Of Dust and Demons. (MATURE. Read Rules and Ask first.)

[Black Pheonix]

DISCLAIMER:

This is a fictional story-line with current dates and locations. This is a book I am writing in RL. I am posting bits and pieces here to help with writing the actual book. Any of the posts/characters you make here have the potential to be in the book. If you don't want your character in the book, just tell me. Lastly, if I do use your character(s), credit will be given where credit is due. Enjoy.

About/Backstory:

A strain of the bird flu has mutated and changed becoming airborne. The new strain has been called 'The Ravenous'. The Ravenous kills 85% of it's victims, infects 10%, and the remainaing 5% are the only 'immune' human beings left.

Victims experience pupil dialation and red eyes, along with intense rage. They can also hear and smell blood for quite a long distance. Including their hightened sense of smell and hearing, their sight is poor during the day, increased strength, and speed. The disease burns through the fat, firms the muscle, and each time they feed, they grow stronger. Those lucky enough to be immune are left fighting at the bribk of extinction. Those unlucky enough to be infected and not die become The Ravenous; A shell of their former self.

They seem to be sensitive to sunlight, but not harmed by it. Blood attracts them and they either kill, or feed upon their victim's flesh and blood till there is nothing there. Before there were just Immune Humans and The Ravenous, if you were bitten, it was almost certain you would become one. So, you had a choice, be given a gun to shoot yourself with, be shot, or be released into the packs of the Ravenous.

The 5% of people left in the Earth have set up pockets of civilization all over the world. New York is empty, aside from Samantha Ocampo. (To her knowlege)

Rules:

All CS rules apply.

You must make/submit a short profile in your first post.

No one is super-human.

Your character must be Original.

Samantha is the only one that she knows can't be infected by bites or by air. (Subject to change.)

Let me know before you make your first post - Contact via PM.

Have Fun!

Layout:

Name:
Age:
Description(Appearance):
Short-Story: (This is akin to the night of infection, or the past few months.)

Transmissions:

August 16th, 2011 7:19 p.m.

The virus code-named "The Ravenous" had gone airborne. Army Rangers special unit 'Alpha Dogs' were stationed on the easternly end of New York City at the small base near the bay.

August 17th, 2011 12:35 a.m.

Alpha Dogs were dispatched into the city. Their mission was containment.

August 17th, 2011 1:00 a.m.

Containment Failed.

September 6th, 2011 8:22 p.m.

"Report, soldier." the Colonel ordered from his ship in the bay.

"Fifty-Percent civilian casualties, one in particular. Remarks: it was Rei-Rei." the radio-man called. Samantha's screaming and fighting were thick in the background. Her pained cries were filling the transmission room.

September 17th, 2011 6:00 a.m.

"Command, this is Platoon Sergeant Ocampo." she rang in.

"Go ahead Sergeant." HQ returned.

"Civilian casualties are untold. Thousands of Ravenous are unnumbered. I am the only survivor..." she ended, the static kicking off as HQ shut down their radios. They were abandoning her in New York City. She had no other way out, just a half-full stockpile of weaponry at the base, and enough food to last at longest 7 years (Not counting the good food. This was just MRE's.). Maybe less if anyone else ever did show up.

May 1st, 2012 11:00 a.m.

The ship left the bay all that time ago. All transmissions have ceased since then. No human contact has been received since last transmission.


Name: Samantha Ocampo (Eagle Eyes, or Sam)

Age: 24

Description: A female that started out with pale complexion before six years in the military. Now she is tanned, with blondish brown hair, has a careful demeanor, and is a lesbian. She stands around 5'6" and weights about 140 Lbs.

Short-Story: Samantha had just gotten back from leave to stay with her lover Rei-Rei before they both had to go back on tour. September 6th, 2011: Weeks after the initial infection, this particular date had tore her life apart. Rei-Rei was beaten, scratched, bitten, and viciously murdered to be turned into one of The Ravenous. As a reminder, she sings 'Three Little Birds by Bob Marley' occasionally, and keeps her lover's wedding ring on her dog-tag necklace. Now, she has formed up a resistance comprised of only herself at the abandoned Army Base toward the edge of town.

Story:

"If you can hear this, My name is Platoon Sergeant Sam Ocampo. I hail from the Army Rangers 'Alpha Dogs' unit. I can provide food, shelter, and most importantly, protection... Each day, when the sun is at it's highest in the sky, I will be waiting at the thirteenth dock at the bay near the naval boneyard. Look for the black smoke signal. I am airing this on all frequencies. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, go out at night. They hunt at night, and only go out in the day if they absolutely have to. If you need to leave your shelter , take any weapons and all sources of light. They are very sensitive to light, but can bare it for short amounts of time.

If someone, anyone... Is listening to this transmission...
You are the answer to infection...
This is Sam Ocampo."

It had been 9 months since her last contact with human life. Visions of her lover being bitten, pulled, and scratched at still haunted her. That night, her squad was telling her that it wasn't her female partner, but her own screams.

A tear fell as she was reminded of what happened...

