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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 4:23:02 GMT
Maddox slowly and quietly squatted down in the tall, overgrown grass of what used to be someone's front yard, bow and arrow in hand. There was a perfect size doe grazing just yards in front of her. The thought of having a decent meal was enough to make her stomach rumble, and she cursed herself silently at how loud the sound actually was. Bending the arrow into place, Maddox aimed as best as she could, then released, only standing just in time to see the arrow sink into the creature only seconds later. After a few clumsy steps, the deer fell down sideways, unmoving.
Success.
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Post by Genie Olivo on Oct 9, 2013 4:44:36 GMT
'Finally, I can catch a fucking break.'
The doe that presented itself in Genie's sights was completely unaware of what sort of danger it had just walked into, given that it was completely unaware of her presence in general. A firm hand slowly reached over her shoulder to grip her sniper rifle and pull it over to her front, where she quietly got into position hiding behind a nearby tree for camouflage. As she steadied her weapon and brought the sight up to her eye, she quickly began to focus on her target in hopes of downing it before it got wind of her location. Just as her trigger finger began to feel a bit frisky, an arrow struck the female deer from a different direction. Genie quickly lowered her sniper and looked about, not wanting any trouble to come from whoever was lurking about. If there was one thing she had learned since the world had come to an end, it was that people couldn't be trusted anymore. Her plan was to simply keep quiet and wait until the hunter came out of hiding.
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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 5:02:28 GMT
Maddox moved swiftly across the space in between her and her prey, looking about in every direction in case something decided to come popping out at her. That had happened a few days before...when she had been trying to gather wild blueberries from a few bushes. As her hand reached out to pick a few berries from the branches, the hand of another popped up from under the brush and had latched itself around her wrist. Even though she had managed to pry herself free and act quickly by killing the undead woman, the event had still rocked Maddox into unsteady and a series of 'what if' thoughts.
What if I didn't have my bow? I would have been fucked then.
With a shake of her head, she stepped forward, looking down at the now lifeless dear before her and bent down to yank the arrow from its body. The animal was hers. All hers. Now...if she just could figure out how to pick up the damn thing.
At the sound of a twig snapping, Maddox reacted on impulse, quickly bringing the bow up in her hand and using the same arrow as before, placing it into the string while aiming it at the tree where the noise had came from. "Who's there?"
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Post by Genie Olivo on Oct 9, 2013 5:32:39 GMT
After a few patient moments of playing the "waiting game," a small girl who appeared to be a few years younger than Genie herself, appeared from the overgrown grass and moved forward to claim what was rightfully hers. There was a softness to her face that seemed to show she wasn't the sort of person to go out of her way to kill defenseless animals prior to the outbreak, but that didn't mean she was any less dangerous. With the archery skills she clearly possessed, she could certainly challenge Genie and her sniper rifle with ease.
Genie shifted in her place to get a bit more comfortable on her feet when she suddenly heard a small snap come from her heels. Of course there had to be the smallest twig with the biggest sound just an inch away from her right foot.
Before Genie could even react, the girl standing about twenty yards from her turned on key to aim her weapon in her direction. Genie would be damned if she was going to die by the hands of another living person after all the crazy shit she had overcome during the last three weeks. Still, the girl was likely to shoot aimlessly out of precaution if she didn't reveal herself. Hesitantly and slowing, she stood up straight from her couching position, readied her rifle and moved out from around the tree to face the girl - locking her aim straight on the girl's chest with a laser sight.
"I'm not going to hurt you if you just lower your weapon," she called out to the girl, hoping she would do the smart thing and bring her bow back down to her side. She wasn't feeling up to killing another survivor - something she didn't think she would ever feel completely comfortable with. Sure, there was a guy a week ago that tried to have his way with her, but she didn't exactly have a choice.
"It's okay, I promise." She could only hope her attempt at reasoning with the girl would work, especially as the small red dot from the laser pointed sharply straight to the girl's heart.
