Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Jan 18, 2014 12:15:43 GMT
“To any survivors still out there, my name is Naomi Beech. I am part of a group of survivors – we have food, we have medicine, we have security. If anybody, just anybody is out there, please respond or come and find us. We are a camp in Little Hadham – west of Bishop’s Stortford, north of Harlow, north-east of Hertford, east of Stevenage… Please respond.”
She had done the same broadcast every day, roughly at noon, for what seemed like forever. According to her diary it had only been thirty-five days. Still, she prayed afterwards that this would be the day they would get a real response. The first response, only a few days after she had set up the radio transmitter, involved a gang of thugs who came and roughed up her and others throughout the camp before making off with some food supplies. Then since then, only one other response had been an old man who had found his way here through long walks. The old man had made it to Little Hadham, participated in camp life for all of three days, and then keeled over from a heart attack. Poor guy.
The old man was when Naomi had realized it didn’t matter whether you were bitten or not; the dead seemed to reanimate regardless whether they had been attacked or not. He wasn’t one of the running ones, but he had put the camp on high alert when he re-animated. That day still freaked Naomi out a little bit, but she tried not to show that she was nervous.
She surveyed the camp and the folks in it. Twenty of them, with three of them scouting out and about in the surrounding towns. Still in the camp were the Stone family which were both parents and four kids. Cooking up some meat were the O’Connell’s, a mother with two sons in their mid-twenties. Still asleep was Madame Archambault, a senile French pensioner who spoke almost zero English. Naomi laughed since Madame Archambault was almost always asleep. She walked past another tent and the two girls inside waved at her. Samira and Adilah Hammad were twin sisters who were quickly having to grow up from being teenagers to being adults in this hellish world. Barry Newell and Thomas Hall had both joined the party at the same time, and they were both ex-military so were a blessing to the group. At the moment they were patrolling the camp with their guns, keeping an eye out on the outskirts for possible threats. There was Doctor Ryans, a man who seemed like he could keep his cool no matter what. He’d saved enough lives pre-apocalypse, and he was doing more than enough now. He gave Naomi a little wave as she walked past his tent. She was about to wave back, but she got snatched up in another person’s arms.
“Miss me doll face?”
Simon Albany was who Naomi had connected with the most, more than simple friendship. Whilst he seemed full on and flirtatious almost every hour of the day, she had missed that whilst surviving hell on earth. Simon was caring too, and seemed to listen when Naomi’s plate was full of problems. With a dimpled young face and ocean blue eyes, he was one of the only men she had seen since the outbreak who was even remotely good looking. They had fallen for one another quickly, and that was a comfort in this world where little made her happy.
She planted a kiss on his lips before pulling away and smiling at him. Well, she attempted to smile, but he saw through that to the disappointed mood she actually had.
“There’ll be a reply soon, I bet there will. Failing that, what if the scouts find some folks today?” Simon said in an upbeat tone to try and cheer Naomi up. She looked at him but shook her head to say no.
“It’s just getting harder is all – we’ve got to be thankful for who we’ve got with us. If it weren’t for Ryans, I’d still have that damned cold. Ain’t for Barry and Tom, we would have probably been overrun. And can’t forget the O’Connell’s stew, I’d go mad without that,” joked Naomi. Simon laughed and ruffled her hair in a playful way.
“Don’t forget Archambault’s snoring; sure that’s music to everybody’s ears. So who’s scouting today, I forgot to ask?” Simon asked.
“Sent out Barber and his dog, Turncroft and Harris. Southwards this time, see if we can get some more ammo.”
“Ah, Harris isn’t here. Would explain the quiet wouldn’t it?”
Both Naomi and Simon laughed. It was the little things that kept them going, the little jokes which made each day less bitter to survive in. They had made it so far, they were survivors, so they could keep going.
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”I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gr-”
“Lee, I swear to god, stop singing. I know there are no walkers on the road with us, but it doesn’t mean they can’t hear your tone-deaf wailing from miles away” Beth shouted at the man. Lee shrugged before beginning again with his horrific rendition of Seal.
