Todd Wants Key's Face

Harry: There'd be no other reason for her to be out there.

Claire: Good point...

Harry: ... that was stupid... you don't get DRUNK during a time like this! You don't - I mean - I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE GET DRUNK! It's WRONG! It only damages - only BREAKS!

Claire: *is startled by his sudden outburst, and speaks in an urgent whisper* Harry, calm DOWN...! We shouldn't talk about this here..!

Harry: Sorry - sorry... I have very strong feelings against that sort of thing. Paul - I can't forgive him for what he did to Key. I can't.

Claire: ...I don't think Paul needs to be on anyone else's hate list. Two is probably more than enough... I mean, yeah, it was a terrible decision and he probably should have thought it through, but can't you see how much he regrets it?

Harry: ... I never said I hated him. I'm just saying that I can't forgive him.

Claire: It's close enough, isn't it? Paul's your friend, Harry, OUR friend.

Harry: ... but he hurt another friend of mine... and I've known her longer than I've known Paul...

Claire: ...but you still KNOW him, don't you? He would never hurt anyone on purpose, and you know that as well as I do... I think he deserves another chance.

Harry: ... ... fine... I'll give him a second chance. And I don't normally give people second chances.

Claire: *smiles a bit in relief, but doesn't comment* It's late, we should be heading back.

Harry: *he sighs* Yeah, yeah... *puts his gun away, finally, and heads out with Claire*

Claire: *walks along quietly. she thinks back to Harry's outburst in the locker room... she was afraid to ask, but she was pretty sure of what it meant* ...

Harry: *also refuses to say a word. It was... hard for him to not be angry with Paul. If there was one thing he hated, it was alcohol. It always pissed him off back in college, when (though only on rare occasions) Todd would get drunk. He knew it was normal for things like college, but it was still troublesome to him. He still hated it*

*they reach the apartment building*

Claire: ...Harry... why do you hate alcohol so much? I understand it's bad, but...

Harry: *stops and turns to her* It's not just BAD, Claire - it's a POISON! Ever since booze was INVENTED it's been doing nothing but HURTING - and even KILLING us, as a species! It's a dangerous drug, and I can't stand it because of what it DOES to people! It turns off what has helped our species survive for ages - Logic! Reasoning! It can even turn off EMPATHY! It can make a respectable person something to HATE! There are PLENTY of reasons for me to hate alcohol, Claire - PLENTY! It... it can hurt more people than just the person who drinks it... a-and anyway, it still destroys your LIVER, and all that junk, too! What the hell's the point of drinking it, anyway? To RELAX? Why depend on a drug to RELAX, if you know it can HURT people!?

Claire: *puts a hand on his shoulder and tries to calm him down* Harry, okay! I understand, it's okay. Breathe. D:

Harry: *stops, but was now huffing and puffing threw a half-opened frown. He was just happy he didn't say anything about his father to her*

Claire: ...okay. are we okay now? let's go up, you need some sleep... *opens the door into the apartment building*

Harry: Uh... right... Do you want me to stay with you tonight, or no?

Claire: Only if you want to.

up

Todd: THAT - !! AND HE - !! AND HARRY'S WITH HIM?? *apparently he DID notice Harry being there*

meanwhile

Harry: Tell us, Paul. >:/

Key: ... *nods again* I-I dunno, Todd... Harry's never met him before, so...

meanwhile

Paul: ...You're gonna shoot me for this, Harry...

Claire: ...

Paul: Key and I... met a couple months ago. Out in Greenview...

Todd: That doesn't even matter! It's still THEM! WORKING TOGETHER!

meanwhile

Harry: ... go on.

Key: Todd, stop yelling! people are [/i]looking[/i]...!

meanwhile

Paul: ...My buddies and I... we ran into Key in a safehouse... *sighs, then turns to Harry* Listen, man, we were drunk as frack, I couldn't even see straight, let alone think! I swear I'd never do that in my right mind...

Claire: ...

Todd: How can I not yell?? This is NUTS!

meanwhile

Harry: *under his mask, he speaks through bared teeth* Paul - WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?

Key: You can yell INSIDE, not out here where they can HEAR YOU.

meanwhile

Paul: *automatically takes a step back at Harry's tone* I-I... it's more of what I DIDN'T do...

Claire: Spit it out!

