons...if anyone likes them that is." When Evie came calling he followed Otto inside and made a slightly disdained look at the sandwiches and concurred with Otto on the name 'Sadwich'. "You think thats sad? I tried giving mine to Ringo and he tried to go out and bury it out in one of the yards...Hell we should start using what we don't eat as bait." He said taking a bite and grimacing a little. "I got some Vegetables and fruit for once..." He said setting the Clovers, Okra, and Persimmons away from the meat not wanting to end up getting anyone sick. "Might want to clean them though." He said recalling eating anything straight fresh was sure way to get sick. "Also Dex I got back to working on the Irrigation system for the garden. If I can get the things I need we might be able to get a full on crop going for us." He was a little more upbeat after the first bite glad to hear they were going to eat something different for once.

 
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[fieldbox="Dexter | Location: Ballamory HQ, darkorange, solid"]

uHBb1iN.jpg


When Evie returned, attempting to cheer him up, he leaned forward so that the front legs of the dining chair were once more on the ground, offering a shrug. "Sci-port food wasn't that bad. It was sorta like camping if you think about it." Dexter tried not to think about it, but not because of the food situation. His hand went to the scars at his abdomen, now long since healed thanks to Jesse's quick and convenient appearance. It had been a long few weeks, and the residual pain from the gunshot still bothered him sometimes, but he was alive and he was thankful. Pushing it out of his mind, his eyes flicked to Evie, and he opened his mouth to say something.

But at that moment Otto and Jesse chose to make their appearance, and he turned to grimace at Otto's comment about 'sadwiches'. In truth it was funny, and it was nice to see the typically stoic man cracking jokes, but he snorted regardless, picking up his own sandwich and eating it without any (audible) complaint. "I've seen some wild boar around here, it wouldn't be a bad idea to set some bigger snares." He commented, nodding appreciatively at the spoils that the pair brought back. "Honestly, though, I'm not certain how this infection works... I know animals can become Infected - I've seen it. But how? Which animals? It's something we're going to need to really think about if we're going to start hunting large game."


INVENTORY (DEXTER)
-------------------------
On Person
Items: 0

Backpack/In Room
Items: 6
Glock G29 (15 in clip, box of 50)
.50 Cal Desert Eagle (no rounds)
Hunting Knife, with Sheath
Minor First Aid Kit
Small LED Flashlight


Food: none
Water: none


[/fieldbox]​
 
Last edited:
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Reactions: Dakota K5
4nAuzQs.jpg


Location: No.1 (HQ), Ballamory
Interactions: Dexter, Cecilio, Otto

Evie frowned slightly at the mention of hunting animals and the implications of infection. The idea that one could turn from eating a bit of beef seemed quite lacklustre and ridiculous until one remembered how all of this started. Still, if she was going to go down the cannibalistic, brain-dead husk route at some point in her life she would rather it be down to something a little more meaningful than just liking her steak medium-rare.

"I'd say it's better to be safe than sorry," she added. "Still, eating something with a bit of substance would be nice. These bad boys don't grow themselves." She held her arms up and tensed her bicep muscles, smirking as she did so. In truth, the muscle mass on the girl wasn't too bad considering the diets they had to live on. Constant climbing, running, ducking and manual labour had seen to it that she kept her shape and figure.

Adjusting the flower hair clip in her hair to push her fringe further back she took a sandwich and took a bite. "Hmm, yummy," she hummed with a beaming smile, looking to Dex in an attempt to mitigate the bullying. "That didn't sound sarcastic, did it?" she asked, all of a sudden in a more down-trodden tone, biting her lip lightly as she realized she may have just unintentionally contributed to the sandwich-hating onslaught instead of allaying it.

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

On Person (Evie):


Backpack/Room (Evie):
Items (3):

- Blanket
- Hunting Knife
- Bow (20 arrows)
- Change of Outfit

Water (0):
-
-

Food (0):
-

Outfit:
[spoili]

RvJWtIy.jpg


[/spoili]​
 
Otto Williams
Interaction: Dex, Jesse and Evie
Location: No.1 (HQ), Ballamory
-

He finished the sadwhich with some distaste. "Well i'm going to get to cleaning the snake and squirrels now." He spoke as he sprang up from his seat, leaving his rifle, walking over to the counter and taking the three dead animals and setting them on the counter in front of the window which he opened so he could get rid of both the skin, guts and undesirable bits. "The hogs are problematic due to their aggressive nature, we would need to use one of the larger caliber rifles to ensure a kill and follow up shots should the first round not kill the target." He spoke as he took his knife and cut at the base of the first one's tail, cutting enough until he had a flap of skin and fur he could grab. He pulled once and the front of the skin came off in one quick motion while he turned the now skinless body over and pulled a small flap of skin the was near the belly and pulled that down getting the bottom half of the skin off. He then went about gutting it. "The alligator Jesse saw is also a option but I would rather not, even though we could cure it as he said or hell do the same to the boar if that's the case I figure the gator is gonna be more of a deterrent slash first alarm as it will prefer to stay in one place and stand it's ground if someone comes up on it and we will here bandits shooting at it at least." He took the guts and hide and threw them out of the window, a crow's nest was outside the building in that area so he knew they would eat the guts and skin. He started on the second squirrel after setting the meat of the first one aside. "If we get the farm going then we should be set for a bit after the first crops come in." He threw the second squirrel's guts and hide out the window before starting on the snake, the head was already cut off so all that Otto did was put his knife in the open neck and slit down it's belly to the tail letting him grab the main vein that ran through former reptile's body pulling all of it's organs out as he pulled the vein along. "As for larger snares well...I don't think we got the resources to build one strong enough unless we got some metal cable and a large tree otherwise a boar with rip anything I get it in." He threw the guts out and pushed the skin off the muscle off the body and pulled it away skinning the snake before again throwing the skin out. He used some water to clean the meat and his hands as to not spread any infection of the non zombie kind. He set the meat in a bowl he filled with water so they would hold a bit longer before looking at Jesse. "I think we should cook these now so they don't spoil. Or we could try and jerky it?" Otto suggested and asked as he turned to look at the other three.
----

On person/backpack
-
1x PTR91 rifle (caliber 7.62x51/308)
4x 20rnd magazines
1x knife
1x canteen (Full)
Backpack (At apartment):
300x ammunition
13x magazines
1x medkit
 
Cecilio & Ringo
Location: Ballamory
Interaction: Otto
Cecilio looked to Otto and thought for a moment when he asked if he could jerky the animals "We'd need a smoker thought that metal shed behind the house might do the trick. Just need some supplies and maybe ventilation to get it to work..." He said thinking "Give me a second and I'll see what I can do for it or if I need to do anything..." He said heading outside knowing the small shed was meant for storage but if they could re-purpose it then it could come in handy preserving meat for a few months.

He opened the shed for a moment and took a look before he decided it could work given there weren't windows and the fact it was made of metal. He hurried back inside and nodded "I can probably make the snake into jerky or the squirrel. Really its up to you just know it'll keep for a couple months at best" He warned knowing it wasn't a perfect solution but it helped them. "Though if we got a bigger animal I could probably make more." He said.

"If we hunt more small game we can probably build up a reserve and might be able to have something like this more often to." He said calmly. Ringo meanwhile trotted over to the water bowl and lapped up water rather thirsty from his adventure with his master. "Just a warning though smoking takes a bit but it's worth it. I at least figure you know what it entails Otto." He figured the man would be knowledgeable on the subject and method.


--------------------------
Inventory
1x Colt Le901-16s w/ 4-14x scope & bayonet
3x Rifle Magazines (4 loaded)
1x P226 Pistol (9mm)
2x Pistol Magazines (2 loaded)
1x Large canteen ( 2/4 Full)
1x Bowie Knife

At Apartment:
2 lb's of dog kibble
Assorted hygiene items
1x 7 string acoustic guitar
1x Trauma kit
1x Pump Shotgun
12x 12G buckshot
Condiments
1x Riot Gear suit
 
Last edited:
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[fieldbox="Dexter | Location: Ballamory HQ, darkorange, solid"]

uHBb1iN.jpg


Dexter tossed Evie a wounded look, then finished his own sandwich, tearing the last bite of crust in two and throwing half to Hero, who snatched it out of the air, and half to Ringo, who politely picked it up off the floor. Hero sauntered over to the shepherd, whip-tail threatening to break someone's kneecaps if they got too close, and attempted to solicit play from the other dog, first bowing with his elbows on the ground and then offering a gutteral "grrrarrawwloooo" sound that came straight out of a horror movie.

As Otto took the carcasses into the kitchen and began skinning them, Dexter stared after, nose wrinkled in distaste and wishing he'd do that in his own kitchen because it was gross. But he didn't complain, only nodded as the two other men discussed what to do with the meat before he put his own two cents in. "Well, it wouldn't make sense to jerky or smoke the first bit of meat we've seen in a while, would it? Otto, could you make a stew or something for everyone? Or maybe chili even? We've got a couple cans of beans that have just been sitting around waiting for something like this." He leaned forward, elbows on the table, fingers laced. "But I really do think hunting something larger is the real answer here. There's only six of us. Even one nice sized deer would feed us for a week if we play it right. And a boar?" He snorted. "If we could manage to take one down, that's more than enough to start a reserve."

