Gentlemen Are a Dying Breed

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/color] He said approaching cautiously. Placing his bat on the ground. He'd been carrying it non stop, for his right hand to be empty was a strange sensation, but if it meant conversing about what the hell was going on, then he didn't mind. "you're the first person I've seen" He found himself sighing with a sort of insane laughter. He couldn't imagine her surviving alone, the thin woman looked as if she hadn't eaten in days, let alone be able to fend off an attacker. For a moment he saw them traveling together, finding some kind of haven, walking through secure gates, with military guards.

He took a few steps closer, her hair was short, and dirty, the tips frayed, her face was dirty too, but those crazy green eyes were what caught his attention. They were wild, attentive. Then they looked behind him, his own animated expression quickly faded, in mid turn was when it happened, the front of his face being met with his own bat he had just set down.

Now he opened his eyes, above him, towering bark and pine. It was lighter than the last time he saw it, the sky was grey and promised rain. It took a moment for his eyes to clear, everything was blurry. Head throbbing, go figure. He lifted his hands to rub his aching neck. The left one obeyed, but the right only came part way. He lifted his head to look at the delima, and he saw what was stopping him, and Lotto, was indeed, handcuffed to a risen root.

His lip automatically pouted. He would bruise his wrist quite a bit getting out of this situation. He propped himself up. He had approached the woman when the day was nearing night, and from the looks of things, it was a gloomy mid afternoon. He wondered how long he'd been out... if it had only been one night, or if he'd slept through many. He hadn't slept much since the world was flipped upside down, and he knew a body would take what it could get.

He began to try many things, he pulled his arm, and when that didn't work he tried to break the root, but it was too thick and too deep. When he wasn't able to escape he began to panic and pull himself more violently, he could feel his wrists swelling with the tugging. There goes the hope of slipping through the cuffs. He cursed as he threw his head back against the trunk in frustration. Gritting his teeth he looked around the foilage. In the middle of no where, with a dwindling population of humans and an increasing population of these infected cannibals. Lotto was beginning to feel more like a rabbit in a trap.

He had just wanted to help that girl, and now he was left for dead. He had to break the root, that was the only way, but it was too thick, death for trying to help a girl in the forest, and for this reason gentlemen were a dying breed.

word count:735 [/blockquote][/size]

[/ul]

[Violet G. Monroe]

Night had ended, and daylight had begun. Violet moved through the forest with ease, Blackjack was at her heels, his guard up as they moved. It had been weeks now, and Violet hadn't found a single soul alive. Fear stabbed her as she thought she may be the last one on earth. But, how was that possible? How could she have been the only one to survive? With her luck, she should have been one of the infected. The thought made her wrinkle her nose. How had any of this even happened.

There was rustling ahead, causing Violet to jump, and Blackjack to growl, taking a defensive stance in front of Violet. She patted his head. "Let's go check it out." She said. More than anything, she hoped it was a survior. Slowly, she and her faithful companion made their way to the noise. Then, Blackjack bounded forward, barking loudly and running as fast as he could.

Violet began to chase him. "Blackjack! Blackjack!" She called, but the canine ignored her, then he was out of sight, and Violet was alone. She continued to head in the direction she thought Blackjack had gone, until he came bounding towards her, a baseball bat in his mouth. Vi took it from him and examined it. "Where did you get this?" She asked. Blackjack began to head in the direction from which he came. Then, Violet saw him, a man handcuffed to a root. She jogged over to him. "Holy shit! Are you okay? What happened?" She asked, as she began to take tools from a pouch on her side to pick the lock on the handcuffs. Once he was free, she handed him the baseball bat. "Is this yours? Blackjack came back to me with it." She said, as she looked at the man. Blackjack sat beside Violet, sniffing the man, making sure he wasn't dangerous.

"I haven't seen a living person in weeks... Do you know how all this happened?" She asked. She was sure that her questions to this man were selfish. After all, he was the one handcuffed to a tree. Almost like bait for the infected. However, the excitment of finally finding another survivor had her nerves slightly shaken with sudden knowlegde that she wasn't alone.