She let out a tough sigh and used her shoulder to wipe her watery eyes. Her free hand came down to raise the wedding ring on the same necklace as her dog tags to her lips. Sam kissed it softly and began to sing as she drove down the desolate streets. "Don't worry... About a thing... Cause every little thing... Is gunna be all right..." her voice crackled to a stop.

The sun was completely overhead as she pulled to a stop at the thirteenth dock. Her Range Rover slowed to a rumble, and then shut off as she hit the recording again. It was blacked out, and covered with all sorts of lights. KC DayBrighters, brush guards, and it was lifted a few inches so she could get over obstacles too large for a car.

Her footsteps thudded against the concrete pier as she walked down to the end. A pile of black coal was sitting, soaked in gasoline. This was both a smoke-signal and when it rages on in the night, a decoy for the Ravenous. It kept them far away from her base so she wouldn't have to worry about them finding her there. Cawing birds over head gave her heart a jump start. With that, the iron sights of her M4A1 Tactical were even with the sound. Soon, she lowered the weapon. "I almost forgot... Animals are immune to the airborne strain..." she said, taking in a deep, careful breath. In a few moments, a lit match fell into the pile of charcoal. It erupted into flames, boiling a column of black smoke.

Sergeant Ocampo wore her old colors: Olive Drab t-shirt, Digital Camouflage pants, Army Issued boots (summer style), and a pair of intensely dark sunglasses that were resting on her head. Her free hand came up to lower the glasses over her eyes, protecting them from the bright sun-light. The woman's complexion was tanned, matching up with the camouflage better. Today, she even decided to wear her hair up in a pony tail. It was long, blondish-brown, and with her tanned features, she would look attractive; Aside from all the military wear.

The recording ceased as she brought the walkee talkee to her lips and started again. "Broadcasting from Dock 13. I have arrived today to bring you news. The Ravenous are growing smarter. If you are travelling during the day, don't drop your guard. They are beginning to use hard shadows (shadows from buildings) to migrate small distances and hunt during the day. The sunlight still harms their eyes, but they can endure it long enough to cover distance. I repeat: I offer you food, shelter, and security.

If anyone is out there... Please... You are not alone.

This is Sam Ocampo."

[Faithy]

][OOC: Let me know if there's anything I need to change.][


Name: Schuyler Callahan
Age: 25
Description(Appearance):

Schuyler who is unnaturally tall for her age stands at 6’0 and weighs in at 137. Her slender, tan, and toned lithe frame is perfect for modeling, which is what she happens to do as a profession. Long crimson red hair sweeps across her shoulders, draping down to her mid-back. Her eyes match her hair though they are a bit lighter. She generally wears blue jeans and a white button up t-shirt, though the color of the shirt would change depending on her mood. While modeling however, her clothing depended on whatever she was given to wear. Her footwear is a simple pair of tennis shoes that are generally rugged and worn in.

Short-Story:

Schuyler was born within a bunker in Hollywood, California that had remained secret from everyone else. Her mother and father were nameless subjects that were killed after her birth. She was groomed to be the most beautiful, talented female and as a child, she was entered into any pageant outside the bunker. At the age of five, she became one of the youngest models and soon afterward forced into commercial, soap operas, and movie roles. When she was six, they began to train her in all forms of combat training, pushing her beyond her limits every single day. This continued until she was eighteen years old. The teen began to realize that her life wasn’t like others her age and she demanded to be set free. Surprisingly, the doctor that had been pretending to be her father agreed and released her. She continued to act and continued to win award after award. Off stage, her life was just like any normal person and she often spent any downtime playing video games with her closest friends.

This continued until her twenty-fifth birthday. She was attending the People’s Choice awards and after receiving her award and giving her speech, she headed backstage to do the interview. Per the norm, she headed to all of the parties being held. It was during this time that a strange group of people broke through the doors and began attacking everyone. She had no idea what was going on, and took off to her car. She took off and drove to her home and barricaded herself inside. Soon after, she tried to figure out what to do and where she was going to go. Luckily, the black firebird was there, and it still had a full tank of gas. So, her plan would be to drive it until she either ran out of gas, or until she found someone else alive. Hopefully she would be able to find gas on the way, but definitely wasn't going to count on it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pacing back and forth, Schuyler Callahan debated on whether or not to go through with her decision. Grasped tight in her slender fingers were a piece of paper with an address and instructions upon it, but she paid little attention to it. The entirety of the king size bed was covered in clothing as was the brown arm chair in the corner of the hotel room. A strand of red hair made its way into the tip of her mouth and as she wandered back and forth in front of the messy bed, she chewed on the piece absentmindedly. Time was ticking away and the young adult still didn’t have a single piece of clothing on save for a matching red silk thong and bra.

“Damn it, Schuyler, you don’t have all day. Either get dressed or call down and tell them you changed your mind.”

Throwing the piece of paper down onto the cherry wood nightstand centered on the left side of the plush bed, she made her way to the bathroom to finish getting prettied up. Once her earrings and navel piercing was changed out, she shimmied back to the pile of clothing to pick out what to wear. Grabbing out a pair of black hip-hugger jeans and a red t-shirt with a stick figure stabbing a clock and the words ‘I hate waking up’ in elegant lettering above the picture. The bottom of the shirt stopped just above her belly button, showing off her butterfly piercing. Her shoes were somewhere on the floor and after digging beneath the chair, she pulled out a pair of black and red Nike’s and slid them on.

