The Walking Dead - Julie Skywalker & Shadowfax

[Shadowfax]

"Sam... will you get down" Ash snapped at the small boy.

Sam, who was staring blankly at the walkers approaching them slowly fell back into the trench they were currently hiding in. As soon as he was next to her, Ash covered them both with a dusty old blanket to allow the creatures to pass without being aware of their presence.

These days, there was only about 2% of the human race left and those left spent their lives on the run or in hiding after a virus broke out, turning people who got bitten into zombies. Or, if they died, they'd reanimate and walk searching for food. Unfortunately for the survivors, it was their flesh the 'Walkers' craved and hunted.

The usual moaning and snarls were heard from above as the walkers passed by Ash and Sam unaware of them being there. After about half an hour, they had passed and Ash slowly pulled back the blanket. First she checked the coast was clear. They were in the outskirts of a small village with half burnt houses and abandoned cars all around them. Seeing that the coast was clear, Ash pulled Sam out the trench.

"Dammit Sam, when I say hide.. we hide. Surely you'd have learnt that by now?!" She growled.

"They don't scare me anymore Ash" Sam said plainly.

"Well they should. They scare me" She said, hitting the boy gently on the head for his stupidity.

Sam rolled his eyes and looked ahead at the village wondering if there were any scraps of food around. Ashelin read his mind before smirking and heading a little further in.

"We don't go far... and if you see Walkers, you run. Got it?" She told the boy.

[Carl]

Laurence clutched his bat in an iron grip as the roamers staggered past the building he was hiding in. There were way too many of them for him to take on alone, and he certainly would rather not take on any of them if he didn't have to. Peeking out the crack in the window, he watched them carefully, going to great lengths so as not to make a sound and draw their attention to his location. After a moment, he cautiously stepped away from the window and ventured back further into the building he was currently hiding out it. It had been a store at one point, one of those little mom and pop shops without much room or items. It had been cleaned out pretty thoroughly before he'd arrived, but the teen had found a few bars of stale candy and some bandages in a first aid kit behind the counter.

At a rumbling in his stomach, he crouched on the floor between a couple of shelves, dropping his backpack on the ground in front of him. He tugged it open, rummaging around inside until he had what he sought--one of the candy bars he'd found earlier that day. After removing it, he fastened the bag and returned it to his back before tearing the wrapper off of the Hershey's bar and breaking off a small piece. He popped the morsel of chocolate into his mouth, rising back to his feet as he broke off another piece. The roamers could still be heard growling and groaning on the road outside, their presence making him more than a little uneasy.

Prepared to avoid them at all costs, Laurence moved towards the back of the store again, continuing to eat the candy bar (and attempting to savor it (despite being stale it was still chocolate and these days, was quite the delicacy)) as he walked. He past the smeared trails of blood that he'd seen when he first entered, avoiding looking at the pile of entrails and spattering of brain matter that decorated the walls in morbidity. He knew that there was a roamer trapped in the back restroom, he could hear it pounding against the barricaded door, and he didn't intend to go in there at all.

Instead, he reached the back entrance he'd used to get inside and peeked out. Back here there was one of them on the street. It was too close to the door for him to get out without facing it, unfortunately. Nervous, and disgusted looking at its mutilated form, he glanced around for his next destination. Across the way there was a small house that looked like it could be safe--or at least safer than out on the street. It was also farther away from the group of roamers. He took a deep breath as he prepared to run for it.

Steeling himself, Laurence pushed the door open, rushing out. The roamer he'd seen gasped and lurched forward. Without thought, the survivor swung his bat heavily, striking the monster on the head. His stomach turned as blood and gore spurted from the wound, but the creature continued "living." Holding back the bile rising in his throat, the teen struck again, and again, until the roamer went down for good. Once it had crumpled lifelessly to the pavement, he gagged and made a break for the house.

[Shadowfax]

Her hand never left the helm of the small sword at her side as they both walked through the seemingly deserted village. Ash was always cautious, whereas Sam had adopted a new 'I don't care and i'm not afraid attitude' recently which she found infuriating. The boy she had met nearly a year ago now was scared and timid. She had taught him how to kill a walker and basic survival skills, but he had become so emotionally detached recently, she had begun to worry about him.

