ZRP-2 Chapter 6: Scattered

Abel climbed into the back of one of the cars that Andrew dove into.

"Phew, nice and clean. Anyone hurt?"

*Cooper*
=He ran for one of the pickups, and hopped into the bed=
"Drive now!"

=The pickup, and every other car they now had, roared to life and they soon drove down the road, moving as fast as they could out of the town=

*Driver*
=Without turning from the road, they spoke to Abel=
"So far, nada. And I think we got everyone."

(Sam)
"I mean, I won;t shout out loud to everyone that I saw you naked."

(James)
=We started walking, weapons drawn and ready. It was going to be a while, I think, until we would find anything that still had edible food=

"Topless, Sam...haven't found time to undress for you."
Eve squeezed Sam's hand softly, smiling a bit. "Just...don't forget it when I do. Alright?"

Hibiki checked inside a car as they passed. A family. Gunshots to the chest.
"Monsters..." she said angrily, moving away and spotting a market. "There." She pointed.

(Sam)
=Squeezing back, I whispered to her=
"I won't."

(James)
"Okay, here's what we're going to do; We move to the front glass, I'll tap on it and make some noise and draw any walkers inside towards us, that way we at least know where they are. Then we go n, take them out."

Smiling, Eve relaxed her hand.
"You should go. We can't stay here..."

Hibiki nodded, drawing her sword. "Let's go."

(James)
=Trevor simply nodded, following me as we headed towards the front of the store. The door was closed, glass broken and scattered on the ground. I went to the front window, a flat plane of glass. it was dark inside, no power, no lights. I knocked a few times on it=
"Wait for it...."

=A few minutes later, there was thud against the glass, followed by another, as a few walkers slammed themselves against the glass, emerging from the darkness inside=
"Okay, let's go."

(Sam)
=I got up=
"Okay. Just get some more sleep."

=Then I walked out and got back in my car. Though we weren't going anywhere yet, a head count already in motion=

"Yes ma'am." Eve said, then closed her eyes as Sam left.

Hibiki gripped her katana. "Ready."

(Andrew)

=I yawn briefly, indicative of how little sleep I've gotten over the past three weeks=

At least I can sleep now

=I then get on the radio with Cooper=

Okay...what's our next step, Cooper?

(James)
=Opening the door, I let the first walker out for Hibiki to deal with. Two more came out, and Trevor and I dealt with them. One lunged at me, and I stepped to the side and tripped it, letting fall to the floor. Then I followed with a classic curb stomp=

(Sam)
=The caravan stayed there for a few more minutes, as someone walked from car to car. By the looks of it, we all got out okay=

*Cooper*
"Well, we have cars. So now our first priority is to try and find Marcus and his caravan, meet up and join them."

(Andrew)

=I sigh=

Well...do you even know where they headed?

=I was just as clueless as the rest=

Hibiki slashed, and down the walker went.
Pushing past the two, she followed up with an upwards slash to a fourth.
"Let's go."

*Cooper*
"Honestly.....I have no idea. Last time we were in contact with his group, they were in Illinois, I think. That's north of us, so either we head north or find a radio tower and see if we can get it working. If we're lucky, we can get a signal and get in contact with the other groups."

(James)
=Trevor and I finished with our walkers, and followed Hibiki into the store. Most of the aisles were barren=
"Okay, let's see if there's anything worth salvaging. Stick together though."

(Sam)
=We were ready a few minutes later, and began driving down the road again=

Hibiki nodded. "Check for cans that might have rolled out of site."

Mira and Jenn settled into the back of a car, falling asleep against each other, having gotten seperated from their other halves.

(James)
=Nodding, I started swiveling my head around, looking for any food=
"Maybe we should check in the back rooms, see if there are any items in storage?"


=Aboard the bus, Marcus went back to check on one of the patients; Anthony Book. The priest had been wounded in the past few days, during one of their scouting runs into a town. He had been knocked down, and got a nasty cut that got infected, and so far he was looking better. His fever had broken, and for now he was unconscious=

(Andrew)

=I nod=

So...you know of a nearby radio station we could use to boost the signal?

=I wanted a solution, and fast=

"Yeah...let's go." She said, sheathing her sword and drawing her 9mm.

Eve shifted a bit. "Marcus?" She called. "Is there any spare water?"

*Cooper*
"Not really. And for now our main goal is to drive, and find some food if possible. Contacting the others can come later."

(James)
=I led the way to the back, slipping through the doors. It actually had some promise. There were a few boxes that didn't look open, and some pallets with saran wrap keeping their contents safe and secure=
"Okay, let's check the boxes, see what we can find."

*Marcus*
=Grabbing a canteen, he handed it to Eve=

(Andrew)

=I nod=

Yeah...first things first.

=I look out to the road=

We need to find a place to stay...that has food.

Nodding, Hibiki took out her knife.
"Where to start..."

Eve drank a mouthful, then gace the canteen back. "Thanks."

(James)
=I walked over to one of the large blocks of wrapped up food, taking my knife and cutting a hole in the plastic wrap=
"We've got canned food here. Mostly fish. Some shellfish as well."

=Looking around, I spotted one of those u shaped things that shop worked used to load pallets into the store. Good it was that it wasn't electric, completely manual=
"I think we have a way of getting the stuff out of here."

*Marcus*
=He took back the canteen back, nodding at her=
"Tell me if you need anything else Eve. I'm here for ya."

*Cooper*
"Yeah, so keep your eyes peeled as we drive boy."

"I could use Sam, some Victoria's Secret, candles, and no zombies." She joked lamely, coughing.

