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Neutral
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Rowan Caddel | 21 | Male | Hetero | Newcomer | Mentions: Calvin, Atlas Rowan looked up from his bag, hearing Calvin call up to him, asking if he was alright. "I'm fine. Looking for some food is all." he said. He looked in and pulled out some venison jerky he'd dried while he was on his own. He pulled a couple strips from the bag. One for him, and one for Cal if he wanted it. Something beneath caught his eye. He pulled it out. It was a photograph, taken a few days before the end. There was Rowan, next to Kristen, who was at the far left. He was unscarred, a whole lot younger, and less strong looking. He was still just as tall and lanky, though. He was less lanky now, though, having grown into his height since then. He also looked happy. Truly, genuinely happy. He had his arms stretched around his siblings' shoulders, pulling them all into the picture. There was Kristen, who had stood very petite at 5'3", but she had been drop dead gorgeous with her dark golden, wavy hair that had bright blonde highlights and fell down to her midback, and her green/gold eyes, and tan skin. She had also been one of the toughest personalities Rowan had known. But not tough enough. Aether and Hope, the fraternal twins. They both had bright green eyes, but Hope's had more grey while Aether's had more gold. Aether's hair was straight, and more of a light brown color, and was swept to the right side of his face, out of his eyes, while Hope's hair was curly, more auburn, and fell to her shoulder blades in loose ringlets. Both were stubborn as mules, and cared for others more than themselves. They did everything together, even though they fought often when their stubborness collided. What he wouldn't give to see them all one last time. Just once, that was all he asked. He shook his head. The past is in the past, as it should be. Getting lost in it meant missing the present and future. He put the photograph back in his bag and picked up his bow and quiver, slinging them over his shoulder, before getting up and going downstairs, Draven at his heels. He walked out of the house, bright red hair gleaming like fire in the sun, but it caused him to squint. He walked over to where Cal had stopped outside a house where Atlas had entered. Yes, he had brought a third jerky strip if Atlas wanted it. Honestly, his supply would start dwindling eventually. He'd have to go hunting in the nearby forest again soon. He crouched down next to Cal, who was admiring the horse, and looked over at him, taking one of the strips and poking his arm with it so he didn't scare the horse with any sudden movements or noises. He looked over at the horse warily. He'd never liked horses, or horseback riding. Horses because they were rather large, and could trample him in an instant if they were running fast enough while he was in a vulnerable, small position. He didn't like riding because it felt weird to him, and he was putting his life in the horse's hooves. No thank you, he'd stick right here, on the ground, with his own two feet, thank you very much. Hope Caddel | 20 | Female | Hetero | Loner | Mentions: Zephyr, Louis, Grayson She considered his statement. "Hm......is that what you thought?" she asked, eyes fixed on the dried blood stain where the scuffle had happened. Honestly, she saved others, not just because she cared, but because it helped her feel a bit better about those she couldn't save. Namely Kristen and Aether. This Zephyr would never know the pain of killing someone you'd known for your entire life, done literally everything with, practically shared every little thought with, and then having to kill them. Except, when it happened to her, it didn't make her cold, but that more determined to help those she could. Every little human life that was saved meant something these days. "That you weren't worth saving?" she added, looking away from the blood and back at him. "That's true.....if I stick around until tomorrow, or if they last that long." she said simply. She usually left pretty quickly after saving someone, didn't stick around to even get their names usually. She followed him out. "Yeah, I'd rather not get killed today." she said, and looked in the direction he gestured with his hand. She looked back to him with a slight eyeroll and a smirk. "Oh, I'm sure you'd make the cut. I'm saying they wouldn't let you in because they wouldn't trust you. Trust me, if the ginger doesn't recognize even one of his group members, he'll threaten their life because he doesn't trust them. I've been watching them for a bit, been around a bit." she said. 'Plus, I know him better than most of those people.' she thought to herself. She looked over at him when he made the comment. "Yeah, sure. I'm sure the night crawler thought about that when it was going to eat you." she said simply, with a slight chuckle, and then she looked at him with an expression that could only be described as shocked on her face when he asked for her to teach him something. She quickly composed herself, though, and mentally ran through a list of her skills. She had quite a few, but not many that were useful in this situation. "Let's see.....I learned falconry to train Ty........potentially problematic without the right equipment, but still on the table.......tracking for animals, humans, and even zombies, archery, basic traps." she said. "Oh, and horeseback riding, but I don't think we have the horse or equipment for that. Plus I have no idea if you'd even be interested." she said, smirking. Honestly, she'd just added the last one in to irk him a bit. "Take your pick, but probably once we're out of here." she said, discreetly observing the interaction between the scout and the leader, and watching as the scout walked off with his shoulders slumped. She gave a slight laugh of amusement. "Ha, now he just looks shorter." she said, before beginning to go in the direction Zephyr had indicated, stopping a small ways away before looking back to see if he was coming. |