Grunting as Hero bounced back away from Ringo and into his leg, then sprang into the hallway with the shepherd in hot pursuit, Dexter shook his head and smirked. At least someone around here knew how to have fun. "Anyway, let's get a list here going, and then we'll split up and start gathering supplies. We need some strong cable for boar snares, I think I may know where to find some. Jesse," he looked to the medic sitting across from him. "What do we need for the smoker? Charcoal? Lighter fluid? A small dragon?"

Since Otto and Jesse had just gotten back from patrol, and Marcus and Elizabeth were nowhere to be found currently, it made sense for him and Evie to head out and do their own patrol in the next couple of hours. They still had half a day until it started getting dark, so that would give them plenty of time to both reinforce the border and search for supplies or game. Maybe even take something big down.



INVENTORY (DEXTER)
-------------------------
On Person
Items: 0

Backpack/In Room
Items: 6
Glock G29 (15 in clip, box of 50)
.50 Cal Desert Eagle (no rounds)
Hunting Knife, with Sheath
Minor First Aid Kit
Small LED Flashlight


Food: none
Water: none


[/fieldbox]​
 
Last edited:
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Cecilio & Ringo
Location: Ballmory
Interactions: Dex, Otto
"Well just need wood. I did see some wood chips near the area where they were storing the materials. Provided it's oak then it would do the job. Apart from that all we really need is something to hold the burning wood." He stated not as into his original idea as he intended though it made sense. Why make something complicated when something simple would work just as good. He smirked when Ringo ran off to play though he did quickly pipe up when Dex made a point about not making jerky. "Well the point of making jerky is to have food on the back burner in case we hit another rough patch. It's better to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it." He stated. At least he thought they should prepare food that could be carried namely since they burned through their supplies when settling the town.

"As for hunting...you got us there...we still want to keep the no unneeded gunfire rule enforced so at the moment we're going to have to use Evie's skills to hunt or just start trapping. Well unless we just use the Alligator because frankly if anything it's just gonna sit there and do nothing. I mean I literally was a stones throw from the thing and it didn't care at all but I think if any animals a good bet it's the boars since they're practically unchecked and rampant. It'd probably better for us to set our sights on an animal thats practically everywhere now." He noted seeing the animals wandering about in groups of a few adults and piglets during their journey. The thought of making more arrows for Evie did cross his mind given that it'd probably be best to conserve the better quality arrows for when she needed them.

He got up from his seat and finished off his sandwich before he looked out the window "Steel cable should work. Would be nice if we had suppressors but beggars can't be choosers." He noted. "Just say the word and I'm with you on getting what we need." Cecilio said firmly feeling this was good idea for the time being.

--------------------------
Inventory
1x Colt Le901-16s w/ 4-14x scope & bayonet
3x Rifle Magazines (4 loaded)
1x P226 Pistol (9mm)
2x Pistol Magazines (2 loaded)
1x Large canteen ( 2/4 Full)
1x Bowie Knife

At Apartment:
2 lb's of dog kibble
Assorted hygiene items
1x 7 string acoustic guitar
1x Trauma kit
1x Pump Shotgun
12x 12G buckshot
Condiments
1x Riot Gear suit
 
Otto Williams
Interaction: Dex and Jesse
Mention: Evie
Location: Ballmory HQ
-

"I'm with Jesse, we should turn this into jerky or at least the snake. The squirrels I can do something with but I will need to cook them but I doubt you all want unseasoned roasted squirrel so if anyone knows where I can get some spices or some such thing then now would be the time to speak. As for hunting without gun fire, I can with a bow but that would be predicated on Evie letting me use her's should she not wish to do the hunting herself but either way imma need to go with the hunting party if we follow that route so we can skin and gut out the hog or gator fast like." Otto turned to Jesse. "No offense but I'm willing to bet I can skin out something faster then you and we are also gonna need someone on defense and you are much better equipped to handle that then I am my friend." Otto spoke as he motioned to Jesse's own load out, Otto was sure he could handle himself in a firefight or a zombie fight but Jesse was much better suited to engage bandits or the like with his rifle having a magnified optic and Jesse himself having a secondary weapon. "...ya I ain't got nothing else to add." Otto concluded as he stretched, several pops being heard coming from his joints.
----

On person/backpack
-
1x PTR91 rifle (caliber 7.62x51/308)
4x 20rnd magazines
1x knife
1x canteen (Full)
Backpack (At apartment):
300x ammunition
13x magazines
1x medkit
 
[fieldbox="Dexter | Location: Ballamory HQ, darkorange, solid"]

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"As much as I agree that it's important to have food on the back burner, there's no sense in wasting perfectly good food that we have now. We've been eating canned vegetables and peanut butter for weeks - we need the meat protein." Dexter protested, shaking his head. "Now that we have a reliable snare trail," he slid his eyes to Otto. "Small game will be easy, and a reliable, near-constant source of actual food."

Rolling his shoulders back, Dexter scratched at the stubble on his cheek. "I'm all for the smokehouse, it's a fantastic idea for sustainability, but let's wait until we have extra meat. I think I know where I can find some larger steel cable, so let's leave the boars and the gators alone for now and focus on the smaller game until we can set up bigger snares. If we truly want to hunt without gunfire, snares and spears are practically our only options as Evie owns the only bow, and it's not one that's made specifically for hunting, so I'm not convinced it's a great idea to use it against something that has super thick skin, like a gator or a hog. Ideally we need a compound bow or two - for Otto, and whoever else can use one. I know I certainly can not."

Falling quiet for a second, he looked at the other three, one at a time, lingering on Otto and Jesse. "Look, I know you guys just got off patrol, and it's not really fair to ask you to go out again, but I know there's a sporting supply store further in town. It's likely picked clean of firearms by now, but most people wouldn't even look twice at the bows. We could use them. And Evie could use more arrows, too. What do you guys think?"


INVENTORY (DEXTER)
-------------------------
On Person
Items: 0

Backpack/In Room
Items: 6
Glock G29 (15 in clip, box of 50)
.50 Cal Desert Eagle (no rounds)
Hunting Knife, with Sheath
Minor First Aid Kit
Small LED Flashlight


Food: none
Water: none


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Otto & Cecilio
Location: Ballamory

Cecilio had no qualms to Dex’s request when it came to when he asked if they could head into town. It gave him a chance to further observe the area and make sure things weren’t being tampered or moved. “Not a problem Dex. We’ll head out now.” He said heading to the door still having most of his gear on him.


Otto had grunted as he threw his pack onto his back and grabbed his rifle and he and Jesse went out the door and to the street. Honestly Otto could’ve gone about three lifetimes without this heat that seemed to be bearing down on them in these closing summer months, honestly Otto was looking forward to the colder weather to come but he also knew that meant the lean times were on their way. While Dex had been right that they needed some variation in their diets now they also needed food to last them for the winter as Jesse, Dex and himself would need at least two thousand calories a day to maintain weight and Evie would need at least sixteen hundred and that wasn’t even counting the dog's caloric needs as well and hell he was probably shooting on the low side since they would need to be doing physical labor as well if they stayed or had to move on. He groaned in frustration as he walked next to Jesse.


Cecilio wasn’t breaking to much of a sweat though he did grimace at the sensation of the weather knowing complaining just made it more unbearable. He toted his rifle and pistol as usual not wanting to leave anything to chance though given he had Otto with him he didn’t have a lot to worry about. “Dex does realize that the arrows might be gone as well right?” He wasn’t trying to question Dex or his request but it made sense that anything that could be considered a weapon would be gone. He thought it over more though realizing that people had left certain things behind as well as the fact that at times stockrooms were slightly spared the ravages of scavengers. “If we can’t find any you think we’d be able to make some?” He asked Otto feeling it’d be easier than just struggling to search for more.


Otto grunted back at Cecilio. “Dex doesn’t realize a lot of things so arrows probably ain’t on his mind right now.” Otto adjusted his rifle to more evenly distribute its weight. “You know if I had been forewarned of zombies I would of grabbed an ar fifteenth and not a goddamn ptr ninety one. Also yes I am sure we can make some arrows but they will only really be good against small game unless I end up trapping another rattlesnake and we can get the venom, if we do that then we can coat a arrow in it and tag a boar or something then just wait. I hope we find some MREs or something of the like.” Otto spoke offhandedly as he stopped and twisted popping his back in several places.

Cecilio nodded in agreement not trying to bash Dex but he did know it was hard to see the bigger picture when most of it was missing or unknown. “Well if I remember this place correctly we might be in luck. At least so I hope because we have to return to Dex empty handed and I don’t think he’ll be too pleased about that…” He said swatting a mosquito that tried to get a quick bite on his neck. “Fucker…”He murmured slightly nuisanced with the insects though most of the time he was left alone. He spotted the store coming up and brought up his rifle using his scope to get a view to see if there was anyone else present.He saw the area was clear or at least the exterior was for the time being. “Alright...let’s get what we need and get out. I don’t want to be out here any longer than we need to.” he said bringing his rifle to a resting position aimed towards the ground.


