The Only Easy Day...was Yesterday

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/i] Hannah spit off to the side of the road, ha. Is that lady like now, mother?

She had to admit, she was getting pretty crazy with this time that was passing. Hannah was a social girl, she didn't like to be alone, and that's the way it had been the last couple of days. She walked along side the high way, watching each step, over her shoulder was a black messenger bag, that had pretty thin straps and had been holding up pretty well. In her left hand she held her flats she'd been wearing during the initial outbreak. They were no good to run in but she had bought them all on her own, and that still meant something, even if she had all the choices in the world now.

Hannah was with a group of people a little after the outbreak when she had been separated from her brother, at that point she was a mess. The small group was made up of herself, two Hispanic males who were looking for their sister, and an older Caucasian woman who also appeared to be immune had joined the small throng. The older woman, was kind to Hannah, and if allotted more time, Hannah was sure she would have loved her in the maternal way she was unable to have for her own mother.

Her name was Gladice, but that was all she knew about her. One of the males, said that they were going to the mall because that's where their sister had been at the time of all of this, and might still be there. Hannah was game because she didn't want to be alone, so she went along for the ride, both of the guys were armed, and quite clearly knowledgeable when the group encountered the first infected human. It was dispatched immediately. Hannah had kept the gun she found a secret, at first she didn't trust them but when they proved trustworthy, it just seemed like letting them know she was armed was some what insulting. Luckily (in that aspect) the small group did not last long.

When entering the mall it was full of the infected, and surrounded by them. The two brothers began to pop off and dropping the infected like a shooting gallery at the fair. She clung to the woman who soothed her, and told her it was okay. When they got into the mall Hannah had made herself proud by picking up a trash can and swinging it at one of the charging people. It knocked it off balance, and one of the brothers came up and finished it off with an axe, they ran about shouting their sister's name killing anything that came close.

"Come," Gladice had pulled her, "You cannot run in those," Gladice had pulled Hannah into an athletic shop that appeared to be empty. Hannah was hesitant about being out of the brother's view but she figured if they could make this trip quick they would be okay. She grabbed a box out of the wall that read her size, and quickly squatted down and slipped out of her own shoes, and into these. She looked back up to Gladice as she stood and was ready to go. But Gladice was sorting through boxes, looking for her own size. That was when Hannah saw what was coming towards them from the back of the shop. Hannah tried to pull the gun out of the bag but when she pulled the trigger nothing happened the trigger didn't even compress, she squeaked as she realized it was on safety, and it was too late before Gladice could run, but not for Hannah, and so she did.

That already seemed like a life time ago, she already shed those tears. No more for them. She was sure she would meet them one day again, if she ever found her way out of this hell, or maybe even if she died trying. The sun was on her hair, and it was getting hot. Her brow creased, she was not happy. She walked in between these abandoned cars, not looking at what was inside, dead babies still strapped into their car seat, half a body still holding onto the drivers seat and the other half pulled across the street. She stepped over the dried blood trail and kept walking. She thought she saw something up ahead, but who knew until she got there.

She had plenty of time before the sun set to find shelter. She needed to make some distance, and on foot that was slow and steady. That was when she saw it... just a flicker of motion to her right, it was a ways away. But she was naturally jumpy, and in this world, every jump was worth investigating, if not it could cost a life. She turned to look, and saw one of them emerge a bit away from the main road.

She picked up the pace, and saw more and more assimilate soon, there was a large group forming, she was drawing all the stragglers' attention, and that was when Hannah broke into a sprint, she didn't know how long she would need to run, but she knew she could, she'd been doing it since all this shit happened. Her sneakers smacked the pavement with each rapid stride, there was always panic, but that just pushed her faster. She'd never been out in the open like this and running from a group. It had mostly been in the city and she could turn a couple of corners and then lose them, out here is was just a stretch of road. She had to be able to out run them so fast that they would lose sight of her. It was going to be a challenge but it was worth a shot, she ran with her bag banging against her annoyingly, and those damn flats were in her fist as she pumped her legs and arms.

