IC The Waiting Game

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"Kaes...I couldn't have slit the boy's throat. He would've seen me coming and then we would've all been in danger. I killed him as painlessly as I could." Ash says with a sad look in her eyes. "I really didn't want to kill anyone. And anyone I do kill, I try to kill without causing too much pain. Stab in the back of the neck (gestures to Stephanie), bullet through the head (gestures to Alphonse), no pain. I'm sorry if my ways of killing don't mix with your morals." Kaes idea of living made her trust him more...but it also made her slightly disgusted and saddened towards herself.
She looks back to Blake to see him striding over to her. She lets him take the man and is immediately unsure of whether that was a good idea. She watches, horrified by his hostile actions towards the hostage. And then he just kills him.
Looking Blake in the eyes, Ash says in soft yet unyielding voice, "Blake...he would've given us the answers easily. He'd seen us, there wasn't a need to confirm his fear, it had already been confirmed. You didn't have to threaten him or injure him. We don't need to act as hostile as them."
And then she silently watches the girl leave.

((Timdood3 S_swimmer))

 

[Toiletprincess]

Riley sticks her tongue out at Kaes, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "How about you fight as you do, and we fight as we do, they were going to end up dead anyway and they died pretty quick - I don't see the problem," she looked at Ash and nodded her head slightly, having some respect for the girl. Riley scowled, watching as Blake interrogated the man and then murdered him anyway. This seemed to spark some sense of alertness in the girl who had been watching and she ran down and around a corner, away from us. "Nice job you fucking moron," she groaned, stepping forward from to wall and whacking Blake hard in the hand, hard, so that released his grip on Edward. She smoothly helps the body from it's slump position to a lying-down one and looks back at Blake, "Idiot, we could've used him to map out their positions inside the building and shit. He could've been useful - plus you scared the wits out of the poor girl, could you not have waited a couple of moments before being fucking stupid and doing it in front of our obviously terrified company? Are you some sort of bonehead?"
((S_swimmer Timdood3 ))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"Good gosh, she's fierce...And once again, has an excellent point. She also appears to be quite bright."
"Blake, she does have a good point. We have to be less impetuous and a lot more strategical, if we are to complete the task ahead of us." She says, continuing to look him in the eye.
((S_swimmer))

 

[Naoh]

"Are you some sort of bonehead?" Chris heard the girl say to Blake. He giggled. "Bonehead bonehead!" Chris danced over to Blake, chanting "Bonehead!"

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

She stops right there, before she can start up the side of the building.
(do i really want to be alone?)
She knows the answer without thinking.
(yes...but do i want to be around more people enough to hang around with this crowd?)
She isn't quite sure that that's another yes.
(i'll...)
Sighing softly, she turns back.
(i'll give them another chance.)
Hesitantly, cringing at the sight of the bloodied bodies on the floor, she peers back in.
"Hol-"
Wait. No use keeping up that facade.
"Hello again...?"

 

[S_swimmer]

Blake put a hand on Chris's head, holding him in place. "I am being strategical," he said, sighing. "Or, rather, I'm being efficient. We already know how many are in the building; Chris told us, minus the number we killed here. And, after all, this strategy was a test of some sort. While I did intend to kill them all, they had the same number as us. If they were on our level or above, they wouldn't have been put down so easily. One of us may have died." That's right, I don't care about using sacrifices anymore. Blake squeezed his eyelids to smother his thoughts, then opened them again with a deadly grin. "This means they're weaker than us. We can slaughter them. Plus, judging by the people who just came here, it's rather easy to figure out how they think and where they'll be positioned. It's just connecting the dots.

"Look, I agree that we should survive together - after all, that is the reason I'm still here. But six is a good number and we don't need extra baggage. This world is hell; we don't need to save everyone because everyone here has already been condemned."

After a short pause, he cocked his head to the side and threw it over his shoulder to the sound of somewhat familiar footsteps running back towards them. "Hello again...?" the mysterious girl said, cringing.

