❣Terror in America❣

[Kicks]

http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/373ffbfa98b5bbafef7405977d29acd9.jpg

Recap and New Stuff:
You heard about them on the news, the survivors of San Francisco. They may be your close relatives, friend, or a total stranger. Either way, you had heard about them and the devastation of California. Three years ago there was a terrorist attack on America. By use of a virus, the terrorists planned to completely wipe out America starting with California which held a great percentage of Americans. However, the president was quick thinking and issued a military led secession from California- basically, they blew California off of America's mainland. Now all California is an island some miles away from America. It is crawling with the walking dead and worse monsters. But you're safe from that, aren't you? Snuggled up in your home, watching the news, and thinking to yourself how grateful you are that it wasn't you in California.
Now that the mission was a success for the military (the rescue mission of any survivors left in California) two great debates lands themselves in Congress. The first one is one commonly debated by even the lowest Americans- what do you do with California now? Blow it up or find a cure? The second debate is what to do with the survivors. Sure, you had taken all the precautions to make sure they weren't infected. But what about the ones with the mutation? There's quite a handful of those living in America after being rescued, some even in the military. Isn't there still a chance the virus could mutate again and spread like the plague?
While these debates haunt the president of the United States and Congress, something else is developing in secrecy. Suddenly, people are falling ill with some strange disease. This disease causes massive vomitting, asthmatic attacks (even in those who don't haven't been diagnosed with asthma), heart malfunctions, and blood clots that could lead to heart attacks. The fever is the first of the signs of this disease with a fever going all the way up to 105 degrees fahrenheit, enough to start killing the brain cells. If not caught in time the fever could very well kill. If caught in time they begin to develop the problems listed above. Some deaths have been spotted by this disease, whether in the early stages or later stages. In the very late stages those with the disease go into a coma and then death comes. No one reported with the disease has ever lived.
It's up to the American people to find out what's causing this illness and stop it. But the question is... How do you catch something that can't be seen?


News and Current Events:
Check back here to view anything you may have missed that has changed in the RP. The news is the main source of information within the game. Current events are of the utmost importance. So check here every once in awhile if you missed anything.

"Reporting to you live from Minneapolis, Minnesota, we have a dangerous situation." The woman broadcasting stated in a flurried manner. Behind her was the interior to a mall where the viewers could easily see that some kind of monster was attacking the people who were scrambling to get out of the mall as quickly as possible. "Ten minutes ago, a mutant known by Ishmael Bendz transformed into a horrific monster we all thought only roamed in California. Witnesses say that he had dropped to the ground in a seizure. His nails grew out to claws and his teeth became fangs. The color had drained from his eyes, leaving a blazing red in its place. Military officials are now trying to get the situation under control, but are finding it difficult. Unbelievably, the monster has the ability to create spears which have so far injured fifteen civilians and three officers. Nobody is sure what had caused this transformation. But the president can no longer deny that America is faced with a threat. We go to him now live."
The screen had switched to President Ryker. He was standing before a podium with many microphones hooked to it. People were swamping him with questions and screaming for their answers. The man himself had dark brunette hair and green eyes. There were wrinkles on his face, showing he had laughed and worried too much. But he had a military statute about himself with the straight back and strong composure. He waited until their was nothing but silence separating him from the people before he spoke in his Texan accent. "Fellow Americans, I know you are all frightened." He stated calmly, yet somehow rather strong. "And now there is no mistaking that there may very well be a threat on our hands. Though we cannot identify the cause of which that mutant had turned, I would like to think it was by unlucky circumstances rather than a congregated one that he had turned into a monster. This may have led some of you to believe that all mutants will turn into one of those beasts, but no one has the hard evidence that it may be so."
"President!" One of the reporters shouted through the silence; "What will happen now that there is proof mutants could very well be a threat to America?"
The president stared down at the man with such an intensity that the man shrank back. President Ryker glanced over the whole crowd waiting for the answer. "Congress and I are meeting tonight to decide. Personally, I believe mutants should be taken into a safe place away from Americans who could pose a threat to them rather than the other way around. But Congress feels the opposite and believes assassination is in order. I never think murder is the right way to go. Especially when there's very little evidence that mutants could be a threat. But it is not me who is making these decisions, or I would have it my way. It is the people of America's choice of what to do now. By the end of the day we will know what will become of the mutants." With his final words, the audience was hushed into silence and the screen flickered back to another woman.
"In other news, the disease plaguing America has suddenly jumped to Austin, Texas without trace through any other state." The woman stated with a frown, but serious voice. "No cases have been found in any other places besides Austin and Bozeman. Scientists are in an uproar over this and cannot provide an explanation. Once more, professionals suggest to keep good hygiene and wear masks. Debate with the senators in Texas has sprung up on whether Austin will be evacuated or not."

Austin, Texas and New York, NY have both become victims to a terrorist bombing. Few civilians have died and a handful have become seriously injured. All suspects are under arrest (but in serious health condition and incapable of speaking.)

Austin, Texas has been evacuated due to the disease and moved to Base Trinity in Trinity, Utah.

New York is under military watch and control. Nobody can get in or out of New York without special military permission.

New York has become victim to the disease. But after much studying and research, a cure has come forward. Anybody found with the disease (if it's not too late) can be cured with antibiotics.

The new law has officially passed. REMOVAL OF MUTANT ACT was brought forth under reasonable suspicion that 'mutants' are a threat to America. Any mutant found is to be taken in for a lethal injection. Anyone found to be housing a mutant or knows of a victim but did not turn them in, will be arrested upon discovery.[


Clues and Updates:
As with the other parts, this is the space where all the clues and updates of the game are given. Check here if you missed any.

Clue #1: The disease has only been spotted thus far in Bozeman, Montana and Austin, Texas with no traces found in any other city or state.

Update #1: Only those with the allergy of the mutation will die and turn into a monster if they're not given antihistamines. (There is the exception however that if they're bitten by one of the monsters found in California that they will turn into a monster as well.)

Clue #2: Congress is more concerned with the destruction of mutants. But what about the disease and how come they aren't focusing more on the disease that's jumping around without a trace and killing people?

Update #2: The cure for the disease has been found.

Clue #2: Question has arisen whether the military knew of the zombie attack beforehand or not.


Characters of the RP:

Zakai Rey
The Rykers (including Adalia, Colton, Ricard, and President Clayton)
Faye
Blake West
Thomas M




Gamers of the RP:

DizzyMaelstrom!
Shogun99
Lil



**Lists are subject to change.


Your GM:
I am the maker of 'Don't Count Yourself Out Yet', 'Escape from San Francisco', and this here RP. I am a person who counts on the gamers to keep up with the pace of the story and stay committed. I myself will stay committed (of course... that should go without saying) and will try my hardest to get back to you as quickly as possible (usually within twenty four hours of you posting). In my signature there is 'Status' which represents whether I am off or online so that you will know and not have to wait around your computer screen for me to post. My RPs follow a story line (just like most) with an extensive plot. The RPs I make are normally a series which is why I need for gamers to stay committed. Losses are accounted for (haha like in the last one, anyone who dropped out got the joy of having their characters eaten alive by zombies.)

[Kicks]

You may Begin


The news was broadcasting the same public debate on every channel of the TV. America was riled up about two hot topics and nothing was going to stop it until Congress and the president came to a compromise. The debate was sent out over the radio, television, and could be seen through the windows of the courthouse in D.C.
"Listen to yourselves!" The president shouted above the roar. The whole of Congress, both Senate and House, had broken out above each other trying to get their point across to the president. Their leader was standing at the podium while they all sat in their comfortable chairs trying to debate the two new issues. "You're talking about murdering innocent people just because you're paranoid! Not only does that not follow the right to life, but that's also MURDER." The hot topic was on the survivors, more specifically the mutants. The live public debate had been going for well over an hour now. The Congress stood on the side to kill the mutants, but the president rejected that and argued that they should survive. The Congress' argument was that the mutation could just as easily mutate again and turn the mutant into a zombie, thus causing another catastrophe. The president's argument was the Constitution.
"Sir, you need to understand that this will only be killing a handful of people for millions to survive. When the public's safety is threatened, as the governing body we need to step up and put a stop to the threat." One senator from Utah stated. "It may not be moral, but it sure as hell beats everyone dying."
"No, you sir need to understand that you are an idiot and need to shut your mouth before I come down from my podium and show you just how the Americans protect themselves." The president growled back. He had been fed up now with the same two arguments. They had been stuck in these chambers for three days now bickering back and forth about the same two issues. By now he had heard their arguments and was growing sick of them.
"Did you just threaten me, President Ryker?" The Utah senator spat out. The Congress too was getting edgy and upset. Their bickering had been going back and forth with no resolution in sight.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you? Let me make this a lot more clear to you, sonny." President Ryker began in a low, hissing manner. "People who believe that killing in the name of safety is right, is a fool. And right now I'm looking at the biggest fools of all."
Once more, the whole of Congress began to shout and get into a rise. Some of the men even stood from their seats and began to shake their fists as they shouted.
"Shut up, all of you!" The president shouted over their commotion. When they had quieted down and got back into their seats, the president spoke again. "Do you people realize that by killing off the mutants we are causing another holocaust? I'll be damned before I let America stoop to those kind of levels. Now you listen and you listen good, if one of you were a mutant you would be saying differently. How do you think those citizens feel watching us right now? Sick? Scared? Ready to revolt? I imagine that some of them are just about ready to leave the country. I will protect those citizens as their leader. I will make sure that no harm comes to them so long as I can stand."
"Well, I can take care of that for you." The Utah senator snarled back. He was getting ready to rise from his seat again when he was suddenly grabbed by two Secret Service men. It was known to all across America that when the president's life was threatened, certain things had to take place. The man was dragged from the room, spitting and shouting. When all grew silent again, President Ryker cast his green eyes over the now deadly quiet Congress.
"Until there is proof that this mutation can cause them to turn into anything less than human, nobody will die." The president stated calmly, assuredly, and with great confidence. "Do. We. Agree?" With no shouts of protests, he continued onto the next topic. "Now about California, it remains a threat. We can't keep spending our money and our men's lives trying to keep the zombies on that island. We need to do something about it. I'm in favor of just blowing the damn thing off the map, and I know ya'll ain't. So what the hell are we going to do about it? But before we get into that, I am calling for a ten minute recess. Ya'll get something to eat and drink. It's damn too early to be debating this crap on an empty stomach."
With his words, the news flickered to a woman talking about disease watch.
"A new disease has rolled itself into Bozeman, Montana last night with the first cases being treated in the hospital. So far a total of fifteen deaths have occurred with another thirty hospitalized. Doctors in the region are recommending the use of masks and correct hygiene. They also remind everyone across the nation to get their flu shots."

[Kicks]

Colton turned off the television with an irritated expression on his face. [s]I slave away in San Francisco for a whole year, watching my brothers die, coming across new threats every day, and saving lives just to return to this? They suddenly want to murder people with the mutation?[/i] He was about ready to march down to District of Columbia himself and begin to bark them out. But he knew it would do no good. He hated Congress, had since he was a child, but he loved his country. He knew he shouldn't get too worked up about it, especially with how he was feeling health wise today. He had woken up with a killer headache and fever. He had taken enough Advil to tranquilize a horse- or get rid of an awful headache. The fever itself was making him feel almost out of it, but it had reduced in surprising temperature since he took the Advil. He knew what it was making him feel not so good but he couldn't do anything about it besides drinking plenty of water and eating vitamin C. But he couldn't be bothered to actually get out of bed while he was snuggled up all nice and comfortable under the soft blankets.
Adalia had been up good and early, arose at six in the morning, just to go make something spectacular for breakfast. She now spun into their bedroom still in her pajamas. "Hey there, good looking. Why trouble yourself with Congress when we could be having fun in bed?"
"So blunt with your words as always." The soldier replied. Though he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "You're so pretty, but it's the morning and there's a kid in the house and I'm hungry."
"Hungry for love!" Adalia boasted out loudly. She was grinning now as she dangled her red hair in his face. "Fiiiiiiine, sexy. What do you want to eat? Toast? Oranges? Cereal? Waffles? Grapefruit? I made the lot!"
"That one." Colton chose, though not giving a specific answer at all. "You're so beautiful. And I like blankets."
The woman flipped her hair up at his words. She ran her hand over his forehead and her eyebrows shot up. "Well, how about that? I think you did that on purpose. You return home, make me feel all happy, and we cuddle and sleep, and then the very next morning you get sick. Typical Colton. Just typical." Though she was condemning him, she was also teasing in a way. "Fine, I'll leave you be. But you have to promise me that when you're not sick we get to baby making."
"Why do you have to say that outloud like that?!" Colton exclaimed through a groan. He grabbed one of the pillows and covered his face through it while his muffled words rang out: "Ada, I love you dearly but control your tongue."
"D'aw, big ol' soldier's blushing." Adalia cooed out while now spreading her fingers through his hair. "You're so cute when you get embarassed." With her words she drew back her hand and turned around. The woman hopped down the hallway towards the kitchen once more. "I hear the savior say, thy faith indeed is small. Child of weakness watch and pray, find in me thine all in all!" Colton could hear her suddenly burst into her lovely singing. He wasn't going to complain about the noise level. He had known she was a morning singer since before they were married. She wasn't obnoxious about it and she had been in choir for many years, so Colton really had nothing to complain about it. In fact, while in San Francisco earlier in the year he was there he used to complain to the men that there was no singing in the mornings on base there.
The soldier moved the pillow off of his face and instead covered up his face with his arm. The door to the room was left open which he had no complaint about. It just meant he could hear everything in the house more clearly. His mind went to Zakai wondering if the kid had a nightmare. If he had, had he managed to use the thumb technique? If not, Colton wondered how he had slept. He knew the kid had been suffering with nightmares and had been looking rather tired, but had he managed to get a good night's sleep the previous night or not?

[Kicks]

Blake sat up from his awkward position. It had been bending his back and digging into his skin from the position he had been sitting on since Faye and him had toppled over at the jerking of the boat. Now he sat up and leaned against one of the boat's walls. He glanced out to sea, noticing the dying sunlight flicker across the ripples of water. It had turned the ocean pink, orange, and black in places with the dying light. If their circumstance wasn't under such morbid conditions, he might have actually enjoyed view. But he couldn't think about enjoying the view when his mind was racing about Faye and ArraBella. He had been appointed as guardian over his cousin who was still a minor. Though Blake was eighteen he was technically no longer a minor and could be considered an adult. That meant that if he did get deported to England, his cousin would have to leave everything in America and become accustomed to a rather shitty way of life- he dared to think. Which meant that they would be leaving Faye who might be just as lost in America with San Francisco now gone. He didn't like the idea of leaving the girl behind or being separated from her. In the short time that they had stuck it out together he had grown rather close to her. He couldn't imagine anything less than seeing her face each day. It would be weird and almost... unearthly.
ArraBella was humming to herself however. She was thinking about the possibilities of what would happen once they did get to shore. She knew they had no family in America now, but she also knew that what the government didn't know about Blake couldn't hurt him. So he might be able to stay in America, besides it's not like he could travel back to England without a passport. Being always optimistic, she was also thinking about Faye. What would the girl do now that they were returning to America? Start a new life and from what? She was shaken from her thoughts when she noticed the coast coming into view. It wasn't like she had expected which meant they may have sailed towards Texas rather than Utah or Washington. Which made a lot of sense. Their boats had been facing the direction of East Texas rather than East Utah. She didn't see anybody on the coast or any other boats. Now noticing this, she wondered just how it would be when they got off the boat.

[Death101]

"What the Hell." The whole chapter had been speding the night because we'd drank to much. "We lived though the nightmare of San Fran to deal with this shit?" I spat looking at the T.V then throwing the remoate at it, we had a ride later today, but I might call if off just be safe.

[Lil]

(I'll post when I get home! Excited for this :D)

[Lil]

Faye closed her eyes started to drift off to the sound of the motor humming and the boat gliding over the water. She had decided sleeping would be a good way not to worry about what may be ahead of them, not worrying about what may happen to Blake or Red. Would they be able to stay together? Slowly Faye fell asleep and without realizing it she leaned on Blake a bit.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai yawned. The sun was out. He had managed to sleep the night before for about two hours. I don't think that that's enough, huh? He stood up and went over to the door of the room, but he heard loud voices and something about... baby making... He walked back to the bed and started to make it. I think I'll just let them flirt some more. He honestly wasn't sure what to do in this house at all. These people were pretty much strangers to him, even though he had relied heavily on Colton in the last days of their time in San Francisco. When he was finished making the bed, he sat down on it. He was nervous about leaving the room. Colton and Adalia hadn't seen each other in a long time, so they probably wanted their privacy, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to hear what they were talking about. He switched off the lamp, seeing that there was no reason to really keep it on anymore, and picked up the marker he had been given. He took off the cap and started writing on the palm of his hand. Why? He didn't know. It gave him something to do to pass the time. He wrote the word "Dog" on it and put a colon afterwards and question marks to follow that. His dog, or at least, the stray he had taken care of a long time ago who had disappeared before the zombie break out, had been in his last dream for some reason. The dream wasn't like the first two nightmares he had, but it still spooked him for some reason. He figured it was about time he gave the dog a name, but he didn't know what. He fell backwards onto the bed and thought about it.

[Kicks]

Blake removed the sunglasses from his blue eyes. It was getting too dark outside to keep them on for much longer. He slid them on top of his head and glanced out towards the sun dripping below the water's surface now. For a moment he stared at it, taking in the breath of it. This would be the first sunset he had actually witnessed since San Francisco's tragedy. It was actually poetic to think about. The dying sun, but a spark to hopefully that would flourish and live on. No doubt California was dying like the sun, but sure enough something was bound to rise from it, right? At least he thought so.
He was removed from his thoughts when he felt something leaning against him. At first he tensed up, thinking the stupid thought that it may be one of the dead. But in fact it was just Faye slipping into sleep. He gazed down at her for a moment, wondering how on earth a girl like her- or anybody- could sleep at a time like this. But he wasn't going to complain. It was kinda cute how she just kind of dozed off. Besides, she was rather warm and he was kind of cold now that they were out on the water. Smog was a heavy thing found out at sea near San Francisco and it was rather cold. It dampened the clothes, hair, and body and seemed to just get right into the bones. He knew that it would be colder for the girls though since he wasn't affected by temperature the same way they would be.
Suddenly, the boat jerked. He felt himself toppling into the water before he could do anything to stop it. He flipped over the side of the boat and plunged into the freezing water. Above in the boat, ArraBella blinked at her cousin's slipping. She hadn't been expecting him to lose his grip on the boat and topple in. But she really couldn't blame him. She wasn't that good at driving a boat, that was for sure. But she had gotten them to the coast of America and that had to count for something.
"Blake, stop fooling around and get back up here!" ArraBella shouted down into the water below the boat. She got out of the boat herself and stood up to her knees in water. They had landed in sand as the boat couldn't just pull up onto a beach as simply as it would seem. She felt the freezing temperature of the water and immediately squealed a bit. The girl scampered out of the water and onto the dry sand, beginning to roll in its warmth. Texas was still kind of warm at night, even if it were the Fall. The sun had warmed up the sand during the day so it was like bathing in a hot bath for her.
Blake dragged himself onto land, coughing and spurting from the water he had accidentally inhaled. "Bloody hell, woman! Don't you think that you could at least have made a softer landing?!" He exclaimed towards his cousin in almost an annoyed fashion. He was already taking off his soaking shirt and throwing it off to the side. "And now look! I'm covered in sand! I'm attracting it like a sand magnet!"
"Get over it." Bella cooed out from the sand. She was enjoying it but that's because it wasn't sticking to her like it was sticking to him with how wet he was. "It's a beach, Blakey. There's bound to be clothes that people forgot about here. Or a towel. It's like California, except I hear at one point they had slave holders here in the South."
"Texas used to be part of Mexico." Blake sighed out as he rolled his eyes. He was already glancing around for something that a beach goer may have forgotten. "Until the war of course and then the territory was signed over to America. But yes, at one point there were slaves here. Amazing how I know more about American history than you do, don't you think? And I don't even stay awake in class!"
"I just can't be bothered to learn the past. It's sooooo boring." The girl whined into the sand. "Now I know why you fall asleep all the time!"

[Kicks]

Just as promised, Richard was out of their hair before anybody had arisen from bed. He folded the blanket at the end of the couch and slipped out of there as silently as possible. But now, he had returned to the home with his arms full of clothes. He opened up the door, just barely managing not to drop anything. He was quiet as he closed it and settled the clothes down on a couch. "Ada, are you awake?" He called out softly to the house. He knew the woman was an early riser because of Colton who would complain to his older brother during his first year of college about the girl who would be awake bright and early and sing to the hallways. After awhile his complaining had stopped, which Richard had guessed was because his younger brother began to fall for the girl. He smiled a bit now recalling those days. Richard had just started being a captain in the military and it was the first time their dad had ever cried.
"My boys!" He would shout out one day when they had come to visit him. "They're all growing up!"
"I'm awake!" Adalia sang back proudly and loudly. She swept out of the kitchen and into the living room with a beaming smile. "What's up, Richie-?" She stopped her question when she noticed the clothes. "D'aw! Are those for Zakai? You're so sweet! I bet he'll be glad to get out of those scrubs!"
"There may be like seven pairs of clothes." Richard mumbled in a bashful way. He began to rub the back of his neck as if trying to say this wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it out to be. "I just grabbed what I thought would fit him, ya know. So..." He swept his eyes over the room and finally glanced at her. "Where's the kid at anyways?"
"I bet he's sleeping!" Adalia answered while she picked up the clothes from the couch. "Oh Richard, you're such a sweetheart! I don't care what you say, you're not all that bad to the bone as you would like to think."
"Whatever." Richard snorted while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Did you hear about Congress?"
"Yea, your dad's really mad at them." Ada whispered to him as if she may be afraid of upsetting someone with her words. Specifically Colton who she knew hated Congress. "They're making a huge mistake. Who do they think they are deciding who's fit for death like that?"
"I don't know..." Richard began awkwardly. He hated discussing politics with people, but he always had an opinion on it nonetheless. "These mutants sound quite dangerous. And if there's a possibility-"
"Don't even entertain their ideas, Richard!" Adalia snapped at him with a disapproving look. "Those mutants are people too and they deserve the right to life just like everybody else does!" She turned her back on him with a sigh. "I'll just go give these clothes to Zakai then."
Richard was silent for a moment, knowing that he probably shouldn't have spoken his views on the manner. "If everybody else deserves the right to life then they shouldn't have to live with the threat of those mutants." He murmured quietly, but loud enough for Adalia to hear.
Instead of reacting to it though and slapping him, she walked stiffly towards Zakai's door. The woman tapped on the door softly and called to the other side; "I've got a surprise for you!"

[Lil]

Faye was perfectly comfortable. Her dreams clouding any negative thoughts from popping up in her mind, it was nice. She started to fall deeper into sleep when the boat suddenly jerked sending whatever she was leaning on flying into the water. Faye's eyes popped open and she looked around to see that they had hit land, and much quicker than she had expected. Taking a moment to scan the area she recognized Blake in the water and ArraBelle yelling at him to get out. Faye stood up and walked over to the edge and offered her hand to the soaking wet boy. "You okay?" She asked genuinely with a small smile.

[Kicks]

Blake glanced up from the sand and to the hand being offered to him. He stared at it for a moment, then allowed his eyes to travel up the length of the arm to find that the hand belonged to Faye. "I'm in a foreign country, soaking wet, hungry, half naked, and there is sand in places that it shouldn't be!" He exclaimed back to answer her question. He dropped his head, his blonde hair swooping over his eyes. "But, we're alive." He sighed out in exasperation.
"Alive and have a plan!" ArraBella cheered while raising up one of her hands from the sand. She had been in the process of burying herself when she heard her cousin go on about complaining. They were pretty good complaints, she would admit- she wouldn't want sand in places either.
Blake glanced over at her with curious eyes. "You have a plan? Does it include dumping me right into the water again?"
"Maybe. That could very well be a variable." Bella purred back with a giggle. She squirmed out of the sand and towards her cousin who she began to frisk the pockets of.
Blake guffawed and reeled back at her hands intruding of his pockets. "What on earth are you doing?!"
ArraBella found what she wanted and pulled out his wallet. She checked the inside of it and smiled at what she found. "Dad left the money to you, remember?" She stated while pulling out some cards. "So all you have to do is go to a bank, provide your identity, and pull out some money. Then we can get a hotel room until we figure out what next."
Blake had to admit, it did sound like a good idea. But to walk into a bank dripping wet? He didn't like the sound of that. "All right, but I'm going to have to get dry before any of that. Otherwise I just might end up in jail for indecent exposure or whatever it is over here."
"Pshk this is America. You can do whatever the hell you want." ArraBella laughed back with a wave of her hand. "You could walk in butt naked- well maybe not that... But I bet Faye would like to see that."

[Lil]

Faye rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at Red's comment. Not even Faye was in the mood to see that much if Blake. "She's right though, you can walk in like that and I bet you won't even receive a sideways glance from half the people in there." Faye added and blew some hair from her face. A breeze suddenly swept across them and Faye tightened her arms around her, Blake's jacket did a decent job keeping her warm but certainly not enough. "I'm fine going anywhere as long as they have working heat." Faye said with her teeth chattering.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai lazed out of the bed with tired eyes. It was still early... he thought at least. He wasn't actually sure what time it was, and he was tired, but it wasn't like he was about to sleep again any time soon. He had simply lied awake for a long time, sometimes closing his eyes, and sometimes almost dozing off, but catching himself halfway in and jolting awake again. Well, at least she has a surprise... That was really all he could think of to cheer himself up.
He opened the door and looked up at her, then looked at what she had in her arms. Clothes. His eyes did brighten a little. The scrubs were a little less than comfortable.
"Uh... thank you so much!"

[Kicks]

Blake stared at the two girls in disbelief. Though it shouldn't have been too hard to believe what they were saying was true. At Fisherman's Wharf, when San Francisco wasn't a playpen for the dead, there used to be people dressed as the weirdest things he'd ever seen. He ran a hand through his wet hair and gave a sigh. "All right. But if I get in trouble, I am blaming you two." He decided while beginning to walk up the beach walk.
ArraBella hopped up from the sand and spun like an airplane after her cousin. "Come on, Faye! You're going to get left behind!" She called over her shoulder while giving a wink.
As it turned out, as soon as they had left the sand there was civilization. Stores, huts, houses, apartments, people, the whole lot. Blake had stopped walking where the sand had met concrete and just stared with an odd expression across his face. After going long without seeing all that many people, it was an odd sight to see. None of them were dripping in blood, or growling, or- well there was the one weird guy dressed in stripes with a white painted face that was kind of weird.




"Richard was the one who brought them for you." Adalia informed as she the clothes down on the bed. "I hope you're not color blind and know how to dress in a way that doesn't make you look like a clown- or we're going to have an issue here, little midget." She told him with a small laugh. "Well, the bathroom is just right across the hall if you need a shower or to go potty or other bathroom-ish stuff." She added before leaving the room. When she returned to the kitchen she saw Colton in a heated discussion with his brother. It didn't take a genius to find out what it was they were arguing about. "Richard, drop it!"
Richard glanced up from his younger brother to Adalia. "In my defense, Colton was the one who started it."
"Bull crap." Colton scowled back with a shake of his head. "I could hear you and Ada from the room."
"That didn't mean you had to come in." Richard stated with a frown. "Just go back to bed."
"Not until you admit that the Congress is wrong." The younger brother snapped back. "Do you really think it's right to go and kill people? Innocent people just because of paranoia?"
Richard refused to answer that question in order to end the argument right then. But his brother knew what the answer was anyways and took on a disgusted look. "Colton, listen I know they're still people. But if the military and the government don't do something about it they're going to die anyways because of people out there. They'll be persecuted here because of that paranoia! And if that fear is backed up by actual evidence-"
"They have no evidence!" Colton exclaimed in an exasperated manner. "The only way I've seen a mutant turn is by being bit by one of those monsters in California! But people get bit by zombies and they turn also! That doesn't justify anyone here!" He grabbed onto his brother's shoulders, partially so that he could stand up without shaking too much. "You don't get it! If you lived on San Francisco for a whole year your opinion would be different! These people fought to get back to America, they shouldn't still be fighting for their lives!"
"Calm down." Richard answered back to the ranting one. He spun his brother around and pushed him towards the hallway. "I've been assigned as the coordinator. Which means, I'm the one who determines when you get your guns back and can go back into serving. Right now, it doesn't seem like you have control of your own temper to go back."
"Who says I want to go back?" Colton exclaimed with a scowl. "I'd rather die than work for a military who would gladly kill innocent people!"
"You don't mean that." Richard tsked out while making his way to the front door. "I'll see you later. Right now you're just too feverish to be reasoned with."
Colton gritted his teeth, about to say something smart back until Adalia hugged him. "Your brother doesn't know what he's talking about." She informed with a sigh. "But I don't think you do either. Gosh, I've never seen you yell before. It's kind of hot." She giggled out. Colton wouldn't mention it to her, but he had meant every word he said. She just would think he was talking out of the fever. He could think perfectly clear, and he could see everything from a different perspective. The mutation's disease may have made him sick, but it hadn't been able to render him of his thought processes.
"Whatever." The soldier sighed out as he broke away from her and went back to the living room.

[Lil]

Faye was surprised as they walked up the beach and came across civilization. She expected it to be all walking corpses but no, there were alive and well people right before them. A smile grew on Faye's lips and she even bounced a little bit. It was exciting to see other people. "Well come on. Let's find some where warm!" Faye said to the two as the familiar chilly feeling returned to her and caused her fingers to go numb.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

"Unless the clothes are just utterly awful, I think I can manage find something that matches."
Zakai took the clothes from her and walked into the bathroom. He was now wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt. He walked out into the hallway, and stopped when he heard yelling again. Colton and Richard. After listening for a while, Zakai learned that it was something about mutants and the government and Colton not wanting the government to kill the mutants. What? But.. but isn't Colton... He walked to the end of the hall and poked his head out around the corner. He didn't want to walk in completely when they were arguing so he hung back.
(I hope it's okay if I went ahead and chose whatever clothes he'd be wearing out of the random pile.)

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman continued to walk down the ruined patch of grass, which clearly had served as a walking path for quite a while to humans, critters and beasts alike in the great woods. It was clear why: It was one of the many public entrances to the forest, the one which you 'would' be able to easily get lost if you were to get careless, but the constant sounds of honking, shouting and public fights would in the end always guide you back.

He stared infront of him, feeling as if the path was never ending, until he saw a few pieces of concrete up ahead, he looked over to see that a blue car was up ahead of him, though he never really got to the point of wanting to "identify" the cars for models, colours and fancy things like that. When he inhaled, he noticed the clear presensce of 'smog' in the air, clearly beginning to enter the city as he noticed more and more buildings.

[Death101]

Later on we were riding down though the center of Dust Wood towards one of our hangouts a coffee shop called the Daily Grind. We rode up parked and headed in order some coffee and grabbed a few newspapers, it had only been a few days but things weren't slowing down at all.

[Kicks]

ArraBella swept straight towards the first restaurant she could see. "I'M HUNGRY." She announced loudly and boldly. Behind her, her cousin watched with both a dismayed and amused look.
"Well, restaurants normally are both warm and filling." Blake commented as he glanced towards Faye who looked just as cold as anybody would be out here. It didn't help that she was such a thin looking girl. "You got no meat on your bones to keep the cold at bay." He teased her with a chuckle. "Maybe a good dinner would take care of that for you?"




(I don't see why it wouldn't be, bro. ^_^)
Colton sat down on the couch with his hands going through his hair out of irritation. He just couldn't believe his brother could have such views. It was almost as bad as trying to figure out why Hitler had hated the Jews. He gave a loud sigh of exasperation and dipped his head into his hands.
"How's that for a welcome home?" Adalia commented in a half-way joking manner. She came up behind the couch and leaned over it, peering down at him. "You're not going to go back to bed, are you?"
"I can't while there's such impossible things happening in the U.S!" Colton exclaimed into his hands. "Innocent people are going to start dying just because people are afraid of what they don't understand."
Adalia frowned down at the countenance of her husband. She had seen him worked up a few times over the good of the people. The first time was in college when there was a rat outbreak in the school's kitchen. He couldn't sleep until he tracked down the rat that was causing kids to get sick from the food. When he had found the nest, along with a few other boys, they had taken care of the rat problem. And then there was three years ago when military recruiters came to their college and begged for the men to sign up. Ages from 16 and up could sign up and Colton more than happily did. Two years he had spent working to the limits until he had reached the rank of captain and could finally go overseas to California to begin rescuing survivors.
"You're so stubborn sometimes!" Adalia exclaimed in a groan. She buried her face into the couch for a moment while she thought over their plans they had made the night before to begin research. "Fine. I'll go down to the labs today with the blood vials." She noticed him make a face and she giggled at it; "For such a macho soldier, you sure do have such a fear against needles. You were practically crying last night!"
"Leave me alone!" Colton exclaimed as he shook his head at her. He didn't want to be reminded of last night when his surprisingly creepy wife had a supply of needles and lab equipment at home as if she would possibly need to do research there. He could practically feel those needles pierce his veins all over again and he grimaced once more at it. It was shocking how much more frightening needles could be than zombies. "Evil woman." He accused in a murmur while she just laughed it off.
When the woman had left the house with a black, secured bag filled with the binder, blood, and a badge around her neck, Colton returned to the kitchen where he found food on the island. There was in fact a surprising variety she had made up. From fruit to waffles. He shook his head at the sight, amazed by the sight of real food instead of the military crap.
"Zakai! There's real food out here!" Colton shouted for the kid to hear. He put out a plate for the boy to fill up. Despite his amazement at the real food, he wasn't all that hungry. So he just took a grapefruit slice and called it good for now. He was sure once the day got going his appetite would return, but until then he was just happy with fruit.

[Kicks]

Rickard Woodsman continued to walk down the ruined patch of grass, which clearly had served as a walking path for quite a while to humans, critters and beasts alike in the great woods. It was clear why: It was one of the many public entrances to the forest, the one which you 'would' be able to easily get lost if you were to get careless, but the constant sounds of honking, shouting and public fights would in the end always guide you back.

He stared infront of him, feeling as if the path was never ending, until he saw a few pieces of concrete up ahead, he looked over to see that a blue car was up ahead of him, though he never really got to the point of wanting to "identify" the cars for models, colours and fancy things like that. When he inhaled, he noticed the clear presensce of 'smog' in the air, clearly beginning to enter the city as he noticed more and more buildings.

Many places on the coasts of the United States had smog. Particularly the places with much pollution and highly populated. Smog was a sign of an ocean, or a big sea of water, possibly an enormous lake. Smog was a sure sign of civilization due to the need for pollution. In this particular area of the United States, the citizens were overcome with the latest news. If one wished, they could hear people standing aside heatedly discussing the news. Over a TV or a radio the broadcast was going out again, telling the American people about the newest of discussions within the government.
"I don't know. I really don't want California cured. I just don't like the idea of our taxes being wasted on those attempts." One woman told a man with a frown glowing on her face.
But the man stood on a different position of the argument. "But think about all those dead who could be cured and brought home. Besides, it'll cost way more money to blow up the island than to save it!"
The discussion went on, tossing ideas and arguments of the likes towards the topic. Off to the side though, a pair was beginning to hike into the public forest. "I don't want to get that icky illness." A little girl whined out to her mother.
"If you wash your hands and eat your vegetables, then you won't." The mother responded with her kind words. "But for now, there's not really anything to worry about. They said that they have it contained in Bozeman, sweetheart."

[Lil]

Faye laughed at ArraBelles over the top announcement that se was hungry. That girl had no shame. Blake spoke up, commenting on how skinny she was. She looked down at herself and felt something in her stomach tinge. He mentioned having dinner and the blonde girl could feel her stomach growl quietly. "Food would be great, as well as heat." Faye added and offered a small, faint grin. She followed after Red walking along side Blake.

[Kicks]

Even though his cousin was practically bouncing around up ahead of them, Blake kept his walk pretty steady. He wanted to see the life going around in the town they had stumbled into. It wasn't so much to ask just to enjoy it for a little bit. He didn't know if and when it would slip away once more. Nonetheless, as all good things do, it ended too soon and he had reached the doors that ArraBella was keeping wide open for them.
"HURRY UP, BLAKEY." The redheaded girl whined out. "I'M SO HUNGRY I COULD GUT A PIG AND DO AWFUL THINGS TO IT. AWFUL, I TELL YOU."
The older teenager chuckled at the sight of her and her words. "Mmm. This place smells like pancakes." He commented while passing through the doors.
"No duh, smart one!" The redhead huffed out with an eyeroll. "It's IHOP after all! It's a pancake house which means it's supposed to smell like them!"
"No need to get smart." Blake commented, though he didn't add much attitude to it. He more said it as an after thought more than condemnation.

[Lil]

"Mmmm pancakes" Faye sighed as her stomach growled again. "This place has the best pancakes. I went here a lot with my mom when I was younger." She said with a smile to Blake. As they entered the two doors a rush of warmth took over Faye and she closed her eyes and smile. It was strange how much joy she could get just from a little warmth.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai walked out from the hallway and into the kitchen, a little slowly, almost with unnecessary caution, and he stopped right when he came through the entryway. He looked around for a moment. He was slightly uncomfortable being in another person's house who he had only known for a little while, but he did trust Colton. He walked over to the counter seeing a mountain of food. He was hungry even though he didn't feel like eating, but not eating for too long was unhealthy and turning down food made by temporary caretakers would be rude. He took the plate and started scooping food to onto it at random, not really looking to see what it was and then set it down on the table. He looked up at Adalia, figuring that Colton wouldn't be able to make something like this after the meal he had cooked at the base, and smiled.
"Thank you."
Then he took a fork and started eating.