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Darkseeker
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Zephyr Eliades | Loner | Male | M: Hope, Grayson (indir), and Lois (indir) Zephyr blinked in response to her question, not entirely sure how he was supposed to take it. Just how much did he value his life? The thought had never crossed his mind really. This entire time, Zephyr had been far to engulfed in his obsession with his revenge, that his life had practically been void to him at that point. But then again, It couldn't have meant much, once taking into consideration the individuals he associated himself with. The same people who had caused his mothers demise. "Of course not," He finally managed, recollecting his thoughts as he slipped his gloved hands into his coats pockets to avoid the nervous fiddling of his fingers. "Life is too beautiful, for me to simply throw it away." His expression softened somewhat as he cast his sights over the empty houses. Not long ago, people inhabited these. Probably gathering around the table for supper around this time. Just socializing, and doing whatever it was normal families did. Even before the apocalypse, Zephyr's life had pretty much already been down in the ruts. Although, he had a considerable amount of wealth, it had to only torn his family apart. "If you look past the undead.. past the state of our world, you'll ultimately come to realize the small beautiful things life has to offer." His eyes flickered over to a dim-lit building. It was distanced a fair share from the group and gave them enough of a gap to run, had it ever become necessary. "But if you think of it this way. We've practically been given another chance to restart. The world has been reset." Not wanting to spare another thought on the subject, Zephyr quickly pulled his hand out and waved it dismissively. "The day I die, the world would have lost an amazing human." He scoffed pridefully, his broad chest almost puffing out as he attempted to convince his dwindling mind. "You keep bringing that red head up," Zephyr observed. It wasn't that he had missed her constant mentioning's of him, but rather, that he had just decided he didn't really care. Nor that it was any of his business. But she had brought him up an unsettling amount of times for him to simply brush it off as some kind of pointless notion. Perhaps now, would be a good learning moment for him. Just a piece of information he could use to piece together his investigation, or start his list of people he intended of getting rid of first. "Is he your irritable ex boyfriend or something?" Zephyr smirked slyly as he turned to look at Hope one last time. This time, solely focusing on her face as he searched it for a reaction. Any at this point. He'd take whatever she gave him. "Hah." He huffed rather dryly in response to her skill sets. "What did you think I'd ask for?" Zephyr asked, raising a questionable eyebrow in her direction now. Either genuinely curious to know, or simply insulted by the fact she probably would have assumed he was looking for something materialistic or physical. "Just consider yourself lucky, kid."— "I'm one of those people you'll rarely come across that want their favors repaid in the form of knowledge.. not in whatever other things your corrupt mind might've wondered to." His arms came behind his head in an expressive stretch when she had mentioned the small man from earlier. "Careful. That midget is gonna be the same person to fuck you up." He joked, when quoting the words he had said before sauntering off somewhere out of sight. "I think I'd like to learn archery though. It could come handy one day." He finally concluded after long lamenting the thought of wanting to learn to drive. They hadn't walked long before Zephyr came to an abrupt stop at a tall building. It's large structure towered menacingly over them as he craned his neck to get a better look. "I'll go in first and let you know if it's safe to go in." Zephyr volunteered but hadn't necessarily waited for her response before he began to move in on the house. His hand coming into contact with the door gingerly. Locked. Bringing his leg up, Zephyr propelled the heel of his shoe straight through the door before quickly side stepping to avoid any inanimate objects or undead alike. Nothing. Thinking nothing of the silence, he slowly withdrew a lighter from his pocket and extended it into the darkness before moving into it. His form nearly dissolving into it as he proceeded to deepen his perimeter. After scowering what needed to be examined, he eventually came to the conclusion it had been barricaded for awhile now and since hadn't been infiltrated up until today. "I think this is good for now." He called out from the living room as he rummaged through the drawers before coming across a family photo. It appeared to be of a mother and her son. But the faces had long since been faded, perhaps due to the watery substance that had overtime corroded it. |
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Neutral