Her hair was messy, tangled and dirty. Her skin and clothing were tattered, covered in dried mud, and a tad wet from all the sweating she'd done. Dark circles had formed under her make-up less eyes, and it was clear she hadn't eaten or slept in days. Blackjack even seemed a bit under weight, and that saddened Violet every day. Her main concern was always her dog. He was her companion and best friend, and it hurt her to see him under nourished.

However, she turned her attention back to the man. "Please... I need someone to travel with... I don't know what's going on. Everyone I know is one of those things... I have no one." She said. While her voice was calm and lyrical, there was a hint of sadness. Abandonment. It wasn't like her to reach out for help, but now, she knew she needed it, and she could only hope this man would be willing to help her.

Word Count; 574
Blackjack

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/color] the noise was soft and meant to get the dog's attention, he didn't want the him to run away. If it had a collar, he may have some contact information on it, and Lotto could use that to call out for the owner.... if there still was one, which he wasn't sure about. The dog looked a while more, and then turned to Lotto's bat. How cruel, he thought noticing it for the first time, those crazy people left it right in front of him yet out of his reach. The dog picked it up with jaws, and then took off running. "No," Lotto sighed, he closed his eyes. The fates were playing cruel jokes all around. He let his head hit against the tree trunk once more, and lowered himself from his knees back to a sitting position, placing his forehead in his palm.

He looked back up when more steps were approaching him, his heart was torn between pounding in fear or fluttering with hope. When a woman emerged behind the dog, he said a small prayer of thanks to Lady Luck. The bat was in her hands, blood was on the side of it, his free hand instinctively rose to his forehead, he could feel where the skin split. Who beats a man with his own bat?

"It is," he responded, picking words carefully, but soon they all would come flushing out, a human who talked, and who looked sane! "These people..." he started and found how foreign the sensation of speaking was, when was the last time he told a story? "I thought she would need help, and then someone behind me hit me.... and I wake up here," He lifted the trapped hand. 'Good boy, Blackjack' he thought looking at the dog gratefully.

He listened to the woman go on with her questions, he was sure if he hadn't been knocked out he would have done the same thing.

"I haven't met another one either, except for last night... or maybe even longer ago...I don't know!" he hated rambling which was what he felt he was doing. He looked at the woman again, a human, who could speak, and understand, and wasn't charging to kill him."I'm stuck here!" He rose to his knees once again. "Yes," he responded thinking of how lonely the last three weeks have been, company? Someone to watch his back while he watched theirs, this was not a bad idea. But he was trapped. He nodded aggressively, was there hope of him surviving? It reminded him a bit of that movie the titanic, to escape drowning cuffed to a pipe, only to freeze to death in open water. He pushed the resembling situation out of his head, no one lived thinking like that. "I can't break the root!" he pointed to the thick risen root with his free hand. Then turned back to the miracle he'd been praying for.


word count:692[/size]
[/ul][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

She heard the click of the cuffs and slid them from his wrists. They looked red, but perhaps that was the light playing tricks on her eyes. Blackjack whimpered slightly and layed down against Violet. His head rested on her thighs and he looked between her and the man. Violet began to pet him softly, and the canine closed his golden brown eyes and released a dog-like sigh. Violet smiled at him before turning her attention back to the man, suddenly evaluating his story about the woman from the previous night or two ago.

"I don't think your.... Attacker - let's go with that - left you here too awful long ago. Otherwise, you would have been dead before you woke..." She said. She felt her own stomach twist. Here, she'd found the man, and at this point, she knew that if he'd been here for more than a few hours she'd be alone, and probably staring at one of the infected rather than a man. She pulled the stap of a bag over her shoulders and onto the ground in front of her. She fished through the beige cloth until she found a bottle of water. She handed it to the man. "I'm Violet. Violet Monroe. This is Blackjack." She said, as she began to pet the dog again.

She wasn't sure if she'd told the man her companion's name yet or not. That was the curse of short-term memory loss. But, instead of seeming like she'd gone mad, she knew it would be best to tell her new friend about that issue. "If I told you his name already, then I'm sorry. I have short-term memory loss." She said. A blush crept up her pale cheeks as she finished. It had always embarrassed her that her memory was so bad. As to why, well, that was still a mystery.

