ZRP-2 Chapter 8: Survivors One and All

"Well we talked it over, and we agree with what you said earlier. Someone should watch Eve and make sure she doesn't.......get hurt during her time at the pole. Still interested?" Sam asked.

Hayley nodded.
"Yeah. I'm willing. I'll need a rifle though." She hugged herself. "I'll keep her...as safe as I can."

"We'll work in shifts," Estel suggested. "You go first, then Sam, Ella and me."

Hayley nodded. "Two hours each. Sound good?"

"Yeah, should be enough time for us to rest between shifts," Ella said.

Hayley nodded. "So...I need a rifle..."

"Check in Eve's room," Sam said. "She should still have a Winchester carbine in there, so it should help."

Hayley rannup and returned with it.
"Thanks." She then put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Please trust me...I'll keep her safe. I promise." She paused, then let go of her. "Got a good spot for me to hide?"

"Not really, so you're going to be pretty obvious," Sam said.

Hayley nodded.
"I'll go now. See you in two hours."

Whe was out of the house in minutes.

"Great......anyone want to go back her up?" Ella asked. Sam and Estel shook their heads, and Ella sighed before saying "Pussies. I'll go back her up." Slipping a glock pistol into the waistband of her pants, a place that was a lot safer for her than a guy. Leaving the house, she followed Hayley, but instead of keeping close simply made sure she didn't lose sight of her.

Hayley stopped. She saw Eve, and started towards her.
And when the three bastards tried an intercept, her gun was out.
"Medic. I'm going to make sure she is still in good health. And if you try and stop me, I hope you can stop a fucking tank." She warned. "Let me do my job and I'll return to Clara." She said calmly.

Ella saw Hayley get blocked by the guards, and made sure she was ready to help if needed. But it looked like Hayley had a handle on thing so far.

The guards were gonna say something, but when Hayley went all Tomb Raider and withdrew the pistol she had borrowed without asking from the house, they backed up.
Back. Off."

They did so. Hayley marched over to Eve and holstered the guns. She supported the girl.
"If it aint my little Catnip." She lowered the rope, so Eve could sit. "Did -"
"Slapped me." Eve muttered softly. Hayley patted her hair, then started her usuals. She was positioned to raise and raze, the guards finding that, one move too far and the winchester was up.
Eve wasuffering from some hunger.
"I have to pee."

Hayley had to giggle. She helped her disrobe partly, and soon Eve could relax. Hayley frowned. Scars on her thigh.
She said nothing, and helped her re-dress. "You look fine, thankfully. Few red marks. Bruise." She tucked some hair behind Eve's ears.
"We're gonna prove you innocent...or just bust you out kiddo. You got some guardian angels, so dont worry." Hayley smiled bravely. "You'll be in Sam's arms soon."
Standing, Hayley reluctantly moved the rope, forcing Eve to stand. "If anyone tries to hurt you, just call Sam or Estel's name." She whispered.

Hayley backednoff.
"Oi. Fuckers. If she has another bruise, you're the first I shoot." She promised, and headed off. A rooftop nearby would be perfect. She disappeared and climbed atop, and went prone. She centered the crosshair.
Even if the moon disappeared...she'd be able to help her.

Content that Hayley had it handled, Ella took a spot on a bench, taking the ground level of the observation.

Hayley settled in. Two hours.
No problem. She'd done a twenty hour day in a survival course. This was nothing.

--Timeskip, Early Morning--

It had gone back and forth between Ella and Hayley keeping watch over Eve, with no incident to speak of. However, by what was probably nine o'clock, there was new activity. It seemed that with advent of a traitor and someone to blame, vent frustration and anger on, people managed to find a hobby. That fact was evident, in what was carried down the street by several people, and made Ella, who was drowsy but awake, gawk and say "Holy shit...."

It was a cross, made of wood and nailed together. Crudely made, a reflection perhaps of the mind of its creators, and its intended target clear.

Hayley had been heading overto relieve Ella when she saw the crowd. Rifle leveled and scope adjusted...she turned and ran.
Bursting into the house, her british accent was reverberating.
"EVERYONE GET UP. THE MOB HAS A FUCKING CROSS AND IS HEADING TOWARDS EVE!"

Everyone in the house was still sleeping. Sam and Estel, asleep in the living room on their own respective couches, were deep in their own dreams. Hayley's arrival and yell made them both jerk, before they both slowly woke up and Sam said "Wheijemet?"

James above in his room, lightly snoozing, awoke with a start and shuffled into his pants and shoes, shirt off as he exited the room and stood on the top of the stairs and looking down at Hayley. "What's going on?"

Hayley  nearly went and strangled them all.
"WOODEN CROSS. EVE. MOB. GET YOUR ASSES AWAKE!" she screamed at them.

That was all they needed to hear, especially Sam and Estel. Sam jumped up, still mildly groggy but awake as she ran for the door. She was in such a rush though she didn't bring a weapon, as opposed to Estel who brought her knife. James' eyes widened and he rushed back into the room, waking Hibiki before getting his clothes on. "Hibiki wake up now!" he shouted as he made for the stairs.

