THE COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT.
Is in the OOC blog. Please have a gander at it. :)
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@beau-cooke
THE COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT.
Is in the OOC blog. Please have a gander at it. :)
teamomiamor falaheewrites chayyawrites raesthetique abugwrites
Hadley glanced at Beau through her eyelashes, noting how tired he seemed. She couldn’t help but wonder how much sleep he actually managed to get nowadays. “Might as well catch it while you can,” She agreed and patted his leg from her spot on the hard flat of the truck bed. It wasn’t the most lofty sleeping position (although it saved her ass from falling asleep by spreading the numbness throughout her body), but it was a position that gave her a semblance of four walls and a roof of stars and no shamblers in sight- and for that, she’s grateful. “Night, kiddo.”
→ end.
Beau sighed as he walked through the trees around them. At least in Colorado they didn't have to worry about water so long as they followed the river that they were on. But he couldn't help but miss the truck. Regardless, at least he'd gotten a good amount of sleep while they had it so he could actually stay upright while they moved through the underbrush. The new people were interesting, but they seemed nice enough and shared their food, plus Alex seemed to trust them, so that meant he would. A familiar face popped into his mind and he sighed, glancing at the figure next to him as he readjusted his backpack. "I wonder how Jack's doing."
“No thanks,” Hadley assured him as she closed her eyes against the sky. Her hands rested, entwined, below her chest as if that would quell her desire for something other than stale cereal. “It’s all yours.” Finding food that hadn’t reached a point of no return and wasn’t berries or leaves was a rare occasion, but the last thing she wanted was something sweet that would make her crave something so, so bitter.
Beau shrugged and pulled the bag back before taking out another handful and popping it into his mouth. "Suit yourself," he said around a full mouth. After a few more handfuls he found himself closing the bag back up and putting it in his bag, his stomach satisfied for now. He exhaled heavily before laying back down on the ledge and closing his eyes. He yawned again, reaching up and covering his mouth with a fist while he did. "I think I'm gonna..." He cleared his throat as he started to drift already. "I think I'm gonna nap." He just hoped the nightmares would leave him alone for at least 20 minutes.
Abby sighed, head rocking back a little. “No one plans on getting hurt,” she said under her breath. And if, perhaps, he couldn’t walk as well because his boots didn’t fit right, his chance of getting hurt went up significantly. She slipped her hand through his, squeezed. “Just be careful.”She felt like she was always telling her brother that – be careful. Be careful, please be careful.
Beau looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, squeezing her hand in return. He gave her a reassuring smile; he worried about how much Abby worried sometimes. It was why he tried to get her to smile as much as possible--he didn't need her shutting down on him. "Careful is my middle name, little girl," he teased.
Jazz quickly whistled back while stabbing the zombie as a hold, using her knife to slice its face. She was dispassionate as she stared at its twitching body, her foot on its chest as she speared it in the neck for good measure. “Wait,” she said, rolling onto the ground. She looked up, her spear in one hand. “I may need some help.” There were far more than she expected closing in on her.
Beau quickly slid through the trees toward where he heard Jazz’s voice come from, sounding a little distressed. He moved quietly enough to make sure he didn’t alert them to where he was and attacked quickly from behind, cutting one down with his axe. He moved to where she was and held out his hand for her to grab. “Come on,” he muttered as he glanced around. There were only two left.
A crooked smile pulled at the corners of her lips insistently at the mention of Beau’s little sister. For the most part, she ignored it and the feeling it gave her, which she didn’t know what to make of, and instead focused on the rattling of stale cereal pieces. “To win you have to cheat now, whether you’re dealing cards or trying to survive,” Hadley frowned toward the sky as she reached above her head to pat him on the leg. “Nah, it’s yours. Just wanted to make sure you got it.” Of course, she wouldn’t tell him directly it was for overstepping the other night; she wouldn’t tell him she found it a lunchbox they passed in their travels and thought of him either. There was a side Hadley would show to protect everyone else, and a side she wouldn’t show which helped protect herself, so she could just hope her caught on anyways.
