Tales of the Apocalypse - Last Light (A Zombie RP - Closed)

[Prussian Imperial Guard]

Arata, Ichiro
"Let them hate me, so long as they fear me."
-Caligula

From the Amazon's reaction to his verdict, Ichiro surmised that she had little idea what she was getting herself into, and that if she ever managed to make it through the relentless regime of training and brainwashing that his soldiers affectionately referred to 'Basic', it would likely be on the condition of having to go through it several times. It was not, in his empire, unheard of for a soldier to have to repeat this process of being subjected to nine weeks of Hell for several years before they finally broke and were able to be rebuilt as soldiers fit to carry his banner. However long it took, he was confident that she would break, and the lack of any change from the imperial manner in which he held himself made this clear.

The emperor left the woman's transfer to one of their training facilities in Daisy's hands, seeing an opportunity to attach a punishment to the possibility of her washing out. He smiles inwardly, though his face remained stoic as he approached the female Legate.

"Daisy, remember, if she doesn't complete Basic, or causes trouble," rather than finish his sentence he instead ended the message by patting the large blade dangling at his side, which Adrian was all too familiar with.

With that, he motioned for Daisy's second to follow him, as well as the Praetorian that had overseen the contents of Makoto's backpack.

((Really sorry for the short post, guys. For the time it took me to get one up, you deserved a better one. I have no excuses for why it's so short, only the hope that you don't hate me for it. D: ))

[pitbully01]

DAISY FULTON

"Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless."

-Adolf Hitler

“Understood, Imperator,” Daisy gave the Legion’s salute and bowed once more, taking her leave and beckoning for Alice to follow. Her second-in-command, on the other hand, was summoned along with one of the Praetorians. She’d leave the former in charge of her forces at the camp while she was gone and she’d make legionnaires out of those raw recruits on top of it all…The amateur thugs and brawlers that they were, though she’d have questions for Alice once they got to their forward outpost and training center. And while that big bear of a woman didn’t wear a uniform or insignia of any sort, she had a subtle yet professional air about her…the way she moved, the way she carried herself…probably ex-military…something Daisy would have to delve into later.

Most of the Nazi forces had already departed towards the inner city, establishing a forward base of operations (the former city hall, which has recently been cleared of mutants and zombies...the streets going to and from it were barricaded prior to their arrival, but zombies broke through one of them and killed everyone in and around the hall some 8 years ago...Daisy's forces currently have that section locked down and are waiting for her and the recruits to come) where they could operate independently and serve as a potential vanguard in the Emperor’s push towards the Rockies. The recruits, having had their heads shaved and issued dark-grey fatigues, were ordered into a pair of trucks by Holdin, a heavily-scarred Nazi sergeant who ironically looked a lot like Sgt. Rock from the old comic series and served with her father since the beginning. He’d oversee their training and as soon as the recruits were loaded, Daisy, next to Holdin, gave her a set of boots and fatigues identical to that which the recruits were wearing.

“It took a while to find your size,” Daisy told Alice while gesturing her to get in the truck with everyone else. She’d put Alice through “basic” as per the Emperor’s bidding, though if she was reading Alice correctly, the large Amazon might outperform the other recruits by a large margin very quickly. That would negate the need for “basic” largely, possibly allowing her to go through the program swiftly, but she’d still have to go through parts of it for the sake of standardization. Training was not only rigorous and harsh, but also standardized for the Legion. That built strength, efficiency, cohesion, and discipline; all of which were key to the Legion’s effectiveness on the field.

[pitbully01]

CALEB LOCKE

"The only ones fit to live are those not afraid to die" - Gen. Douglas MacArthur

“More ammunition?” Caleb asked, visibly surprised at what the Major just told him. There were even a handful of homemade claymores inside a crate the workers were sealing, packed with old newspaper so they wouldn’t shake or rattle...probably nearing their "expiry date" and needing to be used before the explosive material degraded into useless mush or went unstable. “That’s most generous of you, Major, and you have our thanks. We’ll lead the way to Black Springs. The path Jacob showed us had no bandits on the way and undead resistance was minimal. With luck, it should be the same on the way back and we should reach our compound before nightfall. Your Rangers may also stay and resupply with us for the night. Black Springs is extremely dangerous after dark, but relatively safe around dawn,” Caleb told the Major, seeing the last of the technical’s cargo come down to the platform.

