The Walking Dead / Hotshot and Klaxie

"The Walking Dead"


Name: Crystal Aymes

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Race: Southern Caucasian

Crystal is a fairly normal teenager, being around five feet, eight inches in height with golden brown hair that she usually wears up in a bun, to prevent it from getting snagged. She's not concerned as much about how she looks, since she lives in a rural area just north of Atlanta, populated by the fabled rednecks, and hicks, though without the trailer parks. She was thin before the Change, and there hasn't been much difference since then. Her neighbors all work together to feed the children in the community, and the younger boys that would normally play sports at the highschool, are now the guardians of the community, along with their fathers. Crystal, on the other hand, does just about the same as she always has, after school. She wakes up, and does her chores first since school is out. She cleans the house up a bit, and checks on the hens to make sure the dogs didn't get in. She'll collect eggs and set them aside for one of the parents to cook up for breakfast. After that, she usually ends up riding her horse to the pumps to turn on the water manually to water the fields of potatoes and corn, since electricity isn't reliable anymore. Then she ends up helping whoever hasn't finished their chores yet, for the rest of the morning. The rest of the day follows the same pattern, with a different set of chores for every meal. All in all, there really isn't ever time for fun or play.

Before the Change, Crystal lived with her three brothers, two older, and one younger, in a typical southern family. Her brothers wrestled, and fought all the time, but they always resolved it and ended it with a slap on the back. Sometimes, they would go hunting, and even when they didn't get a deer, they always brought back SOMETHING. Sometimes, even when they didn't see a deer, they would end up shooting a squirrel, or a rabbit (Which completely obliterated the animal) instead. Sometimes, she even got to go, though she never actually shot the deer herself, she let her brothers do it. They played hide and seek, and fort, and sometimes when her dad got them rounds, they played paintball. She didn't really like it since it hurt, but it felt good when she got her brothers. Her father was a Baptist, and her mother a Catholic. There wasn't much debate on the difference, but the difference WAS there. Her brothers were respecting of the religion, but they still didn't understand, as young as they were. She followed her mothers beliefs, despite her father.

The fields are surrounded with stacks of hay, held in place by long steel rods of re-bar that have been sunk into the ground by the boys from her school, under the supervision of the men in charge of fortifying the farm. There is no shortage of hay, since the entire farm was covered in it before the quarantine. All they had to do was use the farm equipment to lift up the heavy bales, and let them impale themselves on the rods, creating (triple stacked) a strong, ten foot tall barricade. Some of the men decided it wasn't strong enough, so they tore up the deserted roads, and melted it down again, and poured the hot, gooey, substance over the top of the hay. As the tar cooled, they laid boards and rocks against the outside, creating a tougher surface than bare hay. On top of all this, they laid boards to walk the perimeter of the wall to check for Walkers, and thieves. The main building was a huge barn, about a hundred yards long, and in the middle, two stories tall, if you didn't count the extra story for hay storage. One of her favorite things to do is to hang on to the pulley when the men drop hay out of the top. She stands in the loop, tied at the end of the pulley, and a hay bale is tied to the other end, the men push it out of the huge hole in the side of the building, and she SHOOTS to the top, where she climbs back down the stairs as the men prepare another bale.

Profession: None.

Skills: Crystal is a young, lithe girl, and has practice with almost all common weapons including bows, pistols, rifles, and shotguns, though she lacks interest and thus, extensive knowledge, about nearly all of them. She knows how to take care of herself, and what is needed to stay alive on a daily basis, and as such, she can scrounge fairly well. She usually goes with the men to find supplies in the big city. She also has basic veterinarian skills, since she grew up on/near a farm, she's seen almost every kind of illness and affliction that can happen to a living being, and knows how to help, at least.

Hobbies: She likes to make things work, or build something to aid with chores. She found the wheel they the men anchored in the rafters to make the three story pulley to raise and lower hay and supplies into storage. She also likes to sing, and listen to the latest music on her iPod. Her brothers have a car battery they rigged, that can recharge all their 'toys' at once, with a little help from the tractor, it's a reliable source of power that keeps their things working on a daily basis.

