Hit the Road Jack- Zombie Apocalypse.

Tweak grumbled as Noah motioned for him to take Markus down to the compound. Roughly, this had happened just before the other girl had made her appearance. Once he had gotten down into the compound, Tweak blocked the guy's view of the pin code for the door, and then with a click it was open. Soon after, he motioned for the guy to get his ass down here before the door closed and locked him out. Meanwhile, Tweak thought about the breathers in Stevenson's lab. The one that was left actually. A black guy, his name was...what was his name again? Charles? Cypress? Something with a C. Tweak had issues, and one of them was remembering names. Sooner or later he would end up calling someone by the wrong name and probably get killed for it or worse.

"Hurry up and get your ass down here."

He yelled up to Markus. Fuck it. He removed his shoe and placed it between the door and the lock so that he could get in himself. Tweak wanted to go down to Stevenson lab and see if the guy there was still alive. It was a possibility that he was. So, he ran down the hall, and through another hallway to the stairwell leading down under the main floor. The rifle strapped to his back kept slapping him as he ran. Once Tweak had gotten to the lab door, he put in the pin code that unlocked that door as well...seeing as he didn't have the keys. He took a deep and cautious breath, he didn't know what lurked down here anymore since Stevenson was always locked away in here. There could be anything.

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

Charles woke up on a cot, his head was pounding and his body ached like hell on earth. Slowly he sat up, grabbing his head, just before realizing he was in a glass cell locked away. Why the hell was he here? He shook his head, trying to gain his senses before standing up. He grumbled as he made his way to the door of the cell, and found it to be locked. Fucking hell. Why was he in here? Had he been bitten and found by the CDC? He began to look over his entire body, making sure that there were no bite marks, and he gave a sigh of relief after finding nothing.

Moments later, he heard a door open. Now was he chance to either find out what is going on, or getting the hell out of there. So, he began to beat on the door and screaming. The screams could be heard throughout the compound of course. That's when he saw a guy with a rifle on his shoulder.

"HEY! Let me out of here!"

Markus was a bit shocked when he took note of the two newcomers approaching his new motley crew. Such a weird bunch that seemed to be forming here. But overall, it was not quiet. Not by a long shot. They were just hearing the warning from the apparent male when Markus finally took not that his daggers were pulled from him and were on the ground. He began to walk to pick them up before hearing the main that marked the undeads' arrival. They were in for hell soon, he thought as he pulled back and counted his arms. Still had his guns, daggers, and his bad attitude. He finally turned back to the gunman and spoke with a hint of venom within his tone, casting a glare over to the crazy chick.

"At last I am more quiet than two of these people. The flailing was a ploy to let twitchie get away. And I happened to get back here without them following. So that attests to my skills..." With a release of his Beretta from the holster, Markus turned back to the forest as he backed into the gate. Ready for hell.

(Sorry for the short post. Kinda on a touchscreen and these things suck.)

Noah simply glanced at the newest girl. Someone needed to die; too many mouths to feed, too many liabilities.

"It was a shitty ploy, I'm not concerned with his safety. It makes no difference to me if any of you die."

Suddenly he turned on the new girl with a hand around her throat and the gun jammed into her eye, finger on the trigger. He honestly didn't care about the crazy girl, but the one that abruptly showed herself had him spooked and in a slightly bad mood.

"Only 20? Why don't we make it 21?"

Just as he was about to pull the trigger and brutally murder the woman the static in his ear piece cleared for a moment and he swore he could hear someone screaming for help. Shoving past her he planted a boot in the flailers back, pushing him towards the east side of the forest before turning back towards the compound to fetch Tweak.

"Go do something useful and lead them away or something. You seem to do best as zed head fodder. Take the new girl with you. If the two of you come back whole I won't kill you myself."

Cold as ice and always business. He snatched the batty girl by the scruff of her shirt and tossed her down the trap door of the compound, following behind her. He honestly didn't care what happened to the other two, he didn't care what happened to the beggar or Tweak either, but it was first come, first serve.

"Tweak, is there a survivor camp nearb-"

Noah stopped his questioning in his tracks when he stumbled upon a room where a dirty looking black man in a glass cage was pounding against the walls. Sure enough that's where the screaming came from. Well, that's an interesting development. So the doctor wasn't exactly following his Hippocratic Oath. Brassy eyes shifted to Tweak in curiosity as he motioned with his head at the trapped man.

"Care to explain?"

“HE TOUCHED US, RALPH!” Del screeched and hissed back over her shoulder at the soldier looking man after righting herself. “How did this happen to us?” She grumbled down at Ralph, patting the outside of her shirt where his lumpy form resided. The inside meant clean, showers, food – food. Her addled mind took a brief detour as she realised that she was inside closed quarters with not one, but three people who were all worthy of being devoured.

“They’s don’t needs to be cooked, Ralph, remember sushi?” She nodded her head and became rather distracted with the prospect of skin wrapped liver, fresh and dribbling down her chin. A thin line of drool dripped from the corner of her mouth, cleaning a small section of her chin and disappearing down her neck. “Which shall we eat first,” She mused aloud, whispering the words almost reverently. It had been such a long time since Del had been in contact with other un-infected humans that she had forgotten her manners.

