The Best Laid Plans || Closed

[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 bit his lip as he listened to Baden talk. He was going to be working on his own? None of them would know if something happened to him if that was the case. He was about to offer to stay with the male Scavenger, because surely that would be more dangerous than going to sort through the kitchens, but he didn't. If he had to choose who he cared about the most in their group right now, it was Melissa. If something happened to one of his best friends when he could have helped, he'd hate it. Whereas Baden... well, bad as it sounded, he didn't care about the other man as much. "Are you gonna be okay on your own?" asked Seth. It was still worth checking, right?

After that he was on his way to the kitchens. He glanced at Melissa as she spoke. "Really?" asked Seth, his voice going up a notch or two in surprise. He tried to determine how many zombies there actually were in the kitchen by listening to the groans, but it was a bit useless. Every noise that the undead made seemed to roll into one gigantic groan. He shrugged to himself and then followed shortly after Melissa. His eyes were wide and sparklingly alert as he walked into the kitchens. There were a few bodies shambling around in the shadows, though as far as he could tell none of them were close enough to cause any damage immediately.

The man had turned to inspect the contents of a nearby cabinet, and he was about to comment on how well stocked they were, when he heard Melissa slip. "Everything okay?" he asked as he leaned back to look past the cupboard door. Clearly not. Seth grimaced and took a couple of hurried steps closer to Melissa as he spotted the zombie. He was getting ready to help the woman if need be, but instead was greeted with a dark spray of blood all over his forehead. Seth made a cheerful sound of disgust and dragged the back of his sleeve over his forehead. "Lovely!" declared the man. "Didn't get bit just then, didja?" Seth had found it almost humorous at first, when people always asked that question - "did you get bit?" - but now he did it as well, and it seemed like a sensible thing to do as well.

He nodded his head at Melissa's question before saying, "Yeah, I'm brilliant." Seth slide off then. He had no doubt that the rest of the zombies were going to make themselves known at some point, but for now he was happy with grabbing whatever he could from the cupboards. Eyes fixed on a zombie that was threatening to get closer before he looked at Melissa again. "There's so much stuff we could take home," said Seth, keeping his voice moderately low, "What do we do? Grab the stuff with the longer life expectancy first?"

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

[seehearspeak]

On his way back up to the kitchen, Baden grabbed a hold of a few duffle bags from off the shelves. It would definitely help to have a bunch of extra, heavy duty carriers on hand. The fewer trips they had to do back to this place the better, in his opinion. If they had to, they could all carry two per person, although it would be unwise to have your hands full of loot in middle of the hostile zone. Peeping into the kitchen and seeing his fellow scavengers having everything apparently under control, the nervous man clicked his tongue quietly to get their attention without being bashed over the head with a hockey stick or crowbar.

“I’ve got some bags to help put more food and stuff in”, he whispered, showing them two of the duffle bags. “There’re more downstairs if we need ‘em.” Popping them down on the floor, Baden took the third one and made his way to the entrance room to sort through the weapons locker.

As he entered the room, he considered calling up to get Cecilia down, but, with a sideways glance at the locker, he decided against it. He wanted to check the thing first to check if there was anything that he wanted first. Moving towards the metal container, Baden felt guilt burning in his stomach, but he squashed it down. So what if you’re taking first picks? You’re letting them have the food and you brought them here in the first place. You should have first choice. Biting his lip, the nervous scavenger tapped in the code and, keeping his eyes firmly away from the covered up bodies, he opened the locker.

Looking inside, Baden gave a disappointed sigh. It was not as much as would have wanted. A few boxes of ammo, some knives, machetes, a couple of pistols. Still, he reckoned, it was better than nothing and he began packing them into the duffle bag. As he moved a few things aside, he saw an odd knife next to what looked like a magnum. Picking up the gun first, closer inspection revealed that it was actually a .44 Special, not as powerful as a Magnum but still a handy little gun. A lot lighter, a lot more compact. Finding a box of its ammo, Baden popped both into his bag and investigated the odd knife.

It was long and old looking, like some World War knives he had seen. It seemed to be mounted onto some strange thing and as he picked it up, it swung out on hinges. His eyes widened as he realised that it was actually a bayonet. This will definitely come in handy! Quickly checking that it would fit onto the end of his rifle and giving a faint smile when it did, he dropped it into his own backpack with his new gun and finished emptying the locker into the duffle bag.

