ZRP-2 Chapter 8: Survivors One and All

The people that weren't in cars scattered, following the example of the four that shouted and ran to get the attention. There weren't many of them though, as some, like Aiden, were overwhelmed. James ran away from the road, uncertain of who or what else was behind him, doing everything he could to make sure the supplies got back safely to town. He had to hope that Hibiki......would leave him behind and get the ammo where it was needed. After all, this wasn't the first time he had been on his own.

Hibiki raised the ramp and floored it with the convoy.

Eve watched them run. "Well fuck. Stop yelling start running!" She shouldered the SMG. "They just ditched us!"

"Fuck!" Estel yelled as she ran after Eve. "God fucking dammit!" she continued to swear, tears running down her cheeks having seen Aiden die. James and Marcus stuck close together, running far from the road and further into the woods. More of the undead could be seen, though scattered and not in a single group which helped the pair run. Sam hung close to the tank, considering ditching Sarah to grab James.....but it wouldn't work, not with the amount of time it required and the undead so close.

Eve kept close to Estel.
"Curse quieter...There! River! If we can cross it we can lose them!" She grabbed Estel's hand. "Bitch at hand holdingmlater, cant get separated!" She said quickly.

"Uh......I can't swim," Estel said. She looked over her shoulder, and saw the undead coming for them, then turned around and jumped for the river screaming "But it's never too late to learn!"

Eve grabbed Estel. "Hold me! I can get us across!" She said. "Just do not let go, and trust me. Ok?" She said, moving fast.

"I'm going to weigh you down Eve!" Estel said. Still, she wrapped her arms around the girls waist though she knew this wasn't going to end well.

Eve waded in. "Just kick your legs rhymically. Do not flail." She began swiming slowly. "We are going to mpve slowly. Let the river carry us away." She kicked and stroked carefully. "Go slow. River will carry us away."

Estel tried to talk......and got a mouth full of river water for her troubles. She coughed, and on reflex let go of Eve and sank into the river, flailing around in panic.

"Fuck!" Eve swam after. "STOP FLAILING OR YOU WILL DIE." She screamed. "I cant helpnif you dont CALMMDOWN." She ordered, staying out of range of the flailing.

But Estel couldn't hear Eve, as she kept flailing until she went limp, her body drifting in the water as the fluids filled her lungs.

Eve grabbed Estel and hauled ass to shore. She made it finally, and with Estel on her back, began full on CPR. Mouth to mouth, thumping.
"Wake up dammit."

Eve was surprised at how...cushy Estel's chest was. Less then Sam but still....
Fuckfuck why was she thinking of boobs?

Eve leaned down and began puffing hair into Estel'smlungs again.

It didn't take long for the cpr to work, and Estel coughed and spewed out the water in her lungs, turning on her side to help get it all out. "Oh fuck......why'd you have to kiss me?"

"Breath. Had tomgetnthe air in to expell the water." Eve rubbed Estel's back. "We lost them...can you move? If we find a cave we can try and start a fire or something."

Estel coughed a few more times, before saying "You really think there's a cave around here?"

"Cave, shack...doesnt matter." She offered her hand. "Lets keep moving before any more walkers find us."

Estel took it, and slowly came to her feet. "Not that it matters.....we're fucked anyway. They left us behind and we're fucked."

"We got a compass, know the direction. Lets rest and head out later. Maybe even tomorrow. We don't have much of a choice. We at least have some guns, my bow so hunting. We'll survive." She looked around, drawing her bow. "Lets move. Pick a.direction."

"South," Estel finally said after she looked around. "We came from the south, so let's head south."

Checking her compass, Eve started off. "Alright. Stay close." She said, knocking an arrow. "And grab my bag. If we separate our survival chances lessen."

"Sure...." Estel said, holing onto Eve's bag while she pulled out her revolver. They walked down the river bank for a bit, Estel staying behind Eve as she kept an eye out for anymore undead.

As they walked Eve was scanning...when something caught her eye. A small path.
"This way." She headed up the path...right to a smallmlog cabin. It was slightly worn and left alone, but reasonably intact. From the rusting pickup and the rifle laying on the ground, looked like a hunting or fishing cabin the undead had sacked. Perfect spot too.
"We're gonna go inside. Get your flashlight."

Nodding, Estel grabbed her flashlight and had it ready, the hand holding it under the hand that held the pistol as she made herself ready.

"Knife out. No guns; noise will give us away. I drop, you stab their faces in." She reached the door. "Open it and move to the side."

Estel grimaced, and swapped the gun for a knife, standing by the door. She twisted the handle, and pushed it open.

The smell was bad. Real bad.
Eve entered, bow raised. Empty. Two doors.
"Clear, two closed doors. Open the left one Estel." Eve said.

Still nodding, Estel moved to the left door and opened it. "Clear," she whispered.

Eve moved over and opened the other...and lowered her bow.
"Suicide. They must have been trapped here by wapkers...bitten...and decided going out like that was better then becoming a monster." She relaxed. "Cabin looks clear I guess."

