ZRP-2: Chapter 5: Pariah's Warning

(James)
=It was my turn to scowl at her=
"Hardy har har."

"Just ask." Hibiki reiterated before pressing her back to the wall.
"I want to know she's ok at least."

(Andrew)

=I watched and waited, hoped that the flare would hold=

Come on, you undead bastards...take the bait...

=I looked over to Sarah, who looked just as uneasy as I was=

Glad I'm not alone here...

=I took a deep breath, and go on the walkie during this brief respite. My voice was almost at a whisper=

Mira...You okay over there?

(James)
=Scowling some ore, I thumbed the button again and whispered over the walkie=
"Sam, you find Eve yet?"

(Sam)
=I stopped in the field, taking a slow look around. At first, I saw nothing, but I thought I saw a small figure in the bleachers. Could have been nothing though=
"Not yet, but I thought I saw her in the bleachers. Want me to confirm?"

(James)
=I looked at Hibiki, waiting for an answer=

"Do it." She said. "She's terrified and not thinking right."

(James)
"Okay Sam, go to her. But be patient, she may or may not react badly."

(Sam)
"Got it. Wish me luck."
=I climbed a wall, and started up the bleachers and headed for Eve=

"Eve? Is that you?"

Eve's response?
An all-too familiar sob.

Hibiki sighed. "I wish this was over already. I need to hold my daughter..."

(James)
"Hibiki, after everything we've been through the past few days, I will be perfectly fine if you want to cuddle up with her for the next week."

(Sam)
Yeah....that's her.
"Eve, I'm coming up."

"Good. Because Sam will have to fight me for that."
Hibiki sighed.

Eve responded with an even more scared sob.
She was more afraid of Sam right now, then anything else.

(Sam)
"Eve, I'm not here to hurt you. Please, come down from there."
=I attempted a smile=

"I mean, now is not really the time."

(James)
"Understood. And hey,mid we actually win.....will that all be before, or after we rip eachothers clothes off?"
=I shot her a quick grin=

"If you want a naked catfight, then you better be ready to be handcuffed to a chair. And Eve will need a collar, leash, blindfold, and probably a juice box."
Hibiki smirked back.

Eve looked up.
"What do you want?" She asked through her sobs.

(Sam)
"Your mom wanted me to come get you, make sure you were safe. And honestly.....I wanted to make sure you were safe you were I safe as well."
=I sat down on a seat two rows down from her=

"I'm sorry, about the fight. Not sorry for my reasons, just sorry it came to it."

Eve managed to look up.
"I'm scared." She managed to say through her tears. "And I don't want you to get hurt."
She covered her face, shaking more.

(Sam)
"Eve....I've already been hurt. Not by us, but by everything that came before. It's time for us to hurt back, don't you think? Especially since its our one on the line."
=I sighed=

"And the main reason, why I'm staying here, is because if I run, if I give into my fear, then it will control me for the rest of my life. It's time to stand up, not just for our home, but ourselves."

Eve tried to move twards Sam...and ended up with a somewhat comical but obviously painful front flip that left Eve in a crumpled heap in the row in front of Sam.

(Sam)
=For the sake of her pride, I didn't even chuckle. But I did get up and move to help her=
"You okay?"

Eve took one look at Sam and hugged her, crying into her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Sam. I'm sorry I can't be brave." She sobbed out. "But I'm scared. Scared of dying. Scared of losing you. I just don't want to lose you."

(Sam)
"That's a fear we have to live with everyday. But living with it, and giving in to it, are two different things."

Eve doesn't stop crying.
"I'm not like you. I can't....I..."
She clung tighter. "Don't go Sam. I'll do anything. Just don't go. I can't lose you. I just can't."

(Sam)
"I won't leave you Eve. But I'm going to fight. I won't run away, won't hide and wish the monsters away. If we die, we die at home, and we die brave."

Eve looked up at Sam.
"Ok..."
She sniffe,d wiping her eyes. "Then at least return the kiss properly. Least you can do if you're insisting on leading us into a battle even the Texans at the Alamo would shit their pants at."

(Sam)
"As I recall, the Alamo faced way more than we are right now."
=But I kissed her all the same. It wasnt brief, but neither was it long=

Eve enjoyed every bit of it.
Sam had done it willingly, at least. Just asked once.
It was enough.

Shakily pulling away, she cleaned her face. "Ok..."

(Sam)
"Now, lets get our game faces on. The shepherds aren't going to wait around while we make out."

Eve blushed.
"I'd like to make out, but you never are ready." She shot back, gaining some of her confidence.
All the same, she took Sam's hand and put it over her heart, both of her hands pressing it against her chest.
"Thank you for loving me."
With a small smile, Eve finally let go...and her face slowly changed to her more passive face, the one she used when fighting.
"Now. Let's go. I'd like to fight so I have a place to make out with you."
She then stuck her tongue out quickly, before standing...albeit a bit shakily.

(Sam)
=I rolled my eyes at her at let go, walking down the bleachers=
"Honestly, you are way too......horny."

=That really was the best word I had to describe her. That and bipolar=

(James)
=I kept the walkie on, giving orders to everyone else on the other walls. I think Cooper may have also been giving some orders, but that may have been concerning the hotel and putting out the fires=
"Alright we have at least one mounted gun turret on this wall, I want someone on it now. There are bound to be light machine guns in the armory we can set up on the other walls, so lets not waste the opportunity."

Abel looked at the soldiers arming themselves.

James wasn't kidding when he said he was gonna start a war.

Abel looked out to the street(?) the wall over looked.

"Hard to believe there's a force strong enough to take this place down."