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Hope Caddel | 20 | Female | Hetero | Loner | Mentions: Zephyr Hope listened to his response to her question. "Wow, that was very convincing." she said sarcastically. "But yes, I guess when you look past the shit ton of problems the world has, it is very beautiful." she said thoughtfully. She noticed how his expression softened when he spoke and looked over the houses. "The world's needed a chance to restart, just never thought it'd come this way." she commented, keen green eyes watching the town. Ty soared overhead in the blue sky. She laughed at his comment. "Well, maybe so, but the world loses amazing people all the time, and doesn't always realize it unless they were someone particularly influential." she said simply, then she stiffened when he mentioned Rowan. 'Stupid!' she thought to herself. She should have stopped mentioning him so much. She forcefully relaxed her tense muscles and laughed. "No, god help me if he were. No, I've never had a significant other. Never really cared about someone to that level. I've cared for people, just not to that extent." she said. "But, why would you care who he is to me? It's not like you really care, or that it's any of your business, for that matter." she said, her voice and face going completely devoid of emotion at that moment, fixing her eyes on his as he focused on her face. She didn't want to give anymore information on him, fearing she would be endangering Rowan's life if she told him anything more. She gave a small smirk. "Oh, my mind isn't that corrupted. But I've been asked for payment before........just never knowledge. At least, not to teach them something. Most people would go out of their way to avoid learning anything." she said, before frowning slightly. "Don't call me kid. I'm probably around your age. Birthday's November 1st, 20 years old. Early......June? I think, so I definitely passed November." she said. She gave a small chuckle. "I'd be too afraid of hurting the little fucker to engage in combat with him." she said with a chuckle, allowing herself a small, sharp grin while walking beside him as they went somewhere out of sight. She normally practically speedwalked everywhere, or ran, so the pace of the man's saunter was mildly annoying to her. "It is pretty useful. Especially for hunting without getting too close or making too much noise. You can use my bow to learn if you like. I still have my daggers if I need. And I'll probably just take it back when I need it at times." she said simply. She stopped beside him as they came to a tall building, and stifled a small laugh as he was about to go in and the door was locked, but she still had a small smirk on her face. It quickly faded when he kicked the door down. "Well, I guess that works." she said, going over and stopping at the doorway as he went in. She'd still be there to save him again if she needed to. If something happened while she was there, she wasn't just gonna stand there like some coward. She followed him in once he said it was alright. Seemed he'd already checked downstairs, so she went to check upstairs. She walked into a room that looked like it'd been a little boy's room before the fucking apocalypse. She looked over at the bed, having already smelled the faint stench of death when she walked in the house. It was so faint, there must have been barely anything left. She saw a semi-dried up skeleton on the bed, curled up in the fetal position, like he'd died in his sleep. "Poor thing......must have been so scared to go outside that once the provisions were all used up or expired, so was he." she murmered. 'Guess that's what seperated the hunter from the hunted in this situation. Fear.' she thought, before going back downstairs, squinting in the dim light so she didn't trip on the stairs. She got down and looked into the living room, seeing Zephyr looking at a photo. She walked over and looked over his shoulder at it. "Must've been the boy I saw upstairs." she said softly, although her voice itself was devoid of emotion, as was her expression. She'd gotten used to seeing the dead and dying, putting them out of their misery if they were too far gone. |
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Lightbringer
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Atlas Pan Booker | Male | Hunter | Heterosexual | M: Rowan Caddel, Calvin Borelson The walls of the black-and-white tiled kitchen were papered by a deep, mahogany red and were decorated with more paintings from the previous owner. However, they didn’t appear to be any more than just splatters of pastels and streaks of black to Atlas when he looked at them. He shrugged and began to dig through drawers, passing pointless utensils—butterknives and sporks. Why in the world would you need a spork? He thought while he shuffled onto the cabinet below. Inside were large pots and pans that would be too large to lug around. He did take a small, portable skillet. It would definitely make cooking go way faster. As a companion piece, he also took a spatula, as it would assist heavily with eggs or flipping meat. He looked throughout the rest of the cabinets and drawers to stash three kitchen knives, they were dull but they could be sharpened. He also grabbed the dried oatmeal and the raisons. Most of the other food was ruined or non-exinsistant. He was reluctant to open the refrigerator because in the past they showed to be full of disgusting smells and mold. But he’d take a bad odor to achieve the purified water bottles. He held his nose with his left hand when he opened it up and he could taste the putrid scent of spoiled meat. His right hand had to grope around for the two full water bottles because he was trying to remain as far as possible from the cold box. Finally he gave in, as he was getting nowhere, he took a deep breath, gripped the two bottles tightly with his fingers and extracted his arm from the icky refrigerator. Then he shut it firmly and pocketed his two valuable prizes with a grim smile. Life was really hard sometimes. He passed by the back window when he entered the living room. He saw a Calvin with his horse. He noticed that the giant didn’t touch it nor was he standing right next to it as if he wasn’t confident around the beast. Atlas could understand, when he first