[Kicks]

Blake glanced over at the girl speaking of fond memories with her mother. He realized then that he hadn't the slightest idea of who she had lost in San Francisco, or worse. He turned his thoughts from that though because it wasn't any of his business and he wasn't going to make it either. As soon as they were waved back to one of those cushioned, round, corner tables he stood to the side waiting for the girls to squeeze in.
ArraBella dived into the seat like a flying squirrel immediately. She disappeared under the table for a moment and then popped up with a menu in her hands. She was beaming as her blue eyes skimmed over the menu.
"Wow, Bells, excited?" Blake chuckled from where he stood. He did have to say that the smell of the restaurant was quite intoxicating and made someone easily excitable.
"You have no clue." The redhead answered back as she put down her menu and folded her hands over it. "This place has some of the best food ever for really cheap too!"


"I've been thanked for my cooking!" Adalia squealed with glee from the front door. "Okay, well you guys be good. Zakai, you're not allowed to start any fires or pick fights with any of the soldiers- even though some of them deserve to be beaten up by a kid. And Colton, you're not allowed to go biting people."
"Was that a zombie joke?" Colton asked in almost an insulted manner from the island. He was quite shocked she had dared to make one of those openly. Who knew who was snooping around, eavesdropping?
"No... it was an open joke made about not biting people... for the chance of infection." Adalia reasoned in a very smart manner. But she was already beginning to break into giggles.
"That is so racist. I just can't even." Colton whispered loudly while shaking his head. "I thought you loved me. I guess I was wrong!"
"Oh but sweetheart, I do." Ada cooed right back with a wink. "These jokes are just too tempting to make. I just can't help myself." She opened the front door and quickly left while shouting; "I shall be back! If I'm not caught for treason!"
"Don't shout that! Someone's going to take you seriously!" Colton yelled after her with a palm to his face. It was too late for her to hear though for she had closed the door and left the two guys in the house. The soldier rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh leaving him. He sat down at the table, peeling away at the grape fruit like an orange. "So, Zakai, what do you want to do today?"

[Lil]

Faye smiled as they went back to their table. The whole atmosphere made Faye feel comforted, it brought her back to a simpler time. Before her mother passed away, and she would bring her here every other Sunday. Before she was left with her father, who abused her every chance he had. Before her life started to fall apart. She hadn't been in an IHOP since her mother passed but it was nice to return. Watching Red shocked Faye moved into the booth beside her and took her own menu and started scanning it, she would chuckle do to Belle's amazed reaction as she did though.

[Kicks]

Blake slid in beside ArraBella only to have the girl hop over his lap and onto the other side of him. She then proceeded in scooting so that it was nearly impossible for Blake to remain stationary. He was forced to scooting closer over to Faye until Bella was satisfied and sat still. She coughed and nodded towards them, then coughed again.
"What? Do you need a lozenge?" Blake questioned his cousin with wide eyes. He was really hoping she wasn't going to come down with anything. He wasn't much good at taking care of people when they were ill.
"No. Just something in my throat." The redhead hummed back innocently. "Ya know, Blake. I bet Faye's hands are really cold. They can be the hardest to warm up after being in the cold for too long. And Faye is just a skinny little thing."
Blake frowned at the remarks made. He turned towards Faye and glanced down at her hands. "Are they cold?"

[Lil]

As Red insisted on squishing them together Faye's cheeks started to turn a deep shade of red, almost matching ArraBelles hair. She bit her lower lip and looked down at her lap seeing as she couldn't scoot over anymore either. It looked like they would remain squished side to side, not that Faye minded it. When ArraBelle mentioned Faye's hands being cold she suddenly popped her head up. This one would stop at nothing to make her uncomfortable around him would she? Finally Blake asked if her hands were okay and Faye nodded numbly. "Yes their starting to warm up." She lied. Her fingers were still completely numb but she didn't want Blake feel pressured into something he didn't want to do.

[Kicks]

"What? No, manetta, they totally still look frozen. See, bet she can hardly move them as fast as normal." ArraBella persisted in a very smart manner as if she knew all. She grabbed her cousin's hands and nodded her head in approval. "Yes, your's will definitely do the trick! Your's are nice and warm, Blakey. Not too hot to go and let her fingers fall off, but just warm enough to warm them right up!"
Blake blinked while slowly retracting his hands from his cousin. He wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at, but for some reason he was beginning to feel embarrassed and harassed. He didn't want her fingers to freeze, but he also didn't want to do something that made him look like an idiot.
"Oh no, just look! They're going to freeze off!" Bella exclaimed in fake horror. She grabbed onto her cousin's hands again and pried them over Faye's own. "Now just keep them just like that and she'll be good as new soon!"
"There's- I mean... there's a bathroom with a hot water tap." Blake stammered out as he stared down at their hands. "I'm sure that would be way more efficient than this."
"No, silly. The bathrooms at IHOP never work." ArraBella tsked out with an eyeroll. Now she was just pulling things out of her butt to say. "You're just going to have to deal with it, Blakey."

[Lil]

"No-" Faye started but was interrupted by Red. "Really, they're fine." She would say but it was no use, she wasn't going to listen. One thing about this little red-head, once she set her mind to something there was no stopping her. Blake argued it, obviously becoming flustered and Faye could tell Red was confusing him. Before she could even react, Red had already latched the twos hands together. Heat rose into Faye's face very quickly and she could almost feel the awkward in the air. Blake didn't like this, Faye could tell. So many thoughts flew through her mind but for some reason Faye couldn't speak a word.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

After the whole argument that went down between Colton and Adalia, Zakai was trying to hold back laughter. Adalia seemed to have Colton completely outmatched, and there was nothing the soldier could do it seemed against her. That, and the entire thing just seemed ridiculous. He decided then that love was weird and he would most probably never understand it. That was just his child's brain speaking though. When Colton asked him what he wanted to do, Zakai looked at him with a blank expression on his face at first, then looked down thoughtfully and took a bite out of a syrup covered waffle.
"Um... I don't know. What's there to do here?"

[Kicks]

After a moment of staying frozen and awkward like that, Blake just decided to play it off as cool. "Wow, Bells wasn't kidding. Your hands really do feel like icicles!" He exclaimed with a chuckle. It wasn't so bad now and he could feel himself relaxing a bit.
"Hello, servant!" ArraBella greeted the waiter with a firm and official nod of her head. "Two hot cocoas please and whatever the frozen popsicle over there wants."
"I like lots of whipped cream." Blake stated with a purr in agreement. He turned his head to Faye as the waiter took down the two drink orders and waited patiently for Faye to order her own.
"Hey? Can I order my food while we're at it? I don't like the whole waiting thing that everyone does where you order your drink and wait another ten minutes for food. By that time I've drank my drink and filled up with it and then really have to pee." The redhead whined out while beginning to jump a little in her seat. "So! I would also really like the waffle special. The one with the bacon and the eggs and those yummy looking waffles. And then my cousin right here is an idiot and has never been here before so I'll order for him." Before Blake could object, or even would want to object, she continued on; "The t-bone steak and eggs looks awesome."
"Ugh." Blake complained a little from the side; "So long as it's done all the way through. I don't much like the sight of blood." It was odd considering the state of San Francisco. But it was true. he couldn't stand seeing blood, especially when he was eating.
"Wow, you have no taste buds." ArraBella whispered in amazement, but she continued on nonetheless and turned her attention to Faye; "And then there's the girl over there!"


Colton stopped peeling the grapefruit, feeling now that it was quite arbitrary to continue peeling it. He had totally and completely lost any sense of an appetite now and instead pushed the grapefruit to the center of the table. He rested his chin on his hand while his green eyes stared towards the front door. "Well, I don't know." He answered honestly. He couldn't think of anything that would sound like fun for a kid to do. He would offer to take him to a shooting range- which had been his favorite place to go when he first joined- but he was apparently not allowed a gun. Which he found absolutely ridiculous. This was America, there was such thing as the second amendment. He rolled his eyes at the thought of how controlling the whole system was and how the president could do very little about it.
"You're going to need shoes." He said at last as he glanced down at Zakai's feet. "Maybe while we're getting you some shoes, we'll run into someone interesting." Though in all honesty, he didn't want to attract a lot of attention. He was still feeling weird being around so many humans after being around zombies for so long. If he had to have an open conversation with another soldier for so long, he might lose his mind. Zakai was okay to talk to since the kid seemed to talk very little and thought very much.

[Death101]

(Last post for a while I've gotta lot to deal with at present, peace get Tony to a hospital I'm putting him into a coma.) As we were leaving I fell down the stairs and the world went black.

[Lil]

As minutes passed, Faye could see Blake becoming a bit more comfortable. He even started to play around a bit, commenting in how her hands were freezing. When a waitress came over to take their order she stiffened up a bit while Blake remained completely relaxed. Faye was about to speak up about what she wanted but she was soon interrupted by Red going on about how she wanted to order her food now. Faye just waited smiling at how open ArraBella could be. Once she finally finished her rambling, Faye ordered. "Can I have a smiley face pancake and a cup of coffee?" She asked with a polite smile then looked to Blake almost searching for reassurance, which was a stupid thing to do, it was just what she wanted to eat.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai nodded. "Okay."
He stared down at his half empty plate. He wanted to ask Colton what was going on with the government and the mutants and killing, but if he did, he would give away the fact that he had overheard their argument and that would be butting into the soldier's business. That, and Colton probably wouldn't tell him anything anyway... or maybe he would since this was news like in current events and that wasn't always all that pleasant. If it had been his own parents, they would have just kept on talking about it right in front of him.
He ate the rest of his food, not wanting to think about his parents any longer, and then took his plate to the sink and rinsed it out of habit. Then he left t and walked back to the table.
"Let's go right now." he didn't want to stay in one place for too long because 1) it still made him uncomfortable even though they were already out of San Francisco, and 2) it would get his mind off of past stuff.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman decided to jog the last few meters towards the pavement, and looked around as he well went onto it. Austin looked like Austin, people looked like regular people, and cars looked like cars. Really, nothing entirely special about the city for him. He had been here a couple of times, otherwise he would be staying out in a Cabin far off in the woods. He decided to turn a hefty right and began to walk down the pavement, looking into a TV Store.

He stared down into the blank TV screen, staring at it, almost as if he was expecting for it to turn on at the exact moment he had wanted it to. He had heard a lot of commotion during his days in the woods, but only key words in a conversation, such as Survivors, San Francis and President whilst he was walking closely to the edge of the city. He had read a few articles about a possible outbreak of something resembling a flu, which apparently reanimated the dead and turned them against the living. Other then that, he was quite unsure what it was about.

He stared dead straight towards it, expecting for something to occure, maybe a debate, reality TV show, really he could watch anything.

[Kicks]

The waiter took down the rest of the order and left the table quietly. When he had gone, Bella turned her attention towards the two and winked. "I need to go tinkle." She stated while getting out of the booth and stretching.
Blake narrowed his eyes at her and frowned. "Now hold on. You said that the bathrooms don't work here." He pointed out, beginning to suspect something was off.
"So? Pshk. It's a free country, I can just pee behind a tree." ArraBella remarked back with a snort. Before she could be questioned any further about it, she swiftly left the two of them alone at the table.
Blake rolled his eyes at the disappearance of his cousin. He turned his eyes towards Faye and raised his eyebrows. "So, do you have any plans now that we're back in America?"

[Lil]

Faye wasn't completely surprised when Red bounced off leaving the two alone, holding hands, for some odd reason she add a bit of an obsession with pushing the together. Faye did had to admit though, her hand was warming up. Whether out of the heat from Blake's or just from the nervousness she was experiencing, whatever it was she wasn't going to argue. "Honestly," Faye started and shifted her gaze for a second, "I'm not entirely sure. I've never been out of San Francisco, this is all brand new to me." Faye said looking around. "I was hoping I'd get to stay with you two, just for a little while."

[Kicks]

Colton had no argument at leaving right then and there. Except for his unmistakable pajamas he hadn't changed from yet. But they were so comfortable! He stood up from the table and hung his head. "All right, I'll be right back." He agreed quietly. The soldier left down the hallway and soon found himself back in his closet looking for clothes.
When he had pulled off his shirt, he was shocked to find that the blue and green blotches had spread from his shoulder to across his torso. He stared down at the rash and frowned. "That doesn't look healthy." He murmured to himself. Quickly, before he had time to start worrying about it, he busied himself with buttoning up a green shirt. It felt weird being dressed in normal clothes now. He had grown quite used to the uniform and to have lighter material on just felt out of place. But he welcomed the change anyways, allowing it to warm him with the sense that maybe the disaster of California would soon be over. Maybe.
He pulled on his shoes which he found still fit even after a year without them. By the time he was done, he felt utterly exhausted. But he willed himself to not just lay back on his bed and sleep away. Instead, he forced himself up and out the door with the house keys.
He met Zakai back out in the kitchen while jingling the keys to the house. "I don't think you grew up on a military base. But here's how it usually is: the residents are people in the military or the children or spouses of those serving. A military base is really easy to get around because everything is roughly within five miles- of course the base stretches out far more than five miles. People seem to know just about everyone here, so if anything suspicious is happening they immediately know something is up. Which is why we have to act totally normal. We don't want people to come knocking on the door and going 'hey, man, did you just kidnap that child?' And it's just... it can get nasty."

[Kicks]

(Last post for a while I've gotta lot to deal with at present, peace get Tony to a hospital I'm putting him into a coma.) As we were leaving I fell down the stairs and the world went black.
(All right, man. No problem.)

There were rumors flying around of what happened. The crowd of people were still gathered outside where a man had tripped over a stair and fallen. The crowd assumed the worst of course, and not what was caught on video. They were guessing it was on purpose. That either the man had been suicidal- which was ridiculous one speculator would comment. Or the man had been pushed- which another speculator doubted. But none of them would face the simple truth that the man had just fallen down a stair. Either way, they had gathered, as all humans tend to, when they heard the sirens of an ambulance. They had watched in curiosity and suspicion when the stranger had been carted off to a hospital unconscious. For an hour after that, they had their debate and threw around ideas of what had exactly went down.

[Kicks]

Blake nodded his head slowly at the answer she had provided him. He dropped his gaze back down to the table and admitted: "In all honesty, I don't even know where Bells and I are even going to go." It was the same worries haunting him again. "My passport and legal papers were in San Francisco. I'm pretty sure without them, it will be hard getting a place in America. I kind of plan on just choosing a place, you know like a state, and staying there. It's actually pretty nice to dream about if I take out the reality of it. It's practically a fresh start. Nobody knows us, we don't know anybody, and we can do anything we want. It's wonderful to think when reality isn't added into it." He glanced out the windows now, frowning at the outside. "I like the big cities. And I've heard a lot about New York City. It sounds amazing."

[Lil]

Hearing that Blake had lost his papers that would keep here in the US made Faye feel a pang in her chest. She prayed he wouldn't have to return to England, that was one place Faye probably wouldn't be able to follow them. As he started to talk about where he wanted to go it made her feel a bit better though, to see him be so optimistic and so willing to stay here. For a few seconds Faye squeezed Blake's hand with her own and smiled. "I've heard about New York, I'm sure it'd be great there." She added and slowly relinquished her squeeze of his hand and let it become more relaxed.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai stared at Colton with a slightly confused look on his face.
"Okay... I understand." But... why would people think you kidnapped me? You didn't force me here. Am I not supposed to be here right now? They let us go from the other military base without any trouble at all.
Zakai nodded slowly as he tried to figure out if they had anything to hide or not, or if maybe he was just being paranoid. Colton was definitely on edge, and again, Zakai saw no reason to be even though he did find his new surroundings a little weird. Maybe everyone here is just overly suspicious. He decided to just forget about that though for the time being. If there was no reason in his mind to be careful, then he had less of a chance of acting weird. His eyes brightened and he looked at Colton.
"Alright. Where do we get shoes? Are we staying on the base for that too?"
He was a little curious about how the base was. He hadn't been raised on a base and that made it a little interesting now that he was temporarily living in one.

[Kicks]

Blake's eyes shifted down to their hands once more and noticed that, once more, she had squeezed his hands like she had done earlier. He was beginning to feel that there was a lot more going on between them than he had realized before. The teenager lifted his blue eyes up to her eyes and smiled. "So then you wouldn't mind hitchhiking with Bells and I, then?" He teased with a wink; "My cousin can sometimes be... a little more open than most."



"At the store." Colton told the kid with an odd look. He wasn't sure how to answer that exactly. Where did one get shoes? Well, of course a store. He knew of a nifty little shop on the base right next to the grocery store that sold shoes of all kinds. "On base. Right here in Texas." He added, this time with a chuckle. He felt as if he were trying to explain this to a person from a foreign country. Though Zakai might as well have been considering California was rather... different.
He led the kid out the front door in a moment and locked the door behind him. Even if Adalia had felt just comfortable keeping the doors unlocked, Colton hadn't been filled in about the recent status of the base so he would take it careful. He also didn't want people going through his house and finding something that could give them away.
They were in a neighborhood currently, at least on one side. On the other side of a black tar road was the beginnings of what looked almost like a small town. Some people were out mowing their lawns, others were soldiers walking in their uniforms walking to their jobs which could be from anything from mechanic to chaplain.

[Lil]

"Wouldn't be my first time." She teased back and grinned. After a few seconds of holding eye contact Faye became undeniably nervous and shifted her gaze to her lap where her free hand rubbed her palm against her pants. Faye also realized that Blake had yet to try to retract his hand, maybe he wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought.

[Kicks]

Blake glanced down once more at their hands and wondered if she was warm enough yet. She no longer felt cold, at least Blake thought so, and she seemed just a little awkward. So he released his grip on her hands and leaned back against the seat. He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "It really does smell great in here." He informed while tapping his foot quietly on the ground to a rhythm in his head.
ArraBella came back and slid once more into her spot. She glanced over and frowned at the sight. "Are you seriously going to fall asleep in the company of such a pretty lady?"
"No." Blake answered back, but there was a hint of a guilty tone to his voice. "I was just going to... do the exact opposite."

[Lil]

As Blake slipped his hand away Faye could feel the corner of her lips tug down, she didn't let it happen for very long though. She quickly corrected it back to her small grin, trying not to show any form of disappointment as Red returned. "Hope everything went well." Faye joked with a tilt of her head. Faye looked to Blake as he leaned back and Red commented on it. She wasn't sure whether his little comeback was aimed at Bella or just in general but she couldn't help but hope he didn't mean her. Of course she thought that though, her self esteem wasn't exactly very high.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai walked out the door after Colton and looked around at all the people curiously. It definitely did seem like a close neighborhood. Everyone was out doing their own thing. There weren't a lot of people rushing around and getting places like there had been in San Francisco or in any other city, he imagined. It had a much steadier pace to it locally. He was sure that the soldiers there had it a little differently... maybe... actually, he had no idea. His head shot around curiously. It definitely was different. He looked down at his feet and then at the ground around him.
"It'll be great when I get those shoes. It's weird walking around outside barefoot."
He still had a lot of questions to ask, not about the mutants and such which he figured he'd find out sooner or later on his own anyway since it had something to do with the government, but about other matters. Still, he decided to let that wait until later. Now was hardly the time.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman stared down the screen, as the news channel began to flicker on, probably for the time to attempt to spark some attention, he stared down the right corner, seeing the typical logo for FOX 'Action' News, seeming as if they were debating about wether or not a group of people should be put down, they referred them to mutants, monsters, and infecteds in just a couple of minutes.

The newsgirl stared into the camera and said "And now, on some coverage about a recent incident, a male named Tony was found down a flight of stairs, unconciouss. The man was believed to have been in a fight in which he was pushed down the stairs, while the on lookers called nine-one-one. Upon arrival, they failed to find the suspect who fought the victim, and rushed Tony to the hostpital, in which it was confirmed he had entered a coma. Our hearts goes out to the victim... And now to the weather."

[Kicks]

"I feel so fresh and clean, yes." ArraBella answered back in a bubbly manner. Her eyes lightened up as soon as she saw the trays of food come to their table. The waiter set the orders down accordingly before leaving in a hurry, intimidated by the bubbly girl who wasn't afraid of getting her way. "Hey, mister! Don't expect a nice tip!" The girl called after him with a frown; "Sheeshk, dude. Wouldn't be so hard just saying a few words!"
"Bells, quiet down." Blake murmured to her with a shake of his head. "You got your food, just be happy with that." He added while opening his eyes. He stared down at the food and raised his eyebrows slowly. "I've never seen a T-bone this big." He then glanced at Faye's order and chuckled a bit. He wouldn't mention how it was kind of childish to order that, and then mix it with coffee. It was rather adorable though. He turned his eyes away and back to his cousin who was making growling noises while eating. "What are you doing?!" He exclaimed with surprise.
"I'm pretending to be a zombie eating a brain!" ArraBella cried back as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world. "Gosh, Blakey. Get in the picture, pshk."


Colton glanced down at the kid's feet, then the ground. It was a good thing that they weren't walking on gravel and that the road was tar instead of rocks and nasty stuff. "I imagine that it isn't all that comfortable." He stated with a few blinks of his eyes. He had stopped walking then and opened up a door to a small shoe store with shoes being advertised on the windows in posters. He ushered the kid into the store and made a gesture to the aisles of shoes. "Well, I guess you know your own size. Go on ahead and pick a pair out." He stated while he took a seat down in one of the chairs supplied by the store.
From over by the counter, two women were talking together. One of them was working, the other one was dressed in a Navy uniform. When the old woman, the one dressed as a soldier, recognized the young man's voice she shot her head in their direction. She squinted for a moment, trying to decide whether her eyes were deceiving her or not. When she finally decided they weren't, she dashed away from the counter and towards the pair. "You're home!" She cried out while throwing her arms around the young man's neck. She was a woman in her sixties no doubt, but just like most old people in the people she held herself quite together. "Adalia didn't tell me! Though I can't blame her. I haven't seen her all day!"
Colton pulled away from the woman, finding it quite uncomfortable to be grabbed like that. Instinct told him it was a danger and he found himself reaching for where his gun should be again. But he stopped himself and instead stared up at the woman with a blank expression on his face. He didn't recognize her, didn't even know her voice. "...Hi..." He finally managed with suspicious eyes. "How are you...?"
"Oh silly me!" The old woman exclaimed with a tinkling laugh. "I forgot that you haven't met me yet. I just got so excited because of the times Ada and I would sit around and she would play videos and- oh just never mind about that. I'm your new neighbor. Well actually, I moved in right when you left for California. So I'm quite old, but you could guess that by how I look!" She laughed again. "My name is Grace and I'm a nurse for the Navy. I was switched to this base from Station 4, when this station expanded. And you're Colton, but I don't recognize this boy right here. Ada didn't tell me you had a child, and you're both far too young to have one this age...so he must be...?"
"Nephew." Colton finished the sentence for her in a smooth voice like butter. "There was an incident with his family so he's staying with Ada and I."
"Oh what a pleasure!" The old woman exclaimed while turning right on Zakai and giving him a hug. "You're such a cutie!"

[Lil]

As their food came Faye's stomach growled one last time, she felt like they had been waiting forever. The waiter placed down her pancake which was decorated with whipped cream to look like a smiley face. Not paying much attention to Red, Faye went ahead and started eating, enjoying the sweet taste of her pancake. It had been a long time since she had food this nice, which wasn't saying much.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai followed Colton into the shoes store and was about ready to look around when Colton was suddenly tackle-hugged by an old lady. Colton ended up yanking away and Zakai only stared as he listened to what the whole situation was. He ended up with the title as Colton's nephew, which made sense, but Colton only had one brother as far as Zakai could tell, and if this lady knew that, then Zakai hoped that they wouldn't group him in with being Richard's son. It was an easy lie to see through in Zakai's eyes, but maybe others would glance over it like nothing. It actually seemed ironic, since Zakai had said Richard would be a horrible father just the day before.
The boys eyes widened when the old lady pulled him into a hug as well. He didn't really know what to do. He didn't like being hugged like this by a complete stranger, but he couldn't just push an old lady away like Colton had! She was elderly! He stood as still as possible and waited for her to release him.

[Kicks]

(Lately, I've been so busy. So, if you find my writing utterly repulsive, I don't blame you. But I do blame exhaustion.)

IHOP had always been one not to disappoint. With a warm place to eat and enjoy, and an aroma that just filled the air with splendor, there wasn't much to complain about. But when Blake bit into the steak and felt the sickly metallic taste of blood mixed with salt, he could feel his stomach do flips. He forced himself to swallow the bite, trying as he might not to think about what he had just swallowed. Then, with all the calmness he could muster, the teenager pushed the plate away from him- refusing to look down at it. The plate itself had become a puddle of egg yolk mixed with beef blood.
Blake calmly scooted his cousin out of the booth, and then silently he left the table with a stiff back. ArraBella wondered at first what had gotten into him, but then she glanced down and noticed that the order had gone wrong. Try as she might, but she couldn't stifle the sympathetic laugh that escaped her. She herself was enjoying the waffles and bacon. She liked the waffles soaked in rich, thick blueberry syrup that mixed itself in with the sweetened butter. She was just sorry her cousin couldn't enjoy it as much as she was. But Faye seemed to be quite enjoying her meal by the looks of it.
When Blake left the table, he found the restroom- much against what his cousin had stated. And much as what he had suspected, the bathrooms were fully operating and clean. He found himself an open toilet, locked the stall, got onto his knees, and then leaned over the toilet seat as the rush of meat and eggs came back up the way they had went down. Oh how embarrassing it was to have left like that, just at the sight and taste of what he hated most. He didn't want to think about his own display or what people might have thought.



Grace pulled away from the child, obviously not noticing the awkwardness that had filled the air. Instead, she was just as upbeat as she had been before even talking to these two. She was a rather odd sight to see. Though old, she wasn't in the least bit frail. The woman stood out just about as much as Admiral Thomas had, who had been near the same age. Both were strong and stood tall, unlike most old people. And like the other, they weren't deterred by age. "Age was but a number" they would say.
"Have you guys heard the news?" The woman questioned in almost a morbid voice. "Congress and President Ryker are really going at it. They were just discussing California before you two came in." She made a gesture towards the TV over the counter's top. "Another one of the representatives was taken away for threatening the president. Amazing if you ask me, because the president seems to be doing most of the threatening. Honestly, I think I would make for a far better president."
Colton took on an irritated expression then. He broke into a scowl over the woman's words and shook his head. "You can't go blaming all of the problems on him when it's Congress who makes the laws. And even when the president vetoes a law, the Congress can still pass it without consent. Furthermore, I find it utterly ridiculous that a woman of your statute and knowledge would know the first thing about being a leader when I bet you haven't even seen the inside of a war zone unlike our president. He's perfectly qualified to run this nation, and don't you think for a second that he is anything less than that."
The old woman was taken aback by the strong and confident words spoken by the young man. But she had regained herself soon enough and began to argue back in a way that made her sound like 'oh sweety, you're totally wrong, but that's okay because we all mistakes, darling'. "Oh, honey." She chortled back while reaching to pat his shoulder affectionately. As she reached though, Colton stepped to the side out of rejection and his glare hardened. "If our president was qualified to run this nation, then he would already agree with Congress and take care of those nasty little, dangerous mutants. He would also just wipe California off the map already."
This seemed to further enrage Colton. His chest puffed out like it did when he was trying to contain himself from going into a yelling state. Instead, his voice was like smooth ice as he stated; "Careful when you're discussing politics with someone who knows more about the topic than you do, or you might find you have made a fool of yourself."
"Guys!" The woman at the counter interrupted with a frightened voice; "Look what's on the television!" She insisted while turning the screen towards them to see.



"Reporting to you live from Minneapolis, Minnesota, we have a dangerous situation." The woman broadcasting stated in a flurried manner. Behind her was the interior to a mall where the viewers could easily see that some kind of monster was attacking the people who were scrambling to get out of the mall as quickly as possible. "Ten minutes ago, a mutant known by Ishmael Bendz transformed into a horrific monster we all thought only roamed in California. Witnesses say that he had dropped to the ground in a seizure. His nails grew out to claws and his teeth became fangs. The color had drained from his eyes, leaving a blazing red in its place. Military officials are now trying to get the situation under control, but are finding it difficult. Unbelievably, the monster has the ability to create spears which have so far injured fifteen civilians and three officers. Nobody is sure what had caused this transformation. But the president can no longer deny that America is faced with a threat. We go to him now live."
The screen had switched to President Ryker. He was standing before a podium with many microphones hooked to it. People were swamping him with questions and screaming for their answers. The man himself had dark brunette hair and green eyes. There were wrinkles on his face, showing he had laughed and worried too much. But he had a military statute about himself with the straight back and strong composure. He waited until their was nothing but silence separating him from the people before he spoke in his Texan accent. "Fellow Americans, I know you are all frightened." He stated calmly, yet somehow rather strong. "And now there is no mistaking that there may very well be a threat on our hands. Though we cannot identify the cause of which that mutant had turned, I would like to think it was by unlucky circumstances rather than a congregated one that he had turned into a monster. This may have led some of you to believe that all mutants will turn into one of those beasts, but no one has the hard evidence that it may be so."
"President!" One of the reporters shouted through the silence; "What will happen now that there is proof mutants could very well be a threat to America?"
The president stared down at the man with such an intensity that the man shrank back. President Ryker glanced over the whole crowd waiting for the answer. "Congress and I are meeting tonight to decide. Personally, I believe mutants should be taken into a safe place away from Americans who could pose a threat to them rather than the other way around. But Congress feels the opposite and believes assassination is in order. I never think murder is the right way to go. Especially when there's very little evidence that mutants could be a threat. But it is not me who is making these decisions, or I would have it my way. It is the people of America's choice of what to do now. By the end of the day we will know what will become of the mutants." With his final words, the audience was hushed into silence and the screen flickered back to another woman.
"In other news, the disease plaguing America has suddenly jumped to Austin, Texas without trace through any other state." The woman stated with a frown, but serious voice. "No cases have been found in any other places besides Austin and Bozeman. Scientists are in an uproar over this and cannot provide an explanation. Once more, professionals suggest to keep good hygiene and wear masks. Debate with the senators in Texas has sprung up on whether Austin will be evacuated or not."

[Lil]

It took Faye a moment to notice Blake had excused himself from the table. She looked to ArraBella confused as the red head chuckled. Scrunching her brows, Faye's eyes drew to the table where she saw what food Blake had been served. It was completely off. The steak was practically still mooing and the eggs looked as if they were just cracked on the plate. The sight if the blood made Faye's stomach turn and she quickly averted her gaze to Red. "You think he's okay?" Faye asked letting her eyes flicker towards the restroom where Blake had gone off to. "Maybe I should check on him." She said almost anxiously. She could only imagine what that tasted like, especially when you were expecting a fully cooked steak.

[Kicks]

ArraBella drew her eyes over to Faye with a smile tinkering at her lips. "Nah, he's totally okay. But good attempt at trying to get a peek into the guys' bathroom." She added the last part with a wink. The girl raised her hand and began to wave the waiter over to their table, when he was back she pointed to the plate and stated; "Now look what your cooks did! This sir, is a disgrace to the name of IHOP. I expect a full refund."
The waiter nervously grabbed the plate up from the table and quickly went away, as silently as he had been the first few times. When he had left, he passed Blake who was coming back looking as composed as he had been before the steak incident. He slid in once more into his place after his cousin let him into the booth.
"That experience was awful." He informed both girls while slowly shaking his head; "You two told me that this place was absolutely splendid. I have been lied to."

[Lil]

"I think Red can agree that their service is usually fantastic. I'm not sure what happened." Faye sighed and rested her chin in her hand. For a moment Faye allowed her eyes to drift closed, in the last few days she had received little to no sleep and it wasn't shocking she was about to right here in the restaurant. It was warm, it smelled nice, and she was remarkably comfy in the booth. Before she could fully actually drift off Faye woke herself up, she may be comfy but that would be embarrassing.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai watched the two adults in their heated argument. His face showed both confusion and worry, but it straightened out into a thoughtful expression after Grace mentioned the president not agreeing to killing mutants. I... I figured it was something like that, but... I mean mutants are weird, but they're still people... I mean... Zakai thought nervously, not sure of which side to take. He knew he had no say in it, and he was not about to jump into their argument, but still, it bothered him. When the other lady stopped them and pointed to the T.V. things only got worse.
At the sight of the monster attacking people, Zakai's eyes widened and he found himself stepping back a little, suddenly wanting to grip onto something, but there was nothing around. He looked down. A... a monster? No... it... it can't... Zakai listened to the rest of it, not looking up. He knew... he knew this was no surprise. Of course... something like this could definitely keep on going. Just because he was out of San Francisco, it was definitely possible for something to continue here. Still, he didn't want it to. Zakai continued staring at the ground even after that part was over. He hated it. Mutants... they're... they're still people... but now that other people are supposed to decide... what will they say? After something like that... surely... surely... I don't want... I hate killing!

[Kicks]

Blake watched Faye for a moment, suddenly amused by her transformation from glee over the food to tired. He turned his eyes back to his cousin and made a motion towards her empty plate; "Well, are we going to go, or what?"
"Yea, fine." The redhead sighed out while snatching his wallet again and taking out the credit card. She waved it at the waiter who came for it and took it with a shaking hand, but as he grabbed onto it he found himself in a tug-a-war with the girl. "Hey, dude. What's your problem, exactly? You've been being such a baby and quiet to us, it's kind of rude."
The guy couldn't have been more than seventeen, around the same age as ArraBella. He stared back at her and then down to the card. "I'm sorry." He managed at last with an awkward shrug. "You don't recognize me, huh?"
Bella frowned at him with an annoyed look on her face. It didn't wipe off until she got a closer look at the guy. He had black hair that was spiked in places, with blue eyes, and tan skin. Despite his awkward display he had a good build going for a guy his age, and he was also pretty tall. He did look familiar, but she couldn't place a name to him until Blake recognized him.
"You're the little cutie that kept coming around our house!" Blake exclaimed with a grin suddenly growing on his face. "Yea, I remember! I chased you off with a BB gun because you arrived on a motorcycle and wanted to ask-" He turned his eyes to his cousin and began to chuckle. "Now how on earth did you manage to survive San Francisco, Carson?"
The teenager shifted awkwardly where he stood and once more shrugged. "I did the smart thing and went to the military when they tried to lock us down in the school. I knew something had to be up so I just... left. I mean... I looked for you guys but... How are you two still alive? I mean, I saw... I saw the zombies and you two were... I mean... You're not... zombies are you?"
Blake saw this as a perfect opportunity to mess with him, but Bella knew what her cousin was thinking and quickly interjected. "No, we're not zombies, Carson. Gosh, what an idiot. Zombies can't talk, everybody knows that! Furthermore, I would have tried to eat you by now. But don't be flattered by that, because I wouldn't go after you for your looks. I would go after you because you have meat on your bones."
"B-but..." The teenager stuttered out with huge eyes. "I saw..." He grabbed Blake's arm then and before Blake could pull away, Carson had the sleeve up and was staring down at a large scar where it looked as if a small shark had bit into the teenager. Both of them stared down at it, dumbfounded by the sight. Blake was amazed by how he hadn't noticed that before, and ArraBella was suddenly frightened. It made sense now though how Carson was acting. Neither Blake nor ArraBella could remember anything before they had met the others in the seemingly abandoned school. "S-see!" Carson exclaimed while gesturing towards the bite mark. "It happened in the gym! There was one of those zombies and the kids had run away, but Bells thought she could take it on and when she couldn't... Well Blake ran into the gym and though it got a pretty good piece from him, Blake managed to paralyze it, though it was still living after that... just not able to move. And you two, I thought you were both done for. And so I took off."
"...Did I try to karate chop it?" ArraBella managed to strangle out at last. "Because, Blake always told me my karate chops needed work."
Carson looked at her with a frown for a moment, and then he broke into a small smile. "No, I don't remember you trying to do that. But you did try to kick the zombie in the balls which also didn't work."

Something snapped in Colton when he saw the monster on the television. His muscles had tensed, and he was slightly shaking. Anger and horror filled him at once in a terrible mixture. He wanted to wipe the smug look off the woman's face and tell the cashier that everything in America would be fine. But he did neither. Images flashed through his head of the same monsters in San Francisco. He recalled the base and the bunker, but worst of all he could recall the mutant that had been his friend until he had turned into a science experiment for the military in San Francisco.
"See, told you they're a danger." The old woman stated in a calm, but 'told you so' manner. "It's just a matter of time now before-"
"Shhhh." Colton hushed her as if he would be hushing a child. No anger could be heard in his voice, but it was evident in his eyes. The shaking wasn't due to either of the feelings between horror or anger. It was due to the electricity building up and ready to electrocute anything he touched. He needed to calm down, or get away from the old woman before he taught her a lesson she would never forget. He wasn't one to hurt civilians, or citizens, or even fellow soldiers. But now, as he stared at the old woman all he could think about was hitting her in the face, with a fistful of electricity. But he didn't. He remained calm on the outside, and turned to walk down an aisle. "What size are you, Zakai?" He called over his shoulder while his eyes glanced over the kids' shoes. He had noticed the kid's demeanor change after the news feed, but he said nothing about it. What could he say after all? 'Don't worry, kid, we're not in San Fran anymore'. That didn't seem like such great advice considering what had happened on the news. He also didn't want to say anything revealing around anyone just in case. He didn't want them finding out Zakai was from San Francisco.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai looked up at Colton for a moment. The man was moving down the aisle. He had asked Zakai what his size was.
"Six."
Grace was giving Colton a smug look, and though Colton was calm, Zakai was pretty sure he wanted to leave. He sure did. Zakai looked down nervously. There was a lot of tension going on, and on top of that the news had been awful. Zakai still didn't say a word to anyone. He wasn't even sure what to think of the lady. A moment ago she was attacking the with hugs and now she was attacking Colton with words. Zakai was pretty much left out of it, but he knew which side he stood on. He was a child, so people would most likely forgive him for it, but he wondered, if anyone knew he was from San Francisco, then would that change? Still, he was not a mutant. He was disease free. Did that matter at all? He wasn't sure. And what of Colton? He was bitten, Zakai knew that much. The boy was becoming more and more nervous by the second. He stood still and stared at the ground.