“Well since chances are we ain’t gonna find jack and shit Dex will have to deal with it won’t he.” Otto stated as he watched the area so they didn’t get snuck up on by infected or people. “It ain’t like he will try and send us away if we don’t find anything neither can he be really disappointed when he knows this is the literal apocalypse and people probably bought or looted most of everything of worth but we might get lucky.” Otto leaned against a tree to stabilize his gun as he aimed down the main drag of the little unfinished suburb. “I don’t know, things seem off. We have had it going well, no bandits, no major hordes hell even no bad weather...I got bad feeling we all are gonna be in for a big shit storm sooner rather than later.” Otto spoke lightly.

“It always seems when things are brightest the go right back to being dark again…” He said hoisting his rifle back over his shoulder and switching to his pistol as he approached the entrance. The plexiglass forced out of its pane leaving a practically open entrance for anyone who wanted in. The store was a pretty big mess of items left turned over and even some just left behind. Cecilio spotted a gun counter and his eyes lit up though he couldn’t see or tell what the extent of the damage was to it. “Christ in a handbasket it looks like hurricane Sandy came in here…” He said kicking a lone D cell battery across the floor. “Wanna go for the gun counter first?” He asked turning to Otto. It was a long stretch that the guns might have been untouched but people were idiots when it came to things and sometimes left behind more important items.


“Keep an eye on the entrance, don’t want any visitors and sure go for the gun counter first.” Otto went and looked at the clothes, lots of heavy shirts, coats, pants and boots were left on the racks which was a good thing since winter was quickly approaching. He also spotted some weather proof containers stacked in a pyramid. “Well at least their are some useful things in here.” He thought outloud as he continued to look. “Hmm…” He made a sound of thought as he found a section for dogs. “Heh, they got harnesses for dogs over here, got pouches on them and everything even a little backpack for storage as well, we are taking two so the dogs can help us carry things.” Otto said to Jesse directly. “Also speaking of that, I was just thinking earlier about how much food we are gonna need not just for us but for the dogs as well and whoa buddy we are gonna be needing a few hogs.” He spoke as he bent down and grabbed some of the containers and two dog harnesses.


Cecilio nodded and made his way to the gun counter keeping an eye on the entrance though mainly listening and filtering Otto’s digging about. He didn’t hear much so he looked to the display and partly to his expectation most of the guns were taken or at least those deemed favorable. Cecilio was a little shocked to see at least 5 weapons were left behind. “Hey Otto! We got some guns. Not a lot but something.” He said making note they were 3 revolvers and 2 small caliber rifles but it was something. He checked the ammo display case and saw 1 cabinet pried open and another bent enough to take some ammo but leave behind more than a few boxes.”Take anything we can grab or carry. It’ll do us good and we’ll check the stock room. Maybe they had some camping meals they didn’t get to shelve yet.”He said as he managed to removed the display case glass and grab the revolvers. It made him a little more comfortable with the fact he wouldn’t be the only person with a side arm though his heart raced a little when he read the sides of the guns for their caliber. 2 38. Specials and one 9mm revolver was the haul along with a 10/22 takedown edition and finally a lever action though he didn’t see much about it. “I think it's as good as it’s gonna get on this side.” He said quickly taking off his pack and stuffing all 3 pistols into his bag needing to discuss what to do with the rifles with Otto.


Otto’s head popped up as he saw Jesse found two rifles and some sidearms. “What caliber is the lever gun? Also is their any twenty two ammo around? If that’s the case we can use that to hunt smaller game with.” He spoke as he walked over to the half pried open ammo cabinet. “Hmm.” He looked at the thing and saw the lock that was inside, most of the thing was metal but there appeared to be a small weak point in that the door which had been pried off partly was made of sheet steel and the shelves themselves were detachable. “You know we could probably fold this door up with some effort and just take the shelves off and grab the boxes as they came down.” He suggested as he looked back to Jesse. “It’s up to you unless you want to look for a key.”

Cecilio thought for a moment before he nodded “Let's try and just get the door off. Odds are the key is long gone by now.” He said looking towards Otto and inspecting the door as well. “We could shoot the lock too but that’s the opposite of what we need right now…” He murmured as he looked around for a moment to see if there was anything to pry the door open. He looked through the slats of the cabinet to see what he could identify. Fortunately he did see the number .38 on a box “Well there one type of bullet we need in there...Alright let’s try to pry the door more open so I can reach in and tilt the shelves up. We can sort it when we grab it all.” He said carefully angling a mostly empty shelf out causing a lone box of 9mm to tumble down and fortunately not spill its contents.


Otto went and found a steel shelf that came off the board it was attached to, he carried it over to the cabinet and where Jesse was and luckily the shelf fit into the opening of the door well enough. “You push I pull?” Otto suggested as he tested the shelf’s strength by pulling on it against the cabinet door and watched as the cabinet door started to bend rather easily. “Huh...whoever owned this store obviously went the cheap route Jesus...this stuff is bending like it’s goddamned plastic.” Otto spoke in part fascination and part disgust at this cheap bull crap the owner of this place had put in his store. “I think he spent all of his money on the damned lock and just put the cabinet together him or herself.” He pulled a little bit more and watched as the door of the cabinet bent some more with little resistance again. “Yet this shelf i’m using is sturdy enough to bend this...hmm the difference between sheet steel and stainless I guess.” Otto noted as the door bent further.

Cecilio huffed and nodded as he agreed though when he looked up and saw the partial reason for the previous owners laziness. “Well I can tell you why they laxed.” He stated pointing up at the ‘Ultor Armed Security’ sign above their heads. “Anyone broke in on someone’s bad day and they’d be leaving in an ambulance or in the back of a coroner's van.” He murmured as he pulled while Otto pried. “I can feel it starting to go so be careful.” He warned Otto not wanting either of them to get slammed in the face with a cheap shitty cabinet door. “I told you i worked for that company before right?”He asked feeling the lock snap and the door swung open as he fell back barely avoiding getting a faceful of metal.”Welp looks like we’re in.”


“You may have mentioned but I don’t recall.” Otto spoke with a huff as he let the shelf they were using as a pry fall to the ground, his fingers were a bit numb so he clenched them closed and open a few times before going over to the lever action Cecilio had found a bit ago and looked along the barrel for any marks, it took him a second but he found what he was looking for and gave a sound of success. “Aha, look for some thirty thirty ammo, it looks like we found ourselves a deer gun.” It was a Marlin 336 chambered for 30-30 WCF or just 30-30 for most people. I reckon we give this to Dex if we can find ammo for it, thirty thirty is...was the most popular hunting round for deer in the united states before you know...zombies. But ya this would make a decent primary for anyone who needed it, hell I would take it myself and trade out the ptr...hmm.” He looked back to Jesse. “Though we are gonna want to find some cleaning supplies so it can keep running.” He spoke secondarily.

Cecilio nodded and quickly got up and started getting the boxes and sitting them on the counter breezing through them rattling off caliber. He stopped and handed Otto one of the revolvers he found. “Here it’s in 38. I’d rather not be the only guy loaded for close combat anymore.” He chuckled sliding a box of 38. Special towards him. “We’re gonna want to try and see if we can find any speed loaders for the revolvers. Look right there’s a 10/22 magazine and a 3 moon clips by your feet.” He said noticing a good bit of ‘unwanted’ accessories were on the floor. “Christ people just leaving things they might need like it’s all junk.” He muttered. “Ah ok so we got 4 boxes of 50 rounds for .38. 3 boxes of 30-30. 20 rounds each. 2 boxes of .308. 20 rounds. 1 box of 9mm about 100 and lastly 1 box of 50 Action Express” He said rattling off their haul. “Seems like we got a good haul. Oh! And 3 boxes of 22. “He said forgetting to mention the smaller bullet. “Alright so we got clothes, dogs, guns and ammo...now all we have to hope for is the food.”


“You know this is going to be a bitch carrying everything back right?” Otto asked as he found a holster that fit him and clipped it around his waist and grabbed the moon clips for the 38 and slid the magazine towards him. “Also we need to be careful about what clothes we grab and make sure we are sure they will fit without impeding anyone.” He spoke as he grabbed a box of the 38 and threw it in his bag after taking some out and putting them in the moon clips and loading his new revolver. “Also be on the lookout for slings for the lever gun and twenty two and holsters for the pistols.” He began to walk towards the camping side of the store and went about looking for camp food or any shelf stable food like MREs and the like. “Hey Jesse...do you think Dexter is hiding something?” Otto asked hesitantly, not sure how to broach this subject in a less direct way.