“Also, as a token of friendship between our settlements, I’d like you to have this,” Caleb said as he took the rucksack he left in the rear of the technical, producing a Colt Python .357 with a four-inch barrel and a finely-made hardwood handle, making sure the weapon was empty, prior to turning it around and giving it handle-first to the Major. That drew attention from the Major’s guards and a few of the platform’s workers, but they eased up once they saw it wasn’t loaded. “And you’ll want these, as well,” Caleb continued, taking five hollowpoint rounds out of the rucksack’s side pocket and putting them in the Major’s palm. “Sorry I don’t have a sixth. The leader of the cannibals we took our compound from used it to kill himself. Saved us the trouble of dealing with him. In any case, you have our most sincere thanks. I’ll inform Jacob and the others and have them ready to depart as soon as possible.” Little did he know zombies were attacking the very compound they called home, railing against the gate, scrambling over each other, and clawing their way up the walls.

(More posts to come tomorrow!)

[Torrallon]

Why bother to wear a false mask...

Alice ~ June ~ Cooper
Tiger-Lily

Alice looked between Daisy and Ichiro as Ichiro's voice had once again broke the silence between them. Or at least what silence there could possibly be in this base of legion soldiers and Praetorians. He mentioned something about her completing basic and then she saw him pat his blade. A small smirk crossed her lips as he did so. What, was he going to actually engage HER in close combat? Bad move. She was good at killing in general, long and short range, but there actually was a reason she had more blades on her than guns. Regardless of her size, she could sneak around pretty well, and blades never ran out of ammo, though they did require maintenance every now and again. Or maybe he was going to behead Daisy for HER lack of completion of basic? But that really didn't make too much sense. All she really knew is that if he planned to get that blade near her, he'd better hope to actually kill her, because she'd be going directly for all of his vital spots. Remember... in the armpit, If the brachial artery is severed, unconsciousness can occur in 14 seconds, death in 1.5 minutes. Under the ribcage to get at the heart more easily for Instant Death. Or simply go for the Femoral Artery, if I'm still any good, death can occur in somewhere between 30 seconds to a minute. She mentally reminded herself while shifting her eyes rather casually over his praetorians. When it comes to the others interfering, I can even go for Popliteal Arteries and Inferior Vena Cava's... They're easy enough too.

In either case, once she had everything of hers all gathered up again, Alice followed Daisy along. Time to get along to basic, she guessed. When Daisy had finally picked through things and held out her boots and fatigues to her, she reached forward and took them up. "Yeah that tends ta be a problem in my size. It was actually pretty difficult getting armor in this size..." She said, moving along to the truck and getting onto it. She looked over the fatigues for a moment once she was on the truck and after moving to a good enough spot. Been a while since I had ta wear anything resembling an actual uniform.

[OoC: Totally understandable, infantry. I find it's not so much the length of the post, but the content and quality of the post. Honestly there isn't much that could have been posted there, unless you really wanted to get into detail about how boring it is to be an emperor.]
... It's so much easier to be honest about the MONSTER you really are!

Health: 100%
Items:
-.38 Snubnose Revolver [4/6]
-McMillan .308 Tactical Hunter
-.308 Ammo x15
-Longsword x2
-TOPS Tom Brown Tracker Knife
-Colt Anaconda Magnum Revolver [6/6]
-.44 Ammo x12
-Bandages

[pitbully01]

USANAGI KYOUKO

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the darkest valleys.
Look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you to their deaths."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Somebody was ******** with them. That much was certain. This was the second time this week that a horde was brought to their doorstep, first by a gunshot near the hospital and now by a flare. Kyouko had just about had it with whoever was doing it, but before they could find and string up whoever was responsible, they had a horde to repel…a big horde and one that was freakishly determined to get in. However, compared to the hospital, the mansion’s outer perimeter, made of the gatehouse and a stone wall surrounding the compound, was a great deal more defensible; yet as Kyouko and anyone who still drew breath knew, it was by no means invincible.