“Alright, I guess this means I’m going.”

The t-shirt showed off the wire/heart mixture tattoo that went around the circumference of her left arm and with another nod, Schuyler grabbed the note and her room key. Pausing only to grab the backpack that held her weaponry, she pulled it over her shoulders. It was more of a comfort thing than anything else and after another quick glance around the room she jogged to the elevator and hit the L button. Humming under her breath to drown out the retarded music elevators always played, the nineteen-year-old was glad when the doors opened. Stepping out into the lobby, her crimson eyes searched out the lanky garnet-haired kid that was her contact. Finally spotting him, she made her way towards him, her hips swaying seductively.

“Hey, kid. I’m supposed to be going to Conference Room D. How about showing me the way?”

His eyes scanned her body briefly before nodding rapidly. He didn’t say anything, but turned around and began walking towards the room. Huffing in irritation not just because he had taken a minute to check her out, but because he didn’t bother saying anything, Callahan didn’t move a muscle. Instead, her arms crossed against her chest and her eyes narrowed dangerously towards the back of the boy’s head. He was roughly as tall as her and perhaps once he finished with his puberty would be a good looking individual. Eugene finally stopped walking and turned around to face her, confusion apparent on his pale face.

“Miss? Aren’t you coming to the conference room? It’s just this way.”

Dropping her arms down her sides, the redhead couldn’t help but grin. Stepping forward, she made her way to where he was standing and waved him forward. As he began walking again, she made sure to keep up so he didn’t have another perplexing moment. Waiting for the doors to be opened, the slender woman stepped in and glanced around at the others already inside. It took her only a few minutes to find a place to sit, far away from the man who looked like he lost a fight in a plastic surgery battle, and without a word, the introvert sat down and stared hard at the water glasses as well as the plate in front of her.

“…So… how’s it going?”

All at once the man changed into one of the creatures that attacked the night of the party, causing Schuyler to scream at the top of her lungs. She stumbled back away from the thing and slammed into the door. Suddenly she was trapped and before she knew it, she was buried beneath a pile of slobbering creatures that appeared to want to kill her.

Screaming, she was suddenly sitting up in the bed of an empty barricaded hotel room. Glancing around, she fought to normalize her breathing as she came to the realization that she was safe. The dream wasn’t real… she was very much alone and alive in the hotel in the middle of Little Rock, Arkansas. She had managed to get that far, but things were getting stickier as she continued to travel, and thus far she hadn’t found anyone alive.

“…ugh… I hate nightmares.”

[Helter Skelter]

Name: Nicholas Mason
Age: 22
Description: Nicholas stands at 5'11" weighing in at 135lbs with an somewhat light toned slim/athletic build, along with short black hair and light green eyes. He normally wears loose fitting t-shirts with baggy jeans and athletics shoes, but managed to find an abandoned Humvee that had a few spare uniforms, so at the moment he is wearing digital camouflage and boots.

Short-Story: Nicholas was staying with a friend at the time of the infection, they were hanging out carrying on a party that ended three hours prior to them arriving at his apartement. They were sprawled out on the couch drinking shots when the front was broken down, needless to say they sobered up pretty quickly, his friend walked up to the door basher to try and find out what they wanted when they suddenly lashed out clawing and biting at his neck and thoracic trunk. Nicholas was paralyzed by this scene, but quickly regained the ability to move once the cannibal charged at him, he managed to leap out of the way and smash a nearby lamp into its head, whether it was killed or merely knocked unconscious he didn't know as soon as it hit the ground he seen his friend was beyond help and ran out of the building.

After reaching the outside he soon discovered there were significantly more of the cannibals and without a second thought he took off running yet again, this time not stopping until his lungs burnt and his legs became limp. Lucky for him, his legs gave out around a storage house, a conveniently place tire iron allowed him to pop the door open; He made his way into the building and barricaded the door passing out from exhaustion soon after. He woke up hours later around ten in the morning and noticed that whatever was out the night before wasn't there now, so he took the one item of use he had and set off to find out what happened and what he did find frightened him.

In the following months as he made his way from the west side of New York, he started to find logs held by deceased service men referring to the cannibals as "The Ravenous" and other notes left by civilians noting qualities they took notice of after facing them, one he noticed himself was avoidance of sunlight, most of the others appeared to be circumstantial and contradictory to most other information he read but avoidance of sunlight was the only one all of them had in common. Besides notes on the ravenous he also found numerous firearms and other weapons, but ammo appears to have become sparse in the sense he has come across many guns and had to throw them away after their magazines had been emptied, but he did keep a machete and fire ax he found while rummaging through a fire station.