Cecilio chuckled “I figured...Try and find a duffel bag and I’m sure we can maximize our carry…” He said searching about finding 3 more holsters, some extra moon clips, and some rifle straps one of which fit the 30-30 but none fit the 22. He managed to find a duffle bag and started loading it up with the accessories and broke down the 10/22 with ease. He placed the ammo in the bag and went looking around for anything else of use. He managed to find a cleaning kit and quickly stowed it in the bag as well though he couldn’t find much else. He grabbed the bag and headed after Otto following him everything they found carried by him. “Maybe...not sure if it’s more than what you or me are hiding.” He replied knowing they all had things they were hiding and he knew he was hiding a lot from the group though he felt he would tell them when they were ready...maybe.


Otto narrowed his eyes. “Of course we are all hiding things smartass.” He spoke in a deadpan, no heat behind the words. “It’s...something else...when Dex and I first met, after all the friendly exchange of are you gonna shoot me or not of course, we asked each other what we were doing. I was just looking for survivors but Dex said something about heading to DC, at the time I thought nothing of it but the last few days something has been nagging at the back of my head. He didn’t say he was heading to DC to find any family members and Dex is neither dumb or naive enough to think that would be the stronghold of survivors. I don’t think it’s anything sinister but it isn’t or rather doesn’t seem like a personal thing. Meh maybe i’m just overthinking it. Also I ain’t got no secrets to hide, you got questions ask em’ I ain’t here to pussyfoot around with keeping things from you all.” Otto finished as he looked down and found something worth while. “Aha.” He hefted two rectangular buckets that were like ten pounds each and showed them to Jesse before setting them down again and reading the tops. “Sixty five servings for one person...twenty five year shelf life...so about ten almost eleven servings each...hmm they’re heavy but I think we should take them. What do you think?” Otto asked Jesse since they were already getting loaded down with stuff.


“I’ll carry it if possible. It’s going to be a shitty walk if we’re both weighed down. Oh shit. Arrows…” He reminded Otto of their original intent for being at the store “I was thinking it over and for clothes usual route I’d go is take what i think it is and then a size larger just in case I’m wrong. If we leave after and get their sizes and come back the clothes might not be here anymore…” He warned knowing just as easily as things were possibly found they could be taken. “I didn’t see any arrows near the guns so maybe archery or recreation?” He asked not sure how this store was laid out. “As for Dex who knows...Man might have something important for the president. But really if he was leading us into harm don’t you think he might have done it already? I mean...i’ve got my skeletons in the closet...the most I’ll say is that I’ve probably killed more people than you, Evie, and Dex combined.” Cecilio said calmly knowing death was part of this new world but it was a bit cold his dismissive he was of it.


“Cecilio I was a green beret during the wars in the middle east...are you sure you wanna claim a higher kill count?” Otto asked. “Also I can carry these and we can always make multiple trips, we got a few more hours of daylight left. I’ll leave these here for now and we’ll swing around and grab them when we leave.” He spoke as he started to look for the archery section and started to look, finding many shafts but no arrowheads that would screw onto the fiberglass arrow shafts. “Nothing yet, well no arrowheads yet.” It was a bit of a crap shoot for armaments so far, lotta guns but no arrows. “Evie’s gonna be a bit pissed if all that we bring her are some winter clothes and no arrows for her bow.” He was on the ground looking for arrowheads at this point.


Cecilio looked to Otto and sighed “I’m not sure...All I know is...I killed a lot of people who didn’t deserve it. I just hope it isn’t as many as I lead myself to believe.” When Otto said he couldn’t find any arrow heads he nodded “Look for any with bullet like tips. Those work just as well. I’m gonna try and see if the stockroom been spared. If we’re lucky we might have a box of mint arrows just waiting to be shot by Evie.” He joked as he moved away from Otto heading to the back seeing the ‘Employee’s only’ sign pretty much advertised the stockroom. He was surprised to jiggle the handle and find it was open and with a push he opened the door seeing boxes covered in dust and the smell of must. “Jackpot…”He said calmly walking to the back and examining boxes using the labels to read their contents most of which not needed but peaked some interest “Otto! Storerooms open!” He shouted to the man.


“Cecilio when I say no arrowheads I mean no arrowheads.” Otto grunted to the man as he walked away and went to the storeroom while he kept looking. As Otto was looking he heard Jesse shout about the storeroom being open and Otto shot up like a goddamned rocket. “Shut your mouth Jesse, just cause we can’t see any infected doesn’t mean they can’t hear us.” Otto said in that kinda half whisper half yell that people do when in situations like this. Otto walked over to Cecilio. “What’s in there?” Otto asked as he stood at the entrance of the storeroom and looked at Jesse who was at the other end looking at boxes.


Cecilio read labels mostly telling Otto the interesting ones “Box of buck and fillet knives, sharpeners, collapsible fishing rods...Ah there we are. Arrows with….scratched but it’s something.” He said knowing at this point the arrow type wasn’t so much a concern as it was if it could penetrate. He moved the box and pulled his knife out of its sheath and cut the old tape opening it. “Well these are it…” He said taking out an arrow and examining it the pyramid like broadhead being a little impressive to Cecilio. “Seems like they might have put a few on the front for display...bah who cares we got them and we got a variety.” He said as he started carefully loading as many arrows as he could into the duffel bag. “I don’t know what types these are all I do know is they’ll help Evie kill something. Or so we pray.” He said calmly a little worried for her at times.


“Grab the knife and a sharpener or two, we could use more knives just for basic utility work.” Otto spoke as he walked up and grabbed some arrowheads as well. “We should probably grab some of the shafts as well, they’re strong but I don’t think we want Evie needing to widle arrows from pieces of wood if we can help it.” Otto picked up one of the knives and inspected the edge and hardness of the blade to make sure these weren’t ones put in back that were damaged. “We seem to be getting quite a good haul from this place...it makes me suspicious that we are gonna walk out of the store and a huge hoard is gonna be waiting for us.” They were getting rather lucky in this place and Otto was completely expecting something to hit the fan on their way back to their group’s little head quarters.

Cecilio kept looking around before he bumped Otto’s shoulder and pointed up to a few tall boxes. “Looks like god’s either giving us a break or we’re just having a good day.”Cecilio said as he pointed out a few boxes of collapsible wagons. “Looks like moving this stuff isn’t going to be as physical as we thought.” He said with a smile reaching up and pulling a box down and opening it quickly dumping out the preassembled wagon. “Just load it and wheel it.” He said with a smile placing the gun bag inside of the cart and grabbing his knife again opening up the box of knives and sharpeners. “You think Evie knows how to skin or field dress?” he questioned knowing they’d probably have to teach the woman how.


“You do know that karmically speaking we are both gonna wake up tomorrow and find like a goddamn recluse or widow in our beds you know that right? We have found guns, food, arrows, knives and clothes...imma be paranoid for like three days after this.” Otto spoke as he dumped things into the first wagon. “Or better yet we will get half way back and one of these wagons will just fall apart.” He stood and popped his neck. “Also Evie is a British student on a school trip for the archery team...you tell me if you think she knows how to skin and field dress an animal?” Otto looked at Cecilio with a deadpan expression. “Let’s just say I doubt it highly but who knows, maybe she’ll surprise us?” He didn’t sound to confident in his own statement though.


Cecilio chuckled and sighed “Otto I think I’ve got more to worry about Karma than anyone in this group ever will...Hell I might as well tell you why I think that I suppose.” He said calmly as he loaded extra knives and sharpeners. He looked at one of the buck knives and folded it putting in the rim of his pocket. “Back when all this started I went Awol from my job. Of course guess who had the misfortune of running into the ol’ NG…It wasn’t the worst thing in the world...I had fairly good training and I worked in one of the early safe zone camps. This was before people kinda understood how the infection worked 100%...” He rambled as he looked at a few other boxes. “I’m not sure if you want to listen but...this is something I guess I need to get off my chest…” He said inhaling and letting out a sharp exhale.


“I mean...go ahead if you need to talk about it. I’ll listen but I don’t know how much I’d be able to help.” Otto paused what he was doing and looked to Jesse intent on giving the man his attention. “Go on, it’s not like I got anywhere to be on account of the forecast for zombies and assholes who shoot at everything.” He cracked a small joke just to try and lighten the atmosphere he could feel already getting tenser.

Cecilio chuckled a little and sighed “Otto...you ever regret..anything you did during this time?” He asked as he looked to the man quietly for a moment. “Well...I know I do...One day this guy...some old dude managed to get some meat. Never asked where or how but regardless we spotted it. He begged us to let him cook it for his family. Namely we’d been eating rations and shit for the last month so anything was good at that point...I told him why not and let him do it. 3 days later I’m on roof watch and next thing I know...I’m seeing shit go mad...people getting bitten, mauled, killed….end of the night. I and a small section...we purged 200 people...At the time we didn’t know how but then I figured it out after CDC let out more information...I remember we talked to whoever the fuck was in charge over the radio and their exact words were ‘kill every single one. Hold containment’ Cause of some stupid choice I made I cost a lot of people their lives….and sometimes I still see them. How do you deal with that?” He asked Otto his voice wavering a little as he rested his head against a box for a moment.


