The Best Laid Plans || Closed

[CECILIA BIRDIE BEDLYN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/w6MZf.png);] - Cecilia blinked up at them all as they talked. She rarely felt as young and immature as she did now. Cecilia wasn’t even really used to being around people, she had spent the entire apocalypse by herself, and even before that she didn’t get into any serious situations while having to deal with other opinions. She knew that she could die, and that thought was somewhere in her head, but the moment that thought became pictures in her head Cecilia felt sick. Zombies weren’t a problem that Cecilia faced head on, they were a problem that she avoided and dodged every day. So standing with this group, that had more thoughts of shooting and death than Cecilia had ever had made her desire to suppress all of that more. Maybe a big part of that, is that Cecilia imagination was a bit too wild. A part of her stayed in denial that the zombies were really dead. They still looked like people to her, and felt like people as well, they didn’t act very different from a lot of people she saw everyday. The Zombies scared her, and she knew they would ruin her if they got their hands on her, but that is how Cecilia felt about a lot of humans as well. Melissa right now is a good example. Too Cecilia, being yelled at was just as away as being eaten alive. The second Cecilia spoke around people they always took her the wrong way, and ended up yelling at her. It’s cause she never really seemed good to people, especially girls. They seemed to see through her a lot easier than boy, and obviously something in Melissa was telling her not to trust Cecilia, probably for good reason. But as Cecilia looked up at Melissa, and then Baden, and then Seth, a store full of zombies seemed like a better idea. Her cheeks burned red and she started down at the ground. “I-I don’t even know how to use a weapon.” She stammered almost inaudibly. She would say that she had survived perfectly fine for much longer than Melissa did, but that seemed like a horrible idea. In all reality, Cecilia was fighting back her child-like instinct to go cry and find someone to hug her. But there wouldn’t have been anyone to run to anyways. Cecilia didn’t have family, or friends here, she didn’t have much respect either. Cecilia looking up, and down the street away from the store. She contemplated leaving, and going back to the way life was before. Her feet actually twitched slightly, like she was going to walk, when Seth spoke. She wasn’t mad, so when she looked up at him and smiled slightly, she probably just felt like someone didn’t want her to go and get herself killed. It was a nice feeling. Cecilia kept her mouth shut now, not that she really had anything valuable to say before. She knew, if she was going to insure her own survival she could just leave the group and probably get into that store, get stuff for herself and leave. But getting enough supplies to benefit the safeland, yeah she needed them for that. Cecilia was just going to stay quiet and take orders, she looked up at Baden and waited for them to finish discussing. She wasn’t meant to involve herself with topics like this. words: 575 - outfit: link

[seehearspeak]

Despite his hopes, everyone was still talking. Is that all people did these days? Talk? He wished they would just stop. Just for a second. Just so this knot in his stomach would unclench. Withdrawing into himself, Baden flinched as Melissa made herself clear in an accusatory and badgering tone. The nervous scavenger’s head lowered and his shoulders came up, as if he was trying to pull it into his body like a turtle.

Some little part of him, however, some small, forgotten sliver of him growled and reared its head. This is not your fault! If she does not think it’s a good idea, she can sod off! If she did not think that the redhead can handle this then it was her fault for bringing her! Was it too much of him to think she would ask people she would think were competent?! If they die, it would not be his fault, IT WOULD BE HERS!

The wrathful thoughts burning through his brain begged to be let out, but Baden just… could not. He bit his lips hard and swallowed his anger, making them bled a little. His hands started sliding along his rifle, fidgeting around it, trying to calm his mind by giving it the task of making sure that the weapon was completely set and ready. With a shock, he realised that he had not yet chambered a round. Stopping dead in his tracks, Baden pulled back the lever on the gun right after Seth said “breathe”.

The metallic noise of the bullet entering the chamber cracked into the silence just after everyone had stopped yapping on.

“Please, be quiet”, Baden said quietly. He felt as if he had reached a moment, the edge of an abyss, and that it was time to jump to the other side. You should turn and face them, he thought to himself, but his body would not obey him. Speaking out to a crowd like this was bad enough, facing them would crush him.

“I only asked for help because I needed extra hands to move stuff. If you doubted the skills of anyone here, then you should not have asked them to come out here. No matter the job, it will always be dangerous. You know that”, the man said, his voice remaining level and quiet. “I would have preferred to do this myself, but I thought that it would be easier with help. I understand that is what friends do, help each other? That’s what I was trying to do; help out the Safe Lands, your home. Was I stupid for assuming that you would be friends with me?”

There was a pause when Baden let the question hang in the air but it came to an end swiftly as he raised his rifle once more and started walking again, talking over his shoulder still.

“If anyone is having second thoughts, they are free to go. It makes little difference to me”, he finished, shrugging slightly. “I’m used to be left alone. Just thought you might have been interested in helping out your home.”

[MELISSA FRANCIS CLARK]

[atrb=valign, top, true][atrb=cellpadding, 5, true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing, 0, true][atrb=width, 400, true][atrb=border, 0, true] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style]

[atrb=style, text-align: justify; background: #191919; color: #787883; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0px 0px 20px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 10px 10px 10px 10px;][style=height: 302px; overflow: auto; padding: 4px;]Melissa was fairly pleased to see that she had gotten some sort of control over the girl that she barely knew. She wasn't even sure how she had managed to tag along. Melissa had invited people she knew to be Scavengers, she hadn't thought to consider their skill. She was beginning to think that perhaps she should have. The satisfied sensation that overcame her, however, sank away quickly when she heard the words that came out of Charlotte's (perhaps that was her name) mouth. Melissa's mouth popped open and she brought a hand up to rub at her temples. "You think any of us knew how to jam a bar into a person's head or crack a skull in with a bat? Of course not. That's why we learn. 'I don't know how' is not an excuse."