Del pressed her spine against the wall with a look on her face almost as if she believed that if she concentrated hard enough they wouldn’t be able to see her; when she slid back towards the opening a smear of dirt or grime was left in her wake, a stark contrast to the almost hospital like atmosphere that had been created here; “Shan’t be staying long, Ralph. Too clean. Disgusting.”

She kept up a running repertoire of the state of the place and her thoughts on it as she edged towards the grabby handed man and escape, hopefully with food, but if not there were two other people outside.

Raven didn't make any sort of movements or noises as she was manhandled and shoved aside, all she did in reply was huff and roll her eyes. At least he actually noticed she was female, that was a start, not a good one but it worked. Her gaze trained on the Flailing one, a grimace pulling at the corners of her mouth as a hand snaked out from its perch over her knife. Slender digits wrapped around the male's forearm, dragging him with her as she began to stride towards the huge crowd of walkers finally making themselves seen through the thicket of shrubbery.

Her movements were time perfectly, lithe digits freeing the exquisite wooden bow from the side of her pack before reaching back to grasp the aluminum shaft of an arrow. Seconds later the same arrow had two corpse pinned to the tree behind where they had stood, the vibrate feathers peeking out between it's dull optics. She repeated it several times over, though she managed to only get two every once in a while. Her light pink lips counted off ten arrows before returning the bow to it's resting area upon her pack.

The girl grabbed the knife from her thigh, dashing several yards away from the boy, leading off a few undead, each body dropped faster than the first. The more she took down the happier she began to appear, the lighter her step and the faster she would attack. Each action was calculated and measure, the girl made sure she had the upper hand at all times. Her frame seemed so light and delicate as she danced between the walkers, bodies dropping in her wake.

After a long moment she stepped back from the dwindling crowd, letting the boy take out as many as he could. Though her gaze narrowed in on his movements, noticing how he moved and measuring the amount of force needed to propel him forward. The female learned to size up all of the living she came upon, at one point they would try to kill you or at least in her case it always seem like it.

Tweak walked down the way towards the cell, he watched the man for awhile before sighing. There was two outcomes if he opened that door. One ending in him dead as well as everyone else, or the man dying and this area of the base being cut off from the rest. He didn't know what Stevenson did to the guy, and he really did not want to do this. He couldn't put himself or the rest of them at risk. So, just as he was about to turn around, he was startled by Noah's voice. So startled that he felt his heart jump in his chest from the scare.

Tweak turned around, and stumbled upon his words. "It was one of Stevenson's experiments. I don't know if he did anything to the guy or not. I'm sure he did. He was testing out diseases to counter the infection."

Tweak then turned around to the various other cells that held infected in them. He shook his head before moving to a desk that was down there covered in paperwork. There was just something about it that Stevenson was stumbling upon. He found a particular file, and handed it to Noah, expecting him to take it. The guy in the cell was still screaming, and demanding to be free. But, he was in an air tight cell that wouldn't allow disease or the infection in or out. Something told Tweak to just kill the guy, but he didn't know what Noah had planned.

"He found that if our bodies were infected with a virus that was deadly, the walkers moved past us."

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

Charles looked out, and he couldn't hear the guy talking. But the one thing he wanted right now was out of this damn cell. So he resorted to kicking and punching the glass so he could break it. But, it was apparent he wasn't getting anywhere. That's when he saw the second guy enter the place, a lab he guessed. So, his screams became louder, maybe the second guy would get him the hell out of here.

"Let me out of here you fucking crackers!"

A pissed off Markus was a bad Markus. And it was really irritating to be thrown out to the wolves. Or in this case, zombies. The growling male had barely caught himself with one hand, making an agile summersalt before grasping his daggers and placing them around his waist. All counted for. All twelve. It worked for him well as he was then grasped and dragged from the compound's property. What the hell was this shit? He was being bossed around now? Such stupidity! Ugh! He needed to let out his anger now, and there were only two ways to get rid of his anger: 1) was target practice with the zombies or 2) target practice with the other living humans. But seeing as there were more zombies, he thought that he was better off taking them on. Easier targets and much slower, as he had seen.

It was then with the training that Markus had undergone with his time in the forest, and his expertise on the zombie anatomy, that he began to take two daggers from their sheaths and began to race forward, dodging through the halestorm of arrows like a bat out of hell and racing toward the nearest motherfuckers that dared to try and take a bite outta him. The jump upward that he executed further fueled his cuts to slit their throats and do away with their heads at the conclusion of his down strokes. He was a killing machine as he rushed through the crowd of zombies with his spotter, the female archer. An interesting combination, they seemed to make, as they twisted and turned about in a dance of artful lethal rage.

Both of them seemed frustrated really, as he saw with the few glances toward her that he was able to show. But business was good for them really, as they ran about with heads of the undead rolling about every which a way.