After reaching the center of the city he found an Humvee and in it army fatigues, he quickly changed into his new duds and from nowhere he heard the crackle of a radio followed by an transmission, If you can hear this, My name is Platoon Sergeant Sam Ocampo. I hail from the Army Rangers 'Alpha Dogs' unit. I can provide food, shelter, and most importantly, protection... Each day, when the sun is at it's highest in the sky, I will be waiting at the thirteenth dock at the bay near the naval boneyard. Look for the black smoke signal. I am airing this on all frequencies. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, go out at night. They hunt at night, and only go out in the day if they absolutely have to. If you need to leave your shelter , take any weapons and all sources of light. They are very sensitive to light, but can bare it for short amounts of time.

If someone, anyone... Is listening to this transmission...
You are the answer to infection...
This is Sam Ocampo.

The radio died shortly after, but he heard what he needed to, from that moment on he was dead set on finding Dock 13 and this Sam person. The next ten months was spent with Nicholas moving through the city during twelve hour safe period, which became more and more dangerous as the months went by causing him to cover less and less ground and even having to double back due to mass migrations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huff...huff...huff...Finally...east New York City..."

A man heaved trying to catch his breath, months of walking had finally paid off for the weary Nicholas. The sun was still high in the sky, so he was safe from attack for the time being, but he was close to his goal and it didn't matter to him whether getting to the dock would be easy or if he would have to go through a million ravenous, he would survive and nothing would change that. As he wandered through the city he couldn't help but wonder if the transmission was a real person or just some looped broadcast, having come this far though he tried to push the thought from his head. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a map he managed to lift off a dead soldier about forty miles back. Looking it over one more time he placed the map back into his pocket.

Walking down the street crows cawed overhead and the sound of garbage cans falling over echoed down the alleyways, Nicholas was growing more cautious with each noise. After walking down several blocks he could see a plume of black smoke in the distance, a three or four hour walk was a good estimate for the time it would take him to reach it. The one thing that stayed in the back of his head is that it could be from a burning car or house and not necessarily the smoke spoken of in the radio transmission months earlier.

"Please God let that be coming from the dock."

[Axion]

Name: Mac Hudson

Age: 27

Description(Appearance): Mac is roughly six feet four inches. He has a muscular build, red hair and blue eyes, though due to his hazmat mask it can not be seen. He wears his military gear over a red t shirt and his black jeans, keeping his rifle ready in case of attack.

Short-Story: Mac was the typical oldest son in a military family, first forced to follow the family tradition. He quickly rose to the rank of Lieutenant as he continued to do his part, finally getting to command his own squad, that was until all hell broke loose. He was sent out with all available soldiers to engage unusually hostile combatants, using whatever means necessary. Mac and the other soldiers were doing fine, that is until the hostiles began coming at them from every possible direction. He ordered the men around him to fall back, though most of them decided to do their own thing and ended up over run and either dying or joining the ranks of the hostiles. Grabbing as much ammo as he could, Mac withdrew with the few remaining soldiers. He was given information about how the 'illness', as they were now calling it, was spread and how to prevent it. He laid low, waiting on day time before searching for others. As the days went on, Mac was the only one left of the soldiers that left with him. Despite the overwhelming odds, Mac continues his mission to aid survivors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mac had been moving along the streets of Little Rock, making sure to make as little noise as possible. He continued to scavenge for ammo, picking up the discarded rounds from the dead or fleeing soldiers. What was usable he put in the storage pouch at the small of his back, leaving the rest on the ground where it laid. He saw several pillars of smoke raising into the air, but he knew better than to head there. His special ops training told him that the hostiles would be drawn to things like that, so until he had more people traveling with him, he would avoid those areas for now. He was about to head off to another area when he heard the sounds of a woman screaming. He shifted his eyes to the direction of the scream, judging that it was close enough to his current location to merit a quick look. The most logical choice of the buildings in the estimated area was a Hotel, slowly checking the door to see if it was open. Luckily for Mac, the hotel wasn't all that big, only a few rooms. He knocked on each door, announcing himself in a low voice as to only attract the attention of the person or persons inside the room.

"Lieutenant Hudson, U.S. Military, if there are any survivors, knock on the door three times..."

[Black Pheonix]

The recording would stop and start every ten minutes, insuring that people would hear it every day.

Sam sat peacefully back in the Rover, which faced the front of the dock. This would let her see anyone coming for a good quarter mile. Last night didn't grant her the sleep she needed, it was just up and down all night. The nightmares were coming back again. Soon, her body shut down to be able to sleep. Everything faded. Sound. Light. Everything. She was passed out in the driver seat with her tactical carbine in her arms.

OOC: Countdown for Poptart's walk.

Bright red lights were flashing in circles with the alert siren blaring loudly. The tanned pair shot out of their respectful bunks, both were dressed and meeting at the door. "I love you." they told eachother simultaniously. (sp?)Rei took off in one direction, and Sam, the other. Her voice pitched through the siren's blare. "Party ATTENTION!" Each of the Alpha Dogs were a little on edge, never before were they in a situation where the homeland was under attack. This is different, not so much under attack, but slowly being wiped out. Each and every man (and woman) in the squad was dressed and armed. They were prepared for anything to be thrown at them.. Aside from what was out there. " Men, we have a biohazard warning! Grab your filtered masks and prepare Humvees 3 and 4. We are Oscar Mike in 3!" she yelled, trying to steel the men for what she had already seen outside.