Equipment: Crystal has very few items she can really call hers. But her father made sure the most important things were brought along with them when they fled their house to join the community. Currently, she has her messenger bag which holds her iPod, an original one. The case is metal, and scuffy, but it's a brick, and very durable, if a bit heavy. She also has a couple candy bars on her at all times. They live near a Hersheys warehouse, and as such, have a nearly unlimited supply of her favorite, snickers bars. She has a small pistol, a Caracal Model F 9mm that her father gave to her on her 16th birthday. She also has a SOG blade that her brother found on a shelf at a store, a rare find her father told her.

Home: Toccoa Georgia, at the North East border of the state. It's populated mainly by rednecks, and farmers. Besides that, cattle and livestock are the main inhabitants. The homesteads are few and far between, with hedges and fields between. There are distribution warehouses and factories on the southern edge of the cities, a wonderful place to scrounge for food and tools.



Crystal/ North Eastern colony in the center of Toccoa Georgia (Look at a map for exact locations)

"No way! I'm not gonna... " "But you HAVE to!" he interrupted her. "Look, if you wont, I will." She shook her head and crossed her arms, defiantly, as she stepped back from him. He laughed, and she watched her brother as he jumped out of the side of the huge three story barn instead. "You're an idiot..." she said. She stepped forward to watch his descent, as the rope he was holding whipped through the huge wheel that was anchored about three feet above the opening in the barn. It was held up by the rafters of the roof, and extended a good five feet out from the huge opening in the face of the barn, so you had to jump to even grab hold of it. Her brother had made the jump, grabbed one length of the rope, and relied on the weight of the hay bale attached to the other end to slow his descent. She stood back as the hay bale shot up to the top story, but stopped about four or five feet from the opening, where she was. "Great job, now it's stuck GENIUS " she teased him. He smiled, and grunted as he pulled, and the rusty wheel turned slowly, raising the hay bale to the height of the floor. She frowned at her brothers success and simply grabbed the hook that allowed her to pull the bale in. As she pulled, her brother raised the bale more so that it didn't catch on anything, and as soon as it was in, he let go of the rope, allowing Crystal to untie it, and shove it to the side to be stacked later.

"Do you ever get tired of risking your life, trying to show off for the ditsy city girls? Or are you trying to get back at mom for taking your crossbow away?" She smiled as he frowned, in response to her question. He grabbed the ropes together, and began to climb, hand over hand, to the third story again. She frowned while he couldn't see her face. She really didn't like the stupid, helpless, city girls looking at her brother when he did things like this. She resented it, and didn't want her brother to want someone so... Helpless. As he reached the top, she turned, and put her smile back on so he wouldn't notice. "Well, I do miss my bow, but I'd rather have a girl at this point. 'Sides, cain't miss what ya' never had, right? An' I'd rather miss me a pair, than never had any t'all." He smiled his crooked smile he gets when he's pushing his sisters buttons. "Jon! What the... That's not funny! Besides, most of those city girls are as flat as YOU! Not alot to miss THERE!" She laughed at his pained expression. "Hey! I been workin' out lately... See?" He winked as he flexed his muscles, which, she had to admit, were shaping up nicely. She could see why the girls liked him, but then again... She wished they didn't.

Crystal/Toccoa Protectorate

Crystal smiled at her brother who was now probably thinking about the pristine city girls, and how they looked when they did their chores. It was no secret he was lusting over them all, and Crystal even figured some of them were egging him on. She turned to the opening in the side of the barn and eyed the ropes hanging from the pulley. It was her that found the huge wheel in an abandoned shed. The thing was too heavy for her to pick up, but she immediately realized its usefulness. Her father said it should be able to lift up to 2 tons, if they had the machinery for it. Instead, they decided to keep it simple, and use man power to operate it. She smiled at the thought of her fathers praise and jumped to grab hold of the ropes. As she swung back, she turned and kicked her legs out to slam against the side of the barn. She pushed off and rappelled down the front of the barn to the main level where there was another huge opening where they could fit the huge tractor. The wall of the barn gave way to the opening and she swung inside and let go, just in time to go flying forward at the top of the arc, and into the horses hay pile in the middle of the barn. One of the horses side hopped as she flew past him, and he snorted in satisfaction as she tumbled into the soft pile, disappearing from sight.