Sam suddenly fell to the floor as he found a few bags of old crisps and even a bar of chocolate among the leaves. Ash found a can of cola, but no food. She hoped Sam would share like she always did.

They walked on, eating and drinking what they had found and thankfully Sam was in a sharing mood so Ash felt a little more awake after some food. Suddenly she stepped in a pool of blood as they rounded the corner and saw a seemingly dead walker at her feet with its head bashed in. Sam winced slightly, but it was more from disgust at what he saw than fear.

"That's enough to put you off your food" He said, going to walk forward, but he was yanked back by the straps on his bag by Ash.

"Stop!" She hissed in the boys ear as she had spotted a figure ahead fleeing towards the house infront of them. He certainly wasn't a walker.

[Carl]

No matter how hard he wrestled with the door, it wouldn't open. Frantically, Laurence tugged on the knob before cursing under his breath and running to the nearest window. He peaked inside, and seeing no roamers, leaned his bat against the wall before grasping the bottom of the window and trying to pry it open. He didn't want to have to break it as that would destroy any kind of safety he'd find within if there was nothing to barricade it with. Grunting and heaving, he pushed and pried at the window for what felt like years, but made no progress. With another curse, he snatched up his bat and darted around towards the next side of the building, desperately looking for an open window or an unlocked door.

That's when he heard something from the way he'd come--it wasn't a loud sound, but being so used to being alone and surrounded by roamers, he spun around in a flash, his bat raised, and gasped at the sight of live people. For a moment he just stood there in awe. He hadn't seen another survivor in a long time, or rather, he hadn't been seen by them. He'd seen quite a few of them traveling in groups from time to time, and they could be quite cruel to outsiders. This appeared to be just a woman and a kid, but he didn't know if he should trust them.

"Oh crap," he muttered, backing up against the house he'd been trying to get into. As his back slammed against a window, suddenly a loud thump and a growl came from within, followed almost immediately by the sound of shattering glass as a decaying hand emerged right above the teen's left shoulder. With a cry, he scrambled away from the wall, noting that the house wasn't as safe as it had appeared and trying to figure out how to handle this creature with a baseball bat or a switchblade when only one of its arms was on this side of the glass.

[Shadowfax]

Ash narrowed her eyes as she looked on at the boy who was trying by the looks of things to find a way into the house. From this distance, she could not tell his age, but from the looks of it he had some knowledge of what he was doing, that was until he was nearly grabbed by a walker from the inside of the house. She watched as the teen fell away and pondered for a moment whether or not to help. Fortunately, neither her nor Sam had been harmed by a group of survivors themselves, but she had observed the cruel tendencies people had taken in order to survive.

Sam, who had not seen a survivor for months looked on as the figure struggled away from the house. Curiosity gripped him and he looked back at Ash who still had a hold of the boys rucksack.

"What are you doing? We have to help him!" Sam pleaded with the woman.

"How do we know he's alone? What if there are others around? What if it's a trap?" Ash asked the boy outright in an uncaring tone.

Sam struggled against her "What if it's not?!" He said, attempting to break free of her grip.

Ash grit her teeth with annoyance as the boy struggled against her. She looked up, then back at Sam before rolling her eyes and releasing his bag. Instead of running full pelt towards the person in need, Sam merely fell forward a few steps before looking back at Ash with his usual 'Well, do something then' look.

Making her way towards the house with Sam in tow, Ashelin drew her sword and approached the teenager. From his perspective it may have looked like she was about to kill him, but she merely plunged her sword blindly into the window and felt the blade go through the walker insides head. It was instinct to her now killing a Walker. Within a split second, it fell to the floor inside and no further noises could be heard from inside the house. She looked down at the boy, waiting for him to break the silence as she and Sam stood over him curiously.

[Carl]

"Thanks," Laurence stammered, still a bit cautious, but hoping they wouldn't cause him harm since they'd helped with the undead monster. He unconsciously wrapped a hand tightly around his father's dog tags and clutched his bat more tightly with the other one. His father had always taught him to never let his guard down, but also he was supposed to act with respect and be courteous. Especially to those who'd helped him. This world wasn't the same one his father had known, but then again, Laurence didn't know what war had been like in Iraq, perhaps the world his father had lived in was more like this one than the one he'd existed in. Not wanting any sort of uncomfortable silence, the teen spoke up softly, trying to keep any signs of fear or shaken nervousness out of his voice, but not totally succeeding, "I just have this bat and a switchblade. Kind of hard to get one from in there at this angle with 'em."