Markus had to admire her skill, as it was nice. And so they commenced to execute form after form, driven by adrenaline while the anger spiked their hits and rage even more than before.

"Grrr.... Wanna put ME on zombie execution detail? I'll execute every flesh eating bitch that gets in my fucking way..."

Noah could do nothing more then blink at the folder Tweak held out to him. He didn't fucking care what the doctor did in his spare time, all he did care about was getting nests set up around the compound. Waving the file off he turned on his heel and headed out to check the progress of the two with the horde, giving Tweak a brief order.

"Kill him. I don't care how."

He was quick to wind through the corridors and push his way through the metal hatch. Oh, they were still going. How unimpressive. Airily Noah called out to the pair from where he stood at-ease behind the fence watching them.

"Hm and here you two almost had me convinced that you were useful, and good at what you did. Lesson learned, when you two eventually finish maybe you should practice on trees. I have a feeling you'd knock a stationary target down faster than a lethargic one."

He kept his critical gaze fixed on the two, mulling over the idea of just killing them both on the spot. Neither of them were of any use or value to him. They were seen as clutter, like the junk someone would store in a bedroom closet just so it was out of sight and mind. At least the batty girl was entertaining, and Tweak was given a job to do. Whether or not he was good at it remained to be seen.

Raven was panting softly, her estimate was a lot smaller than the actual horde. They had blown through more than just 20 walkers, hell, they had spent over a hour killing them and they had been moving fast. Killing two or three every couple of seconds after the initial few and yet, when she looked back to the compound she could tell the army guy was contemplating their deaths. Luckily, the two were far enough out to not be heard by him. So taking a chance the female saddled up next to the male as they walked by, whispering quietly.

"It's obvious he doesn't like us. He's been planning on killing.. Well, me since I appeared.. But, he's thinking about you now. Can you survive in the wild? Care to come with me and get dinner?" The girl grabbed his arm, stopping him from actually returning to the compound. Her bright blue optics gazing deeply into the male as she spoke, her tone lightening slightly.

"Oh... Umm I'm Raven." Her hands worked to clean her blade, wiping it off on her pants before placing it back within it's sheath. By this point, she offered him her right hand in greeting. An old custom she wouldn't let die in such a savage world, no matter what happened she would continue to show some sort of heart.

"Either way, I'm not sleeping in that compound... I'd rather not be trapped or killed in my sleep, but those with skill like are's... We need to stick together, have each other's backs, ya'know?" A smile began to pull at the corners of her lips as she gave him the suggestion of teaming up, though she was sure that he would rather be in a 'safe' building.

She tensed suddenly a light gasp passing her lips as she remembered her arrows before turning to move back to the heaps of rotting flesh. The girl began to count each arrow as she replaced them back within the quiver, stopping only when she mouthed the number ten. "Ah~ Found them all."

Sitting alone on the edge of his bed, a young man packed things into a small bag. Long brown hair bounced with every movement, bangs covering his eyes. He couldn't believe this. He was about to leave the comfort of this sanctuary provided by his now ex employers, just for the sake of people he didn't even know. On top of that, what could one man do against an army of those savages? Would he really be able to save anyone? Words of his meeting with the General, of his discharge echoed in his mind so clearly. In fact, he couldn't get the whole damn thing out of his head.

-

A plain white hallway. White walls, white floor, lit by white florescents; nothing was special about this particular BoO. Especially to someone who'd worked there for so long. Making his way through the overly-long hall, the brown-haired man had finally found himself before a large, sturdy steel door. No knobs. The General's office. This damn place always seemed like more of a company than a Military base. After gaining the composure he needed, the man clenched fists covered by fingerless gloves. "General! It's Cronos! Let me in!" Without answer, the door had suddenly been sucked into the wall, granting access to the room. Once the man, Cronos, had entered, the door was quickly spit out. A rather large man sat in a chair, eyes locked to a screen faced away from his visitor. He was monitoring the grounds again. At first glance, one could count over 50 walkers; by the second glance... You didn't feel much like counting anymore.

"So, what can I help you with?"

The chair spun to reveal the grizzled face of the General, who looked pretty impatient. "General," Cronos spoke out, "I don't think we're doing all we can to help the people of the nation, or even the close by towns! How can we just sit around, whe-" Abruptly, the General had cut him of with his own booming voice. "CRONOS! YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON I EXPECTED TO SPEAK AGAINST MY PLAN OF ACTION!! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A VERY LOYAL ASSASSIN. WHAT DO YOU CARE IF SOMEONE DIES?"_
(Phone max reached)

It was true. He was an assassin. But his job didn't really fit his views. If someone deserved death, by plotting against his people, Cronos killed them. But, if someone was just a small, forced part of something, he sent them into hiding. But, he couldn't exactly tell that to the general. After all, it could be his own head on the line if he did. "These aren't targets, dammit! These are civvies being hunted and killed by these monsters!" In a fit of rage, hands were slammed upon the desk of The General, accompanied by a "heavy talking." "WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!"

