on the subject of shops, brains and dead people.

[hopeburnsbright]

Jake just didn't know how to deal with this woman. Nor did he know why this Trust fellow was apparently willing to put up with her long enough for her to get attached to him.
"Jimmy. Riiiiight." Jake nodded, resisting the erge to roll his eyes. "That's cute. i used to give names to my pet rocks when i was little." He said awkwardly, thinking at least there was a chance she would see he was trying to understand. plus hew was pretty sure she wasn't really listening to him. "i called him Simon. took him everywhere with me. Then one day he went missing and my parents told me he ran away from home."
The woman then presented her butt to him and Jake blinked once. before deciding the only sensible thing to do was to pretend it had never happened. So he smiled and continued to ramble to himself as he followed after her in the search for weapons. "of cause i never believed them. I'm pretty sure they just got sick of Simon and tossed him out the window. i went looking for him....." Jake paused and pretended to sniff away tears. "But i couldn't find him! all the rocks looked the same!" Jake grinned and started to laugh. "yeah i know. Lamest childhood trauma ever."
and then she placed the phone down and before he could react, she started to play the most freaking annoying song ever. well that or the bleeding crazy frog. jake and that song, they didn't get along too well. his little sister used to constantly play it no matter how annoyed he got.
So it actually helped work out a lot of Jakes stress to take his bat and smash the phone apart. "Now you're a gummy corpse. bitch." He growled at the phone before spinning around to yell at the Woman.
"you crazy- stupid- moronic woman! do you want to kill us both? why would you do that? What part of "duhhhh lets ring the dinner bell and get a building that may have hundereds of zombies in it to come eat our faces! ahuhduhduh" is a good plan? next time you want to kill yourself JUMP OFF A BUILDING AND RID US OF.....where the fuck did you go now?" Jake realised the woman had gone into a store and hadn't heard a word of the rant he had just yelled out.
"Why is my life like this?" Jake wondered as he headed after her, looking around the shop he whistled in appreciation. "Huh. and suddenly the whole day was worth it. Zombies. Jimmy Woo. Your butt." He said, almost fondly. Because at this point being mad at her was like being mad at a puppy for chewing your shoes. she didn't seem to know any better.
As much as he wanted too do otherwise, Jake left the guns alone. He had never held a firearm in his life and knew full well that mistakes with even a small pistol could lead to people dying.
case in point. the girl running after a shotgun shell. rolling his eyes, Jake found a long hunnting knife that even had a sheath that he could attach to his belt. which he proptly did, and felt a lot happier now he had a weapon that was built to be a weapon.
not hearing anything over the Woman yelling and running, Jake shoved his hands in his pockets and casualy wondered after her in no real hurry.
"oh i'm a gummy bear. yes i'm a gummy bear- OH GOD DAMN IT." Jake started to sing before yelling in horror at the realisation that the song of his personal hell was stuck in his head. "I hate my life."

[Cole Peyton]

"I've been checking the place, seems pretty lifeless for now." He shrugged. Once he was confident enough in the barricading job they had done, he moved a considerable distance away from the door and tried to decide on what a good next move would be. Those restaurants looked quite promising, but he had only seen about 1/5 of the mall so far, so who knows what could be preying on them right now.

He again heard that sound from a few moments ago, and this time he was certain of it. Some strange ringtone as far as he could tell. "Yeah, we gotta find out what that is." He began trotting off towards the direction of it. He half expected it to be something stupid like a toy that kept turning itself on or some battery powered display that no one bothered to shut off. But there was simply no room for assumptions.

"Alright, you go find something to wear and I'll track whatever the hell this is down. Should be just up the hallway here." He motioned at the apparent cop and continued his walk. Should he have his gun in hand? Nah, the probability of this being anything dangerous was slim. He figured the most substantial case would maybe be another survivor, but he expected a simple annoyance. Still, it'd be a good idea to shut whatever that was off. He slowly made his way down the edge of the hallway, that sound getting louder and louder to the point where he almost thought he recognized the song. It was around here at any corner.

[Jalen Steele]

Jalen had cornered the shell. She picked it up with a triumphant smile. She put it back in the gun and stopped. It was eerily quiet. Why was it quiet? Her phone should have some life in it for at least a few more minutes. That's when she walked over to her phone and saw it was smashed in. This wasn't a walker or a runners doing. This had to be that evil little punk who said her shoes were fucked. Which she hadn't put on any yet! Thus still keeping her from saving Trust. Jalen bent down and rummaged through her phone hoping she could put it back together, but no he had smashed it pretty good. The back of the phone was damaged and the battery split. She saw the memory card and she picked that up and examined it. It looked intact. She pocketed it. It was the last digital thing she owned that would have pictures of her family and friends.