Paul: ...W-We... we ganged up on her and tried to... ah, thank GOD nothing happened, but... i think you can...

Claire: *connects the dots, and her eyes widen. Paul? Attempt GANG RAPE on a teenage girl?! She can't believe it*

Todd: Fffsst...!

meanwhile

Harry: *shoves Paul angrily, understanding - UNDERSTANDING* WHAT?? You WHAT?? I don't care how goddamn drunk you were you CAN'T - I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!

Key: ...come on, let's go find a grocery store.

meanwhile

Claire: Harry...!

Paul: I said I was sorry, Harry! I wasn't thinking! It wasn't even my idea! She took my own knife and fracking STABBED me with it!

Todd: Hmph. >:/

meanwhile

Harry: Yeah?? You DESERVE IT, shoothead!! You DESERVE IT for even TRYING that on Key!!

Key: Come ON... *pulls him down the street*

meanwhile

Paul: *has nothing to say to this...except--* Harry, i felt like shoot the night after. Hell, the three of us went LOOKING for her, to APOLOGIZE, but we couldn't find her... We assumed the worst and kept going, but... she's obviously not dead. and she still hates ME for it.

Todd: Fiiiine... *allows himself to be pulled*

meanwhile

Harry: *scowling under his mask* I'm not surprised by that.

Paul: I'm not either. I deserved the beating I got.

Claire: Beating? :/

Paul: She must have told Todd when she saw me and my friends here... He came after us, and she showed up a bit later. It was a crazy fight, we got the shoot beaten out of us. We deserved it, of course.

Harry: *still scowling* Good. Glad you got some better sense knocked into you.

Paul: *frowns* I know I should've known better, but alcohol likes to frack up your conscience.

Claire: ...

Harry: *stops scowling, remembering his alcoholic father* ... I know...

Paul: ...

Claire: ...Come on. We need to get back to the patrol. *starts walking in that direction, looking over her shoulder to make sure they were following her*

Paul: ... *follows her*

Harry: ... *also follows her, now unsure of what to think of Paul*

*the patrol continues, in an uncharacteristic silence*

*on they go, into the night - then they enter the locker room*

Harry: *he's still silent, taking off his armor*

Paul: *quickly removes his own armor, stuffs it in his locker, and turns to leave, mumbling a goodbye*

Claire: ....

Harry: *sighs* ... I guess that was why I found Key in an ally way when I met her...

Claire: *stuffs her armor in her locker* You think it happened THAT DAY? What a coincidence...

up

Todd: *shrugs* I dunno. We'll worry about it later, though.

Key: Alright. *continues looking through* err... okay, we can make cheese sandwiches. that's about it. D:

Todd: *shrugs again* Hey, that's cool. Hell, maybe there's a grocery store here, or something.

Key: Guess we'll add shopping to our list. :P *takes out the materials, and makes the sandwiches, handing one to Todd*

Todd: Thank you very much, madam. :P *begins to eat it*

Key: You're welcome, good sir. :P *begins to eat hers*

Todd: *ten or so minutes later, he finishes his sandwich* Ho hum. We should leave or whatever.

Key: *nods, finishing off the last bite of her food* Mhmm. *looks past Todd, out the window* do you think it's still cold outside? :/

Todd: It's always old. It's Canada. *he grabs his coat, putting it on*

Key: Mmh. *grabs her coat, puts it on, and grabs their gasmask, tossing Todd his, then pulling hers on*

Todd: *puts on his gas mask and puts his hood up* Alrighty. Time to figure out when we can talk to the cured commons.

Key: awesome. *takes his hand, and goes out of the apartment building with him, headed for the CEDA building*

Todd: *follows*

Harry: *is patrolling with Claire and Paul*

Claire: *sees the couple from afar* Harry. Isn't that Todd and Key over there?

Paul: !!

Key: *sees the patrol from afar* Oh! There's a patrol over there, wanna go ask them?

Todd: ... how about you ask them, and I just stand next to you?

Harry: Oh... oh no. That IS them.

Key: ...that works too. Come ooooon. *pulls Todd along, calling out to the patrol* Excuse me!

Claire: Don't worry, I'll handle this. :P *calls back* Yeah? How can I help you?

Paul: ....