George Barber, Beth Turncroft and Lee Harris had all been first-year university students at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge when the outbreak had started. Initially it was them and a couple of other friends from residential halls, but their numbers had dwindled over the months. Surviving solely on bean sandwiches (not unlike their university days prior to the apocalypse) for almost two months, the trio had found shelter in the Little Hadham camp. They had to pull their weight about which included today’s scouting mission.
George had been studying Electronics at the university. Quite the serious and quiet lad, he had preferred grafting for his coursework rather than the party life of other freshers. He had a family proud of him for his achievements, and that was more than enough motivation. His experience in the Scouts had made him a little more ready for the end of the world, but they only told you how to tie knots and first aid. They had never told you how to bury a knife inside your zombified father’s skull, an experience which still scarred him. About four months into the apocalypse he had found a fairly young Chocolate Labrador with a nametag of “Poppy”. Poppy and George had made it through many a challenge together, relying on each other’s strengths.
Beth was a Sports Science student, and her enjoyment of jogging paid off in this zombie-infested world where she could ideally keep ahead of them. She had always been a bit closed in as a character, and her temper would quickly blow with the stresses of survival. That had only gotten more stressful since she was one of the only young adult girls in the group; she had a lot of folks being lecherous. Both the O’Connell lads had tried to make a move on her. Barry and Simon seemed overly friendly to her in a flirty way, and that made her feel uncomfortable. Lee was always trying to get with Beth even pre-apocalypse, and now and then he would continue his efforts. She just wanted to do her duties around the camp in peace, not bothered by the others. She thought that must be why she got on with George quite well – he was silent most of the time, and only spoke when he had something relevant to add.
Lee had made a solid attempt at being a Marine Biology student, but instead could have scored a first for smoking pot and missing lectures instead. He’d been a pain in the arse anyways. He had a grating humour where nine out of ten times it only annoyed people rather than amused them. He saw himself as the entertainer, the one to boost morale. That was his excuse for slacking off, and he knew there were folks in the camp who didn’t like him. He was squeamish in combat also, which didn’t make for much of an aide when fighting the zombies. His selfish and lazy nature weren’t admirable in this new world, but he didn’t fancy changing that anytime soon.
The trio had been walking all day. Their handheld radio was tuned to the camp’s frequency, 105.9 FM, and they had picked up the sound of the Naomi’s broadcast but it was fuzzy and intermittent this far out. They had found about ten zombies on their travels on the road today, so it was incredibly quiet – some were easy to run past, some had to be dispatched of. Their backpacks had a few bottles of fresh water, two apples each, and a 9mm pistol with some ammunition for emergencies only. The students weren’t properly trained with guns, ammo was scarce hence their need for a scouting mission, and the gunshots always had a tendency to attract more zombies.
They paused, apart from Lee who was too caught up in his singing. George pointed at the sign with his cricket bat and began to speak:
“Sawbridgeworth. I guess here is as good as anywhere for searching for some ammo. They have an Air Training Corps in town, they might have some rifles and ammo”
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Post by PenguinNinja on Jan 19, 2014 18:55:19 GMT
"Come here," Sam said, moving to help the woman up. Once she was on her feet he helped her to a seat and tried to smile warmly at her. "I'll get you two some water."
His arm itched and he let his eyes fall down to it. Is this how it starts? It itches, tingles and even burns a little? Fever? Then you collapse on sight and turn? Is that the process? He sighed and turned back to the room full of people. There was young and old, Mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters, Fathers and sons. Everybody came from different walks of life and yet here they all were in the same room, fighting the same outbreak.
They would be fighting him soon.
He took that thought with him as he moved throughout the room. The burning in his arm had gotten worse. His fingers were sore to move and he carried on, trying to push the panic and worry to the back of his mind. There was a table on the far side with bottles of water that people had been able to scavenge. He picked up two of them and made his way back to the mother and child. "Here you go, take it easy though, we don't have an awful lot." He passed a bottle to each person.