She emerged from the other side, not too far from one of the men who was brushing out one of the horses. Her horse. "Hey Adam, is Generator being nice?" she asked, a little shy of the newcomer still. "Oh hey, I didn't even hear you come in... " He winked "Yeah, he's real cool. He's huge too... Thought I was gonna ride him at first I think, and he pinned me against the wall there for bout ten minutes." They both laughed... Generator didn't like anyone riding him, except Crystal, so the owner actually GAVE him to her. She was so happy, she slept in the barn for weeks with the horse. But the man left, and they never heard from him again. But now, at least, Generator had a good home, and they even got to make use of his monstrous strength. They didn't call him Generator for nothin'...

"Well, I think after this he may not mind you riding him. You've been taking care of the horses really well, since you've been here. You really seem to know what you're doing..." She smiled at him, still shy, but not as afraid as she was at first. Adam was the center of a huge debate when he first arrived. The adults wouldn't tell her what was going on, but she knew he killed a bunch of people just outside the walls. She didn't know if they were Walkers, or what, but he killed them all, and that scared alot of people. Mostly everyone just avoided the Walkers, since we all knew who they were in the close knit community. Even the ones who came from the cities, we rarely had an incident. We had the luxury of being able to ignore them from behind the wall. And when we didn't, well... The adults always had a good reason.

More recently, the younger boys used the Walkers as a sort of sport. They would go out and kill them, without a reason. Like they used to hunt deer, but now they hunted people. Some of the adults didn't like it, and tried to stop them, but others said it was the only reasonable thing to do. Crystal didn't know what to think, but when she saw the boys come back, smiling, bloody, and with the stink of death on them... She just wanted to run from them. To her, they were monsters too, killing without a reason, even if their prey would have killed them back. It wasn't necessary, the wall was. Food was. Family was. Killing wasn't on that list, at least, not for her.

Crystal/Toccoa Protectorate

She woke with a start. Crystal immediately remembered where she had left everything she owned, and reached for her knife like her mother had trained her to do. But as she did she realized it was just her brothers running out of the room, a normal occurrence, if it didn't happen to be two AM. She looked after them, curious as to what would draw the two older brothers out of a warm bed in such a hurry. She rose, put on some warm clothes, and grabbed her things to follow them. It was easy to do, since there were more people going in the same direction, towards the well illuminated barn. There was a wagon there, with men unloading things, apparently from a raid.

She found her father quickly enough. "Daddy! Daddy, what's going on?" she asked, more than a little concerned... "Oh hey baby. Why are you up? This is grown up business, you should sleep." He smiled and waved for her to go back to bed, but she shook her head. "No, dad, I'm 17. I'll be 18 in three months. What's going on?" She looked again at the things the men were unloading. Big wooden crates, with bubble wrap and foam peanuts coming out of them, were apparently packed with long black boxes. Some were marked, most weren't. There was a symbol she recognized, it was the Army. But, they left, didn't they? One of the boxes was opened, and the men tied the end of a rope to something inside and began to hoist it up with the pulley system she found... The men grunted, and some even slid to their butts in the dirt, but eventually the huge metal object rose out of the box and the men cheered.

"Daddy, thats... " He smiled and pointed at the huge gun. "That's going to save lives, dear." He took her hand and walked her to the wagon. There were a dozen or so men she hadn't seen before. They were all sorting through boxes of more weapons, sorting ammo from pistols, and pistols from rifles, and rifles from explosives, and yet more explosives from armor and helmets and clothes. They could only have raided a depot of some sort, and she knew why. The virus was spreading fast. And the hordes were coming this way, along with starving survivors. The men took the weapons and displayed them on the ground and on the side of the wagon along with the ammo the weapons used, and any accessories that went with them. There were alot of shotguns, and pistols, a few assault rifles and SMG's and even a sniper rifle or two. But her dad led her to a smaller table that was filled with little weapons.