“You deal anyway you can. Your fuck up or not you had orders and at the time what else were you to do? Your mission was to help control and stop the spread of infection the best you could with what information you had at the time.” Otto looked to the man next to him. “You can’t let past mistakes define you, they help build you and prepare you for the future and plus nothing you do will let you go back and fix it unless you got a time machine in your pocket you haven’t been telling us about.” He let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “I’ve done a lot of shady shit for people I never even saw and a lot of the stuff I did is locked and filed away under the pentagon under top secret with multiple decades long gag orders placed on it all, people who I never saw ordered me to do things to people who may have been very innocent. Was any of it wrong? Ya, probably but I can’t let myself dwell on it cause that either leads me to crawl into a bottle of whiskey and never come out like my father or to paint a wall with my own gray matter and neither of which are viable options for myself. You will be judged for your actions by your god and it will decide if you are evil or if you deserve to be punished but until that time you gotta live your life even in a shitshow like this because what else is there? Death or undeath and neither sound to appealing if you ask me.” Otto rattled off as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

Cecilio looked up and then sighed “Things never got better after that but you have it figured out better than I do...Most people they can afford to let their emotions out and they can grieve their choices. Such raw sorrow...But I can’t partake. Mine would flood oceans. Would drown me if I let it slip out...Pops was right last time I ever spoke with him. You do what you need to for yourself and others and deal with whatever comes your way. It’s gonna kill them to hear from me my sisters dead...My plan was to try and make it to my house in Georgia but given my run as I booked it across the states...Odds are it’s some fucking raiders personal playground now. All I can do is pray my dad made it to his bunker and they’re waiting it out.” He said to Otto feeling better having talked about his guilty secret. “You can tell the others about what happened in California if you want or if they ask. Odds are I’d make myself sound guilty about it.” He said examining a box and seeming a little perplexed by its label.


“Your tale to tell not mine. I don’t really care what you did all’s I care about is that you are able to cope when it counts the most and so far you haven’t given any indication of the opposite.” He saw Cecilio look at the box with perplexity on his face. “What’s the problem?” He asked the man.

“Can’t read this lable…”He muttered pulling out his knife and opening the box looking surprised. “Crossbows...150 pound draw...well seems like Evie won’t get all the thunder…”He chuckled jokingly pulling out the box and showing it to Otto. “And bolts…” He said though they looked similar to arrows just slightly shorter. He tossed the few in stock into the wagon with the bolts and huffed. “I think besides the clothes and arrow shafts that's all we can really scrounge back here. Unless….you need...watches….socks...or….christ I would have fired whoever put these boxes back here...Or...oh well seems like we got more food to toss onto what you found Otto.” He said pulling out the box not bothering to cut it open and loading it into the wagon.


“Meh.” Was all Otto said as he looked at the all the stuff they had in the wagon, eyeing it as if it was all gonna explode any minute. “Winter is going to be hard...you know that right? We probably won’t be able to move much and food will get scarce.” Otto remarked offhand. “Not to unlike what I normally dealt with except I only needed to worry about myself rather than multiples, hmm.” He seemed to be speaking to himself mostly before he headed out of the store room. “Go ahead and wheel the cart out and I’ll grab the stuff out here to put on it.” He called back as he started to grab the food, arrow shafts, ammo and other assorted things from the main room.


He nodded and tailed after Otto so they could load up the last of what they needed for their return trip. “I was guesstimating on it and I think Dex would probably be a Large in terms of clothing size. I’m only able to figure that from the bandages when he was injured.” He said knowing they might as well take what size they thought. “It’d be better if we just got more people with us. We’d probably be able to just trade for stuff if there was anyone alive around here still.” He stated helping to load everything onto the cart “So who’s going to pull?” He asked Otto.


He grunted as he found some paracord and tied it around the handle of the cart and made a makeshift harness and put it around his waist as he trudged out of the store, cart bouncing behind him. “You better grab anything that falls Jesse.” Otto called back behind him as he acted as pack mule by dragging the cart.

Cecilio smirked and chuckled as Otto acted like a walking mule “I got it. I got it…” He stated watching the back of the cart for any loose supplies. “Half way I’ll give you a sugar cube.” He joked and watched around them not seeing anything that raised his alert. He did see an infected far off behind them though it seemed to be long dispatched by someone which didn’t worry him to much. For the time being he was more intent to get back to their HQ and show Dex and Evie their haul.


“I will turn around and put a slug in your knee and leave you here and claim a bandit did it.” Otto called back, his voice not giving anything away as to if he was really serious or was only joking as the wheels of the cart bounced and kicked out rocks back towards Cecilio.

Cecilio cracked a smile “You shoot better make it count otherwise I will mix Ipecac in your food. Trust me I’m a medic…” He said vaguely though he was messing not able to afford wasting any medications more than he had too. “You think Dex will be happy with the haul?” He asked Otto finding much more than they needed or expected at that point.


“He better be or imma pop him on the mouth, between making googly eyes at Evie and telling everyone else what to do I’m strongly against any criticism he has of our task or how well we did or did not do.” Otto spoke back as he pulled the wagon over a large rock.

Cecilio picked up an arrow shaft that fell out and he chuckled again “You’d think that between them they’d have either done something...Then again I don’t know. They could just be good friend and that's it. But I’ll back you up on popping Dex one if he isn’t happy. Especially finding that 50 action express now he’s got a paperweight that can put a hole in anything.” He said keeping an eye out as he saw a boar out in the distance.


“Yes because that’s all we need, Evie pregnant with Dex’s kid.” Otto remarked back as the HQ started to come in sight. “Home sweet home eh Cecilio.”

“Christ last pregnancy I had to deal with was beyond my comfort zone. Still nice of the woman to name her child after the guy who delivered him.” He stated shouldering his rifle once more. "Yep...maybe we'll get to eat finally..."
 
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Location: Woodland North of Minden, Outside Ballamory
Interactions: Dexter (Collab with JJ)

Heading out along the abandoned roads that led away from their settlement, the sound of bird song soothed Evie's initial nerves at heading out again. If the birds were singing, it meant that things were less likely to be moving in the trees. The route ahead wasn't particularly dangerous, however. A quick hop through the outskirts of the town and then a loop back through the woodland to Balamory. Herself and Dexter had left around the same time as Otto and Cecilio had, leaving Ballamory somewhat quiet for the first time in a while - more from the absence of a certain redhead than anything else.

“So.” Dexter began, stepping over a thin log that had fallen across the path. “We need tough cable. For Otto’s boar snares. I think I may know where to find some, but it’s off the beaten path. Still, though, if we head out soon we should be able to make it back before dark. What do you think?”

"Sounds good to me. Where you thinking?" Evie asked in response, snapping out of her daydreaming.

“There’s an industrial garage or something a few miles out. I found it when I was out exploring the other day. Didn’t want to risk trying to clear it by myself, though. There’s probably a lot of materials we could use.” He slapped at a mosquito on his neck, wiping the blood onto the leg of his jeans. “I didn’t see any Infected roaming around, but from what I saw the doors are closed so there could be some inside.”

"Oh? Is this how you treat all girls when you take them out? Romantic trips through zombie-packed industrial garages?" she teased with a smirk.

“Only the ones I think can handle it.” He replied quickly. “You should take it as a compliment.”

"Well, compliments are rare these days so thank you!" Her response came with a slight playful sarcasm as she looked away to observe the treeline that was slowly reclaiming the road.

Dexter laughed, shaking his head as they rounded a bend in the path. Ahead of them, lying in a sunny patch on what asphalt still managed to peek through the overgrown grass, was a large black snake. He immediately looked down, ready to give Hero the command to stay away from it when he remembered he’d left the dog back at Balamory. “Watch out.” He said, eyeing the snake who didn’t even bother to move at the sight of them. “These things are getting brave. They don’t even mind us anymore.”

"I hate snakes..." Evie shuddered.

“Eh, they’re harmless. Especially that one - not a rattler like Otto found. Just a rat snake, I think.” He knelt to pick up a stick, tossing it in the snake’s general direction. Evie made an audible yet suppressed squeal in protest of the action. It landed a few feet away but had the desired effect, and the creature slithered off into the brush.

"Oh, thank god," she sighed. "My heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest."

Unable to suppress his laughter, it echoed through the area, causing several birds to startle and launch from the trees. “You can kill Infected without blinking, but you’re scared of a harmless snake? That’s fucking adorable. I’m sorry, but actually I’m not.”

"That's it, keep laughing..." she said, scowling at him. "We'll see who's scared when I put my foot in your arse."

“Can you even kick that high?”

"Actually, yes. I was quite the athlete back at uni," she said in a proud and almost prissy tone, holding her chin high with a smug grin.

“Oh, well excuse me.” Came the response. “I will be sure not to cross you again, lest I end up with a foot in my arse.” He placed a hand over his heart like she’d truly frightened him. “But if you ever wake up with a snake in your bed, all you have to do is call me and I’ll defeat the evil thing for you.”

