Welcome to Gaia! ::

The bad news: Sue wasn't exactly a "smart kid" either. Maybe he had a bit more invested into practicalities than Zeke did, but if he was shaping up to be the brains of the group... well, they might be in some trouble.

Things could be worse, though. Other than Bartholomew - who Sue could only assume was with Nihls, and hope that it was in a good, living manner - all the gang had made it through and was here with him. Mackie was nearby, digging through the ash with one paw. He didn't know what he was looking for, though. Stripers had followed Zeke, using her keen nose to try and scent out some food - but there was so much ash, it was hard to distinguish from anything else. Nibs was huddled terrified by the doorway to the dining room, listening for the sounds of anyone approaching.

To normal people, the setup might have been odd - felines working just like the humans, for common survival. But it was Sue that was here, after all. And Piper and Zeke, well... they didn't seem the questioning sort. Too many Disney movies as kids or something, to make them question an animal acting in a time of need.

"We shouldn't stay here long," Sue predicted, grasping the broken leg of a chair. It was as good a weapon as any. "It's too open, y'know? Poor Nibs is going out of her mind, doesn't know which way to watch."

On the bright side of all of this: Sue was pretty god-damned sure that he wasn't going to have to meow on stage in that stupid play anymore.

If Zeke and Sue were classified as 'not smart', then Piper's classification had fallen off the bottom of the chart. In such apocalyptic times, the last person anyone really wanted on a survival team was the girl who daydreamed about rainbows and unicorns in her spare time. What Piper even thought of this situation was probably a mystery, considering her grasp on death was loose as best. Add Zombies to the picture? Yeah, she probably thought she'd stepped right into a video game.

As it was, she actually hadn't doomed herself or the rest of her little 'group' yet. Yet. She'd been good at following the orders, er, suggestions given to her by the boys. As it was, she had wandered a little away at this point to search, like everyone else was doing. If they were searching, she wanted to search too! Behind her on the ground, she was dragging her new pet rock. Said rock was actually part of a brick from a caved wall they'd passed at some point, broken and charred. It was being drug behind her on it's 'leash' (a shoestring lifted from what one can only imagine), bumping into everything she passed along the ground. Had she been more worried for its safety, she might have actually picked it up, but she was well aware that pet rocks were fine and sturdy creatures.

She walked slowly over the grounds, humming to herself, until she heard Zeke emerging from inside the building. She paused where she stood, squinting her eyes, and then decided there was absolutely nothing here - nevermind that she hadn't actually looked into any of the open doorways or under any bushes. "I don't think we're going to find any hidden ammo or health boosts on this part of the school grounds," she said, loud enough the others could hear, but still far away enough that they could probably ignore her comment and feign ignorance. She turned back to them, skipping over the debris under feet and dragging along her new pet rock.

At first, Zeke wasn't quite sure what to make of his friend. She was sluggish, walking slowly, almost like she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be there.

But then she said Sue's name, and his name. This wasn't like Zombieland or Night of the Living Dead; it was Elke. She was talking to them, she was thanking Sue for--

He remembered Sue covered in black gunk, doubled over in the grass and heaving up whatever he had eaten for dinner. He had reeked of something awful, something burnt.

"Elke..." he trailed off, trying to look calm. "Your arm..."

That was all he could manage to say. He didn't want to say the rest, he just couldn't.

Sue.

You tried to save me.

Thank you.

I thought you didn't like me.

Tried to save me.

Thank you.

Tried to save me.

Sue....

"... Elke. You're dead."

It was as flat and cold an accusation as Sue could make it. His hands still stung from where her flesh had burned on. He hadn't known who the corpse had belonged to then - everything had been so burned when he'd tried to "rescue" it. Finding out that it was Elke - annoying Elke, stupid Elke, Elke who'd been the unhappy only other that had been there to see that beast outside with him.... it was a kick right to the gut.

She was a zombie now. She was a zombie now. What was Sue supposed to do? Oh come here Elke dear, let's give you a hug now -- oh ******** no, he was not going there. And he shot Piper a glare before she could try it, either (which he knew she would.) He told Elke again, more fiercely, bringing his chair leg up in a defensive brandish - "Elke. You're dead!"

But then there was another person. Another zombie - it was pretty damn obvious by the way she flopped onto the ground, trying to be sneaky. By the door, Nibs hissed wildly and hightailed it for the woods. The other cats were quick to scatter as well.