Beau said a soft, "Thanks," before he opened the baggie and took out a handful before popping it in his mouth. He knew what it was about, she didn't have to say it outloud. He knew Hadley well enough to know she didn't say things outloud--especially when it came to emotions. But he guessed it was some sort of an apology. After chewing, he closed his eyes again but held out the bag. "Here, have some, I'm not going to sit here and hog it."
Hadley couldn’t help but think of Gabe and how he really tried to be the guy everyone needed him to be. The good guy. The smart guy. The kind guy. The guy she wishes she could have feelings for. “Civilization ended years ago, kiddo, cheating doesn’t exist anymore,” She assured him, letting her eyelids close against the stars in the sky and the sound of his yawn. “Hey… you got the cereal I stuffed in your bag the other day, right?”
Beau chuckled and nodded. "Guess so. No wonder Abby cheats at cards so often, then," he joked. When she mentioned the cereal, he opened his eyes and looked at her. "That was you? I thought one of you just put it in my bag on accident, I still have it," he pulled his bag into his lap and fiddled around in it for a second before pulling it out and holding it up. "Do you want it back?" It was no secret that Beau’s favorite post-apocalyptic snack was stale cereal, but he wasn’t about to eat something that was someone else’s.
Hadley didn’t need him to voice what he was thinking about, because she already knew. It was partly the reason she trained her eyes on the sky from within the bed of the truck instead of sitting up and watching the grounders shamble around them instead. Having this truck gives them time to be on a different level than what they’re used to and she was savoring every second of it. “Guess it’s a good thing I saved his ass then.”
Beau let out a short chuckle and nodded. “It definitely is, because then we wouldn’t have a truck.” Exhaling, he felt the exhaustion from the last few days wash over him. Sometimes he really wondered how long a human could go without sleeping. Sometimes he’d been able to go a few days and sometimes up to five or six--one or two times even longer--but he always came down and finally slept eventually. It wasn’t a healthy way to live, but it’s just how it was nowadays. “Least we don’t have to exhaust ourselves walking,” his words were slightly slurred as they came out, tiredness ebbing at his consciousness. “It almost feels like we’re cheating,” he said around a yawn.
Hadley tipped her head upward, craning to see the source of the voice even though she knew who spoke without even looking. She didn’t budge from her position at Beau’s feet, laying on her back with her head on her pack as she stared up at the sky moving quickly above them, legs crossed at the ankles. “Thanks to me.” Fingers played aimlessly with the long string of worn beads wrapped around her wrist as a makeshift-bracelet (or at least that’s what she called it to anyone that asked). “And Gabe,” came the low admittance as the truck found its way through empty streets and abandoned towns.
"Yes, thanks to you and Gabe," he echoed, closing his eyes again and just letting himself relax for a moment. It was nice, not having to worry about one of the dead stumbling over their camp--not having to worry about getting eaten alive if they closed their eyes for five seconds. “You two are quite the team when you put your heads together.”
Beau sighed a breath of relief, his head flopping back against the window of the truck as he wrapped his arms further around himself and closed his eyes. He cracked one of his eyes open to look at one of his companions in the bed of the truck. “It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s a nice change of pace from walking.” He might even get some sleep in the back of the truck, as loud as it was.
knick knack pack. sack of wonders. mary poppin’s bag. bag of treasures.
Beau’s backpack goes by many names among the group, since he seems to be the ‘hoarder’ among them. Beau is the type of guy that likes going on scavenges for supplies because you can always find something cool, and so he has a little sack of knick knacks as well as, well, highly useful things.
The size of his backpack is a decent size, he took it off of a dead marine just as they were leaving the caves. He only kept a few things in it, but for the most part everything else was useless and he didn’t see the reason to keep it. So needless to say, his backpack is huge so that it can fit everything he carries. But at the same time, it’s shockingly light on his back.
Or maybe he’s just carried it for too long.
SENTIMENTAL ITEMS / KNICK KNACKS:
Dad’s wrist watch: He didn’t realize he had their dad’s watch until he found it in his pocket a day after his death; he must have slipped it in there. It doesn’t work anymore, but he still has it.