“Scarlet, get your dad and Talia! And make sure Adele is safe somewhere!” Kyouko ordered after seeing the horde rail against the gate with Makoto, a newcomer, and the Black Skull sentries mere feet from the rotted hands, faces, and fingers trying to force their way through the grills. “Get away from my son!” Kyouko yelled while running and unslinging her shotgun, shoving its barrel into a zombie’s mouth and firing as it tried reaching at him through the sliding steel gate. The zombie’s head and cervical spine shattered, sending its near-headless corpse tumbling against the others behind it before Kyouko fired again, shredding another zombie’s skull at near-point blank with her weapon. Makoto, with what most people would dismiss as an AK but she recognized as a Chinese Type 56, fired a couple bursts at the zombies trying to climb over, prior to one of the Black Skull sentries shoving a pike through one of the zombies’ faces, sending it back over the gate itself. “Doc, we’re closing the doors! Move back!” another sentry yelled before Kyouko pulled Makoto back, along with the newcomer, taking the time to reload while the sentries heaved against the heavy oaken doors, barring it shut while the zombies screamed and bashed against the gate on the other side. “You picked one hell of a time to come here. Got a name?” Kyouko asked Erin while Makoto checked his magazine, finding it half-empty before putting it back in. “I’m Dr. Usanagi, this is my son Makoto, and these men are the Black Skull mercenaries. These, on the other hand -- ” Kyouko spoke while putting her shotgun’s barrels back into place, prior to hearing the zombies scream, growl madly, and shuffle loudly all along the outer wall.

“s**t! They’re climbing over the walls!” Shane, one of Sephilia’s Stalkers yelled before Sephilia and her group scrambled to cover one section the zombies were trying to climb over, pumping bullets into the deaders as they scrambled over each other. She had yet to thank them bringing Makoto back safe and the least the doc could do was help them. “You want to earn a place here? Help us get rid of these things before they kill us. Come on!” Those zombies would be a lot harder to get rid of once they hit the other side of the wall and Kyouko, as the leader of the survivors was determined not to let that happen.

immortalgear

kanna2012

[Rue S Cross]

Kiril Pavlov

Zombies, zombies, zombies. Kiril shook his head, there was always something. After directing the mechanic to Talia, the bandit leader had returned to the walls and climbed up to one of the watch towers, looking out into the wasteland surrounding the mansion. Minutes later, the flare had popped and Kiril cursed. He grabbed up his carbine and then leaned out over the railing of the watch tower, one arm wrapped around one of the posts that held the roof over his head as he watched a horde stir up. There weren't many at first, but they began running toward the walls soon afterward. "How do people survive like this!?" he exclaimed, fully intending to shoot whoever had set up the flare, but he realized he had other problems and turned back to the courtyard, gesturing wildly and shouting, "Get those trucks warmed up! Move them across the yard in front of the mansion, all guns pointed toward the walls! If they start coming over, open fire!" He didn't bother to make sure his own men on the walls would be out of the line of fire when it came to that.

He turned back to the bandits in the towers, the man with him was staring slack jawed at the horde so Kiril kicked him in the small of his back, pushing him toward the M60 propped on the rails, "Open fire! Open fire now!!"

All at once, the rumble of the military trucks in the yard was drowned out by the sound of the four machine guns in the watch towers opening up on the horde, tearing into them. Kiril fired his carbine into the crowd, one handed, spraying full auto fire into the creatures, his gun running on empty in seconds. He turned around and saw the trucks in position and then saw the zombies breaking against the walls like waves. "They're climbing! Get down!" he shouted even as he jumped off the tower himself, rolling into the grass below.

[Rue S Cross]

Major Harold Perlman

"Well, they'd sure appreciate an overnight stay, that's for sure," Harold said with a grin, knowing full well just how dangerous the world could be these days. Even Bright Falls' safety was tenuous. It was hard to be surprised anymore, but the next thing Caleb produced sure did manage it. He took the revolver from Caleb and looked it over, admiring the shape it was in before accepting the rounds as well. The major let out a low whistle, "Surprising shape for something a cannibal held. You'd think they would try to chew on it or something."

He chuckled, then tucked the revolver into one of the pockets of his peacoat, placing the rounds along with it. Then he offered Caleb his hand, "I accept this token and look forward to future dealings. Maybe we can wrest a civilization from this wasteland yet."