Zipping it up, Baden climbed the ladder to the roof and poked his head out to locate the redheaded girl, spotting her without much trouble.

“If the dimwits aren’t swarming back towards us, you can come down and help us now. We’ve cleared everything out now”, he called out quietly to Cecilia, sliding back down into the flat and making his way to the kitchen to see how Melissa and Seth were doing.

“You guys alright in here?” Baden asked. “I just raided the locker and I’m about to go down and grab some more stuff.”

[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;]Once the two Scavengers were in the kitchen, Melissa felt considerably calmer. She wasn't as bothered by the pressure of working in a group, and let out a relieved sigh once there was no longer a zombie looming over her. She looked over to Seth and nodded her head. "Yeah! Something about you and a biker. A friend of a friend, I think. Missing fingers, mean old tosser?" Melissa asked, shaking off the black blood that littered her clothes, stained her flesh and tinted her hair. Brushing off her arms and her shirt, Melissa walked to the other side of the kitchen. She was opposite Seth now. There was no point lingering where he was, and this way they could get twice the work done. She set about packing things into her bag, as neatly as she could. She took some packets of jerky, and what seemed like old dog food. She was sure there would be people in the Safe Lands needing this more than she did. She did slip some bits and pieces into the front of her bag, where she would have them for later. She'd give some to Nate, too, of course. "I'm fine. You know how it is when those things sneak up on you." She dismissed the matter with a wave of her crowbar. "No bites here. Have you spotted anything good worth taking? Just tins and stuff back here." Melissa murmured, stooping down to snoop through a cupboard. Another rat escaped and narrowly missed a swing from her foot. She narrowed her eyes and turned back to Seth, smiling slightly when she saw her friend's face. "Probably a good idea. I'm grabbing what's in demand really. I think." A nervous laugh sounded. Melissa was interrupted by Baden's voice, but she didn't think to answer him.They didn't need to constantly confirm how they were doing. "Guess we should hurry it up a little." Melissa frowned. She kept her bag at her side, and returned to rifling through shelves. "If you find any Quavers, would you wanna share them? I've been dying for a packet for weeks." Mumbled Melissa, nonchalant as another member of the vermin family went scurrying by.[/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;]

Recognition seemed to light up in Seth's eyes. "Ohhhh," he went as he turned away to start rooting around in the cupboards and shelves. "I know who you're on about." The man shrugged his shoulders to himself. That had been an eventful day, his run-in with Dennis, but every day seemed to be quite eventful so he didn't think that there was anything else worth saying about the matter. Seth hummed to himself quietly as he worked through the contents of the cupboards, grabbing what he thought was the most important and leaving the other bits to take later if there was room. He put his backpack down on a nearby counter and occasionally went to dump more things in it.

Seth continued to pack things away in silence for a while. He raised his head at the sound of Melissa's voice. "I do," he agreed with a quick nod of his head, even though Melissa probably couldn't see him right now. "They're like undead ninjas or something!" Seth grinned to himself. His fingers found six small boxes of cereal, bound together by a plastic wrapper. "Oh wow," he smiled. "I used to love these. They're so much more fun than the normal boxes of cereal." Seth held the boxes up for Melissa to see before putting them down on a nearby counter. He'd get those home somehow, but he was saving as much room as possible for the more important things. Cereal didn't seem to fall under that category.

Seth clambered up onto one of the counters that ran along the wall and leaned closer to inspect the shelves that hung there. "Pretty much the same here as well," he replied with a glance over his shoulder in Melissa's direction. "There's got to be something good around here somewhere." With that he wriggled back down onto the floor and crouched down in front of another cupboard. The door looked like it had been chewed on by something small and nibbly, which made Seth open the cupboard a little more cautiously than he would have done. He was relieved to see that there wasn't anything living scurrying around in there right now though, and probably for a good reason; there was nothing but cleaning supplies in there. Seth sighed and shut the doors gently.