[Lil]

Faye watched as the two talked to a guy, who Faye had no idea who he was. Blake and Red obviously recognized him. Faye slowly leaned back in the booth and watched quizzically, if we were zombies why would we be in IHOP? That didn't exactly make any sense. She shook her head releasing the thought though, honestly she was amazed by the fact that someone else had even survived this apocalypse. That was all she had really focused on until Carson exposed Blake's arm and the large scar on it. That couldn't be good, Faye didn't catch where Blake got it but part of her wanted to know. "Wait, how'd you get that?" She asked completely dumbfounded.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman was more or less stuffed about watching the television running, and felt his stomach rumble, as if it was about to shrink to the size of an apple. The egg he had eaten was only ment to satisfy him for a short while, and now his intention was to find a place with a good menu, hopefully sweet, to compensate for the lack of sugar in the forest.

He walked through Austin, searching from place to place, until he was staring down a IHOP sign. His mind ran through the idea for a while, and decided to walk right in when he saw that there were pancakes with whipped cream and strawberry jam sitting on a plate. He marched in proudly, and looked at the counter. As he an empty table, he couldn't help but turn his eyes over to Blake and Red. He noticed the scar first, but wasn't really impressed by it. He knew quite a lot of people who had scares like his, mostly from grizzly attacks, or slashing themselves up on a sharpened branch.

He sat there for quite a while, waiting for some form of response for his action of taking a seat. Maybe a waitress would come along, or a tough guy would come along and rip him off his seat. Either way, he was sitting there calmly.

[Kicks]

Colton glanced at the selection of shoes in the six range. He had no idea what Zakai would like and the poor kid was still barefoot. He stared at the shoes without even really thinking about them. He was thinking back to the video on the television of that mutant gone monster. It couldn't be true for all mutants, could it? No, that wouldn't make sense. That wouldn't make sense at all. Any idiot could see it. Not all mutants could be like that. Because if they did change, then how...? He frowned at the thought of it now, thinking back the military base in San Francisco and the soldiers there. Some of them had been there for three years, some of those infected for three years with the mutation. So then... He stared at the shoes for another minute before giving up on it. He had calmed down some when he began to think about the logic behind the debate. The electricity that had been ripping at his skin to get free was now nothing but fire in his blood.
"Zakai, what kind of shoes do you like?" Colton called from down the aisle. He may have been calm now, but if the woman were to say something more on the topic he just might lose his control over the electricity. That would be terrible. So he wanted to get out of the store as soon as possible. His mind was also swirling around Zakai and what would become of him. There was still the threat that someone on the base could find out that he was a survivor from San Francisco. There was still the problem that he didn't have family to go to. There was also the problem that he might not be trustworthy. The kid may not talk a lot and though he definitely hadn't sided with the terrorists in San Francisco, he was still worried the kid might spill something either accidentally or purposely to someone else. Maybe he would have to have a talk with him about the real threat of the circumstance later.

[Kicks]

Blake looked up from the scar and towards the girl sitting beside him. He shrugged his shoulders casually as if he really had no idea- and he really had no idea. "I don't know. I remember waking up in the school, and before that I can remember Kristian Bobskie coming into class and dragging me out of it. But in between, I really don't know. I guess..." He glanced towards Carson now, "That I...?"
"Took down the zombie inside the gym. And in the process, it had got a hold of your arm." Carson repeated with a nod of his head. He sat down at their booth now and spread out his hands. "You guys really can't remember any of this? Didn't you wonder where you got those freaky powers from? That is... if you have any. I mean, that's what the rumors are saying anyways."
"What on earth are you talking about?" ArraBella questioned with a scowl. She was getting kind of irritated at having no idea what this guy was on about.
"Mutants." Carson explained easily with a shrug of his own shoulders. "They're people who have been bit by a zombie but haven't turned into one due to a mutation in the virus. So instead of being infected with the virus, you're infected with its byproduct. Nobody really knows the science behind it yet, and if they do the military won't let anyone know."
"Wow, that term seems highly prejudice." Blake noted with a few blinks of his eyes. "Then what are you, Carson? Just a normal human?"
"Yea." Carson answered with a slow frown crossing his face. "But... I mean... Uhm... There's nothing wrong with mutants, I think. They're just victims of the attack. I mean, it's not their fault they got infected by a zombie. There's this huge debate about mutants right now. Congress wants to kill all the mutants for fear they might turn into amped up zombies on steroids. But President Ryker is against the killing of the mutants and wants to preserve their lives." He dropped his voice now extremely low so that they had to lean in to hear. "So if I were you guys, I wouldn't go telling people that you're mutants, or let them know you came from San Francisco. And try your hardest to hide your abilities... If not, I mean you can take the chance... But if people do find out..." He trailed off, leaving them to figure out the rest on their own. He pulled back now and spoke in a normal voice while gesturing towards Faye; "I think I've passed you a few times in the hall at school.... But I don't know your name." He dropped his voice again and whispered: "Are you a mutant?"
While Carson became preoccupied with finding the name out from the girl, Blake had noticed someone glancing over at them. He was a man who looked kind of wild in Blake's opinion. The teenager slowly pulled his sleeve back over his scarred arm, but his blue eyes never left the man just a table over from them.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

It was easy to tell that the man was tense. Zakai was getting a little nervous about the whole situation. Things had heated up pretty badly between Grace and Colton, and now the tension just wasn't seeming to go away. He looked up when Colton asked him what type of shoe he liked.
"Uh... just... sneakers would be fine." He remembered Adalia earlier asking him if he was color blind and to make sure his clothes matched. "Black ones." Black shoes usually matched everything, and the shoes he had lost had been that color anyways.
His face fell a little more. I don't even have my shoes or anything left. He wished at that moment that he had taken something back with him from San Francisco. It probably wouldn't have mattered since the military would have taken it anyways, and he understood, but still. He wished he at least had something. The only thing he had at all left behind from his life before was his name. He looked at his hand where he had written "dog:?". He wondered then if she was okay. The dog was not as important to him as his parents or sister of course, but it was possible that she was his only living... thing close to being family. Also, here it was weird. It was interesting, but he felt out of place. He was a survivor from the whole zombie fiasco, and on top of that, Colton wasn't telling anyone. He preferred it that way, of course, but now he was worried by the way the man had been acting that there was some dangerous reason behind it. It could of course just be Zakai's imagination that was scaring him, but he couldn't help but worry. He also worried a little for Colton. He was a mutant... he thought anyway. What did that mean for him? Then there was the whole family thing that had to be sorted out in which everyone would decide, "where the heck is this kid going to go?". Those were what troubled Zakai the most. Those, and everything else that had happened in the past three years. Everything was crazy it seemed. It was all spinning out of control. He didn't know what to do. He wanted someone to be there. He wanted someone that he knew to be there. He wanted to go home, but nothing like that existed anymore. He bit his lip nervously and suddenly started trembling. Don't think of that anymore! The dog! Think of a name for the dog!

[Kicks]

Colton snatched out the first pair of black sneakers he could. It wasn't so hard though, considering a lot of people enjoyed wearing sneakers, and a lot of people liked black. He carried the box in his hands while he made his way back to the cashier where the women were back to talking about current events. Colton reached over when neither one would stop and scan the shoes. He grabbed onto the scanner and scanned the box. By that time, the woman had noticed and cried out.
"Hey! You're not allowed to just-" She stopped when she saw him raise his eyes up and shoot her such a cold look she could feel it in her bones.
Colton threw the money down onto the counter, paying for the shoes in the process of that. He grabbed the box again and walked towards the door. Though he was tempted to say something about the customer service, he wouldn't. He would keep quiet and he did just that. He handed the box over to Zakai, giving the kid his shoes. And then the soldier calmed walked through the door before he could turn back around and snap someone's neck. He had never felt so much anger directed towards one person before. That's how he knew that he wasn't only just angry with the woman, but also angry with a lot of people. People who wouldn't shut up and mind their own business. People who had to go and make murderers, monsters, and demons out of innocents and victims. People who didn't fight to uphold the good and justice. People who turned their backs on the disgusting lies and filth of this world. He was also frightened by the military. It hadn't been what he had seen it as three years ago. It had turned into an angry machine that would not stop and destroy anything in its path to success. He had his reasons for thinking that, and they wouldn't leave his mind. Especially the thought of that one mutant on the videos. The one that he couldn't have helped no matter how desperately he wanted to. He was also thinking about Zakai and felt so much confusion over that. The kid must have felt so isolated! But Colton couldn't do anything to help him!
Outside, he raised his hand to his temples and took a deep breath to calm the fighting tides of thoughts in his head. There was another thing that was bothering him and that was California. But that wasn't the only thing. California still posed as a threat and a problem and yet Congress was more focused on annihilating mutants rather than getting rid of the real threat. He didn't understand that. How could they be so obsessed with killing humans when they could be that obsessed over saving lives by taking care of California? There was no logical explanation for it of course. There was also no explanation for the disease hitting two cities now. One of them was the city they were in and that concerned him. There was talk of evacuation on the news, which made Colton believe the disease could be a real threat. He wondered how many people had died now from the hands of the disease, and how many more deaths were to come.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai just stood there fir a moment trying to focus on a name for the dog, but he looked up in surprise when the shoes were given to him suddenly. Colton was pissed. He calmed down and walked out, but it was something Zakai could see clear as day. Even the ladies behind him had fallen quiet. Zakai stared after him for a moment, then ran outside after the soldier stopping behind him.
"A-are you okay?" Of course he isn't okay!
Zakai wasn't sure how that would help. He didn't know what to do. He was only a kid. Colton was an adult. The man didn't need consoling from a kid! It didn't seem like there was anything he could do. He didn't even fully understand what was wrong. He wanted to say something. He felt bad for Colton, but what was there that he could do?

[Kicks]

Colton lowered his hand down from his head and stared up at the sky for a moment. Austin was still as glamorous as he had remembered it. The sky was its same bright blue with little clouds darting across the sky in shapes every now and again. The sun was still bright and hot as it always was. The air was still filled with that sweet smell of crops and sugar plants. He had seen the normal Austin life outside of a military base, but he always preferred the base life compared to civilian life. It was just a comfortable place, up until recent months. Now he thought of military bases as traps, keeping the soldiers in one place and every once in awhile the officials would-. Colton stopped his thought process then and swallowed it back. There was no way a military base was safe, but what was worse was that the base granted him access to everything he needed to complete his hopes for finding a good use to the information Admiral Thomas had provided. But for Zakai? Austin wasn't safe for the kid with that disease. A thought butted into the rest that were bothering him. Yes, maybe it was possible to get Zakai somewhere safer.
"Have you ever been inside the White House?" Colton asked the kid slowly. He turned his eyes down from the blue, blue sky and to the kid now. He hadn't answered the question that Zakai had prompted because he honestly didn't know how to answer it. Was he okay? No. His thoughts were in turmoil, his stomach felt like it was going to explode, the skin consumed by the blue and green blotches were on fire, and his eyes were very itchy. He was enraged and couldn't do anything about it. He was feeling despair because the world was in chaos and he couldn't do anything about it. But did he show any of this? No, he refused to. To show it would be to accept and he refused to do that. He refused to believe there wasn't anything to be done about any of this.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

When Colton turned and asked Zakai the question, the man was surprisingly calm. Zakai stared at him for a moment before lowering his head slightly. For some reason, he really didn't like this question. There was something odd about the whole situation that was very apparent to the child, even though it was hard to pick up. If he hadn't been through what he had in San Francisco, he probably wouldn't have even noticed it. Te question posed meant something. It was not just out of curiosity. Questions such as this and even statements made had always been given to him. A situation similar to this happened when he was in the school at the beginning of everything. He was with his teacher and their question was, 'You wanna hold onto this?' They were as calm as ever and in their hands... there was a hammer. When Zakai took it they said to him, 'Run. Get out of here. I'll stall them for you. Don't look back.' That was the last time he ever saw them.
"No.... why?"

[Kicks]

Colton waited patiently for the answer to be given to him. When he got the answer he had expected, he turned his eyes down the road towards his house he could easily see from where he stood. "My dad's the president of the United States." He answered back without giving anything away in his voice. "I thought the White House would be nice to go to because it's full of security, protection, and calm. I just don't want you around these people here on base. But it's your choice. You can stay on the base or go with me to the White House." He frowned now, "You don't know what the military is capable of doing. Some of us still have our sight, our cause to fight for justice and good... But then there are those who have lost it. I'm worried that you might become a target here. I also don't know if I can trust you from slipping up and saying something about San Francisco. I don't want word getting out that you're from there for your own safety. I also don't want word getting out about what happened in the bathroom at Admiral Thomas' house." As he spoke, he was talking so quietly that only Zakai could have possibly heard him. Also while he spoke, he noticed a redhead disappear into the house only to come out a minute later still carrying the bag she had carried in. She was looking up and down the street now with a frown planted on her face. Colton would have drawn attention to her, but he first had to find out Zakai's answer.

[Lil]

Faye scrunched her brows as Carson talked. How did he know all this? So much about themselves that they didn't even know. Slowly Faye drummed her fingers on the table listening very intently. He was right though, there was a lump of the day she had forgotten, and this is when this all took place. Just out of curiosity of her own powers Faye gently moved her finger sending the sugar gliding across the table with ease. It wasn't enough for someone not watching to notice but still interesting to her. Quickly, she stopped and returned her attention to Carson. "Oh, I'm Faye." She introduced herself with a small genuine smile.

[Kicks]

"Well, hi Faye. I'm Carson and I was once a Junior at San Fran High." He introduced himself while standing up from the table now. He glanced at ArraBella before quickly looking back to Blake. "Listen, I heard you guys talking... Couldn't help it, ya know... And you guys can stay at my place until you get everything arranged. You can't just get a taxi and expect to get to New York just that easy. I mean, my place is small and all, but it has two rooms so the girls can can have one and the guys can have the other. That way there's nothing awkward, ya know."
Blake found the offer highly amusing to hear. There was just something about the way that Carson had said that that made it hilarious to him. "How exactly did you get started after the chaos of San Fran?"
Carson fidgeted where he stood for a minute. "Well, I've always been a quick thinker... So I just... ya know. I mean, there's a lot of empty places in Austin and so I would stay in them and switch every once in awhile until I got a steady income to actually rent one. You guys will have it easy once everything gets going. You can probably rent a car and get to New York, but I'd suggest having a place to stay lined up before going. Blake, you probably have no idea how to do any of that, and without your papers you'll get arrested and deported. So I can do it for you guys, really. It's easy. Piece of cake. I just kind of ya know, need you to pay for your place and such."
Blake nodded his head in acceptance to this. "All right, sounds like a plan then. Thanks, buddy. By the way, that steak thing. Did you do that just to be funny?"
Carson once more fidgeted, giving a small smile. "It was a test actually. I saw how you reacted in gym when that guy kicked the ball too hard and smashed the girl's nose so hard she got a bloody nose. So I figured if you were a zombie you'd eat it no problem, but if you didn't then you were human."
"You're twisted." Blake informed, though was laughing now. "So bloody twisted, mate!"
Carson straightened up a bit as he broke into a grin then. "Yea... I know. Well, I get off of work real soon, so I can just show you guys my place then."

[Lil]

Faye listened to the two, not as in depth this time though. She found herself having a hard time focusing, probably due to the fact that she was exhausted. When Carson mentioned he had to work a little longer Faye finally spoke up. "Could we just stay here while we wait then? It's truly freezing outside." She said and wrapped the jacket around her a bit more out of habit. Her eyes flickered from Blake to Carson with a hopeful glint in them, anywhere they wpcould stay warmer longer made her feel so much happier.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai looked down. He figured as much. For some reason, he wasn't all that surprised to find out that the president was Colton's father. He understood Colton's reasoning, but he wished he didn't. Nervousness surged through him and a whirl of thoughts ran through his head. He felt the most comfortable around Colton because Colton was the only one he knew, but there was still dissonance between them no matter what. Zakai had known this from the start. As much as he had come to like and admire the soldier, he knew that it was temporary. It had to end somewhere. There was always the chance of some sort of turn around, but when bets came high, it was not something that money should be put on. He wanted to stay. He didn't want to leave. Colton had been the only person who helped him in San Francisco that survived, but it wasn't the same even so. Colton still had his own life and things he had to do, and from the start, Zakai was afraid that he'd get in the way. He had chosen to leave his teacher behind because they insisted. There was nothing between them but the responsibility of a teacher to keep a student safe. Here, it didn't seem all that different. Colton was also going through something, and it was not something that Zakai was needed to be around for.
Fear welled up inside of Zakai but he ignored it. Staying meant trouble and turmoil. Slowly, Zakai nodded.
"Alright. I'll go."
Whatever was torn inside of him only became more severed. It was as if a volcano was about to explode, but the earth was encrusting it with only a thin layer. Still, whatever Colton had said, it was right. Zakai was quivering but only slightly. He looked up at the soldier with fear but also understanding. Only if it had to be done.

[Kicks]

Carson nodded his head at the question asked of him by Faye. "Yea, sure. I'll come and get you guys when my shift's over." Before he turned around and left, he returned the credit card to ArraBella with a nervous, shaky smile. "It was rude of me to play that trick. By policy, the meal is free."
ArraBella narrowed her eyes at the teenager but took the card back and passed it to her cousin nonetheless. "You're dang right that was rude. But it was also really funny so I have no complaints here." She pointed an accusing finger at him now; "I seem to recall someone promising a motorcycle ride and never giving me one."
Carson glanced towards Blake quickly before looking back at the redhead. "Well, your cousin's really intimidating..." He trailed off, though he was smiling at the memory of History class when the redhead found out he owned a motorcycle. It was more like her going 'you will give me a ride because I helped you with your homework' than an actual promise. But Carson still felt the need to give her a ride despite that.
"Pshk. Yea right." ArraBella laughed out while slapping her knee. "Though I bet Faye doesn't think so either." She glanced over at the girl now with a large, teasing grin coming across her face. "Oh yea, these two are like a constant flirt fest."
"Well, that's awkward." Carson whispered while scratching the back of his head. "I mean, cool. But I could have gone without knowing that. Now it's really weird because they'll both be staying in my place and I don't want to wake up to- never mind."
"Gross." Blake commented with wide eyes. Oh yes, he had known what that guy was going to finish the sentence with.

Colton looked down at the child again and frowned. He noticed the shaking and recognized the fear in Zakai. He would have given the kid a comforting pat but he was afraid of zapping him, whether a small zap or all the electricity that wanted to leave the soldier. "Hey." The soldier stated a small smile; "I told you I would protect you from the start, or don't you remember? Don't look so afraid. So long as I'm alive, no harm will come to you." He fished a cellphone out of his pocket and gave it to the kid carefully, making sure nothing extra came out like a bolt of electricity. "Look, I'm just a call away."
By then, Adalia had found them and approached with such speed that Colton had to take a few steps back for fear she might run one of them over. She dropped her bag to the ground and unzipped it. From it she pulled out a needle as if it were the solution to all her problems. "I found it!" She whispered loudly to him in an excited manner. "They're wrong! The people on the news are wrong! The scientists are all wrong! Not all mutants will turn into those monsters unless they're bitten or die from the mutation. But they can only die by the mutation if they're allergic to the mutation!" Before Colton could run away from the needle, she had him and stabbed him in the neck with it. "Eventually they'll die from an allergic reaction- if they have the allergy that is- and then become one of the monsters. It's really complicated, actually. Admiral Thomas was going about it completely wrong. It's not a disease infecting mutants, it's an allergen!"
Colton was freed at last from his wife's amazingly strong grip. He knew she could be very strong when she was stubborn, but he hadn't been expecting her to be so stubborn or go stabbing him with some sort of injection! In plain daylight! "What about that mutant on the news, then?"
"Same thing." Adalia explained in a cheerful manner and a shrug. "He must have been allergic. Anyone exposed to their allergy for too long can suffer fatal consequences. And now if we can get this information public-"
"We can't." Colton interrupted with a quick look around to make sure nobody but the three were listening. "If they find out that we have this information we will be murdered for treason. And then we can't work on finishing what Admiral Thomas had started."
The woman stared back at him with both torn eyes and eyes full of understanding. She slowly nodded her head, agreeing though very reluctantly. "You're right..." She sighed out at last. Her eyes turned to Zakai now and she frowned even more. "Poor wittle Zakai..." She murmured out, recalling what she had been told about him. "He can't stay on the base, Colton. Someone's bound to find out that he's not related to either of us."
"I know." Colton sighed out while beginning to run his hand through his hair. "That's why I'm taking him to my dad. You saw the way he was on the news, he's on our side and he doesn't even know it yet. I'm taking Zakai to the White House today."
"All right." Adalia agreed with a slow nod of her head. "I'll just tell our officials that you went on vacation. But you know, Richard won't be too happy about this. He's all fussed up about 'not having his little brother back, been replaced by a clone' or something like that."
Colton didn't like the sound of that, but decided to ignore it anyways. He was already heading for the house now as he thought about not thinking about his older brother. Zakai would have to get his clothes and Colton would have to find his ID card proving who he was so that Secret Service wouldn't get on him and go nuts. Already as he was walking did his head feel more clear, despite all the thoughts still running into each other. The fire had also died down. Despite that, all he could think about was getting Zakai to the White House.

[Lil]

As soon as Red brought up how Faye and Blake had been acting Faye couldn't help but blush. "It's not like you haven't been little miss pushy." Faye murmured before leaning back in the booth and crossing her arms over her chest. Then Carson started to imply something even worse and Faye pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in between them This can be happening. This can't be happening. she said to herself over and over. Could they possibly embarrass her any more? Faye didn't even know if Blake liked her, and if he did he probably wouldn't act on it, especially with all of this going on. It was dangerous and stupid to grow attached to anyone at this point, Faye knew that as well as the next person but for some reason she couldn't help it.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai stared at the cellphone in his hand. What? You... what? He was actually more surprised out this than he was about the president. Even though he couldn't help being nervous, he did feel comfort from what he was told. He brightened suddenly. He felt kind of happy about this. He wasn't completely leaving. It wouldn't be the last time. He put the phone into his own pocket. He stopped quivering. His fear was still apparent, but he was smiling a little. It wasn't all bad.
All the while, Adalia was going on about finding a cure. There was an allergen and not a disease. It was some sort of cure for whatever supposed "disease" which was no longer a "disease" was going around. It seemed like good news, but it was still private and things darkened again when Colton mentioned getting murdered for treason. Zakai understood somewhat what was going on but there were a bunch of huge gaps even so. Finish what Admiral Thomas started? What? Zakai was confused, but he didn't want to get into it. There was a very good chance that this had something to do with the business between the two soldiers and Colton must have chosen to tell Adalia. Now that he was talking about it within hearing range of Zakai, it meant that he wasn't completely out of it anymore, but the boy was not about to question anything too deeply. Colton informed Adalia of his plan to take him to the White House. They were leaving awfully soon, but Zakai wasn't too surprised at that either. He followed Colton back to the house, worried still about the days ahead, but he wasn't nearly as scared anymore. Still, when he got there, what would it be like? He didn't know the president, of course, and he had no idea when the man came into term or anything. The last three years had kept stuff like that from reaching him. He trusted Colton's judgment however, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed in the first place. Maybe things would be fine.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman stared as he noticed an employee approach his table, with a broad smile across her face, she said with a sweet tone "Hello sir, what would you like to eat today?"

Rickard thought quickly for a moment, and responded "I would like a plate of pancakes with strawberry jam and a pinch of sugar, if that's what you're offering.", it was good enough of a sentence he thought, and hopefully got what he wanted across.

The lady smiled for a second and said "Pancakes... With, strawberry jam... Anything else, would you like something to drink?"

Rickard Woodsman said quickly "Some plain water, ma'am."

She quickly turned around and started to walk towards the counter, around it and into an area he believed was where they baked, stuffed and made most of the stuff on the menu. Not that he had read it, but he could definently tell by just inhaling that it was filled with all sorts of jam and marmelade, pancake batter and butter, loads of butter, or his nose had just reacted strongly to the scent.

He was sitting there, somewhat listening in on the conversations taking place around him. One was about coming home early to surprise his wife. Another was about getting someone to watch the dog, the last one was about a possible teen girl, somewhere near that, saying something about it being freezing outside. Rickard hadn't even noticed it being cold outside, so he just shut his eyes, and waited for something interesting to enter his ears.

[Kicks]

"Right, well, since there's no real denial going on... I'm going to have to be extra careful with you people in my home." Carson decided while stating this with a slow voice. He picked up the plates and cups from the table quickly before stating; "I'll come by and get you guys before I leave." He promised. He then left the three at the table alone while balancing the dishes in his hands.
"He's so not getting a tip. He took my cocoa and I wasn't even done with it." ArraBella scoffed out while slowly shaking his head.
"Well, knowing him he'll probably make it up to you by showering you in presents and making you his queen." Blake stated very casually. Almost too casually. He slipped at the end as a smile came racing across his face.
His cousin turned to him and punched him in the shoulder. "Blake West you are not a funny person!" She exclaimed while huffing.
Blake raised his hands while chuckling lowly. "I don't know. I thought I was pretty funny." He admitted with a shrug. "Anyways, we might as well decide what kind of place before we start looking for one in New York. It'll be hard finding a house in New York like in San Francisco. So we'll probably be left with an apartment."


Colton opened up the closet door at the end of the hallway. He pulled out a camouflage duffle-bag and closed the closet door behind him. The soldier brought the bag to the guest room where Adalia had told the kid he could sleep. "All right." He called to Zakai while placing the bag down on the bed; "Just put your clothes in the bag."
From the front door, a slamming was heard. Then the pounding of footsteps, and then Richard had his brother by his shirt and was pulling him towards the front door.
"Hey!" Colton shouted, somehow managing to escape his very strong older brother. He took a few steps away from the enraged man and stared at him. "What the heck was that about?"
Richard pointed a finger at his brother while his face shown bright red with anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just up and leave the base! And without even telling me?!"
"Calm down." Colton whispered while making a hushing motion with his finger. But this seemed to only further anger his brother, so he stopped trying to hush him. "Look, in the contract I signed before I went to California it said that all returning soldiers were granted a paid vacation off to visit family, friends, or just have some alone time. I want to go see dad."
"Colton! Do you think I'm an idiot?!" Richard exclaimed loudly while throwing his hands up in the air. Richard breathed heavily, his nostrils flaring so that Colton got the impersonation that he was a fire breathing dragon.
"Right now, yes." Colton answered honestly, though he couldn't help the amused look crossing his face. "You have to calm down, Richard. It's not like I'm going to be gone forever. I think it would be cool for Zakai to meet dad, not every kid gets to meet the president. Besides, I think it'd be a nice break for him away from all this military action. He's not like us, he didn't grow up on a military base. He's a city kid and doesn't fit in here."
Richard calmed down a little bit at his brother's convincing words. "All right, fine. You've convinced me... for now...." He trailed off with a frown on his face. "I'll give you guys a lift to the airstrip."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai jumped when the door slammed open and Richard charged in. For a brief moment there was yelling between the two of them down the hall and then their voices lowered. Zakai couldn't hear what they were saying and he stayed planted where he was. An argument between family was best left alone... especially if they were siblings. He held back and then finally put on the shoes that Colton had bought him. He had ran after Colton so quickly when he stormed out of the shoe store that he forgot to put them on then and he ended up walking back to the house barefoot.
After their voices died down, Zakai waited for a moment before walking into the hallway and slinking past them into the room he had been given to pack up his things. The clothes from that morning were still folded which made it easier for him to pack them up quickly, and there weren't that many of them. He also grabbed the marker that Adalia had given to him and he put it in along with his clothes. He looked around at the room. There was nothing else for him to take. He walked over to the door and poked his head out.
"I'm ready to go."

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman slowly endulged himself into his sleep, but suddenly got a major urge going across his body, which later was filled in with paranoia. He opened his eyes to find that IHOP, had literally vanished right before his eyes. He was back in the woods again, with darkness surrounding him. He opened his eyes wide open in an attempt to identify where he was. Was he in his camp? Had he just fallen down and gone unconciouss for the duration of the day? With his left hand he slowly raised it towards his head, touching it around to see if any damage was done to it.

Whilst he was doing this, he heard a large scream right infront of him. He looked dead ahead, and saw what seemed to be a rather large fellow limping towards him, it had held it's throat with it's right hand whilst numerous amount of blood had started running down it's red sweeter with black stripes- wait... Wasn't that what Rickard was wearing?

It slowly collapsed infront of him, and he noticed behind it was a feminine figure in a wedding dress. It had a surgical mask covering it's face. It slowly reached towards it, and pulled it off. It had a large gaping wound from each sides of the mouth that went all the way up to her ears. She slowly approached Rickard, and muttered out the words "Watashi Kirei?"

...

Rickard Woodsman slowly opened his eyes, with what appeared to be a waitress, with a scared expression on her face. She said to him in a low tone "Are you okay... sir?"

Rickard Woodsman looked around him, seeing that he was on the floor behind the table he had choosen to sit down on. He muttered back towards her "Yeah... I'm fine... Just felt a bit shocked. Thanks for caring."

She smiled, and her scared expression faded away quickly. He pushed himself back up towards the table. He reached for the chair and sat himself down comfortably. He noticed that in front of him was pancakes with strawberry jam, and fancy enough, a pinch of sugar on top. He smiled at the sight and reached for the top pancake, folding it in half before pushing it towards his mouth, forcing atleast half of the pancake into his mouth before he smacked down his teeth on it, chewing on it and swallowing.

He looked as the waitress was beginning to head back behind the counter, before he said "Excuese me, ma'am!" in a loud voice to get her attention. As she approached his table, he reached for his right pants pocket and pulled out a grey wallet, that if anyone would spare the time to look at, would notice that it was made from duct tape. He reached inside one of it's folders and pulled out a hundred dollar bill, handing it towards the waitress

"Thanks again. Take this as a tip."

She stared at the bill, and smiled yet again, reaching for it with her left hand and pulling it out of Rickards reach. She stuffed it down one of her pockets, before walking behind the counter. As she walked behind the counter, Rickard continued to eat his pancakes.

[Kicks]

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd really like to drive there. I think a drive through Texas to D.C would be a lot better than being on a plane." Colton stated while slowly backing towards the hallway.
"What? You don't trust me?" Richard questioned, carefully watching his younger brother. "Did you even get your license back from the station?"
"Pshk. This is America, and the South. I can do what I want." Colton replied with a snicker. His brother didn't think that was too funny though and stared hard at him. "Okay, look, I think it's adorable that you're being such a worried brother, but I like my space. And you don't like kids."
"At least let me follow you in my own car." Richard more demanded than offered.
"Right on, got a stalker now." Colton mouthed, feeling a little suffocated suddenly by his older brother. He dug for his keys in his pockets and when he found them, he pulled them out and called back to Zakai; "All right then, let's hit the road!"
"I'm going to do it anyways." Richard stated when his brother didn't answer back to him. He left the house then with his own set of keys and a second later, Colton could hear the obnoxious revving a military grade jeep. The younger brother brought his hand up to his head and slowly shook his noggin back and forth.
"He can be so immature and stubborn. Gosh." The soldier murmured exasperatedly while making his way to the red Ford truck in the driveway. His brother was already pulled out on the street and honking away for the two to hurry it up. "Will ya shut up, Richie?! The whole base can hear you!"
"THEN LET'S GOOOOOOO." Richard called back while slamming his hand even harder into the horn. "GO. GO. GO. GO. GO."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai waited, staying in the room so that the two soldiers could argue to their hearts' desire. When Colton called to him, Zakai finally left the room. I wonder how long it'll take. Geez! I hope the president doesn't feel like I'm getting dumped on him! His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the horn of some kind of car honking outside. He quickened his pace and opened the front door to find Richard in a jeep and Colton at his truck... and they were yelling at each other... again. Zakai only lowered his head and walked over to Colton's truck. I'm not even going to ask.
Zakai looked up at Colton with slight confusion on his face and expectancy. They were leaving now... and this was how they were being seen off. Even Zakai felt a little embarrassed at the whole thing.
"Um..." he glanced back at Richard in his jeep, then back up at Colton, still not willing to ask, but the situation was confusing.

[Kicks]

Richard became so impatient to leave that he got out of his jeep and picked Zakai right up. He stuffed the kid into the backseat of Colton's truck and then ran back to his own car. "LET'S. GO."
Colton gawked at his older brother's display. He was surprised that he had just done that and he was praying that Richard hadn't hurt Zakai in the process. The soldier shook his head and got into his truck. "I'm not telling you to buckle up, but I am suggesting it." Colton stated as he started up the truck and backed out. As soon as he was in the street, his older brother began to honk again to get going.
"STOP." Colton shouted at the window. But this only encouraged his brother to honk some more. The younger brother decided to ignore it then with an annoyed expression. He sped down the road, not much caring for speed limits signs... He also kind of forgot they existed since he could drive however fast he wanted in San Fran.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai was so surprised when Richard grabbed him that he didn't even struggle against it. He landed with a thud in the back seat of the car and just stared up at the roof of the car. He shook his head and sat up, glaring after Richard who was scuffling back to his own jeep.
Zakai buckled his seat belt after Colton suggested it. He guessed that Colton was pretty annoyed because the soldier raced off after Richard provoked him by honking even more behind him. Zakai gripped his seat belt, glad that he had buckled it now. He understood Colton's annoyance, but this had to stop.
"Colton! Slow down! You're going to hit something! OR SOMEONE!"

[Kicks]

Colton continued down the roads speeding past his eyes with no intent of slowing. Every now and again he would check his rear view mirror to see if his brother was still on his tail. In fact, despite what Colton was attempting to do his brother managed to keep up with the pace. At any rate, one of the two were bound to be pulled over or called in for their dangerous stunt. But the brothers didn't care for authority, because if they did they wouldn't have dared to take their dispute to the streets in cars. But Colton had one disadvantage that Richard didn't have. See, Colton had compassion for people and cared. He saw how precious life was and noticed the intricate things of someone which is why it was so easy for him to be motivated into doing something good. He was easily controlled by doing what he felt was right opposed to doing what he necessarily wanted. Richard on the other hand was hard and cold and normally didn't show much mercy or compassion. He was ruthless and that's what had gained him the position of a captain. Despite being related. both were opposites.
Colton slowed his truck down when Zakai started shouting about his worries for the speed. Admittedly, the soldier hadn't much thought about hitting something or someone until the kid had mentioned it. He also had forgotten Zakai was back there otherwise he wouldn't have raced off like he had. Behind him, his brother had slowed down as well- or inevitably he would have rear ended his brother.
Their high speeds had gotten them to the check point where the traffic was controlled- military in or out their IDs had to be checked and their destinations revealed. Colton pulled up to the booth and unrolled the window.
"Oh hey!" The man behind the booth cried out in surprise; "I didn't know you were back! My goodness, nobody tells me anything, damn't. So, where ya heading this fine day, old buddy, old pal?"
Colton had no idea who the guy was, or just didn't recognize him. But he was glad he wasn't being checked for a badge or a valid license. "District of Columbia, buckaroo." He stated back. Oh yes the good ol' 'buckaroo' use. It was a good replacement in the South if you had no idea who the person's name was or if you even knew them like you should have.
"All right, man. Well have a great time, old friend." The man behind the booth stated before waving the truck through. Colton pulled away just in time to see that Richard produced his ID to the guy behind the stand and was scowling. Now that Colton was out in the country roads he sped back up and planned to lose his tail immediately.
"So, Zakai, you got any hobbies?" Colton hummed out from the front seat merrily. He seemed to be optimistic now that he had the head start on his older brother who was way behind them now still stuck at the booth. "Like, running or soccer? Or football? Or art? Do you like to read?"

[Death101]

At The Hospital...

I felt myself slipping from this world slowly I tried to grab onto life but it slipped between my fingers then I felt a massive crash onto something hard and everything went black I slowly felt it happen my life... it's ending I'd done and seen a lot I'm just sorry I couldn't see Juline in high school. Then my sense started to first hearing I heard shouting around me and then it faded out. Then everything else at once and finally I breathed my last breath.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai sighed with relief when Colton finally slowed down. He didn't like high speed chase stuff or the like... not since the whole zombie thing anyway. He'd had enough of that before and hitting things now was a fear to him. He stared out the window when they stopped at the booth. It had been a while since he had been in a normal vehicle for normal, or almost normal reasons. It was very odd... not only the change of location from a large city to this place, but the transition from zombie apocalypse to a normal life. Things weren't completely normal right now considering what was going on, but it wasn't sneaking up around every corner. He was still on edge at times and it still surprised him to see normal people walking around. Back in San Francisco, it had taken him weeks upon months to even catch a glimpse of a normal person. It had started up so fast and he didn't ease into it at all. How could he? Even though it was only three years, it had changed everything entirely. In a day he had lost everything and he was only nine then. Now, three years later, here he was, safe. It was nice. He was relieved. He had almost lost all of his hope around the end, but now he was okay. Still, there were after shocks, and there was no telling when they would end. He still had to deal with the affects of the death of his family and his nightmares and even worse were the issues of his own mind. Everything was still very real to him. He had killed a lot. He had seen a lot. Three years of it, and still he didn't know how to handle it.
These thoughts made him shudder. And on top of that, I'm being moved to another location again. He was thankful for Colton. The soldier was not the first to offer him help, but he was the one who had returned with him. Zakai had no idea whether what would happen at all or how long the soldier had left to remain in his life, but the soldier had promised that he wouldn't let harm come to the child as long as he was living. Zakai wasn't going to label this as a sign of permanence for fear that it would not be, but he couldn't help but wish for it. Things were really a lot different.
Colton's voice interrupted his thoughts. Hobbies? Zakai thought for a moment. He tried to recall what it was that he did before the zombie break out.
"I think... I think I liked drawing... and I remember reading a lot of books that my dad had. I ran a lot too. I played baseball and I took care of 'dog'."
He stared out the window wistfully, a small smile on his face as he remembered these things. He had had no use for them while trying to survive, but...