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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 17:05:32 GMT
As someone moved out from their spot behind the tree, Maddox pulled the arrow back to her head, aiming it directly as the person became visible, and instantly felt relief at the sight of the slightly older girl in front of her. She seemed to have a sniper gun, and was aiming her sights directly at her chest, Maddox didn't feel the need to keep up the hostility. Besides, being on her toes all the time was exhausting, and the girls comments seemed to hint at she was a friendly and nothing to worry about.
Her gaze kept steady, then after a moment, she lifted her bow to the aim at one of the branches above the girl's head and shot; the arrow sinking into the wood of the tree. After placing her bow down onto the ground slowly and carefully, Maddox leaned back upright, raising her hands into the air in a 'surrender' motion.
"Alright...my weapon's gone...so are you going to put yours down now?"
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Post by Gavin Flanagan on Oct 9, 2013 17:19:23 GMT
As he walked casually down the residential street, apple in hand, the reality had finally hit Gavin like a bulldozer. This was his life to...what he'd have to deal with on a daily basis. Always running from place to place, and always fighting for his life, whether that be from the undead or otherwise. The past month had been nothing but absolute hell, and there times he wished he could just erase his memory. That way, loosing his roommates wouldn't have been such a problem for him to overcome. A part of him wondered if his family was alright back in home. There had been no word whether or not that virus had spread overseas or not. Hopefully, it hadn't. The thought of his parents scared out of their minds while trying to get out of Dublin both worried him and stressed him out. With a shake of his head, Gavin bit into the apple, then chucked it into the grass, only to hear voices erupt in front of him.
Hurriedly, he scurried to the side of the road, ducking down behind a car. Every once in a while, he'd steal glances around the vehicle and take in the sight of a girl with a bow, aiming it at a tree. She seemed pretty good...so maybe approaching her wasn't the best option. But then...a familiar voice filled his ears, which caused him to stand up fully, revealing his hiding place, then widened his gaze at the other girl who had slipped out from behind the tree.
"Genie?" He called.
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Post by Genie Olivo on Oct 9, 2013 18:01:13 GMT
The girl standing before her seemed rather calm once she realized Genie was the stranger lurking about behind the tree in secrecy. Was that a good or a bad thing? Certainly she didn't want to give off the impression of being some sort of dangerous psychopath, but at the same time she didn't want to be taken too lightly either. Regardless, this was no time to worry about such petty things, and Genie didn't even flinch as the girl shot her arrow up into one of the branches above her head. Craning her neck backwards to look up to it, she nodded slightly in approval before returning her gaze to the girl.
"You're not a bad shot. Kudos to you," she stated simply before rotating her rifle around her shoulder to where it was hanging behind her back once again. "I'm..."
Genie's voice was cut off as her ears perked up at the sound of someone speaking her name. Who the hell was around that would have known her name? She quickly began to look at all of her surroundings, feeling a bit flustered. After scanning the woods behind her and to her left, her gaze moved ever so carefully over towards the road to her right. There was a car and a man with tattoos who looked similar to her closest friend ever since her younger years.
"Gavin?!" she shrieked out in disbelief. Unfortunately the two had lost contact right after the outbreak, and she wasn't sure if he was alive or dead...well, undead. Instantly, her hands moved to encompass her now gaping mouth as she felt tears bubble to the surface of her eyes. He was, in fact, very much alive. With complete disregard of the other girl, Genie broke out into a sprint towards her best friend, tears already streaking down her face in complete joy.
Her arms were open wide as she flung herself around his neck, embracing him tighter than she ever had in the duration of their friendship. This hug managed to out-do even their post graduation hug, the hug that followed her first break up when she was in complete shambles, and even the time that she thought he might move back to Dublin and be gone forever. "I can't believe you're alive!" she cried out.