He started at Baden's voice and looked over at the other man with a smile on his face. "Okay," said Seth with a quick nod, before going back to what he was doing. "Yeah, maybe," Seth replied. "I don't really fancy being out here for too long once it's gone properly dark." He turned and smiled at Melissa. "I'll keep an eye out!" He grabbed his bag by one of the straps and edged a little further into the kitchen, nearer the back. "Being surrounded by all this food is making me hungry," he announced as he put the bag down by his feet and crouched to look in yet another cupboard. A mouse ran over his fingers and he squeaked loudly. A breathless laugh was emitted. "Mouse," explained Seth. He dragged out a couple of bags of flour from the back of the cupboard and pushed aside the ones that had holes in them. The three that remained weren't going to fit in his own bag but Baden had mentioned that he had some more space.

[/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 couldn’t say she was exactly entertained by her job after that. The zombies moved around like a pack a sheep, a few of them wandering down the street to look for a new place to gather. But as Cecilia was safe far above them and out of their eye it really just made her miss being out here by herself. She chewed on her fingernails boredly, and stuffed the last flare into her pocket. She probably wouldn’t return it to it’s rightful owner unless he brought it up, Cecilia just loved having something that didn’t belong to her in her pocket. She sighed and moved her eyes to look up at the skyline of the city. It wasn’t light up like it used to be, but it was getting dark and she could see a nice outline of it. It was also too quiet for what she was used to. The young girl sighed sadly and looked up at the sky. She couldn’t see them yet, but she knew that there were going to be stars in the sky soon, another thing she wasn’t a fan of. Cecilia was a city girl, and the pitch black or quite frightened her more than any zombie. It was so quiet in fact, that when she heard Baden speaking she didn’t even jump. She turned and looked at him and nodding, hopping up quickly. “They’re distracted” she said, she sounded a lot more bored than she actually was. Cecilia felt a bit rejected when Baden just quickly turned around and slide back into the apartment. The smell that met her of the bodies was unbearable. Her nose wrinkled and she struggled to suppress her gag reflex, while keeping her eyes glued on Baden’s feet, following him closely. It probably wasn’t the most practical thing to do, she should be keeping her eyes open for anything moving. But if they wandered over whatever was causing that smell she’s probably end up shaking and useless for the rest of the trip. So instead she trodden on Baden’s heels a few times and ended up in the kitchen. Being back with the group was an odd feeling, she was thankful that if something happened there would be people who could fight while she ran, but she still felt odd and out of place around them. The smell was fading into the background but the look of disgust was still pretty clear on her face. She looked up and Seth and Melissa packing things into bags and didn’t waste much time moving forward and helping them. Going through the cupboards on the bottom, and looking for anything that looked necessary. She was sort of lost about the conversation around her and instead just looked up at Baden and stood up slowly. “Want me to come with you?” words: 470 - outfit: link

[seehearspeak]

Noting the lack of reaction from the two in the kitchen with a twinge of anxiety, Baden patted at his coat and pulled out his pocket watch to check how much longer they had. After travelling here and clearing the store, they had half an hour left to take what they could and get out before it got too dark to reach the Safe Lands by light. More than enough time to load themselves up with stuff.

He gave a nod to Cecilia when she asked if he wanted her with him and headed back downstairs, waving at the girl to follow him. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he look at the redhead over his shoulder.

“You take the left side. Mostly waterproofs and other clothes, boots and so on”, he said quickly, handing her a couple of duffle bags. “Load as much as you can carry into these. I’ll take the right side”. The side he picked was mostly full of one man tents, sleeping bags and other outdoor survival things. All useful, especially should the Safe Lands run out of indoor housing. Glancing at the shutters, he saw a few undead feet scuffing against the floor of the entrance, occasionally banging against them, but nothing that would indicate they were going to break through anytime soon.

Grabbing a bunch of things off the shelves and stuffing them into the heavy duty duffle bags, twenty or so minutes passed in relative silence. He had packed both bags full of stuff by that time and stuffed a handful of things into his pockets and own backpack when he remembered that Cecilia might still have one of his flares. It had been a pain to find someone who had any to trade and if she had any leftover he wanted them back.

“You still have a flare left?” Baden asked, turning to walk towards the redhead.