saw a horse he was rather intimidated by their massive size. Eventually he grew used to them and admired everything about them, their skill, their beauty and elegance. Not to mention their attitude, some ponies were real troublemakers and sassy little things. Horses were usually better, but every so often one will give you a run for your money. He was about to go outside to tell him that Wyn was gentle until Rowan and his puppy showed up. Atlas was surprised by this, given their last meeting not so long ago. He studied the ginger-haired man’s reactions towards this natural lawnmower. He seemed careful around him, almost as if he was scared or frightened. Atlas snorted and weakly smiled at this, a giant is afraid of my horse. His smiled and headed toward the nearby backdoor to talk to them. Strung bow slung around his shoulder, all of his arrows in their quiver and his scavenging bag held tightly in his hand. “Hey, y’all!” He called out to both of them. His voice caused the horse’s head to raise and those large dark chocolatey eyes stared at him. Who could be scared of those gentle, curious eyes? “I’m glad you came, and I see you’ve met Wyn. He’s quite gentle, y’know, wouldn’t hurt nothing unprovoked.” He looked from Calvin to Rowan, “you can touch him if you want. Just don’t walk directly behind him (that’s a horse’s blindspot) without rubbing your hand on him. It tells him that you are there.” He thought about offering to give them horse back riding lessons, but decided that he didn’t trust them enough to have free access to his most treasured possession. He did want to bond more with them, however. He noticed Rowan’s archery gear and gestured to it. “Do you think sometime you and I can practice together? We can have a competition.” He realized that this was leaving Calvin out. “And I can teach you if you’d like.” He noticed that Rowan carried a strip of jerky. “Nice, what kind is it?” He asked. “What do you like to season yours with, if you can? I personally like salt and honey, maybe a tad bit of rosemary, to flavor things up. Unfortunately I’m out of that, but I did find cumin so maybe that can do something.” He looked over at Calvin, “Are you interested in cooking?” Then another questioned popped into his head. “Do y’all like to hunt?” After a while of conversing, he looked back at the house. “‘Nice that we have three people for one house. We can get more work done sooner. I’ve already covered the art room and kitchen. Nothing much in each room, however. I suppose we should get scavenging, don’t we?” |
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Darkseeker
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Quinn Steinbach - 21 - Newcomer - Mentions: Jimmy, Billie, Open
Quinn's doodles had started out as a few scattered facial features till she drew two lopsided eyes, which then turned into one of her better zombie sketches. She'd always enjoyed drawing gruesome things, even before the world ended, but now it was nearly the only thing she could draw, aside from the rare normal face. The uneven features of a zombie made them easier to draw than actual people. Fewer perfections she had to work on.
When Quinn was nearly done she noticed a person sitting under the tree across from the one she was in. It was a young oak inside a garden, its leaves giving off plenty of shade for the person sitting beneath it. Sadly, Quinn couldn't see or hear much else because of the rustling leaves of her own oak tree, but her mind was already coming up with what would happen.
Was it someone from the group? If so, what should she do? Jump from the tree and say hi? No. That'd be weird. She didn't just approach people, even from the group. Plus they might think she's been watching them. She was new after all, not all of the members of the group trust her... Though maybe if Quinn said she was just drawing in the tree, since it was a safe place, she'd be fine. But what would that be like?
Hi, how're you? I just jumped out of a tree, but don't worry, I'm not spying on you or the group, I was just drawing a fucking zombie because that's a totally normal thing normal people do because of course.
Quinn knew that wasn't how to start a conversation, but she'd already thought up multiple answers to questions that hadn't even been asked and probably wouldn't be. Neither would she use one of the five hundred conversation starters she had jumping in her mind. Though, maybe she could just climb down and say hey?
And maybe it was a wanderer who killed humans for resources? Or a rather quiet zombie? It wasn't a zombie. She was almost sure... but a loner was always a possibility. She'd been a loner for a good year, and hid from most groups she found, till she spied this one, which just seemed full of normal people trying to survive. Normal people like her.
Just when she was ready to climb down the tree and greet the person, she heard more footsteps and the new person spoke with the person under the tree. Quinn stayed frozen, barely risking to put her sketchbook in her bag as silently as she could.
So it was Jimmy and Billie? Was there another person? No. She'd have heard them. So far Billie and Jimmy were just talking about zombies and... a gun?
Taking a deep breath and collecting her thoughts, Quinn lowered herself off the branch, falling the last two feet to the ground in a loud thump. She actually knew how to fall lightly, but didn't care for it this time.
"Oh, hey-" she greeted the two, pretending to just notice them and stretching as if she'd just woken from a nap. It wasn't any of the things she'd planned out to do or say, but that's how it usually went. Think till her head exploded and then do something completely different. At least she looked tired, having not slept the night before. She probably should have napped, but now it's too late.