[immortalgear]

Erin

Erin tried his best to close the gate, but stopped when the zombies began reaching for him. His gun was out of ammo, and all his spare magazines were in a bag inside of the wagon. Basically he was useless at this point. He looked back at Kyouko as she yelled at the zombies and ran up shooting one point blank through the mouth and other in the face afterwards. Even the boy, Makoto, was firing back with his weapon. Erin took the message and quickly picked up his gun he had dropped just as Kyouko pulled him away from the gate to let the other people close it instead.

"It's, um, Erin Ma'am" He said turning his head away from her slightly and looking down shyly. His voice was feminine, again a result of practice and constant talking through his travels. He didn't know why but he was feeling rather shy. He hadn't met anyone other than bandits through his travels, but he was only ever nervous the first couple of times. Afterwards meeting, tricking, and sometimes killing bandits was easy. He saw himself as acting far differently when he finally got in here to meet these people. Perhaps it was due to his lonely travels that he was suddenly feeling so shy, perhaps it was because of his parent's leaving him alone for long periods throughout his life, perhaps it was just because they were under attack. Maybe...maybe he didn't know himself as well as he thought. He would have to ponder this later on.

He listened to her say her name, her son's, and who exactly the others were. He knew, however, that he would more than likely forget by the end of this. He was a little shocked to see her with a shotgun though. He expected doctors to use different weapons, or be one of the primary people to be sent inside and protected due to their rarity and extreme usefulness. He respected that she fought alongside the others and was willing to risk herself for her son. He also remembered that he still needed to properly thank her son and that other Black Skull member for opening the gate for him. It was a risky move to pull that he appreciated greatly.

He ran over to his wagon as Kyouko asked for help with the horde. He quickly released the bungee cords and set his panda on the ground. Unzipping the top duffel bag revealed another, fully loaded, glock 18. He pulled it out and set it aside as he reloaded the other one with a fresh magazine. He switched both weapons to semi-automatic to conserve ammo and improve his aim. Finally, he pulled out two more magazines and put them in his pockets. Fully prepared now he looked around to see where exactly he would be the most help. He felt his nervousness draining away as it was replaced with excitement. He began smiling again, shooting at whatever he could to help out. The 3 round burst was accurate enough that he could usually get at least one bullet through a zombies skull. He decided to stay near the doctor and her son, helping them until she gave him new orders.


---Wearing: Pink hoodie, white shirt (in picture), blue skinny jeans, and slip on Vans.
---Looks like: A relatively normal girl from up close and far away.
---Location: Mansion

[pitbully01]

USANAGI MAKOTO

"The best armor isn't made of iron or steel...it's merely staying out of sight, out of reach, or out of range."

- Italian Proverb

Like a wave hammering a breakwater, the undead threw themselves against the compound’s outer wall; clawing, climbing, and clambering over each other in a deranged attempt to get at the humans holding the mansion. The first wave was easily repelled, sent hurtling back down whence they came, with their bodies broken and their heads blown open. However, as they piled up at the base of the wall and climbing became easier for the live ones, repelling them became increasingly difficult as more and more squeezed their way through the wires lining the posts atop the fence. Kyouko, Makoto, and the Stalkers fought desperately to keep them from climbing over their section, pumping shells and bullets into the zombies’ heads as they furiously clawed at them, nearly pulling Karl down as one grabbed hold of his leg and tried to take a chunk out of his ankle, only for Grisha to shred its arm off a the shoulder with a burst from his RPK while Makoto ripped a trio of zombies skulls open with a long burst from his rifle. That thing was solid and reliable like any AK variant should have been, but its recoil was excessive for him, causing its muzzle to ride up as a fourth zombie suddenly clawed its way over its mangled comrades and lunged at him.