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Post by Tonks on Jan 19, 2014 19:52:54 GMT
"That's very kind of you, thank you." Heather replied to the helpful man. It was nice to know that even in such awful crisis people still had some decency. She sipped on her water after opening Charlie's for him. She wondered whether they'd ever make it through this.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Jan 19, 2014 20:55:45 GMT
He smiled tightly at the pair of them. "It's fine." The pain in his arm reminded him that the bite was beginning to affect him. "Excuse me," he said, moving off back through the room until he found the bathroom. He locked himself inside the room and pulled up the sleeve on his arm. Veins were turning black and his skin was hot to the touch.
And it looked a whole lot worse than just some bite.
He checked his reflection in the cracked mirror and discovered that his skin had started to lose its colour. "It's starting," he muttered, his heart hammering away inside his chest. Panic was at a full seize and he moved to slump against the wall, his knees brought up to his chest with his head in his hands. "I don't want to change," he muttered, tears beginning to form. ________________________________________________
He had been walking for days. The water in his bottle had run dry and he'd almost died when he'd entered the Golf club he'd come across. The place had look deserted and Henry had held his gun up. There was three bullets left but in his hands it felt like his saving grace, the only life boat he had in this shitty world. The grounds had had a few zombies just walking or crawling, about eight, and it had been easy to bypass them.
Then he'd gotten inside and again, there wasn't many zombies. A series of abandoned golf clubs by the front door had been brought to his attention and he'd deposited his gun in his belt to wield a heavy driver. Most of the zombies were easy to walk around, the faster ones he'd had to put down with the driver, slamming the large head of the club into their heads.
Down the corridors he moved, seeking out any form of bar of kitchen for bottled water and food. More zombies had tried to jump him and he'd entered a function room to a large group of zombies. He thanked his training for his reflexes to shut the door and wedge a chair underneath the handles.
His pace had picked up then and he moved on. Eventually he found a kitchen, disposed of the staff and searched the fridge and cupboards for tins of food and bottles of water.
There was one bottle and a tin of custard. He'd sighed, found a tin opener and opened the tin. He drank it from the tin and gave the kitchen one last look before he left back the way he had come. The doors that he had wedged shut burst open and the group of zombies charged forward. He ran, threw the golf club in their direction and ran. As he turned a corner a zombie had appeared, landed against him and forced him to fall against the opposite wall. That had been a struggle to pry decaying hands away from him and shove the thing in the direction of the other things. Just in time before they nipped at his ankles, falling over each other desperate to get at him.
He'd ran through the main door of the club and continued to run as they followed. After several yards of nothing but fields he was able to slow down and catch his breath.
Now he was walking along the main road and the sign above him read, "Welcome to Sawbridgeworth." He eyed the sign, never having heard of that in his life and pushed on, desperate for supplies.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Jan 19, 2014 20:58:22 GMT
“We'll share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread!”
This time Beth clipped him round the ear with her hand. He couldn’t sing Seal, Bob Marley, or anything. Seemingly it didn’t stop him attempting to wail a tune. She made a “shush” gesture to Lee and then pointed down the street to a crowd of carrion-eaters. There were about twenty or so zombies close together lurking. They hadn’t noticed the trio yet, they seemed awfully pre-occupied with a nearby building. A church by the looks of it, but why did the zombies seem to have a focus there? Poppy emitted a low growl at the walkers who still didn’t seem interested in the students.
“There’s got to be something in there they want, or something’s drawn them there. I’d say people but it’s not like they’re scratching on the door to get in,” commented Beth.
“It’s people. They don’t seem interested in anything else other than eating or noises…”
George trailed off on his point. There was a nearby car, keys and driver still inside it. The driver was one of the undead who was clawing at the window to try and get out and get the students. The cogs in his brain started working as he approached the car with his cricket bat ready.
“You two keep Poppy on you and wait until the coast is clear before you approach that church. Give me fifteen minutes or so, I’ll meet you back at this church or as near as possible.”
The other two nodded and awaited George’s next actions.
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Andaru
Goody-Two Shoes
I...like...cats...cos...they're...fluffy... The End
Posts: 337
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Post by Andaru on Jan 20, 2014 18:41:38 GMT
"Brian! Brian! There are some people just walking down the street!"