Just then, a loud crash made the nervous scavenger jump out of his skin and yelp like a wounded puppy as the shutters came down. The whole thing, damaged or neglected from lack of use, fell to the floor with such a noise that Baden swore he had a heart attack. In the moment of stunned silence that followed he tried to get his breath back, but his entire chest suddenly felt like it had been clamped.

The shutters are… and everything out there can see us… oh dear… OHDEAROHDEAROHDEAR!!!

With the two bulky duffle bags still in hand, Baden ran to the stairway in a panicked rush as the crowd of dead that had been distracted by the flares turned back to the store seemingly as one, moaning their hunger and shuffling as fast as their atrophied limbs would carry them. The handful that had come back after they had heard the shutters close had already stumbled their way back inside and where raising themselves back onto their feet in search of tasty flesh.

His foot hit the bottommost step and Baden stopped, dropping his bags to the floor. Every dimwit nearby would have heard that shutter come crashing down. No point in playing it quiet anymore. Shrugging Lenny off of his shoulder, the scavenger put it to his shoulder, flicked off the safety and aimed, squeezing the trigger like his uncle had taught him. Lenny spoke, loudly and clearly, and the closest dimwit dropped as a bullet struck it in the eye and blew its rotted brains out the back of its head.

“Cecilia, take our bags upstairs, tell the others to start shifting what they have to the roof”, he called to the girl with a voice a little more high pitched than normal, hoping that she would just hop to it without any questions. “I’ll hold them here until you’re finished”. Lenny emphasised his master’s words by dropping another dimwit that was getting closer to the ground and Baden pulled back the bolt to load another bullet into the chamber.

Good thing that this situation isn’t any more dire. Any other position and you would have just ran and left them all behind.

BANG

Another squeeze of the trigger. Another dead dimwit. But Baden could see plenty more slowly trickling their way towards the store. This was day was far from over yet.

[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;]"I liked those too," remarked Melissa, looking at the packet of cereals. "There would always be one I didn't like and would just leave on the side for the rest of forever." Now she thought about it, there were probably a few of those packs left behind at her flat. She tried to recall whether or not that was true, and she was sure she could remember leaving a packet off coco pops somewhere. Perhaps she would go back there one day. She put one hand in her hair and combed through the light tendrils as she threw a few items into her bag. It was slim pickings. It seemed like Seth had had the same idea, or had thought along the same track. She watched him climbing onto the counter, and hovered by his location for a moment or two, hoping that if he slipped she might have a chance of catching him or something. At least break his fall, she thought, as she eyed up both the size of the man and the bottom she had had a chance at peeking at a time before. "You'd think so. But if bandits were here, it would make sense to think they got at the food. Or maybe the family was just running low or something." Melissa commented. She picked up an empty packet of Walkers crisps and tossed it into a nearby bin. It was hard to tell. Baden had mentioned something about good food, or at least plentiful supplies. She supposed that didn't include whether or not the food was what they would be in need of. Melissa eyed Seth for another moment or two, and was happy just letting him get those last scraps of food that he wanted. She had all she could carry for now, food wise. She'd get something else later. Perhaps she would find something she could carry that wasn't in the way of food. The blonde woman leaned on the counter, watching as the mouse scuttled away. She wasn't at all bothered by vermin nowadays, what with the far worse evil of walking dead people it was harder to be bothered by such things. At least for her. Melissa watched the mouse scurry away and smiled to herself. "I like that they survived. At least there's some sort of food chain left," she murmured casually. She was just in time to see Cecilia leaving the room, and Melissa did a quick check of her pockets. "I might regret inviting her along. I knew I should have stuck to people I trusted," Melissa spoke spitefully, but she had some severe trust issues thanks to her mother abandoning her and her father. She narrowed her eyes at the doorway and shook her head a moment later to brush it off. It was no good now. "I suppose we should get go-" Crash. Melissa's initial reaction was hard to tell, as her thoughts became a horrible sea of crashing similes and metaphors, violently assaulting her skull. She almost had to grip her head and steady herself, but the time for action seemed to be upon them. Zipping up her bag and wielding her crowbar, Melissa left the kitchen and looked down the stairs Baden had gone down. The shutters had come toppling down. She knew this was a bad idea. The plan wasn't all there. Things were bound to go wrong. She wouldn't mind being the first on to say that she thought of that first, either. Melissa hoisted her bag over her shoulder and jogged down the stairs towards Baden. She passed by Cecilia on her way and didn't care whether or not she bashed into the red head. "What happened?" She didn't really think she needed to ask, and she stared at Baden as he shot down a zombie or two. She brought her crowbar up to the skull of a nearby shambling monster and cracked it as hard as she could. It stumbled away, but didn't die yet. "I'll help," she decided. Hell, he had given her permission to take charge somewhat, surely that meant she could decide this for herself. Melissa remained at the foot of the stairs, an angry frown on her face. Seth was right. The cons were outweighing the pros.[/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;]