"Billie and Jimmy, right?" she gave them a friendly smile and leaned forward on the small fence between them, glancing at the handgun Billie had pulled out. |
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Darkseeker
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Zephyr Eliades | Loner | Male | M: Hope Her tensed muscles had almost been too noticeable to him. It was these little things that came natural to him. Being a born manipulator and master of reading peoples conflicted emotions, Zephyr never truly struggled to grasp what the other individual was thinking, let alone feeling. With the slightest change of body language, It was painfully obvious to Zephyr that there was some sort of correlation with her and the redhead, but instead of further instigating and rising more suspicion, he had simply dismissed it with a playful smile. "I'm only just jesting." When it came to cracking jokes, Zephyr wasn't necessarily your go to guy for one. He was so painfully terrible at that them, that he had laughed at just how unfunny they were. Her next comment had momentarily caught his attention, with a vague tip of his head. "Oh?" His eyes continued to eye her face. Just then realizing her acceptable appearance. Beneath all that grime and blood, appeared to be decent, beautiful really, looking woman, but he'd rather be mauled than admit it openly. —Seemingly older than him by a couple of days, but he made no attempt of letting that be known by her. However, what had stricken him the most had been her unusual eye color. His in comparison were a boring dull black, nearly deep pitted in color despite the vague silhouettes of silver. "That's a surprise," He finally added, slowly forcing his eyes from her face and towards the image in his hand of the mother and the boy, Hope had found upstairs. "I mean. Considering you're such a nice girl and what not." There was a considerable strain in the word nice as he casually threw the fluttering image over his shoulder and continued to rummage through the small drawer. He came to a slow pause at her question. It hadn't necessarily been that he cared who he was to her, but rather that he was more interested of a way in which he could get easy access to the group and their supplies ultimately. "It isn't, but I'd at least like to know more about the person I'm currently with." Closing the last drawer after finding nothing of use, Zephyr finally turned to face her, his palms coming to a rest on the surface of the small table as he relaxed against it. "Who knows, for all I know, you could be some kind of vengeful woman whose been scorned by men," His eyes avoided hers as he nonchalantly eyed the boarded up windows behind her. "You could've saved me, just to live out your twisted fantasy." Of course. None of this really concerned him. Although she had been abnormally tall for a woman, and built generally sturdy, had he really saw fit, he'd easily overtake her and make away with her. Maybe. He couldn't get ahead of himself. There had previously been women in his past who had surprised him. For all he knew, she could've been the epitome of Wonder Woman. "Unlike a lot of the people you've ran into before. I'm not some brainless baboon who values power over knowledge," He grimaced at his own words. Power had relatively been important to him, that at times it had blinded him. "Plus.. Who can say no to learning something that could potentially save their life in the near future?" He smiled readily when she had offered her personal weapon. Figuring she would have forced him to find his own or make it, this had worked out significantly better. But had also proven to be rather trusting of her, or for someone who claimed to be as mistrustful of others, like her. "You'd really do that?" He murmured, a hidden curiosity lingering in his eyes as his attention was pulled over her unequipped bow. "Aren't you worried I'd turn it on you and take advantage of the distance?" He would have most likely missed considering the lack of training, but it had been worth a try. Plus, unnerving her was oddly satisfying. "I'm sure, that even with the lack of training, I could still land an arrow." Zephyr continued before breaking contact and cocking his head slightly to reveal his neck, his index finger tracing his jugular. "Don't worry. If I ever get out of hand, you have my permission to take my life" He smirked slyly before ending his terrible joke with a scoff into his palm. He had no intention of betraying her trust, yet. "Now. Let me see your arm." He added, finally returning to the main reason he had coerced her into staying with him. |
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Darkseeker
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Valentina Lopez | Resident | M: Kieran . Valentina looked over at the woman in return of her question. She took her bag off her shoulder and reached inside, pulling a small item. Holding it up, she showed Kieran. "Just a pocket knife so far." Val shrugged and placed it back in her bag. She slid her bag on her shoulder and looked around, examining the rusty building. The building had dust particles flying everywhere. It was messing with Val's nose but she decided to suck it up. The particles bothered her really bad to the point where she let out a small sneeze. "Excuse myself." She said and straightened up. . Looking at Kieran, Valentina raised an eyebrow. "Have you found anything useful?" She asked. With the amount of supplies the group has found altogether, Valentina was merely surprised. They had supplies for almost every type of issue. The main one, and most important one, was medical. Val was hoping she could find a medkit around here. That could've been way more useful than an old pocket knife. . {Writers block >.<} |
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Neutral