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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 21:32:06 GMT
She took in the girl in front of her intently, giving her a quick once over. Tall, yet obviously athletic. She was probably good on her feet, and obviously had a steady hand...one had to, especially when dealing with a sniper rifle. Flinging her bow over her shoulder, Maddox cautiously advanced towards her, a weary smile appearing on her face.
"Thanks, I should," She replied, looking up at the spot where the arrow was, "I've been doing archery since I was pretty little. Oh, and I'm Maddox Callaghan, by the way." She finished, then offered out a hand, only to be ignored. Frowning, she followed the older girl as she practically flew towards a boy who was standing a few yards from them. He was stocky and had a bunch of tattoos on his arms. Maybe it was best to leave them alone for the time being, since they seemed to know each other.
That thought in mind, Maddox turned, tossed her bag and bow to the ground, and started shimmying up the trunk of the tree to retrieve her arrow.
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Post by Gavin Flanagan on Oct 9, 2013 21:37:41 GMT
He beamed at her brightly as his suspicions had been right, and dropped his stuff to the side as she came barreling towards him, only to catch her between his arms only moments later. His grip instantly tightened around his old friend, and Gavin found himself overcome with emotion. Once the virus first hit, he wasn't sure of what to make of what his future would hold...and who would be in his future. A lot of his friends, he thought, were long gone, but never once did he think that Genie would be one of them; one of the ones that would die and turn into the undead. Oh, no. She was far too strong to give up the fight that easily. It was one of the things he loved about her. Her spirit and determination had inspired him (especially recently) to go the extra mile and push himself harder and farther than he ever felt possible.
With a heavy chuckle, he ran an casual hand over her back soothingly. "Well, I can believe that you are. You're a little hard ass."
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Post by Genie Olivo on Oct 9, 2013 21:53:03 GMT
To feel his tight grip felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders, even if only temporarily. She hadn't felt any sort of happy emotion in the last three weeks, so for him to be here and now with her was absolute euphoria for her. She allowed herself to linger in the moment and in her tears for a few more moments before she released her grip and planted her feet back to the ground. After taking a step back to give the poor guy some breathing room, she wiped the tears from her eyes before looking up to him with a smile and laughing along with him. He always knew how to cheer her up, and he never even knew he was doing it.
"Well, I guess you could say that," she said before gulping at the thought of her parents. They had loved Gavin just as much as she had all these years, and now they were gone; she obviously wasn't enough of a hard ass to protect them, leaving her overwhelmed with guilt. She would keep that to herself for now and perhaps mention it to him later when the conversation could be a bit more private.
"We should probably go introduce ourselves to the little spit fire with the bow and arrow over there," she said with a jab of her thumb in the direction of the other girl. She turned around and headed back towards her, watching her curiously with an arched brow as she worked at fetching her arrow. "Need any help?" she offered, mentally preparing to catch the girl if she were to fall.
"Sorry for the rude introduction on my part. I've known this kid for far too long, and until today, I didn't even know he was still kicking." She smiled to Gavin with a side glance. She had always referred to him as "kid" even though he was a year older than her and even finished high school before she did, but it was just something she did to annoy him. "I'm Genevieve Olivo. Genie for short. It's nice to meet you, Maddox."
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Post by Gavin Flanagan on Oct 9, 2013 22:10:36 GMT
Even though he had managed to make her smile, Gavin knew Genie all too well, and knew that something underlying was bothering her. He decided not to bring it up then, though...simply because now wasn't the time to make her remember the things that brought her down. Hell, he didn't want to think about the people he had lost either. Instead, he wanted to celebrate at the fact that both of them were still breathing.
He raised an eyebrow at Genie's comment, then walked with her over to a fairly large tree, and frowned. What the hell was she going on about? There was no one around...well, that was, until a arrow plunged down into the grass at his right, and he startled slightly before looking up. A girl, probably no older than twenty, climbed catlike down the tree before dropping and landing on her feet expertly. Listening to Genie's greeting, Gavin offered the brown-headed girl a smile and nodded towards her. "She's right. Gavin, by the way. Gavin Flanagan."
