--------
"Are you the only one here?" asked Tricia. Her, Madison and Marissa had all made it back to the assembly room, and were sitting down waiting for the boys to return. Marissa chuckled. "Of course not, there's Craig, and then Eric who's cleaning off the basement." Tricia perked brow.. "Cleaning off?" "I guess I should say... finishing off. We had a minor zombie problem down there." Just then, Tyler and Curtis came back through the back-door of the assembly hall, along with a soldier, covered in blood. Tricia could tell he was about Tyler's age, with tanned skin and short black hair and cold grey-brown eyes. He was wearing a
blue fatigue shirt and army pants, with a cross tattoe on his right arm and small scar above his left eyebrow. An M16 was also slung around his back. Kind of cute, thought Tricia, If he didn't have that scowl etched onto face. Tyler and Curtis walked past him, and moved to sit down with the others.
"Hi Eric," said Marissa casually. "Where's Xena?" "I chained her.", Eric paused, then continued, "You brought them in here?" he asked cooly. Tyler narrowed his eyes, and spoke up, "Yeah, she brought us in. What's the problem?" Eric ignored the young biker and kept his gaze on Marissa. "I told you.... never
open those gates." Marissa looked down, "I had to, they were about to die." Curtis spoke up, "Look, please, we came here looking for help." "Like that means shit to me," answered Eric, continuing with, "Let me get one thing straight. This is our base, and if you're going to stay here, you live under our rules." Tricia had the feeling that Eric really wanted to say "MY" rules. Wiping blood off his fatigues, Eric gave them all a menacing look and then walked out of the
assembly hall. "What a dick," said Tyler. Tricia giggled and nodded in agreement. Then she looked over to her left. Madison was standing there, slumped
against the wall, a spaced out-look in her eyes. Tricia felt bad for her. --She must still be freaked out... but we all are...-- "Well," said Marissa with a big
smile, "Don't mind him, he's really not that bad!" Marissa stood up and followed Eric outside the assembly room. The others all exchanged looks, and then,
guessing they were supposed to follow, left the assembly room as well. Tricia was the first to catch up to Marissa, the female soldier was in some sort of control room with Eric. The others caught up, but Eric didn't even bother to turn around and acknowledge them. In the middle of the room, was a wide green table that stretched from wall to the other. The table was covered in various radio equipment and monitor screens that gave different camera views of the base
interior. Eric was apparently trying to get the radios working, and failing, as each time he tried all that came out was loud static. "So I'm guessing... no luck?" piped Marissa. "Good guess." Eric stepped back from the table and folded his arms across his chest, keeping his eyes to the control panel.
"We're getting some kind of signal from the main base though..."
"Survivors?"
"Probably."
"Can either of you two tell us what's going on here?" asked Curtis. Eric turned slightly to answer, "We know as much as you know Padre. The world's a hellhole and we're all at Shit's Square." "Then what happened to this base," continued Curtis, "We were told it was a safe sanctuary." Marissa chuckled softly before answering, "It "Was' safe.....both bases were safe. See the gates on the other side of the walls were breached. By that time we got them shut again, enough of the monsters had already leaked in. We were all over at the main base, but had to evacuate. Only a handful of us made it out." Tricia looked up
and thought she saw Eric's fists clench, but then, just like that, the hands were un-clenched again. Eric took in a deep breath and turned around to face them. "About those rules I was talking about earlier." He made sure everyone was listenining before going on, "As you can already tell, this base isn't fully secured. From what we know, there's still a lot of creatures on the top floors. We've managed to secure the first and second floors, for the most part." "Hey Eric, I'm going to give them the tour," said Marissa. Eric shrugged and turned back to the radio monitors,
"...Go for it."
"Great!!"
With a wide grin, Marissa motioned for the others to follow her back outside, while Eric remained in the control room trying to fix the equipment. Once they were back outside, Marissa turned to the others and winked. "Now that you've had the pleasure of meeting Eric... let's go meet Craig!"
------------
"Um...." Tricia stood in the med ward, shifting her feet uncomfortably, along with the others. They had met Craig, who was lying in a hospital bed, suffering from an injury. Marissa and had been tongue-wrestling Craig for going on.... 2 minutes now. Curtis cleared his throat, "Uh... guys?" As if waking up from a dream, Marissa pulled back from the bed-ridden Craig and turned around. "Oh right, guys, Craig. Craig, guys." Her face was a little flushed. "Nice to meet
ya," said Craig. He had a heavy Australian accent. "What happened to your head?" asked Madison, pointing to the bandage around Craig's forehead. "Ah,
nothing to worry about. Bloody monster knocked me down is all. Hit my head on one of 'em shutters."It's a good thing Eric and Kara showed up or...". "Craig, we lost Kara.." said Marissa. Her eyes were going red and she was looking down at the floor. "Damn...how's Eric holding up?" "He's managing. Anyways,
you should get some rest," Marissa stood up, kissed Craig one last time. The others said their goodbyes and followed Marissa as she left the med ward and led them into a dark, empty corridor. "What now," asked Tyler. At first, Marissa didn't answer. It seemed she was thinking about something. Finally, she spoke. "Who's sleepy?"