[/b] Melissa snapped. She recalled very clearly how tough it had been to learn and how much tougher it had been to cope with dealing with the undead, but that was the world they lived in. She could understand people wanting to avoid it, but it just wasn't plausible.

Melissa peeled away from Carla to look at the man in front of her as he spoke. Seth's words rang out in her ears but she gave him nothing more than a fleeting glance. These people were giving her fuel to her anger, and as it built up it was becoming more difficult to turn it down. She didn't want a replay of the Kamala incident, though. Melissa yanked herself away fro the two people she had brought with her to bicker with Baden some more. "If it's always so dangerous, why didn't you think to make sure everything was safe before you had me fetch people? Maybe you're the one with the trap." Melissa's voice was venomous and low, like a hissing self conscious. "Surely a sensible young man wouldn't endanger three innocent lives without knowing everything he needed to know, right?" He demeanour was unusually calm, and it might have even looked like she was talking with a friend from behind.

Melissa's hand snaked into her pocket, stroking a set of keys that sat in there as her crowbar swung beside her. "It's your home too, Baden. If you're a Scavenger, you're a part of the Safe Lands. You can't just disassociate yourself because you've got some issues. Everyone has issues."[/b] Melissa's voice softened with her last sentence, and she sighed deeply. Her eyes flickered briefly to Seth, the boy frightened of the dark and then to Catherine, the sticky fingered girl. Melissa had spotted her reaching into her pocket, it wasn't hard to catch her. It was Melissa's job to keep an eye out for things that were sneaking up on her while she worked, and she had been doing it for a year now. That at least meant she could pride herself on spotting thieves. She could give up the mean-ass act now. She turned, walking backwards beside Baden. "As Baden doesn't seem to have all the information we need our wits about us. And we need a better plan. We'll go with Baden's idea, but we need some sort of allocation of roles. Seth, do you have a torch? You can keep Baden lit up, with the flare's aid, while he tries to get the lights on. Even if it's not nighttime, there's still nasty things in the shadows. Clara, I don't care what your name is any more, if I catch you.. misbehaving again, I'll club you. Yes, I did see that. I'm beginning to see why you're a scavenger. Unless you wanna voice any special talents once we're in there you can find yourself a weapon and start learning how to use it if anything is sneaking up on anyone."[/b] Melissa had never been a thief before the outbreak, but that said nothing about her brother.

She looked away from the redhead and to Baden. Her voice lowered. "I hope you don't mind me taking charge here, but you've got three stragglers that are going to need direction, not someone that can't even face them. If you have some specifics, tell me and I'll tell them." Channelling anger into productivity hadn't always been Melissa's best talent, but it seemed to be working well today. She rubbed at her jaw. "Once the zombies are out, we can try and close the shutters behind them to stop anything extra nasty sneaking in. Is there anything else about the place you didn't tell us?" Melissa's eyes hovered over Baden's, and while they looked stern they looked equally as scared. She wasn't cut out for this, but neither did Seth or Charlie, and Baden didn't seem to want to be stepping up. It was all very good for her to get annoyed with everyone for whatever it was that popped into her head, but doing something about it was another story completely.

Hopefully they were nearing the building now, and hopefully things would go off without a hitch. She looked to the man that had started all of this. "How do we get up onto the roof to use the access hatch? Emergency ladder?" The questions she aimed at the man were there for good reason. If Baden knew that place as well as he had made out, he should have been able to help with the ins and outs.[/style][/size][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[SETH ADAM CHAMPION]

[STYLE=font-family:vrinda; font-size:15px; color:#000000;][/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=background-color:#000000; width:350px; height:100px; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:5px; letter-spacing:8.5;] [/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-family:terminal; color:#CCCCCC; letter-spacing:2.5] I JUST FEEL ALONE IN THE DARK[/style][STYLE=border:5px #120A8F solid; width:330px; font-size:10px; color:#CCCCCC; text-align:justify; padding:5px; background-color:#000000;]

Seth allowed himself to take a step back from the rest of the group for a moment, and he simply allowed the tense conversation to wash over him. He wasn't sure why everyone was getting so worked up when they weren't even in any real danger yet. He could feel himself getting just as stressed though, so maybe he should have been asking himself. He shook his head gently, and, after having a moment of being quiet, he rejoined the group. A serious expression sat on his face, because that seemed to be what the situation was dictating. If he could, he would have told everyone to just smile. it always made him feel less stressed and more cheerful.

Seth was starting to feel a tiny bit sorry for Cecilia. He looked at Melissa, noting that he'd never really seen her like this. Nobody could be happy all the time though, and it was probably a good thing that they had the blonde there to tell them what to do. This Baden didn't seem very good at all at telling them what was going to happen. "I've got your back, all right?" said Seth, looking down at the younger girl. "We'll just have to sort you out with something once we get back. Might even find something out here that you can use for a weapon!" He knew that some people didn't like killing the zombies, but even so, it just seemed like a good idea to carry something around in case it was no longer possible to run.

He stood and breathed. In and out, in and out. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale. Didn't pay any attention to what was going on around him. If a zombie came, he was screwed, but nothing did come, clearly. Seth opened his eyes and looked around with a bright smile on his face. Pupils came and settled on Baden once more. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit suspicious, but everyone needed a fair chance, didn't they?