"Yeah! It was rice crispies for me," said Seth in a hushed whisper that sounded a lot louder than it actually was in the quiet room. If he listened hard enough, he thought he could hear Baden and Cecilia moving around nearby, though maybe it was his imagination. He could definitely hear the distant groans of the zombies though. "God, rice crispies. There's something I don't miss." A bit of a scowl passed over the man's face, and it vanished as he went back to working again.

After a little while longer, he lifted his bag up and felt the weight of it in his hands. On looking in at the contents Seth decided that he had enough for now. He hoisted it up over his shoulder and felt the straps creak wearily. Seth wondered when he'd need to get a new one, but from the sounds of things it wouldn't be too long at all. He jumped gently at the sight of the mouse but relaxed fairly quickly after that. Seth watched as Cecilia left and then turned his gaze on Melissa again. He studied the floor steadily for a few seconds. "She's not so bad," said Seth as he looked up at Melissa again. "What makes you think she can't be trusted?" he asked curiously. He wasn't sure what to think of Cecilia right now either though, if he was honest. She was a nice enough girl, and he liked to think that they got on, but he didn't know how trustworthy she was either. It would be interesting to get Melissa's opinion on her.

He was looking down at the floor again, watching the dark shape of a daddy long legs breeze across the tiles. The crash made him jump violently, skitter a few steps to the side and probably crush the insect in the process. He yanked his hockey stick out from behind his back once more and hoisted his backpack up properly before rushing after Melissa. He stood, not too far away from the woman and watched the zombies come tumbling in with a frantic look in his eyes. Seth looked around for Cecilia, and turned his head just in time to see another zombie lunging for him. The Scavenger let out a surprised little noise and lifted his hockey stick up to shove it away. His aim was terrible, and he almost missed pushing it away. It stumbled a few steps before coming back at him. Still, it had bought Seth some time.

When it came back for more, Seth swung wildly at the monster's head. It was a blow that had enough impact behind it to knock out a living person, but since this person was not living any more, it didn't do much good at all. Seth cracked it across the head with all his might, and he did so until it fell down to the ground, still twitching and grabbing at thin air with its hands. He kicked the monster roughly in the head, and he kicked until it stopped moving all together.