It was strange, or at least most would think. Violet sat so relaxed, like a horde of infected wouldn't come through the trees at them at any time. It was almost as if she treated the world like a normal place, despite the virus that had destroyed the majority of mankind. But, unlike most people, she had a dog. A healthy, protective dog. She had always been alerted to danger by her faithful canine. Even when he was just a pup. She had no reason to not relax, really.

Without thinking, Violet lifted her petite fingers to the man's head, where dried blood caked the skin and his hair. She grabbed a cloth from her hand-made bag and poured proxide on it. "May I?" She asked with a tender smile. If there was one thing she loved, it was helping others. Despite her normally hard exterior, she was a softy. Especially in desperate times like these. With no where to run, and now only one other human she could confide in, she felt the feminine insticts kick in, driving her to help and heal this man. It wasn't something she was use to, so the feeling was new to her, and it was something that she knew could easily be mistaken for feelings for a person. However, her common sense ranked high amoung the population. Or at least, what was the population. Differentiation between the craving to help, and actual feelings was easy for her. Like in this instance. She only wanted to help him, and be helped in return.

Words; 597

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/i] She hovered over his hand inspected the cuffs, worked them a little bit, and he was free. He pulled his hand out of the life threatening trap and cupped his wrist with his other. Like two reunited survivors. He rubbed where he worked it raw.

"I don't think your.... Attacker - let's go with that - left you here too awful long ago. Otherwise, you would have been dead before you woke..."

He nodded as she spoke, it made sense, days and he was sure one of them would have smelt him out, especially with the dried blood and opened wounds, that seemed to drive them crazy. He remembered a prayed he used to say as a child if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take Death while unconscious might have been more generous than being torn apart while fully aware. He wondered if he would have felt it? Well, now that wasn't going to be the case.

"I'm Violet. Violet Monroe. This is Blackjack."

"I owe you and Blackjack a steak dinner for this" he let go of his wrist, he hated acting like an animal licking his wounds. "The first place we come across, I'm buying" The joke made his mouth water, the thought of food had disgusted him for so long, but now it seemed he was going to starve to death.

"I'm Lotto," He said a brief pause, but felt the need to say more than that if this friendship was going to develop, "...King" The image of his brothers smashed in face flashed in his mind. The nightmare would never go away. He smiled after that, hiding the fear in his eyes of the memory.

"No," He said to her apologizing for restating his name, "You haven't, but he and I have met," he extended an open palm for the dog to sniff, when he got his fill Lotto pulled his hand back into his lap. This dog must have loyalty pumping in his heart, to stay with his master even though all of his instincts are telling him to flee from the infected. He admired the bond.

Lotto couldn't believe how calm the woman looked, he was all about adapting, but so soon? She seemed like he and her were about to sit down and have a picnic, it had to be the dog, he was sure Blackjack would know if one of them were coming. When her hands reached for his head and touched his wound, he stilled, but then relaxed again, he wondered when being tense would stop being a characteristic in this new world. "How bad is it?" He asked rubbing it himself after she retracted his hands. He couldn't feel it, but was sure it was a nasty split, just glad the dried blood was acting like stitches, he doubted he'd be able to find a doctor any time soon.


word count:602
(ooc:I assume in the first sentence she freed him so I went off that xP)[/ul][/size][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

hen he spoke, she laughed. The thought of a steak made her mouth water, and it was tempting to go find somewhere to eat immediately. "Sounds great." She said with a laugh. When he spoke his name, she smiled more. "Nice to meet you, Lotto." She said with a nod of her head. She gingerly moved his hairline to see how bad the wound was. It wasn't too bad, but it still needed to be disinfected.

She watched as Blackjack sniffed Lotto's palm and then moved his crania under his hand, asking to be petted. "He likes you." She said, her eyes admiring her canine.

When he asked how bad it was, she frowned slightly. "Not bad, but it does need disinfecting." She said. When he reached up to touch it, she caught his hand and shook her head in disapproval, but smiled. She took the cloth and dabbed his head lightly, removing the blood first, and tending to the wound second. She was gentle, and that was a surprise. Normally, she didn't care for being gentle and careful. It was typically not giving a damn and being rough.