She had reached what she had spotted before quicker than she had imagined. It looked like a sort of military set up with vehicles she'd only ever seen in the movies. But then again everything was a blur, as she bounced off the pavement with each step. There was a truck off to the side, she heard something sound, it was familiar, almost like a remote control to a car, but that was such an old sound.... that was when she collided with someone, the pain was what notified, her and the fact that she had stopped moving forward. She tried to center herself, but her head was still spinning from the collision. Her heart was racing, and she exhaled words sharply with her breath ,"Run,run,run,run!" She cried as she looked back to the approaching horde.



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ooc: a majority of this is just a flash back and can be skimmed right over, hope you see this before its too late! lol

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[Cole Peyton]

The more area his eyes covered, the more infected he saw coming out of seemingly thin air. Where the hell were they coming from? All these cars? Cole could only guess, but one thing he did know for certain was how close these demons were, not just from behind, but even up ahead the cursed beings were appearing. Certainly, the only chance he and that girl he just met had was his truck, it would only be a matter of time before there would be no place to run. That, and admittedly, his cardio wasn't something he took a lot of time out for at the gym, and the consequences of that he knew would eventually settle in.

His nerves calmed a little when he was within a couple yards of his truck, which represented a safe haven for him. However, those same nerves were brought right back up to pace when he was suddenly plowed from his left side. Apparently his peripheral vision wasn't as good as he assumed. The contact sent him to the ground along with someone, or something, briefly on top of him. He was just waiting to feel that inevitable horror of teeth ripping through his skin, but soon that body was off of him and a quick glance revealed not a ravenous freak, but a teenage girl, to his pleasant surprise.

That was one bullet dodged, but now the infected were practically right on top of them. Being within a few steps of his truck, he had a small window to get in and take off. However, the girl that just bulldozed him would be in serious trouble within a few moments. Right as her cries of "run" echoed through his head, he grabbed her arm as he got up and pulled her towards his truck. "Get in!" He exclaimed as he opened the driver door and practically shoved her over to the passenger side. It may not have been the most dignified way to handle things, but when you're in total panic mode he didn't really care, and he doubted she did either.

A couple of the infected were now within a few feet of him, he didn't have any time to get in himself. Trying his best to steady his nerves, his aimed his M4 and fired off a few bursts at them, which thankfully resulted in their halt. He hastily jumped in the driver seat himself, jammed the key in the ignition, said a prayer that nothing mechanical was astray, and started the truck. In the few seconds that took, the freaks were already surrounding the vehicle in rows, pounding on the doors, hood, and tailgate, not that it was doing them much good. "Thank god for manual transmissions." He said more to himself than anybody and put it in gear, revved the engine way up and dumped the clutch. Shooting the truck through the horde in what was a very bumpy and, well, bloody ride. Nonetheless, it worked out nicely, and left a somewhat humorous trail of mowed down remains of zombies. Cole smiled to himself a little. For almost becoming dinner, that was pretty well performed.

Cole looked over at his passenger once the adrenalin levels came down. "Well, we apparently picked a pretty bad time to be out on a highway." He said with a little humor in his voice. So much for being a lone ranger for now. At least the remaining humans he ran into seemed like respectable souls, unlike the many others he encountered.

OOC: Kenzie, when you return feel free to join in as if you were in the backseat, I just didn't want to power play you.

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/i], she thought at him, unable to find a voice to say the words, it was taking everything not scream, which was probably the least productive thing she could do. But dying didn't seem to be on his mind, he grabbed her and lead her to the car, she gave way willingly, her body was loose, and distracted. She kept turning to look back at the wild faces, so distorted it had to be Hollywood. She was seated in the truck when she looked at him. Why wasn't he following?

She quickly turned her body to follow him in direction, "Wait!" she called, not understanding in the moment. He turned back and dispatched a few of the closer ones, then crossed the front and climbed into what was clearly his seat. Another one was approaching, it was wearing military camo fatigues, soaked with crimson blood that seemed to be seeping from a wound within, do these things not die when bleeding out? Fighting the urge to freeze, she then pulled the door shut before she would it could catch the door and disrupt the satisfying clicking noise a locking door made.

