Zombie Must be This Tall to Ride {{ O & A }}

[Sola under Moonlight]

Xavier Frost

"I can see that you're Here, Lain, and you look like s**t." He said, chuckling as he spoke the last few words. While it was true that she didn't look her best, no one did now that the world was the way it is. Hell, a lot of people in this place looked much worse than Lain could...unless she was one of those monsters.

As she shimmied off the table, Xavier drank the rest of his water and listened to her. Low on supplies, low on morale, seems like this life was just getting worst every second. The eye-patched man sighed and spoke up. "Yeah, and I'm running low on smokes, so you know that I may go crazy in the next few days." It was a halfhearted joke with an underlying truth, as the cigarettes were one of the few things that kept Xavier's mind still tethered to reality. Losing so much so quickly really messed with him early on in this hell.

"This outing will have to bring in a lot of supplies, which means we may need a larger group to leave." He paused, then grumbled as he scratched the back of his head. "And we'll be a bigger target for any bandits or creatures..." When asked to assist with the rounds, he nodded and went to throw his cup away, then returned to Lain's side. "Alright, I'll go check on a few. Want me to bring 'em to the garage or just make sure they're still here?"

[Patchahroo]

∝╬══→𝕷𝔞𝔦𝔫 Blah blah blablah...

Wanna join me, come and play.
But I might shoot you, in your face.
Bombs and bullets will, do the trick.
What we need here, is a little bit of panic!

Do you ever wanna catch me?
Right now I'm feeling ignored!
So can you try a little harder?
I'm really getting bored!

Nodding, Lain would smile ever so slightly at his joke. It was so nice to have some else on her own page. The scavengers were reliable, but they didn't really call any shots around here, even if their lives were more or less on line then hers. she was waiting for the day when everyone turned on her for her poor leadership skills. A day that would surely come, breaking a the promise she had made to her own friends, that seemed like ages ago. For a mere moment she could almost picture their bloodstained faces, a memory she tried oh-so-hard to keep locked up.

Flinching, Lain would snap back to reality, locking eyes, well eyes with eye, with Xavier. "It's volunteer thing, but if you can get anyone to join in go for it, but we'll of course need our scavenging team, soooo, if you could head back to The Hotel and nab any of them there that would be great. Mainly I need you to find our good doctor and have her get a box of supplies together for the trip." she spook a little more sternly now, forcing herself to concentrate on what was in front of her then the what was in the past. Everyone here had their own battle stories to tell, yet it didn't get in the way of their daily lives, hopefully.. Maybe they needed a psychiatrist or something. Differently something to think about later.

"Also if you could check with the boys in the kitchen, see if they can spare any water containers. If you need me i'll be either at the farms or checking out our storage." she added the last bit mostly for his sake, Lain had a habit of disappearing without telling people where she was going, she figured if people needed her that badly, they'd find her, it's not like she left the gates. That would be breaking her own rules, but she also needed to find Jace, pick his brain to see if had any places worth pillaging. With a wave of her hand, Lain would shove her hand into the front pockets of her sweat jacket, heading out into the amusement park before catching a glimpse of their navigator. Lucky me. sometimes trying to find this boy was like looking for a needle in a haystack, he was too much of a loner for his own good.

Approaching him, she'd squint her eyes, was he playing with a rubix cube? Lain hadn't seen one of those in ages, then again she couldn't solve one of those things if you had payed her. Not wanting to break his concentration, she'd slip down onto the bench next to him, facing the same, she'd take a moment to pull his mask gently off of the table and into her lap to examine it. Lain had always been infatuated with junk like this, she couldn't help herself. Lain would wait until Jace acknowledged her first, happily drooling over the mask in the meantime. "Jay-Jay." she'd chime to him after his own greeting.

"I was wondering, since i'm putting a larger group together to go out and look for supplies, if you had any wonderful locations to look through?" she'd smile at him. "Oh! Also if you have any smokes to spare Xavier, you know how he is about ******** his lungs up." she'd add somewhat annoyed. Lain didn't approve of smoking, never had, but it was a little esaier to accept now that lung cancer seemed to be a better way out of this world then almost anything else. yet if smoke was his vice, who was she to judge. Lain was pretty sure Jace didn't smoke either, but she knew he was always out and about getting supplies.