Now that they were up close, he could tell the woman looked hardened, tough, and certainly she was more experienced at killing than he was. If her and this kid weren't enemies, perhaps it would be wise to try working together. Laurence wasn't inept by any means, but he had been alone out here all of this time, and he knew his chances of survival were stronger in a group. On the other hand, that kid could slow them down or be loud... but would he be any worse off if that were so? The kid seemed to have at least a decent grip on the situation for now, and clearly this lady was fine even with the kid. Was it too much to hope for that they could work together?

[Shadowfax]

Ash watched the teen closely, again not taking her hand off the blades handle, though she kept it loose so as not to scare him or make him think she was going to attack. However she was still cautious and had to ask the following question before she even considered speaking further to the teen.

"Did it bite you?" Ash then asked in a blunt tone, but not completely uncaring.

"I think we'd know if he had been bitten Ash" Sam replied, appearing from behind her and looking down at Laurence curiously for it had been a long while since either of them had seen a survivor.

Ash ignored Sam and kept her eyes on the teen awaiting his answer. He seemed to be alone or otherwise they would have been ambushed by now, surely? Plus, he didn't seem the type they would use in an attempted raid or kidnap. She let the blade fall into it's holster after a few moments.

[Carl]

Dusting himself off and rising to a better "more intimidating" posture, he dropped his hand from the sparkling dog tags and looked the woman in the eye. He understood her caution, but surely he didn't look incompetent enough to have been bitten through a window by one? It had only had an arm out and he'd moved quickly. He did feel a slight stinging sensation in his shoulder, but a quick glance at it confirmed what he had already suspected--a small piece of glass had lodged itself there when the roamer had broken the window, and a small amount of blood had begun to dribble down from it. It was the first injury (aside from things like a twisted ankle) that he'd acquired in a week or two. Maybe she'd seen that and wanted to make sure? Or maybe she was just being cautious. He wanted to respond to the woman's inquiry with sass, but he knew he could have been bitten if the creature had gotten all the way through the window, and there was no reason to leave a negative first impression on her; assuming that his failure here hadn't done that already.

"No, this is glass from the window," he said as calmly as possible, "I've never been bitten, and I've been on my own out here all this time. I'm careful."

[Shadowfax]

"Well, maybe you could teach Sam here some lessons about being careful" Ash said with a hint of sarcasm to her tone as she glanced over at the boy.

Sam rolled his eyes at the comment aimed at him, but didn't respond. He merely looked over at the broken window before looking back at Laurence.

"You've been out here alone for nearly a year?" Sam asked, sounding rather impressed but sad for the teen at the same time. He hadn't really got a grasp on time anymore so he'd just assumed the outbreak happened a year ago. This life he now lived in had started to cover his memories of the world before. No people and a world full of flesh craving creatures was what the world was all about now. That, lack of food and a world full of danger and lack of places to call safe. Still, he felt safe with Ash around and all the while she was with him, he had nothing to fear for the promise she had him still stuck in his mind.

"I suppose there isn't any more food in this town?" Ash asked, assuming that Laurence had raided the whole place.

[Carl]

"Actually, I've been on my own since before the world ended," Laurence told the kid after a moment. Not really wanting to discuss it, however, he proceeded to immediately answer the woman's question, sharing what information he had in the hopes of constructing more of an alliance. "I'm not sure whether all the food is gone or not, as I've only checked a couple of buildings in and around this block; that little shop is pretty vacant, and so are most of the buildings near here, but I found a few stale candy bars along the way. I haven't been in this town long myself, and I was hoping to find food and shelter to hole up in within this house for a while as I continue to clear the town and search for supplies. If you two could help me get inside and clear place, I'd be willing to share whatever we find."

He added the last sentence on knowing that if they didn't want to share, they could just take whatever they wanted. After all, she did have that sword, and there wasn't much he could do against it. Sure his bat was metal, but the way he figured it, she could easily get in a killing blow before he'd even have a chance to swing that thing. It wasn't really up to him any more whether or not he got to keep eating and breathing, and he wasn't in a position to negotiate, but cowering would get him nowhere, that much he was well aware of.