California

[Rayde Dannefor]

As Shane helped her to her feet she started brushing the dirt off of her, "Thanks" she quietly said. She lit a cigarette to calm her nerves and stood against the door to her Jeep. "Well, don't just stand there make sure their dead" She told Shane. SHe couldn't believe how that had happened, a ******** rock! I mean seriously... Maybe she was losing her touch... She didn't want to think about what that would mean....  

[Jordon352]

Shane smiled and shook his head."I know you think your messing up more but everybody does at times rayde."Shane went around and simply kicked them in the side while holding his shotgun at the ready.if they reacted they were alive if they didnt they were dead.they were all dead.With that done shane walked back over to the jeep and sat on one of the backseats leaning back.  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Rayde needed time and time was something that she NEVER had, not these days. SHe wondered about the Rest stop building. She got up took a drag and started walking around it looking for anything that might pose a threat, and anything that might be easily defensible. She was planning on staying for a while while she sorted things out. She looked at the roof. She went inside where Nilla was resting. She checked the strength of the walls. She kept smoking her cigarette and mumbling all the possible senarios outloud to herself as she inspected the area...  

[Jordon352]

"Or you could ignore me completely."Shane muttered as he laid back and rested on the back seat staring up into the smoke gray sky.he hadnt ever remembered seeing a sky of blue since the outbreak it was as if the infection attacked the sky and the water as well.the sun shone through the gray haze but it wasnt all that bright.It didnt matter he closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head and just....just relax.  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Rayde set up a ladder to the roof and prepped the door to be blocked and braced. She walked outside and shouted to the guys "Hey, park the Jeep over here next to the building, we're spending the night" She walked back in and waited for the other two to come inside. She braced the door and sat down next to Nilla. Time to rest, rest and think... She closed her eyes and slept...  

[Jordon352]

Shane got in the jeep driving it to the building and parked it then simply jumped out taking the keys with him setting them in his pocket.he walked inside and sat down on the other side of the room and took some time to think."So much s**t has happened since the infection."He said muttering and then he leaned against the wall and slept.  

[NoLifeKing66]

"Yeah," Shane said, "Here comes one now."

Sure enough, there was a man walking along the side of the road. No, not walking. Shambling. Shambling along the side of the road. As they drew closer, Nilla got a better look at him. He was wearing an Oxford cloth shirt with half its buttons undone. The cuffs of the sleeves hung loose as if he'd been trying to escape from his clothes when the change finally came. The change, she thought. God. His head was almost bereft of hair, just a few clumps left sticking up at random angles like obscene horns. His skin was the color of rancid cream and a thin sheet of black drool leaked from his lower lip. He turned to face them, and she saw that his eyes were completely empty.

Shane leaned out the window. He leveled his shotgun at the man's head. He pulled the trigger, and the man's head exploded in a sickening splatter of blood and bone and brain matter. She screamed, or tried to. The sound that came out of her throat sounded more like a retch.

Shane turned to her again and smiled. "Do you want anything else to eat?" he said, "You must be starving."

Nilla vomited up the contents of her stomach, whatever they were, onto the floor of the jeep. Rayde said something to her, but she didn't hear it.

A few moments later, Rayde pulled up to a roadside rest stop and parked. The rest stop had all the amenities somebody on a road trip might require: fuel stations, restrooms, even a restaurant. "Well, here we are," Rayde said, "The roadside Hilton of the day. Good a place as any to rest for a while until we move on."

Nilla reached under the seat and picked up the box Rayde had mentioned earlier, then struggled out of the backseat of the jeep. She put a bare foot down on the ground. It was cold. So cold. She tried to step down gingerly from the jeep, but her leg slid out from beneath her, unable to accept her commands, and she clattered down to the ground. Her body shuddered as she tried to put some weight on her feet, hauling herself upright by holding onto the jeep. She grimaced as she shifted her weight entirely onto her legs. Somehow she managed to stumble toward the rest stop, even though her knees kept locking up. Her muscles were still stiff.

She made her way into a restroom, Rayde's box held firmly under her arm. Once inside, she reached around her back and undid the twill tape ties of the hospital gown. The thin cotton garment fell to the floor around her feet. She looked at herself and the mirror and gasped: her body was covered in the same black and blue bruises as her legs. She figured that whatever incident had caused her to lose her memory had also caused the bruises. She rifled through the box and finally decided on a black tank top and a pair of gray slacks. She dressed slowly, carefully. The clothes hung from her frame rather loosely. So much for being the same size, she thought.

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded from outside. Nilla froze. A moment later, Rayde knocked on the door. ""Nilla, are you ready to go?" she said, "It's about to get rough out. Here I can feel it." She was about to speak when a series of groans cut her off. Gunfire sounded again. "Shane! Charlie! Let's do this!" Rayde shouted.

Nilla panicked. She didn't know what to do. She ran, clumsily but quickly, into the bathroom stall furthest from the door and locked herself in. She squeezed her relatively tiny body into the space between the toilet and the wall. She closed her eyes and covered her ears. She tried not to think about the chaos going on outside, but she could still hear it. Gunfire. The jeep starting up. Gunfire. Screeching tires. Gunfire. Shattering glass. Gunfire. A roaring fire. Gunfire. Gunfire. Gunfire. Silence.

The chaos had ended. Nilla opened her eyes and uncovered her ears. She felt something wet dribble across the side of her mouth. She reached up and found that she was weeping. She wiped the tears away and stood up. Unlocked the stall and slipped out. Approached the bathroom door, cracked it open, and peered through.