Three minutes burned by quickly, and the entire squad was split into two different vehicles. She spoke on the radio to transfer orders to both groups of men, "We are at a Mission Blue. Stage two of a viral outbreak. Our mission is containment in the eastern end of New York. Among us, members of the National Guard will be patrolling, and keeping guard at the different posts around the city, keeping us chained off. Should Mission Blue proceed to Mission Red, we MUST commence termination..." her words slowed, as they rode down the streets. People were running, screaming, vandelising, and going insane. This is what happens when the established Order gets crippled. This is what happens when you let a bunch of free-willed idiots try a day without a leader.

"Confirmation says that the President is already in his bunker, safe from the attack. All right men, lets get to work establishing some kind of Order." she said, but all the men could see it for themselves. There isn't going to be any order... There were... Cannibals in the streets... Chasing people down... Eating them... Beating them... Killing them...

Everything went wrong that night, just as she had expected, but she had her orders to follow. Even though she was the commander of her Spec Ops team, she still took orders from higher-ups.

Chaos... It rang throughout the night... Spilling into the streets, killing people, and turning them...

Even as the weeks progressed, things got worse. She didn't forsee all of this happening. Sam figured it was all just going to dissolve atleast after two, maybe three weeks. No, this got much worse. Buildings were being boarded up, others demolished. Peace and Red Cross groups were shown no mercy, as well as the people being helped by the groups. Both humans and the Ravenous were all alike. The people came to steal the food and anti-biotics, and the Ravenous sweeped in for easy meals out of the now defenseless groups.

A week into September rolled by, and there were only seven squad members left, counting Rei and Sam. They were having a rough day, already passing from their second arguement. Sam wanted Rei to stay at the base while they went on a supply run, argueing that it was far too dangerous for her lover to go out. Rei wanted Sam to stay while the squad went on the run, saying that they could handle it themselves.

Samantha twitched and spoke up in her sleep. "No... Fine.. We both go..." her head leaned left and right as she spoke. The watch sounded it's fourth hourly beep as the dream went on.

"Fine!" she remembered they yelled at eachother. They were equally mad at eachother, but it was a simple run... What could happen..?

What could happen..?

The squad had to walk about three miles to get to their destination, fuel was low, so they had to save what there was to be able to evacuate when called. Everyone hoped they would be called soon, because this was worse than the last time they toured over sees. Every person in the squad wished they could opt out to just going back to war. Bullets didn't seem as scary when you knew they could kill you quickly.

The squad was inside the small grocers stop, picking up things they needed. Noodles, anti-biotics, and things that could be cooked. Sam and Rei were outside patrolling, and they were both still pretty steamed at eachother. Screams filled the air behind her. Samantha whipped around, aiming at the head of a Ravenous that for once, was still.

A shiver ran down her spine as the memory relived itself. "No... Let her go... Let her go..." she mumbled, beginning to bead up with sweat.

All the sound faded out except for Rei's whimpering as one of the Ravenous slowly walked her back in the dark. Sam's voice was completely inaudible. Rei had tears running down both of her cheeks, already realizing what was going to happen. Acting before either of the other two could, she removed her wedding ring and tossed it to Samantha, whispering; "I love you..."

Tears began pushing their way out of her closed eyes. it was all so vivid, playing back to her like she was there again. She was being treated as a slave, reminded constantly of her failure, her mistake, her imperfections... Sam was certain God was punishing her.

Both she and the cannibal reacted at the same time: For Same... It wasn't fast enough... her free hand caught the falling wedding ring, but she yelled 'No'. It tossed Rei into a open doorway just as the shot slammed home in it's head. The doorway was filled with pitch blackness, she couldn't see inside.

Rei's voice pierced through the hesitation in her body. "SAAAMMM!" she shrieked. All the members of Alpha dogs were coming running out of the building, but they were too far of from their leader at the building across the street. Her eyes opened wide as she kicked the door open the rest of the way, letting sunlight very dimly fill the room. "NOOO!" she yelled, emtpying her magazine into the group. It was a trap. They actually set up a trap. Rei was the bait, they were beating her, biting her, and tearing at her skin. The opposite femme slowly got quieter as Sam shoved one of the Ravenous away. Blood splattered against both of her cheeks. Samantha froze, feeling the blood slowly drip down to her chin. Behind her, the squad stormed in, "Army Rangers! Get down! Ge---" they all shut up, seeing the trap itself. The group that had taken Rei deeper into the darkness was a good 25-30 strong. They had to opt out and forcibly pull their Leader away as she screamed and fought against them.