"Apart from the dead bodies," Estel noted as she looked at the pair. Man and a woman, maybe a little older than herself with a bullet hole in the side of their heads. From the way it looked.....it looked it was only one bullet that killed them, as they muct have been hugging and had their head against the others shoulder. "What now?"

"Drag themmdown and throw them in the river, then lock ourselves in and get a fire going. Hopefully dry our clothes off. I see blankets so we can at least preserve modesty. Now hurry, before we catch colds." Eve shrugged off a bunch of stuff save her bow, quiver, and pistol. "Stow your things under the bed." She said, shoving her things the there.

"Get a fire going? In here? We'd choke on the smoke Eve," Estel said. "Look.....let's check for some kind of smoke stack, a chimney, anything short of opening a window."

"There was a fireplace in the main room." Eve said. "Thats where I meant." She grasped the dead dude. "Him first, heavier."

Estel sighed, cracked her knuckles, and grabbed the corpse from the other end. "So this is what it's all come to. Shacking up, in a shack, with some corpses and a girl who wanted to be my friend."

"Wants. Not gonna give up." Eve hefted and the body soon was on it's way. "Least you're alive." She said softly. "Sonsomeone remembers him besides Ella."

Her eyes flashed with anger, and she suddenly dropped the body and grabbed her pistol. "Just shut the fuck up, alright? You shut the fuck up right now, and don't say another word."

Eve looked up, letting the body go.
"Go ahead. Shoot. We wont iron outnour differences and you'll live with murdering me." She kicked the dead body. "Aiden has more peoplento.remember him then Laura. Then Harry." She got down and started rolling the body. "Go lay down. I'll dispose of them..."

The pistol was shaking in her hands, and Estel bit her lip and turned away sharply, muttering a curse under her breath as she brought her hands up to her head, still holding the gun as she tried to blot out the pain. But it was far from easy, the image of Aiden being torn apart still fresh in her mind. Of the smell of his blood, even his fucking fecal matter as his innards were ripped open and the contents hewn out was still clear. She sat down on the floor, back against the wall as she curled up.

It took half an hour, but the bodies were ditched. Eve locked the door, then sat down in front of Estel.
"If you need an outlet..." she slid her bow and gun to the side. "Talk. Or hit. Just hit me. Howevernyou want to let whatever you are bottling inside out. Just let it out Estel. Please."

Estel lifted her head and glared at Eve for several quiet, tense moments that would have made most people wonder if she was going to shoot Eve then and there. Instead.......she simply cried, tears welling up and running down her cheeks. "He was......was my friend. More than that, actually," she muttered, chin dipping low and dragging her forehead with it. "I wasn't a virgin but......well we were saving each other, for when it felt right. Not our first time, we both already had that before all this shit. No, it was.....well, 'the' first time, I guess. Not just sex, but love. Something romantic, with someone who you loved and loved you back." She chuckled, though if there was genuine humor to it, then it was lost in an ocean of cold grief and nothingness. "We cared for eachother and......and I wanted to lose myself in him."

Eve carefullynpeeled the gun away and slid it to her things. She then pulled Estel into a hug.
"I knew a boy, back before Hibiki saved me, before the epidemic had set in. We loved each other...we were kids but we never would leave each other alone..." she felt tears well. "He just disappeared. And all I can say is the hole that person leaves won't be filled easy. All I can offer Estel is the advice of...keep living for them." She closed her eyes.."live for them."

Estel was silent as Eve hugged her, and her nostrils were filled with the scent of Eve......or at least the smell of the river that still coated her. "How do I live for him in this world......when he was my whole reason for being alive in the first place?" she whispered quietly into Eve's ear.

"You survive until you find a reason to live Estel. You just need to find the strength to survive until then." She patted Estel's back. "I'll be here tonlend you strength. Ok? Aiden...he would want you to survive...right?" She asked. "And Ella...wouldnt...Ella want you to live?"

"I don't know anymore," Estel said quietly. She pushed Eve away and got up, heading for the fire. "Alright......moment's over......let's just get dry and figure out what to do next."

Eve followed, and began stripping. "Sorry to say it...just get naked. Lets hang it all up and find some blankets."

Grimacing, Estel stripped out of everything save her bra and underwear, hanging the rest up by the fireplace. There were some logs, and it was just a matter of lighting them up.

Eve stripped naked, hanging her things up. She turned her back to Estel and began digging in her bag for the small pouch of matches. "Can you shine the light here? Cant find my matches."

Estel grabbed her flashlight and turned it on, and aimed it at Eve.....and nearly dropped it when she saw the scars. "My....my god," she whispered.

Eve looked over her shoulder. "Huh? Something wrong?"

"Your back," Estel whispered. "Who......what happened?"

Eve went still.
"I was a Shepherd. During my training, my father had a man teach me cruelty. I had to hurt someone. I refused, and every time Inrefused he dragged the knife further. And when it got to my hip he went ahead and tortured the person, and left." She found her matches. "Thats only the biggest scar. He inflicted more where no one else would look." She turned around and crawled to the fireplace. "I left because mommy. I wanted a mom. Not a taskmaster."