"Hmm.." As if lost in thought for but a moment, The General stared into space. But it wasn't long before he nodded, taking a seat once more. "Very well, Cronos," he said just before a pause, "..if you want to save them so bad, then do it. It's on you. You're discharged. Have fun." Without thinking, Cronos replied as he removed his hands from the desk. "Fine! I'll do it all on my own." The General only replied with a devious grin and pessimism. "Just remember... You're only one person. What can one soldier do against an army?"

-

.... Water under the bridge. He'd made his decision, and he was going to live with it. Today, he'd be leaving the BoO for the first time since these things started roaming around the country. Of course, he wasn't too excited about it. He'd still have to fight his way through a whole shitload of those zombies alone just to make it into the forest. The odds were slim that he'd even get off the base.

After packing food, water and an all-purpose black cloak into his backpack, he rose from the bed, swinging it over his shoulders. From the bottom drawer of a dresser near his bed, he removed two holsters, each containing a 9mm. pistol. Strapping them to the back of his belt, he proceeded to grab the other item that was in there, an Uchigatana, which he promptly strapped to his side, just before heading out into the hallway. Once again, he took a bland white path until finally, he made his way out onto the grounds of the base._

At first, things seemed pretty safe. Actually, he hadn't encountered a single walker on his entire way to the gates. But that was when things seemed.. Hopeless. Just outside, there had to be at LEAST 200 of the damn things, all ready to rip Cronos apart. But that wouldn't stop him. He was ready to deal with death if he had to, and he reached out to open that gate and unleash hell. But just then, he'd heard an all too familiar voice ring out from behind him.

"Alright, boys! Let's send our old friend Cronos off with a bang! Ready! Aim!"

Turning to take a peek, he caught the General standing high upon his stoop. Him and at least fifty other soldiers all armed with M-16A1s were ready for action. "Fire!" All at once, bullets surrounded Cronos, taking zombie after zombie down. He wasn't about to waste this chance The General had so gladly handed him on a silver platter. Swinging the gates open and pulling them to behind himself, he took off, dashing through the path of zombies cut down to make his way into the forest. "Thanks.. General." He couldn't stop moving. He knew that the gunfire would attract more walkers, and anyone else that happened to hear it.

"The outsides, Ralph!" Her sneaking ability was a little diminished, given that she hadn't been forced around civilisation for such a long time, but it didn't stop her from scampering after the man as if she were a spy on the job. Throwing one last regretful look over her shoulder at the food in the glass she had to remind herself that it probably tasted bad anyway. Free range human was always best.

"Wait for me," she screeched out, dropping the pretense and sliding to a halt at the side of the man.  Keen eyes took in his clothes, and spotted a various assortment of weapons. One hand snaked out, as if to snatch with grabby fingers but she retracted it at the last moment. "Not yet, Ralph. Let's see what's he has in store for us. He kills the food on the other side, we can eats then, Kay?"

A tinny sound crackled from the lumpy mass under her shirt. To the casual observer it looked as if Del had lost her mind somewhere along the way, and the bear was some sort of replacement figure for all she had lost. This wasn't exactly the case, but Del never did anything to dispel the conclusion. It was nobodies business but her own at the true reason for the bear, and as she clamped her hand over her stomach region, muffling the noise, she came to the conclusion that she had to act shortly.

Time wasn't exactly running out for her, but someone had to die for the sake of sustenance soon.

Markus had barely met the asshole sniper and he was already fed up with his shit, really. An irk to the already on edge boy. When hearing of someone with a like mind as his, the panting Markus was surely going to pounce on the proposition that this female was presenting. It was a bit of a safer bet as the little group in the fence was growing louder and louder with every passing second. Attracting hordes of these undead. It was only a matter of time before the others came, and time was truly of the essence with this little game.

He grasped her by the wrist after she placed her arrows away and began to make of into the treeline before climbing up one of the tree trunks to a low branch. His back was placed against the tree's hard exterior before placing a hand down to her to help her up if she were to take it. He had to help her out, which meant that they had to stay out of plain sight.

"Look. My name is Markus. And I do believe we can be partners here. The others are too loud and may attract more. The compound they are going to will most likely, pardon the cliche, be overrun by zombies soon. Its always the noisy but locked down compound that usually gets swamped with undead through some escape route. So they must have another way in and out. Hopefully, they have the brains to secure it well while we try to figure out how to eliminate these guys a little more."

It was with a moment of silence that Markus' gaze turned up to the trees to his left. The moans and groans were already being heard as he narrowed his eyes. He detested these things oh so much. Stinking up this forest with their presence. This was to be a place of peace, not slaughter. And yet, the damned blades around his beltline had taken plenty of these things in the past year. Training from day one that he had arrived was himself running for his life. Simple survival, really. But after so much for a month or so, he had grown tired of the running. He wanted to finally break some of the very rules he had heard, and thus had began to hunt them down starting from ones and working his way to small groups. And his fruits of labor had shown with his previous fight alongside the girl. A warrior now. Smart and cunning.