[/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 was thankful when Baden nodded her along with him. She jumped up, thankful to get out of the room with the other two, who she was pretty sure didn’t really want her around, and follow someone who was going to ignore her as much as she wanted to be ignored. She nodded to his directions and grabbed the bags from him, quickly moving to her side of the room. She dropped back to her knees and opened the bags. There was certainly urgency in her movements, Cecilia was good at going fast and quietly. She moved the clothes into the bags, pushing them down to make room for now. She was doing her best to block out the noises of the zombies outside the room, though it was hard. The entire room was eerily quiet, as the two people worked on their sides. It was so quiet that Cecilia jumped in shock when Baden started to talk again. “Oh.” she said, a little breathless since her heart had just skipped about four beats. While, she was going to take it, she wasn’t going to put up any bit of a fight. She slide it out of her pocket and took the few steps across the room handing it back to it’s owner. “They’re pretty useful.” she said, offering Baden a sweet smile. But the second the words left her mouth a crash made her head snap to the shutters. Cecilia covered her ears like small child from the noise She didn’t have much time to react as he eyes moved from Baden’s panicked face to the undead moving closer. Cecilia instinctively moved back away from the noise, and pressed herself into a corner, not the best place to be. She wasn’t concerned about Baden, Cecilia’s fear made her a bit selfish. But before she had much time to react, or move she heard the shots from Baden’s gun. Maybe it was all the bad parts of town she hung out in, or the fact that he was aiming a few feets from her, but Cecilia dropped to the ground in an instant, she knees slamming hard into the dirty ground. She covered her ears and couldn’t help but close her eyes. Baden barking commands at her made her open them again just as a zombie closed in around her. The redhead looked up at the open jaw, waiting to make her a meal for only a second. She was lower and faster than he was. Cecilia lunged forward, staying close to the ground. She would have escaped without marks if the zombie’s hand didn’t catch into her hoodie. Cecilia made a choking noise as she was pulled, her feet sliding out in front of her. Cecilia twisted as best she could, using the duffle bag, that was thankfully full of boots, to swing around and slam into the zombies arm, pushing him away from her. She took a full breath and got up, grabbing the back and run back to Baden. Baden’s plan was useless now since the other two were both becoming obstacles that Cecilia had to move past to get up the stairs, and away from the chaos. She nearly snaked by the zombie that was having it’s head bashed in by Melissa’s crowbar, and she heard the noise as it moved past her head. Cecilia eventually managed to get by Baden, with pick up his bags. The girl was pretty good at running easily through crowds, so besides knocking into Baden with the bags she made it up the stairs without another incident. She ran up to the other room and quickly started to move the bags out of the house and onto the roof where they came from. If they had to flee the scene, they should at least make sure the supplies wouldn’t get left behind. words: 470 - outfit: link

[seehearspeak]

Despite what he had said, both of the other scavengers decided to jump in anyway, Melissa with her crowbar and Seth with his hockey stick. They seemed to be taking care of the lone dead well enough, but more were on their way and in much denser packs. Suddenly, he realised just how close to him everything was and those old familiar feelings began rearing up again. His stomach churned and his eyes widened in fear.

Not now, not now, not now, not now, not now, not now, please not now-

As Baden’s panic grew his aim wavered, his next shot missing its target entirely. He gasped for air his hands shaking. They’re handling it fine. The staircase is a good place to hold them. They’ll be fine. You can leave.

“I’ll help Cecilia out, then”, Baden said faintly, shouldering his rifle and grabbing the last remaining duffle bag, heading to the roof. I need to get out of here. I need to leave. I can’t stay. It’s too much. Please let me leave, I can’t stay here like this…

Outside the exit room, the shivering scavenger halted and leaned against the wall, struggling to breathe. His vision had begun to blur and his hands would not stop shaking violently. A massive pressure was building up behind his eyes and he clenched his jaw to stop the bile rising in his throat from spewing out. The ladder is just there. You’re almost out.

It took him a good minute to climb the short ladder and he came out on all fours, pushing himself to his feet and working hard to make his face remain expressionless. I can’t let anyone see it. No one can see it. They’ll hate you, they’ll spit on you. They will leave you to die. He saw the redhead there, setting down more of the bags and approached her cautiously, placing his own burden down next to the rest.

“My bat, please”, Baden said, holding out a shaking hand. The sickness in his stomach was getting worse. He just wanted to get out. Now.[/i]

