Alone in the World (Greed-Love)

[LoveOnHerArms]

A singe silhouette could be seen, probably the only person for miles around. Not many dared to go this far out into a red zone, let alone a city. Cities were extremely dangerous, besides having to worry about zombies you had to worry about the idiots who lived in the cities, the gangs that normally just caused trouble instead of trying to help. Not that Denver was worried about them, she...well she was almost feared or respected but the gangs that lived out in the red zones, oh that didn't mean she didn't get into trouble with them because she did....A lot it seemed like, but she always managed got out alive if that meant killing her way out or talking her way out she got out. The stories about her got her to laugh half the time, but it didn't seem to matter if it was a safe zone or a red zone people told stories about a crazy girl with multi colored streaked hair that went willingly into red zones and did crazy things...Like blowing up a whole building. To be fair Denver hadn't meant to blow up the whole building....It had just worked out that way.


Letting a breath Denver stood on a pile of ruble that over looked one of the main streets in the destroyed city. Stormy grey eyes scanned around her while she nibbled lightly on her bottom lip, her dark brown hair pulled back into a braid that went down her back, stray hair curling slightly around her face and at the nape of her neck. It was quiet and not like a good quiet either it was a eery quiet, the kind that got you to shutter and your brain screamed at you to run away. The calm before the storm her dad used to always say. "Come on Ted" She called to the over grown airedale terrier that was smelling around. She had found him when he was a pup, barley alive. Denver had nursed him back to health and from then on Ted went everywhere with her. The dog could smell out a rotting egg in the middle of a zombie infested area and more then once had saved Denver's life. Out doing a job it was just the two of them and thats how Denver lived it. Having someone else with you caused trouble and the girl caused enough trouble on her own. "Lets go get those files" Files....It seemed to always be files, this time it was medical files from a hospital, Denver didn't fuss as much when she took a job for one of the hospitals or a family that needed medical files. That and well the money did help her mood greatly. Making her way down the ruble, her boots making a crunching sound as she walked the girl kept a eye out always looking around her and listening.

Cars were everywhere, some crashed into each other, others just abandoned left behind. You could fine some great shit on cars if you took the time to look through them. "Later...first get those files" She muttered to herself while brushing hair out of her face. Making her way through all the abandoned cars, chunks of other buildings, trees and other objects Denver made her way to the old hospital building that seemed to loom in front of her. The girl hated hospitals but this was a job, she was having lives and well money was money. Ted trotted happily beside her, every now and then stopping and smelling something but for the most part he staid close to Denver. The plaid shirt she was waring was unbuttoned with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows a green tank top under that, her jeans were worn out and old with a large patch on the knee with some rips in them. She had a gun holster strapped to her right thigh holding her nine millimeter hand gun, a few extra clips with it. A shovel with the handle tapped up was on her back along with a backpack that hung off one shoulder. Holding any other supplies the girl might need, and some of Ted's supplies as well. The rings and charms around her neck clinked together lightly, on the chain was her parents weddings rings along with a few charms her dad had found for her, along with two sets of dog tags her own and her dad's. She never took that necklace off, it was a shorter chain, the rings and charms laying against the middle of her breast bone, the chain was strong and at one time the girl had feared the chain would break so she had two chains on, everything looped through two of them. Lightly touching her fathers ring she as she walked closer to the hospital, the only sounds coming from her and Ted.

Pausing at the front doors of the old building Denver looked around before taking her gun out of it's holster and raised it, ready for anything. Ted sniffed around but seemed to be at ease so the girl slipped through one of the open doors and looked around gun raised. It would take too long to sweep through every room so Denver didn't bother with that. She knew what floor the files were supposed to be on, so she found the stairs and pulled a sharpie from her pocket and marked the door before going up the stairs gun raised ready. Ted trotted beside her still looking at ease, and the air didn't hold the smell of rotting flesh. It was musty and smelled like the earth but no rotting smell. That was a good sign. Finely getting to the forth floor, Denver slowly opened the door and peered out holding her breath Don't hold your breath! You get stupid when you hold your breath! Her dad's voice snapped into her mind getting the girl to release her breath, the door creaked as she opened it just enough for her and Ted to slip through before she quickly looked around again. Nothing....It seemed it was just her and Ted in the whole building....That was odd but not uncommon, if the main floor was closed up tightly enough the crawlers didn't bother even trying to get in. "Lets go boy" She said her voice echoing off the walls as she walked down the hall. Her boots made a dull sound against the tiled dirty floors. Finding the room she needed Denver checked to make sure it was empty before smiling to herself. "Keep watch" She told the dog before she started at getting the files, oddly they were not that damaged, the pages a little crinkled from getting wet at some point but most were still in good shape and readable...always a good thing. Setting her old beat up backpack on the floor she started putting files in it while Ted stood by the door.

Hope you like it!

What shes waring, only the braid is tighter

[Greed]

Golden eyes stared over at his blonde-haired companion affectionately. Every time he looked at her, it was always the same. The way she moved, with the delicate ease of what seemed only possible in fairytales. The way her eyes lit up whenever their gazes met or skin touched. The way her laugh chimed out at the campfire every night. The way she kept him warm on the cold winter nights as they stared up at the stars on the rooftop of one of the quarantine zone buildings. The way they’d always get yelled at for doing so. Kerri turned her head, blue eyes meeting his and blonde hair falling in her face. Roy smiled and brushed it out of the way, calloused fingers gently running over her cheek. She smiled and grabbed his hand, placing a gentle kiss on it, “Let’s get going, Roy. Someone will beat us to the punch if we don’t get moving.”

