Running On Borrowed Time (O/A)

[Yoshielite]

Location: Mall
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: N/A

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

As he waited for Esmai to finish her canned fruit, the mysterious survivor watched the outside atrium. He scanned back and forth but was unable to see any signs of zombies-mutated or otherwise. This concerned him greatly: with all of the commotion they had cause earlier, he was certain that there would be more. He ignored his concern for the moment since he needed to focus on any outside movements whatsoever. It wasn't very long before Esmai had finished her impromptu meal and loaded up her pack. As she shifted the pack and stood there, he assumed she was ready to leave. Without a moment to spare, the survivor walked over to the door and slowly pushed it open, bridging the gap between the door and the paneling with his gun. Although there were no zombies that jumped out initially, he could hear the sounds of some milling outside of the loading docks. They sounded as if they were fighting. Whatever they were doing, he didn't want to have anything to do with it. The survivor quickly set off on a small jog and aimed his gun down empty corridors, waiting for a zombie to pop out of the shadows and attack.

Once they reached the atrium once again, the survivor was surprised to see that it was dark. It had only been at most forty minutes since they had entered, so how could it-

The survivor's thoughts froze in place for a split second as he remembered that the atrium had a glass ceiling. He reached back his hand quickly to stop Esmai, whether by her seeing his open hand or by smacking into it. He sincerely hoped that she didn't make any noise, because he had a feeling that things would get a bit too hectic if she did. To confirm his suspicion he looked up at the ceiling and could make out innumerable amounts of Shriekers. That was pretty bad, but if they could silently make their way out of the Mall, they should be fine. He hadn't seen an pack of Shriekers as large as that in a long time. The last time was when he was in the abandoned factory off in the outskirts of the city. He knew just how dangerous it was for them to congregate like that too, and even his earplugs might not help him if they couldn't put some distance between themselves and the winged zombies.

Luckily, they were all sleeping and both the survivor and Esmai had not gotten nearly close enough to wake them. The survivor turned around and put a finger in front of his mask as a 'keep quiet' signal. Then he began to move in a different direction, leading the two of them to a different side passage. Once they got to the door, he reached into his pocket and handed her a pair of earplugs. He whispered to her to put them. Once she had done so, he opened the door and ushered her inside of another shipment corridor. Unfortunately, this one had zombies. The survivor immediately opened fire and ran forward, seeming like he was in a rush to get out. Moments later, a horrific chorus of screeches filled the area and seeped through the walls. Even in another sealed room and with earplugs, the noise was obnoxiously loud and painful.

[[OOC: Sorry man, things are going (really have been constantly since around December 20th) to heck in a handbasket... and I'm hog-tied, gagged, and straight-jacketed- just along for the ride.]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: Mall XX HEALTH: Overall well XX COMPANY: Mystery Survivor



Following as close as she could without clipping his heels, Esmai kept in tow. She didn't catch the distant sounds of shuffling zombies immediately, or even after a few moments. It took a bit before she understood the sound was four feet moving near each other and other rustling. Zombies, more than likely. Esmai did her best not to cause any sound that would attract attention from those corpses. Or any for that matter. She was still concerned over how there seemed to be mutated zombies, some of which she was sure could sneak under her radar. Had to be cautious despite how unwell she was starting to feel about the mall. It was a creeping intuition that it was becoming less and less safe the further they moved that made her walk carefully on the balls of her feet.

It was fortunate that she was as short as she was. When she hit his hand and stopped, her foot had been just shy of kicking a part of debris. Had she been a little taller, her legs a little longer, she would have kicked the stone and it would have clattered away. Surely the sound would have startled the creatures above head. Instead, she stepped back and watched him with a confused mien. It was only a moment until she understood what was happening. She had to only look up at the ceiling as he was doing to see what created the daunting air. The top was filled with creatures. "Filled" was too soft a word; not clear enough. The roof was teeming, crawling with those horrendous monsters. Just when she thought adrenalin was just wearing off, her chest was racing again. Above their heads, an uncountable amount of shriekers. She didn't fully understand what they could do yet, but she was terrified to find out what these winged spawns were capable of.

It was hard to look away from them, her eyes flickering the vast number they collected in. She glanced at her survivor companion with fear and worry etched on her face. This was starting to become a common expression, wasn't it? She nodded to his request to stay quiet . What else would she do? Scream? If this had been the first encounter she had with zombies, not the gruesome cannibal, she would have wailed her lungs out. But she was learning quick, supposedly. Her stare was wide and glued to the ceiling as she followed her friend. She kept her hand as still as possible when she accepted the ear buds. She didn't question, she just put them in quickly. Even if she wanted to ask what was happening, there was no time. They were rushing through a door and he was firing at zombies on the other side. She was immediately scurrying to stay close to him. Then the blood curdling screeching, the ghastly shrieks, began behind them as the numerous Shriekers were alerted. Esmai didn't expect a pain like that to so suddenly come knocking at her. Her knees buckled beneath her and she nearly toppled over. By some luck, she managed to catch herself and bounce forward. She desperately wanted to get away from the screams.


ooc: Okie dokie. Got some issues managed. Hopefully this thread hasn't been given up on! I really have miss it! (I'm a huge a*****e for making you wait this long I'm so extremely sorry)

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Mall
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: Uncertain

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

The survivor's boots crushed the fallen undead corpses beneath them, squeezing out various noxious fluids and gasses as the two companions bolted down the service causeway. He did not hear Esmai stumble on the account of the Shriekers and gunfire that seemed to be constantly polluting the air around them. He was all too anxious to get out as quickly as he could. He had a feeling that if there were this many Shriekers in one place then they were here. There was no way in hell he was going to go through all of that with some greenhorn who seemed almost unable to walk let alone fire a gun. As if on that thought, he glanced back momentarily to see the nervous Esmai following closely. She could certainly run; he had to give her credit where it was due. He faced forward again and continued to fire methodically into the zombies ahead of them. Most were now aware of their presence and were running on an intercept course to pummel them into pulp. Then he heard the hollow click of his rifle's firing pin: the magazine was empty.

Thumbing the cartridge release without hesitation, the survivor cast the empty clip aside and jammed a new one in its place with practiced ease. The next burst from his gun placed two bullets in the sternum of a fetid corpse, sending it to the ground where it belonged. He had to slow his assault a bit as their concentration temporarily surged. Carefully he made sure that he could take out the last of their obstinate obstacles until the corridor was once again clear of movement. At that moment he clicked the safety on and slung the rifle over his back, grabbing onto Esmai’s hand to lead her forward faster. He wanted to make sure that they could run without her tripping or falling or having some other sort of unfortunate incident to slow their escape. They were almost out of the corridor when a large smashing sound caught the Ghile’s attention. The maintenance entryway to the parking lot was open and devoid of movement, but he saw that the side door to the cleaning circuit was dented in. That was all too foreboding mixed with the large smashing sound from earlier. He yanked Esmai forward suddenly until he held her waist in his hands, paused for a moment to yell ”Shoot or run!” and shoved her out the doorway into the parking lot. Only seconds later as the survivor tried to ready his rifle and move out of the way the door burst forward and slammed into him, causing him to fall flat on his a** and drop his gun.