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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 22:16:26 GMT
Maddox watched the two strangers exchange an obviously warm hug, and she felt herself slightly envious. They were pretty damn lucky to find each other-what were the chances of that? And what were the chances of her finding her parents or seeing Russell again? Probably close to nothing. With a sad, heavy sigh, she clutched the limb and leaned across it to yank the arrow from the wood, then chucked it to the ground. When she looked down again, she noticed the two standing below her while at the same time, looking up with friendly expressions on their faces. So, they were friends.
She quickly hauled herself down the tree, then jumped off the lowest limb, catching herself and landing on her feet before straightening out to meet both of their gazes. Playing off a somewhat forced smile, she exchanged glances to both of them. "You, too. You all from around here?"
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Post by Genie Olivo on Oct 9, 2013 22:29:54 GMT
Genie nodded to the girl once she straightened out her posture. She didn't even have to run to her rescue and save her from catching her neck, which was a relief. Maybe she could join forces with her and Gavin if she didn't already have a group somewhere. Though, judging by the fact that she was in the middle of an empty field seeking our prey in a defenseless doe on her own, she figured she was probably just as alone as the other two had been before this moment. It was sad to think about the fact that most people were just wandering aimlessly, hoping to somehow survive the catastrophe that had overtaken the country in such a short time frame.
"I am," she said somewhat proudly. Her life there hadn't been so bad, and she enjoyed it thoroughly until three weeks ago. She had landed a P.E. job at Northside High School and even became the head coach of the girls' varsity softball team. Those girls meant everything to her, and she tried not to think about the fact that they might not even be breathing any longer. However, they were strong and knew how to wield a baseball bat almost as well as she did, so she still held some hope that they were hanging in there somehow.
"Born and raised. I taught physical education and coached softball over at Northside High," she said with a shrug. "'Sleeves' over here is from Germany, though. What about you?"
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Post by Maddox Callaghan on Oct 9, 2013 23:57:29 GMT
Listening to her former life made Maddox feel slightly nostalgic for her own home life. She wondered how her parents were handling all of this. Even though she knew Russell was probably just fine, it was them and her other grandma that she worried about most of the time. Her parents had each other, but her grandmother had been put into a nursing home a year earlier, and a part of Maddox wanted to know what had happened to the facility. She hoped to God that the workers there had been able to avoid the chaos and lock themselves into the building. If they were able to do that, then they would be safe for a long time. Not only did the nursing home have a whole room stocked fully with non-perishable food items, but it also had a giant walk in freezer which housed mostly all kinds of meat. There were two huge ovens in the kitchen that they used, the fridge worked, and no one had ever complained about the showers or tubs. It was an ideal life-one that she hoped more than anything her grandma was living right in that moment.
She smirked at Gavin as a faint blush found his cheeks, and he narrowed his eyes at the girl named Genie before speaking herself. "No, actually." Maddox began. "I'm from Kansas City...the Missouri side. I was a full time student, studying to be an obstetrician, and I was a full-time waitress. My boyfriend helped out with the high school football team. Before the virus hit, I had come down to Montgomery to help with my sick grandma, but she...died within the first day of the outbreak."
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Post by Gavin Flanagan on Oct 10, 2013 0:03:37 GMT
He couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the girl in front of him. She had lost someone in her family, and yet she acted like it didn't really effect her all that much. Gavin marveled at that. Shaking his head, he cleared her throat and nudged Genie softly. "Actually, I'm Irish. Born and raised in Dublin. Moved here during my junior year in high school year, though. Now," He paused to laugh and rub at the back of his neck, "Now I wish I could go back though. Before the power went out, I had heard that the U.K. hadn't gotten hit with whatever this shit is. Hopefully it stays that way. Anyway," He motioned to her bow, "How long have you known archery? You're...uh, pretty good at it."
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