Jalen sat down with one leg wrapped around the remnants of her phone and the other bent at the knee. The shot gun in her left hand and her eyes hanging low. In her phone was pictures of her god-children. Little Ray who was only 3 and whom she had promised to visit on his birthday and take him to Legoland. He was a rambunctious little kid, smart, and so inquisitive. His chubby cheeks still had baby fat on them and his hair was standing on end, because he took out his new braids - all by himself! Her other God-child was Lena. She was 14 and so moody and dark. She was having a hard time, because Jalen had gotten the young girl to confide in her that she thought she was gay. Unfortunately, her parents hadn't taken the new well and this summer Lena was coming to stay with her and attend school here where the kids, staff, and neighborhood was more tolerant. Besides Lena had the looks and body that could make it in the modeling business; though Lena wanted to be a bio-chemist. Or what about the video of her mother making Jalen her favorite Black Bottomed Cake and saying that she loved her. That was the last video before her mother passed on 4 years ago. What about her brother, sister, friends? All memories all locked in her phone gone.

Jalen wiped at her face, but the tears wouldn't stop. She had been clueless at first and had been taught harshly, yet swiftly of the new word. Than she had to leave her home, because she couldn't survive on her own. Than when she was with new people their nerve's were so frazzled that they destroyed. Jalen knew she wouldn't be seen as an asset here. She was too preoccupied with things that mattered to her which was shoes, clothes, and then whatever. This is what kept her sane. People didn't get it. They didn't get it in highschool, they got it when she became a model, and she knew they weren't going to get it again. It was going to be teases, taunts, girls wanting to beat her up for thinking she was pretty, and guys thinking she was dumb because she was pretty. This was a bad idea. Why couldn't her and Trust leave somewhere together. Because he would have left her; she was sure and she didn't want to be alone ... again. Now she was truly alone. No trust and no friends and family to look at.

Jalen turned to see a man coming at her. Through her tears she thought he was a walker from the shuffling he was doing. Her plan had worked. It had sent zombies towards them; flushing them out. She pointed her shotgun at him and cocked the barrel again sending a bullet flying out of the gun. "Dammit," she moaned to herself as she pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. She had to cock it again for it to work. That's when she noticed the walker had jumped and stopped walking towards her. She rubbed at her eyes and saw he wasn't a walker. Her face scrunched up. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I almost killed you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm Jalen and I thought ... I couldn't see you too clearly and I thought you were a zombie walker and ..." Jalen sniffed still trying to stop the tears, but feeling even worse for almost killing a man.

She got up and turned her back to him as she tried to fix her face. "Um, there's another guy with me. I don't remember his name over in the gun store. You can tell him you're hear. I guess make noise or something like say hello I .. gonna use the bathroom. Again I'm so sorry." Jalen ran down the hall and skidded to a stop. She had just saw something that made her scream (in delight, but the guys probably wouldn't have known that). An Apple Store. and inside the apple store were phones. Which meant they would have her phone and she could have her life back. All of it was stored on the memory card. Jalen gave another scream as she ran into the store checking for a Iphone.

[Abby Kramer]

[/color] she took the extended hand and shook it eagerly. The touch of another human being that wasn't about to clamp it's mouth on her skin was just about too much, she was glad it was dark in here, or someone might just be able to see the glistening tears in her eyes. She released her grip and for a split moment was back in the mode of courtesies and greetings, the proper things- manners. Back when those used to matter.

Her eyes glanced back to the doors and blinked a couple times at the oncoming crowd, she was uneasy, her brow furrowed. The happiness was washed away just like that by the sea of anxiety. Her eyes darted back to his. He was smiling at her, as soft as it might be, it was still a smile. Why was she unraveling? Why was she feeling like it would be okay? Her eyes crinkled in that way that happened when ever she smiled. Her mother always said it was a way to find out if someone was genuine. Turns out it was just the way Abby learned to smile from her mother.

He spoke again, and her eyes squinted in the dark to try to see the words form, she had completely forgotten about the spill she had recently took. Things like this seemed to happen to her more often than not. She would have cuts and bruises, and not even know when she had obtained them. She looked at her wrist and pulled up her sleeves, there was a road burn that stretched a good three inches down her right wrist, there wasn't too much blood, she examined the wound. Shoving her sleeve up further she saw she had torn the fabric on her arm. I always like Macy's, she thought insanely.