Come on, shoot faster,
Just a little bit of energy!
I wanna try something fun right now,
I guess some people call it anarchy!

Let's blow this city to ashes,
And see what Baby thinks.
It's such pathetic neatness,
But not for long 'cause it'll get jinxed!

[BLStoner]

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tab ☠ "Lain." The male spoke, only after the female had seated herself next to him, but inwardly cringed at the nickname. However, he passed her a glance, fingers that had worked slowly to put the puzzle together had quickened their pace and in eight seconds flat the rubix cube had been solved. So much for wanting to take his time, but spare time was a luxury in this day and age. Something he knew too well.

tab ☠ As for the question at hand, he couldn't help but express his concern over the talk of a larger group. That was potentially dangerous. "Few, but how many bodies more are we talking?" Given how big the group was already, too many would result in him having to split them up into two groups, which was still dangerous, but it was better than getting everyone killed in one go. Still, he didn't like having blood on his hands.

tab ☠ Deciding he'd worry over it when the time came, he let himself turn his attention to what else she had said and pressed the metal tongue piercing against the roof of his mouth. That's right Xavier and his habit. Couldn't go on a run, even a solo one, without bringing something back for that guy. His grandfather had been a long time smoker and was a real p***k when he didn't get his nicotine fix. Tch. Well, good thing about this dead head world was that smokers were few in number and cigarettes were plenty if you know where to look.

tab ☠ "Here." He said, grabbing his bag and dug around before pulling out a carton of Marlboro. A single pack had been opened and half of its contents had been taken, but the rest were all there. "Tell him happy birthday. He might not get so lucky a find next time." Most time he could find a pack or two, but he would have to do some deep digging into apartment complexes for anything this good. Of course, that was risky. Too many places for a shambling corpse to hide. It wasn't just cigarettes that would drive him to loot apartments. It was food, clothing, and everything else that was pushing him to it too. That was the really shitty thing about life in a major disaster like this one.

▌ ｌｏｃａｔｉｏｎ : Camp: Food Court xxxx▌ ｍｕｓｉｃ : Radioactive - Jump xxxx▌ ｃｏｍｐａｎｙ : Lain xxxx
▌ ｏｏｃ : N//A

[Sola under Moonlight]

Xavier Frost

"Got it." Xavier spoke, having received his mission from Lain and quickly acted upon it. Well, it wasn't much of a mission, more like his responsibility for the morning. His mission was to make sure that Lain didn't lose her mind due to the stress of leading this group, and he's made sure to do his best at that. He already made a promise that he'd take all of the responsibility on days she needed a break. And if anyone dared to challenge her authority, whether it was in her face or in the shadows, they would know why he received the nickname of 'Lucifer.'

Walking into the kitchen, Xavier was greeted by false smiles and a few hellos, as well as the occasional "Luci!" being shouted by a few who had seen his friendlier side, which came out whenever he was drunk. Xavier was well aware that the kitchen knew they were beginning to run out of supplies, so that's why they weren't as cheery or more talkative like usual. There was only so many ways to make gruel, anyway, and with the way supplies were running dry, soon they'd be serving uncooked rice drowned in whatever leftover condiments they had. He stopped and asked for a few water containers, which they quickly gave up as they knew it meant scavengers would be out. Xavier packed them into a plastic bag and hooked it onto the barrel of his shotgun.

Now all he needed to do was find the medic, Avery, which shouldn't be so hard as she seemed to stay in the medical center. In fact, the smoke bellowing out of one of the tarps alerted him to the fact that she was inside. Probably taking inventory while cooking up some wild concoction again, but he didn't care what she did as long as she did her job. Stepping inside, he fanned the smoke from his face, trying to remove the thing blocking his somewhat poor vision. "Yo, Avery. What the hell did you just make?" He asked, the scent emerging from the pot confusing him. He couldn't tell what it was, he just knew that it wasn't something he wanted to try.