"Okay. They are coming again. And we don't have time to fight them all at once. We have to pick our fights, and we need to rest obviously...."

Her attitude brightened quickly, hearing his reply as she worked to slip into the tree as well. Taking his hands in order to hoist herself up quicker, once within the tree she slipped her pack off hanging it on a firm branch before looking back to the male beside her. Hands began to dig through her pack, showing off the gear she had all of which could prove itself helpful at some point. A slimmer of hope had just now entered the girl's seemingly broken life, finally she had found someone who thought like her and knew how to survive. It showed that not all the survivors were as blood thirsty as that bastard within the gates.

"I have thick ropes to tie are legs to the branches, it'll allow us to sleep in the trees without the chances of falling out." Her entire mood had changed, sitting in the tree with someone interested in her views and outlooks. In some ways, Markus reminded her of a little brother she never had or at least the one she wished she would've had.

Following his gaze she noticed the new grouping of undead making their way through the trees, there was never a end to them. Slender digits ran through her short locks, a shiver of cold shot down her spine remembering the other humans she had first stumbled upon. With a shake of her head, she dislodged the thoughts, no need to think of them, they were dead.

"But first... We should get away from the compound... The walkers aren't the problem here, it's the other humans. The undead can't really track or run, the living can do both. That thought alone makes me want to run from here... Before he comes out of that compound. Plus we need to go hunting and eat before the sun sets." A light gurgle escaped her stomach, the idea of food now filling her thoughts. Raven hadn't eaten a bite of food and was already working harder than most.

Noah simply watched the pair scurry off into the woods when a thought hit him. Wouldn't it be grand to play a game of cat and mouse? The pair didn't seem all that bright, or at least they'd keep him busy. Not out of skill of course, but since humans had all but died out they looked like a couple that he might enjoy toying with. As the batty girl came up next to him a brow rose. She was clearly a total loon, and it may work to his advantage. Nobody ever acused Noah of being a nice or honest guy. He listened to the girl grumble at the ragged bear in her shirt a moment longer before butting into their "conversation".

"I heard them whispering, with this."

He turned his head and tapped his ear piece to show her.

"They said they were going to take him from you. Then they said they were going to feed him to the monsters."

Noah motioned to the lump in her shirt when mentioning "him" then turned his own attention back to the trees. Like a fleeing bear the two run-aways had only succeeded in trapping themselves. Maybe a few dummy mines to get the ball rolling? That sounded fun. Turning on his heel he ventured back into the compound's ammo vault where he found a few live ones. Eh, what the hell right? Go big or go home. It took him only minutes to remove the bits that kept the mines live from all but two of them and put them back together.

Now for the hard part, getting past the horde that was closing in on the compound without being noticed. Noah melted into the growing shadows like a phantom, weaving between trees and right past the walkers as though he didn't exist with eyes peeled for the prey. Suddenly voices came to him from above and he siddled up against a grouping of thick vines. Sure enough they were there in the branches. How to plant the mines without alerting them? He could've just shot them then and there, but where's the fun in that?

Slowly Noah edged his way around into their blind spot, being careful to not draw attention. So far so good. Once close enough, or as close as he could possibly get he hastily, yet quietly dug up the ground and planted one of the mines. With silent, but swift precision he laid the others down a few yards from the base of the tree before standing and brushing himself off. Now he didn't care if they saw him, in fact he welcomed it.

"If you two are going to hunt then I suggest the river just north of here. At least there you can be shitty at what you do and still have fishing as an option. Ciao."

He added nonchalantly as he again disappeared into the thick green, strolling along almost carelessly. Let the fun begin.

Kill him. That's all that had crossed over in Tweak's mind. But how, without risking getting infected with whatever may be in that cell with him. He sighed before turning over to a computer and just trying to figure out something. Moments after fingers went to click-clacking on a keyboard, he finally figured out what needed to be done. So, he picked up his rifle and went to exit the room, however he kept the door upon as he made sure to get the rifle prepared for a shot. After taking aim, he shot a round off at the cell. That's when the red lights and the siren when off in that area of the bunker. A pre-cautionary that Stevenson had put into the lab to make sure no infection escaped. After the shot was fired, Tweak took off running up the stairs, back into the living quarters of the compound.

Moments later, the laboratory had collapsed upon itself with a loud enough clash. Tweak barely made it out of there, but it was apparent only under ground, and above ground it only looked like a sunken hole in the ground. Tweak sighed with a bit of relief. But, he had forgotten the files in there of the studies that had taken place down there. But, what Tweak had done may have just saved the compound. The hoard of walkers closing in on the compound had just fallen into this hole, which was a decent 4 feet inward. Luckily, he didn't know that yet. Sitting on the ground, just out of reach of the now sealed door, Tweak caught his breath. That was something he hadn't planned on doing today. Nightfall should be just over the horizon, and sleep was definitely going to be needed. So, without much hesitation, Tweak stood up and walked over to his bunk room. Once there, he didn't even bother going to take a shower, instead, he fell on his bed, and passed out.