"I don't know, I fell down that slope," her eyes flickered back out towards the doors, "it's from the pavement," she lifted her eyes to meet his face to assure him that she had not had any interaction with one of them. She had seen what mixing the fluids did. Abby couldn't say if she was trying to convince Trust, or trying to convince herself. Hadn't they both tumbled down? Her and the infected woman? Skin broke, dead or not.... she grew a little nauseous with that thought, she sighed, and thinned her lips as she searched his face, would he be able to tell if she was infected?

Would he kill her, he had soft hazel eyes, that seemed alive and friendly... he wouldn't, "Are you a medic?" she asked trustingly handing over her fresh wound to this man. She wondered if he would know how to deal with the injury she had obtained and was concealing underneath her shirt. She had met someone... they had shared a candy bar and other supplies, she thought she had found someone to travel with, then when they were being chased, she had fallen, she remembered scrapping the her side on the way down, when she awoke it was night- her companion was gone, probably dead, and she had spent the rest of that evening trying to get out of the hole while she held her side to stop from bleeding out.

She watched him observe the wound. Her chest heaved with a sigh and had to push the thought of being infected out of her mind. Abby was a bit of a hypochondriac with this plague that seemed to wipe out the majority of man kind. She didn't feel any different? Wasn't there a fever attached to this? She knew she looked like a mess, her face was dirty and beaten up, life was not easy out here, well for someone like her. She looked back up to Trust, he looked like he had maintained himself well, she would have things to learn from him, she hoped they lived long enough. She had seen him looking around and she too had craned her neck. There was light beyond the darkness, through the shop, the main mall part had windows, they would no doubt head that way. She just hoped the radio calls were still valid.

"Do you think this place is really safe?" her voice lowered to a whisper, she felt they were a lot less alone than they were a bit ago.


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[Dr. Scott McCoy]

Scott could not believe his ears when he had heard on a radio in an abandoned gas station that there were actually normal people alive amongst the crazy people. The radio had said that a certain mall (the one that Scott was currently crouching in front of) had become a safe zone for survivors. Scott had always been a loner, but after living by himself for so long and only seeing people that would rather eat him than talk to him, he really wanted the company of other normal people. It had taken him a little while to find and to get to the mall that had been posted on the radio, but eventually he found it.

When Scott walked up to the mall it really did not look like much. It looked like an average American mall, but he knew the inside probably looked a lot better than the outside. Especially since the outside had a bunch of crazy people wandering around, and the inside supposedly had a bunch of normal people. Scott was sure there were a bunch of useful supplies inside as well. He was very limited on supplies, especially food and water, and he was pretty hungry. He could not wait to get inside the mall and see if there was any edible food left.

Scott knew he would not be able to walk the path that lead to the front of the mall because there were too many crazy people around. That meant that he would have to find another way in. He wondered how anybody else had been able to get in, but he figured at times the crazy people might not have been hovering around the front of the mall. Scott currently was crouched behind a trash can, and it smelled pretty bad so he decided to just take a chance and try to run to the side of the mall and find a way to get in from there. Scott took one quick look around, found that the left side of the mall had less crazy people around it, and ran as fast as he could to the left side of the mall. He luckily was able to make it without any crazy people noticing him.

Now that he was right beside the mall he just had to find a way to get in. There was a door, but when Scott tried to open the door, it did not budge. "Ah." Scott said as he looked around at the side of the mall trying to find another way to get in. He was finally able to find a window that looked big enough for Scott to fit through. It was located higher than Scott would like, but he knew he would be able to find a way to get to it. He took a quick look around and found a trash can close by. He picked it up and brought it to the window, sitting it upright. "Alright" Scott said to himself as he climbed on top of the trash can. It was not easy, but he was able to pull himself on top of the trash can and to the window. Luck seemed to be on his side because the window was actually cracked a little. Scott was able to pull the window up so he had enough room to squeeze inside.

The window was not as big as Scott would have liked (so it was not the perfect window in Scott's eyes), but he knew he would be able to squeeze through if he tried. He just hoped he would be able to squeeze through before any crazy people noticed him. Scott started to pull himself through, and about halfway realized getting through the window was not as easy as he thought it would be. He had a hard time pushing himself through, but he was finally able to do it. He landed on the floor with a crash, as well as the trashcan being knocked down and making a loud banging noise as it landed. A noise that Scott had not noticed as he was focused on picking himself up and searching his surroundings. He took out his combat knife and held it in front of him. He was in what looked like a small office. One of the things Scott noticed right off was a flashlight lying on a desk. He picked it up, checked that it worked, and held it in his left hand. There was a door that led out of the office, and Scott turned the handle hoping it would turn. The door opened without any problems, and Scott sighed in relief. So with the combat knife held in front of him in one hand, and the working flashlight in the other, Scott walked out of the small room and into an even bigger room that looked like it actually belonged in a mall.