"He doesn't live in the Safe Lands?" Seth asked, looking at Melissa. He realised then that it would probably be a bit more polite if he asked Baden. They'd barely said a word to one another though, and Seth was actually finding it hard to remember that the other man was there when he wasn't talking about his plan. "Don't you live in the Safe Lands?" Seth repeated, though this time he looked at the man that his question had been about. He smiled at Baden, trying to look friendly. Even if the man wasn't looking at him, he probably would have heard the smile in Seth's voice. Hands dug once more into his coat pockets at Melissa's questions and one came out holding onto a small but quite powerful torch. "Got it," he grinned. An eyebrow raised at the words that had been directed at Cecilia. He wondered what Melissa meant by "misbehaving", and Seth hadn't really expected something so cold to come out of his friend's mouth. "Her name's Cecilia," said Seth, louder than last time. He didn't sound angry or anything, just a little pleading. He was desperate for them to all start getting on a bit better. It was useless going in there if they couldn't work as a team.

Hands went back into his pockets, holding onto the torch tightly as if it was going to slip out of his fingers, never to be seen again. That seemed to happen often to the things that he needed. Seth eyed the building up ahead, only half listening to the plan that Melissa was laying out for the all. He realised that it might be in his interest to listen a little closer, but in the end only caught the last bit of what the blonde woman was saying.

[/style][STYLE=font-size:10px; font-color:#000000; font-family:verdana;]shiki @ ote[/style]

[CECILIA BIRDIE BEDLYN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/w6MZf.png);] - In all honesty, Cecilia wasn’t really angry. It wasn’t bothering her that Melissa was insulting her, treating her horribly for no reason, or didn’t seem to be able to remember a seven letter word. I mean girls were normally pretty cruel to her growing up, and they knew that she didn’t fit in. That’s why Cecilia had tried to be quiet. But regardless of what this girl said to her, Cecilia wasn’t going to change. She wasn’t going to start carrying around a crowbar because it would weigh her down. And she wasn’t going to carry a gun because she’d probably end up shooting herself. But if she said that, Melissa would keep scolding her like her mother, or her leader. So Cecilia just turned pink and looked at her feet. Standing in this group, Cecilia just felt outcasted and embarrassed. Baden’s words made her jump, and pulled her out of her teenage angst. This wasn’t about Cecilia, or Melissa. They were on some kind of important mission or something. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to take a deep breath, but she felt like her lungs wouldn’t fill up correctly. She wanted them all the start walking again, for all the focus to be off her. When Seth spoke to her, for a second, just a second, Cecilia felt a little less outcasted. Yeah, he was friendly. But Cecilia knew men well enough to know that he was only being friendly because Melissa wasn’t. He was looking at Cecilia like someone who couldn’t take care of herself, hell, they all were. Cecilia was capable of a hell of alot, she just did it differently than they did. Still she forced a smile, and nodded. She wasn’t going to reply to him, she wasn’t going to say a word again unless she had to. Seth wasn’t really her friend, and Cecilia looked away more upset about being forced to learn a skill. Cecilia actually smiled a bit at Baden. She liked him, he wasn’t talking pointlessly and placing blame. He, like her, just wanted this done and quickly. Even though the man refused to look at them, Cecilia did feel a little inspired. She wasn’t his friend, she wasn’t friends with any of these people, that is probably why they were outcasting her. But she wasn’t lazy, and the safelands were her home just as much as theirs. But then, softly after Cecilia was slightly inspired Melissa started to talk again. Cecilia felt slightly upset with how she was speaking to Baden. He wasn’t risking their lives, they were risking their own lives. Cecilia bit her tongue, and kicked the ground nervously. She felt like a kid again, she couldn’t stop blinking, or chewing on her lip. She just wanted to start doing something. Of course Melissa seemed to take charge. Cecilia felt a bit of fear now, she had a feeling that Melissa was going to use her as bait, or leave her behind or something. She wouldn’t be surprised. And then it all made sense. The look in Melissa’s eye as she said ‘misbehaving’ made it all too clear to Cecilia that she knew. There weren’t words, Cecilia had to just bit her lip and look away. Cecilia now probably just had to obey. “I-I’m sorry” she said in a very small and shaky voice. This was what Cecilia feared. She knew if either of the boys looked at her they would know, so she started hard at the ground. And that was it. The group started to walk again and Cecilia hung back as usual. Her cheeks were a deep red and her mind wasn’t as focused as it should be. She was still listening closely to them, and walking right on their heels. But she knew her eyes was glassy, and her hands were shaking slightly. Cecilia always felt this way when she got caught. Nothing caused her more panic. But then Melissa mentioned having to get on a roof and Cecilia didn’t hesitate. “I can climb” she said still looking at her feet. A moment passed and she glanced up at them. “I’m really good, I’m fast too.” words: 575 - outfit: link

[seehearspeak]

Melissa started talking again, and from the volume of her voice he could tell that she was still keeping pace with him. But Baden could not hear what she was saying. He was blocking out everyone, now that he had said his piece, so that he would not have to endure anymore accusations or mean words, imagining himself inside a small room, alone, with nothing but oblivion. The pseudo-sensation of isolation helped to calm his fraying nerves and he started to feel a little better, a little less tensed up. After all of this life has thrown at me, oblivion will be a nice respite.

It was not long before the blonde scavenger started to take charge, which filled him with relief. He was starting to think that she was expecting him to do the talking and ordering around. That was not really his forte. He was more of a follower than a leader. Less people focus on you that way. He noticed that she was asking him a question and brought his attention back to the now.

“The lights aren’t hard to miss, but the shutter controls are near the entrance, so we’ll need to get to those before we turn them on”, Baden explained, tiptoeing around something that might have once have been bread in a time forgotten. “The bulk of the weapons are in a locker in the flat above the store, where we’ll be dropping in. It has an electronic lock; the code is 48-16-42. In case, you know…”

Baden left that hanging there, feeling his throat constrict in fear at the possibility he might not even make it to the store. Luckily, Seth asked him if he stayed in the Safe Lands, which drew his thoughts away from that area of doom and gloom.

“I don’t, not if I can help it. Too many people”, the nervous scavenger replied with a shudder. Melissa had asked him about the route to the hidden panel, so his attention re-focussed to her.

