Desperation is your new best friend - Open

[Kaci Denvers]

Desperation clung to her pores like a lover vice like grip. Her blue eyes desperate as she looked around the highway, her heart hammered beneath her chest, going so fast she was sure it had skipped a beat or two. There was a time when Kaci had loved running, every morning she had gone for her four mile run, it had been refreshing it had made her loosen up, it had helped her relax when nothing else was able to. It soothed her jagged nerves and pushed her to her limits. Running for fun was one thing, running after a suspect was another thing, what kept you going was the adrenaline, the fact you knew you were going to capture your bad guy and make them pay for their crimes. Running for your life though, that was a different story all together. When you had something chasing after you that wouldn’t just take your life but turn you into something you would never be again, the thought sent a very real chill down her spine.

There had been a time when she could run for hours on end with no true problem, it had been fun and exciting, now though her strength lagged, and her lungs burned and her legs ached. There was little she could do, if she continued at the pace she was going she was going to end up in worse condition than she was currently in, which wasn’t the way she was going to survive this. Her quick steps came to a slow stop, her gaze shifted over her shoulder, looking behind her. The hungry growls of those she had been running from had stopped miles back, but she hadn’t stopped her fast pace, she and kept going until there was enough distance between them. Dropping down to the ground she rested heavily against an abandoned car, her breaths coming out in quick spurts, her eyes clenching closed as she tried to breath past the burn in her chest.

Not wanting to remain in the open, of seated for too long she slowly pushed herself back to her knees, peering over the car she was leaning around she felt her heart stop in her chest. Closing her eyes tightly she shook her head. Getting out of the city had been an important thing, but everyone had that idea, they had all thought leaving the city would save them. Kaci had stayed put for about a two weeks before hitting the street once more. She knew she needed to get out of the city, her brother was out there somewhere. She had no idea if he was alive or not, but she had no one left and she didn’t want to be the last one of her family out there. If her brother was alive she was going to find him.

Kaci had hoped that the interstate would have been cleared by now, she had no problem with the cars, those she would just move around, climb over if needed. Now she was faced with the fact the interstat wasn’t empty, and the infected were milling around in droves. Swallowing thickly she let out a breath, if she could find a car that worked she could get herself out there quicker, if she could find a gap to get a car through, but from the quick look she had, she couldn’t see a clear path forward. Lowering herself back down behind the car she let out a deep breath, she could just go back the way she came, back to the city. She had only one weapon on her, having lost the weapons to a small group of men. Her car was gone her only option was backwards. There was nothing there though, which left only forward.

Licking her lips she let out a deep breath as she slowly shifted around the side of the car, that would be her tactic, slow and steady as she moved forward, stick to the cars, and keep herself low to the ground, her steps and movements silent. Slow stops as she checked the cars for any supplies, the key though? Not making a noise.

[Carson]

[Kaci Denvers]

Peace and quiet, she could almost forget the infected behind her, could almost forget that the world had gone to shit, and that at any moment she could become one of them if she let her guard down. She could almost forget the moans and groans of those undead that were roaming behind the cars she was currently hiding behind. Rest lightly against the car she slowly let out a breath. There was no way she was letting her guard down around here, no, she had to get of this interstate and then get to somewhere safe. A bar, a shop, or a home that was no longer lived in. Then keep on the road, trying to find her brother. It was a long road, she had no idea if her brother was alive, nor where her brother had been when the infection had hit. As far as she knew her brother was dead and she was wasting her time when she should have been looking for a safe place to stay. To hunker down, to barricade herself in and hope that some sort of cure was found, IF there were anyone left alive to do so. Hell her brother could be looking for her, and they could pass each other, it was a big place and she may never find him.

A deep sigh fell from her lips and she closed her eyes for another moment, slowly letting her heart beat calm. She was alert enough to know if anything tried to sneak up on her, and lets be fair ,the infected weren’t the quietest things in the world. Shifting against the cool metal, a soft psst noise touched her ears, frowning ever so slightly her eyes snapped open, fingers wrapping around her knife and pulling it free. Nothing in front of her, nothing to the left. The sound touched her ears once more, and this time she looked to the left, her brow raising ever so slightly, shifting once more, she moved forward slightly eyeing the sight of a male sneaking by the cars and over towards her, pushing away from the car and moving into a crouch.

He was trying to tell her that much was for sure. Her head tipped to the side ever so slightly and she lifted her head over the cars to see how far away the infected were, if any of them had been near, they weren’t, they were still a way away from her, so whatever he was trying to tell her wasn’t that. Easing herself into a crouch she moved over towards him, her blue eyes sparkling as she occasionally lifted her gaze upwards so she would check over the cars and ensue the infected weren’t moving in on them.