Scott began walking around shining the flashlight around as the place was pretty dark. He came across the bathrooms and he realized that the bathroom should be the first thing he did, finding survivors should be the second. Scott walked into the men’s bathroom and with just a quick look around he immediately backed away. The men’s bathroom was a mess with blood everywhere. Scott was used to seeing blood, but not like that. With some hesitation he pushed himself to go into the women’s bathroom. Scott walked into one of the stalls not even thinking to close the door behind him. He figured the chances of someone actually using the bathroom were pretty slim, even with there being survivors in the mall. It was a pretty big mall but so far Scott had not seen anyone else.

[/blockquote]

[Daryal Taylor]

Daryal held his axe with both hands as he went into the clothes store. It was dark and silent, especially now since the ringtone had turned off. He wanted to change out of his attire badly, but not in here. It was creepy, even for him. He never really liked the dark.
He moved on, following in the kid's direction toward the music, but at a slower pace. If there were any zombies in these stores and they didn't check them all, they could easily get trapped down toward the end with no place to go. So he took his time, going into each and every store that he passed. Some of the gates were closed on the larger stores, others were wide and open. He tried to close as many as he could.
He entered a small smoke shop store, it had antiques and other nice looking objects strewn around. There were samurai swords behind the counter along with cigarettes and lighters, as he grabbed and pocketed a few bics. As he was about to leave he heard a groaning sound in the back, clearly the noise of the walkers. He firmly stood where he was, holding the axe up high and getting ready for a fight.
Daryal saw a bell on the counter next to the register, so he rang it.
"Can I get some service please?" he said.
The walker straddled out, moaning as saliva dripped from its jaws. Its eyes were lidless and menacing as the creature rushed forward with outstretched arms.
"You are one ugly son of a-"
It pounced forward as Daryal swung with all his might, hacking at the neck and severing the head clean off. The decapitated head still moved on the floor, chomping its jaws down. Daryal laughed a bit, then brought the axe down upon it, splitting it.
He then continued on toward Cole, seeing him in the distance.

[Makaio "Trust" Memorare]

Makaio Simled softly as she took his hand and introduced herself. "Abby." It was much more of a gentle and normal name than the other two had given him. As He looked at her he simply smiled in his bright manor. Even though this girl seemed pretty messed up from bumps and bruises, she was still beautiful. Makaio's eyes followed hers as she looked back to the doors which were now gated off, as she explained where the wounds were from. He nodded lightly, to simply tell her he believed her.

As his gentle eyes turned back to her he smiled softly, He could tell she was worried. Did she doubt him? Maybe not trust him? Possibly she was trying to hide something? Or maybe she herself wasn't sure if the zombie had actually scratched her or not. He wasn't sure which it was. But either way it didn't change how he felt about her. He was happy to see her, and he wasn't planning on treating her like a zombie until she started acting like one, but for now she just seemed like a scared human, just like him. His eyes softened as he smiled softly at her.

When She offered him her hand and asked if he was a medic he shook his head and laughed simply at the thought. He had to treat a few of his and some buddies surfing wounds when they were on deserted beached. But nothing ever too serous. But maybe it was enough to treat what ever it was that she had.

"Nah Sistah, Just a Beach Bum as you'd call it."

He laughed softly and gently wrapped his soft long slender fingers around her hand and began to walk towards the bathroom. It was far too dark here to see her wounds clearly and going out into the main part of the mall didn't seem like the best idea. No, going into a small confined area where they could take out any zombies that may be lurking around then tend to her wounds safely would be the best bet.

But As they approached the bathroom his skin began to crawl. His cheeks became brushed with a soft pink color. In the past, Going to the bathroom with a girl meant something very different. It always meant that there was going to be more....contact involved. But now, he was only trying to help her. He shivered slightly as he tried to clear his mind from the invading thoughts. He didn't want to think of this woman in those way. Or the possibility of things happening. He wanted to stay focused, but...she was beautiful..

Makaio bit his lip while still concealed in the darkness. He had to keep his mind focused, If he began to let his mind slip, his body would surely follow. He softly sighed as they approached the girl's bathroom. Looking at he he smiled as he looked back at her. "Hopefully they still have running water, and the lights will be on so we can see, yea?