She looked to him as he hopped into truck, the vehicle was a good fit for him, she thought as she looked out the window to the crowding creatures. There was nothing smooth about the initial ride, bump bump bump. She cringed as they plowed the surrounding threat right over. She knew blood was splattering every where, and instinctively flinched sealing her mouth and eyes; she'd seen what happened to people who got the blood in them. Not something the she was interested in experiencing.

She sighed in relief as they were passing the horde, and quickly gaining distance. She relaxed against the seat, she was even able to smile about the comment about the the highway. She'd never been in that kind of traffic jam. It nearly brought out an insane laughter that would have been provoked by relief is she wasn't finally was able to find a voice, she turned quickly to the driver, "Thank you," she signed, looked behind them once more, they were still coming, but they were becoming smaller and smaller, "I'm Hannah," She had seen how quick and efficient he was with that gun, maybe she had finally found someone who could teach her how to use the one she had on her.


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[Cole Peyton]

Cole kept one eye in the mirror and one on the terrain ahead. They weren't exactly on the pavement yet, he was basically driving in the ditch alongside the mass congestion of abandoned cars on the highway. Annoyingly, a stray infected would still emerge from the congestion and futilely charge the truck. These things were everywhere, it was ridiculous. Remembering something he took from the movies, he turned his head to check the backseat and the floor for any signs of an unwanted passenger. You could say he was a little paranoid about that stuff, he's greatest fear in this world was something getting him from behind. He always had to have his back to something or know exactly what was behind him every five seconds, otherwise he felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Another final check in the mirror showed a determined horde that was nothing more than a bunch of dots. What a relief that was, he sank his head in the headrest as if the weight of the world had been lifted of his shoulders. "You're welcome, for next time though, just remember you can just say something to get my attention instead of tackling me." He laughed, obviously joking. By his measures, she must've been a sprinter in high school or something, it felt like he got hit by one of those flying punching bags you see on stunt/obstacle TV shows. "And I'm Cole, rather unpleasurable circumstances to meet, but uhh, pleasure to meet you." He figured he'd use proper manners at least once more in his lifetime, even if there was a little lightness in it. Really, that was the only way he managed to continue on, he had to find the light side of everything he could, and act on it. The people that went totally insane because of this he guaranteed were the ones that were always depressed, he just couldn't afford to think like that.

"So Hannah, I got my explanation for being alone on a crowded highway just outside of what's probably the biggest hellhole on earth. What's yours?"

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/i] blood she was sure she'd be okay. "I will remember that," she assured him with an amused nod, rubbing her shoulder as she looked to the stretch of desert to her right, and the crowded highway of hell she'd just traveled through. Looking at how much was still ahead of them she thought she'd made pretty good timing.

"I actually came from that Hell hole," she spoke looking out in the direction of the city. Were they heading there? Did she dare ask. She looked back to Cole who seemed about her age, maybe a little older? She was pretty horrible with guessing ages, "but I'm a long ways from home." the smile slowly faded, the way she had been getting through was keeping her mind off of that subject, but sometimes it was hard when you didn't have much else going on, except for walking, and running, "What about you Cole," she said quickly changing the tone before she slumped back into that sadness, "You planning on going in there?" she watched him for the response. Trying to guess his game plan before he revealed it.


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[Cole Peyton]

Finally, the terrain started to clear out a little, and mercifully the ride was mildly smoother. They had completely lost the horde, and it appeared like there were no more of the crazies in the area. They were all probably grouped up in that single mob, it's a miracle they escaped really. With Hannah saying she came out of L.A, Cole couldn't help but raise his brows. He couldn't see how anybody could've made it out of L.A's heart, especially considering how bad his relatively small town got.

"You were seriously in L.A when this started?" He basically restated what she just told him. "Good lord, you must have some tales of survival." He was a little impressed she made it out of there seemingly unscathed, she didn't exactly look like the toughest chick on the block, and up to this point, he thought you'd have to be quite the badass to even have a chance. But who knows, maybe she was just like that girl he meant earlier, who played innocent but slowly started to reveal herself as something more. That meant he should probably keep his guard up, but there was a vibe about her that didn't make him think she was pulling any tricks, and that she wasn't out to screw anybody.