Harry: *notices Paul's silence* ... *walks right up behind Claire, not saying a word*

Todd: ... *he doesn't really look at any of them*

Key: *notices the oddly tall soldier, and smiles a bit under the mask. she addresses Claire* Umm, would you happen to know when the cured Commons are going to be be released?

Claire: They'll be released within a few days, as soon as they get registered and make sure they're completely cured.

Paul: Don't want the infection getting in here, even with the cure-gas floating everywhere...

Key: !! *looks at Paul, immediately tensing up upon recognizing his voice. why was he--how was he in the military? With HARRY?*

Harry: *notices her tense up, and glances at Paul*

Todd: *to Key* Okay, so I guess we'll have to wait... you okay?

Paul: *meets her gaze, then quickly looks away again*

Key: Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. *to Claire* Thank you. *quickly turns and pulls Todd away from the patrol*

Paul: ....

Harry: *to Paul* What was THAT?

meanwhile

Todd: What was THAT?

Paul: Nothing. It was nothing.

Claire: I saw her tense up. Did you know each other?

Paul: ...N... Not really.

meanwhile

Key: ...that was the guy. the guy who tried to... *trails off*

Todd: *angrily* WHAT??

meanwhile

Harry: What do you mean "not really"?? Either you know her or you don't!

Key: ... *nods*

meanwhile

Paul: Okay, I knew her! I met her. Twice. We barely talked, alright? It's not important.

Claire: If it wasn't important, she wouldn't have looked so surprised to hear you. What happened?

Paul: ...

up

Harry: *when he enters his room, he brushes his teeth, showers, then immediately enters his bed. The day had gone from good, to bad, to good again. Of course, Claire, and her near-infection scared the crap out of him. The very IDEA of her turning into some horrible thing... it was too much. He fell asleep on those thoughts, a troubled frown on his face*

Paul: Sooo... care to explainwhy you two were late today? I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a coincidence.

Claire: ...Harry spent the night.

Paul: I KNEW it.

Claire: *reddens a bit* Nothing happened!

Paul:I knew that too. You two don't seem like the type to rush into those kinda of things.

Claire: *stops in front of her room* Thanks for the support. :P

Paul: Yeah, yeah... I'll see you tomorrow. :)

Claire: bye. *goes into her room, now with Harry on her mind. she showers, brushes her teeth and goes to bed, wondering what tomorrow will bring...*

*the next day, with Todd and Key*

Todd: *still asleep. He had been wary over the last few days of the results of this "cure-bomb". He had heard that they were rescuing the cured commons... and he wondered if they were going through the same things he went through*

Me: ...this esp thing needs to STOP. I was gonna ask if we could go back to these two but i ran out of time this morning o_____________________o

Key: *is awake, lying in bed with an arm over Todd. She knew he was worried about the cure, about the CURED. She could tell. She didn't know what to think herself--hopefully everything turned out alright...*

Me: .___.

Todd: Hmmngh... 'sit morning already...?

Key: yeah... you sleep okay?

Todd: As good as I CAN sleep these last couple'a days... and you?

Key: I'm fine... *snuggles closer* ...are you still worried?

Todd: About the cured commons? Yeah. I kinda am. I mean - they've entered this world so suddenly, after the last things they could remember - their happy lives, probably. They must be so confused... so LOST...

Key: *remembers the day Todd was cured like it was still yesterday, and nods in agreement* It'll be a big shock to them when they find out what happened... even more if they tell them everything ELSE...

Todd: ... I feel really bad for them...

Key: Well... you could always go talk to them. I mean... you adapted, right? Maybe it'd help to talk to someone who already went through it...

Todd: *smiles for the first time in a few days* Yeah... yeah, you're right. That could probably help them a whole lot.

Key: *smiles, glad to see HIS smile again. she kisses his cheek, then sits up* We'll have to find out when they're letting them out with the rest of us, if they haven't done that already...

Todd: *he frowns again* ... That would mean we'd have to talk to a Military person.

Key: ...We could always ask Harry. Or I could go ask myself.

Todd: Both of those ideas are VERY bad. No offense. I'll go with you, and we're NOT asking Harry.

Key: *frowns* ...Alrighty, then... come on, get dressed. We'll go out after we eat something.