[Kicks]

Colton listened to the kid list off what he had liked doing and his hobbies. So the kid really had been normal at one point. He had lived a normal life before the zombies. It was odd to think of that. To think of a different person besides the kid he saw now as shattered and worried. But it had to be true. "Well, it would be nice for you to pick those things back up now that things are... sort of... returning to... uhm... normal." He commented from the front. Sadly, he could see the jeep speeding up on them in the rear view mirror once more. "I hear that drawing is a great way of expression for things that are hard to say or deal with. And after what you've been through, no doubt you have some things that are going to be hard to deal with." He said this casually, not meaning to hurt any feelings. But it had to be true, right? He didn't know of anyone who came back from war or a disaster with PTSD, anxiety, depression, or along those lines. He hadn't known anybody that hadn't needed therapy. In fact, he knew of a lot of people who took their own lives because they couldn't deal with what they had been though. He was really hoping that wasn't the case with Zakai and that the kid would deal with these things sooner than later. Colton was choosing later rather than sooner because for him the war wasn't over. He doubted if the war would ever be over though. He couldn't see anything going back to normal.
The jeep had pulled out in front of him and abruptly slammed on its brakes. Colton swerved around the jeep at a dangeorus angle, then sharpened his angle even more so that they spun a half circle into a full stop. He stared down at the steering with wide eyes at first, wondering what on earth had made his brother do something that stupid! Someone could have been seriously hurt or even killed! The soldier got out of his truck to find out just what his brother's issue was.
Richard, not so surprisingly, met him halfway. Before his younger brother could start yelling at him for what he had just done, he raised a hand. "I just remembered, you have to return to base. This isn't legal. You're going to get into some serious trouble if you go any further."
Colton had it up to the sky with his brother's attitude lately. All he was getting from him since his return to America was a bunch of controlling attitude. This incident further enraged him over the subject. His brother had done that just to stop him from going any further? His brother had risked all of their lives just to say something like that?!
"Richard." Colton hissed out in a way that his older brother had never heard him speak before. It utterly astonished the older of the two. "You need to stop, or so help me God I will stop you. I will make sure that whatever stick you have shoved up your butt is removed. I will beat you with your own jerk stick. You are being a control freak, and bluntly an asshole. I am done with your attitude and I am through with you throwing fits all over the place. We all could have died right there and for what? To tell me that I'm breaking the law? How does that even come close to the invaluable lives that could have been lost there?! In what person's mind-"
"You idiot!" Richard interrupted, just as angry now. He didn't like being told off, or told he was wrong. He especially didn't like it when it was his brother doing it. "I knew you would stop and I had to tell you so that you wouldn't get into trouble like you always land yourself in. It's like you purposely go after trouble, Colton! When will you learn that nothing good ever comes out of chasing delusions?"
"Delusions?!" Colton spat out with a disgusted, horrified look. "Was it a delusion to go to San Francisco to save lives?! I brought back over a hundred people from that terrifying death zone and you're telling me now it was nothing but a meaningless delusion?! You haven't even been to California!"
"Yes, delusions! It was a stupid move to leave for there! Few soldiers have ever returned from California upon taking that mission, but you just nilly-willy went after it like it was your life's goal! And then you come back a total stranger! Never in my life have I heard you yell before, never have I seen you get angry and now all of a sudden you're doing that?!" Richard shouted, his face steadily growing red. "I don't even know who you are! You need help, damn't. Whatever happened over there has changed you and if you don't get help you're going to go insane!"
Colton looked even angrier than his brother did. This argument on top of what was happening in America just blew it over the waters. It was the last straw. "You think I'm crazy now?!" He hissed out, feeling that horrific fiery feeling growing in his veins. But he couldn't stop it. It was over-powering him. "How dare you accuse me of being crazy! I'm not the one agreeing to the death of innocents! I'm not the one supporting the cause for murder! I'm especially not the one who will blindly follow an order without even knowing the truth behind it! Do you even know what the hell our military was doing in California behind the scenes?! AND YOU IMPLY THAT I'M CRAZY?!" Electricity was crackling across his skin like fire works dancing across his body. "THERE ARE FAR GREATER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT, RICHARD, AND YOU OF ALL PEOPLE DECIDE TO FOLLOW AFTER SOME IDIOTS IN CONGRESS INSTEAD OF INVESTIGATING INTO THE REAL WORRY HERE. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED THE OUTBREAK OF A DISEASE?! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES WHAT IT'S DOING TO THE CITIZENS?! AND CONGRESS IS WORRIED ABOUT KILLING HUMAN BEINGS OVER SAVING LIVES FROM A DISEASE WRECKING OUR NATION?!" The electricity was pouring from his hands now like a waterfall of sparkling shock. He felt his throat growing raw from the anger making his voice grow louder and louder until he was spitting nothing but loud shouting. But he couldn't stop it. He had kept his thoughts and worries bottled inside to the point where it finally burst at his brother's demeanor and display of the jeep. He was surprised to find that he was wishing to be back in California because zombies were easier to deal with than real human beings. Things in California all had its worries focused on the living dead, but here in America it just seemed like chaos to him.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai listened to Colton's suggestion to pick up some hobbies again. He nodded slightly. It would be a good idea. He could start drawing again or something. He looked down. It would be a great idea... It didn't appeal to him all that much right now for some reason. Things were fine but they were different. He was still scared even though there was nothing to be afraid of. How do I go back to having a normal life? How much did I change in San Francisco? His heart sank. When are things going to be normal aga-
The car suddenly jerked and Zakai instinctively gripped the sides of it, his eyes widening in terror as he let out a yelp. They stopped. Wha-what? Zakai's breath had quickened and he tried to calm himself down. Did... the jeep... why did... Colton suddenly got up and stormed outside. Zakai stayed where he was, but he stared out the window after the soldier. He stopped when he met Richard who spoke first. Zakai couldn't really make out what they were saying, but it was apparent that they were being stopped. Zakai stared at them, worried about where this was going. Colton started saying something back, and it wasn't long before the two were fighting. Anger was spilling from both of them. Zakai watched from his seat, not even daring to move. Chills went down his spine. This was more aggressive than their usual arguments. Some of them had been pretty heated, but nothing like this.
Colton started shouting, and Zakai heard what he said now, although he didn't take much of it into account. It was becoming that the man could barely contain himself. Zakai had seen a glimpse of something like this before when they had been in the shoe store. Colton had ended up just walking out, but now that it was like this, there didn't seem to be any backing down from either side. It, needless to say, scared Zakai and before he knew it, he pushed the door open and ran outside, not even thinking about what he was doing.
"Stop it! Stop fighting with each other!" he stopped a few feet from them, not daring to get any closer, "This... this is stupid! You both need to calm down! Neither of you are thinking straight! I know it's really hard right now, but you can't yell at each other! Especially in this state!" he looked at Richard, "Please try to understand what's going on right now. Nothing is being done against you. This won't help anything. He's going to come back so you don't have to worry so much."
He didn't care about what he was saying. This had to end, even if it didn't concern him.

[Kicks]

Richard glanced from his younger brother to the child that had come dashing out in a frenzy. He wasn't paying attention to the words the kid was saying, in fact he wasn't paying attention to much besides the electricity. He stared at Zakai for a moment, wondering what the kid was on about before he glanced over at his younger brother again.
Colton had immediately shut up when Zakai started yelling. He slammed his mouth shut, but the electricity didn't seem to want to stop as nearly as much as he wanted it to. Either from the panic he felt over it or the annoyance for what was happening.
Both brothers were so silent it was eerie. They had stopped fighting, but that wasn't necessarily a good sign either. That just meant instead of lashing out at each other they were going to let the war rage on from the inside until they blew up on each other or something else next time. They hadn't fought when they were children because his younger brother had been the pacifist of the two and didn't like things that weren't peaceful, and Richard couldn't bear to bring himself to fighting with his younger brother because he enjoyed the presence of his brother around- the advice he would be given, how they would talk, and look at other siblings as disgraceful for how they behaved towards each other. But now that the balance was tipped both were ready to get at each other's necks. Colton hated it and Richard was disgusted by it. But neither could help it with how the other was behaving. They probably would have kept this up for hours back and forth if Zakai hadn't come along and started yelling.
But at the moment, Richard wasn't concerned with the fighting. His mind was going around the electricity that had poured out from his younger brother. He had seen things like this before- supernatural things he couldn't explain on base from some of the few returning soldiers. One of them had water start flying around uncontrollably, another one could turn invisible. But he hadn't seen much of it because those soldiers were called in and never were seen again. He stared at his brother with a mixture of worry and horror. Worry because he wondered what would happen now, and horror because he knew just how his brother could have obtained the mutation. The only way possible and the thought that accompanied it wasn't pleasant. If Colton hadn't earned the mutation, his little brother, the one person on earth that mattered most to him, would have been turned into a zombie.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me-?" Richard began before cutting himself off. "How did a zombie even-? Colton, what the hell?!"
"Oh you think I wanted this? You think I just went up to a zombie and was like 'here, bite me'. No. I begged to be shot, Richard. How's that for some good story?" Colton replied with heavy sarcasm. The electricity was dwindling down now to little zaps flickering across his skin. "I didn't tell you, Richie, because you're one of the soldiers who blindly follow orders! You stick to the code and it's stupid. The military is a waste of time if you actually have a brain that can think for yourself. I only got into it so that I could go over to California and help. Otherwise, I would be a doctor right now."
"That's not true." Richard argued back, but softer this time and without anger. "If you would have told me I wouldn't have gone off on code and told our officials. And furthermore, the military isn't a waste of time. It protects peo-"
"And behind the scenes its taking its soldiers and using them for lab experiments." Colton interrupted him with a scowl; "Zakai, I showed you that video of the soldier who could utilize ice. Yea, I didn't tell you all about him though. See, he was my friend. We went to the same school since we were in kindergarten. We ate lunch together, talked about everything, dreamed of making the world a better place. But one day when we were out dragging a child out from a crushed car before the zombies could get him, one of the zombies got a hold of my dear friend. He was bit but he took down the zombie. He wanted me to leave him and I didn't understand why. I took him nonetheless and together we sat in a room at base waiting for him to change. I had a gun, ready to shoot him when he changed. But no, we stayed up all night talking- when he wasn't screaming in pain- about the military. He knew a lot more than I did. He was frightened to turn into a mutant because what they do with soldiers who are mutants is that they use them for lab experiments. I told him I wouldn't let it happen, as a captain I could do something, right? WRONG. Our officials dragged him from the room the following morning before I could stop them. And then they started to experiment. I never got to talk to him again, only got to watch the videos of him." He turned his eyes to his older brother; "You can't tell me the military is there for the good when things like that are happening."
Richard was stunned by the information. He had seen similar videos that the soldiers had to watch of California. But he had thought it was voluntary- it was what they were told. "But..." He trailed off uncertainly. "The mutants-"
"Are victims of war!" Colton shouted, the electricity beginning to spark up again. "None of us wanted that! None of us wanted to be attacked by a zombie! None of us wanted to go through the worst night of our lives in which we wished for death to come. The pain is so excruciating I passed out a few times. It's shit what they're feeding to the public! And it's stupid that people are afraid of us when we can't control the situation. We haven't done anything wrong. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm a threat to civilization." He stared at his brother who stared back at him reluctantly.
Richard couldn't bring the words to his mouth to say them. He felt like he was going to throw up. He had been so certain that mutants were a threat. But could the real threat really be the disease going around? He hadn't thought of it much, but Colton had taken many medical and science classes. Of course his brother had to be right. But why? Why were the Congress more concerned about the mutants than the disease? "Do you think we're under attack again, Colton?"
"Yes." Colton stated without a waver in his voice. "I think the same terrorist organization has put something together this time that is so powerful it's going to take down the whole nation if someone doesn't stop it."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai wasn't sure if he had helped or not, but they stopped yelling. Zakai gripped his right arm in his left hand and stayed where he was, falling silent as they continued. Richard had asked a question, and it seemed that explanations had to be made between the two of them. Zakai hadn't known that Colton hadn't told his brother, but when Richard exclaimed what he would have done, there was some sort of understanding as to why, although Zakai didn't really even get why some part of him understood this. When Colton explained the video he had shown Zakai and the story behind it, the boy's face turned grim and he cast his gaze downward. There was a lot that he hadn't told Zakai, and Zakai was pretty aware of it. He wondered if the soldier even wanted to tell him now. He had addressed him once, but did he really want to explain this to him? No. Perhaps not. No one would want to, but it didn't matter right now.
The conversation carried on a little while longer and froze for a brief moment when Colton dared Richard to call him a threat. There was a pause. Neither spoke. Finally, when Richard broke the silence with his question and Colton answered, the grim overcast thickened. Zakai didn't move. He didn't change position, nor did his expression change. The situation wasn't an unexpected turn, but it still felt like something had smacked him across the face. He didn't dare say a word since this was ultimately between the two brothers before him, but there were so many questions and statements tearing through his head. He trembled, but only enough to be pointed out through physical contact. There was a sense of fear and worry that was starting to build. He took a few steps back, but froze as he slowly grasped the news and wished he had something to grip onto, but as always, there was nothing there.

[Kicks]

"Then we have to do something." Richard decided while beginning to walk back to his jeep. He took the keys from it and let the jeep just sit there. "But we have to be careful about what we do. What are your real intentions of going to D.C?"
Colton watched his brother carefully, wondering what he was doing now and if he could even trust the older brother with his theories and explanations. "You do realize that by going on board with this you may be caught and held accountable for treason?"
Richard smiled a bit at his brother's question. "Yea, I know." He answered back with a shrug of his shoulders. "But we may die either way so it doesn't matter." He gestured towards Zakai now; "And what about the kid, Colton? He's dragged into this no matter how we look at it."
"Zakai's intelligent." Colton stated while glancing over at the child. "Even if we're caught, I won't let them get to him. That's why we're going to the White House. Dad's going to have to be dragged into this as well and I'm sure he'll be on board."
"Of course he will." Richard snorted while waving it off. "You two are practically the same people. You both chase after wild-" He stopped himself from continuing and cleared his throat. "We can talk on the way to D.C. Let's get back on the road before we get stopped." He grabbed his brother's truck keys from his hands and climbed into the driver's seat. "LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO."
Colton stared down stunned that he had just been jacked of his keys. But he wouldn't argue with it. He might end up forgetting a few things necessary to driving like yielding to pedestrians or the likes. He also didn't want to be driving and get mad, then short out the car. He just knew there would be times ahead in this car ride that might test his patience. So he gestured towards Zakai and then the truck; "You trust his driving skills? Or do you want to walk?" He questioned. He was trying to be serious while asking this because of the jeep incident, but he couldn't keep the smile from flickering onto his face.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai hadn't been paying much attention afterward. The two brothers were calming down, and there was a lot less tension than before. He was put at slight ease by this and began thinking to himself about what Colton had said. If the terrorists were planning another attack on America, then would it take longer to cover everyone? If someone got to it fast enough then it could possibly be stopped, but the solution in most people's minds was to kill the mutants around them. Even though it was wrong, Zakai could see why so many people wanted it. A lot of it was fear driven, but surely motives were not completely selfish. People were probably thinking of their families and others as well. They had to be. When he was in San Francisco, he went after his family pretty fiercely. At times it was the only thing that kept him going, and it didn't end well, but without it, he might've given up. He was pretty lucky that Colton showed up when he did. He didn't tell anyone, and he wasn't going to, but there were plenty of times when death didn't seem like such a bad option. It was that bad in San Francisco, and this was what people feared in America, and that was causing everyone to think in twisted circles. Still, it was bad and now it was up to the public on what to do. The odds didn't seem in the mutants favor. Actually, they didn't seem to be in anyone's favor.
Zakai looked up when Colton spoke. "Hm? Oh... right."
He hurried over to the truck and climbed into the backseat, shutting thee door behind him. He buckled his seat belt, not really trusting either of the two soldiers with their driving and then stared out the window, returning to his own thoughts about the whole dilemma.

[Kicks]

Colton climbed up into the passenger's seat and shut the door. His brother slammed on the gas as soon as the door was closed. The truck went jerking forward, causing Colton to go flying forward and bunking into the jockey box.
"You should have buckled up." His older brother stated, slowly shaking his head and tsking. He reached over and turned on the radio. He immediately regretted it though.


"The decision has been made for Austin by its senators. The city will be evacuated starting this afternoon when the alarms are rang. Military base captains and their men will be directing traffic flow into the West of Utah at Base Trinity. This decision was made after an alarming number of citizens died by the plague- over ninety citizens thus far have been murdered with another hundred infected and hospitalized. Officials are requiring everyone to begin wearing a mask." The man's voice stated over the radio in an urgent manner. "In other news, word has been reached from the White House this morning. The public has cast their votes and the decision has been made. Congressman Alex Murphy stated their reason, 'to protect our nation and our people, mutants will be given a lethal injection.' The law passed at ten fourteen this morning requiring all mutants to be turned into the authorities. If anyone were to house a mutant, protect a mutant, or know of a mutant but not turn them in- those people will be arrested. If any mutant were to resist they will be shot on sight. President Ryker said in retaliation to the news, 'it was not my choice but the Americans' own selfish fear. I dream of an America where we can accept people without fear. But those days are long over. May God have mercy on your souls and protect those who are being persecuted.' It seems like our president is not very happy with his people right now, but his job is to do what the people want after all. Personally, I think the law is helpful and will save millions of lives." The man paused then and there was the sound of papers shuffling. "Last night, the victim of a fall passed away. Friends are claiming to call him 'Big Tony'. Unlike the rumors suggest, he was not pushed down stairs or killed purposely, nor suicidal. It's just one of those circumstances you can't control. So you can rest easy Texas knowing there's not a murderer out there."

Colton stared at the radio with a poker face. He wasn't surprised at the new law, or the president's reaction to it. He wasn't surprised about the evacuation. He was hysterical though after the last part of the news. He began to chuckle much to his older brother's surprise.
"What are you laughing at?!" Richard exclaimed with wide, confused eyes. He couldn't see how he could find something funny out of that news.
"There's no murderer in Texas." Colton laughed back, trying so hard to control himself. "Right, that's a good one. From what the news says, there are a lot of murderers out there."
Richard's surprise fell and a frown enveloped his face. He turned his eyes back to the road and sighed.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai was still thinking when the radio turned on. He listened to it hearing what he had expected to happen of the vote casting, although he was a little surprised at the evacuation. His head turned completely however when he heard of the part about Big Tony. Big Tony... he's dead? What? He had made it out of San Francisco... but he still ended up dying anyways. That's... that's awful! He wasn't going to cry over it because he had only met the man briefly in San Francisco, but even so, he had hoped that he and Juline would survive the whole thing. He looked down. He was felt bad for them. Poor Juline. I hope he's okay. Losing his own father felt like the end of the world... no... it felt worse. It was something that was really hard to grasp and it was one of Zakai's most dreaded memories from San Francisco. He still wasn't on terms with it.
He looked out the window again. It didn't have anything to do with the whole break out, I think... and I hope. I wish everyone would stop dying.

[Kicks]

Richard suddenly blinked a few times in surprise. "Wait! I met that guy on the news!" He exclaimed while pointing to the radio. "He's the guy who made all the demands for his friend's funeral. He has a little son and a wife and- gosh I hope that coroner for that guy knows what he's doing."
Colton glanced over at his brother in surprise. He too had known the man on the news, but he hadn't really gotten to know him. It was just one of those names in the back of his head that belonged to a person he had met once. But without making bondage he felt nothing really for the news on him. For the child though, that was another story. He cared a lot for children and he hated to hear that Juline was now fatherless. But the child still had his mother and that counted for something. "I didn't even know he made it out of San Fran."
"Oh yea." Richard laughed out while nodding. "Yea, they showed up on a ferry and made quite the entrance. Almost shot them on sight. In the end we made some compromises. But that's in the past now." He changed the topic then and glanced over at his brother; "So I was thinking, Dad might be really into these theories you have. Do you think he might put them into action?"
"No doubt." Colton answered back with a shrug of his shoulders. "We'll have to talk without the Secret Service around though."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai listened to the two go on about Big Tony and found it interesting to hear about the entrance made. That's cool, even though they almost got shot. All I did when we got there was get thrown into ice-cold water. He recalled being tossed in and then pulled out by a large guy. What was his name again? Didn't really matter now. He thought for a moment. Wait... then weren't there people who knew that I was a survivor back there? There had to be of course. They put me in a cold truck while I was soaking wet and everything. He stared out the window in thoughtful curiosity. No one seemed to care back there whether I was a survivor or not. If that's the case, then why is it so dangerous now? Is it even dangerous now? If it is, then what does that mean for the future? Zakai was beginning to understand on a deeper level why, exactly he was being taken away from the base. If people at the other base already knew, then news could spread quickly and then they'd be caught for sure. But then... wouldn't it be weird if people did find out and then Colton returned without me? Couldn't that cause some sort of commotion as well? He was starting to worry about Colton and his family. He felt like he was adding on to the danger that they were already in. Still, the evacuation of Austin would probably keep those people busy for a good amount of time, and that could mean a prolonged chance of staying under the radar. He did worry a little about Adalia, since she was back there alone right now. He hoped she would be okay in all of this. There were a lot of risks. Could he be sure that everything would play out fine? There sure are a lot of things against us...

[Kicks]

When country music began to play instead of horrible news, Richard seemed to brighten up a little bit. It was always fun for Colton to see his brother's attitude shift around country music. He liked seeing big guys like Richard go from serious to without a care.
"Right then, bro." Richard began while tapping his finger to the beat of the music; "I know you got something worked out. So what is it then?"
"If I told you now I'm not sure I could trust you." Colton answered back casually. He was peering out the window now lazily, his eyes focused on the country flying by their eyes. The fast-track roads built back in 2022 made it possible for faster means of traveling by car. He knew they would be in D.C soon enough. He always liked peering out at the fast tracks taking them faster and faster as they traveled. It was fun to see the highways literally move, and it was even funner for him to see highways and country. It was funny to him because they had higher technology than they did years before, but there was still some of the old ways. "See, Richard. You're the driver and I know how manipulative and convincing you can be. So you could easily swing the truck around and turn back to base, turn us in, and then take the credit for yourself to boost yourself up to a sergeant. I know it sounds paranoid of me, but that's just the way it is now. I don't know if there is anyone in the military at such a high rank that can be trusted. Those ranks are the ones that killed my men. You're going to have to understand that for awhile I won't be able to trust you. You shouldn't get mad about it though, because there's nothing you can do to change that."
Richard glanced over at his younger brother once more. His eyes were filled with betrayal and surprise at the words. He could see the logic in that, but he hadn't known his brother could think like that. He knew it would be useless to try to persuade him otherwise, so he kept quiet on the topic. He would find out soon enough what his brother's theories were.

"Breaking news!" The voice boomed over the music. The music cut off abruptly as the voice continued on; "The plague has now jumped without trace to New York and Houston. All citizens are being advised to remain calm and stay indoors. If you need to go out, wear a mask. Military stations for medical help and research will be posted within the day. All military captains and sergeants are being requested to move to one of these five stations: Station 1, Station 4, Station 7, Station 9, and Station 31. You will be given orders from your officials upon arrival." Once more the voice repeated itself, but by then neither of the brother's were paying attention.
"I belong to Station 1." Richard stated with a frown on his face. "After I drop you guys off at the White House..." He trailed off, not certain how this will play out. "Colton, what the hell are we going to do?"
"We go to Station 1." Colton answered back with a very calm voice. He didn't seem too upset over this, in fact he looked joyful. His wife had been moved to Base Trinity which was Station's 1 base. He could get into contact with her again and see how she was doing and what had been found out through the research. "But after we visit, dad. Look, I can see the White House." He pointed off into the distance where in fact the White House could be spotted. There were large secure fences, men posted, guns, and the likes to keep the place protected.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

When the radio started playing country music, he remembered how much he hated it. It wasn't his fault for hating country music. When he was little, his father was a devout listener and his mother always got annoyed with it. They would bicker sometimes over it, never seriously of course, and somewhere along the way, he was influenced by his mother's constant annoyance with it and he started hating it too. His father was heart broken, or so he said. Zakai smiled at the memory of it. His thoughts were interrupted and he turned his head when the radio announcer came on. Zakai listened as news of more evacuations came on. Things just kept on escalating. When the radio announcer said it again, Colton and Richard started talking, but Zakai continued to listen. Already, other states were reported and the boy was beginning to realize just how quickly these things spread. It overtook his own home in a day, or maybe even a matter of hours. It was hard to tell since he had been at an age where stuff like that wasn't all that interesting or even understandable to him, and he only learned about it when there was a lock down. Maybe this thing didn't even spread that fast, but these were the first times it was reported. Then again, if something like this happened earlier here, then there wouldn't be such a panic.
Zakai only started listening after Colton said he saw the White House. Zakai looked up and there it was in the distance. His heart sank a little. If this had been just a normal visit, then he might be a little excited, but he was going to be passed over and left there. He wasn't being abandoned, far from it, but in a way, it still felt like San Francisco. He was still constantly changing location to avoid danger, and there was no telling when he would have to move again. He gripped the seat belt securing him. He was getting nervous.

[Kicks]

After the spotting of Casa Blanca, it didnt take too long to get there. In fact, Richard pulled up to the security gates within a few minutes. He whipped out several identifying badges. For a moment, him and the man running the booth began to argue and bicker back and forth. It came to a point where Richard actually got out of the truck and approached the man. He was told multiples times to get back in the truck, but he didn't listen.
Colton was trying to pretend he wasn't there out of embarrassment. But he was quickly pulled in when a man rapped on his window and he had to get out. He tried to explain that they were the sons of the president but the Secret Service wouldn't have any of it. Colton was surprised to find he actually had to block a blow to the head by a hard, black stick pulled from the man's belt.
"Hey!" The younger of the brothers shouted with a frown crossing his face. "Don't do that again if you know what's good for you." But of course, the man tried again and Colton ended up drop-kicking him and turning the man's own gun back on him. "We came here to see our father and this is what we get?! Sure Richard may have reacted wrongly but that doesn't mean there should be violence!"
"Drop the weapon!" One of the other men shouted from behind Colton. "Drop the weapon, now!"
Colton turned his head to the side to see that he had quickly become surrounded by Secret Service agents. He glanced down at the man staring fearfully up at him and then back to the men. He tossed his head back and groaned loudly. "How did this escalate to this?!"
"Everybody drop your weapons!" Came a booming voice. It was filled with a Texan accent and belonged to a man who had been seen multiple times on the news. He was built like Richard with the large muscles and straight back, but his hair and face reflected some of the characteristics of Colton's. He was dressed in a suit with multiple badges he earned from wars and battles in the military. Despite advice, he carried a gun on him like his sons' normally did. At the sound of his voice, the order was received and the Secret Service stood to attention. Colton discarded the gun from his hands and pulled the man up from the ground he had drop-kicked.
"I warned you. I'm just sorry you didn't take my advice." Colton whispered to the guy who just gave him a nasty look and turned away.
The president of the United States glanced at Richard who had picked up the man behind the booth by his shirt and gave a disapproving look. At this look, Richard slowly lowered the man back down and lowered his fist. "I am disappointed in all of you!" The president spat out; "This should have been a simple procedure. You check the badges and papers, you wave them through if they're my family or they're someone I'm expecting. But what did you do instead, men? You provoked my sons. Despicable." He raised a finger to one of them who opened their mouths to argue with him; "No. I've heard it before and I don't want to hear it again. I don't give a rat's ass about safety. These are my sons. You will wave them through the next time they come." When he was given salutes, he finally turned to his youngest son and broke into a grin. He seemed to warm up almost immediately at the sight of his youngest. He went from commander to warm teddy bear within an instant. "Welcome home, boy!" He cheered while grabbing Colton up into a hug and squeezing the breath from him. "I was wondering when I would get to see you! Glad you came by. Come on in for-" He stopped when Colton's eyes flickered to Zakai. The president glanced back to the truck and noticed the child. "Oh well look at that! You brought me a visitor."
"His name is Zakai." Colton stated before his dad could get the wrong impression. "I can explain everything when we're alone."
"Good." President Ryker commented with a nod of his head. "All right then. I have some things that I need to discuss with you boys anyways." He waved to the child to come on out and over to him. "Come on then, boy. Let's get out of the retched cold and get some hot cocoa!"

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

When they stopped in front of the gates and security came to check them in, Zakai was starting to panic slightly. He suddenly felt like getting out of the truck and running. He wanted to run away from everything. He didn't want to be passed around like this. He hated the fact that it had to be this way. Colton had given him a phone, but it wasn't easing anything in his mind right now. He wanted to stay in one place. He wanted to stay with one person. Fear was rushing back to him and wasn't allowing hi to think of anything else.
It didn't help that the security guards started arguing and Richard got out of the car. It all only went downhill from there. Before Zakai knew it, even Colton was outside and he was surrounded by a bunch of them. Zakai lowered his head and shut his eyes, almost wanting to cry. He was shivering violently. I really don't wanna be here!
When he heard a booming voice yell over all the others, however, he stopped immediately and looked outside. Without a doubt, that was the president. There was an obvious resemblance between him and his sons and he had an air of authority to him that made Zakai a little uneasy, but amazed at the same time. He stared at the man as he scolded his men and then completely changed when he addressed Colton. Zakai was beginning to see where Colton and Richard had gotten a few of their characteristics as well. He had the same weirdness to him that his sons had in how fast he could transition from one attitude to another.
Zakai stared curiously, but his nervousness only flooded back when Colton directed the man's attention to him. He was becoming frightened all over again, but he did his best to contain it. When the Colton's father called to him, Zakai unbuckled, took the bag with his clothes inside, and slid out of the truck. He approached them nervously, almost wanting to bolt, although the urge had died down since the first time.

[Kicks]

The president cast his eye over his men before he turned his attention to Zakai. "Don't worry about those guys over there. Soon enough they'll be whipped into shape." He stated while leading everyone through the gates. The pathway to the doors of the White House was carved in white marble, something the president had always thought was interesting. "So kiddo, what grade are you in?" He questioned innocently. It was an everyday sort of question that most adults asked children. Of course, the president didn't know that Zakai was from San Francisco otherwise he may have chosen another topic. By the time he began to ask the formal question, they had reached the front doors he pushed open.
Richard closed the door behind them quietly. And then he locked the doors to keep Secret Service out. He always thought they were the weak link in the armed forces. When he glanced back over to his father, the old commander was already moving onto the 'living room' of the White House.
"Take a seat anywhere!" The president boasted out as he made a sweeping gesture across the couches and chairs. Though it looked classy, he had requested a few things and that was comfortable leather couches and a TV. "Timothy, let's get some hot cocoa in here!" He shouted for someone in the large place to hear.
Somewhere off in part of the house, shouting came back with; "ANYTHING ELSE, SIR?!"
"COFFEE. NOT THAT DECAF SHIT EITHER." The president shouted back while a grin employed itself onto his face. "MY YOUNGEST IS A COFFEE GUZZLER. YOU SHOULD SEE THIS KID CHUG COFFEE. HE'S LIKE A MACHINE. SHEESHK."
Colton remained utterly silent at the accusation, but he didn't protest it either. He simply ignored it and took a seat on the couch while patting beside him for Zakai to sit down. The poor kid looked absolutely terrified! Colton thought the kid just might piss himself.
President Ryker took a seat across from them in a comfortable chair. "Before we go into real business talk, I'd just like to know what you want, Colton. I doubt you came here just to see me, though I am touched if you were. But it's not like you. I would have thought you would have retired from the military and went into medicine."
Colton shifted uncomfortably in the couch at the remark made. "Well, there are things a lot more important than that right now." He murmured while his eyes went back to Zakai. "Anyways, Zakai is a survivor from San Francisco. There was an incident with his family and well, let's just say he doesn't have a place to stay that isn't safe."
A grim look came across the president's face then. "You wouldn't be telling me this if you didn't think I could keep a secret." He commented while folding his hands. "So I guess that means I can't go telling anybody about this. But that's all right. There ain't a lot of people I would even like to hold a conversation with here in America anymore. All right then, go on."
A smile flickered across Colton's countenance then at the comment his dad had made. "I promised the kid I would protect him, but I have to go back to the military. I can't protect him inside the military though with what's happening. I have a theory that people will turn on the survivors once the mutants are out of the picture. They'll be wondering if the survivors are carrying the virus unknowingly which is stupid. So anyways-"
"Sure the kid can stay here!" President Ryker interrupted up with a swatting of his hand. "No problem, boy. And you're right about that theory, Congress is already starting up something nasty with the survivors. I'm trying to keep them calm, but I fear for the worst. Any who, the kid's adorable and I fancy myself some company. Hope I don't scare him too bad."

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman looked around the IHOP, he hadn't really been sure why he had decided to come there in the first place. Sure the pancakes were sweet and refreshing, but it still felt odd. Why out of every place had he choosen this one? Rickard Woodsman stared down at his plate, seeing that the plate was empty. He reached for his wallet again, pulling it out and reaching into one of the folders, pulling out a ten dollar bill, before getting up from his seat and marched out towards the exit.

As he walked through the door, he felt something wet beginning to drip down from somewhere on his face. He reached for under neath his nose, and whiped his finger across it, he seemed to find a thin red liquid on the end of his index finger. He felt as if his world was starting to implode on himself. As if he was right about to pass out from the weight that he was holding. And suddenly, everything went black.

...

On lookers stared as they saw the bearded man lying down on the steps of IHOP, some frantic mother had reached for her cellphone and dialed Nine-One-One. Minutes went, as the group began to slowly disperse themselves from the man. The man, although he had lost concioussness and had nose his nose bleeding, he seemed perfectly fine.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai followed the men inside nervously, staying close to Colton. Richard, he decided, was scary and the president... he didn't really know what to think about him. He had a pretty cool aura, but it was only an aura. He was still extremely uncomfortable about staying and the question asked of him about his grade didn't help. Zakai didn't even bother answering. It would normally be regarded as a normal question, but to him, it was just awkward. They walked into a large... room. He wasn't sure exactly which room in a normal house this was supposed to be. Even his house in San Francisco wasn't anything like this. When Colton patted the seat beside him, Zakai sat down, feeling just as out of place there as he had in Texas. His fear of being left here didn't go away either. He didn't dislike the place, but the fact that he was going to be staying here was making it hard to admire it's grandeur.
When Colton started explaining the situation, Zakai looked down at his hands that were resting on the bag in his lap. This was the part where all was made known about Zakai's being a resident here. His urge to bolt was rising again. He wanted it to go away and just accept what was about to happen with ease, but it was not that simple. It only made him feel bad when the president accepted and said he hoped he didn't scare him. All Zakai could really do was meet the man's eyes with uncertainty and then look down again feeling like a jerk, but not being able to help it.
This... this is bad.

[Kicks]

Back in the kitchens of IHOP, Carson had been talking with one of his co-workers. With fifteen minutes left in his shift, he knew it would be useless to go and serve another customer. So he took the time to better know himself with another worker. Just as him and his colleague began to discuss possible colleges in the area, a waitress came in waving her arms around.
"Guys, some dude passed out on the steps!" She exclaimed to the boys who had once been peacefully talking about their dreams for college.
Carson was immediately interested in the situation seeing as hardly anything interesting happened at IHOP. "Yea? Why's that? Did someone call 911? Is he breathing?"
The girl stared at him for a moment for asking all those questions that she didn't have the answer to. "Uhm... I don't know."
"Don't you think it might be a good idea to check if he's actually alive?" Carson slowly questioned back. Once more, he found himself questioning some of his colleague's intelligence qualities. The waiter left the kitchen and out to the front steps where indeed there was a man.
Carson found himself patting the shoulder to the bearded man and asking him; "Dude, you alive?"