[Patchahroo]

∝╬══→𝕷𝔞𝔦𝔫 Blah blah blablah...

Wanna join me, come and play.
But I might shoot you, in your face.
Bombs and bullets will, do the trick.
What we need here, is a little bit of panic!

Do you ever wanna catch me?
Right now I'm feeling ignored!
So can you try a little harder?
I'm really getting bored!

Watching Jace solve the rubix so quickly brought Lain to whistle at him in amazement. "Too smart!" she called out to him in an almost catcall-ish way. To her it was such a shame that such talent would be wasted here, all this potential that may have been a doctor or scientist. There were many people like that here.. she'd shake off the thought, to answer his question. "Mmm.. I think about three groups, depend on the volunteers. We're pretty low on everything and it's ganna get cold pretty soon, so this will be our last outing this big until spring." Lain would speak lowly, just like she had done with Xavier, no need to worry anyone. All that mattered was the places Jace could spare them.

There was a large chance that not many people would come at all, which may have been a good thing or a bad thing. Lain knew better to have more then just a few people out in their field. Even the full group of scavengers being out at the same time was a little risky. she could also say she was being a little selfish about this too.. There were few times when Lain got to travel outside the gate, she need to be 'protected.' Plus she really wasn't that great of a fighter or runner or shooter. Oh boy was she an awful shooter. Lain wanted to practice more, but that would be a waste of bullets. Not that anyone should be using a gun, that was just too much noise.

Gently, she'd put back his mask where she had found to stand up having to stop for a moment to readjust her guitar. While she did that, her scavenger seemed to be busy digging around in his magical bag of wonders only to pull out a pack of smokes. Lain would smile are him, happily taking the carton and shove it into her back pocket. Got it, happy birffday." she'd nod at him, hoping she'd be able to remember that with all the junk she was already trying to remember."Anyways, mind walking with me? I got s**t to do any not enough time." she'd grumble at him, shoving her hands into her sweat jacket.

Come on, shoot faster,
Just a little bit of energy!
I wanna try something fun right now,
I guess some people call it anarchy!

Let's blow this city to ashes,
And see what Baby thinks.
It's such pathetic neatness,
But not for long 'cause it'll get jinxed!

[Ugly Barnacles]

*

**

**
**

**

◆ löċätïön: ... Her Tent
◆ ċömpänÿ: ... Xavier
◆ fëëlïnġ: ... Content


*

*

During her inventory check Avery had a few people stop by complaining of various things asking for ‘the good stuff’. She kept a small supply of highly narcotic plants in a lock box for emergencies only. She only distributed them to people who; A. Got so ******** up they needed something to take the edge off or B. They were definitely going to die so drifting off into a drug induced coma was nicer then suffering.
After sending them on her way she worked on a person that actually needed legit medical treatment. The young man was hauled in by some of his buddies with a deep gash on his head. They wove a great tail of how he saved them all from the living dead and he almost died in the epic battle. She knew it was a lie, a terrible one at that, but worked on flushing the wound out with a small bottle of water prepping it for stitches. She made quick work of the task knowing she needed to finish her inventory check. They should be going on a run any day now. “There you go. Keep it wrapped up and put this on it every day.” She handed him a container with a thick poultice made from a black willow tree and sent him on his way.
It wasn’t long before someone else turned up. “Eucalyptus tea.” Avery didn’t look up from her work table as Xavier entered her tent. “Good for colds. Smells like crap.” She dumped her tools in a bucket of water and wiped her hands on her top smearing the blood from her figures on it. “What can I do for you Luci?”










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m█m █m █m ανєяу вяσσкє

[Sola under Moonlight]

Xavier Frost

"Eucalyptus tea? You drink that s**t?" His eyebrow raised as he asked the question, yet quickly fell back to its original position when she explained the tea's purpose. He'd rather suffer through a cold than drink it, but realistically he knew that he'd guzzle it down as soon as he felt any illness coming on. He trusted Avery's medical prowess, as well as the fact that her survival skills were seemingly greater than some others. He'd gladly place his life within her hands.