“I know, but there’s just so much to admire about you,” Roy said, kissing her temple softly. He knew she was right, though, and they needed to get moving. They weren’t too far from where they needed to be, so it wouldn’t take much longer, but time didn’t hold any significance to him. At least, not when Kerri was there with him. When Kerri was there with him, even though the world they lived in had already gone to hell, everything seemed just perfect. It helped too, that she was totally badass in killing zombies. She was just badass in general, he supposed. Even though their first meeting had been when she shot him in the shoulder with an arrow, she’d stuck by him ever since then. The wedding bands on their fingers were proof enough of that. He’d never believed in true love until he met Kerri. He wished they lived in a world where they could settle down in.  Neither of them wanted kids, but it’d be nice to at least have a house to settle down in and be there to come home to when they finished their adventures at the end of their journeys, when they were too old to carry on. Roy shook his head, black tresses obscuring his vision for a moment before he looked up. In the distance, he saw the large, dilapidated hospital building. He’d be surprised if there weren’t any Walkers in it. They seemed to hang out in the most inconvenient of places – like in places he and Kerri needed to be in. It didn’t matter much, though. They were a zombie-killing team. If they’d survived this long…they had a pretty good chance of making it until they were elderly and had to settle in quarantine zones. But until then…why not live a little? There was nothing more fun in life than living it with another adrenaline junkie like Kerri was.

“Roy, pay attention, dumbass,” Kerri snapped, but she was smiling. Roy shook his head.

“I am paying attention, just not to where you want me to pay attention to,” he said smartly, earning him a tug on the ear. “Ow! Hey, watch it missy!” Roy chuckled and tickled Kerri’s sides. She squealed and immediately hit his shoulder.

“Stop it, you’re going to make me attract Walkers.”

“Oh, they’d never be interested in you. You’re not sweet enough.”

“Oh, shut up and go to hell,” Kerri joked, winking back at him. “Seriously, though, we need to hurry.”

“I got it, I got it. Let’s go, princess,” Roy winked as he set off in a jog.

~*&*~

Roy looked up at the dilapidated building and sighed, “So, it’s on that floor?” He asked as he pointed. Beside him he could make out Kerri nodding her head slowly. “Got it. You ready to get a move on?”

“Wait, stop,” Kerri said, “Look. Over there.” Kerri crouched and pointed near the entrance, “There’s a Walker. Someone must’ve come through here. Can Walkers smell?”

“I don’t think so, but they’re pretty damn good listeners,” Roy whispered, “This one must’ve heard something, or someone. I don’t know which. You think it’s alone?”

“I don’t know,” Kerri replied, “Maybe. There’s usually never just one of them. We better be careful getting in there. Who’s gonna kill this one?”

“I’ll do it,” Roy said with a shrug, taking the metal pipe adjusted with scissor blades on it that he used as his favored melee weapon. “Stay put.”

“No, I’m going to go scout.”

“Kerri, just stay put. We never go alone, remember? I don’t see why the hell it has to change now.”

“I’m making sure, Roy. These are important documents. What if someone has come through here? What if they’ve already taken the documents and left? Maybe I can find tracks and see where they lead. I’m not going to go far unless I find something, and if and when I do, I’ll tell you first so we can go together. It’s just a small area search.”

“Kerri, we don’t know if there are more Walkers out here or not. Don’t be stupid. Use your head! I don’t want you getting bitten or something.”

“I won’t get bitten, Roy,” Kerri snapped quietly, exasperatedly, “I’ve been doing this with you for years now.”

“And we’ve never—”

“Roy Adam Stewart,” Kerri said in that tone that Roy knew meant she wasn’t changing her mind. That, and she was about to get pissed. “I’m just going to do a scout, got it? Calm down and go kill that zombie over there.”

“Fine,” Roy snapped, before his eyes softened, “Stay safe, Kerri.” The woman nodded and headed off, still in a crouch.

Roy moved forward slowly, the rusted metal pipe gripped firmly in his hands. Slowly but surely he made his way through the untrimmed grass. It took him longer to reach the zombie than he’d have liked, but it was better than getting up and running over there – if there were more zombies that’d only attract them to him. Bad idea. Not what he wanted. As soon as Roy was behind the zombie, he stood and braced himself to swing as hard as he could to take the sucker’s head right off. He jumped slightly when he heard a scream. His head, and the zombie’s, turned.

“Kerri?” Roy mouthed, “Kerri!” He shouted, stumbling backwards when something grabbed onto his shoulders in a strangely strong grip. “Oh, damn it!” Roy snapped, raising on booted foot and kicking the zombie backwards before stabbing the undead’s head in with his melee weapon. He grimaced as he tried to pull it back out of the caving skull, but when he heard his name being called he left it and pulled his pistol out of its holster.

“I’m coming, Kerri,” he muttered under his breath as he ran as fast as he could to where he heard the scream. “Wait for me, baby, almost there…”

Roy broke through the underbrush to see Kerri in the middle of some zombies, a gun in her hand, shooting them down left and right. It was a good thing she’d screamed. If he had arrived a second later she would’ve been overpowered. Without wasting a single second, Roy aimed and fired until he could get close enough to Kerri. The two put their backs together and didn’t say a word until the last limp body had fallen with a thud. He could hear Kerri’s heavy breathing behind him and he turned around. Likewise, Kerri did the same. They stared at each other for a second before embracing.