[Kicks]

Colton glanced over at Zakai and gave the kid a careful pat on the back. He still wasn't trusting himself to touch people after the shoe store and the jeep incident. "Don't worry, Zakai. Dad's one of the few people on earth who can hold a secret and make you feel right at home."
"Dang right." The president agreed with a grin; "So if you take a shit in my bathroom, I don't even care. Just light a match and flush it, is all I have to say."
A man came into the room carrying a tray with two pitches and four mugs on it. As well as creamer and sugar, and whipped cream. He put the tray down on the coffee table and then turned to his boss. The man himself was nearing his late fifties but had wrinkles of kindness and a kidder marked across his face. He was wearing a butler's uniform, but didn't seem too formal about it with who his boss was. "Is that all, sir?"
"I think so." President Ryker remarked back with a chuckle. "Go right on ahead back to your nap. I just know you were taking one. You got that guilty look on your face." The man turned with a smile trying to hide itself and he left the room. As soon as he left, Richard swept into the room with a serious face on as always. Behind him there was banging and shouting at the front door that Richard had told the butler to ignore.
"Austin, Houston, New York, and Bozeman are all grounds for trading." Richard stated while taking a seat in another chair. "I knew there was something about the news this morning that made me itch, besides that announcement about the murders going to take place." His eyes flickered to his younger brother for a brief moment before glancing over at his father. "Do you think that Canada may be sparking up something or in alliance with the terrorists?"
"Not a chance." The president immediately denied. "We have treaties with them and we're their only trader left. Besides, Canada is neutral grounds. But I was thinking about the imports and exports. Good catch on that, Richie. It would also explain why the disease has been jumping around instead of 'spreading'. We can close the trade routes. I'm sure Canada would agree with that considering if we're importing and exporting, somewhere they're bound to catch the disease as well."
Colton spoke up then, stating something that had been bothering him since the news. "Do you think that some of Congress may be being bribed into helping a terrorist organization unknowingly?"
"There's a lot of bribery in politics, son." The president stated back with a grim cast of looks. "It's a possibility of course." He glanced over at Zakai then and made a motion to him; "Go on ahead and get yourself some cocoa, boy."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai didn't react to Colton's pat. He hated to think the way he did of this, but it was the way he thought nonetheless. He stared at the ground and listened to them talk. It didn't bother him much to hear about it. He had already heard it from the news and if there was any shock factor, he'd gotten over it on the ride here. He was tired and nervous, and that was all he knew. He looked at his hand again with "dog". It helped him to get his mind off things, and he still thought she was overdue for a name even though he was sure he'd never see her again. Actually, he was also sure that he would never think of a proper name for her either. When the president told him it was okay to drink, Zakai took some of the hot chocolate and drank it solemnly, not really changing his demeanor as he did so. I wonder if Dog is okay. I wonder what I should name her. I hope she's happy right now. I wonder what's going to happen after Colton leaves. Nothing probably. I don't know what to think about. Maybe I should just name the dog Dog.

[Kicks]

"Well, boys, I think that's enough talk of the serious business for tonight. It's getting late outside and tomorrow morning I have an early meeting with Congress... again... bunch of shitheads." The president cursed beneath his breath the last part. Clayton Ryker stood to his feet while grabbing a cup of cocoa. "I'll show the kid his room then. And what about you two? I hope ya'll don't think you're leaving tonight. I'd still very much like to work out a plan with the two of you tomorrow after the meeting."
Richard and Colton exchanged looks and then glanced back up at the president with frowns on their faces. But they couldn't exactly argue with the man that was their flesh and blood. If they did... well they didn't like to think about that. So Colton spoke for the both of them when he said; "All right. But I'd really like to get back to Adalia as soon as I can." He was worried about her and wondering what she was doing now. Besides that but he was missing her like crazy. They had finally been reunited only to be pulled into chaos that separated them once more.
"Don't worry, you will." Clayton stated while waving his hand in the air once more. "C'mon then, Zakai. I'll go on ahead and show you where you can stay. It's real nice if you ask me. You get your own bathroom and bed and room and if you ever get hungry you can go on ahead and call the butler. If you get scared you can just turn right on over in bed and flip on the TV or call someone up on the telephone or read one of those cute little Gideon Bibles they place in the drawers." As he said all of his he was already beginning to walk towards some stairs. "Man, there's a whole bunch of things you can do here, boy! Swimming, drawing, running, puzzles, surfing the web, writing, lots of things. You name it and you can do it- that is if it's legal. I just ask that you don't mess with Secret Service because they're real antsy guys."
"I forgot how much Dad can talk." Colton whispered to his older brother with wide eyes. "But now thinking about it, I think he's the reason why I had cut off communication with the mainland while in San Fran."
Richard laughed loudly and hard at the comment made. He raised a hand up to his eyes while shaking his head at the remark his brother said. "Dang, Colton, you just about killed me there!"

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai had pretty much lost interest in whatever it was they were saying and he was slowly being calmed by his own thoughts. He knew he'd have to face them again later, but right now this was fine. So long as it eased him up, it was fine.
He did look up when the president told him to follow however. He was still nervous, but he stood up and walked after the man, placing his now empty mug on the tray before he left. He did give the man a nervous smile as they walked. At least he was trying, and he was doing a lot better than Richard had when they first met. There was still a sort of empty feeling tugging at his chest, but he decided to ignore it. The man sure did talk a lot, but Zakai didn't really mind. He talked very little, so this was actually a good sign to him. He was tired from the ride over and a little on edge as well, but it helped to know that Colton wasn't leaving completely yet.
Zakai followed in silence, listening his best to what the man had to say. He'd caught that his name was Clayton earlier and wondered if he should address him as such or as President Ryker or Mister.

[Lil]

While some may have been surprised that Faye was slowly nodding off, if they knew what she had been through, the probably wouldn't be. In the past few days, Faye hadn't actually slept a wink and she was running low on energy. As a matter of fact, she didn't catch a word that the other three had exchanged in the time due to her dozing off. IHOP wasn't exactly the ideal place to nap but Faye didn't care. It was warm and she felt safe. Part of that coming from being in a place not ridden with zombies and the other part was from Blake's jacket alone. It made her feel safe, to know she had someone to watch out for her, it was warm, soft, and smelt like him. For Faye this was the perfect sleeping arrangement.

[Kicks]

Clayton stopped at one of the doors and opened it up with a key for the kid to go into. It was a bedroom indeed and it did have others door inside of it for a bathroom and a closet and a balcony. "Now, I could go on about the history of this room but that sounds to me really boring and I hated history as a kid." He explained while jiggling his key out of the doorknob. "And you're probably just pooped from today so I'll leave you be for a good night's sleep. My room is just down the hallway to the left, and if I'm not in there I'm probably in my office arguing over speaker with a bunch of senators who don't know their right from their left." He freed the key from the door and put it back in his pocket with a satisfied look. "Right then, good night, little boy." He stated before leaving down the hallway.
Richard and Colton stayed in the living room, listening to the rattling and banging of the front door until some genius found out that they had keys to the place. Richard was snickering to himself about it, but Colton was zoned out and thinking. Unintentionally and subconsciously he had already indulged two cups of coffee. But Richard hadn't said a word about it because instead of frazzling his brain, coffee helped the youngest brother clear it and think. However, when Colton thought too much about things that wouldn't connect to other dots, he would get a headache which happened soon enough.
"Maybe you should just go to bed." His older brother hinted at as he turned his attention away from Secret Service and to his brother.
Colton wasn't paying attention though, he was mumbling to himself about all the bits and pieces of what was happening in America. At last, he raised his eyes to meet his brother's but it wasn't to listen to him. "It'll be too late by tomorrow to stop the imports and exports. There's a bunch of timings and such that goes into it. The disease has been steadily picking up speed to the rate it's infecting people in those designated areas. By tonight it would have claimed yet two more cities. And then..." He trailed off, wondering about that part. It didn't make sense to him. If they were under terrorist attack, then there had to be something else going on as well. Something huge. But what? "They're unpredictable and sloppy." He grumbled to himself.
Richard had become slightly worried now. He pulled his younger brother up from the couch and began to escort him up the stairs. "We may not be able to stop that disease from spreading, but the scientists are already starting to find a cure."
"Or so they say." Colton murmured, obviously not trusting the information they were receiving. "Who's working on finding the cure exactly?"
"People." Richard answered back, though he was unsure of how to answer that. "Gosh, Colton. People are working on it! Don't be so suspicious about this. It's not Americans against Americans."
"Though it could be." Colton pointed out, still not resisting his brother's strength as he was being dragged down the hallway. "Unknowingly of course. Have they reached a decision for California yet?"
Richard sighed and opened up a door that had been left unlocked for them. He tossed his brother inside of the room and shook his head. "Just go to bed." He stated before closing the door on his brother's face.
Colton wasn't thinking about sleep anymore, he was pacing across his room, getting antsy as his thoughts became deeper involved with the matter. "None of this makes sense." He sighed out at last and plopped down on a chair. "It's so scattered."

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman stared around, why was it just suddenly dark? Had it finally caught up to him and finished him off, or had he just fallen unconciouss due to what he had felt? Either way, he was pretty sure he had been knocked out. The idea of having been attacked by the thing out in the open like a city in Texas, unthinkable...

"Wait! If I fell unconciouss in the city of Austin, someone is bound to call Nine-One-one! I can't let that occure!"

Rickard Woodsman fought mentally in his mind,almost lost in the darkness. He had to find a way or another to wake himself up, he was on the brink of insanity! "Somebody help!" he shreaked at himself in his mind. The idea of being stuck here until an ambulance had come was shocking to think. He had to wake up. He just needed to for a minute to say "I'm fine, call off the ambulance, I am okay!"

And then, he heard someone state a question "Dude, you alive?" entered his mind. He imediately focused all his senses on that one sentence, and slowly began to hear his surroundings, people are talking, someone is still munching on pancakes, cars are driving by. Then he began to feel the cold concrete he was lying on, his arm had started to go numb, like that static noises on the radio or the 'white and black wars' on TV before you selected a channel.

He felt his face again, the blood still dripping down from his nose. He silently said "I'm okay... Just call off the ambulance." whilst he was touching with his hands around for a solid grip. His head felt heavy, and almost as if it was about to collapse again. But he was capable of keeping himself on his feet, as his vision began to slowly fade back to him.

He saw that the group of people he had heard, had gone off to do probably something more important. He stared at the man who had asked the question, stating yet again "I'm fine... Just need my medication." was the first out of all the statements he came up with. He was't really on medication, but it would be better then to say "Oh it's nothing, I am just from California and was rescued about two and a half years ago."

He shuddered at the idea of telling them he was from there. Especially with all the debates that had occured about "putting them down". He limped slightly away from the concrete, looking around in an attempt to identify where he was.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai watched the president leave until he was out of sight, then turned back to the room he had been given. He closed the door and walked to the center of the room. He certainly was tired, but he didn't want to go to sleep just yet. It was too soon. He had just arrived here and this place was weird. It was strange. He wasn't afraid of it, but it would make it hard to fall asleep. He was also thinking nervously about the days ahead. It had taken him everything to walk onto the facility itself. Tomorrow, without a doubt, Colton was leaving. He and Richard had to get back to their jobs as soldiers and as a husband. Zakai understood that much. He wished he could leave with them, but this place was a lot safer according to Colton. It was a lot weirder too, but if the soldier said he was better off here, then he wasn't going to argue. Zakai skipped going over to the bed and went to the balcony instead. When he was little, he would always stare out the window of his bedroom when something bothered him and he's usually see Dog there. Zakai was still clutching the bag with all his clothes in it. He sat down on the balcony floor and just watched the scenery. It was pretty here, he would admit. He had closed the balcony doors behind him so that no cold air would go inside. Doing things like this made him feel a lot better for some reason. It was nice. He felt safe here for some reason. Without even realizing it, he fell asleep there, curled up with the bag he'd been given. It was peaceful.

He was walking around. He was inside of his old school and the hallways were dark. Long shadows crept across the wall, and all around him he heard things moving. Sometimes it was footsteps, sometimes a desk, and a whole bunch of other things that required a person to be around. He could see only a little ways ahead of him and with every step he took he felt more and more determined to find some sort of exit. His eyes darted from side to side, but he couldn't see anything and he didn't dare turn because of the constant scuffling he heard. He also heard voices from time to time and laughter, although it was muffled and he couldn't make out what anything said. Finally, he found a door. He opened it, hoping it would lead him somewhere so he could get out, but it only led to his classroom. His teacher was sitting there at the desk, writing something. When they looked up and saw him, they motioned for him to come over, but Zakai hesitated. In the end they simply walked over to him and took hold of him.
"Is there something you wanted?" Zakai was surprised by the fact that they were talking to him. He hadn't expected them to. He looked down at his feet for a moment, then looked back up.
"You're dead."
The teacher stared down at Zakai, nodding slowly as if they were trying to understand what he was saying... or thinking over what they already understood. They gripped his arm and tugged him along gently. "Come with me."
Their grip was strong. Zakai struggled against it, but it didn't let up and on top of that, the teacher stopped walking and turned to him. "I'm not going to fight you just to take you someplace. Now come on." Zakai stared at the teacher for a moment. They were serious and he didn't feel threatened by their presence at all. For whatever reason, he walked along with them down the hallway. He felt safe. When they turned the corner, Zakai could see everything clearly. The place where they walked, was the direct center, and lining it were corpses. Zakai gripped his teacher's arm, but they didn't react. They only kept walking. He could still hear scuffling and voices and laughter, but there was nothing to make those sounds. He was scared now, but his teacher only walked calmly.
"Where are we going?" His teacher didn't answer. They only kept going and now Zakai was beginning to feel nervous.

[Kicks]

Carson didn't look all that convinced that the guy was okay. But whatever, it wasn't really his job to know. He also wasn't certified in knowing much about this. So the waiter left him be. Besides, I'm off the clock now. He thought to himself while moving back into the restaurant. The teenager slipped off his apron and tossed it into the kitchen before heading back to the other three at the table.
"Good." Blake noted as soon as he had arrived. "Faye was just about to start snoring. Thank goodness, you've arrived just in time!" He exclaimed in a joking manner.
Carson let out a laugh while bringing his hands up. "Whoa, hey there. Don't drag me into this. Last time I teased a girl, I got slapped."
"And that was the last time a girl ever touched you." ArraBella commented from her place. She stood up from the table and then pulled her cousin out from the booth as well, wondering if Faye would just fall over and wake herself up. It would be funny to see in the redhead's opinion.
Carson gave a small pout at the comment made to him. "Owch, Bells. That one stung a little. Then again, you are a redhead and redheads have no souls, so..."
"I won't feel a thing then when I eat you." ArraBella stated back with a kitty clawing motion.


Colton stood at the door for ten minutes, not feeling the least bit tired after the amount of coffee he had drank. But besides that, his mind was too much in chaos to settle down and sleep. When he knew that Richard would be asleep by then and not patrolling the halls, he finally peeked out into the hallway. Colton had been right on his judgments. The White House seemed to be at rest, even the Secret Service was quiet. The soldier stepped out of his room and shut the door carefully behind him. After one last check both ways, he began to make his way to another room in the house.
Soon, he found himself in the room he had been looking for. There stood the grand piano in all its grandeur. It was a great old thing he had played a few times before going to San Francisco. But in secrecy. He had always been afraid that he might be yelled at or get in trouble for playing its keys and letting the music of old come alive. But now, he didn't care for secrecy. Playing the piano was like playing with the heart's strings. It soothed his mind and put him at ease. It was a hobby he had picked up from his mother before she passed away.
He opened the piano up, revealing what lied beneath its covers and the splendor of the keys. As he did this, his mind was still doing loops over Adalia, America, Zakai, Congress, California, and terrorism. It wouldn't settle upon just any one of them either. It would dart around, trying to look for something that would satisfy its hunger for understanding.
The soldier sat down at the bench and rested his fingers upon the keys. They were cold upon his touch, but he knew once he started playing that they would warm up. He stared down at them and pressed down on a few of the keys. Letting the sound resonate, he could already feel his mind beginning to settle down and focus its attention on the sound. Colton shut his eyes and played the next measure. This time, his muscles relaxed as the harmony rang out across the room. Not before long, his fingers were dancing across the keys in a rhythm forgotten by the future. The sound moved through the air of the room and danced itself into the hallway like two people waltzing together.
Who was the composer Mom talked all about? He wondered to himself. He didn't even know the name of the piece he was playing. He had learned it by memory because it had been his mother's favorite. He liked to see the smile light up her face when her favorite composer's music was played. He could see her now as he continued to play. Her wrinkled face much too aged for how young she was. Her bald head spotted and shiny with sweat. Laying there on the couch she would close her tired eyes with the dark circles beneath and let herself drift with the music.
Peter... Tchai... something like that... Colton thought. He had sunk away from the thoughts infiltrating his mind and making it chaotic. He could feel himself slipping back into who he was before California. He wasn't a soldier, wasn't a mutant, and far from a murderer. For a moment, Admiral Thomas flickered into his mind. But the image of his dead body being thrown from the stairs of the plane to the ground was overtaken by the rushing melody being produced through the piano.

[Lil]

Faye slowly opened her eyes as she heard people start to speak up. "Are we leaving?" She asked as and stretched and yawned. Faye blinked as she looked from Red to Blake to Carson. She also stood behind the other too and shoved her hands in her pockets.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

They continued to walk and the noises only got louder. His teacher was still silent and Zakai still didn't know where they were going. It was beginning to smell. The corpses were becoming more and more gruesome to look at. He heard someone scream. He closed his eyes and let himself get pulled along until they finally stopped. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was staring at two conjoined doors. The exit. He looked up at his teacher who was staring down at him, a sad smile on their face. They let go of Zakai and ruffled his hair. Then, they opened one of the doors and pushed him through. Before they could close it again, however, Zakai turned around grabbed their arm.
"Wait! Come with me! Don't make me go by myself!"
The teacher stared at the boy in surprise then smiled again. Zakai shivered. They pulled away from him and gently pushed him back. "You don't belong here. Go home. I have to stay and take care of them." They motioned to the dead bodies on the floor, "I am one of them after all." With that, they closed the door and left Zakai there, staring. He shook as fear and sadness ran through him. He reached up and opened the door again, but when he looked through his teacher was on the floor, rotting amongst the other corpses. He stared in shock as tears started falling down his cheeks, then let go the handle, letting the door close by itself. He sunk to the ground.

He opened his eyes in the same position as he was in his dream, except lying down. It was cold. He was still on the balcony. He shivered, his bag still beside him. He stared into the night filled air as tears started streaming. He was alone. Everyone was dead. Tomorrow he'd be left here. His mind went back to his teacher and then to his family. He reached out and grabbed the bag lying next to him.
"Mom... Dad..." he buried his face into it, "Why did you have to die? Why can't you be with me now? I still need you! I don't... I don't wanna be alone! I hate it! Everyone's gone now! You... you're the ones who should be taking care of me. I don't want anyone else. I wanna be with you!"

[Kicks]

"Yea..." Carson answered slowly. He was giving Faye an odd look now, wondering how it was possible for anybody to fall asleep on one of the booths. He knew for a fact that they weren't the most comfortable things. "The beds are a lot more comfortable at my place. Though, one of the girls is going to have to use the feather mattress. Which is just this huge ass pillow stuffed with feathers the size of a mattress. And it's put on the floor with a blanket and a pillow." He explained while guiding them towards the door. "I live a block from here so I just walk to work." He added while holding open the door for them to go through.
"Oh, you're sure you don't want to share a bed with Bells?" Blake questioned the teenager innocently, He was making a halo figure above his head as he asked this.
Carson turned bright red at the remark made. "N-no!" He exclaimed, flabbergasted by such a question.
"I'm a cuddle bunny though!" ArraBella whined out, feeling a bit insulted that nobody would want to sleep with her. And for once, her mind didn't stray to make dirty accusations but rather in the innocent spectrum.
"Yea, Carson!" Blake whined as well, though the grin on his face was becoming bigger and bigger. "She's a cuddle bunny!"
"Mister, you are sleeping on the couch!" Carson decided as he pointed a finger at Blake. "Yea, let's see how you like sharing a couch with a kitty!"
Blake wouldn't mention it, but it sounded like a great idea to him. Couches were awesome and cats were the best animals. But he wouldn't say that because Carson might punish him and take the kitty away. So he gave a sad face and let his head droop. "Oh man, just when I thought I had it made!" He exclaimed as if it really were a punishment. Now he turned his attention to the sleep Faye and studied her for a moment, trying to judge her weight. Like it would matter anyways with the strength&conditioning classes he had taken in San Francisco. He swept the girl off of her feet and carried her out of the restaurant, thinking to himself that he didn't want her to fall over and sleep on the ground. When in reality he just kind of really wanted to carry her. It was just one of those kinds of urges. Besides, she was actually pretty darn light.


The president arose from his bed with an almost irritated expression on his face. He had heard some noise that made him wake up. Now he stood up and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders because of the cold. He went to the door and left the room soon enough. A little ways down the hall he heard that noise again. Wondering what on earth it was, he sneaked up to the door that he had let Zakai into it. The president stood outside of it, wondering what was going on. A trained father's ears second later, he understood the sound of a child crying. He gave a little nod and made a 'hmfing' noise as he shuffled away and back down the other way of the hall.
But he didn't return to his room. Instead, he found out where the second noise was coming from. He entered into the music room and found that the old grand piano was being played. With no complaints of the music taste, Clayton Ryker sat down in one of the chairs and waited patiently until he was noticed.
Colton stiffened as he heard the creaking of a chair. His eyes flew open and settled upon the figure waiting in the darkness of the room. He hadn't turned on the lights because there was no real reason to. But now he wished he had. He also wished he had a gun. For a moment he forgot about the piano and remembered the terrifying zombies and monsters. He arose from the bench carefully and snapped his fingers. A spark lit up the room long enough for him to see that it wasn't the dead sitting in the chair but the president.
"Neat trick." The president commented with a chuckle. "I thought Richard was on crack when he talked with me before bed."
"I knew Richard couldn't keep a secret." Colton stated back, though rather calmly as if he had been expecting this. "Did I wake you up with the piano? I didn't mean to, I just-"
"I know." President Ryker cut him off with a wave of his hand. "It was a mixture of both you and Zakai who woke me up. The boy is in his room crying- either that or he has really weird snoring."
Colton's eyes widened a bit and he glanced towards the door. "Why? Is he hurt?"
"Of some sorts. But there's nothing you can do about it. Nobody can console a child who's lost their parents. Believe me, I tried once." Clayton commented quietly. "Anyways, while we're up we might as well talk about the plans. Both you and Richard play separate parts. Tomorrow you will go to Station 1 and see Adalia. But then once you've done your business there, you're to return here and offer Zakai a chance to see New York with you. Your mission there is investigate. I figure New York will be one of the most fresh targets and provide enough people for cover in case you're found out. Alright?"
Colton thought over it. Although, he had his doubts about bringing Zakai because of the danger of the disease, he couldn't refuse either. He slowly nodded his head as he closed the piano's keys. "Okay."

[Lil]

Faye didn't pay much attention as they talked about sleeping arrangements, she had been sleeping on the ground for the past month at least. Her eyes drifted around the restaurant as the went on. She couldn't stay focused on anything very long though. Her mind wandered to what Carson's house might be like, she also wondered how he afforded a home on minimum wage. Faye was broken from her thoughts though when someone picked her up off her feet. Startled, Faye blinked trying to figure out what was going on. She looked at Blake with her eyebrows scrunched. "What're you doing?" She asked. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy it but it was a bit strange.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

He didn't know how long he had cried. All he knew was that he woke up and realized he must have fallen asleep. Zakai sat up and yawned. He didn't feel all that good, but it was one of those feelings that would pass after a while. He was still on the balcony and the air was cool. He stood up and walked into the room, not bothering to close the doors leading out to the balcony behind him. He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself. His eyes were bloodshot from sleep deprivation and crying and he had bedhead. Dried tears were stuck to his cheeks. He turned on the water faucet and washed his face, then he wet his hair down so that it looked normal again. He yawned and then slunk over to the bed and flopped down onto it. He was tired right now and sad. He fell into a dreamless sleep this time, and in a way, he felt better.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman made his way over to a nearby bench, and slowly lowered himself down onto it. He had taken quite the mark after falling down on the ground flat like that. All though he wasn't sure what had caused him to fall unconciouss like that, he attempted to shake it off for the time being. "There are more important things to get to work on" he thought to himself, but as he was about to push himself off the bench, he started hearing sirens.

As he had thought, the woman had not called off the ambulance, and he heard it roaring from a couple of streets away. He imediately pushed himself off with such force he nearly knocked himself over as he set his feet to the ground, and he quickly turned 90 degrees to the left, and began to run as quick as possible.

He didn't like the idea of getting forced into a medical bed and strapped down when they suspect that he has been infected, and by such didn't want to get caught in a freaking Pancake bar. He looked around to see that they weren't hunting him, but when he looked around, he saw two confused Medics on the scene, looking around for the 'unconciouss' man.

He was running right around the corner when he saw the men walking inside IHOP. Now he could only guess what was going on in there.

...

The two young male workers slowly pushed open the doors to IHOP, and looked around. They seemed as if they were looking for someone, but with quite a worried expression on their faces. One of the male workers approached the counter and asked in the open "Have anyone seen a 'Bearded Male in his Mid-Thirties with red with black stripes clothes' anywhere around here? We received an emergency call about this man, apparently he looked as if he was in a neurological shock."

[Kicks]

By morning light, Richard and his father had talked. The older brother had decided he was too impatient to go hours without a plan so he had awoken the president at an early time like a child on Christmas. Soon after that, the president had left for his meeting with Congress in a rather irritable manner.
"He always gets that way when Congress is brought up." Colton pointed out to his older brother over breakfast in the 'living room'. He had only been picking at his food, once more finding that he wasn't very hungry. But he had hardly eaten anything, even that grapefruit back in Texas. Soon enough it would catch up to him, but for now his mind was whirring over more important matters than malnutrition.
"Yea, I know." Richard agreed with a sigh escaping past his lips. He scooped up eggs from his plate and shoveled them into his mouth. The butler had come by at their father's demand and had provided breakfast for the three left in the White House. Zakai's plate was covered up with a silver cover, keeping warm beneath the protection it was provided. "Anyways, what do you suppose Zakai is going to do here?"
"I was hoping he might be able to find something for me." Colton answered honestly with a lowered voice. He knew that Secret Service ears were still lurking around and could possibly be eavesdropping on them even then. "See, the orders that the military had been given could have only come from the president. But I doubt Dad would have ordered human experimentation like that. There's a folder I'm looking for, entitled under 'CMIFC'. It would be in Dad's office in one of the filing cabinets, no doubt. I just need to get my hands on that folder to confirm my theory."
"Why do you need it exactly? How would that help any?" Richard whispered back as a frown crossed over his face.
"Don't worry about that." Colton answered, his voice going to the normal range again once he spotted one of the Secret Service men pass by.
Richard's eyes landed on his younger brother's plate. He narrowed his green eyes and brought them back up to the soldier. "What? Not hungry or something?"
"Eh." Colton voiced with a shrug of his shoulders.

[Kicks]

Carson watched as two medics passed by the doors. He had been waiting for his acquaintances to leave the building when these two medics came in questioning about a guy. Sure Carson had seen the man, but after the guy had spoken he figured he was all right. And he wans't outside anymore so he must have walked off whatever it was that had bothered him. "Hey buddies!" He called towards the paramedics; "Yea, I haven't seen anybody like that around here. Must have been some kind of prank call." He lied smoothly with a convincing tone. In his eyes, if somebody had called an ambulance on him he would have ditched as well. He wouldn't want all that awkward attention. Plus, the guy probably fled for a pretty good reason. Carson liked to think he was contributing to the better good. So before he could be questioned about it, he closed IHOP's doors behind him and began to lead the trio back to his house.
Blake glanced down at Faye as he followed after Carson merrily. "I don't know, you just looked like you were screaming to be carried. So I decided to carry you." He explained to the lightweight girl.
Soon enough, they had come into range of the apartment building. Carson led them up stairs upon stairs until they had nearly reached the top. He unlocked the door to his apartment and showed them into a small living room with a TV, couch, a chair, beanbag, and DVD player. The living room opened up into a small dining area that was connected behind a wall to a small kitchen. There were four doors, one leading to a bathroom, one to a closet, and down a small hall it led to two bedrooms.
"I've always been great with my hands." Carson informed ArraBella as she glanced suspiciously at the beanbag and DVD player. "But from the way I see it, it's totally legal if you're stealing from an asshole. It's practically common courtesy."
"Oh but of course." ArraBella agreed sarcastically right on back. "How did you even manage to rent an apartment with your wages?"
Carson hid his grin from the feisty redhead. "But if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret anymore."

[Lil]

"Oh." Faye said sheepishly in reply. For some not so odd reason she wasn't convinced that's why he seeped her up. Blake wasn't the type of guy just to pick you up because apparently you were "screaming it". He wasn't even the type of guy to notice things like that. She wasn't going to argue though. As he carried her down the streets they obviously got some strange looks but Faye ignored the stares. She was too tired to care anyways.
When they arrived at Carson's apartment complex Faye had started to doze off but there was no way she was going to let him carry her up the stairs. That was a disaster waiting to happen. Carefully Faye slipped one of her legs out and stood up and offered Blake a soft and friendly grin. "Thank you." She said and with that she started to follow the bouncing redhead up the stairs. Carson showed them around his apartment but frankly all Faye wanted was a place to lay down.

[Kicks]

Carson slapped his hands together as he pointed to the two girls and then gestured towards the hall. "And then we go down this way for where the ladies will stay!" He announced while making his way down there. He turned to the left in the hall and opened up the guest room. He pushed aside many DVDs onto the floor from the bed. And then he dragged out a feather mattress from the closet and placed it on the floor with a blanket and pillow. "Kay, so, yea. Never been a host before so... yea. I guess." He stated kind of awkwardly now that he had just thrown it together like that. "Well, good night ladies."
ArraBella threw herself down onto the feather mattress. It looked so poofy and anything poofy had to be comfortable, right? She sank into it a little bit and began to giggle. "It's swallowed me!"
Carson covered his mouth with a hand, suppressing back his laugh. When he got himself under control, he lowered his hand and nodded his head. "Oh my gosh. Okay, you total weirdo. I'm going to go and pretend to be a legal British immigrant. Excuse me." With those words, he shut the door behind him and left back into the living room where he found Blake making tea at the sink. "Oh but of course!" Carson exclaimed as he watched this. "You have no idea how many stereotypes pop into my mind just watching you do that!"
"You have no idea how much I don't care." Blake stated back with a chortle. "You had no hot chocolate, and coffee is caffeinated, so of course I'd go with tea. It's hot and relaxing and I like tea. So bite me."
Carson raised his hands to his chest, pretending as if he totally understood. "Oh of course, my bad. Totally didn't mean to offend you." He remarked, though he was laughing outwardly now. The teenager turned and grabbed his laptop from the table and placed it up on the counter for both to look at. "Now, let's see what we can do with that legal business and you getting you guys a place in New York."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai woke up shivering. It was cold. He sat up in the bed and looked over at the open balcony doors. Why did I leave those open again? He walked over, picked up the bag and then closed them. I don't wanna think about it. He went over to his bed and opened the bag. Not really caring what he wore, he grabbed whatever, which ended up being a red long sleeved shirt that was a little big on him and grey pants. He changed quickly, then yawned and went into the bathroom to wet down his hair. He then slipped on his shoes and then left the room. He was tired. He'd gotten more sleep than he had in a while, but he felt exhausted. He found Colton and Richard downstairs talking to each other and eating breakfast. He was too tired to worry about interrupting something so he zombied over and sat down in a chair near them.
"Morning." he looked at the plate that was still covered and pointed at it, "Is this mine?"

[Lil]

"So you're cool with me taking the bed?" I say not hesitating fora moment. All I wanted was to flop down and sleep the rest of the day and night away I felt I deserved it anyways, we had been through hell lately. I sat down nd leaned back onto the pillows while also blowing some hair from my face the glanced ath the crazy redhead being engulfed by the pillow-mattress.

[Kicks]

Richard glanced up when Zakai entered the room. He had stopped conversation with his brother then just in case, but Colton didn't seem to care and went on.
"Why bother keeping silent around him?" Colton questioned casually while still poking at the food on his plate. "The kid is more adapt into battle than he realizes. With a hammer to protect him for so long I'm surprised he doesn't look like Hulk." He nodded towards the plate that was covered; "Yea, that's your food."
"He's just a child." Richard reminded, still not convinced that the kid could do much or could be trusted.
"So? What does age have to do with anything? I was learning Calculus by the time I was ten." Colton pointed out with an eye-roll. "You shouldn't underestimate what someone is capable of just by their age. If you ask me, Zakai is the strongest of most people. To not go completely crazy or suicidal after what he's seen is more than enough to count someone as strong. Besides that, he managed not to go spilling the beans to you about anything."
"You mean there's still things you're not telling me?!" Richard exclaimed with a look of disbelief. He settled down in a moment though and let out a sigh. "I shouldn't be so surprised though. You don't tell anybody anything and when you do it's not exactly helpful, ya know. You could just tell us everything but nooooooo, for some cruel reason you keep it to yourself."
"Wise is the one who keeps quiet, foolish is the one who tells everything." Colton answered back with a chuckle. He pushed his plate away at last and stretched out his arms. "So, Zakai? You want to do me a favor? It should be really easy if you're careful. If you don't want to do it, that's okay. I can just do it when I get back here sometime tomorrow."
"Still don't think you should trust a child to do what you're asking." Richard mumbled to himself. He wasn't too happy that a kid was being dragged into this. Not just because he didn't do well with children but also because he doubted a child could be capable of much.



"I don't care." ArraBella whispered into her pillow. She kicked off her shoes and used one of them to throw at the light-switch. It hit it right on and flicked off the light. Obviously she had some practice doing that back home. The girl curled up underneath the blanket and flopped her head the other way. "I'M. GONNA. GO. TO SLEEP." She announced for everyone to know. It had to be done. Otherwise they might be disturbed and nobody wanted that.
Carson tilted his head towards the hallway with a snicker. "Your sister really is something, ya know that?"
"Don't go getting any ideas, mister." Blake stated back. They were already on the fourth page to housing listed in New York. A few tabs had been open with places of interest to invest in. Amazingly, Carson had loaded some kind of special paper into the printer and switched the inks. He then proceeded to print out what looked like citizenship papers and passport papers. He slipped the passport papers in a wallet that would resemble the cover of a passport. He had then stuffed the papers all into one manilla envelope and gave it to Blake. The British teenager wouldn't question how he had managed to do all of that or even how he knew to do that. He already knew that Carson had been some sort of a juvenile delinquent in San Francisco. That's all he preferred to know.
"Anyways, what about that Faye chick? I mean, it's so obvious that you guys dig each other." Carson stated with a suspicious look. "You guys aren't going to get freaky in my place, right?"
"What?! No!" Blake exclaimed with a horrified expression on his face. "Goodness, no. You're completely out of your mind. Only an idiot would think about getting into a relationship during these kinds of times. We may be out of San Francisco but the battle is most obviously not over."
Carson snorted, not for one moment believing the teenager. "Sure, whatever." He waved it off with a hand. "So, go on then, tell me about one of your dirty secrets from San Francisco. And I'll tell you one of mine."
Hearing one of his? Blake was very curious about Carson and how he had actually gotten out of San Francisco. He just couldn't resist. Besides, he didn't have a lot of things he regretted from San Fran that he wasn't afraid to say. "I asked this girl to be my girlfriend because I felt a lot of pity for her and her self esteem was really look because she looked like a cat. And it was really freaky. Like it scared the crap out of me. A lot. But she seemed so sad and so down on herself."
"You sly bastard." Carson whistled with a grin brightening up his face. "Didn't you think she would find out?"
"No." Blake answered honestly with a shrug. "I knew she was going to die. There's no way anybody could survive with her kind of attitude. She ran off a lot and was flustered and frazzled. She didn't have all that much control over her emotions like Faye has."
"That's cruel. That's just wow." Carson stated with a look of surprise. "And I thought I was badass!"
"It wasn't cruel. It was logical." Blake explained with a frown. "Anyways, Carson. Tell me one of your dirty secrets then."

[Lil]

Faye was already falling asleep before Red even had the chance to turn the lights off. Her hair scattered over the pillow and a strand lied across her face, floating up every time she breathed. The blonde had hoped she would have a dreamless sleep considering she was so exhausted but she was haunted by her thoughts. Zombies lunged at her from all directions and there was no one there to save her. Faye tossed over uncomfortably, not waking from the dream though.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai simply took the plate and started eating after Colton said it was his. He was tired and it seemed like Richard and Colton had been arguing again, however, he was slightly qualified to listen in since it was about him. Colton, apparently wanted him to hear something since he was speaking in his favor, and Richard didn't because he was a worry-wart who was worried for one reason or another. This was Zakai's logic and he wasn't sure why the two were arguing about this now. They had had a scream fest the night before and they didn't seem to care that he was there at that time, and that was a time they definitely should have kept it to themselves. He continued eating and then Colton finally asked him for something. A favor. Zakai looked at Colton for a moment and listened to Richard's uncertain statement which meant that this was probably something important. Zakai didn't care all that much about what Richard thought, but if Colton wanted something, then he had no problem at least trying to get it for him, although, he maybe Richard was right and Colton was overestimating him.
"What do you want me to do?"

[Kicks]

Blake stared horrified at the teenager who seemed to have no remorse from the story he had told. In fact, Carson had got right back to work casually as Blake continued to stare at him in silence. There was no correct way to possibly react to that. There was no possible way he could do anything about it anyways. It was simply an awful truth that had been done in the past. And yet somehow he understood that.
"It was basically mercy." Carson stated after a moment. He shut his laptop and gave the credit card back to the teenager. "And I think nothing more or less of what I did. It was mercy." Those were his final words before he went about searching the cupboards for some apple cider mix. "Anyways, I got you guys a place in New York, New York. It's kind of like San Fran, I hear. It's a two bedroom apartment within your budget. The three bedrooms were extremely expensive, just like getting a house down there. There's also a job opening with an online application I filled out for you as..." He held up a finger as he began to laugh.
"What?" Blake asked suspiciously, completely forgetting the dirty secret for a moment and focusing on this. "What did you do?"
"Janitor." Carson laughed out while throwing a hand into the air. "It's the only job I could find. I went on ahead and faked your high school diploma, by the way. You were going to graduate this year anyways so I figured why not. Anyhow, I didn't have the time to fake enough so that your resume looked great. But give me a week or two and I met be able to land you a better job."
Blake ran a hand through his hair, cracking up a bit. "Well, all right. Guess I can't really complain. A job is a job after all."