Generation ring (alternates between hanging around his neck and being in his pack): “Take this; it’s the last thing I have, the only thing I grabbed. It was given to me by my dad and his dad before that and so on, it’s been in the family for years--I was going to give it to you on your birthday, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening. Beau? You take care of them, Beau. You protect your mother and baby sister--they need you.”
Family photo: It’s ripped in one spot and torn at the edges, from some Christmas before the turn. It’s not a typical ‘happy-smiling’ picture, but rather a really dorky one. Beau and Abby both have reindeer antlers on, with Beau on their mom’s back and Abby on their dad’s, and their parents are looking at each other confused.
Weed pipe: It’s wrapped in an old Crown Royal bag, and it’s the last of his giant collection he had before the turn.
Leatherman multi-tool: This could go under ‘actually useful items’ as well, but it’s sentimental to Beau because he’s had it since he was 16. His dad bought him a really nice one when he graduated Scouts.
Several guitar picks: He doesn’t know why he keeps them, maybe he thinks eventually he’ll get another guitar, but his original was lost in the caves.
Hockey puck/baseball: They’re probably two of the heaviest items in his backpack, but both of them mean a lot to him. A lot of the time you can find him laying on his back tossing one of them up in the air while he thinks.
PERSONAL ITEMS:
2 cartons of cigarettes: Not packs, cartons. As in 12 packs per carton.
20+ pens: Beau has a weird habit of writing all over himself. He writes memories, movie quotes he remembers, quotes from books, things he thinks he should remember, things he remembers his parents saying, etc. He won’t keep a pen that’s out of ink, though.
Emergency cereal: Call him stupid, but he has a small/medium sized baggie of Fruit Loops he’s saved for a little under a year now. It’s his emergency food, and he won’t eat it until he’s literally been starved for like a week and it truly is an emergency.
The Last Joint: He literally calls it The Last Joint, it’s covered in plastic wrap and in two baggies for protection in a zipped pocket on the inside of his backpack. It’s the last of his weed from after the turn, and he won’t smoke it until he literally thinks he’ll die soon. He just hopes he gets the chance to smoke it before he does.
One pair of underwear: It’s stuffed into the bottom of his pack because he’s embarrassed over it--he doesn’t want the others to think he’s stupid for keeping something as dumb as a pair of underwear.
One pack of condoms: He grabbed them without thinking about half a year ago when they had to stay in an abandoned drug store over night. He didn’t let Abby see, because he didn’t want her to make fun of him. The package originally had 12--but now he’s down to 8, because he bartered condoms for food with another group when they were desperate once (Abby still doesn’t know this).
Deck of cards: Thankfully, he knows a few games other than ‘Go Fish’. The cards are worn at the edges and have a bit of water damage but he’s kept them pretty safe, and they’ve entertained him and Abby quite a bit over the last years.
ACTUALLY USEFUL ITEMS:
Zip ties: He found a bundle of zip ties, there are about 100 of them in the bundle of several different sizes.
Lighters: He has about 10-15 lighters, perks of being a stoner before the apocalypse, he supposes.
Small sewing kit: Abby gave him a funny look when he got excited over the fact they’d ended up in an elderly woman’s house who appeared to love to sew, but he says one day she’ll understand why he took the little zip up bag with a bunch of string and needles in it one day (though he hopes she won’t, in all reality).
Small first aid kit: There isn’t much in it. A few things of small gauze, a few bandaids, a small thing of medical tape. He’s hoping to find a better first aid kit in the future.
Maps: He has three maps, one of Colorado, one of Wyoming and one of Montana, all of which he collected and marked up when him and Abby were by themselves.
Water bottle: It’s a decent sized water bottle, and he keeps it strapped to the outside of his pack when he doesn’t have one of his smaller ones filled.
Credit cards: He originally thought the idea of keeping it was stupid, but someone in the Caves showed him how to jimmy a lock with it so now he has a few he’s collected in case they break.