“Damn you make a lot of noise, woman,” Roy chided softly.

“I’m sorry…it’s just…I…” Kerri pulled back a bit. She wouldn’t meet Roy’s gaze.

He stiffened, “Kerri, what happened?” Roy found himself fretting when he saw tears in her eyes. “Kerri, what on earth happened!? Are you all right!?”

“I…” Kerri held out her arm, “I got bit.”

Roy stared. The bite-mark was gruesome. It already seemed to be getting worse and she hadn’t even had it for twenty minutes yet. And then it hit him. She was bitten. His Kerri was bitten. She…she was going to turn into one of them.

“Roy,” Kerri whispered, putting her hand on his that held the gun and raising it to point at her forehead, “Roy please do it.”

“N-No…” Roy whispered, his hand trembling, “No I can’t do that…I can’t lose you…. There’s got to be something…”

“Roy I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice choked, “I should’ve listened. I shouldn’t have gone without you. I’m so sorry… Please forgive me.”

“No, I won’t shoot you,” Roy said, his voice weaker than he’d have liked. “I won’t do it. I can’t. There’s…Kerri please don’t leave me…” Roy said, dropping his hand and resting his head against her shoulder. He felt the tears coming and he didn’t try to stop them. It was the first time he could ever remember crying. “Kerri, I need you baby. I can’t…I can’t let this happen…I’m so sorry…I should’ve…I should’ve come with you…” his voice dwindled as the tears constricted his throat.

“Roy, please. I don’t want to become one of them.”

Roy snapped back, “Do you have any fucking clue what you’re asking me to do!? You’re asking me to kill my wife! You’re asking me to kill my best friend, my other half, the only one who can keep me sane in this damned world! If I asked you to do that, would you do that for me?!”

Kerri paused, “No…” she whispered, “No. I couldn’t do it. And I’m sorry Roy. I won’t ask you to do it.” Kerri grabbed his hand again, lightly, and lifted it, “I love you, Roy. Please remember that…don’t forget me.”

Roy attempted to pull his hand away, “Kerri, what…” his eyes widened when one of her slim fingers pulled the trigger…of the gun…in his hand. Time seemed to go by in slow motion as he watched her beautiful form fall to the ground, a hole straight through the center of her head and a bite mark on her arm. Roy dropped the gun and fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands so hard his temples were throbbing against his palms.

“This isn’t real,” he murmured, “This isn’t real. It’s not happening. I didn’t just…” Roy was so distraught he almost didn’t notice the hot tears running down his cheeks felt oddly like blood. He fell against his wife’s unmoving chest and yelled, “Kerri! Damn it! No!” Roy stayed there for a moment longer before looking up at the sky through the thin canopy of the trees, “Give her back to me! Give! Her! Back! It wasn’t her time!” Roy rested his head on Kerri’s chest. His hands clutched blindly at her loose-fitting baby blue blouse. He’d always told her she looked so beautiful in it…it brought out her gorgeous crystal blue eyes. She’d found it in a dump, but after washing it up it’d looked fantastic. She’d rarely taken it off since. Roy looked up when he heard the all too familiar grunting and groaning of the Walkers. Roy blinked away the tears. “No…I’m not ready to see her go… Damn it stay away from her!’” Roy screamed, shooting three zombies in the head before that familiar sound of an empty gun sounded. He backed up, tripped over Kerri’s body and scrambled back to his feet. The zombies didn’t seem to interested in him, though. In horror he watched as they made their slow way to Kerri’s body. He moved in to take his wife back into his arms, but the sudden feeling of something behind him made him turn. The commotion they’d made had seemingly drawn a whole damn army of Walkers. Roy stumbled back, away from the Walkers, and watched as they made their way to Kerri’s corpse. Although Roy usually had a strong stomach, he couldn’t watch this. He turned and braced himself against a tree, emptying the contents of his stomach into the nearby shrubbery.

There’s way too many of them, he thought, scanning his surroundings. He checked his backpack for more ammo, but he didn’t seem to have any on him. Back at the camp, yeah, but he supposed he hadn’t thought they’d run into too many zombies…plus he had had Kerri alongside him, so that’d be double ammo. He vomited again when he heard the sound of bone crunching. He turned and stumbled off. He had to get out of there and get to the hospital building. In there, he’d at least have a better chance of survival. But his legs felt numb and he couldn’t think straight. Tears blurred his vision and his head throbbed uncontrollably. Images of Kerri and her death flowed through his mind, making him dizzy. “Agh, damn it, I can’t even walk straight,” he muttered. He looked behind him once before tripping over a stump. I don’t have Kerri anymore…what’s the point? I might as well just lay here and die. Roy groaned slightly and tried to push himself up, but lost the will. Maybe if he just laid here the zombies would leave him alone. Maybe if he just laid there someone would find him. Maybe if he just laid there…everything would fade to black.