“Actually the ladder was taken down. So people couldn’t get in through the roof”, Baden said. “We’ll be going up a fire escape on a nearby building and hopping across the rooftops. There are virtually no gaps, so it won’t be a problem getting across and back. Well… there is a bit of a gap on the last one, but there’s a walkway we can use.”

Glancing over at the young, unarmed redhead, Baden sighed and shifted the rifle around in his arms, reaching behind him with his now free arm and pulling his steel bat out of its holder. He flipped it into the air and caught the end of it, holding out the handle to Cecilia.

“Here”, he offered, looking at her shoulder so he did not have to look into her eyes. “It’ll give you a little reach at least. You can use it shove ‘em back if you’re still iffy about killing them. I’ll want it back, like”, Baden added. He did not just give away his weapons, not to anyone.

After that had been settled, Baden led them for a little longer until he stopped them at a building. The moans of the walking dead could be heard constantly at this point, but the nervous scavenger was so used to it by now that he tuned it out effortlessly. Checking his pocket watch, he nodded to himself. They were on schedule. The light in the sky was beginning to dull, which would give the flare light far more contrast. Quietly skirting around the building’s wall, he found the fire escape and started climbing, gesturing those behind him to follow him up in short order. Looking up as he ascended, he took note of the bruised looking sky and wished that he had a pen and pad. He would love to write a poem… it had been so long since he had penned one… Maybe after this was done.

Reaching the top, Baden noticed some movement but to his relief it was just a rat which, once it registered his presence, swiftly scarpered. Heaving his body onto the roof, he scanned the area for any dead, but it was empty. Waving an all-clear to those behind him, the scavenger crouched and made towards the next roof and so on until he reached the walkway. The aforementioned “walkway” was simply a bunch of planks that had placed over a twelve or so meter gap, with a couple of dimwits in the alleyway below just to spice things up.

Good thing I’m not bad with heights he thought to himself, making his way across the planks. They made little noise as he moved over them and he reached the other side without any issue. Seeing no danger, Baden peeked his head over the edge of the roof to see how many dead were in the streets.

To his surprise and relief, the streets seemed to have cleared a little from when he had last seen it a few days back. They must have started to disperse in ones and twos to find new victims to eat. There was still quite a bit of noise coming from below in the shop, however, so it did not seem like most of them had moved.

With a sigh of fear, Baden realised he would have to lead the way below since he was the only one who knew where to go once they got inside. He had held onto the hope that he would be the one to stay topside, throwing the flares and taking pot-shots with Lenny if things went sideways. Slipping the strap on his rifle over his shoulder, Baden pulled his kukri out of its sheath on his leg.

“I’ll… have to go first”, he announced quietly, only just keeping the wobble of fear out of his voice by moving up to a pile of pallets and moving them out of the way, popping open the panel hidden underneath. No sounds in the room below. That was something at least.

“You all ready?”, he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the group, spying the redhead again. Getting his pack off his back, he waved her towards him without looking at her, rooting about in his bag for the flares.

“How’s your arm? Can you throw well?” Baden asked Cecilia.

[MELISSA FRANCIS CLARK]

[atrb=valign, top, true][atrb=cellpadding, 5, true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing, 0, true][atrb=width, 400, true][atrb=border, 0, true] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style]

[atrb=style, text-align: justify; background: #191919; color: #787883; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0px 0px 20px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 10px 10px 10px 10px;][style=height: 302px; overflow: auto; padding: 4px;]Melissa seemed to have calmed down considerably now. Her hands weren't gripping the crowbar as tightly, and the urge to hit someone with it had died down considerably. As long as the redhead didn't bother her any more and didn't give her an excuse to actually club her she supposed things could go well. The long and spindly fingers of the woman came up to push the pale blonde locks of hair out of her eyes, and she attempted to shove it into the ponytail dangling behind her. No such luck. Baden was talking and she was distracted. She walked through the pile of mould that he had avoided and was apparently not bothered by it. "We'll be fine. As long as no one," a pointed look in Carlie's direction. "Messes up. But if you do die I have dibs on the bat." Melissa's hands came up behind her head and she walked on in silence for a little while. The blonde woman scraped her shoe clean of gunk on the ground as she strode beside Baden. She only occasionally looked back to Seth and Christine. "Oh, parkour. Interesting. Always wanted to try that out." Melissa seemed to revert to her chatty self as the four of them walked onwards. The journey was getting a little tedious, and Baden handing his weapon over intrigued her. "Do you have another weapon or are you the unarmed one now? Still got your kukri?" She vaguely remembered the conversation about the curved blade he seemed pretty fond of. A part of her wondered whether or not he had lost it, and another part of her wondered if Charlie was going to shoot them by accident. It wasn't long before Baden was making his way up the side of the building, and Melissa was craving a cigarette. Her lips were dry and she wanted something to chill out with and help her focus. But again, she had no such luck. To keep her occupied, she followed Baden up almost immediately. He had, after all, pointed out that he was her friend and she wanted to back him up a little. The fire escape made easy work of scaling the side of the building, and once she on top, she watched Baden crouching about. She looked left to right to see if there was any immediate danger in need of being cautious of and when she discovered none, she snorted an amused smile. The same rat he had avoided scurried past her, and with another grimace she kicked it off the roof. It landed with a squeal and a splat. Standing beside Baden, she looked around some more. She was still a Scavenger. She picked up a sheet of metal, and tossed that over the roof too. Nothing of use up here. Finding what seemed like a chimney, Melissa leaned against it. Her arms crossed and she once again longed for the breathy and cancerous cigarettes she knew so well. But she had none left. Instead, she let her eyes waft over to Seth, and she gestured him over. "You've been quiet. You okay?" Cassandra and Baden seemed busy, so she was going to let them get on with it before their turns came up. [/style]

