World War Z

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley didn't comment on the college topic, "No she didn't, my family has quite a bit of money and own a decent amount of land in Georgia. It was where my aunt lived before my parents died. She moved up here to honor my mom's wish that i finish high school. Then we were going to move down there. We can go there as a last opinion, she had 10 ft high 6" thick steel walls built around it to keep animals and people out." She looked down at his chest because it was right there as she spoke about her family. She had never told anyone about her family or there money. She hope now that money wasn't impotent to the world anymore, it wouldn't matter that her family had some.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ricard blinked rapidly while tilting his head slightly, but didn't say a word. He had already recognized Ashley's aunt as needing to be in the looney bin, but hearing about this compound that she had apparently owned, this was turning into some creepy militia or cult type of crazy. Instead, Ricard just awkwardly smiled down at her. "Well, our best bet is still to reach a safe zone, but a last option isn't a bad thing," Ricard lied as comfortingly as possible. Even though he knew from reports online that the chances of the safe zones actually being safe at this point were narrowing rapidly, he still had to keep Ashley's hopes up as much as possible so she wouldn't give up hope altogether. Ricard knew that going to Georgia would most likely be out of the question also. Traveling that much distance wouldn't be easy, and chances were that if they did make it someone else would have found the house a very inviting safe haven and taken up residence there, and they might not want to share, especially with the legal owner. Still, if things got really desperate, he supposed it wouldn't be completely out of the question to try, though that thought did little to raise his spirits. "I do have to say though," Ricard continued while now looking out the window where he could see that the sun was now fully up, "you're family certainly is...intriguing to say the least."  

[Nikki Faroda]

"Of course, that's why i said last option."Ashley got a depressed look on her face, "You mean crazy, or insane, i can hear it in your voice. It's okay everyone says that." She stood up and turned her back to him, she freaked him out. Why did she always say the weirdest things, even around the girls they always thought something was wrong with her. Harley stretched and went to Ashley's side, together they walked to the window. Harley sat next to Ashley looking up at her and Ashley put her hand on Harley's head and stared out the window.  

[Zihark Faroda]

"Well, every family is crazy," Ricard laughed, but it was clear that a nerve had been touched in Ashley. She had moved away from him and gone over to the window. Her back was toward him and her shoulders were slumped. It wasn't that she was mad or upset, but rather more disappointed, or perhaps dejected. Ricard stood up and walked over toward her. When he got to the window he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around Ashley. "Hey, listen," Ricard began softly, "yes, your aunt was...well to put it bluntly, crazy, but that's not a reflection on you. Despite what people like to think of themselves, no one is normal, and every family has something weird about them. You are who you are, and I am who I am. It's our core person that matters, not some silly idiosyncrasies."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley stared out the window. She grabbed his arms about to throw them away from her, but decided they were too kind, comforting, and most of all too Ricard to throw away. She couldn't do it. So instead she just stood there holding his arms around her, thinking about what he said and if he meant it. Appearing as if she were just staring at the buildings around them. Harley moved away from them as if giving them some space to figure out how this would play out and what there next move would be.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Ashley took ahold of Ricard's arms and just held them. She didn't say a word, instead just continuing to stare out of the window. He wasn't sure what was going through her mind at the moment. He was a bit worried that the nerve he touched was a bit too soon in their relationship, but the fact that she was still holding onto his arms helped to alleviate the majority of the worry. Not sure what more to do, Ricard just continued to hold her as he now looked out of the window himself. The city looked no better or worse than it had the day before. There were no planes or helicopters in the sky, the streets, at least the little bit of the streets he could see, were empty save for the random shambling of a zombie every now and again, and in several places smoke from possible fires were still rising into the sky.

While initially the sun streaming into the room indicated a clear sky, off in the distance Ricard could see black clouds. They were still too far away to tell how fast they were moving, but judging by the way the different plumes of smoke were being blown from their points of origin, there was a steady, if somewhat soft, breeze blowing. "Looks like a storm is coming," Ricard finally said, if for nothing else then to change the subject for Ashley if she wanted. "Still a bit away by the look of it, but it'll probably be upon us in a couple hours."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley replied, “Yea, the storm will be really difficult to retrieve our stuff in. We should get it before the storm hits.” Without looking at him, Ashley walked to the bed spread and put the robe and her pants on revealing the matching shirt to Ricard’s pajamas as she headed toward the door. It was sad to think not even Ricard could accept her aunt’s paranoid ways, but then again … dare she think … no the idea that he could was absurd. Though he hadn’t left ... yet, so she was going to enjoy this while she could.  