As she wiped the blood onto her top, Xavier grabbed a seat and rubbed his forehead. He smirked at her calling him Luci, as it sounded like a much cuter nickname whenever a woman said it. "I'm sure you're aware of the situation. We're running out of supplies." He adjusted his patch, loosening up the string so that it wouldn't annoy him so much. That slate grey orb of his stared up at the girl. "I need you to gather some supplies for the trip out, as well as a list of stuff you medics need. We're meeting in the garage at one.

His eye shifted from the girl to the shelves and bottles behind her. He scratched the bridge of his nose and coughed a bit, then looked back at the girl. "Did you finish taking inventory? Need any help?"

[Ugly Barnacles]

*

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**
**

**

◆ löċätïön: ... Her Tent
◆ ċömpänÿ: ... Xavier
◆ fëëlïnġ: ... Stressed


*

*

Nodding Avery slumped in a chair next to him. “I’m running low on lots of stuff. With winter around the corner lots of the plants I need are going to die off before we get enough.” She snatched up her chart and looked over it staring at the ever growing list. For a while everything ran smoothly in the camp but now it seemed like everything was going to hell. Everything was running out. Food, water, general supplies and of course her plants.

“I wish I had access out there more often, I could stock up as needed instead of waiting till everything’s gone.” She slid him the clipboard displaying the damage. She wasn’t even finished with inventory and the list was already half a page long. Something’s would be nice to have but others were not negotiable, she would do everything in her power to get them even if she had to cross a few lines. “I don’t want to ruffle any feathers here Xavier but I should be able to go and collect what I need or try and grow it here somewhere.” She shook her head knowing that it wasn’t going to happen, Lain ran a tight ship and she would never let her out alone.

She found herself fiddling with the lockbox key around her neck and quickly dropped it back into her blouse. It was a strange habit she had started recently. Knowing that at her disposal was a plant that could end it was tempting… and the fact that her mind went there disturbed her. “I could use some help finishing up if you don’t mind.”










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m█m █m █m ανєяу вяσσкє

[Sola under Moonlight]

Xavier Frost

He nodded slowly as his eyes continued to glaze over the medical tent, looking over every little vial, bottle and tool. Xavier could see what Avery was talking about, and when he received the clipboard, it became even clearer. Everything seemed to be riding on this next outing, and the voice in the back of his head tried to reassure him that the trip would go smoothly. They would get everything they needed, everyone would be happy, and Lain would be able to calm down a bit. However, the voice in the very center of his mind, the voice he listened to since he was a child and was never lead astray by, told him the truth: The possibility of finding everything necessary was ******** impossible.

When Avery spoke about access to the outside world, the unsafe world, and how she didn't want to ruffle any feather, his eye glared at the young doctor. "You're not ruffling any feathers, but you know that won't happen anytime soon." He spoke calmly, his hand tapping onto the clipboard. "Though you know how I feel about it. If you can get out, get what you need without being spotted by bandits or bitten by zombies, and come back here, I don't care. However, like I tell everyone else who thinks about sneaking out..." His hand, out of pure muscle memory, moved to the pipe resting within his jacket. "You bring anything negative back here, and I promise you that you'll see why I got the nickname of 'Lucifer.'" The statement was both an opportunity and a threat. If Avery wanted to sneak out, she could, with him turning a blind eye to it. But if she gets infected, or leads someone else here, knowingly or unknowingly, he would leave her broken body far away from the park to be feasted upon by the undead.

As he stood from his seat, Xavier placed the clipboard down and took off his jacket, resting it over his chair. "Of course I don't mind helping, love. Just tell me what to do."

[Ugly Barnacles]

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◆ löċätïön: ... Her Tent
◆ ċömpänÿ: ... Xavier
◆ fëëlïnġ: ... Happy


*

*

Avery placed her right hand over her mouth then her left on her chest she widened her eyes in fear. “Luci you’re scaring me….” She tried to keep up the act but was unable to hold back her smile. She broke character and playfully nudged him and kissed his cheek. He just gave her the green light to operate on her own terms, something she desperately needed to do. She understood his terms and wouldn’t expect to be treated differently just because she held an important job. Anyone who endangers the camp gets dealt with. Sentence,death.