"Arsehole," she chuckled. "Hey, now that we're alone without Otto interrupting with yet another dead thing or Marcus prattling on about guns, can I ask you a question?"

Caught by surprise, he blinked, glancing over at her with an uncertain expression. “Sure, what’s up?”

"Back at the hotel, you know, when all that... stuff happened," she proceeded, her tone uneasy at mentioning the memories. "You said something to me, about making sure Hero was okay and getting him to... Washington, was it? Why was that?"

Dexter paled, looking away as they continued down the path. “I don’t remember.” He started. “I guess I was just confused, maybe, because of all the adrenaline. We, uh… we have family in Washington. That’s where I was headed before I met up with you and Otto. So.”

"Hey," she interrupted, snatching his sleeve and pulling him to a halt. Her sapphire eyes stared up at him, however, not with an accusatory glimmer to them but a sympathetic one. "Look, I know you guys kind of see me as the stupid little ginger girl with the British accent - the girl who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun or whatever else you guys want to swing at me for but... I'm not stupid enough to believe that's it." She sighed, taking a small step closer to him and resting a hand on his arm. "It's kind of obvious something has been gnawing at you, especially so since we've stopped moving. I just... I don't know... I just want you to know you can trust me."

Letting her stop him, he turned to meet her gaze, not saying anything until her mini rant was over, though his darkening expression probably told her how much he disagreed with everything she was saying. “I do trust you.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s just…” He slid his gaze away from hers, swallowing uncertainly. How was he supposed to explain to her something that didn’t even make sense to him? Something that was so far from the realm of possibility that even suggesting it would make him look insane? “Evie, I…” He started, but faltered when the sound of cracking brush sounded from behind them. Turning, he whipped his gun out of its holster and flipped the safety off, and moved between Evie and the threat. But the threat turned out only to be a raccoon, sitting on its hind legs and eyeing them curiously.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he flipped the safety back on and replaced his gun, turning again to face her. “Listen. Right now’s not the time nor the place to be talking about something like this. It’s… not important right now. Okay?”

"O-okay," Evie sighed, her head drooping as she realized just how much she'd hit a nerve. "I'm... I'm sorry."

Brows drawing together in concern, Dexter frowned at himself. Way to be a jerk. He lifted a hand as if to touch her face, then seemed to think better of it and took a step back. “You have nothing to be sorry for - you’re right, we shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. But it’s a long story, and it’s not safe to tell it here.” Glancing into what he could see of the sky through the overlapping boughs, he gauged the amount of daylight they had remaining. Satisfied, he nodded, letting out a quiet sigh and falling into step.

It didn’t take too much longer for him, scanning the brush as they walked, to find what he was looking for. He touched Evie’s shoulder to get her to stop and inclined his chin towards a small indentation in the bushes to their left. “Game trail.” He said quietly. “It’ll take us where we need to go.”

"Okay, you're the boss!" she hummed, removing her bow from her back as a precaution. "After you."

Having taken this particular trail a time or two himself, he was fairly familiar with its twists and turns, and despite never having had an issue with Infected in this area, he flipped his sheath open and drew the large hunting knife, holding it blade-down and at the ready just in case. “Just keep an eye on where you step, it can get a little swampy at times. And keep your ears peeled.” Moving forward, dark eyes scanning the immediate area for any threats, Dexter continued along the path with Evie on his heels. The pair met no resistance, and in fact it seemed rather peaceful. The birds were active, meaning there wasn’t anything dangerous or even loud in the area, and they didn’t stumble across any more snakes, either.

It took a little over an hour, but eventually a break in the trees signaled the end of the trail up ahead. Dexter put an arm up to stop her, pausing himself. “There’s a road up ahead.” He said in a hushed tone. “If we’re going to meet Infected, that’s probably where they’ll be. You ready?”

"Uh-huh," she hummed, with a nod before a wry grin crept across her lips. "Just try to keep up." Moving forward, the girl emerged from the brush slightly, fingers caressing the nock of an arrow that sat in her quiver, eyes scanning across the road. It all seemed rather quiet... as in silent. Looking back to Dex momentarily, she furrowed her brow a little, eager to see what he thought. He’d noticed it too, the complete absence of sound from any of the wildlife. It had been so lively back on the game trail that the stark contrast was blatantly obvious. Even though there was nothing dangerous immediately apparent, something wasn’t right, and it made hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Moving quietly forward to stand beside Evie, he shook his head. “I don’t see anything, but…”

"It definitely doesn't feel right," she continued for him, her tone low and quiet. "You know, if I weren't so sure that the world is out to be a bitch these days I'd find this pretty cool. It's like an action movie cliche."

“Except in an action movie there’s bound to be a bad guy.” He replied, a little more serious. Before the incident at the hotel, he’d given people the benefit of the doubt most of the time. But since, even the sound of a vehicle or someone’s voice sent him immediately on the defensive. “I’m starting to think we should have brought the others with us.” It wouldn’t have been fair, since Otto and Jesse did more than their fair share of patrolling, hunting and protection, but it would have provided them with much more of an advantage were they to get into a firefight. But, thankfully, it turned out to not be necessary - a low, moaning growl sounded from somewhere to their left. “Infected.” He whispered, almost relieved. “Can’t tell exactly where it’s coming from, but it sounds like only one?”

"Oh, well that's just easy," Evie sighed in relief. "Let's check it out." Moving off from their position towards the noise, Evie kept her eyes fixed on her feet, trying to minimize her noise profile. It had been the case that when she first started this new life of hers she just ran into these 'easy situations' arrows flinging, yet experience taught that even the simplest things often turn out to be something much, much worse. As the two got close enough, the sound of a rope groaning under pressure could be heard and the creaking of a tree branch. Even though a collection of bushes barred their vision, it was obvious from the audio that there was, as suspected, only the one infected.

“What is that?” He whispered, frowning at the noise of the rope. “Cover me.” Putting his foot on the bottom stem of the bush directly in front of them, he pressed down, and the foliage sank low enough to see over it. The Infected was hanging by a single foot, its arms touching the ground as it rotated in a near-continuous circle. “...What? I didn’t think Otto came this far out.” He whispered. But as the thing rotated to face them, now that it could see them through the bushes, it snarled and reached towards them, causing the bough it was on to sway precariously. “You want to take it out or should I?”

"I'm not getting another pair of clothes covered in blood. Be my guest," she answered.

Snorting at the comment, he stepped over the bush, reached a hand out to stop the Infected from spinning, and then knelt, plunging his knife through the underside of the creature’s jaw and into the brain. It stilled immediately, reaching arms going limp as he wrenched the blade out of it and slung the blood into the forest opposite Evie. He stood and gestured to himself. “No blood. You just gotta have skill.”

"Does cockiness come as part of the package, too?" she said, bow on her back and arms folded.

“Nah, you just got lucky that it comes naturally to me.” He winked at her, stepping back to investigate the snare that had caught the Infected. “Does this look like one of Otto’s to you?”

"No... but that means..."

“Other people.” He cut her off, swearing under his breath. “So close to home? It doesn’t make any sense. We’re far out from Shreveport, it couldn’t be the same people at the hotel, could it?”

"No," she said quickly and seriously. "Look, maybe it's... err... I dunno. Maybe someone was camped around here before and they set this up as like a temporary defence?"

Running his fingers along the rope, Dexter shook his head. “In this climate, rope made out of fibers like this would start to decay quickly, which is exactly why Otto wouldn’t use it. This is fresh. A few days, at most.” The realization made his mouth go dry. “We should… get rid of this Infected. If someone comes back to check the snares and sees that it’s dead from a knife wound, they’ll know people are in the area and may be inclined to search.”

"Dex?" she asked, meekly.

He paused in undoing the noose around the Infected’s ankle. “Yeah?”

"What are we going to do if they find us?"

He was tempted to say “they won’t”, but was unable to force the lie out. “If they’re aggressive, we’ll fight back.” He finished loosening the noose and letting the corpse slump to the ground. “We’ll just have to hope they’re like us. Peaceful.” His voice, initially sullen, grew hard and serious as he looked at her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

"O-okay," she said, uneasily. "So... err... sh-should we go look for those supplies?"

Clearing his throat, Dexter nodded. He was unsettled by the immediate surge of anger that had overtaken him at the thought of anyone hurting Evie, perhaps just as much as she was unsettled by the electricity that coursed through body at his comforting words. “Yeah lemme just, uh… take care of this thing first.” He shouldered the corpse, stepping into the forest and finding a place that looked swampy enough to cover the whole thing. With some effort, he managed to toss it in and it sank almost entirely, leaving only a foot and ankle exposed on the bank. But he wasn’t about to get trapped in a bog to kick it in, so he threw some brush over it and returned to Evie. “The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of here and tell the others what’s going on.”

"Oh god, that means that Otto's going to go full Mountain Man Rambo again, isn't he?"

Dexter grunted, nodding. “Yeah, probably, and with Marcus and Jesse to back him up it’s going to be difficult talking them into sitting back instead of taking the offensive.”