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

Charles continued to scream and beat upon the glass, he wanted to know why he was being held against his will. Finally, after giving up, he walked over to his cot and sat down while watching the one guy leave and the other sit down at a desk. It seemed like forever before the guy finally go up and walked towards the exit. Was that a gun? He got up, and walked over to the glass to watch the guy leave. But he didn't leave, he stopped and starting messing with the gun. It wasn't long before he felt the ping of pain. the bullet had hit him in the stomach.

Charles collapsed, and held the bleeding wound with his hands. Shortly after, he never saw it coming. The entire laboratory had shook before an explosion. He was dead now, buried under a couple of tone of dirt, concrete and steel. There was no coming back after this.

Markus was even more on edge now that he saw the asshole beneath him on the ground. How did he get there under the radar of not just him, but Raven as well? It was just a bit suspicious to him. And with the time he had been there, he could have started something in a plot to kill them or something. Currently time was of the essence as Markus stared about him with a careful gaze. Shifting from tree to tree. The ground was a bit too risky. There had to be a good branch nearby that he could try to at least hop to. Since they were about ten feet in the air, he had to to extra careful for the next jump could be his last with the predators around so much.

"I hear ya on the river. But it runs a risk. The water is difficult to decontaminate with a decent percentage of purification. But the fish are quite good indeed." Markus was a bit caught in a bind now. He had to get her food, but he also needed to keep them hidden. It was then a decision in his head that he would protect her. Watching the now uncaring male stroll away with no want of being quiet, he knew it to be a diversion. A distraction. But he would still not risk the asshole trying to kill him or something. Taking to the glimpse of a branch behind him, Markus nodded as he turned to Raven.

"Look. We have to get to the river, yes. But no touching the ground. How good are you with, pardon the cliche, vine swinging?"

He knew this part of the movie. The part where they have a glimmer of hope, but there was the betrayal of a fellow human to trap them. Most likely, the river would be where the trap was set at, but Markus had to find his new companion something to sustain her and keep her healthy.

"Or we can hunt things in the forest. Your bow skills can be useful then."

Through the last several months the female had been able to harness the use of her hearing, allowing the skill to be improved, rivaling that of any seasoned hunter. She had easily detected him sneaking through the shrubbery below, yet she decided to ignore him. Instead she paid idle attention to the boy as he spoke, packing and securing her survival pack before tossing it over her shoulders. With quick practiced movements she was able to lock the pack to her slender form, the strong straps clung to her light curves as she stood. A new spring in her step with a toss of her head she motioned to a much closer branch, it seemed to be stronger where it attached to the tree. Without a words she jumped, catching a branch above her head before propelling herself forward, the landing was wobbly as she stumbled forwards crashing into the thick trunk a light groan passing her lips. The female managed to leap from tree to tree, leading the way as she delved deeper into the forest moving away from prying eyes.

Her movements gain confidence and agility as she continued to repeat the motions, soon as she was deep enough she stopped. Plopping down upon a study branch, a deep breath passed her lips calming her body and mind. Her efforts were repaid soon after, a light snapping of a twig alerted her to the little deer below. The creature was small, barely having reached adulthood usually an animal of this sort was to be over looked, yet the old law meant nothing to her now. In this hell-hole it was first come, first served. Lithe digits readied the bow, notching and arrow with perfect precision with a light sigh she tightened the string.

Seconds later she was upon the ground, retrieving the arrow from her newest kill. Her actions were fast and skilled, dragging the body to a stream that had cut away from the river. Using the water she managed to wash the meat, butchering it quickly with a light grimace. Raven had grown so used to having time to drain the blood from the kill before cutting out the flesh, though in the new world, corners had to be cut in order to come out alive. Grabbing several large leaves from a tree nearby she package the meat, wrapping the flesh securely in the vegetation keeping the blood from seeping out. Next she placed the neat package into a sheet of dried fur hide, a gift from an early kill keeping the new one safe.

Moments had passed before she returned to the tree barely making it out of site as walkers began to come in, the scent of fresh blood drawing them into the clearing. Raven was now a sight to behold, covered in blood she would now be her own beacon until it dried of was washed from her. With a glance around she allowed a smiled to pull at the corners of her lips, a sliver of pearly white could be seen through a veil of crimson. The thought on her mind now was to find a place to start a fire and cook their meal.

If Noah were apt to show emotion he may've smiled when the thought of the walkers following the pair crossed his mind. He knew they'd pick up on his little trick, or at least the broad would. She didn't appear exceptionally intelligent, but she was clearly smarter than the boy she kept as company. With that in mind it was logical to assume she'd avoid the forest floor near the tree, and exert herself by leaping from branch to branch.

Walkers had a way of finding you when you least expected it. In your quietest, most private moments. They had an astounding sense of smell and when a human began to sweat they could easily pick up on it as it wafted through the thick trees. Being the best at what he did as a Scout Sniper, Noah had learned to move slowly and calmly even in the midst of a fire fight without being detected. So, it stood to reason that the pair would be easy to track; just follow the zombies. Of course, there were other ways to force the two into a good work out. A Marine work out.