"Yo," he called nonchalantly. He motioned to the others and said in a quieter tone, "I'll let you handle her since you guys are a bit more social. Chris, come with me, I want to talk to you." Lifting Chris up by the head, Blake carried him up the stairs to the second floor.

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Ash watched Blake a moment longer before turning to the girl. "So she does know English. That might help." Ash smiled softly at the girl, "Hello, Chiquita. Shall we try this again?"

((CaffeinatedKitty))

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

She flinches as he- isn't that the murderer?- drags the creepy boy from the room.
(i guess it'll be easier without him here)
The girl smiles at her, thankfully kindly.
"Hello, Chiquita. Shall we try this again?"
"I...I guess." She swallows nervously, just afraid enough to keep her guard up.
(how long has it been since i talked to someone?)

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"Ok then." Ash takes note of the admittedly disturbing corpses and decides it'd probably be best to step outside. Sighing and rubbing the back of her neck, she addresses the room saying, "Um...how `bout we all talk in a pleasanter environment. Perhaps outside? Also, once Blake and Chris return we should discuss the escapee."

(( S_swimmer, Toiletprincess, Naoh, Timdood3, Enderfive, CaffeinatedKitty))

 

[Toiletprincess]

The girl tilts her head and looks at the blatantly terrified girl, her usual hard expression softening just slightly. Looking around at the bodies she bites her lip and glances at Ash with a brief nod. "I agree, though if it'd make you feel better you two can just go and we could do some cleaning up so we don't attract more pusermites?" she suggested, shrugging and running a hand through her short hair, "though I'm not sure it's safe going out there with just the two of you, especially since there was an escapee and I'm sure he'll be back with backup fairly quickly."

((Snarky_Wondermuffin CaffeinatedKitty ))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Slowly nodding her head, Ash thinks for a moment before replying, "True. But it is approximately 4.5 miles away, and even if he was running, he'd get there in about 40 minutes. However, Kaes said he was carrying a body, so that leaves us with about 45 minutes left. So...I think the kid and I'll be fine outside if that is alright with her." She looks over to the kid for her response.
"But, 8.3 divided by 2, equals 4.15. So that'd make it about..." With a furrowed brow, Ash counts on her fingers. Turning to Riley and the others she quickly says, "Better make that 35 minutes." And then turns back to the girl.

((CaffeinatedKitty, Toiletprincess, Timdood3, Enderfive))

 

[Timdood3]

Kaes looks on smiling as Ash interacts with the new girl. At least I don't need to communicate much... Logically, they want to go outside, away from the brutally destroyed corpses. I'd offer to go with them for a bit of protection, but I'd just be intimidation. Ash is more than competent with that knife of hers.

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

"Well, alright..."
(let's hope i'm not dead by the end of the 35 minutes)
Brushing her elbow against the side of her case for reassurance, she nods.
Her mouth is dry with nervousness, but she doesn't feel nearly safe enough to let her guard down for long enough to take a drink.
"So..." She shuffles back a little, starting towards the door. "Let's go...?"
...
((Snarky_Wondermuffin Timdood3 Toiletprincess))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"She's still so nervous, so no sudden movements." Ash, following the girl, goes outside. Once they are outside she puts up her hands a little to show she means no harm. Seeing as that's probably the most she can do at the moment, she looks around to see if there are any pursurmites. Thankfully, she sees none. Looking back at the girl she says, "So, as I stated before, though it's possible you didn't hear me because of how frightened you seemed, I am Ash." Pausing, she continues, "And your name is?"

((CaffeinatedKitty))

 

[Toiletprincess]

The girl followed the other two with her eyes as they left and let out a breath, running a hand through her short choppy hair. "Okay," she muttered under her breath, looking at the outcome of the chaos before,"Guess it's time to clean up." Riley walked over to the resting place of the man she killed herself and pulled his jacket off, ripping it in half so she could use it to cover the head wound and wrap the decapitated arm in it. She hoisted him over her shoulder and walked to the side of the room to place him in a seated position in the corner, against both walls. Looking back at the others she scoffed and put a hand on her hip, "Were you going to help or not?"

