On Death's Doorstep

[somethingsomething]

Lucy kept her composure, idly noting Brian's sudden shift into...despondence. Of course. He's worried about Migaki; these jokes aren't going to help at all. She stretched her legs out from her sitting position, yawning with wide arms, and rose back to her feet. Her vision swam for a brief spate before receding. The day had taken more of a toll on her than she'd realised - the sun was not to be underestimated, evidently.

"Chin up, eh? Both of us are getting on, or so I assume - just how old are you, anyway?" She briefly thought to make physical contact to see if he was still there, but the thought repulsed her, and didn't feel quite appropriate. Before he could respond, he shook her head, curls flying. "Nevermind, Brian. I'm sure our luck will hold this time. God knows we've been baited by these places often enough..."

Hit by a sudden jolt of curiosity, she peeked outside the impromptu door, holding the fabric tight save a keen edge. No-one listening in. That was good.

Before returning to her ball, Lucy checked if he was there still, and smiled. A tactic that didn't feel quite so much of one as it had before.

[Rygand]

As Roy answered him, J.P wasn't sure whether he was happy or sad with the man's answer. On the other hand, he was glad they were going to stick around, but then... If something happened to Roy's family, would it be on him? As if he needed another weight on his shoulders. Despite these dark thoughts, the boy gave a genuinely thankful smile, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Roy... Thanks."

J.P arched a brow inquisitively as Lewis addressed him. He listened to the man, and as the words hit him, his gaze turned to one of rather pronounced annoyance. The boy took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled it through his nostrils, rubbing at his tired eyes with the index finger and thumb of his right hand.

"Lewis, as much as I appreciate your apparent trust in me, there is absolutely no way I'm staying behind when you guys go into Secronom." The boy looked to Lewis with a stubborn expression. He wasn't going to be left behind now that they had finally reached the only resemblance of a goal beyond just surviving that they had. "I want to see what's buried in there as much as you do. I'm only against charging in without a plan."

As Jake introduced himself, J.P somewhat hesitantly turned away from Lewis to look at the other boy. He nodded slightly, and raised a hand in greeting. "Uh, yeah, hi. Name's J.P, uh... The guy with the bat. Good to meet you too."

[thatfallout3guy]

Lewis let out a deep sigh at J.P.'s response, scowling in frustration at the boy, "Look, J-"

"I'll make sure Roy, the kids, and Melissa are alright," Jake said, cutting off Lewis before he could argue against J.P.'s refusal.

Lewis was skeptical. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jake, but the fact that he had been taken as a prisoner before worried him, "You got caught before by those religious psychos."

Jake gritted his teeth in anger, looking ahead, "Yeah... I fucked up there. But I ain't alone no more. I got people to watch out for my back, and I'll be watchin' theirs. I ain't gonna end up like a penned up mule again. I'll handle it. I promise."

Lewis was torn. He wasn't expecting J.P. to refuse, but he also wasn't expecting Jake to step up to the plate. It wasn't easy, but as he turned back to J.P. and saw the determined look in his eyes, Lewis knew that there was no point in trying to change the boy's mind, "Alright, Jake. Keep them safe."

Jake smiled, "You got it, driver."

Happening to hear Mason's suggestion to take the van, Jake shook his head, "Nah, that thing's clean out of gas. Ain't worth the time to try and get more, either."

[lukuz13]

July 7th, 2022 Thursday. Huntington, West Virginia

-Phil's tactic was surprisingly effective. As the rampaging monster drove through the sounds of gunfire towards the first target, the loud and more panicked sound of someone knocking over shelves earned the creature a loud violent hiss, as it ducked behind the next corner, going after him. Many of the shots ricocheted off the walls and shelves the beast ducked under, but several good shots did land. Alex was lucky enough to avoid being scalped because of this, but now, Phil was the object of the creature's ire. As it lept over the shelf blocking it's wait, it landed with a thud ontop of a set of old bird calls, sending them scattering to the floor, slashing down at Phil with both arms, and just barely missing both, earning a gouged out hole in the tile below. Despite missing, the creature brought up it's clawed toes and kicked Phillip clean across the face, earning deep scratches and sending him several feet down the hall. Luckily for him, however, the storm of bullets finally seemed to be enough, as the two men emptied their clips, the creature let out a bellowing moan, almost like it was crying, losing it's insane sense of balance, and toppling over into the destroyed aisle Phil created to be it's tomb.

