Welcome to Gaia! ::

Across the town as they were, the two groups were nonetheless pulled by the same strings of fate. At that very instant, there was a small convoy entering the town, comprised of two Hummers and a supply truck. The Hummers were equipped with machine gun nests, and all the vehicles looked armored and ready for action.

The lead Hummer was driven by a dark-skinned man, with close-cut black hair and a pair of dark sunglasses. He wore a black headband and had a smoking cigarette clenched grimly in his lips. He wore the same uniform as the man next to him: dark gray combat pants and black combat boots, with a black, many-pocketed vest over a black shirt. The driver had on a black turtleneck, while the man next to him had a T-shirt.

The one in the passenger's seat had red hair, some stubble on his face, and a hat that held a couple of bullets in the loops above the bill. Both were grim, ready-looking men. The driver handled the large, cumbersome vehicle with an unconscious ease, and the one beside him was looking out at the landscape, unconsciously mapping out strike positions and fallback points, even though they might not necessarily be used.

The convoy rolled into the center of the town, moving slowly so as not to create much noise. All seemed clear...until the truck came screeching out of the library. Literally, out of the library. With it came a cacophony and a swarm of Lickers. Within seconds more zombies were pouring in.
The lead Hummer swung around so that the machine gun nest pointed into a side street. "All units!" shouted the driver out his open window. He had a confident, commanding voice. "Find all the survivors that are apparently here, and get them out of here!"

The passenger popped his door open and slid down to the ground as zombies began to make their way into the plaza they had stopped in. He appeared unconcerned as he pulled a positively huge rifle off of his back and hefted it casually. He took quick aim and fired, and the massive round tore through a long line of zombies - at least 4 - before slamming into a solid cement wall and blowing a small crater in it.

"Sirius!" said the driver, beckoning for the door. "Sirius, get in!"
"I'm going with the supply truck," said the red-haired sniper, apparently named Sirius. "We can't afford to lose any more. You get the survivors out! You're the only one who can drive well enough to have a chance of getting them all. Good luck, Osiris."

The dark-skinned one, Osiris, nodded grimly as he pulled the door shut. He screeched off, the other Hummer following after a moment. Sirius loped back to the supply truck and clambered up on top of it as zombies and Lickers came into the plaza. Luckily, more armed men came leaping out of the back of the supply truck, armed with automatic weapons, and kept the zombies back.

Sirius was doing his best to keep the zombies back as Osiris pulled through the city. There were zombies everywhere now, so Osiris simply ran them down as his men opened fire from the two Hummers. Things were going smoothly until they reached a large intersection. There was a large pile of rubble covering the street. The back Hummer pulled to a stop, but Osiris gunned it, and his Hummer roared its way up and over. Near the crest, it slowed and nearly stalled, but it summoned a last bit of push and made its way over. Seizing the radio, Osiris ordered the other men back to the supply truck. They quickly confirmed and went back the way they had come.

Osiris had a definite reading on a small group of survivors: they appeared to be holed up in a nearby church. He drove cautiously in that direction and found the church. It had a few zombie, one of which was incredibly large, pounding on the door. Apparently they had been found. Osiris signaled, and the soldier in the machine gun turret began to open fire. Those inside the church would do well to come outside when the firing was over, since it meant the pounding was over and they could hear an idling engine.

In the meantime, the zombies were thickening in the plaza where the supply convoy was. The other Hummer crunched its way over some zombies and came to a stop, firing everywhere it could at the horde. Unfortunately for them, they were horribly surrounded and outnumbered, and the zombies began to drag the soldiers out and eat them. One panicked soldier fired a burst from his gun that caught the Hummer's gas tank. With a deafening boom!, it exploded, and the shockwave very nearly tipped the supply truck over. Sirius was badly burned and thrown into a wall where he fluttered into unconsciousness, but at least the zombies were killed as well.

Those that had escaped from the library figured they should go see what the explosion was.

((No one shall ever criticize my updating abilities again!))

Emily was curled up in the back of the hummer, feeling very small. Why on earth had she mentioned that she had medical experience when they rescued her? If she'd been useless, they probably would have gotten her somewhere safe! She flinched as the something a ways behind them exploded, and then turned around, trying to get a good look at what had happened.

((Hope that's what you had in mind.))

Martin hefted his lead pipe. "Well, let's check that s**t out," he agreed.

EVERYONE THERE TOTALLY COMPLIED AND THEY WENT TO THE EXPLOSION SITE.

((That's right.))

Emily jerked back around, then nodded once, trying to look professional. She could do this. This was her job, and she was damn good at it. This guys would protect her, and she would do her job, and everything would be fine. She followed behind the soldiers, her face pale but composed, and waited with bated breath to see if anyone would answer Osiris.

((We discussed this, Joe, Sirius isn't passed out quite yet whee ))

Sirius found as he took his first step that it was almost impossible to walk.

He was alerted to this by a sharp pain shooting up from his chest and by a sudden numbness in his legs.
He gritted his teeth and let out a grunt that quickly became a cough.

Speckles of blood flew from his mouth before he wiped them away. He figured it would be best to sit down and wait. The explosion was bound to attract attention.

Whether that attention was good or bad had yet to be seen.

***

Jack used his amazing leadership powers to convince everyone to go towards the explosion site.

((I decided to use Native's post, (Jack used ... explosion site), as a vague go a head to pull the debate. They are both equal in many ways so they are going to butt heads a few more times in the future. Also can you pull your Leadership skill on someone who has Leadership?))
Jake was just starting to relax when a loud explosion pierced his ears. A “What the ********?” escaped his lips as he guided the truck to a halt. He started to turn around when he was bombarded with requests to go back to check it out. Jake attempted to explain to them that going back is a very bad idea because the licker are not something you tangle with twice. Jack and Jake started to argue about the right course of action. Both made good points but Jake eventually agreed to go along but will leave if things get out of control. “I will not risk other people's lives. If anyone in this truck is in dangered by this I will leave you behind.” Jake then restarted the truck and drove back to the library.

"Looks like we might not need the gun, but keep it ready." He vaulted over the pew and ran to the door, "You shouldn't blame him though, words do not bring out bad fate." He opened the door slowly, ready to slam it. "Who are you?"

He smiled politely, in spite of he urge to slam the door in her face, "Please allow me to rephrase my question, 'Are you hostile or is there any reason we should fear you or not trust you."