(( Timdood3 Enderfive S_swimmer Naoh ))

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Following Riley's lead, Fredrik walk over to the large man who had been shot in the head (Alphonse). Nearly effortlessly he puts him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. As he heads over to where she disposed of the body he hears her say with a scoff, "Were you going to help or not?" And turns his head to follow her gaze towards the others, before turning back and setting the body next to its companion.

((Enderfive))

 

[Timdood3]

Riley and the viking started cleaning up the bodies. The former none too kindly. Kaes moved forward to pick up the lifeless corpse of the one woman who had arrived with the enemies, the grey thistles or whatever, and carry her to the corner with the others. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine."

Toiletprincess

 

[Toiletprincess]

She shot a look at Kaes and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't survive as long as I did by being sociable," she replied curtly, "I know I'm an asshole, it doesn't have to be pointed out." Sighing and cracking her knuckles, she walked over to the last corpse, the guy Blake killed and gripped him by the arm to hoist him up over her shoulder. "Last one," she muttered, placing him carefully in the corner with the rest, "alright, what now?"

((Timdood3 Snarky_Wondermuffin Naoh S_swimmer ))

 

[S_swimmer]

Blake; Chris

"...So Mr. Bonehead, what's with the sudden meeting?" Chris smirked. Blake obviously had something in mind, and Chris was pleased that Blake wanted him in on it.

Blake rested his head in his hand and let out an exhasperated sigh. "You can stop calling me that." Dragging his hand down his face, he wiped away his expression to reveal one of deep focus. "Let's start by telling me about the man you encountered. How was he? Fighting tendencies? Did you catch his number?"

Chris chewed on his lip. "Well... he was very well trained. He instinctively knew where I was and how to react. It's fairly obvious that he's a member of the Unseen, but I didn't get his number."

"Hmm..." He put his hand to his chin. "I think it's safe to assume that there will be multiple Unseen members at the store... but the rest of the gang is rather unskilled. Chris, I want to tell you something."

"And what might that be, Blake?" Chris asked.

"I... used to be a member of Projekt Heilung. I'm assuming you've heard of them?"

"I have heard bits about them here and there, but nothing particularly informative..."

"Well, we were more or less a group of intellectuals and close friends trying to survive. We were idealists; we thought we could save the world. But now at least I know that it's beyond saving." Blake paused, gulping. "Once we got a live sample, things started changing. We observed it and devoted ourselves to uncovering the truth. It was around then that we changed our names to Projekt Heilung. We released fact and theory after fact and theory. We were the ones who found out the parasitic nanotechnology in the brains of the zombies, we named them Pusermites, and we found the eggs in the saliva. But our main concern was how to get rid of them. So we started observing body tendencies and decay rate. Taking note of all the factors, we were able to invent the Month Theory." Well, I did, Blake thought bitterly. "Basically, the average Pusermite in a temperate climate would decay and die in 27-29 days without any food or water. A while after, things began to deteriorate for ourselves, and we broke apart for various reasons.

"The reason I'm telling you this is because I want you to know about Takeshi Ito. He was a member of Projekt Heilung. He's also the leader of the Unseen."

"Ito... alright. What's his backstory?"

"Well... I don't really want to share too much about him right now, but I have some unfinished business with him. So here's what I want you and I to do. We'll set up a plan to raid the store together, but we have to make sure that we apprehend one of the Unseen without killing them. They might be able to take us to one of their bases with the right prompt."

"That seems like the best course of action to me. I'll follow your lead."

After a short lapse, the truth of Blake's actions crashed down onto him. In a flash of white, Blake's lab coat settled behind Chris and a nail prodded curiously at his neck. "I've trusted you with important information. Tell this to anyone or use it against me and I will execute you."

Chris giggled and blew a stray hair out of his field of vision. "Sure Blake, whatever you say," and Chris pocketed the knife hidden in his hand.