Out of his right eye, he noticed her changing expression when she talked about home. He guessed it was because, like him, she had lost all her family. What he didn't know was just how far away from home she actually was. "I dunno if you can say any of us have a true home these days." He allowed his depressive side to seep in a little. While on the subject, he wondered why he left his hometown in the first place. Oh that's right, to try to live independently in the desert. That sure was working out wonderfully. Not like not having access to supplies or basic essentials for life was a problem or anything. He just about led himself to his death by getting anywhere close to a big city in search of those supplies. So yes, living out in the desert was a splendid idea...not.

"Well, I was going to poke around the suburbs a little and see if I could find anything useful, but if a simple highway is that chaotic and deadly, then that may be suicide." He shook his head. "To be honest with you, I have no idea what my next move is." He let his eyelids sag a little, as if he felt defeated.

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/i] home was her mother scolding her. Her father falling asleep in his recliner with the newspaper on his lap, her brother getting away with murder as she was scolded for not answering her phone when she was out. Home was gone. She'd seen her mother dead, her father was most likely dead too, her brother was initially immune, but who knew if he had survived the rest of this attack. "You're right," she agreed, home was definitely becoming a past tense word, "I don't think there is anything left of mine," of course she hadn't seen it. But based on all of this chaos and insanity, the fact that there was no communication anywhere from the government, no troops gathering up survivors, that told her all she needed to know.

Besides, what was left for her there? Nothing. Everything died in LA. "Have you been traveling alone?" she asked, trying to lighten the darkness she had just bestowed in the vehicle. She was not a gloom and doom person, and seldom enjoyed feeling sorry for herself, so it was time to move on from her pity party for one. She was enjoying the smoother ride much more than the bumpy terrain.

The suburbs, supplies, of course. She hadn't ventured off into the homes too much, she's stayed in one, in the outskirts, for just a little while, tucked herself away in an attic, but was too paranoid to set up camp in an infested hot spot. But she hadn't even thought to go deeper. Too many tears of terror already shed. Alone she would have probably been killed quite quickly by the small communities of those things. But this guy seemed to know what he was doing, she needed to make sure to take notes. She was creative, and had found ways to fight them off, but he was efficient, those two that came close fell with in moments of him deciding it was time for them to officially die.

"There are a lot of untouched homes," she commented, noticing when she had first tried her luck, that many doors were still locked, and no windows were shattered, "A lot of people may have died in their houses before the evacuations even began, or just took time to lock up before they took off," she shrugged not really knowing, "I didn't try to go into many, I can't really shoot a gun," She admitted, remembering that her inexperience had cost Gladice her life.[/blockquote]


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[Cole Peyton]

It didn't take him more than a few seconds to realize that saying there was no more "home" was a mistake. Most of the survivors out their probably clung on to a hope that their home, and family, still existed. He didn't, he figured there was no point mourning what was most certainly lost. But, he should've been a little more empathetic to Hannah. "Sorry, home is what you make it to be." He lamely tried to console her. Even he would say that was a pretty bad attempt at empathy.

"Up to this point yes, every other "normal" person I've met so far has either tried to rob me, or use me as some sort of bait. Guess I've just met the wrong people." He briefly laughed, but then grew a more serious expression, an expression that said he was about to go on a rant. "I gotta say, it is pretty disgusting of how the general humanity has handled this, this, dare I say, apocalypse. I mean wouldn't you think that in a time when we are suddenly an endangered species, that we'd band together and try to help one another, not just out of courtesy, but for the greater good? Instead I've seen people feeding others to whatever the hell those...zombies...are, and gunning each other down so they can take that person's extra knife." Cole let himself inwardly calm down a little, and then said in a softer tone. "So that's a long reason as to why I haven't grouped up with anyone." His face grew a bit of a grin as if to make some sort of light of the situation.