Hayley ran after Sam, and shoved the rifle into her hands. "Take this!" She drew her pistol and tossed it to Estel. "Catch!"

Hibiki rolled over and nearly off the bed. "What?"

Eve had turned around to lean against the pole. Seeing the oncoming mob and the cross, she let out a hollow laugh.
"Give me a crown of thorns and you might as well rename me Jesus Eve."

Standing at the head of the stairs, James looked back and said "The town's about to kill Eve."

Sam took the gun though Estel simply stashed the pistol in her waistband. They ran down the street towards where Eve was being kept.

Hibiki had her rifle, katana, and pants on before she was behind james.
"Where is my fucking tank keys?" She demanded.

Eve watched impending doom with a sense of dread mixed with...peace.
At least she'd die...well, least Sam wouldn't be forced to put a bullet in her. Or have sex with a walking corpse.
Ew.

Was zombie sex necrophilia?

Hopefu...wait, no, definitely. Sam would stay away.


Utilizing her most amazing defense mechanism...Eve attempted to block out the outside world using the power of randomness.

"Forget the tank," James said as he thundered down the stairs. "No time for it. Just get there and cut her down and keep her safe."

Sam reached the crowd just as the lead people untied Eve, holding her firmly and prepared to tie her to the cross using the wires. "Get away from her!" she shouted, about to fire right before someone punched her and took the rifle.

Hayley had hung back. Her other pistol was at home. Shit.

Hibiki was moving fast, and as she saw Sam real from the punch, her gun was up and it cracked. The man's shoulder burst red, the rifle clattering to the ground. Hayley snatched it away as Hibiki flicked the firing setting to Full Auto.
"Get the fuck away from my daughter before I kill every single one of you mother fuckers."

Hayley, now armed again, was helping Sam, who probably was just pissed.

The shots gave everyone pause, though some had their own rifles out and now aimed at Hibiki. It made James take his pistol out and aim it at them, and then someone pointed a gun at him as well. Estel joined the fray by taking her gun out and pointing it at another member of the crowd.

At the same time, Marcus and Clara joined the fray, woken by the shots and running to see what was going on. When Clara saw the cross, she screamed "You have got to be joking!"

Hibiki didn't look like she cared at the guns. On the contrary, she lowered her gun to the hip, as if she'd rambo the fuckers down.
"You fuckers let my baby go before I throw your still breathing bodies over the wall." she growledd.

Hayley gulped as she put the rifle into Sam's hands again.
"Don't lose it."

Eve looked over, somewhat...concerned. They could get hurt. Barbed wire crucifixtion was preferable to losing her mother...
Eve felt her throat dry. She was thirsty...hungry...
Could she survive?

"And why should we let go of someone who's been trying to tear down our whole town?" one of them demanded, holding a double barreled shotgun. James sighed and said "We've got reason to believe it wasn't Eve, that she's being set up and you're all being played for dupes. For fuck's sake people, it's supposed to be us against the undead, not eachother and them."

That did little to help, as evidenced by the fact that no one dropped their weapons. James simply kept pushing. "If you put her on that cross, we will slaughter everyone here for her. That's not a threat, just a fact." The bartender leered at James, and said "Why are you defending her? She broke into my bar and stole my booze to set fire to our ammo! She's a traitor and a menace." It was James' turn to leer, though not without a smile. "Who said she used booze to light that fire?"

Abel had a rude awakening after the sound of a gun was fired. It was a single shot, which actually had him more worried. He grabbed his tactical vest with his holster and slung his sword around his back before grasping the shotgun that was leaning against the mattress. After barging out of the apartment building he realized he had no clue where the shot came from, but he figured going towards the flagpole where Eve was tied up was a safe bet. And it was. Just about every person in the town was here and almost every one of them had a gun pointed at someone else.

God dammit. We should've just broke her out at night. There would have been less killing than there needs to be.

Abel racked his shotgun and tried moving unnoticed closer towards the crowd.

Hibiki's gun turned to point at the bartender.
"Marcus. Go get our people. Prepare to move all our vehicles from any hole we havent plugged." Her grip tightened. "You have two choices. Give me my daughter, or you die tomwalkers as I take her back by force."

It appeared as if the bartender was caught, at least partially. He blanched, and said "I don't need to explain how I know what I do." James just narrowed his eyes and said "You just want us out, don't you? That's what this is all about isn't it? You want us out of your home."

Hibiki dropped the gun and in a flash had her sword to the bartender's throat, Pistol pressed to a man's temple.
"We'll leave once I have my daughter. So either you stop lying or I say you are guilty and cut you down, then watch as our caravan slaughters you, takes the ammo, and leves you all to die."

Someone pressed a gun to the small of Hibiki's back, and a familiar voice squeaked out "Get away from my daddy!" Riley stood behind Hibiki, a glock in hand and tears in his eyes. "He just wanted you all to leave. No matter how, he wanted you gone!"

Riley couldn't help it, couldn't keep it in. All the stress of the new life for him caught up and he reached a breaking point. "Riley," the bartender said, "Don't be stupid."