She snapped awake, "NOOO!!! LET HER GO! GIVE HER BACK!!!" she yelled, already aiming down the iron sights at nothing through the windshield. The nightmareish memory had died off again, leaving her to dwell alone. The M4 plopped down in her lap as she leaned back. Every part of her body was covered in sweat and tears. Her eyes wouldn't dry up as she sat there. As she sat there, one thought stayed with her. 'You failed...', it just wouldn't go away. In just a few moments, it left her smashing both of her fists into the Range Rover's steering wheel. The horn honked sequencially as she hit it. The tormented lover kept going until her knuckles bruised up and the muscles in her hands locked up for a few moments. (About 8 times)

The watched beeped twice at her, quickly. Indicating that half an hour had passed. She glanced down at it, seeing it was 4:30 p.m. passed her blurry eyes. "So, I slept for atleast... four hours huh..?" she asked herself, wiping tears from her eyes repeatedly. Her recording started to play back again, but she stopped it half-way through, "This is Sam Ocampo, broadcasting on all frequencies. I am a survivor in the easternly side of New York City. I will stay at the dock for another fifteen minutes. If you are out there... There is a Cure... This is Sam Ocampo." Her voice was breaking up there at the end due to the crying she did. Everything hurt... Not really her knuckles... Her insides... Her chest... Her Heart.

@EW A Poptart

[Faithy]

Climbing out of the bed, she paced back and forth in the room. She was a little apprehensive about things thanks to her dream, and decided it was time to get dressed. Pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a white button up t-shirt, Schyuler took in a deep breath. Tugging on a pair of shoes, she shoved the rest of her stuff into her bag, deciding it was probably time to leave. Shifting her gaze towards the clock, she sighed under her breath. The thing wasn’t working, but she figured it was sometime in the afternoon. She frowned as the sound of footsteps neared her location.


“…someone’s coming…”

Glancing towards the door, she reached down and pulled out her glock. Pointing it towards the door, she carefully moved towards it in hopes of peeking out of the peephole. Was her dream coming true? Hoping not, she finally managed to make it to her door just as someone knocked on it. Fighting back a squeal, she peered out and noticed a male standing in the hallway. He identified himself as Lieutenant Hudson and claimed he was in the U.S. Military. From her experience, the creatures didn’t talk, so she figured he was a survivor. Cracking open her door, she slammed it shut as he commanded that she knock three times. Knocking three times, she opened it back up again, leaving the chain on the door to ensure that he couldn’t get to her until she was sure he was alive.

“The name is Schuyler Callahan… Is the rest of the military with you? Are we being rescued…?”

[Helter Skelter]

It wasn't easy, but somehow the lone survivor had managed to make it extremely close to the source of the smoke plume without much hassle. The cawing of the birds overhead still gave him an unsettling feeling, but he could push through it if it meant finally having a safe place to wait out this pandemic. Walking down what was left of 42nd street seemed to be somewhat relaxing if you could look past the bodies sprawled out on the sidewalks missing chucks of meat and limbs, but the atmosphere suddenly became more tense as Nicholas took notice of a shambling ravenous that seemed to be walking in the shadows cast by the buildings, it was a strange sight...but considering the situation everything was strange. He knew there was only two choices he could make, double back and avoid it entirely turning the short walk back into an expedition or he could take it out and continue on praying that the sunlight would keep any others at bay. The former was easily the best decision, but he was so close to his goal and went against his better judgement. Unlatching the strap on the leather bound sheath and his side, he pulls a moderately maintained machete into view, crouching down he slowly makes his way towards the unwitting creature, as he closes in his green eyes become sharp with a murderous intent...no, the will to survive. Only inches from the creature he jumps up at lunges at the ravenous delivering a slash to the base of its skull, severing the spinal column from the brain stem and its head from the shoulders. The body falls limp and its head rolls around for a few moments before stopping to reveal a mangled face missing about half of its face. The man wipes the blade of his weapon on the fallen creature to clean it before resheathing it and continuing on his way.

Within seven, possibly ten minutes, Nicholas has a straight shot to docks with the source of the black plume in clear sight. Overwhelmed with the excitement of his almost year long journey being over he takes off running towards the docks. It may have been the built up endurance of having to run and hide along with fighting the creatures, but the man cleared the distance between his starting point and the docks in under four minutes.

"Heeeeey! Sam are you there!", he yelled slowing down to a stroll as he approached the dock.

[Black Pheonix]

OOC: Post made on the Wii.

Something caught the corner of her eye. Once she was finished beating the steering wheel into submission and her hands started to work again; Sam raised her carbine up, staring through the scope at a man in uniform. His appearance wasn't cannibalistic, but looks can be deceiving. The wind began to blow her hair out of her sight. He just lobbed off an infected's head. Birds scattered, fleeing from the tremendous sound coming from both the tires of the Range Rover and the incredibly loud exaust.

The Beast roared as it came from one side of the pier to the other. It galloped, gaining speed before ramping an over-turned car.

"Idiot." she uttered. She gave him an A for tactics but an F for wrecklessness. He leapt into the shadows to surprise and take down his enemy.

Everything slowed as she was in the air, almost hovering above the unknown person. She didn't even glance down to check his surprise, there simply was no time.

The Range Rover's front end contacted the pavement first, ten of so feet from him. This caused the rear end chunk to slam into the ground, showering everything around in sparks. She kicked the e-brake in, sliding the vehicle sideways in front of him. Before the SUV came to a complete halt, she pushed the door open and jumped out. Sam was already walking forward toward the intense darkness with her weapon aimed. Her vehicle finally stopped about 25 feet from him, acting as a vision barrier between him and Sam going toward the shadows.