He wondered if maybe she was actually suggesting they go and do house raids in a bid for a goldmine. After all, her logic was there. Most homes probably were completely abandoned, and the landfill of supplies in them forgotten. Maybe it was worth the risk, but man was it a risk. A risk being compounded when she claimed she couldn't use a gun. Something he just heard a little while ago from a different person, the difference was that he actually did think Hannah might be telling the truth. The first girl said she couldn't fire a gun...while she was holding a high powered shotgun, and not looking intimidated. As far as he could tell, Hannah didn't even have a weapon on her. "Well, that's a good point, but I bet a couple families were infected and never left their house, and I'm not sure if I want to run into a cannibalistic family of five in their own home." He stated with a twinge of humor in his voice. "And if what you say about guns is actually true, then that's gonna have to change, you ain't gonna last otherwise." He talked as if he believed her, which he did, but he still had a lot of evaluating to do on her before he could prove to himself that she was for real.

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/color] she said in reference to the gun in her bag, "but I found a small one, in the chaos," she decided to omit the fact that she had took it off a corpse, considering how he had just spoken about the people who had tried to rob him,

"I shot it a couple times- once I figured how to get the safety off, but I didn't hit anything and all it did was draw more attention," she recalled shooting in the direction of an oncoming undead, and completely unaware of where the bullet had gone because it in no way had come close to where she had aimed. She had even closed one eye, and was sure she had a steady hand. "Did you know how to use one before this?" she too, didn't like to refer this as an apocalypse, it just seemed too awkward of a way to describe this, there was no way these events could be summed up in such a word.


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[Cole Peyton]

Cole took a moment to stop his mood from declining further. Every now and then he just got mad at the circumstances, and what the world has come to. He knew though that he couldn't let himself sink into that thinking for long, for his sake and for the sake of others around him. So he relaxed himself back in the seat and put those thoughts and memories out of his mind...or at least tried to.

They kept bouncing along in the truck until he finally found an exit that wasn't at all crowded. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be a rest stop. Cole still had no idea where he was going, so to avoid burning up anymore fuel than needed, he pointed the truck in that direction and set course for it.

Meanwhile, Hannah explained her usefulness with guns...or lack thereof. Cole cringed a little at the story of her firing and only getting more attention. If she was trying to pull wool over his eyes, then she was doing a damn good job of it, and probably should've been an actress. Additionally, her confessing that she had one on her brought up his trust level. In the end, it was enough to convince him that she indeed held inadequate skills with firearms. "When the time is right, you and I will go target practicing, I'll show you a few things. You'll do fine, it's easy really." He reassured. "In these situations, it's the nerves that can hold you back. Trying to keep calm with a demon-thing charging you is hard." He smiled in humor. He found himself constantly having to battle the urge to freak out when he saw the faces of those things coming at him. Luckily for him, his adrenaline would usually take over and he'd be fairly accurate, but there have been a few times where he's missed and just about paid the ultimate price. He couldn't imagine what it would be like for someone who's unfamiliar with guns in the first place. "I used to go the shooting range occasionally and my dad, me, and my dad's friend would go out in the desert and do long range target practice with various rifles. At first I sucked at it, but with practice comes results." He grinned and looked over to her, as if that should be some motivation.

As they neared the rest stop, which appeared completely empty, Cole finally asked the question he's been meaning to this whole time. "Where were you headed?"

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/i] her heart could not have felt warmer toward Cole, he wasn't about to kick her out at the first uninfected stop he could find. It was one of those instances where she would jump up and down and repeat thank you over and over again. But being buckled up in a truck, after nearly surviving a horde attack didn't seem like the time to act like a giddy teenager. He was acknowledging that there would be a later, not a "I may run into you later", but a "when we have time later".

She wondered if her father ever taught her brother how to shoot a gun, she hadn't known about it if he had, but she had thought it had been a passed down tradition from father to son. She missed out on that one.

Where was she heading? That was a question she tried not to ask herself. "Just out of the city," she decided was the only answer, she had no where to go, knew of no where to run too, she didn't even know a single surrounding city to Los Angeles, but she just knew she had to get out. "I couldn't stay in there any longer and live, I knew that." Hannah remembered the way the scraped on the door as she curled up in the corner of the apartment she had barricaded herself in, biting her fist to refrain from screaming.