"GAAAAHH!!" Makoto reeled back as his magazine went empty and the deader nearly took a chunk out of him, but suddenly saw the side of its head implode and the zombie hurtle off the wall as Thomas, one of Sephilia’s stalkers smashed it across the temple with his the butt of his AKM. His mother, on the other hand, pumped two more shells into a pair of deaders scrambling squeezing through the wire near the edge of the wall before the Black Skull overseer’s whistle started blowing, people, including Kiril, started jumping off, and they began running towards the trucks which had formed a defensive line in front of the mansion itself. “Everyone get down! Get down!” Makoto heard his mother yell with sudden alarm after Kiril before he braced himself and jumped off the wall. The boy landed feet first in the courtyard, rolling on the dried grass and grinding to a painful halt while his mother fell next to him, followed by Sephilia and her Stalker group, all of whom made a mad dash towards the trucks as soon as they got their footing back. However, before the trucks’ MG’s could open up and send hot streams of lead mixed with tracers flying over their heads, Makoto heard something very strange. A buzz…A loud buzz that suddenly came from the posts atop the compound’s fence, followed a loud crackle and a hellish shriek as one of the zombies trying to squeeze through the wires thrashed, twitched, and flailed.

The fence was “alive” with enough electricity to stop a human heartbeat or throw back a zombie off its feet, all before numerous deaders followed suit and began falling like drunken apes onto the gore-covered earth outside the mansion itself. Someone got the generator running again, yet numerous zombies who made it through before the fence atop the walls reactivated, began tumbling like bricks off the walls and running/shambling towards the Black Skulls their survivor cohorts…livid and ready to kill. Makoto, crouching behind one of the Black Skull group’s trucks next to his mother and the Stalkers then checked his Type 56’s magazine, finding it empty before dropping the rifle on the ground and taking the old Smith and Wesson Model 10 he salvaged off a corpse out from his belt. The rest of that horde might have been locked out, but with the sheer number that it through before the generator came back online and the fence reactivated itself, Makoto knew the Black Skulls and his fellow survivors still had a bloody fight ahead of them.


(Hospital duty...evil...will post again as soon as possible...*collapses face-first on the keyboard, snoring and drooling* )

[kanna2012]

XXXXXX❀ Scarlet ❀XXXXXX
Location: Manor XXX Companions: Brandon her father and two wolf pups they had taken in Fang and Alora XXX Outfit: Torn top and skirt made of animal fur, Hair all a mess, shoes made of animal fur, sachule she carries all her supplies in.
Company: Papa(Brandon) and Doctor Usanagi. XXX Feelings/thoughts: hmm...good good..^_^



❀ What you here do!!!


❝ No eat human. Dead men bad man. Must kill dead man. ❞











When the horde of zombies started to pound against the walls, Scarlet had been able to get Fang and Alora somewhere safe before the two ferals made it up to a high place to overlook the walls of the mansion before the two started shooting arrows at the horde. Scarlet and Brandon had good eyesight and great marksmanship that they always hit the zombies in the middle of their forehead causing them to fall after a few seconds of impact. Scarlet kept an eye on the ones that got to close to the other humans in their group while Brandon took out the ones that were getting to close from his standard.

When the electric fense kicked back on it seemed to stop most of the horde but not all of them. Brandon kept his eyes on the ones outside the electric fense, making sure to puncture them in the head with a arrow here and there while Scarlet started shooting the ones that were getting to close to the vehicles. Her eyes focused as she took out one that was getting to close to one of the black skull members that were near the car. And when another one got to close to Makoto and his mother she aimed it so well that it shot the creature in the chest and sent it falling.

Each arrowhead was laced with some of her spore killing mixture and once it hit it would start to spread until it killed them within a matter of seconds.. Once brandon was sure that the ones on the opposite side of the electric fence wasn't going to get through he started to help his daughter take out the ones already on their side of the fence.



2 Dragon hilt machete's
1 Sakura hilt katana
1 Blow dart tube
100+ Handmade blow darts
1 Handmade longbow
100+ Handmade arrows and a quiver
1 Hunting knife
Gord full of water
Salted meats
Seasonings
Flint stones
Morter bowl
Botonist books
Furs
Herbs of all kinds
Fruits and vegetables of all kinds (Most of them mutated but still edible)
A locket with a family photo of her and her parents in it
A warn out teddy she has had since she was a baby
A music box

[Rue S Cross]

Kiril Pavlov

Kiril was among the first to jump up onto the trucks that lined the courtyard against the fence line. He saw other Black Skulls and some of the other people running as well, Kiril took the time to reload his weapon and light a cigarette before he deemed it was clear enough to order the heavy machine guns on the truck to open fire. He raised his gun hand high in the air and cried out, "[******** 'em up!!" which was followed by the booming report of six heavy machine guns ripping into the creatures that had gotten over the wall before the electricity popped on.