Todd: Alright. *he hops out of bed and quickly gets dressed*

Key: *also gets dressed, then goes out and digs through the pantry for something to eat* We're running a bit low on food... do you think they'll bring us another box, or will we have to go out and get it ourselves?

up

Harry: :P *he then shifts his eyes around a bit, and leans in close to the others* ... how badly do you think the specials are gonna take it... once they're cured, I mean?

Paul: *leans in closer as well* Well... considering that most of them are a bit on the monstrous side... not too well, I'm afraid...

Claire: *leans forward as well* I'm going to have to agree. People don't turn back to normal after being cured...

Harry: I already know that. I traveled with Todd. But can you imagine... there could be an increase in suicide rates...

Claire: ...I could see that happening...

Paul: Jeez...

Harry: ... they're gonna need as much help as we can offer. Us, as in the entire rest of the population.

Claire: ....What if "we" don't accept them?

Paul: People wouldn't flat-out REJECT them, would they?

Harry: They... they CAN'T... that wouldn't be right. Hopefully laws will be made against that, or something.

Paul: I really hope so... I'd hate to see them discriminated against because of something they had no control over...

Claire: *remembers her close call with the infection earlier that day, and nods* It wouldn't be fair.

*soon the food arrives*

Harry: Oh, hey. :D I still an't believe they're doing this without any pay.

Paul: It's better than sitting around and doing nothing. To be honest, I'd rather work for no pay than just sit at home all day. Whiiiiich we're already doing. *grabs his sandwich, and takes a bite out of it*

Claire: True.

Harry: Bonus - we're actually really helping. *also eats his panini*

Paul: mmmmhmmmm.

Claire: *eats her pasta*

*after their dinner out* Harry: *walks outside with them* Well, that was fun. Certainly different.

Claire: I just wish we could do this more often.

Paul: hey, once the infection's over and dealt with, we WILL.

Harry: And you're sure we'll still be together after this? D:>

Paul: I sure as hell hope so. I dunno what I'd do without you guys.

Claire: *smiles, and puts a hand on his shoulder* You'd be fine, Paul.

Harry: Yeah. I'm pretty sure that you could easily make new friends anyway. :P

Paul: I like you guys, though. better than the idiots i used to hang out with.

Claire: Hooray, we're better than idiots. :P

Paul: oh, you know what I mean. XP But really.

Harry: Hah, yeah, we get it. *he glances at the apartment building* So... I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow?

Claire: Bright and early, as always. :)

Paul: Heheh. *opens the door, holding it for Harry and Claire*

Harry: Thank you, Paul. ^^ *enters the building and heads up to his room*

Paul and Claire: *head up to their own rooms together*

up

Harry: Well, Claire, I don't know about Paul, but I don't exactly have cooking talent. I need to rely on frozen meals, and canned things. It's gets old after a while.

Claire: there's more to frozen food than soup, Harry. :P

Paul: *continues flipping through the menu*

Harry: Canned soup and ramen is the only stuff that doesn't go BAD. :P

Claire: That's not true, there's tons of other stuff you can eat. :P

Paul: *is amusing himself by listening to them*

Harry: Oh yeah? Like WHAT? :P

Claire: Ever head of Chef boyardee? XP

Paul: *snorts* yeah, because we're all fifteen.

Claire: we all know you are. :P

Harry: Hahah... well, I guess I can force myself to eat that shoot - if I'm desperate.

Me: i need to stop making typos, aghjsadghyefkk.

Claire: It's better than ramen. D:

Harry: *shrugs* Meh.

Me: Not insulting Chef Boyardee, since I'm actually about to have raviolios for lunch. Cambell's though. ^^;

Me: it's Harry's opinion, not yours. XD

Claire: snrf. XP

Paul: *puts his menu down* you guys know what you're getting? :P

Harry: I saw a black forest ham and cheese panini on here. That sounds like something better than ramen.

Paul: wait, that's on there? o_o *looks through the menu again* must've skipped that.

Claire: *smiles, shaking her head* you still worry me sometimes... *continues to look through the menu*

Harry: Herp derp. Waiting on you two.

Paul: patience is a virtue. D:

Claire: *puts her menu down* i'm ready too.

Paul: snrff... Fine, okay, i'm done.

Harry: :P

Paul: :P

Claire: ... XP

Waitress: Ready to order?

Harry: Why YES...

Paul: ...ladies first?

Claire: Fiiine. *to the waitress* I'll have the alfredo chicken pasta... hold the tomatoes.