He tried to clear his words from any lingo, but his accent was still strong. As He looked back at her, he pushed the door open slowly. The light from inside burst out as if shining into a cave that had never seen light. Makaio quickly lifted his hand to cover his eyes from the light, his sensitive hazel eyes trying to scan the bathroom beyond the light to see if it was safe. Seeing nothing at first he gently squeezed her hand to let her know it was safe and continued into the woman's bathroom his eyes quickly adjusted. Looking around it was relatively clean for a post apocalyptic setting.

As they came into the main hall of the bathroom something hit Makaio, a sound. Almost like running water, maybe a bit stronger. Like it was hitting a puddle or something. Was one of the sinks running? No, Makaio's eyes scanned the sinks quickly, but his eyes led him to the true source. Underneath one of the stalls Makaio could see a pair of legs standing towards the toilet. Wha' the hell? Did zombies urinate? Hell even weirder than the thought of a zombie taking a leak, did zombies use a toilet? He wouldn't see why they would. They were already covered in a mess of disgustingness, why would they care if they pissed themselves?

Makaio quickly pushed Abby against the wall, pressing his body against hers to try to keep her from pushing him away and covering her mouth as he put a finger over his. He looked at her in the eyes. Trying to show he was trying to help her, not harm her or rape her or anything else she might be thinking if she hadn't noticed the person in the stall yet. Makaio, slowly nodded towards the stall and pushed himself away from her. A slight blush over his cheeks from the feel of her body, reminding him of when he first met Jalen, and how she intentionally made her body brush against his to try to provoke him.

Makaio quickly turned his body around, tiptoeing towards the stall hereached into his pants, pulling the gun out and cocking it as silently as he could. He quickly glanced over at her and motioned for her to stay where she was and to remained quite. He quickly darted into the stall and grabbed the man by the back of the shirt and put the gun up to his head. He didn't want to chance it being a zomie and taking a chunk out of his arm, So this was the best action he could think of taking.

"Okay Bruddah, If yo ain't one of 'em flesh grinders then lesgo put yo hand up in tha air and tell me ya name If not I'll put a puka in ya head."

Makaio held the silenced gun firmly to the back of the man's head, and held onto the collar of his shirt, making him unable to turn around, trying nto to focus on how awkward this was for him to be in the stall with another man. Usually he was in a stall with woman and under very different circumstances. Makaio had to quickly shake his head and keep his mind focused as he stared at the man in front of him and respond to his reactions.

ATTIRE Pic at top of post CREDIT sam ! of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS young – hollywood undead NOTES Still not feeling to great, sorry it's not the best post. WORD COUNT 1,000-ish

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[hopeburnsbright]

Jake arrived just in time to see Jalen start to cry over her phone. Jake immediately backed away around the corner and leaned the back of his head against the wall. "oh god damn it Jake you stupid bugger." he muttered at himself in disgust. "i mean you just made a girl cry. and no matter how old she is or how.... nice. her butt is. She's a freaking teenage kid." well that or a moron.
He didn't know what the big deal was about a phone, but that was irrelevant, he didn't have to break it and only did because he was an angry and useless jerk.
Obviously Jake was far into his excuse for self loathing to notice when an infected male staggered towards him. Although he did notice when it reached out and grabbed his color.
"Gak!" Jake managed as he was pulled, he made an awkward weak flail to smack at it's arm. the thing didn't react in any way other then starting to lower it's mouth towards Jake's nose.
Jake squeaked in fear and swung wildly, his fist landed against the creatures neck and sent it staggering back. Jake staggered as far away from it as he could, muttering and swearing wildly. "Oh frick bloody hell crap poop!"
fumbling, Jake pulled at the knife on his belt frantically but it refused to so much as move as the Zombie came at him once again. oh he hadn't got the latch free. He had only just managed to pull it out when the thing leaped at him. "Well shit." Jake only just managed before it tackled him, his knife buried itself up to the hilt in its heart.
And the bastard didn't even notice! it just kept snapping at him while Jake used his arm at its neck to keep it back. "this is messed up!" Jake weakly stuttered before using as much strength as he could to hook his legs under it and force it away. the creature landed on its back, roughly it flailed around and tried to get up, but Jake jumped to his feet and immediately jumped onto it, driving his knees into it's chest hard enough that he felt a few of its ribs crack. Jake grinned and in one movement, pulled his knife out of its chest and shoved it into the creatures eye socket.
"woah. that was close." Jake muttered, collapsing next to the body in relief. He was just going to lie here and recover..........
The sound of Jalen screaming echoed through the mall towards him.
Immediately his eyes snapped open and he was on his feet running. He didn't like her and damn it he didn't want to be around her. But Jake was willing to try and save her.
Panting for breath, Jake was stumbling by the time he reached the Apple store, completely ignoring the man outside he dropped the knife at his feet and grabbed Jalen by the shoulders, frantically looking her over for injuries.
"Jalen! Jalen. are you alright? shit what happened are you alright?" He said frantically, obviously very close to panicking.

