Survival of the Fittest [w/ Shadowfax]

[UncoordinatedPisces]

George pulled back the sleeve of his flannel shirt absentmindedly, his eyes partly glued shut from just waking from his slumber. He peered down to look at the time on his digital watch: 8:16AM. He let out a quiet groan and turned in the car seat, that must've been close to a record since the world turned to s***. He gazed out of the window towards the row of abandoned houses lit by the morning sun. Inside the one opposite him was his sister, Cassie, probably asleep on the occupants' sofa. The siblings took turns each night to sleep in a house for a somewhat better nights sleep, while the other looked after the car. In this world, it was necessary to keep an eye on everything you owned. If it were up to George, he'd sleep in the car every night so that Cassie could avoid the slight paranoia that consumes you as you try to nod off. His sister was having none of it, and he didn't want to argue with her. Besides, it was nice to have someone look out for your sleeping pattern at a time like this. He decided not to try and go back to sleep. They had been in this neighbourhood for a while now and he wanted to make a push southbound, it seemed to be the direction most were travelling in.

He tossed the blanket he had been sleeping under to one side and unlocked the car door, flinging it open. He stretched when he was outside, noticing the slight breeze of the October morning. It was going to get cold in a month or so, and it was going to start to be a problem. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
"Cass, its me!" he called. He didn't receive a response. After trying again twice he felt a twinge of panic and opened the door himself, easily by passing the chain lock. He smelt cooking and scrunched up his face in confusion, he hastily walked towards the smell and into a large kitchen, deep within in house. His sister was stood over the stove, and jumped when she turned to see him. Before she could say anything, he butted in. "I did knock and call your name, multiple times" he said grumpily. "Thought something was s'matter" he added, yawning at the end of his sentence.

"Sorry, should've woken you up before I started" she replied, her own voice quiet and tired. George peered at the hob curiously and his face broke into a smile. She was cooking. It must be a gas oven, he thought as his eyes fixed on a dead match on the counter. Eggs and baked beans, two things that would last a little while...and bread? Cassie noticed him staring at the bread that was toasting in a separate frying pan. "It was in the freezer so it lasted longer, its not got mould or anything!" she said excitedly. George picked up one of the slices that was left and chewed on it. God, he had missed bread. God...he was excited over bread.

He slumped into a nearby seat at the dining table as she served up the fried bread, beans and eggs, still eating his piece of bread that he now dipped into the beans. "Remember when I didn't like beans?" Cassie mused with a small smile. "Had to get over that one pretty quickly". George allowed himself a chuckle, this world had so many adjustments, big and small.
"Wasn't too fond of eggs before the apocalypse either" he responded, dipping another piece of bread into the yolk. The two conversed over their breakfast, potentially their only proper meal of the day, and then packed up their things. Cassie lingered in the hallway, staring at the family photos on the wall - it looked a bit like them, two parents and two children, standing with wide grins at what looked like a wedding. She inhaled sharply, feeling a sting in her nose as though she was about to cry. Then, she felt George's hand on her shoulder. "Let's go" he murmured, comfort and understanding in his voice.

The pair piled back into the car and George turned on the engine, beginning to drive through the small lanes out onto the larger dual carriage-way. Cassie had a map in her hand, tracing their route as they drove for almost an hour. "We'll be passing coming near Wales again soon" she observed after looking at a few road signs. "Near Newport I'd imagine". George nodded in response, the city's name echoing in his mind for some reason.
"We need to stop for petrol" he gestured towards the meter, pulling off at the next services. These were hotspots of supplies, which proved a blessing and curse, especially if there were people already there with malicious intent...

[Shadowfax]

"Ash, slow down! It's been three days, there is no way he could be behind us! Come on, slow down, we're miles away. We've walked, ran, driven and even biked for miles! Hey, come on! Slow down!"

The young boy of no more than nine called to her, but all she heard was a mish mash of words that went right over her head . The young woman's mind was elsewhere as they walked along a country road. Ash was about twenty five, ex military and usually a loner. She wore chunky black biker boots, ripped, skinny jeans and a red hoodie which was too big for her. There was also a small pistol in a holster on her left leg which she never let leave her side.

"Ash! Please... I can't... keep.. up" The boy huffed.

Finally, she stopped and looked round at the boy who winced at the sight of her, like he had done everyday since they... escaped. Ash's eye was swollen and black, she had a deep cut on her cheek, marks down her neck and the young boy knew that the rest of her body was battered and bruised.

"Sam, you need to stop that" She scolded.

"I just.... I... He"

"And don't talk about it, alright? We've escaped now. We won't ever see them again. These wounds will heal and those memories will fade" She said whilst surveying the area around them, looking for a place to stay.