-Brian gave a low unsteady nod at Lucy's...'encouragement'. He wasn't sure why, but being alone with the woman felt oddly uncomfortable, despite how much time they spent together. It seemed without Miki as a mediator, he couldn't overcome the barrier she put up, and his own shyness. He paused for a few moments, as if unsure what to say to her, but answered her question anyway.
"I'm 33." He stated. Even to Lucy, he certainly didn't look it. His face had wrinkles and looked strained and tense, though many people's faces did these days. He looked in his 40s or older.
He watched her go to check the hall, and seemed puzzled at first, before seeing her turn back to smile. It seemed oddly effective.
"I...suppose. I just hope we can find a way to get out of this place...and somewhere safe." He noted softly. "I promised Miki I'd find her sister...but...ah, what is it you're after, Lucy? Besides...you know, a bed and food I guess." He tried to ask. Honestly, he knew very little about her, and she probably liked it that way...but that didn't stop his curiosity all the same.

-Roy gave a few nods to J.P. He obviously was serious about that bit, if nothing else, though he didn't comment on him being left behind as leader, it seems he didn't have to. Roy went to check on Melissa while Jake was being 'promoted' so to speak.

With that handled, J.P., Lewis, Harrison, Ichiru, Mason and Davey headed off down the last stretch of road, with Davey far ahead, far enough that Harrison had to try and slow the man down.
It didn't take them long, maybe 5 minutes or so of walking before they came across something...worrisome.
An enormous checkpoint of some sort, stretching from one end of the block to the other. Large armored military vehicles were wrecked all along the line, many of them looking quite old and worn, while others were outright smashed in by some undead force, no doubt. Ranging from APCs, to S.W.A.T vehicles, and even a few transport trucks, it looked like the military's final standing point. A long, still brightly luminescent yellow line laid muddied up along the street between this wall of vehicles, and a towering building. They could see the front gates from here, and they appeared closed. Near the yellow line, in droves, enormous piles of dead bodies, with long smears of blood in various directions emerged. Despite many of them coming back, it was clear many were decimated by the guns the military held here, before the line broke.

Davey, who was the furthest ahead, could feel a faint quake, he could swear the closer he drew to this yellow line. The direction and origin was uncertain...maybe his mind was playing tricks on him now.

[kain17335]

The clip fell from Alex's gun as he removed the latch, letting it fall with a metallic clang as it bounced against the stone tiled floor. Quickly pulling out the next magazine and pushing it in. Though the man still had little experience with the gun, accidentally trying to put the magazine in the wrong way was not a good way to reload. Once it had been reloaded however Alex pointed the gun at the beast as it fell against the shell with a heavy thump. He lowered it as the only movement coming from it was the odd twitch in it's leg from having so many shots to the head. Alex wanted to fire just one more round into its skull, just to make sure. But wasting a round like that might do more harm than good.
He looked down, the boy was still out cold even after the torrent of rounds that had been fired close to him. He must have been through hell and back to stay in this state after all this. Or just very lazy. However now there was a new problem. After all those gunshots a horde of zombies must have heard them so now they would have to get out of here. However, due to the morality of his new 'friend' they might be slowed down by the boy. If they were to take him with them he would certainly not have in on his back.
Alex looked down to Philip, who was currently on the floor with slashes against his face. He had saved Alex's life, something that Alex had forgotten that survivors could be capable of such feats of morality. But the cuts were nothing that his small medical kit could help with. Nor would he be able to stitch them together given their current situation. Doing 5 minutes of sowing once to fix a shirt didn't exactly make you a world wide expert on such things. Though he did still have that bottle of superglue, as painful as melting your skin together to seal the wound was it was likely better than an infection. Better to ask permission first however, as much as Alex didn't care about pouring superglue onto someones face. It would likely be better to have their consent.