"Are you the only one here?" asked Tricia. Her, Madison and Marissa had all made it back to the assembly room, and were sitting down waiting for the boys to return. Marissa chuckled. "Of course not, there's Craig, and then Eric who's cleaning off the basement." Tricia perked brow.. "Cleaning off?" "I guess I should say... finishing off. We had a minor zombie problem down there." Just then, Tyler and Curtis came back through the back-door of the assembly hall, along with a soldier, covered in blood. Tricia could tell he was about Tyler's age, with tanned skin and short black hair and cold grey-brown eyes. He was wearing a
blue fatigue shirt and army pants, with a cross tattoe on his right arm and small scar above his left eyebrow. An M16 was also slung around his back. Kind of cute, thought Tricia, If he didn't have that scowl etched onto face. Tyler and Curtis walked past him, and moved to sit down with the others.
"Hi Eric," said Marissa casually. "Where's Xena?" "I chained her.", Eric paused, then continued, "You brought them in here?" he asked cooly. Tyler narrowed his eyes, and spoke up, "Yeah, she brought us in. What's the problem?" Eric ignored the young biker and kept his gaze on Marissa. "I told you.... never
open those gates." Marissa looked down, "I had to, they were about to die." Curtis spoke up, "Look, please, we came here looking for help." "Like that means shit to me," answered Eric, continuing with, "Let me get one thing straight. This is our base, and if you're going to stay here, you live under our rules." Tricia had the feeling that Eric really wanted to say "MY" rules. Wiping blood off his fatigues, Eric gave them all a menacing look and then walked out of the
assembly hall. "What a dick," said Tyler. Tricia giggled and nodded in agreement. Then she looked over to her left. Madison was standing there, slumped
against the wall, a spaced out-look in her eyes. Tricia felt bad for her. --She must still be freaked out... but we all are...-- "Well," said Marissa with a big
smile, "Don't mind him, he's really not that bad!" Marissa stood up and followed Eric outside the assembly room. The others all exchanged looks, and then,
guessing they were supposed to follow, left the assembly room as well. Tricia was the first to catch up to Marissa, the female soldier was in some sort of control room with Eric. The others caught up, but Eric didn't even bother to turn around and acknowledge them. In the middle of the room, was a wide green table that stretched from wall to the other. The table was covered in various radio equipment and monitor screens that gave different camera views of the base
interior. Eric was apparently trying to get the radios working, and failing, as each time he tried all that came out was loud static. "So I'm guessing... no luck?" piped Marissa. "Good guess." Eric stepped back from the table and folded his arms across his chest, keeping his eyes to the control panel.
"We're getting some kind of signal from the main base though..."
"Survivors?"
"Probably."
"Can either of you two tell us what's going on here?" asked Curtis. Eric turned slightly to answer, "We know as much as you know Padre. The world's a hellhole and we're all at Shit's Square." "Then what happened to this base," continued Curtis, "We were told it was a safe sanctuary." Marissa chuckled softly before answering, "It "Was' safe.....both bases were safe. See the gates on the other side of the walls were breached. By that time we got them shut again, enough of the monsters had already leaked in. We were all over at the main base, but had to evacuate. Only a handful of us made it out." Tricia looked up
and thought she saw Eric's fists clench, but then, just like that, the hands were un-clenched again. Eric took in a deep breath and turned around to face them. "About those rules I was talking about earlier." He made sure everyone was listenining before going on, "As you can already tell, this base isn't fully secured. From what we know, there's still a lot of creatures on the top floors. We've managed to secure the first and second floors, for the most part." "Hey Eric, I'm going to give them the tour," said Marissa. Eric shrugged and turned back to the radio monitors,
"...Go for it."
"Great!!"
With a wide grin, Marissa motioned for the others to follow her back outside, while Eric remained in the control room trying to fix the equipment. Once they were back outside, Marissa turned to the others and winked. "Now that you've had the pleasure of meeting Eric... let's go meet Craig!"
------------
"Um...." Tricia stood in the med ward, shifting her feet uncomfortably, along with the others. They had met Craig, who was lying in a hospital bed, suffering from an injury. Marissa and had been tongue-wrestling Craig for going on.... 2 minutes now. Curtis cleared his throat, "Uh... guys?" As if waking up from a dream, Marissa pulled back from the bed-ridden Craig and turned around. "Oh right, guys, Craig. Craig, guys." Her face was a little flushed. "Nice to meet
ya," said Craig. He had a heavy Australian accent. "What happened to your head?" asked Madison, pointing to the bandage around Craig's forehead. "Ah,
nothing to worry about. Bloody monster knocked me down is all. Hit my head on one of 'em shutters."It's a good thing Eric and Kara showed up or...". "Craig, we lost Kara.." said Marissa. Her eyes were going red and she was looking down at the floor. "Damn...how's Eric holding up?" "He's managing. Anyways,
you should get some rest," Marissa stood up, kissed Craig one last time. The others said their goodbyes and followed Marissa as she left the med ward and led them into a dark, empty corridor. "What now," asked Tyler. At first, Marissa didn't answer. It seemed she was thinking about something. Finally, she spoke. "Who's sleepy?"