When it was cleaned, she poured proxide onto an unused part of the cloth, and watched the liquid bubble as it disinfected the wound. She then grabbed a cotton ball, tearing it so it was thin and pressed it against the wound. She then used medical tape to hold it in place. "There." She said, leaning back on her knees and standing in one elegant movement. She stretched her hand out to the man. Blackjack sat close beside her, evaluating the area around him. She patted his head once and he looked up at her, tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, and tail wagging against the dead leaves. She laughed. It had been a while since she'd smiled so much. Perhaps it was the fact that she now had reassurance that she wasn't the only one. Or maybe she was happy to know that she could relax, even if for just a moment.

"Where were you headed?" She asked, tilting her head as she slung her hand-made bag over her shoulder so that the strap crossed between her breasts, and rested against the opposite hip. However, her relaxation was brought to a sudden halt as Blackjack began to growl. He was standing now, hackles raised, fangs bearing. Spittle falling to the leaves below him. The growl became a menacing snarl. "We should get out of here." Violet said, though her voice was barely a whisper. She hated seeing those things. They frightened her, though she'd never admit it. She began to walk in the opposite direction of Blackjack's attention. When he didn't follow, she whistled. He bounded to her, but kept his hackles raised, growling as they moved forward. "Until we're out of range of his senses to the things, he'll continue to growl. But, as long as nothing is coming from any other direction towards us, he won't stop moving. Thank goodness for Blackjack." She said.

She felt it was best for Lotto to know now. After all, she hoped to stick with him until the bitter end. While he was a stranger, she was sure he was no threat. Unlike the woman and her companion that had left him for the infected, he seemed like he had more common sense than that. He seemed to understand that mankind was being wiped out slowly, which gave him the knowledge that being with one person was better than being alone. He was like her in that way. He had common sense, and a will to survive, even with a stranger and her dog at his side. He was like her.

words; 649

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/i] she would nag, "Johnathon, did you wear your shoes in the house?" she would ask, already knowing the answer. God, he would miss that woman.

Disinfectant? Where would he find that? Then Violet pulled it out of her bag. Good god, what would he do with out this woman? She poured it onto his wound, it stung, he inhaled sharply, but that was a good thing, means what is bad is being killed.

"Just away, when everything happened.... I have no plan, and no one to get to..." He shook his head, he picked a direction and just started running. I think you're dying Tommy. Last words to the last somebody he had. For a moment there was peace, it was an autumn afternoon in the north west, just those grey clouds to remind them something ominous was on the way. "Thank goodness for Blackjack." he repeated, what a nifty companion. The dog brought a smile to his face. The peroxide scent was strong, it took away that moment of salivating, which he figured was a good thing, being in the middle of a forest with little to no wildlife remaining, and who knows how far from the nearest town, who knew if they were even still in Oregon!

"Where are you guys heading?" she had said that he was the first human run in she had, so he doubted she had heard of any military compounds forming any where, a safe haven of some sort.

That was when the dog began to growl, Lotto's attention perked with his, animal's with their sixth sense, amazing. He nodded at her whisper, moving from sitting position on to his own haunches. Fists on the ground, ready to pounce in any direction. He slowly rose, looking at which direction Blackjack could be sensing it from, he had no idea. He stopped to listen, but all he could hear was the dogs low growls, and snarls. Which was really all he needed to hear, since he figured this dog would not charge the enemy, but lead its human companions to safety. "Which way?" he whispered, eyes darting around the greenery.

word count: 427 bleh...
[/size]
[/ul][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

She'd been too busy tending to him to really pay attention to the words he'd spoke, though they still rang in her mind as she tried to force herself to remember them. She turned to look at Lotto and think for a moment. "Well, Portland is this way." She said, pointing in the opposite direction that she faced. "I'm sure it's run-over with these nasty things, but it's probably the only place we'll be able to find food." She said, but something about her words seemed cautious.