[ampersand]

When Brian, clearly unsettled, responded finally, Lucy wondered. 33? For his woes and always-tired manner, the man did not seem it - stress did that to people, she supposed. Considering that made her wonder what her own demeanour seemed like these days, shaped by - was it weeks - desperate struggles in the half-light, running, and seeing the spark of hope dwindle in the faces of her companions. Ragged. We've been running ourselves ragged.

Her thought was severed by the query. A few hairs somewhere on her went electric and stood outwards; her mind froze for a split second. When she finally reached an answer, her voice was low and not her usual strictly meted-out tone.
"I don't know if there's anything that can be found out here. The life I once tried to make, away from home..." Lucy stopped abruptly to contain herself. "It's gone. Everything. Why do you think I didn't try my luck with that helicopter, back at the first camp? If there's something I'm after, it's the death of everything that took it away. Even if that takes me."

It seemed just to consider it was enough; saying it sent her heart aflutter, made her feel drained and more than a little bit empty. She closed her eyes, settling into the gloom that came with admitting these terrible things.

[thatfallout3guy]

Lewis looked ahead at the scene with a bit of regret, tightening his grip on his shotgun as the group approached the checkpoint, "Still think this is a good idea, Davey?" He asked with the slightest hint of hostility in his voice. He saw the checkpoint as a warning, a sign of what was likely to happen if he dropped his guard for even a second. He was tense, but remained focus.

"Any idea as to what we can expect, infected wise?" He asked, turning to Mason.

[bloodsrain]

Mason was shocked by the look of the gate. He hadn't been back to the building since the infection happening, but from the stream coming from it, it was most likely infested. The amount of dead guards surprised him though, most of them should have retreated if the infected got too close, they must not have seen it coming.

When Lewis spoke to him he continued looking at the gate, not wanting to take his eyes off of it. Something definitely was off, but he wasn't sure what. "Well Lewis, it's complicated you see. A lot went down in that building and I can't estimate what we will be fighting. It seems most of the advanced infected managed to escape, but some of them made hubs in that building. Im sure of it. Stealth approaches are optimal for the situation. Ill head to the guard post and lower the gate with the activation code, we can get inside then." Mason said, turning to Lewis.

[Rygand]

J.P walked along with his M16 at the ready, and his revolver on stand-by. The carbine had done much to make the boy feel safer at long range -- having gone so long with his revolver being his only even moderately long range weapon had been a daunting experience. Having a shotgun and a baseball bat was comforting at close range, but further away... Not so much.

The boy looked to the military post in the distance, his brow furrowing. It looked silent. Dead silent. Never a good sign. He narrowed his gaze, trying to better make out everything left in the bloody battle's wake. As Mason answered Lewis' question, vaguely as it was, the mention of lowering the gates and this "activation code" gained the boy's attention.

"Activation code? That sounds... awfully convenient." J.P looked at Mason with a doubting gaze, trying to get a read on the man's intentions. "So, what, you plan on running in there to enter a code? I mean, I don't know if it's just me who sees the piles of dead bodies, the blood, the abandoned military vehicles and everything else, -buuuut- -- and this is just a guess -- it might be the slightest bit dangerous!"

The boy gave a sigh and looked to Harrison. "...Sarcasm aside. We might wanna consider rummaging through the post... carefully, of course. Who knows what kinda goodies we could find, with the military involved?"

[ballerscuba]

Davey squatted down next to the trail, trying to keep his balance as the earth beneath him seemingly shook. He took his sword off of his back and was going to lay it on the ground when he heard Lewis taunt him. He looked up, his focus broken. "I never said this was a good idea," he snapped. "This is the best option from a list of terrible choices. If you want to reconsider, you can still go back with the women and children."

Davey turned his attention back to the yellow streak on the ground. He went again to put his sword on the ground. He swore he could feel a steady beat, almost like a distant heartbeat. The tip of his sword touched the ground just as he heard Mason mention his access code to open the gate. "Just make sure there's nothing too devious on the other side of that gate before you open it. If it's too bad, we might want that gate between us."