"Nothing too hard." Colton told Zakai in a casual voice. He glanced towards the entrance to the room before lowering his voice and proceeding. "There's a file in the president's office titled under 'CMIFC'. It should be in one of the filing cabinets. I just need you to get it for me. You can just hide it in your bag until I get back."
"And what happens if he gets caught?" Richard mused quietly to try and talk them out of this. "Hmmm? What then?"
"He won't." Colton stated in such a confident manner that his brother didn't continue to argue with him. "Anyways, there's a subway taking us to Station 1 at nine." He stood up from his chair and stretched all the way out. "I'll be back here by one tomorrow in the afternoon." He added for Zakai. "If you're incapable of acquiring the file, I can get it when I get back. It's completely understandable."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai stared at Colton. He was asking him to do something hard... and illegal. He'd faced zombies and the like, and he was sure no one would kill him for this, even though it was super illegal, but he was a bit confused.
"If it's in the president's office then why don't you just ask you dad for it?" he whispered back.
This was not something he minded doing, but he was confused. Why on Earth did Colton even want it? Why was he doing this? What was going through his mind? Was he crazy? Still, this seemed like a good opportunity to learn about things that Zakai didn't know about. If he agreed and succeeded, then that would be great, but still, why didn't he just ask his dad? He was becoming curious. He wanted to know.

[Kicks]

Colton sat down again in thought. He was trying to find a way to explain to a child what being a soldier was like towards the president of the United States. Sure, his father was the president but that didn't mean much when it came to gaining documents that were classified. "Let's put it this way..." He began slowly with a sigh. "Masters never told their slaves why they picked cotton. They simply picked the cotton all day long, every day because they were told to do so. To question your master was like asking for death. Besides that, but the master would never answer. Soldiers work under the president, we don't ask why we do things. We just do the things we're ordered to do without knowing the dirty details behind it. If we're to ask for the details we're told it's classified. Even if your father is the president. Just as the slaves, we fight blindly without details."
Richard's jaw had dropped at the explanation. Never once in his life would he have thought of comparing the military with slavery. It was beyond insane! And somehow, it made sense. Sense he refused to acknowledge, but sense nonetheless. "Are you saying we fight for no reason?"
"No, we fight for whatever we decide to fight for. But what we fight is a whole 'nother story." Colton answered back calmly, quietly, and thoughtfully. "They're two different things, and once you really have time to think about it... the government seems to make a lot more sense rather than useless arguing over politics."

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

It didn't help at all.
"But I didn't ask why you guys fought..." he was confused. He didn't understand at all what that had to do with anything. "So... you just don't ask or question... is that what you're saying?"
That was the best he could get out of it. It didn't seem really like an answer and he wasn't happy with it, but he had a feeling that if he questioned further, then he would only become more confused. He looked around once, only with his eyes so that it wouldn't be obvious he was surveying the room and then took a bite out of his food, chewed and swallowed.
"Fine." he said so that only the two of them could hear him, "I'll see what I can do."
So this meant also keeping it from Colton's dad. Zakai scratched his head. This was making him sort of nervous. Colton's father was being kind enough to let him stay here for protection. The man probably didn't suspect him of anything since he was a kid and he was with Colton, but if he was caught, he'd be betraying more than the man's trust. For a while, Colton even kept quiet around Zakai because he thought he might be a terrorist. Colton was the president's son. If he were to be caught, then the man would question him and probably scold him, but he'd still be his son and they would be fine, but Zakai had no such connection. He bit his lip. He had a lot to lose it seemed.
"I hope you realize what you're asking me to do." he suddenly felt uncertain, but he did sort of owe Colton, "I'll do my best though."

[Kicks]

"The file is on a mission I did. That's why I'm not allowed information on it if I ask for it." Colton told the kid to further explain. "I need that file to see if he had given some orders. If he didn't give the orders it will have confirmed what I need to know in order to continue further into the task at hand. If he did give the orders, well... that will make things a little complicated. But I'm certain he didn't give the orders. If you want to lose some of the risk then don't look in the file- you probably won't understand the coding anyways. If you're caught, pretend you were sleep walking. Believe it or not, they'll believe you because where you come from- San Francisco that is. If they don't buy into the act for some reason, tell them I put you up to it and then I can do the explaining from there. But don't worry, you won't be caught if you time it all right."
Richard was shaking his head back and forth with unmistakable unease for this mission. "Colton, come on." He sighed out at last. He stood up with his brother then; "We have to return to Station 1 now. Colton's going to be back tomorrow, so you won't be alone forever." He told the kid with a frown. "Gosh, I hope for everyone's sake that Colton's right about you."
Colton smiled at Zakai and ruffled up the kid's hair. "See you tomorrow, little guy." He left the room with those words, his older brother following behind him.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai stared suspiciously at Colton. What orders? What are you talking about? What are you making me steal? He had no idea what he was doing or what was even in the file. Richard was acting uneasy, and anyone would, he supposed, but in his mind he was almost siding with him and not Colton for once. Colton was explaining everything without actually explaining anything, and how was Zakai supposed to know when the time was right for the specific timing that he was supposed to time right? This guy... asking him to do such a thing that was illegal and acting all nonchalant about it. He sighed once they left the room.
"I hope he's right about me too..." he mumbled in response to Richard's statement.
His head shot up. He'd forgotten something. He jumped up from his seat and ran after them. When he caught up, he grabbed Richard's arm.
"Um... thank you for the clothes." He was kind of scared of Richard and he felt awkward saying it. He let go of the soldier's arm and backed away a little. "That's it."
He felt kind of embarrassed and stupid doing something like that, but it felt really important for some reason.

[Lil]

Faye sat up breathing heavily and in a cold sweat. Of course she finally had the opportunity to sleep and only bad thoughts flooded her head. She decided to get something to drink and tied her hair up in a bun before leaving the room almost silently. She walked into the kitchen, her eyes still a bit red and puffy from tears but tried to hide it to the best of her ability. Faye took a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the sink trying to avoid looking at the boys.

[Kicks]

Richard was startled by someone suddenly grabbing onto his arm. He glanced down at what who it was and noticed Zakai there. The soldier continued to stare at the child as he was thanked for the clothes. When Richard's arm was released, the captain merely snorted and shrugged before following his brother out of the place.
Further along when they were back in the truck and heading down the road, Colton began to laugh a bit. When his brother asked what was so funny, the younger soldier responded with; "I don't get how you don't like kids. But you can be so nice sometimes."
Richard gazed at his younger brother for a moment before rolling his eyes. "It's common courtesy, that's all. I'm not a nice person." He stated without much show for emotion.
"Right, sure. Go on ahead and try to convince yourself of that." Colton remarked with some more laughter.


"Well look at that, one of the sleeping beauties arose from her sleep. And without a kiss from a prince." Carson commented without actually turning his head away from looking for his cider mix. "Bet that gets Blake's blood running."
Blake glanced up from peering at the apartment on the laptop. "I wonder if I show you what I can do if you would learn some manners, Carson." He stated casually, without any real threat to his voice.
Carson chuckled while taking down a box finally from one of the cupboards. "Aren't you just adorable with your cute, little mutant threats? You can't scare a touch guy like me. I've seen far more dangerous criminals with a knife than a mutant with no idea how much it would cost his life to do something that stupid in an apartment building." He commented with the most amused expression.
Blake slowly turned his eyes back to the laptop, shaking his head ever so slowly. "All I heard was you stating how awesome I am." He responded with before finally noticing that Faye didn't look so well. "Oy! Ya look like you tossed with a bear!"

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai stared after the soldiers after the response he got from Richard. He'd pretty much been told "whatever", and although the boy was sure it wasn't meant to be anything at all, a smile suddenly spread across his face as a funny thought ran through his mind. He ended up just shaking his head and walking back to the room to finish his breakfast and think. Colton is asking more of me than he realizes. He thought curiously. If I assume that the secret service is nowhere around, and Colton's dad is in some meeting, and his butler is busy, and video surveillance doesn't exist... Zakai shook his head, Then this is completely impossible for me to do in real life. He thought or a moment. He really needed to know more about the place before he tried to do anything. It wouldn't be all that easy as Colton put it out to be, and he wondered if the soldier was even thinking straight. He acted like it was nothing. If anything, he's overly confident, and I'm actually kind of glad that he put me up to it. Richard was probably more on the dot in worrying. Colton doesn't seem to know what he's asking me to do... I could be wrong though. He did promise to keep me safe. He sighed in annoyance. Sheesh! Doesn't he realize how unsafe this is!?

[Lil]

"He must be completely torn up." Faye murmured I response to Carson. She sipped from her water, finally watching the two. They argued over who is tougher and the blondie rolled her eyes. When Blake did happen to look at her he commented about how she looked. "It's nothing." Faye say quietly looking down in her glass of water. She didn't want to start any issues or have anyone think she was having a hard time dealing with this, she knew there was no room to be weak.

[Kicks]

Soon enough, the soldiers found themselves in a crowded ride with strangers. Richard sat stiff in his military uniform, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. As for his younger brother, he had fallen right asleep as soon as he had sat down and got comfortable. It would be a short ride for the distance they wished to achieve. Just an hour or so and then they would be at Station 1.
Richard's mind was whirling around what Colton had put the kid up to. He wondered what on earth his real intentions were behind that anyways. He knew that the file was important to attain, but setting up a kid to meet such a challenge? He wondered if this were a test of skills. He wondered if Colton were seeing what the kid was made of. Richard knew he would only put a kid up to something like that to see what he was capable of. But Colton? He certainly doubted he would test a child. Maybe Colton really did put that much faith in the kid, even if Zakai was only a child. He wished to awake his brother and prod the answer out of him, but he had heard the piano music last night and knew better than to disturb a soldier just back from a danger zone from their sleep. The last time he had awoken a soldier like that was the first time he had one of the lower ranked soldiers pull a gun to his head and almost pull the trigger. Though Colton wasn't equipped with his military uniform or weapons, he was still very capable of other things. Like that horrendous electricity that Richard could only imagine the use of.
Maybe if Richard were to put himself into Colton's shoes and think like him? He tried for a moment to imagine that but failed severely. He just couldn't see any logic in putting a kid up to something like that. It was ridiculous! So crazy it just might work.
As for Colton, like all the other times he had slept since San Francisco, it was dreamless. Heavy with exhaustion the blackness behind his eyelids were laced, and no sound penetrated his ears nor movement to distract him from unconsciousness. But in no way was it peaceful, it was... neutral.


"Right okay. Because lying is all right." Blake stated casually as if it were really okay. Which it totally wasn't. If a girl looked like that chances were she had either been crying or was sick. And since she wasn't puking, then she was probably crying. And when someone cried it normally wasn't for good reasons.
"It is in this case." Carson hummed out while stirring his cider. "Anyways, guys. I need to go study for that stupid psychology test, so if you'd excuse me..." He trailed off while slowly backing towards his own room with his drink.
Blake turned his eyes away from the male and back to Faye. "You going to be able to sleep?" He questioned curiously while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Or do you want to stay up and talk?" He offered unsure.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai sat there and heaved a sigh, then got up and went to his own room to think things over. Video surveillance, secret service, the president himself... how was a twelve year old boy supposed to face all of that? He was no trained soldier or agent. He was just a kid! He didn't know how to handle all of that stuff. Still, no one would really suspect him since he was kid. Then again, the president was a father and his own father had always been on the dot whenever he got into trouble when no one else could see. Then again, that was his father. President Ryker couldn't be right about everything. As for the video cams, he had to know more about them. He doubted shutting off a simple fuse would do anything. He didn't even know where all the cameras were! Then again, that was the point, wasn't it? Dang it! This place was just too safe! If he did do anything, he'd need a reason to go in there in the first place and then, maybe it would be alright. Still, he doubted anyone would ask him to go into the president's office to grab something, and there wasn't really a convincing story for him to actually go in there! He could say he got lost and was looking for a map, but he'd need to know a lot more about the layout in that case. Dang it! This is hard! President Ryker already told me where his office was! It would be stupid to say I was lost! Or maybe if I said I just wanted to explore and asked him if he had a map or something? Then again, if I clued him in on anything at all, they would all heighten my risk of getting caught! What's really making this hard is security cameras! It would be so much easier if there weren't any security cameras! I snuck around zombies and stuff before, but they didn't have any freaking cameras! He flopped on the bed and covered his head with a pillow in frustration. I bet they're just laughing at me right now while they watch me from their security cameras!

[Lil]

Faye looked up at him, he knew she had been obviously crying. There wasn't much of a way to hide it anyways. Carson got up and left and Blake asked Faye if she wanted to go back to sleep or try and talk about it. "I don't want to keep you up." She said shaking her head as she drank another sip of water. A part of her hoped he'd stay up with her though, even if they didn't talk and he was just up with her. Someone to make her feel a bit safer.

[Kicks]

When the speeding ride came to a stop at a platform, Richard had to shake his brother awake. The younger of the two didn't react all as what Richard had been expecting, in fact he tried to go back to sleep.
"Are you being serious right now, Colton? We're here. Come on, get up." Richard tried again, grabbing his brother by the arm and trying to drag him out of the seat. "Stop being lazy and move your booty!"
Colton finally did as he was told and got up, as sloppy as a zombie. He followed after his brother in between sleep and wakefulness, and somehow managed to make his way through the crowds of people after the only soldier dressed in uniform on the platform. That was until they came to a secured part of the complex with military surveillance and security. He sat down on the filthy ground, waiting as Richard talked with one of the soldiers and flashed his card. When he had, there was a tremor through the soldiers before one of them said in a shaky, almost frightened voice: "Welcome back, Captain."
"Get me a jeep." Richard told the soldier while nodding off towards the exit of the platform. "C'mon, Col-" He glanced back and scowled at his younger brother sitting in the filth. "What are you doing down there?!"
"I'm tiiiiiiiiiiired." The younger of the two whined out like a child. "And hungry, but mainly tired. And hungry."
"I told you to eat-" Richard began in an exasperated voice before giving up. He pulled his brother up from the ground again and led him into the military complex of the platform. The structure they stepped into looked kind of like a subway booth from outside, but inside it led down to other parts of the complex. "Anyways, I'm reinstating you today. But don't think it's because I want to. If I had it my way, you'd remain without gun or uniform longer. Dad requested you were reinstated for some reason. Whatever." Inside he pulled out some dog-tags with Colton's information on it and an identification card hanging by its chain as well with a barcode on it. He tossed it to his brother and then went into another room. When he came back he tossed a Captain's uniform to him. "Hurry up and change so we can get into the base already. You can go see Ada from there and I can get to work."
Colton glanced down at the military uniform and tags. He hadn't been expecting that move, but he was too tired to argue it or even question it. Back being a captain instead of a soldier on a parole opened a lot of doors for him.


"Your lips say no but your eyes say yes." Blake stated with a chuckle. "Well, whatever, if you need me I guess I'm on the couch." He added before leaving the kitchen-like area and went into the living room area. Carson had tossed a fluffy blanket on the couch and a pillow for him, which Blake was surprised at. Despite how well they had known each other in San Francisco, they didn't get along exactly. Blake didn't make a lot of friends there because he would be graduated very soon and didn't see why people should get in his way. The friends he did make were on the football team with him- all of them were looking for the scholarship opportunity. Those guys didn't get along too well with Carson who they saw as a target. Though Blake didn't join in, he did know about it. And though Carson didn't care about the members of the football team, he also didn't like their attitudes. Carson could hold his own against the members just with the way he held himself up that gave off the impersonation he was some criminal, and that was enough to keep the members from doing anything more than insulting and maybe slapping the books out of his hands. Carson and Blake had rarely talked in the hallways or at the school, even if they did get along rather well. It was a mutual understanding between them so they kept their distances. Blake was beginning to realize who exactly Carson was, and he was no longer seeing a juvenile delinquent.

[Lil]

Faye sat down at the table as Blake and completely absentmindedly she twirled the water in her glass with her powers. She didn't use them often, they felt too much like destruction. Reminded her too much of what had happened back in San Francisco. She stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing and leaned back in the chair a bit. Faye was reluctant to talk to Blake but she also knew it could possibly help, so she stood up and walked into the living room where Blake lied on the couch. She sat down with her legs crossed and looked up at him. "Would you mind talking for just a little while?" She asked quietly

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman wasn't really sure what he had done whilst attempting to run away from IHOP, if he had ran inside the forest, or if he had taken a cab and told him to drive somewhere, either way he had found himself in an alley. It was surprisingly not clottered down by punks who had claimed they were "street artists" by randomly spraying paint all over the walls with their fake name close to it.

He knew that the ambulance personel and the lady who called nine-one-one must have stopped looking for him, considering the fact that the sirenses stopped after he had ran less then fifty feets after turning the corner, and after having 'heightend' his senses, he could even hear in the distance that the man that had asked him if he was alright, had told them it was just a prank call someone made.

Feeling reliefed as he thought about this, Rickard decided to go back onto the streets, walking towards the centre, and looked around, amazed at how big the city felt to him. He decided he was going to sit right there in the centre, and just keep calm. As he sat there, he stared off towards his left leg, and as curiosity grew, he started to reach for the end of the pants, beginning to fold them towards.

As he reached his ankle, there were no marks noticeable, but just below the knee, he noticed that the scar from the bite had bleached rather well. Of course, anyone who stared directly at it would notice it, but otherwise with anything else on, it would be hard to spot.

[Kicks]

Blake was already falling asleep with the tea in his hands by the time he heard a rustling and movement. The teenager slowly opened his eyes up upon hearing Faye's voice. It was probably a good thing he hadn't dozed off and instead turned his attention to Faye because of the cup in his hands. He sat upright while blinking a few times. Blake leaned over and placed the cup down on the coffee table before turning his attention to the girl. "I don't mind talking. Nothing better to do but sleep and I can do that any time I want." He answered back with a chuckle. Despite the horrific dreams- sometimes even good dreams- he did enjoy sleep. He awoke feeling refreshed and clear minded. But he also liked talking to Faye because she had an adorable voice and wasn't very afraid of expression what she was thinking. Besides that, but he felt like she needed to talk anyways. Who wouldn't after San Francisco? And now all of what was happening in the United States.

[Lil]

"I can't sleep" Faye said quietly looking down at her lap. She had been exhausted all day and now she couldn't sleep, fantastic. "I can tell you're tired though so I'll let you sleep." Faye offered a small smile to him and rubbed her fingers against the hem of her shirt.
(Sorry for short post. I'm not home and won't be for a while.)

[Kicks]

Blake shook his head at her offer. "No, it's cool. I'm always tired." He pointed out with a chuckle. He sat up a bit in the couch without actually moving from his laying position. He rested his head against his arm and felt his blonde hair fall in dirty strands over his face. It was kind of itchy having them just fall over his face like that. He hadn't noticed it before, had been too concerned with getting them out of San Francisco to care much about actual hygiene. But now he was beginning to turn his thoughts back on to the basic ways of life and he was desperately craving a shower then.
"So, why can't you sleep?" He asked her while rubbing at one of his blue eyes. Maybe if she could talk about why she couldn't sleep, then she would be able to sleep? It seemed logical somewhat in his mind. She did look tired, which did make him wonder why she couldn't sleep.

[Lil]

Faye gulped, not sure if she exactly wanted to share. Although she knew, if anyone would be able to help it'd be Blake. He always made her feel safer whether it was a tangible threat or just a mental one. "I-I keep thinking." She stuttered a bit as she spoke, trying to figure out what to say, "thinking about, what happened back hom- in San Francisco." Faye no longer wished to identify herself as someone from San Fran, it was a place of destruction and distress. "What if it happens again?" She asked quietly looking at her fidgety fingers, "and what if you're not there to help me next time?" Obviously, Faye was worried about what was going to happen to Blake. Would he be able to stay in the states or would he be shipped back to the UK, if so she wouldn't make it. If another invasion took place, she would need him to be by her side.

[Kicks]

Blake fell into silence at the sound of her voiced worries. He hadn't thought about what would happen if the zombies were to be here in the United States. He had refused to let his mind wander to such horrors. But now he was faced with the very possibility of it. He heaved out a sigh, exasperated at all that was taking place and what could take place. "If it were to happen again, then we would know what to do. We would be able to make it through. We would be able to survive." He finally murmured back to her. They had experience now. And even more so, they had supernatural abilities to aid them. His blue eyes trailed over to Faye and he gazed at her for a moment, wondering over why she would be worried that he wouldn't be there. He couldn't imagine any way that they would be separated. He also couldn't imagine him just up and leaving her. They had been through so much together, and whether she knew it or not he relied on her as much as she probably relied on him. "Even if I end up somehow being separated from you, I know that you're capable of protecting yourself. You're a lot more stronger than you give yourself credit for."

[Lil]

Faye looked up at him from her spot on the floor. Her eyes gleamed slight with worry, but she did her best to hide it. She knew that they had experience now, and an edge almost no one else had but she couldn't help but think of the worst. Anything could happen quite frankly, this was an apocalypse. Faye nodded although her worry still lingered and very timidly she reached up and wrapped her fingers around Blake's hand, mostly seeking comfort but part of her just liked the feeling she got when they held hands. His rough calloused football player hands against her small, dainty writing ones.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai sat up. This is getting me nowhere. I have to go and figure stuff out. He left the room and wandered through the halls, looking around as best he could. He walked by the office, but then just kept walking and looking around. He had until tomorrow. He could probably have it by then. He just needed a good plan. He looked around curiously. The White House really was impressive. It was overly extravagant in a way that suited it perfectly. He wanted to look at the outside too. This place was huge. Hmm... where is the guy I'm stealing from anyway? He always had meetings and stuff. It'd probably be pretty crazy for him now considering what's going on... if he were to leave sometime, then that'd be perfect! At least, I'd be a lot more comfortable with stealing the thing if he wasn't here. It'd have to be a time I knew he wasn't because he's the person who'd probably have the best chance of knowing what I did. Also... about security cameras... they have them without a doubt. They probably don't tell anyone about anything because of secret stuff and yeah, but I gotta find some way around them if they're here. They probably don't mind me too much since I'm a kid just walking around, but if they see me doing something weird, they'd go berserk. He was pretty interested in how it worked as well as nervous about it. He wandered around some more. Maybe if I found a guard or something and talked to them they'd tell me a thing or two. All I'd have to do is act interested and curious, and that's not hard.

[Kicks]

Neither of them said anything, which was okay with Blake. He felt as if no words could properly express what either of them could possibly be thinking at the moment. He didn't like thinking about San Francisco. He didn't like thinking that he had left a safe England to go to San Francisco which had seemed safe then but had quickly turned into death and chaos. He worked so hard to get out of the UK and to the states. He had dreamed of becoming a citizen, honing such glorious rights, and doing what he wanted. He had hoped to live a dream, get a great job, go through college, and become successful. But San Francisco had been the opposite. But he didn't regret it completely. He loved his younger cousin and wouldn't trade her for any other of their family members. He also had gotten to know Faye which was a gift in itself.
As he was thinking these thoughts, he felt something warm slide over one of his hands. When he glanced down to their hands and ripped himself from his thoughts he saw that their fingers were intertwined. He wasn't sure if this was right or wrong, but it felt like it belonged and something about it made him feel at peace. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Blake raised his eyes to the girl and gave her a small smile. "Good news is that we can head out for New York tomorrow." He told her softly. "I get to be a janitor, isn't that exciting?"



Colton felt out of place standing there in a captain's uniform. He felt even more out of place knowing it was his. The jacket he had worn for a complete year without washing was back on him. He didn't know they had found it in the ocean or even why they had bothered. It was clean, that was true. And even more so, it had new badges and insignias on it that he didn't recognize. He felt too young to have them pinned to his chest. He felt like he didn't deserve, as if he hadn't earned them. Warfare, terrorism specialist, operations manager, the list went on until the last being the Navy Cross. He stared down at it, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. As his hands went to pry it off of the uniform, he heard a sound from behind him. Turning on his heel, he saw that his brother was there waiting with a bag of Chinese food.
"What are you doing?" Richard inquired with a cocked brow as he watched the strange performance. He had seen his brother from behind trying to do something, and then watched as he turned around with huge eyes full of suspicion. The older of the two decided to wave it off and held out the food. "Anyways, you were taking so long that I just went ahead and got some food." He stated while giving his brother another look. For some reason, Richard felt as if he weren't talking to his brother but rather an equal. Someone on the same level he was in all aspects. It was odd and put him off. He wasn't seeing a younger brother, he was for the first time seeing a man instead of a boy.
Colton reached out and hesitantly took the food. He gave his brother a nod, but couldn't bring himself to thank him verbally. He peeked inside of the bag and took in the aroma of the food. It was hypnotizing and drew his stomach's conflict away from the medal and to the food. "How long is Dad in the meeting for at the Congress House? Think Zakai will have enough time before he gets back?"
"Well, he left this morning and Congress can be difficult. He's probably going to be gone for at least four hours, and at most maybe ten." Richard nodded towards the door and stated, "Anyways, I got us a jeep. I can drop you off at your place and then go to work." As he spoke, he was already leading his brother outside into the cold of Utah. It was lucky both were wearing heavy coats otherwise they might have froze.
Inside of the warm jeep, both of them were silent. Colton had started well into the food he had been given until suddenly Richard made a comment that made him stop. "Did you ever... have... dreams that you looked to for comfort or determination to get back home?"
Colton was so silent at the question that his brother turned to look at him. The younger brother stared down into the mess of Chinese food within the plastic, disposable bowl. His fingers were frozen over the chopsticks, but his mind felt... sluggish. "I did." He murmured back, beginning to twirl a noodle around the chopsticks. "Adalia was my main determination. Every time I got stuck, I'd pull through just thinking about getting back to her. I imagined what it would be like when we saw each other again. It didn't turn out how I wanted it to go." He let a smile flicker across his face briefly. "But, it still meant a lot seeing her smile and hearing her laugh." He raised the noodle before his eyes and just stared at it. "I also used to tell myself the first thing I would eat when I got home was steak and a big, fat potato. That didn't work out either, but at least I got real food."
Richard slowed down the car according to traffic as he listened to his brother. He figured just as much from him, but now he was curious about something else. "What happened to the other soldiers? How come you came back without anyone else?"
Colton stiffened at the mention of the other soldiers. Electricity crackled across his skin which surprised Richard. "They're not human." He murmured back with a shaky voice. "None of them are human. They all... none of them could make it back. There was a rogue group that went crazy, I don't know what was wrong with them. I don't know why they decided to do what they did... but the soldiers..." His stomach lurched thinking back to that awful day. It was then that he wasn't even in the jeep any longer. There was screaming, screeching, blood, and biting. There was the shouting of a lockdown.
"LET'S GO." Admiral Thomas shouted as he grabbed the arm to the captain. "WE HAVE TO GET OUT."
"BUT THEY'RE-" Colton was cut off as another shriek of what sounded like a wild animal went throughout the bunker. They turned their heads just in time to see a commander in chief be ripped at.
"Colton!" Richard shouted, shaking his brother's shoulder. The younger brother had tensed up and grabbed at his head, as if fighting something inwardly. "Snap out of it!"
"We have to do something!" The words left Colton's lips both in his eyes and before Richard. He wasn't seeing his brother, he was seeing the chaos unfold of the bunker. He was watching in distress as Admiral Thomas pulled at him until they both were out of the bunker. Together they fumbled, trying to contain the chaos inside of one place. They fought the wave of infected and monsters with the security system. When the final lock was in place and all that was left to hear was the banging and screaming on the other side, Admiral Thomas was back on the move.
"Come on! We have to track those traitors down!" He shouted towards the eighteen year old soldier who seemed far too young to have been a captain. "Move it!"
Colton snapped out of it. He hadn't been breathing and now he was coughing up a storm, choking in air and trying to fill his lungs. He leaned forward as he coughed and sputtered, gasped and his heart hammered in his chest. "I'm here." He whispered when he regained his breath. He could see the floor of the jeep as clearly as he could see the blood spraying everywhere a moment before. He could hear his brother saying something, but couldn't make out the words. "We're in Utah, right? Right?!" He exclaimed as his frantic green eyes went to his brother and searched the older one's scared and worried face.

[Lil]

Faye smiled in return keeping her hand locked with his. Hopefully getting to New York would help her escape these wicked thoughts. They'd be all the way across the country and possibly even safer, she did worry about Blake's citizenship though. There were quite a few ways that he could be caught, they had to be careful to avoid them. Slowly, Faye moved onto the couch beside him, so how their hands were wasn't so awkward. "You'll look good in a jumpsuit." She joked biting her lip with her stomach full of butterflies. "Hopefully Red and I can also find jobs while we're there.."

[Kicks]

Blake chuckled in response to her comment on the jumpsuit. "I look good in anything, let's be honest here." He replied with in a flattered, airy way. Though his words couldn't exactly be backed up at the moment with the dried blood and filth on his skin and clothes, and hair. "No doubt you two won't have a hard time finding jobs. You're both capable and hardworking, so it should be easy. Just bat your eyelashes and purr a bit, that'll get them going."
"New identities!" Carson shouted as he left his room and came back into the living room. His hair was now a mess and he was shirtless, revealing a decorate display of scars and muscles. "That's what you guys will need. I had to get a new one so that no one found out I was from San Francisco- and trust me, you don't want people knowing you're from there. Hide from the publicity, it'll keep you safe. You're not a threat if you're not from San Fran." He stated while now pacing back and forth. "I can get you guys fake IDs, no problem." He grabbed his keys from the table and walked towards the door. "I'll be back by midnight." He stated, obviously not caring that he may or may not be talking to himself.
"What about a shirt?" Blake questioned the seemingly deranged teenager. "Think you might need one to be seen in public?"
"No." Carson stated back with a few blinks of his eyes. He murmured his answer though and left the apartment right after his answer was out there.

[Lil]

Faye let our a light chuckle as Carson left. "He's a strange one isn't he?" She asked smiling over at Blake. "So you really think we won't have a problem getting a job?" Faye smirked, "all I have to do is this?" Faye teased as she leaned towards him a bit with a flirty little smile and blinked her long lashes a few times. A short laugh escaped her lips as she kept her eyes locked on Blake's ocean blue ones. The two sat only a few mere inches away and if someone were to walk in and see them holding hands and leaning so close together they could easily get the wrong idea, Faye didn't care much though. She liked how it felt and she wasn't going to let others opinions get in her way.

[Kicks]

"Yea, but it's understandable. He can sure hold his own, even if he's odd." Blake answered back with his own small bit of laughter. He was surprised suddenly when Faye went through with his teasing and leaned in so close to him. With her right in his face, it was making it quite hard for him to ignore the urging that came about when they were close. He didn't exactly know when it had started, and he didn't actually know the feeling of what it felt like to have a crush before, but he was figuring it was quite similar to this. He couldn't deny that she sure was a beautiful girl and now she was being all flirtatious like. But he didn't like the idea of someone walking in on them like this, or what one would think of this. There were a lot of 'didn't likes' running through his head, but that didn't stop him from playing it off just as coolly as ever. "Yea, but be careful. Because if you do it to well something like this might happen-" He told her before taking the girl's chin under his finger and giving her a little, teasing peck before pulling back. "Because if that happens, I'm going to have to fly in like Superman and get the creeper away. And nobody wants to see me wear underwear over spandex. Trust me." He stated with a chuckle.

[Lil]

They sat there for a while and Faye's thoughts drifted to what Blake might be feeling. He hasn't seemed to pull away yet so he couldn't have been completely uncomfortable. Her eyes drew to his as he spoke again but did not expect what came next. His fingers tilted her chin up and bit and he placed a short and chaste peck on her lips. A spark seemed to bounce between their lips and Faye could feel some excitement grow in her stomach. "If it means that'll happen again, I just might have to take my chances." She smiled and squeezed his hand slightly allowing her face to stay very close to his.

[Kicks]

Blake was both surprised and amused by Faye's comment about that action. He hadn't been expecting her to be so accepting of it and relay the same feelings back. It felt... exciting. He gazed into her eyes for a moment before a thought crept into his mind. They weren't safe yet and this would be stupid. He longed for this to happen, but his brain was telling him something else and that was to stop there. But her lips were so surprisingly soft and her hands were so warm. He liked their closeness, embraced it. But what about San Francisco? We're not there anymore, but it still feels like we're in danger. The teenager let his eyes drop from hers and he went to leaning back against the couch once more. He didn't want to come off as cold or cruel, so he gave her a wink and a smiled at her. "Gotta leave them wanting for more." He told her.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Alright... Zakai thought, So it doesn't seem like anyone's around right now. Now... about security cameras... He looked around nervously. What do I do about those? Are there even any? Dang it! I gotta get it somehow! He glared. Maybe if there was a heatwave or something... what the heck am I thinking! He thought. I could come up with some lie, but that's the worst idea. I could cause something to happen somewhere else, but I'd get in trouble for that, and the cameras would still see me! Unless the president actually likes his privacy and there are no cameras, but I'd probably have cameras if I were the president! What the heck do I do!? How do I get by something that can see me all the time? I don't even know if there are cameras! I haven't seen any, but still! Zakai walked back to his own room to think again. There had to be some way to do this! There was a way to do it, but he couldn't think of it! Maybe if he found a fuse box, but what the heck would that do? And with the secret service running around? That might be harder than the actual cameras themselves. How do I do this? Maybe I should just go for it and hope there are no cameras and hope I don't get caught. Dang it! This is hard...

[Kicks]

The White House's front door opened and closed behind a man not questioned about his presence inside of the place. As he walked, he undid his jacket that had kept him relatively warm from the brisk Fall cold of District of Columbia.
"Do you need anything?" Another man asked him, this one the butler who had a grin planted on his face at the arrival of the president.
"Ugh." President Ryker replied back with a look of irritation. "Just a new Congress is all. Those guys just never stop, honestly." He heaved out a sigh and walked past the man, up the stairs and towards his office. "And now I have so much paperwork and files to go through it's unbelievable!" He exclaimed while throwing his hands up into the air. "I have to find some way of stopping that law they passed, and it just seems impossible. But fear not, I will get it done!"
The president came to a stop at the top of the stairs and glanced around. "Zakai?" He called out for the house to hear. "Zakai? Do you mind helping me with something?"
~*~
"It's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Richard stated when he had gotten over the shock of the moment. They were still driving down the road, except now they were inside of the base's grounds. "It's not uncommon among soldiers returning from war grounds. It can make you delusional, paranoid, without appetite, Insomniac, so on and so forth. I should have noticed the first signs when you weren't eating and paranoid over me. One of the many symptoms is seeing hallucinations, visions, things that had happened over in the war zone. Sometimes the soldier even acts it out and reenacts the scene that took place. It's especially dangerous when the soldiers return from California. Three years ago the order had been issued that all returning soldiers were to be stripped of their weapons and ranks until they were seen by doctors and professional help. Those with PTSD weren't allowed to return to the force until they were cured. The order was made because of one of the returning soldiers. He had reenacted something that happened abroad and ended up killing four civilians and his official."
Colton was listening partly. He was still frightened by what he had seen and felt even more exposed than he had without a gun. He was fidgeting nervously and playing with his hands or running his hands through his hair. "Where's the place at?" He asked quietly to change the topic. He didn't want to embrace the reality that maybe he was insane and that the theories he had were just part of some hallucination.
"Colton, this is serious." Richard urged his younger brother with a frown. "You need help! You're not going to be able to function as best as you can out there on this mission if you have PTSD."
"I'm fine." Colton insisted quietly. He was both trying to convince himself this and his brother. "It's the lack of sleep that had caused me to go off like that. I'm sorry. I should have slept last night, but I didn't. It was a stupid move, and I apologize."
"Colton-" Richard began in an exasperated manner. He wanted his brother to embrace the reality but he knew it wasn't going to work. He slowed the jeep down to a stop and nodded outside to a small house. "That's your place right there. I'll check on you later."
"I don't need a babysitter." Colton insisted in a murmur. He opened the door and shut it behind him, leaving his brother sitting there in the jeep unconvinced of his words. The soldier trudged up to the front door and found it like in Texas, unlocked. He opened the door and shut it behind him, locking it as he did so.

[Lil]

Faye was disappointed when Blake leaned back. A part of her hoped he would kiss her again, even if it was just a small peck. Just the feeling of his lips against hers, for a brief second, was incredible. Faye followed though and leaned back onto the couch but left some space between her and Blake although she did find her thumb tracing along the side of Blake's hand, it was more of a subconscious action but she still enjoyed it.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman wasn't sure really what to do at the time, he had been spending quite a while just sitting in the center of Austin, calm enough to finally realise all the noises that was happening around him. Some children screamed, a mother were patting down her baby, and even some business men were making some deals to one and another. He had felt as if he was the center of everything, almost like a sun. It was refreshing to think that now he was nearby other humans instead of man eating corpses, or walking abominations just ment to scare the bejesus out of you.

Rickard Woodsman just sat there, really not sure what to do.

// This is getting somewhat embarrasing as I have a hard time to get into direct contact with you. What should I do?

[Kicks]

Blake shut his eyes once more and let his head lean against the pillow that had been provided to him. He wasn't going to fall asleep, though it did seem like a great idea. He was okay with facing anything in the subconscious world. In his eyes, it was a heck of a lot better than dealing with anything in real life like that. He was even grateful for it, it just proved to him that he was human. He would have fallen asleep most likely hadn't it been for the fact that he wanted to stay up with Faye. He did quite enjoy her company. "So, do you know how to drive?" He questioned her in a low voice so that he wouldn't go waking anybody up.