A Brawler ripped through the doorway and slapped the door off of the fallen survivor, lifting its hands up to smash him. The survivor shook his head and rolled just in time to narrowly avoid what could have been a deadly blow. He was not ready to die yet. He couldn’t see any infected behind the abomination in front of him, so he scrambled to his feet and sprinted for his weapon. He was rewarded with a back hand that sent him sprawling out several feet away from his gun. He coughed and shook his head groggily before swaying to his feet. The Brawler roared and charged again.

[[OOC: The story finally continues...]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Yoshielite]

Wilhelm Steinherz

"Verrücktes Wunderkind"

☢Just Another Day Here:☢ The Hospital
☠Other Survivors I’m With:☠ Loretta, Freyja, Nitori, and two other survivors.
☠And I'm:☠ Trying to figure out what to do now.
☠What’s On My Mind:☠ If only I hadn't injured myself...
☠OOC:☠ ((...))

Wilhelm grinned as he saw Nitori drop the hands of the caretakers she so dotingly dragged along with her to her destination and rushed forward to grab a bottle of water. "Careful now, Nitori." he said as he looked down at the near-empty bottle in her hands, "You should drink in small sips so that you don't get sick." With that being said he turned to his cot and removed the DSR semi-automatic rifle from its sling across his back and sat down, placing the weapon gingerly across his lap. He was beginning to inspect his weapon when Cain spoke up and broke his ill-timed focus. He stood up quickly and put his rifle down muttering a quick "Entschultigung." in apology to his 'guest'. "How rude of me." he continued, nodding to himself as he listened to the names of the medications Cain had listed off to him. His face contorted in confusion, unsure of what they would look like and how they were spelled. Even so (and stubbornly so) he walked over to the wall and began to stare at all the pill and liquid bottles, both large and small.

After a few moments of awkward silence, he turned back to Cain with a confused grin and asked, "What were those called again?" He had absolutely no background knowledge in the medical field and had not had a chance to research the medical archives for the effects and uses of all the various medications he had gathered. He sighed and rubbed his forehead callously in frustration. "I am sorry... yes?" he said awkwardly, struggling not to use German. It had been a while since he had been near another American survivor, so he had a bit of trouble recovering from his relapse into his solitary German procession (that is to say, mostly in times of stress). It had only been perhaps a month or two, but he had gone back so easily to speaking his native tongue in that time. "I had not been able to research all of these medications. The archives are very large and full." He puzzled over what to do or say for a moment before snapping his fingers together with a short "Ah!"

He smiled warmly and gestured to the shelf in a welcoming manner. As he spoke his arm followed the length of the shelving unit that held the various remedies and vitamins. "Please feel free to look through and find what you need in this collection. You surely know what it looks like; I would probably just mistake it for another drug." With that, he turned back to the group and made his way to his cot and rifle. "Please, do come in." he said pleasantly, "There is food and drink for all." As some sat, some ate, and some drank, Wilhelm sat and fiddled with his rifle. Cain would be able to find some Carbamazepine towards the rightmost end of the shelves. Wilhelm expertly handled his weapon, removing and cleaning each of his parts with practiced precision. Once that was finished, he put the rifle back together and then pulled the trigger to test its ability. The firing pin clanked against the metal innards and proved that it was still functional. He then loaded the rifle and slung it into place on his back before clearing his throat. He had hoped that most of them would be finished eating and drinking something by that time, so he decided to speak.

"I propose a trip to the Mall. It has significant supplies that we need, and even a weapon carrier. I cannot guarantee that it will not be filled with zombies, but I do know that almost no one enters that area. It is very dangerous." He looked around the room, making eye contact with every survivor in the room. "I would like everyone in this room to join us. If we have a team to fight off the infected, then we should be able to collect supplies and exit unscathed." He scratched his head and continued, "If anyone has any problems, suggestions, or information, I would love for them to share it with the group. I think some of us have had different experiences than others, and I know that there are some things out there that are... much worse than zombies." Anyone who had seen a mutated zombie would know what he meant. Then he fell silent, hoping to hear someone else speak.

Wyrda Stenr

SillyMissMilly

Xelyn_X13

 

[SillyMissMilly]

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

Standing with her bow at the ready she'd stared at the two survivors waiting for their intentions to be revealed. She would have stood there all day protecting the child were it necessary but instead Wilhelm moved passed her to give them thanks. Inviting them into the group he moved upstairs with out a second thought, and motioned everyone else to follow. She simply couldn't understand this man. Once minute he tells her he wants to create a band of survivors, a safe community and then he attacks a man seemingly trying to kill him and now here he was inviting perfect strangers into his hideout. It all left her head spinning making her even more untrusting of him. Of course, Wilhelm had his own reasons for everything he did, but Freyja was oblivious to that, though her mind was human the solitude had made her a little more primal than most. In her world it was fight of flight, not sit and have tea with a wolf to see if it bites or is really a sheep in disguise. Despite this she currently didn't have much other choice than to go along with things for now. She watched as Nitori grabbed hold of Loretta and the male stranger's hand before dragging them up after Wilhelm. This left only her and the female stranger, staring her down for a moment more she finally put her arrow back in the quiver before following the rest upstairs.

Entering the room she saw that it was well stocked, there were a lot of medicines and a fair amount of food and other supplies. However it was sizably smaller in comparison to what she had found earlier, making him seem less capable. She of course wouldn't say anything about it, it didn't matter to her whether the others survived or not, so long as she got what she needed and secured the child's safety. Taking the bag of goods she'd secured from the other stash, she placed it up against the wall in the corner of the room, it would have to stay there for now. She wasn't very well going to lug it around while zombies chased her. Walking over to the pile of food she picked up something to tide her over. Leaning against the wall she began to eat the snack as she listened to what the black and white haired man was saying. Personally Freya had no idea what he was talking about, that was beyond her knowledge. She'd never seen conventional drugs as something that might be valuable to know. She knew her own medicines, ones that had renewable sources and she was content with that. She was to soon find out that she was not the only one who didn't know much about modern medicine, as their gracious host attempted to aid his new guest, and failed. Still she sat and minded her own business. She wondered how someone with a severe medial condition had survived this long, though judging by the amount of drugs stored in this room alone she could offer a good guess. She hoped that his malady wouldn't slow them down; he seemed able enough, though if he wasn't he could always serve as good distraction.

Finally the topic of conversation moved towards something she was more interested in, namely getting into the mall. At the mention of the mutated zombies Freyja let her eyes scan the room to see who all had had an experience with them. She herself had run into a couple out in the woods, they weren't pleasant to deal with and she would usually flee if possible. She wasn't about to speak about her experiences with them by any means. If these people hadn't seen them then surely they wouldn't understand the true nature of those wretched creatures. However, she would speak of what she'd seen on the other side of the city. "I was near the mall a few days ago and it was infested, as you had also observed, though if we are at all lucky that will have changed in the last hour or so. I should also mention that there was an unnaturally large number of infected near the theater. I would not suggest getting any closer to that place than necessary," she said recalling her experience upon entering the city. She'd checked the mall and immediately given up before heading to the apartment complexes, on her way she'd passed the street the cinema was located on only to see on of the biggest mobs gathered there that she'd ever witnessed. "I also noticed that the zombies that fled today fled towards the eastern half of the city," she added. Apart from that she had nothing more to say for the time being and would resume listening as the rest put together anything else that they could.