Davey squatted back down, once again turning his attention to the yellow streak. He finally put the sword down on the ground. Just like he though, it bounced slightly with each pulse in the ground. It seemed to be pretty weak, though. He grabbed the sword off the ground and put it on his back. "I can't tell whether this trail is leading to or from the building. I would imagine it's leading out. Still, though, I don't think I want to hang out here longer than we must. Just because I wanted to come here doesn't mean I want to hang out here. Maybe just a quick look to see if we can use anything." Davey stood up, scanning for anything he could see that he could use. Heavy weapons would always be nice to have, if they weren't too heavy, of course.

[lukuz13]

July 7th, 2022 Thursday. Huntington, West Virginia

-Philip's injuries weren't quite so bad, they appeared to be mainly bruises to the face and head from the sheer force of impact, and he had a mighty intense headache. As the men recovered from the attack, the dull moaning out front grew stronger, if slightly. Any stray infected nearby had moved in to join the ones banging at the door's barricade. Any others have yet to be seen.

-Brian did indeed look tired, as he normally did, but when she said that, it shifted to more of a surprised look, then one of worry.
"You...don't want to escape then?" He asked. "Are you saying...that you want to kill as many of them as you can for..revenge, or something?" He asked, as if still in disbelief himself. He had never asked her before why she fought, but that...that was crazy, right?
Maybe it wasn't so crazy. A part of him deeply wanted to get this strange sort of revenge as well, despite it's futility. There was only so many things left to fight for.

-Harrison couldn't believe the sight in front of him. So many dead...all armed to the teeth even, and still they all just...died. It sent a chill up his spine to see how much all that effort had done. How little it all mattered in the end. The hundreds of bodies waiting to change, those few who took mercy instead of infection far between.
Harrison averted his eyes all the same, trying to take his mind off the scene, and instead found himself staring at Davey. He was so...different now. He had never seen him walk with that sort of purpose. Hell, he was still getting use to seeing his red hair. At first, he thought he might be preparing for one of his patented references to some bit of media he hadn't seen, but...no. He was serious now.
So was he.
"Davey's right." Harrison pointed out swiftly, giving J.P a nod, as if the man had answered his question for him. "We should pick through the...ruins a bit." He said, grimacing as he glanced over the slaughtered. It didn't sit right with him to disturb the dead like that, but...they had to. "There's definitely military hardware here, lot of it unused it looks like...we can worry about Mason trying to get the gate open in a sec." He said, making his way up to the yellow line. Everyone who did so would feel the vibrations suddenly stop. Then start again, sometimes stronger, then sometimes softer. It felt like half the block was shaking from whatever this was...and it made Harrison hasten his search, while trying to remain quiet as possible.

In the thick dust and crusted blood, the group managed to find quite a few things actually. In one transport of some sort, they happened upon a crate, left to rot in the elements, the side read: "Explosive Ordinance HANDLE WITH CARE". Inside, there remained 6 RPG-7.
Among the bodies of soldiers, the group would find three belts of grenades, each holding 4 grenades(it would seem the poor bastards never got a chance to use them before they were slaughtered), six remaining M16 carbines, with M203 grenade launcher attachments with 10 mags, with 30x 5.56 rounds each.(the rest of the guns were either soaked or broken), a single SPAS-12 shotgun, 4 mags, 8x 12 gauge shells each hooked around a soldier near the front of the line who had the honor of blowing his own head off. Near the back, twin M24 Sniper Rifles, with only 3 mags (5x 7.62 rounds each) between the two. Seemingly, the duo of snipers were providing support when they were attacked from behind by something. Finally, near the front of the sandbags, they found a machine gunners nest, set up inside was a M60 Light Machine Gun. Two belts remained nearby, and each held over 200 bullets for the grimy machine gun. While in desperate need of a polishing, many of the guns appeared to be in working order and as lethal as any other of their kind.