[SETH ADAM CHAMPION]

[STYLE=font-family:vrinda; font-size:15px; color:#000000;][/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=background-color:#000000; width:350px; height:100px; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:5px; letter-spacing:8.5;] [/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-family:terminal; color:#CCCCCC; letter-spacing:2.5] I JUST FEEL ALONE IN THE DARK[/style][STYLE=border:5px #120A8F solid; width:330px; font-size:10px; color:#CCCCCC; text-align:justify; padding:5px; background-color:#000000;]

Seth's left eyebrow floated up his forehead, closely followed by the right one, at Baden's answer before Seth could stop it. He didn't understand Baden's apparent aversion to people, which probably meant that the other man was going to get a shed load of questions coming his way if he wasn't careful. "So you don't like being around too many people," he said. He sounded inquisitive rather than unfriendly or scornful. "Why is that?" Baden seemed like a nice enough guy as far as Seth could tell, but it was sometimes the nice ones that had suffered the most. Seth began to reel up a number of explanations for why Baden wouldn't come to the Safe Lands. He continued to stare at the man curiously for a while.

Seth felt himself relax with the rest of the group. He wasn't someone who could be knocked out of his happy place very easily, but he'd definitely been feeling some bad vibes. He fell silent once more as he walked besides Cecilia. His eyes were constantly searching for any threats. Looking at the redhead, he could see that he wasn't that much older than her, and she was probably quite capable of looking after herself. It was probably what Melissa had said about her being unprepared that had made Seth feel the need to make sure nothing was creeping up on the young woman. "How are you doing, Cecilia?" asked Seth after a moment. Just for a few minutes things seemed to be peaceful, there seemed to be a bit of time for small talk.

And then they came right up close to the building. Seth stared up at it curiously, all his senses working twice as much as usual as he looked at this new place. He stood back, letting Melissa and Cecilia go first before climbing up after them. Seth grimaced at the sight of the rat and edged a little closer to Baden. He watched what was going on for a while, but since he'd never really done anything like this himself, all he thought he could do was watch. Everyone had been so serious for the past year, and he found that he got on people's nerves a lot more than he used to do. Seth wasn't a paranoid person, but right now he was wondering if he was getting on anyone's nerves. He leaned forwards ever so slightly and peered down into the room underneath the panel, but wasn't really close enough to see anything interested. He stood back again and turned his attention to Melissa.

"Mmm?" he asked when he realised she was addressing him. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine." Seth smiled brightly at Melissa before going on to add cheerfully, "Just letting everyone concentrate I suppose." He wasn't sure whether this mission was as serious as everyone was making in out to be or not, but Seth was going along with it for now. He watched to two other Scavengers for a moment before looking at Melissa again. "What about you? Seemed quite stressed back there," he commented.

[/style][STYLE=font-size:10px; font-color:#000000; font-family:verdana;]shiki @ ote[/style]

[CECILIA BIRDIE BEDLYN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/w6MZf.png);] - Baden and Melissa kept talking, and Cecilia kept following. She found no purpose in really offering her ideas, or listening to them, so she just kept looking at her feet. She pulled the hood over her head and tried to avoid stepping on anyone’s heels. She seemed to be good at that here. Her mind was still staying on what Melissa said, though it seemed the rest of the group had moved on, she couldn’t push her words out of her head. Cecilia was in a sticky situation now, that being a girl who seemed to detest her, also knew she was a lying little thief. So, she did was she did best and kept her head down and walked on silently. Then a metal bat was in her face, and Cecilia groaned in protest, sounding like a child being told to eat their peas. She looked up at Baden, pleading him to take that thing out of her face. But as she glanced to Melissa she knew that she had to take it. She grabbed the bat, which felt heavy and out of place in her hand. For the first time Cecilia gave a very dirty look to Melissa and Baden, though it wasn’t his fault she supposed. “Thank you” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. “I’m sure this won’t get in the way at all.” In all honesty if a zombie showed up, dropping the bat would be her first reaction. She was more likely to lose his weapon then use it. But it was a nice gesture and after looking at it for a second, she smiled at him politely. That was until Seth, who surprising was next to her, spoke up. At first she thought he was continuing to question Baden, but when she heard her name she looked up at him, obviously confused. “Fine” she said, though it sounded a bit forced. “I’m okay” she lied, though this time it sounded smooth. “It’s what we do, right?” The pair kept walking, and Cecilia forced herself to look up, and stop looking so damn miserable. What Melissa said was fine, what Melissa knew was fine. She didn’t rat her out in front of the group, so Cecilia was going to convince herself that she could trust the blonde. She was going to have to trust her after all. She let out a sigh, and hopped over something dead looking, or just really molded. Her nose wrinkling at the site. Finally, when the ladder appeared Cecilia felt slightly more in her element. At least they were moving. She moved up the ladder, slightly annoyed at how slow the two in front of her went up. Cecilia used fire escapes to get into grocery stores without having to be seen by any surveillance cameras. She used them to get around the city, when she saw police around. She was just impatient. Though, it felt as if no one really wanted her to do anything. She was being a burden on the rest of the group. While holding the bat was a bit of a challenge for her, she glared at the thing before passing it back to Seth, and making him hold it for her. She didn’t say anything, maybe Melissa and Baden wouldn’t notice. The second the group got on the roof, if Seth took the bat, she grabbed it back and looked up guiltily at the other two. That only lasted for a second before Melissa murdered a rat. Cecilia audibly squeaked, and winced at the sickening sound of it hitting the ground. and her eyes went wide with shock, and she looked up at Seth for a second, before looking at her feet. Protesting would be pointless but her heart broke a little for the creature. Her mind was in fact still on the rat when Baden and Melissa started throwing around sheets of Metal. Cecilia stood back and watched, stepping forward when Baden started to address her. “It’s good.” Cecilia said, without hesitation. She waited a bit excitedly for directions.