Hibiki cut some plastic away. "Canned fruit. Probably expired."

(James)
"We can check when we get them back to the boat. For now, lets take the bulk back with us."

*Marcus*
=He blinked at her=
"Uh, what?"

(Andrew)

=I nod=

I'll do that...

=I look to Sarah=

And don't think Sarah didn't notice the extra men that are watching her, Cooper. She isn't daft...nor is she happy.

"Marcus. I'm delirious." She said seriously, just ramming home the fact she has no clue what she's saying.

Hibiki cut open another. "Canned goods. Looks good."

*Cooper*
=Well, he wasn't exactly surprised. Or worried=
"Yes, and? You don't like the precautions I had to take after we got our asses handed to us by the Shepherds, then feel free to take your sister and leave. Because frankly, I don't have the time or the patience to get in a pissing match over how I act to keep this whole group safe."

*Marcus*
"Okay..."
=He slowly backed away=

(James)
"Try and load the pallets onto this thing."
=I walked over to the pallet carrier=

(Andrew)

=I shake my head=

I'm fine with the precautions, Cooper.

=I look to Sarah=

I'll keep her in line.

Hibiki nodded, starting to help move stuff.

Eve groaned. "Please tell me I'm not seeing unicorns."

(James)
"Don't bother Hibiki, this should be easy."
=I grabbed the handle and pulled the rolling platform with me, and turned it around so the forks pointed towards the box=

"Just try and....turn the box around a little,so can get this thing under the pallet. And look for more like this."

*Trevor*
=He suddenly looked nervous as he stood by the door they came through=
"Uh, guys? Hurry up, because more walkers are coming. I count six at least."

*Marcus*
"Uh, no unicorns in here."

*Cooper*
"See that you do. I need my men on watch for enemies outside the group, not inside."

"Then fuck. I'm delirious, yep."
Eve closed her eyes and passed out.

Hibiki did as asked.
"Dammit. Trevor, got any flares?"

*Trevor*
"Yeah, but we're kinda boxed in here. I'd have to...."
=He went silent, and then broke out a road flare=

"James, Hibiki, get as much food loaded as you can, and book it for the boat."
=Before anyone could say anything, he popped the flare, and with it lit p and smoking in his hand he ran out into the store, yelling and waving the flare, and drawing all the walkers to him as he ran out. They followed him out the store, leaving the others free to move=

(James)
"Crazy son of a.... Hibiki, lets load up and move. Grab that other loader and get the other crate loaded, and we'll make for the boat."

*Marcus*
"Get some sleep kiddo. You'll be better when you wake up."

Eve passed out.

Hibiki worked faster. "I was gonna tell him wait then toss it away from us..."

(James)
"Well hopefully he's okay and just leading them away."
=We had one crate loaded, and I was working on getting the second loaded=

"I'll take one, you take the other."

Nodding, Hibiki started moving. "Please tell me he didn't have our only radio."

(James)
=I checked my bag, and found our radio inside=
"We're good. Now lets move."

=I was the first one out, dragging the crate behind me on the tiny forklift=
"Race ya!"

"No racing! Survival before play dammit!" Hibiki seethed.

(Andrew)

=I nod=

I'll do that.

=I look out the window, looking for any sign of civilization=

(James)
"Come on, live a little!"
=We broke out into the light outside, and I could see a few more walkers, chasing something off to the right. I could still hear Trevor shouting, hollering for their attention which they gave him=

Hibiki tugged more.
"I'll live more when we can put that sock on the doorknob again."

(James)
"A bit soon for that huh? I thought we'd help ourselves to a feast once we get back to the boat."
=It was heavy, pulling the large crate behind me. My arms already began to feel like they were being torn out of their sockets=

"Good idea. Radio trevor to get his ass to the baot." Hibiki agreed.

(James)
"How am I supposed to radio him? We only came with one damn radio!"
=As we kept going, nearing the same dock we had come in from,i cold see the boat pulling back in, Mark apparently having spotted us. There was the sound of running footsteps, heavy breathing, and Trevor showed up next to me=

*Trevor*
"I...gave....them the...oh geez, I gave them the slip. Move!"

Hibiki sighed and got ready to start hoving the stuff onto the boat.
"Work faster!"

Abel sat in the car, his thoughts on the subject of food.

"It's getting harder and harder just scavenging food anymore. In another two years there won't be anything left. Caravans with a good amount of people are something that soon, won't even be possible. At some point we're gonna have to look at the bigger picture."

(James)
=As the boat pulled up alongside the edge of the dock, Mark came out of the bridge, descending the ladder to the deck and lifting the ramp up, and laying it down between the boat and the dock=
"Uh, is that thing wide enough for the crates?"

*Trevor*
"The walkers aren't anywhere near us, we can just cut the saran wrap off and toss them aboard."

Wieleing her knife with surgical.precision, Hibiki assaulted the saran wrap and started tossing things onto the boat.
"Don't dawdle anyways."

(James)
=Using my own knife, I cut off the wrapping and began tossing stuff onto the boat. Even Mark and Trevor pitched in, eager to get out of here. I chanced a look behind me, and saw that the walkers Trevor thought he had evaded had seen us, and were now coming for us=
"Must toss faster."

Hibiki threw armfulls into the boat.
"When they get close, I'll hold them off! We need all this food!"

(James)
=I was down to the last few boxes=
"You know, we have enough. We can go now!"

"Tell that to the caravan! And the train!"
Hibiki, done with hers, went over and started throwing the rest of James' in. "Everyone else needs this food, too!"

(James)
"Yeah and we have no idea where they are or if we'll see them again in the next few days."