[Cole Peyton]

The good news was, that music noise thing stopped. The bad news was, that music noise thing stopped. Now he wouldn't be able to track it, unless his ears were playing tricks with him this whole time. On the other hand, maybe now he just dismiss it and get on with life. He relaxed himself considerably, and as if a higher power was trying to tell him something, the next moment he heard an empty click of shotgun. He jumped out of his gaze and reached for his gun until he spotted the potential assailant, who suddenly turned super apologetic.

"Damn woman! Check your shit first!" He stated out of annoyance and realization that he should have a hole blown through him right now. He silently cursed himself for not seeing her in the first place. It wouldn't do much good for him to scout the place if he was getting scouted first. She then said something about being with somebody and then bolted off screaming towards an Apple store. Cole raised a brow trying to figure out what her deal was, whether she saw something in there or she just officially lost it. Nonetheless, all this did confirm to him that there were others in this mall, but how many? And were they all neighborly?

Cole checked his back to see of Daryl was behind him, and his eyes caught him just in time to see him appearing out in the hallway. "There's a few others here." He nodded his head towards the store he just watched some lady scream out of. He was certainly only telling half the story about what happened though. "And I think one of them just went completely insane." He added.

[Abby Kramer]

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[Dr. Scott McCoy]

Even though Scott was in a women’s bathroom, he was glad to be in an actual working bathroom. It actually did not look too bad in there, at least not as bad as the men's bathroom had been. It was not covered in blood and as dark as the men’s bathroom had been. It looked like something had been slaughtered in the men’s bathroom and it seemed some of the lights were not working. The women’s bathroom was much cleaner and was brighter than the rest of the mall looked. Scott had turned the flashlight off and set it down beside him as he didn't need it in the bathroom. He still held the combat knife in one hand while he pissed just in case he needed it. Scott wasn't much of a fighter, but he still had the instincts to protect himself, or at least to think of protecting himself. To think of using the knife is completely different than actually being able to use it. Setting the knife down even while he used the bathroom though, did not seem like a good idea because Scott knew anything could happen. He had not spent much time walking around the mall so he had no idea who was in it. He had not seen any of the crazy people or any normal people so either one could be walking around the mall somewhere.

Scott was too busy paying attention to what he was doing to notice the two people walk into the bathroom. He did not hear the man walk up behind him either. So when something grabbed Scott by the back of the shirt, he had no idea who or what it was. He then felt something cold and hard press up against his head. He still did not know what it was, even though he had an idea that the cold hard thing was either a gun or another metal object; most likely a gun. The thing holding onto Scott then spoke, and that was when Scott realized that there was a man standing behind him.

Scott barely understood the man, not only because of his accent, but because Scott's brain seemed to freeze and his response was to flinch which caused him to drop the knife that he had in his left hand, and to clench with his right hand. Really it should have been the other way around. "Oi!" Scott said as he jumped and immediately let go and threw both of his hands up in the air. It would have been quite the sight if anyone had been standing in front of Scott watching him. His face showed how scared he was as his eyes were about as wide as they could get. He tried looking around, but he could not see much with the man holding onto his shirt, and the gun pressed up to his head. Scott really had no idea what the man was planning on doing, or why he even was holding onto Scott pressing a gun to his head. Scott had just been minding his own business.

Anyone that had known Scott before knew that he wouldn't even hurt a fly. If someone tried picking a fight with Scott he would just walk away. None of that helped Scott with the situation he was in. Not just with a man pressing a gun to his head, but the whole situation with the crazy people. The only thing Scott could do while out in the world trying to find shelter was to hide from the crazy people. He really could not defend himself even though he tried hard to.

Scott kept his hands in the air as he stared straight ahead not wanting to piss the man off. Scott was very uncomfortable especially since he had just been forced to squeeze himself and now he was standing in a stall, in a women’s bathroom, with a man standing behind him. It was not something he would volunteer to do. "I am not a crazy person" Scott said so the man knew that Scott was just a normal person. Not that it would matter as the man seemed to be a crazy person himself. Not the type of crazy person to walk around eating people, but the type of crazy person to grab a man by the back of the shirt and stick a gun to his head while the man was pissing. That was the type of crazy person the man seemed to be and Scott had no idea how he would be able to get out of the situation that he was in. It was really lucky that the man had not done what he did seconds earlier or Scott would have been more uncomfortable with piss all over him.

