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@pfz-calvin
I like to headcanon that the group of scientists/students barricaded in the school sent soldiers out for stupid luxuries like coffee or cigarettes. They’d get yelled at about health code as they smoked in the building while going over notes but really gave few shits.
They dressed professionally still and kept the place as organized and homey as they could for as long as they could.
And of course because it’s convenient I’m using the Hour cast.
"Are you insane?"- s1e4
Trespassers || Anjali, Calvin, Kate
Listening to the sound behind the door, Anjali was trying to figure out if there was more than one occupant within when she heard Kate call out to her. Taking a few steps back, she had turned away from the staff room when the front door hinges squealed, and the lights dimmed further. Anjali blinked as her vision adjusted to the sudden darkness and the contrast of her torch beam on the wall ahead. A warning would’ve been nice, though there was enough stress in Calvin’s tone to keep her from sniping at him for it.
If he was suggesting they hole up in here, there must’ve been something worse outside. She had been hoping to make it into the town proper before dusk, maybe lie in a real bed for a change. Not to mention the idea of getting themselves cornered in here was far from ideal, though at least there appeared to be provisions in the form of expired junk foods and warm sodas.
Keeping still, she angled the penlight to give Kate a clear path in her direction, then waved it up at the ceiling to give Calvin an indication where to meet them. The space wasn’t that large, but it seemed to stretch on longer when it was almost pitch black. Hopefully, he’d be able to navigate his way through the store without tripping over anything. Any sound would guarantee more attention drawn to them than desired.
When both were within earshot, she resumed illuminating the door she had found. “It opens inward. I couldn’t make out how many are behind it, but I’d wager your guess is right. More than one.” There had been enough to deter the last person—or people—to make the mistake of coming in here.
But as they had all seemed to mutually agree to sticking here a little longer, her mind went straight to strategy. “We could bottleneck them. Open it part of the way, stab the first thing that sticks its ugly face through the gap, yeah? Then let the next one come at us. Go one by one.” Slow, but methodical and less dangerous than flinging the door open and going to town.
Anjali was all for minimising risk, and she thought the other two were of similar mindset. She considered herself lucky for that; of all the people in the world she could have been stuck with, the two in present company now were remarkably easy to live with. Sure, Calvin wasn’t exactly a fighter, and Kate could be withdrawn, but those traits weren’t problematic. When it counted, they managed to pull together. It was a far better situation than some of the groups she’d been involved with before.
The plywood of the door seemed to have been put up quickly by the gas station’s previous occupants which left a few thin cracks that allowed weak beams of sunlight to shine inside. While they did little to help the three humans navigate safely, he use such an opportunity to peek through and confirm his own suspicions. Shuffling into the open came one, two, three undead who seemed content to wander aimlessly around the small lot. The actually shop garnered no interest from them and Calvin was content enough to turn back onto the room.
As his eyes adjusted, he noticed the penlight shining on the ceiling. Stepping over various debris and abandoned, useless loot, his nose wrinkled as the smell grew the closer he got to the women. Weaving between aisles gave him the few extra seconds to regret his suggestion, almost preferring to face whatever waited them outside than inside.
He remained silent however and joined them to inspect the door.
“Anjali and I will brace the door,” He spoke up, nodding to said woman and her plan of action before turning to Kate. “The undead should do little more than push against the door as they’ve shown no grasp of, well, grasp. Losing grip should not be an issue. Use your sword to stab at whatever comes through.”
He preferred not to ask where she managed to locate a katana in southern Georgia, but did question her precision with such a weapon. Whacking freely at undead was one thing, but not accidentally cutting up your companions was another.
“Just watch your aim. I’d prefer not to lose my nose…or ear,” He joked humorlessly as he moved around her to the door.
Trespassers || Anjali, Kate, Calvin
Anjali caught Kate’s eye, returning the smirk. “Concern noted. Though with that sword of yours, I shouldn’t have to fire, at all.” Nevertheless, she had the other female covered if there were more walkers lurking just out of reach. She didn’t intend to waste any bullets by blindly firing, either—unless they happened to stumble across another gun store, they would be out of ammunition soon. The knife at her belt was always loose in its sheath, and the pry axe hanging from a strap on her pack was within easy reach.
"Keep the door open," she remarked to Calvin as she filed in behind the former cop, gun drawn, but not quite raised. Anjali had to hold her breath; the air was rotten, even more balmy than the atmosphere outside. It was unsurprisingly dark, illuminated only by the sun rays behind them, and slivers of light peeking between boards. There was a pen light in her pocket, though it probably wouldn’t do much to help see into the furthest corners of the shop from where they were stood. At a glance, she saw nothing in motion besides Kate ahead of her, though it was hard to tell what might’ve been around the next corner.
No one was at the counter by the door, and the register had been cleared out and left open. Even the cigarette case had been broken into; whomever had done it had a favourite brand, apparently. She made note of it, and moved on. They could get a better look after they secured the space. Wordlessly, she peeled off from the group and went to the left side of the store, slowly looking down each aisle. Given the disarray, it was clear that someone had already been here and raided supplies, but the shelves weren’t completely emptied. From here, she could make out the shapes of boxes and bottles.
