World War Z

[Nikki Faroda]

"Agreed but we can do the packing and reinforce the other exits. Harley you stay down here with me. Ricard, can you take care of the supplies up stairs after we reinforce the doors of course? And we also need to check the basement for any others." Reinforing the doors would take some time but in would be worth it in the end. The basement would be the best place to rest if they needed to, lucky for them it was locked as the moment.That was the main concern right now then eat some food, reinforce, and last but not least packing and leaving. "Ricard, where are we going?"  

[Zihark Faroda]

"Well, those shutters should be plenty for the front of the store," Ricard answered as he thought about the layout of the store he saw so far. "The alleyway behind the store shouldn't allow too many of them to get in to rush the door, which this being a jewelry store I'm sure is solid metal, so that should be fine too. But a basement you say?" Ricard began wiping the blood off the crowbar with a nearby rag as he lowered his head in more thought, small mumbles escaping his lips as he had an inner dialogue with himself. "That could either be really good, or really bad, depending on what may be down there, and how many, if any, entrances to the outside there are. One way to find out. Lead the way."  

[Nikki Faroda]

"Okay, let's go." Ashley told Harley to stay and she laid down. Ashley had her weapon ready as she unlocked the door to the basement. the stairs were clear of zombies. Still she took great cation going down them. The basement was a normal sized room that was mainly used for storing the more expensive items. It was also a mess, there was broken glass everywhere and blood on a lot of it. "I wonder what happened down here," Ashley whispered. There didn't appear to be anyone in the room now, but the blood was fresh.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ricard would have preferred if Ashley had let him go down the stairs first, but as she didn't give him the chance he made sure to follow as closely as he could. As she scanned the immediate area, Ricard's eyes quickly scanned the walls. There were no other doors beside the one they'd just come from, and only one window on the far wall overlooking the alley. The glass was still intact, and there were bars across it, as expected for a jewelry shop. At least they wouldn't have to worry about the basement being a problem. "Hhmm, I don't know," he answered looking around at the mess. "I don't think we'll ever know unless your aunt's friend left a note or something. Unless we spend the time to clean up this blood and glass though, I don't think it'd be a good idea to stay down here though."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley turned to face Ricard. "I agree we should just go back upstairs and lock this part up. It would only waste time and be a health risk to clean it." Ashley waited for Ricard to lead her back up the stairs. "It's about time to start packing, don't you think? The zombie should be almost all the way passed us by now, but just to be sure we should wait a little after we finish packing." Ashley suggusted.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ashely sure seemed to be in a rush to leave this place, and considering her connection to the store, and the now former owner, Ricard couldn't exactly blame her. Still, he didn't think it was going to be as simple or as easy as she was hoping. "I don't know," Ricard answered honestly, but without looking at her so as not to betray his emotions. He instead focused on the window to alley, where he now noticed a shadow shuffling past. It was short, stunted movements of the shadow, indicating it was one of those things instead of another survivor. "We know next to nothing about these things. Unless there's some other distraction, I fear it could be awhile before they grow tired of trying to get in and drift off. Right now we're like a couple of foxes hiding in our hole with hunting dogs trying to claw their way in."

The shadow finally passed fully by, but a second one soon took it's place following after the first. Ricard turned to face Ashley. With a smile he said, "but you're right, we can at least get things packed up so we can easily leave when the time comes. Plus as you asked before, we still need to determine where exactly we're going." Ricard had walked over to her as he was talking, and now took her hand in his. With another quick smirk, he then led her upstairs.  

[Nikki Faroda]

When they reach the top Ashley turns Ricard to where he is facing her. "Lena has a Atlas in her vehicle. If i'm quiet enough, i could get it. But," Ashley looks at the ground a little shyly. "I'll need you to cover me." Waiting for him to tell her what he thought of the plan and if he'd help her, she started fiddling with her hands. Harley notices this and sits next to her master for support. Ashley then starts petting Harley.  

[Zihark Faroda]

"Hhmm," Ricard thought as Ashley waited for his response. He wasn't exactly keen on the idea with so many zombies out there, but he could also see by Ashley's behavior that this was something she wanted to do, maybe even something she needed to do. "You mentioned that the car is in the back alley right? I know that a few zombies have already made their way back there, but if we hurry we can do it before we're completely surrounded. I hope you know where the key is though, otherwise you're going to have to break into the car, and that won't be quiet at all."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley walks to the register and pulls a small box from underneath it. "Lucky for me Lena has a spare set in this box. She used them when she locked herself out of the car." Ashley pulled the key out of the box and turned in over in her hands a few times. As she did this they heard the alley door open and quickly close. Someone just walked in...  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ricard smiled. "Good, that'll save us a few headaches." Before he had time to tell her come on, his head snapped around to the sound of the alley door opening and closing. A lump formed in his throat. They never did get a chance to see if the alleyway door was locked or not. Regardless, the fact that the door was closed meant it was another human who came in. While it was possible the zombies could open unlocked doors, he highly doubted their ability or inclination to close them back up. The fact that it was probably a human didn't reassure him that much however. In times like these, humans could be even worse than whatever disaster was currently occuring. "Quick," Ricard whispered to Ashley, "take Harley and hide over in the corner behind the counter." Ricard then quickly moved to the side of hallway entrance, pressing his body tight against the wall to remain unseen, while holding his crowbar ready to strike if need be at whomever emerged.  