Paul: I'll haaave... the turkey-swiss sandwich.

Harry: I'll have the ham and cheese panini.

Waitress: Alright... it won't take too long. :) *takes the menus and walks off walks off*

Paul: *when the waitress leaves* ...good, because I'm kind of hungry right now.

Claire: hahah.

up

Harry: Alright then - lead us there. :)

Paul: alrighty then--ONWARD! *goes down the street*

Claire: pfffffft. XD *hooks her arm with Harry's, and follows Paul down the street*

*and so they walk to Paul's mentioned place to dine*

Harry: *keeps himself practically attached to Claire* :)

Claire: *stays attached to Harry* :)

*and so they reach the restaurant, and go inside*

Paul: *to the hostess* Table for three, please?

Hostess: Alright - it'll be about a ten minute wait. Just hold on a minute.

Harry: *waits with them* The Safe Zone is almost like a normal city.

Claire: Almost.

Paul: Eh, just give it some time. I have a feeling it'll be back to normal faster than you'd think.

Harry: ... I still can't believe... well, EVERYTHING... I mean - who knew that a cure would even be possible - let alone a chance at a normal life...

Claire: Consider this--if you and Todd and Key hadn't brought the cure here, then there wouldn't even BE a chance.

Paul: *nods in agreement*

Harry: Well... when you put it THAT way... well... *he rubs the back of his neck, and grins* Uh, I guess we really did something right...

Paul: *grins* Yeah, Harry, Todd and Key, heroes of the zombie apocalypse. You need a trophy or something. XD

Claire: *laughs* recognition would be nice, wouldn't it?

Harry: *he grins halfheartedly* Not that it would happen, though. Things like that never happen.

Claire: *sighs* Sad, but true.

Paul: *his grin shrinks into a smile* Yeah, well, you'll still be a hero in our minds. :P

Harry: Well, thanks for that. ^^

Waitress: *comes back* Table's ready. Follow me. *walks off*

Harry: *follows with the others*

*they reach the table, and sit down*

Claire: *lazily flips through the menu*

Paul: *looking through the menu* Hmmmmmmmmm.

Claire: *glances up, grins, then looks back at her menu* don't think TOO hard now.

Paul: har har.

Harry: Hey now, she's only WORRIED, Paul... you might break something. :P

Paul: great, now you're gangin' up on me. Give the third wheel a break, man. XP

Claire: *laughs at this*

Harry: Oh, you aren't a third wheel, Paul - you're a part of the team!

Claire: you're just as important as any of us are!

Paul: yeah, yeah, whatever. :P

Harry: :P *looks over the menu* After all the soup I've been having at the apartment, I am SO ready for something like a freaking SANDWICH.

Paul: So I'm NOT the only one who ends up eating ramen every day?

Claire: *facepalms* you guys... are hopeless.

up

Harry: Oh my GOD - you're right, - y-you just keep breathing the cure in! Hurry!

Guy: What's going on right now?? What's happening??

Harry: Nothing you need to worry about!

Claire: *does so, trying to get as much of the cure in her system as she can--the constant coughing makes it difficult*

Paul: come on, come on... D:

Harry: *takes Claire's hand into his, squeezing it a bit* Just keep that up - you should be fine...

Guy: <_<;

Claire: *continues to breathe in the cure, until her coughing eventually stops* ....i-i think i'm okay now.

Paul: christ, Claire. keep scaring the shoot out of us, will ya? D:>

Claire: sorry...

Harry: *still squeezing her hand tightly. This is the only thing that gives away how he was still concerned about her* Yeah, no kidding. We... we should really continue on with this ex-infected hunt...

Guy: ._.;

Claire: we should... *lightly swings the hand Harry was holding, indicating that he should let go of that before they continued. she puts her gasmask back on, and speaks to the man* sorry about that delay. we really should get moving.

Harry: *releases Claire's hand, and moves his own hand behind his back* ...

Guy: Right. Y-yeah. Okay. ._.;

*and so they walk*

Me: timeskip?

Me: Why, yes. :3

*throughout their ventures outside the Safe Zone, the team managed to collect around twenty cured civilians - all of which were barely able to fit in the truck. Then, they drove back home*

Harry: *to Claire* Quite eventful.

Claire: we did our job and rescued civilians without getting killed. i think we deserve a pat on the back.