Finally reaching the male she did him a quick once over, no scratches, no bites, no blood stains as far as she could tell. “What is it?” She questioned softly, not wanting to alert the infected, she was taking a big risk as it was, even more so with the cars and all their alarms. The only reason she had been leaning against the car, that she had been leaning against was because she knew it was alarm free.

[Carson]

[/i] His mind almost revolved around this question completely, “What do you mean ‘what is it?’?” He answered back, questioning her choice of words which to him seemed so strange. He looked at her straight in the eyes, not worrying over whether or not she was hurt or gradually reaching infection.

“You know, cars have alarms…” He pointed out in a low one. His way of beginning a conversation was always gold. Even more when he thought the person who he talked to was oblivious to certain things. Heck, most people were. That’s why most of them needed some sort of reality check, why some (or more like most) annoyed him so.

Oscar remained quiet after his statement, never breaking the eye contact; he remained like this for a while as he studied her eyes. They seemed similar to him; they reminded him of his own. The thought made him lift his eyebrows at his realization and break the contact. His head fell back to observing the moaning crowds quickly. “If you want to live I wouldn’t be going around slamming myself into cars.” It was obvious, this, but he did not have much to say. Neither did he want to say much after her cyan eyes reminded him of himself. “It’s stupid to even be crossing through the interstate by yourself.”

With all his obvious stating he didn’t mean it to be wrong. He simply wanted to help despite his feelings of her being oblivious or stupid for crossing this street. As was him, which caused the man to be curious about the woman’s intentions: What in the world drove her to this?

[/ul][/justify][/size]

[Kaci Denvers]

Her brow creased as she eyed the male in front of her, her head actually tipping to the side as she looked at him. Slowly she turned to look at the car, before returning her gaze back to him. “You don’t say” She muttered with a small shrug of her shoulders, “The car didn’t have one” She stated as if it was the most simple thing in the world. She wasn’t stupid enough to go leaning against a car that would go beep, beep, beep if she rested her body against it. It was sure fire way to have those things after her, a sure fire way of getting her ass killed and she wasn’t one to do something to get her ass killed, especially as stupid as something like that. Shaking her head ever so slightly she readjusted the grip on her weapon. The male was older than her, roughly the age of her father when she killed him. Shaking those thoughts away she let out a deep breath.

He was staring at her, as in really staring at her, staring at her as if he saw something familiar about her, which was completely insane because as far as she knew she had never once met this man before. Her blue hues focused on him fully as if she could figure him out, pin and lock down why he was staring at her the way he was. She was more than sure she had never seen him before. Shrugging the thoughts away she looked over the car to eye the moaning crowd. They weren’t milling in their direction which was good, there were plenty of cars for her to hide behind, if she moved quickly she’d be of the interstate in no time. Licking her lips she returned her gaze back to him.

“Well then what the hell are you doing it for?” She snapped. His attitude was slowly wearing on her nerves. Kaci didn’t enjoy mens company as it was, let alone men who sat and made it their mission to inform her of the obvious. “Walking outside is suicide, sitting on your ass in a locked forte is suicide, so what would you have us do?” She questioned raising her brow. While her words were low, she hissed hem at him and made sure to not let her anger get the better of her, last thing she needed was attracting any attention to them. Shaking her head slightly she popped her head up over the hood of a car, calculating a path, she could do this.

“My brother is that way and im going to find if he’s alive” She stated looking to him with a sadness in her eyes she quickly pushed aside. She didn’t even know why she was looking for her brother they hadn’t spoken to each other since she was 14, but the end of the world sure put things in perspective.. Letting out a deep breath she shifted ready to move. “Now im going, any last words of advice?”

[Carson]

[Kaci Denvers]

He didn’t seem to find her answer of the car not having an alarm satisfactory. Shaking her head ever so slightly she shifted her gaze ever so slightly so she was no longer facing him but facing the pair of cars they were hiding behind. Giving it a quick once over she found what she was looking for and pointed a long finger in its direction. “That sticker there lets you know if your car is protected or not. It’s the law” She shrugged her shoulder, shifting ever so slightly, there was no leaning against any of these cars, or even bumping into any of them. It was a risk she wasn’t willing to make and apparently neither was this guy. Least he was smart about it. Letting out a huff of breath she shifted her stance once more. This reminded her of the amount of times she had been on a stake out and had been left to rest against the side of a car, or crouch behind a wall waiting for the guy she was after to appear.

Turning away from the male for a moment she assessed the situation in front of her. She was still very tempted to turn around and try and found a safer route. Perhaps get down by the ocean, see if there were any boats left in the harbour. It would take another two days to do that though, if she was lucky. No, she had to go forward, she needed to continue on her path forward and not continue to go backwards. She couldn’t go backwards, she had been going backwards most of her life, she couldn’t do that now, it was the end of the world, going backwards was going to get you killed. She didn’t want to die, not yet and not any time soon. Call her crazy.