What this guy didn't realize is that the one he killed was frail and weak. The Ravenous turned on their own to make a decoy for what they hoped was their next meal.

An entire group, five strong emerged from the darkest point of the shadows. "Get in and close your eyes and ears!" she yelled at him. Smoke from the tires was blowing up in plumes around her body thanks to the wind.

There was a metallic 'clang' as they charged her. Something hit the ground at their feet, following that, an incredible light and deafening boom. Each of them screeched in protest at thelight, the sound, and the hot lead surgically slicing through their bodies.

The M4A1 Tactical was suppressed. It made all of the shots queter than firing a pellet rifle, with maybe an added bullet whistle.

Four of the Ravenous collapsed to the ground. Their bodies were still weak against gunfire, unable to sustain against that sort of damage. Yet, one, apart from the rest, was still coming. It ran toward her, rather small in stature with a higher pitched screech. It wwas a child...

The smoke cleared around her, revealing a slung over machine rifle that was replaced by an Berretta m9 Pistol. A unsilenced round expelled from the barrel, meeting the boy between his red eyes. Samantha turned around holstering her m9 and pulled herself into the vehicle as the spent casing hit the ground.

Her tanned skin was still evident of heavy sweat from the night-mare. "I'm Platoon Commander, Sergeant Ocampo. Whats your name?" she asked, pulling the door shut behind her. A pair of deep blue eyes, slightly red with absent tears, were glaring over at him.

As par her normal demeanor, she carefully placed her assault rifle down by her left leg. An extra measure was her right hand sliding down to her side to rest on the handle of a kento knife.

First appearaces made her look steeled, having shot a child in the head without giving a second thought. Her uniform was damp, and the only differences between them was he was a male with a digital camo shirt, and she, a female, with an olive drab t-shirt.

Sam's legs jostled a bit after unlocking the emergency brake. Her right foot was on the gas, and her left knee was steering. Now they were both riding down the street, easily rolling over bodies, cars, and debris. "Where have you been..?" she asked, defeatedly. Then she followed up a bit less sternly, "Want a cigarette?" One already found her lips and was lit thanks to a free hand.

[Axion]

Mac raised an eyebrow as he was greeted with her question, scoffing lightly. He kept his rifle ready, not trusting anything around him based on past experience. He looked at the woman, giving her a warm smile as he thought about how to break the news to her.

"Well, there were more of us, however the others were not as skilled at surviving as myself. Now exactly how many people are here? I have a weapons cache near here, perfect for getting you a better weapon than that handgun. What's the the situation here anyway? I just arrived in this part of town, is it as destroyed here as it is in the northern region of the town?"

He waited for her to unchain the door, not really all too keen on being left in the hallway by himself. The hallway was battered, most likely from all the attacks from all the hostile people around the area. He was starting to get that uneasy feeling he had before his team was ambushed, hoping that it would not happen here.

"It's fun talking to you through the door and all, but would you mind letting me in, it's too exposed out here for my liking..."

[Helter Skelter]

After removing the Ravenous' head from its shoulders everything seemed to move along so fast, he heard the revving of an engine and then caught a glimpse of a vehicle in mid-flight coming right at him. Dumbfounded all he could think to do was drop down into the fetal position and hope the vehicle missed him, luckily it hit the ground skid to a halt a good distance away from him and the slight screech from the tires and then silence let him know he was safe before jumping to his feet.

By the time he came to his senses he realized the vehicle was empty and heard a female voice in a commanding tone telling him to get into the jeep and cover his eyes and ears, he didn't think twice and did exactly as he was told except as he reached the vehicle whatever the woman used to debilitate the cannibals left Nicholas blinded for a few moments with an ringing in his ears. He fumbled with the car door before he finally managed to get in, it was minutes later before he vision returned and by that time he heard the sound of a single bullet being fired and then the driver side door open and close. The driver, a fairly attractive tanned dirty blonde, asked him two simple questions, which he was unable to answer for a few moments due to disorientation.

"Where have I been?..."

The answer evaded him until he delivered two strikes to the side of is head with an open palm.

"I've been walking through New York searching for Dock 13...after hearing a radio transmission from a Sam...Oca...mpo...about four maybe five months ago. I can't remember anymore..."

He replied answering her first question in a way, he stretched his hand out reaching for the cigarette before stopping halfway and pulling his hand back.

"Sorry, I don't smoke...anyways, Are you the Sam person that sent out the radio transmission? Are you still offering food and shelter? Let me know something...", he was trying to be optimistic, but his voice carried a melancholy undertone.

[Faithy]

Schuyler ignored the warm smile and frowned when he mentioned that he was alone. She wasn’t being rescued, and he was new to the town. Scowling a little, she glanced back into her room, glad that she had gathered all of her stuff into her bag, since he wanted to come inside. What made him come to the hotel anyways? As far as she knew, it didn’t look like anyone had been to the hotel in a while, and the only vehicle was her firebird, but it was covered beneath a cover that made it look like nothing more than a pile of rubble. She had the cover specially made because she hated when people messed with her stuff, and it worked out perfectly with what was going on with the world. Sighing, she finally undid the chain and opened the door, motioning for him to enter.