[LoveOnHerArms]

Working quickly Denver kept sliding files into her backpack until the her backpack was full, between the supplies she already had in it and now all the files, it was full. "Should I break out the duffel bag?" She asked mostly to herself and to Ted, not that the dog could really answer but that didn't stop her from talking to him like he could. "Might as well" Zipping up the backpack she unzipped one compartment in it and pulled out a tightly folded duffel bag, shaking it out until it was it's full size, a small duffel bag. Unzipping it Denver started putting the rest of the files into it before she paused head tilted to the side a little, had that been a scream? Pausing Denver listened and glanced over at Ted who had heard whatever it was by the look on his face, but he still wasn't growling or anything, so it probably was just a animal or a crawler. Going back to getting files and setting them in her duffel bag Denver nearly jumped as the sound of gun shots echoed.. then the sound of yelling. "Thats not good" Straightening up Denver moved over to the window that surprisingly wasn't broken, quickly wiped the dust and grin off and peered out. Only she couldn't see a damn thing thanks to a large tree "Dammit" She breathed out before flicking the safety on, used the blunt of the gun to break the window, it was a lot of noise but the girl would risk it to find out what was happening outside. Leaning out Denver could just make out walkers...A lot of them and was that a person? Frowning Denver tried to lean out the window more ignoring bits of glass still in the windowsill digging into her stomach nd arms before she huffed.

"Gotta find a better window" The sound of gun shots echos through the building and around them, leaping back Denver ran out of the room and down the hall with Ted at her heels, looking for a better window so she could see what the hell was going on. For once in her life Denver was not going to go running down there without knowing what the hell was going on. She forced a door open, it used to be a check out room. Something jumped out of the darkness in the corner and Denver let out a squeaking scream, gun raised, finger about to ease the trigger back before she noticed it was just a pissed off raccoon, that darted out past her and Ted. "Crap.." She breathed out before telling Ted not to chase the animal and silently thanked god again that animals couldn't get turned into zombies if bitten...They just died. Could you imagine having to kill even freakin animals as well? The sound of gun shots ended but Denver still walked to the window, this time the window was completely gone. Leaning out the window Denver's eyes widened a little, it was two people...A couple by the looks of it, dead bodies laid scattered around them, they looked like they were talking then...The girl pressed the guys gun to her head. "What the.." Denver breathed out before noticing blood on the girls arm, it looked like something had taken a chunk out of her arm. "Shes been bitten..." Denver swallowed watching, their voices rose but Denver couldn't quit make out what they were saying, but she didn't need to heat them to understand. The girl was asking the guy to kill her and it seemed the guy was refusing until the girl did it herself.

Eyes wide Denver watched as the girl lay on the ground unmoving, while the guy fell to his knees crying. It was horrible to watch, to hear the sobs coming from the man before her attention was brought to something else. Walkers.... "Shit" Leaping back Denver ran out of the room and down the hall "Shit shit shit. Ted! Lets go!" She called to the dog who was almost instantly at her side as they ran down the hall to the stairs. She had to get to that guy before the walkers did. She wasn't going to let him die too, not if she had a say so in this. She didn't even know him but she knew what it was like, to kill someone you loved..To have to do that, no one had been there for Denver when she had done it no one had saved her. That wasn't going to happen again, she'd get the guy out of here. Running down the stairs, this time not being very quiet about it, she kicked open the door at the bottom and ran out. The sound of yelling and gun shots filled the air again as Denver ran down the main floor to the doors. Squeezing past the doors Denver turned to where the sound was coming from.

Sucking in a breath Denver inwardly groaned, there was to many walkers for her to kill right now....All eating and fighting over what used to be a human. Denver stomach rolled once before she shook her head now was not the time to get sick. Seeing the guy fall to the ground and stay there Denver groaned. "Ted stay!" She snapped at the dog before running to the guy "Get your ass up!" She barked out shoving her gun back into the holster and grabbed hold of one of his arms, they didn't have much time. After the body was gone the walkers would be looking for more and the two of them were like sitting ducks out here this close to them. "Get up!" She barked out the order again as she somehow pulled the guy to his feet with strength she only seemed to poses when her life or someone else was on the line. Adrenalin rocketed through the girl as she glanced over at the mod of zombies making god awful sounds while still eating the body. Turning the guy to the doors of the hospital she gave him a hard shove on his back "Time to haul ass! Move!" She barked the order out running behind him, every now and then glancing back at the mob. Thankfully right now all they wanted was the body.

"Ted lets go!" Keeping herself behind the guy, giving him a shove or barked at him to keep moving every now and then until they reached the doors. Ted and the guy had slipped in, Denver glanced back and groaned letting out a stream of cuss words, a couple of the walkers had noticed them now and was moving towards them. "Shit" Slipping in Denver rammed her shoulder into the door trying to close it more, it hurt like hell but pain was something she could live with, as long as she staid alive pain was nothing. "Get to the god damn stairs!" She barked out at the guy before looking around for something to shove into the doorhandles, might stop the walkers if nothing else gave them some time. "Shitshitshitshitshit" Grabbing a metal pole she shoved it between the doorhandles, grabbed another one that was laying on the ground and ran after the guy and Ted. Once the guy and Ted where in the stair well Denver slammed the door, and looked for a way to keep it closed. It took a few precious seconds before she make sure the door wouldn't open. She relaxed just a fraction of a inch before going up the stairs with the guy. "Fourth floor" She told him, this time she didn't bark the order out too him.