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Calvin Borelson | Newcomer | Male | 22 | Mentions: Atlas, Rowan Calvin continued to watch the horse munch on the grass. He observed as the horse crunched the tender blades of grass in a somewhat circular motion, it was interestign to witness. He tried to mimick the motion for a second, wondering if perhaps that would help him to chew food faster or better. He stopped his mimicking when he ntoiced movement from the house he had exited. Glancing over his shoulder, Calvin spotted Rowan and his black dog moving towards him. He offered him a little wave and a cheesy grin, returning to observing the horse at its munching. Calvin glanced over at Rowan as he sat down and poked him with what looked like jerky. He gladly accepted it, tearing off a piece with his teeth and chewing. He subtly copied the horses chewing technique, wanting to see how well it worked. Suprisingly, it had absolutely no effect. It just made his jaw hurt. He scowled at the ground then swallowed and took another bite of the jerky, chewing normally this time. He flinched a little when he heard Atlas's voice, not noting the man emerge from the house until he spoke. He glanced at the horse, Wyn, giving him a suspicious look. He paused for a second listening to Atlas's instructions, then stood, cautiously moving over towards the animal. He stopped a little ways away from it's shoulder and reached out, lightly patting the horse once then twice. When the large animal did not freak out, did not try to murder him for simply existing, and just stood there, he relaxed. He moved closer and stroked Wyn on the neck a couple times before tuning back into the conversation Atlas held with them. "I wouldn't mind learning to use a bow, and yes, I do like to cook." He stepped away from Wyn and moved over to Rowan's side, crossing his arms over his chest in a non-aggressive manner, listening as Atlas observed about the three of them working together. "I guess you're right, it will be faster." He glanced at Rowan, he wondered if he still felt any agression towards the smaller man. "We should probably check the bathrooms in this house for any medical supplies then head to the next one, unless you already did." |
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Lightbringer
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Ataeia Sigebryght - Female - Resident - Mentions: Grayson (Dir.), Louis (Dir.), A Bunch of People I Don't Feel Like Listing (Ind.) Ataeia trailed her fingers against the ruined paint job of the house she'd chosen to enter, feeling the texture of the rips against her skin as she walked deeper in. A grimace graced her face as she lifted up the collar of her shirt to her face, attempting to cover her nose and block out the terrible stench of rot, seeking distraction in the feeling against her hand as she walked. She was helping out with the scavenging attempts. It was lucky, that they'd stumbled upon a town like this one -- it seemed mostly untouched by anything but zombies and nature running its course. It was a pretty simple town, too -- just a few houses lined up next to one another, nothing special. It probably would have been quaint, had they stumbled upon it 5 years sooner; somewhere between suburban and rural, nice and green and neighboring some friendly forestry and a small hill. Every house had a lawn and most had picket fences, and varied from one or two stories high, though some may have had basements or attics. The houses were spaced close enough that you could go over to your neighbor and ask for a cup of sugar, close enough that you could sit on your porch and wave at the person across to you, or that you could go outside and see the children laughing and playing in the grass. Ataeia stopped in her tracks, banishing those thoughts from her mind. It was no use in thinking about it now, she told herself; the houses were empty now, the lawns were overgrown, the neighborhood was deathly silent. Any coziness remaining was simply a grim reminder of what once was, an eerie emptiness coming in the form of unnerving silence. As she started to move again, her foot bumped into something, and her heart dropped. What'd happened to this neighborhood was far worse than simple emptiness. It was the death and rot, the reminder of the death of humanity. She knew perfectly well what it was she'd hit, but she looked anyway. She felt like she had to, almost, though she'd never be sure why. Her movements were slow as she turned to look, the sight causing the stench to feel that much worse. She gagged, bringing up her hand to her face to cover her nose and mouth as she stared down. It was a corpse. A skeleton, more specifically -- it'd probably been the original house owners, judging by the fact it was mostly decomposed save for some flesh clinging onto its last legs. Maggots swarmed the last bits of flesh, wriggling between gaps in the skeleton's bones. It was in a fetal position, and as her eyes followed the arc of the arm, she noted that it was wrapped around something. The person must've died holding onto that thing, maybe in an attempt to protect it... All at once, the realization of what it was holding hit her. Maybe against her better judgment, she crouched down in order to inspect the scene further. Yep, that was what she thought it was -- it was a smaller form, probably something that used to be a child. The bones were snapped and the skull was crushed, but it most certainly was human at some point. Through the space between its bones, she could see a dark crimson stain darkening the floor beneath. Shakily, she stood up, glancing up from the pair of skeletons to find the bloodstain had taken a path. She followed it, almost absentmindedly, her steps slow and without thought. She came to rest at yet another corpse. It was completely bones at this point, so clearly it had begun to rot before the others. It was sprawled out across the floor and its skull was smashed in, and lying right beside it was an axe, covered in