Paul: ha! no kidding.

Harry: *pats himself on the back* I feel so very accomplished right now.

Paul: *snickers at this* So do I, man.

Claire: I'm predicting that we'll be getting more missins like this in the future....

Harry: AWESOME. So looking forward to more missions like this. As long as we're more careful next time. >_>;

*they arrive at the Safe Zone. The cured citizens were herded like sheep into the CEDA Building so that they could all get registered*

Claire: *as she helps herd the cured citizens, she looks at her watch* huh. looks like we might be getting off early today.

Paul: ...i'm trying really hard not to do anything obnoxious right now.

Claire: i appreciate your restraint. XD

Harry: Awesome, again. The rest of the day off sounds nice.

Paul: we should celebrate, or something.

Me: not like that, lololol

Me: Naw, they're already doing THAT in crack (minus Paul). X3

Harry: Well, it's around six or so now... there's some still-open restaurants scattered about - this USED to be a city, after all. What if we all went out to dinner? Make it a fun evening? Better than staying in for the rest of the night.

Me: well, not yet. they're totally going to. XD

Claire: that actually sounds wonderful. :)

Paul: it's a date, then. i'm looking forward to it. :)

Harry: Awesome, again. ^^

*they head down to the locker room and put away their armor and guns*

*as they walk out of the building*

Paul: so, where are we going?

Harry: *shrugs* I dunno. Do you guys know this city well enough?

Claire: Well, I've been here longer than you guys have, but I've never had time to go sightseeing...

Paul: heh. Well, lemme think... There's this place down the street that didn't look too bad, wanna check it out?

up

*Suddenly, the scream of a Smoker cuts through the air like a knife, and its wet "tongue" whips out, grabbing onto Claire and dragging her into the green fog*

Everyone: !!!!

Harry: CLAIRE!!

Claire: AAUHKK!?! *is unable to speak--or breathe, for that matter. she tries to pry the tongue away, but fails* !!?!

Paul: frack-- we can't both go--GO! I'll watch this guy, GO! D8>

Harry: *quickly nods to Paul and runs after Claire*

Smoker: *has fully dragged Claire towards itself and beats on her, its green smoke mixing in with the lighter green fog - mixing in, WINDING itself so very tightly with the cleaner bits of oxygen, making it hard to separate from, say, Claire's gas mask*

Claire: *breathes all of this in, though she doesn't know it--she futilely attempts to shove the smoker away, putting her arms out to shield herself from the smoker's blows, running out of air* !!

Paul: *waits with the man, lookng around nervously*

Smoker: *is suddenly shot in the head. It falls down with a cry, and an explosion of more green smoke*

Harry: *comes running out of the fog* CLAIRE! Are you alright?? D8

Claire: !! *rips the tongue off her neck, heaving a deep breath* g-GOD.... i'm okay... i'm okay... huff... *walks toward Harry, picking her rifle up from where she dropped it*

Harry: Glad to see it didn't hurt you or anything. *puts a hand on her shoulder*

Claire: Thanks-- *coughs a bit* ...oww. Stupid thing choked me pretty bad...

Harry: Well, you're okay now... c'mon, we should head back. Paul'll get worried.

Claire: right...

*and so, they both headed back*

Paul: *sighs in relief when he sees them come out of the fog* oh thank GOD.

Harry: Yeah, she's okay. Let's keep moving.

Guy: *very nervous about his surroundings*

Claire: *notices this* Just stay between us, and you'll be fine.

Paul: mhmm. *still glances around nervously*

A Charger: *runs past them, nearly hitting Paul*

Harry: !!! Jesus - !

GUY: D8 THE HELL WAS THAT THING??

Claire: *now extremely alert* I have no idea, but it was huge...

Paul: *was scared shootless by the near collision, and lets out a string of swears*

Harry: It seemed like it was a Charger... you okay, Paul?

Guy: ... the frack'S a Charger...??

Paul: yeah, i'm fine... frackin' thing came out of nowhere....

Claire: *to the man* We'll explain later. Now we know the specialized mutations are taking longer...

Harry: Because your first hint wasn't the SMOKER or anything... :P

Guy: Guhh...?? D8>

Claire: We knew those would take lon-- *suddenly goes into a coughing fit*

Paul: ?? Claire, you okay there?