[Zihark Faroda]

The change of subject hadn't exactly gone the way Ricard hoped. Sure, Ashley had responded, but her tone was still distant and she still wasn't looking at him. Not only that, but despite responding clearly to his last words, her mind was still clearly elsewhere as there was no hint of embarrassment or even acknowledgement as she put her pants on in clear view of him. She didn't take her chemise off for her shirt, instead opting for just the robe, but it was still enough that Ricard knew things were still uneasy for her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ricard finally replied as he walked away from the window to where his clothes were laying. He threw on his shirt and was going to just stick with the pajama pants, but decided he didn't want to get them messed up if they ran into trouble and so changed out of them and into his normal pants. "If all goes well we should get there and back before the others wake up. We should probably head out the back door into the alley. It'll make less noise and attract less attention. Hopefully the zombies have moved on from there by now though."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley turned to face him before leaving as he was pulling up his normal pants and quickly turned back around. Her face as red as a cherry with embarrassment. "Oops," was the only word to escape her lips as she stood facing the door but not opening it. The only indicator of their previous conversation being the small trail of blood trickling down her left palm which was now visible as she had stopped clenching it and let it rest at her side. Obviously unaware of the blood, Ashley waited to hear the zipper before opening the door with her right hand, as if protecting him from anyone that might see him. As she checked the hallway more out of fear of David then fear of the zombies, Harley ran out of the room and down the stairs checking the building for them. She headed up the stairs calmly but gentle nudged Ashley forward.  

[Zihark Faroda]

"You say something?" Ricard asked as he thought he heard Ashley say something, but wasn't sure. She was still standing by the door, her back toward him. Figuring it was his imagination, Ricard simply walked over in her direction as Ashley opened the door. Harley was the first out of the door, either having to go to the bathroom really badly or checking for any signs of danger. She was back before too long and was pushing Ashley along. The whole scene was quite amusing, and Ricard couldn't help but smirk at it.

The door to David's room was still closed, so Ricard was sure David and his daughter were still sleeping. Ricard paused before going downstairs, wondering if they should leave a note just in case they woke up while they were gone, but decided against it. It was still early and the motel was only a few blocks away. They were almost assured to be back before they woke up. Ricard followed after Ashley and Harley downstairs and headed straight for the back door to the alley. there were no windows right by the door, so instead Ricard placed his ear against the door and listened. He couldn't hear anything, but it was also a thick metal door, so he might not have been able to anyway. "Well, here we go," Ricard commented, gripping his trusty crowbar in hand as he unlocked the door and swung it open.  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley walked down stairs with Harley and checked the alley to make sure there weren't any zombies before let Harley out. Harley ran out with excitement, as soon as she got far enough away she relived herself. Ashley grabbed a weapon and something quick to snack on before heading out herself. After Harley was done, they came back inside and Ashley started looking for something to feed Harley and Ricard. As David was mostly thinking about humans there was more to feed Ashley and Ricard. Ashley looked at Ricard, "I can't find anything to feed Harley." Ashley continues looking while she talks trying not to be too loud.  

[Zihark Faroda]

Relieved that the alley was clear, Ricard breathed out a sigh of relief. It meant that most of the zombies had moved on, which would make their job easier. While Harley ran out to do her business, Ricard took hold of his crowbar and stepped toward the street. Nearing the end of the alley, Ricard hugged the wall and cautiously peered around the corner into the street. With its back facing Ricard stood a zombie just a few feet away. A few more were wandering aimlessly across the street. Ricard tightened his grip on the crowbar and carefully stepped out of the alley. Before the zombie even had a chance to know he was there his crowbar came down hard, caving in the zombie's skull. As the zombie crumpled to the round Ricard quickly turned to face the ones across the street, but they remained unaware of his presence.

Satisfied for the moment, Ricard walked back to the shop where it appeared that Ashley was gathering food for breakfast. "Well, we can worry about the food later." Ricard answered. "If worse comes to worse just feed her some of our food, but if we get going now, we might be able to find a shop nearby that carries dog food before the storm gets here."  

[Nikki Faroda]

Ashley looked up at him and sighed, "yea I guess your right. We'll worry about food later." Ashley was hungry and knew Harley had to be too. Ricard might be one of those people that didn't eat went he woke up. Either way the storm would be there in a few hours and retrieving there stuff was the best thing to do right now. "Ok, so what should we need for our retrieval mission." Ashley looked around for a better weapon than the broom she had grabbed for protecting Harley. After a little searching she found it a blade that looked like General Lee's Rifle. It was her's and Lena's favorite weapon. Lena had taught her to use in for her 12th birthday.  

[Zihark Faroda]

"We should only need our weapons," Ricard replied as he took another look out into the alley, making sure no zombies had decided to notice them. So far, they were safe. "Granted, it was hectic when we made our way here, but we couldn't have traveled more than 5, maybe 6 blocks; 10 blocks tops. For that short a distance anything more than our weapons will just slow us down, though if you're thirsty a bottle of water couldn't hurt." Ricard stepped out into the alley now and waited for Ashley. Once she had joined him he carefully shut the back door as noiselessly as possible, making sure it didn't lock behind them.

"Okay," Ricard whispered into her ear, "there are a few zombies wandering across the street, but if we stick close to the store and make as little noise as possible we might be able to slip by without alerting them. Careful though, I didn't actually look out of the alley so I have no idea what may be waiting for us. Just stick close, and when we reach the street I'll check the right side and you check the left. Got it?" With Ashley's affirmative, the two of them eased forward, inching ever closer to the street, and whatever danger may or may not have been lurking outside of the protective confines of the alleyway.