No doubt they'd be bagging a kill soon and back in the trees where they thought it was safe, and they very well couldn't eat raw meat. They may get sick after all, right? Noah pulled the cloth face mask back up over his mouth and nose, replacing the sharp features with the bright white image of a human skulls upper and lower jaw and nose, then pulled his hood up. On it were two Devil horn patches sewn into the tough fabric, and between them another patch depicting the Devil himself nailed to the cross with crosshairs on his chest. Noah was simply a Marksman, Saint Marksman, and no one could out shoot him.

He reached the edge of the tree line within only a few minutes and got to quickly working. It didn't take much, just a few bits of kindling from dying trees and some brown grass, and his military issued striker. In a moment he was nursing an infantile flame that soon bloomed and worked its way up a dry tree trunk when eventually it had consumed it entirely. Now it was a self sustaining force of devastation that engulfed the nearby green, spreading faster and faster, licking and tasting the surrounding forest life before consuming it. That's when the fun began.

Within the deepening shadows of a night time woodland the enraged shrieks of walkers sounded, drawing some to the mayhem while driving others out, scattering them along the grassy ground, and Noah simply strolled along the threshold without care. They didn't notice the man in black tactical gear watching them and the forest burn uncontrollably. The inferno eventually made its way towards the river and ran along side it where the heat could find purchase and filled the air with acrid smoke that choked the life from the many critters therein. Two birds with one stone. Deplete their hunting supply, and force them out into the open along the water to fish while limiting their cover.

In the hour a huge chunk of the woods was turned to ash when Noah turned his cold, brassy eyes up to the cloudy twilight sky.

"Looks like rain."

He mused in a flash of lightning and the crack of thunder. He didn't want the entire forest incinerated, just enough of it to funnel the pair into a more manageable area. Another bright flash and a boom when he saw the screen of pouring rain chase the fire away as it washed over him. The zed heads still wandering around him were all lost in confusion. Some of them stared at him with blank eyes for a moment before moving on in an attempt to salvage whatever it is mindless creatures like them wanted, but eventually they migrated out through the new scorched clearing to take up residence in what was left of the trees.

Abruptly a couple of explosions leaped into the distance and body parts fell like hale in a new storm of blood. Oops. More squeals of rage and a few mosh pits here and there; however, for the most part the walkers stayed on track, and if Noah remembered correctly the portion of the forest left was filled with nasty little fuckers called spitters. They were, obviously, notorious for spitting their infected blood at anything that wasn't like itself. They were a bit smarter too, unable to climb, or swim, but fast on their feet and agile. They were hell on the ground, and they weren't even the worst of it.

Noah unshouldered his rifle and fired a shot in the direction of the remaining trees, taunting the pair - positive that they heard the bark of his Barrett. The hunt had only just begun.

Looks like rain, Del was positive she had heard and she cast her eyes heavenward with a frown. Rain meant clean, rain meant the careful covering of grime she had built up over the last few months may end up being washed away therefore revealing to the snappers that she was there.

“What are you waiting for?!” She snapped crankily at the man she was trailing, “Just kill them and we can leave.” All the while her hands worried at the lump under her shirt, clawed fingers squeezing the bear and releasing periodically; a sure sign that she was panicking. All too soon it felt like the end was approaching, the snappers, the disease – her thoughts were a rushing avalanche, lucid for once, her careful defence dropping away with the rising worry.

Del snatched the bear from beneath her shirt, dropped her back pack to the ground and shoved it inside unceremoniously. Mutterings escaped her mouth as she knelt in the dirt rearranging the pack and pulling out a simple hunting knife.

“Funnel them, sir, gut them and be done with it.” It was said with a finality that would have left little hope for the two if they were within hearing range. The twitching man hadn’t bothered to follow them out, and Del was almost positive she had heard a faint explosion from beneath the ground, it didn’t bode well, whatever it was. Startling clarity overcame her clouded mind before she pressed onwards, stepping lightly upon her sneakered feet almost silent in her advance – such graceful dignity was quite at odds with the otherwise chaotic personality she presented to the world.

It appeared fright could clear even the foggiest of minds. She had watched with vague disinterest as the man cleared the forest with the fire, now as they stood at the edge of the clearing looking into what remained of it with the threat of rain hovering over their heads Del finally snapped from her trance. She had been in her fair share of hunts, not that anyone would ever have the pleasure of hearing about them. She knew the deal, the game was indeed only just beginning – with any luck, though, the rain would hold off and not reveal her – currently, she was basically invisible to the snappers, and she kind of liked it that way.

Looking back over her shoulder she tilted her head to the left indicating this was where she was going, if the man was as efficient as he seemed to be he’d counter that by going right. An ever closing hand they’d represent, covering the prey from both directions.

