ZRP-2 Chapter 6: Scattered

"Heh. Yeah...guess so." She paused. "Did you have a boyfriend before?"

(James)
=Once more, I was stunned to a standstill=
"Uh, no. Always been straight."

=I started walking until was beside her again=
"Nothing to do with religion mind you. Just a preference. Though I was better at being around guys than around girls."

=Grinning sheepishly, I looked at her=
"Present company excluded."

Hibiki laughed.
"Yeah, well, I managed to fall in love with you, and had a shotgun wedding after what, two weeks? yeah, present company very excluded."

(James)
=I playfully punched her in the shoulder=
"Oh what now you're saying you regret falling for me, and all the time we've spent together?"

"No, I regret not...maybe...taking it slower...ya'know?"
Hibiki sighed. "It went so fast...but that's the mentality. Get it done fast, so...you don't get caught...killed..."
Hibiki trailed off.

(James)
"Or left with regrets...."
=The conversation took a bit of a bleak turn, and I looked for something new to talk about. I couldn't think of anything=

Hibiki sighed. "That's my only regret, not waiting a bit more." She smiled. "I'll never regret saying yes."

(James)
=It was enough to make me smile, and I draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug=
"And I'm happy everyday because of it."

=We got back to the camp site=

She leaned into James.
"I am too."

=People had actually chopped down a few small trees, gathering wood to make a fire. It was going to be a cold night, and they'd need the warmth=

(James)
"If only we had chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. I can make some decent s'mores."

"You have me and a bed. But if you'd rather have food, then alright, I'll go see the kids."
Hibiki started pulling away, grinning.

(James)
"Twice in one day, with the kids aboard? Nah, think I'll try and eat."

Hibiki laughed. "Was teasing." She looked at the boat. "have a nice dinner at the cruise ship's dining lounge?" She gestured jokingly.

(James)
=I looked from the boat, to the camp site=
"Uh....I don't know. After so long eating on the boat, figured we could try eating on land for once."

"Works for me." She chuckled. "Lead the way to our five star restaraunt!" She said.

(James)
"Yeah. With fresh Maine lobster, mashed potatoes, and some coke."

"And a molten chocolate lava cake." Hibiki said dreamily.

(James)
"With ice cream on top?"

"And caramel and hot fudge." she added.

=The Shepherd group, following the train tracks, had traveled south east along the same route as Cooper's team. Driving non-stop for most of the day, they came to a stop by the river to relieve themselves, eat, and toy with the prisoners=

(James)
=It was amazing what most people stored in their cars while out on the run. With the caravan, a lot of people had stored those camping chairs, the kind that collapse and can be stored in these slim sacks. Because they were so slim, there was enough of them that Hibiki and I managed to grab two to sit down in a circle with everyone else. The fire had yet to be lit, since it would be harder to see the smoke at night which was yet to come. Because it was Fall, the sun was already beginning to set, low on the west horizon and casting a nice orange glow on the sky. I realized I should have taken the time to go fishing, since there would be fish by this time right now in the river=

Abel moved up the staircase at a brisk pace, but also trying to stay quiet, which wasn't too hard with all the firearms going off.  At the top of the staircase Abel began walking down the hall, toward the room where the gunfire was coming from.  He turned the corner, shotgun raised.  A woman was kneeling next to the window, looking out, firing her rifle at the building, that Abel guessed Andrew and the rest were in.

She hadn't known that Abel stood just three yards behind, as he slowly started walking closer.  His shotgun pointed at her head, but once within two meters, he lowered it, drawing his pistol from his dropleg, pointing it at her head, he pulled the trigger, without so much as flinching.  The noise of his gun was drowned out by the constant fire of others.  He didn't waste any time.  Abel quickly grabbed the rifle the woman was using, it was some kind of hunting rifle, looked like a 30 ought 6.

Abel checked the dead woman's body for spare magazines, finding two, then placed them next to the window.  Abel scanned the area outside the window, seeing multiple shooters in different locations.  Abel's attention first turned to the shooters that had been hiding on the roofs.  He rose the weapon out of the window, taking in a deep breath, lining his shot up, then slowly exhaled as he kept the rifle as steady as he could.  The gun cracked as the trigger pulled back, releasing the projectile which traveled over the street, rushing towards its target, into the bandit's right shoulder, spraying redmist into the air as he fell down yelling.

Abel drew the bolt back, ejecting the spent shell, while loading in a new one.

(Sam)
=Laying there in the bed with Eve, I couldn't help but run a hand through her hair as I tightened my grip around her. There were things I felt should have been said, given what we were dealing with, this world we lived in now. I felt that a thank you was in order, since she was there for me at night during the three weeks. Our time with the raiders, as their hostages.....well, it finally caught up with me. Night terrors mostly, some even making me scream loud enough to wake people in the caravan and make the guards come in guns raised. And she still stayed with me. Held me at night. So.....yeah, now was as good a time as any. Especially since I had trouble saying stuff like this when she was awake=
"Thank you Eve, for being there for me. You made the past three weeks.......livable. And....and I love you all the more for it."

As Hibiki settled down to eat, an asleep Eve seemed to snuggle back, a soft mewling sound of content coming from her. She didn't wake up.
But her hand, like instinct, slid down to rest on Sam's hand.