Kiril aimed his own weapon, firing in short bursts, he was joined by other members of the mansion group, who all stood in or around the trucks, firing their small arms into the horde. It wasn't over yet, but it was one of the better engagements the Black Skull leader had seen since joining this group.

[xo_Bipolarbear_ox]

While we were on our knees
Praying that disease
Would leave the ones we love
And never come again

While the others taught the little girl Audrey stood back and watched them, shooting wasn't exactly her thing so she wasn't much help in this lesson for the girl. Though what they were showing her was very useful. Though shooting down where you know you are safe is a lot different than when you are shooting to keep your self alive. Though that would be something the girl will have to learn on her own it wasn't exactly something you can teach. Finally someone had come down and told Caleb their order was ready. So rather than sticking around much longer Audrey followed him up. Seeing all the cargo that was leaving with them Audrey's jaw almost dropped. With this they would be able to defend them selves for a while.

Audrey watched as Caleb gave the Major a relover. She her self was surprised as well at the condition the gun had been in even after its prior owner. Audrey gave a small smile when the Major said that there was a hope of civilization. Audrey bit her tongue a bit on her doubts of there ever being a real civilization again. "Well we can only hope for that some day." Audrey said polietly, speaking for the first time. "Though it will be very difficult, you can never stop hoping, hope is all that most people have left now a days." Her face showed a little grief but she pushed the look away and replaced it with a more thoughtful look. "When was the last time you have gone out there sir? That is if you don't mind me asking."

And all the Styrofoam
Began to melt away
We tried to find some words
To aid in the decay

Nathan S. Cross

Terra Solaris

Digital Static

[immortalgear]

Erin

Erin helped the best he could, managing to kill several zombies before needing to reload. It was about this time Kyouko yelled out for everyone to get down. With everyone heading towards the trucks Erin followed suit. He grabbed his panda and wagon first before running to them. A magazine or two fell out on the way, but he knew he still had a few left inside. He would get the ones on the ground when the horde was repelled.

On his way over he heard the shrieks and sizzling of the zombies. He cried out a little and began running faster from being startled at the sounds. He had no idea what defenses this mansion had or what weapons these people held, but electricity was something he definitely didn't expect. He didn't think anyone could reliably use it in that fashion. It brought some ideas on how to further weaponize it, but he wasn't able to think too deeply. With all the chaos happening he needed to try and stay focused on the task at hand.

Finally reaching the trucks Erin set the wagon out of the way, but still in reach so that he could grab extra magazines as needed. Once safe he quickly started reloading using the magazines in his pocket. Being so focused on reloaded he didn't understand what the person yelling had said. "What did he say?" he asked himself looking up from the gun. His answer came when the machine guns on the trucks began firing startling him and, unfortunately, causing him to drop his weapons and cover his ears. He realized how bad this would look and quickly recovered, picking them up he finished reloading, took aim, and fired at any zombies that the machine guns or other survivors weren't already tearing apart.

---Wearing: Pink hoodie, white shirt (in picture), blue skinny jeans, and slip on Vans.
---Looks like: A relatively normal girl from up close and far away.
---Location: Mansion

[pitbully01]

TALIA LOCKE

"Sanity calms.....but madness is more interesting." - John Russel

Current Outfit: VDV Flecktarn Camo Suit

Better late than never. It took a while for Talia, followed by Ben to join the fight, grabbing their weapons on their way out from the kitchen and taking up firing positions on the balcony overlooking the courtyard. The sound of the MG’s was deafening, their heavy bursts cutting furiously into the zombies’ ranks; tearing and dismembering while the Black Skulls and survivors finished off those who were still standing or reduced to crawling. They were holding the line, but Scarlet and Brandon were really killing it down there with their bows, easily keeping pace with those with firearms. Yet as much as she loved using her own, they were too far away to get consistent headshots with her bow. However, that wasn’t a problem with a rifle.