[/b] [/div]

words: 575 - outfit: link

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[seehearspeak]

As Seth and Melissa chatted to each other, the nervous man found what he was looking for in his bag and gestured to the young redhead, walking over to the edge of the roof. He glanced down at the ground again to see where the items would best be deployed for maximum effectiveness, waiting for Cecilia to join him near the wall that bordered the roof’s end.

“We’ll need someone to drop the flares to draw the dimwits out of the shop”, Baden explained, holding up one them to show the girl. “Since you don’t seem like the skull smashing type and I have to go in since I know the layout, that means that job falls to you."

“Look down there”, he went on, pointing down at the street. “You need to chuck the first one directly in front of the door, which is there. Then, once they start coming out, chuck another one further down the way. The ones in front’ll start going after that, and the ones behind just follow the crowd. Like sheep into a pen. Dead, scary, cannibalistic… sheep.” Shuddering from something other than the chilly air, he continued.

“Me and the others’ll start clearing out the ones that didn’t leave and then close the shutters. Once we’re sure it’s safe… secure… we’ll call you down to help turn the place over. While we secure, you keep an eye out in case any more dimwits decide to try and get in. If they do, light up another flare and chuck it somewhere far back, but close enough so that it or they’ll hear or see it and go away.”

Putting the four flares on the ground in front of Cecilia, Baden picked one up and showed it to her. “Just pull the tab and you’re ready to lob it”, he concluded, swinging his now empty pack onto his back and heading back to the open panel. “Oh and err… good luck and such”, he added over his shoulder as an afterthought, waving at the other two scavengers to join him before slowly descending into the flat.

Kukri at the ready to swing at any rotten, reaching hands, Baden’s feet hit the floor of the bedroom. As he had thought, the room was empty besides the weapons locker and the three dead bodies that lay neatly next to each other, little red blotches staining the white sheets that had been placed on top of them. He forced himself not to look. He had seen them once already. They had deserved better than to end up like this.

Baden considered opening the weapons locker now, but thought against it. There should be enough time to search it after they had closed the shutters and made sure there were no other surprises left for them. Going to the door and waiting for the other two to follow him down, the nervous scavenger went through into the hallway, stepping over the chewed remains of the other two family members. They had been too… disassembled to hide under anything short of a tarp (of which there were plenty of downstairs in the shop).

Reaching the stairway, Baden carefully placed his feet on the steps to avoid making too much sound and peeked into the store to see if Cecilia had been able to draw any dimwits in the store away with the flares he had given her yet. There appeared to be plenty still inside, but it had not been that long since they had dropped down, so he was not too anxious about it. He could see the shutter controls from where he stood, though, and it did not look too damaged.

Turning back to Melissa and Seth, he gestured to the closed door a little further down the hall.

“Kitchen. Foodstuffs kept in there”, he whispered very quietly, so much so that it was almost as if he was mouthing the words rather than speaking them. If they knew where it was, then there would be fewer questions asked when they cleared the store as to where they should loot.

[MELISSA FRANCIS CLARK]

[atrb=valign, top, true][atrb=cellpadding, 5, true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing, 0, true][atrb=width, 400, true][atrb=border, 0, true] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style]

[atrb=style, text-align: justify; background: #191919; color: #787883; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0px 0px 20px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 10px 10px 10px 10px;][style=height: 302px; overflow: auto; padding: 4px;]Melissa's hands gripped her biceps softly as Seth joined her in chatter. She always had appreciated how friendly he was, even if it wasn't aimed at her. She lifted her shoulders and improved her posture, letting out a tight sigh. Her eyes studied the two people in front of her, and she let herself forget about them for a couple of minutes. "I'm all right. I don't work well in groups though. Really easy to get worked up when there's more people around, I feel responsible and overthink." Melissa shrugged and attempted to brush it off. She still didn't feel good about things. "Sorry in advance. I don't wanna snap at you but it's really easy to lose sight of what I'm doing when I worry." Time went on and soon Melissa was climbing down behind Baden, and probably Seth. It was dim enough that she didn't see whether or not he had surpassed her. By the time she was on the ground, Melissa was cringing at the smell. It seemed to be getting increasingly worse. It smelled like a backed up men's bathroom, and she had to take a minute to suppress the bile that had risen in her throat. When that was all over, Melissa withdrew her crowbar and held it in her hand, turning the metal in her callous palm. Light footsteps tailed behind Baden's, but she kept her distance. She didn't want him accidentally bashing her head in with that nasty weapon of his. Time moved on and Melissa found her eyes adjusting to shadow cave that this flat had become. Even though they were going to be getting a great deal of loot should things go well and in their favour, Melissa couldn't help herself from keeping an eye out or things she might spot on the way. But there seemed like nothing of use in the room that would outweigh the promised goods Baden had spoken of. Glancing over her shoulder, the blonde woman smiled at Seth, eyes softer than they had been up on the roof. That disappeared when she found herself spotting that control panel out of the corner of her eye. "They look pretty good. Do you know if the shutters are stable? Sturdy enough? I guess they would be but.. You'd know them better." Melissa hissed. She was a little louder than Baden, but she had had trouble hearing him and thought this might have been a little more helpful. A convenient shadow blocked half of her face, letting just the lower portion glimmer in the light they were given. At Baden's gesture, Melissa nodded her head. The Safe Lands desperately needed food. She glanced back to Seth. "Shall we?" Before she got an answer, she stepped forward towards it, avoiding anything that looked gory or creaky. She hissed back at Baden. "What are you going to be doing?"[/style]