Her eyes soon clapped on a small service station just up the road. Ash was very unfit at the moment for she had been kept a hostage for three weeks by a horrendous gang leader. It was one of the worst experiences of her life and she felt sick at the thought of him. The thought of putting more and more distance between them and him had kept her going these past three days.

"Come on Sam, let's go" She said in a softer tone to the boy, who slowly followed her up the road, toward the service station.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

George was filling up an empty drum in the boot with petrol from abandoned cars, deciding it would be be best to have some for emergencies in case they found themselves in the middle of nowhere. He lugged around the heavy fuel and broke into a small sweat, sighing when he got it back into the car. He wiped his brow before turning to the pumps themselves. Hopefully there'd be enough at this station to fill up the car. Alas, as he worked his way around the station, he did pretty well for himself and let a smile wipe across his face. Locking the car and clapping his hands together, he made his way to the Tesco Express that backed onto the petrol station.

Meanwhile, Cassie had been going through the aisles with a shopping basket to see what she could scavenge. A bunch of tinned food was there as predicted, and she made sure to get a selection of fruit, veg and whatever was the least gross-sounding tinned meat/fish. She knew she couldn't afford to be fussy, but there were some things that she had to be on the edge of death to eat. There were also a nice selection of treats, which she decided not to go crazy with. A few packets of crisps, chocolate, snack bars (mostly snack bars). Bottled drinks were rarer, with almost all the water gone, but she took the remaining few bottles plus her brother's favourite, a Dr. Pepper. As she rounded down another aisle she spotted George and walked over to him, presenting her basket with a beam.

"Plenty of stuff to add to the supply box!" she exclaimed. George picked up the Dr. Pepper with a devilish smile.
"I'm going to savour this" he responded, dropping it back into the basket and he pulled some cleaning items from the shelves. Cassie put the basket on the floor behind her as she crouched down to reach what was left of the medical supplies, anti-sceptic wipes, bandages - most pills were gone but they had stockpiled those anyway. She glanced up to George who had just started wandering down a different aisle, and then back down to the shelves. It was only when she noticed her basket move out of the corner of her eye that she stopped. It was lifted from the floor.

"Lovely bit of shopping here my darling" came a rugged voice, and Cassie slowly got to her feet. In front of her were two men, large and thuggish. Cassie made a snatch for the basket, trying to wrestle it out of his hand, growling. "There's more than enough to go around" she said, voice raised. The other man suddenly flashed what looked like a weapon of some sorts and she immediately retreated back. "Ah, ah, ah..." he said, waggling one of his fat fingers in her face as suddenly gave her a sharp shove, almost causing her to fall backwards. "You here alone?" he queried, eyes fixed on her as she staggered slightly.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" she spat back, though her eyes betrayed her somewhat as she scanned what she could see for George.
"I'm not sure if I believe her, though if you are we can always offer you a ride" the other man said with a deceptive grin that Cassie could translate.
"I'll be fine thanks" she responded bluntly, taking a further step back. They both moved menacingly forward. The man in front was about to respond but stopped suddenly as there was a loud thud and man beside him let out a yell. George had swung at him violently, punching him in the torso so hard that he collapsed to the floor, winded. Cassie was so surprised at the force of his punch that she almost didn't move when he told her grab the basket. It slipped out of the man's fingers as she clasped it, him being distracted by his friend. Cassie bolted down the aisle towards the doors, George in pursuit - their strategy for things like this was always the same, act quick, confuse them and run.

They had just made it outside when Cassie felt a familiar twinge in her right leg. Please, not now. It was too late, she collapsed to the floor in a heap, basket somehow remaining upright on the floor. George quickly turned to rush to her side. "God, god" she yelled, clutching her leg in agony.
"Jesus, is it just cramp or can't you move it?" he asked hurriedly, grasping her shoulder in an attempt to comfort. She couldn't form the words to reply as the two men appeared at the door, visibly furious.

[Shadowfax]

Ash and Sam wandered up the road, thinking to themselves about what could potentially be inside the service station.

"I'm gonna get us loads of chocolate and have it for dinner" Sam said enthusiastically, skipping in a circle around his travelling companion.

Ash smiled softly. Even in this decaying world, Sam still had some of his childlike happiness. She had come across the boy a week after the 'outbreak'. He was all alone, his parents had just died and he looked so vulnerable out there. Without a second thought, she had told the boy that he could travel with her and she'd done her best to keep him safe. Up until the gang, she had succeeded. Ash knew he'd been used to climb into small windows to unlock bolted doors, or to check out a dodgy looking area that the gang didn't want to.