Ignoring the batty girls biting words Noah stooped to scoop up some mud and rub it over the skin that still peeked out from under his hood. Now in his tactical gear and dirt he was essentially a shadow, but there were still parts missing from his get-up. A sniper always needed a good ghillie suit when wandering through a destroyed forest. He nodded to the girl and edged around the woods in the opposite direction, picking up leaves of various sizes that hadn't been reduced to smoldering ash, and knotted them into the thin parachord straps on his shirt and pants. Within a short thirty minutes he was a bush that blended into the woods.

Though he would've normally used his pistol for this type of operation he needed stealth, range and power that a suppressed 9mm couldn't supply. Controlled as ever he slid his compound bow from his shoulder and nocked an arrow into it. A broad head; when you really want to kill something. As quietly as he could, Noah moved between trees and confused zombies still a bit shaken from the fire, all the while keeping his eyes open for signs of the pair. Chances were they hadn't gotten too far after the burn, and once the walkers were able to gather themselves they'd be following the scent of sweat that the searing heat provided. All of it was a bit reminiscent of Kuwait.

The hot, the desolated landscape, the hunt, the sneaking around low priority targets, but above all the sick thrill. In all honesty Noah loved his job as an 0317, and was a little sad when he had been discharged for mental health issues. Tracking game that couldn't shoot back wasn't nearly as exhilarating as tracking a living, breathing human, and regardless of where his tours took him he became the Boogie man. An unstoppable, undetectable force that took twisted pleasure in making a little noise to spook the prey before vanishing again. Was it arrogant? Not at all. Noah would never even dream of doing it if he wasn't absolutely positive he could get away with taunting and come back without even a scratch.

He quickly shimmied behind a veil of thick vines locked with each other and gave a loud bird call. There were clearly no birds singing this time of night, and especially not after he lit their home on fire. Collateral. Wrong place, wrong time. His whistle bounced nicely off the trunks of trees, obscuring his exact location and bewildering the few zeds wandering around in front of him. Would he get an answer back to his call?

It'd been hours since he'd started walking, and already night had fell. Cronos had only come across a few of the be damned souls infected by the disease, and he'd dealt with them without any trouble at all. But the fact of the matter was, it was dark, he was tired, and there were still plenty more where the rest of those fuckers came from. He had to find some place of refuge, or at least some sign of human activity to point him in the right dir- bingo, plot device. In the distance, smoke rose into the sky, visible even through the bunched trees. Something was up over there, and he had to figure out what it was. Quickly, but covertly, Cronos took sprint through the dark forest once more. Most people would call it insane to move so quickly through the darkness, but to Cronos, it was just another day. So long he'd been in the shadows, using their darkness to his advantage; his eyes were keen, even without night vision goggles. Flawlessly, he avoided trees and roots both in his effort to traverse the forest, and it wasn't till quite a while later that he'd arrived at his destination; though, to his dismay it was only to find that the smoke he'd seen was just a forest fire. Still, it meant certain sign of life. Just as he readied himself to make his way through the ashes, he'd heard some kind of odd noise. A bird, maybe? None like he'd ever heard. It actually kind of sounded like a retarded dog. Still, it wasn't one of the sounds a walker made, and he'd be a damn fool to believe it was really a bird, so he figured his best bet would be to attempt tracing the sound. Dropping down low, he mimicked the call to the best of his ability, going silent once more in anticipation of reply.

Noah's ears perked when the sound was repeated back to him, and it definitely wasn't the batty girl or the run-aways, and Tweak would've keeled over on the spot out of fright. Slowly, carefully, Noah flipped the switch on his shoulder unit and was greeted by static. He listened to the buzz in his ear piece a moment before tapping the button below the on and off switch. Thankfully his time spent doing SpecOps with Delta under his command had taught him morris code. A useful tool when an op member needed to communicate but needed to be silent and was too far from his team to use hand signals. He sincerely hoped it was another like him, but not one of those braying jackasses that called him "unethical" and "amoral". Morals got him nowhere in this world. He was paid, handsomely, to murder.

After a moment of dead silence Noah tacked on a final piece to his message.

"Saint Marksman. 0317. Semper Unit. Rank Devil. Waypoint Zulu. End... Civvie four clicks west. Female. Armed with knife and backpack. Tracking two civvies. Both armed and hostile. Male with knives and guns. Female with bow. Location unknown. Watch high. End."

Tweak had been laying in the bed, not much for going out into the world right now. He killed to living people in one day, something he hadn't ever planned to do. With a deep sigh, he kicked off his shoes while laying there. He replayed the event of the day over and over in his head. One. Stevenson was killed. Two. He was a spotter now for that Noah fella. Three. There were more survivors. Four. He just blew up the lab. Five. There was a shortage of food here and too many mouths to feed. That was all that was he thought about now. The mouth that would have to be fed and the lack of food to feed them. He shook his head. He should have just locked himself in the compound at the first sight of Noah. At least then he would be able to survive for about a week before having to go into town.

Tweak drifted off to sleep, he didn't care if Noah brought anyone back. He was comfortable, and the stress induced slumber was just enough that he needed it.