[SETH ADAM CHAMPION]

[STYLE=font-family:vrinda; font-size:15px; color:#000000;][/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=background-color:#000000; width:350px; height:100px; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:5px; letter-spacing:8.5;] [/style][STYLE=border-top:5px #120A8F solid; width:350px; padding-left:-100px;] [/style][STYLE=text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-family:terminal; color:#CCCCCC; letter-spacing:2.5] I JUST FEEL ALONE IN THE DARK[/style][STYLE=border:5px #120A8F solid; width:330px; font-size:10px; color:#CCCCCC; text-align:justify; padding:5px; background-color:#000000;]

Seth listened vaguely to the instructions that Baden was giving to Cecilia. He didn't think he'd ever been out on such a well planned out operation. Seth was more the type of person to go out, get into whatever buildings he could get into, grab as much stuff as possible and make his way home. Obviously it was rarely ever as easy as that, what with the zombies - and the Bandits as well now - botching up his plans. They held him up sometimes, chased him in the opposite direction to the Safe Lands, and generally caused Seth a bit of trouble, but he was in exactly the same boat as the other Scavengers so there wasn't really anything to complain about.

As he looked at his blonde friend, Seth wondered if this would be half as intricate if it had been just them two. Still, maybe this plan was going to work. He'd heard that plans generally turned out better than just winging it. "You don't need to feel responsible for me," Seth said with a smile. He knew what that felt like - to feel responsible for someone all the time. Seth glanced over his shoulder at Baden and Cecilia and then looked back at Melissa. He didn't know the other two Scavengers well enough to be able to tell how well they could look after themselves. "Just be responsible for yourself," he said. That was the best way to go about things, wasn't it? Seth shrugged and waved a hand limply as Melissa apologised for what she may or may not do in the near future. His skin was tough.

Seth bounded over to the hole in the ground and watched Baden disappear before clambering down after him, slowly and precisely as he tried not to miss any of the rungs on the ladder. He landed into near darkness and shuddered. There was an overwhelming urge for his hands to dive into his pockets again and hold onto the torch that was in there. Even if he didn't use it, touching the cold metal would act a little bit like a security blanket - he knew it was there and if it was there then he knew that if he needed it, light would be available. Seth put a hand over his mouth and cringed at the stench of the dead bodies for a moment. It was something he always thought he was going to get used to, but every day his nose seemed to pick out even worse, even stronger smells.

He took his weapons out from the makeshift sling on his back and held it in two hands, fingernails picking at the peeling paintwork on the hockey stick. Seth trailed after the two other Scavengers. He felt a lot more tense now. Darkness seemed to have started falling now and he didn't like the way the shadows in the building seemed to shroud a lot of what he might need to see. There could be anything hiding in here. Anything. Seth took a long, sharp breath in as he looked around, taking in every minute detail.

The male closed his eyes for a moment, opened them again, and his eyes had adjusted a little better. Everything was going to be fine. It always was. Seth caught Melissa's smile and returned it. The gesture seemed to bring a little light and reassurance into his mind. He edged a little closer to stand besides the two Scavengers and listened to what they were talking about. There wasn't really anything for him to add, so he stayed quiet.

"Let's," Seth agreed, and he followed after Melissa. As she turned to look at Baden, he stepped around her and went to open the door cautiously. It had been opened a crack when he heard something or a few things shambling around in there. He closed the door again with a quiet click and turned to look at Melissa. "I think there's a few in there," he warned.

[/style][STYLE=font-size:10px; font-color:#000000; font-family:verdana;]shiki @ ote[/style]

[CECILIA BIRDIE BEDLYN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 10px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/w6MZf.png);] - Cecilia walked up to the edge of the rood with Baden, peering over the edge at the long drop. She listened to him carefully, trying to ignore Melissa and Seth in the background. She felt a bit defensive after Melissa’s harsh words and Cecilia had a goal to prove herself now. She could take direction and be helpful to the group. Even if the it only included throwing flares at the ground. She blinked and nodded at Baden, hanging on all of his directions carefully. It seemed simple enough, though Cecilia did have a pit of nerves growing in the bit of her stomach. Baden put the flares down at her feet, and Cecilia looked at them for a few moments. “Yeah, you too” she replied, glancing over her shoulder at him and the other, giving Seth a small smile as they all started to leave. She sank down on the edge of the roof, next to the flares. Her legs hanging over the side of the rood, and stared at the door. She heard Seth move through the open panel and the area around her fall pretty quiet. Cecilia hadn’t been alone in the city like this in awhile, and a part of her wanted to hold off on the flairs and enjoy the quiet cold air. But Cecilia knew that the hoard of zombies inside the building were more dangerous than they would be outside. She sighed to herself and lazily grabbed the first flare, pulling off the tab. The small burst of flame made her jump slightly. She looked at it for a few seconds, as it got brighter, before she threw the flare down and hit her mark right next to the door. In a few seconds there was a burst of light and a loud noise. Cecilia jumped and covered her ears. Baden was right however. The moans of the zombies started almost automatically. And soon enough there was a crowd on the undead pushing out of the shop, headed to the light and to the noise. Cecilia pulled the second tab and three it about twenty feet down the street. They were sheep, just as Baden said. The horde continued to move down the street and out of the store, completely unaware of Cecilia up top. Her legs swinging off the end of the roof, she giggled to herself and finished off the third flare. The zombies seemed to be mostly out of the door, so she pulled her legs over the edge, considering an easy job well done. She sat back, hoping the rest of the Scavengers were having as simple of a time as she was.

[/b] [/div]

words: 470 - outfit: link

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[seehearspeak]

“I’ll keep an eye on these lot”, the nervous scavenger replied to Melissa, shifting the weight of his kukri in his hands to point at the collected animated dead. “When Cecilia drops the flares, I’ll start clearing out what’s left to get to the shutter controls… Ah, here we go.”