Mood: Analytic
Location: Hospital

Xelyn_X13

Yoshielite

Wyrda Stenr

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: Mall parking lot exit XX HEALTH: XX COMPANY: Mystery Survivor, Brawler



Esmai did her honest best to keep her pace up with the survivor accompanying her, however she could feel herself getting short of breath. As hard as she try, she did have a few factors playing against her. She didn't have much energy to begin with. having been without healthy amounts of nutrition and sleep since the big incident that started this apocalypse on top of a weight she carried on her back. She had to nearly focus solely on throwing each foot forward and not slipping over whatever vile substance she was trekking through. If she was in any better condition, following behind him would have been a far simpler task. Just her luck. For then, she could at least keep up as he mowed through opposing zombies with a rifle he handled far better than she ever would. It was a momentary relief when he slowed himself before grabbing her hand and towing her again. she had to get a grip on his hand in return to actually utilize it and not trip herself up. Just ahead was clearly the destination. It was clear. The doors were open and she could see the outside from where she ran.

A strange sound emitted from ahead, however. One that made Esmai jump straight up before landing and continuing to run. It was too sudden for her to explain what it sounded like, but it was heavy and menacing. She didn't catch the state the adjacent door was in, eyes focused intently forward and trying to pump her feet faster to make the finish line. She hoped like hell that the crashing sound was only a large object tumbling over in the distance. The closer to the door they were, the more undeniable the danger in the air was. Before either of them made it out, Esmai was jerked forward and held still in a different way. She turned her head to get a read on his nonexistent facial expression but he hollered at her before she could ask a thing. As if she wasn't scared enough. Shoot or run. She couldn't process the meaning behind that as she stumbled forward, being pushed. She did neither initially, turning on her heel to only see her companion be struck by a door and knock him back. She took a step forward, then two back as a new monster forced itself into view. Esmai felt her feet bolt to the ground at the sight of this massive monster. It easily tripled her in overall size and girth. It was no good looker, either. Rather than set her selective tunnel vision on the creature and stand motionless, she saw that her friend was the monster's target. It was dangerous for herself to stay, but it wasn't in her personality to leave someone behind. She could easily to fasten her bag and dart off, she was built for flight in such situations. Poor girl held her morals high.

She was shaky drawing her pistol, the one she knew how to shoot. For a few split seconds, she fumbled with scared hands. She bit her nerves harder when she glanced up and saw her friend slapped by a large, clawed hand and sent far away. There was absolutely no margin for her to be acting like a shaking leaf. Fortunately, the basic idea of what she was taught before stuck with her in the short time it took them to get from the shop to these doors. It was by no means a natural fit to her, but she was holding it exactly as she was in the shop. She hurried to line up a shot on the mutated infected, which means she was nowhere near accurate. the chance of her hitting something vital was absolutely terrible. But killing it wasn't exactly what she was shooting for. The creature roared, throaty and gruesome. She wanted to get it's attention. She had her back to the parking lot; she had space to run if only she could get it to chase her. That would buy the other survivor time, wouldn't it? She had nine bullets to the pistol left. She was ready for the kick the gun had as she shot as rapidly as she could. She was placing her confidence in the other survivor, that he could manage to snatch his weaponry and down the hulking monster.

Assuming she could even direct the Brawler's attention away in time, if at all.


ooc: Hell yeah! I missed these characters and story!

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Mall
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: Uncertain

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

Things couldn't get much worse. Scratch that: things could always get much, much worse if not attended to carefully and diligently. This was just another one of those situations. The duo had been so close to their goal when they were nearly blindsided by a hulking beast of a zombie and partially separated. Esmai probably had not seen one of these types of infected before, and she had proved to be at a disadvantage in fights previously. He had about half of a clip left in his assault rifle, and it was several feet away from his current position between himself and the Brawler. It was readying to charge again and he was disoriented from the two harsh blows he had received. Analyzing all of this information, he came to the conclusion that he was going to be significantly injured and Esmai was going to panic and run. He was determined not to think about the outcome in order to preserve his ability to think rationally and make sure that he was quick on his feet. As he got up the Brawler roared again and began to charge him, quickly gaining momentum and speed.

Suddenly several shots echoed down the corridor as Esmai began to fire her clip into the Brawler. It placed its hands down and skidded to a halt, whipping around to face its new threat. Two bullets had found their way into its hamstrings and four hit his back. It wasn't very injured, but it was monumentally pissed off. It uttered a guttural growl that grew into an infuriated roar and wheeled itself to face her completely. It wasted no time in charging at her, easily covering the distance back towards where it had come in. However, the survivor was faster. He shouted out a loud "Run!" over the din of the zombie's pounding footsteps and quickly retrieved his rifle. Without much aim, he began to unload the rest of his clip at the monster's back to slow its assault and then brought his gun to bear at the infected's head. The survivor was practically on top of the Brawler when it began to roar and skid again, feeling the onslaught of ACP shredder rounds that peppered its back. Once it did, the survivor jumped up onto its back and fired the last five bullets of his clip into the back of its head. It dropped to the ground, flinging the survivor forward, who seemed to land as if he had done that before.

If she hadn't already started running, the survivor would bolt over to her and grab her hand, pulling her along again until her feet began to move on their own. If not, he would catch up to her and take the lead. As they ran, he shouted, "It's not dead, so just keep quiet and follow me! I'll explain later!" Just as he finished, thunderous footsteps could be heard closing in on them as the Brawler charged in their direction once again. With its brain incapacitated, it only had about a half of a minute to live and destroy the living beings that had brought on its demise. Without much left but a 'supernatural instinct', it charged at where it felt the survivors were. The survivor suddenly pitched left and tugged Esmai's hand a bit to lead her in the direction, just in case she was distracted by the Brawler or wasn't paying attention. The new route he took them on was a back alleyway towards the parking lot adjacent to the Theater's parking lot.

There was a crash as the Brawler ran headlong into the side of a building and collapsed, dying without completing its morbid task. The survivor slowed down and began to take deep breaths, holding his arms above his head to open up his airway. "Alright," he finally said in a hushed tone after a few moments of silence, "We need to stay quiet-" He stopped, realizing that it was probably hard to hear him. He quickly took out the ear plugs from bot of their ears and continued. "We need to stay quiet. We're very close by to a building teeming with untold amounts of zombies." He pointed over to the Theater and its parking lot, which seemed to be moving in an eerie manner. Then he pulled out a pair of binoculars from his satchel and handed them to her. "If you look over there, you'll see what I mean." Thousands of zombies were milling about in the parking lot, all trying to get closer to the Theater or get inside. "That's something I came up with to make scavenging a bit safer. I rig the Theater with a twenty-hour film of humans and have different human sounds play through the speakers. There's a living Howler chained up, hanging from the ceiling and facing the screen." He paused to sigh before resuming his explanation. "It took me forever to sneak up on one of those damn things and silence it so I could capture it and hang it up there. I almost died a few times because of my mistakes. Anyway, it cries out and the zombies come running to it from all over the city. Those things have one hell of a pair of lungs in 'em." He chuckled softly before tapping his mask. "We need to avoid that place at all costs; it simply isn't safe to be around anymore. I brought you here so that you could see why there weren't so many zombies around today." He started to walk off in the direction of the Apartment Complex, waving for her to follow.