Eve strained. "No! LEAVE MOMMY ALONE. I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU IF YOU PULL THAT TRIGGER! DONT YOU TAKE MOMMY AWAY!"
She saw a gun. She just started to struggle, hoping James would save her.

Hibiki lowered the weapons. She turned around.
"I'm pregnant. You have it in you to murder two people with one bullet?" She asked softly. "Because you're going to kill a child who cant even choose to protect their daddy."

It was the opening the bartender needed, looping his arm around Hibiki's throat and pulling her back against him. "Drop your weapons, right now! Or a put a bullet between her eyes." There was a mad gleam in his eyes that wasn't lost on anyone. A few of his supporters got nervous and said "Wait a sec here Phillip. She's pregnant for God's sake man, and she's not part of this."

James had his gun level Phillip and said "Let her go or you die." Sam had her gun trained on Phillip, taking aim while he wasn't looking. Riley was too far gone for reason, pulling back the hammer on his gun and saying "This is what my dad wants," before preparing to squeeze the trigger. Three shots, three cracks of thunder, sounded throughout that square. James reacted on instinct and put a single bullet in the back of Riley's head, killing the child as he fired his own gun though the impact made his aim go wide of the mark and instead hit Hibiki in her left bicep. Before Phillip could even scream, Sam put a bullet between his eyes and dropped him.

Hibiki's gun fell, but not her katana. She spun and sliced off Phillip's head for supreme overkill. She kicked the pistol to Hayley, arm hanging loosely.
"Do I get my daughter back or do I have to go Kill Bill on everyone here?"

The situation could not have become more tense. With Phillip and Riley dead, everyone in the mob had pulled out their weapons and was staring daggers at James and his group. "Get out," one of them growled while someone undid Eve's restraints. "Get the hell out of our home!"

Eve, once freed, ran. She fucking ran and clung to Sam as Hibiki growled.
"We'll leave. And we're taking the ammunition we stole from the Shepherds." She backed up and sheathed her sword, raising the assault rifle with her good arm. "Sam. Take Eve and Hayley. Get our things and get to the bus. Check Eve over." She ordered. Now beside James, she fell silent.

Abel had his shotgun trained on the madman around the corner of a building when the shots were fired. His stomach dropped as well as his shotgun sights. He heard Hibiki bark orders to the others in the square. Abel quickly moved back to his apartment to grab his pack.

Andrew had come out with Sarah at the sound of the gunfire, his .45 already out of its holster. They didn't have to go very far to see that the situation had boiled over. The two walked over to the remnants of the mob, and immediately...they spot the bodies.

It didn't take them very long to put two and two together to know what would happen next. What Andrew wanted to know was what happened after the gunfire. And he knew who to ask. The man went over to James, with Sarah pointing her rifle at the mob.

He asked, "Mind telling me what the hell happened here? Cause I get the impression we're getting the boot."

"No shit," James breathed out, never taking his eyes off the mob. "Everyone in the caravan, go door to door, get our people and gear.....and let's get the hell out of here," James shouted, despite feeling the need to throw up. Sam made sure she didn't let go of Eve as she walked backwards. Marcus and Clara left, moving to follow James' order.

Abel barged into his room, his backpack sitting at the foot of his bed, already packed from the night before. He grabbed it off the floor as his mind raced. We should have just snuck her out at night "Then that wouldn't have happened." Abel spoke to himself in the empty room. He then left the building and made his way toward the bus.

James led his group back to the house, Ella, Sam and Estel already moving off to pack their gear. "Hayley, I know she said to check out Eve but see to my wife now please," James said.

Hayley nodded. Hibiki said nothing as the medic checked.
"Okay so." She took out a knife and stopped Hibiki. "This will hurt a lot."

The stream of Japanese curses as Hayley manhandled Hibiki to her knees, dug the knife in, and popped the bullet out, was definately going to scare the mob. The medic bandaged the wound tightly then backed the fuck away as Hibiki stood and, with pale drawn face, marched away.

Eve broke down and startd ro cry into Sam's chest, but kept moving.
She just bawled her eyes out.

Standing close to Hibiki, James gently rubbed the top of her head and asked "You going to be alright?"

"Eve," Sam grunted, "we need to pack up now. You can cry later."

Hibiki nodded and started packing.

Eve broke away and started to pack. She fumbled most of her stuff, and finally managed to get everything. She stood by the door shaking, keeping her tears in as best as she could.

"Good girl," Sam said as she gently touched Eve's cheek. "Now give me a moment." She started packing things away, slightly miserable at the situation of leaving their home.....or the house.

James helped out Hibiki pack things up, while outside Marcus and Clara started rounding everyone in the caravan up. People gathered their things, the fighters grabbing the ammo that had yet to be shared, and began loading up the vehicles.

Eve held the hand to her cheek for a fewnmore seconds before letting Sam go.

She left her words unspoken. She wasnt able to speak without crying.


Hibiki was done and waiting for James as Hayley waited by the door.

James stood in his room, done packing but taking one last look around. "I'm going to miss that bed," he sighed before making his way downstairs. Sam was leaving her room, backpack stuffed with her things as she made her way downstairs. "Alright folks, let's get moving."