Blue hues returned to the male at her side, her brow raising slightly “Only stupid if you get yourself killed” She stated with conviction in her voice. “Way I see it no matter where you go your stupid, stay locked in your home and your stupid, cross the street and your stupid” She whispered softly, shrugging a shoulder like she didn’t care. Which honestly she didn’t care. If she was stupid, then so be it, she was stupid. But she was crossing this interstate, and she was finding her brother, and she was going to have it out with him and whatever else that came out of it.

She was more than sure he had said something but his words had been so low she hadn’t been able to catch them. Shrugging it of mentally she returned her focus to the road ahead, what she really needed to do was find a car that was near a free path, and hopefully one that worked so she was able to get the hell out of here, in a car, mowing down the infected as she went. Yes a car was something she needed, and preferably a weapon with fire power, and a weapon that was longer and sharper that her custom made knife.

Snapping her gaze back over towards him she rose a brow, “Then keep up sunshine” She shifted her focus again and let out a focused breath, her gaze shifting back to him with a smirk. It wasn’t the answer he was looking for she realized, but honestly she didn’t have the energy to argue with him and if he was coming he was coming. “You got a weapon in there? Cus I cant defend the pair of us” With that, she shifted back the way she was going and moved hunched over behind the cars. This was It, with quick and light steps, she moved from around the car and headed into the thick of the infected, moving in and out of cars as she went.

[Carson]

[/i] Where the words that had caught him off guard, wiping his small smirk off his face. His eyes widened a bit in defense while not looking at her. He was about to spit out a retort at the woman but simply found himself smiling and letting a small chuckle that escaped him. It really had been some time since he had interacted with anyone and despite her attitude he found the moment humorous. She wasn’t too terrible after all, or maybe he was just in desperate need… He though he was just going insane. “Of course…” He whispered.

Now the road was just as difficult to cross, but having someone watch your back could at least soften the thought of dying. They were two against hundreds. Not an army, not a small squad. But if it made it even the least bit safer it was worth a million.

‘Weapons, right…’ His thought went over this, he had forgotten about it since he began walking. He hadn’t had much since he left the campus. Only a few poles, a can of green spray-paint, a lighter a new scalpel he had snagged from his lab. The poles were used for defensive purposes and barricading within households so they bent and became useless. The spray can was used a few times with the lighter to blow a few things up. So they both had enough and the scalpel was brand-new. So only three usable items were left in his black pants pockets, “Just a scalpel, a lighter and a can of spray paint…” He almost mumbled unhappily while scratching his head. All three were useful, but not at close range. Though, if used correctly it could honestly work out. He shrugged, “I can be of use as bait.” He hinted at how better it would be if at least someone made it alive to their destination.

Oscar took out the scalpel knowing that know he’d have to watch out for his newly attained ‘partner’. It had a grip as it was used for surgeries. So keeping it in his pocket would be quite genius of his part now that were headed into real danger. He removed the safety lid around the blade and continued to follow her quickly from car to car. He observed his surroundings thoroughly, “Any plans, boss?” He asked in a bored tone appointing her as the leader which, either way, they were each for his own.

[/ul][/justify][/size]

[Kaci Denvers]

“Even when the world’s gone to shit” She muttered to his comment of how he learned new things every day. It was amusing, the world ended and people could still help others to learn, it was nice. She had already planned her route in her mind. It was simple enough, lots of cars to keep her and it seemed him, hidden from the amount of infected milling around the interstate. As long as they didn’t hit any cars, made any of the alarms go of, and didn’t make any noise then they should get through clear, that was what she needed. Her gaze turned to him as she waited for him to tell her if he had any weapons. Her brow raised ever so slightly. “Im sure we can use them if push comes to shove” She stated with a nod of her head, “We’re going to have to get you something better than that” There was no way those weapons were going to keep him alive much longer. Looking back out over the interstate she huffed out a deep breath.

Spinning around she pierced him with a hard look. “We are not using you as bait” She hissed. She wasn’t going to use anyone as bait, “We both get through this, or neither of us” She whispered. She was not going to use him as bait, she would not set him to death if it meant she could live, because if she did that how was she any different from the infected really. Shaking her head she slid out from around the car and out into the interstate. Looking over her shoulder she nodded her head.

“Keep up” She stated and gestured with her head. The infected were rather far in front of them, which meant they wouldn’t have any problems, for the moment there were simple stragglers, they didn’t pose any thread, they could just run around the, duck behind cars, and keep hidden. That was the plan anyway. Every now and then she looked over her shoulder at the male behind her. Hell she didn’t even know his name. Coming to a rest behind a toppled bus she let out a deep breath, now they were coming to the large number of infected. Heaving in a deep breath she slowly looked over towards him.