She hadn't been back to the city yet. Her apartments has been on a small lake not far from the city, but being alone and not really knowing what to think of the carnage that surrounded her, she had been too afraid to go to the city. Even if that's where she would have found her best friend.

The thought of Rose seemed to send a knife into her heart, and stones into her stomach. She felt like she was going to vomit, and tears came to her eyes. Quickly, she regained herself, refusing to show weakness. "Unless you have something better in mind, I say we try Portland. It's out best bet, I think. Plus, if I'm correct, these things move towards their prey. Which means that the city is probably wiped out, and they may have abandoned the area." She said. Honestly, she'd seen tons of zombie movies. Heard all the theories of the outbreak, even! But, this was reality, and the ideology of a zombie outbreak just didn't fit, much less an actual outbreak. It just didn't seem real to Violet. Only horror movie stuff.

Twisted groans began to fill the air, and Violet felt the nausea coming again. She felt her eyes widen, and her adrenaline rush. "We have to go." She said, grabbing Lotto's forearm and pulling him behind her. His question came back to her mind. Where was she headed? What did she plan to do if Portland was overrun and her theory was wrong? It sickened her to think that she may be leading her companion, this man, and herself to their deaths. She only wished and hoped that she was right.

words; 391

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/i] knew where they were, he was sure they had a heightened sense of smell, and being around these three must have been like walking into a bakery. You just have to try one of everything.

Portland. He chest tightened, it's what he was running from. But she seemed sure of her theory, and who was he to know any better. He crouched down and grabbed his bat. Tried to smear the blood off with his shirt but it was too dry, he would have to clean it off later, wasn't really a big deal, but it did remind him he was vulnerable, which was something Lotto King, did not enjoy being. When she grabbed his arm and pulled he followed quick behind her. He could hear them, he remembered being in the city, he could smell the decay on them, at least out in nature it wasn't as strong but the hint of death was in the air.

He turned back once to view who was coming up to his previous place of imprisonment. A nasty one, with hollowed eyes, they were deep as if someone had pushed them in, in an effort to save their life. Lotto wondered if that made him blind. Or if it even made a difference. His clothes were tattered, worse than Lotto's, which seemed like they were about to fall apart on him. They just cant make a good pair of Levi's anymore. He turned back and followed close to Violet and Blackjack. The city may be a good idea, he needed to a pack. He had nothing on him but the clothes he wore, and a bat, he'd even lost his wallet a long while back, if he had even had it on him at the time he fled.

He wondered if Tommy ever got up after that hit. Lotto didn't think he hit him hard enough to kill him, he had to hit some of these outside the city a whole lot harder and more times than his brother.
He thought he should warn Violet, if he saw his brother when they went into Portland, he would lose his mind. Just a fair warning.

They continued to creep through the foliage, avoiding the altercation. Lotto was against it, that would leave one more to kill you in your sleep, but he didn't speak up. Blackjack was leading, really, and he didn't seem to interested in turning back.

word count:448
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

If there was one thing Violet knew well, it was the involuntary reaction of tightening muscles due to anxiety. Under her hand, she had felt his forearm tighten. But considering they were running from some ravenous freak, she didn't address it. It would have to wait until they got to the city.

She'd began to speed up now, her adrenaline pumping when she glanced back and caught a glimpse of the horrid thing. She felt her stomach twist at the sight of it. Then, she tripped. Her head landed on a root with a hard thump and for a moment she lay there, barely moving, and hardly coherent. She could swear that the Earth had begun to spin rapidly beneath the trio, and her ears were ringing. She rolled over onto her back. Blood oozed from her nose and a tiny scratch on her head, and everything was nothing more than a spinning blur.

She tried to get up, but couldn't quite muster the strength. "Lotto?" Her voice cracked as she began reaching a hand up, using the other to keep from hitting her face again. Her vision had just begun to come back when she saw Blackjack soar past her like a bullet. There were menacing snarls and groans all tangled together. She looked back as quickly as her body would let her - which wasn't quickly at all - to see Blackjack ripping into the creature's neck, though it still fought as if Blackjack hadn't injured it whatsoever. Perhaps she should have mentioned she was a bit clumsy. Things may have gone smoother.