[[OOC: No big deal, that ooc was meant for me anyhow since it took me months to do anything on here.]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: Mall parking lot exit XX HEALTH: Mostly fine XX COMPANY: Mystery Survivor, Brawler



After entirely emptying the current clip into the thick-skinned back of the Brawler, Esmai didn't the time to stare down the face of what very well could have been her immediate end. She honestly didn't expect the thing to turn so quickly and continue charging her instead. It was far different facing off with the infected, roaring and seething with anger, when she was target instead of shooting it's back. Before she was even given the chance to freeze up or enter some trance, she was told to run. She obliged, turned away from the monstrosity, and scurried until she heard more gunshots. She didn't count how many, but she did look over her shoulder to see the outcome of the fire. She trotted to a stop when the Brawler hit the floor and almost smiled. It looked dead enough for her. If that was so, why was he running as if still in danger?

He ran past her, taking lead, and called out that it was still kicking. To reiterate the danger, the monster leaped to it's feet and began charging them. Somehow, it's last ditch effort to annihilate the survivors was far more fearsome than what it had shown before. With some sound that was only closely related to a yelp, she trailed behind him. It was difficult to remove her eyes from the danger, but not impossible. She turned away at the tug on her hand, make a sharp turn to the left. Thankfully, they weren't in the open parking lot any longer. It really bothered her whenever it was vacant from all sides, not even a wall to her side. An alley was somehow more comforting. More so when there was the crash of the Brawler crumpling against a wall, ending both itself and it's predatory mission. Esmai slowed as well, needing to take short, rapid puffs to catch her breath. For a few fleeting moments, she was grinning. She was relieved; they survived. She didn't know what she was expecting when she ventured out of her building all alone, but it wasn't zombie cannibals, herds of zombies, acquiring guns with knowledge of them, and a companion. She forced her breaths to slow and quiet as she watched behind them, towards the parking lot of the mall and where the fallen Brawler was surely laying, put to rest for good. She was oblivious that she was being talked to until the plugs were gone. She snapped back, still taking deep breaths that were very needed as she listened. Again, she just stared a mask when he spoke. The mention of such a building holding more zombies than she'd seen before wiped that grin right off her face. She faced the other exit to the alley, where he pointed. It was distant, but there was definitely a sort of swaying movement there. She was almost hesitant to take the binoculars that he happened to so conveniently have. When she focused her sight through them, she cringed from what was seen. Quickly she returned the item. Esmai didn't want to see that again. Untold amounts was right. As he explained just why they were gathering, she stared at the Theater with growing concern. He surely knew a lot about zombies. It was almost suspicious how well he knew exactly what to do. Then again, there were a lot of suspicious things about him. Things that Esmai was not picking up on at all. She was concerned more so that it was only going to last a set amount of time and that there were far more infected that would flow into the streets when it ended. She was having a hard enough time with the number already stumbling around the damn city now! He may have been chuckling, but she was less amused. He admitted himself, he almost died from setting that rig up on multiple occasions. Him, of anyone.

Esmai quietly shuffled beside him, grateful to be at a walking pace again. She let a few silent moments pass as they got further from the Theater and closer to... She didn't know. She was a bit disoriented to the locations of the city. Back to the Theater, side to the Mall... She was practically clueless. It would be a little while until she understood where she was in reference to the city layout. She kept her eyes moving about until that happened, looking around for signs. Or zombies. It would be a good idea to look out for zombies. Speaking of which, she retrieved her pistol. She emptied it on the Brawler's dense back. Her lips pursed a moment trying to remember what she had to get it to release. If there wasn't another event that interrupted her, she would eventually point to a circular button on the side of the gun and ask, "Was it this I want to press to change the, um," she needed to find the correct word. How embarrassing would it be if she had to just point and say 'that'. "Clip?" she guessed. She was trying.


ooc: emotion_bigheart

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Mall
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: Uncertain

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

The survivor walked quietly along the street, tending to stick to the sides closest to buildings. At any crevice, hole, alleyway, or nook that could hide infected, the mysterious survivor held his rifle at the ready before suddenly stopping around the fourth alleyway. He looked down at his weapon for a moment in shock: he hadn't even realized that he had only one clip left for the rifle he was holding, and it was loaded in the gun. He quickly slung it over his shoulder and back so that he wouldn't use it again. He was starting to hate having so many weapons on him. His high-caliber rifle was pretty heavy on its own, but he was also toting a decent amount of supplies and ammunition in his satchel and three other weapons. He sighed, wondering how he had managed to pull off his encounter with the Brawler. He had definitely had an adrenaline rush and got lucky. A heavy exhaustion was settling into his mind from the aftermath of the adrenaline leaving his system. He had to get back to his storage room soon. They had a nice supply of food and ammunition to deposit, as well as some new weaponry that he didn't feel like toting around. Automatic weapons made him nervous. They were easily used but could also easily misfire or make one feel like they can do more than they really can. The illusion of invincibility was not something that he wanted to ever have.

Carefully toting about the sub-machine gun in his arms, he continued his walking again. He needed to remain alert and stave off the physical and mental exhaustion. He hadn't slept more than four hours in the past three to four days. Even he couldn't remember. It was definitely dangerous, but what was more dangerous was not doing what he had done. All the hunting made the mutated population shrink very successfully. He couldn't even remember half of what he did either, but that didn't surprise him. He seemed to have a number of time periods missing from his memory. He dismissed the thoughts almost as easily as they came and focused on the four large structures towering overhead not too far away. Then Esmai broke the comfortable silence between the two with a hesitant question. The soldier stopped and turned to her, watching her point to the magazine eject button on the side of the pistol. He nodded and added, "Make sure you keep the clip- whether it's empty or not. Spare mags are a nice thing to have around." Then he turned back and walked along towards the all-too-familiar City Complex. As they got near, he noticed that most of the zombies were still cleared out and was glad. He really didn't want to have to do too much more today before he slept.

As he cut through the middle of the Complex, he scanned the area for zombies but found none. As he walked, he decided to speak up a bit. "Never assume that a mutated zombie is dead, especially the Brawlers." It was a bit out of the blue, but then again it was the perfect time to address the situation. "That big zombie that we fought as we left the Mall is called a Brawler. As you saw first-hand, they're big, strong, and ruthless. They're also pretty dumb. Unfortunately when you kill one, they seem to get back up and run around with some sort of killing instinct for about twenty to forty seconds. It doesn't matter if you blow their head clean off or sever their spine, they still get back up and try to kill you." They passed by an old playground in the center of the complex that was as battered and torn as the rest of the world. If they were to look close enough, there was a child's corpse and her mother's corpse on the top platform near the slide. The survivor seemed to just ignore it all and continue along as if it was normal. Technically, it was for the time they were in.