[Nikki Faroda]

They heard a man say, "It's ok, sweetie. All we need to do now is fine mommy." A little girl responded, "Ok, Daddy." After hearing the voices Haley ran to see the newcomers. Ashley quietly chased after Harley, in surprise. When Ashley found Harley, she was staring at a business man and a girl no more then 4 years old. The little girl looked just like Lena. The man looked at Ashley and said, "You must be Ashley. I've herd so much about you from Lena, including you're hatred of men. I'm Lena's husband, David." David was a tall man with dark brown hair and looked like a typical nerd. "This is Lena and my pride and joy, Laura." The little girl had her hair in a braid and looked terrified.  

[Zihark Faroda]

The second Ricard heard the voice of the little girl he lowered the crowbar and hooked it back onto his pants. Trouble could still arise, but he would deal with it if and when it did come. He wasn't about to brain a father right in front of his young daughter. He watched as Harley ran forward and tried to grab her by the collar as she ran passed, but she was too quick, and since his attention had been focused on Harley, Ashley slipped right by him before he could stop her as well. Ricard silently cursed under his breath at the turn of events and was about to give chase when he heard the man talking again, apparently recognizing Ashley. The knot that had been forming quickly disappeared as it became clear this man wouldn't be a problem. Hearing him say he was Lena's husband, however, quickly reformed the knot.

Knowing it wouldn't be good for the man to see his wife in her current state without being ready, and not good for the little girl ever, Ricard quickly looked around him. He spotted a few slightly unfolded towels on a nearby jewelry case, supplies that obviously hadn't been packed yet by Lena. He grabbed one and then quietly made his way upstairs. Once upstairs, he moved over to Lena's still form, and rolled her over onto her back. He then carefully placed the towel over her face and covering as much of her body with it as he could. He had nothing with him to clean up all the blood, so he would have to leave that, but he then started looking around the rooms upstairs for a place to stash the half eaten body zombie Lena had been working on.  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley stopped in her tracks, "You're lying Lena would never have gotten married she hated men. Her and Aunt Sophie both hated men." She covered her ears with her hands as the man began to talk again. Seeing Ashley's reaction Harley started growling at the man as a warning. The growling was not loud enough to be hear outside, but it was loud enough for Ricard to hear. With Harley growling the Laura grabbed her dad, who then picked her up and held her close to his chest, ready at any moment to move out of Harley's way. Ashley had her eyes closed and hands covering her ears as she tried to forget the world around her.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ricard had just finished emptying out a closet in the hall, mostly by dumping all the objects inside onto the floor, and was dragging the half eaten body into it when he heard Harley beginning to growl. His head shot up, and as it did, he missed the eyes of the dead body in his hands opening. Before Ricard could drop the body and run downstairs, there was a wiggling and tugging, and Ricard looked down to see the newly formed zombie attempting to bite him. "Oh s**t," Ricard yelled out. Startled, Ricard tripped and hit his head hard against the wall, leaving a sizable hole where he hit. His vision blurred and all sounds were now muffled as if passing through some invisble wall.

Ricard didn't know how much time passed, but it was enough that the zombie had crawled its way over to him, its hands already clawing and pulling itself on top of him. Ricard tried holding it at bay with one hand while grasping at his crowbar with the other, but he couldn't unattach it from his belt loop. His head pounding harder and harder with each passing second, Ricard was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on defending himself. Mustering all his strength, Ricard gave a forceful shove and knocked the zombie off him. He then started crawling toward the stairs as fast as he could before the zombie could recover, but the zombie was already crawling after him. Just as he reached the stairs and began to pull himself to his feet by grabbing hold of the handrail, the zombie latched itself onto his leg. About to take a bite out of him, Ricard kicked with his free leg snapping the zombie's neck with a sickening crunch, but he lost his balance and tumbled backward all the way down the stairs.  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley failing at her attempt to block out the world heard a weird noise from upstairs, she ran to the stairs just in time to see Ricard hit the bottom step. Instantly she knelt down beside him. Seeing the blood all over him, Ashley sent Harley to get a towel. David tried to walk over to see if Ricard was ok, but Ashley's hatred of all guys except for this one stopped him. Ashley gentle straightened Ricard's body and lifted his head slightly, as Harley brought her the towel. Ashley took the towel and started trying to clean the wound. Harley then brought Ashley a sealed bottle of water that she found laying around and sat down next to Ashley. Ashley took the bottle of water, opening it and pouring some on the towel, she then cleaned the wound properly. "You're going to be alright, my aunt found it very important that i learn to take care of all kinds of injuries. You are going to be fine, just don't move. Can you talk to me?"