"Keep your voice down Greg!" He said slightly louder than a whisper. What are you talking about."
"I can see some people over the far side of the street!" As he said this an undead hand trumped against the window.
"Oh crap." Brian turned around to grab whatever he could find.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Jan 20, 2014 20:46:08 GMT
In a swift motion, he opened the car door and jumped back to avoid the undead man inside who lunged towards him. The zombie was still seatbelted, poor fellow must have changed whilst getting ready to drive away. In a downwards swing, George brought the cricket bat down onto the head of the zombie. Ker-runch. The skull split and the bat hit the brain of the creature, killing it. It slumped forward, and George unbuckled the zombie and dragged him out of the car.
The car started, but the sound it made was clear that there was little petrol. The sound of the engine roaring to life alone caught the attention of some of the undead who were gathered at the church, as well as one or two of the zombies wandering the side streets. By this point the other two students were hiding in the front garden of a nearby house. Poppy sat near them, still emitting a low growl. They were behind some bushes and watched George starting the car. There were still zombies trying to get in to the church, clawing and bashing against the windows and door with ferocity.
A quick rummage through the glove box revealed that the man only had Christian Rock CDs dating back the past twenty years or so. George wasted no time putting the first one he found on, shoving it into the disc tray with force. He turned the volume dial up and up and up.
“Where is God when the rain falls, and takes the car off the road…” the radio blared. The female singer’s voice was now painfully loud, and George’s head pounded as he drove the car with the windows down. All but a few of the undead were now drifting towards the source of the sound, following it at a sluggishly slow pace and trying to get to the human inside. George drove slow, stopping every now and then as to keep their attention, and soon he had a crowd of walking corpses following him. He drove out of the town slowly. He headed eastwards in his portable Christian rock concert, stopping every hundred yards or so. He could’ve sworn there was a golf-club wielding man that he drove past, but he was too focussed on his driving to attract the attention of the zombies.
Lee and Beth wasted no time. As soon as the crowd were out of sight, they ran to the church whilst disposing of the few zombies that remained. The knocked on the church door with plenty of force.
“Any survivors in there? We’re friendly!” Beth shouted.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Jan 20, 2014 20:56:04 GMT
Henry heard the car before he saw it and stepped a few paces to one side, giving the car, and slew of zombies behind it, a wide birth. When he tried to get a fix on the driver he frowned at what seemed like a kid behind the wheel. But he couldn't help the smile he wore. Either the kid was a genius or a moron.
Either way, that meant that the town would be easy to deal with and he traipsed on through. He entered the edges of the town and spotted what looked like the center of the trouble. A church with a few zombies outside it, desperate to get inside and two others knocking zombies dead.
He hurried over to the church. Henry couldn't remember the last time he'd seen any survivors and slowed his jog when he approached the door, his hands up, "I'm not bit! I'm not bit. Let us in!" _______________________________
Sam felt his muscles burn. It was a burden to move and everything was becoming covered in a glossy film. "Ugh," he tried to call for help, tried to lift his arms but it was too much effort. He didn't have the strength to lift his arm an inch before it fell to the floor, lifeless.
Seconds later, with his breathing becoming more laboured, he passed away, collapsed on the bathroom floor of the church.
It was only seconds after this that a low groan started in his stomach and he turned his head, awkwardly and slowly, to the door where a boat load of voices were coming from. Another groan, still low, escaped him and he was able to get to his feet in groggy, robotic movements.
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Andaru
Goody-Two Shoes
I...like...cats...cos...they're...fluffy... The End
Posts: 337
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Post by Andaru on Jan 20, 2014 21:59:30 GMT
Brian heard the strange noises from outside and then that awful racket started.
"What the hell is that?" He asked.
"Someones started up a car and is blaring some shit music, but its drawing them away from the church."
"Okay that's good, how many guys can you see?" He then heard someone outside the door shouting.
"For gods sake why can't people just keep their voices down..." Once again he and some of the others helped open the door to let the newcomers in.