[/blockquote]

[Jalen Steele]

Jalen was so excited. She had found a store that could restore all that she had lost. Memories dimmed, but pictures; well pictures said a 1,000 words. Jalen's eyes roamed over the store scanning for the latest Iphone 007.She could see posters for it detailing what it does and it's the newest and ... coming soon! Jalen's smile started to slip. She forgot she had gotten the phone 3 months early, because she knew a friend who knew a friend who was married to someone higher up. Maybe they had some in the back and were holding them until the release date. She hoped that was true. She needed her phone. It had everything in it. It was her life.

Before Jalen could take a step Jake was wrapping her in his arms and yelling in her face. She noticed his hands were roaming her body. Not in that sexy I'm gonna take you now way, but as if he was looking for wounds and she was sure if she was scratched he would have taken her new favorite pink guns and shot her in the head. She pulled back slightly. "I'm okay. I'm alright. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have screamed. It's just that," she turned towards the store. "Look! My phone is mysteriously broken," she eyed him, but didn't accuse him because she hadn't seen him break her phone and it would be rude to just accuse someone without evidence. "My life was in that thing. Pictures of my family, friends, life before this hell hole. And music! When I was feeling desperate and like I should ... end my life I would turn on my phone and rock out. Music would help me see there was another day waiting for me. Without that ... well ... " Jalen paused. She grabbed Jake and looked him in the eye. "No one gets me or maybe I don't get people." Jalen stopped talking. It was hard to explain why her phone meant more than most people. Yes, back in the day people went gaga over her phone, but she was notorious for pulling a skank's hair out (Tt was a weave and not sewn in, but glued in. A little tug and it came out easily. The magazine and Huffingtonpost made it seemed worse than what it was.) when she dared touch her phone without permission. Everything her schedule, her medicine, her contacts, her pictures, her music, her whole world was packed in a tiny phone. It reminded her of a time when she was safe and on top of the world. Not this bleak, sad, existence where she had limited skills in how to defend herself. Where people wore the ugliest thing. No one cared about hygiene. And shoes were just worn for comfort instead of comfort and practicability. Sure her heels seemed like a mess, but she was used to heels and they didn't hurt her feet plus most of her boots were made of leather (real leather) were hard for the walkers to bite or scratch through. Hell, her dog could bite through sneakers easier than her boots. Than again she booted his ass for trying to prove her wrong one day. Hence the giving away of Sparky. She wondered where he was now. Zombie food probably.

Jalen blinked realizing she had zoned out. Dammit, she didn't have any medicine and she knew she would be doing that more and more if she couldn't focus. She tried to see if Jake had noticed anything amiss. She hoped he just assumed it was her usual weird self than to see she hadn't been following the conversation after she spoke. Her mind flashed back to Highschool when the kids and even the teachers had called her retarded. She wasn't retarded. Hell after she found a combination of drugs that didn't make her drowsy, depressed, and helped her focus she proved she was smart by graduating at the top of her class. "Yeah!" Wait! Did she say that out loud?

"So I was thinking that I could get a portion of my life back, but my phone was the New Bond phone, but it didn't come out so I'm not sure if this sim card would work in another phone. I have nothing now." Jalen turned and looked at the store. She was almost too afraid to go in the store and be disappointed.

"Oh yeah. There's a guy behind us. I almost shot him. I think he yelled at me, but I kinda ignored him. He seems nice. He cursed at me too, but not my shoes so I think he's okay." Jalen waved her hand behind her in a flippant fashion. Aside from telling Jake about the new guy she thought she was forgetting something. She wiggled her toes and felt the cold tile. Shoe! How could she forget shoes?!

[Makaio "Trust" Memorare]

Makaio's hazel eyes stared ahead as his finger curved around the trigger. As the male in front of him threw his hands into the air and yelped "Oi" A release of air blew into the air from his lungs that he hadn't realized he was holding. Makaio's hands lowered to the side, holding the gun still. His other hand let go of the man's shirt and he patted his shoulder. as he turned and walked back to Abby as he slid the gun into his pants.

"Sorry 'bout dat bruddah. Thought yo were one of 'em flesh Grinders." Makaio looked at Abby and smiled softly "Looks like there might be more livin' around 'ere than we thought 'ey? Maybe It is safe.