a thin coat of dried blood. As her eyes trailed across the floor, she found that the child's bloodstain ended beside the skeleton. Ataeia stared down at the sight before her for a moment, then two. She stared, and then without another sound, she turned and moved on to the next room. -- It'd been a while before Ataeia ended up leaving the house. It was a fairly big one, and she'd taken a pretty big pause after the first room. Still, she'd gotten a pretty damn good haul -- a medkit, some bottled water, a book (she remembered some of her group members liked books, so she took one), and a toolkit. The toolkit would be pretty hard to haul around, and she doubted most of the things inside would be useful, but she'd bring it back for inspection, anyway. The more, the merrier, she supposed. She'd briefly looked through the closet to see if there were any useful clothes, but it seemed the moths had gotten to them before her, but the rest of her items were more than enough to make up for it. Ataeia walked through the main room, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the door and where she was walking. She didn't let her eyes wander for a moment, and when she closed the door behind her with a "click", she didn't look back. As soon as she was outside and the door was closed behind her, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, taking a quick inventory of what was going on around her. Most people seemed to still be checking out the houses, if judging by the fact that most were missing from the street. As she walked out, setting the toolbox down so she could rest her foot on it and stretching her arms behind her head, she glanced down one side of the street -- most of the people seemed to be gathered up there, though they were in their own separate groups. There was Atlas and the two newcomers of ungodly height hanging around the former's horse, doing... she didn't know, something? Fucking around with jerky, it looked like. Grayson was around that area, too, though a bit closer to her than the others... she'd have to check in with him, in a minute. Further down was Billie, Jimmy, and Quinn, also probably fucking around. What they were doing was arguably more useless, though, if judging by the pile of inexplicably sharpened sticks lying beside them. She'd have to ask whoever did that (probably Jimmy, if she had to guess -- that man confused the hell out of her) why later, maybe drop off the book she'd acquired by Quinn while she was at it. Turning to the other side, lowing her arms so she could get a better look, so saw Louis. There wasn't anyone else out on the far side, as far as she could tell -- just him, doing... uh... Damn, what the hell was anyone in the group doing right now? Ataeia squinted at Louis, leaning forward in order to get a better look. He seemed to be trying to get the wooden spikes of the fence out of the ground with his bare hands. He definitely could have asked someone else to help him, probably someone with a weapon better suited for the job. Better yet, he could have just... ... Ataeia brought her hand to her face, pinching the bridge of her knows as her eyebrows went back into their familiar knot. These guys would be the death of her. After taking a moment to recover, she sighed, pulled her hand from her face, and yelled out an "Aye, Louis!" in an attempt to get his attention. She paused for a moment in order to be sure he was looking before, glaring at him wordlessly, pointing over to where Jimmy & co. were sitting with a pile of conveniently sharpened wooden sticks. She sighed again and turned away, pulling back and taking a moment to roll her back before picking up her toolbox. It was a fairly pleasant day; warm weather, not a cloud in the sky, not egregiously hot. The area, despite its eerie abandonedness, seemed mainly free from zombies, so she supposed she couldn't blame the group for having their brains turned off for a bit. They'd finally reached some sort of resting point after days of travel and everybody seemed to be talking or cooling off if they weren't already inside and scavenging, so even if it made her muscles feel even more tense than usual, she couldn't really complain. If the others wanted a moment to relax and their leader was fine with it, then so be it, but Ataeia planned on still going on with her work. Transferring the box to one hand, she gave the town another brief once-over. Ordinarily, she'd check in with an observer, but Louis seemed busy with... whatever he was doing, and she didn't know where Aurora was. She supposed she could settle for the next best thing, then, and talk to Grayson -- he seemed generally unoccupied, anyway. She headed up to the leader with the simple greeting of "Hey, Spring," setting down her toolbox and standing up straight again. "Found some tools. There's a medkit in 'ere, too, and some bottled water. All of it's probably too heavy to take, so we're gonna have to discard some shit, but..." She demonstratively tapped the toolbox with her foot. "... some of it should be good, at least." Ataeia looked up at him again, only then getting a good look at his face. He had a certain look in her eye that gave her a bad feeling -- nothing she could quite pinpoint, but it looked... distant. Upset. She frowned. "... Hey, you alright, boss?" |