There was a sound of rustling, then stillness. Violet no longer had the strength to look behind her. "Blackjack!" She called. Though her voice was not loud, there was the obvious hint of fear. She felt tears sting her eyes, and then something wet on her arm. She looked into her dog's golden brown eyes and threw her arms around him, crying now, but out of relief. She kissed the top of her dog's head, careful to avoid his bloody maw. She guessed she was lucky that the virus didn't affect most animals. Very few were able to catch the virus, and Blackjack had been born a lucky pup. Immune to the sickening disease.

She leaned against Blackjack, deciding it wasn't necessary to stand up after all. Now that their persuer was dead. Blackjack had severed it's head from the body. Now, he let Vi rest against him as if nothing had happened, though he still looked wary.

Once her vision was back completely and the ringing had stopped, Violet looked up at Lotto. "Sorry. I'm a bit clumsy. I guess you've got a lot to learn about me." She said with a sheepish grin. She offered her hand again, this time ready to get to the city. She needed a mirror so she could tend to her wounds, and a shower would be nice. Since the majority of the world had been infected, she assumed that common sense would tell them a few could survive, and would need water, if nothing else. However, she could only hope that some of the power plants and watering companies hadn't shut down their enterprises.

words; 556

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/i] His insides screamed, seeing now she had an open wound, and even if Blackjack couldn't contract the virus, he had it on his coat.

He smiled. A stood and turned to look at the job well done, then he looked back at his own weapon, when using it, it made a mess, blood often splattered, which meant he had to keep his mouth and eyes shut when swinging the thing, so something could catch him in that instant. He had the gun in the back of his waist line, but only six bullets in the chamber. He would save it for close calls. Perhaps when they get back to Portland he would pluck more weapons off fallen corpses, or have to put down walking corpses that already had them.

"You alright?" He asked, voice returning to normal pitch, no need to whisper now. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up gently. He examined her wounds, they were okay, but he couldn't stand the thought of the blood on Blackjack getting into them, they were fresh, where as his were sealing, it was still a risk but her's was greater. "The first stream we come across, I'll wash the blood off Blackjack, I don't want it getting in your cut." He pet the dog by the tail, he didn't want to touch the blood and then rub his eye absentmindedly later this day, or even right after.

word count: 422 [/size]
[/ul][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

She wasn't sure how it had all happened, honestly. It was one big blur. All she knew was that the zombie was dead, and her beloved canine was covered in it's blood. It was the first time Blackjack had taken on one of the undead. However, in Vi's eyes, that showed his loyalty to his master. She stroked him again, carefully avoiding the blood of the enemy.

When Lotta helped her to her feet, she leaned into him slightly, unable to keep perfect balance at first. "I'm fine. I just feel like I've been hit in the face by a baseball bat." She said, attempting to lighten the otherwise tense atmoshpere. She nodded in agreement to what he'd said next. "I agree. His immunity doesn't guarantee ours. Obviously." She said, smiling a bit.

Violet began to take slow steps forward. When she felt like she could stand on her own feet, and walk without problems, she began to lead her new companion and Blackjack to Portland. However, she quickly remembered something. She stopped in her tracks, and turned to look at Lotto. Her palm went up to the wound on her head as the sunlight began to shine in her golden brown eyes. It made the wound pound. "Wait... Lotto..." She began, stopping as she leaned against a tree. She turned her attention away from the sunlight, and felt relief immediately. "Why are you edgy about going to Portland?" She asked.

She hoped it wouldn't make him think of her as insane since she knew that he'd been upset about the idea. After all, it had just been the natural reaction of his body to something the mind detested. Simple as that. Blackjack sat, keeping his eyes and ears busy, and even sniffing the wind when it blew in his direction. Luckily for Violet, animals adapted quickly to their new surroudings, and therefore, she simply had to follow the instincts of her dog. Unless the worst came to surface, though Vi refused to believe her best friend would turn on her.