They eventually moved on, but after that night she knew she would not live another night in the city. "I don't know the area," she rose her eyes out the window this time, allowing her hands play with the straps of her messenger bag. She watched as they passed the large green highway signs, and took a mental note of them. "Where were you heading?" she turned back to face the driver.


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[Cole Peyton]

Once the rest stop was in view, Cole could tell it was pretty much completely empty, maybe some of the vending machines there held some rather valuable assets. Who would think to look at a rest stop anyway? Well, maybe he was wrong on that last part, but he could at least hope that nobody had been there yet.

Cole thought she was a little crazy to run all the way out of the city on foot, that seemed like quite a mission. But she made it, she must've had some willpower in her to do that. "Running all the way out of L.A must've been a lot of fun." He joked. It was then that he finally took note that she was at all from this area, and probably was here on vacation of something. He realized just how much of a situation Hannah was in. He assumed she lost her family in this, had no way to get back home, wherever that was, and was completely lost with this section of America. How she wasn't completely insane, he couldn't figure out. "You're here on a trip, aren't you? Your home is nowhere near here I bet." He glanced at her with a tad bit of sympathy in his eyes.

"I've been trying to make living out in the desert work. I figured there wouldn't be too many dangers out there. So far it hasn't worked...at all. I ran out of supplies in a few days and tripped over a rattlesnake yesterday. So I was heading to the suburbs around to see if I could make a better living. That doesn't appear like that's going to work either." He let out a frustrated sigh. "My hometown is about 5 hours from here, I may just head back there and see if it's still habitable. At least I'd have a home court advantage." He pondered to himself as much as her.

He rolled to stop near the actual rest area of the rest stop and looked around real quick for any signs of unwanted life. A tumbleweed rolled across the parking lot as if it was signaling it was completely desolate. He shut off the engine quickly and opened his door. "Lets see how lucky we can get." He motioned over to the vending machines disguised in a few brick walls.

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/color] she said taking in the view of the rest stop up ahead, feeling a little uneasy, for the first time she had felt safe, and was in a moving vehicle that could go faster than any infected creature she had seen, now they were going to get out of it, right? She was nervous, but couldn't show it, she had been brave this whole time, she would not stop now, "I'm from New York City," she kept her eyes on the road.

Growing up in the heart of New York getting your license wasn't really a necessary thing, so she had never went after it- no need! She wondered how easy it was to drive, she never had paid attention to the process before, she had friends who had cars but she was never in the passenger side seat, she was always in the back goofing off with her other friends... no it just seemed complicated. She was wondering how he could keep up with the conversation and still keep them on the road.

She'd never even been in the desert before today, but she considered LA the desert while she was there, but she had never stepped out into the acctual desert. It was hot, and it was dry. Hannah really didn't like either of those aspects, but she was a trooper, and wasn't going to complain about anything! The truck was rolling to a stop and Hannah's heart raced, getting out of the safety of the car seemed like the craziest thing to do! They had just nearly escaped with their lives and now they were getting out! She nodded, and opened her own door, getting out of weak legs. They were still tired from her last full on sprint, "You're sure it's clear?" she whispered as she walked around the front of the truck, eyes looking in all possible directions of attack.

She followed Cole over to the vending machines, she hadn't thought about raiding one of them before, Cole was a good bit taller than her, and a great bit stronger than her, she didn't know how much assitance she would be in breaking it open, but she would try her best. She looked around the seemingly empty rest area, then back to the truck. What did she expect? Someone to jump in and steal it? Or the horde rushing them through the exit where they had come from. She felt foolish and turned back to Cole, her messenger bag was left in the truck, along with the gun she had been packing around. It was no good to her since she didn't know how to use it but she still felt defenseless. She stood closer to Cole and examined the options.


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[Cole Peyton]

Well, he was right, very right. She was from the total opposite side of the U.S. Probably almost 3000 miles away. It may have been to her benefit however that she was not in New York at this time. New York City was among the few only places he could think of that would be worse to be in the middle of than L.A. There would be literally no where to run if you were in downtown New York.

