Forum Thread

The sun was rising slowly in the sky, casting an eerie shade of reddish pink through out the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. On the wind was the chill of the ending winter, the arrival of spring bringing forth little buds and patches of growing grass... Unfortunately, the winter had done nothing to slow the undead threat that still roamed the environment. Nestled amongst the branches of a pine tree was Knoxville, the woman scowling under her hood at the fact that she could still see her breath in the air.

She was growing tired of the constant chill, and her usual clothing attire didn't provide enough heat. Lighting a fire was almost out of the question, the smoke and light practically screaming 'All You Can Eat' to any infected in the area. Clutching her crowbar tightly-once again scowling, though this time at the cold of the metal-she began her slow decent out of her tree. She had to move, both to find, and try to get the cold out of her joints. Finally reaching the base of the tree, she dropped to the forest floor, her only company being the quiet chirps of the early birds in the forest...

Or so she thought.

---

Dennis, though better known as Twitch, was also walking through the forest, though for much different purposes than mere survival of the fittest. If he was unable to map this piece into the infallible GPS of a mind he had, then he could end up out of a job: and without a job, he would end up without protection, and without protection, he wouldn't get food, and without food he would...No. He had to stop right now. A panic attack at this moment would do more harm then it ever would do good, and it only cause him to grip his nailed club even harder, his white knuckles twitching, following in time with his head.

Dropping one hand to his side, Twitch bumped the inner wrist against his thigh to an invisible tune playing on the radio no one else could hear, blaring inside his head. His stomach growled, groaned, and complained but it was unknown to him as what sufficed for music filled all of his thoughts. Daring not to whistle, the snap of a nearby twig was no unknown to him, and bracing his club, Dennis warily faced the foe, despite the face it was blatantly obvious he was not used to fighting.

Words flew from her mouth in a hushed whisper, her eyes glaring at the twig she had stepped on as if it were the wood's fault. Keeping her for tense, she listened for any sign of life that could have heard the noise. She was almost relaxed when her emerald eyes landed on... another human? Her knuckles turned white as she clutched her crowbar, a surge of adrenaline sending blood pumping painfully through her shoulder. Shaking off her shock, she eyed this person from under her hood, hoping that they were some infected... Or worse, a looter with their own agenda. Her hands stayed at her sides, but she was poised to either fight or run should this turn ugly.

---

Grouching behind a dumpster, Kevin peered out on the street: Only a couple of zombies on sight. Should he go for it or wait for the path to clear out. He felt his heart hammering in his chest as he looked for a way out, gripping the baseball bat on his hand. He gave a short litany of hushed curses as he weighted his options, he wouldn't stay hidden forever. He needed to move, sooner rather than later.

He should have never ventured into the city in the first place, he should've kept hidden but he was desperate to find Trevor. He had been pretty sure Trevor might've gone to the city to find water, food and such but he wasn't so sure anymore. Trevor was wiser than that, he would keep a good distance away from those things now that he didn't have Kevin as back-up. Something, that hadn't occurred to Kevin.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kevin saw an opening and took it with no hesitation. He dashed into an alley and almost ran into the arms of a zombie. Coming to a halt just a few meters from the zombie, Kevin swung his bat as the undead started coming at him. The bat connected with the skull of the zombie with a sickening crunch. Losing its balance, the zombie fell to the ground but it wasn't finished yet. Cursing his lack of aim or strenght, whichever caused his unsuccesfull zombie kill, Kevin stomped on the zombie's head, finishing it off.

---

Dennis sucked in his breath, before relaxing. "No need to attack me..." he said warily, dropping the club and putting his hands up, though quietly slipping his Army Knife into his sleeve. Just in case. "Twitch. All natural GPS." he said quickly, not daring to move a muscle, just in case. "Maybe you've heard of me?" he said a bit more quietly, though with a twinge of hope that he was becoming well known. Involuntarily twitching his hand, Dennis glanced back up, hoping it wouldn't be taken as a sign of hostility.

She watched his every move, green orbs wild dimming down as she came to the conclusion to trust this man... For now. Slipping her crowbar through one of her belt loops, she crossed her arms over her chest, finally relaxing her body. "Knoxville's the name, leave it at that." she called, fiddling with the draw string of her bow that was snuggly strapped over her shoulder. "I might've heard of you... Can't say for sure." she muttered, tapping into her memory. She had heard some men talking about someone named Twitch when she was sneaking about their camp about a week ago, but she didn't stay long enough to hear the rest of their conversation.

Her eyes locked onto his twitching hand, eyes narrowing, but she made no move for her crowbar. Guess he's called Twitch for a reason... she thought dully, shifting on her feet. "So, all natural GPS... What brings you to this side of the forest. Plenty of undead are around, and I'm sure you're not here for the view..."