"The ones on the ceiling of the Mall were Shriekers. Those things can make you deaf if you aren't careful, but they also alert zombies around them. Most normal zombies tend to stay away from them since the noise hurts their ears as well, but the Zombie Cannibals come rushing. at the first scream. Normally if there are a lot of Shriekers in the area, the Zannibals aren't far behind." He continued his march to the other end of the Complex until he could see the Office complex in the distance. That was good. It had taken a while for them to traverse their way across the city, but now they were significantly close to their destination. It was still no time to rest or let down their guard. As they continued their trek across the vacant streets, he continued explaining a few things. "There are several other mutated infected, but it doesn't really help to explain them until you see them. So basically just keep on guar-" The survivor's voice cut off as he nearly walked into a curious zombie rounding the corner of the building they were next to. It hissed and swung out its fist at the survivor who quickly blocked the blow and removed a large hunting knife from his side and plunged it into the eyeball of the infected. As it fell to the ground, the survivor jumped on top of it and then brought his boot down in a fierce stomp on its skull. As its neural matter sprayed the streets, he looked back at her and shrugged. It helped prove his point.

He shook the slick mess off of his knife and returned it to its rightful place. He held onto his gun again as he continued out across the street. After a while of silent walking they arrived at the strip of Apartments in front of the Office Complex. He walked over to a specific house, but then it quickly turned into a jog as he saw planks and broken glass on the ground outside of the one he was interested in. Glaring behind his mask, he took a key from around his neck and unlocked the door and swung it wide open. He swept the room with his gun and quickly moved in, checking each door and closet. Then he moved upstairs. After a few moments he returned and tapped his mask in frustration. Then he grabbed a hammer and some nails and moved back outside to repair the boards. It only took him a few minutes, but once he was done he went inside. If Esmai wasn't inside yet, he would wait for her and then close the door, locking it behind them.

He then placed his new rifle and sub-machine gun on the floor in a pile of weapons. He then poured the extra ammunition out nearby the pile. Next came stocking the food and water he had grabbed from the Mall. It was a methodical system in which the survivor placed everything before turning to Esmai. "Put your things where you please, but remember where they are. Eat and drink as you please. Plumbing still works here, restroom is there." He pointed to the small room near the pile of weapons. "There's a bed you can use upstairs.Do what you please as long as you do not leave the house. Wake me if you need me." Then he simply lay himself on the couch. He didn't have to wait long for sleep to take to him.

[[OOC: Do what you want in this situation, it's open-ended for you to be creative!]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: A specific apartment XX HEALTH: Mostly fine XX COMPANY: Mystery Survivor



Esmai didn't quite realize that she had been breaking a peaceful silence at first. Really, to her, quiet could get unnerving. She was so sick of being quiet and having nobody to talk to. When her question was confirmed, she slipped a grin as she pressed the button and released the clip. She made sure to not drop the empty cartridge, keeping like he suggested. Small successes. She exchanged it with a full clip gingerly, being extremely careful with the gun. She was still handling it as if it was a live and venomous snake, but a snake she was more acquainted with at least. She followed along with the survivor again, slipping the pistol away safely. She wasn't seeing any zombies ahead, nor did she hear anything abnormal. Besides abnormal silence one would never hear in a city like this, of course.

She kept her mouth shut a little longer, waiting for something to happen or for a reason to speak. Nothing was going to come up until he continued talking. She understood what he was saying immediately, despite how irrelevant and random it almost was at the moment. She began steadily nodding to say that she was listening and understanding. Brawler was a suiting name for those beastly bulldozers. Really, she didn't want to face off with those things again if she could help it. She mentally filed away the information about those zombies in case she'd need it later. Stupid, brutish, vicious. She processed it a little and kept her eyes flickering around the area. She wasn't specifically looking for zombies, just trying to see if there was something she could remember this area by. Well, there was a distant little playground. That would mark the middle of the complex. As she got closer, she got to see the condition it was in. Fairly foreboding and rickety. She was going to accept it as just that until a patch of color caught her attention. Right by the slide. Esmai paused when it occurred to her what she was staring so intently at. She turned away from them, eyes full of sympathy and forward once again. She wondered a moment if they had been survivors beaten down or zombies from the start. It caused an ache in her chest either way. Thankfully, they were continuing on she wasn't to dwell on the two strangers.

Yes, Shriekers. They certainly owned up to their names, too. She didn't see the things very well, but she knew their general shape and appearance. And that even at a distance, with earplugs, behind solid walls, they were painfully loud to hear. It was horrible to imagine what pain they would cause up close and without protection. Especially in a tightly knit and numerous group like what she saw. She could imagine that they could cause long term damage like deafness. That'd absolutely assure someone's demise. Esmai visually shuddered at the thought of anything attracting Zannibals. It only took one of them, a weakened one at that, to have scared her witless. She wanted nothing to do with them or anything that would cause them to gather. Moving on from that revolting memory, the foreigner attempted to imagine what other possibilities there were for mutation. Among the first things to come to mind were monsters with many, many rows of teeth. Whether that was actually something or not, she hadn't a clue. She'd have to keep a look out for them, like he was going to say, before interrupted by a wandering zombie. It was immediately infuriated and attacked on sight. Esmai hopped backwards, making distance, while the companion's snappy reflexes brought him closer to the infected to block it's fist and eradicate it. Just when Esmai thought he was carrying enough weaponry, he revealed a large blade only long enough to resheath it into the infected's face. It's eye, to be specific. That was gory enough to make Esmai avert her eyes and wait for the struggling to end. She waited until after the peculiar sound of a skull crushing and matter splattering across the ground to look back. She purposely didn't look down to see what gruesome state the double dead corpse was in when they moved on again. They had to be getting close to the destination, right? How long had they been walking? She really didn't have a strong sense of time but her feet told her that it'd been a good while.

They seemed to eventually hone in one a particular building, one Esmai quickly noticed seemed to have been busted into. Concerning as it was, she trotted behind the currently nameless survivor to investigate with him. She remained outside for a minute, until it seemed this was the place the survivor was intending to stay in. She wished she could help him when he returned to repair the damage done. Instead, she slipped inside and waited for him to finish and lock the door.

The first attraction she noticed in the place was a surplus of piled weapons. Her eyebrows raised, more so in surprise than anything. He added to the pile and moved on to food stocking. She was unsure if he wanted what she was carrying as well. In fact, she was generally unsure of what to do entirely. She stood close to the door, feeling more like she was intruding than ever. It wasn't a common feeling for her at all. Esmai shifting from foot to foot with a slight nervousness until she was addressed. She questioned if he was used to letting people in. Hospitable enough for him, though. She managed a sincere smile and a short, "Thank you. So much." She would take good measure to not make unnecessary noises. That would be rude. She was absolutely sure he was tired, more so than her, and it wouldn't be good manors to keep him awake. She was going to fall asleep in that bed offered soon, but there were a few things she wanted to take care of first. Depositing her bag in the bedroom, she carefully stepped through the apartment. It'd been a while since she'd stayed somewhere with working plumbing and it seemed like a luxury now. If it was possible, she would absolutely love the chance to actually wash up, too. That done, she wanted to eat something before sleeping on it. If she hadn't handed over the food she had to the survivor when he was organizing, she would just take from her bag rather than his collection. That was his. Still creeping quietly, eventually she would make it to the bedroom, down something, and hopefully, finally get to a comfortable bed. She expected that her own mind would keep her awake, mulling over all that happened that day, but she found sleep soon from an exhausted body.


ooc: man, my post is awfully lengthy for containing really nothing ><;;;;

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Survivor's Stashing Apartment
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: Rising

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

"Varyn..." A voice called a name through the grogginess of sleep. He didn't recognize the voice or the name. "Varyn..." The tone was soft and sweet, calling out to him specifically as it got closer. Who was it, who was Varyn, and what did this voice want? The survivor cracked one eye open grumpily to see a woman's face, smiling warmly and whispering to him. "Good morning Varyn." She moved closer to him and kissed him, but he simply closed his eyes and continued to sleep. He had no idea who this woman was and how the hell she got in... a stranger. His eyes flicked open immediately as he vocally cursed. How could he let someone get by him? As he opened his eyes and sat up, he realized he was in a bed... in a normal home. No zombies, no blood, no weapons, no food, no water- no apocalypse. "I see. I'm just dreaming. So who the hell are you?" He said suddenly, skipping the formalities. Oh yeah, and who the hell is Varyn? The woman sighed and pouted. "Has it really been so long that you've forgotten me?" She slowly got up and dressed, looking back at him with distaste. Then she reached out her hand to him. "Take my hand, Varyn."