"I thought I could detect a little northeastern accent." He grinned. "This climate must suck compared to what you're used to." His grin deepened. At that moment he got out of the truck and started his walk over to the vending area, noticing Hannah was staying pretty close. The strange thing was, is that he found himself already feeling a little protective of her, even though he'd only known her for a handful of minutes. Maybe it was just guy instincts. Her body language told him that she viewed him as maybe a bit of a safety net...it would have to be determined later if that would be a good thing or not.

"Looks clear to me, if bad things happen we're within a few yards of the truck. We'll be fine." He reassured. There was something about this place though that gave it an eerie feeling. It was too quiet, and you could definitely tell it had been neglected recently. Not to mention a few blood splatters here and there. Nonetheless, he had to see if these vending things had anything useful in them.

Fortunately, the venders weren't raided completely empty, they were about a quarter full. Probably due once again to neglect the place had possibly before this even happened. Annoyingly however, they were of course sealed so only a quarter could manipulate the machine. But even then it would need power, which it did not have. Cole brainstormed for a few seconds. Luckily, both the snack and drink ones had glass covers, so that meant it was time to get stupid. "Alright, this is probably a bad idea, but it's the only one I got. You may wanna stand back a little." He cautioned. Cole backed up a little ways from the machine and then began a mad sprint towards it, once he was a few feet away, he jumped at the stationary object and felt his ribs condense a little as he made rather ungraceful contact with the glass. The glass shattered and Cole found himself barging through the rotisseries of the machine. As painful as that was, success. He pulled himself out of the snack vender and offered a weak smile. "Don't try that at home, kids." He massaged his throbbing shoulder. He then started grabbing random things out of it, basically everything he could fit in his hands. "Get what you can and throw it in the backseat." He nodded at Hannah.

[Hannah Flatfield]

[/color] she smiled exaggerating the Long Island accent.

She crossed her arms tight around her chest as she walked next to Cole, the blood smears looked older, nothing fresh and bright. No one would have survived to tell the story of what occurred, and the evidence of a death would simply wash away with in the next rainfall. Was it really a death if they got up and walked away? She nodded as he reassured her that they would be okay, the truck was right there, and he sounded like it would be okay if Hannah was to hop back in during the next Horde chase. She didn't want to be overbearing, or annoyingly thankful, so she looked and him and gave a thin lipped smile that might have shed some light on how anxious she really was, but she knew it was going to be okay.

They looked into the vending machine, and Hannah became lost in cravings. She'd nearly forgotten that there were different flavors of chips, and flavors of energy drinks. She'd tried to stick a hand up a vending machine before, when she was younger, and knew that the door flap- turned into a shield. Nothing could get them out but the good honest coinage, or some shaking. She looked to Cole to see what he was thinking. She didn't think the power was still working, and she didn't have any spare change floating around in her bag.

She stepped back when told, and saw what he was about to do, her eyes opened wide in panic as he took the sprinting head start. She nearly called out for him to stop, but there was no time, before she knew it the glass was shattering and he was making a joke! She was glad he was okay but concern was written on her face, if he was hurt what would she do? She didn't have a first aid kit, and had nothing to clean a wound with.

"Oh my God, are you cut?" she placed a hand on his arm, gaining leverage to look around where his body impacted the machine. Man vs. Machine. Cole won. She smiled in disbelief and quickly followed his lead, grabbing as much as she could in her arms. If this were any other time- such as when she just felt the need for a snack- she would have been incredibly disappointed with the lack of selection, and would be deeply concerned about when the last time these items were rotated out. But she was in no circumstance to even consider thinking that way. She looked at the bright colored packages and was salivating before she even saw what was inside.

Hannah walked her handful back to the truck and set her pile next to Cole's. She walked passed him and couldn't help but think about how mature he looked. He was strong, and adapted well to this world- she wasn't claiming every one who survived was adapting well, but Cole seemed to have his head on straight. "How old are you Cole?" she asked as she headed back for the next handful, she was guess he was at least twenty....

word count: 625[/blockquote]

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