“Im Kaci” She stated gently, a small smile on the corner of her lips. If they were about to die she at least wanted to know the name of the male she was travelling with for some time. Licking her lips she pressed her back against the bus, not fearing that they would have an alarm, she’d been around enough school bushes to know that wasn’t the case. Letting out a deep breath she readjusted the weapon in her hand, lifting herself to her knees to look over the bus once more.

“Looks like we have a clear path to the far left” She muttered pointing in the general direction she was talking. Giving him a hard state she nodded her head. “We’re going to move and we’re going to move quick, keep close, and do not make a sound” She whispered before slipping out from around the bus.

[Carson]

[/i] long-ranged weapons. It a was a thought he had ignored all the way through his travel but now that it had resurfaced it ate at him like wild. Her words had caused him to sigh deeply and tilt the edges of his lips upwards in certain dislike towards the idea of having to use the items. At least the chances of that happening had been reduced significantly.

His sigh was accompanied by his statement, “That’s going to take some time.” The words ‘some time’ had an almost longing effect on him. ‘Some time’ in his brain played out like forever. It felt like forever anyways. Getting a good arsenal in his hand was something he wished would come by easily, if wishing even worked. It was a pain acquiring all that remained with him now – an even bigger pain having to let other more useful items go but, hey, it was either die or live. And living was something he was going to do until he discovered this mess.

The fact that she continued to look over the interstate was almost strange to him if he himself had not been so glued to looking around. She was either very cautious or very nervous, both? He didn’t exactly think so. And by her reaction at his suggestion he knew he had at least own back covered for the remaining lot of time they’ll be travelling together. He shrugged, “Just saying, you never know when getting out alive means sacrifice.” His words at her declined suggestion might have come off as wrong, made him seem like he’d do anything to live. He knew so, he did not mean for it to come this way but for some reason it did. If he invited, or even asked for a companion, he would take responsibility – even if it was annoying – to not let them die.

Seeing her slid out from his side he followed in quickly being sure not to lose watch. It seemed the girl was becoming rather soft for now, though, he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Not that he wanted this case to happen in close time.

Her name was Kaci? “Cute,” he blurted out almost immediately with a smirk already crept up in his face. Too cute to be hers. The attitude she portrayed at him had not been that of a Kaci. It seemed to only add to his pun of her being his newly discovered ‘sunshine’. Seconds later, he couldn’t help but to chuckle lightly at the thought. “Carson.” He stated his own after his little ‘joke’ had ended. ‘Carson’ was not his actual name, but after years of being called professor Carson or simply Carson has worn off on him causing him to only react to being called by his last. The toppled bus in which they had stopped only worked to their advantage. As she looked over Carson simply stood in front of her keeping watch and following orders. Getting through the interstate was honestly going to take a toll on them both, even less if he knew nothing about the distance being travelled. He looked towards the farms; a dangerous though made its way to him as he followed her route carefully being sure that none was alerted. He quickened his pace until he was only a few feet away from the girl. “Do you know for how long this goes on?” He asked in respect to the interstate. It might’ve made him sound dumb, but he needed to know, to calculate.


[/ul][/justify][/size]

[Kaci Denvers]

She shook her head at his words. She would not start believing that, she wouldn’t. The moment they started sacrificing each other for their own survival? No, it just made them no better than the mindless creatures who lusted after their blood. “Then you should find someone else to go along with” She hissed lowly. She would not allow him to sacrifice himself for her safety, she wouldn’t, nor would she sacrifice herself for him. No she was going to do everything in her god damn power to get the pair of them out of this, and out of this alive, if it was the last thing that they did. Licking her lips she slipped out from behind the fallen bus and began moving along the path she had originally seen.

Kaci came to a sudden stop her gaze snapping back over towards him, her brow raising ever so slightly….did he just call her cute. He did. Tilting her head to the side she shook it ever so slightly she couldn’t not believe he had called her cute. She was many things, cute was not one of them, not by a long shot. “Adorable” She retaliated, shaking her head ever so slightly…she couldn’t believe he had called her cute, of all the things it had to be cute.

Resting behind the next nearest car she looked over at him, lowering herself down to a crouch and gesturing that he do the same. Looking over at him she calculated the distance they had to travel, she had done so many times, but never by foot. She hadn’t got a clue how long they were going to be at it. Heaving in a deep breath her gaze shifted over to the sides of the interstate, no cover anywhere. “I dunno, but we’re gonna be on it until we can find some cover” She muttered. There were to many infected for them to even contemplate bunking down in one of the cars and getting some kip if it came to that. No they would be on their feet until they reached the next town, then they would be able to rest.

“We keep walking” She muttered pushing herself up from behind the car and making her way back down the interstate, her gaze shifting this way and that as she took everything in, she wasn’t about to let herself get killed because she wasn’t checking her six.