(James)
=The sun was just now touching the horizon, slowly vanishing and robbing us of light. It was about then that they lit the fire, and we began to cook the food. Well, first we had to check and see if it was good to eat, opening each can and checking the contents. Thankfully, more often than not they were safe, but the dominant stuff we had to eat was baked beans. And tuna, but we didn't heat it up=

(Sam)
=I smiled as I felt her hand on mine, and it....it, we'll did something. I got a weird feeling in my chest, like a tingling or shaking sensation, and I felt happy because of it. Enough so that it drove me to plant a soft kiss by her ear=

Hibiki dug in.
"Beans. So much better then what I had when me and Eve first started surviving."

Eve didn't move...she lay there, still, her hand ever present on Sam's.

(James)
"What did you have?"
=Personally, I never enjoyed beans all that much. They.....didn't sit that well with me. Nothing bad, but they gave me gas. Which was why I was eating more of the tuna, for Hibiki's sake=

"Rabbit. Occasional deer. Hard candy. Even got some quail. " hibiki answered. "Eve is a force to be reckoned with when she has a bow."

(James)
"Of that, I have no doubt."
=I pinched another piece of tuna between my fingers from in the can, and placed it in my mouth=

Hibiki smiled.
"Hope those two settled everything..."

(James)
"If we're lucky, they've settled and are now closer than we are."

"I hope we're luckiee then that." Hibiki responded softly.

(James)
"We will be...."
=There was a commotion by the front of the camp, near the street it had come in. Guards were shouting, aiming their weapons down the street. I got up out of my chair, moving quickly to see what was up=

Hibiki was right beside James, her Glock drawn.
"I swear..."

(James)
=Jogging to the fence they set up, I saw what they were all aiming at. It was a lone figure, walking towards the camp. Long, dirty hair covered the front of their face, and it looked....like it was carrying something. I could barely make out that it was a woman, and I noticed that what she was carrying had a pair of legs, dangling limply=
"Hold your fire."

=I moved forward toward the woman, while everyone else kept their weapons trained on the figure. As I slowly approached, I took note of how dirty her clothes were, and that of the child. The child was probably asleep, unmoving in her arms=
"Hey, are you okay? Are you infected?"

=I could have sworn she made a sound. But it was tiny, weak=

Hibiki approached carefully, gun still drawn. If she lurched at James, teeth first, she was history.
She waited patiently.

(James)
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
=I got up close to her, and reached out a hand. In hindsight, it was probably the dumbest thing I ever did, but when I saw the kid.....I was concerned. Brushing aside her hair, I saw the dead look on her face, the decomposing flesh of her face, and her eyes.....dead, empty, and filled with a desperate hunger. She lunged for my hand, and I jerked it back=

"Fuck!"

Before the second syllable was out of James' mouth, the crack of a 9mm semi automatic Glock echoed, and the woman's head jerked back, and the walker fell to the ground.
"Ch...check wh-what it w-was carrying." She stuttered out.

(James)
=Even before I moved, the form she was carrying began to stir. It moaned, hands moving around as they searched for something. It picked itself up off the ground, and turned to face me. I had my gun out, ready to shoot the small form, but as it turned to look at me, I realized that the small body used to be a boy.....the same age as Harry. It even looked a bit like him, if he had more time to decompose. And I froze=
"Harry...?"

=It lunged for me, and I grimaced as I pulled the trigger=

Hibiki lowered her pistol.
"I had hoped they were survivors." She said quietly.

(James)
=I didn't say anything. Rooted to the spot, I still held my pistol out, aimed at where the child zombies head used to be. God, how old could they have been? Ten? Nine? And that had to be their mother. They were both infected, died together holding each other....turned together, and stuck wandering together. And I still couldn't get his face out of my head. It had been a month and change, but I still.....still had trouble coping with what I did. Even if it was for the best=

Hibiki reached out, pushing the gun down so itwas pointed down.
"James " she said softly.

(Sam)
=I heard a pair of gunshots, and I quickly let go of Eve, standing up and taking a peek out of the tiny window for the room. Thankfully, it was facing the town, and I could see a gathering of people over by the fence=
What's going on?

(James)
=I barely noticed the fact that Hibiki was pushing the gun down. Hell, it was clear I was in a daze, unfocused. And that was dangerous these days, so I quickly shook my head and came back to reality=
"It's fine. I'm okay."

=Holstering the gun, I turned and walked back, my gaze aimed at the ground as my head drooped a little=

Hibiki walked after him, then rested her hand on his shoulder silently.
Harry.
That had to be what had him down.

(James)
=I didn't mean to, but I shrugged my shoulder, removing her hand as I kept walking. The thoughts of Harry sorta died down, but I needed to get a better handle on them, on my own=

Hibiki let James go, and headed for the boat silently.
She couldn't shoot Eve.

She couldn't fathom how James had shot Harry.

(James)
=Coming to a stop at the peer, I gazed out at the river, breathing slowly through my nose. It shouldn't have hit me that hard really, killing the juvenile walker. I should have been able to let go of what I did to.....for, Harry. But I couldn't let go, not yet. The most I could do was suppress it, store it away for a better time to deal with it. Doing so, I calmed down a bit, and walked back onto the boat=
"Hibiki? I'm....sorry, about shrugging you off like that."

Turning, Hibiki drew James into a hug.
"It's ok."

(James)
=I was caught off guard by the hug, but I returned it, burying my face into the space between her neck and shoulder=
"No, it's not. I shouldn't freeze or breakdown every time I remember what I did for Harry. But I still do. And it's going to get me....or worse, you, killed."

"Hasn't gotten Sam or Eve killed yet. We'll be fine." Hibiki promised.

(James)
"Yeah....maybe your right."
=We both stood there for a while, until I decided to let go=

"So, should we take watch, or just sit around the fire?"