He looked at her in confusion and frustration. "Can you stop calling me that? You don't even know my name. I don't even have one." She sighed and shook her head, grabbing his head and dragging him to his feet. "Once you remember... or rather, once you stop trying to forget... that's when you'll realize what all of this means." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "No matter what, even if you never remember me... I will always love you." Just as he opened his mouth to speak, she faded away into the air, dematerialized as he struggled to comprehend what was happening. At a pool of water, he looked down to see an unfamiliar face: black hair, sharp blue eyes, all the features of a male. Then the name came to the forefront of his mind again... Varyn. He struck the water, replacing it with the much more familiar gas mask and Ghile suit. He grinned behind his mask, finally having control over the dream. He sat down and meditated for the remainder of his dream.

The survivor's eyes flicked open at a sound outside. He didn't hear it again, but he checked outside. There was nothing there. He cracked his neck and walked upstairs to the bedroom, stopping suddenly. The girl. He had completely forgotten about Esmai. She was sleeping in the bed soundly. He paused for a moment and then stepped away silently, feeling awkward about the situation. He hated having people around. Then he shrugged, sitting down in a corner of the room to watch over her. Stupid people... always needing help. He had slept for a couple of hours- that was enough for him.

Out in the street, a woman was hiding behind a part of a fence to hide from the eyes of the survivor. Once he left the window, she moved closer to the door. She used her claws to open the lock on the door relatively silently. "Come brethren in the Office, there are living souls which need to feel our misery." The voice played through the minds of the zombies left in the area, making them head in the direction of the apartment where Varyn and Esmai stayed. Then she slipped quietly into the house, closing the door as silently as she could muster. The survivor heard the noise of the door bolt sliding into place and slowly got up. There had to be someone down there... probably a scavenger. He retrieved his handgun from its holster and aimed it in front of him as he crept closer to the bedroom doorway. The woman made her way around the main floor, but did not find what she was looking for. She crept up the stairs. The survivor leveled his gun to the center of the door. She walked to the bedroom door. He flexed his hands in anticipation. She quietly grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it. The door opened and the two faced each other in surprise. She stood still and smiled, tears falling down her face. He froze. "I finally found you, Varyn..." she said. His gun clattered loudly to the ground, but luckily did not discharge. The woman from his dream was here... but it was more than that. Memories began to flash by him, pausing for a moment before passing on and being replaced by another memory. The park bench... they sat and watched the sun set. The abandoned factory where they hid from society. The backwoods where they had their first kiss. Everything before the apocalypse. His expression remained frozen in shock behind his mask, and the woman continued to cry freely. She sat him down against the wall inside the room and grasped his hand. It was cold and dry. His muscles were frozen in place as the assault of memories continued.

Outside, the zombies were groaning, grunting, shuffling and barking as they approached the house. Soon enough, they were banging on the door in an attempt to break it down. It would definitely be enough to wake Esmai if she hadn't already from the noises earlier, the gun dropping, or the talking. The woman had not noticed Esmai's presence; she was far too preoccupied with the survivor. She pushed back the overhang of his Ghile suit and pulled the mask off his face, revealing the stunned survivor: Black hair, strong jawline, sharp blue eyes with a small nose and lips. His eyes were vibrating back and forth as if in R.E.M. sleep, except that he was awake and they were open. When his eyes stopped moving he slowly looked over at the woman who held his mask. "...Lisa?" He was overwhelmed by everything that was happening. She looked just like a human,but her skin was paler than a normal human and completely devoid of heat and moisture. He didn't process any of it, or the noise at the door. He was helplessly enraptured by his repressed memories and the return of one of the few people he had ever cared about. "You remember me, I'm so happy..." she said, wrapping him in a cold embrace and kissing him. He hadn't even noticed the claws on her fingers. She was even crying. After about five minutes of their frozen embrace, the zombies would breach the door and enter, following their mental signal to the bedroom upstairs. In that five minutes, Varyn probably wouldn't respond to Esmai, but "Lisa" would. She looks and acts like a human, but the pale skin, cold touch, and claws could give her away. She also has a nasty pent-up jealousy of the living and other women... especially near her living (ex)boyfriend. "Come in, suffering brethren, we have found the monster who is the cause for our suffering and the loss of so many of your Guardians."

[[OOC: All good, it was a pretty logical step from where we left off. You have more choices to make now, and also always feel free to be creative. ]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: A specific apartment XX HEALTH: Better XX COMPANY: Mystery Survivor, clawed woman



Esmai was gifted with a pleasant sleep for the first time in a while. It was hard to enter any layer of sleep alone in the abandoned building she was hiding in before. Any slight creek or off putting air, no matter how distant, had her wide awake and on her feet. She was constantly restless. Here, in a bed, knowing there was a living person in earshot of her, she could rest peacefully. Her subconscious let her relax as well. The dreams she had were warm and surrounded by people she loved unconditionally. Esmai dreamed of home, family, and friends. It was calm. They all sat near the coast she remembered was near her home as the sun set. Gold rays washed over the open water and colored them all in it's dimming light. The sound of the water rubbing land was familiar, as was the gurgle of baritone voices arguing over something trivial. Her brothers, all close in age, often disputed over nothing. She had missed their voices. In the dream, she wasn't comprehending what they were saying exactly, but she took comfort in just hearing them again. Beside her brothers were their parents. Their words were also cryptic garbles, but it seemed normal in the dream. A shrill voice of her small mother and the gruff voice of her plump father. Her mother looked very similar to her. Nobody would ever doubt their relation. Esmai watched over the water with a content smile, sitting with her lover. His voice was clear. She knew he was grinning without looking, it was in his voice. He hummed sweet nothings while the sun rested over the horizon and fiddled with the identical rings they wore. This was where Esmai wanted to be. Supposed to be. Not alone in the middle of a frigid, hazardous city, having no contact with a single person she knew.

When the sun was set, however, the vision flipped nearly instantaneously. The sweet aroma to the air turned vile and assaulted the senses. The dull warmth through the coast was replaced with a chill that struck through the bone. The light was gone, as was the sun. The voices were no longer, muffled until they were entirely gone. All she could hear were violent wave beating the shore and her own heartbeat. The arm that once held her was colder than any person she'd ever touched. Fear was certain, even in the dream. When Esmai eventually turned to face who was once cooing, she saw only a gaping bullet wound through the head of someone she loved with passion. With a a single blink, he was no longer Evan and they were no longer in Aquitaine. He was a torn zombie cannibal, flesh hanging from it's gaping maw and blood covering it almost entirely. They were in an open parking lot that seemed to stretch on forever. The zombie, already too close, gave her no time to run. She stood, but was pushed back to the ground again. Before hitting the tarmac with great force, her eyes snapped open and she was entirely awake. The sound of the not so distant herd of zombies trying to breach the apartment shook her conscious. She sat up straight as suddenly as she had awoken.