Talia quickly scanned the courtyard, looking past the trucks and everyone else through her Mauser M03’s scope before seeing a female zombie with what looked like a headless baby on a bloodstained harness in front of it. It was a runner and quickly got up after a couple rounds from the M2 Browning clipped it, making a run at the trucks again before Talia squeezed her rifle’s trigger and blew the right side of its forehead open, sending chips of bone mixed with brains flying as the zombie slid off its feet and fell dead on the dried grass below it. Ben, on the other hand, fired his Mosin Nagant (with an old 4x scope attached to it), putting a dime-sized hole through a crawler’s head, prior to dropping a fat walker with his next shot and Talia cycling her bolt near him, blasting a walker through its left eye socket.

“Not bad! Five bucks says I kill more than you this time!” Ben said ejecting a spent shell casing while Talia did likewise next to him. “You’re on, old man!” Talia exclaimed cheerfully, quickly chambering a new round and shooting a zombified priest just above its right eye socket, causing it to twist, flail, and smash its head against the hood of one of the vehicles as it fell. As if pre-outbreak currency were worth anything, yet she wasn’t one to turn down some friendly (albeit bloody) competition. She then heard Ben cackle as he blew the top of a runner’s head open, causing it to stain the headlights on one of the trucks before Talia followed up with a shot through a zombified child’s skull, plastering its brains all over those behind it. “Hah! Where’s my five bucks?” Talia joked at Ben. “Your five bucks? Where’s mine?” Ben jokingly retorted, shooting a zombie hospital patient through the face, causing it to twirl and fall twitching on the ground, prior to both cycling their bolts and racing to take aim again. The zombies’ ranks were dwindling, but as more mutilated zombies crawled up from the pile the MG’s tore up, they knew this fight wasn’t over yet.

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

Civilization from the wasteland. Caleb heard that one many times before…from village chiefs, to deranged cultists, and even an evangelical preacher who was on TV before the outbreak hit; yet coming from Major Perlman, he was actually ready to believe it, even fight for it. All other attempts he’d seen at pulling what the Major said were half-baked at best, doomed to fail or wind up in a zombie’s gullet. However, the Major and his followers already proved that civilization could be forged in the one of the darkest and most unforgiving places. And with their mutual strength and cooperation, civilization or at least a semblance of it could spread farther into the wastes. “Perhaps we can,” Caleb said while shaking the Major’s hand. “And Audrey is right, Major. We can’t stop hoping, no matter how bloody and difficult the road may be ahead of us. No one lives this long by giving up and lying down and your Metro is living proof of that. And through mutual benefit and cooperation, we just might be able to do what you said on the surface.” And speaking of the surface and Audrey's question relating to it. “I’ll tell Jacob and the others to prepare to depart. We’ll lead your Rangers to Black Springs and if you wish to see us off, we’ll meet you on the surface.”


(I'll post for Daisy and her Nazis next. Just need to rest. Got another long shift coming up and I have to report in early tomorrow morning)

[Rue S Cross]

Major Harold Perlman

"Well, it's good to see some optimism still exists out there," Harold said with a weary smile, "hard to remember what that's like sometimes." Harold placed his hands back in the pockets of his pea coat and turned to listen to Audrey's question. He looked off into the distance, considering what she had asked for a few moments, "To tell the truth, it's been a few years since I've stepped outside the surface perimeter. Was just after we first reopened the pressure doors, I'd been......recently given sole command of Blue Line and I went up personally to oversee the installation of the fences and roadblocks that make up our borders up there," he gestured back toward some Rangers standing nearby, "every once in a while, I take a tour of the surface area, just to see for myself things run smoothly, but not often and never without constant supervision. Leadership has perks, but it's also tough and important work, especially now."

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Kiril Pavlov

Kiril rolled his eyes, these creatures were becoming annoying. Against all odds, against electric fences, against a near constant barrage of machine gun fire, the zombies were closing the distance. If the horde didn't break soon, they'd be forced to fall back into the mansion and that was no situation Kiril wanted to be a part of. Memories of the hospital were too fresh in his mind. Gritting his teeth, crushing the butt of the cigarette he held in his lips, he wondered against if the b*****d that had set fire to that old place was still alive. He owed that man some pain.

For now, these creatures would do. He emptied his carbine into the face of one that closed in before dropping the weapon on the bed of the truck and drawing the sawed off shotgun from his thigh holster and fire a shell into the horde, pumping and firing again. He turned to the gunner, "Fire that thing until it falls apart! I don't want one damn zombie crossing this line!!"