Getting to the floor Denver rigged the door to stay closed and let out a breath pushing stray hair out of her face before looking at the guy "Stay" Was all she said before she jogged down the long hall to the other set of stairs, to rig them so they wouldn't open either. She didn't have the bullets or man power to fight her way out of here now, best to just wait the walkers out and leave in the morning. And she didn't think the guy could handle trying to get out right now. Getting to the door Denver grinned "Perfect" The doors were held closed by a thick chain and a paddlock, someone had been here before and left it like that. Denver could kiss that person right now. Panting lightly she jobbed back to where the man stood and looked at him not saying anything at the moment before looking around the hall. She hadn't swept through the whole floor yet.....Didn't think she would have too, it was supposed to be a simple job, get the files and get out, no fuss no mess. That got shot to hell.

"Im going to do a sweep through the floor, you can come with me or stay here. But for the love of god stay here." She told him taking her gun back out and flicking off the safety. She gave the guy one last look before she started walking down a different hall, Ted trotting after her, smelling around. He looked relaxed again so Denver was hoping there wasn't a zombie on the floor with them. Slowly Denver's breathing evened back out as she looked around gun raised and ready for anything that could come at them.

[Greed]

Roy cursed himself mentally for not having grabbed Kerri’s wedding band. If he had that…he’d at least still have something physical of hers to hold onto. Sure, he probably had something back at camp, but at this rate he wasn’t going to get back there. At least, not in one piece. And if he ever got back there he doubted it’d be for long. He had no idea how long he could tolerate living now that the one person who had kept him going was…gone. Just like that. She’d been torn away from him so suddenly. He cursed into the grass. He should’ve forced her to stay put. Why had she decided then of all times that she was going to go scout? He admitted her reasons were logical. But had they really been logical enough to win over his concern for her? He remembered very clearly the first time they’d met… Magical? No. Definitely not. Memorable? Oh, hell yes. It’d definitely been that.

Roy stepped quietly through the dense underbrush, his gun at his side, cocked and ready to shoot whenever the need should arise. The cool autumn breeze whipped his shaggy black hair around his face, gently, like the sweet caress of an unseen lover. The scent carried upon the breeze was heavenly. Freshly fallen leaves after a rainstorm the night prior…it got rid, mostly, of the scent of decaying Walker flesh. It was nice to have a break from the disgustingly familiar smell. But it was like any other smell – once you got used to it, smelling it became a second “nature” of sorts, if you could call it that. Either way…the nice, fresh, clean, wet smell was amazing. Roy took in a deep, long breath and let it out slowly. It probably wasn’t the best idea to have his guard so low, but, hey. He rarely met people outside the quarantine zone, so he wasn’t too worried about running into anyone that wasn’t a Walker. After all, that’s all he ever ran into out in these parts. He couldn’t say he minded it, though. He was addicted to the adrenaline rush like some people were addicted to drugs. Sometimes it seemed people were more addicted to drugs nowadays then they had been in the past. Probably because everything had gone to hell and the shit had hit the fan so quick, no one knew how to cope. Well, this was his coping method. Might as well get out there and kill the suckers, right? Sure, it wasn’t likely they’d ever get rid of them…but it wouldn’t hurt to get rid of the few he came across. He made sure never to put himself in the way of hoards and hoards of them. He loved adrenaline rushes…but he wasn’t an idiot. He only took on as many as he could handle at once, and, even though it did slightly disappoint him, that was only about four or five. He’d never met a woman who could singlehandedly take on four or five zombies, though. When he did, he swore on his mother’s grave he would marry that woman if she were the ugliest woman ever birthed.

Roy paused for a second and looked through the canopy of trees. It was difficult to see, but the sky was grey again. It probably meant more rain was coming…which meant he needed to head back to camp and start a fire as soon as possible, so it wouldn’t get put out completely when the rain started to pour. If it was anything like last time, it would go out within a second or two. He’d only taken a few steps forward when he heard something rustle in the bushes. He turned his head and looked around, but he didn’t see anything. When he turned around again, he was hit with something. Something sharp. He looked down at his shoulder and blinked for a second before realizing what the hell had just hit him. He blinked, “Gah!” he shouted, holding the arrow at its base, right against his shoulder, and yanked it out, looking around. What had he missed?

“Oh my word, you’re not dead!” a somewhat masculine female voice said. Roy turned around and handed her the arrow.

“Well, no shit, lady!” he said, pulling his hand away for a second to see it covered with blood. He shook his head and smirked, “Nice shot, there. I think you hit the artery.”

“Oh, damn, listen, I’m sorry,” the woman said.

“No need to be sorry. You got any bandages on you?” he asked. She nodded, some stray pieces of blonde hair flying away from her face as she dropped to her knee, her backpack shortly following, and dug through it at an efficient pace before pulling out some gauze of some sort. She stood back up.

“Move your hand,” she ordered. Roy rose a brow at the tone of her voice, but did as he was told and moved his hand. In a few minutes, the woman had wrapped his arm and sat back on her haunches, pulling some flyaways behind her ear. “There. I’m Kerri by the way. Kerri Mullins.”

“Thanks,” he said, “And I’m Roy Stewart. Nice to meet you, Ms. Mullins.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Stewart,” she said with a grin. “Here, the least I can do for shooting you with an arrow is one, take my arrow back, and two, make sure that wound doesn’t get infected… I have all the medicines in my bag. Do you have somewhere you’d like me to drop them off?”