Outside, Shane was helping Rayde to her feet. There were corpses all around and a fire blazing nearby. Whatever had happened, they had won.

Nilla stepped out of the bathroom and took a seat on a nearby bench. In time, Rayde came and sat down beside her.

"I wish I'd never woken up," Nilla said calmly. It was true. She did.

Everyone else was sleeping, but Nilla was wide awake.  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Rayde tossed and turned in her sleep, she was having a horrible nightmare like everyone does these days. She woke up in a cold sweat, springing from the floor in a fright. She clutched her pistol like a child and made for the doortripping over her brother CHarlie and eating the concrete flooring. Pain. The pain in her chin brought her back to reality. The girl Nilla was awake and Rayde felt childish for waking up like that, she smiled sheepishly at Nilla as she passed her and sat down. Rayde hated mornings like this. She looked at Nilla and asked, "So, do you remember any of your past?"  

[NoLifeKing66]

Nilla looked up. She was surprised. She hadn't said anything about losing her memory. Not yet. How had Rayde known?

"The past, yes," she said, smiling sheepishly, "My past, no."  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Rayde looked over at Nilla and saw the surprise on her face. "I noticed you seemed to have issues with your memory when he asked you your name, that and the look on your face when you're sitting by yourself... You always seem lost in your thoughts..." Rayde smiled and ad "don't worry Nilla, your secret's safe with me, I won't embarass you in front of everyone, promise" Rayde picked up a rock off the ground and skipped it across the room. "Well, you can stay with us until you're better, I'll do my best to look after you until you feel you're ready to fight. Until them make sure you're rested, I know this is a lot to take in but do your best...." Rayde proceeded to tell Nilla her story....  

[Jordon352]

Shane was having the worst nightmare possible it was the nightmare where he had kiled his family but his mind twisted it so that they just wouldnt die shane desperately lunged his arms out in his sleep and whimpered.it was quite funny to watch Shane,Big old six foot tall two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle shane was whimpering.He turned and curled into the fetal position,tears streaking his dirt ridden face making to lines on his extremely dirty face.He had travelled through Nevada of course so why wouldnt he be dirty not a damn house between nevada and california had a speck of electricity or hydroelectricity for that matter.He continued whimpering as he managed to curl up even closer.The only way he woke up was to spit out the tear water that had gotten into his mouth.When he sat up he was still sobbing.then he noticed Nilla and Rayde were awake and lowered the volume in his voice.he continued sobbing though it seemed more like muttering.  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Telling Nilla the stories of her exploits before and after the outbreak kinda lifted a weight off of her chest. Rayde felt better just having someone actually listen to her. As she was nearing the end she became ever so much more aware of Shane's night terrors. She looked at him and paused her story. "Do you think he's alright?" she said. Shane curled up into a ball and began sobbing quietly. Rayde focused back on Nilla and continued her story. She just hoped something would help jog the poor girl's memory. SHe wondered what the hell had happened to her.Rayde finished her story and pulled a blanket out from her backpack and handed it to Nilla, "Rest up, tommorrow is going to be a long day." Rayde stood up and climbed the ladder to the roof. Up here she could anjoy some solitude. Rayde sat down under the night's sky and lit a cigarette. she laid back on the roof and just listened to the sounds of the night around her. She thought of nights before the infection, talking with Nilla had brought back a lot of forgotten memories. mmmmm, she could just imagine what it would be like right now if none of this had happened...  

[Jordon352]

Shane got up and stalked sneakily out to the jeep out of Rayde's view by using the side door and pilfered a smoke from her pack replacing it with one he had made....he had found some medicinal Marijuana back at the hospital and figured it would give off the same affect.Shane leaned against the wall and light the cigrette.he was standing beside a smoking corpse and he took a drag.he didnt puke.He smirked and leaned against the wall leisurely smoking.when he finished he crushed it out and pushed the cigerette butt under the zombie and went back inside sitting down.  

[Rayde Dannefor]

Rayde heard movement inside but she didn't care, she was safe inside her memories. She sat and thought about her days as a pilot and her husband and her friends... She smiled and took another drag from her smoke. If only these delusions could last longer she thought to herself. Suddenly she heard a crash from downstairs. Damn undead broke the driver's side window to her Jeep! Rayde glared at the thing as it broke into her Jeep, she was furious but she knew that she couldn't do anything. She didn't want to draw their attention to the building, the door,even barred, wouldn't hold for long. She threw herself back down on the roof and laid there, brooding, goddamned undead! Is nothing sacred!? First her family then her friends and now her damned truck!? This called for a drink, Rayde reached into her back pocket and took out her flask. Well, if they had taken her Jack Daniels at least she could still find comfort in the Captain. She smiled to herself as she followed a swig of rum with a hit of her cigarette...  

[Jordon352]

((lol he never busted the window....he used the keys....remember he had them in his pocket....after he turned off the jeep after the scare he had.))
Shane heard the commotion as well."Well I'll be damned I hoped that them zombies aint got an interest in our stuff."Shane said and with that he stood up and went outside walking up to the zombie and beheading it with his knife.The zombie's head looked up at him and some how groaned."Your vocal chords aint in your head stupid."He stabbed the zombie's skull and threw it on the roof where he knew rayde was.
"Hey Rayde I caughts the culprit I gave you the most precious thing he had on him."