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Post by Tonks on Jan 20, 2014 22:44:10 GMT
When the undead hand hit the window, Frank jumped from his seat. "Get it away!!" He screamed, brandishing his bat in the air. Charlie began to cry. Heather turned sideways in her seat and held his hands.
"Shhh, baby. Shhhh. Got to stay quiet for mummy, okay?" Charlie looked at her through red eyes and nodded his head as his lip quivered. He wiped his tears with his sleeve and drank from his water. "You're such a brave little soldier! Do you know that? You are! Daddy's gonna be so proud of you!" She leant in and hugged him.
When she heard the music and the shouting she mostly covered Charlie's ears, leant in and began to sing Randy Newman's "You've got a friend in me" in his ear. It was his favourite song.
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Playle
Talking In Your Sleep
Posts: 441
Deadly Sin: Sloth
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
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Post by Playle on Jan 20, 2014 22:45:24 GMT
“Never asked you what you did before all this Simon?” Naomi questioned. Her and Simon had been chatting with the O’Connells until both the lads had decided to go out for more firewood and their mother, Barbara, had decided to nap. The man held Naomi in his arms, but the question seemed to throw him off.
“…Office work. Y’know, nothing interesting. Putting numbers into Microsoft Excel,” he answered awkwardly. He asked the same question back to her and she talked about how she had been a hotel receptionist. It was a dull job, but had improved her people skills and made her fairly confident. That certainly helped her leadership skills around camp, if she could call herself that. She was certainly looked up to by a lot of the people around camp, but a leader? She wasn’t so sure.
She wondered how the students were getting on with their scouting mission. Thomas complained that he couldn’t keep the camp safe without sufficient ammo for the third time this week, and she hoped that could be changed with the results of today. Failing that, she’d have to get someone to scout out even further afield.
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Beth and Lee had this stranger run up now, but they were just more than glad to get inside the church. The room was dinghy and light was not prevalent here. It was a bastion of hope though, considering there were more survivors than either of them had imagined. They could see numerous people. Beth swore she could recognise the man who had let them in but she didn’t know from where.
“I’m Beth. This is Lee. This is… well, someone who we’ve just met. Oh, and Poppy here.”
The dog was excited to see so many new people. With her tail wagging rapidly, she bounded up to Frank in the hopes that she would get petted.
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Post by Tonks on Jan 20, 2014 22:56:06 GMT
Frank yelped as the dog ran up to him. He threw his hands in the air, dropped his bat and proceeded to run to the other side of the church and around the chairs. As he did so, he screamed "Z-Z-ZOMBIE DOG! ZOMBIE D-DOG! G-GET IT AWAY WE'RE ALL G-G-GONNA DIE! AHHHHHH!"
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Andaru
Goody-Two Shoes
I...like...cats...cos...they're...fluffy... The End
Posts: 337
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Post by Andaru on Jan 20, 2014 23:00:17 GMT
Brian closed the door and sighed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" He screamed.
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Post by PenguinNinja on Jan 20, 2014 23:07:42 GMT
Henry stepped inside and waved a hand up, "Henry." He turned to Beth and Lee. "Sorry about that," he looked a little sheepish, "it's just that it's been so long since I saw a living person."
When Frank had shouted about a zombie dog Henry couldn't help his reaction and pulled his gun out to point it at the dog. He paused. There was nothing zombie-like about it. He eyed the strange man and put his gun back. "How many people are there?" ____________________________
Sam shuffled his feet in awkward movements, eyes fixed on the door and a low continuous groan escaping his throat. It wasn't loud but his film eyes were loud with the prospect of food. Tasty, nutritious, warm, succulent, juicy human meat. He reached the door and his hands patted pitifully against the wood.
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Post by Tonks on Jan 20, 2014 23:22:53 GMT
Frank continued to run around, screaming. "H-H-HELP! S-S-SOMEONE SHOOT THE D-D-D-DAMN D-D-DOG!!" Realising no one was helping him he pulled open the door to the bathroom. Zombie Sam stood in the doorway and Frank screamed even louder. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" He turned and ran back towards the group. "Z-Z-ZOMBIE S-S-SAM!!!!!"
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