Reaching the last row, she stalked towards the far wall of glass cases. The smell was worse in the back, probably from all the spoiled goods still in the powerless refrigerators—and possibly from something else. Raising her light, she noticed dark smears on the glass doors, and what appeared to be a hand print. More dried blood. Glancing down, Anjali could see the trail leading back to the front door…and a separate path leading to another door, labeled ‘STAFF ONLY’.
Something behind it growled and began pawing at the wood between them.
Calvin was more than happy to stay near the door, holding it open as the two armed women proceeded in. Even at the bridge where the fresh air met the balmy, he could pinpoint the smell of rotting flesh anywhere. After dissected an immeasurable number of walker bodies and extracting whatever brains remained whole, he’d hoped never to smell anything as rancid again after heading out on his own.
Turns out it was just as common outside.
Leaning against the door, Calvin’s fingers brushed idly against the pistol strapped to his side, scanning the road that had led them here. If they were lucky, the small group might stumble across a town if the gas-station was anything to go off of. Even a house would be a miracle. After spending a good number of night camped out in abandoned cars or out in the open if they found their luck against them, anywhere with a lock would do.
Or a bed!
Calvin could hear thumping and rattling coming from within the store, but his attention went instead to a rustling from a nearby lining of trees. Fingers curling around the handle of his pistol, he pushed a loose piece of concrete in front of the door as a makeshift jam and stepped closer towards the disturbance.
When the brush rustled again and muffled growling emitted from the darkness of the gas-station, Calvin moved quickly to the bag he’d left outside and swung it up onto his shoulders. A similar, not-so-muffled groan moved closer through the treelines and he quickly retook his post at the door. After kicking the concrete away, he closed it behind him and submerged the group in shadow.
“I’m…sure we can put up with the smell for a night,” He suggested quietly towards the dark figures of the two women from across the room.
Trespassers || Anjali, Kate, Calvin
"Just like it said," Anjali muttered under her breath upon reaching the crest of the hill, removing the hand she’d used to shield her eyes from the midday sun. She could see the petrol station on the horizon, almost exactly a mile from the last sign they had passed on the highway. It was only a few metres more to go until they would reach the front door. The short measure was suddenly heartening after their long walk. Her neck was still stiff from the cramped quarters they’d made out of an abandoned sedan overnight. She had let Calvin and Kate fight over the backseat, choosing to curl up in the driver’s side until dawn broke.
Her heels kicked up dust across broken pavement as they marched into the lot; she kept her mouth shut then, and her hand resting on the grip of her gun. Nothing moved within sight, but it didn’t hurt to exercise caution. The nearest building was the store, and adjacent to it was an auto repair shop. Both had been abandoned some time ago by the looks of things.
The signs by the pumps were rusted over, weathered by a year of passing storms and no one around to touch up the letters. Weeds had sprung up between every crack in the ground, winding up and over the broken down ice machine out front and threatening to push inside the low brick building. She couldn’t see inside the store—where there should have been glass panes were, instead, thick boards of plywood, almost as worn as the signage hanging off the roof above. Someone had even taken the time to graffiti in thick, black spray: OPEN @ UR OWN RISK. Beside it, a skull and crossbones, with ‘X’s for eyes. How charming.
The door had been chained at some point in time, but the metal links were now just hanging off the handles uselessly. Her toe found the lock that once went with it, broken clean with bolt cutters. Looking even closer now, she could see a trail of dark stains leading away from the door. Clearly, they weren’t the first people to arrive—nor were they the only ones to consider ignoring the warning. Anjali turned to the pair behind her, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. “Still worth a try, don’t you think?”
Calvin shrugged his satchel up his shoulders as he dawdled behind the two women, keeping all his pissing and moaning tucked beneath a dry tongue. Aside from the looming sense of danger that prickled the hairs on the nape of his neck, all he could think about was the near empty jug of water dangling from his bag. Petrol station or not, choosing to follow the road over the hill had only pulled them away from any natural water sources they might have stumbled across otherwise.
…Heaven forbid Georgia bless them with even a puddle.
As they made it to the blessed shade of the overhanging shelter above the pumping stations, the lean man let the bag slide from his shoulders and to the concrete with a soft thump. A hand brushed up to his neck as he kneaded his knuckles into the knot that had formed from an awkward night in the passenger seat.
He didn’t care about the rusted, desolate condition the station was in considering everything they had come across in their short time together had been the same. Every refuge they crossed had been left to decay and every car abandoned to be reclaimed by nature. The station was no exception.
Calvin was only lulled out of his sore reverie by the distant suggestions of Anjali, turning to find the nervous prickling on the back of his neck grow. Leaving his bag sitting against one of the fueling stations, the lean man crossed to the morbidly decorated entrance and gazed over her shoulder, his ever-present frown deepening.
“…We’re either going to find that whoever broke the chain killed whatever was inside…or that we’ve got twice the problem to deal with,” He murmured, eyes flickering between the warning and the blood on the floor. Brushing a hand against his cheek, the man took a few steps back and looked between the two women, silently weighing the situation.
There was no way they could simply continue past the petrol station without looking inside considering how far they’d come… But he wasn’t prepared to risk himself OR the first medical professional he’d met since leaving the university.
Which left…
“Why don’t you take point, Kate?”
SURVEY: Calvin/Capricorn
OUT OF CHARACTER:
Player Name: Katlyn/Katie
PFRP Character: A.I. Capricorn ( Calvin )
FOLLOW: pfz-calvin
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