[goawayproboardsletmepost]

"What's the fucking point in escaping if what you escape to suffers the same fate?" Lucy retorted with impatience, as though one were explaining to a child a particularly obvious truth - for, to her, it was, and the result of far too much late-night brooding. She bit into her already well-weathered fingernails with ferocity, but there wasn't much more she could chew on. After a few moments, to a still-surprised audience, she continued, this time with disgust: "But I'd rather do it myself than be a slave to people like these. I'm not going to pretend I can save anyone; it's obvious that would be betraying their trust and my own chances of doing it properly."

Inside, Lucy felt her stomach churn and her mind reverberate with her ever-increasing pulse. Cheeks twin beacons. She hadn't expected to tell anyone this soon - there was only so much crazy people could accept in an individual. Worse yet, she knew how impossible it sounded, and felt that dig at her each time she deigned to think about her own chances. All I have left. No point pretending this is a matter of choice.

[bloodsrain]

Mason, while never one to be much of a gun fanatic, was quite excited by the pickings they managed to obtain. Better yet that there was enough guns to arm the group. While he himself could probably only hold a weapon about Carbine sized, it was enough. It should help them get inside anyways he thought. "It's a shame this happened to them, but at least we benefit from it. I don't think we are going to be able to take all these weapons with us without a vehicle or more survivors. In honesty I don't think those RPG's are going to be much help, but im sure we could use them to hold off the Undead if we get into a sticky situation." Mason said with glee in his voice. "There armor doesn't look too bad either, if we get desperate it might be a good idea to take some of their body armor, we never know when we might run into bandits or accidental friendly fire."

Even through the illusion of happiness he was showing about the new armaments, he wasn't letting his guard down. He wasn't sure anymore if it was a good idea to open the gate just yet. The rumbling sounded bad, if anything was behind the gate or hiding, he was sure opening it would make it show up, whatever it was. "The rumbling doesn't sound good. It might be trouble. We should probably make a plan of action if something happens when I get the gate open. I might just be worrying but you just can't be sure at times like this can you?" he said with the glee in his voice from earlier now almost a whisper.

[graybeardhalt]

Jake made sure to tuck the empty clip back into his pocket after ejecting it. "Guess I'll need to refill another one," he muttered, cursing the entire situation they were in. He surveyed the damage, seeing the crumpled heap of Phillip, the strained and almost ghastly look on Alex's face, and the still stiff as a corpse body of John. "What did I do to deserve this?" Jake rubbed his his eyes, grimacing as he began to think of a way out of this. "Are you just gonna stand there contemplating the answers to the universe, or are you gonna help me move these assholes before they die?" Jake directed the question at Alex, already stooping down to pick up John and making sure not to jostle him too much. He threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and moved towards his pack on the floor and threw it over his other shoulder. "You get him and follow me out. Unless you'd rather leave him to die, which I wouldn't hold against you. Idiot nearly got us all killed." His tone was one of disgust as he pointed towards Alex, shrugging John into a more comfortable position and going towards the back door. 'If they don't start pulling their weight, I'm gonna have to cut them loose,' he thought to himself. 'Yes, I know I made a promise, but when some asshole plays the hero we all get hurt. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just shut up, okay?' The conversation ended abruptly as he finally made it out the door, no sign of any infected in the alley. At least, not yet.

[thatfallout3guy]

This amazing find left Lewis in a bit of a silent stare as he walked through the field of loot, picking up one of the grenade belts and strapping it on, as it was the only thing of any use to him that he saw so far. Then he saw... her.

Like a beautiful woman sitting alone in a smokey bar, surrounded by hooligans that would treat her wrong, she laid on top of the sandbags. Lewis was drawn to her, unable to resist her charm. He made his way to the M-60, a smile managing to creep on his face as he did, "Miss... when's the last time you had someone treat you right?" He asked quietly to himself as he ran his fingers over the gun. Lifting it up, Lewis was quickly reminded of the irony of calling this certain weapon a "light" machine gun. He holstered his shotgun over his back, swapping his main weapon to the M-60. The idea of raiding the zombie headquarters still didn't appeal to him, but at least he had the ultimate 'blaze of glory' weapon.