Her eyes, large and frightened were on the doorway until she caught sight of two persons accompanying her in the room. She hopped to her feet and took a few steps away to make distance between them. If it wasn't for the way the mystery survivor dressed, she wouldn't have recognized him maskless. It wasn't the time to try examining his face to save it to memory. She absolutely did not recognize the woman with him. Esmai tried to assess the situation but there was a lot she wasn't clear on. There were a lot of possibilities that she didn't have the time to consider. They needed to get out and that was most important. What Esmai could currently comprehend were a few prominent elements. First, a large number of very aggravated zombies were collected by the apartment and trying to get in. Judging by their rancor and the number of voices, their number was exceedingly large and growing. There wasn't much time until they succeeded. Second, her friend was having what she would place as either a flashback or a form of attack. His body was frozen still, yet his eyes moved wildly back and forth. He was somewhere else in his own mind, clearly. Third, there was an unfamiliar woman with her hands on him, which he allowed. Lastly, those were not hands. She was humanoid in appearance, but extremely unnatural. She had threatening claws and ashen white skin. Esmai was scared enough, but being as close as she was to this... person. Was she, by some chance, something the survivor had warned about? Several types of mutated infected, weren't there? A chill ran down Esmai's back and her face twisted with confliction. The survivor had called her name as if he knew her. She seemed sentient; she cried.

Options? Esmai snatched her bag. They weren't going to be able to fight the number of infected gathering outside, surely. From what she could see, they were going to have to run with their tails between their legs. Heaving the bag onto her back, she tried to verbally urge the two to action. Her voice was strained and clearly panicked. She didn't know if the woman was friend or foe, but she was going to hope for friend. Somehow. "We need to get him up, we need to go; there isn't a lot of time! Does he do this often? Is it easy to snap him out of it?" Of course, with her previous line of training and education, she would know the symptoms of various mental disorders and if an attack from any of these were to occur, how to deal with them. Sadly, most solutions involved waiting, patience, and a calm surrounding. None of these indulgences they had. If this woman was someone he really knew, wouldn't she know what to do? Esmai was still hoping that she was someone good and was helpful. She was terribly wrong, her gut told her so.


ooc: Heh > u <

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Survivor's Stashing Apartment
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Unknown...?
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: High

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

'Lisa' was too preoccupied with doting on Varyn to notice that the zombies had arrived or that Esmai had woken up and gotten to her feet. She stroked the survivor's cheek and smiled almost maliciously- she finally had her hard sought-after prize. He was all hers again; she could finally make him feel the pain she had felt and have him join her in eternity. He was paralyzed with shock and most likely overwhelmed by repressed memories and guilt. She knew it would work, her plan was perfect, flawless, genius. A flurry of questions assaulted her from behind, bringing her to bear on the woman behind her. A woman? She was in the bed... she must have been in the bed... he must have been in the bed with her. Her thoughts flurried around in her head as she silently seethed in rage. Who the hell did she think she was asking about him like that? What did he see in her? Finally her shock was broken by anger.

"Who the hell are you?" she screamed, leaping to her feet as if she had forgotten that the survivor was on the floor. Yet even with anger present, her face did not redden. The tears were gone, replaced with two fierce eyes that glared Esmai down like daggers poised at her throat. "Varyn, who is she?" she yelled again without giving time for Esmai to answer. She grabbed at him and lifted him with one arm while he was in a trance. She soon dropped him like a discarded toy, letting his limp body return to the wall in a slump. She growled and then turned back to Esmai and defied her panic. "Shut up! You don't know him other than a piece of meat to use and drag along! He needs to stay here! I won't let him leave with you!" Then she continued to yell at the survivor although he seemed unable to hear or respond. "So this is the kind of woman you like now? This is what you had to do to keep yourself satisfied? You damn pig! Do you have any idea what you put me through?"

The door broke open, letting the infected roam freely into the building toward the noise. "You b***h! I'll kill you for trying to take my man!" 'Lisa' blurted out as she took a step towards Esmai. Her claws were much more visible and menacing now... and there was dried blood on them. The hoard was slowly approaching. Her face was so twisted with malice that it could only match that of the miserable infected. Their groans and growls grew louder. She screamed and slashed out with a claw toward Esmai, making contact with her arm. She drew blood and the wound was fairly deep. Slow shuffling footsteps could be heard on the steps. At the sound of zombies and the sight of Esmai's fresh blood, the survivor's eyes snapped into focus. They no longer held the same surprise or countenance for the woman as they had only moments before. His face was stoic once again as he raised his pistol and fired. a large splatter of cold blood splattered itself against Esmai's clothes and chest as the bullet ruptured Lisa's heart. A zombie that began to enter the room was met with a bullet and a door being slammed into its face. They toppled down the stairs in a group, but more stepped over them in their mindless mission.

Only four shots had been fired, but in that time there were four bullet impacts. The first three tore through 'Lisa's chest, stopping her in her assault on Esmai. The fourth tore through the unfortunate zombie that was first in line. The survivor realized that there was no mask on his face and quickly looked to the floor. He scooped it up and placed it over his face without hesitation. The zombies had already started to pound on the door as Lisa dropped to the ground. She coughed up blood and asked a very quiet "Why did you help her? We were..." The survivor answered simply and bluntly. "She is living but cannot survive on her own. You died and became a Hoarder. You're a danger to survival." Then he crushed her face as she tried to scream.

He quickly turned and went to the window, whipping it open. Now was not a time to mourn the loss of a stable residence and so many stockpiles of food, water, and ammunition. Survival always came first. He reached out his hand to Esmai. "Let's go. We have seconds before they get in." Once she grabbed his hand he clasped it tightly and ran with her across the covered top of a dumpster that he had placed there in preparation for such situations. He began to run away towards the Amusement Park, hoping to take refuge there. Once they got closer to it, he decided to go into a nearby shop instead. It was empty enough and had some rooms upstairs. He covered their exit by closing the front door and then went upstairs. Once they were in one of the rooms, he sat down without words, staring at the ground. It could only be guessed at what he was doing or thinking about.

[[OOC: ]]

Wistful Flame

 

[Qunarri]

E S M A I x "E M" xL E S U R E
spacespace☠ the awfully lucky foreigner


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LOCATION: A specific apartment > Store near Amusement Park XX HEALTH: Open arm wound XX COMPANY: Varyn?



Not a friend. Not a friend at all. She had never been more wrong. She wanted to be diplomatic, speak peace and escape, but the woman was not allowing that. Esmai realized her mistake as soon an enraged 'Lisa' turned to scream. She cringed with another shaken step back. Esmai made entire eye contact with her, large doe eyes pleading for nonviolence while only being met with ferocity. She tried to muster an answer, but the chance to speak was swiftly cut from her. Her response would have been a meek croak. The woman asked the survivor, instead. She used a name to address him, possibly his? He didn't seem to be in any condition to answer in any case. Nor did he seem to be in a condition to react to her lifting him. Esmai was growing more worried for his well-being, as she was her own. She was becoming increasingly confused, attempting to comprehend what the woman was saying. She just didn't want to make the conclusion that 'Lisa's intentions were to cause harm. She wished it wasn't so.