[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 had a bad habit of forgetting just how good Seth made her feel. It was cliché, but he was a good friend of hers even after such a short time of talking with one another. He seemed to be able to bring some good humour into a moody Melissa, and it made her smile. She was growing more and more fond of him as he spoke, and grinned at him brightly. What a good friend he was! "I could never stand.. Bugger.. What are they called? Frosties! Come on people, they were cornflakes!" Exclaimed the woman. It seemed as though that was going to be the last on their discussion of cereals before the four living people in the building sprang to action harder than a spring held under your thumb. "I don't know her, I don't like her, she knew she was coming out into London and what did she bring with her? Fuck all." Melissa went on to rant about Cecilia for a little while, and made a few points about her that she should have kept to herself. Her dad had belted her the first time she had come home and swore about some girl that she knew. She flinched at the memory, and left the room swiftly. Fighting zombies was what Melissa did, but she couldn't help not noticing the man that had brought her out here behaving strangely. She turned her head to speak to him, to ask if he was okay, and in that moment of distraction, a zombie grabbed the blonde. Two long, gnarled hands grabbed at her shoulders, and teeth sank into her exposed neck. Blood throbbed and pulsed, and Melissa screamed. Screamed loud enough to bring herself into reality. That brief daydream, that moment of hesitation brought her back to the matter at hand. Baden was already gone by the time she had returned her attention, and she was still alive. The Scavenger grabbed at a nearby zombie and shoved it back down the stairs, tripping a few other zombies like skittles. She stumbled up the steps, backtracking furiously. Melissa hoped Seth wasn't daft enough to hang around down there for too much longer, and turned to head towards the exit. She arrived just in time to see Baden crawling out of the building, and when she saw him there, she was relieved to see he wasn't tracking blood anywhere. The thin woman tugged herself up, hoisting herself up onto the roof. Cold air greeted her, and she scrubbed at the sweat on the back of her neck. Melissa sat on the ground, legs spread and hands behind her. Her crowbar sat beside her and she breathed deeply. "Bloody hell," she murmured, voice laced with her British accent. She smeared her forehead, wiping away the sweat that sat there and looked back down into the flat, hoping to see Seth emerging soon.[/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 mumbled unintelligible noises occasionally as Melissa ranted about Cecilia. "I don't mind her," he murmured, but didn't say anything else on the matter. He wanted to stick up for Cecilia, but he didn't want to push Melissa away in the process. Seth hated situations like this. He tilted his head a little to the side and observed the blonde woman with a slight smile on his face. It was almost a relief when the loud bang excused them from that conversation.

However, when momentarily submerged in the onslaught of dead bodies, he wished he could just go back a few minutes a prepare a little more carefully for this attack. Seth was paying little attention to what was going on with everyone else, for a moment concentrating on keeping himself and only himself alive. Even he could make number one a priority sometimes. He dodged out of the way of a once-feeble old lady zombie and whacked a young child over the head. He hated doing that. Seth could overlook killing most of the zombies, but not children. It was something he just had to put up with. So instead of caving its head in he turned on his heels.

He darted off, a minute or so after Melissa, when he realised that he was alone down there. Seth twisted and turned through the maze of dead bodies, moving more nimbly than ever would have been expected for him. There weren't actually that many dead bodies blocking his way, but panic made it look like there were more. Seth squinted in the dim light and his feet found the metal stair case, just a second before it would have tripped him and sent him flying. He hurried up the stairs, feet thudding loudly. It didn't matter how much noise he made now; Seth couldn't even hear himself think of the racket that the zombies were making.

He shoved past a zombie that was linger at the top of the stairs. The weight of his body against its chewed up shoulder was enough to make it stumble down the stairs. Seth let out a satisfied grunt when he turned to glance over his shoulder and saw that monster furiously trying to regain its balance.

He scrambled up the ladder and once he was sure he was safe - for now, anyway - he let out a triumphant breath of relief. "Hi!" he said as he caught sight of Melissa's face. Seth rolled from the ladder and onto the roof in the most ungraceful way possible. He pulled himself to his feet and looked around to make sure they were all present.

[/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);] - Safely on the roof Cecilia panted from having to drag most of the bags up at once. She could only assume they got a decent amount since her arms were burning, and her cheeks were turning pink. She kneeled down while she was still alone and made sure that they were all zipped up, and that nothing had fallen out. She was poking her head back into the hole to make sure she didn’t drop anything with Baden appeared climbing the latter. He seemed so flustered and panicked that Cecilia moved away quickly, anxiety building up inside her. Why did he look like that? Had someone gotten hurt? Did he get bit? She observed the boy carefully as he got on his feet and dropped his bag next to her. Cecilia jumped back slightly when he barked at her about the bat and looked down at her feet, wondering if he was blaming her for this in some way. She handed him the bat and glanced up at him for a second before stepping forward and comfortingly putting her hand on top of his trembling one. “It’s okay” she said calmly to him. “None of us would let you get hurt” While these messy team of four hadn’t gotten along great, Cecilia had faith that they all were looking out for eachother in some way. She was glad her and Baden were alone, since she was sure that Baden didn’t want the other two to see his face right now, since the expression was almost painful to look at. Hearing what was hopefully Melissa start to climb the ladder she got on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly, before stepping back. She got the feeling that Baden was a bit more than insecure, and maybe he just needed to be reminded that he was an important role in all of this. When Melissa made her appearance as well, apparently unharmed Cecilia gave her a small smile, but tried not to reply, incase the zombie attack had made her more irritable. Cecilia looked over the edge of the room, watching as the decaying bodies pushed and forced themselves into the shop, which was hopefully going to be humanless soon. Cecilia almost laughed at the way they were falling over themselves, but figured that this is night the right time to start since Seth was still down there. She walked back over and took a seat on one of the bags, looking expectantly at the hole, waiting to see a brown head making it’s way up. Yeah, she was nervous. Seth did not seem like the type who could really handle himself in this situation but Cecilia hadn’t even let herself consider the other option. And with good reason since he moved up the ladder with rather impressive speed. Cecilia light up, and grinned watching him, looking around and pretty thankful that her company had made it out alive and well, to her knowledge. As Seth breathed a casual hello she couldn’t help but laugh this time, and shake her head, getting up off the bags and picked up two of the lighter ones. “Should we escape now? Please?” she asked, not really wanting to sit on this roof for another second. words: 470 - outfit: link