Two zombies, four humans. He'd known they were too exposed here! Get them before they get you, was what Nibs had hissed as she'd run away. Sue was down with that.

However... the others probably didn't even realize what the hell was going on yet. He didn't hold a lot of faith in the group he'd attached himself to - he was here because they needed him, not the other way around. So, he'd clear it up for them a bit.

"We're being attacked!"

He was a man of action, he knew his way around a fight - he'd show them how it was done. Turning his back on Elke (the more uncomfortable of the two - GEE I WONDER WHY), Sue flung himself at Calintha, bashing at her with his makeshift club and praying to God that the others would pick up on his lead.

Then again, they were kind of stupid. This, too, Sue clarified, screaming as he attacked: "Fight back, and we're getting out of here!"

Calintha audibly hissed back at the cat, angry for it messing up her obviously cool James Bond roll. Oh well, the zombie mentally shrugged (she was pretty sure her brain lobes actually shrugged too...well that was cool...she did it a few more times and giggled) and dealt with the problem at hand.

The problem at hand, of course, was the fleshy boy hitting her with a club. Hard. "Ouch!" The club sank into her flesh and made a dull, wet, thwak noise, crunching a few bones in her shoulder. That would have left a nasty bruise had she had blood circulation.

Growling low and deep, Cali scratched at Sue, jagged nails going for soft flesh. She opened her mouth too, attempting to clamp down on his jugular just like a venus fly trap clamped onto a fly, all the while keeping a firm grip on her plant. It was feeding time.

However, before she could get close a ******** TENNIS RACKET came out of no where and hit Cali square in the face. A tennis racket? Really? She dropped rather unceremoniously at the the hit, which stung and left criss cross lines in her face.

"Owwww..." It was more of a howl than an actual sound, and Cali dropped to the ground, clutching her plant which would NEVER be removed from her cold, dead hands. She was tired, and it was time to sleep. These fleshy humans put up too much of a fight for her, and she would try again when she woke up. After all, there's always a tomorrow when you couldn't die (again).

[[NOTE: Cali's out for this round..er, at least I'm pretty sure! XD nice job boys, having fun not being plant food.]]

Elke had been moving forward the whole time, slowly and inexorably moving toward the group, but not fast enough that it was threatening. Maybe that was intentional, maybe it wasn't - she might really be so incapable of a fast pace. "It's nothing," she started to say, "Doesn't even hurt!..."

And then that terrible, terrible accusation. For a moment, her eyes were blank - utterly devoid of emotion, utterly devoid of Elke. She stared at Sue, that horrible emptiness measuring him as her hands rose up to her lips. It was the second accusation that brought her back to life, a bestial snarl visible through her fingers.

Then a rock crashed into her face, and Elke hunched over with her arms wrapped around her stomach. This was a good thing, at least for Sue; for Elke, she screamed, a horrible and hoarse sound. At least she'd stopped moving? Once she stopped screaming, she straightened up as much as she could. So hungry... Her green eyes held nothing but hunger, absolutely overpowering need, and they fixed first and foremost upon the one who had hurt her.

One hoarse snarl was all the warning they got before Elke lunged for Piper's unprotected back.

Sue saw a flash of claws on point, teeth bared in his direction. He'd gotten the chance to yelp out "s**t!" and fall back, arm raised in his defense, when --

Wow. That tennis racket wasn't as much a sissy weapon as Sue had taken it for, was it? His eyes caught at the sight of Yahya standing over the fallen youma girl, stunned by the realization that it had been him. He'd really done it, really pulled through - gone against his gentle nature to be there when Sue needed him.

He ought to say "thank you," Sue supposed - but that was just one zombie of two. You didn't stop to say ******** thanks in the middle of a fight, and especially not when said second zombie was trying to take chunks out of their most defenseless member.

"PIPER, DUCK!" A moment of pause. "I SAID GET DOWN!"

Sue wasn't a great shot when it came to throwing things. Therefore, the only thing that made sense to do was to hurl himself at the zombie, with just as much power as his legs could take him. He was going to hit Elke hard and take her to the ground. That might put him in the crosshairs, but so be it - one way or another, this was going to get Elke off of Piper. If she wanted a meal, Elke would have to deal with someone that would fight ******** back!