“I’m the only person here. You’re the first person I’ve seen in a while… no one else in this town is alive. Most of the town is destroyed and I’m sure this section will be targeted next, so we probably should move on. I have a car … and I guess you can come with me.”

Closing the door behind him, she latched the chain and flipped the deadbolt. She was pretty thrilled that someone else was alive, but the thought of the military not being much help made her very sad. Sure, she knew that someone named Sam was also alive, but that woman was clear in New York. Until now, she had a bad feeling that Sam was the only human that was alive aside from herself, and that was fairly depressing. Staring at Mac, she chewed on her bottom lip, wondering if he would even want to go with her.

“So… are you coming with me or not? Either way, I’m leaving in like fifteen minutes.”

@Axion

[Axion]

Mac listened to her talk, noticing that she seemed glad to have some company. He smiled as he was invited to join her, though he did realize that they would need to get some better weapons. He stretched a little, having been on his feet for quite a while.

"Fifteen minutes, sounds like a plan. We should stop at a stockpile of weapons along the way, I believe that we will need them later in our travels. How long were you held up in this hotel? I lost the last member of my platoon trying to get into this town. Our mission was to find and extract survivors, I may be the last of my platoon, but the mission is still a go."

Mac shifted his eyes to Schuyler, getting ready to head out as the fifteen minutes was rapidly approaching. He checked his ammo, making sure that he was all locked and loaded.

[Faithy]

Schuyler felt just a smidge uncomfortable with him just standing there staring and smiling at her. Turning around, she walked over towards the window and peered outside with a heavy sigh. Thus far, everything was going smooth, but something told her that was going to change in the next few hours or the next few days. Either way, she wasn’t particularly thrilled at the prospect of being attacked once again. Snorting under her breath, she turned around as he asked her a question about the length she was in the hotel and then mentioned something about getting more weapons.

“Eeehh… I honestly don’t remember how long I’ve been here. Feels like forever though. Getting more weaponry would be a great idea though. Sorry about the loss of your platoon… sounds like you hit some rough patches out there.”

She wasn’t sure if it had been fifteen minutes or not, but she grabbed her bag and backpack and shimmied towards the door. Peeking out the peephole, she ensured that it was safe before opening the door. Motioning from him to follow her, she headed down the hallway, making sure to keep absolutely quiet. Assuming that he was right behind her, Schuyler made her way down the back stairs. There wasn’t anyone outside and she could see her car or rather the cover where her car was at clear as day. Waving for Mac, she stepped outside and moved over towards the cover and yanked it off. Unlocking the door, she shoved her bags in the backseat of the Firebird along with the cover and slid inside.

“Let’s go.”

[Axion]

Mac shifted his gaze to the ground when she mentioned his platoon, the death of each soldier playing in his head. He remembered each one, carried their tags in one of his pouches on his vest. He continued to think of his platoon, growling. He then heard her tell him to hurry, climbing out the window and carefully making his way to her vehicle. Once he was inside it, he flicked the safety off and readied his rifle. He handed her a map with several locations with big red X markers on them.

"Schuyler, those mark all the weapons caches I have hidden in this area. Pick one and head there, I will cover us from in here and make sure we get there in one piece..."

It was then that he remembered what his commander said about him, though at the time her words did not make sense.

"Mac, there is something about you that is very different from any other soldier I have had the privilege of meeting and training. Granted you are not the best soldier out there, nor are you the worst. You are a good soldier, skilled in tactics and strategy. But there is something more to you, something you possess that none of the others in this military division do. You have a great deal of luck, which is why I am putting you in charge of the division outside of Little Rock. I have a feeling that you will be a perfect fit there..."

He snapped back to reality, still trying to make sense of the words the commander spoke. He pushed it aside, focusing on covering their exit from Schuyler's car.

[Faithy]

Shifting her attention to the map he was holding, she studied it for a few minutes. Several of the areas were pretty close to their current location, which was a blessing in disguise for the duo. Finally pointing to the one that appeared to be about eighteen blocks from the hotel, she slid on her seatbelt and started her baby up. Taking off out of the parking lot, she was completely aware of anything that seemed out of place, and knew from experience that her car could take a beating and if necessary, could wipe out any of the weird diseased humans. Driving the vehicle like a professional race car driver, Schuyler took the corner without even slowing down. In her opinion, the fast one went; the less likely there was a chance of being attacked.

“I hope you don’t get car sick. Oh, and you might want to hold on to your seat.”

Grinning, she took another corner, her pace picking up rapidly. She trusted him to watch their backs, and it wasn’t long before they reached the first location. Skidding to a stop, she glanced around, glad that nothing was stirring. Peering over at Mac, she shut off the engine and climbed out of the car, waiting for him to lead the way to the stash. The thought of holding something large made her giddy, and she realized it had been a long time since she had the chance to improve on her own weaponry.

“Well? After you, sir.”