[seehearspeak]

When Cecilia gave him bat the metal bat without any reluctance or complaint, Baden internally breathed a sigh of relief and tucked the weapon back into the cloth sheath on his backpack. The last thing he needed right now was somebody going on at him about… well, anything. He was dreading Melissa’s return from the building, for he had noticed the blonde’s irritability and he did not want her to turn it on him in light of this mechanical mishap with the shutters.

He was in for a nasty shock, however. The redheaded teen did something he had not expected her too, or anyone to do in this situation or any other situation he could think of; she touched his still shaking hand. It felt like a jolt of electricity had zapped through him, but he resisted the urge to pull away. If he did, she might do… something. Something that would draw attention to him. So he stayed perfectly still, hoping she would leave him be.

But it was not over, apparently. Her face drew near and her lips pressed against his cheek, sending a shiver of fear down his spine. What is this? What does she want from me? The moment the redheaded girl moved away from him, Baden took several steps back and crossed his arms in front of him, looking down at the ground to avoid her eyes and to hide his reddening face. Luckily he did not have to say anything further, since Melissa and her friend Seth were now clambering up the ladder and pushing themselves onto the roof.

“Time to go then”, the nervous scavenger muttered quietly, lifting a duffle bag up onto his shoulder and placing his rifle into his hands. He started moving off, not waiting to see if the others followed immediately. He just wanted this day to be over, to be alone again. He had forgotten what silence sounded like; he craved its caress more than ever over the chattering of the others and the moans of the restless dead.

He would slip away just outside the Safe Lands. No need for him to go in. The other scavengers could manage fin from there, he was certain.

[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 had never appreciated fresh air before. She inhaled the salty stink of the rooftop and found herself very grateful that it was no longer contaminated by rotting flesh. Though that thought in itself bothered her. She looked to Seth, her closest friend out of the three people about her. "Were you all right down there? You didn't get bitten?" She posed a similar question to Baden a moment later. Though she didn't bother asking Cecilia, though she returned the smile she was offered. Once she was standing, Melissa combed dirt out of her hair with her fingers. Baden was already making his get away, and she supposed she wasn't surprised. He was a quirky one. She'd have to catch up with him when they were both a little calmer and talk it over. She figured she needed to know him better should this situation ever arise again. Sighing deeply, Melissa clambered down into the side street they had creeped up not too long ago. She felt tired and her limbs ached. She was done with being on any sort of team that didn't already have some sort of leader already designated. Clearing her throat, the woman pushed her hair back as soon as her feet touched the ground. It was darker now, and seeing things was twice as difficult. Melissa took out her torch and flicked it on. The light wasn't as strong as she'd like, but it was probably for the best if they didn't want any attention coming their way. They were all headed in the same sort of direction, and Melissa had torches in her bags for the rest of them once they were down on the ground with her. She had very little to do now, other than to wait, she supposed. The blond woman breathed out a quiet sigh and waited in patient calmness. As far as she was concerned the zombies were distracted for now, and none would come piling in to the slice of darkness she was quite comfortable in for now.[/style]

We're closing this after we all have our last post, aren't we?