“Yeah, sure. You can follow me back to my campsite if you want, and as long as you promise not to raid it,” he said with a grin and a wink.

“Oh, don’t worry. Judging by your looks you have nothing for me, big guy,” she said with a wink.

“Fine, want to test that out, missy? Let’s get a move on before it starts raining.” Roy grinned and headed back for his campsite, at a loss for what he’d actually come out to do in the first place.

Roy was brought forth from his bittersweet memories by someone yelling at him. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to his dulled mind. Everything was in black and white and he couldn’t tell up from down. He did know, however, that that voice was definitely coming from up. Annoying, whoever it was. Why did they have to be so loud? Why couldn’t they just let him lie here and pretend the world didn’t exist? Because, in all reality, it didn’t. Not anymore. Kerri had been his world. He didn’t move, though. Didn’t want to. He groaned slightly when he was pulled to his feet. He had half the mind to hit whoever it was with the butt of his gun that was still clutched tightly in his hand, but he didn’t have the strength to bother. He stumbled forward when someone shoved him, and shook his head, and did as he was told to the best of his ability. All he wanted to do was sit down and not think. Not think, not blink, not breathe… He just wanted to sit down and die. Slowly. Painfully. At least Kerri hadn’t suffered too much. But he understood why she’d screamed, now. That bite must’ve hurt. How any zombie had managed to sneak up on her, or whatever had happened, Roy would now never know. She’d always been so careful, and had always gotten on his case when he did the smallest of reckless things. With whatever minor strength he had left, he moved forward as fast as his legs would carry him without him falling over air again (although at least he’d actually tripped over something the first time). He moved through the doors of the hospital, vaguely remembering that he’d needed to get those files, but it seemed that since this woman and her dog were here, the files were already taken by them. He wasn’t answering any of her questions as to why he was around if she asked. Or maybe he would… he didn’t know. Didn’t care. Didn’t want to care. Or know.

Roy flinched slightly when she continued to yell. Are you trying to attract the zombies in our direction? he thought numbly, I may not be in the best shape right now but I can tell you damn well that yelling isn’t going to get us anywhere safely. Still, without verbal argument, he moved forward and to the stairs, stopping there for a second and looking over his shoulder at the woman. He probably ought to help her. But he probably ought to get his own shit in check first. He wasn’t sure how well that was going to work. He moved forward again after being told what floor to go to, and the final quietness of the order did help soothe his mind a little bit. At least she wasn’t yelling at him right now. Shoving the gun back in the holster he made his way slowly up the stairs until the two of them had reached the floor they were going to. He rested on a wall and slowly slid down it while she went and scouted, or did something. He clenched his teeth together. When she returned, he shook his head, “Like hell I’m moving anywhere,” he murmured. He watched for a second as she and the dog went down a hallway. He cupped his face in his hands, fists tightening around his hair and his elbows resting on his knees. Damn you, Kerri… I’m sorry.

[LoveOnHerArms]

Denver glanced over her shoulder at the guy before she started sweeping through the floor, checking each room. Ted sniffed around but didn't seem alarmed or tense so she was guessing the floor was clean, but she wasn't going to take any chances. Walking into one room she looked around not finding anything useful and looked out the window; this window being busted out already.  Looking around Denver let out a breath, they'd have to wait til morning, they couldn't make it to her truck right now. "Great" Pushing hair out of her face Denver walked back out into the hall and continued looking around, she didn't find anything that was really of any use. IT had taken almost twenty minutes to check the floor. Walking back to the spot where she had left the guy and her duffel bag she flicked the safety back on  Ted trotting a head of her.  The guy was right where she left him, head in his hands, breathing swallow. She just looked at him for a moment before she grabbed her backpack and dug through it until she pulled out a couple bottles of water and a Tupperware dish. Bending down she set the tupperware on the floor and poured water from one of the bottles into it "There ya go boy" She watched Ted drink for a moment before walking closer to the guy. "You need to drink" She said softly holding the water out for him before she sighed softly and set it on the floor beside him.  

Denver slid down the wall onto the floor between Ted and the guy . Letting out a breath she placed her gun on her lap and leaned her head against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her. "We'll just have to wait until morning" She said though mostly to herself she doubted the guy was listening to her. Dragging her backpack closer she dug through it again until she pulled out another old tupperware container and a bag of dry dog food, she poured some it into the dish before sliding it over to Ted "Might as well eat, we'll be here all night" She told the dog before closing the bag and putting it back into her backpack then dug through it some more until she found some granola bars and smiled happily to herself.  Looking over at the guy she slid one over to him before tearing open hers and took a bite. Looking around the hall she let out a breath before looking back at the guy. "Look, Im really sorry. I know my words probably don't mean much to you, but I am honestly and truly sorry" She looked at him for a moment before swallowing and taking a drink of the water bottle that she had filled Ted's dish with. The silences ticked by getting Denver to shift her weight and look back at the guy "Im Denver...And the dog is Ted" She said trying to get him to talk, hell even if he just cussed her out right now that would be fine. Taking another bite of her granola bar Denver looked out at the wall ahead of her chewing and listening to Ted eat his food and her own breathing. She hated the silence, she could hear the voices and all the horrible sounds in her mind when it was silent. Letting out a breath and finishing off the granola she shoved the trash into her pocket and glanced over at the guy again.