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Rowan Caddel | 21 | Male | Hetero | Newcomer | Mentions: Calvin, Atlas Rowan smirked slightly when he saw Cal take the jerky and try to mimic how the horse was chewing. "I don't know if that's gonna help ya." he said with a small smile. looked up when he heard Atlas., but flinched slightly when the horse moved. He quickly stood up so as to not be in a vulnerable position, and then mentally scolded himself for so obviously showing his distaste for the animal. He looked at the man, confused at his first statement. "Glad we came?" he said, with a slight scoff. "You mean glad he came." he said, nodding to Cal, considering their last interaction. He was still wary of both man and beast in this particular situation. He eyed the horse again. "Erm......no thank you. You know, horses........not exactly a strong suit of mine." he said, taking a couple steps back. He followed Atlas' gaze to the archery gear on his shoulder, and let out a small chuckle, before turning it into a cough. Nope, no way was he expressing his humor at this point. "Nah, you'd absolutely destroy me in a competition. My sister was the archery gifted one......she tried to teach me, but I'm not that great. Better with blades." he said simply, then scowled when he realized he'd let slip he had a sister. 'Shit, I shouldn't have mentioned her. But, no going back now.' he though. He then handed the third strip of jerky to Atlas. "It's venison." he answered, taking a bit of his. He listened to the man, then swallowed. "Well, yeah, salt, honey if I can find it. Never tried rosemary though. Never really learned much about cooking, but I learned a few things." he said, continuing to idly chew on the jerky, still eyeing the horse, and Cal as he stroked the horse. 'At least one of us isn't afraid.' he thought with a slight frown. He honestly had to get over his fear of horses someday. I mean, come on, of all the fears to have, HORSES?! He sighed slightly at how ridiculous it seemed. He used to have a softer side toward the animals, until he fell off one day, and the horse hadn't stopped or anything, it just kept going, looking like it was about to run him over. He'd rolled out of the way just in time. Since then, it'd been never again between he and horses. He looked up when he heard Atlas and Cal speak. "Yeah, I like hunting, and yes, it would be faster if we look with three people." he said. He listened to what rooms the man had got. "Well, we better keep searching. Bathrooms might have medical supplies, and I'm running a bit low." he said, going into the house to find the bathroom. He went up the stairs, and into the smallest door. There was an abandoned bathroom, stinking of rot, and he spotted blood spattered on the walls, and he wrinkled his nose slightly, before going back to his inspection. He found half a roll of bandages, a few waterproof bandages, and three quarters of a bottle of rubbing alcohol, along with one-fourth of a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "Score." he said, taking the items and putting them into his bag on his hip. Probably wouldn't last long, but hey, it was something, right? Hope Caddel | 20 | Female | Hetero | Loner | Mentions: Zephyr Hope looked up at Zephyr when he said he was just jesting. "Uh-huh....." she said, getting the feeling he wasn't exactly the joking type, at least not often. She scoffed slightly at his tone of surprise, looking over at him, notcing him studying her again. She decided to do the same to him, see how he felt about being studied like he studied her. Honestly, he didn't look half bad in her eyes, scar and all. His deep, dark eyes with glimmers of silver at the center were most interesting to her. She noticed his left eye looked a bit....different. Almost as though he were blind. It could have just been the lighting though. Lighting could play strange tricks on your vision. She'd never admit that she found him handsome willingly, though, at least not until she believed she could trust him completely. Besides, just because he was handsome didn't make her afraid of beating the everliving shit out of him if need be. If he ever betrayed her.......she cut off that train of thought, because she honestly wasn't sure what she'd do if she actually grew to trust the man and he betrayed her. She smirked slightly at his next comment. "Oh yes, I'm the nicest aren't I?" she asked sarcastically, with a sharp grin, and a mischevious glance at him. Her grin faded when he said he'd like to know more about her. "You'll know me, once you earn the right to know more about me." she said ever so simply. She wandered into the kitchen, looking for any nonperishables or water left behind. She found a couple bottle of water, but no nonperishables. Not surprised, looked like the boy ate everything in the house before he died of starvation. She gave a low chuckle hearing him. "Oh, believe me, if it were to live out some twisted fantasy, you'd be dead by now." she said, going back into the living room and tossing him a bottle of water. She noticed his grimace when he mentioned power. "Hm....that's true, I suppose." she said simply. "But it would appear that most are brainless baboons as you say, when it comes to knowledge." she said thoughtfully. She thought for a second at his next question. Was she really going to trust this stranger with her personal weapon? "Well, who said I'd be standing this close to you during training? Besides, with a lack of training, you probably wouldn't even be able to land an arrow on me at this distance. I'll also probably, once you're more advanced, probably have you find or make your own bow." she said, giving a slight eyeroll at his cocky atitude about his lack of training and still possibly being able to land an arrow at this distance. She blinked, slightly unnerved when he revealed his throat to her and traced his jugular. She shook her head slightly. 'I saved his life for a reason......not that I can think of that reason right now, but I must have, otherwise he'd be dead. I'm not about to end it.' she thought with a slight frown at his what she thought was a sick joke. Of course, she would never say that out loud, it'd give him too much leverage over her if he knew she wasn't fully willing to kill him on the spot. She sighed, rolling up the left sleeve of her jacket, walking over and extending her arm out to him, showing the gash in plain view now. |
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Fall 
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