Carson was carrying three heavy bags with him by the time he had found what he needed. In his rush to leave his apartment and get the things he needed during the night, he had forgotten his shoes and a shirt as well. Crossing over a street, he darted across and just about ran into someone. He stopped suddenly and stared up at the man with the bushy beard and wild look about him. He felt like he knew the guy from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it. After a moment more of his awkward staring, he finally realized he was the guy who went unconscious and passed out at IHOP where Carson worked as a waiter.
"Oh hey!" The teenager shouted in a greeting. "Whoa, dude. You're just like all over the place. What are you doing out so late? Ain't you got a wife to get back to you or children to take care of?"

[Lil]

Faye smiled still running her thumb over his hand. "Actually, yes." Faye responded, "I don't think it'll be much use in New York though. Not a lot of people drive there." She added and looked over at the boy. Faye could tell he was tired and she felt bad for making him stay up, but another part of her thought if she hadn't, they wouldn't have had that small kiss. "Can you?" She decided to ask also.

[Kicks]

If it hadn't been for them talking, he probably would have dozed off by now just alone by her rubbing his hand; it was hypnotic and relaxing. It didn't surprise him so much to hear that the girl could drive- most American teenagers could. He found it actually pretty surprising at the amount of people who drove in America. "I can drive in England." He answered back honestly, "But I've never been good about driving on the right side of the road with the steering wheel in an odd place here in America." There was no need to ever drive while he had stayed in San Francisco- except during the zombies of course. But even then it didn't matter how he drove considering if he hit anything it wouldn't matter. San Francisco had been an easy place to navigate around in. He could just walk everywhere, or if he really wanted to go through the mental stress and physical difficulty of driving he would. "You and Bells might have to just end up taking turns driving to New York. If I drove we would get pulled over and that could lead to some nasty complications."

[Lil]

"Sounds like a plan." Faye yawned and blinked her eyes a few times. As they sat there a question trickled through Faye's mind but she wasn't sure how comfortable Blake would be answering it. It was about that girl from the school, the one he had been flirty with, Faye wasn't sure she could live up to that. That was also thinking Blake actually liked her, which odds were looking good so far. But she wanted to know what had happened to her and them. "Can I ask you something?" Faye asked biting her lip nervously

[Kicks]

In the silence, Blake was beginning to doze off. The sinking feeling into unconsciousness stopped when he heard Faye speak again. This time she was asking him a question about acting a question. And though he would have liked to point out that she had already asked him a question, he was too tired to bring those words to his lips or have that kind of a conversation. "No, I don't mind if you ask me a question." He finally answered her back with a small, tired wave of his free hand.

[Lil]

Faye noticed how tired he was and offered an almost sad but sweet smile. "How about I ask you in the morning." She said and tilted her head to the side. In all honesty, it wasn't an important question, she was just curious so it could wait.

[Kicks]

Blake shook his head from side to side, but even though he was denying her offer he was already agreeing with it. He really did want to stay up with her and talk, or just keep her company but sleep was luring him so quickly he couldn't keep up with much of a conversation. His eyes were so heavy he couldn't bear to open them, and if he did open them he was afraid that the lights of the room would sting them. "I'm good for one round of a question." He stated at last with a slow thumbs up towards her. "Shoot the question. Go ahead, I don't mind. Really. Go ahead." He insisted, slurring his words together.

[Lil]

"It can wait." She insisted with a soft smile. Slowly Faye leaned over and placed a very soft kiss on his lips. "Goodnight." She said and unraveled there fingers and stood up. Faye walked back to the bedroom and sneaked in trying not to wake Red, she would ask a million questions if she did.

[Kicks]

Maybe it had been part of the dream he was already slipping into, or maybe it was his imagination but he could have sworn he had felt the sweetness of her lips for a brief moment. Blake let himself fall into sleep with a smile sprawled across his face. But it didn't stay there for long. Though he welcomed dreams of all sorts, this one he didn't welcome so much. It was because it wasn't just a dream. It had at once been reality.
Once more, the teacher found herself slapping down a book on top of the football player's desk and scorning him again for falling asleep. This was the fifth time in a week, she had told him, and the next time he would be getting detention. "Maybe you would like it if I just had a chat with your coach after class then, huh? You, me, and him?"
Blake raised his head slowly up from his arms that had been followed to cushion his head like a pillow. He stared up at the teacher for a moment before giving a large yawn. He smacked his lips together, as if satisfied by the nap he had taken. "I just missed all of what you said." He told the teacher with a small chuckle. He couldn't help but to be honest, and though he was trying his hardest to be a good student the teacher didn't find his remark as amusing as he had. But before she could give the detention slip again for the third time that semester for him falling asleep in class, the door burst open to the classroom. A wide eyed teenager had burst into the room with clothes stained recently in red. He was in gym clothes which Blake found odd, but what was even worse to come was his words.
"Blake! ArraBella's in trouble!" He shouted, not paying any mind to the teacher that was already on him about distracting class. "Come on, hurry up! The zombies have finally breached the border! The military can't stop them! THEY'RE INSIDE THE SCHOOL."
Blake was out of his seat in no time. The other students were beginning to panic. The zombies had reached San Francisco? The military had failed in holding them back? But what about the evacuation? They were supposed to be evacuating night! As the questions and exclamations were thrown, Blake dashed out of the classroom after Carson who was speedy with adrenaline and fear. They skidded together inside of the gym where they found a chaos of students running out all exits in their gym clothes. Among the mess of gym equipment and runners, they could easily see the man that had turned into one of the walking dead. ArraBella was fighting desperately to get away, but in her attempts to squirm away the zombie clenched down onto her foot and caused a crunching sound for the whole gym to hear. Her scream is what had sent Blake into a dash with one of the baseball bats from the ground.
Swinging the bat hard, he had managed to knock the zombie's hold on his cousin off of her. Carson was breaking into one of the emergency glasses to get a fire axe, but by the time he had it out it was already too late. The football player and the zombie struggled for only a few seconds before the zombie had a hold on Blake's arm that he couldn't relinquish, and then the zombie was on the ground from another hit by the bat.

[Lil]

Faye lied down on the bed and almost as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep. She fell into a dreamless sleep actually. Which was exactly what she wanted, no dreams were far better than the nightmares she had been having. The room was burning not though so she lied completely on top of the sheets.

[Kicks]

Blake bolted awake but not due to the dream. His arm felt like it was on fire. He rolled up his sleeve with a grimace to find that the scar of a bite was glowing alive with the energy he could produce from his hands or eyes. As soon as he noticed the energy pulsing over the marks, it was as if his brain did an automatic shutoff of the ability. The room that been glowing with the bright blueness of the energy suddenly was overcome by the darkness.
He let out a sigh after a moment. Today's just been crazy. He decided inwardly while pulling down his sleeve once more and relaxing against the couch. He stared up at the dark ceiling for a few moments longer before his eyelids became heavy again and he fell into sleep.
His cousin on the other hand, stirred from sleep. It had been early when she had fallen asleep, and though it was merely four in the morning she felt awake and couldn't sleep any longer. The redhead wiggled out of the blanket and squirmed towards the door in silence, trying to contain her new found excitement. She opened the door and then closed it behind her while humming quietly to herself. She had decided sometime before she went to sleep that she would just steal Carson's bathroom and shower no matter what. She was tired of being dirty and wished to be clean again.

[Lil]

Faye rolled over as the door opened and Red slipped out. She closed her eyes once more though and fell asleep quickly, still remaining dreamless. She knew she'd get very few hours of sleep now considering they'd have to get up early to make it to NY at a half way decent time. They'd have to make some stops to pee and eat and also get gas so it would be a very long ride.

[Kicks]

This time when Blake fell back into sleep, the rest of the dream came painfully. It felt real and outside of the dream he was thrashing back and forth on the couch, sometimes grabbing at his arm where the scar was. By the end of it, he was no longer fitful but wasn't exactly peaceful either.
As Blake collapsed to the ground in convulsions, his blue eyes had seen Carson quickly dash out of the gym before he could stay to see either of them change. But Blake's mind wasn't focused on the teenager running for his life, it was focused on his relative that was curled into a ball, screaming in agony. The convulsions stopped after a moment and then came the incredible pain that felt like his veins would either implode or explode. It was a terrible feeling that was truly incomparable to any other pain he had been through. It felt as if his bones were crushing themselves and his organs were doing flips. Blood spilled from his mouth in waves. But somehow through that, he had managed to crawl towards his cousin and grab onto her hand before collapsing back down with the next wave of pain.
Everything went dark briefly, and the next time he opened his eyes it was to see zombies flood the gym but completely ignore the two cousins on the ground. He blinked again and saw this time the zombies running through the gym doors. Again he blinked and saw soldiers. Once more he blinked and could hear deadbolts and barricades be placed at the entrances to the school.
And then it was darkness again, somewhere in between pain and unconsciousness he felt movement at the grasp of his hand. His cousin had gotten up, but not as one of the walkers. She stood to her feet, confused and bewildered without remembering a thing. And when Blake awoke she wasn't there. And he wasn't in the gym any longer. He was on the couch in the library but hadn't a clue as to how he had got there or what had happened.
ArraBella had slipped into the shower as silently as she could. The warm water felt nice and she couldn't help the sigh that left her lips. "Soooo nice." She purred out quietly into the water stream. She wiggled her feet and waved down at them, saying hello to her feet. And that's when her eyes landed on her leg. It was bruised, as if in the final stages of healing from a broken leg. It was scarred horrifically under the bruises as if an animal had a go at her leg.
She slapped a hand over her mouth to keep back the scream that had filled her lungs and throat. But the sound broke through her hand nonetheless. The girl clung onto the curtain to the shower desperately to keep herself up from falling down at the terrible sight. She wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or have a panic attack. Maybe a little of both.

[Lil]

A scream woke up Faye and she looked around groggily. For some reason she had a feeling she wouldn't get much sleep tonight. Faye plopped back down on the pillows hoping someone else would solve the problem, she just wanted to sleep. She wanted to sleep more than she's ever wanted to do anything ever. Slowly she dragged herself out of bed though and looked at Blake from the door. "Blake?" She asked quietly

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai was still thinking when the [resident called out. Great. I waited too long. Well, then again, there's nothing I can do about that. Oh well. At least I'll know where he is now. Tonight would probably be a better time to take it anyway maybe. It wall depends though. He needs me now though I guess. Zakai walked over to the door and poked his head out of the room first and looked around until he saw the president at the top of the stairs. He stepped out and walked over to the man.
"What is it... um...." He realized then that he hadn't figured out what to call the man. If he asked, he figured he'd get some answer along the lines of 'something Awesome'. Oh well. He looked up at the man anyway, "What do you want me to call you? Clayton? Mr. Ryker? President Ryker? Mister? President Clayton? Ryker?"

[Kicks]

Blake hadn't heard the scream. And if he had he would have thought it came from the dream. But he did hear Faye from the door. The teenager slowly lifted his head from the pillow. He gazed back at the girl with tired, worried blue eyes. "Is something wrong?" He asked in an all alert voice.

[Lil]

"I-I think someone screamed?" She said scratching her head sleepily. Suddenly Faye had an urging to lay down with Blake, maybe he'd keep the bad dreams and the endless amount of things that woke her up away. She didn't though. No that'd be a little to intimate for them.

[Kicks]

The president was pleased to find that the child was indeed still in the house. Good, that meant he had a little worker that he could trust. The kid was from San Francisco and his youngest son seemed to like the boy and trust him, so the president thought he could be a good person to rely on to help him. "Come this way to my office." He told the kid while making his way slowly towards his office. "I've got some research to do, so I'm going to need you to pull a list of files for me while I write up an argument. When you find the files just go on ahead and put them on my desk." He instructed until he stopped to consider the question. Well that was odd and he hadn't really thought about that much. "Uhm? How about whatever you feel like calling me?" He answered back with an unsure voice.


Blake bolted up in reaction to the remark. Though they were no longer in California, he still had pretty much the same reaction to the first signs of trouble. He glanced around, wondering where the scream had come from. Slowly, he looked over towards the window but no there was no way anyone sane would be awake at this hour. He then glanced towards the bathroom door that had showering noises behind it. "Bells?" He called at the door while tapping on it. "You alive in there?"
ArraBella jumped at the sound of her cousin's voice on the other side of the door. She slowly slipped her hand down from her mouth and her eyes flickered towards the door. "Go back to bed you little pervert!" She called back in a normal voice, though she herself was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
Blake slinked away from the door in relief. After that dream he had he couldn't help but to be a little overprotective over his cousin. especially after that dream. As soon as he knew she was okay, he was filled with sleepiness again. The teenager shuffled on over to Faye and offered her a hug for comfort and reassurance to her. "It'll all be okay. It was probably nothing. Maybe a spider from upstairs or something."

[Lil]

Faye slinked her arms around his midsection and buried her face in his chest. "Okay." She replied quietly. His hug comforted her a lot and she felt more relaxed than she previously had, hopefully enough to fall into a deeper sleep. As she thought there thinking about it, she hadn't noticed she closed her eyes and just about dozed off in his hug.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai nodded, "Uh... okay. If you want me to." Well, this might make the whole thing easier. He seems to trust me enough to be letting me touch everything. Zakai looked down. Now I feel like I'm doing something awful. Colton, you're a terrible son.
Zakai followed the president. When he told him to just call him whatever he wanted Zakai stared at him, a little surprised by his answer.
"Really? You don't want me to call you President Awesome or something like that?" Well that makes you the first. "Um.. okay. Then... um... hm..." he thought for a moment, "Just... Clayton... then.."
Even that didn't sound right. When it came to calling this man something, it was hard because he didn't have that same "common" feel to him that others had. It was more like a teacher in which you referred to them as Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. because you had to respect them. Still, he wasn't sure how the president would feel about him calling him something along those lines since he was still a person even though he had high authority. Zakai looked up at the man.
"Uh... n-not that I don't want to do it or anything, but why are you asking me to do this? I mean I'm just... w-well... a kid."

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman slightly tilted his head to the right, before pushing himself upwards and said "Wife? Children? That's a good one. Never prefered to live with people who will be around me for a long time. That and none would directly want to be with me, now would they?". As he was about to lower himself down towards the ground again, he noticed that he hadn't rolled down his left leg's 'sleeve' and by such, he was capable of seeing the scar of the bite mark, and if he was capable of seeing it, he was pretty damn sure that teen could as well.

He quickly yet descretly tried to roll down the pant on his left side to hide the bite mark, yet he was sure the teen had noticed it quickly. And by such he said "Well, you know anyone from San Francisco?"

[Kicks]

Though it wasn't a lot, Blake still noticed an increase in weight in the hug which could only mean that Faye was falling asleep in the hug. He didn't mind that much, in fact he found it kind of adorable. He swept the girl off of her feet like he had done previously and carried her back into the room. He put the girl down on the bed, not sure if she were sleeping on the feather mattress or bed so he just took a wild guess. The teenager then went to the door and debated whether or not to close it behind him. It was an odd thing to debate, but some people preferred their doors left open and others liked their doors left closed.


Clayton Ryker unlocked his office door and stepped inside of it all while listening to the kid. He was amused by the question asked of him about being called 'president awesome'. "No." He answered back with a laugh. "Oh goodness, no. Those soldiers in California must have told you to call them that. They can be cocky little things, can't they?" He shook his head in a genuine manner while proceeding towards his desk and grabbing a key inside one of the drawers. He tossed it towards the kid to catch and made a motion with his other hand towards the filing cabinets. There were a few of them, not a lot, but they were big too- no doubt able to hold a lot of information. "I'm asking you to help because I can't do everything at once and I don't like Secret Service, and the butler can't see the files. But you on the other hand I can trust. You've already seen San Francisco and all of its horrors, so you probably know everything inside of those files already without really knowing that you knew them. So if I ask you to pull the files for me, it's really no big deal. It's not like you're going to sit down on the floor and read them after all."

Carson chuckled a bit at the comment about family. He hadn't really thought of a family like that before. He was actually kind of thrilled about what the future might hold for him and a family. He glanced down at the bags in his hands and in doing so he saw a scar on the man's legs that much resembled bites he had seen on other people returning from California. But the guy was trying to be nonchalant and cover it up.
"Yea, I know some people from San Francisco." He casually answered back with a shrug of his shoulders. After seeing the bite on this guy's leg, he knew saying anything about California wouldn't hurt. Especially since he now knew what this guy was. "I'm one of the survivors from Evacuation 7-C, which just means that I was one of the handful who were smart enough to get to the military when the zombies breached San Francisco's border." He gestured towards the guy's leg. "You from San Francisco? Or some other part of California?" He was interested in this now. He hadn't met anyone from other parts of California who had survived and made it to America. He also had found few other survivors because all the survivors who had made it back to America liked to keep their identities a secret for fear of prejudice.

[Lil]

Faye let Blake pick her up and return her to the bed. She didn't have the energy to stop him. He lied her down and slipped his arms from under her and from there she didn't register much more. Sleep had finally taken over her, hopefully she'd get a few more hours before they had to leave for New York.

[Kicks]

Blake had decided to leave the door open, for fear she might start screaming at him if he did close the door. He returned to the living room where he found his cousin wrapped in a thick towel. He cocked his eyebrows curiously as to what she was doing now and came to sit by her on the couch. "What on earth are you doing up so early, Bells?"
"I wanted a shower." The girl answered back in a mumble. She raised her blue eyes up tot her cousin and that's when he noticed the tears pooling in her eyes. "I don't want to be a mutant, BB!"
Blake was bewildered by the exclamation, but quickly had her up in a hug. "Well, it's kind of too late to go back and change the past." He pointed out to her gently. "What has gotten you so worked up about this anyways? Is it the new law condemning mutants to death? Because I won't let anyone-"
"No, look!" ArraBella cried out as she pointed down to her leg. "Don't you get it, Blakey?! We're basically half breeds! We're not human and we're not zombies. So what the hell are we then? What happens if we die? Will we come back to life as a zombie or worse?! No wonder why people are afraid of mutants, we're freaks who shouldn't be able to walk or talk like normal humans."
Blake remained silent at her comments. But he didn't let go of her either. It was hard to think of exactly what they were. They had went through a painful process to become what they were. But somehow they weren't zombies. So what were they? "Human." He breathed out finally, coming to the conclusion. "We're human, Bells. Zombies can't feel and they don't have memories. But humans do. Humans make relationships, memories, bonding, and can cry. Zombies can't cry. We're humans whether or not anyone truly accepts that. I refuse to believe anything different." As he spoke, he could feel her stop shaking and settle down some. "Most of all, when humans sleep they wake up again. We wake up, don't we? We don't fall asleep forever and return as zombies. We're human."
ArraBella turned her head to the other side on her cousin's muscular shoulder. "I'm tired." She stated after a moment.
"I know." Blake chuckled back while picking her up like he had done Faye and carrying her to the feather mattress. He glanced over at Faye's sleeping body and breathed out a sigh. They all were haunted by California in some way, and he couldn't do anything to change that. He left the room silently and went to the bathroom. "Yea, we're humans." He murmured to himself as he started up the showers. "Because zombies don't have good sense of hygiene."

[Lil]

Faye rolled over in the bed and slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze shifted to the clock and it read 8 AM. In total Faye had gotten about 4-5 hours of sleep but as much as she wanted to sleep more, she knew they had to get going soon. Faye slung her legs over the side of the bed and tiptoed out of the room, trying not to wake Red yet. Faye had already decided she would take the first driving shift so Red could remain asleep while she got ready. The tired, blonde girl exited into the living area where Blake had fallen asleep and crossed through to the kitchen where she prepared some coffee and sat down at the table. Her eyes drooped a bit as she sipped from her mug but it slowly started to wake her up.

[Kicks]

Blake was awoken by the smell of coffee. If there was one drink better than water, it was coffee. His hair was still a bit damp from sleeping on it wet after a shower, and he had a towel around his waist because he had taken him and cousin's clothes to the washer and dryer room that most apartment buildings had. The teenager ran his hand through his blonde, now clean hair and blinked his eyes open. Though he had been waking up every now and again during the night and he was still tired, he knew he would have a chance to sleep in the car considering he couldn't drive without getting a ticket or getting in a crash.
He rose up from the couch and put his hand at the towel around his waist so it wouldn't fall down or anything. And then he walked into the kitchen, brought to the area by the smell of coffee. Blake hummed to himself while getting down a coffee mug and pouring some of the thick, rich black liquid into the cup. As he turned towards the table, he noticed Faye. "Good morning, sunshine!"

[Lil]

"Good morning." She mumbled in return. Faye had never been much of a morning person, more of a night owl, so Blake's enthusiasm wasn't returned. She took another sip of her coffee and sighed and closed her eyes enjoying the taste of the fresh coffee. "Did you sleep alright?" Faye asked looking up at him, only now did she realize he wasn't dressed and her cheeks immediately started to blush.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman looked at the teen, seeming to be interested in his response, he then sighed deeply. The memories of San Fransisco, though painful, was somewhat an eye opener for him. He said to the teen "I was one of the men who got away a half year into it. I was able to find a boat, which was hidden in a garage, drove it down to the ocean, and sailed all the way to Australia. When they asked why I came from San Fransisco's way, I told them I was a simple sailor from California, which was off coast when those things struck and not allowed back into USA. They gladly took me in to their borders, but of course, wanted to 'inspect me', for any form of bites or claw marks or whatever."

He looked over from where the teen had come from, and continued "But the day before they were going to make a physical examination on me, I got a passport back to Texas. I decided to run off, whilst I had the time, into the wilderness of Australia. Sure it was somewhat painful and dry as hell, but I got the airport, and was flown like a VIP back to USA. So you are, somewhat also, 'infected' like me?"

[Kicks]

Blake leaned against the table with one of his hands wrapped around the coffee mug. He didn't seem to bothered by the fact that he was in a lady's presence while only clothed in a towel. Like most of his friends back in England said, 'the English had no shame of their bodies'. But that was after one of their American friends came, played ball with them, and then found out that they showered in the nude after games. He chuckled at the fond memory and took a sip of his drink.
The teen glanced over at the girl and smiled at her. "No, but that's all right." He told her with another chuckle. "Why are you so red?" He questioned, inquiring about her blush.


Carson listened with interested ears about how the man came from San Francisco. It was a fantastic story, he thought, and could very well be one of the best escapes he had heard of so far. He was always interested in survivors stories, and found them absolutely thrilling to listen to. He especially liked to talk to those who had been bit but not changed.
"Wow, some kind of survivor you are." The remarked with a wide grin. He reached his hand up to his nose and scratched it while the question was prompted of him. He lowered his hand back down and shook his head. "No, I'm not a mutant. I was never bit. Just escaped is all. But I know of mutants and some of them are staying with me at my apartment." He added the last tidbit with sparkling eyes. "You want to come by my place and meet them? They might find it cool to meet another mutant."

[Dove]

"Hmm, when you put the word 'mutant' like that, it actually sounds quite friendly. And, since I have nothing better to do, sure." Rickard said, and began to follow the teen back to his place, he had thought that the other 'mutants' were most likely in a National Security Tent having probes stuck up their asses, of course not probes, but either way, was held against their will. He had never thought that mutants would live in an open place like Austin.

[Kicks]

"Right on, dude." Carson whistled back with a wink. He began to walk back to his apartment which wasn't too far from where he had been. Soon enough, he was trailing up the stairs up to the door that led into his apartment. After a moment of struggling with the lock, he finally opened up the apartment's door and led the guy into his place. It wasn't anything impressive but it was shelter and did have food as well as running water, so Carson had no complaints about it.
The teenager set the bags down on the couch and grabbed the blanket and pillow from the couch when he had. He tossed the materials into the small closet and came back into the living room. "Looks like only two of them are awake right now- BLAKE WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!" He shouted in horror, noticing the older teenager had nothing but a towel on.
Blake glanced over from Faye and broke into a grin. "I didn't want to put back on dirty clothes after a clean shower." He replied with a snicker.
"You Brits just- oh my gosh." Carson reacted with a look of total disbelief. He grabbed two of the bags from the couch and gave one to Blake, the other one to Faye. "Anyways, I picked up some clothes and shoes for you guys. If they don't fit your style then that's a good thing. Like I said, complete new identities. You don't want to be caught by the authorities and sent to your deaths." He then gestured towards the bearded man he had led back to his place. "This guy here comes from San Francisco as well, and he's a mutant- BONUS."
Blake looked up from the bag he had been given and to the man there. He did recognize him, but not from San Francisco. He recognized him from IHOP. "Oy! You're the bloke that was sitting over from us!"

[Lil]

Faye didn't have the opportunity to reply, which was probably a good thing quite honestly. Carson barged in with someone else and suddenly Faye couldn't speak, she wasn't that great with new people, especially with a half naked guy in the room too. When Carson handed her the bag she got up quickly and shuffled off to the bathroom where she changed into the clothes and Carson was right, they didn't match her style at all. She always had a more down to earth type of look and these, well they weren't. Faye wore studded white shorts and a teal, flowy-ish blouse. Looking in the mirror, Faye scratched her eyebrow curiously. She looked a lot different than when she wore her sweatpants and t-shirt. With that Fye exited back into the kitchen, feeling remarkably uncomfortable.

[Kicks]

When Faye returned from the bathroom, Blake was impressed. She looked a lot better wearing clean clothes. And clothes that didn't make her look like she was a lazy person. Sure her face had always been cute, but her figure came out with the clothes she wore now.
"Ya know... since you have clothes now that are clean...?" Carson hinted at for the older teenager who was still sipping away at coffee. At least Faye had the decency to put on clothes, but Blake here. Carson just couldn't believe someone could be so comfortable with their body that they could go around just wearing a towel in another person's apartment.
Blake lifted his eyes up from his coffee and heaved out a loud sigh. "Fine. I promise to put pants on, but my abs got to breathe. You can't keep these babies under lock and key for long. Just look at yourself! Where's your shirt? That's right those tummy muscles refused to be hidden, huh?"
Carson looked entirely flustered at the remark and raised a hand to his forehead. "Please, just go put on some pants at the very least."
"Boxers?" Blake offered, just now messing with the teenager. "I can do boxers. Pants can come after breakfast."
"Blake!" Carson exclaimed loudly, an exasperated look crossing his face.
"Okay, okay." The British teenager whispered back through a laugh. He grabbed the bag of clothes he had been given and went into the bathroom. By the time he had changed he did not look like a sporty person. He wore a black red tanktop, leather jacket, and dark almost-skinny jeans. He didn't like the look of it because he wasn't a dark person, but he wasn't going to complain either. It was better than wearing dirty clothes. He soon stepped out of the bathroom dressed and yawning.
"Carson, I look like how you did in San Fran! A juvenile delinquent!" Blake cried out in a joking manner.
Carson made a face at the comment directed towards him. He lifted up the final bag and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dude. Say what you want, but I'm awesome. Even if I do have criminal record." He let out a small, playful cackle before disappearing down the hallway with the bag.

[Lil]

Faye noticed the little extra interest Blake had when he looked at her when she returned and she couldn't help but smirk. Faye would've dressed nice if she could've afforded it, but they never had the money. She sat back down at the table and continued drinking her coffee as the other two bickered. Finally Blake left and got dressed and Faye finished her mug of coffee. When he returned she looked him over, rather shocked. He liked far different than she had ever seen him. Blake was always sporty but now he looked more she couldn't really describe it but he still looked cute. Faye always thought Blake was cute though... "You look good Blake." Faye commented and tugged on her lip with her teeth nervously. "But really, we have to get going soon. Thanks for the clothes and a room for the night Carson." She said standing up.

[Kicks]

Blake laughed at the compliment he was given. "No, I look good in a jersey. I just look threatening and suspicious in this." He joked while grabbing his cup of coffee again. A moment later, he heard a scream, a smack, and running. Carson came out of the hallway, looking like he was about to die with a red mark across his face.
"What did you do?!" Blake exclaimed in surprise and amusement. He wasn't sure whether he should laugh or be thoroughly concerned.
Carson struggled for words, but couldn't find any. He closed his mouth after gaping like a fish, although he was also trying to keep a grin off his face. He leaned over his knees, panting and beginning to laugh a little bit.
ArraBella came out of the hallway, looking fired up. Her face was just as red as her hair was, or the red comprise she wore now. She was wearing new clothes as well, not a sweatshirt with jeans but a different style altogether. No band-tee or skinny jeans, but red comprise and a gray-skin tight shirt. "Carson's a fat ass pervert!" She came up behind him and kicked him in his behind which sent him only into further laughter. "You jerk!"
Blake ran a hand over his face while beginning to chuckle a little bit. He turned away from the two and glanced over at Faye. "You ready to go?"
"You shouldn't look so red, Arra! You have a great body!" Carson exclaimed at last through his choking laughter. "Just absolutely fantastic!"
"So help me, Carson, I'll kick you so hard I'll make you go sterile!" She shouted back, looking utterly flustered and embarrassed. "I'll freaking turn into a zombie and eat you! So help me!"

[Lil]

"Come on. Lets just go." Faye said getting tired of all screaming already. She just wanted to get to New York and settle in, far away from California. Far away from everything she had ever known, which could sound depressing but she was ready to get out of here. To escaped all these bad memories. "Thanks for all your help Carson." Faye said with a hint of sarcasm.

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman looked around the apartment in which he had found himself in, he wasn't really sure on what to react to it, either compliment it or just stay silent. It just looked like any ordinary apartment, nothing fancy for the mutants. Maybe they had just been released from it, hell if he knew. He started to walk around, until he stumbled on Blaze, with barely any clothes on, except for the towel, he heard his comment and quickly replied "Well, you sure were caught with your pants down. What is it about me sittin' from where you eat?"

He wasn't really sure wether or not he ment to take it as an offensive comment, or just an comment in general, either way, he knew that Blaze didn't like his presence in the apartment. He looked around and now, he noticed the bag. He looked at Carson and asked "So, what are the bags for? Moving to some place fancy?"

[Kicks]

Blake noticed that Faye had transformed from a sweet girl into an annoyed and irritated one in no time. Maybe she wasn't a morning person? He reached on over and gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder, slightly afraid of being thrown across the room just with her mind- that. Would. Be. Freaky. "We'll be at New York in no time."
Carson relaxed a bit from his laughter and straightened up. He wiped at his eyes which had wet from laughing so hard. He glanced over at Faye with a large grin on his face. "How are you going to get anywhere without a rental car? I've got one lined up for you guys, but you're going to have to wait for me to get it here." He grabbed his keys once more, and this time a shirt as well. "I'll be like ten minutes. You guys just chill out until then." He winked at ArraBella. "'Specially you."
ArraBella raised her hands as if she were holding a rifle. And soon enough, she was. It had materialized purely by her own imagination. She narrowed her eyes at Carson whose eyes widened. "Sionara, biatch." She mouthed.
"NO, DON'T!" Carson shouted while fumbling with the door. He threw it open and slammed it shut behind him in his rapid escape. Running down the halls of the apartment complex, there was one thing that he learned about mutants and that was not to tick them off. Even if it was fun.
Blake watched Carson run out of the building before he could get beat down by what he was hoping was just a play gun instead of a real one in his cousin's hands. He chuckled and glanced over at the bearded man once more. "I don't mind it really. I mean, we all came into this world naked... No shame, no pain, mate." He laughed out while snapping his fingers. "Carson brought on over those bags for complete new identities. Turns out the good ol' US of A is having a go at mutants right now. Hasn't anybody told you yet that mutants are a target? Gotta keep low under the radar unless you wish to die, that is."

[Lil]

Faye let out a deep breath and sat back down dropping her head in her hands. How could everyone be so upbeat and alive in the morning, Faye actually felt like a zombie. Speaking of which, she never found out where she had been attacked to get these special little powers of hers. Raising a single finger Faye turned the water on and back off.

[Kicks]

ArraBella dropped her hands as soon as Carson had left. Instead of the gun falling to the ground though, it simply vanished in thin air. The girl turned to her cousin and jumped on his back. "What does our new place look like?"
"Just an apartment. But with a girl's touch I'm sure it will look great." Blake answered back as he set down his empty mug near the sink. "Besides, you're going to have to find something to do when I'm working, after all." He peeled her off of his back and leaned against the counter now. He glanced over at Faye and pointed a finger at her; "Are you all right? You don't seem fine."

[Lil]

She nodded, truthfully she was fine. "I'm not much of a morning person." Faye said quietly and sighed. She turned to place her blue eyes on Blake and offered a rather fake but reason smile. "I can't wait to get out of here either." She added and leaned back into her chair and fumbled around with her new shirt.

[Kicks]

Blake put his hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair up a little bit while giving her a little wink. "Well, if it is any consolation, you look rather good like that."
ArraBella stuck her tongue out and pointed her finger down her throat in a motion of barfing. "Well, if it is any consolation-" She mocked in a very Englishy way, "This flirting is making me wanna gorge my eyes out." She was teasing of course and even offered a little grin and wiggle of her eyebrows.
Blake lowered his hand back down with a saddened expression. "I just wanted to be honest." He whined out with a little stomp of his foot.

[Lil]

"Thanks." She murmured and stuck her tongue out at Arra. "Honesty is important" Faye shrugged knowing Red probably didn't care much about that. Red almost wanted this to happen more than the two, which was saying a lot considering how Faye felt, despite the trouble and danger it'd put them in.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai caught the key and nodded.
"Yeah. That makes sense."
It was pretty much true. Zakai wasn't going to read anything, and Colton had said he probably wouldn't understand it anyways. He wasn't very happy with the fact that he was deceiving the president, but still... what did Colton need it for anyway? He'd explained why he couldn't just ask the president, but he never said why he wanted it. To confirm something or other. Zakai was nervous. He didn't like this idea. He wasn't even sure if Colton was being all that reasonable. First of all, the man was stealing from his father. Second of all, he was asking Zakai to do it for him. He probably had some sort of good intentions, but what on Earth were they?
Zakai walked over to the cabinet and unlocked it, then he opened it and stared at the papers inside.
"Um... so, what am I looking for?"

[Kicks]

Blake wasn't paying attention to either of the girls by then, instead he was watching the ceiling. Rocking back and forth, side to side, he began to hum to himself. But it wasn't anything that just anybody would be able to know off the bat. Except for his cousin.
"No!" ArraBella cried out in horror. "No stop it! PACMAN IS ANCIENT HISTORY."
Blake stopped and began to laugh a little bit. "For a game made way back when, it is still rather fun." He stated with a firm nod of his head. By now he straightened up and stretched his limbs. "Kay, I'm ready to start reproduction."
ArraBella stared at him with the most funniest expression that he had ever seen that he had to hold back his laughter. "WHAT?!"
"Reproduction of COFFEE." Blake explained with a complete straight face. "What did you think I meant? Silly bugger, I just wanted more coffee is all."

[Lil]

"Yeah Red. Get your mind out of the gutter." Faye teased and stuck her tongue out. "Would you mind getting me another cup to Blake?" She asked kindly and pointed to her mug on the counter then dropped her head back in her hands.

[Kicks]

The president started up his laptop and pulled out a thin stick from his pocket that he plugged right into the laptop. "Just three files is all I need." He told the child while watching the computer start up and give him a list of the files he needed. None of them were what Colton was requiring from Zakai. "CI, SF, and LOSSTC." He listed the file names off to the child before beginning to type away at the keyboard. "So, how are you liking your stay here?" He questioned the kid while he typed. Even if he were extremely busy, he still had sense for manners. Besides, he liked hearing the kid talk.

"Baby lock the door and turn the lights down low." A woman's voice hummed for the house and Colton to hear. "Put some music on that's soft and slow." Colton was progressing towards a room where the woman's voice was coming from. He recognized it as Adalia's of course. "Baby we ain't got no place to go, I hope you understand! I've been thinking about this all day long. Never felt a feeling quite this strong-" She stopped singing as soon as she saw Colton peek into the bedroom with curious, green eyes. "YOU'RE HOOOOOOOOME!" She shrieked merrily, tossing her binder to the side and leaping out of the bed, right into his stunned arms. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH."
Colton gave her a quick hug before pulling away and gazing down at her. "What were you doing in here? That was kind of a weird song to be singing just for the heck of it."
Adalia gave him a creeper look, and then winked. "I was thinking about you." She joked with a giggle. "So, I got bad news and good news. Bad news is that I haven't found anything more in the research, but the good news is that I have more access to better equipment and the likes! And what have you accomplished?"
"So far nothing, but I'm working on it." Colton answered back as he swept her off of her feet. "Zakai is getting me a very important file that I will need in order to decide my next move. Without that file I'll only be taking wild guesses that will lead eventually to a dead end."

- - - Updated - - -

ArraBella shook her head at the two of them. She just couldn't believe either of them. They were just unbelievable those two were. She left the kitchen, deciding that she had other things to do like trash Carson's room for instance.
When she had left, Blake filled up their cups again and gave Faye some more coffee. He sat down in a chair at the kitchen table and tapped his fingers on the table. "What do you suppose New York will be like?"

[Lil]

"A lot like San Francisco I think." She said and shrugged. "I don't really know. I think we'll like it though. Especially if all it takes to get what I want is for me to bat my eyelashes a few times." Faye sad with a smirk at the table before looking up at Blake. She didn't remember much about the previous night, she was too tired too, but one memory definitely stuck with her. Faye would do just about anything for it to happen again too.

[Kicks]

Blake laughed at her remark, somehow finding that entertaining. He peered back down at his coffee, smiling at the dark mixture. He wasn't really one for drinking just black coffee with no creamer, but it woke him up nonetheless. "You really think so, huh?" He asked back with a grin now. The teenager pushed his cup away and leaned back in his seat, gazing across the table at the girl with curious eyes.