"Where did these come from? They aren't military issue." He said to one of the men, a younger man, who couldn't take his eyes off Crystal, until her dad spoke. "Oh these? Got 'em from a sporting goods store not far from the armory. Had more ammo than we could carry, so we rigged that smaller car there to get towed' by that there horse. Made it the whole way with 'bout 200,000 rounds each of any kind of caliber you can think of. These are the .22 and .243 calibers we got from the sports store." Her father looked from Crystal to the weapons while the man spoke. "Here, I'll make you a trade." He took her 9mm out of her pack and handed it to the man on the table and took a smaller pistol, despite Crystals protests. She frowned as he gave it to her to feel the weight. It was really light, but the silencer her dad screwed on the end made it bulky, and awkward. The little pistol was like something from the movies her brothers watched...

"Dad, I don't need this... I won't be..." She began, but her father cut her off. "Can we have a few extra magazines and some ammo for it as well? I'm sure I'll feel much better if she has more than one clip." The young man laughed. "Sir, you can have whatever you want. If I keep making trades like this the rest of the night, I'll be in good shape..." So her father took about 10,000 rounds for the pistol as well as two silly looking rifles she thought her brothers would like. It was close to Christmas after all. She wasn't too happy about losing her pistol though... She could tell her father wasn't going to discus it though. Hers was the only firearm the entire family had until now. At least they had the weapons to use if they needed them...

She walked with her dad as the men at the barn shifted the huge gun into place where her and her brothers used to play and swing on the ropes. It was evil looking, with metal shields on the front and sides, and a see saw type seat that moved when the gunner aimed. She thought it would be fun to play on, if it wasn't meant to point something deadly at a living person. She sighed as it was bolted into place, and ammo crates stacked up beside it. "Daddy, is all this really... Necessary?" she asked, knowing the answer, but wishing it wasn't true.

"Let's just hope we never have to use it..."

Crystal/Toccoa Protectorate

She slept uneasily. She dreamt of the barn, looming before her, the brown and rusty red boards bleeding an icky goo that could be any one of numerous bodily fluids. She envisioned the holes, and windows of the once homely barn, as eyes. They searched for her, even though she was standing right in front of it. They emitted beams of light, like a search light, and when they found her, they bathed her in a cold luminescence that she only wanted to escape from. Then, she saw the turret gun turn, and train on her... The gunner smiles beneath his facemask as he aimed and fired on the little girl. She didn't scream. For some reason she felt like she deserved it... She looked down at her body and saw that she was full of holes, but she didn't feel them hit her. She didn't really care. She just wanted to find her dad and ask him why the man shot her, why she didn't feel anything, and why she was hungry. She just wanted to know... Why she felt... So cold...

She woke, and discovered why... She had kicked the blankets off during the night. She scrambled out of bed and grabbed them from the floor, and pulled them over her head as she laid back down to sleep. She wondered again why the man shot her from the barn. Why he smiled and riddled her small, innocent, body with bullets from the evil looking machine. She thought about it, and shivered... She pulled the blankets closer and made sure her knife was where it should be. She didn't want anything from that dream coming true. Ever.

Crystal/Toccoa Protectorate

She woke early in the morning to the sound of gunfire. Not the loud, booming, gunfire she was used to from her fathers hunting rifle, which could be heard from miles around, but more of a crackling sound. It sounded like a dozen 2x4's being broken at the same time, and the echo was even worse. She grabbed her things and pulled on a denim jacket she had for brisk mornings like this, and she headed outside. The first ting she noticed was that the wagon was still there, but that most everything had been packed up. She smiled in relief, she didn't like guns really, even though she had to admit they were useful. She looked down at the pistol her dad had given her last night, and remembered the ugly rifles her and her father had picked up for the two brothers last night. Just then, she saw them, apparently practicing with their new toys already. They were in the hay loft, shooting out over the wall at some target that could probably not be seen by anyone without binoculars.