The last part of his sentence was punctuated by the first flare shooting off, giving a loud hiss and emanating a bright light, as they were supposed to do. The dimwits at the front of the store turned and started moving towards it to investigate and (to his quiet relief) the rest of them started to follow as he said they would. He turned back to the others.

“I’ll get to clearing the bottom while you guys do the kitchen. Hopefully there won’t be too many, but it’s quite a big area, so…” Baden finished with a shrug, proceeding down the stairs slowly and silently to do his part. At last, a little time to myself! Killing dimwits, sure, but it’ll be nice to get away from everyone.

By the time he reached the bottom of the stairway, most of the horde had moved outside, leaving barely a handful still in the store. Most of them had managed to get themselves impaled on something or snagged by their tattered clothing, but some just seemed uninterested by the flares. For a moment, Baden wondered why some did not get fooled but he shook the thought away. Not really the time for it.

Readying his faithful kukri, Baden got to work. It was not exactly difficult or challenging work; many of them did not have the manoeuvrability to fight back against the scavenger’s swift strikes. He had pretty much emptied the store of dead in minutes. Despite it, Baden could not feel a smidgen of pride. This little raid had not turned out to be so bad, the large company he had to bring along excluded. But the payoff would be worth it, especially when he cracked open that weapons locker.

Only one more dimwit remained, and it was a small thing. It was right under the shutter controls, though, so it had to be dealt with carefully to avoid messing all of this work up. He snuck up close, but it seemed too interested with the arm it was chomping on to care about its surroundings. Something about the arm bothered Baden, and a second later he noticed the golden ring on the little finger of the hand. A closer look at the little dead thing made his heart drop.

“Oh no… Oh no, no, no… Please, no…” Baden murmured despite himself. The little dead thing (apparently having selective hearing) turned around, dropping the arm and crawling towards him with a pathetic groan.

“Oh, Farrah…” Baden said sadly, looking down at the remains of the little girl that used to live in the store. Kneeling down, he held his bloody blade up, grabbing the dead girl by the hair to stop its slow progress. It brought its hands up to grab his arms, but they were so small and weak he could barely feel their grip through his thick jacket.

“I’ll… I’ll see you in another life, Farrah”, the scavenger muttered sadly, sliding the kukri’s point up through the bottom of its jaw and into its brain. The little dead thing went limp.

Standing and moving around the now still body, Baden pressed the shutter controls, nudging the arm (which he recognised as Farrah’s father’s from the ring) out into the street. The metal plates creaked and squealed lightly as they started to descend and he looked out into the milling horde down the way. The ones at the back had turned back around at the noise and were shuffling towards him in a worryingly hasty manner. After moment though, it appeared as if the vast majority were still very curious about the flares.

The dimwits went out of sight as the shutters came down but, with a final protest, got stuck about a quarter of the way from the bottom. Muttering a curse, Baden went to it and heaved downwards, managing to slide it a few inches further before it become truly immovable. We’re still good. Not that many came back, and none of them have the mental capacity to roll under. We’re still good.

Sighing to himself, Baden did one last sweep to make sure there were no other dimwits hanging about before going back up the stairs. The first thing he wanted to get to was that locker, but he needed to see if Melissa and Seth had finished before that.

[MELISSA FRANCIS CLARK]

[atrb=valign, top, true][atrb=cellpadding, 5, true][atrb=valign, top][atrb=cellspacing, 0, true][atrb=width, 400, true][atrb=border, 0, true] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px;][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style] [style=border: 7px solid #191919; width: 80px; height: 80px; margin-top: -7px; -moz-border-radius: 5px 5px 5px 5px][/style]

[atrb=style, text-align: justify; background: #191919; color: #787883; padding: 10px; border-radius: 0px 0px 20px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 10px 10px 10px 10px;][style=height: 302px; overflow: auto; padding: 4px;]Well then. It certainly seemed like the plan was going into action swimmingly. Melissa couldn't shake the feeling that it was because they had left Cecilia up on the roof that she was feeling a little better. She was, after all, around two people she trusted at least somewhat. Better yet, she was splitting off from one of them. That meant she could focus and feel a little better about things. Fabulous. A breathy sigh left her and she almost went to pat Baden's shoulder in passing, but decided against it knowing all too well of his aversion to physical affection. She waved instead, and continued on with Seth until they were at the kitchen. By the time she was made alert of the zombie inside, there were flares going off elsewhere. The noise seemed louder than most anything else, but perhaps that was because she had grown accustomed to the groans of the undead through familiarity. Yes, that was right. The grunts were almost muted in comparison. "We'll be fine. I've heard you've taken care of far worse in less space." Melissa smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner before she continued on. The door to the kitchen was well oiled, and she was able to slide through to the kitchen easily without alerting too much attention. Unfortunately she didn't account for the spray of blood on the ground from a death or some sort of attack that had taken place. The shoes on her feet slipped out from beneath her, and she grunted miserably. She hated that the deaths in the city were so messy now. The woman steadied herself, only to be greeted by the open arms of a slender looking zombie. Tall and with black eyes, with what seemed like a suit on his body. What unsettled her most though, was the perfect skin of the body in front of her. There were no visible tears or gashes in his flesh, just seamless skin. She almost wanted to greet him, as if he were another survivor. She stopped herself, and shoved him back, cracking that perfect skull with her crowbar as hard as she could. Black blood sprayed backwards, but she paid no attention to it. Instead, she stumbled backwards and shuddered unhappily. "You okay Seth?" Asked the blonde, voice low. From the looks of things there were a few other zombies in the room, but one of them seemed to be fairly unresponsive, hanging limply from a counter.[/style]