Harry: Hey, yeah! You okay, Claire? D:>

Guy: ._.;

Claire: y-yeah, i--*goes into another cough attack, doubling over this time, holding her stomach*

Paul: Okay, you're definitely not okay. D: did the thing scratch you?

Harry: N-no it couldn't of - it was a SMOKER - they don't scratch, just choke you!

Paul: unless-- they SMOKE. they have that gas! but the gasmask should have--

Claire: !! *takes her gasmask off, and takes a deep breath of the green fog. she was already starting to look pale* the fog must've-- *coughhack*--gotten into the gasmask...!!

up

Paul: naah. just a bit surprising that i beat you BOTH down here.

Claire: eh. improbable, but not impossible. when are we leaving?

Paul: uh... *looks over at the armored truck, and sees the other soldiers getting in* ...right now?

Harry: Then I guess we should go.

*they all pile into the truck and drive out into desolate, infected America. In the distance, a Hunter screams*

Me: i rather like that image there. :D

*a while later, they reach the closest town, and the truck stops. the soldiers seem uneasy as they get out of the truck*

Claire: *looks around for signs of hostile infected* ....

Paul: *does the same* so, uhh... how do we tell who's cured and who's not?

Claire: If they're cured, they won't try to kill us.

Me: Why thank you. :3

Harry: Also, they'll TALK. I'm sure they're gonna say SOMETHING when they see armor-clad military soldiers walking towards them.

*a few crows were scattered around a dead body. They picked at the body's entrails. Some cawed and flew away at the sight of the soldiers. It seemed empty*

Paul: ...this place creeps me out. more than it usually would.

Claire: ... *glances around at the other soldiers, and, upon seeing that she was the highest ranked in the group, begins giving orders* Okay, listen up: We're going to split into groups of three, and search the area for cured Whiskey Deltas. Anyone you find will be brought back here as soon as possible. Don't shoot anything unless your life depends on it. Got that?

Me: also-- Chris tells me you speak of Claire...?

Me: I do? :/

Harry: *to Claire* And I'm guessing you, me and Paul are together in this.

Me: apparently...? do you tell him of our rps? he says he likes Claire as a character. :P

Paul: obviously, Harry. we're a teeeeam. :P

Claire: Of course. Come on, let's start looking.

*the other soldiers form their groups and split off, two remaining behind to guard the truck*

Me: I briefly go over with him what's going on, but there's not much detail in what I say. :P

Harry: *walks around with Paul and Claire, searching for any cured infected*

*suddenly, there is a cry for help in the distance*

Harry: !! Well, I guess there's our first rescue-ee D:

Me: ah.

Paul: well, what are we waiting for? *runs in the direction of the cry*

Claire: !! *quickly follows behind, keeping an eye on the roofs and alleyways, alert for an attack*

An Infected-Looking Young Man: *looked to be around in his twenties. He is being led around by a Jockey, who was practically strapped to his back* WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!

Harry: !! Uh, careful not to shoot the guy? *shoots at the Jockey carefully*

Claire: Don't shoot! If you kill it, we lose a potentially cured WD, and if you miss, we could hurt the one who's already cured.

Paul: yu've got a point, but... that thing doesn't look like it'll let go easily.

Harry: Should we... uh, smack it off?

Cured Guy: AHHOOGHAAAD!!

Jockey: *laughs like a horse-monkey*

Claire: that works. *goes closer to the ex-infected man, then tries to smack the Jockey off with the butt of her rifle* >:(

Jockey: *doesn't exactly like this, but doesn't exactly let go, either*

Guy: GEDDIT OFF!!

Harry: <_<; *also tries smacking it*

Jockey: *snaps it's teeth at him*

Harry: ._.;

Paul: stupid head-hugging--get OFF. *smacks the thing with his rifle*

Jockey: Hurr! *falls off, and scrambles to get away from them*

Harry: Do we chase after it, or focus on this guy??

Guy: Oh my god, what's even going ON...??

Claire: Just leave it-- It's going to need more time to get cured. *to the guy* You were infected by the Green Flu, and you've been cured. Please, stay with us. We'll take you to the Safe Zone.

Guy: S-Safe Zone...? What's...? O-okay...

Harry: Awesome. One person found. Time to keep searching.

*they continued to search, keeping the cured man between them for his safety*

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