She climbed the small hill towards the barn and was passing the army wagon when the boy from the night before stopped her. He didn't look threatening, but her dad wasn't here this time, and she didn't know the man... She was a little frightened. "Oh hey there mis', I wanted to talk to ya' last night but yer pa' was there and I didn't think it was a good time. See, you'r real purty, and I don't wanna see you get hurt by the Creeps, an' you'd be lots safer with us. 'Least since we got the weapons and the men to p'rtect ourselves. I's thinkin, maybe if ye' like, you could come with me..." Crystal almost turned and ran to the barn where her brothers were, but there was no need. Towards the end of the man's speech Adam walked up and interrupted... "Well hey there... What are you doin' out here? You should be eggin your brothers on about how bad they're shootin shouldn't ya? Well? Git! And don't let em' off easy either! They can't hit a D@mn thing, and haven't all mornin'!" Crystal smiled and ran off to the barn, without a glance back, but she knew Adam heard what the boy said, and he knew what was going to be said. She also knew her dad would hear about it... Not a good start to the morning, and she hadn't even had breakfast yet.

Crystal/Toccoa Protectorate

She was still thinking about the incident that morning when her father walked up and sat on a bale of hay near her. He looked tired, or maybe it was just the shadows. She couldn't tell, but she could guess... "Honey... Who was that man from this morning? Did you talk to him last night after we met him in the yard?" Crystal looked over at her father, a bit embarrassed, and angry that her father didn't trust her. "No, daddy. I didn't... He just stopped me on my way to the barn this morning... That's all. I'm glad Adam was there. He's really nice..." She smiled, to try to reassure him that everything was fine, but that just seemed to make him think more. "Alright baby. Hey... I have a question. You ready?" He grinned a little, and winked like he always did when he was trying to do something to make her happier. "Well I got to thinkin'... Since you know 'bout what to look for, and how to stay out of sight... Why don't you go with the young men on the next collection? It'll be safe, since you'll only be goin' to the highway and back. What'ya say, honey?"

She gasped in surprise. He hadn't let her go out since the last time, when one of the Tillman boys got bitten, and executed when he started to change on the trip back. In fact, he hadn't allowed the boys to go either. "Well... I mean I want to go. I like helping, but... Can Jon and Adam come too?" she asked, a little wary of going anywhere without her brothers, and besides, they would owe her if she got them a ticket to come along too... "Sure, I suppose so. Though I'm still not too sure about that Adam character. Seems a little... Ahh... Don't mind it. I'm sure the boys 'll keep him in line!" He smiled and ruffled her hair slightly, and she fake tackle hugged him in the hay. "Thanks daddy... We'll be safe. I promise"

Crystal/On I-85 towards Atlanta

"Well this trip was pointless... It's a wonder we ever find anything out here anymore. It's all been stripped clean, dozens of times. Not jut by us either..." Her brother, Jon, said... "Will you be quiet? Complainin' aint' gonna help nothin'... So just keep your mouth shut!" Interrupted Adam. He was charged with keeping Crystal safe, for her father. She didn't think dad REALLY trusted him, but at least it was an excuse to have the big guy along. "Adam, Are we almost done? I think since were not finding anything, we should go home..." She said, more than a little scared, this close to dark. "It's almost dark, and... I just want to go home."

Adam looked at her and smiled. It was a warm smile, the kind only a scraggly beard, and plump red cheeks can make. "Crys... Well make it home before you know it. I just don't wanna go back empty handed, you know? So, see if you can find something to make your dad happy? Maybe he'll send you out more often with us? Wouldn't that be nice?" He smiled even bigger, when she nodded and kept walking, satisfied he had settled the matter. Even then, she overheard the two brothers talking about something in hushed tones... It made her nervous. "What are you two talking about?" She asked, a little worried that they might be planning something bad, like they usually do. "Oh, nothing. Just, guy talk. You know, guns, games, and dames? Yeah... " They laughed and whispered even quieter now... She looked up at Adam, who simply shook his head and kept walking, glancing in the side of cars as they passed, popping trunks and looking through the stuff

It was dark by the time they all stopped and turned on their lights. "Adam... Can we go back now? It's dark..." She asked again. "Crys... " He started, then sighed. "Okay. Lets head back boys." He started to turn but stopped when the boys didn't. "Hey, it's dark. There's obviously nothing left to find. Let's head back." HE said, to the boys this time. They both looked at eachother and said, "Well, yeah. It's dark. But we can make camp and head back in the morning when it's light. You know, maybe even be able to see something on our way back? Besides. We're all tired, and what if there's a creep out. We wouldn't even see him till' he got us. Right?" Adam looked concerned. He didn't want to go back at all, but the boys were up to something, and he knew it. "Fine. Crys, is that ok with you? We can find a nice van, and lock ourselves inside and be safe all night. What do you say? He smiled at her and let her know it WAS her choice... Besides, he didn't want to get a bad report to daddy. "It's ok. As long as you stay close."