Pushing stray hair out of her face Denver leaned her head back against the wall eyes closed. There was nothing to do but wait..Wait till morning and then get the hell out of here. And she was taking the guy with her, it didn't matter if she had to tie him up and drag him, she wasn't going to leave him here alone.      

[Greed]

Roy didn’t really care at this point. If the woman decided to turn right around and shoot him, he’d have absolutely no problem with it. As he rested his back against the wall, knees propped and his elbows resting on them, he absentmindedly fiddled with the ring on his finger, turning the gold band around and around for no particular reason. He wanted Kerri’s ring. He wanted to go out there and see if the Walkers were gone. He wanted to go out there and find her body (or what was left of it; the thought made him shudder and he was pretty sure if his stomach hadn’t already been thoroughly emptied he would’ve thrown up again) and get the ring off of her finger… He’d needed her like he’d needed oxygen. Now that the only person in his life that had kept him going in this world gone to hell was gone, he had no idea how he was going to cope. She was all he had. All he wanted. Needed. Now…now all he had were memories, and those weren’t going to suffice. Not when he hadn’t been ready to let her go in the first place. It hadn’t been her time. It just wasn’t. Eventually he’d learn to cherish those memories, but for now when the wound was so fresh, memories only made it hurt more. It was like pouring salt on an open wound. Roy ignored the nameless woman when she came and sat near him. He didn’t need or want her help. He would’ve been just fine getting torn to shreds just like his late wife. Kerri shouldn’t have died. He should’ve been stricter. Why, on this one day, when they decided to change things up just a smidge, after years of being out here, did this have to happen? In his mind, he thoroughly cursed every god he’d ever heard of. Damn them all to hell. Those useless, heatless bastards. Roy also gave no response when she said they’d have to wait until morning. Whatever. He didn’t care. Might as well go out there waving a white flag shouting ‘I surrender! I surrender!’

Roy ran a hand over his unshaven face. He was definitely losing it. No sane person thought something like that – even if they had just gone through a tragedy like he had. …Well, he didn’t think they did, anyways. He’d always known Kerri was the one thread of his sanity he really had left, and although it was never spoken aloud he knew she always knew it, too. It never seemed to bother her, considering the two were genuinely in love, and it wasn’t as if Roy went to her in the time of need and used her. He listened as the woman spoke again. What did she know about it? How could she possibly be sorry for him? How did she know what it was like!? How did she know how it was like to have had your hand on the gun and had the trigger pulled, in essence, you killing the only one you ever loved!? How the hell did she know a damn thing about it!? Although he had an internal inferno raging, he didn’t let it show on the outside, and simply soothed his frayed nerves. Although he was anything but okay, he had enough sanity to know that he shouldn’t yell at her. When she stated her name, and the dog’s, Roy again remained silent. After a second, he spoke his name, but his voice was gruff and inaudible. Clearing his throat, he spoke again, softly, “Roy.”

Roy decided to give her the courtesy of a sideways glance, taking in everything about her. A pretty little wildflower, if he had to describe her in three words. A wildflower with a definite edge, he could tell that much. A wildflower with an edge, and a dog. She was definitely the interesting specimen. And good at what she did. She’d managed to save his sorry ass, so he might as well get his head out of it and thank her like a gentleman. Kerri would’ve hit him for not having said thank you earlier. “Look…I appreciate what you did earlier.” Roy said, again in a hushed tone, not trusting his voice to remain steady. “So…thanks.” Roy turned his eyes back to the floor and returned to fiddling with his ring. She got her thanks. Now he wanted to wallow in his misery…about the only thing he had left in this life, anyways.

[LoveOnHerArms]

Eyes closed head tilted back Denver focused on Ted eating and not on the horrible sounds in her own mind. Her finger's curled into loose fits at her sides. Hearing the man speak Denver opened her eyes and looked over at him a ghost of a smile on her lips. His name was Roy...He looked like a Roy. But what was she supposed to say? It's nice meeting you? Because she doubted he'd find the humor in that, he wife had just died...Denver thought it would be best to just keep her mouth shut and have a little nod before looking around them again.

Taking a drink of her water Denver leaned over grabbing the plastic dish that held Ted's water, after she was finished with her drink she poured more into the dog's dish before putting the cap back on and pushed hair out of her face. She wished she had more to eat then just a granola bar but she hadn't packed much to eat, thought it was going to be a easy in and out job. Her dad would have kicked her ass for thinking that, he always told her to never expect a job to be quick and easy and you always come prepared. Well she had come prepared...Kinda, she had enough ammo for the night and had her shovel and machete knife too, had a first aid kit and enough food and water for Ted. She just hadn't been expecting to save someone and have to feed them too, if you can call giving a granola bar to someone feeding them. Oh well they'd make do with that they had and get out in the morning. Nibbling on her bottom lip thinking it over Denver blinked and looked over at the guy...No Roy and shrugged releasing her bottom lip from between her teeth. "I couldn't just leave you down there..." She spoke softly before letting out a breath and pushing the bottle of water and granola bar closer to him. "You really need to eat something" She told him before glancing around the hallway again.