"Are we sure it's right to tell them, then?" she asked, her tone quiet as if she felt guilty for suggesting it but her expression was firm and serious.

“I don’t know if I could keep something so big from them.” He replied, stepping into the street. “Everyone looks at me as a leader, what kind of leader would I be if I started lying to everyone?”

"Dex... they're going to steamroll through this whole forest 'til they find these people and deal with them. If we just stay quiet... I - I don't know... maybe they'll pass and it won't be an issue," she argued, her tone sounding almost desperate now. It was clear by the expression on her face she wasn't eager to see anymore bloodshed. After all, she'd seen more than she'd ever wanted to. The idea that they could become embroiled in another battle scared her more than any snake or zombie could.

Letting out a long, low sigh, Dexter nodded, obviously unhappy with the decision. “Alright, fine… fine. If this is the only sign of people we see, we can keep it to ourselves. But if there are more... “ He trailed off, the rest of his sentence hanging in the air.

"Then... then we tell the others. I know," she gulped.

Without replying, he turned back towards the road and jogged across it, attempting to keep his exasperation with the entire situation to himself. Lying to the rest of the group didn’t sit well with him, but fuck it if those puppy-dog eyes didn’t do him in every time. You’re losing your edge man. Shaking his head, he walked along the fenceline, looking for a chink in the defense, something he could use to break through. It was only chain link, but it was topped with razor wire and the entrance to the complex was way on the other side. He didn’t want to have to climb over it and risk getting injured, as their supply of antibiotics wasn’t much of a supply at all. Evie, meanwhile, had been trying to keep up. Still, seeing the obstacle they came against only further reinforced her now-downtrodden mood. Biting into her bottom lip, her eyes scanned the perimeter. "There's got to be a gate somewhere," she commented.

“There is. On the other side.” He pointed through the fence. “It’s a long walk, and if we’re going to be carrying heavy supplies I’d rather not take it. So we have to find a place to get through the fence.” Continuing along for another hundred feet or so, he stopped at the next joint, running his fingers along the seam where the fence was bolted to the pole. “This is what we need. Do you have a knife on you? We need to pry these ties open and we’ll be able to get through.”

"Yup, right here," she answered, drawing her hunting knife from its sheath on her lower back. She moved closer to Dex, tucking in next to the fence. "What do I need to do?" she asked, looking up at him. Taking his own knife, he inclined his head towards what he was doing as instruction for her to watch, and shoved the flat of the blade into the u-shaped tie that bolted the fence to the pole, twisting the knife. It took a good bit of effort, but eventually it gave and came undone.

“You do the bottom, I’ll do the top.”


Evie followed along obediently, groaning with exertion slightly as she pulled against the strength of the fence. "Is... it b-bloody moving... yet?" she managed to gasp as she continued to pull.

Dexter was finished his third tie by the time Evie spoke, and he glanced down with a chuckle. “‘These bad boys don’t grow themselves’ she says.”

"Hey, I'm all triceps, you're all biceps. Don't... gah... don't judge!" As she finished speaking, she finally made a bit of progress, smiling widely at the development. It was only when she looked to see how many Dex had done that she frowned again. "Oh... ha-ha..."

“You’re trying too hard.” He commended, kneeling and taking her wrist, showing her the right place to put the blade beneath the metal tie. As his hands grasped her wrist, she flinched with a slight gasp. It was a weird nostalgia. It reminded her of when her father taught her how to use a firearm when she was younger, that feeling of trust and safety. It was clear Dexter knew what he was doing a lot more than she did in the new world she had found herself in - all of the others did. She was nothing more than a lost little girl again when it came to all of this. Yet, still, that didn't anger her as it once would, it didn't bother her nor did it upset her. Instead, she felt content to place herself in someone else's care and that was the feeling that was weirdest of all - a feeling harkening back many years since last felt. Safety. True safety.

“Do it from the middle, not the tip, and the knife’s leverage does the work for you.” He made sure it was set in the right place, then nodded at her. “Try now.” Still, she didn't move, her eyes merely staring up at him. This had to be it. This had to be why she was feeling so strange lately. All the contemplating, all of the daydreaming; what a bothersome, irritating inkling she had been having. The feelings of confusion as to why and how were clearly only a blocking doubt, a defensive mechanism to obscure the truth out of fear. As she held there, looking up at him, thought went to the wind and nothing but feeling and instinct retained control. No words were spilled or wasted, the moment's silence only interrupted by the discrete noise of lips touching lips.

It wasn’t even clear who initiated it, one second he’d been trying to show her, and the next, their breaths were mingling in an almost desperate exchange of affection. Dexter dropped to a knee, releasing Evie’s wrist in favor of her cheek and pulling her closer, their lips moving against one another as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And he supposed it was. His other arm circled her, pressing her tight to him, and he groaned low in his throat. It had been a long time since he’d kissed someone, but even so he didn’t remember it feeling like… like anything that this was. Fire and passion and hunger. Like it was too much but could never be enough at the same time. He grazed her bottom lip with his teeth, suppressing another groan, and after what seemed like an eternity he pulled back, breathing heavily. “I…” he started, swallowing past the lump of self doubt in his throat and lessening his grip on her. But the words wouldn’t come. And he resigned himself to staring into those eyes and waiting for the aftermath.

"W-what... what just happened?" she asked, her tone hushed and her eyes still closed. Her entire aura was pure, blissful serenity.

Dexter brushed a thumb across her cheek before pulling his hand away and sitting back. “I… have no idea.” He admitted. “But I enjoyed it.”

"Yeah, me too," she chuckled, her face flustered as she sat demurely on the floor. "I... erm... well - fuck sake, Evie, spit it out - I err... well, does that mean you... you know... have some level of feelings for me?" Her wording was awkward, but not even half as awkward as the delivery. Her thumbs danced around each other as she fidgeted restlessly, time seeming to slow almost to a halt as the beating of her heart gave soundtrack to the waiting on his response.

“Evie, I have had feelings for you since the first day we met, and you threatened to shoot me with an arrow.” Dexter said seriously, a comment that earned a giggle from the blue-eyed girl.

"Really? Weirdo," she teased, nervously, giggling once more. Her face burned as red as her hair as she cast her eyes to the floor beneath them for a moment. "Sooooo... things could get a little awkward now. You know, the others aren't going to shut up about it and there's the slight issue of me being a useless emotional mess and... well... yeah, that's about it."

“You’re not useless.” He protested.

"Okay, I can sling arrows like a girl possessed but y'know... I'm not going to win any awards for fence busting, hunting or whatever wacky things I have to do these days. I'm a bloody history student," she said with a chuckle. "Not much call for girls like me these days - apart from the arrow slinging thing."

“You’re too hard on yourself.” Dexter frowned at her. “You managed to survive on your own for months. You’re capable. And we’re lucky to have you. Anyone can tell you that.” He wet his lips and picked his knife up off the ground, turning it over in his hands. “We don’t… have to tell the others if you don’t want to… you know…”

"No," she interrupted, sharply. "I don't mind them knowing and... if you're going to keep giving me these compliments you've suddenly become so fond of I might have to keep being hard on myself," she smiled, wryly. Leaning forward, she cupped his cheeks with her hands, kissing him briefly and softly once more. "I don't mind them knowing," she repeated. She breathed deeply, the redness in her cheeks allaying somewhat, and rose to her feet. "Now, this fence isn't going to bust open itself."

Dexter grunted after she kissed him, rose to his feet and took a step towards her and the fence. He looked down with a serious voice. “I’m going to need you to stop doing that if you ever plan to get any work done around here.” But despite the tone and thanks to the expression in his eyes it was perfectly clear that he wanted her to do exactly the opposite. Taking a breath, he turned back to the fence, forcing the blade back into one of the ties and forcing it open in half the time it had taken him previously. He was in a hurry to get this done and get back home - nothing good ever came from being out and about when his brain was clogged with things other than how to survive in the zombie apocalypse.

Between the two of them it only took another ten minutes before the last tie was forced open, and the fence sprung apart with a much louder noise than was ideal. Dexter stood, hand on his holster and ready in case anything came groaning at them out of the trees, Evie just as wary. But nothing came, and after a moment he stepped through the gap in the fence. “Just keep an eye out, I’m still not entirely convinced those buildings are going to be empty.”

"Do you know where we're going to get what we need?" she asked, following him through the fence and, once more, wielding her bow.

“Not exactly, but it stands to reason that any extra supplies would be stored in the larger warehouse.” He gestured towards the most southward building. “It’s also most likely to be empty, unless someone had the same idea we do.” Keeping eyes peeled, he started moving towards the building, stepping through the shin-high grass. “Watch out for snakes.” He smirked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Bastard," she groaned, eyes looking immediately downward around her feet. The two proceeded onwards towards the building, a thankfully snake-free experience for Evie. Still, as they approached the ominous structure snakes soon became the least of their concerns. Looting buildings was always dangerous, there was no avoiding that fact. However, the idea that someone had laid traps, the fact that those people could still be nearby, added a whole new layer of danger to the excursion. Evie's heart raged at what felt like a thousand beats per minute and her knuckles were pale white from the tightness with which she gripped her bow. "Let's just... take this easy, okay?"