Crystal/I -85

Se woke to the warm figure of Adam pressed against her for warmth in the misty, wet morning. The windows were fogged, and the doors were locked, but she could still make out the shapes of the trees through the frozen windows. There were the rusty red and dark blue colors of the vehicles all around them, and more prominently, the white of the 18 wheeler her brothers chose to camp in... She rolled over and pulled the blankets over her head to muffle her surroundings to her senses. She just wanted to sleep longer. She was tired, and sore from walking. She just wanted to sleep... She smiled. At least she didn't have any chores to do. With that knowledge she sweetly drifted off to sleep once more, awaiting the coming of the sun...

Crystal/ I - 85

She woke. Not sure why, but Adam stirred too, so maybe that's why. She sat up with the blanket on, and made sure her things were still there. *Crack/ping* She jumped, almost banging her head on the roof of the minivan. "Adam!" She called out, but he was already moving to the front of the car. He took hold of teh car door, and eased the drivers side open a bit... Since he couldn't see out the windows from the iced dew on the windshields, he had to look out the car door. *Crack, crack-crack* The next shots were in quick succession, and Adam was out of the car, and out of her sight. "Adam! Stop!" She raced to the front of the car, and poked her head out of the door to see where he was going... Only then did she see the huge mass of writhing dead, huddled around the 18 wheeler. She immediately drew her pistol and crouched in the seat of the car. "Oh ****, Jon... Jon!" She almost started crying, but then she heard her brothers call out, still alive, and fighting.

She jumped out after Adam and followed him, as he hacked through the writhing corpses with the same weapon he arrived at the walls with, months ago. He didn't make a noise, as he hacked, and crushed his way through the back of the unaware zombies. In fact, none of them even noticed he was there until they were struck by the heavy, blade or hook. After the geeks finally realized he was there, he let it fly into the mass of zombies, knowing wherever it landed, death or at least a broken limb would occur. He drew his pistol and began shooting the remaining walkers without even pausing... The booming, ear shattering noise from his pistol reverberated across the valley as the final walker fell, and the brothers peeked their heads out of the blood and gore covered 18 wheeler.

"I think we should head home now..." Adam said, digging through the corpses trying to find his axe. When he found it, the two boys, in their vantage point, were simply looking in the direction of the Protectorate... "I don't think that's an option now... " Jon said, pointing to a black wave of dead, hobbling/falling/hopping their way. The dead spread across the valley, effectively blocking the path home. "Ok, well..." Adam began. " Time to visit Atlanta... Come on kids. We need to get you some new clothes anyway. You all look terrible..."

** -  -  -  - Nathan/I-85

He was walking along now...he had jerry rigged a shoulder holster for his shotgun and was currently smoking a small pack of cigarettes he had found...having run into a few walkers on the way he simply made sure to take them out quietly if he could. His Knife doing wonders for him in that aspect...it had taken him some time to come to grips with what was going on but now that he had...he found killing the walkers was easy business...they were all stupid and unable to preform the most basic of functions save their motor ones. But so long as there were not a lot of them he found it pretty easy to take care of one or two in a 'group' hadn't really seen anything that would suggest that it would be worse than that otherwise. That's when he heard some very distinct pop's coming from ahead his interest piqued he took off at a slight jog.

It was when he sighed the first person that he took cover behind an abandoned truck on the road grabbing his shotgun quickly and flipping the safety. He peaked around the corner...looked like a few guys...and maybe a girl? he couldn't tell from the distance but he knew that whatever it was he didn't want to get into any trouble with other people...at least not until he had them in a better position. He watched them slowly letting them come closer before he would reveal himself to them.