They had about a hour or so of light left and she felt like a sitting duck sitting in the hallway. Even if the doors were locked and nothing could get onto the floor, she still felt exposed. Putting the lid on the Tupperware that had the water in it Denver gathered all her things and got to her feet. "I feel like a sitting duck here, I found what I think used to be a doctors lounge earlier" She told him before picking up her backpack and the duffel bag with a soft grunt "Maybe I can find us some real food" She said looking over at him one eyebrow slightly raised. "Do I have to haul you too your feet again? Because I will" She told him her voice getting firm as she looked down at him. Denver wasn't trying to be mean to him, she was trying to keep him alive, she had already saved him once she wasn't going to loose him now. She knew what it was like to loose someone you loved like that, it was horrible and she wasn't sure if you ever really got over it. Unlike her though he wasn't alone, and Denver was going to make sure he staid alive and didn't do anything stupid.

When he finely got to his feet Denver smiled lightly over at him before walking down the hall, Ted got to his feet and trotted after smelling around but the dog seemed as ease. Finding the room again Denver grinned to herself and pushed open the door. "The windows amazingly aren't broken and the couch doesn't look too bad" She said walking in and set her backpack and the duffel bag on a table that was still standing. The room was in pretty good shape considering what happened. It looked like no animals had really gotten into the room, it just smelled musty, Denver could live with that.

Ted sniffed around the room while Denver set his dishes back on the ground and walked over to the windows. Nibbling on her bottom lip she looked at them before she slowly worked the lock and pushed the window open, a smile came to her face when the window opened letting some fresh air into the room. Pleased with herself Denver looked around the room again. It was on the larger side, with a couch and some chairs on one side of the room facing what Denver was assuming used to be a tv while the other side had cabinets, stove microwave and a frig.

"Hopefully they'll be something edible.." She said mostly to herself as she walked over and started opening cabinets looking through them. Most where on the empty side but she found some useful things just nothing edible yet.

[Greed]

Although Roy appreciated the meaning behind her words, the feeling, if there was much there to begin with, he couldn’t stop himself from muttering, “You should’ve.” If he’d died down there…He’d be with Kerri, at least. He’d never would’ve had to leave her there to be eaten by those foul creatures… He’d had to watch it. He watched as the love of his life died. She’d been careless. He was bitter at himself, at her, at the world they lived in. Why couldn’t they have been born earlier, when this wasn’t a problem? Why couldn’t they have been born in a time of peace? Raised a family together? He’d never wanted kids until Kerri. He knew they couldn’t have kids because of their current setting…but damn it, he’d wanted a life with her. He’d wanted a life with her so badly. He’d wanted to world for her. Roy ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the food and water that was pushed towards him. He almost waved it away, but he was hungry. He just didn’t know how he was going to give himself the willpower to eat it. He really needed to. He didn’t want to starve – not that he was anywhere near the point of starvation. Or die of dehydration. Roy sighed a bit and reached out for the water and granola bar, pulling them by his feet and starting to eat the granola bar in silence, trying to keep his thoughts off of Kerri. By the time Denver had spoken next, Roy had finished the granola bar and had downed a bit of the water, but his stomach wasn’t going to remain peaceful long enough for him to drink or eat anything more. He felt nauseous. He supposed he had a pretty damn good reason to feel that way, though.

Roy looked over at the woman while she talked, but didn’t say anything, dropping his gaze back to the floor shortly afterwards. He didn’t want to move. Let the damn zombies come and eat him alive if they wanted to. He wasn’t going to offer any resistance. He’d had a reason to live, and now, very simply, he didn’t. How could someone try and preserve their own life when the only one they’d ever loved, the one person who had been their life, was now dead? It was like he was an empty shell, walking around. A waste of space. Breath. Everything. He should’ve died alongside her. Roy was disappointed in himself that he hadn’t. But there hadn’t been much he could’ve done to stopped it from happening…oh, how he wished there was. He wished so badly. After a few more minutes of wallowing in his thoughts, he grunted slightly and pushed himself up, not finding it in him to return the smile, simply nod and walked behind her at a slow pace. Why he kept the distance between them, he didn’t know. He just…he didn’t want to be around anyone, alive or dead, right now. He didn’t know how to process everything. That was the bad thing about living in a time like this, in a place like this. You constantly had to be on your toes, waiting, watching, listening. You couldn’t afford downtime. You had to make sure your guard was never down. So when did that leave time for him to sort things out in his head…and in his heart?

He stayed in the doorway when the two of them had entered a room that wasn’t all that shabby, which was a real shocker considering the condition of the rest of the place. Someone must’ve been in here not too long ago…or something of the sort. There was no way this place could’ve been preserved so well out of sheer luck. But it seemed whoever had been here before, if someone had been here before, was no longer residing here. He took in a deep breath when Denver opened the door, running a hand through his hair again and walking further into the room. When she started going through cabinets, he paused for a second before deciding he might as well help out. He started to open up the cabinets on the other side, going through them, grimacing when he saw a dead rat in the corner of one of the cabinets (he left that cabinet door closed). He had almost lost hope for finding anything edible until he opened one that had two cans of beans. They were probably expired but…maybe they weren’t. They could cook them if they started a fire…or something of the sort. But no fires tonight. Not with all the zombies still prowling around outside (or they were probably still prowling, at least). “There’s some beans over here,” Roy said, glancing over his shoulder at Denver before pulling the small cans from the cabinet and holding them up. “Don’t know how good they are, but it’s something.” Roy shrugged. He was right at least. Someone had definitely been living here before. And he didn’t really want to think about where they were now.

[ Sorry. That gave you like…nothing to work with. My bad. ]

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