"Alright, then." Blake walked back to the chair and sat down, folding his hands. A cold, playful smile danced across his lips. "Then let's begin."

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

"...Aleta." She bites her lip.
(maybe I should've given a fake name?)
"What was... That." She gestures towards the building.
(very clear question there)
"When I first got here?"
(better)

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

"Aleta. Hm, that's a pretty name." Ash thought. Hearing her last question, she let out a remorseful sigh. Resting her head on her hand, she started to explain. "That," She said gesturing to the building, "Was step one of our plan to survive. I don't see any issue in telling you what's going on, considering you've probably been through just as much as we have." Pausing, she thoughtfully studied the girls' face. Then, she nodded to the Northern area of the horizon. "Over there, about 4.5 miles away, is a Walmart. Food, supplies, water." She said with a hint of longing in her voice. "But, as wonderful as this all sounds...There is one...small...problem. That Walmart is run by the White Thorns, a mediocre mafia group. However, they are being assisted by The Unseen, a mafia group with much greater skills. From the rumors I have heard, yes, I know, rumors are only rumors, they kill people for no real reason, or for some small gain.
"Now, what did killing all of those people have to do with this? Well, Chris, that creepy dork in there, sent out a radio signal saying that there was food and supplies here. He lied. But we all heard it and came here, where we discovered he had the plan about the Walmart. But, as 'brilliant' as he is, he may have not considered that the White Thorns have a radio. They did. They received the signal. They came. If they escaped, they would've drastically decreased our chances our survival. So, I don't know...that was...that." She said glancing back at the building. "I don't even know if they were the ones who were hostile first! What are we doing?!" "I have a couple more things to tell you before we go back in. But, I've talked quite a bit, so I guess if you want, it's your turn?" She finished with an uncertain smile.

((CaffeinatedKitty))

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

She shrugs. "Rumors are all we really have to go off. Not like we have any other source of information."
(of course, that's only if you have people to hear rumors from)
Sighing, she continues, "If there's food, I guess I'm in. I ran out..."
How long ago? Who knows.
"A while ago."
(and I haven't slept in ages. I'm surprised I'm this alert.)

 

[Snarky_Wondermuffin]

Looking down, she shrugs, "That's true, I guess." Ash feels a bit of excitement about the girl agreeing to join their endeavor, though she isn't sure why. Nodding she smiles and says, "I have a small amount of jerky that I'm rationing, you can have a piece. I know 'a piece' doesn't sound like a ton, but perhaps more later." Reaching into her inner coat pocket, Ash pulls out a bag of extremely tough jerky and hands a piece to the girl and returns the bag to its place.
Catching herself unconsciously bouncing on the balls of her feet, she stops. Focusing back on the girl, she reverts to her typical serious expression before saying, "`Kay, glad you are in. As word of warning, and probably something you've already picked up on, watch out for Blake and Chris. Blake is the guy in the lab coat, Chris is the dork with the smile. I think they're okay, but I'd keep my distance. And then, Kaes and Riley seem to be alright. Kaes is the one who initially guarded you from us, and Riley is the short haired girl. Riley can seem a little hard at first, but she seems to have good morals. Lastly, the Viking looking one, Fredrik, don't know enough about him to give any information."
Awkwardly pausing, not sure what else to say, the continues with, "...So...? Shall we head back in?"

((CaffeinatedKitty))

 

[CaffeinatedKitty]

Letting herself relax a little, she takes the jerky and nibbles on it as Ash talks. She at least seems like a pretty good person.
(at least there's one person I can trust)
"...yeah, I figured about the two of them."
(and this Kaes guy seemed alright too)
She tips her head back towards the door. "Not much else to do here. But before..."
She shrugs her shoulder, letting the bag slide down to her elbow, and pulls out a bottle. "It's only fair."

 

[S_swimmer]

Blake thought over what they had come up with. "Seems good to me. Shall we tell them?" Motioning for Chris to follow him, Blake walked down the stairs.