[Lil]

Faye nodded with a smile, "I really do. Now all we have to do is leave." She sighed and rested her head in her palm. "What's taking Carson so long? I'm sure were all pretty anxious to get out of here. "

[Kicks]

At that precise moment. Carson came into the apartment and tossed the car key to Faye. He was already guessing that Blake couldn't drive- especially after the time they had known each other in San Francisco. "The rental car is parked right outside the apartment building. It's the blue Mercedes, if you're wondering then yes I did it just to impress Bells."
"It didn't work." ArraBella commented as she grabbed up the bag she had been given and went to the door. "I hope this is the last time we see each other, Carson."
"And I pray different." Carson retorted with a chuckle and sweet smile directed her way. With a sizzling glare towards him, he winked and watched her exit the apartment. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys on the news then when you get caught. I'll be watching the lethal injection be given to you people from my TV."
"That's a happy comment." Blake commented with a blinking of surprise. He knew Carson was joking, but the joke was still frightening. He picked up his bag now as well and left the apartment to go and find the car.

[Dove]

Rickard thought about his sentence, and quickly responded "Wait, I heard about the debates and all, even though being the forest mind isolate you from that, but didn't the President himself say that he was going to be hell bent on defending us?". He however thought again, a little extra and said again "Hmm... Well it would make sense that those 'vigilantes' would want to hunt some of us down. So you are heading to New York for protection, or hiding in plain sight?"

[Kicks]

Carson shifted uncomfortably where he stood at the mention of the news again. "Well, things have changed. There was a guy just the other day in Minneapolis- a mutant- who changed into one of the monsters over in San Francisco. The president couldn't defend the man or mutants any longer with the proof that mutants could very well be a threat- even if they don't actually know what had caused the mutant to turn. I'm sure the president is working his ass off to reverse the law that Congress had passed even through the president's veto. But until then, any mutant found out is to be turned into the authorities for a lethal injection. I'm not even supposed to harboring mutants, any mutant that a human finds they have to turn in or they'll be punished." He gave a shaky grin while raising his thumb up. "But don't worry, I ain't no snitch of course." The teenager then dropped his thumb and gestured towards the other teens leaving for New York. "They're going to New York for their own reasons, and I'm sure if they're not careful with their abilities that they'll be caught."

[Dove]

He thought deeply as he heard the man in Minneapolis, and stood still for a while, as if he was looking for something deeply inside him. He had noticed a lot of people dying from a strange illness, he turned around and said "So, it couldn't just be a coincidence that people who are known as mutants, began turning into those freakshows back in San Fransisco, because of the illness? The illness that apparently have caught quite the lives. Maybe it reacts after death, or with the illness?". He wasn't sure entirely wether or not his sentence would be understood the right way, but he was pretty sure he would pick up.

Rickard Woodsman then thought about New York: It would be a good place for him, his ability isn't directly notice able, and he could easily come up with an excuese if someone were to notice his senses tighten up, and he would be in plain sight, not able to be picked out. Though of course, if he wanted to get there through an airplane, he would need to be searched...

[Lil]

Faye smiled and caught the keys. "Really again, thank you." She said genuinely to Carson. He had been remarkably friendly even if he was an extreme pervert. She walked out of the apartment behind Bella and down to the car and got in the drivers seat, "So are you guys ready to go?" Faye asked nervously, this was it. They were leaving.

[Kicks]

Carson shrugged his shoulders at the questions and impressions the man was putting off. He honestly had no idea what was going on with the mutants, but he did know one thing was for sure and that was that not all mutants would change like that man randomly had. Because if they did, they would have before. It was just logical for him to think that way. "Dude, I really have no clue. If you ask me, I think there's a conspiracy going on." He wasn't just saying that jokingly either, he meant it absolutely seriously.
The teenager moved from the living room and to fetching some coffee for them. "Well, bro, are you hungry? I can make breakfast like pancakes and bacon." He offered while pouring the coffee into two mugs. It was only right for him to be a good host after all. Besides, he thought this guy was kind of interesting and wanted to hear more of what the man thought and had been through.



Blake was already in the back seat to the car, snuggled up and spread across it. He was claiming it as his own because the two girls could drive and he couldn't, and he knew from experience being the lackey on trips that sleeping across the seat was AWESOME. "To New York!" He announced while throwing an arm over his eyes. "May the odds be ever in our favor!"
It was amazing for ArraBella to hear that kind of remark, especially since the line came from over a decade back in the past. "You watch such old movies, it amazes me." She commented. She too was already in the car and buckled in, ready to go and hit the road. She was curious as to what their new home would be like and also very excited. She couldn't wait to throw San Francisco into the past and make New York her future.
"Old movies are the best." Blake sighed out into his arm. "You just have no idea what you're missing. Old Japanese movies though are questionable."

[Lil]

With what Blake said Faye chuckled a bit. She was a sucker for old movies and books, Faye read and wrote constantly and enjoyed a good movie occasionally. "It really is a good book and movie." Faye chimed in before refocusing on the road. She found serenity in the flow of a smooth interstate and wide open lanes, she did also enjoyed old country back roads too though. "Here we come New York." Faye said more to herself and smiled lightly. It was hard to believe they were finally getting out, she was happier than anyone could imagine.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

"Uh... well, yeah. I guess. It's really different. I went walking around earlier. It's pretty... empty." If I'm going to take it, now's my chance to, but I gotta make it look like I'm not. Well, at least he's not looking.
Zakai opened one drawer and looked through the files. Then he closed it and looked through another, trying to find the right one that had what both he and the president were looking for. He knew his ABCs, so they would probably all be in the same drawer. He became curious.
"Are all the files for you in here? What about the files for older presidents like Richard Nixon or Abraham Lincoln? Do they have other old documents here stored away somewhere? Are they kept in a safe somewhere else? Is there a whole separate building for stuff like that? Is it fun living in the White House? Doesn't it get boring?"
How do I get a hold of it without the security camera seeing me? I hope I'm not asking too many questions for him to answer, but I really wanna know! Zakai was having trouble focusing on just one thing.

[Kicks]

ArraBella rested her chin on her fist and peered out the window for a little while. She was pondering on about what New York of course and dreaming of what it must be like. No doubt there would be skyscrapers and people! Lots of people, she was betting. And maybe even a nice college for arts? She was hoping so. After some time, she glanced back and peered at her cousin who had somehow managed to fallen right to sleep. It always amazed her how he could do that. She stared at him for a few seconds, at first taking in how he had changed so quickly from a teenager into a responsible young man just over the course of the time in San Francisco. Even his features appeared different, less boyish and more strong. She glanced away from her cousin and over to Faye, wondering how she must have changed over the course of San Francisco. She was a pretty girl, one of the many reasons that Blake must like her- the redhead thought. ArraBella though, she didn't feel as if she had changed any. And if she had, it wasn't for the better. If anything, all that had changed about her was the fact that she now feared for the worst and spooked easily. She couldn't see how that was a good thing.
"What are you going to do once we're there?" ArraBella questioned the girl. From the corner of her eye, she could see Blake move and land one of his hands on the console that split the two front seats apart, where the cups would be held by cupholders or CDs would be kept inside of it.


Colton tried many times to leave Adalia, but for many reasons had found it very hard or impossible the times he had tried. For one, Adalia kept bringing him back with a kiss. And two, he didn't really want to leave her. They had just been reunited after a year of not knowing if they would be able to see each other again or not. He was afraid of leaving her because he didn't want it to be the last time they ever saw each other again. So much could happen in just the next few days. So much. It had taken all that he had to leave for California in the first place, but now it was taking even more than that to go back to D.C and leave for New York. Somehow though, he managed to find enough self-will to get out of bed and get into his active duty uniform. Though it was required by the military to change uniforms depending on active duty, off duty, and the likes he wouldn't because the active duty uniform provided warmth, protection, and nobody would ever question if he were a captain not on a mission or busy with one. Besides that, the off duty one had all the badges and medals, insignias and the likes on it that Colton just did not want to wear and be reminded of California.
"I love you though." Adalia whined out, her hand sliding over his bear shoulder and tracing the healing bite. "Can't I come?" Though they both knew that would be impossible. They both had their jobs to do.
"I love you too which is why you have to stay here. It's safer here." Colton told her. He caught her hand over his shoulder and kiss the top of it. "I'll return soon though. Very soon. I won't leave you for another year." He released her hand and pulled on his shirt and jacket.
Before he could leave the house with a duffel-bag, Adalia caught him up with another kiss at the front door. She was trying to be sneaky about it, attempting to shut the door as she did so. But Colton caught the door with his foot and smiled down at her.
"Nice try, love." He gave her a little wink and a peck on the cheek. With his foot, he opened the door up again and stepped into the chilly air.
Adalia caught him by his shoulder this time, the one without the bite, and stated quiety, yet firmly; "Colton please, whatever you do... just come back to me." She released his shoulder and he turned around, giving her a hug real quick before vanishing into the cold to a jeep that was waiting for him.
Later down the road, Richard broke the silence with a question that had been nagging at him all night and into the next day; "Did you have any more break downs? Does Adalia know?"
Colton turned his green eyes towards his brother and frowned. "No to both of those. Don't worry about it, Richie, I got a better grip on my head than you think."
"Yes, but New York is currently swarmed with military." Richard pointed out, tightening the grip he had on the wheel. "If a gun goes off, Colton, and you break down or act out one of those delusions-"
"Richard, I told you not to worry about it." His younger brother cut him off quietly. "The only time I have lost my mind yet is because of you. It won't happen again."
"You can't control-" Richard stopped himself from continuing, knowing very well that it was pointless to argue with his brother who could never be convinced of anything. So when he had dropped his brother off at the airstrip, he watched in despair as his brother boarded one of the jets to get back to D.C.

"Yea." The president didn't hesitate to disagree with the kid on the emptiness of the White House. And even though he was focused on work and on the screen of the laptop, he could still run his mouth like there was no tomorrow. "Richard never had the chance to live in the White House, but his younger brother did. It's completely different having family in this place than being alone with Secret Service and a butler. So when Colton moved out for the military I was pretty devastated. I'll tell you what, that kid has no idea how much I relied on his presence in this place. He would give me a good dose of daily wisdom and helped me figure things out and find a way to reason with Congress. But times move on and people grow up, even when you don't want them to and want them to remain kids forever." The president stopped typing and turned to another drawer at his desk, beginning to look through it for something while he answered the questions; "Nah, it's not like that. This whole office is filled with files of all sorts. Each cabinet is a specific year, and then alphabetized. I don't know how it was done before me as president, but I like having everything in close range so I don't have to go very far to get them. As for living in the White House, it can be pretty lonely. I miss having my youngest around to keep me company, or having my oldest drop by every once and awhile. I find excuses to get out of here though, like go and welcome survivors back from California or drop by one of the military stations for 'official business'. Even going to those gosh darn meetings with Congress is better than staying here for very long. But I love my job, no matter what. Even if Americans grow stupider and stupider and further away from American ideals. I still love my job and trying to help." He pulled out something from his desk finally and plugged it into the laptop. "I'm running for reelection this year. It's coming up pretty quick and there's some fierce competition. There's one guy who has the total opposite ideals of what I have and he's bashing and stating I'm holding mutants inside the White House to keep them safe- which isn't true for the most part. I mean, I'm not, certainly not but I could. And I would. If it weren't for Secret Service. I just hate the idea of those poor innocent people being killed for some paranoia! It's ridiculous and now it's even worse because-" He cut himself off from getting worked up over this. He settled down and focused back on the work. "Were you able to find the files?"

[Lil]

Faye had zoned out, only focused on the road ahead of her. It eased her mind not to think about anything but the asphalt. She was only woken from her thoughts when ArraBella spoke up. Faye wasn't really sure what she planned to do it hadn't crossed her mind yet. "Uhhh- I'm not sure." She said and shrugged. "What about you?" Faye asked glancing over at Red for a moment.

[Kicks]

ArraBella tapped her fingers on the space beside her. She glanced over at Faye's weak answer and frowned. There was a lot to do in a new place where no one knew you. You could be anyone and do anything. That was the life of America: liberty. And Faye really couldn't think of anything? She shook her head and turned her eyes back outside. "I have a lot of plans." She answered back honestly. She couldn't just name off one of them because then she would have to name off all of them! And she didn't want to do that.
"I need to peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Blake whispered from the back. His face was still covered up by his arm, and his hand was still extended over the console between the two front seats. He was still spread across the seat, but this time his eyes were open now. He had been awaken by the need to relieve. "I need to peeeeeeeeeeeeeee." He insisted again with a sigh. "My bladder is going to explode. I. Need. To. Pee."

[Lil]

Faye knew there was a lot to do in New York, but honestly, she was a bit frightened. It was a new place, new people, new disasters. Anything could happen just like San Francisco. Maybe she needed Blake or Bella to open her up to these new things. When Blake spoke up, Faye sighed. "I'll pull over at the next exit." She sad and started merging into the far right lane and getting ready to exit. They'd easily find somewhere to go to the restroom around here.

[Kicks]

Blake sat up as he pulled a face of utter disturbance. "You can just pull over to the side of the road. I can't waiiiiiit. I'm going to blow!" He exclaimed while itching his hand towards the door handle of the vehicle. He was contemplating about just jumping out and going, or finding a bottle. Either he was perfectly okay with. "Isn't this America? Can't I just tinkle on the side of the road or something? That's totally okay with me. I'm quite proud of my package. Really, I don't mind."
"Someone's a little desperate to whiz." ArraBella snickered from her seat. Personally, she found her cousin's sudden change of attitude hilarious. She had never heard him whine like this before. "You can hold it a while longer, there's bound to be a rest stop or gas somewhere."
"Ugggggggggggggggggggggggh." Blake insisted with his whining. He began to push on his cousin's seat with his knee to show how much condemnation he was putting on her right now. "I could write my name with how much I need to peeeeeeeeeeee." He lowered his voice now and brought his lips close to Faye's ear. "Have I told you how pretty you are? You would be even more beautiful if you just pulled the car on over."

[Lil]

Faye shook her head, "You can wait. We're not American trash." She insisted as she sped up a bit. When he whispered in her ear a chill almost shot up her spine, she wished he had meant that, but he was purely doing that just to try and get her to pull over. "Nice try." She murmured and got onto the off ramp and started to pull into the exit. She immediately spotted a BP and pulled in sharply, receiving some angry honks from people behind her. Faye didn't pay much mind to that though. She pulled up at the curb and stopped suddenly, "Now go. Red can buy something to eat and drink while I get gas." Faye said and motioned the two out.

[Kicks]

Blake let out a low whine before that quickly turned into excitement. He began to struggle to get the door open, and when he had he practically kicked it open and zoomed out. "BLOODY HELL, I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU!" He shouted while dashing right inside. In his desperate to attempt to get to the bathroom, he shoved some people out of his way, tripped over a child, and crashed into a freezer door someone had been opening. But at last, he made it to heaven.
ArraBella got out of the car a lot slower than her cousin had, considering he had been a speed demon. She went on inside and looked around, wondering what they would like to eat. She decided upon corn dogs right as her cousin crashed into a freezer door then stumbled his way into the bathroom. Pretending not to know him or be related to him, she picked out the food along with some snacks and drinks for the trip before going to the counter.
A few minutes later, Blake sighed as he came out of the restroom. He went to stand by his cousin in line while humming softly. People were glaring at him and some others were giving him weird looks which he didn't retaliate to or even seem to notice. But ArraBella did and seemed to sink a little in her spot. She quickly paid for everything and dragged her cousin out of the interior and back to the car.
"My goodness, dude! Can't you act a little normal?" Bella hissed towards him while throwing the stuff inside of the car. "Not that I don't enjoy how much we're alike in the matter that neither of us care about other's intakes of who we are, but if you draw attention like that and the police are called we're done for!"
"I. Really. Needed. To. Pee." Blake whispered back with a chuckle. He didn't seem to mind all that much, but he did know what she was talking about. Laying low on the radar was a good thing, acting up wasn't so much. "I thought this was a free country! What kind of man would be called on for needing to take a piss?"
"Men who- never mind." ArraBella gave up and got inside the car at the same time he had. "You're just a funny one, aren't you?"
"I enjoy who I am, yes." Blake answered back. He looked through the bags that had been tossed in the back with him and pulled out drinks and corndogs for everyone. He set the two drinks for the girls in the cupholder and then laid the corndogs down on the console that his hand had been on.

[Lil]

Faye filled the car up and paid in cash at the little counter thing and then pulled back around front of the gas station just in time to pick up Blake and Red. "Feel better Wiz Kid?" She smiled back at him and looked at what Arra had bought. corndogs and some cold coffee. Seemed fitting. Faye sipped from her drink as she started back onto the road. For a second her eyes shifted to the clock and noticed they had been in the car for a little over an hour now. Time had flown past.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai listened to the president talk and smiled slightly. Anyone who talks this much has gotta be lonely. Zakai didn't mind the ongoing words however. He wasn't one to talk much and because of this, he was always nervous about what to say and when. Someone else doing the talking was just fine with him.
"I got two of them. I'm getting the last one right now."
While holding the two files in his arm and looking through the drawer in his other, the files slipped and fell on the floor. Zakai turned to pick them up, but in the process, he stepped on a stray paper and fell backwards. In a desperate attempt to catch his balance he reached out to try and get support, but only grabbed a handful of files that came flying out as he fell. "Ahh!" He hit the floor with a loud thud, landing on his arm. "Ow!"
He looked around at some of the files that had fallen on the floor.
"Ah... um..." The two from before that he had slipped on were still in tact and he had one in his hand that he had managed to keep hold of which just so happened to be the third file that the president had asked for. He took the ones that the president had asked for and set them on Clayton's desk.
"Uh... here... um... sorry." He walked back over to the rest of the files that had fallen. The papers inside had luckily not scattered everywhere and had only slipped out somewhat. He picked them up and straightened them out before putting them back into the filing cabinet, rubbing his arm slightly and the shutting the drawer. He walked over to a chair that sat against the wall and pulled it over with his hand that wasn't hurt. Luckily it wasn't as heavy as it looked. He sat across from Clayton and studied him curiously. His house used to have an office that his parents would work in. The man's demeanor reminded him somewhat of his own father.
"I don't like it how they're getting killed either." Zakai said, looking down, "I get that they're scared and all, but..." his face fell, "They don't know what it's like. They're killing innocent people, but unless they're the actual ones doing it, they don't know what it's like."
His mind flashed back to his classmates in San Francisco. It was one thing to hear about people getting killed on the news and in current events, but to actually have to kill something... his view on it had sure gotten a lot deeper. By that time there was nothing he could do, but even then, it was awful. He was killing something that had to be killed in order to survive, but even now it was hard to accept that what he did had been out of self defense. He'd thrown up a lot afterwards. He shuddered at the memory of it and then sighed.
"B-b-but... it's good that you're running again anyways." he said, changing the subject to try and drown out his memories, "You're not doing anything wrong. The other guy's the one who's lying."

[Kicks]

"I'm feeling so much better. Thank you, dearie." Blake answered back from the back. He unwrapped his food and nommed into it, finally realizing that they hadn't even had breakfast this morning. He glanced at the time and was surprised by it before realizing they must be taking the old fashioned paths through the country.
About that time, ArraBella noticed the same thing her cousin had. "Faye, there's highways that take you at super speeds accordingly to your destination." She told the girl in case she didn't know. But she could just want to take the old paths to see the country of course. She wouldn't complain much about it considering she liked to pass through different states and see their scenery. But just in case if she ever wanted to go quicker, there was the more popular alternative.
"They give you motion sickness like nobody's business if you're like me though." Blake chuckled from the back. "So if you fall asleep a lot on car rides, I don't recommend taking them."

[Lil]

"I can get on the highway if you guys want. It would get us there a lot quicker." Faye said with a shrug and turned at the next intersection. The aroma of corndogs filled the air and Faye suppressed a gag, she was never a hotdog kinda person, much less a corndog one. She just kept her eyes on the road and tried to ignore the scent and thought about cherries instead. Faye loved everything about cherries. Their taste, smell, color. Everything about them! She was so distracted by her thoughts she didn't even realize she had pulled onto the interstate until someone whizzed pass them, rattling the car slightly as hey did.

[Kicks]

Clayton raised his eyes away from the screen and flickered them to Zakai. A small smile came across his face at the kid's contemplating words. Colton had sure been right about the one now sitting across from him, the kid sure shouldn't be underestimated. He seemed to comprehend things the way an adult would and it was amazing. "At least you got morals, kids. America needs those again." He stated while turning his eyes back to the screen. "Even when I was out and about during my military years in the Marines, it still didn't feel right killing terrorists- even if they had it coming. It's one thing to kill an animal, but a completely different thing killing humans. Even when the humans aren't innocent, it still doesn't feel right. So when you're killing an innocent human..." He trailed off, letting the thought dwindle there while something popped up on his screen of security films throughout the house. He narrowed his eyes at one of them which showed something happening at the front porch to the White House. He continued to talk as he tried to find out what was happening outside; "I'm really hoping and praying I win. I don't want someone corrupt to come in and destroy the foundations of America-" He cut himself off as he realized what was happening finally. He stood up from his chair and broke into a scowl. "What did I tell those men about my sons?!" He left the room quickly, grabbing a shotgun on his way out like a true American knowing his second amendment.
Outside, Colton had managed past the gates but had been stopped at the porch. One of them demanded him to be searched, and another one told him to leave. But Colton didn't do either and just stood there staring at them with blank eyes not exactly full of patience. Soon enough, it had come to the point where two of them tried to grab him and he retaliated with pulling a gun. In response, he in turn had guns pulled on him.
Clayton banged through the front doors and stormed his way through the line of fire until he had reached Colton who he took the gun from. "Lower your weapons!" The president shouted to the man in such ferocity that they did as they were told without question. "This is the last time you will disobey one of my orders. You better start looking for a good doctor because I swear to this green grass, that if you seize one of my sons again I will rip your anus up with a shotgun."
One of Secret Service men hadn't been stiffened with fear at his commanding officer. Instead, he spoke up in their defense; "We thought that Richard was only in the military. None of us recognized your other son wearing that uniform. We didn't know he was military."
"I'm not military." Colton spoke up at last in a monotone voice meant to creep them out. "I'm an authorized killing machine with the ability to take down and destroy anyone and anything. I have other killing machines under my command who will do anything I say at the snap of my fingers- including murder. I have no emotion. Just a mission. And that is to take down anyone in my way to protecting America."
Clayton tried to keep a straight face at his son's creepy words and demeanor. He took him by the arm and led him inside while the other men tried to fight back chills and twitches. Inside, he burst into laughter while Colton tried to hide a grin. "What was that?!"
"That was me trying to see if I could make one of them piss themselves." Colton answered back with a chuckle. He glanced around and then back to his father. "How's Zakai doing?"

[Kicks]

Blake noticed Faye gagging and frowned. He glanced down at his corndog and then the bag of snacks that ArraBella had bought. He searched through them and raised his eyebrows, not knowing what Faye would like to munch on. He slid the bag up onto the console and gave her a somewhat creepy smile before sneaking back into the backseat. An odd thought did sneak into his mind as he munching down on his doggy and that was the scent that would be left in his mouth for the next little while of hotdog.
ArraBella, once more in sync with her cousin, began to laugh her head off. For awhile all she did was laugh until finally she could compose herself enough to remark; "Bet Faye wouldn't like to make out with Blake after those dogs!"
Blake choked partially on his next bite and went into a coughing fit until his throat was cleared. After that he couldn't help but start to laugh as well, even though the comment involved him and Faye. "Bells, keep your sick, twisted thoughts to yourself!"

[Lil]

Faye glanced at Blake a bit confused but her confusion was cleared up by ArraBella. That girl could read her cousin pretty well, or maybe Faye was just completely oblivious to any sort of romantic action. Red wasn't wrong though, Faye wouldn't kiss a prince if his breath smelt like hotdogs. It was an awful smell and the taste was worse. For once though, Faye didn't turn ruby red at any accusation of her and Blake, she had gotten to the point where she knew it was inevitable and didn't really care. "Whatever Red. And no, I'm not saying I'd make out with him." She finished being sure to subdue any way Arra could twist that. Although, Faye and probably everyone else in the car knew she'd do it in a heartbeat if his breath didn't reek of rolled up pig parts.

[Kicks]

ArraBella did not look too convinced of Faye's words despite her attempts to subdue the redhead's ways. She glanced back at her cousin who had finished his dog and was drinking coffee now. Her eyes went ba8k yo Faye. Then Nella decided something devious "Wow, Faye! You sure must be tired! Here, let me drive and you can join Blake in te back!"
Though Blake had no problem with thaymt he was suspicious of his cousin, though didn't really have the right to be. What could she possibly think of while in a car after all? Or maybe he was just trying to convince himself that because he liked the idea of Faye coming back here.

[Lil]

Faye shot a glance at Red but part of her wanted to agree. There was also no sense in arguing, it was Bella; she would get her way whether Faye wanted it or not. "You know, I am pretty tired ArraBella. I guess I could take off for a little while and let you drive." Faye shrugged as she pulled over into a random empty parking lot. "You sure you can handle this Red?" Faye asked looking over at her and stretching a bit. Without waiting for a reply Faye was already out of the car and the back in, this time sitting in the back seats alongside Blake. She could only imagine what Blake was thinking on the situation, considering he hadn't objected yet, he probably was alright with it,

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai was a little shocked when the president suddenly jumped up and ran out the door. When he said something about men and his sons, it answered a very important question. There are security cameras! I knew it! He wanted to see what was going on too. He remembered the scene when he first showed up and he didn't want something to happen like that again. Not that he could do anything about it, but it made him feel more comfortable to be sure that something like that didn't happen. He pushed down whatever fear was clouded up inside of him. First thing's first Zakai! You gotta get this stupid thing out of your shirt! He walked out of the room and went into his own. He'd gotten the file Colton had asked for and hurt himself in the process, but luckily it was to his own convenience. He'd fallen on his arm and that had made it easier for him to hide it when he got a hold of it since his arm was under the majority of him, being sure to let whatever extra files fall and keeping this one hidden behind the file that the president had asked for which he was also careful to keep hold of. He'd made sure the two were side by side before he fell and held them tightly between his thumb and index finger, keeping the ones he didn't need between the others and letting them slip out. His loose fitting shirt helped too, although it was really difficult and uncomfortable keeping it in a position that made it's imprint invisible. Luckily though, since he had hurt his arm, it made it less obvious that he was hiding something when he gripped it... although it really did hurt.
Zakai ran after Clayton at first, but at the sight of the shot gun in his hands, he stopped and backed away, thinking it was better that he stayed behind. He turned and went back to his own room, sitting down on the bed. He picked up his bag and rummaged through it, slipping the files in as he did, but still making sure to keep it looking like he was piling clothes out and putting it back in under them so they wouldn't be visible since he was still paranoid of cameras. He was sure, however, to pull out the marker given to him by Adalia and the cellphone which was in the pocket of the jeans he's worn the day before to make it look like he was at least looking for something. He slipped the phone into the pocket of what he was currently wearing and opened the marker. He walked into the bathroom and washed off the question mark on his hand and put in it's place "Dog". There's no better name for that dog than Dog. He walked out, put the marker back into his suitcase, then flopped down onto the bed. His work was done for now.
He sat up again after a moment and walked cautiously out of the room. It was quiet. Is everything okay?

[Kicks]

The redhead immediately hopped out of her seat and went soaring to the driver's seat. When Faye sat in the back, ArraBella turned the car back on and put it into gear merrily. "This is Flight Captain ArraBella to passengers, we will now be heading to New York." She grumbled out in a loud, boisterous voice. With her words, she lurched the car forward and let it go speeding out of the parking lot and back on track.
Blake didn't really want to sit up all the way, so he just moved his feet to the floor instead of the seat to make room for Faye. But other than that, he was still leaning against the door and using it as his pillow. He smiled at Faye and raised his fingers to tinkle a wave over in her direction. "Comfy?" He asked her while patting the space between them. "If not, the door always makes for an excellent pillow if you don't mind hard objects in your back."

[Kicks]

"I heard something on the ride over here." Colton informed his father as they paced the hallways together. "The move to shut down the trading routes didn't work. Harbor Trinity, Utah and Billings, Montana have both been hit by the plague that's sweeping the nation."
The president took in this information with a sigh. "Could it have possibly been because of the relocation of the citizens of Austin? Or someone from Bozeman going on over to Billings?"
Colton shook his head slowly at the guess. "You had sent out military units to contain the disease. There's no way someone could have slipped past the military- they would have been shot and killed."
The president slowly stopped walking and glanced over at his son in contemplation. "That means that the trade routes aren't the answer. Something else is happening and Canada has nothing to do with this. Now think, what's in those places that terrorists might look to destroy?" When his son stared blankly at him, not knowing what to say because the trade routes had been opened while he was away at sea, the president answered for him; "Of those six places, three of them are military storage units. We have weapons of mass destruction and other such in those places. Of those two places, they are food storage units- the nation receives thirty percent of their food from those two places. And the last one is miscellaneous which means things like furniture and the likes."
Colton stared horrified at his father at the amount of information he had just received. "They're trying to weaken our economy and military strength!"
"Yes, so it seems that way." Clayton agreed in a solemn manner. He gave a long sigh while glancing down the hall again. "There's a risk to going to New York, Colton. The disease has invaded there and there's military units all over the place. The security is on high alert. Between the military and disease, you will be caught if you're not careful. And once you're caught I can't do anything to help you. And if Zakai gets that disease-"
"Nothing will happen." Colton assured with a wave of his hand. "I may have lifted some nifty little items to keep the kid safe from contamination."
"We don't know if this disease affects mutants." Clayton pointed out to his son; "Any words on that?"
"I'm cocky and confident." Colton answered back with a snicker. He patted his backpack and winked at his father. "Don't worry, I have everything under control. Slipping through the military will be like spreading butter on a toast. And so long as Zakai takes the precautions I got then he'll be all right too."

[Dove]

Rickard Woodsman quickly awoken out of a sudden sense of something was wrong. He looked around, quickly growing aware that he was back in his suspended bed in the forest. He looked down to notice the pile of clay still being there, with the century eggs hopefully there. He had just thought about what had occured back in the small room, so there were more mutants around the USA then him? And, even better, that something is clearly not right, since New York is flowing with Military Personel.

What if it had just occured now that, the same that happend in California... Is here, in the heart of America itself?

It wouldn't be very hard, it would just require one infected citizen to come back, and kill an entire family in a hotel, and let it discretly overflow the area. Then, move to other countries through air planes and boats. Then it would just out-populate the humans, which would result in the end of man kind as they knew it.

Before he hadn't really thought much about it, but now Rickard felt more awake then ever. What if everything was just sitting there, waiting like small suicide bombers to spread the plague forward. What if it was the government that had attempted to use it as a form of chemical weapon?

He tried to slowly slumber back to sleep, as he hadn't gotten it, or as it felt, throughout the night.

[Lil]

Faye shook her head, "I'm alright just sitting." She said and leaned on the door just a bit. "Any idea how long it'll be?" She asked either of the two and blinked her eyes closed growing sleepy already. She didn't want to sleep though, she wanted to stay awake with Blake. It was kind of awkward with Red right up front though. Faye let out a small yawn which was similar to a squeak as it escaped her lips and she covered her mouth with one hand and giggled light heatedly.

[Kicks]

"About an hour, that's why they're fast-lanes after all!" ArraBella chirped from up front. They didn't have a lot of them in San Francisco, except for on the bridges and leading to other cities. But in town there were absolutely none. She always found it exhilarating to drive on them though because of how fast they were going.
Blake turned his eyes to Faye as he heard her let out a small squeak. "Well, isn't that just the most adorable noise I've heard all day?" He commented with a chuckle. Obviously he found it cute, but even more so he found it amusing and hilarious. He didn't know what it was with girls, but they seemed to always make small noises compared to what the men did.

[Lil]

Faye grinned slightly. "Thanks. I guess?" She said and scrunched her eyebrows. Faye looked out the window for a moment and was happy they only had about an hour left of their trip. Maybe then Faye could sneak another kiss or hold his hand without Red being all over them.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

Zakai walked over to the entrance of the building nervously, but he stopped when he heard voices. Clayton was talking to Colton. The boy's eyes brightened, but as he listened on, he became confused. As long as Zakai takes precautions? What? Was he leaving? Richard had said that Colton was coming back, but Zakai figured it would just to be to check up on things. After giving him a phone and everything, Zakai thought his stay would have been longer than this. He didn't mind going with Colton, but if it was so dangerous, then why was he being taken back now? Well, on the bright side, I won't be left here anymore, but what about Clayton and Adalia? He sighed and scratched his head. Things kept on changing for reasons he didn't know. It always made him nervous and uneasy. His face fell. He really had to get answers from somebody.
He carefully walked into view of them.
"Is everything okay? You took your gun?"

[Kicks]

Blake gave her a thumbs up in response. He lolled his head back up against the window while giving out a low hum which had no significance to it other than to make a noise to fill the silence. His cousin seemed to be pretty oblivious as to what was happening in the backseat and was chirping away in song as she drove towards New York. She was very excited about the opportunity of New York, and even more so to what it held and the dreams within it. Blake was excited for it because it was new and they could start new lives if they played it off as cool and acted like they were human. But until then, he would just enjoy the time he had with both of the girls and pray to God that nothing happened to them that would separate them or harm them.


Colton turned his attention away from his father at the sound of a child's familiar voice. He smiled and noticed Zakai at last and raised a hand in greeting. "The old man's just fine, he keeps forgetting he's not in war anymore and that the Secret Service are here to protect him, not to keep him away from family."
"I beg to differ." Clayton murmured, but didn't further argue with the statements. Instead he grinned at Zakai and gestured towards Colton; "So have you ever seen New York, boy?"
"I'd rather not keep him in the dark." Colton stated while moving forward towards Zakai. "He's more qualified to come than anyone else I know. Anyways, it's up to you whether you want to come to New York with me or not. But I'm going there specifically to check out what's happening and try to pick up anything unusual that could leave to solving this problem sooner than later. It'll be a quick visit. We'll be out in a few days if everything goes as planned. However, if you do choose to come there's a cute little mask you get to wear that purifies the air you breathe. It's actually pretty neat looking and not bulky like how they used to make them. It's got a cool microphone thing so that you can talk still, just don't take it out of your mouth... because then you risk getting the disease going around..." He trailed off awkwardly while pulling at the small black mask from his bag and giving it to Zakai.

[DizzyMaelstrom!]

So we're going to New York now?
"Uh... sure, I'll go." Zakai studied the mask for a moment before taking it from Colton. He'd had doubts about it since the man had called it "cute" which was sometimes a sign that it was probably very ugly, but it didn't look too bad. He'd never seen one before, he had to admit. Colton said it would be a quick visit. Did that mean after that it was back to the White House? And what about the file? He still had to give it to Colton and he didn't want to keep it for too long in his bag. The sooner it was out of his hands the better.
He decided to just let Colton take his time in things, however, since he certainly couldn't bring the matter up now. He raised the mask to his face and put it on for a brief moment. He couldn't help it. It was interesting, but it would probably take some time to get used to. By the way Colton spoke of it, the microphone was supposed to go in his mouth?
He took the mask off and thought about New York. Of course he'd never been there, but he'd seen pictures and the like. He thought about it nervously for a moment. What would it be like there with the whole situation taking place? It obviously wasn't safe from what he'd heard them say, but what would happen? Why did they want him to go too? Was there a reason? Was there no reason? Was it simply because they didn't want him to feel lonely? Was there something he would have to do when he got there? Why send him somewhere safe when they were going to throw him in danger the day afterwards? There was something unnerving about the whole thing, and it was making Zakai uncomfortable. He really had to get answers.
"How long is a short visit?"

[Kicks]

Colton watched the kid with amused eyes as he put the mask on. Of course, what kind of kid wouldn't want to do that? "Three days at most. I don't want you being in New York for longer with that awful disease going around like wildfire." He snapped his fingers and pointed towards the stairs; "So, you should go get your things, and then meet me up on the roof." He glanced at his father; "There's still a helicopter up there, isn't there?"
"Are you being serious right now?" Clayton asked in a dumbfounded manner. "You're thinking that you can get away with piloting it?"
"Yes." Colton answered honestly with a grin. "You're not using it. And it'd be quick to get there and quick to get out if something were to happen. They were my favorite use of transportation in California. Zombies just love to chase them but they can never quite reach. Especially with gunfire raining down on them."
Clayton brought his hands up to his face in utter disbelief. "I'm not sure if I really trust you piloting that thing now or not."
"It's not like I'm going to use it against civilians." Colton pointed out in such an innocent manner that his father dropped his hands back down. "Besides, I've piloted them before." When his father still didn't look convinced, Colton gave a small smile and poked him in the shoulder. "Please? I'll be good, I promise."
Clayton glanced down at his poked shoulder and then finally gave a sigh. "Alright, fine. Just don't destroy it. I'd get in a lot of trouble if you did."
"No you wouldn't." Colton laughed back while waving it off and heading up the stairs. "People are too afraid of you to yell at you! You'd whip out a shotgun and have them eat their words!"

[Lil]

Faye gazed out the window and slowly nodded off into sleep leaning against the arm rest on the door. This time it wasn't dreamless though, this time she dreamed of their life in New York. With less danger and not having to be careful everywhere they went. She dreamed that her and Blake could possibly be together without being in a life threatening situation. It was a nice dream. Nicest one Faye had had in weeks. Even in her sleep she smiled a little bit.