Esmai's attention snapped to the bedroom's doorway, heaving the crack and fall of the front door. There was still time, but it was slimming incredibly. They already had a set direction and the noise the group was creating only attracted them more. She turned her eyes to the clawed woman who came closer. As hard as she tried to keep her eyes up on the other's pale face, she found herself staring at her unnatural claws. Those, with her previous exclamation, did not bode well. From what she could see, it looked as though Esmai's blood wouldn't be the first on her threatening talons. Her eyes widened in fear and she held up her hands in defense. Any sort of defense, no matter how ultimately futile. She was entirely aware of the danger behind her as well, the groans and moans of infected stomping closer. They were finding their way to the stairs and it wouldn't be long until they were upon the group. Without missing a beat, 'Lisa' uttered a disheartening scream and lashed out. Esmai emitted a clipped cry and grabbed the cut on her arm while stepping back. Being physically damaged was practically alien to her and the laceration must have only felt worse than it actually was. It was painful, extremely so. Blood took no time to come from the opening, either. If it wasn't for the survivor's divine intervention, worse may have happened. Esmai was lucky he was there to shoot 'Lisa'. She wouldn't have.

The liquid splattered over Esmai's entire abdomen and a large amount of her clothes seemed more like cold water than blood, but the scent and color was undoubtedly blood. She cringed back even further, eye flickering between the clawed woman, the survivor, and the door. She could see the zombies now. Time was gone. She couldn't decide which one to stare at with shock. The survivor, whose name may have been Varyn, was in action again and was taking care of the situation like he always did. She needed to be out of the way and let him handle it. After he managed to scrape a few seconds by delaying the lower functioning zombies, he retrieved an object of comfort and was masked again. The door wasn't going to last long, but luckily, just long enough. He faced off with the collapsed woman on the floor. She questioned his motive. She posed a good question. The answer was harsh and abrupt with no room to argue. The main reason she wouldn't argue was because he put a swift end to her before she could utter a sound.

Esmai didn't hesitate to take the offered hand. She grasped as tightly as she could. Wherever they were going had to be safer than that room. A fleeting through crossed her mind as they escaped. The supplies were all out of reach. They were among the walls of gargling zombies, but were they destroyed? Had they been trampled? It would be better to think of it later. She needed to keep up with Varyn. It was uncomfortable thinking of him with a name so suddenly. She was more prepared for running this time. She'd had at least a few hours rest with food, but by no means was in tip-top shape.

She followed him into an abandoned looking shop. There wasn't resistance in the building, or at least nothing jumped out to tear them up. There must have been a large number of zombies taken from the area to swarm what was once the safe home. Esmai let it go. It wasn't important where they were, as long as they weren't trying to push themselves into a room either she or Varyn were in. Speaking of. She glanced at him as he settled in a room, wordlessly sitting. He wore his mask, which pointed to the ground. She decided that whatever was running through his head, he needed silence to stew on it. He seemed to be that type of person. There were a number of possibilities as to what was on his mind, but Esmai settled on a guess that he may be mourning. In some degree. The woman was clearly someone he knew. She guessed a lover. It wasn't easy, not at all, to do what he had. Esmai knew she wouldn't have been able to shoot or kill someone that close to her. She had to commend the strength it took.

She wanted to have some way to relate her empathy to him or at least do something useful to lighten his head, but alas, her mouth was shut. Instead of sitting idle and wishing she could help him, she helped herself a little. She was cradling her arm and covering the cut with her palm to try to stop bleeding. If she wasn't mistaken, her bag was equipped with a small first aid kit in it. She couldn't remember the contents of that kit entirely, but she at least knew she had some form of disinfectants and sizable bandages. Assuming he was going to keep to himself, Esmai would snatch a small red kit from her bag and sit down at a distance to investigate the cut causing a pulsating pain through her arm.

ooc:

Yoshielite

 

[Yoshielite]

Location: Random Store
Survivors Affected: Esmai
Name: Probably Varyn... right?
Encounter Type: Companion
Danger Level: Low

NPC EVENT- Mysterious Survivor

There was mostly silence in the air now: no more zombies milling about and no words spoken. The survivor sat in silent contemplation of everything that had just happened. He had been severely manipulated by the mental influences of the Zombie Hoarder that was once his girlfriend of four years. She must have tapped into his subconscious during his dreams and began to pull up all the hidden memories of the past that pained him. She had left him after four years without much of anything besides "wanting to see somebody new". He had always had problems with emotions, but she had brought him along so far out of his comfort zone and helped him feel again. It devastated him and removed his trust from humanity once again. His hand absent-mindedly reached up to rest on his gas mask as his silence continued. It had been so long since anyone had called him by his name...

He had been lucky at the mutated zombie's timing. If Esmai had not been with him and reacted, then he would have been bludgeoned to death by the countless hoards of the infected. He was so trapped by the mental barrage until Esmai distracted and infuriated what was left of Lisa. That kept his rationale alive and brought his emotionless barriers back into place. He had no problems shooting the woman he had once loved. She was no longer human; there was no more sentimental attachment. He found it a bit odd that the person who seemed so unsure in the apocalypse had just saved their skin. She was starting to really get the hang of survival in their predicament. His eyes flicked up without his head moving to glance at her. She was wounded, of course. He had completely forgotten.

As she rummaged through her pack for something, the survivor thought about everything that had happened again. He hadn't used his name in order to preserve his safety and not make any human connections. He was almost always devoid of emotion, so it made it hard for people to want to be around him. The mask helped make him seem almost inhuman. That kept people away too. Why did that all have to get affected in the last thirty minutes? Emotions and people were just way too damn complicated.

He stood slowly as Esmai looked over her injury and then approached her as she began to open the medical case. He took the pack from her hands to prevent her from causing herself unnecessary pain or strain. The slashes on her arm were fairly deep, so they might have even affected some of the muscles or tendons. He frowned behind his mask, picking up her arm to inspect it closer. He let out a small huff at his discovery: the lenses on his mask were too covered with blood, grime, and gore to see if the wound had any foreign maladies in it. "Here, hold still." he told her before resting her gash-laden arm down. He grabbed his mask, hesitating for a moment before removing it. He placed it down to the side and then looked down at her arm through clearer eyes. He gingerly lifted it again and examined it closely. She saw no debris or anything harmful stuck in her arm, so he pulled his last water bottle out of his satchel, along with a rag. He poured some of the water over the wound and then carefully wiped the blood away. New blood was quick to well up, but he was able to see a few relieving things. First, it was superficial. Esmai had been lucky enough to not have the muscles controlling her fingers lacerated by the clawed assault. He was surprised, but didn't dwell on it. He quickly took out some of the disinfectant and dabbed it on the injury, hoping that she wouldn't recoil. Even if she did, he held her arm steady and pressed gauze material onto it, taping it over her arm with the medical adhesive provided for them in the kit. Once that was finished, he leaned back against the wall in silence, looking up to the ceiling in frustration.

He had forgotten entirely that his mask was still off.

[[OOC: ]]

Wistful Flame