---

Grinning, Dennis continued bouncing his hand on his sleeve, wincing as the army knife fell out. Hoping that she didn't notice, he continued with his grin, adding the verbal narration. "Don't worry. I'm grinning because now that I'm gaining popularity, I may get in a meal. I cam here to add to my map. Made it here from Kentucky. Know a safe trail there and back, over the border, that sort of thing. It's my knack." he stopped grinning. "Wait, how many undead are there around here?" he quickly said, grabbing his club and bracing for a fight, his eyes widening; quickly changing his mind, Twitch dropped the club and put his hand to his head, calming the panic. "Can I trust you?" he said quietly, the wave of panic slowing to a gentle lap.

A brow hidden by her hood was raised, but she made no comment about the knife. He had every right to the precaution. "Quite an interesting knack... There's about ten just south of here, and five I think to the west of them. Hint why I'm heading the opposite direction you were going." she replied, glancing back the way she came just in case. She scoffed at the question, eyes narrowing all while fighting the urge to clutch at her shoulder. "Probably not." she said, sarcastic honesty ringing through her voice. "But you can learn to. I ain't asking for much. Just don't as questions about me, and I won't as questions about you."

---

"Okay, okay, sure." Dennis said quickly, still holding his thumb and second finger to his forehead, keeping the panic at bay. "If I were to say, collapse, would you please just put me in a tree or something like that?" he muttered, beginning to shiver, his twitching climbing up his arm to his head. "Not too much to ask, right?" he managed, before going to a tree and sinking to the ground.

"Providing that I can lift you, sure." She watched as he sunk under the tree, smirking at his actions. And she thought she was bad... "Are you trying to say 'All You Can Eat'...? Because you're doing a pretty good job just sitting there." Knoxville muttered, walking over to fallen male. "Come on now, man up." Offering a small smile, she held out her hand for him to take, crowbar swaying at her side. "If anything gets bad, I'm sure we can handle it. Fifteen of those things are a cake walk."

---

Grimacing at the zombie blood and other stuff he really didn't want to think about covering his shoe, Kevin glanced around the alley warily. He felt exposed out on the open. He spotted an open door into a building that might have been a bar, of course he could be wrong too but that didn't really matter, did it? Deciding it might offer some cover, Kevin slipped inside the building soundlessly. Bad idea. He stopped dead in his tracks as multiple sets of undead eyes peered at him across from the dim lit room.

Maybe he had somehow transformed into some kind of zombie magnet or he was just simply having bad luck that day but it certainly wasn't helping him to find Trevor. Kevin bolted back on the street and took off running. He could hear the zombies chasing after him and he was attracting more of them to join the chase as he prooceeded to run further. For short, he was screwed.

Spotting the edge of the forest, Kevin ran into the woods, hoping he could somehow lose the zombies there. Fat chance. They were still on his heels and he was starting to get tired, too bad the zombies didn't have the same problem. Hoping that these zombies weren't smart enough to climb trees, Kevin grabbed a branch of a fairly big tree, dropping his baseball bat in the progress, and hurled himself out of the zombies' reach just in time.

Kevin climbed a bit higher to get more distance between himself and the hungry undead. Once he was satisfied with the height he was in, he sat on a branch and peered at the zombies through the leaves while trying to catch his breath. They didn't seem to be able to follow after him but Kevin had a problem nevertheless. He was stuck on that stupid tree.

---

"Look, okay, I can get you anywhere, just, please help me calm down or something?" he wheezed, falling to the ground. He suddenly felt like he would throw up....Dennis managed to keep the usual trembling down to a minimum (that was usually the thing that set people off), and kept his had down as the choking feeling rose with the burning bile...his head was light as a helium balloon. This was the climax, and would only get better from here. He'd had these enough times to know the climax. For now all he could do was wait for it to be over, and hope to God that the girl in front of him wouldn't run away.

A frown etched its way across Knoxville's hooded face, her brows furrowing together. How am I suppose to help you calm down..? she thought, crossing her arms. "Er... Uh...just breathe or something... Piss, I don't know..." She sighed lightly, though she found her form tense as they sound of rustling reached her ears. Hurried footsteps along the forest floor, something hard thunking against the ground. "Twitch, I know you're having a moment here, but we gotta move..." she said in a hushed tone, pulling her crowbar through her belt loop.

---

Gazing at the zombies waiting for their free meal at the base of the tree, Kevin tried to think of a way to get out of the impossible situation alive. He carefully took his hunting knife out as an idea dawned on him. It wasn't the best plan but it would at least provide him a better chance to escape. With a sharp intake of breath, Kevin sliced a shallow gash on his left arm with the knife. Hissing, the male snapped a branch out of the tree and smeared some blood on it. He then proceeded to throw the bloody branch away from the tree he was in. A couple of zombies went to check it out but he still couldn't get down safely.

---

"This is bad...this is bad..." Dennis kept muttering, managing to stagger over to his club and pick it up, despite the fact it was obvious he wouldn't be able to fight anyone or thing that came along. Sucking in a huge breath Twitch bit back the nausea, while wrestling down the invisible blockage lodged in his throat. Gosh, he forgot how much he hated these panic attacks. Dennis tried to reminding himself that they could only get better from here, unless he experienced some trauma or something. Yeah. That would never happen in the apocalypse.