One bottle of Tylenol: There’s only about 20 pills left, but he’s determined to make them last and save them for an emergency.
One roll of duct tape: He only has about a half a roll left, but it’ll work.
2 large garbage bags, rolled up tightly: You never know when you might need a garbage bag.
USMC KA-Bar Combat Knife: He keeps it sheathed in the pack, but he used it a great deal before he found his axe. It was originally in the pack when he picked it up, and he’s used
Abby had no response for that. The fact was, she wouldn’t trade Beau for anything. Wouldn’t rather have a different brother, an older sister, a younger brother. As hard as it sometimes was, as guilty as she always felt. “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me,” she murmured, voice small. Swallowing, she looked to his boots, wrinkled her nose. “Tell me if it rubs or something, okay? You don’t want to get a blister.” In their conditions a blister would be more than just an annoyance. It could burst and get infected or just not heal from constant exacerbation…
Beau furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at his sister. "Who said anything about getting hurt? I'm not planning on getting hurt for a long time, thank you." He nudged her playfully, though he knew that it was always a possibility. There was always a chance something could go wrong out here. One mistep and... he didn't want to think about it. He followed her gaze down to his boot and squeezed her a little tighter. "I will, but I'm sure it's going to be fine."
After catching his water bottle, Jack held the object parallel to his line-of-sight as he examined just how much Beau had taken. It wasn’t much. In fact, it was hardly anything, but it would keep Beau hydrated for a little while longer. Hopefully, they’d come across a water source in that time. A gesture of benevolence was making him feel rather uncomfortable in his own skin, and he wasn’t particularly in the mood to have to make another to the same person. “Mhm,” Jack murmured lowly, packing his water bottle back into his bag as he brushed passed the older Cooke.
→ end.
She huffed out a sigh, making to snap at his finger with her teeth. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it…” she mumbled in response. Beau couldn’t understand the guilt that fell over her when he gave up something for her. He would never understand it, she thought. And they could go back and forth forever: it was his decision what he did with his things, etc, etc. But she would never be okay with her brother going without — be it a shoelace or water. Not when they were constantly on the edge of life and death out here. Giving another sigh, she waved her hand at his shoes. “Can you even walk like that?”
He chuckled over her snapping at him and pulled his hand back. "I know, but that's what big brothers do, so you've got to accept it sooner or later." Three years later and she still hadn't, and that didn't count how they were before the apocalypse because it was honestly very similar. Maybe in another ten years, or fifty. If they made it that long. He looked down at his boot and nodded. "Definitely, you'd be surprised how well it works. It's a little tight, but it's alright."
Beau cleared his throat, pulling his axe from off of his hip as he walked up to the moaning bag of flesh, pressing one hand into it’s chest as he sliced clean into it’s head. As it thudded to the ground, he strapped the weapon back to his hip and squinted in the dark, looking for any more of them around the perimeter of the camp. He whistled low and loud, The Company’s typical call as he moved over to where his partner for the check was. “All good over there?” he asked in a louder whisper.
Before standing, she shot her brother a freezing hot look. Sighing something impatient, she rose and shook her head. “Not what I meant, and you know it.” It was a constant balance for the two of them to walk, the idea of giving up, sacrificing, for her. “Like you said — it’s a shoelace. I could’ve just as well taken those zipties,” she pointed out. “Or figured something else out. You didn’t have to…do that.” Even as she spoke, Abby knew that it wouldn’t matter. Beau was always going to look out for her — even at the expense of his own comfort or even health. That was just…how it was with them.
Beau sighed and moved to wrap his arm around his little sister's shoulders, pulling her into his side. "It's alright, Abs, I'll find one on a skin puppet later, I'm pretty sure there's no scarce amount of shoelaces in the world," he teased, though in reality he gave her his own because he knew his sister. He knew that while she might act like she didn't think about the zombies that much, she did. If she took a shoelace off of one she'd probably think about who they were and why they had the shoelace to begin with--it's just how she was. And any time Beau could keep her from that, he would. "I said it's okay, so what does that mean?" he said softly, reaching up to poke her in the nose.