Makaio now stood by Abby's side, just to make sure she was alright and giving the male a time to recompose himself. Before introducing himself. It made Makaio wonder even more, if this place wasn't his own personal hell then what was it? Why was he alive when all these good people who deserved to live were dead? He didn't deserve to be here, he didn't deserve to be with these people. These people probably had a reason to live, but for him. He had nothing, there was nothing for him to live for. Only to atone for his sins.

Makaio looked up to the stall that the male was it. "They call me Trust." he then turned and looked at Abby to introduce herself. He felt bad for sneaking up on this man while he was taking a leak and putting a gun up to his head. Makaio wanted to make sure that this man knew he meant no harm and was a friend. Actually, this was the first man that he had seen since the zombies invaded the rehab center.

"Sorry for da scare Bruddah, Just being Cautious ya know?"

Makaio looked at Abby, he remembered why they even came in here. He wanted to help her clean up. He gently took her hand and lead her to the sink, turning the water on and slipping his hand into the water and splashing his face first then looking at Abby he smiled softly. and whispered just loud enough for her to hear. "Jalike to wait 'till he his out of here or does it bodda you?"

He wasn't exactly sure where she had injuries she wanted him to look at and if she wanted this other man to be around to see them. Makaio looked back at the man and smiled genuinely. He felt bad for the man but still knew that he wanted to help this woman with her injuries before they looked around the mall for other survivors. But Makaio was growing in hope that maybe this place was swarming with survivors and not the dead. Makaio smiled and reached up to bring the dreads out of his face and behind his shoulder. This might be his new home, with his new family.

ATTIRE Pic at top of post CREDIT sam ! of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS young – hollywood undead NOTES Still not feeling to great, sorry it's not the best post. WORD COUNT 550ish? =/

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[Abby Kramer]

[/i] She calmed herself, if it had been she was sure Trust would have eliminated it. Since he didn't that only lead to one more thing... there was another living human being who still had some wits. Already she knew Trust better than she knew this other survivor and was relieved when Trust retreated back to her side. She nodded and offered a weak relieved smile.

She was growing tired of being so jumpy and on edge about every single thing that was happening around her. HEY THERE IS A HUGE INFECTION-not infected. HEY YOU JUST CRASHED YOUR CAR INTO AN INFESTED ALLEY WAY-managed to out run the pudgy former humans. HEY THERE'S ONE IN THE BATHROOM!- not infected. She swore she knew how she was going to die, it would be from a surprise like one of these, not being torn apart by one of them.

She studied the man standing across the woman's bathroom from them and it dawned her that they were in the woman's bathroom. Her wide eyes, like those of a doe's took in the man. He didn't seem like too much of a threat, she didn't get the gruff vibe that he was some sort of escaped convict- such as the one she had run into on the high way.

She blinked back into the reality as Trust introduced himself, and then the silence followed as he looked to her, "Abby," she said simply, shoving her wounded and okay hands back into the pocket of her hoodie. She didn't want to make her weaknesses aware in this quickly crowded room. Even though she probably didn't come across as much of a threat herself, she wanted to withhold that information as long as she could.

When Trust began his whisper, she shook her head and lowered her eyes, through his thick accent she was able to understand what he meant and the kindness behind it, she didn't want to be rude, and if this mall was a sort of safe haven she was sure they would be seeing this other guy around. She didn't want to get on bad terms with someone that belonged to the smallest population around these days. "It's okay," she said with a quick glance back up at him, and gently removed her injured wrist and hand out for him to see, awaiting instructions for how to carry on.


word count: 438 blehh
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[Daryal Taylor]

Daryal walked up to Cole and saw the other two in a nearby store. A young girl and a young guy. He put the axe over one shoulder and walked up.

"This place isn't safe," he said aloud. "I just killed one of those things in one of the stores. There might be more."

He noticed the young girl had a shotgun, so he figured she knew how to use it.

"Good, you have some weapons," he continued. "We need to clear the mall kids, playtime is over."

Daryal walked over to a map of the mall, located in the center of the large hall they were in. He looked over the shops and different levels, releasing just how big the place was. He followed his finger along the map from the food court to where they were currently, which was about half the length of the entire complex. He then found the hallways that lead through the mall into the security rooms, which he figured would be a good place to start.

"The security room is in the hallway behind that bathroom over there," he said. "We might be able to find more guns locked away, and if we're really lucky we might be able to shoot up the video system. They usually have back up generators. If we can get this place running we can lock down all the gates to the stores so none of those creeps sneak up on us. We can also see if anyone else is in this place."

He then looked at the kids he had with him. They didn't look trained in anything, let alone combat. He sighed at the thought, hoping this task wasn't too much for them.

"I'm gonna try to get to security, you guys can either stay here or come with me," he said.