Eve blushed.
"No...horny means I want sex. But really...I just want your affection. So...needy might be a better word."
She ran after her silently.

Hibiki glanced at James. "As Sam if Eve is ok, then have her get a light machine gun from the armory and help set it up somewhere."

(James)
=I felt like tossing her the walkie, just so she could do it herself. But she'd probably take ownership of it. So I called Sam again=
"Sam, Hibiki want to know if Eve is okay. Is she?"

(Sam)
"Yes, she's fine. Bit of an idiot, but fine."

(James)
"Good to hear. Look, grab an LMG if you can and head to a wall, set up there."

(Sam)
"Got it."

Eve blushed with a bit of shame.
"At least I'm your idiot." She managed to counter.

Hibiki smiled. "Good." She peeked out. "James, you're radio man. Officially. So get us some status reports so we know what's what."

(James)
=I waived the epically silent walkie at her=
"It's all silent Hibiki. If anything happens, I'll hear it. But there's nada."

(Sam)
"Maybe you can stop being one though?"
=We got back down to the field, and headed for the armory=

"I have to keep you on your toes. I'm a bipolar fucked up girl with an obsession complex and a need for cuddling."
Eve's voice was still shaky though, and her bow shook ever so slightly.

If looks could bitchslap, James would be in oribt.

(James)
=I flashed her a grin=
"I love you too."

(Sam)
"That you are. But still......calm down, and get your head in the game. You're no use to anyone like this."

"I know Sam....I know..."
She took a deep breath. "Please. Stop for a minute...I...I need to just be quiet, collect my thoughts...and I can't be alone. Please."

Hibiki smiled. "Love you too."

(Sam)
"Make it fast Eve, we don't have a lot of time."

=Outside, in the city streets outside the walls, more walkers came. Many of them were dwelling in the buildings themselves, and with the sound of the explosion they came out. By the dozens they swarmed the streets, not all of them noticing the people on the walls. Yet=

Eve stepped up to Sam, and gently laid her forehead against Sam's chest. She took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes.
She gave herself one minute before pulling away. Her grip on her bow, tighter. Her eyes were shining a bit more.
"Let's go."

(Andrew)

=I radio James, my voice at a whisper=

Hey James...I don't know if you noticed...

=I looked to the street=

But our walker problem just got a LOT bigger.

=I eye the growing horde with caution

(James)
"Yeah, I saw Andrew. But don't fire. That goes for everyone else, we cannot alert them to our presence."

(Sam)
"Good. Hopefully there's still an LMG for me."
=We walked again, back into armory. There was one machine gun left, a belt fed SAW=

"This should work. Grab some ammo Eve. Especially for me."

(Andrew)

=I nod curtly=

Copy that.

=I continue to eye the horde warily, taking a breath to calm my nerves=

Eve grabbed as much ammo as she could carry.
"Let's do this."

=There was a sound, growing louder than the accumulated moans of the zombies. On each street that led to an entrance to the compound, short of the bridges, a large van or old, worn ice cream truck, came rushing down to the walls at high speeds. The fronts had angular rams welded to them, and they were o doubt the plague ships=

(James)
"Dammit, dammit. Everyone, fire on the vans now!"
=The sound of gunfire became deafening, as everyone, myself included,opened up on the vehicles. It had the side effect of attracting the walkers to us. Great. But we focused on the windows, and did our best. For our target, the front window, or rather the metal mesh they set up, was peppered with bullets and the driver no doubt turned to hamburger. It swerved, ramming into a nearby building, glass breaking=

"Alright! It's down! I need all available men to change locations and help stop the others! You!" She pointed at some guy with a hunting rifle. "If the van moves, shoot the driver again."

She got up and started to head to another gate.

(James)
"Hiibki wait, we don't need to move. Tether walls can fend for themselves. But we need to hold our position unless absolutely necessary."


(Sam)
"Alright, that's it. Lets go."
=I broke not a jog, made difficult by the weight of the gun, it was freaking heavy as hell=

Eve followed with difficulty.
Ammo was heavy.

Hibiki frowned, but stayed.

=Along the other walls, soldiers and militia from the lockdown town fired at the oncoming trucks, doing their best to bring them to a halt. The walls with the heavy machine guns fared better, their bullets tearing through the meager amount of armor on the trucks. One of them crashed into an empty car on the side of the street, another slowed to a halt and barely gave the gate it hit a love tap. Zombies however, now in a large herd on all sides, took notice of the gunfire and moved in towards the walls. They clamored against them, trying to get in, raking their hands over the surface and staring up at the defenders, hunger evident on their snarling faces. But holding fast to their orders, the defenders did not waste ammo on the walkers=

Hibiki stared at the walkers below.
"How many troops do we have that are outside the walls?" She directed at James.

(Andrew)

=My ears were ringing after the noisy gunfight=

Welp...we have their undivided attention...

=My gun-barrel was still smoking and snarling of the undead wasn't helping my nerves=

(Before)
The vans rushed to the gates at high speeds, but with combined fire from Abel and all the guards at the driver and his passenger, they were stopped in their tracks.

"Going pretty well so far, huh?"

Abel said to one of the guards, not really expecting an answer. He topped off his shotgun, sliding fresh slugs in the tube.

(James)
"I don't know, let me ask."
=Thumbing the button again,I called Cooper=

"Cooper, how many people do we have putsidethe walls?"

*Cooper*
"Dex and at least eight others are in the train yards, working on getting a train up and running. That's about it."

Hibiki looked on thoughtfully.
"Ask him how long would it take for us to get some men to the shepherds by using the bridges."