“I swear I won’t do anything stupid, and I’ll personally take care of anyone or anything fallowing me. My baby hasn’t been out to play in a long time…” Reaching under her desk she pulled out a large wooden bat adorned with dozens of rusted nails. She looked frail but it took quite a bit of muscle to use her weapon of choice, the nails had a tendency to get…well stuck….in various body parts. It to quite a bit of effort to yank it back out. Not very practical if you’re going up against a hoard but for individual targets it was the one hit wonder.

“I need to sort through herbs and roots and then take a look at my premade stuff to make sure it’s still good. “ She motioned to the bottom shelf. “Wanna man the check list while I dig through these?”










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m█m █m █m ανєяу вяσσкє

[Sola under Moonlight]

Xavier Frost

She took his threat as a joke, which was good, as Xavier didn't want to frighten Avery. Hell, he didn't necessarily frighten anyone. He just had the job of both Right and Left Hands to Lain, and he took them quite seriously, that's all. While Lain was the one to smile and seem somewhat approachable, he had to carry the sword in his right hand, ready to lift and swing at any opposition, as well as a dagger in the left, hidden behind the back, ready to quickly and silently remove any problems. And as the time went by, he seemed to get better at the job...

The nudge and kiss to the cheek made him Xavier blush, as he wasn't expecting that, but he quickly wiped the surprise off his face. She assured him that she wouldn't do anything regrettable, which caused the realist in him to respond with, "We'll see one way or another." He glanced down at her nail bat, a weapon he's seen in multiple videogames and movies based around this phenomenon. While it was effective at taking the undead out, when it inevitably got stuck in the fleshy parts, it becomes more of a liability.

When Avery asked if he could take care of the checklist, the man nodded and picked it up off the table. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen, then clicked it before waiting for her to start. "Let's start, love."

[BLStoner]

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tab ☠ Jace blinked at the compliment, merely humming at the words before he put the puzzle cube away. No need to play around anymore, given the current company. However, he did give pause as she spoke of sending out three groups. The male's brow furrowed, finding the idea to be rather unfavorable since it meant he had to be right on the money with directions, escape routes, and so forth. Yeah, navigator sounded like a small job, but it wasn't. You had to know every inch of the city like it was your own body or risk getting people killed. It was quite the burden and just one more reason he wasn't cozy with anyone here.

tab ☠ "Four or five to a group. No more, no less. I don't want too much blood on my hands if something goes wrong." He brought one leg over the other, relaxing against the table as if there was nothing to worry over. "And I wouldn't wait until spring. The colder months are the advantage we need, especially with scavenging. Their bodies with slow and with the body being made up of anywhere between fifty to sixty percent water. Maybe more depending on age and gender. Plus, with the lack of body heat to fight off the cold, they'll freeze." Even if they didn't freeze completely, they would still be slow enough that they wouldn't be a threat.

tab ☠ As for joining her on a stroll, Jace thought it over a moment, looking uneasy, but eventually nodded as he got up, zipping up his bag and slipped it over his chest, thankful it was single strap. "I'm aware you have plenty on your plate as it is, but I should inform you that on my run I came across a survivor and his friends. They weren't the friendly type, unless bashing your skull in is their way of saying 'hello'." He pulled his mask back on and pulled his hood up. "So, make sure those who are coming aren't impulsive or loud-mouthed." Better safe than sorry. Sure, most people were okay around the dead, but when around the living the story was different. The dead didn't deceive you, rob you, and then leave you to die.

tab ☠ .

▌ ｌｏｃａｔｉｏｎ : Camp: Food Court xxxx▌ ｍｕｓｉｃ : Radioactive - Jump xxxx▌ ｃｏｍｐａｎｙ : Lain xxxx
▌ ｏｏｃ : N//A

[Patchahroo]

∝╬══→𝕷𝔞𝔦𝔫 Blah blah blablah...