Crystal/ I - 85

She sighed at his attempt at humor, as her brothers singled her out at the pointless fashion humor. She looked at herself in the window of a nearby car, and frowned... She DID look terrible. She wanted some new clothes, but she knew that wasn't supposed to be why they were here. She would keep an eye out for a new coat. Maybe one of the armored ones the boys had. One of the men from the camp had a chain mail making machine that would link thousands of the little rings together within a few hours, effectively making chain mail armor a feasible option for protection against walker bites. She envied the armored men walking around. They would be like tanks to the soft tissued decaying people walking around. The only drawback being the heat, and that wasn't a problem in this winter.

She smiled, and laughed as the boys pointed out Adam's clothes. He was absolutely covered in blood and gore... He looked evil, carrying around the axe and his trench coat positively DRIPPED Walker guts from his melee assault on them. His coat was lined with especially thick mail padding. But his bulk made it an easy thing to carry, despite the 30 pound dead weight dragging on his shoulders. Sometimes he wore a belt to support the lower portion of the mail, but he laughed and said it made him look fat, so he took it off... Either way, unless he took a bite in the hands, or the neck or face, he was invulnerable to bites, and most melee attacks, unless he got swarmed... She admired him. In fact, she thought she liked him. She wasn't sure about her feelings, being young as she was, but, she definitely looked up to him.

** -  -  -  - Nathan/I-85

He watched the approaching group...laughing...talking about how their kills went...he frowned didn't want no part of that s*it...then he saw the girl. She was young...seventeen. Maybe eighteen, didn't matter...that was all that kept him from taking them out...thinking they were raving lunatics that...or they were holding her hostage in which case he would make certain to keep them away from her. He crouch walked slowly through the car debris to a closer position before peaking over the top of a hood. Maybe...fifty meters he frowned checked his ammunition and unbuttoned his pistol holsters top portion. Standing now he racked the pump to slide one shell in.

"Oi! you there, what are you doing out here like that? covered in head ta toe with all that...gunk. Might be giving people the wrong impression you know?" he said eyeing them all squarely. His Shotgun was pointed expressly at the man who had all the walker gunk just dripping off of him and laughing about it like it was no big deal. "you some sorta murder man? Ain't never seen a man so bloodied with anothers blood before. that or your one sick f*ck"

Crystal/I-85

She called out as she heard the gun and jumped behind Adam, more afraid of the newcomer than she had been of the dead.

"Oi! you there, what are you doing out here like that? covered in head ta toe with all that...gunk. Might be giving people the wrong impression you know?" She heard him say... Adam had already aimed his pistol in the direction of the man, and she knew he would shoot if he had to. "you some sorta murder man? Ain't never seen a man so bloodied with anothers blood before. that or your one sick f*ck" She cringed at that and looked up at Adam, who hadn't moved, but to hold his hand out to hide the little girl from the blast if he shot. "I don't know who you are, man, or what you want... But we don't have anything here. We haven't found anything yet, and we were just on our way home..." He pushed Crystal with his foot, careful not to hurt her, but he had to get her out of the line of fire... She took his hint, and crawled behind a nearby car, almost crying. She was terrified...

** -  -  -  - Nathan/I-85

He raised a brow questioningly and kept his barrel level on the man's midsection...this range with buckshot? he would be torn up quickly. "Im not looking for anything pal I can tell you that...and im not looking to take anything...just wondering what your doing out here is all. I a'int no bandit and Im certainly no murder...though you certainly look the part right now. just makes me tense as all." He kept his eyes level then saw the girl being pushed away...confirmed the suspicion that she was with them. He sighed deeply and lowered the weapon shouldering it quickly and walking over hands up. "Im not looking for trouble ....but if your home is in Atlanta I would suggest you steer clear...Place is...pretty damn overrun if I had to take a guess."

Crystal/I-85

She watched Adam lower his weapon, though he still seemed a bit tense. His right hand still clenched the war axe... He was glad his opponent lowered HIS weapon, because he couldn't shoot left handed... Crystal stood, and walked slowly towards Adam, until she was beside him. Her brothers also came out of hiding, with their weapons ready. "Where were you when all this was happening? You enjoy watching us fight to the death?" The younger brother asked, a little more than sarcastically... The other chimed in. " Yeah, if you got any popcorn left, you feel like sharing?" Crystal glared at her brothers, but she didn't say anything, because Adam said it all. "Shove it, boys. And you... What do you mean overrun? I thought the military was taking care of things? We were just there last week..."