A shiver went up her spine and she shook her head, but tried to keep a faint smile on her face. For the boys sake.

"I can't even remember what chocolate tastes like, what's the chance of you sharing?" She asked, ruffling the boys hair roughly.

"It's-"

However Sam cut off at the appearance of George and Cassie who burst through the doors of the service station. Instinctively, Ash grabbed Sam's arm and threw him behind her. The gun was in her hands and raised as she took a few steps closer. Upon closer glance, she could now see two men who seemed to be chasing the pair. The girl was on the floor, seemingly unable to move and the man was pleading her to get up.

The first thought that came to her was to just walk away. Leave them. This had nothing to do with her and she didn't even know them. But, the ex soldier in her was telling her otherwise. Ash tossed her head back so her fringe flew out her eyes and took aim at one of the thugs. Pulling the trigger, a loud bang echoed and the bullet deeply grazed one of the mens shoulders.

"The next one goes through your head" She growled, a menacing look on her beaten face.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

The two men were rounding on the pair, charging towards them angrily. George was just pulling Cassie to her feet, determined to carry her if he had to, when a loud resounding bang echoed around the two siblings. One of the men cried out and clasped at his shoulder and George watched him stagger back. Everyone came to a standstill and turned to see a woman, pointing a gun. Jesus, George thought, staring at slight smoke billowing out of the end while supporting Cassie's weight. The two men shouted a multitude of profanities at the woman as they backed down, realising they were beat at the presence of a firearm. They seemed to make a quick exit, leaving George to breath a sigh of relief despite being cautious about this new arrival.

He felt Cassie lift herself off of him, standing without support. "Has it stopped, are you okay?" he asked, staring down at her leg. She nodded, although the haze in her eyes suggested otherwise. She dusted herself off as she stared at the woman who looked, well, a state. George scanned her face, wondering what on earth had happened to her. It wasn't as if she had just gotten into a fist fight, it looked sustained. "Hello" he called, "We're friendly, don't worry" he said, motioning at the gun that was still out of its holster. Cassie, assessing the situation no longer to be a threat, lifted up the basket and hobbled towards the car. She noticed the young boy that was standing behind the woman and was surprised. It had been so long since she had seen someone younger than herself, and she was 17. She let the basket slip out of her hands next to the back of the car and watched.

"Thank you for that" George continued, he took a few steps closer to her, peering behind the woman to discover the child too, as was a little stunned to greet him.

[Shadowfax]

A sneer crept across Ash's face as the two men began cursing her. Within a few seconds, both had stumbled backwards and away from the scene. For a good while, Ash kept her gun raised, though not pointing directly at the other two. She raised an eyebrow as George yelled over that they were friendly.

"Ash.. who are they? Why did you shoot that man?" Sam whispered as he cautiously crept up to her side.

"Stay where you are Sam. We don't know if they're dangerous yet" She whispered back.

She watched the young girl make her way over to the car, then her eyes fell on the man who was nervously approaching. From this point of view, they seemed harmless, but after all she'd endured the past month, she wasn't taking any chances.

Slowly, she let the gun slip into the holster on her leg, yet her hand still rest on the pistols top to show George she wasn't entirely comfortable with them yet.

Sam shifted awkwardly on the spot, waiting for something to happen and forced an awkward smile when he saw that George had spotted him. Though, he was also fearful of the man as his experience with other survivors other than Ash hadn't been great. And with Ash's next words it was clear, neither had hers.

"You even think about hurting this boy, I'll blow your brains out? Got it?"

Sam gulped, unsure of how the man would react to that. Ash's people skills weren't great sometimes.

"Im Sam, I hope those men didn't hurt you-" he called, but a glare from Ash silenced him.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Cassie remained where she was, back against the car, clutching her leg. She mumbled to herself about painkillers as she observed George's approach towards the woman. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and perhaps slight anger at the insinuation that George would even think about hurting the child that accompanied her. George on the other hand raised his arms in mock surrender.

"It wouldn't even cross my mind" he responded seriously, eyes darting towards the gun a couple of times out of caution. The boy called out to him and he smiled gently. "Nice to meet you Sam, my name is George. That's my sister, Cassie" he added, gesturing towards the young woman who gave a brief wave as let go of her leg and opened the boot of the car to put the basket inside. "And your, Ash? Is that the name he said?" George queried, having heard the boys whisper.

He didn't wait for a response, turning towards his sister. "You sure you're alright now?" he called, concern growing once again. "I'm fine, honestly" Cassie replied, though concealed by the boot of the car, she quickly popped two co-codamol tablets from the heap of supplies into her mouth and swallowed a generous amount of water from a bottle. Hopefully her leg wouldn't cramp up like that again for a while.