Wanna join me, come and play.
But I might shoot you, in your face.
Bombs and bullets will, do the trick.
What we need here, is a little bit of panic!

Do you ever wanna catch me?
Right now I'm feeling ignored!
So can you try a little harder?
I'm really getting bored!

Lain would raise an eyebrow at him, looking a little shocked as Jace would lay down some interesting facts. He was still too smart. Lain would maul over everything he had said as they walked, she was heading for the main door to the tunnels to take a short cut to the farms, either way it would be a bit of a walk, she hoped she wasn't bothering Jace too much with this. Normally she would have already stopped by the farm to check on the crops and the farmers. some of them preferred to pitch a tent and watch over their own crops like children. It was.. Oddly cute to her, she hardly understood them or how plants worked, but they kept promising her a decent fall harvest that if preserved right would last through the winter, which was extremely promising.

"I understand the worry about having that many people and I didn't mean that we wont go out during the winter at all.. It's just that this trip will be pretty big, trying to stock up on winter clothing and other junk everyone seems to really need.. Once winter hits, with that kind of idea of frozen zombies though, we may be able to travel much further then before..If anyone is willing to travel out in the freezing cold." Lain may have been pretty strict about going outside of the gate randomly or alone. Yet if someone wanted to leave, then they were welcomed to it, she didn't run a prison and she wished everyone the best of luck out there. The same thing with the scavengers and if they didn't wish to join in on any missions they could refuse to go. Lain refused to rule like some kind of power hungry animal, but she did try to keep some kind of fair order.

The thing about unfriendly living people really got to her, she understood that living outside of any real safety net may be hard out there, but that was a choice those people made and they didn't have to take it out on other people. Human beings seemed to be fair and few these days, there was no need to attack anyone whose still breathing. "Well.. If you could find a path around them, that would be great, if not we'll send more 'trained' people that way." Lain would stop at the tunnel's main entrance "You don't have to come any further if you don't wanna, I just need to know that you'll be able map out some maps."

Come on, shoot faster,
Just a little bit of energy!
I wanna try something fun right now,
I guess some people call it anarchy!

Let's blow this city to ashes,
And see what Baby thinks.
It's such pathetic neatness,
But not for long 'cause it'll get jinxed!

[Ugly Barnacles]

*

**

**
**

**

◆ löċätïön: ... Her Tent
◆ ċömpänÿ: ... No One
◆ fëëlïnġ: ...


*

*

With that Avery crouched down and examined the bottom shelf. Large jars held various roots from trees and shrubs and pops of color from herbs. A thin layer of dust covered the lids and clouded the glass and a few spiders made their way from the shadow as she moved things around. She smacked a large daddy long-leg from her arm and frantically rubbed all of her exposed skin still feeling its legs on her. “I can’t stand spiders. Nasty little things….ugh…bug repellent...I need to make bug repellent….” She mumbled as she placed the last jar out into the light.

“Alright here we go. Ready?” She rose and brushed the dirt from her knees. Small rocks left indents in her skin creating odd circular patterns. She hated the feeling and winced; her father had been a kind man but had odd means of punishment. His go to wasn’t a belt or stick, as he didn’t believe in beating children, it was corn. His father used corn and so did he. They always had an abundance of it to feed their chickens so he would dump handfuls on a thin pan and make you kneel on it for sometimes hours at a time. It hurt far more then the temporary sting of a whipping and she suffered it many times in her childhood.

“Looks like we are okay on root actually, which is good. There’s no way we would get any once the ground starts to freeze up. I could use more wildflowers, mint, clovers, and if we can I also need to find Wax myrtle. This is the best time to harvest it.“ She glanced up from the jars and looked at him, “Got all that? There’s a few more random things I’ll grab if I can find it but they aren’t important enough to write down. I also really really need to check out any building we happen to pass by. I only have a few good tools. If I have to deal with multiple people at once I won’t have enough to work with.”










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m█m █m █m ανєяу вяσσкє