She looked back to Lotto, still waiting for his answer, while anxious to get to Portland. Her main reason now was to find Rose, and hope that she was still alive. She'd be the only one Violet had left. Well, besides Lotto anyway. While he was still a stranger, she didn't feel the need to refer to him that way. After all, he hadn't tried to hurt her yet, and she'd had her back turned to him. He could have killed her before Blackjack would have even sensed it. Then again, animals could tell a good person from a bad person, and Blackjack had taken a liking to Lotto. Almost immediately. That was a rare occurance.

words; 478

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/color] he said knowing she was from there too, he figured she was at least. How else could she be within the same radius three weeks after the outbreak. He paused as he leaned against a tree, he would take all the rest he could get. He owed her more. He owed her his life, her and Blackjack both. How could he have saved himself if he'd still been chained to a tree? His legs would have grown tired of kicking faster then the creatures endurance towards live food."I go back every time I close my eyes," he tried to mumbled but it came out clear as day.

It's a big city, he told himself, you probably wont see him. It was true, even if he rose after a swing like that, how could he get out of the apartment with out breaking through which he hadn't witnessed enough brain activity in one of them to gain the evidence to support the idea. It would be fine.

"You have to face a nightmare sooner or later," he concluded pushing himself off the tree, and nodding for them to head in the direction they were going. This was his pack now, and he would follow, it was much better than wondering around alone, searching the night for what made the floor board creek. He wondered when the next time he would have a good nights sleep? He figured the best chance of finding out, was to travel along these two.

word count: 365
[/ul][/size][/blockquote]

[Violet G. Monroe]

Violet offered a sympathetic smile. "I grew up there. But, I ended up moving to a set of apartments not too far away. I was eighteen when I moved. I lived in those apartments for two years. Then, this happened. My only fear of the city is that my best friend won't be alive - at least, not the way she should be." She explained. It was true. That was the only fear she had. She didn't have siblings to worry about, nor did she worry for her parents. She already knew what had become of the elders, and while the thought made her heart twist, she knew there was nothing to be done, and that acceptance was vital in the situation.

But Rose? Rose had been Violet's best friend since Kindergarten. They'd even liked each other at one point, and tried to date, but found it too strange since they were more like relatives than lovers. While she loved her parents, Violet had a strange philosphy on the way of love; not relative love, but actual love. Love for another person, whether it be of the same sex or not. Violet had always felt that love from someone was stronger than love for family. The bonds with family was what people confused with love... At least, that was the case to Violet.

When Lotto spoke a third time, Violet put her hand on his arm. "We can face it together. After all, we don't have anyone else..." She said, her voice trailing off, though she still held a kind smile. Blackjack whined, anxious to get where they were going. In the same instant, Lotto appeared ready to go too, and Violet was glad that everyone was on the same page, and began to walk in the direction of the city. Since safety seemed to cloak them now, Violet decided to get to know Lotto. It would be in her best interest, that way their friendship didn't get screwed over. Especially during these times. That was her worst nightmare. To be alone again. It wasn't that Blackjack wasn't enough. It wasn't even that Violet saw him as an animal - because she treated him like a human. It was just that with an actual person, she could confide in. Have the socialization of human contact, rather than her canine companion. Blackjack was enough, but his company wasn't like that of a person who could actually converse with her.

"So, what were you doing before the apocolypse?" She asked, eyes set on the ground as she moved, not wanting to trip again. Admittedly, she was slightly embarrassed that she had tripped at all. Typically, she could hold her balance well - especially in front of other people - but there were moments when her clumsiness got the best of her. Like today, for instance. It wasn't uncommon, but it wasn't an everyday thing either. It was kinda like the apocolypse had been. One big surprise.

words; 509

[Leroy "Lotto" King]

[/color] he said hoping over a fallen log, he turned back to make sure Violet was okay going over it, she did have a nasty spill before and could still be dizzy from it, "my mother died that morning, and my brother took me home, he died shortly after, and I called 911, but just got a busy signal. That's what kind of sticks out to me, a busy signal on the number you were meant to rely on. Anyways, and then it all happened, heard screams outside, went to go see, and then yeah, got into fight back mode..." He avoided the part where he went back inside and smashed his charging brother's head. "What about you?"

word count:331[/size]
[/ul][/blockquote]