“That’s the plan.” He replied seriously, this time actually drawing his gun. He was loathe to use it, but if there was more than a couple of Infected in here, it would be too many to kill with just a knife and a bow. Moving towards the door, he pressed his ear against it, concentrating on listening, but heard nothing. “Either the door is too thick to hear anything, or there’s nothing inside.” He whispered, trying the handle. It gave, unlocked, and he looked to Evie. “Ready?”

"Here, let me," she said, moving in front of him and pulling the door open, despite Dexter’s protests. "Yoohooo!" she hollered into the building, kicking the door several times so that the sound echoed deep into the building. Knocking an arrow, she held her bow firmly facing into the depth of the structure, waiting for any sign of a returning noise.

“Christ, Evie, I thought you wanted to take it easy.” He scowled, moving around the door. “I need you to remember that it’s not just Infected we’re trying to avoid here.”

"Oh," she sighed, looking down momentarily in disappointment. "I- err - sorry."

While her eyes were looking inside, his were scanning back the way they came, making sure they weren’t followed, or, now, heard. “It’s alright.” He replied. “Didn’t mean to snap at you I’m just on edge because of the stupid fucking snare up there.” After a moment of searching, he turned back towards the building, satisfied they were unseen for now but still anxious to get out of the open. It seemed like the building was empty, or at least close to it, so he stepped inside and waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom that filtered in through the dusty upper windows. Not willing to admit that he’d completely forgotten to bring a flashlight, he searched the shelves. There were a lot of them. This was going to take a while. “Do you want to split up or stay together?

"What do you think?" she asked, eyes looking up at him with uncertainty. It was true that with the new threat, she was going to have operate differently to how she was used to. The idea of that alone was enough to throw her confidence to the wall. "I mean... I'd rather stay together but..."

“Then together it is. Just cover me, it’s hard to search and watch my own back. Though I figure we’d probably hear anything coming before it managed to sneak up on us.” Moving down the shelves, he surveyed the equipment. Most of it was in boxes, but they were clearly labeled. “Screws… nails… bolts…” He muttered aloud as he brushed the dust off the cardboard to read the lettering. They had plenty of all of this thanks to the supplies left in the unfinished houses, but it was good to have a backup in case they ever needed it. “Dust masks… no, no…” Finishing the first shelf, he moved around to the next, but it yielded the same results. “If I were cable, where would I be..?” After a second, he cursed and shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”

Foregoing combing the other shelves, he paced around the warehouse, boots echoing off the solid concrete floor. “Cable isn’t going to be sitting in boxes, they sell it in rolls. So it’ll be...” he crouched, practically duck-walking down the row. “Floor level.” The last words were said triumphantly, and a scraping sound could be heard as he reached back to pull something from the bottom of the shelf. “400ft of ⅛ cable. I think this will be perfect.”

Evie, meanwhile, had been following him around like something akin to a lost sheep. She had no idea where she would look or what she should be looking for so, instead, had taking to surveying the building for signs of habitation by either infected or humans. Barely paying attention to Dex's exclamation, her eyes were trained on a well-devoured corpse lying, barely covered by tattered clothing, in the far corner of the room. "Seems there's been rotters here, before," she said, looking back to Dex. "We should move."

Hefting the roll of cable up onto his shoulder with a grunt of effort, he nodded. “Alright, let’s get out of here. We’ve got a few hours of daylight left, should be plenty to get home.” He stared at her for a moment, smiled, and then moved past her and towards the door.


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On Person (Evie):
- Hunting Knife
- Bow (20 arrows)

Backpack/Room (Evie):
Items (3):

- Blanket
- Hunting Knife
- Bow (20 arrows)
- Change of Outfit

Water (1):
- Canteen (60%)
-

Food (0):
-

Outfit:
[spoili]

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[/spoili]​
 
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[fieldbox="Dexter | Location: Ballamory HQ, darkorange, solid"]

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The sun was low on the horizon by the time the pair made it back to Ballamory, most of the trip having been spent in companionable silence as they picked their way down the path. There were no more signs of human habitation, but even so he was careful not to leave too much of a trail to follow. Obviously in this sort of climate, it was near impossible to be totally inconspicuous - the soft ground made it far too easy to leave footprints, especially when you were carrying 150 pounds worth of cable. But any attempt was better than none, especially given that since Evie insisted on not mentioning the snare, and possible nearby human habitation. It still made him uneasy to think about lying to the group, but he had to admit to himself that she was right. If they knew that there were other people out there, they'd immediately go on the offensive. If there was any hope of retaining the peaceful life they'd built for themselves here, they needed to prevent that at all costs. Even if it meant lying by omission.

Heading immediately for #1, he sat the roll of cable on the porch with a heavy thud, flexing his shoulders and wincing at the tightness. It was not a short walk back and that thing was heavy. But it was more than enough cable for half a hundred large game snares, if not more. He figured Otto would be pleased, and smiled at the thought. He couldn't help but see Otto as sort of a father figure, or probably more appropriately, an estranged uncle, and despite himself seemed to strive for the man's approval. Not that he'd ever admit it. Quite the opposite in fact.

Swinging the front door open and waiting until they were both inside to shut it again, Dexter yawned, ruffling sweat-laden hair. "Hey." He started, turning his back to Evie where she could see the pool of blood soaked through the shoulder of his shirt. "Fucker did get all over me when I picked him up, I'm gonna go clean up before the others get back, don't need them asking questions we don't want to answer." He headed for the staircase, pausing on the very bottom step. "When they do get back, and after we debrief each other..." He frowned. "I guess we should have that chat about DC."


INVENTORY (DEXTER)
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On Person
Items: 3
Glock G29 (15 in clip, box of 50)
Hunting Knife, with Sheath


Backpack/In Room
Items: 3
.50 Cal Desert Eagle (no rounds)
Minor First Aid Kit
Small LED Flashlight


Food: none
Water: none


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Aveline couldn't tell of her surroundings anymore, continuing to stay lost and keep herself in the dark, wandering from dirt to concrete roads. Feet stumbling over one another every once and a while, non-stop noises creeping around her, she felt the constant touch of something crawling on her. Similar to the days since the chaos, she'd have tears running down her face but crying isn't what she did. She hadn't laughed, smiled, nor had any belief of good in the living she'd come across. "What about Corey?" she'd question herself daily. Aveline couldn't find the answer, she just questioned more, voices, noises, and crawling growing.

Her feet dragged her to who knows where. An empty town? Worn buildings, high trees, uneven grounds. Aveline wandered through the back of one of the buildings. Damaged shelves, dust covering everything, boarded up windows, scattering roaches on the beaten up floor; an old shop. She shook her head, nothing here, doing the same to a few other buildings. Coming upon another store, walking into a section of clean clothes, a nice dark green coat and since temperatures were soon to drop she took no hesitation to grab it. She did the same when finding better sneakers, her current ones weren't in the worst shape yet it was better to have it for later. The store was like the other buildings, dusty, worn, but her luck turned up finding a few cans of food and stuffed what she could carry in her bag.

“Keep an eye on the entrance, don’t want any visitors and sure go for the gun counter first.” The voice came from the entrance, causing Aveline to immediately ducking down and moving away from the voice. "Merde." she harshly whispered, making a plan to stay unseen and unheard until she could make it to the back exit. Catching the name of a scruffy man, Otto. Before she could catching a look, let alone a name of the other, she had already began making her move to the exit, closing the door as quietly as possible and made her move.

She questioned her options, there could still be necessities still in these buildings but if she was found they'd kill her on sight, wouldn't they? Her legs ached and examined her surroundings, a ladder to the roof. They seemed to only be looking for supplies plus she'd have the advantage to keep an eye out, bonus of keeping out of view from infected. And she did, she lied down, waiting, hearing more voices, a woman and another man. Evie? Dex? A group and they most likely had a camp nearby. She continued to wait until the sun fell and their footsteps were distant. Climbing back down into the store, finding a few things missing, finding little things useful to her. 'Where am I?' she thought to herself. Looking around the now quiet and dark place, taking a breath, looking around the store for anything that could be use to lay on in the mean time, only finding a small paperback book on survival, empty cardboard boxes, and a few clothes that were deserted from the group. She rolled her eyes and laid the useless clothes out and lied onto them.

Aveline packed the small book away and looked at her personal past items. "Oh, Corey." She slept. Where was she?




Items:

ON PERSON:
- Navy blue cardigan
- Jeans
- Worn sneakers
- Metal bat (weapon)

IN PACK:
- Corey's stuffed animal
- Picture of Aveline and Corey
- Pistol
- 12x pistol rounds
- 2x Bottle water
- 2x Canned fruit
- (Recently collected) 2x canned beans
- (Recently collected) Dark green coat
- (Recently collected) Small paperback "Survival for the Weak" book
 
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