Nathan/I-85

He sighed and simply raised an eyebrow at the two's sarcastic quips shooting back at them before Adam had a chance to key in. "Well I'd certainly share the popcorn if anything you were doing was all that impressive." he said with a bite to his voice before turning back to the man sighing deeply as he said 'military' "Well. If I got to make it out, Government would send what. Maybe a regiment? a brigade? So, like four hundred soldiers to secure the city. Of course that seems like alot but If you take...mmmhh half the population of Atlanta and turn em into walkers don't that make at least a thousand of them for one soldier? Might still be pockets in the city...but I don't suggest you get caught up in all of that anyways. Heard them shoot civies dead just for trying to get out of the city."

He shrugged and lit up another cigarette throwing the match to the side as he did so. "Not that important really...you can go if you want but Im headed as far away from any city I can. Seem like a capable group. but uh...once again I ask ya what are you doing out here on the road? Sure it's fast but it's not all that safe as a group."

crystal/I-85

She looked up at Adam, who she could tell was reluctant to give details. "we were just looking for supplies. Anything useful. We were on our way home this morning when we woke up to a horde of walkers trying to get into the 18 wheeler where the boys were." he avoided giving details about where home was, or what it was exactly. He still wasn't sure what to do about all this... Atlanta was over run, and if they went home now, they might have this one follow them... It was a loss both ways. Adam forced a smile, and slid his pistol in the holster.

Nathan/I-85

He saw him holster the pistol and let out a sigh of relief uncrossing his arms which was holding his own pistol concealed underneath his jacket. "Right. Well then I suppose we will be going are own ways then...but you said a horde a walkers huh? That direction...right." he sighed and took a quick puff from the cigarette and stomped it on the ground extinguishing it with his hiking boots. "well then guess im going to be doing some brush clearing. Or, perhaps I'll wait it out in a tree. You need any help with anything? im happy to offer it."

Crystal/I-85

She smiled at the man, even though Adam frowned... The brothers just looked at eachother in confusion. Adam spoke... "Yeah. There's walkers. Not many places to hide in the fields. And if you can find a tree big enough for all of us to camp in till the coast is clear, I suppose we could stay..." Crystal interrupted. "I'm good at climbing! I can climb anything!" Then she ducked back down, behind Adam, remembering she was talking to a stranger.

Nathan/I-85

He blinked for a moment as the girl peaked her head from the side of her brother and saw she was...eagar to find something to do he smirked a little and shook his head looking back to the older brother. "Well Im not sure if the trees around here are big enough to hold up all of us...but uh...I think McDaniel's Farm park is a few miles from here...not to far of I-85 either...got some oaks...and a barn I think? Could camp out there for the night. I think anything elevated works...walkers can't climb from my guess."

He looked around and walked over to a car looking at it for a moment before taking a coat hanger he had from his bag and putting it's already bent shape to the window and opening he lock and opening the door no alarm sounding and a breath of relief escaped his lungs. He rummaged through the car for a moment before pulling out a georgia state map and finding Atlanta...looking about he took a pen from his pocket and circled the park. "Yeah...four...five miles from here. One problem though...There's a mall not to far from the edge of the park....don't think that'll be a big problem for you guys. Seem well versed in killing things anyway."

Crystal/I-85

The group exchanged looks at the mention of the old mall. "We've already been there. There's not much left, really. That was one of the first places sacked after the change. More dead than living, if any." He shook his head. "No, I think we should steer clear of there. Listen, we have a place a ways back. we have friends and family there. It's well fortified, and supplied. You can tag along, if we get through those walkers." Adam finished, and hoped everyone back at camp would understand.

Nathan/I-85

He nodded "Right then. Finding trees it is." He said with a nod looking around at the underbrush on the side of the road. Some trees there but nothing that looked climbable or really worth the effort of getting up. "not sure where to start though...there are some parks around here that we could use im sure."

And so the search for a climbable tree, to wait out the walker horde began. The small group would start wandering in a diagonal line, back north towards the camp, wary at all times of the horde that was meandering along towards north western Georgia.